SANITARY SURVEY OF DRAINAGE BASIN OF POTOMAC RIVER. 245 
soil from the others is removed from time to time, and either buried 
or used for fertilizer. 
Typhoid is considered by the physicians of Hagerstovm to be a 
rare disease; but few cases occur annually. I found two deaths 
recorded for 1905 and two for 1906 to July 25. 
Sharpsburg, Md., 60 miles from Great Falls, had a population of 
1,030 in 1900. It is near the Antretam battlefield, to which a great 
many visitors are annually attracted. The town is located on a run 
which heads at the town spring, from which, together with some 
wells, is derived the water consumed in the towm. The run joins 
Antietam Creek, and in its course through the town is polluted by 
several privies. 
In 1902 there was an epidemic of typhoid here, and there are three 
deaths recorded for that year. Since then there has been one death 
from the disease each year, including 1906, to July 26. 
Continuing past the mouth of Antietam Creek, the Potomac flows 
on to Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah unites with it. In its 
course it receives Elk Branch just above Harpers Ferry. This little 
stream is polluted by privies at Shenandoah Junction, Duffields, and 
Keller. These are insignificant villages, and are of importance only 
from the fact of their proximity to Great Falls. 
Harpers Ferry is situated in the acute angle formed at the junc- 
tion of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, 45 miles above Great 
Falls. It had a population of 896 in 1900. There is no public water 
supply, springs and cisterns being relied on. There is no sewerage; 
privies are in common use. A hotel much favored by travelers and 
excursionists, some private houses, and the railway station discharge 
their sewage into the river. One of the islands in the Potomac at 
this pomt has been made a picnic park; on its edges are two privies 
which drain directly into the river. Several thousand excursionists 
visit Harpers Ferry every summer; on the day of my visit (July 26) 
there were present somewhat over 2,000. No data concerning the 
presence of t^^hoid are available. A few cases occur every year, 
but appear to be relatively more common in the country outside of 
Harpers Ferry than in the town itself. 
The Shenandoah River at Harpers Ferry, drains an area of 3,010 
square miles, which had a population of 116,018 in 1900. It is pol- 
luted at several points, one of the first of which is almost at the very 
source of Middle River, which, as will be remembered, is one of the 
tributaries of the South Fork. 
Staunton, Ya., credited with a population of 7,289 in 1900, is situ- 
ated on Levds Creek, a tributary of ARddle River, 223 miles above 
Great Falls. It has a public water supply derived from springs on 
the western edge of the town. There is a sewerage system which dis- 
charges into Lewis Creek. 
