Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-28


pert. declare that the conception of the
hydrolitic tank and the oxidiZing beds is
the result of close study of the numerous
experiments made at Lawrence by the
Massachusetts, board Of health. DR.. Karl
Imhof came over from Germany to tell
of methods of disposing Of sludge, the
settings of sewage. He has a specially
constructed series of tanks in which this
material is kept for months and then
forced out by sewage pressure for
spreading on sewage beds and final dis
posal. His idea is a modification of the
Travis idea. which frankly acknowledges
it's debt to Lawrence
One of the favorite ways Of disposing
OF the sewage Of cities is by discharging
1t in rivers or tidal
Run Through Big waters. The best
Settling Tanks. esmoe sri &c mas has
where there is a flow Of forty-five gallons
of water a second for each thousand of
population, or where there is a tidal cur
rent of a mile and half an hour, the
conditions created in the rivers may be
unobjectionable. Where other disposition
is necessary the sewage is usually run
through big settling tanks, where most
OF the organic material is deposited. At
the same time it is treated with chemi
Gals to partially purify it. The liquid is
then carried over extensive gravel beds,
where it is sprayed out liked water from
lawn sprayer, and permitted to filter
through the prepared beds
Another method of sewage disposal is
through sewage farming, with an acre
of land for each hundred of population
the sewage deposited daily varying from
fn 90
good absorbing qualities must be secured
and the sewage farm must be laid off into
sections. Care must be taken not to over
tax a piece of ground, as that binders
sewage sick" 1t must be well under
drained, SO that the purified water from
which the impurities have been filtered
out can escape. The sewage is turned
into big burrows at regular intervals
and the crops are grown on the ridges
between these burrows. 1t constitutes
sort of ''fertiliZed water irrigation, and
at Berlin as much as five tons of hay to
the acre has been gathered. Berlin paid
$13.OOO,OOO for its sewage farm plant,
but. Notwithstanding the big interest
charges, receives profit of $4,000 year
from its operation. 1t is manned by
prison labor.
Contrary to natural expectations life
on sewage farms is notably healthy At
the Paris sewage
Life on Sewage farms there is par
Farms Healthy. f f,eu1ar freedom .horna
diseases, and the death rate is constant
ly declining. 1t is predicted that this
ultimately will be the method of sewage
disposal generally adopted. Combining
all the advantages Of irrigation and
heavy fertilization. and having demon
strated that 1T need not be injurious to
health it may be employed as method
of disposal that is not financial drain
upon the community.
The evils of the smoke nuisance and
methods Of overcoming it got their share
Of attention at the hygiene congress.
while the city planning with view to
the promotion of public health. the tene
ment house problem as related to tuber-
culosfp and the assistance of rural COM
munities in the betterment of their SAM
tary and hygienic conditions claimed
much attention. Other questions involv-
even to the problems of sex and
genics. Dr. Charles B. Davenport. per-
haps Americas. foremost authority on
heredity and eugenics, told the congress
how practical social application of the
laws Of heredity might be made for the
Improvement of the race. while DIR. Ray
mond Pearl of Maine revealed a program
whereby pension system might be made
to aid in the work of breeding a strong
and sturdy race of people in this coun-
try.
The success that has attended the ap
plication of state and municipal hygiene
in the United States has been seemingly
phenomenal. In four years Dr. Dixon of
the Pennsylvania state board of health
and his lieutenants were able to reduce
the relative number of deaths in the state
by 1900. Other states where effective
action has been taken show the same
great gains.