KEYSER-MINERAL COUNTY.

Nuisance.

In July, 1914, a number of complaints were received by the Secretary of the State Department of Health from citizens of Keyser living near the mouth of New creek, stating that sewage was being emptied into this stream of water in such quantities that a septic condition existed and that the odor was disgusting in the extreme. One of the complaints also stated that during clean-up week 688 loads of rubbish were dumped into the stream. The matter was immediately taken up by the secretary of the State Health Department and some months later a letter from the local health officer stated that the channel of New creek had been reopened and that the accumulated filth complained of had been washed away.

In July, 1915, I visited Keyser and made a preliminary examination of the condition of New Creek. At the time of my visit the run was not at all bad, but there can be no doubt that the creek must at times be extremely insanitary. This fact had apparently been recognized by the city officials, for they had already employed an engineer to report on an intercepting sewer to relieve the condition of New creek. I did not have opportunity to more than glance at this report, but I saw that the sewer as proposed was entirely impracticable and far too costly. The engineer had simply taken the cross sectional area of each sewer entering New creek and added this area to the sum total of the areas of all the other sewers entering above, thus determining the area of the proposed main sewer at each point. As I now recall, the final size was a conduit about 3 feet by 5 feet in cross section. As a further evidence of the lack of engineering knowledge of the person writing the report it was stated that it would not be essential to keep to the dimensions that he had given, if the conditions of the ground warranted a change that they could use any shape sewer desired, provided the cross sectional area was not reduced. The sewer as proposed is many times larger than is needed, and consequently would be an extremely costly undertaking.

I advised the city recorder that this report be rejected and that they secure additional engineering talent for a new design.

PIEDMONT-MINERAL COUNTY.

Typhoid and Water Supply.

One of the worst typhoid epidemics that the state of West Virginia has ever experienced occurred in Piedmont in the spring of 1914. The writer was at that time employed by the Maryland State Board of Health, and as Westernport and Luke, in that state, were as badly affected, the writer had occasion to investigate the outbreak. As this investigation included the situation at Piedmont, West Virginia, fully as much as it did the Maryland towns, and as the results of that

investigation are still bearing fruit at the present time, it seems advisable to include them in the present report.

The investigation showed that the epidemic was undoubtedly due to the drinking water supply. As the towns of Piedmont and Westernport are closely related, and as one town is frequently purchasing water from the other, it is advisable that both supplies be described, and that the report should include the precautionary methods that were adopted for the Maryland town.

Piedmont is a town of 2,050 inhabitants, according to the United States census of 1910, though there are probably 3,000 inhabitants at the present time. It has no manufacturies other than an ice plant, but owes its existence to being an important point on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and to the paper mills of the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. located on the Maryland side of the Potomac river about a mile above Piedmont. Directly across the Potomac river from Piedmont and connected with that town by a highway and a railroad bridge is the town of Westernport, a community of 2,800 inhabitants according to the last United States census. The population has probably increased to 3,500 at the present time. The only manufactory in this community is a small planing and joining mill. The importance of the town is due to the fact that it is the natural outlet for the famous Georges Creek coal, Westernport being located at the point where Georges creek empties into the Potomac river. About a mile upstream from Westernport and on the same side of the Potomac river is Luke, a small town of 960 inhabitants, that has grown up about the mill of the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co.

The typhoid morbidity rate in the Tri-Towns, as Piedmont, Westernport and Luke are known locally has been extremely high for a considerable number of years. In 1912, however, the superintendent of the paper mill at Luke, finding that so many of his best men were being taken sick with typhoid, introduced a new water supply. A reservoir was built on the hill above the town and condensed steam from the engines and turbines at the mill is pumped to this point, and thence passes to the town water mains. The effect of this measure was immediately noticeable by a sudden drop in the typhoid rate. Previous to 1912 Luke had had the highest rate of any of the towns, but in 1913 the rate had dropped far below that of Piedmont and Westernport. This fact alone would go a long way toward indicating what my investigation proved, namely, that the high typhoid rate was due to the drinking water supply.

Early in 1914 so many more typhoid cases developed in Westernport that a man was sent out from the office of the Division of Communicable Diseases of the Maryland State Department of Health. This agent studied 20 cases of typhodi fever, and came to the conclusion that the outbreak was due to the drinking water.

I was then sent to Westernport to complete the investigation and to adopt such measures as I might deem necessary to check the outbreak. I found at the time of my visit there were 141 cases of typhoid that had occurred during the latter part of 1913. Epidemiological

data was obtained on all these cases, that is, careful investigation was made as to the sources of the milk, ice, vegetables, pastry, drinking water etc. it was found that with the exception of the drinking water all these articles of food were obtained from a great variety of sources. All but thirteen of those ill had the city water in their homes, and of the thirteen, two were school children, one was a miner, another a machinist and the other a housewife. It is certain that the school children could and did obtain the city water at the school house. The machine shop and the mine in which the two men worked were

both connected with the city supply, so that these two might easily have obtained this water. That is 140 out of 141 cases postively used the Westernpoint drinking water at frequent intervals. The accompanying map showing the location of the cases of typhoid fever and of the town mains is extremely significant, as it will be noted that with but one exception in the entire towns of Westernport and Piedmont the cases occurred on streets in which the city water supply was available.

Epidemiological data was not obtained on the 117 cases that occurred in Piedmont or the 16 cases that occurred in Luke during the same time that the epidemic developed in Westernport. The location of these cases are, however, plotted on the accompanying map.

Water Supply. Piedmont and Westernport can each be supplied with drinking water from three points. Two of the supplies are drawn from the Savage river, while the third is from the Potomac river. The first supply for the Tri-Towns was installed about 13 years ago, when water was taken from the Savage river just above the point where that stream enters the Potomac river and was carried by gravity under the Potomac river to a pump well located on the West Virginia shore. From this point the water was pumped into Piedmont, and thence across the Potomac river to Westernport. Later this supply was abandoned and water was taken out of the Potomac river just above the paper mills and pumped to Piedmont and Westernport.

This supply, however, was not fully satisfactory to the people, and in 1910 a small diversion dam was built across the Savage river at a point about 3 miles above its mouth. This dam is 8 feet high and 100 feet in length. From this point an 8 inch cast iron line was laid on the northern side of the Savage river through Luke and across the Potomac river on the highway bridge between Luke and Piedmont to the latter town. The task proved to be very expensive, and about 1913 a stock company was organized among the leading citizens to take over the water system, and to operate it until such time as it could be put on a paying basis. This stock company, which is known as the Piedmont Water & Light Co., still controls the supply. At the time the Savage river supply was put in, the city did not relinquish the right to obtain water from the Potomac river at Luke.

Westernport at this time purchased all its water from Piedmont, but as land-slides from the steep mountain sides along the base of which the pipe line from the dam was laid were frequently causing breaks, Westernport was out of water a large portion of the time. Attempts made by that town to have Piedmont cooperate for an increased supply being unsuccessful, Westernport floated a bond issue for the construction of a supply of her own. In 1913, the bond issue having been successful, a concrete dam was built across the Savage river about three-quarters of a mile below Bond Store, and a 10 inch machine banded wood pipe line was laid from this point to Westernport, a distance of 7.7 miles. There are about 3,000 feet of cast iron pipe in this line near the base of Westernport Hill, which is the point of greatest pressure. A recent test with the line under normal conditions showed a pressure of 156 pounds to the square inch at this point.

Despite its new gravity system, Westernport is still depending upon Piedmont for water during most of the time, as the pipe line has been out of commission, due to breaks, fully half of the time. The breaks were due to two factors, the first and least important being the high pressure which now and then blows the lead out of the joints of the cast iron section, and secondly to land slides that tear away some sections of the pipe and crush others. The pipe line, owing to the rocky character of the ground, has been built close to the surface and much of its distance lies at the foot of very steep and long slopes, with the result that numerous slides coming down the face of the hills are very apt to take with them portions of the pipe.

While these slides may occur at almost any point along the line, the worst place for such trouble is on Westernport Hill between Luke and Bloomington. The latter town is located at the mouth of Savage river. At this point the pipe is laid in the county road, which is here constructed in a stratum of clay about 50 feet thick. This clay is both underlaid and overlaid by rock that dips steeply toward the river. The clay being naturally slippery there is a tendency for the whole road to slide off the lower strata and for the upper strata to slide onto the road. The result is that the road is in continual state of slow motion. This movement starts the joints of the pipe and soon the leaks increase in volume and finally lead is even blown out of the joints. The road must be frequently repaired, and at these times the pipe line has to be shifted to meet the change in the location of the road bed. At some points whole sections of the road have slide off the mountain side, with the result that the pipe may be left suspended for one or two lengths. At times large rocks have become loose on the hillside above and have fallen on the pipe, crushing it.

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A still further source of trouble is that the Westernport pipe line crosses and recrosses the Savage river at a number of points. While the water main is laid below the bed of the river and protected with concrete at these crossings, spring floods have sometimes damaged the line with the result that Westernport is without water. When any such accident occurs it is necessary for Westernport to call on Piedmont for water, which is taken through an 8 inch cast iron pipe along the side walk of the Main Street bridge between the two towns. This pipe has a valve and blow-off at either end that the whole bridge section may be cut out and drained when not in use. This is to guard against freezing during winter.

While Piedmont has a small reservoir, 100 by 70 by 13 feet, holding 650,000 gallons, located on the mountain side back of the town, it has not sufficient storage capacity to last either town for any length of time. As the Piedmont pipe line is very apt to experience the same trouble as the Westernport line, and as in addition the carrying capacity of this pipe has evidently been greatly diminished, it is frequently necessary for Piedmont to call on the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co. to pump from the Potomac river into the city mains.

The paper company has a low dam across the Potomac river a short distance above Luke. This dam diverts some of the river water to a pond in the mill yard. From this point some 5,000,000 gallons of