Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-12-14


The American Medical Association
has reprinted in convenient pamphlet
form the address on THE Water Sup
ply of Cities" delivered at the Forty
ninth annual meeting of the American
Association, at Denver, June last, by c.
F. Ulrich, A. NJ, NJ. D., of this city.
In the course of his remarks, the
Doctor said:-
1.-THE average citizen knows very lit
tie of how much water is required for
such purposes. l never had the least
idea of the enormous quantities of wa
ter that are consumed until | became
a member of the Water Board Then
there are the fires that occur in large
cities, where whole blocks and sections
would be destroyed if the fire depart
ment with its vast consumption of wa
ter did not come to the rescue. In or
der to preserve the health of the city.
frequent cleaning of the streets and
flushing of the sewers are necessary.
The sp-inkling of the streets done by
individuals in front of their houses, al
though consuming a good deal of wa
ter, does not contribute much to the
cleansing of the city. This work. in
on large scale by means of the fire.
hose, which prevents the dust, charged
with disease germs, from rising and
exposing all who breathe the dust
laden air to the danger of contracting
disease.
I'm order to meet all these wants it
is essential to have reservoirs large
enough to hold sufficiency of water
to supply the city for at least a week.
For, if any accident should happen to
the machinery to disable it for several
days, and the reservoir is too small,
great suffering would be entailed on
the city. When the citizens of Wheel
ing, w. Va, my home, were informed
that our reservoir, which they had al
ways believed to be ample for our
wants, had to be filled from two to
three times in twenty-four hours to
keep the city in water they were thun-
defstruck, requiring sight Of the daily
records of the water works to be con-
WINGED. If the water works are owned
by the city, as is the case in Wheeling,
the city fathers would see to it that a
suff1ciency Of water is provided
to meet any such emergency. In
our case, the city Council,
not seeing their way clear to spend the
large sum necessary to build new res
erVoir, sixteen or seventeen times as
large as the one we now have. did the
best they could under the circumstances,
giving the water board permission to
establish a new pump of sufficient
power to keep the city from a water
famine in case of accident, kindly per-
uniting the board to pay for it out of
the receipts from the water rents.
Should stock company own the water
works, the city government would
either compel the company to provide
for all contingencies or would annul
their charter and establish a pumping
station of its own, unless they had been
foolish enough to grant a perpetual
charter.
Another advantage of a large reser-
voir is, that it affords facilities for con-
Meeting filtering apparatus, which
brings US to the second part of our
subject-clearness of the water AL
though filtering does not clear the
water entirely of disease germs, it does
so to a great extent; for they are more
apt to attach themselves to the solid
material that is found in the water.
Besides, filtered water has a decided
advantage over that pumped directly
out Of the stream. 1t is more palatable
and more pleasant to drink; it does
not nauseate you when you raise the
glass to your lips and make you wish
you had a glass of beer instead; it is
better for washing clothes and cleans
ing of every kind. Besides, the filth
that is found in the water during and
Immediately after a rise in the river
brings disease as well as disgust. I
will not here enter into a discussion of
the relative merits of the two great
systems-the English or sand-bed
filter, and the American or mechanical
filter-that being a subject for an as
ISOLATION of water boards rather than
a medical association. Each one has
its peculiar advantages and disadvant-
ages From the very limited investi-
CATION l have been able to make, pre-
fer the sand-bed filter, where a suit
able location can be had, where the
right kind of sand is easily accessible,
and where money is not too scarce,
because in this system no foreign sub
stance is required, such as alum or
similar substances, which are indis-
pensable with a mechanical filter, for
the purpose of coagulating albumin