Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-21
MUD AND

During the trial Of one of the many
suits between the city and the water
company, growing out of the operation
of Senate File No. l." testimony was
offered by the city 10 the effect that a
chemist had calculated that if the
water furnished by the company con-
tanned mud as indicated by the sample
he had examined at least thirty-one
tons of mud we're being served to
water consumers daily. This testi-
mony was seized upon by Omaha yell
lows and in huge headlines the state
ment was made that Omaha people
we're drinking t~hirty-one tons of mud
daily. The irresponsible correspon-
dents, always alert for sensational
matter to sell to yellow journals pub
lished in other cities, hurried the news
broadcast until it was finally flashed
under the sea and publication made in
England and ireland. An Omaha man
temporarily sojourning in Ireland
sends to The Bee this editorial clip
ping from the Belfast News Letter
concerning 1t:
An inquiry has taken place in Omaha into
allegations with regard to impurities in the
drinking water drawn from the Missouri,
and an eminent chemist says the supply is
so impure that at a moderate estimate the
citizens of Omaha imbibe no less than
thirty-one tons Of mud daily. And yet
there is no report of any epidemic or alb
--.-.-t a--AI -. Lg-t, -. f.A. ~ y,tl
to a population of something over 10000
works out at close upon half a pound each
enough to satisfy the greediest appetite.
Irishmen love their country quite as much
as any other people. but they draw the line
at eating II.
Here is a splendid sample of the
kind of advertising Omaha has re-
ceived too much of, due solely to the
efforts of thoughtless and irresponsible
persons in making %groundless charges
for the purpose of bolstering up some
unwarranted contention AS a matter
of fact, the chemist who testified was
not cross-examined. His testimony
was to the effect that the samples on
which he based his calculations were
taken at the time Of the year when the
problem of mud in the water is most
serious. If 1t were true, however,
that thirty-one tons of mud are daily
pumped into the mains from the set
thing basins at Florence, the inference
that this mud is entirely consumed by
the 100000 inhabitants of Omaha is
ridiculous.
At present the water company is
pumping more than 10000, 600 gal
Ions daily for the use of its consumers
This is at the rate, on the chemists
assertion, of one pound Of mud to $50
gallons of water. The great bulk of
this water is used not by private indi-
viduals, but by the great railroad and
manufacturing enterprises served, only
a small portion of it going into indi-
vidual or home uses. AS a matter of
fact, the average family of five persons
uses about 100 gallons of water daily.
I This is for all purposes, including
lawn sprinkling. This will reduce the
use of water to about twenty gallons
per capita, OF which twenty gallons
not to exceed two ere used for drink
ing purposes, so that a short calcula-
ton will demonstrate that II the aver
age individual drinks two gallons Of
water a day at the worst season of the
year he will a trile over one
tenth Of an ounce of Missouri river
mud.
But this is not the point. The real
issue is that the attorneys for the
Water board, in their zeal to turn q
point in favor of their contention and
enable them to evade ~contractual obli-
cations, have shown themselves willing
TO furnish material that will be used
by the thoughtless for a long time to
come to defame Omaha and deride its
claims to being a delightful place to
live. The city could better have at
forded to pay the water company's