Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-07

alone a difficult me, but apparently its
limits have been reached. The problem
will be much more formidable when IT Is
necessary to contend with the vast IN
crease of pollution incident to the crowd
ing of the territory of the water supply
1t is mentioned as lamentable should
the capital of the wealthlest and most
progressive country on earth have no
alternative but the drinking OF inferred
sewage for untold years to come. Its
present source of water supply was Sc
lected more than a half century ago,
when the capital was scarcely more than
an overgrown town and little thought
was entertained that 1t would even ap-
proximate city of a half million or peo-
pie within the next hundred years. Aside
national pride and. above all. huma nifty
are said to demand that no effort or ex-
pense be spared TO check the great sacri-
flee Of life and health.
Great Filth Disease.
That there exists a certain definite ratio
in both Europe and this country between
the mortality of the great filth disease
and the character of the water supply
is unquestioned According to the best
authorities this mortality ranges from ten
deaths and less per 100000 in cities sup
Piled by mountain springs to double that
are the sources of supply.
Universal experience has demonstrated,
no matter how thorough the methods OF
filtration, that all filtered waters. save
those derived from mountain sprlnga
or artesian wells are subject to bacterial
augmentation, notably so during late
winter months and early spring, when
streams are flooded with the anuse OF
melted ice and snow. Then, again. II
frequently happens without any assign
under apparently normal conditions sud
denly lose their property or excluolng
pathogen:c organisms, an event always
fraught with disaster to the exposed
community
The following. taken from Fuertes. give
the mortality rates from typhoid In Amer
lean cities according to source OF water
supply, the experience of European cities
varying from them slightly II at az:
Mountain springs. 10 or less per loouoo
filtered waters. 20 and ABOVE: GROUND
waters. 50. impounded waters. 80: large
normal rivers, 81; great lakes, o.: up
land streams. 55; polluted waters. lo.
The average death rate from typhoid In
this city for the ten years 1895 to 1904, In
elusive. was 90 per 100000.
Solution of the Problem.
1t is explained by an authority that,
fortunately for the solution of the prob
lem, the National capital has within easy
access one Of the purest and most copious
sources of alter supply in the country
1.-The melted SHOWS and unsullied floods
of unscathed mountains flow past our
gates TO the sea and instead OF tapping
the virgin flood at its FOUNTAINS, IKE un-
clean barbarians, we Gull our draughts
from its polluted tides heaolly ana
cheaply the cradle OF the Potomac. the
mountains the piedmonts and the valleys
of the Appalachians. can become our own.
Years hence, when the valleys and slopes
of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies snail
have become thickly settled region,
the task of acquisition will involve no
end of trouble and expense. What Is
readily feasible now will be either pro-
hibitory or impracticable within the next
two decades Within twenty years after
the obtension of the territory and the
utilization of its water 1t WIN oegn 70
nav handsomely as an investment. When
The people of the country learn that we
have the finest drinking water on the
continent the best people on the CONT
nent will come and live with us"
There are declared to be no reasons why
the general government cannot acquire
both watersheds of the Potomac. These
regions are as yet for their greater por-
ton very thinly settled and land values
extremely low. The watersheds are both
long. very narrow. encompassed by tall
mountain ranges and very readily protected
from every source of possible pollution.
and properly conserved the snow and
rainfall Of the region would afford ample
water supply for centuries to come. while
its heights and piedmonts would In time
become a great forest reserve.
The Potomac river is formed by the
union Of Its north and south branches on