New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-12
DR.. G. A. Soper, of Sewer
age Commission, Ar
raigns City's System.
FIGURES FOR TYPHOID
NOT A TEST OF HEALTH
All Bacilli at Hand in Rivers, tx
pert Insists, Opposing Bath
ing PavilionS.

New York has the most unclean haroor
Of any port in the world, according TO Or
George A. Soper. president Of the Metro
noIitan Sewerage Commission, which has
lust completed its survey Of New YORK
waters and submitted its final report ano
recommendation TO Mayor Mitchell
The city. on the other hand. has the
most eficient health department In the
world, according to the same authority
and its plan to prevent public bathing IN
the polluted waters Of the North ana
East rivers has his most emphatic ap-
prevail
1T Is a question OF keeping sewage cut
Of the water or keeping the people out OF
the water" said DR.. Soper yesterday
and until conditions are radically inn
proved the public health demands a hait
TO the issuing of more bathing pavilion
permits
81 am a great believer in water sports.
When I was a lad around New YORK
haunted the docks. and have trained my
small bows so that they can swim across
the Hudson. l should like TO see condi-
tions changed so that the people of New
York could have the advantage of the
facilities nature intended for the inhaoi-
tants OF the island.
Or. Simon Baruch has aptly salo'
Manhattan is n body OF land surrounded
by sewage You have only 10 go TO the
foot Of Broad st. to see a great Sc"
Ciischarging into the river. 1t is a sample
of what is TO be seen from one end Of the
island to the other.
THAT is what makes conditions such
as they are IN Newtown Creek. where the
foul gases asphyXiated woman the
other day: in Wallabout Basin and other
points in the harbor. 1t is the natural re-
suit Of pilng sewage into the rivers.
Every great outbreak we have had In
this country has always been preceded by
warnings. It might have been minor
outbreak of disease, or such an incident
as that reported in Newtown Creek the
other dav That was a warning signal.
pure and simple. Where such warnings
have been taken advantage Of pestilence
and epidemic have been avoided
THE germs and bacilli of every disease
known to medicine are poured into the
North and East rivers. That may sound
strange until YOU stop to think that the
refuse from all the hospitals goes into the
sewers and thence into the rivers. Think
what that means.
"Then every laboratory discards millions
upon millions Of disease germs in cultures
of one kind or another. There are men at
work in this city trying TO find cures for
every known disease. and their waste ma
terial goes into the sewers and from the
sewers into the rivers, Think of that.
Every great city has had to face this
problem sooner or later. Boston had to
face it, 1t is generation ahead of us.
Chicago made river flow backward TO
keep from polluting the lake. Philadel-
mia has tackled the matter in sane and
wholesome way, and Baltimore is COM
plotting a great work.
"Marseilles harbor was formerly as dan
gerous as Port Said That city, however,
.tunnelled ninety miles through noun
tain 10 get a vent for its refuse The i'm
provement is marvellous.
THE number of deaths from typhoid is
not the true test of the health of water
supply or sewage system. That yardstick
has been used too long. The best test of
the health Of a city is the death ratio
the corrected ratio, and not the crude
ratio commonly used. The crude ratio is
the number of deaths of all ages per
100000 inhabitants. The corrected test
takes into consideration the ages and sex
OF the deceased. When that is done here
IL is found that the death rate is really
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