Evening star., 1900-01-03
WATER POLLUTION
Impurities of the Potomac Menace
to Washington.
EFFECTS OF REFUSE FROM PULP MILLS
Appeal to Be Made for Immediate
Action by Congress.
EPORTS OF CHEMISTS

RTS OF CHEMISTS
| Congressional action in regard to the con-
| tinued pollution of the Potomac river would
| seem to be absolutely necessary in the i'm
| mediate future, If the health of the
tons capital is to receive the least consid-
Grafton There have been many complaints
| from residents of the District of late on
| the subject, and the Indications are that 4
combined effort will be made to secure i'm
mediate relief. Threatening contagion if
not the outbreak of an epidemic, so those
conversant with the condition of Potomac
water say, will arouse to activity the au-
thorities in whose power lies the correction
of the menacing evil.
For a number of years past the upper Po-
tomac river has been polluted by a dis
charge of poisonous refuse from the pulp
mills of West Virginia. Distinguished
chemists have analyzed specimens of water
caught from the upper stream, and scien-
lists and bacteriologists have likewise
amined the water and the conditions sur
| rounding t, and all have agreed that the
water thus contaminated is assuredly dele
tericus to the health of those compelled to
drink it. The people of Cumberland have
made valiant fight against the polluting
agencies, but the jurieS have decided in
each instance in favor of the corporation,
declaring that the discharge from the pa
per factories did not constitute a nuisance.
The examining chemists and physicians
have long pointed out the danger to the
people Of Washington IN the contaminated
Potomac, but heretofore natural purifying
agencies have fairly we'll cleansed the wa
ter in its course between Cumberland and
the District intake at Great Falls, and with
| the exception Of certain periods 1t has been
pronounced to be pasSably pure.
Refuse Increases.
With an increase in the volume of busi-
ness at the paper mills of Piedmont, Wood
mont and Cumberland, the refuse from
these establishments has increased, and
pervades the river SO densely and thor
oughly that natures purifying agencies
have been overtaxed and the contamina-
ton, 1t Is claimed, now reaches as far
down the river as Great Falls. In fact, 1t
is stated by DR.. William 2. Young, secre-
tary and treasurer of the Game and Fish
Protective Association Of the District of
Columbia, that the discolored water is now
apparent in the rivers flow low as
Georgetown. Dr. Young has always taken
a deep interest in the condition of the Po-
tomac water, from the dual standpoint of
an angler and a resident of Washington
dependent upon the city's water supply for
drinking purposes.
It is believed that when Congress is made
conversant with the highly important facts
at hand Il statute will be enacted providing
against the wholesale pollution Of streams
that supply cities with water, and espe-
ciaiiy in the case of the Potomac river and
the capital city In the United States
courts, 1t is believed, should a sufficient
law be passed, the perpetrators of the pol
luton could be speedily and effectively
dealt with, the local courts in the vicinity
Of the places where the dangerous refuse
is poured into the river being apparently,
through their jury system, unable to cope
with the problem.
Many drinners of hydrant water in the
city of Washington have complained within
the past few days of the blackish condition
of the Potomac fluid and have declared
that there has been apparent in 1t q pecu-
liar woody taste. and even tinge of OBJ
noXious odor. The discolOration is not that
brought about by ordinary conditions. such
as follow a freshet heavy rain along the
watershed. it is claimed, and does not leave
an earthly sediment as it would under such
circumstances. The discoloration is dark
and rather smoky, and is said to be brought
| about by the flow of the black and heavily
polluted headWaters Of the Potomac. 1t
is stated there has not been sufficient rain
to bring about any muddy discoloTation,
and that general thaw has set in
throughout the region covered by snow.
DIR. Young's Observation.
About one month ago Or. Young made
trip from Georgetown to Cumberland in
a steam launch as the guest Of Col. George
L. Nicholson, general manager of the Ches-
apeake and Ohio canal. DR.. Young made
many observations concerning the condi-
ton of the water on the way up, and to-
day said to a reporter for The Star:
The Potomac water was dark from
Great Falls up. The inky conditions grew
worse the higher we went, until in some
places it was coal-black. IN the vicinity
of Cumberland woody matter, the refuse
from the pu p mills and tanneries, was dis
| tinctly visible in the water. The river was
polluted, not muddy. The claim made by
some that the diScoloratiOn and impurities
found in the water are caused by the de-
composition of leaves falling into the river
is disproved in observations made at al
most any time at Harpers Ferry, where
the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers unite
When the Potomac runs blackest the
Shenandoah water will be translucent.
Leaves fal. into it, and small streams pour
their drainage into the Shenandoah, as well
as the Potomac. For little distance be-
low Harper's Ferry the black and clear
waters run side by side until finally the
clear water is contaminated and the entire
body of the stream becomes dark.
The people of Washington are becoming
aware of the pressing need of some con-
gressional action" continued DR.. Young,
"and the essential point is speedy action.
Senator Cockrel has introduced in the
Senate a resolution appropriating $4,000 for
an investigation of the waters of several
rivers, especially the Potomac. This is
step in the right direction, but Congress
should act Immediately. The Senate cham
Der could be flooded with reliable informal
ton regarding the contaminated and in
furious condition of the Potomac. The peo-
pie are becoming thoroughly aroused to the
danger that daily menaces their health
and lives, and it is certainly time some ef-
fective action should be taken
Another Report.
Mr.. Hency Talbot, chairman of the COM
mittee OF river pollution of the Game and
Fish Protective Association, has made a
! thorough examination of Potomac water
and its pollution, and in printed report
made to the president of that association,
and afterward presented to Senator Vest
Lon, a t,t,I1i had affia a hn fS
danger to the public lurking in the waters
of the river supplying the capital city. Mr..