Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 189, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1911 — Page 3

Bad Water Vs. Good Health

«OW grossly inconsistent wa are! When, for the sake at gam, a Missouri physician administered typhoid germs to some of his relatives, thereby causing six or eight illnesses' and one death, we stood aghast, called the physician a murderer, and clapped him into prison for Use. And when, during the Spanish-American war, some twenty-five hundred of the boys In khaki were needlessly slaughtered, many pf them by typhoid, we denounced in scathing terms those officials whose carelessness and incompetency caused the tragedy. But we hear with absolute indifference the statement that yearly the pollution of our water sources needlessly causes more than 185,000 typhoid illnesses and 15/100 deaths. We pay no heed to the fact that year after year in the United States seven times as many people are needlessly JU O f typhoid fever as there i were soldiers wounded In the battle of Gettysburg, and three times as many I persons needlessly die from typhoid fever as met death in that tragic strug«le. It is the old, old story of the mote and the beam. We do not see the enormity of this terrible wrong, because we

are ourselves the authors of it We are just as responsible for those 15,000 yearly deaths as our army officers were for the tragedies tn our Spanish war camps. And our motive .Is just as mercenary as was that of the physician who gave typhoid germs to gain a heritage. For we, too, are actuated by financial reasons: we are unwilling to pay the price of water purification. So we continue to smite the rock of a polluted water supply and there gushes forth sewage. And when our children ask for water we give them poison. To be suitable —that is, to be potable and fit for domestic use—water must be practically free from pathogenic germs, color, sediment, odor, taste and turbidity. Hardness makes laundering difficult Iron spoils linen. Carbonic-acid gas turns water pipes brown. Ifcigae make water taste bad. Water supplies differ widely as human beings, "Pure, wholegome water," the term set forth in so many water contracts, is, then, wholly a. relative term. Really pure water is a rare thing, because there hardly exists in nature water that does not contain some foreign ingredients. Not all of these are harmful, however, so that water that is fit to drink is as common as really pure water-is rare. So that, generally ■peaking, the question of a good water supply Is merely a question of being willing to spend the money necessary to obtain it Hence there ought to be no community in the United 'States that does not have a plentiful supply of perfectly wholeSdme water. Anything but wholesome, however, is the quality of the water that all too often actually get. Dr. F. W. Shumway, reporting on water conditions in Michigan, says in part: “Of the ninety-nine replies received, 79 per cent reported the water as good, 11 per cent as fair, and 10 per cent as of bad quality. . . . The replies from 124 localities Indicate that In 43 per cent of these localities the public water supplies are in danger of contamination.” Dr. Q. O. Sutherland, discussing water conditions in Wisconsin, says that in his state “nearly every stream used for any kind of supply is contaminated to some extent by ■ewage.” Health Commissioner G. A. Bading, ■peaking of Milwaukee’s water supply, says that most of the city's water comes from Lake Michigan, but that there are still 5,000 wells in existence, 91 per cent of which have been shown to be contaminated. Lake Michigan is the source of water for many other towris near it One of the tributaries of Lake Michigan is the Grand Calumet river. And here is What Health s Commissioner W. A. Evans, of Chicago, has to say of the Grand Calumet: "The greater part of the sewage from the business and residential districts (of Hammond, Ind.) empties into the Grand Calumet, which, as it flows through Hammond, is almost unspeakably vile and putrescent And this stream empties into the lake only 3,000 feet from the waterworks Intake." Dr. Edward Bartow, analysing conditions in Illinois, •ays that “an examination of the untreated lake water shows that unsatisfactory water is frequently delivered at Evanston, Lake Forest, Glencoe, North Chicago, Waukegan, Wilmette and Winnetka. . . . And that the water supplies of all cities which use unflltered lake water are shown to be impure at times" And this condition of the water supply may be taken as typical of the entire country. A very considerable proportion of our drinking water is absolutely unfit for human consumption. Criminal negligence is. the sole and only cause of such a condition. We dig a cesspool and a well in the same yard, and the contents of the one seep through the earth into the other. We place a privy vault a few feet from our well hole, and the rans wash the filth from the former Into the latter. We defile the surface of the ground so that every rainstorm sweeps the defilement into our streams. Did you ever stand at the edge of a barnyard and watch the falling from the roof of the barn and pig pen to the manure piles below, slowly accumulating in pools of reddish black, and draining away into , a nearby stream, and so on Into some one’s drinking water? Or have you ever stood by a river bank and watched a sewer belching forth its infinitely more harmful human corruption? The idea of drinking such nauseating stuff Is not pleasant; but that is exactly what millions of us are doing. Like the dog, we have turned to our own vomit. For, to quote Theodore Horton, Chief Engineer of the New Tork State Health Department, "We pump filth Into a stream by one pipe, and by another pipe we pump it out again to drink." £ Let me give you some concrete instances of how our drinking water is defiled. In rural New Tork Inspectors from . Ithaca found a farmer, who patterning after Hercules* method of cleaning the Augean stables, had built his barn directly over a large brook, which carried away «U his stable manure. This brook was one of the sources of Ithaca's water supply. Along the valley of the Susquehanna there

is a string of good-sized M towns —Plymouth, WilkesBarre, Wyoming, Bloomsburg, Nanticoke, and others, all of which empty sewage // into the river, and a'number ***wß|l of which take their drinking water direct from the river. I Wilkes-Barre does, and its WsO pumping station is on an island in the river. When ® the stream overflows, as It does every spring, the pump- vWy well is flooded with the foulest of water—the roiled river flow containing suspended MALA sewage and the reeking, sul- AHO7VGAWW. phurous waste of coal mines. They make an effort, to clean this pump-welt Perhaps they succeed and perhaps they do not. The point is that the expenditure of a little money would protect the pumping station from inundation. New York state has the same tale of pollution to tell. Albany, Cohoes, Dunkirk, Lockport, Niagara Falls, Ogdensburg, Oswego, Tonawanda, Watervliet, aiyi other cities drink river water that is grossly polluted by the sewage of cities farther upstream. And 1 have seen dozens of photographs or filthy cdw-sheds and barns, the drainage from which polluted the watershed for New Y6rk City. In Illinois fifteen towns north of Chicago empty sewage into Lake Michigan, and nine of them draw their drinking water back from the- lake. And what is true of Pennsylvania, and New York, and Illinois, is also true of other states. Particularly is it true of the south. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf to the Lakes, our people are needlessly drinking polluted water. What is worse, water pollution is on the increase. “With the rapid growth of our population,” says Alec H. Seymour, Secretary of the New York State Board of Health, in a recent bulletin, "the defilement of our streams also' increases. Some of our finest streams and lakes are being rendered unavailable for boating, bathing, fishing, and domestic use. They aye of no value except as cesspools." Typhoid fever one cannot contract without taking into one’s system germs that have been voided by a typhoid patient These germs get into the body through the mouth, pass through the stomach into the intestines, and are carried through the body by the blood. They leave the body through the bowels and in the urine. Sometimes Infection is earned by contact or through vegetables and milk; but the common channel of typhoid transmission is through our water supply. “In order that germs could find entrance into drinking water,” to quote Dr. Howe again, “these must have been carelessness in caring for the body wastes of previous victims.", And this carelessness, as we have seen, consists for the most part in allowing our water sources to be polluted with sewage. In consequence, typhoid, winter cholera, and diarrhoea are most prevalent along water courses used for both sewage disposal and water supply. Conversely the typhoid rate of any town continuously using a given water supply fairly represents the sanitory quality of that water supply. The troth of this will be seen by a comparison of the typhoid rates of towns using clean water with ther rates of towns using polluted water. In Michigan, for instance. Allegan, a town of 2,795 population (in 1904) with a pure water supply, bad, between 1889 and 1906, 32 cases of typhoid and 4 deaths. South Haven, a town of 2,767 inhabitants, with water drawn from Lake Michigan within 100 feet of a sewer outlet, had in the same period 245 cases and 24 deaths. Manistee, with 12,320 population and pure water from wells, had during these same years a typhoid rate of 15 per 100,000 population; whereas Menominee, with 10,666 population and polluted water from Green Bay, had a typhoid rate per 100,000 of 84. Hartford, Mich., with 1,246 population and impure well water, had, between 1889 and 1906, 24 typhoid cases and 7 deaths; whereas Montague, with 1,021 population and pure well water, had in the same period only 5 cases and 3 deaths. Again, Benton Harbor, with pure water from deep wells, had a death rate per 100,000 of 17.8; Grand Haven, with pure well water, a rate of 13.8; and St Joseph, with pure lake a rate of 12.8; whereas the following New York towns using polluted river or lake water had for ten years—lß99 to 1908 —these typhoid rates: Lockport, 48.4; Oswego, 49.4; Ogdensburg, 54.6; Cohoes. 84.8; Niagara Falls, 132.9; and Pittsburg, using polluted river water, had a typhoid rate, from 1900 to 1907, that averages 117 per 100,000. Before the typhoid rate of cities that have been scourged with epidemics, the high typhoid mortality of such cities as Pittsburg and Niagara Falls dwindles into insignificance, la Watertown 44 out of 582 cases were fatal; in Ithaca 82 out of 1.350; tn Pittsburg 433 out of 5,368. In Plymouth 114 out of 1404 per-

By LOUIS EDWARD THEISS

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sons died; in Lowell 132 out of 550; in || Lawrence 34 out of J4l. Of 514 cases in New Haven 73 resulted fatally. Butler had 56 deaths and 1,270 cases, in Scranton there were ni deaths and 1,115 cases; in Cleveland H/fLL COAL TAIN/NG VfRY 472 deaths and /MP/JRt h 3,443 cases; and in

Philadelphia 1,063 deaths and 9,721 cases. In every case the death rate has been terrible, rismany ,nßtan ces, to several hundred per 100,000 population. The U. S. Census Bureau report for 1908 shows 11,375 typhoid deaths in the registration area, and for 1909 there were 10,722 deaths—an aver* age of about 11,000 a years. The registration area includes only 51 per cent of the t&tal population, and does not include the South, where the typhoid rate is very high. In ten southern states the average rate has been 79. “Twenty thousand deaths a year,” says Dr. William Guilfoy, Registrar of Vital Statistics of New York City, "would be a very conservative estimate of the total annual typhoid mortality.” Certainly this is a conservative estimate, for the complete census of 1900 showed 35,879 typhoid deaths that year. For the sake'of being conservative, however, let us take Dr. Gullfoy’s figures. They are large enough. The dead, it has long been held, amount to hot more than one-tenth of the total number of those stricken. "But recent studies,” to quote Mr. George C. Whipple, "indicate only one death in 15 or 18 cases.” If we allow one death for every twelve cases—an estimate that Dr. Guilfoy says is entirely within the mark —we shall have the tremendous annual total of about 250,000 cases. Think of it—a quarter of a million people yearly stricken with typhoid! Recall the largest parade you ever saw—say one with 25,000 troops in line—and think how those serried ranks marched past hour after hour until your eye grew tired of watching them. Then multiply that parade by ten, and imagine what an enormous army 250,000 persons would make. That is exactly the size of the army, recruited anew every year, that this country forces to fight—typhoid fever. Like any other army, this army, too, costs money. In this case, though, the cost is In the form of economic loss. Statistics compiled by the Connecticut Board of Health show that typhoid carries people off in the years of their greatest earning capacity, 41 per cent of the deaths occurring to persons between the ages of 20 and 40, and 60 per cent to persons between 10 and 40. The economic loss thus caused reaches a staggering total. The cost of the epidemic at Plymouth, it is shown by Professor Mason, amounted to more than $115,000, divided as follows: Loss of wages of those who recovered... $30,020 Cost of caring for the sick ...V... 67,000 Year's earnings of the dead 18,419 $115,539 In making this estimate, however, allowance was made for the loss of only one year's earnings. An examination of an Insurance mortality table shows that the man who dies before be is forty dies before his time. Hence his death represents a loss, not of one year’s Income, but of many. Five thousand dollars is the sum at which a life Is usually valued in reckoning economic loss. The typhoid loss is based only on the number of those who die. As Mr. George Whipple points out, there is an added loss occasioned by non-fatal typhoid Illnesses that should also be taken into account The average period of typhoid convalescence, as figured from 500 cases in a Pennsylvania hospital, is 48-days. Hence loss of wages plus cost of medical Attendance would easily average SIOO for every person who recovers. If ten recover for one who dies, then an extra SI,OOO must be added to the $5,000 allowed for each death, making the total economic loss caused by every typhoid death ss,ooo. Figured on this basis the toes to many communities amounts to mittions of dollars yearly.

Take Pittsburg, where, as we have seen, the typhoid rate was 127 per 100,000 population. Pittsburg is a city with a population in excess of 350,000. Hence its annual death roll from typhoid must have amounted to 3% times 127, or something .like 444. At . 86,000 a life, this death roll will cost Pittsburgh 82,664,000 a year, or 826,640,000 every decade. And the loss to the entire country, figuring the typhoid deaths at 20,000, reaches the astounding total of 8120,000,000 a year, or, 81.200,000,000 every decade. This estimate, however, is without question too conservative Mr. Allen Hazen, an eminent American engineer, says in his book. "Clean Water and How to Get It,” that the reduction in tbe number of deatns in five cities, brought about through water purification, amounted to 440. Improved general sanitary conditions, he says, were responsible for 137 of the 440 decrease. The typhoid reduction amounted to only 71. The reduction in the number of deaths from other causes amounted to 232 —three -times the typhoid reduction.'' If this ratio of deaths due to water holds good generally, then our typhoid deaths are only a small part of the deaths due to bad water.

That three-quarters of the typhoid deaths are due to water Mr. Hazen himself declares. That three-quarters is referred to in the first paragraph of this article as the "fifteen thousand needlessly slaughtered each year by polluted water.” Because, to quote Mr. Hazen, “threequarters of the typhoid deaths could be prevented, and thereby could be stopped this needless loss of vital capital that is going on year after year.” The way to save that three-quarters, then, is by being careful, which in this case means by providing pure water. As Mr. Hazen puts it, "By filtering all the water supplies of the important cities of the country, and by instituting other necessary sanitary reforms.” As proof of this let us see wnat has happened to the death rate in those localities that have purified their water supplies. The typhoid rate of Rensselaer for ten years averaged 61.9 per 100,000 population. In 1908, after the water was filtered, it fell to 30. Hudson changed from Hudson* river water to a purer supply, and the rate fell from 59.2—the ten-year average—to 17.1. Poughkeepsie’s rate used to average 112. In 1907 the filtration plant was improved, and the rate fell to 34.5. In Albany the ten-year average before filtration was 88.8. Since filtration the ten-year average has been 22.2. In Pennsylvania, Pittsburg had a typhoid rate, according to Health Director E. R. Walters, that from 1901 to 1907 averaged 127. In 1907 the city spent 86,500,000 for a filter system. During the three years since, the typhoid rate has been 31.9 —a decrease of more than 75 per cent Chicago affords an even more striking example of the benefit of purifying the water supply. In 1891 Chicago’s typhoid rate was 173.8 per 100,000, the highest average typhoid rate in the civilized world. Chicago purified its water by building its wonderful drainage canal to keep its sewage out of Lake Michigan. In 1908 Chicago’s typhoid rate was 15.6—a reduction of 91 per cent. Excellent as these achievements are, there is a possibility of an even greater reduction in the typhoid rate. The methods of water purification are various. Undoubtedly filtration comes first; but filtration is not Infallible. Another method of purification Is the use of huge storage reservoirs. Water is a poor medium for disease germs, and in it they die quickly. To quote Mr. Whipple again: "The typhoid bacillus does not multiply in ordinary drinking water. On the contrary the cells die. . . . Ultimately all tbe cells die. The rate varies greatly. In some experiments all died in 3 to 5 days. In others germs lived a month. In very cold water mortality is more rapid." Hence if water can be impounded in lar reservolrs and held for a time. It tends to purify iteslf. Sewage disposal is fully as Important as w*. ter purification—that is, for any purpose except the saving of human life. If property is at stake it is indispensable. The problem of clean water Is evidently not a difficult one to Solve. No nation has a finer supply of water than we have. At the least you can guard the water that comes Into your house. See that you get fresh water from the mains, and not water that has stood for hours in the lead or brass pipes within the house. House filters are plentiful, but tew of them are efficient They are merely strainers. Don t put ice In your water. •It may contaminate It Tour great safeguard is is boiling your water. Particularly Is this necessary tn the late winter, whan typhoid epidemics so often break out

STORIES OF CAMP AND WAR

ABOUT STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS Aged Physician of Chicago Tells of Senator and Compares Him With Abraham Lincoln. Recollections of Stephen A. Douglas as he appeared nearly three-quarters of a century ago are given by Dr. Samuel Willard, formerly major and surgeon in the Ninety-seventh Illinois Infantry regiment, who is now living, in his ninethieth year, in Chicago. At the time of first seeing the future rival of Abraham Lincoln Doctor Willard was a boy in Jacksonville, 111. "My first recollection of Senator Douglas," he said, "is of an active, quick stepping man. It was in 1842, when he was already judge of the circuit court Judge Lockwood was sick and Judge Douglas came to hear an important murder trial. I saw him in

Hoard His Great Voice Booming Forth.

the streets, going about and meeting his many friends. He was already the favorite of the Democratic party, which was then all powerful, and remained so for several years. "He was then vastly different from the man that I saw later in Quincy. That was in 1850, when he was a senator. He had grown fleshy, his face had lost the glow of youth, his cheeks were heavy and his eyes lacked their former sparkle. His step was heavy. Eight years had wrought a great change. “That was the last time that I saw him, but once again I heard his voice. In 1858, the year of the Lincoln-Doug-las debates, I lay sick in Bloomington. Senator Douglas came to address a political gathering. The meeting was held two blocks away, and yet from that distance and over the heads of an immense crowd I heard his great voice booming forth. It was a forced voice, raised so that all might hear, but at the distance I could not distinguish the/words. "I also saw Abraham Lincoln and heard him speak. My first view of him was in Springfield, where, as a boy, I went with my father and was left alone in the law offices of Edward Baker. As I sat there a man came in, peculiar in appearance by reason of his great height and his ungajnllness. He sat down and drew his legs under the chair. It made me think of a grasshopper. Then some one came in and addressed him as 'Mr. Lincoln,’ “Of the two men I believe that Lincoln had the advantage before an audience, because he seemed more of the people, though Douglas did not hold himself aloof.” German Portable Tdwer. The German army is experimenting with a novel form of portable tower designed particularly for the use of artillery trains, by which it is possible for the men to note the effect of their own fire. The limber pole of a field gun may be used as an observation station, being hinged so that it may swing vertically. According to the Scientific American before erecting the pole a rope ladder with a shield la fixed in place. The rope ladder is tightened automatically as the polo la swung Into position. The protective shield, when not in use, is carried in front on the gun limber arms and on the case frame, and at the same time serves as a foot rest for the men seated on the limber. All the instruments used for observation are carried in receptacles below the foot rest as well as in the limber case itself. To Change Army Uniforms. From the standpoint .of economy, the war department has decided to clothe the army in woolen instead of worsted uniform. All the woolen manufacturers in the country have been invited to send the department samples of the olive drab woolen clothes which they can offer. Officials at Washington declare that the change wIU result in a saving of $500,000 yearly. The woolen doth, it is added, is softer and cheaper than worsted and has the advantage of affording a wider range of competition. As soon as the wrlaHn* contrMts for worsted uni* .JuZ.Tr winiL rorms expire, ao more win so chased.