The Washington herald., 1907-01-15
HEALTH-GIvING WATER.
Growing Use Of Carbonated Water
and Its Results.

Give us water that we may drink is
a cry heard in the typhoid-stricken cities
Of Scranton and Allegheny, and the cry
goes both to the heart and the conscience
of every citizen of Pennsylvania
Thus declared Dr. Edward Bedloe, the
distinguished EI0be-rotter and incident
ally the iadefatgable correspondent OF
the Oil City Derrick. who has just re-
turned from an upstate tour OF Penn
sylvania
The conditions in both Scranton and
Allegheny are the more lamentable." con
tinUcd DIR. Bedl0e, because they were
preventable. IN each city the origin OF
the typhoid epidemic that has swollen by
scores the normal death rate, has been
traced TO the water supply. There WAS
some question al first about the cause.
but I may cite DT. Samuel g. Dixon,
health commissioner Of Pennsylvania, as
authority for the statement that the
source Of these epl6emics has been traced
scientifically and conclusively TO the
water supply. The same statement ap-
plies TO other recent typhoid epidemics,
notably in Easton. Pa. and Ithaca. y. Y.
TO ascertain definitely the cause OF
such an III is to point the way TO its cure.
The cure is prevention by means of filtTa-
ton. In the meantime, while these and
other cities are constructing filtration
plants at a cost of millions of dollars. as
Washington has recently done. the people
must boil water for domestic use for
thirty minutes That is the requirement.
for example, enforced in Scranton under
martial law, in order 10 insure the de
struction Of all bGcilli
But il has been shown In both Scran-
ton and Allegheny. as It was shown a few
years ago in Philadelphia, that it is al
most impossible 10 enforce thoroughly
such n regulation in all households. There
are careless houSckeepers, and where
there are children who play and get
thirsty it is hard to keep them away from
the convenient faucet Nor even 70 the
most intelligent and prosperous Rouse
holds, where every prccaution may be
taken. is the filtration of a citys water
supply a thorough protection.
This has become one of the world S
greatest health problems, increasing in
Importance with the tendency Of popula-
ton to concentrate. and TO communize IT'S
public services. Some of the ablest minds
are devoted TO its solution. One Of the
ablest civil engineers in the country, FOR
example Dr. Hill was led to devote ali
Of his professional energies to the study
of water supply, because of the needless
death Of beloved child through the use
of contaminated water.
Many physicians advise for drinking
the exclusive use Of carbonated or 'izz'
waters, because the process of Oxygeniz-
ing water under pressure destroys all ami
mate germs The robust health of the
English and the consumption Of 4.0000
gallons of aerated water in 1906 indicate
the value of this method of preventing
epidemics.
The London Lancet, a high medical
authority, in commenting upon this ex-
teDsive use of effervescing beverages.
stated that the effervescent properties of
a liquid promote digestion I'm two ways
first, by the carbonic acid gas acting as
"a stimulant to the muscular movements
of the stomach, and, second. by assisting
in the disintegTaton Of its contents
What interests most people, however, is
not the scientific reasons for the exlan-
sive use Of sparkling wine like cham
pagne. or of pure. effeTvescent water. like
Tansan, but rather their availability and
cost.
But we are learning once more in re-
gard to water the lesson that the world
has learned as 70 almost everything else
we take into our systems; the cost OF
purity is less than the cost of doctors
bills or than the supreme cost Of death
The popular appreciation of this fact is
in part reflected in the enactment OF the
pure food law. Il is shown also in the
growing use Of ehervescent water of as
sured purity and softness. A distin-
guished French physician says that man
is as old as his arteries. Hard water
herdens the arteries, soft water keeps
them elastic and responsive to the pulse.
Hence il is that the japanese attribute
much of their vitality, proves. and
progress to the generous use of their
native sparkling water"