REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 109 



Omitting the detailed statements based upon the testimony which 

 he obtained, the report of Professor Forbes is as follows: 



I have the honor to report, concerning the alleged injury to fishes in the Wabash 

 River by overflow and waste from oil wells at Torre Haute, that in accordance with 

 your instructions I went, May 15, to Marshall, in Clarke County, 111., near the 

 Wabash, spent May 16 aud 17 along that river in and near the towns of Darwin, 

 Old York, and Hutsonvillc, returned to Marshall on the evening of the 17th, and 

 went thence to Terre Haute, where I remained until the forenoon of May 19, at 

 which time other engagements compelled my return to Champaign. 



I made personal observations of the condition of the river with reference to the 

 contamination of its waters by coal oil or its waste products, and collected a mass 

 of evidence concerning the pollution of the river at different times and under differ- 

 ent circumstances, and likewise concerning the effect upon the fish. The time at 

 my disposal was too short to permit a complete investigation, and I shall be obliged, 

 consequently, to limit myself to a preliminary report. 



As a general result of this investigation, I reached the conclusion that there can 

 be no doubt of a considerable pollution of the river at Terre Haute by the oil wells 

 and gas works connected with it, having the effect to injure fish for a distance of at 

 least 40 miles down the river, and the consequent eifect to diminish, aud in some 

 places practically suspend, the fishing industry, and to decrease or stop the sale of 

 fish. 



There are at Terre Haute three separate sources of pollution — the oil wells, the fuel- 

 gas works, and the illuminating-gas works. In the absence of the general manager 

 of the oil wells, who was out of the city during my visit, I was not able to get per- 

 sonal knowledge of the nature and amount of the objectionable materials Avhich the 

 waters of the Wabash may receive from these wells. I learned, however, from other 

 reputable citizens — especially from the officers of the gas companies, so related to 

 the oil business as to be thoroughly intelligent with reference to it — that there are 

 three of these wells in the city now in operation. Their entire product, I am told, 

 is used at the fuel-gas works, for the manufacture of gas distributed to the city, and 

 at the works of a tool company, where the oil is used as a fuel. 



The oil, after being pumped into large tanks, is steamed some time for the purpose 

 of causing a separation of the water and other impurities, which settle to the bottom 

 of the tank. This "B. S.," so called, is then drawn off into the sewers, aud reaches 

 the river by way of the main city sewer, a 5-foot brick sewer opening into the river 

 at the foot of Eagle street. The present product of these wells, and the exact nature 

 and amount of this contamination, I was not able to ascertain at the time. I Avas 

 informed, however, by men who should be acquainted with the facts, that it is much 

 greater than that from the gas works, and that occasional overflows of the wells 

 have occurred, the oil then, of course, escapiug into the river. Since my return to 

 Champaign I have received a letter, in reply to inquiries addressed to Mr. S. M. Rey- 

 nolds, the general manager of the Guarantee Oil aud Gas Company, controlling these 

 wells, in which he informs me that the entire product of the three wejls is about 45 

 barrels per day, of which "not one-thousandth of 1 per cent finds its' way into the 

 waters of the Wabash." Further investigation will evidently bo needed on this 

 point. I may add that Mr. Reynolds volunteers the fullest informatiou with regard 

 to the situation and every opportunity to iuspect the works personally. 



The second source of contamination is the waste from the fuel-gas works, an estab- 

 lishment situated two blocks from the river and emptying the washings of the gas 

 and other waste directly into the main brick sewer above described. I was shown 

 this sewer connection, and saw also the liquid waste escapiug. It is received in a 

 large open tank, the surface of which is covered with a coating of slushy tar, while 

 the water runs oil', carrying an iridescent oily or tarry material in suspension. The 

 stream of water, running at the time rapidly through the trough, was perhaps 8 

 or 9 inches across by an inch in depth. It is possible that there are other sewer 



