Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-28
APPEALS FOR THE PUMPS

APPEALS FOR THE PUMPS
The :ssioners Receive Many Letters
of Protest
What Is going to become Of the wells!
That is the question OF the hour and the
subject Of more letters to the Commission.
ers than have ever been written on any one
subject before. Every 'mah brings to the
Commissioners office q score or more OF
protests against closing some particular
we'll. while a good portion OF the day Is
taken up listening to personal protests
against closing the wells Every section OF
the city where pump has been ordered
abandoned and the well closed sends dele
cations to the Commissioners. They are all
given a hearing before the full board. Their
arguments. however. are all the same. For
years. they say. they have used this water
and there has never been a case OF typhoid
fever IN their vicinity; the water IL clear.
&C oil and pure: to remove this pump Will be
a great hardship. The Commissioners are
placed In very embarrassing position. On
one hand they have the Recommendation or
the Medical Society that the wells be closed,
together with the recommendation of the
Sanitary League and reports or the District
Chemist that the water IL contaminated.
while. on the other hand. they have the citi-
zons protesting against the abandonment Oh
the wells.
So that their position Is not an enviable
one. They have accepted the reports ard
recommendations OF the physicians and the
closing or wells Is going on. They hGve,
however. deciaed upon one important Eaat-
ter. Where a well ID abandoned In a poorer
quarter or the city and the residents In that
neighborhood are unable TO have Potomac
wa,er In their houses a public pump viii
be erected. provided there is a water u ain,
and II the latter does not exist one will be
Immediately laid n..... ..
Today Mr. Joseph Rodgers, an elderly
Iorty years, appeared before the Commits
sioners ana maze a strong and earnest APP
peal for the wells. He contended that the
destruction of these wells would bring down
the wrath OF the Almighty. He had used
the water for forty years and saii he had
never been Sick q DAY In his life. lie feared
the result would be to make drunkards. and
he urged, with tears in his eyes. that the
Commissioners spare the wells.
But the edict has gone forth, and as rap
idly as the District chemist certifes to the
Commissioners that a well Is contaminated
they will order n abandoned and closed.
In Defense of the Wells.
"A Chemist writing to The Star, says:
The Star recently stated that sixteen
wells CpumpS are ordered by the Commits
sioners to be closed and that others are
directed to be cleaned. The warfare which
has been waged Of late upon the pumps OF
Washington, while ostensibly in the interest
of the public health, is believed by many
to have also some other inspiration. An
unbiased view of the subject VIII reveal the
fact that not only has the community been
needlessly alarmed but serious injustice
and Inconvenience have resulted. 1t is true
that pump water In any city may become
rnfit for drinking; but II is not by any
n. cans certain that such wells are generally
Unwholesome. On the contrary, the history
OF this city positively proves the opposite.
For many years pumps of Washington fur
nished the only water supply. After the
Introduction OF water from the river they
were used chiefly for drinking, though in
some sections they still afford all the water
uSed
Let it be noted that not a single epidemic
Of typh, bid fever has ever occurred in this
city. The cases have been sporadic and not
so located as to be traceable to pump water
as the cause. II is hardly necessary to
STATE that, had the pumps been the cause
almost universal sickness would certainly
have marked each warm season. The fact
that the city has always enjoyed a practical
immunity from maladies OF this class and
tEat the death rate per thousand from all
causes, has been SO low as to place Wash
ington among the healthiest cities of the
country, should have operated to impose
silence upon the calamity howlers That
this is not the case Is lamented by many a
family who are now forced to drink the
abominable decoction of mud and filth
which Is derived from the Potomac river
The pumps give pure bright cool water,
soft enough to use for washing and al
ways pleasant to the taste. The river wa
ter is. for the largest part of the year, un-
mt for any use unless it be to sprinkle the
streets and lawns.
In the year 1870 Dr.. c. T. Chandler. the
famous New York chemist. and president
o; her board of health, le.tured on drinking
waters In this city, giving analyses Of tho
water supply Of all the large cities of the
country. lie pointed out the need of
either settling or fltering the Potomac
water, ara remarked upon the fac: that
some Of the pump waters In the city, par
ticrlarly the one which stood on 9TH and
Pennsylvania avenue, were not only re-
markably pure. but actually mildly r,edlci-
nal. Many will remember that pump near
Wallis Opera House. 1t flowed constant
stream OF water, so tonic in its effects that
people came distance TO obtain it. Dr.
JAS t. Hall, one of our NEST eminent
physicians. used 1t and recommended II.
The same is true CT Ncral of the. pumps
just closed by order Of the Commissioners
l have repeatedly analysed water from
various pumps during the last twenty
years. and have in every case found them
pure and healthful Even II the bursting
or leaking D; sewer In the vicinity Of a
pump should occur, 1t Is evident that the
remedy Is not to remove tie pump. but 10
repair the sewer. The city regulatio for
bid the use of privies which do not connect
with the sewers. If they are obeycd no
contamination of pump water can occur
The subterrsnean layers or strata beneath
which the water is found are sufi ciently
deep and impervious to render the min
Cling of surface water impossible, IL the
pump Is properly constructed and kept in
repair.
meteorological examinations OF water
from properly constructed pumps have
demonstrated their freedom from all dis
ease germs, albuminoid ammonia. &c.
Young and inexperienced chemists are
prone to embrace and be influenced by mere
popular rumor. The health authorities Of
Washington now begin to realize that the
stern logic of fact is the only safe guide
and that the practical experience Of many
years outweighs all theories Of Gallo. grad
yates who would assume the nantes OF
wiser men. For these reasons and be-
cause of requests from reliable citizens
who have all their lives depended upon the