New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-07-01
BROOKLYN WATER.

4 few DAYS ago The Tribune made some re-
marks on the defects and dangers of the BROOK
lyn water supply and urged the necessity Oh
frankly facing the situation there ana prepar-
ing for inevitable future needs. The result WAS
n ridiculous complaint from people OF good IN
tentions and sensitive local pride that we were
trying to hurt Brooklyn, and particularly 10
ruin the real estate market there. Such re-
proach certainly cannot be brought agalnsI ne
Brooklyn Eagle" which is thoroughly devoted
10 the highest interests of its home borough
and. moreover being a Democratic paper. u
free from the shadow of suspicion OF desiring
to discredit the present administration OF the
water supply system. The Eagle certainly
can have no better will toward Brooklyn peO-
pie and Brooklyn real estate than The tribune
has. and no less desire to do justice to the
Water Department officials. hut It's position i'll
the Brooklyn community will perhaps save 1t
from roprOach when ii says:
e The death rate is GS in a thousand among
Brooklyn children to So in Manhattan. the dis-
crepancy is too great to be accounted 1or Dy
climatic conditions or on the theory or greater
carelessness among the parents OF TINS borough
than among those in Manhattan, which is the
conclusion TO be drawn from DR.. Blacks inter-
view in The Eagle" last night. There Is less
CrOWding and moro air here than IN Mdnhdttdh'
and the death rate ought to be lower 1t Is the
business OF the Health Board to continue It's IN
qury until it learns why Brooklyn children are
dying in such large numbers and brings mat
knowledge home to the conscience OF the clty'
But after il has made the most thorough tests
of the milk sold here 1t will not find that IT'S
condition is bad enough 10 account TOT the nish
death rate. Then. perhaps. the doctors VIII test
the Brooklyn water and tell the truth about II.
Private tests have bee0 made often erough IN
the city to show that our water supply Is IN
a deploraby bad condition. No Brooklyn water.
except that in Prospect Park ought to he drunk
without iltering. and the families in which emil
dren dying most rapidly are the very ones
in which the necessity for hlterng IL least un-
derstood . The parent who Is powerless To
reach the Health Board or the Aldermen can
vet pretty nearly insure the safety of her chi
dren by tying a flannel bag over the faucet. poll
ing ali the water they drink. and then II pos
sible cooling II by standing 1t beside the ice
That is a vastly more severe arraignment OF
Brooklyn water than anything The Tribune has
published. Perhaps the source from which IL
c~mes will enable il to awake the borough 10 a
sense of its responsibility as no outside voice
could do 1t ought not to he necessary for
somebody 10 come forward and declare that
tests showed typhoid germs in the running
wafer from faucets to convince men that moth
ing is TO be gained by sticking their heads in
the sand for fear they will discover something
UNPLEASANT in their borough. which if talked
about ana not relHeuIcu No"iu H"i' Voc
II ought to be possible to secure Intelligent ana
frank consideration Of actual conditions ana
possible remedies without being brought face 10
face with any such grave emergency. what
The Eagle" says about tests and the necessity
of boiling water should be ample reminder or
duty without waiting for some serious scare.
Such a death rate as that pointed out if long
continued would do more TO hurt Brooklyn than
any confession that the water supply was not
perfect coupled with directions for self-protec-
ton and reasonable assurance that adequate
measures were being taken for correction. Ana
besides. even dull day in real estate Is better
than a funeral.