The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1902-07-30

MEASURES be adopted AT once as Will
stop the present pollution and prevent
any further recurrence of it. y"
Following this report your health
officerTmade suggestions as to what
should be done to prevent this contain
nation
do not wish to be an alarmist, but
when it needs but one case of typhoid
fever, or any of the water borne di.
seases, in one of the dwellings or cot
tages, whose drainage is carried or
washed into the pond to start an cpl
demic Of sickness and death in our
community, it must be evident that
nothing but the grace of God and for.
tunate circumstances has saved us so
far.
We have been warned of the dangers
existing we know, or should know,
that a failure to heed these warnings
is liable at any time to be as fatal to
some of our people as was the failure
OF the people of Martinique to heed the
warnings of Mont Pelee.
am aware that the first steps in
this matter lie in the hands Of the
city COUNSEL, but when members of
the city council loosely remark that
a little sewage won hurt anyone" or
lightly pass the matter by, / can but
wonder If they appreciate the gravity
OF the situation, or whether they are
trying to emulate Nero of old, who
fiddled while Rome was burning.
L had hoped that the members of the
council would rise to the situation"
we tried to reach last year, but failed.
The city of Montpelier must own, or
at least control, the land around Ber-
! lin Pond. The present owners must
be paid for same by mutual agree
ment, if possible; if not, by award
of lawful appraisers. Each years de-
lay makes the expense greater and in
creases the danger to our people
If the charter of the city does not
give the power of at once removing
this communicating of our water sup.
ply, and the board of health is pow.
erless to enforce ample sanitary regu-
lations, then the court should enjoin,
and the city council employ ample
legal talent with ability to draft a
bill that shall secure to the city sutfi
Gent authority to cover every point in
question.
The city council must act and without
further delay. 1t is duty they owe
to every man, woman and child in
Montpelier, and to every person whose
business or pleasure calls them to
Montpelier. Will the city council
wake up to the situation: Will they
have backbone and stamina to do
their duty to their constituents, with
out fear or favor: l think they will
Montpelier cannot afford to have out
siders come in and compel them to
clean up, and, when it is only matter
of dollars that will enable us to do
away with all this contamination,
and restore and keep this source Of our
water supply pure, and sweet and
sparkling, and clean, who will raise
a single word Of opposition:
My communication has already over
run its space, and the subject is just
begun. 1t is a problem the most
vital of any that confronts MONTPELIER
today. Beside it local option and pro-
hlbition fade into insignificance, or
are as a side issue. In your selection
of man TO serve you as city Repre-
sentative whether you believe in pro-
hibition or local option, see to it that
your man, besides carrying out your
wishes i'll this respect has also the
ability and courage and influence to
further this greatest of all issues III the
interest of all even if by so doing he
might lose wealthy customers.
| will now close by calling your
attention TO an extract from a paper
school of instruction of health Off
GERS at Burlington, by c. P. Moat,
chemist to laboratory Of hygiene on
water supplies of our Vermont
towns:
Montpelier is supplied by few
springs which are mostly good, though
some are suspicious at times, and by the
city water coming from Berlin Pond
This is one of the supplies that we
have had an opportunity to inspect in
the field and find that the health of
the city is endangered by the camps
situated along the shores of the pond
and by the unsanitarv conditions ex-
listing III places along the stream as it
takes its way from the pond TO the
Montpelier reservoir, Especially is
this so at Berlin Corners where the
contents Of several priyies would be
/; washed into the stream by hard rain
and where a sewer enters directly into
the mill pond. Moreover, when | was
there barnyard refuse was trickling
into the streams, even though the
muck was partially covered up by a
one half inch of clean sand put there
since visit of Dr.. Holton's made a
few days before The pond itself two
miles long and One-half mile wide
situated among the bills, high above
the city, would be an ideal source with
tile conditions changed. But the city
must control the surrounding hills,
prohibit camps at the pond, or at any
rate have regulations for the filterng
of their sewage and drainage, and
correct the nuisances along the stream
in order to be sure of a safe supply.
At tile time of my inspection, last
August a single case Of typhoid among
the campers might have started a seri-
Gus epidemic in Montpelier as about
nine-tenths of the people use Berlin
water.
Coli were present in the summer
samples and in this case, l should not
say il was due to cattle. The results
of the two samples taken on the same
day one from the middle of the pond
and the other from the reservoir, are
interesting.
Respectfully,
Martin W. Wheelock.