New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-23
THE POLLUTION or RIVERS.

Year by year. and indeed day by LAY. the
polutlon Of streams Of water by sewage be
comes a more serious evil Already II has proven
costly and In some cases tragic. EpidemirS of
TYPHOID fever and other deadly diseases have
been unerrngly traced to hi, cause In some
cases oysters and other sea food have been M de
poisonous ana in others extensive oy>tcr-h DIS
have been destroyed ana fisheries ruined one
wcknown stream within a few miles of this
city, that was once JOY and dclight 90 the re-i n
through which it flows. has been made 50 foul
- partly g. d,pnpulatc the VILLAGES on lis banks
and 10 dcprr"latc the value "f property along IL.
Tie difficulty Of obtaining pure water fr Use
in the cities. and wholesome lee, Increases con-
stInily Yet the wrcchcd work goes On. just
rs The mproyidrnt farmer drains his barnydrd
into the hrocK 50 the town or city opens its
sewers into the river and ihr factories turn their
poisonous drainage into thc same stream. until
me AVERAGE river in a ti'clily settled part Of tie
country is simply an open drain unfit To drink
d. 20 battle in. 90 n 10 sail up or w'lh near,
unless one la, lost the sense OF smell aud -
proof against malaria. Ard pcopl" seem - think
II Is al right and that j. what ia" rivers wtr"
made for. until pcrchancc tAcy get malaria or
typhoid. when .hcy begin to rail against unkind
Providence.
An interesting lesson on this subject is pre-
scented In the example II England. H. dcscfibI
in an article Oh another page of to-iay'- paper.
For obyiou. reasons the evil was much more
serious in England than it has yet become here.
The population is more dense. and the number
Of Industrial establishments far greater than in
an equal area in this country. Yet 1t is being
In off. ~ \
Grafton ago systematic effort was made 10
purify and keep pure the upper Thames That
stream does not flow through manufacturing
REGION. So II was polluted by nothing but the
ordinary sewage Of towns But that was not 10
be- endured. The towns were compelled by law
Ia dispose of their sewage otherwise. and they
did So The cost was considerable. Oxford
spent $.OO.OoO in a dozen years Reading 500
600 and Windsor $l,0Oo0 But it paid. The
river was kept clean and swcet-a blessing in
stead Of a curse To- the country it flows through.
And IL l. not to be supposed that one Of those
towns would now willingly 60 back to the old,
wasteiul filthy and dangerous system.
In the industrial counties, Of course the prob
lem was more difficult. There the streams were
polluted not only by sewage. but also by the
drainage from factories often offensive and
poisono,ls in the extreme The manufacturers
would not listen to proposals Of reform. They
had they snid. natural right to use the rivers
thus and they insisted on the free on joy ment Of
that right They even declared that the indus
trial prosperity and commercial greatness Of
England depended upon it. TO dispose of the
drainage otherwise would cost much money and
IL put to such expense the manufacturers Of
ri hos Of
other lands Either the rivers must be polluted
or England must shut up shop. Even such men
ms Bright and Forster championed that side Of
the case and by their eloquencc and influence
prevented any effective legislation for the purif-
cation OF the rivers. A law was indeed adopted
in 1876. but 1t remained for many years dead
letter Not until the County Councils came into
being and local self government on II demo-
cratic basis was established was any real re-
form wrought Then public opinion began 10
make itself felt even against and in spite Of
some sO-called vested rights. The law Of 1876
was revived and enforced. and manufacturers
and municipalities began to discover, pcrforce,
that It was possible to be clearly and ut the same
time prosperous Even the Merscy and "lnky
Ifwau" which had long formed Il very clolca
maxima for some of the greatest industrial cen
tres Of the Kingdom. were taken in hand for
cleansing Within The last six or seven years
Manchester. Stafford aud the adjacent towns
have spent more than S5,0o00oO improved
sewage works. No solid matter Is now dis
charged into the streams ~ all. and all the
liquid drainage is first rendered innocuous. At
Manchester alone about l3.GOO,OO0 gallons Of
sewage are chemically treated every twenty
four hours. And under penalty of $3.50 day,
very few manufacturers nowadays ever try to
cvade the law
There are some things in which ii might he to
Cur advantage in this country 10 initiate the
English. This il Of them. Or II object
To doing. let Ms invent better system of orr
own II England can restore the lrwcll 10 some.
thing like its pristine purity. and keep the
Thames clean and sweet and 4 Paris can keep
its sewage on; of the Seine, aud Berlin hers from
the Spree, II will be IN indeliblc disgrace to Us