Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-13
UtAIH lURkS IHtRE
Startling Conditions DisCov-
cred by Health Department.
DRINKING WATER POISONED
Surface Drainage Contaminates the
Springs.
MANY LIVES DESTROYED
Of 22S Houses Inspected in South
east Suburbs 4S Were Found
Unfit for Habitation.
DRINKING WATER POISONED
LIVES DESTROYED

The health department has just COM
pleted a house-to -house inspection In
certain portions of Anacostia. Good Hope.
Garfield and portion OF Hillsdale. and
has shown conditions which the average
citizen of a civilized community would
scarcely believe. The district chosen for
inspection shows the highest death rate
in the city for the colored population.
The white residents of the sections men,
toned are confined principally to loca-
tons we'll supplied with water and sew
ers, but the colored people in the locali-
ties inspected are blessed with neither
sewers nor running water, SO the In
spectors report, and the conditions re-
sulting from the sewage being thrown
out into yards and streets have made the
supply of drinking water a menace to
every life in the community. Most of the
families go to the nearest spring for all
the water they need. The examination
shows that the springs in some cases are
the abiding places of slow and deadly
poiscns.
The records show that children have
died by scores from intestinal diseases
which are directly traceable to the fact
that the people in this district throw
their sewage almost in the very water
which they drink.
Health officials say that just one-half
of the persons who have died in the sec
ton under observation would probably
have lived if there had been better ia
cilities for living, such as sewers and
running water.
Unfit for Habitation.
Out Of 22s houses inspected, forty-three
We're so dilapidated that the inspectors
recommended that they should be torn
down altogether. A typical case was that
of a house with no plaster. scarcely any
ventilation and with reeking floors. A
colored woman who had lived in the
house nearly a score of years was asked
If her health was good
ooh vas sub; ma health's fine" she
replied with a grin.
But ii developed further that eight of
her thirteen children had died before they
were five years old, from colds and other
causes which might have been eradicated
in a house of better living conditions.
A typical case also is that of a lean-to
shack with one ten-by-ten room. One
window covered with smelly burlap Jet
in or kept out light and air The cracks
in the roof attended to much of the ven
tilation and let the rain drip I'm. The
floor had more holes in 1t than boards.
In this ten-by-ten den lived man and
his wife, three young children and some
times married daughter. in service In
the city. and who lived with the folks
whenever she was out of employment
Beds, tables, a rickety stove and heaps
of filthy clothes furnished the fittings OF
this apartment There was no suggestion
of water or sewer service. No outbulld-
ings of any description were on the prem
Uses. The sewage was thrown out of the
front door, and trickled into spring
used by the occupants of the shanty. and
from which several other families in the
neighbOrhood obtain water.
This special spring showed a trcmen-
dous lot of filth after analysis. Exanlna-
hot line in he
neighborhood had resulted from drinking
the water.
Contamination of Springs.
A large proportion of the people in that
section says John Norris, the inspector
who made the rounds, depend on springs
alone for their drinking water: and the
springs seem sure to give fevers and in
testinal diseases if they are not kept
clean. The analyses of springs other
than the one mentioned show bacilli of
one of the most dangerous forms of con-
tagion.
The one redeening feature of the
worst of the shacks is that they are we'll
ventilated. The holes in the roof and
walls let in plenty of fresh air in the
warmer months. but there is much doubt
in the inspectors mind about the VEN
tilation in the winter when the chinKs
are stuffed tight with rags.
In addition to the forty-three houses
that will probably be demolished as soon
as possible. sixtyfour outbuildings will
have to he rebuilt or cleaned up. This
will protect i'm q way the drinking water. |
Many houses with defective drainage
have wet cellars and floors. Mucn
rheumatism results from this condition |
One of the worst sufferers told the in
spector that he had suffered SO much
from rheumatism that he could not bail
out his cellar and dry his floors. but
that when the rheumatism left him he
would get to work. The inspector told
him he was like dog chasing his tail |
and that IL he waited for the rheumatism
to leave him the cellar would be wet for
all eternity.
Many of the yards in the neighborhood
will have to be cleaned up before the |
health department is satisfied. The resi-
dents of twenty-four houses have elected |
to throw garbage into the front yard
instead of getting it farther away from
their living rooms.
The health department wants to have
the sewer and water service extended to
this region.