New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-19
PROGRESS IN DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE.

PROGRESS IN DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE.
The informal report which has been made by
the president of the New-Jersey Sewerage Com
mission to his colleagues is distinctly encour-
aging. He is spending the summer in Europe,
studying the various methods by which the
great cities there dispose of their sewage, with
a view of thus getting valuable hints and in
formation toward solving the sewage problem
which has become so pressing in the cities of
New-Jersey, and especially in those bordering
on the lower reaches of the Passaic River. He
reports that he has examined the sewerage sys-
tens of several English cities and has examined
their processes of sewage disposal His investi-
cations have been instructive to him, and he
thinks they will give him and his colleagues aid
in dealing with the great task which they have
in hand. He will proceed to the Continent, and
there doubtless will find still more of sugges
ton and instruction, since some of the French
and German cities are far ahead of any in Eng
land in this matter. As a result of his studies
he hopes the New-Jersey cities will be able to
secure a system Of sewage disposal more meri-
"torlous, cheap and successful than any yet
tried in England or on the Continent"
In this hope 1t Is fitting heartily to join. for
New-Jersey's sake and for the sake of all the
cities and towns of the United States There is
probably no district in the United States where
than it is in the group Of cities bordering upon
the Passaic River, from Summit TO Newark.
with their great and steadily growing popula-
tons and their enormous industrial interests.
But the same problem arises to some degree in
every place in the whole land that has adj
vanced beyond the most primitive village or
hamlet conditions The health of the people.
considerations of thrift and prosperity, cleanli-
ness and decency. beauty and comfort the con-
servation of the water supply, all emphasize its
urgency; and some Of these are as strong. pro-
portionately in tho village of a thousand in
the city OF million people There is in this
New-Jersey case this interesting feature, that it
has to do not merely with single large city,
but with a group of communities ranging from
large industrial cities down to small residence
towns That fact will make the solution of the
problem attained by the New-Jersey Commits
sion Of universal value as an example to other
places.
We are further encouraged in the hope which
Mr. Hunt expresses by the fact that he seems
inclined toward the modern and enlightened
methods Of disposing of sewage other than by
pouring it into the nearest water. The cities
whose works he is studying those which
dispose of their sewage by precipitation, filter
age, chemical rendering, sewage farms and like
means He has not yet found system which
seems to him perfect But It is tolerably clear
that the ideal system which he hopes to devise
is to be reached by working along those lines.
It will be reached by making improvements
upon these improved systems, and not by turn
ing back to the old uncean, unhealthful waste
full, barbarous method of pOlluting the nearest
water courses For such progress in the dis
posal OF sewage The Tribune has long been Of
fering arguments and making appeals, with, we
IRE Justified in believing, some material effect.
It will be pleasant privilege to chronicle one
of these days the full triumph Of the principle
for which we have contended. not simply be-
cause we have contended for It, but because 1t
is for the health. comfort, prosperity and gen
oral welfare of the people.