The morning news., 1892-02-23


touched since they were dug, five or six years
ago; il is on account Of this neglect that the
lands hrst spoken OF are now going back to the
condition which called forth legislative action.
0an see no reason why this should be allowe
70 occur, whether the responsib ility be upon
the county commissioners or upon the land
owners. work done for such a purpose should
oe Kept IN repair. IL Is poor economy indeed
10 act otherwise, and surely the convict force is
sufficiently large (averaging 1881 to allow one
or two squads TO be permanently detached foI
thls purpose. and yet leave enough TO larry or
other necessary work Formerly convict laboI
was used exclusively for the purpose Of drain
ing. and it should be so used, uatil that most
important work-the drainage of the whole
county-be completed, and this as soon as pos
sible. But il must not be forgotten that thi.
work of drainage is done for the benefit of all
inhabitants of the county and that the great
majority of them reside in this cipy
AS the time before the hot days is getting
very short and as the Casey canal and all its
branch drains near the ciLyihage become almost
worthless. il is 20 be hoped that those in au
thority will at once put the whole available con.
wet torcs at work to clean them out.
FILTH AND ITS REMOVAL
In every city, perhaps the most important
sanitary work, the one thas has the greatest in
huence upon the life and health.of its inhabit
ants, is the removal Of the ever increasing
nltb. in houses and yards this filth consists OF
human ordure, ,slop water. Kitchen slops and ref
use and garbage Of all sorts, including stable
manure in the streets, droppings from animals
'CaNGS. paper SWctpluES. etc 10 LHlS must De
ADDED dead animals, spoiled meats and vegeta-
Dies These various sorts of filth require vari
Gus methods for their systematic, thorough
and speedy removal
For the removal of ordure slops and Kitcher
water from houses, the quickest the cheapesl
and by far the best method is by means Of run
ming water. the sewage being carried away in
lmpervious pipes TO distant outlet so rapidly
that It has no time TO purify or to generate
sever gas. Such q plan of separate sewers was
once projected for this city and money was ap
propriaed for commencing it, and the create S.
mistake that our city council has ever made
was the divertiug of this money to ether uses.
For the removal OF other refuse some kind of
vehicle has to be used. and experience ha'
SHOWN that the best method OF ultimate disposal
Is by burning
We have here one crematory which has been
IN successful operation for about a year, but il
is so small that it can only consume the third
part or the garbage collected each day. the re.
malnlng twothirds has to be hauled in wagons
over very bad roads to considerable distance
where 1t is piled in large heaps to purify and
threaten the health of the neighborhood.
We certainly ought to have two crematories
nulit as early as possible. one on each side OF
the city. capable of consuming all the filth each
day. Money spent in this way could not be bet.
ter invested, because, with this addition, not
only would the filth be safely disposed of, but
the saving Of time on the hauling two.thirds-of
it IA distance of several miles would enable the
scavenger department. even with a reduced
force to clean the city thoroughly, starting after
hltNuoJs LUIS III llStll NOuiu % n great I'M
provement. 1t would spare us from the stencil
we are now compelled to endure every time
one OF these wagons passes our door, and would
also lessen the danger of disease. Kitchen ref.
use putriffes rapidly; one afternoon and night
in hot weather is time enough to render it dan
gerous.
THE VAULTS.
or oil filth, the most nosome, the most dan
gerous and that which accumulates most
rapidly, is human Grdure. In this city it is de
posted in thousands of vaults, and there &C
cumuiates from year to year before it is 10.
moved.
This dangerous nuisance has been pointed
out time and again, by this association and
means for it's speedy removal have been sug-
gested. but hitherto nothing has been done in
this direction.
There is no reasonable excuse for this be-
cause in the central part of the city, between
Bay and Anderson and between East Broad and
West Broad streets, where drains have been laid
for the removal of storm water, and are un
happily used also as sewers, it is only necessary
for those in authority to enforce the existing
ordinance, requiring the f1lins of vaults and
the connecting of premises with these sewers to
correct the evil here, and for the other sections
or the city, some safe efficient and cheaI
method could he readily provided Yet in this
central part three or four vaults may still be
found upon one lot. True the odorlAss excavat.
ing department filed up 116 of these vaults dur
ing 1891, but this is a mere drop IN the bucket
Outside of these limits, where no means have
been provided to get rid of the sewage by
water ways, where the houses are small and
built close together, thousands of vaults re.
main untouched for years. and often overflow
before the scanty means provided by the city
for cleaning them are applied. 1t is here that
during the hot sultry days of summer, the
stencil is the most sckening and the danger the
greatest.
WHAT THE CITY DOES
The report of the superintendent shows that
500 vaults were emptied in 1891 by the odorless
excavating machine; that they contained Is 334
cubic feet. or $3.50 cubic feet of matter each.
At the same average the contents OF the lS2e
vaults now in use IN this central part of the
city must be 151. 4g9 cubic feet, enough to cover
the entire surface with filth.
The cost of running this department last year
was Slf,4l3 70, that is TO say it would cost
Sl1413O' to clean $3.50 vaults once, and this one
cleaning would require ten years. and would 10
a sanitary point of view be of no value at all
because the filth is reproduced more rapidly
than it could be removed.
Ina population of 5000 the amount of fecal
matter produced each day is about II $50 pounds
or 6,29o, $50 pounds in the year, which to insure
safety. must be removed as rapidly as it is pro.
duced How can department which cannot
empty three vaults ger day perform such a task
To what proportions must it be increased? and
what community could bear the Increases
cost?
This sanitary association has repeatedly urged
the necessity of adopting the pail system to re
place privy vaults. because it is simple. cheap.
rapid, cleanly and odorlesS. Wagons arranged
for the purpose carry eighteen to twenty pals
at load, and no time being loss in loading or
unloading, five or more loads day can be car
ried to the nearest orematory or dumped into a
seow to be towed to some distant point on the
river.
When the crematories which we require are
built ana the scavenger department is so re-
modelled that the garbage can be removed in
the afternoon, the twenty teams now in use
should bs employed in the morning to re-
move the pals. Two thousand pals could
in this way be cleaned daily and every pound
of fecal matter in the city could be removed at
least twice week. In this way one the most
desirable sanitary reforms could be brought
about without any increase in expenses.
The ashes which the scavengers Lave now
gotten into the habit Of scattering about the
lanes, should be used 10 fill up the pals before
removal to prevent splashiug and to render the
process cleauly and odorleSs.
There are other sanitary matters Of impor
tance 10 the citizens which expected to include
in this annual report. Thsse are necessarily
defened on account of the length Of this docu
ment and will be made the subject of another
report.
RAIL AND CROS5TIE.
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