The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1911-08-12

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clappcd him into prison for life. And
when. during the Spanish-American war,
some twenty-five hundred OF the boys
IN khaki were needlessiy slaughtered,
many Of them BY typhoid. we denounced
In scathing terms those oficials whose
carelessness and incompetency caused
the tragedy. But we hear with abso-
lutte indifference the statement that
yearly the pollution of our water
sources neediessiy causes more than
$4,000 typhoid illnesses and $50
deaths We pay no heed to the fact
that year after year in the United
States seven times as many people are
needlsssly Ill Of typhoid fever as there
were soldiers wounded in the battle of
Gettysburg. and three times as many
persons needlessly die from typhoid
fever 40 met death in that tragic strue
gle.
II 10 the old. old story of the mote ~
and the beam. We do not see the enor. ~
nifty of this terrible wrong, because we
are ourselves the authors of 1t. We are lust
~ responsible for those $1,000 yearly deaths
a. our army officers were for the tragedies
IN our Spanish war camps And our motive
Is just AZ mercenary as was that Of the physi-
clan who gave typhoid germs to gain a her
itage. For we, too, are actuated by financial
reasons: We are unwilling to pay the price
Of water publication So we continue to smite
the rock of polluted water supply and there
gushes forth sewage. And when our children
ask for water we give them poison.
To be suitable-that is, to be potable and
ut for domestic use-water must be practi-
cally free from pathogenic germs, color, sedi-
ment, odor. taste and tubidity. Hardness
makes laundering difficult Iron spells linen.
Carbonic-acid gas turns water pipes brown.
Alsae make water taste bad. Water supplies
differ widely as human beings, Pure, whole
some water" the term set forth in 80 many
water contracts, Is, then, wholly relative
term. Really pure water is rare thing be-
cause there hardly exists in nature water that
does not contain some foreign ingredients.
Not all Of these are harmful however, SO that
water that Is fit to drink is common
really pure water is rare. So that generally
speaking the question Of good water supply
is merely question Of being willing to spend
the money necessary to obtain It. Hence
there ought to be community in the United
States that does not have plentiful supply
of perfectly wholesome water.
Anything but wholesome, however, is the
quality of the water that all too often we
actually get. DIR. F W. Shumway reporting
on water conditions In Michigan. says In part:
"Of the ninety-nine replies received. 70 per
cent reported the water as good. IL per cent
as fair. and 10 per cent as Of bad quality.
The replies from 1874 localities indicate that
in 43 per cent OF these localities the public
water supplies are in danger Of contamina-
ton" DR.. @. o. Sutherland. discussing water
conditions in Wisconsin. says that in his state
nearly every stream used for any kind OF
supply Is contaminated to some extent by
sewage" Health Commissioner G. A. Badng.
speaking OF Milwaukee's water supply. says
that most of the citys water comes from Lake
Michigan, but that there are still 5000 wells
~ oh huu hAnn
shown to be contaminated. Lake Michigan
IL the source of water for many other towns
near It. One Of the tributaries Of Lake Mchi-
gan II the Grand Calumet river And here 10
what Health Commissioner W. A. Evans. OF
Chicago, has to say Of the Grand Calumet:
1.-The greater part Of the sewage from tho
business and residential districts (of Ham
mond, Ind) empties into the Grand Calumet
which, as It flows through Hammond, Is al
most unspeakably vile and putrescent And
this stream empties into the lake only 5000
feet from the waterworks intake" DR.. Ed
ward Barlow. analysing conditions In Illinois.
says that IAN examination OF the untreated
lake water shows that unsatisfactory water 10
frequently delivered at Evanston. Lake For
est, Glencoe North Chicago. Waukegan. Will
mette and Winnetka. And that the wa
ter supplies of all cities which use unfiitered
lake water are shown to be impure at times.
ana tn1S COnuitlOH vi tho ""seA S~Ff.'
be taken as typical of the entire country A
very considerable proportion OF our drinking
water is absolutely unfit for human consump-
tion.
Criminal negligence Is the sole and only
cause of such a condition. We dig a cesspooi
and well in the same yard, and the contents
Of the one seep through the earth into the
other We place privy vault few rect rom
our well hole, and the rams wash the ntn
from the former into the latter. We denie tne
surface of the ground SO that every rainstorm
sweeps the defilement into our streams DID
Won ever stand at the edge of barnyard ana
watch the rain falling from the ROOF OF the
barn and pig pen to the manure plies oelow'
slowly accommodating in pools OF reddish piack.
and draining away into nearby stream, ana
40 on into some ones drinking water! VI
have YOU ever stood by river BANK ana
watched a sewer belching forth It's innnitey
mora harmful human corruption? The IDEA
Of drinking such nauseating stun Is not pleas
ant: but that IL exactly what millions OF US
are doing. Like tho dog we have turned 10
our own vomit For. to quote Theodore Hot
ton. Chief Engineer Of the New YORK state
Health Department. I'VE pump NTH into
stream by one pipe. and by another pipe we
pump Il out again to drink
Let mo give you some ccncrete instances
Of how our drinking water 10 denied In rurai
( New York inspectors from ithaca found
farmer. who patterning after Hercules meth
/ Cd OF cleaning the Augean stables. nad ouiit
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