The San Francisco call., 1908-07-13
Residents May Take Law in
Own Hands and Blow Up
Sewer Dams
Two Deaths From Typhoid
Fever Attributed TO Col.
lection of Filth
San Francisco Call Is Thanked
for Exposing Foul Condition
and Hayes Paper Scored

Property owners and residents OF
Alviso and vicinity have come forward
in large numbers to attest the truth of
the story published in The Call July
S concerning the terrible condition of
the bay outlet of the San Jose city
sewer at that point. Particularly do
those Alviso citizens feel indignant
at the attitude of the San Jose Mer-
curry, the organ of the Hayes broth
ers, which sought in long article to
minimize the seriousness of the Alviso
situation. A letter of thanks to The
Call, signed by. 500 residents Of the af-
hicted districts. has been received, veri-
flying the accuracy Of The Calls de-
scription OF the sewer outfall. save
that the real situation was far worse
than 1t was shown in The Call.
AROUSED BY MERCURY
c. 7. Boots, who has been an active
fighter in the movement to ameliorate
the situation at Alviso, has addressed
a personal letter to The Call, in which
he says the Alviso people were bitterly
aroused at the attitude Of the San Jose
Mercury IN unjustly attacking The
Calls article. The letter follows:
Alviso. July IL. 1e0s.
To The San Francisco Call:
Thursday, July ,, at the invitation
pf several OF the residents of this com
nunity. you very kindly sent a repre-
sentative here TO investigate the con-
dftion Of the San Jose sewer and OF
the oficlal treatment we had received.
Ne very truthfully reported the con-
ditions as he found them. Now our
home paper, the San Jose Mercury,
which OF all papers should look out for
our interests and not force US to appeal
70 The San Francisco Call for help,
came out in a lengthy article July 10
denying the truth OF the statements
published in your Issue Of July 8. We
residents Of this community felt that
not only was your representative most
Iniustly charged, but we ourselves
were insulted and we Immediately cir
culated the inclosed vote OF thanks
which you will find is signed by nearly
300 persons residing or owning prop
erty in the vicinity.
We do not know Of a single instance
where any one refused to sign, and II
we could have had time we would have
had the signature of every resident
but we only had from Saturday morn
Ing, July II, 70 Sunday noon, July 12
10 circulate our paper. Now we wish
70 send you a reply TO the article that
the San Jose Mercury so very unJustly
published
SEWAGE Is SHUT OFF
The Mercury says the sewage is not
shut on. but rushes with a roar into
the bay. We say il is shut on until
IL has formed a. lake, or, rather. a sue
cession OF lakes or wide sloughs Of
fully flve miles in length, and all this
foul mess IS confined until these
Eloughs are so full they can run over
into the bay, which only a very little
OF Il does, as most OF II evaporates,
spreading a foul smell over the whole
country from Sunnyvale to Warm
Springs and from Alviso TO San Jose.
The smell is so bad that we have TO
shut the windows and doors at night
but we can live through that-it is the
mosquitoes that we fear the most, for
we know they will cause malaria and
typhoid fever, and II has been reported
that there have been two deaths from
typhoid fever on the east side already.
May BLOW UP DAMS
We feel we cannot wait another day
Something must be done. and that al
once II not, we must take the law
into our own hands and blow up the
dams erected by the Southern Pacific
and the Dumbarton companies. The
Mercury states that your charges that
our complaints have passed unheede6
are false. We say that they are true
that the officials OF San Jose and Santa
Clara county have never done anything
for us or given US anything but prom
ises and advice to see some one else OF
have patience. and tell US they fully
realize the dangerous conditions, but
that we must walt, for such matters
move very slowly
The Call states the present condition
is Of only a few months standing. The
Mercury says IT Is Of two years. The
Call IS absolutely correct-it is only
OF the last few weeks that the sloughs
have become full OF sewage.
The Mercury says that the state
in The Call, were spoken only in the
imagination of your representative
Now some Of the parties interviewed
have told some of US the same stories
that we all believe they told your rep
resentstive. and IL some of those Off
cisls think they have been misQuoted
in regard 10 the danger threatened to
the community. we Will all send you
sworn statements that they told our
representatives fully as much and even
more than you published.
LETTER THANKS CALL
The letter Of thanks referred to in
the above has been signed by more thar
200 residents of the vicinity of the
plague spot. The letter and many OF
the names of signers follow:
Alviso, Cal. July 10, 1908
To the San Francisco Cali, San Fran.
We, the undersigned residents of the
northern part of Santa Clara county
wish to thank you for the article ir
the San Francisco Call Of Sunday, July
s. in reference TO the outfall of the SaT
lose sewer and we fully agree in what
YOU published in regard TO its present
condition, and in the treatment we have
received from the public officials OF
San Jose and Santa Clara county, u
whom we have appealed from time tC
time We realize the perilous condition
in which not only our own community
but the whole of Santa Clara county
and vicinity is placed, for while yoJ
stated terrible condition of affairs