Chicago eagle., 1902-03-01

and lake and contaminatc the drinking
water
Boil the water Is u tritc and hack.
ncy~l phrase In Chicago. hut the In.
Junction wns never more important
than II promises to be- this coming
spring. II has saved hundreds of lives
In tlc past before its novelty had worn
of nnd when II was better needed than
1t has been recently. The department
Is seriously concerned over the situn.
ton"
So at last the Health Department has
been forced to tell the truth. II has been
obliged to cut loose from It's hypocrlti.
cal cant phrases Of "usablc.' potable. :"
good" and 80 forth. and to admit the
inct that our water supply. owing to
the policy Of iilrl followed by the city
administration In the past. is absolutely
bad and rotten.
Hut there IL more. The Health De.
partincnt tells us further that
'lnhucnza microbes have seized the
city AMI an epidemic prevails. Not since
the great epidemic In 1891 has Il been
50 prevalent. The disease IL assuming
more virulent form. and last week
caused twice as many deaths as the
week before.
"lnii'lcnza AMI typhoid came hand IN
hand In 1891. many eases of the lat.
ter following I'm attack of the former.
L.
tions."
Ana now. to make the outlook still
more fearful, II has become known that
smallpox In epidemic form hoy.rs ON
'hc frontiers Of our State. and has. In.
deed. here and there invaded II. Al
midnight of Feb. .2 there were twenty.
two eases of this awful pest, the direct
offspring of dirt. within the limits of
this very city.
'o,ild anything more drpadfully
threatening he imagined than thlsy Bu,
when we take these cOnditi0os I'm con.
junction with the fact that we arc now
confronted with proposed m,nlcipal
legislation. which would put an cmbar.
20 upon cleanliness by placing addition.
nl taxation upon water. and which
would restrict the Use of the cleansing
lpuid by curtailing It's supply through
system of measurement, the situation
may bc described rs simply awful.
~eA
Last week the Chicago Eagle gave
III" details of an absolutely true story
III reference to the use of water meters
ana the corruption In municipal circles |
arising therefr0m.
But If corruption existed IN this re
sard IN the past. what may be expected |
III the future II we are to have the
Use of water meters made
obligatory by municipal lcgislationy
That the measure Is Il corrupt one Is
I he belief Of most citizens. 1t Is looked
upon by thinking people as steal from
beginning to end, AMI many allegc that
the cry about wasting the water" Is
'mlncntiy calculated TO help the steal
along,
II Is known that in the past this wa
Ter meter business has c0rrupted for.
lncr Commissioners of Public Works
FORMER water meter inspectors, and in
fact all kinds of city officials high ana
low.
What Will the water meter steal be,
ma what will its effects amount 10 ON
MY officials. II by the enactment of the
"hdlhg ordinance 1t is made II whole
sale AFFAIR." This question the citizens
u Chicago are now anXiously asking
themselves.
BIt upon on" point all have their
minds made NJ and are agreed. namely:l
Ihai this ordinance Is II steal II need.
ii not the persistent r,imor that certain
inncri"s of this city had collected n
""i amounting To u cool million TO draw
ne people to this conclusion. The meas
ne bears the stamp of its dishonesty
lpon the face of II.
Ana, worse than AL: If the City Conn.
II puts Itself on record as fav0rlng this
MEASURE 1t will not only he thereby
eipihg out monopoly, but it viii by
Is own act do much toward bringing
fearful pestllence upon this city.
\SlA
Tho Enul. lns IA, |