103 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



wholesome influence on the work of fishery boards in all the 

 States. 



The interests engaged in polluting our higher waters are not 

 yet sufficiently powerful to claim everything for their side of 

 the question. A reasonable amount of discussion ought to make 

 it clear that the waters of our higher lakes and streams are vastly 

 more valuable as sources of municipal water supply, for fisheries, 

 and for summer homes, than they can possibly be to a minority 

 of small manufacturers. It is to be expected that all industries 

 concerned will protest vigorously, but they are still greatly in the 

 minority, and therefore the prospects are hopeful. 



Sawdust can be kept out of streams, and at a very moderate 

 expense. The wastes of other mills can be kept on land, evapor- 

 ated or otherwise treated. Water containing deleterious substance 

 of all kinds can be settled, cleared, filtered, evaporated or puri- 

 fied by chemical processes. It is needless at the present time to 

 argue against this point, since engineers everywhere understand 

 methods of disposal suitable to various conditions. 



Ice companies are already protesting against sewage discharge 

 adjacent to their places of operation. Ice from sewage-polluted 

 streams is likely to cause typhoid fever, as the germs are not 

 destroyed by freezing. 



It is not only possible to keep w^astes out of the water, but it 

 is possible to turn them into profit through valuable by-products. 

 In many parts of Europe sewage is not only kept out of the 

 waters but valued as fertilizer. 



The struggle for the preservation of some of the inland lakes 

 of New York against pollution has been carried on for some 

 time and good results have been secured in several instances. 

 The Merchants' Association of New York City has made a good 

 beginning in its work for the preservation of the Hudson, and it 

 is unlikely that any additional sewage systems will be permitted 

 to pollute the river. The pollution of the Hudson begins well 

 up stream in Washington, Warren and Saratoga counties, where 

 the refuse from 63 mills and 121 villages is poured in. The 

 mills alone throw in over a million pounds a day, and the death 

 rates of towns on the Hudson are known to be dependent upon 

 their position on the river, whether above or below^ extensive 

 pollution. 



Sewage trash from New York City loads the sea beaches of 

 Long Island and the Jersey shore. Harbor pollution has gone 

 on unregarded until the ovster beds within a wide radius of 



