THE SEWERAGE OF KANSAS CITY. 521 
the "combined system" the water, which comes from the occasional rains, the 
"storm-water," so called, is admitted into the sewers, along with the house 
refuse, while in the "separate system" the house refuse alone is carried away 
by one set of pipes {which are daily flushed), while the "storm-water" is carried 
away partly in open gutters, and partly (whenever it accumulates to such an ex- 
tent as to cause annoyance) by another set of underground sewers. 
This is all the difference there is in principle between the two systems, but 
this difference, simple as it is, involves several important consequences. 
The first is that the large sewers, in the combined plan, have to be carried 
along of the full great size required by the storm-waters, under every portion of 
the district to be drained, instead of being confined as in the separate system, to 
those short sections where the "storm-water" accumulates enough as to prove 
objectionable. It will readily be understood that this will largely add to the ex- 
pense ; for once the " storm-water " and house refuse are mixed together in a 
sewer, we no longer dare to admit them to the Hght of day, until they are clear of 
human habitations. 
The second consequence is that the combined sewers must be made large 
enough to pass at the same time boih the "storm-water" and the daily sewage, 
and the further consequence is that during at least nine-tenths of the time (for I 
do not suppose that in this climate it rains anything like one tenth of the time) 
the sewers are not more than one-twentieth full, while on the other hand they 
are not unfrequently overtaxed during the remaining one-tenth of the time, by 
our semi tropical rains. 
It may be questioned here in passing, whether the peculiarities of the climate 
of Kansas City have been taken sufficiently into account, in carrying out the 
system of combined sewers. They are proportioned as I understand it, upon the 
rule of allowing for a rainfall upon the drained district, at the rate of one inch 
per hour. This is an English rule, and a very proper one in that climate, where it 
rains nearly every day, but seldom violently. Here, where for weeks and per- 
haps months, we sometimes do not get a drop of rain, and where, when it does 
come, it sometimes pours down three or even four inches in an hour, sewers 
proportioned by the English rule may prove both too Large and too small — too 
small to carry off the occasional semi-tropical shower, and too large, much too 
large, to be properly ventilated through the openings which it is practicable to 
make. 
The result necessarily must be that during at least nine-tenths of the time, 
the Kansas City sewers will be nineteen-twentieths full of noxious gases, which 
physicians tell us are dangerous to life. We may, perhaps, keep these gases out 
of our houses by perfect plumbing,_ but to me it seems far wiser to prevent their 
production, by breaking away from tradition and adopting what I consider as a 
more appropriate and rational system of sewerage for this city. 
It must however be admitted, that at first consideration the combined sys- 
tem of sewers seems a perfectly plain, obvious and sensible method to adopt. 
There is a certain amount of house refuse or sewage and a certain amount of 
