The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1957-12-12


Noble county and in so doing,
it is necessary to educate the
general public on the many
health problems which confront
them.
Water is one of the biggest
problems at the present time and
from a health standpoint, Sani-
tartan Egbert says:
"Of all the wonders of nature,
water is by far the most wonder
full. Water literally is "the main
spring" of all life. Every living
thing, with rare exceptions, is
dependent upon a constant and
never failing supply of water,
or it quickly passes out of exis-
tence.
Good water of satisfactory
characteristics IS so common
place now that thought is sell
dom given to it. An abundant
supply of it is usually obtain
able at a mere turn of a faucet
or value. 1t is only when good
water is not Immediately avail
able is restricted, pr some dis
agreeable characteristics of an
existing supply, such as bad
taste, odor, dirt, hardness, etc,
become apparent that the value
is realized.
ANY problems with water
usually focus public attention
upon this commodity and fire.
quently, upon its history, coup
led with many facts and fal-
lacies. For instance, we read
of the miraculous appearance of
water with the touch of rock
by Moses, the worship Of springs
, and water wells as a religious
rite, the dedication of Shrines
and temples to them by the
ancients because of their life
sustaining properties. There were
beliefs that certain waters were
inhabited by good and bad
spirits.
With the passage of time, it
was only natural that attention
| was turned to water for the bet
terment of a community, how
ever, not without the usual
obstacles thrown in the way of
progress, frequently by well
intentioned, but misinformed or
| political minded persons; the
righteous Weakling usually caus-
ed more trouble than the poll
tician. For instance, when ster-
.lization of water was first pro-
posed as a typhoid fever control
system, there were those who
inferred the process would cause
cancer. Some insisted it means
destruction of body tissues and
others believed the fever was
caused by sewer gas instead of
organisms in the water.
Developments every where
have now proved that sterlliza-
ton of the water by chlorine was
the answer to the problem.
SIN other ways, there were
hindrances to development. The
lowly bath tub had its problems.
There were those who claimed
taking a bath would result IN
rheumatism, inflammation Of
the lungs and many other
| bodily ailments. Even the poll
ticians saw bathing as IAN end
to our democratic way of life" "
In Philadelphia, an attempt was
made to ban bathing during the
winter months. Some commun-
ties endeavored to discourage
bathing by passing a prohibi-
tive water tax, in fact, the state
of Virginia imposed a $4,000
annual tax for that purpose.
"These and many other imagi-
nary difficulties and nations con-
corning water vanishes with
final acceptance of the improve
mentS.
But, do not let the improve
ments brought about by new
notions and fallacies be mislead-
ing for just because the water
from a questionable source is
clear and sparkling is no assur-
ance it is safe to drink, since
such water could contain harm
full bacteria. On the other hand
water with a brownish dis
coloration is not necessarily
dangerous, because this water
might be free of harmful bac-
terra and contain only some
harmless iron.
However, dangerous bacteria
in water, which cause certain
acute diseases, are not visible tC
the eye. A spring can easily
come from a source, which, in
its path of flow, picks up a pol.
luted water.
"If the water flows through
underground sand bed strata
Observation-Disclosures
q NFkN