Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-06-20

Vii INC IioiiilS oiNCi A-''t 4'AoiiNtiJ
evenings great mass meeting for pure
water at City hall the Journal pub
lished an abstract of the remarks Of
Hon. H. M. Heath. 1t takes pleasure in
giving below the full text of his speech
on that occasion, speech which is
unanswered and unasWerable in favor
of the formation of the proposed Au-
gusta Water district. Together with
Mr.. Heath's communication which ap-
peared in the Journal, Friday, it makes
good Sunday reading for the people of
our city:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is a very hard hall to speak in
and it is especially hard for me to-
| night as I find myself at a season of
the year when I am pretty well worn
out working more than nine hours a
day 1 therefore ask your very care
full attention. 1 have no speech to
make and 1 don't wish to say any
| thing that will be in the nature of a
speech. A representative of Boston
paper came to me this afternoon and
said it would be great favor to him
| if 1 would give him in advance the
manuscript of my speech. why,
Lord bless you," L replied, Il have no
| speech to make; 1 am going over to
City hall to talk with men, who like
| myself have children they worry
about every time they think of the
water furnished by the Augusta Wa
ter Company" So l am not here to
say anything in the nature Of a
speech.
Some SiXtepn had in
this city two very imperfect little water
systems. Mr.. George p. Wescott of
Portland, a very wealthy man, who had
| made a success of the Portland Water
Company, came here and bought up the
stock of the Augusta Water Company
| and the Legislature broadened out for
him it's charter, so that the company
was able, if the city SO voted, to give
us a modern system of water works.
| The question then arose whether the
Augusta Water Company, owned and
| controlled by Mr.. Wescott, should
| furnish the water or whether the city
should do it. This city had then, as it
now has, and ever since has had, debt
| of about S per cent, and you all of
you know as voters and business men,
| that under the constitution of this
| State no city can run in debt more
than per cent. 1t was we'll under
stood that these works would cost in
| the neighborhood of 5000, 900, and for the
| city to build them would mean taxing
| the people for 100000, which, of course,
was all out of the question, and there
was nothing left, the city couldn't
borrow the money to do it, if we
| wanted to be up with the other cities
| of this State, except to allow the Au-
gusta Water Company to put in their
works.
At that time it was a we'll known
| fact, especially among ship-masters
| who came up the Kennebec to take
| their supply of water for foreign Voy-
ages, that there was no water to be
| found anywhere more pure than the
Kennebec river water. Many a foreign
ship has come to take the Kennebec
water to fill it's water casks for its
long voyages, for that reason. That
| WAS sixteen years ago. At that time
| there was no water system in any city
| or town above us. There was no pulp
mill above us, unless possible a small
mill at Fairfield, but this is soda mill,
| or was then. Within the past few
years conditions have greatly changed.
| Now after sixteen years we lind above
us a first-class water system covering
| Winslow and Waterville and Fairfield
| You go up the river and you ma
| another water system at Madison,
another one at Skowhegan, and you are
| all familiar with the massive pulp
mills that line the river from Winslow
to Caratunk Falls, and you know
what they are doing and what they
are now pouring into the fennebec
river. and that is not all. Since that
| time Waterville has perfected mag
| nifcent system of sewerage, having
probably the best and most thorough
| system in the State of Maine, so that
all the filth of Waterville is collected
| together in this magnificent sewerage
| system and poured directly INTO our
| water supply. Madison has sewerage
| system, Skowhegan has FAIR sewer
age system; all emptying into the Ken
nebec river. Those are the conditions
| that face Augusta today.
During the past winter you are aware
| that Il typhoid fever epidemic broke out
| in Waterville and continued throughout
| the winter. All that was poured out
| from the human body of those victims
| in Waterville went down the sewer
pipes. came down the Kennebec river,
| was stopped here by the dam and with
the sheet of ice over the mill pond was
| kept there to be poured into our water
pipes. and. as q natural and necessary
result this city was visited with an cpl
demic of typhoid fever as never before
in it's history Every physician In TINS
city knows and viii tell you that, stop
ped there as it is by the dam, not being
a moving river that carries off impurl-
ties, there are lodged in this mill pond
this very hour, those intinltesimai III
sease germs that will make an epideilic
for winters and winters to come.
Why do l say winter? because OF
the fact known to every water WORKS
man and engineer, that when the sun
gets at the water, q large part OF the
disease germs that the sun can strike
are killed. The greatest filtration agent
in the universe is! not alum juice my
friends, it is the sun and the air, as EVIL
denced here by the fact which perhaps
you may not all have thought OF put
which was called to my attention ny
one of the leading physicians OF the city,
that when the ice went out and the Lord
Almighty through those mighty mira