Kl^TSrS^S CITY 
Review of Scieince and Industry, 
A MONTHLY RECORD OF PROGRESS IN 
SCIENCE, MECHANIC ARTS AND LITERATURE. 
VOL. VM. . JANUARY, 1884. NO. 9. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
THE SEWERAGE OF KANSAS CITY.i 
O. CHANUTE, C. E. 
The importance of the selection of an adequate system of sewerage and 
drainage upon the health and fortunes of a city, cannot well be overestimated. 
Not only does it involve the expenditure of vast sums of money, but more pre- 
cious still, the welfare and health of the citizens depend upon the wisdom of the 
selection, and errors once committed are, if not impossible, at least very difficult 
to correct. Indeed, the more the subject is considered the more its importance 
grows upon the mind of those who, like the audience that I now see before me, 
are interested in the prosperity of the city. I therefore hope that what I have to 
say shall be critically received, so that whatever is sound may result in good, 
and whatever may be erroneous shall be eliminated. 
Nearly two years ago, upon a very brief visit to Kansas City, and before I 
had come back to reside among you, I became aware that it was proposed to 
adopt what is known as the " combined system " of sewerage. I thought that this 
would prove to be a mistake, and feeling a great interest in the welfare of the city, 
I asked a few citizens and the reporters of the public press to meet me one even- 
ing, when I laid before them chiefly what others had said upon the subject of 
sewerage, and upon the dangers to health of an improper selection. I endeav- 
ored to point out that not only would the "combined system," so called, be- 
1 Read before the Kansas City Academy of Science, Friday evening, November 30, 1883. 
VII-33 
