USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1882 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
Y. M. A Buffalo, pamphlet 1
Dodge, E. P.
1
March, A. L. Mrs 1
53
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
Donations to the Reading Room-1882.
Newburyport Herald
William H. Huse & Co.
Boston Advertiser Edward S. Toppan.
Lists of Prices and Sales-Boston Stock Exchange. . Pickering & Moseley.
Unitarian Review
American Unita. Assoc'n.
Christian Register
Congressional Record-Daily Hon. Eben F. Stone.
Germ, Newburyport.
M. C. Teel.
Home Missionary
E. S. Moseley.
Liberal Free Mason
Joseph B. Lincoln.
New York Observer
Hon. J. N. Pike.
Journal of Chemistry
J. R. Nichols, M. D.
The Independent,
Zion's Herald,
M. H. Sargent.
Golden Rule,
Signs of the Times
The Publisher.
Chambers' Encyclopædia,
Brande's
W. C. Todd.
Classical Dictionary,
Lippincott's Gazeteer
. Mrs. E. E. Cole.
66 Biographical Dictionary M. Emery Bale.
Official Gazette
PUBLICATIONS
IN THE
Newburyport Free Reading Room. 1882.
DAILIES.
Newburyport Herald, " Germ,
Boston Advertiser,
Herald,
66 Journal, (evening)
66 Transcript,
Traveller,
Globe,
Mail and Express,
66 Post,
Congressional Record, Washington,
Albany Argus, N. Y.
Portland Advertiser, Portland, Me.
New York Tribune,
New York Herald,
66 World,
66 Sun,
Star,
66 Graphic,
66 Evening Post,
Journal of Commerce,
Stock Bulletin,
Patent Office.
7
54
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
SEMI-WEEKLY, WEEKLY AND MONTHLY NEWSPAPERS.
Salem Gazette,
Boston Commercial Bulletin,
Springfield Republican, New York Times (weekly) Philadelphia Times,
Baltimore Gazette. Washington Star, D. C.,
Richmond Despatch, Va.,
Christian Register, Boston,
Charleston News, S. C., Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio,
Chicago Times,
Chicago Tribune,
Louisville Courier Journal, Ky.,
Florida Union, Jacksonville.
New Orleans Picayune,
The Alta California, San Francisco. Forest and Stream, N. Y.,
The Machinist, N. Y., Our Continent, Phil.,
Harper's Weekly, N. Y., Bazar, N. Y., Frank Leslie's Illus. Paper, N. Y., Chimney Corner, Finan. and Com. Chronicle, N. Y.
MAGAZINES AND REVIEWS.
Harper's Magazine, N. Y.
Lippincott's Phil.,
Peterson's
Ballou's 66 Boston,
Official Gazette, Patent Office,
Atlantic Monthly,
Godey's Ladies' Book, Phil.,
Gardener's Monthly,
The Century, N. Y.,
St. Nicholas, The Agriculturalist, N. Y.,
The Naturalist, Phil.,
Journal of Chemistry, Boston,
Van Nostrand's Engineering Mag.,
Popular Science Monthly, N. Y.,
Unitarian Review, Boston,
North American, N. Y.,
International Review, N Y.,
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, 66 Sunday Magazine,
Liberal Free Mason,
Home Missionary, Boston, Blackwood's Magazine, London,
Macmillan's 66
Good Words, London, Contemporary Review, London, Nineteenth Century, Temple Bar, London, New Englander, New Haven, Conn.,
Westminster Review, Edinburgh
London Quarterly Review, British
BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
Chambers' Encyclopædia, 15 vol., Brande's 2
Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary, Gazetteer, Anthon's Classical Dictionary, American Newspaper Annual-1880. Worcester's Dictionary, Boston Directory-1880.
Mass. Business Directory-1874. Shipping Record, Catalogue of the Public Library, Map of the United States, יי Rockingham county, N. H.,
Essex county, Mass. Johnson's Atlas of ths World
Supplement, N. Y.,
Harper's Young People, N. Y.,
Signs of the Times, N. Y ..
London Times,
Nature, London.
Punch, London,
Montreal Gazette, Canada, Atlanta Constitution, Ga., Mobile Register, Ala., San Francisco Chronicle, Cal. Galveston Weekly News, Texas, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minn., Kansas City Journal, Mo. Rocky Mountain Weekly, Denver, C.
New York Observer, Journal of Education, Boston,
The Nation, N. Y.,
Littell's Living Age, Boston, Scientific American, N. Y.,
-
REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF HEALTH.
1882.
OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH,
EDWARD P. HURD, (City Physician), CHAIRMAN. JOHN F. YOUNG, BENJAMIN F. ATKINSON.
GEORGE H. STEVENS, CLERK. JOSEPH M. TAPPAN, AGENT.
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
To His Honor the Mayor and City Council of the City of New- buryport :
This Board submits herewith a report of the receipts and expen- penditures of its department during the year ending December 31st, 1882 :
Appropriation $400 00
261 28 Overdrawn
$661 28
EXPENDITURES.
Removal house and slop refuse $196 05
Labor on Market square culvert .. 39 83
Stationery and printing. 9 00 Salaries of clerk, superintendent, and sup't burial grounds. 275 00 Metereological observations, books and instruments 117 15
Pearson wharf nuisance 8 50
Breaking snow paths, burial ground .. 4 00
Vaccine matter 4 00
Removal of dead animals and other nuisances
7 75
$661 28 $661 28
In accordance with the statutes creating boards of health, we herewith submit our usual annual report, (which is the sixth since the institution of this board) for the year ending Jan. 31st, 1883.
The Board began this year with an entirely new membership, Dr. E. P. Hurd having been appointed member for three years, Hon. B. F. Atkinson for two years, and Dr. J. F. Young for one year. Dr. Hurd was appointed chairman, Joseph M. Tappan agent, and George H. Stevens, clerk.
The greater part of the work of the year has been of the usual
58
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
kind done by sanitary boards. Mr. Tappan, the agent, has at- tended to the details of his department to the satisfaction of the Board, and has been a faithful servant. He has made, in response to complaints of nuisances, one hundred visits ; has caused to be cleansed fifty privy vaults and cess-pools ; has attended to five cases of defective drainage ; compelled the cleaning of five filthy yards and one filthy house.
The principal item of nuisances is as usual, filthy and offensive privy vaults. Many of these vaults were built years ago, and of wood, in consequence of which, not only the material of which they are constructed, but the ground about them, from long and constant saturation by their liquid contents, has become exceedingly offen- sive ; some are unfortunately situated in relation to neighboring es- tates, being on the line of the adjoining territory, immediately un- der the doors or windows of citizens' houses, and likely by their odor or their overflow to be a serious annoyance to those in the imme- diate neighborhood.
Rule 40 and 41 define respectively the duties of the Board of Health, and of citizen proprietors in this matter :
RULE 40. Any place of deposit for house, shop, or other rubbish or refuse matter, and any drain, privy, or vault in any part of the city, which shall ap- pear to this board to be unfit, insufficient, or not properly situated, construct- ed or cleansed, and any cellar or vacant ground, and any hog pen or deposit of manure in the compact part of the city, may, in the discretion of the board be declared and deemed a public nuisance, and as such be held subject to all the provisions concerning the removal or abatement of the same provided by the laws of the commonweath.
RULE 41. No vault or privy shall hereafter be constructed so that the in- side thereof shall be less than three feet distant from the land of an adjoining proprietor without his consent, nor less than six feet distant from any public street or way; and if constructed at a less distance in either case, the same shall be deemed a public nuisance, and shall be treated as such.
According to this regulation this board, in order to abate a nui- sance caused by any old vault, must first adjudge it to be such, and dangerous to the public health. Of course this can only be done af- ter getting evidence in relation to the matter, and in a great many cases parties prefer to suffer the annoyance till it becomes unbeara- ble, rather than to give such evidence against their neighbors as is necessary in order that the nuisance may be legally abated. Under these circumstances we sincerely hope that real estate owners will
59
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
avail themselves of the regulations in relation to house drainage lately adopted by this Board. There regulations will be given farther on. We believe that these regulations will commend themselves to our citizens as a matter of economy, as well as of cleanliness and hygiene.
EAGLE ODORLESS APPARATUS CO.
In the month of June, in the year 1879, an arrangement was made between this Board of Health and a company whose head- quarters are in Boston, known as the Eagle Odorless Apparatus Company, whereby said company was to have, under contract, the exclusive right for the ensuing three years to clean out, at the option of the proprietors, all cess pools and vaults within the health limits of Newburyport. The design of this arrangement was to provide a less offensive way of removing the contents of such vaults, than by the old method. This contract has always been regarded and treat- ed as binding by this Board, and no instances of violation of it have occurred within our knowledge. We think that in many instances it has been enforced to the disadvantage of citizens, who would- gladly have availed themselves of some less expensive way of hav- ing their vaults and privies cleaned, the price charged by this com- pany per load being considerably more than citizens have in former years been in the habit of paying to farmers, who were glad to ob- tain the contents of these vaults for their land, at a very small price per load. In fact, so numerous and so persistent have been the complaints of the hardship experienced by citizens in complying with the terms of the contract with the Odorless Company, and even of their inability we are sorry to say, in many instances to be prompt- ly accommodated, that we would recommend to our successors in office not to renew with the company the contract which expires early the ensuing year. At the same time we would be in favor of licensing said company to continne their operations in this city at the option of citizens, for during the hot weather no other means of removal of night soil can well be allowed, and at all seasons there are many who will prefer to have their vaults cleaned in an odorless manner. We would also recommend the licensing of farmers, who will pro- vide themselves with water tight covered carts to remove the night soil during the colder seasons of the year, viz : from the first of November to the first of June.
60
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
HOUSE DRAINAGE, SEWERS, ETC.
Early in the year, the attention of the board was directed to the necessity of having more stringent regulations respecting house drainage ; in fact, heretofore, it may truly be said, that no regula- tions of any kind have existed. The old fashioned tub or barrel was sunk into the ground outside of the kitchen, and the sink-drain was conducted into it without any means for ventilating the covered cess- pool thus constructed, except through the sink drain and the open sink. In this way mephitic gases, generated from standing slops in the non-porous receptacle of the cess-pool (which was seldom sunk through the clay to the sand) readily found their way back to the house. No traps of any kind were used to intercept the return- gases. We have no doubt whatever, that in this way disease has again and again been generated in this city. These covered cess- pools and vaults, that have no direct ventilation, are the fruitful sources of contagion. Disease germs are there evolved, of what- ever nature, whether chemical or organic. We have abundant evi- dence that diphtheria, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever may and do find their origin in such unventilated cess-pools. It is now admit- ted by all sanitarians, that this great danger to a city, from a hy- gienic point of view, is from miasmatic emanations coming from cess-pools and privies to which free access of air is denied. Better by far, that such receptacles of filth should be left uncovered, how- ever offensive to sight and smell, and freely exposed to the action of nature's great disinfectant, atmospheric oxygen, than that they should be walled in, buried under several feet of earth, and allowed to distribute the noxious products of decomposition and putrifica- tion through the kitchen, dining-rooms and bed-rooms of citizens.
The same remarks pertain to water closets in houses, and ar- rangements made for flushing them and conveying fecal matter to reservoirs outside of the building. It being well known to the board that parties had been engaged in constructing the drainage system of houses without any rational provision for ventilation of water closets and cess-pools, with no suitable traps for the inter- ception of gases which are constantly forming in cess-pools and penetrating the waste pipes, in the month of May the board unani- mously agreed upon the adoption of the following regulations :
61
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH CONCERNING HOUSE DRAIN- AGE.
RULE 44. Materials. That portion of the house drain which is outside of the building and more than four feet from the foundation walls shall be con- structed of iron pipe or the best quality of drain pipe.
That portion of the house drain inside or under the building, and also that portion outside the building and within four feet of the foundation walls, to- gether with the soil pipe, shall be constructed of iron pipes with leaded joints.
The waste pipes connecting with conductors from the roofs, and all other pipes inside the building or outside, and within four feet of the foundation walls, shall be constructed of lead or iron with leaded joints.
RULE 45. Grades. The house drain and other pipes for the conveyance of sewage shall be laid with a uniform ¿grade and a fall of not less than one inch in four feet.
RULE 46. Traps. The house drain shall be provided with a trap, which shall be located outside of all house connections.
Every pipe connecting a water closet with a soil pipe shall be trapped close to the connection with the water closet.
All waste pipes shall be trapped, each separately, and close to the connec- tion with the bath, sink, bowl, or other fixtures.
RULE 4. Ventilation. All soil pipes shall be carried at their full size through the roof and left open. A provision shall also be made for admitting air to the house drain on the house side of the main trap.
RULE 48. Workmanship. The joints in the drain pipe shall be carefully cemented under and around the pipe, and the joints in the iron pipe shall be run and caulked with lead.
All changes in direction shall be made with curved pipes, and all connec- tions shall be made with Y branch pipes.
All joints and pipes shall be made air tight. The whole work to be execu - ted by skillful mechanics, in a thorough and workmanlike manner, and satis- factory to the board of health.
RULE 49. Plans. Before proceeding to construct any portion of the drain- age system of a hotel, tenement or dwelling house, the owner, builder or per- son constructing the same shall file with the clerk of the board of health, a plan thereof, showing the whole drainage system, from its connection with the common sewer to its terminus in the house, together with the location of all branches, traps, ventilating pipes and fixtures.
RULE 50. These regulations shall apply to all hotels, tenements, dwelling houses, and other buildings now erected or that may hereafter be erected in the city of Newburyport.
Per order of the Board of Health. Attest.
GEORGE H. STEVENS, Clerk. Newburyport, May 16 1882.
The board earnestly calls the attention of house builders and es- pecially of plumbers to these regulations. With all the experience
8
62
REPORT OF THE BOBRD OF HEALTH.
of sanitary officers and physicians throughout the land-and the evi- dence in support of what we say is overwhelming, that sewer gas is a deadly poison-to disregard these common-sense regulations for excluding sewer gas from our houses is not merely ignorance, is not merely carelessness, it is criminal.
Rule 49 requires that all persons constructing any part or the whole of the drainage system of houses shall, before commencing such undertaking, file with the clerk of the Board of Health a plan thereof, which plan must conform to the regulations above enacted .*
We ask all persons concerned to co-operate with the board in these necessary sanitary measures-compliance with which will be no pecuniary loss to builders and to citizens, while it will help se- cure for our city exemption from contagious and deadly diseases.
It is needless to say that it is the intention of the board to enforce these regulations.
WATER SUPPLY.
A year ago the city of Newburyport was provided for the first time in its history with a much needed aqueduct system, which was intended to take the place (in a great measure) of the wells and cis- terns on which our citizens have heretofore depended for their water and also to give the city greater protection against fires. This im- portant undertaking was accomplished by the enterprise of a private individual ; it has undoubtedly enhanced the value of property, be- sides rendering Newburyport for all time a healthier city to live in. We emphasize this statement, for the truism need hardly be here defended, that the water which people drink has an important bear- ing on their health, that well water is very likely to become contam- inated by sewage, nor do we need to remind our citizens that devas- tating epidemics have again and again been traced to impurities in drinking water.
Complaints derogatory to the purity of the aqueduct-water hav- ing been made, the Board of Health, during the month of August, made an investigation of the sources of water supply of the New- buryport Water Company, and employed Mr. Castlehun, the chem-
*We are happy to reeord that one gentleman, Mr. Charles R. Sargent, has faithfully complied with this rule, and the plans which he has submitted are on file among the papers of the board.
63
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
ist, to analyze the water from the springs and from the pipes in dif- ferent parts of the city,
The report of Mr. Castlehun, which shows the aqueduct water to be of exceptional softness and purity, is here subjoined :
To the Board of Health, Newburyport, Mass .:
GENTLEMEN :- In compliance with your request I have made an examina- tion of the water supplied to this city from the " Bartlett Springs," by the Newburyport Water Company. These springs are well known for the purity of their water and the object of this investigation was to ascertain whether it has changed in the transit to such an extent as to render it unhealthy, and consequently unfit for drinking purposes when drawn in the city.
What is known as the Bartlett spring, is a springy ground of a few acres area, sloping towards the river. A pond near the river receives the water, di- rect from the springs. From this pond it is pumped into the iron reservoir on High street,about two miles distant, and hence distributed over the city by a system of pipes of a total length of seventeen miles. Samples of the water were taken from the pond, the reservoir, and different localities in the city.
Since water is a solvent for almost every substance, it will take up more or less of such on its way; thus analysis will show an increase of dissolved mat- ter, somewhat in proportion to the distance from its origin. Much depends also on the temperature, pressure, length of time and especially on the nature of the material the water comes in contact with. The figures below giving in grains the total quantity of dissolved matter in one gallon, show respec- tively this increase :
Grains
Grains
Pond .
4.89
| State street
4.72
Reservoir.
4.31
Spring .6
5.83
Forrester street.
5.54
|Marlborough street. 7.69
Boardman 66
4.49 |
Assuming 4.31 grains(the amount of solids in the reservoir) as a normal, we perceive only a little difference in the water obtained on Boardman and State streets, while there is a gradual increase of 1.23 grains on Forrester street, 1.52 grains in Spring street, 3.38 in Marlborough street. The two first named streets, Boardman and State, having iron pipes, the three others cement pipes exhibits plainly the influence of the cement on the water. A direct experi- ment made with a one-inch cement pipe filled with distilled water confirmed this, too: the water after twenty-four hours standing dissolved 375 grains per gallon. This condition however is not likely to be permanent, for hydraulic cement, hardening slowly, in time is gradually less affected by running water.
By the above it appears that the solid residue in the water increases slightly from the reservoir to Marlborough street. But it is otherwise with the organic matter-the maximum of which is found in the pond, the minimum in Marl- borough street. This organic matter was determined by the amount of perman- ganate of potash (or oxygen) required for its oxydation. Applied to the same samples we arrive at the following figures which express the number of parts of permanganate of potash necessary to oxydize the organic matters in 100,000 parts of water:
64
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Parts.
Parts.
Pond ..
0.72 | State street
0,36
Reservoir . 0,51
Spring 0.15
Forrester street 0.38
Marlborough street 0.24 Boardman 0.36 |
"Organic matter" is too indefinite a term and there can be therefore no ab- solutely reliable methods for its determination. Nevertheless, the figures above are a sufficient help to judge of the relative purity of the water.
Probably most of the organic matter is imparted to the water in the pond itself. Although the water from the springs has to run over considerable ground of a peaty nature, with a dense vegetation of grass and moss (mostly sphagnum) before entering the pond, yet it takes up but little foreign matter from it. The springs emerge all along a line, describing somewhat a half cir- cle from southeast through south to west. The proper Bartlett spring ("boil- ing spring") is direct west from the pond, Moulton's spring about southwest. The analysis of these two springs proves that what has just been said is at least true of the surface water. The water of the Bartlett spring proper, coming right through pure sand, is practically free from any organic matter.
Total solids in 1 gallon.
Permang required per 100,000 parts.
Bartlett spring
6.70 grains.
0.
near pond.
7.05 -
0.12
Moulton spring ... near pond 5.65
5.42
0.21
0.39
Chlorine is another ingredient which plays an important part in judging upon the quality of drinking water, the more so when sewerage pollution is suspected ; which is not the case with our samples. Its amount is very small, and below the limit allowed for a good drinking water, (2 to 3 parts on 100,- 000). It was determined in all samples.
Chloriine in 100,000 parts.
Chlorine in 100,000 parts
Pond ..
0.75 | State street.
0.75
Reservoir ...
0.88 |
Spring street ...
1.01
Forrester street
1.18
Marlborough street 1.01
The water as drawn in the city responds equally well to the other chemical tests generally applied to it; it gives no reaction for ammonia, nitrates, ni- trites and magnesia; the reaction for lime, sulphates and chlorides is very faint. This was to be expected from the small amount of solids in the water. From the same reason its "hardness" is small, placing all the samples in the rank of soft water, even those drawn from cemented pipes.
Hardness in degrees.
Hardness in degrees.
Bartlett spring proper
1.9 Boardman street.
1,2
Pond
1.3
State street 1.1
Reservoir
1.2
Spring street.
2.6
Forrester street.
1.51 Marlborough street 2.8
Boardman street
0.88
Having thus passed the chemical tests satisfactorily, it remains to be seen how the water will stand microscopical examination. Beginning with the pond again we must expect to find animal and vegetable life just as in every pond. There is no possibility of keeping these extremely small organisms out of an open pond. First to be mentioned is a minute crustacea (Cypris), which we
65
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
occasionally find also in cistern water swimming in a lively manner, then various species of diatoms, desmides and other algae. All these forms, to- gether with vegetable and mineral debris are found in the sediment, which however is too small to affect the clearness of the water. At all times when visited during the momth of August the surface of the pond appeared clear; leaves and grass, &c-, accidentally carried into it by the wind, cannot of course be counted for impurities. Small clusters of fresh water algae (conferva) are seen here and there along the border of the pond, but not a single specimen of that low form of algae which now covers Frog pond with a green scum, could be detected.
In the water from the reservoir we find a sediment similar in composition to that of the pond ; yet there is an improvement in the fact that it contains much less of it.
Finally if we draw the water anywhere in the city, all this disappears. In fact the water is entirely free from vegetable or animal organisms aud practi- cally free from any sediment. Repeatedly examined during the last two months, only rarely a transparent body of the before mentioned cypris or frag- ments of its shells were met with.
Thus far, then. the water corresponds to all the requirements of good drink- ing water. One quality, however, we shall always miss, that is that freshness of taste which only spring water possesses and which renders it so desirable for drinking. Produced by a certain amount of carbonic acid gas and air contained in the water when leaving the ground, this quality is soon lost by the escape of those gases, the water acquiring now a flat taste common in all cistern waters. This is a disadvantage inseparably connected with every sys- tem of water conduction.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.