The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-12-12

Especial to The Richmond Virginfan.)
BlAcksburg. Va, Dec 11.-Safe-
guarding the water supply Of cities,
towns and homes is a very important
matter and = subject that is very much
TO the 'front.' just now In some V1r-
ginia municipalities. r. J. Murray
assistant bacteriologist at the Virginia
polytechnic Institute, has this to say
about the dangers from the use OF
impure water and gives some practf-
cal methods for insuring pure water
In home or community. Professor
Murray says:
public health II purchasable.
Within natural limitations any COM
munity can determine Its own death
rate. How much Is the community
willing to pay for the health OF the
individualY How much effort Is the
individual willing to give to keep his
surroundings sanitary? Pure. whole
some water, supplied by community.
means 4 longer .life for the people
III It: proper disposal OF sewerage
means better sanitary surroundings
and a clean sanitary milk spells
health TO the community Clean and
sanitary conditions go hand in hand
with progress and health. Are you
progressive?
Many people are not members of
a town or municipality. 1t is just
M important for them to look after
the sanitary conditions OF their home
and surroundings as 1t Is for a town
to look after the welfare of its citi-
sens by providing a clean water sup
ply.
Pure Water va. Typhoid.
ut has been known for years that
there In a direct relation between the
death rate from typhoid fever and
the kind of water the people were
drinking. Every case OF typhoid
: comes from some previous case of
the same disease. No one ever gets
the disease except by taking into the
stomach something that has been in
the intestine 81 a person who has had
typhoid. typhoid is caused by a very
minute-shaped living organism. call
ed the typhoid bacillus. This organ
Ism IN present in the intestines OF
people who have the disease and in
people who are recovering from It,
II Is thrown OFF the body In the ex-
crement. II our we'll or spring or
source OF drinking water ia being pol
1uted with the eAerement of individ
mails there Is danger OF our families
contracting typhoid This Is one OF
the chief ways in which it Is spread
it has been shown In many Of the
large cities that when n clean sys-
tenn OF water was introduced there
was An immense falling on In the
nslmber of typhoid cases. Typhoid
cholera and dysentery are water borne
diseases. Cholera fortunately does
not appear In this country and ty-
phoid fever liz the chief danger IN
connection with n water supply.
The ultimate source Of water Ia
the rain drop. 1t strikes the earth
end becomes contaminated. polluted
or infected. It is contaminated If
tiicre are appreciable amounts of for
eikn material present. polluted IL ex-
erement Ia present. and infected il
the sxcrement contains disease germs
Some OF the water flows off and be
comes streams and lakes. some sinks
into the ground and ultimately be-
comes springs or wells The sources
OF water for drinking purposes are
these streams, lakes, wells or
springs
Deep driven wells are perhaps the
safest sources OF water. There are
= very few organisms or bacteria pres-
~ent and these are harmless THE
important thing Is to keep poliutine
materials from getting in at the top
of the we'll. The surroundings at
: the opening should be clean. Ar
rangements should be made to keep
ANY kind of material from failing in
To the well. They should not be To-
Gated near on on lower grade than
u privy vault as heavy rains may