San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-07-27
YE OF LITTLE FAITH.
DR.. Graham Watts Says the Death
Of Every Child Costs $1,000.
From the Daily Express.
''DR. WATTS ON SEWERS.

DIR. WATTS ON SEWERS.
To the Daily Express:-It is not the in
tent of the writer 10 enter into discus
sion upon the desirability of system of
sewerage for San Antonio, as the man,
woman or child of ordinary education or
intelligence can in this enlighted day,
after seeing the decline In death rate and
diseases in other cities OF this continent
and Europe, produce the weakest argT-
ment against, not the desirability, but
absolute necessity for adequate and Scien-
tific sanitation. The numerous anonym.
Gus communications that have appeared
in your publication from G. B., B. and l..
are simply wars of words by the differ
ent political factions, who, owing to the
weakness of their position and lack Of &C
tual knowledge upon the subject, are
ashamed to write over their own sigma
ture. but who prostitute truth and eStab-
lished sanitary facts by willful, misead-
ing statements.
In Tuesdays issue of your paper l..
says under the beading of Sewers Not
Necessary" ETC., the report lately quot
ed from was made by DR.. Watts in 1882.
The death rate is placed at 50 per 1000
for the month of June. Well, that is
twelve years ago. Many of our citizens,
at that time using well water, as the
mains had at that time not been dis
tributed all over the city as at present.
L. assured that the wells were the cause
OF the high rate OF mortality, so tells or
attempts to tell the citizens and taypay-
ers that sewers are not necessary. |
would show how false and misleading the
statements of l.. are through ignorance
| preSume)
If in 1882 the death rate was so high
owing to the use of wells, how can the
thinking and reasoning portion of the com.
munity, let alone the educated physicians,
reconcile to the following facts, taken
from the report of the health department
of the city of San Antonio, health re-
sort second, you say, to none in the Uni
ted States, with every natural advantage
of climate, a water supply equal to If not
better than any other upon this continent.
distributed all over the city with n.y.
drantS free for the less fortunate of our
citizens.
There died in the City OF San Antonio
during the months of April, May and
June, 1894, APO persons. In April 1l6,
May 100, J'lne 1884, OF these 100 were
children under ? years Of age, 10 under 10
years of age and twenty-five adults, all
OF which died from zimOtic, preventable,
or to put it so that all may understand,
filth diseases, occurring from disregard
to those sanitary and hygienic pre-
cautions, recognized as necessary by
world
Think for one moment that in this
health resort there are no strangers, no
conSumptiveS among them, simply 1863 of
our own people and 100 of them our chill
dren. In other words, 3s.S per cent. of
the total death in the three months were
due to preventable causes, not by the Wis
itation of God, not through want of skill
on the part of the attending physician,
not owing TO bad water, for we have the
best on earth, and we have the best
health resort. Filth disease killed them
on our own negligence.
Take again LIS statement of New Or
leans as CIeanly city. As he asserts she
has no system of sewers and is compare
lively healthy.
The statistics taken by the Maryland
board of health under death rates of large
cities of this country and Europe las
shown in the enclosed), places New Or
leans as the dirtiest city of the twenty
eight named, her mortality being 2S.72
and her population 254, 900, while that OF
San Antonio with a population of $4,000
was for the months OF April, May and
June 80 6 per 1000 per annum. Well, we
don't need sewers or sanitation, only poll
tics. All these facts l. casts on one side
and says we don't need sewers because
we have no faith in the present admin
stration.
In 1867, uuueT Jue administration vi ING
Hon. ]. II. French, we all recognized and
agreed that sewers were necessity, but
we had no faith in the business ability of
the administration. Again in 1887, under
Hon. Bryan CaIlaghan, no faith; money
would be used for political purposes, ETC.:
1894, still no faith "Oh, We of little
faith" why in the name of everything
except politics don't you find one honest
man among us in whom we have faith,
whom we can elect as Mayor, or per-
haps l.. or his associates can suggest
the name of some man who would
command unusual confidence and in
whose hands the produce of the sewer
bonds would be safe from speculation. If
we go farther into the money loss of the
city, satisticianS tell us that the life of
any child Is computed at $1,000. This
would give loss Of $4,000 in three
| months alone, not to speak of other ex-
| penses incidental TO sickness and death,
to say nothing of nights of sad and weary
| watching, mental grief and anguish on
| the part Of beTeaYed parents.
G.. GRAHAM WATTS, Nj. ID.
102 Ninth St., San Antonio, July "a.