Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-19

small streams dried up, as they are at
present, this filth remains on dry
ground and does not pollute the stream,
which is then fed wholly from the nat
ural sand springs of perfectly pure wa
ter along its banks.
While Mr. Miller had Cincinnati in
view in making his statement his de-
auctions apply with equal force to every
other part of the Ohio Valley and we
believe it worth while to give his re-
marks on the question Of the purity Of
cur water supply at the various stages
CT the river fully:
The Ohio river above this city drains
several hundred thousand square miles OF
cultivated country. The branches SpTedq
in every direction, and terminate IN leNeI
areas OF lano or in shght Impressions, u
high ridges Where the water from the
rain is forced TO flow in opposite dlfec-
tons. When we have hard rams the en-
tire area OF land is washed ana the Hl-h
and savage are swept into the ONO river
Suppose we had six monlns OF dry Wedlh-
ep and six months OF wet Weathef-aAy
one can understand that al the dcGuiu,i-
IatiOns Of filth ! the lands during the SIX
months of dry weather would be sWe2t N
10 the Ohio liyar durlnf the SIN mouths
OF wet weather. We have now had three
or four months Of very dry weather. Inc
smaller streams are generally dfy, any
many that are several miles IN length ana
drain many sections OF land are Dry OF
contain here and there pools OF NTH wa
ter. Many OF the streams that are lea Dy
springs and SssVe running water mean Inc
sources in thJ smaller tributaries are dry
before the mouths OF the streams are
reached, anC no water flows from them m
TO the Ohio river. al OF TINS NTH from
cattle. hogs and other domestic animals
during the drought has accumulated over
The country and in the valleys and pools
of water in the beds of the streams, walt
ing for a heavy rain to transport It INTO
the Ohio river, and so it as with the sew
age in the country and in the country VII
lagos. that only awaits a shower 10 car
~ it into the valleys T. JOIN the otner
filth on its way to the Ohio. If you were
to so UP the Ohio you would find stretches
OF 10 miles or 20 miles and sometimes even
thirty miles, where not a single tributary,
great or small. is furnishing any wafer 10
the river. This might lead 10 the inquiry,
where does the We,tep come from or
'Why in the world does not the river cry
uD?" Indeed, this is a mystery 10 many
ignorant people. who talk about the i'm
purity of the water in the river when II
is so low. and pirate about typhoid germs,
supposing them to be small water animals
with hard shells, and resembling meas OF
potato bugs.
that the margins Of the sand banks are
wet above the level Of the water edge,
and that water is see4fng into the. river
the stream throuSRout its entire, length:
IT is this seepageR fhat prevents the river
from drying up INTO pools and that con-
stitutes the great body Of water that now now
flows in the FLYER. To understand TINS
seepage and 1t is an easy matter to COM
prehend il, SIS 10 understand the source
Of the supply and the character OF the
Severed buckets of water can be poured
into q barrel Of sand without increasing
its bp5.. Saurating the sand with w9 9..e
was engaged for geological ages IN cutting
out 4 deep channel a hundred leet or
more below the bed Of the present river.
Springs flowed into this channel Ju5t as
they would flow into ditch OF Ike depth
and dimensions cut across the country in
Which continue 10 flow through their
mouths. are covered from OuT View with
sand and gravel. Al a late geological age:
called the drift period, the old channel
Of the Ohio river was filed with powders,
gravel and sand as high or higher than
the level Of the bottom lands in the pres
ent valley. This sand ana gravel Is sat
uratCd with water from hill 10 hill on
cithep side, whether they are mile or
more apart, as at Cincinnati, or ten miles
apart, as at Portsmouth. The valley may
be regarded as Il lake filed with sand and
gravel. with q river flowing over the sand,
i'm u channel. in the middle part: or as a
lake filled with sand saturated with wa
ter. When the Ohio river is not being fed
by flowing streams produced by surface
rain storms, ii is cngaSeQ in draining this
that saturates the sand seeps into it, and
when il falls SO low that the principal
supply is seepage water ii falls very slow
great length. All Of this seepage water
ly because of the width of the lake and its
has percolated through compact sand for
lOnG distances. and much of it has passed
for miles Though the compact filter. All
of this scepage water. whether arising
from the drainage Of the lake or coming
from the springs in the ancient canon Of
the stream is pure, soft water, and it con-
stitutes the greater part of the water now
flowing in the river. And, therefore, so
far as it is concerned, no purer water is
to be found on the surface of the earth
The amount Of sewage and filth that is ac-
ctssibe to and finds its exit through the
river at its present stage is insignificant
in so vast a quantity of water as now
flows in the stream; but even that is puri-
fed in the present stage of water in a way
that it cannot be purified in a higher
stage OF water. The water flows over rip
pies and is SO agitated, broken up and eX-
posed that all the gases from decayed mat
ter is ONydiZed by exposure in these rip
PIES and in the strong current OF the river
and the offensive matter is burnt up by
the oxygen Of the air 10 such an extent
that it j.. not carried to great distances
before it is DIES Toyed It follows from ali
these conditions that the impurities in the
rivcn water are at their minimum in the
lowest stages of the water.