1885 Water Rules in Kansas

The August 13, 1885 edition of the Thomas County Cat (Colby’s first newspaper) contained a listing of Rules imposed by the Kansas State Board of Health – directing every county and Municipal Board of Health in the state to see that they are strictly enforced in their respective jurisdictions.  Rule 1 is:  “No privy vault, cesspool or reservoir into which a privy, water closet, stable or sink Is drained, except it be water-tight, shall be established or permitted within fifty feet of any well, spring or other source of water used for drinking or culinary purposes.”   The next six rules also deal with protection of drinking water, which I thought was pretty interesting.

I also found the later rules for disinfection pretty cool as well.    For example, Rule 19:  “The room into which a person sick with small-pox,  varioloid,  scarlet fever, or diphtheria Is placed, must previously be cleared of all carpets, needless clothing, drapery and all other articles likely to harbor the disease. After the death or recovery of the sick, the room, furniture and other contents not to be destroyed must be immediately thoroughly disinfected.  The paper on the walls and ceilings, if any, must be removed and completely burned. The floor, woodwork and wooden furniture must be painted over with a solution of corrosive sublimate made by dissolving one ounce of corrosive in six gallons of water; let it remain one hour, and wash off with clean water. The walls, if not papered, must be thoroughly scrubbed and whitewashed.  For the sick room, small pieces of rags should be substituted for handkerchiefs, and when once used must be immediately burned.“

And Rule 22:  “Fumigation with brimstone is a good method for disinfecting the house. For this purpose the rooms to be disinfected must be vacated. Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding and other articles which cannot be treated with zinc solution, must be opened and exposed during fumigation. To disinfect an ordinary room with brimstone:  Having tightly closed all the openings of the room, place in an open earthen dish one pound of brimstone, and burn for twelve hours, being careful not to breathe the fumes. After fumigation, the rooms must be thoroughly aired by opening the doors and windows for several hours.”

And finally Rule 23:  “All articles which have been in contact with persons sick with contagious or infectious diseases, too valuable to be destroyed,  should be treated as follows: (a) Cotton, linen, flannel, blankets, etc., should be put in boiling hot zinc solution, introducing piece by piece; secure through wetting, and boil for at least one hour. (b) Heavy woolen clothing, silks, furs, stuffed bed covers, beds and other articles which cannot be  treated with the zinc solution, should be hung In the room during fumigation, their surfaces thoroughly exposed and pockets being turned inside out. Afterward they should be hung in the open air, beaten and shaken. Pillows, bed, stuffed mattresses, upholstered furniture, etc., should be cut open, the contents spread out and thoroughly fumigated. Carpets are best fumigated on the floor, but must afterward be removed to the open air and thoroughly beaten."

 

Seems like the Board of Health was pretty serious about halting the dreaded diseases of the era.  And Kudos to anyone who knew what “varioloid” means.  I didn’t, but looked it up – initially thinking it was some contagious form of varicose veins.  Nah, I didn’t really think that, but I didn’t know what it really was.  For those who don’t have the time to look it up, it’s a mild form of smallpox affecting people who have already had the disease or have been vaccinated against it.  Now, be sure to use it in a sentence at least once a day for the next three days!

Thomas County Cat - August 20, 1885

Reading the early editions of the Thomas County Cat is really interesting.  Virtually all the news articles are 1 paragraph blurbs distinguished from all the other news blurbs simply by a new paragraph indentation.  For example, some page 1 news from the August 20, 1885 edition is presented as follows:

   Mrs. HELEN HUNT JACKSON, the well-
known authoress, died at San Francisco
recently of cancer of the stomach.
   The family of Daniel Ashbaugh, Jr.,
near New Philadelphia, O., were poisoned
recently by eating toadstools. One boy
died and the mother and a young child
were not expected to live. Two girls
named Richardson from the Dayton Or-
phan Home, who were visiting the fam-
ily, were also in a critical condition.
   Dr. Z. SIGMONDY, an experienced tourist
who recently published a book on the dan-
gers of Alpine climbing, has been killed by
falling over a precipice after climbing Pic
de la Ney, in the Upper Alps, which had
been considered an impossibility.
   The Social Purity Society, of London,
was agitating recently for a new trial of
Mrs. Jeffereys, for the purpose of securing
a public disclosure of the names of politicians
and nobelmen who frequented her house.

And so the articles go.  One thing about it, you got a lot of news in a 4-page, 6-column (and sometimes an 8-page) newspaper.   Of course, how much of it was relevant to your needs as a Thomas County resident was another story.  But you never know.  If I had just purchased a copy of Dr. Sigmondy's book, I'd at least know enough - thanks to the Cat - to request a refund!

Then there is this advertisement in the same edition for a means to withdraw that ever-important elixir - WATER - apparently with the god-forsaken wind that continually blows on the plains.  I wonder if the type setting job had just run out of the letter "m", or if it was actually a real Freudian slip.

There were also the usual stories of serious rain events and flooding and other mayhems, including the page one stories about an hour and a half hail and rain storm in Sherman County (next County West of Thomas) that killed birds and damaged the sod corn and filled the Sappa and Prairie Dog Creeks; and the brothers William and David Fruite (ages 20 and 26) who drowned crossing the Walnut River near Winfield; and the water-spout that struck Lone Tree Creek near Chadron, Dakota, flooding the valley and drowning 4 men, two children and a number of horses.  I guess a Plains paper couldn't resist these kinds of news events. 

Well, I'm ready to read another edition next week - and you can bet that as I continue to read, I'll be on the lookout for a continuation story on London's Social Purity Society!  I probably won't blog about it, though - I could have relations listed.

Early NW Kansas - May 27, 1886 - Life and Hope

I love the old writing style.  The following excerpts have been taken from a long article contained in the May 27, 1886 edition of the Thomas County Cat - Colby, Kansas' first newspaper - page 4.  (Hint:  Keep reading - the water stuff's at the end):

"Prentis on Thomas County.

The objective point of the expedition was Thomas county and the present port for Colby, is a station which formerly bore the name of Cleveland, but is now officially known as Oakley.  From this point a daily stage runs to Colby. If you wish to leave any property to your children, you will take this stage. If you are a reckless prodigal, bent on squandering your wealth as soon as possible ; if you wish to enable a bandit to fix up his cave with oriental splendor, you will patronize an Oakley livery stable keeper. The distance from Oakley to Colby is estimated at from twenty-two to twenty-eight miles, but as an Oakley livery team can make the distance in three hours and have strength enough left to return the next day, it is not much above the first figure.

The traveler who thinks that he realize the high vastness of the plains by looking from the car windows is mistaken.  That is like looking at the ocean from the shore, while he who journeys in a carriage or on horseback is like a voyager in the midst of the deep. Every time this great high country is visited the higher and wider it looks.  It never encourages that familiarty which breeds contempt.

Colby, a town which has attained the mature age of one year, was reached at sunset and was inspected by moonlight and by daylight. It has nothing to mark it as a frontier or even a new town. There is not a sod house or a shanty in the place, not a building of any magnitude that's not painted ; the sidewalks are better than the average Atchison article. The stores sell dry goods and groceries at Commercial street prices. Art, too, has obtained a foothold. The Martin drug store obtained the services of an eastern paper hanger, and now you see his work all over town. We had dreaded the frontier hotel, having experienced hunger and some bloodshed in the course of a day and night experience at such in the past, but we really met, as old Shenstone has it, 'Our warmest welcome at an inn." The Colby House supplied every want or the Champion's commissioners.

The first term of the district court was held by Judge Pratt two weeks ago. In these days when a lot of imported cranks and ruffians are declaring in favor of the abolition of God and the extinguishment of law, it is refreshing to see that the American citizen who deserves the name will not live without law. As soon as possible after a county has settlers, it insists on a district judge and a term of court. Thomas County, with the assistance of Sherman, attached for judicial purposes, mustered a docket of twenty-two cases including divorce cases. The local historian states that the county has had its first marriage, its first baby and its first divorce.

Four thousand people are gathered there [Thomas County] perfectly courageous and confident that they will succeed - if it rains. So far the rain has fallen. We saw the water in pools and there is an added greenness in the draws, the low "lagoons," as they are called, and the old buffalo wallows.

Under this country lies what seems a shallow subterranean lake, deeper in some places than in others. On the elevation of the surface depends the distance to this water varying from twelve feet to one hundred and fifty. The county is dependent for water on the rain and on the wells. The great railroad well at Oakley supplies water for farmers for miles around. How long a farmer will haul water depends on his enterprise. We saw a farmer at the well who did not come for water : he had just reached water on his claim at the depth of fifty-six feet. So the rain comes down and the wind mill pumps lift the water to the surface, and the sod is turned over at the rate of hundreds of acres every day, and men believe that agriculturally they are "all right" in a country without a river and without a tree, and may the Lord who raised up for our benefit Stowell, and Lessenger, and McGonigal and Worcester, and the rest of the good fellows at Colby, grant that there may be no disappointment."

Some things are very apparent:

1)  Prentis was obviously charged too much for his livery needs in Oakley! 
2)  He is enthralled by the vast, open plains and doesn't mind the newness of the area.
3)  He very much likes Colby and is a strong law and order person.
4)  He appreciates and understands the importance of water to the area - in any and all forms.

Thanks for reading.  BTW, also on page 4 is a letter to the editor by a local farmer who has come to town and was quite unimpressed with the meal he got from the local eatery.  Funny stuff as well.

Thomas County Kansas - March 12, 1885

A bit more NW Kansas history.  I ran across a copy of the March 12, 1885 edition of the Thomas County Cat - the first newspaper in the County, and incidentally, the first edition of the paper.  The County was created in 1873, but did not petition for County status until the Summer of 1885 when the population began to expand.  The January, 1885 population was 161 hearty folks. By October of the same year, the population was declared to be 1,900.  Based on this growth and positive future, the residents petitioned for a separate County organization and on October 8, 1885 Kansas Governor Martin proclaimed it official, Thomas County was established.  Back to the Cat.

The first edition of the Cat was published before it was an official County.  It reports that a townsite (that would likely become the County seat) was under planning near the center of the area and would be named Colby.  Oddly, this site was some 20 miles North of the established railroad at that time in Monument, Kansas.  In reading the paper, I was struck as to how many references there were to water, creeks and wells - at least 20 on the first page alone.  These words go to great length to describe every creek in the County, and most of the wells that already existed - by owner and depth to water.  In describing the future town site, it says:

...a townsite has been located 2 1/2 miles north of the Colby postoffice, on the Priaire Dog, and the name proposed for the new town is Colby. Water can be obtained on the new town site at a depth of 50 feet.

In reading the front page I also learn that M. Woodcock and his son-in-law are engaged in boring wells; the postmaster at Streator grows corn and has a fine well 80 feet deep; Charles Cooper and Almond Vincent are engaged in boring wells and are setting up to market windmills; Martin Williams' well is only 17 feet deep; William Reed's well is 110 feet deep; Charlie Coover's well is 66 feet deep; Henry Kneudsen raised 120 bushels of onions and 200 bushels of potatoes and only irrigated his garden twice from his windmill; The Bohemian John (can't read last name) has a well 66 feet deep; plenty of good water is available by digging from 40 to 140 feet deep; and stock of all kinds do fine, but have to be watered at a well.

Fair to say that water has always been pretty important in Thomas County, Kansas.  Oh, and if you're curious, a well today in Colby would find the water table somewhere near 140 feet deep.