Brown. — Pond Fishes. 189 



River. This river rises in the northeastern part of the State, in the 

 Susquehanna watershed; it is a beautiful stream for a distance of about 

 twenty miles until it strikes the anthracite coal regions at Forest City, 

 and from Forest City to Pittston, a distance of about thirty miles, there 

 is one mine operation after another; it is said that even a typhoid germ 

 will not live in that section of the river. The courts of Pennsylvania 

 in 1825 unfortunately rendered a decision favorable to the mine operator 

 which has caused a great deal of the present trouble in relation to the 

 streams that mine water flows into. In this case, known as Sanderson 

 vs. the Pennsylvania Coal Company, the facts were that Mr. Sanderson 

 has a dwelling alongside the Lackawanna River; in his yard was a 

 fountain containing goldfish; when the mine operations commenced 

 the water in the river became so acid that as it flowed through the 

 fountain it killed the goldfish; and on this account Mr. Sanderson brought 

 action against the company. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania de- 

 cided in that case that the mine operator had the right to flow that water 

 into the stream, irrespective of anyone's private rights below. I have 

 spoken to a great many judges on that question, and they have agreed 

 that the decision was a very unfortunate one; had it been given in op- 

 posite terms, all these difficulties could have been foreseen and steps 

 taken to obviate them. There is now before the courts of Pennsylvania 

 a case on which this Board is anxiously awaiting decision, known as the 

 Mountainside Water Company et al vs. the Sagamore Coal Company 

 et al. It was a case brought in the Fayette County Court, as effecting 

 not private interests but public interests, and it was argued in the 

 Fayette court by thirty-six of the most prominent attorneys of the 

 State of Pennsylvania. The decision of the Fayette County Court was 

 against the Water Company; it is now before the Supreme Court, and 

 we are awaiting with much interest the decision of the Supreme court, 

 in view of the fact that the case is brought as affecting the public inter- 

 est. This case involves a $25,000,000 water project of the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad Company; so that in the case of class "C" streams, we are ad- 

 vising all those who are complaining that we will take no action until 

 we learn of the decision of the Supreme court with regard to mining 

 streams. I may say that we have provided that everyone who makes 

 a complaint about the pollution of streams and the killing of fish must 

 make it in the form of a sworn complaint, or we will pay no attention 

 to it. 



President Leach: I only wish that more States would take the 

 interest in this matter that Pennsylvania is now taking. 



Mr. Buller: I would like to know what some of the other states 

 are doing. It is a question that involves a great deal in the work of con- 

 servation. 



Mr. Doze: What is being done about oil pollution? 



Mr. Buller: I think that is a matter that will be taken up in the 

 meeting of the commissioners which is to follow this. 



Mr. Doze: We have that problem to meet in our state. The ques- 

 tion is, what are we going to do with the water that is polluted? It has 



