The Oregon Sportsman 



Volume II JANUARY 1914 Number 1 



THE POLLUTION OF OUR STREAMS. 



Each year the State Board of Fish and Game Commissioners 

 spends from $50,000 to $75,000 in the propagation of various kinds 

 of fish in order to stock our streams. One of the leading causes 

 for the destruction of fish life is in the pollution of our waters. 

 After the eggs are laid and the young fish hatch, during the stage 

 before the yolk sac is absorbed, these creatures are very delicate 

 and susceptible to disease. Dumping the sewage of cities, the 

 waste of mills and factories and filth of all kinds into our pub- 

 lic waters is a factor that will completely deplete our streams of 

 fish, if it is allowed to continue. 



In Oregon we have a large number of rivers that are of 

 great value to the State and to the people as a whole. The value 

 of our streams, merely from the recreation standpoint, is large, 

 for we are spending more money for that purpose year by year. 

 The contamination of public waters is an evil attendant upon the 

 growth of cities and the development of the State. The empty- 

 ing of sewage into streams is the crudest method of dealing with 

 the problem of cleanliness. It does not dispose of the city's filth; 

 it merely transfers it from one place to another, making the 

 water unfit for use at other points further down stream, destroy- 

 ing our fish supply and spreading disease among our people. 

 These things are wrong, both morally and legally. 



SILVERTON AND HER SEWAGE SYSTEM. 



Some time ago when the city of Silverton was inaugurating 

 her new sewer system the city authorities were warned by the 

 State Board of Health not to dump the sewage into Silver Creek, 

 a mountain stream that runs through the city. The City Council 

 paid no attention to the warning. Becently the State Board of 



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