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284 COMMENTS
to $50,000. A similar request for $500,000 has been made for 1921.
The nature of the work to be done is outlined by Dr. Lumsden else-
where in this number of the Journal. The work is not an experi-
ment, but a demonstrated success, urgently requested by local asso-
ciations ready to raise their share of the cooperative funds as soon
as Congress makes it possible for the Public Health Service to act.
If any member of our association thinks there is no need for such
county health work and inclines to a belief that any danger of ty-
phoid from rural districts is very remote, he should study the sta-
tistics in Bulletin 94 of the Public Health Service.
It has been said that this cooperative work is no untried experi-
ment, but a demonstrated success. It is so much desired that the
local authorities raise more than their share of the necessary funds.
In the present fiscal year they have contributed more than five times
as much to the cooperative funds as has Congress. They are not
asking Congress to look after their health, but merely for expert
assistance in getting efficient rural health service firmly established.
Starting such work is far more difficult than carrying it on when well
started, and it is for this special work that Congress is asked to fur-
nish to Dr. Lumsden and his associates the funds necessary for ex-
tending these cooperative undertakings. It was the writer's privi-
lege to become personally acquainted during the war period with
some of the interesting and gratifying results of Dr. Lumsden's en-
thusiasm and ability, and on account of this personal knowledge he
desires to call the attention of the Association to the desirability of
larger federal appropriations for such work.
John M. Goodell.
SUPERVISION OF WATER PURIFICATION PLANTS IN TEXAS
One of the various duties of the State Board of Health of Texas
is the supervision of the public or municipal water supplies of the
state, especially those located in the smaller cities and towns.
This particular obligation of the board is performed by the Bureau
of Sanitary Engineering, a department of the Board of Health.
The supervision consists in making sanitary surveys of the water-
sheds, looking after reservoir and well protection, locating foci of
water-borne diseases and giving advice as to the proper operation of
water purification and sterilization plants.
In conducting the work of the Bureau of Sanitary Engineering it
was found that only a small percentage of the water works super-
COMMENTS 285
intendents and filtration plant operators know anything regarding
the quality of the water either before or after it left their plants.
The men are not familiar with either chemical or bacteriological
methods of analysis whereby they might be able to make such tests
as would establish the safety or potability of the water. They are
usually engineers or mechanics and concern themselves principally
with the mechanical and operation features of the plant; the purity
of the water and even the economical details of operation are, too
often, neglected.
Several plans of helping such men in charge of water purification
plants, and water works men in general, were considered. Con-
ferences with members of the faculty of the University of Texas were
arranged and it was decided to formulate a course of instruction
and present the work at the University of Texas. The schedule of
studies as outlined and carried out embraced the rudimentary prin-
ciples of the chemical and bacteriological analysis of water, lectures
on the scientific operation of filtration and sterilization plants, geol-
ogy of underground water supplies, protection of watersheds, key
rate determination in fixing fire insurance rates, and the legal re-
sponsibility of water companies. Illustrated lectures on the various
subjects were also given. Conferences were held at which the prob-
lems of the individual attendants at the course were discussed in
detail.
No books on chemical and bacteriological analysis, written in
plain, everyday language which could easily be understood by the
class of men we intended to instruct, were obtainable, so a pamphlet
was written covering these subjects. Technical formulae and phrase-
ology were omitted wherever it was possible to do so. This booklet
also explains in detail the treatment required by various types of
water,, and the operation of water filtration and sterilization plants.
The results obtained surpass the expectations of both the Uni-
versity authorities and the Bureau of Sanitary Engineering. The
men showed a most commendable determination to learn and master
all of the work offered. We feel that these men, who, previous to
their attendance at this school, knew very little or nothing about
methods of analysis or chemical control of filtration and sterilization
plants, are now able to make the tests and analytical determinations
required in the routine operation of small plants. Personal contact
and interchange of ideas with men in similar lines of work has a
broadening influence which can be gained in no other way.
286 COMMENTS
Plans have already been formulated so that the course will be
offered again next year on a larger and more elaborate scale. It is
possible that the length of the term will also be extended from two
to four weeks. In order to more permanently establish this school
of instruction as a yearly institution at the University, the Texas
Water Works Association was organized. This society was formed
with more than sixty charter members on its rolls and the list is
continuing to grow rapidly. In order to promote the original pur-
pose of the organization, the founders of the society broadened the
eligibility qualifications so that all water works men, no matter in
what capacity employed, may be admitted as active members.
Among other innovations, the association has already considered
the advisability of recommending the enactment of a state law pro-
viding for the licensing of all water purification plant operators and
other persons responsible for the quality of water served to the
public.
Lewis 0. Bernhagen.
a brave deed
The brave facing of great danger is reported unexpectedly and
for strange reasons in times of peace. On January 23 such bravery
was shown by a foreman of the Terre Haute Water Works Company
and a switchman in the Terre Haute plant of the American Car &
Foundry Company. Frank M. Johnson, the foreman, and another
employee of the water company, named Shepherd, visited a meter
vault at the entrance to the industrial plant to make the regular
monthly meter reading. The meter vault is a vault 12 feet long,
4§ feet wide and 4§ feet deep, with dirt bottom, brick walls and con-
crete roof covered with about 2 feet of earth. It is entered at one
end through a manhole only 20 inches in diameter, with a perforated
lid. The vault is built in sandy soil.
Shepherd entered the vault, but before he had been there five
minutes Johnson, on looking down, saw that he had become uncon-
scious and was lying with his face against the side of the vault.
Johnson called for help and two men ran up. Johnson had mean-
while leaped into the vault, and had succeeded in lifting Shepherd
to a little board platform under the manhole by the time the men
reached the spot. With their help and that of the switchman above
mentioned, Daniel Boyer, who came up about the same time, Shep-
herd was dragged through the narrow manhole, and recovered later.