144 THE "NEW AGRICULTURE. 



confined it, soon filled up the reservoirs, which until then were 

 almost empty. The water passing through the ice and hardly 

 exposed to the air reached the reservoirs a little over one-eighth 

 of a mile distant. The great outburst of the typhoid fever oc- 

 curred between April 12 and April 18. The time of incubation of 

 typhoid fever is generally from ten to twenty days. We looked 

 into the milk supply carefully. A few cases were due to that, but 

 many who had their own cows had the fever. The epidemic is now 

 dying out. The water is all right now and was before, but it was 

 infected by accident. The river water, although that was hardly 

 contaminated, was pumped into the mines for several weeks prior 

 to March 26. 



"The result of the investigation only shows the necessity of 

 keeping a w r ater supply pure and free from contamination. The 

 Avells in this city are all w r orse than any in that town, where they 

 are frequently polluted by adjacent filth. I have found people 

 using water from wells dug in this city. I had to arrest John 

 Gelston, a large mineral-water manufacturer, a few weeks ago for 

 using well water in making his beverages. He was convicted 

 in the Special Sessions and fined $25. I discovered that he was 

 using well water by having his mineral waters analyzed. A manu- 

 facturer like him can save from $2,500 to $3,000 in Croton water 

 taxes by using well w r ater. Our recent investigation at the Croton 

 water-shed shows that there is no reason for apprehension on ac- 

 count of the pollution of the water at present, but the population 

 near the river bank is increasing, and after a while there will be 

 danger unless the city purchases the land on both banks for half a 

 mile back, or takes some other measures to prevent contamination. 

 It would be cheaper to buy the land now than to wait until the 

 danger is imminent and the land dearer." 



Not only at Plymouth but in other towns and cities without 



