The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-23
WATER AND DISEASE.

WATER AND DISEASE.
 Al the recent convention of soyer- nors in Washington one of the not able addresses was delivered by Dr. e. M Kober, Professor of Hygiene in Georgetown University. His subject was conservation of Life and Health by Improved Water Supply" and the object was to show especially how im- pure drinking water causes typhoid fever, and also a number of other dis eases. He showed that typhoid germs were undoubtedly carried from Cum berland to Washington, distance Of | is4 miles, by the river water. He showed that an epidemic of typhoid in Cumberland, which Is on the Potomac River was followed by a serious out { break of the same disease at Wash ington, showing conclusively that the water supply of the latter city was contaminated by the fever germs at Cumberland. He further said:
 What has been said of Potomac river Is equally applicable to the Ohio, MISS issippi, Merrimac; Connect,eus; r,uer. be- | cause they are the sewers and at the same time the source of water suppIy | for nearly all the cities located on | over, a marked prevalence of typhold l fever, thus confirming what has been observed over and over again, that l this disease. as also cholera. dysen- i oA 1 ried from one town or city to another by means of inland waterways ln- deed the question Is one of extreme great lakes, the basin of which. ac- | cording to the census statistics leS- pecially the area contiguous to lakes | Ontario, Erie and Michigan). IS next 10 the Atlantic seaboard the most dense | ly populated area of the United States
 All this is significant because 1t refers to one of the most dreaded and obstinate of human diseases. and also shows how that disease is carried from one infected point to another by flow ing water. Polluted water from one city may form the water supply of another city on the same stream and infect those who drink 1t with dead ly disease germs. Each year this be- comes a matter of more vital impor- tance in this country and shows the intimate relation between drinking water and human health. There ap- pears to be but two remedies for this evil. One is to supply cities with pure artesian water where it is possible to do so, and when this cannot be done the water should be filtered thorough ly or otherwise cleared of all disease germs. That pure drinking water means a minimum of some of the most I dangerous human diseases is now an established fact.
 It Is only within a comparatively recent period that this subject has been studied and discussed with much attention and detail, because, in most portions of this country it's impor- tance was not understood. When the country was new and thinly settled ting good drinking water. If the wells and the natural springs did not afford a sufficient supply the streams were generally clear and the water pure and abundant. Now all is diff ferent. In many of the large cities the only source from which a suf- ficiency of water can be obtained is found in the nearby rivers and lakes. | If city Is located by the side of a river and obtains it's supply of water from the same it stands a chance to drink water that has been polluted by the washings and sewage from all the towns and cities located on the rivers banks higher up. Each city by which the river passes adds its share of foulness and disease germs and at length water becomes little less than a loaded pest purveyor.
 The case alluded to by Dr. Kober of Cumberland and Washington is prominent one. The fact that typhoid in Cumberland was followed by a seri- ous epidemic in Washington was ac- counted for by the fact shown on in- vestigation that the water was loaded with the germs of typhoid. and thus the disease was naturally and easily carried from one city to the other. It proves exclusively. or practically so. that 1t is dangerous to drink water which flows by or through a disease stricken city.
 Nor are the conditions much better when the water supply is obtained from a lake or pond. either natural or artificial. In a thickly settled region 1t is practically impossible to con struct an artificial reservoir, or to find natural one, which will be safe from the pollution caused by the water of the surrounding country flowing into 1t. A city that is so fortunate as to have an ample supply of pure artesian water is blessed above computation, and any expense necessary to obtain and preserve that supply Is money well spent.
 THE DICTATOR.
 All the indications point to the fact AL