The record-union., 1896-04-29


gether. The sloughs inside the city linn
its are being filed, the streets are
clean, and there is an air Of neatness
| and comfort in the city, in wide con-
trast with the devastation by sand and
water contiguous to it.
COLUSA.
We append hereto a letter from Co
lusa relating to the disposal Of sewage
at that point:
81 give the following answers to your
questions:
"First-We have no sewer system.
We have shallow bitches, some OF
which are lined with plank, to convey
the rainwater out of town.
''Second-Our drainage is away from
the river We have a fall of eight feet
| to the mile. All drainage runs to the
south from the river and the town.
'Third-There are no private sewers
discharging into the river at this point.
Il am considering what to do with the
garbage. / am thinking over the Gre
| matory idea. This is a problem with
small as well as large towns
The above is an extract from letter
from DR.. j. S. West, Health Officer of
Colusa
EFFECT ON THE RIVER.
From the foregoing it may be inferred
| that we do not regard the river pollution
by these towns on the Sacramento
River and its tributaries as serious.
This would not be precisely consonant
with the facts. The distance between
the towns taking water from the river,
| the swiftness of the streams, and sew
eral other factors, prevent the sewage
from producing appreciable bad effects.
In case, however, that typhoid fever or
cholera were to prevail at any of these
points, or on the tributaries of streams
flowing into the Sacramento River, the
| result might be very fatal to life. This
would be worse after the first rains in
autumn, when the surface filth is quick
ly washed into the streams, creating an
abnormal quantity of organic impuri-
ties in which disease germs multiply
rapidly and infinitely.
The situation at Sacramento with ref
erence to water from the Sacramento
River has to be considered separately
In addition to any impurities that may
reach the rivers from towns on the main
streams or it's tributaries, it is largely
polluted by the outflow from the broad
acres of overf1owed lands having consid-
cradle depth of water in places. These
basins do not begin to fall until the
season is well advanced. Great num-
bers of fishes go into these basins to
spawn, and when the warm weather
comes on myriads Of them die. There are
numerous alfalfa fields around these
low lands and great numbers of hogs.
When hog cholera prevails the car
casses of the dead hogs are thrown into
the water and lazily float into the river.
Several hundred of these carcasses have
been seen resting on sandbars in the
river during hot weather. Later in the
summer the water that runs out of the
tule basins is greenish in color This
pollution can scarcely be abated by the
State.
FOLSOM PRISON
PourS its sewage directly into the
American River, twenty-five miles
above Sacramento, and the town of
Folsom, two miles below the prison, dis
poses of its sewage in the same manner.
The American River is rapid but shall
low stream that empties into the Sacra-
mento River less than a half-mile
above the intake of the Sacramento
water supply.
The sewage Of convicts and the peo-
pie Of Folsom in a shallow, warm
stream, which furnishes none too much
dllutlon Of sewage, must be more pala-
table than it might seem, for the citi-
zens OF Sacramento seem to prefer it to
the available deep we'll water contigu-
Gus to them. Add this diluted sewage
Of the American River to the water
from the tule basins in warm weather,
when it smells badly, and it makes a
combination or culture fluid for diseased
germs which would enable them to null
tiply infinitely and jeopardize many
lives.
DEEP-WATER WELLS.
Dr. w. A. Briggs Of Sacramento has
recently informed us that the result of
number of analyses made by him
When the Sacramento River was low
showed an excess of aIbuminous sub
stances from eight to nineteen times
above normal. Such an excess of or
ganic impurities cannot be poohooed
or argued away by those who adhere to
the ancient notion that running streams
always purify themselves, no matter
what degree of pollution may exist.
They do not seem to comprehend the
possibility of a degree of impurities
which cannot be oxidized in a. limited
body Of water and in limited time and
agitation.
There is an abundance of very excel
lent water to be obtained from deep
wells both within and just without the
sacramento City limits. This water
rises nearly to the surface, and would
cost no more to lift than it costs to lift
from the river. To obtain water from
such source would place Sacramento
beyond the necessity of complaining of
towns upstream for polluting the river
with their sewage, and would make it
moreover safe from typhoid fever.
cholera and malarial fever germs, which
are recognized as water-born diseases.
Very respectfully,
c. A. RUGGLES, NJ. D..
j. r. LAME, NJ. D..