St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1914-07-25
MR.. JONES AND THE CLARION

"A %E@ M@@ --
Superintendent A. C. Jones, vehement
" resents an editorial appearing in last
weeks Clarion under the caption of Some
thing for the Health Officer to Dc"
In his communication which appears be-
low, Mr.. Jones informs us that we should
have called the attention of the President
of the Board of Health and the Mayor to
such matters before attempting to write
the editorial. Suppose we should tell Mr..
Jones that the matter of properly covering
the tank has been called attention to repeat
eddy and thus far nothing has been dcne.
There is no need of our esteemed friend
wiggling and attempting to prove that the
There have been BIRDS drowned in the
tank and we are informed by reliable au-
thority that an employee of the power plant
has stated that he himself has seen birds
fall out of the tank. Birds have been seen
falling out of the tank, when overlooking,
by b~ystanders.
The water tank, from which the people
of Opelousas are supplied with drinking
water, needs to be properly covered. It is
a sure thing that Mr.. Jones or any other
authority can not convince the people of
this city that it is an utter impossibiIity for
birds to go to drink in this tank and drown;
they do so everywhere else and it is a GER
tainty that the city tank is no exception.
Opelousas, La July 20, 1914.
Editor of the st. Landry Clarion, City.
Dear Sir:
/ notice that you have published an edi-
torial stating that when the water tank on
the Court House square runs over, a person
can frequently see dead birds come out with
the water. You also state that young birds
get drowned attempting to lesve their nests.
Before writing an article of this kind
that is calculated to do so much injury to
your City by telling strangers that our
water supply is not fit to drink, you should
at least have called the attention of the
Board of Health and the Mayor to such mat
tiers.
You should have learned what the facts
were and have stated the facts about con-
ditions at the top of the tank.
AS a matter of fact there is not now and
never has been a birds nest on the top of
the tank or under the cover. Since there
are no nests the little birds can not drown
trying to leave their nests. I have looked
into the tank a number Of times and have
drained it twice and tried to find evidences
that birds have been drowned therein, but
have been unable to find any evidence that
q bird had even been near the top.
@ ci10nacf fha% %ha ov+ 49,, -.
Birds tumbling from the top of the tank"
catch a few and present them to the
Mavor or Board of Health and then you .
might be able to convince the officials and !
The public that a dangerous state of affairs
This same sensational dope with refer t
,ncc to dead birds in the water tank is given 9
the public as a matter of news every t
spring and Summer, the author of same not a
wen taking the trouble to ascertain the t
authenticity Of this kind Of dope. If you, u
dr. Editor would take care to discuss these
eports with me as Supt. or any of the city il
iffcials in touch with the situation you a
night find that there is no occasion for p
hese alarming articles relative to our water S
upply, which articles are calculated to n
the sole effect Of injuring the reputa- Il
on of the city's water supply and the health m
onditions of the community in general. tc
An article of this kind at first blush may p;
a matter of great news in the absense tt
other matters to fill the columns Of the til
lper but we are of the opinion that it is al
ny damaging to community to give out ps
the world that it's water supply is contain
ated, especially when there is no founda- ca
IN for such sensational dope. it
We are willing now at any time, or any Ii