Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-23

S SsSs4 Ss5sa r - & f5S SSS
From these figures it is seen that Wash
ington has had larger death rate from
typhoid fever and presumably greater
number Of cases than the other cities
named, with the exception Of Allegheny,
Pa.
Cause of Prevalence of Typhoid Fever
In the District of Columbia.
The recent investigation made under the
authority of the health officer into the
prevalence of typhoid fever in 1895. is of
great interest and value. The report is
careful collection of facts that adds very
much to the definiteness of our knowledge,
strengthens the belief that contaminated
well water is the chief but not the only
| agent in the diffusion of the disease.
An examination of the well water thus
made by DIR. King Kinyoun, that out of
| total Of eighty-one analyses of samples
from wells and ten from springs, twenty
one analyses demonstrated bacill belong
ing to the sewage group; twenty analyses
had suspicious characters.
The twenty-one analyses, containing in
testinal bacilli. were from wells. distributed
as follows: Five were in Takoma, four in
county, one in Brightwood, one in Brook
land, Ivy City, one; Georgetown, one;
northwest section of city, eleven; northeast,
one.
| The suspicious wells were distributed as
follows: Northeast section of city, 3; north
west, 4; southeast, 3; Brightwood, =; Ivy
City, ?; Sheridan avenue, 1; Anacostia, /;
Columbia Lithia spring. In over sixty an
alyses there were no bacilli or suspicious
features.
There can be no doubt in the mind of
| any one as to the mode by which the wells
are contaminated. The saturation Of the
| SOIL with the eXcreta of patients suffering
from enteric fever is now going on in every
mouse where there are no sewer connections
| to carry off these discharges. Every box
y1ont
source of soil pollution, as it is not possible
| as they are at present constructed to
make them water tight In 1894 there We're
S,9o9 boxes in use; no special census has
| cen taken since then, and there is no way
| OF determining the number in use at this
| date. Tie Odorless Excavating Co., which
las the contract, reports a decrease in
| business, and believes that the present
| nj mber is n )t SO great this. During the
| year ending June 50, 1895, there were 4,312
! reported as full, TAG as leaking 5.20l in a
bad and filthy condition and $50 IA a state
OF diiapidation. These figures show that
the Danger Is increasing rather than di-
| mlnsnng. In 1892 there were 40 leaking
! hoHes as compared with TAG in the past
year The number of old and worn out
| boxes reported for nine years ending June
| ~, 1871, averaged seventy each year; in
| the past year there were 30 SO rercr.,.d
| Such Il great increase in "ui;auIdationr and
| LEAKAGE lndlcasCs that the boxes scatter
| ed thfouShcut the city are becoming with
1
| winch they are used, and that the satura-
i ION of the soil is increasing to an alarming
! extent. How much of the great increase
| of typhoid fever during the past year is due
| to this cause it is impossible to say, but it
| Is beyond question that these conditions,
associated with the drinking of well water,
are the most favorable ones that could be
created for the diffusion of the poison of
| enteric fever.
The number of pumps on June 80. 1894,
was ZIG. During the year to June 80, 1895,
fcrty-seven of these We're abandoned, and
| since June eleven have been closed. The
| number in use now is 160. Three-foCrths
| OF those in use eighteen months ago are
| in use now, and while the work of removal
of this source of infection is going on, the
question arises whether the positive DANCE,
does not require a more rapid and complete
closure of wells, even if they are not found
TO be contaminated at the moment of ex-
animation. 1t IS matter of congratula
ton that $50 pumps have been abandoned
since 1889, and that, although in the five
years preceding the agitation OF this sub.
Ject the average annual reduction of wells
was twelve, during the year past, forty
seven have been closed, a rate four times
as rapid as during previous years.
| This result is a fair measure of the
vigor and activity of the health office un
der its new administration.
Sewers and Sewage.
If wells are closed, and if the boxes ar,
! removed, a sewerage system is needed fo
carrying off the eXcreta, and water mus
. be supplied in abundance both for domesti,
use and for flushing the sewers. Thes,
form parts OF one system; a severed cit.
, | is impossible without water supply, an,
abundant water does but little good if i
, does not serve 10 wash the city clean of it
daily waste and filth. The discussions ant
letters to the press, in which claims ar
made as to the greater benefit of abundan
water over sewerage, snow an ignoranc
= of the fact that sewerage and water ar
! mutually dependent-in cities one is incom
: piete without the other.
= The present sewerage system of the cit
is defective; TO obtain the best results tn
, plaza proposed by the Commissioners an
row before Congress must be adopted
, With the financial and business aspects o
the question we, physicians and healt
conservators, have nothing to do AT va
2 rious times during the past year the presi
2 dent of the society and other member
5 have aided in a movement to bring thes
: questions before the public and to demon
| strate the rapid improvement in the healt
| of cities with the completion of a Sewerag
q system, and the great difference in tn
! | mortality from typhoid fever in severe
= and unSeWered cities. If this relation eX
+ | lists between perfect sewerage and health
| and imperfect sewerage and a high deaf
> | rate from typhoid fever, it is our duty t
6 make the facts known. 1t is for publ
\ | men and legislators to devise the mean
c | and the methods.
The imperfections in the present sewer
q age system are we'll known; the defects Ii
c III the Tdulcdl uGleclS IN al
o | in the incapacity to carry off the sewag
v of our rapidly growing population, as We
q as the storm water of newly eXtende
n areas. The proposed capacity of projecte
q intercepting sewers is at the rate Of twer
+ | ty cubic feet $50 gallons) per capita pc
g day for a population of 100000. We sha
c | need all of this and what is now.
i Sewage Disposal.
u When sewers are constructed one of ii
Il | most important questions is where sha
r they be emptied. A community which save
IL itself from infection by pouring its filth il
to a river the water of which is used b
e other communities, is net to be commende
= for it's science or for its humanity. River
4 and lakes should rot be made public sey
n | ers; they should not be receptacles for Il
~ filth of cities and sources of drinking watt
= at the same time. We know that Chicas
# and Cleveland poisoned themselves vii
:, their own sewage. AT Cleveland the Guy;
r hoga river poIrs the sewage of the city il
~ to the lake, and two miles from the shol
the water was found to be polluted, ar
yet the intake of drinking water from tt
lake was only one and one-fifth miles fro
the shore. In seven years there were 10
d deaths from typhoid fever in Cleveland,
II about per cent of the entire mortality.
=, The golden rule applies very directly