Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1897-03-10
CLEANUP
Should Be Had in Salem
Opinions Pro and Con About the
Filthy Streets and Alleys

5 The Mayor and council nave amp'
mower TO have the city cleaned.
Salem is none too healthy.
Salem is none too clean.
THE JOURNAL is not the apologlsI
or defender of the Salem water WORKS
1t is a fact that there is as mucl
other water used as city water WORK
water.
THE JOURNAL made no reference u
the Salem city water. In fact, moi
one half of our population take th'
city water. The truth must be ap
parent to anyone that the water sup
ply has nothing to do with sickness
in this city, for there is probably as
much sickness in homes where well
water is used as where the city water
Is used. There are cases Of sickness
on the hills round about the city,
miles from city water pipes, as for in
stance at Morningside, Highland,
East Salem and South Salem. In
many instances the surface water in
poorly constructed wells is no doubt
the greatest dissemination of disease,
IL it is at all attributable to the
water supply at this season OF the
year.
Many Salem doctors admit that our
streets and alleys are filthy, and say
that much less disease would be pre-
valent if they were properly cleaned
up. OF course the NJ. DIS would have
less business if Salem were cleaned up
as it should be, but they are, or ought
TO be the first to strike for a cleaner
condition. They ought to be the
leaders Of public sentiment for perfect
sanitary conditions.
Salem has no more sickness than
Portland and other Oregon towns at
this season, and Salem has much less
filth than any Of them. But this fact
is no excuse for Salem's streets anG al
leys remaining filthy as they are. Pro
badly neither the condition Of Il e
or the filthy streets has any
thing to do with the cases of fever ex-
but that is no reason why both
should not be improved if possible.
Fifty TO a hundred men could be
)rofitably set to work cleaning out
'ur alleys and many streets before
warm weather sets 10. The
treet commissioner gets the
urses for dirty streets and alleys, but
las not the necessary authority to
AVE them cleaned. The plain truth
S Salem Is dirty, and for n THE
oURNAL does not propose to lie about
/. Let the truth be known, and let
he mayor and council have the city
leaned up, if it takes two hundred
len a month to do it. 1t would be a
rand thing for the city, and uDem-
loyed laborers would not complain.
Doctor Mott insists that the water
as nothing to do with causing the
'ckneSS. He comedies that our streets
re in a d%eplorably filthy condition.
nd urges that they should be cleaned,
Ut thinks neither the filth nor the =
alter are responsible for the sore
lroats, German measles or other
1ldemic conditions. tt
DR.. Jessup has recently had "a loads
FOUL mud hauled away from the a. d.
ont OF his place on State .,
reet' where it lay nearly
foot deep. This Is .
,actical object lesson by a man r.,
no knows the effects of filth. and "
lld we'll be followed by hundreds, d.,
Inc Statesman says Salem is clean
in fact. If the editor IN
III look out of the back door Of his
ice ne Will see the vilest kind Of
ID foot deep, not to mention the
ignant pools of water STANDING s0
ere ns W
ne city should be systematically
a : cneaply cleaned in the spring and tur
l. Let the mud, offal, manure ]
Nuust' refuse, and filth of all kinds
put IN heaps and the state Iprison 90 :
oIher state institutions could {
We II hauled off as manure. NJ
J could be kept clean as easily or y !
apply as Salem if the city author. B BI
could enforce the laws. 4sa