Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-01
DIS ASE IN WATER
Dr.. Mason's Lecture on the Necessity Of
Purity.
Filtration Discussed and Some Eek.
Drinking Water and Typhoid.

It is not to be doubted that II Congress
had beer present Wednesday night at the
meeting CT the Medical Society az appro-
priauon for the widest possible extension
Of the water supply would have been i'm
mediately voted. DR.. VIM. p. Mason of
Trey, N. Y, gave a most instructive talk,
illustrated by lantern slides. to demonstrate
the effect of drinking water upon health
Perhaps Congress would have voted a large
sim for the establishment of filter BEDS
for DR.. Mason showed by figures that Ill
tration does wonders in removing the dam
gerous elements from water, and, while
perhaps expensive in it's initial installation,
it more than pays.
He alluded to a recent paper by DR.. Bill
nngs, saying that the latter had left him
very little to say ON the subject, as that
paper had been more than complete. He
referred to the condition of Paris before
and after the establishment of other
sources Of water supply than the rains
From 1860 to 1864, when the population
was something like l. 196,OOO, the death rate
was 24.57. From 1868 to 1892, after the in
stallation of the water supply system. the
death rate was 22.S9, a yearly saving of
LES lives in every thousand.
DIR. Mason spoke of the amusing fgnor-
ance of the laity on the subject of water
impurities, and illustrated 1T by referring to
b citlLeu OF newark, WHO, Witch tHe QueS-
ton was being agitated, declared that he
was not afraid of albuminoid ammonia, but
would be willing to wear one in his but
ton hole, and would think 1t very pretty.
Intimate Relations.
Then the speaker rambled through Eu
rope, giving pictures and statistics of the
water supplies of various cities, showing
the intimate relationship that exists be-
tween the death rate and the quality of
the water. st. Reno, he said, has the finest
water supply in Europe, the fluid coming
from the hills back of the town, in such
quantity that there is enough to supply the
next town, and with force that is hard to
manage. He spoke of the experience Of u
town north of Hamburg, where the old
wells went down to bed of clay, and pro-
duced a good deal of typhoid fever 1t was
finally decided to pierce this stratum of
clay, and most of the wells were deepened,
with the result that the death rate fell off
remarkably. In st. Reno the old system
vas we'll supply. and the death rate was
22.61. In 1854 the hill water was first
brought down, and the death rate was re-
duced fourteen per cent. One physician
said that where he had forty cases of the
fever. before the hill water was used, he
now has one.
An instructive chart of the city of Chi
cago was shown, demonstrating the fall of
the death late since the water supply tun-
reis were heightened out into Lake Mich
iSai bCJ Ohu tiiC pOSSiDllty VI pOllutlOU
from sewage. Another chart was shown to
prove that the number of bacteria in
drinking water is materially reduced by it's
flow through the mains.
Speaking of the European cities, DR.. Ma
son said that there had been a decided
demonstration of the influence of the water
supply on the death rate in Messina which
suffered in 1887 from a most severe epi-
demic OF cholera. The water itself is pure,
coming from the mountains. but a part
of it is detected to give the washerwomen
of the town a chance to do their work i'll
the European fashion. Some of the water
so used finds its way back into the mains,
and passes through the supply pipes. Then,
too, the mains are of unslazed tiles, badly
jointed and are in some cases laid i'm
mediateiy underneath sewer pipes of the
same construction. Consequently the sup
ply was badly polluted. The cholera ragged
with the most incredible ferocity. The
cases ran up to 400 day. The authorities
finally sent to neighboring city and i'm
ported shiploads Of pure water. dealing it
out with great care. The cholera stopped
as by magic. The cases ran down In
few hours to five a day. and finally van
ished.
Filtration Beds.
DR.. Mason gave some interesting pic
lures Of the filtration processes Of Eng
land and Europe. The main problem. ne
said. is the purchase of sufficient land,
which, in London, where seven-eighths OF
the water consumed is filtered, is Il big
affair. 1t costs from 5000 to 5000 pounds
to build one Of these filter beds, exclusive
of the land. The scraping costs Sc cents
per million gallons in London, and $1.14 in
Liverpool. Liverpool does this work more
thoroughly than London. The scrapers are
paid % cents a day in England, and $50
a day in Hudson, N. Y, where the fltra-
ton system is used. 1t has been demon
strated by microScopical analysis that fill
tration removes 80 per cent of the bacteria
from the Thames water. 1t has been call
ed a mere straining process. but this IS
proved to be untrue. DR.. Mason gave pic
lures of small cylinder filters, and showed
a group of such in use IN New Orleans,
where the city supply is thus treated. Fill
tration gave to Altoona, Germany. pure
water supply, and saved 1t from the chol-
era epidemic of 1892, although the water
is taken from the river Elbe below the
mouths of the sewers of both Hamburg
and Altoona. Hamburg takes its water
from the river above the sewers, and, as is
we'll known, suffered terribly from the
plague.
Remarkable Example.
A most instructive map was shown of
the cities around the junction of the Hud-
son and Mohawk rivers. An epidemic of
typhoid broke out in Schenectady, which
is located on the Mohawk, at the mouth of
which are the two cities of Waterford and
Cohoes. Cohoes takes it's water from the
Mohawk, about midway up to Schenectady.
fever soon after the disease broke out in
Directly across the Mohawk
Is the city of Waterford, connected with
Cohoes by bridges. 1t takes its water from
the Hudson, above the junction Of the Mo-
hawk. 1t had no typhoid. Across the Hud-
son is Lansingburg, taking Its water from
the hills back of the city. 1t had no
typhoid. Down the Hudson are Troy and
West Troy. the former on the same side
as Lansingburg, and the latter opposite.
Troy takes its water from the Hudson
above the junction of the Mohawk, and had
no typhoid. West Troy takes its water
from the Mohawk, and was ravaged with
the disease. Down the Hudson a few miles
is Albany, which takes the bulk of its
water from the Hudson, right off the
wharves, passing it through strainer,
which, in the words of DR.. Mason, would
not stop mule. The entire city was
swept by typhoid except a narrow strip
near the water front. which Is supplied
with water from the hills back of the city.
There was no typhoid there.
Rainfall and Typhoid.
The speaker went at some length into the
matter of the relations between the rain
fall and the prevalence of typhoid, and
showed that the results of observations
In various states differ considerably. In
ho Of bo Of