The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-03-13
CITIES POISON
DRINKING WATER
Boundary G Commission Findings
to Show Wholesale POllu-
ton Of Great Lakes.
TAWNEY, MEMBER OF BODY
TELLS GIST OF REPORT
Says Samples Termed With Dis
ease Germs and Typhoid
Rate Is Abnormal.


Appalling facts regarding whole
sale pollution of the great lakes will
be revealed in the report of the in
ternational boundary commission, ac-
cording to James A. Tawney, member
of the commission.
In open violation of treaty made
with Great Britain several years ago,
residents Of American cities along the
lakes are deliberately poisoning their
own and their neighbors' water sup
ply daily to such an extent that use
Of lake water for drinking purposes
is already menace to the health of
millions of people, declared Tawney
in discussion of the matter with
his friend, T. B. Mills, United States
inspector, of Superior.
The commission recently completed
an examination Of the 1000 miles of
water that forms the boundary be-
tween Canada and the United States.
More than 10000 samples of water
were taken from the various lakes
and rivers and examined by skilled
psychologists. The purpose of the
examination was to ascertain if the
international treaty forbidding water
pollution had been violated.
Practically every sample of the
10000, declared Tawney, was found
to contain enough disease germs tc
be dangerous, if not actually poison.
Gus to human life.
Water Deadly.
According to the scale of the bac
teriologists, 10 poisonous particles tt
given quantity of water is danger.
Gus to health. In some of the sam
pies examined there was found to be
IS poisonous particles in the give1
amount of water, or enough to render
the use of the water for drinking pur
poses as little short of suicidal.
In Europe scientists have estimated
that there are always five persons Out
of every 5000 i'll with typhoid fever
Taking Detroit as typical lake port
town members of the commission col
lected the typhoid statistics for thai
city and found that there were al
ways an average Of IS persons out oil
5000 i'll of typhoid, or that the dis.
ease was seven times as prevalent ir
the American city as in the crowded
centers of Europe.
Typhoid germs, according to physi
clans, cannot be drowned or frozen
They will lie dormant in the ice anc
will become active when taken into
the system. They thrive in sewage
which is the real peril Of the great
axes, according to Tawney.
Lake boats, declares Tawney, are
the greatest carriers of typhoid fever
germs that threatens the health OF
the lake shore residents.
Freighters Spread Disease.
Often these freighters are COM
PEELED to travel without cargo from
one port to another. At these times
declares Tawney, it is their habit tc
carry water ballast, which they pump
into their tanks from the waters of
bays they visit. This bay water con-
tains the sewage from the whole city
1t is carried by the freighters to the
next town they visit and then dumped
into the waters just outside the bays
into water that is used in almost every
case for drinking purposes by the
city. More than 100000 persons
travelled on the great lakes last sum.
:ner, declared Tawney, and added
heir excretion to the poisoned water
The lake cities themselves, declares
Tawney, pour their sewage into the
AXE in close proximity to the place
from which they draw their water
supply, and trust to white sand filters
to cleanse the water from it's weight
of pollution.
In justice to the United States
however, it is said by the commission
that the cities on the British side OF
the water boundaries, in proportion t.
their size and number, are almost
equally responsible with American
centers for the wholesale violation OF
the international pledge.
In their report the commission will
urge that some drastic legislation be
enacted in both countries to check the
flow of poison that is allowed to run
into the drinking supply Of millions OF
persons every day along the great
lakes.
Absence of Plague Miracle.
According to their Investigations it
is little short of a miracle that a
typhoid plague has not gripped the
country along the great lakes, and
it is beyond belief that it will not
do so within the next few years, un-
less immediate precautions are taken
to purify the lake water and stop the
flow of filth into it.
OPTION GIVEN ON A
SILVER GRAY FOX FOR $3.50