The Portland daily press., 1900-02-27
THE BACK BAY NUS aNCE.
70 the Editor Of the Press:

~ tHC LluttOf W tse a fNnss
"Wty Is my district death rate low,
Said Biinks OF heTssbad,
Wells, drains and saver outfal.s are
My own peculiar fad"
To the several articles that have ap.
pearea In some OF our city papsrs regard
the reason for the apparent unhealthful-
ness OF Portland outsids of climatic In
fluence upon certain diseases, must take
exceptions and In doing so, only voice
the opinion of many others In this oily.
who have taken the trouble to in est,gate
personally or who havo been brought In
contact With causes that have far reach
Ing influence upen the health Of our ciii
Gems and are directly the cause OF very
much OF the unhealthy conditions Of our
city. The location Of Portland naturally
is most hsalthiul. Situated upon high
land for the most part, ii gives the best
of facilities for drainage. SIeps by the
bresz yes from the north and west On the
land side, and the ocean breezss from the
sast and south side, its situation is un-
equalled for a residential city.
One great and long felt want Is to rem
edy our present system of depositing our
sewage into the "Baok Bay" "Ths
Back Bay Nuifanoe' Is no myth. 1t Is
| ever pi esent to residents anywhere In its
| vicinity. 1t Is stern reality although
one OF the articles referred to says: sit Is
the smell that IL more Of q nuisance than
ths unhesltbful eject Of it, yet In the
same breath declares THAT one Of our
ply sicians ssys, that much sickness Is
caused by the existence Of the old
| fashioned privy" of which there are yet Il
| considerable number still In uss. Yet
how the existence of the few such vaults
the contents Of which are often carried
away from the city limits. can be more
unhealthful than the emptying OF the
contents of thousands of modern water
ole ssts into Back Bay, to spread out upon
| the fats and send their vile and sickening
| odors over the city at every low tide or
whenever the wind Is In tine favorable
| direction, always will be q mystery.
AS is we'll known, plans have been
made by most eminent and scientific
sanitary engineers for the Abatement Of
this di iheulty. Ana one short section,
some 1900 feet Of the intsrcepting sewer
has been built, yet not enough to begin
| to receive any of the drainage at present,
| With another section Of equal length
| built, 1t would begin TO Get In its work
now rendered doubly niece ssary by the
rapid growth of our new addition to
| Greater Portland, tue Deering district,
az all the drainage from that section of
our oity 10 now smptied into Back Bay.
| That this intercspting sewer 10 one OF the
most important works for the city to
push orWard to an carly completion can
not 1e doubted by any one who will look
carefully into the matter. The plans can
lie seen at the office Of the Commissioner
Of Public Works.
The WORK upon this important and
necessary improvement has teen post.
poned and delayed to do other work less
Important, but more necessary for the
poll teal advancement OF some one with a
pull In ward politics and policy has die
lated that "smslls ara d nuisano, only
and not unhealthful' and the Back Bay
sewage has been left to waste its fra
GRANGE over the desert air.
1t II time THAI our citizens wake mp to
this fact Of ons great source of unhealth-
fulness and demand that this intercept
ing sewer shall be pushed to compile
ltion. The attention Of tbs outside world
Is attracted 20 Portland as q most de-
lightful spot for o summer so1ourp and
as residential city, and IL 10 our duty to
encourage this feeling In every way pos
sible. and leave no stone unturnsd 70
make 10 In reality the "swesteas spot on
EARTH" so that any visitor TO our city
shall carry away with him the desire tS
return again aid to the words OF one OIL
Lougfsllows songs:
"Oftsn think Of the beautiful towr
that Is seated by the aea. /"
1t is to be hoped that this matter vii
be- taken up by the City 6ovsrnmsnt thii
spring among its first business, and an
appropriation secured to push forwart
the work upon our sewer system. IL 4
more important than paved alley ways
, or back yards.
RUFUS z. THOMPSON.
| Portland, Me, Feb. 70, 1900.