PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSES. 41 



We thus see by an examination of the reports that the source of 

 the water used by these cities is either cisterns, wells, or rivers. 



You may think it unnecessary for me to spend time in telling you 

 things you already know in regard to the value of a good general 

 supply of a good, pure water for cities and towns, but a review of the 

 reasons for the necessity of an abundant supply of pure water may 

 help to show you the necessity for a chemical survey of the water- 

 supplies. It will also introduce what I have to say in regard to the 

 advantages and disadvantages of the various sources of water-supply 

 available in southeastern Kansas. 



A good supply of pure water is of value to the household, to the 

 manufactory, and to general public use. Most important of these 

 three is the service to the household. Here, first of all, pure drinking- 

 water is needed, on account of its relation to the health of the indi- 

 vidual and therefore to the community. It is an established fact 

 that many disease germs are carried by water, for such diseases as 

 cholera and typhoid fever have been traced directly to the water- 

 supply. A change in the source of the water-supply, by which a 

 purer water is obtained, reduces the possibility of such diseases. 

 This was shown in the city of Chicago, where the water intake was 

 extended to four miles into the lake. The average death-rate from 

 typhoid fever was reduced from 8.0 per 10,000 for seven years prior 

 to 1892, when the extension was made, to 3.4 per 10,000 for the seven 

 years following, a reduction of more than 50 per cent. 



Again, the introduction of purification systems have reduced the 

 death-rate from these germ diseases. As an example, the average an- 

 nual death rate per 100,000 from typhoid fever in Zurich was reduced 

 from 73.6 to 9.0 after the introduction of new filters. This is a re- 

 duction of more than 800 per cent. 



A plentiful supply of water as soft as possible is needed in the 

 household for bathing and for laundry purposes. Parkes in his 

 book, " Hygiene and Public Health," says that the city of Glasgow 

 saves annually $180,000 in the amount of soap used since the intro- 

 duction of the soft Loch Katrine water. The most economical 

 method for the proper disposal of household waste is by dilution with 

 water, and the carrying of the same into a sewage system. For this 

 household use we see that an abundant supply is needed. 



Many branches of industry require large amounts of water, and 

 these necessarily must choose their location on account of an abun- 

 dant supply. Oil refineries, starch factories, chemical works, need 

 large amounts of water, and in some cases a water of a high degree of 

 purity. Every user of power depending on steam must have a good 

 water for the boilers. Here the soft water — that is, a water free from 

 scale -forming materials — has the preference. The saving in fuel con- 



