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THE 



AQUARIUM 



A Difference of Opinion in Regard 

 to Goldfish 



Two varying points of view on the 

 goldfish question appear in the follow- 

 ing, clipped from the Minneapolis Daily 

 News; 



Typhoid has dropped off nearly 100 

 per cent in Minneapolis since the filtra- 

 tion plant was put into service. 



This was the announcement today at 

 the health department. 



So pure has the w^ater become that 

 goldfish cannot live in it. They die from 

 lack of nutrition. 



"Lots of people will tell you that city 

 water is bad because their goldfish die 

 in it," said Dr. J. Frank Corbett, city 

 bacteriologist. That is where they fool 

 themselves. 



"The filtered water is so pure after 

 coming through all that sand that there 

 is no organic matter for the fish to feed 

 on, and which they must have to live. 



"We have frequent complaints from 

 people telling us that their goldfish have 

 died in city water." 



Health Commissioner Dutton is wear- 

 ing the smile that won't come off as a 

 result of the decline in the typhoid 

 death rate. 



There were but nine deaths in Janu- 

 ary, compared to 14 in January a year 

 ago. So far this month there have been 

 but five deaths, while in the same period 

 a year ago, ten were reported. 



Why the Goldfish Die 



Editor Daily News: 



As a citizen of Minneapolis I would 

 like to say a few words in reply to an 

 article in the Daily News of Feb. 20, 

 regarding the city filtered water. There's 

 an old saying that "you can fool some 



people some of the time, but you can- 

 not fool all the people all the time." 

 And with all due respect to Bacteriolo- 

 gist J. F. Corbett, will say that he is 

 either woefully ignorant of fish life, or, 

 worse yet, is wilfully trying to deceive 

 the people regarding the city water. Let 

 us hope he did not make the two state- 

 ments in the article referred to above, 

 for they are both absolutely false. 



In the first place, water cannot be so 

 pure that fish cannot live in it. To a 

 fishman the idea is simply disgusting, 

 and, in the second place, there is not, 

 and never has been enough organic mat- 

 ter in the city water to sustain the life 

 of a goldfish. All fish kept in confine- 

 ment have to be fed artificial food to 

 sustain life, though it is surprising how 

 long fish will live without food. 



What then is killing our pet fish? 

 The answer is easy. The hypochloride 

 of lime and other chemicals used in the 

 water eat out their gills, and in many 

 cases destroy their eyesight, and the 

 fish die. 



It is quite likely true that the chem- 

 icals used in the water have destroyed 

 the fever germs, but, as one gentleman 

 puts it, "they are going to give us a 

 slow death instead of a quick one." And 

 it will not be long before the doctors 

 will be reaping a harvest from kindey 

 and similar diseases, brought on those 

 unfortunates who are compelled to drink 

 the city water. Minneapolis will never 

 have good water until it is piped from 

 Lake Mille Lacs or Lake vSuperior. 



F. L. Tappan, 



President Alinncapolis Aquarium So- 

 ciety. 



The man who never makes mistakes, 

 never makes anything else. 



