20 THE TONER LECTURES. 



rarely thought of anything further than getting rid of drainage- 

 water, and when the plumber knew nothing better than the use 

 of sound material and the execution of sound work, and often 

 avoided these. Whether the plumber or the architect or the house 

 owner is to blame for the present condition of the house drainage 

 of this city, and of all other cities, is of no consequence. The fact 

 exists that through the ignorance of one or all of them, work has 

 been put into dwelling houses, almost universally, which had much 

 better be taken out and replaced, and which ought imperatively to 

 be thoroughly overhauled. 



Pray do not think that I say this without a thought as to the 

 enormous tax that such a reform must impose upon the community, 

 or that I say it lightly because of the slight responsibility attaching 

 to a public lecture — I say it in all earnestness and advisedly. 



By the official statement, the deaths in the District in 1879 from 

 diseases which are believed to be very materially affected by bad 

 drainage, — either by soil-moisture or by filth, — amounted to just 

 about one-half of the total mortality. I believe that one-fourth of 

 the lives thus sacrificed might have been saved by putting every 

 house into perfect condition as to the dryness of the soil on which it 

 stands and by which it is surrounded, and as to the appliances by 

 which its filth is removed. I believe, that is, that five hundred per- 

 sons annually die within this District because of the defective con- 

 dition of the houses in which they live. This belief, and not by 

 any means the desire to offer a striking proposition, is my motive in 

 saying what I do on this subject. Were I to attempt to treat it 

 adequately, I should be obliged to make a fresh start and to 

 deliver a tediously long lecture on house drainage only. I will con- 

 tent myself on this occasion with the remark that leaky drains dis- 

 charging their contents into or under cellars and foundation walls, 

 leaky soil-pipes discharging foul gases into living I'ooms, unventi- 

 lated drains and soil-pipes wherein the foulest decomposition is 

 incessant, pan water-closets which are as abominable as they are 

 universal, and defective traps, or too often the absence of traps. 



