Evening Star Newspaper, July 13, 1895, Page 16

A. MARBLE PALACE The Beautiful New Home of the Cor- coran Gallery. MAGNIFICENT ARCHITECTURAL EFFECTS The Building Will Be Completed by Next May. INGENIOUS STONE CUTTING ——— It is now nearly two years since ground was broken for the new Corcoran Art Gal- lery butlding. In the interval the work of construction has progressed as rapidly as every new and ingenious device in stone eutting and masonry could be made to con- tribue to the saving of time and accom- plishment of results. Taking into account liberally the work of interior finishing and equipment, it is not expected that the build- ing will be entirely ready for occupancy before the Ist of next May. It is safe to say that in point of size, convenience and architectural design this new gallery building when finished will deserve to rank among the foremost gal- leries of the world. The style of archi- tecture is. the Neo-Grecian, the exterior walls being entirely of the finest Georgia marble, laid in alternating courses of and thin stones, the marble being substantially backed with brick and the entire wall strengthened by bond stones reaching into the brick backing. There are two entrances to the gallery, the main one being on 17th street, and the other on New York avenue. The latter is intended chiefly for the use of the Cor- eeran Art School, which has been magni- ficently provided for in the plans of the new building. The main entrance will be @ granite porch thirty feet wide by twelve art. Only the originals in marble will, therefore, be seen in the atrium. The gal- lery of the atrium wjll also be wainscoted in limestone, and the walls covered with a fabric background fastened upon wooden furrowing projecting from the brick walls. This method of finishing the walls, while far less expensive than the usual plaster- ing, also saves space and a great deal of time in finishing the. building, at the same time affording a background which can on occasion be renewed inexpensively. The finish is one which is thoroughly beyond criticism, and most pleasing in ita artistic effect. ai This atrium gallery is available for the display of canvases, if its use should ever become necessary. Very little, however, of its wall space would be regarded as favor- able for pictures of any size, as the gallery fs but efght feet wide, clear of pilasters and balustrade. The outer and the Inner partition walls throughout the building are double, thus giving an alr space conducive to ‘strength and dryness and securing absolutely fire- proof conditions. All of the roof that is visible overhead in the atrium and all the galleries will be an apron of hammered glass, supported by steel beams. This glass will be translucent and of great strength. The same character of glass will cover the galleries as well as the atrium. The main galleries for paintings are three large rooms that together. form a gallery 26 feet wide by 170 long. These extend along the 17th street side of the building. Five other smaller galleries, equivalent in dimensions to a gallery 26 feet wide by 230 feet long, extend along the south and west sides of the building as far as the grand staircase. The three main gallerles are thirty feet high. ‘The five smaller rooms are twenty feet high. One of the finest features of the gallery ¥ a large auditorium at the north end of the building on the first floor. This is in the form of a large semicircle, with a dl- ameter of sixty-six feet, and affording a seating capacity for an audience of 250 per- sons. The proscenium opening is thirty- seven feet wide and thirty-four high, with a depth of thirteen feet. About one-half of the seating space in front of the ros- trum fs left level, and the rest is divided by three steel risers into successive tlers of seats. Wide aisles give easy access to the entire floor. Light is afforded from the roof of hammered glass, fifty feet over- head. The entrance to this auditorium is from the New York avenue doorway. The auditorium is intended for lectures on art and kindred subjects incidental to the con- duct of the Corcoran Art School. PLAN OF FIRST STORY. feet deep. Upon pedestals on each side of this porch will be placed the huge bronze Hons that now rest at the door of the old gallery on Pennsylvania avenue. The posi- tion of these lions will be changed from that in which they are now placed. In- stead of lying parallel to each other they will be placed facing each other, thus giving a side view of each one and adding considerably to the dignity and effect of the bronzes in the general design/of the entrance. : The main doorway is eight feet wide and sixteen feet high. On each side of it is a pedestal, upon which at some future time will be placed a statue. The vestibule, fifty feet wide and twenty deep, will be finished in Indiana limestone, with a beau- tiful arrangement of pilasters, columns, pedestals and riches for statues. Up a short flight of steps from the vest!- bule the visitor will enter the atrium. This fs the largest room in the gallery, being over one hiMdred feet long. and about fifty wide, and open to the skylight, with the exception of a space running directly back from the entrance, which affords a passage on the second floor from the grand stair- case to the gallery rooms along the 17th street side of the building. This large trium, which ts a noble example of a spacious room, has at right and left of the main passageway across the gallery forty fluted. Doric columns, risitfg twenty- two feet and supporting a gallery running arcund the atrium on the second floor. Rising from this gallery floor and sup- porting. the immense skylight are also forty columns fluted in the Doric style. These columns, while beautiful specimens of the severe Grecian style of architecture, and by their multiplicity giving a mag- nificent and impressive effect, have a rea- son for their presence, and blend beauty with usefulness in the practical work of supporting the roof. Thus to thelr fine architectural importance is added the dig- nity*of being an obvious and necessary part of the structure. ‘The grand staircase leading from the first to the second story {s across the atrium on the west side of the building. This staircase fs twenty feet wide, and rises to a landing where It divides Into two flights, extending to the second floor. The staircase really ocevples a spacious hall about forty feet square and something over forty feet high. At the landing Is a large triple window of stained glass. In a niche beneath this window a place is provided for a@ statue of Mr. Corcoran. The steps of the grand staircase will be of Georgia marble, gnd the wainscoting, pilasters and balustrades of Indiana lime- stone. Having a long zpproach from across the atrium, the fine effect of the stained glass windows and the beautifully finished walls and balustrades will strike ree visitor at once upon entering the build- ing. This staircase will be without a rival In any of the public buildings in Washington. There are others, doubtless, which may xceed it in cost, but there are none which ve such an advantage in the perspec- PLAN OF SECCND STORY. The Corcoran Art School is a most fortu- mate beneficiary of the gallery. It will have a larger and more convenient work- ing home than any other similar Instftu- tion in this country. Seven or eight large studios are provided on the first, second and third floors, besides a room in the basement corresponding in size to the au- ditorium. All of these rooms are from twenty to thirty feet high, and amply lighted by large windows, those on the second floor being eight feet wide and twelve and a half feet high, with piers only six feet wide between the several windows, thus securing the greatest vol- ume of light consistent with the safety of the. outer walls of the building. The first floor studios have one window eight feet by ten in the clear, and two others three and a half feet by eight. The studio rooms in the basement beneath have windows of The Main Entrance. corresponding size. A large studio room on the third floor ts lit by a skylight In the roof. : The building is equipped with but one elevator, and this is an extremely large one, Intended only for freight uses. It is five feet deep and fourteen feet wide. The elevator well is directly behind the pros- cenium of the auditorium hall, the open- ings to the elevator being Into the atrium. This elevator will accommodate the largest pictures likely to be ever exhibited in the gallery. Even Cabanei’s immense ‘Moses” can be taken up on this elevator. The entire building will be heated, light- ed and ventilated as perfectly as modern architectural skill can provide. There will be 8,082 electric lights distributed through- out the atrium and the various galleries and studios. An equal number of gas lights will provide an alternative means of !llumi- nation. The heating of the building will b> by the method of indirect radiation, a large and complete steam plant being plac- ed in the subbas>ment. Radiators will be used in the window recesses, where they will not obtrude upon the available flocr space and will at the same time counteract cold air radiated from the glass of the win- dows. In the galleries radiators will be placed within the seats provided for vis- ors. The atrium will be heated by the hot air ve afforded by the spacious atrium, which such a distingutshing feature of the new gallery. The first floor of the atrium will be wainscoted with-polished limestone, and especially: fitted for the exhibition of the original marbles contained in the gallery. Hero in the future the visitor will find the plica of Power's Greek Slave, the Veiled jeauty, and the other marbles which are Row to be seen in the small circular room t the rear of the staircase on the second lgor of the old gallery. It ls not intended to exhibit In the atrium the comprehensive collection of plaster Ee owned by the gallery, as large and mvenient statuary galleries have been rovided, opening off of the atrium on the it floor, for the display of these works of system. By means of large pipes air will be taken from the rear of the building into the basement and there heated and forced by fans through small ducts distributed around the atrium. The auditorium will be heated in the same way, the warm air ducts opening under the seats, and the ex- havsted air will be removed by openings in tho ceiling and under the stage. A draft will be produced to maintain the exhaust of impure air by electric fans placed up under the roof above both the atrium and the auditorium. The whole building is pronounced fire- proof. There is probably as little wood or combustible material of any kind employed fn its construction as in any building in Washirgton. The interior finish will be rgely of Indiana limestone, and most of THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 13, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. the doors will be of bronze. The furrowin e walls to carry the mate: employed for a background ¥ about the 0: combustible material that will enter into the construction of the building. The rs are made of concrete, consisting of cement and mill shavings, resting on steel beams, and interlaced with a fine network of strong, galvanized wires. The ceilings are supported by the same stcol booms, and are also of cement filled with galvanized wire netting. A dead-air beace vf about three inches between the cement plate of the ceiling and the concrete floor serves to deaden all sound. The granite for the basement story is provided by Norcross Brethers, the con- tractors, from their quarries at Milford, Mass. The marble in the rest of the ex- terlor walls comes from Dade county, Ga. New York Avenue Front. The arclh.tect of the new gallery, Mr. Ernest Flags, a graduate of the Beaux Arts, Paris, is a young man, being now in his thirty-fourth year, but he has demon- strated in several large public buildings which he has designed his superior talent 28 an architect. Mr. Flagg’s office is in New York city, but he makes frequent vis- its to the capital city to superintend the work of construction upon the gallery buildings. He has been represented here from the beginning by Mr. A. J. Dillon, who, like himself, is a graduate of the Beaux Arts, and an architect with great practical ability. 5 Perhaps the most interesting information in connection with the new galltry comes from a visit to the large stone-working factory which Norcross Brothers erected on the rear part of the gellery site. Here the most improved stone-cutting machinery has been in use steadily from the first, producing rapidly the most exquisite re- sults in facing and ornamentating marble E Street Front. and limestone. The marble {s brought to Washington in huge solid cubes, weighing several tons and rough as it fs left by the quarrymen. The contractors have found it cheaper to ship in large masses in this Way and cut the marble up into suitable sizes upon the grounds. This method re- duces the risk from imperfect stones and the breakage incidental to transit over lorg distances on freight cars. It also obviates another difficulty met with {n transporting finished stones. When mar- ble is hewn and finished it must be en- cased in wooden boxes or frames to pro- tect it. The common lumber of Georgia keing full of pitch often stains marble about which it is placed as a means of protection. Thus, it has been found ad- visable on this account to do all the man- ufacturing required to be dene here in ‘Washington. The huge blocks are sawed by gang saws, so that numbers of them are produced at one operation. Just now the machinery is busy upon large slabs of marble about four feet and a half square and six inches thick, which sre intended to be used for ventilating panels in the front of the 17th street facade abova the second floor. These panels are to be perforated with triangular apertures arranged in a beautiful Grecian design, and afford entrance for pure air from outdoors. Other machinery {s at work upon the highly ornamented marble cornice, which is patterned with a multiplicity of inset chan- nels, all sawed out by circular steel saws, and then finished with a most ingenious pneumatic chisel. This piece of machinery, which is a, modern contrivance in stone cutting, resembles the pneumatic drill used by dentists. It works quielly but rapidly through the marble, the little fine driil revolving thousands of times every minute within the steel handle at the end of the prcumatic rubber tube. The only evidence of the little instrument's activity is a fine column of smoke rising from the point of application. The moldings on the long pleces of stone used in the cornice and tablatures are all werked out uffon huge planing machines patterred upon the planers employed in machine -shops. All of this machinery, which is ponderous and speeded at a high rate, is operated by electricity. Mr. Nor- cross says that he has found it much cheaper to use electricity instead of steam, and the different machines which he has devised, several of which were bullt right here in Washington, have saved him many thousands of dollars. Every stone used in the builaing is inspected by Mr. Dillon and by the contractors’ foreman, and none have been permitted to he used that have shown the slightest perceptible flaw. Each work- man is charged with the block of marble which he is set at work upon, and when he turns over the finished stone he must turn In to the foreman the design which has been furnished to him, and with It an ac- curate statement of the number of hours which he has been engaged at work upon that particular stone. Every ¢ ject to the most careful system, and by eeping tab upon all of the workmen it is an easy matter. for the foreman to tell if any mechanic has wasted time or done any loafing. One workman is expected to finish a given amount of work in neariy tke same time that another will do it. Thus a gentle and effective system of emu- lation is produced, and with satisfaction to both employers and employes. ART OF SPEECHMAKING. A'Noted After-Dinner Talker Relates His Experiences. From the Philadelp Tress. I asked General Horace Porter whether the immunity an after-dinner speaker en- Joyed at a midday dinner endeared the latter to him. . “T've never minded making an after- dinner speech particularly,” satd he. “Five hundred? I’ve made a great many more than that. And the prospect of having one to make never took away my appetite or impaired my digestion, or even inter- fered with my enjoyment of the occasion in the least. But there are many eminent men, speakers, who are frequently heard at such times, and next to whom I have sat often, who are physically and gen- uinely distressed until they have finished what they have to say. that The knowledge they are to be called on, later on, to arise and speak is actually painful to them. They enjoy nothing, have no appetite, and seem unable to enter into the spirit of the occasion and the conversation of those about them. Some speakers dine at home before going out to a public dinner, be- cause they know they can’t enjoy the latter. Others get up from the table and walk around outside to compose _ their thoughts. I have observed this. And it is mainly those who feel that some distin- guished effort or profound eloquence ts expected of them who experience this dis- tress. “T never rake a note, even when I know I'm to spealt and what the subject is to be. I make it a point to make no studied preparation of any kind beforehand. News- paper anecdotes and incidents? They would be old by the time I wanted to use them—things go the rounds so quickly these days. I have never prepared notes since once in my early life, when I got my notes and my ideas so mixed up that they disguested me. A man must dine, so, after all, he {s making no very great sacri- fice of time when he attends a dinner where he is to speak. If he doesn’t pre- pare in advance he can’t be said to be giving away his intellectual effort, his labor, as it were. He meets interesting people from all over the country, and that is a pleasure which I appreciate at such times. Personally, I endeavor to use the Incidents of the occasion, any event of the evening and the speeches of those who have gone before me. I don’t even file away material in my mental plgeonholes until the night when I am to speak. But that fs all a matter of habit. Some men, you know, write all their own letters.” FOR HEAVY, SLUGGISH FEELING Use Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. Yt produces healthy activity of weak or disorder- ed stomichs that need stimulating, ond acts as tonic on nerves and biain. GERMS IN THE WATER Dr. Kober Thinks There is Danger . From Them Here. HE STRONGLY URGES FILTRATION The Cost Not Too Great for the National Capital. THREATENED FROM UP RIVER “I have ~ead the interviews in The Star with Col. Elliot on the subject of our water suppl: said Dr. Geo. M. Kober, professor of hygiene of the Georgetown University, to a Star reporter today, “and, coming as it does from a most competent and conscientious source, will carry great weight, and doubtless satisfy the majority of the readers of your paper. On the other hand, I fear that the colonel in his attempt to palliate the faults of the present muddy water supply has gone too far when he de- clares that the supply is by no means un- wholesome and is as good as is drawn from any American river. This, too, in the face of the fact, that all writers on hygiene agree that the consumption of water con- taining much clay and marl will at certain times ef the year produce diarrhoea. This seems to be a sufficiently good objection to the use of muddy water, and one not easily overcome by arguments against fil- tration works for purely economical reasons. But when we remember that the bacteriological examinations _con- ducted by Dr. Theobald Smith have shown that turbidity of the Potomac water is al- ways accompanied by a larger amount of organic matter and germs, and that fecal bacteria and turbidity were coincident, we have, indeed, a very proper objection o the use of muddy water. The sources of this contamination were clearly stated in your editorial, when you declare there can- not be a successful concealment of the fact that the same showers that bring to us large sections -of pulverized river banks wash through barnyards and cesspools and other. undesirable places before finding their way through creeks to the Potomac and the reservoirs. ‘i A Timely Comment. “In the light of our knowledge as to the dissemination of disease germs, especially of typhoid fever and of cholera, through the medium of the water supply, your com- ment could scarcely be more to the point. That the excreta from a single typhoid patient have frequently poisoned the water supply of a whole neighborhood ts well established by the history of numerous |, epidemics. The typhoid epidemic at Plym- outh, Pa., In 1885 and which affected over 1,100 persons, was traced to a man who contracted the disease elsewhere, returned to his home in January, 1885, and was for many weeks quite ill. The dejecta of this case were thrown along the sloping banks of a mountain stream, where they accumu- lated and remained dormant upon the snow and frozen ground until some time between March 25 and April 1, when, under the Influence of thaws, they were washed into the mountain stream, and carried into the reservoir below, which supplied the town with water. There Is every reason to be- Meve that the water, with its typhold fever poison, was distributed from the reservoir between March 28 and April 5. The first case of typhoid fever was reported April 9, a large increase occurred after April 15. Of the 1,HM cases, 713 were taken sick in April, 261 in Mdy, 83 in June, 31 in July, and 15 in August. The gravity of the earlier cases was especially noticeable between April 10th and 20th, and some medical gentle- men informed Dr. Taylor that the earlier patients seemed brimful of the poison. It is a notable fact that those using water from other sources were largely exempt from the scourge. The effects of the con- centration or the close of the fever-produc- Ing agent Is clearly shown, not only by the intensity of the symptoms of the. earlier cases, but also by the fact that during the week beginning April 12 from 50 to 100 new. cases appeared daily, and on one day alone 200 new cases were reported. “Col. Elliot quotes Drs. Busey and Wales to the effect that so far no typhoid fever or other disease germs have been found in the Potomac water, and that the five forms of micro-organisms observed by Dr. Wales in his bacteriological examinations were all junpauous and generally present in all river water. Bacilll in the Water. “It is, of course, very gratifying that so far no typhoid fever or othcr disease germs have been found in the water, but my im- pression is that the bacteriological examin- ations conducted under Dr. J. S. Billings at the Army Medical Museum last year Iso- lated over fifty different species or varieties of bacteria from the Potomac water, and that it contains fecal bacilli at all times, and whilst these are probably largely de- rived from horses and cows, they are stg- gestive of dangerous pollution, and strongly point to the possibility of infection with typhoid bacilli, if present in localities washed by the Potomac and its branches. “The search for disease germs in a water supply is very much like lookMmg for a needle in a haystack. It would lead us too far to point out the many reasons why the bacteriological examination of Potomac water has so far failed to demonstrate the presence of disease germs, but there are numerous epidemics of typhoid fever end cholera. on record which were clearly traced to the water supply, and in by far the majority of instances the bacterioloysist utterly failed to demonstrate the presence of these germs. In a few rare ins‘ances this link in the chain of evidence has been furnished, but it will be well for those who invariably exact it, and completely ignore the reports, many of which are mastér- pieces of medical logic, to remember that one reason why they have not been more frequently found is because we have not sufficiently often looked for them, a matter which requires a most thorough and sys- tematic investigation extending over a period of years. Another reason lies in the fact that by the time we are able to con- nect a certain epidemic with a particular water supply, days and sometimes weeks will have elapsed, the germs have been dis- tributed, they are probably exhausted, ard thus a most opportune time for their de- tection will have been lost. “We know that typhoid fever is caused by a living germ, which fs eliminated from the body in a living state, and if thrown without disinfection Into a country or vil- lage outhouse or along the bauks of a stream or into sswers emptying into the river, which ultimately serves for our water supply, the germs may gain access to the drinking water, and if the condition of the system is favorable for their pro- liferation, cause the disease in question: It has been estimated that a single germ by growth and subdivision is capable of producing over sixteen millions of similar germs in twenty-four hours. On no other theory except the germ theory can we explain the occurrence of typhoid fever epidemics spread through the water and milk supply. If we reject the germ theory we will, indeed, be forced to the conclu- sion that fecal and putrescible matter when present in milk or water in infinitesimal dilutions {s capable of producing typhoid fever. A polson may produce sickness and even cause death, but it cannot infect, be- cause it cannot reproduce itself. For these and other reasons we should not question the possibility of the presence of such germs, simply because they have not yet been found in our supply. very one is famillar with the fact that the cholera epidemic of Hamburg in 1892 was attributed to a contaminated water supply, yet all the combined efforts of Ger- man scientists failed to demonstrate the presence of the cholera bacillus. The city received its supply from the river Elbe, and at that time the pumping station was so located as virtually to permit diluted sewage being pumped into the reservoirs. The epidemic was limited to Hamburg, al- most sparing the neighboring cities of Wal- “deck and Altona, exposed to the same cli- matic conditions and possessing the same soll, but having thelr own separate water supplies. But what ts more, Dr. Posner of Berlin informs us that the cases of cholera which occurred at Altona developed in those houses in a certain street which were supplied with water from Hamburg, but passed over those houses receiving water from the Altona water works. Whilst a careful bacteriological investiga- tion. of the Hamburg water supply failed to demonctrate the presence of the cholera germs, the general evidence clearly in- dicates that the water supply was the The Physiciansof America - - I Is For Rhubarb Ipecac PP «Peppermint /A\ & Alloes * Nux Vomica «Soda. . Dr. E. F. Newton of 124 Huntirgton avenue, Boston, Mass., writes as follows: “I think the for- mula of Ripans Tabules an exceptionably good one and a good deal more te tbe point and better than many written by so-called very professional doc- tors, who claim that nothing is orthodox but their own, I am always ready to get points from any Ripans, 50c. Box, All Dru Dr. W. Coy of Boston writes as follows: “I am very much in sympathy with such a combination, and shall use them in my practice. I am in the habit of using such mixture with the Nux Vomica and Alocs omitted, but think the Tabules a de- ‘cided improvement upon my combiration.”* qare_the most trusted class of professional inex in the world. The physician of a family is locked Bpon_as its best friend. Fils advice is even sought in matters pertaining to other than medical things, but he is especially entrusted with the Guty of seeing that the family ts healthy and the children are properly nurtured. American physte clans are, ¢8 a class, very conservative in putting the stamp of their approval upon any medicine Which comes under the head Known as reafy-made or_patent preparations, ‘The great responsibility ‘Fhich rests upon their shoulders leads them to in- Yeetigate very carefully eviry remedy they ad- minister, to see that it is perféctly harmless an@ Will_accomplish the desired results, and they cane not _be -too careful im this respect. The fact that the leading physicians of America have carefully examined the formula of Ripans Tabules and have Pronounced them the best remedy for indigestion, qonstipation, beadache, dizziness and other afl- nevts of the stomach and bowels that could pos- sibly be prescribed ts the best argument in the Yorld for their use. The formula of Ripans Tabules is public to all. It is good enough to show up be- fore the light of public criticism or commendation, and the immenss sale of these Tabules and the reat goog they are doing slows that it has veen “PUBLIC COMMENDATION We have many tes, timonials from the leading physicisns of America, Which are especially valuable and interesting be- cause they are written by men who “live in medi- ee cine."* “T am indeed very much pleased with my exe Perlence with Ripans Tabules. I have a customer in Portland, Me., to whom I gave small vial to try. This customer had two physicians stendily for a long time treating his wife for dyspepsia, and the Tabules were the only things that did any good.” Dr. Dam, Columbus avenue, Boston, Mase, ¢vists. principal factor in disseminating the germs. The Towns Up River. “Col. Elliot would have your readers be- lieve that’ there is little or no danger frem contamination of Potomac water on ac- count of the character of its watershed and the comparative absence of large towns above the intake of our supply; none of them, he understands," are sewered. He says that these towns range from forty- four to one hundred and fifty-two miles in distance from Washington, and he believes this fact, when considered in copnection with the well-established phenomena that rivers, especially those that flow over rocks and dams and those that have wide sur- faces exposed to the sun and air, tend to purify themselves, gives assurance that under ordinary conditions we have little to fear from our Potomac water. In the first place, the contaminating influence of a town or settlements on a river is a notori- ous fact, patent and apparent to every ob- server, and has been well established by chemical and bacteriological analysis, and Col. Elliot clearly admits this in speaking of the establishnient of filtration works in the city of Lawrence for the purpose of protecting itself against the pollution of its water supply, the River Merrimac, from the sewered city of Lowell, a few miles above. “But the colonel, like a great many oth- ers, I fear, relies altogether too much upon the property of self-purification of streains. While it is conceded that a certain degree of purification is possible by natural-means, the statement of Dr. Tidy and er chem- ists, who declared that a flow of even ten or twelve miles is sufficient to free a river of all trace of sewage contamination, Is no longer credited, for a chemical analysis may decide that no pollution exists, but since we know something of the nature of disease germs we cannot rest satisfied that dangerous contamination does not exist simply on account of the result of a chem- ical analysis, especially as the setts state board of health for 1 an outbreak of typhoid fever in a hospital using river water, which was traced to a barracks twenty-five miles up the stream. “But let us see whether the consumer cf unfiltered Potomac water has really little to fear from such contaminations. In the winter of 1889-9) there was an epidemic of typhold fever at Cumberland, located on the Putomac 127 miles above this city. Being interested in the subject, I wrote for information to Dr. W. W. Wilsy, who cour- teously responded June 25, 180, ‘as follows: “This epidemic first appeared in a young man who returned from Ohio quite ill about December 10, 1889. This case termi- nated fatally on the 20th of the same month, the discharges from this case being carried to a little run, which empties into the Potomac about 200 feet above the pumping station. It is a notable fact that before and since the epidemic there has been a great amount of diarrhoea and dys- entery, showing that whilst the drainage of hundreds of privies into the water sup- ply caused these affections, yet It required a case of the specific disease to produce an outbreak of typhoid fever. The second case appeared January 10, 1890, and since then we have had about 485 cases. Our popula- lation is 12,000. Every case, but one, can be traced to the use of our river water. I am not aware of ahy cases occurring just below Cumberland, as no one used the wa- ter, but I am informed that several cases occurred at Hancock, which {s about thirty miles below Cumberland, and which could be traced to the drinking of the river wa- ter. It is a most suspicious circumstance, that although the distance of the run of the Potomac river 1s about 124 miles from Cumberland, typhoid fever prevailed to an unusual extent in Washington from De- cember, 1889, to April 80, 1890. There were 75 deaths for these months from this dis- ease alone, as compared with 42 for the corresponding months of the preceding year. This cannot be explained by the in- crease of the population, which was al- most the same, und the fact remains that during the years of 1800 and 1891 more cases of typhoid fever occurred in this city than ever before or since that period. Ali this may be simply a coincidence, but in my opinion it simply tends to confirm the conclusions of the English river pollu- tion commission, that ‘nothing short of ndonment of the inexpressibly nasty habit of mixing human excrement with our drinking water can confer upon us im- munity from the propagation of epidemics through the medium of potable water.’ Settling Basins Not Enough. “In view of these facts, and in the inter- est of public sanitation, I regret that Col, Ellict should have expressed himself against the construction for filtering works, largely on account of economical reasons. From a sanitary point of view, sedimen- tary basins alone will not afford us protec- tion against disease germs, and it is no consolation to know that our water supply is as good as that of any other city, for there is scarcely a city in the United States which has a safe water supply, and near- ly all are confronted with the problem of how to prevent river pollution and guard their water supply. The large cities of Europe have long since found it necessary to protect their water against disease germs and filth by the construction of fil- tering works, of which Col. Elliot speaks so approvingly, and Frankland tells us that by means of these filtering basins from 90 to 99 per cent of the micro-organisms are removed from the London water. This is all the more importantswhen we remember that it has been shown over and over again that the ordinary domestic filters do not efficiently eliminate the bacteria from contaminated water, and secondly, the ma- jority of inhabitants are too poor to buy any kind of a filter, much less the more reliable and expensive patterns. “But apart from all this it ought not to be necessary for the householder to adopt domestic precautions to insure a pure and wholesome quality of water, which one of the most essential articles of food it is clearly the duty of the state or municipal government to do so. “The capital of this nation ought to be a model sanitary city, and an object lesson to every town or city in the Union, a posi- tion which it can scarcely hope to attain with our present water system. I believe that the expenditure of even five times the estimated cost of the filtering basins would Drove the best kind of an investment, not only because of our own health, but also on account of the increased population and corresponding values of property, resulting from the reputation of Washington as a healthful city. Prevent River Pollution. “Tho first and most important step to secure a pure water supply for this and other cities which obtain their supply from streams is the prevention of river pollu- tion, and this involves the proper disposal of sewage, preferably by the irrigation system, in all the towns and cities within the respective watersheds, and from the source to the mouth of the rivers. The next step is the corstruction of sedimen- tary and filtering basins, and a watchful care and frequent bacteriological examina- tion of the water. Until this is accom- plished it will be wise for us to filter and boll our water. Boiled water has lost its pungent, pleasant taste, and should be sub- jected to thorough aeration, which may be done by pouring it back and forth through the air a few times, or by blowing air into it by means of small bellows. All this is slightly troublesome, but we have the satisfaction of knowing that the chances a ROOMS FOR THE SERVANTS. A Tendency to Make Them Models of Convenience and Hygienic Comfort. From the New York Times. The suitable living of a retinue of serv- ants has a most important connection with the health and welfare of the family which employs it. This is being more and more recognized by our wealthy citizens. Per- haps in no home Is the principle more com- pletely demonstrated than in the new Van- derbilt heme at 58th street and Sth avenue. Here everything has been done throughout the servants’ quarters, their work rooms and their living rooms, to make them models of convenience, hygienic excellence and comfort. The one fact that every bed room has its own bath, hundreds of dollars being expended in completing the whole number, will serve to illustrate the gen- erous hand with which outlay has been made to secure perfection. In very nearly all the new mansions re- cently built in New York servants’ baths are a notable improvement. It would seem that it should have been a necessity long ago established, as those doing manual labor naturally require most frequent bath- ing. Instead of this, even very magnificent houses are entirely devoid of water ac- commodations in scryants’ rooms, Four Walls inclose the space set apart for the “girls’ rooms,” and too many show very poor toilet utensils supplied by the mi: tress. What a pity the use of nature gift should be denied those who need 1 most, because culpable indifference and stinginess see fit to supply such meager accommodations. Water, alr and light are not huxuries, except as we choose to make them so. Water, especially, should not be considered, as it is by many, an article to be gingerly doled out to a servant in a small basin, for the purpose of dabbing out the sleep in her eyes before she begins her day’s round of labor. She should have such generous accommodations for bathing that a few lessons on their use and value would be demonstrated in a daily plunge, ‘3 t From the Christian Register. It was at dinner, and there had been chicken, of which the Ittle daughter of the house had partaken with great free- dom. “I want some ces. “TI think you good for you, mamma. “T want more,” and Frances pouted. “You can’t have more, but here Is a wish- bone that you and mamma can pull. That will be fun. You pull one side and I'll pull the other, and whoever gets the longer end can have her wish come trae. Why, baby, you've got it! What was your wish, more chicken,” said Fran- have had as much as is dear,” replied Frances’ for imbthing’ disease germs in a living state are extremely slight. Frances?” “I wish for some more chicken,” said Frances, promptly. She got it this iime. From Life.