Pollution of Illinois and Mississippi Rivers by Chicago Sewage
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LIBRARY BUREAU OF RECLAMATION WASHINGTON, D. C. Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 194 Series L, Quality of Tater, 20 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ! jf CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR POLLUTION OF ILLINOIS AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS BY CHICAGO SEWAGE A DIGEST OF THE TESTIMONY TAKEN IN THE CASE OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI V. THE STATE OF ILLINOIS AND THE SANITARY DISTRICT OF CHICAGO Bureau of Reclamattea Files, MARSHALL O. LEIGHTON WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1907 T<i *» -«1 xsswn. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction.............................................................. 5 Object of the paper.................................................... 5 Statements of parties to the suit......................................... 6 Bill of complaint.................................................. 6 Answer of the defendants.......................................... 7 Witnesses and counsel................................................... 9 Typhoid fever in the Mississippi Valley.................................. 10 Testimony for plaintiff...................................................... 11 Benezette Williams..................................................... 11 J. L. Van Ornum...................................................... 16 Amand Nicholas Ravold............................................... 19 William C. Teichmann................................................. 47 Edward H. Keiser..................................................... 74 George Chandler Whipple.............................................. 92 Alien Hazen........................................................... 103 William Thompson Sedgwick........................................... 106 George W. Fuller.................................................:.... 124 Gardner S. Williams.................................................... 133 Testimony for defendants................................................... 143 C. G. Herget............................................................ 144 Peter Casey............................................................ 144 Adolph Woolner, jr..................................................... 145 Isham Randolph........................................................ 145 Rudolph Hering....................................................... 152 Jacob A. Harman...................................................... 158 John H. Long.......................................................... 158 Adolph Gehrmann..................................................... 181 Arthur W. Palmer...................................................... 187 Thomas J. Burrill...................................................... 203 Edwin Oakes Jordan................................................ '... 207 Ludwig Hektoen....................................................... 246 H. L. Russell........................................................... 246 E. G. Hastings...............................................'.......... 258 F. Robert Zeit........................................................ " 259 Robert Spurr Weston................................................... 271 William Pitt Mason..................................................... 275 Leonard P. Kinnicutt................................................. 283 Theobald Smith....................................................... 288 Erastus G. Smith...................................................... 290 George Dock.......................................................... 296 Lewellys F. Barker.................................................... 301 Victor C. Vaughan..................................................... 303 William S. Thayer..................................................... 305 JohnW. Hill........................................................... 306 CONTENTS. Page. Testimony in rebuttal for plaintiff..................................... 318 Edward W. Saunders................................................... 318 Washington E. Fischel.................................................. 319 Ludwig Bremer, Albert E. Taussig, and C. H. Goodman................. 321 Herbert Smith........................................................ 321 John W. Alvord....................................................... 330 E. E. Lochridge........................................................ 339 .William Thompson Sedgwiok........................................... 347 Decision of the Supreme Court............................................. 351 Index.................................................................... 357 ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATE I. Diagram showing stage of Mississippi and Missouri rivers at St. Louis, percentage of Mississippi River water flowing into intake, and number of typhoid-fever cases at St. Louis, in 1900............ 44 II. Profile of waterway along the Chicago drainage canal, Desplaines River, Illinois River, and Mississippi River, from Lake Michigan to St. Louis, Mo................................................ 150 FIG. 1. Diagram showing average chlorine in Desplaines and Illinois rivers, May and June, 1899 and 1900..................................... 214 2. Diagram showing average albuminoid ammonia in DespJaines and Illinois rivers, May and June, 1899 and 1900............'............ 215 3. Diagram showing average free ammonia in Desplaines and Illinois rivers, May and June, 1899 and 1900................................ 215 4. Diagram showing average bacteria in Desplaines and Illirois rivers, May and June, 1899 and 1900..................................... 216 5. Diagram showing bacteria in Mississippi and Illinois rivers at Grafton, 111., May 24, 1899, to June 29, 1900................................ 216 POLLUTION OF ILLINOIS AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS RY CHICAGO SEWAGE. By M. O. LEIGHTON. INTRODUCTION. OBJECT OF THE PAPER. ^ The testimony taken in the suit of the State of Missouri against the State of Illinois and the sanitary district of Chicago comprises the best symposium on river pollution, its biological and chemical aspects, and its general and special sanitary significance that has ever been assembled. The contentions of both parties to the suit' are supported by the most eminently qualified men in the United States. The evidence presented and the discussions recorded are therefore of unique importance. The final record of testimony occupies 8,000 printed pages, much of which is irrelevant. This digest of testimony is the result of an attempt to recover the valuable material and pre sent it in concise form. A consistent endeavor has been made by the reviewer to eliminate all personal opinions with reference to the issue and to make an impartial presentation of so much of the testi mony as in his opinion appears to be relevant and of scientific importance. It will be well to remember in this connection that any digest of so large a volume of testimony must be the result of a final exercise of personal opinion by the reviewer as to those parts which may best be excluded. Naturally opinions will differ o« this point; therefore it will be strange if many of those familiar with th e case do not find that certain portions of testimony which they consider most important are passed over in this digest without reference. Contro versies between counsel, objections to the admission of testimony, legal technicalities and quibbles, badgering cross-examinatic n, and in general all the testimony introduced for purposes of mere corrobora- .tion have been disregarded. The object has been to present a faithful statement of the scientific phases of the testimony to the exclusion, if need be, of the legal aspect of the case. Many of the averages contained in the tables of the official record appear to be incorrect. It does not appear whether this is due to 5 6 POLLUTION OF RIVERS BY CHICAGO SEWAGE. typographical errors or to mistakes by the original computers. Such tables as are reproduced in this digest are copied from the record without correction. STATEMENTS OF PARTIES TO THE SUIT. This is a proceeding in equity instituted by the State of Missouri on January 17, 1900, against the State of Illinois and the sanitary district of Chicago, praying for an injunction against the defendants from draining into Mississippi River the sewage and drainage of said sanitary district by way of the Chicago drainage caral and the channels of Desplaines and Illinois rivers. BILL OF COMPLAINT. The bill of complaint alleges in substance as follows: That the complainant is a State lying on the west bar k of Missis sippi River with a frontage thereon of over 400 miles; That the States of Illinois and Missouri have concurrent jurisdiction over the waters of Mississippi River, each having exclusive territorial jurisdiction over that portion adjacent to its shores, th°- boundary having been declared at the middle of the main channel; That Illinois River joins the Mississippi at a point above St. Louis; That on the banks of the Mississippi below its confluence is a large population that uses the water of the Mississippi for domestic, agri cultural, and manufacturing purposes; That the said water is indispensable to the life, health, and happi ness of many thousands of inhabitants in Missouri; That the construction of the Chicago drainage canal is such that its cdntents finally empty into Mississippi River about 43 miles above the city of St. Louis; That such construction was done under the sanction and authority of the State of Illinois; That the channel of said canal is cut through the natural watershed dividing the drainage