State board of health. 
285 
healthy emanations that various devices were^ suggested by engi¬ 
neers to rid the city of this great nuisance — such as covering the 
whole river, and constructing a grand boulevard —running a rail, 
road down the center between its walls, and dividing the stream so 
as to increase its force and ability to scour the river, and various 
other methods. 
“ The London plan, I have been informed, is now settled upon, 
and intercepting sewers will soon be constructed, at an estimated cost 
of one million of dollars, to convey the contents of the main sew¬ 
ers, three miles below the city, where it can be carried out by the 
tide to the ocean. The utilization of sewers has not as yet engaged 
the attention of America^ agriculturists, but it has for ages been 
used as the best fertilizer for worn and exhausted lands in Europe, 
and when properly prepared, is equal in value to the best guano* 
According to Mr. Norwood’s account the meadows about Edin¬ 
burgh have been enriched by the sewerage of that city for 150 
years. He says: ‘ The most effectual plan for cleansing rivers is to 
prevent, by interception, the influx of town sewerage into them, 
and that sewerage, when kept in motion, either in the culverts, car¬ 
riers, or on the fields, is inoffensive to the senses and uninjurious 
to the health.’ 
“ It may be thought by some that the small amount of filth en¬ 
tering the Milwaukee river, could not, for a great many years, be 
offensive or injurious to health. To suppose this is a great fallacy, 
when it is known that the amount of solid sewage to each indi¬ 
vidual per day is 3 ounces, and of liquid sewage 42 ounces. Esti¬ 
mating our present population at 100,000, there would be poured 
into the river, provided the privies, water-closets, and cess pools 
connected with our dwellings were emptied into the sewers, nine 
tons of solid sewage and 126 tons of liquid sewage daily, or, in one 
year, 3,385 tons of solid sewage, and 45,800 tons of liquid sewage. 
As the population increases the nuisance increases. 
“ No one for a moment will suppose that this huge mass of filth, 
deposited in a currentless river like ours, can be inodorous and 
harmless. * * * * I think I have stated sufficient upon this 
subject to enlist the attention of my fellow citizens, and of the city 
government, to the application of the necessary remedy before more 
money is expended upon a system of sewerage that will soon,turn 
out to be a nuisance of the worst kind.” 
