The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-04-19
Thousands of Unburied Endan-
ger the Inhabitants.
TOO NEAR THE WATER SUPPLY
In Many Cases Bodies Are
Found in Wells.
Vast Work of Distinction Is
Well Under Way.

Paris, April 19-"Seven months aft
er the beginninga of the retreat of the
Germans" says DR.. Dolly, deputy for
the department of the ArdenneS, I'M
buried dead are being discovered on
| the battlefield of the Marine In the
| center of a. village on the banks of
the Marine where the sanitary depart
ment was clearing away the debris
they brought to light a body that was
| beyond identification either as Ger
man or French.
! Hundreds if not thousands of
| bodies are supposed to be lying more
or less submerged in the Saint Gond
| marshes where the Prusslan guard
was thrust back; they had neither the
| time nor the means to save who fell
| there
In order to avoid the pestilential eff
| fectS of warm weather on these UNI
buried corpses, DR.. Dolby thinks it
will be necessary to explore the en-
tire swampy region with the aid of
dogs.
Bodies are also being found con-
stantly under brush in bitches and
abandoned trenches. They are found
not only in bitches, trenches and ex-
cavations made by shells but in wells,
springs and all the little streams of
the region. In many places where it
was possible for them to bury their
dead they were insuff1ciently covered
with earth and were frequently buried
in too close proximity to sources of
water supply.
These conditions exist over a zone
ESQ miles long and from 10 to 40
miles wide with a total of from 5000
to 5000 square miles of ground, a
considerable part of which required
thorough disinfection to prevent the
outbreak IF epidemics. Besides the
bodies of men there were in this zone
thousands of bodies of animals, part
of them killed by shell fire and many
of them dead from starvation, having
been abandoned by the fleeing popula-
ton.
This vast work of disinfection is we'll
under way. All the debris from bonn
barded buildings is being cleared away
and the ground saturated with a soJu-
ton of lime. The floors of every build
ing that has been occupied by troops,
either German or French, are being
scraped then washed in a solution of
hot water and carbonate of soda,
while the walls are all newly white
washed. Wherever any odor remains
after these precautions have been
sorted to; in some cases the building
All yards and gardens around build
ingS that have sheltered troops are
sprink1ed with chloride of lime. All
wells and springs are thoroughly
cleaned and the use of the water pro-
hibited until analysis shows it to be
absolutely unpolluted.
The authorities have also to solve
the serious problem of sheltering the
population that is gradually returning
to the devastated regions. At Maui
rupt, a town of 700 Inhabitants that
was almost completely destroyed, 200
have already returned and are living
mostly in the cellars of demolished
houses and under conditions that con-
stitute a menace to health almost as
serious as the presence of unburied
or insufficiently buried dead bodies
Why did George Washington say he
couldn't tell a lie 20 asked Meandering
Mike. Because he was one of our wisest
citizens" replied Flooding Pete ~He
knowed perfectly well dat when you're
caught wild de goods, your only move is
to make play fur nity.'-Washing-
ton Star.