The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-04-13
They Are Stopping Up "Intes.
tines of the City,
DR.. Snyder Having Trouble in
Removing DISTINCTIONS.
CHEAPER THAN EVER.
Best Of This Delicious Fruit at
30 Cents.
Apples Cost a Great Deal More
in Topeka.

So many oranges are being eaten by
the people of Topeka that the sewers
are getting stopped up with the peel
ings.
This is the remarkable discovery
made by Street Commissioner Snyder.
Within the past week, he has been
called upon to remove three different
plugs of orange Feelings which had
collected at different points in the city.
OF course there were other things
besides orange peelings which con-
tributed to the blockade, but the peel
ings were what started the trouble in
each case.
Oranges have never before been SO
cheap. Everybody has been eating
them. They can be bought by the
buSnel at about half the price of ap-
pies. They can be bought by the
dozen all the way from 10 to 80 cents.
Thirty cents buys the very biggest and
finest fruit on the market; 10 cents
gets nice, sweet oranges of small size.
h condition has continued for sew
eral months, and it is not much Won
der that at last the vast accommodations
of orange Feelings has become too
heavy for the sewers of the town to
handle. What Victor Hugo calls the
"intestines' of this city are suffering
from an owe indulgence in fruit, just
as the little boy is trouble with in
ternal pains after the consumI ton of
too many small green apples.
OF course this is not the first time
that Topeka has had trouble with its
great underground digestive tract, al
though it is the first time that orange
Feelings can be held accountable. Street
Commissioner Frank Snyder, who is al
ways called as physician in such all
ments, knew what to do to alleviate the
difficulty. It was the Old, old story to
him. He his sewer gang,
went to the man hole next above the
place where the plug had collected, and
lowered a line of hose into the hole.
Then the hose was pushed down the
sewer toward the blockade as fast as
possible. Next q plug made of gunny
sacks, hay, old rags and other material
was inserted in the sewer around the
hose, and firmly braced so that it was
impossible for it to blow backwards.
Then the water was turne through the
! hose, and just as soon as the sewer was
full of water, the full force of the wa
ter pressure was brought to bear direct
~ On the blockade of orange Feelings
at the other END. When this state of
affairs is brought about, the next thing
which is heard is a swish and roar, as
the lockad bursts, and the imprisoned
water goes rushing down the sewer,
carrying orange peelings, sticks, brick
bats and anything else of movable ma
ture along with it.
h is the quickest and most inexpen-
sive way of removing a blockade or
stOppage in a sewer. The only other
way is to dig up the sewer, hunt for the
place where the plug is located, and re-
move it. h means days and some
times weeks of digging. It costs the
city a lot of money to remove a Choke
in this way.
But there are some objections to the
water cure as a means of relieving in
testinaI troubles under a big city. c.
P. Bolmar tells Il sad story about his
experience. He says:
The other day the sewer back of
Stormont hospital choked up. 1t has a
habit of choking. The sewer there is
only 6 inches in diameter. It is big
enough for ordinary domestic use, but
it never was intended for a big institu-
ton like Stormont hospital. 1t is nat
ural that some Of the employees about
such an institution should be careless
concerning what they put into the sew
ers. We have a choke out there every
little while.
well, when they tried to blow out
the plug with water pressure. thew
got my sewer connections betWeen the
choke and the place where they let
the water in. The result was they
gave my plumbing the full benefit of
iall that water pressure, II blew ont
the connections in the celler. It took
me just one day to get the stuff out
Of my cellar that the sewer let in. NY
cellar has a clay floor, and it is thor
Oughly soaked with sewage to a depth
of a foot or so. It is a terrible muss,
and 1 don't think the city should be
allowed to damage my property this
way
There is no doubt that Mr.. Bolmar.
like lots of other people who have had
the same difficulty. are justified in
making a complaint. Whether it is
the city's business to see to it tina
everybody has their sewer connection
put in with sufficient strength to re-
sist the pressure of a water blow OUT
is another question. No doubt the
city would contend that if a sewer
connection is properly made, there
will no danger of flooded cellars.
Street Commissioner Snyder says TT
sometimes happens that the water pres
sure necessary to blow out a choke in
the sewer is so high that it backs UP
into the cellars. and overf1ows. OF
course there are traps supposed to pre-
vent this, but sometimes the pressure
is too strong. It is always something of
| a risk to blow out a choke with water.
but it saves so much time and expense
! that it is frequently resorted to-"
I The only way that the difficulty about
: sewers choke with orange Feelings can
be averted is simply for people to quit
: put the peelings into the sewers-or else
: quit eating oranges When oranges get
high priced there viii not be any trou-
bic about orange-peel chokes.