The Washington herald., 1907-03-10

Country Now in Archives OF On1-
versity-ArticIe by Outwater.
Both the citizens committee and the
alumni committee of the George Wash
ington site fund campaign met at George
Washington University yesterday after
noon and discussed the progress which
has been made 1t was announced that
meeting of all the committees will be held
at the Shoreham Hotel tomorrow night
when a list Of the latest subscribers viii
be made public
At yesterdays meeting of the citizens
committee several large donations were
informally announced which will swell
the total sum considerably above the
100000 mark. but no formal statement OF
the amount was made. The alumni com
mittee likewise reported some progress
in the work, and the meeting at the Shore
ham is certain to be productive OF further
subscriptions.
Example of Graduate study.
As an example of the kind Of graduate
study that can be done in Washington
better than any other city Of the eoun-
try. there has been deposited in the
archives Of George Washington Univer-
sity 4 thesis on the topic a Study OF
the Water of the Potomac River and its
tributaries" which was submitted in
part satisfaction of the requirements for
the degree of master of science by Ray
mond Outwater whose untimely death
lust a month ago interrupted a career Of
great promise.
This study OF Mr. Outwater's. the de-
tails of which have never been published
before. bids fair 20 be of the nature Of
memorial of very promising scholar.
It's importance is evidenced by the fact
that it was purchased by the Geological
Survey and added to their collection OF
/ original data bearing on this question.
which so vitality concerns the National
Capital In quality it illustrates just
+ that kind Of special research which Is
likely TO be again emphasized at the
/ Joint meeting under the auspices of the
citizens committee and the alumni COM
mittee of the George Washington Uni
ycrsity endowment fund campaign
Mr.. OutwRter's Conclusions.
! In the midst Of its technicalities Mr.
Outwater's study serves to convey d great
deal Of information about river water
with which most Washingtonians are
/ likely 70 DE unfamiliar. Probably almost
everybody. for example. has the idea that
running water puTities itself. This stu
dent. who tested examples Of the water
of the river and its many tributaries from
"a wide area, reached the following con-
/ clusion.
while il is evident that pollution oc-
Acurs AT many points, especially on the
tributaries and that evidence of this
. pollution can in most instances still be
+ seen after the water has entered the main
stream. yet the water does not seem to be
more polluted at Great Falls than it does
at many points farther up the river. and
on the tributaries. and at the same time
iit has not been radically purified during
its flow
The popular notion certainly Is that as
"a river tumbles along over its rocky and
sandy bed the oxygen from the air some
how combines with whatever impurities
are contained In the water and renders
them harmless.
Suggested by DIR. MunrOe.
This undertaking of Mr. Outwater's was
made at the suggestion Of Dr. Charles z.
Nunroe. Of the graduate department OF
the university who for many years has
been urging systematic and scientific in
vestiCation Of the Washington water sup
ply. The investigator started with GER
] tain definite theory regarding what pure
water should be-. A potable water. Do
/ argued should not be- injurious 70 health
To should not possess q disaEreeable odoI
or color. or be unpalatablei and 1t should
not be too hard for washing purposes OF
/. boiling uses. a river becomes "a positive
menace TO health when there is an exces-
sive discharge OF sewage into the water
7. and when for any reason ii carries the
germs of specific diseases.
This means that. other things being
I equal. river suffers in a hygieniC sense
, from the population in its valley. EXpe
rience has shown that there should not bt
I at the outside more than three hundred
! people per square mile of watershed
/ Even with as many as this. eff course
7. care and decency in the disposal of sew
age should be insisted upon.
Secured Specimens of Water.
With means at hand from specially
equipped laboratories and with assistanc,
from Prof 1Iunroe, Prof. +. W. Clarke
/ chief chemist Of the United States Geolog
/ |ical Survey, and. other eminent authorities
/ Mr.. OutwateT travelled up and down tn
! Potomac Valley securing specimens o
/ water from the various mountain streams
that flow into the upper waters of III,
river. where the estimated population o
/ + the watershed for 1850 was 44.5 per squar
| mile The shenandoah and its tribu
/ taries, as we'll as the North Branch. Town
| Creek, Sideling Creek. Fifteen Mile Creek
/ Antietam Greek, and many more tina
/ come into the river from the north. o
| Maryland side were all tapped. The Of
| feet of such cities as Hagerstown ant
| / Frederick was carefully studied.
/ At the end OF a long series of chemica
investigations Mr.. OutwateT could tabu
late the total Of solids in measure of un
| ! filtered or of filtered water from severa
! / score of sources in the Potomac Valley
| and mad record Of the traces of free am
monia, of albuminoid ammonia, of nitric
and nitrates and of chlorine. The latter
| + especially, is an Invaluable test Of tn
| quality, though not the quantity of pollu
| ton. for 1t is, as is well known a chic
! component Of common salt. For this re
- gion there is a certain normal amount o
it in all water. but the presence of an alb
I normal amount is tTaceabIe almost in
? variabIy to sources Of human pollution
specifically from sewage.