Category Archives: Health

Garbage 1886

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Baltimore, Health, Sewage History

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1886 – From the Mayor’s Message: Health Department –  Garbage, etc. – The amount of garbage collected and removed during the past year was thirty-three thousand eight hundred and forty-nine cart-loads. Table G (below) shows the large number of dead animals, fowls, etc., collected and removed by this Department. The present methods of disposal of garbage and carrion are exceedingly unsatisfactory. Much annoyance and discomfort is experienced by residents adjacent to the present dumps, and frequent and continued complaints are made of the offensive odors. This annoyance, and menace to public health, can be obviated by burning them.

Chart gThis is a lot of dead animals. When this refuse was not picked up immediately and taken to the dumps (5 in the city), it was washed into the sewers which emptied into the Inner Harbor.

Water Freeze

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Baltimore, filtration, Health, water

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HydrantThaw

From my book: 1919 thru 1937 – File Folder, No. 1432, General: AWWA paper on Freezing of Water in Mains Laid in Salt Water and in Mains and Services Laid on Land by William Brush. Pamphlet from 1919 (re-dated 1936) Frozen Services and the Method of Thawing. A how-to book on thawing water service to your house using an electric thawing apparatus. They ask that fires not be built in valve boxes, that hot water should be poured into them. Five pages of newspaper articles glued to the pages. One article mentions the water department receiving one thousand frozen pipe calls in a day. Various articles on gas leaks and explosions. February 10, 1936 Resolution (No 240) that the Board of Estimates gives money to the water department to buy ice thawing machines. February 12, 1936 News Post article by Carroll Delaney on the city’s inability to thaw out pipes. February 15, 1936 memo from Small to Crozier listing expenditures for thawing so far – $45,500.00. March 11, 1936 memo from Small to Crozier on cost associated with the cold weather. Welding machines at 500 amps needed to be rented from different companies and the laboring cost associated with their use was noted as to why there was an increase in expenditures for the water department. April 13, 1936 memo from Small to American Electric Welding Company noting payment of $72 for 480 gallons of gasoline ($.15 per gallon). The welder was for thawing frozen pipes around Baltimore. Brochure on “Hydra Thaw” equipment. May 26, 1936 memo from the Bureau of Accounts informing Crozier that the Mayor approved $127,150.00 that was owed to the Water Supply for work during ‘Freeze’. A total of $600,000.00 was spent throughout the city. January 15, 1937 memo from Small to Thomas Young, City Collector notifying him to put this stamp on water bills: “No adjustment will be made for water wasted to prevent freezing of pipes.” Apparently, last year during the big freeze, consumers were told to leave a small amount of water running to prevent freezing pipes. They did not.

Copy-Rights

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Baltimore, filtration, general, Health, HISTORY, water

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Just to go off track a little bit here, as far as Baltimore’s Water Supply history goes, I was just wondering if I could get some clarification on Copyrights? I really don’t understand these laws. It is of my own opinion that everything that has to do with history should be free to the public. I know there are certain cost involved with printing and reproduction and even research, BUT, who the hell owns the photographs and the words associated with them??

Case in point: I am revising my water history book by adding more photographs and trying to make it more ‘reader friendly’, getting rid of repetitious comments and adding an index. All the photographs that I have used come from glass plate negatives, lantern slides or the actual photographs that are stored here. While reading through my book I found some areas that could use a couple of pics to liven up the paragraphs but found I lacked those photos. Some research pointed me in the direction of the Enoch Pratt Free Library and The Tribune. The Tribune is now the keeper of the Baltimore Sun photo collection. Both of these are charging me anywhere from $10 to $40 for reprints, although the Tribune sold me the ‘originals’ for $15. Each want upwards of $150 for permission to use the photos in a book, depending on the print run. I asked the guy at the library what ever happened to the ‘Free’ in Enoch Pratt Free Library??

The library had received, in earlier years, copies of all the City of Baltimore’s Annual Reports, which included photographs. These photos were taken by either a City photographer or one hired by the contractor doing the construction. They are called ‘Progress Photographs.’ As far as the SunPapers goes, well they would send reporters who would come out to the plant with a photographer to cover newsworthy events. Like the tunnel explosion of 1938 where ten miners were killed (Although the Sun really fell on that one. Most pics and stories were done by the Washington Post, to whom I had to pay $3 for a mimeographed copy of the stories) They came onto the property, took pictures of the property, naming city workers and saying what happened.

Who really owns all this and why do they charge for reproducing the photos in a book? As far as print run, I can not tell them how many will be printed. I print my books thru Publish on Demand. As far as making money off of it – No!

So as not to cause any legal BS, I found this pic of an 1848 Fountain in Baltimore. Here is the link: http://www.mdhs.org/digitalimage/marsh-market-fountain-baltimore-street-0

When the Borg first arrived

10 Monday May 2010

Posted by in general, Health, HISTORY, POLITICS, science, Uncategorized, water

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April 16, 1957 – Letter: Very unusual letter written to the Bureau of Water Supply from a John M. Noon:

            Without [asservity] possibly ‘asperity’, animosity or acrimony, or reservation, I am writing you again about the Prudence and Elmtree site of reservoir…the work of the world is governed by cold hard facts…these men worked in very bad weather…curtailment of work now…I am of the belief the work will continue, not because of the Governor or the Mayor’s efforts to keep Maryland beautiful, but in spite of this fact.

            I would be in your office now…in my 70th year…unmarried and pensioned.

            Also I believe with Tolstoy, the Russian socialist and writer, that time rectifies evil and resistance is useless, because truth is inexorable and governed by laws of nature and conditions create problems that men must solve for his survival, not to mention, salvation. Christianity may have helped but it is not too much in evidence, as all the old evils still persist. If this work is finished, I must point out the four open holes…filled with water from the rains…children 3-16 roam this area and are endangered by this fact, be it accident or design, they are a menace…never ending brush fires. Fire apparatus are denied access…an accident could be disastrous, as all these war housing units have not the usual rubber insulation on the wiring.

            I am firmly convinced all the travail in this region stems from the same source, the attitude of the officials toward the area as being the jungles populated by backward hill people and “dumb pollocks”. They have their faults but neither makes it a practice to deny their children the right to a happy childhood, to fortified against the vicissitudes of existence when they must be self sustaining. These hill people are not particularly friendly to anyone, even their benefactors, or themselves…the parents are not at the moment, the concern, but to practically disenfranchise the youngsters to the point they will eventually become public charges or inmates of mental hospitals because of harassment, and neglect makes bad economics, if nothing else.

            Of course it is the law of the pack rat to rag the stranger. All the foreign born coming here at the turn of the century suffered this ignominy – – and one “bloody blooming Finny” son of a bitch who was with Kipling in Sudan in the 80s as linguist-interpreter, who had an American born son in 1888, who can get up on his one good leg and “give them hell” and it wasn’t Harrigan, it was me.

WATER POEM

26 Tuesday Jan 2010

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A poem which appeared, under the signature of “Old Fashioned,”

in the Federalsburg “Times” 1956:

 This Business of our Water surely makes me think

Of “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.”

So said the Ancient Mariner; let’s do as he would do:

Let’s keep our water undefiled or what he says come true.

Our Water Works for many years provided fine, pure bubbles,

Then they put the chlorine in to give us stomach troubles.

Now Sodium Fluoride is good for teeth, they say,

They would put it in the water to stop our tooth decay,

But I have a  suggestion and my logic is correct;

Why not Citrate of Magnesia for medicinal effect?

Why Not Scotch or Bourbon  piped to every house and home

And in the heat of summer, nice cool beer with lots of foam ?

The danger, Friend, of puttin’ in is not knowing where to stop,

And I, an Ancient Mariner, would forget it, drop by drop.

For with water, water everywhere,  I  have  a  right  to think

What once was fine, pure wa­ter is no longer fit to drink.

Please Mister, make me happy; leave what I drink alone,

And when decay has got my teeth I’ll buy dentures of my own.

Fluoridation of the drinking water

13 Thursday Dec 2007

Posted by in Health, HISTORY, science, Uncategorized, water

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I found this in a 1953 letter from Edward Hopkins (Baltimore City Water Engineer) to a Mrs. Cobb, in New Jersey:

    “Fluoridation of the Baltimore water began on November 26, 1952. Fluoridation of the supply was ordered by the Mayor and confirmed by vote of the City Council. The subsequent injunction to restrain the City from applying fluoridation was dismissed, on the grounds that this action would not interfere with religious beliefs, and that it was within the jurisdiction of the Mayor and City Council to proceed.”

Upon some research I found why it was against religious beliefs. The documentation is fairly long so I placed it on my History page for anyone who would like to comment.