Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-29

CITY WATER FiRsT-WELLs NEXT
Believes That While City Water Supply
Should be Looked to First, the Sur
face Wells of a Town are Equally
Danserous-suspeets Some Milk
suppIies-contas ion Possible.

! DIR. Hoffman,. bacteriologist, rep
| resenting the state board Of health
| arrived in the city Thursday and viii
promptly begin series of investiga-
tons extending over a period of severa
| weeks, to locate and discover, If pos.
3sible, the cause of the typhoid fever
from which this city has suffered
Among his first acts was to install q
Fastener bacteria filter at the water
works, which will collect the bacteria
from large volume of water and in
dictate conditions that could not be as
certained from single samples. He also
investigated the Highberger case, in
which q whole family has been stricken
and finds that the source of disease
there must be in surface we'll, for
this family has not used city water at
all.
In talking to a group of citizens last
evening, the doctor talked at some
length and seemingly very intelligently
about ais experience in work of this
kind. He believes that 1t Is first neces-
sary to examine thoroughly the city
water supply, and discover the things
to be done to correct any defects in the
system, but the doctor is very em-
phatic in his protests that this is not
sufficient The work must not end
here, for he is positive in his belief that
the surface wells of town like this
offer fully as great opportunities for
fever breeders as the city water sup
ply and he will make extensive investi-
cations among the surface wells OF the
city.
The doctor also believes that not
nearly Ill cases come from contaminated
water, but that when one or two cases
in neighborhood have been caused
by impure water, many other cases can
be traced to carelessness in preventing
infection by contagion. He says that
the city can thank its stars that the
trouble came before fly time. or the
conditions would have been inmeasur-
ably worse.
The milk supply will also come in for
Investigation. The doctor believes that
he has already located one milk man
whose cans are being washed in inn
pure water, and the public can. only
surnliss how much of that same water
found its way into the milk He IN
tends to make thorough tests OF all sup
plies and conditions and IL necessary.
ask the council to prohibit the sale Of
milk where the conditions are bad.
When asked about reservoirs, filters,
etc. the doctor replied that the Ultra
ton system was the ideal system. and
he thought that one could be installed
for this city at a cost of about $20,-
900, altho he stated that he was not an
engineer and could make only rough
estimates. He thought that sanitary
engineer should be brought here to de-
termine whether the gravel bed supply
was capable OF producing water enough
for the city's needs. before money was
spent further on the system. He heart
lily endorsed McBrides aeriating reser-
voir system. provided the original water
supply in the wells proves to be pure
at all times and can be delivered to
the mains uncontaminated. Scientific
filtration Of the whole water supply
and rigorous measures for sanitation IN
times of disease are the doctors hob
bies. His work and findings here VIII
be watched with interest