The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-31


ers. In dry seasons the foul water of sew
age which never ceased to flow into them
from the ever Increasing connections and
feeders, percolated out of the porous brick
work into the dry soil and the solid filth
became stranded, obstructing the flow of
water. coating the rough, masonry with
filth and slime, and so great have become
the accumulationS that a very large por-
ton of these sewers, so extravagantly
praised by B. s. P, are now choked up
to the top with indescribably horrible
filth!
1 am shocked that B. S. P. should APP
pear so ineXcusably ignorant, and that
either through that ignorance or for some
other reason, he should preach. such per-
nicious doctrine as he caused to be printed
in last Sundays News. His influence as
an old citizen, if brought to bear in the
direction he has taken cannot but do much
harm 1t being proven and generally con-
coded that the present sewers are not at
all suitable, and that matters will only
grow worse If we delay then the sooner
an efficient and complete system of sepa-
rate sewerage can be put in operation, the
better it will be for the city and all it's
people.
We have never been informed that either
Memphis or Brunswick nor any of
the hundreds of smaller towns that have
been severed in a hurry have suffered ma
malarial diseases brought on by that gen
eral upturning of the soil. If any such
sickness is caused by that work it would
a all events be better to be through with
the agony at once than to have 1t become
a permanent ailment through having the
work done in pusillaninous little patches,
as b. S. 2. proposes.
And what are those yellow fever germs
he talks about? He would convey the i'm
preston that they are lurking about here
as their faYOrite winter resort, ready to
slaughter our people next summer if we
dare to tackle that sewerage work in the
contemplated wholesale manner! 1t must
be admitted that the conditions which fav-
or yellow fever did exist here for short
while some times, but thanks to active
sanitation those conditions were greatly
changed for the better and if that same
attention to municipal cleanliness can be
maintained and improved upon we will
have very little cause to fear yellow jack,
and. forsooth, very much less with a COM
plete, proper system Of house drainage
than without it.
B. s. p. might easily have learned from
those who have the house drainage matter
| in hand, that it is not proposed to aban-
don the old sewers; i. e., to leave them in
| their present filthy condition. When the
new system is put in use, but that the old
| sewers will be cleaned, repaired and ex-
| tended as may, from time to time be nee
| essary to properly drain the city-take
away the rain water. He speaks of the
danger of not having these Old sewers
| flushed regularly as they are now
The truth is that to flush the present sys-
| tenn of sewers which is so satisfactory to
B. S. p, and which he complacently as
| serts is Constantly flushed would re-
| quire about four such water supplies as
! we now have, that is to say about % 1000, 900
gallons of water per day. Against this we
have Supt. Lotions statement that he
| faithfully devotes each day about 100000
| gallons of water towards keeping a little
stream agoing. 1t is like trying to extin-
| guish a good sized conflagration with a
| syringe.
b. S. P tells us that the plan of carrying
sewage through small pipes grew out of
| the necessity to furnish small towns with
| a complete system at the Lowest possible
| cost" If the lowest possible cost is essen
| tial for a small town, it is certainly also
| essential for large town, and the inter-
est that is here manifested in that matter
| shows that plainly.
We must remind the doctor that the sys-
TEN of small pipes was first used in this
| country for the sewerage of Memphis-a
small town in the ups of B. S. P.-Nor-
| folk awaited herself of the system. and
also a score or two of other towns quite
| as important as Savannah! and as to
| small towns, well it may safely be said
| that the fancy, small pipe system, and
more fancy sewage disposal that should
go with it, are demanded not by the poor
small towns TO whom the low cost is ne
| cesslty but rather by the small commune
! ties of wealthy people, who want the very
| best and Will have it regardless of cost
p, L. II.