The times., 1899-07-09
A MENACE 70 HEALTH
Marine Hospital Surgeons Con-
demn the City Water.
Analyses Show That 1t Is Filled
With Germs of Typhoid and Typho-
MaIariaI Fevers Health officer
Woodward Agrees With Surgeon
General Wyman-Tbree Remedies

nounced bad, without qualification, in the
annual report Of Surgeon General Wyman,
of the Marine Hospital Service, made to
Secretary Gage yesterday. Its use is char
acterized as menace to the public health.
This conclusion is based upon the analy-
sis made by DR.. ]. ]. Kenyoun, Past As
sistant Surgeon and Director of the Hy-
gienic Laboratory, who was assisted by
Past Assistant Surgeon E. K. Sprague
They found typhoid and other germs in
alarming quantities in the water. During
the eleven years prior to March l, 1885,
there were 2,l50 deaths from typhoid
and -typho-malarial fevers. The use
OF pure water, the report says, would
probably have saved so per cent, or
| l,I20 lives, and the prevention OF
over 10000 cases of sickness that did not
result in death. This observation is fol-
lowed by this indictment of those who op-
pose filtration of the water supply:
1t is considered crime to buy and sell human
beings, yet there are worse crimes being enacted
here in Washington. There are persons who have
deliberately prevented the establishment of hos
pitals for the care and treatment of the poor
little unfortunates, and have made it impossible
SO far by creating sentiment against providing
filter plant unless the sewer system be extend
ed and improved. No one will attempt to deny
the necessity OF an adequate sewer system, but
more good will come from purifying the water
supply than from the renewal OF the present sew
ers or their extensions especially to outlying
farm lands.
A reporter for The Times brought the
contents of General Wyman's report to the
attention of DR.. William C. Woodward, the
District Health Officer and procured from
him an admission that all the assertions
made in the report are substantially cor
rect, notwithstanding that number of
prominent local physicians have at various
times stoutly maintained that typhoid
fever is attributable more to lack of sew
erage facilities than to polluted drinking
water.
Reports, documents, circulars, and let
ters, long and short, have been filed with
Congress annually in large numbers since
the pure water question was first agitated
strongly about six years ago. Many of
these reports were signed by reputable
physicians, and the majority of them de-
cried the movement for filtration on the
ground that the sewerage system of the
city should be completed before any action
should be taken in the opposite direction.
One of these documents, a report of the
committee on water and sewers of "Cii-
zen's Association No. 81 appealed to the
aggrieved citizens of the District to Real
and see how ana why the water rates are
increased, how the District revenues need
ed for schools, police, sidewalks, sewers,
and street improvements are squandered,
and how new schemes are devised and
worked up for still further squandering the
revenues" Among the statements to be
found in this document is one which ac-
cused the engineer officers of the War De-
partment with working up industriously
another scheme" for filtering the Potomac
water, IA scheme it is added, that has
been repeatedly considered and each time
condemned" A vast number of similar at
tempts have been made to belittie the real
value OF filtration beds and the existence
of deadly germs in the water supply, and
it is the leaders of these movements that
General Wyman had in mind when he as
serts in the report he has just published
that there are persons who have deliber-
ately prevented the establishment Of hos
pitfalls for the care and treatment of the
unfortunate little ones and have made 1t
impossible SO far by creating sentiment
against providing a filter plant unless the
sewer system is extended and improved"
General Wyman does not deny the neces-
sity of an adequate sewer system, but
stoutly maintains that more good will
come from purifying the water supply than
from the renewal OF the present sewers or
their extensions, especially TO outlying
farm lands.
Many advocates of the Sewerage before
the-f1lter'' plan claim that there is no
danger in the present polluted water sup
ply. Surgeon General Wyman does not
agree with them. He thinks the situation
decidedly serious, and that 1t will not pay
TO delay. He says that the best that can
be stated is that the water supply is bad,
and that the sooner the remedy filtration,
is applied the better it will be for the
lives OF the people of Washington-"lives
which are being sacrificed by delays or
negligence which should be characterized
by no less term than criminal"
DR.. Woodward agrees with Surgeon Gen.
eral Wyman. mo scientific man today
will deny" said he, that filtration has
been successfully used by many large mu-
and that an efficacious system
may now be installed. There has been
considerable discussion whether sand bed
system or the alum machine method is the
better. Col. George H. Elliott, of the
Army Engineer Corps and who was in
charge OF the Washington Aqueduct and
the city water supply until about 1895, ia
vored, believe, the alum method. l my
self am inclined to think that, while the
alum machine method is good the sand
bed system is better, having been tried
with greater and more marked success in
other Cities
DR.. Woodward referred to the expert
menus WHICH are now DelnR MADE under |
the direction of Colonel Miller, the pres
ent Superintendent of the Washington
Aqueduct, for the purpose OF determining
which would be the better system to in
stall. Congress has made two appropria-
uons to pay the expenses incident upon |
these experiments a second small appro-
priation having been made at the close |
of the last session of Congress. There is |
practically only one kind of sand fltra- |
ticn, but there are many methods of alum
The chief trouble seems to be |
that score or more manufacturers and |
firms are desirous of having their system |
of machine filtration installed, making it |
extremely difficult for the engineer Of |
ficers to decide which is the better method. |
Dr. Woodward is of the opinion that there |
is no need for experiments He thinks |
that the sand bed would answer the pur- |
pose, and thinks valuable time is being |
lost in the present effort to determine upon |
a feasible plan of filtration
DR.. Woodward pointed out to The Times |
reporter that sand filtration had been
used with great success in many places |
in Europe He said that prob |
ably the most successful system is at the |
Streslau waterworks. which purify the wa
ter of the river Spree for the city of Ber.
lin. Tho German capital also possesses a !
second admirable and successful system of |
beds az Lake Tegel, which are |
regarded as the most carefully planned and |
most thoroughly studied of any filters on |
the Continent. Sand filters are also sue
cessfully used at Warsaw, Oporto, Zurich. |
A..