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THE WEIRS SEWERAGE AND THE LACONIA

WATER-SUPPLY.

Pending the action of the city of Laconia, upon the subject of providing an ample sewer system for The Weirs, the opinion of the secretary of this board was requested upon a few points, which opinion is given below as a matter of record, and also because of its general application in instances not especially different from this one.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.

CONCORD, N. H., Aug. 25, 1893.

To the Committee on Sewers, Laconia, N. H.

GENTLEMEN: Having been requested by a representative of your committee to give an opinion upon the proposed plan of sewering The Weirs, I herewith comply.

It is perhaps needless to inform your committee that for the past eleven years I have been perfectly familiar with the sanitary conditions of that locality, and have often been called upon for advice relating to the water-supply, drainage, and sewerage of that place. A greater part of the present sewer was constructed by the old B., C. & M. R. R., under the approval of the State Board of Health, before any move was made by Laconia and Lakeport towards making the bay above the latter point a source of a public water-supply for these places.

Since the construction of the public water-works I have not recommended the further building of sewers upon the original plan.

The plans submitted by Colonel Waring, than whom there is no better sanitary engineer, to discharge the sewage of The Weirs into the lake, through submerged outlets, would be in fact an extension and perfection of the present system. We may safely

take his estimate, that during three weeks of the season the maximum amount of sewage that would be poured into the lake would be one hundred thousand gallons, almost twenty-four hundred barrels per day for a period of three weeks, while for seven weeks longer more than one half that amount would be discharged, and for the remainder of the year a much smaller quantity. The report contains the following:

"It is from four to four and a half miles from the outlet proposed to the in-take of the water-supply. After passing through the narrows, the river broadens out into the bay, and offers a large expanse for wave action and purification.

"Recent investigations tend to the opinion that disease germs in the presence of scavenger bacteria are of short life. In view of the above, the small amount of sewage, and the enormous volume of water, we are of the opinion that it is safe to discharge the sewage into the lake as planned."

If the report had said "probably safe," I could endorse it fully; but I am not prepared, in the light of modern sanitary science, to go so far as to say that it would be perfectly safe to the people of your city to pour the germs of typhoid fever into your water-supply at The Weirs. It is true that the probabilities in such a case are, that disease germs would be destroyed before reaching the in-take of your water system, but there is nothing to assure such a result. Therefore, your city would be liable to a most severe and alarming epidemic whenever the fecal discharges of a typhoid-fever patient entered the sewer at The Weirs. Just such instances are on record; therefore this is not assumption based upon theory alone. The Plymouth (Pa.) epidemic of 1885, in which more than eleven hundred people contracted typhoid fever, resulting in one hundred and fourteen deaths, was produced by the discharges of a single patient, whose case occurred on a stream supplying the reservoir several miles from town, and is a marked illustration of just what might happen to the people of your city. Other instances of epidemics from water pollution, as notable as this, might be cited.

With the sewage of The Weirs discharged into the lake, near its outlet, and the current slowly moving toward the point from which your water-supply is taken, there must be an ever-present danger, which I believe it is the duty of your city to provide against.

The few thousand dollars' extra expense that would be required

to construct and maintain a field disposal of sewage at The Weirs, should not for a moment be considered, when as between the plans may rest the safety of many lives. I cannot, therefore, endorse a plan which carries with it a menace to the public health. Respectfully submitted:

IRVING A. WATSON,
Secretary.

5

THE CATTLE COMMISSION: EFFORTS TO

SUPPRESS

TUBERCULOSIS.

The secretary of the State Board of Health and the secretary of the Board of Agriculture constitute a State. Board of Cattle Commissioners. The work of this board for the year 1893 is embodied in the following report:

The statute under which action has been taken confers upon the board authority in all cases of contagious diseases among animals, and such attention has been given to all cases coming to the attention of the board as their importance seemed to demand. The legislature, in enacting the law, had in view the suppression of animal tuberculosis among the herds of the state; and to effect this, the efforts of the board have been mainly directed.

The law in force in 1892, providing for the appraisal of condemned animals in a diseased condition, of which amount the state paid four fifths and the town one fifth, was extremely difficult to operate, for the reason that the real value of an animal condemned with tuberculosis was not only difficult to determine, but also, if correctly fixed, would be so small a sum as to be hardly divisible in any proportion between the state and town. The legislature of 1893 enacted a law providing for the appraisal of such cattle upon a basis of health, of which amount the owner received one half from the state treasury. This law was not enacted upon the supposition that there was any such value to an animal condemned with tuberculosis, but rather with the object in view of inducing the owners of such animals to have them destroyed by the state authorities for the protection of the public, rather than

have them transferred to unsuspecting purchasers, and thus more widely spread the germs of disease and death.

This change in the law has had the desired effect; and in addition to this, the better knowledge prevailing among the people in regard to the disease has stimulated an increased interest in its suppression. The board has also availed itself of tuberculin in diagnosing obscure cases, the effect of which will be described more fully in this report. These things have enabled the board to locate and destroy many cases that would otherwise have escaped their notice, and thus remove a corresponding number of sources of infection.

The board has depended largely upon the advice of the selectmen in the various towns, and requests for investigations have been referred to them, when not accompanied by sufficient evidence to indicate the symptoms of tuberculosis. The preliminary examinations made by the selectmen have generally furnished the board with sufficient information to determine whether a thorough investigation should be made. Cases reported by individuals have been given immediate attention, when accompanied by specific information in regard to the character of the suspected case.

Under this arrangement many useless and unnecessary investigations have been avoided.

During the year 1893 the herds in two hundred and twenty-one stables have been inspected, from which one hundred and fifteen cattle have been condemned and destroyed, located in the following counties:

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