Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-02-05
4 csmmualcasIsa.
Editors Of the Kennebec Journal. !.

4 csmmunDcaiIsn.
Editors of the Kennebec Joxrnal.
Az write word comes to me that on,
Of our best citizens 10 q the point q
death from the effects Of . complicated
form Of typhoid fever. If the dreaded
calamity occurs, then to the everlasting
shame Of Augusta another civic murder vii
have been recorded against her good name
Deaths from typhoid fever have not beel
uncommon in this town, and yet the warn
ing they convey remains unheeded and th'
health and very life Of our people is il
great and momentary danger.
The solemn pleadings Of physicians hav'
been brushed aside and Augusta continue
. system Of death traps, curiously misnamet
sewers.
Such an illness % Mr.. Halls sffords
vivid and positive illustration Of the fac
that this alleged drainage system is the soil
and certain cause of the death dealing
malady.
Mr.. Hall lives on Sewall street; one O.
the fairest to the eye, in town; one of thu
deadliest, in fact, in the county. At tn,
corners of Court, Weston and Green streetl
and this broad thoroughfare are certain di
rect openings to old and filthy sewers. Tht
openings, thanks to the same optimistica
euphemiem already noted, are called trapi
and are the places where the surface water
is supposed to run in and where the sewel
gas certainly pours out.
The Weston street traps have proved the
most dangerous and i'll health has been con
slant in their neighborhood. The Court
street follows next in point of danger, while
the recent long illness of . well known
State official shows that the Green street
corners have not clean bill of health.
Mr.. Hall lives next to one of the Weston
street traps. So did young man who was
ill for two months in 1892 with q typhoid
disease.
In previous years constant fiushings have
somewhat relieved the dangers from this
place but since the present administration
came into power this important matter has
been neglected. So foul and offensive did
the gaseous discharges become that early in
the winter threat of indictment was found
necessary to secure partial flushing.
During Mr.. Halls illness it has been i'm.
possible to open the front windows, to all
the sick room, on account of the intolerable
stencil that enters the room from the
sewer. y;
People walking by always hold their
breaths as they pass these traps for fear Of
taking in some of the deadly vapor.
Within year the Court street corners
have been directly responsible for one death
and now Mr.. Gilbert, who lives on cor.
ner is threatened with typhoid.
The interesting question now arises
whether the city can afford to sacrifice the
lives of its citizens through criminal neg.
Hence of responsible officials and q penrile
and false sense of economy.
When in the mother commonwealth Of
Massachusetts the matter of abolishinl
grade crossings was broached, the railroads
and heavy taxpayers objected to the expense
on the ground that the number of persont
using the surface highways was ininitissi-
mably small as compared to the number
travelling over the steel rails.
What was the result? The people, through
the Legislature, declared that death OF
injury to one human life weighed more in
the balance than the inconvenience of the
persons interested against the change, de-
spite the numbers and wealth involved.
Time has stamped approval on this rea-
soning and now it is universally accepted
except, apparently, in Augusta. where civic
murder is calmly accepted. Verify, this
same spirit prompted the victims of the
etoIied Juggernaut. Yet time declared
against the latter. E6 NG
Political attempts have been made to lay
the blame upon the water supplied from the
river. The written testimony of dozen
physicians and my own experience in two
years personal investigation of the matter
has convinced me that as many cases OF
typhoid are found among persons who do
not drink the city water as among those
who do.
Nothing can be done, it is urged, ON the
ground Of expense. This is abject non.
sense, when viewed in the light of recent
financial history. The present experience
uf brokers in New York and Boston is that
good state, county or municipal securities,
although paying small interest, can not be
supplied fast enough to meet the demand
In Massachusetts the State House COM
mission recently reported that it could re-
build the present structure for $2,5OO. 900,
and that it would only cost the people 1-2
per cent q year, including provision for q
sinking fund that would eventually dispose
of the debt.
From this 1t can be seen tnat fOf CON-
paratively small sum of money annually
the city could put in q drainage system,
that would drive typhoid away and restore
public health.
Is not the life of one coed citizen worth
all that this needed improvement would
cost?
The present municipal administration has
shown such culpable and absolute indifer-
ence toward the public health. notably, for
example, in the case of the Court street hill
typhoid torrent and the matter of flushing
sewers, that nothing may be expected of
them in the way Of relief.
Appeal must be made, therefore, directly
to the people. Let them think Of this and
decide whether they are willing to run a
ri.k greater than war or whether they
will arise in March and place city govern
ment in power that will preserve them from
death and ill health. CLoTHo.
A.,.,.r. Mo Tahruorv 1904