Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-02-19
DANGER OF DISEASE
IsaNot Dreaded by the Health Au-
thorities OF the Two Cities.
FLOOD sWATERS ARE A. BENEFIT.
Physicians Say That the Drift Sand and
Mud Are Healthy.
CoLORED WATER JUST AS GOOD AS AM

"Does food in the two rivers cause an
| epidemic?" There are two sides to that
| question, and the explanation seems to fol.
| low the theory that flood is not after all a
thing that people should be afraid of-at
| least those who fear it in the sense that the
| water leaves in its wake all that helps to
| breed disease.
There is widespread impression that the
greater the quantity of the mud and the
sand that comes down the two rivers and
lodges upon the shores and in the cellars Of
houses, is unhealthy. Then again there is
no doubt among housekeepers, whether they
have back kitchens that are liable to be
flooded or no, that rift that comes is fore
runner of sickness. But it isn't according
to the people who say they know, and accord
ing to some people who are said to know.
1t Cleans o ut Allegheny.
Health Officer Bradley. of Allegheny,
says that the reports of sickness and the
death rate along and near the river is about
one-fifth of that upon the hills. He expressed
what he wanted to say in these words;
Il have been connected with the Health
Office in Allegheny about SIX years, and II
there is one thing more tnau another that L
front. Every time an overflow comes follows
the natural thought of disease, sickness and
death. An overflow is a benefit along the river
front. 1t disinfects cellars and cesspools. The
substance from the latter is brought tothe
surface and washed away"
But would not sewage be stopped by the
eddies and deposited in back yards or streets
upon a sudden drop of the streamT
mo; for the reason that the current Is so
strong that, as the water falls, it makes sue
tlon that takes with it all the noat-
inO ms
member that the matter left is practically
washed out. To illustrate what want to say
the most simple way is to consider panama
skin. Let it remain on the street. and the odors
from it are just about the most unhealthy that
you may breathe. Up on our hills IL it De
thrown into the street it is washed to the lower
streets and there it remains and there 1t de-
composes. The flood washes it away.
"AIl this time the people up the hill are get
ting the odor from this decomposition. By the
time it reaches the streets below there is not
any disease germ in it. 1t is completely washed
out. Vegetable and animal matter that IS
foated out here or above is, consider. harm
less Sand and clayi the best disinfectantthat
You can possibly think Of"
A washout Is a Good Thing.
There is hardly physician on the Pittsburg
side of the Allegheny near the river. who does
not agree with his brothers on the other side.
The cleaning out OF the cellars along Penn
avenue and Liberty street, they think. is
mighty good thing
A doctor-and sometimes doctors don't want
their names used-who lives on Penn avenue
looked at the matter in another way, claiming
that while flood, rush of waters, cleared
out certain low sections of city, the people
who got The flood in their cellars were the great
sufferers. II was the back-up water from the
sewers that hurt them. While 1t was well
enough to say that big flood was blessing.
the people who talked so much about it should
have easements that were flooded with the
vile stuff that came up from the river. Then
they could tell more about it.
DR.. W. T. English-The death rate! Why,
that is most absurd thing to talk about here.
Floods don't cause it. If there is any increase
the death rate it is due to the fact that peo-
pie drink the surface water. That is always
more OF less contaminated.
Another physician said This, and he wanted
himself quoted:
There can be no doubt that the drinking of
the water now flowing down our rivers is detri-
has washed out all the cesspools, pigstyes,
barnyards. street cutters and other repositories.
posted on the banks and in the cellars and
streets near the river here and will permeate
and pollute the air.
Further everyone knows the danger of liv-
ing in house over a damp cellar. Well all
the cellars flooded will hold the dampneSs for
a year to come. The flood has probably
bettered the sanitary condition of the towns mp
the river, but we have suffered by it."
Chief Browns Warning.
Orders have been gwen by Chief Brown to
help out all those persons who are IN trouble
over the rising of the rivers. So soon as the
water recedes he wants the Board of Health to
clean out as far as possible the cellars that have
been flooded by the backing up of the sewers.
AS result vast amount of sewage and filth,
saps the chief will be left in sewers and base
ments. The effect will be to cause sickness,
and possibly an epidemic. unless proper steps
are at once taken TO have this dangerous mat
ter removed. Therefore. for the public safety,
owners of property. where such condition ex-
lists, will be compelled to clean and purify their
premises immediately or be prosecuted under
the city ordinance"