Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-14
THE NORTHERN LIBERTY WELL.
What Mr.. Collins Says Of Its
Water.

What Mr.. Collins Say. Of Ii.
| To the Editor of The Evening Star:
On the oSth ultimo an article appeared in
| The Star which has done me a serious bus
iness injury. ] row ask you TO 10 me the
| il stice to publish my counter statements.
The article is headed Northern Liberty
Well" and relates or should relate. to the
we'll on 9th street northwes: between X
ard L streets, which was fill I'd up on the
| 21th ultimo. This old well. 1t was
| kept in good condition by the old city cor
poration end vas then freely used When
| 9th street was concreted the water was
| spoiled and rot used for some eigh-
| teen months. Then the we'll was cleaned.
| |; new pump put in and the water came in
| to use again. AS the well was shallow
| and YVES not protected from seepage, or the
| ingrowth of tree roots. the water must
have been unfit for use. Within the last
three years Mr.. Dow of the health office
had three times recommended filling up
| the 9Th street well. This was in accord
| snce with the fixed policy of that depart
| r.ent to close up III wells In the city IN
the year lS9i-95 il filled UP forty-seven
| Of them.
Your article states that the water was
| Sparkling 1t was generally thought to
| be impresnatcd with IRON VIXEN left stand
| irg over night scum, supposed to be iron
rust. was formed on its surface. In its
| best condition it was coloriess, but not
sparkling.
| Your article states also that II was
| known as a valuable lithia water. This
| deny. 1 challenge the production of any
| book, official report. newspaper article,
Chemical analysis or other pf.:ted author
| .ty in which the 9Th street well Is said 10
| have contained lithia. 1t is true that since
| 1885 few persons have guessed 1t contain
| ed lithia: but such guesswork should not
| count. Neither the taste nor appearance
| indicated lithia. and no chemical analysis
showed any. Chemist Hird found no trace
of litLia in the 9th street well water. III Is
rot, therefore, similar to mine.
| Your article states that the 9Th street
ell was mot more than 100 feet from
| mine. If YOU will glance at the Washing
ton city plan, You VIII see that the wells
are nearly twice as far apart as you say.
| The evident purpose of the writer of your
| article or of the pers on who inspired him.
was to make the impression that the two
wells were alike, leaving it TO be inferred
| that if one was filled up, the other should
| be. In answer. allow me to note a few
| points in which the wells differed.
The 9Th street well was shallow; went
dry for while every summer. was walled
with bricks without mortar: was not pro-
tected from surface drainage, seepase or
| ingrowth of roots: was located on the side
walk. near a gutter and a large street
sewer: had an old-fashioned pump, and
had not been cleaned for many years.
My well is deep, the water bubbling up
in a two-iach vein through hole, made by
the stroke of a crowbar, in a hard stra-
tim; il Fever goes dry i'm summer or seems
to be affected by hot weather or storms,
but stands at a depth of about nine fest,
ard cannot be pumped entirely dry; from
300 to 500 gallons are taken from ii daily:
it is walled with free bricks. but this wall
is surrounded by ten-inch coating Of
grouted cement and topped with stone flag
cling ard grouted cement, through which
the pump pipe passes; no surface drainage,
| seepage or ingrowth of roots is possible.
fha ur611 hahn tod nnlxy l.x- Ia
wall, but by strata of clay; ii is located m
the micdle of a square, far from cutters
and street sewers: has the best sort Of
Pump. and is kept in cieanly condition. The
yard i'm which it is is paved with artificial
stone without joints.
/ believe the water to be quite free from
objections OH the score of health. Neither
1 nor my family teiyht persons) have drunk
any other kind for years, and We are all
healthy.
A word about chemists. When this wa
ter was first discovered ii made a sensa-
ton. People came from all parts of the
city to drink it; my neighbors rsed IL free
ly and medical men came to examine IL.
These last advised me 10 have it analysed
by chemists. selected the best two /
could find. They analysed and gave the
water the nar,e OF Columbia hthia wa
ter" Since that time it has beef analysed
by several others, and by an eminent chem
list, the last at my request. No two of these
sBalyses agreed as to the quantitative
component parts; and IL 1 should have
twenty maze. i nave no 1a-tn tnaC
any two Of them would agree i'm details.
None of them have found anything preju-
Gicial to health.
In the summer and fall of 1895 typhoid
fever was pretty general over the country,
both in rural and city districts. In WASH
rgton there were some 40 cases. In the
health office report of that year the
subject It was mentioned that one typhoid
patient used exclusively my lthia water
and recovered. and that two others used
Potomac water and occasionally" the CO.
lumbia lithia and died. The proportions
are not given. 1 infer that hey drank a
good deal of the Potomac and very little
lithia: and / have never said that one or
two drinks of The lithia, a month apart,
will prevent all disease. 1 wrote to DIR.
would say that any typhoid element ex-
listed In the Columbia lithia. In his an.
swer Of December 5. 1885, he says:
There is not the faintest intimation I'm
that report that your iithia water caused
the cases of typhoid fever, etc. The
biological examination did not reveal the
presence of any bacteria Indicative of con-
Examination by sewage. Nor Were
any such (typhoidD organisms found In the
Columbia lithta water. Neither did the BIZ
illogical examination of IL reveal the pres
ence of any Of the organisms with which
that bacillus Is usually associated, viz,
faecal bacteria"
This is plain enough, and, with fair men.
will free my merchandise from all suspi-
cion.
OF one thing let me assure the public:
Whenever the water sell is proved dele
ferrous to health by an analysis made 10y a
meteorological chemist Of high repute as
such among chemists. will publish the
facts. But the analysis must be mace In
proper conditions TO secure not only i'm
Partially of the chemist. but Certainty ar
to the water tested. J. II. COLLINS.