THE 
Sanitary Problems of Chicago, 
PAST AND PRESENT. 
BY 
J. H. RAUCH, M. D. 
' CUICA GU. 
[Reprinted from the Trtm*aoiionr’qf~tkt American Public Health Association, Vol. IV.\ 
CAMBRIDGE: 
printed at tftc ilitarsitic 
1879. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO, 
PAST AND PRESENT. 
AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 2s, IS7 7. 
By J. H. RAUCH, M. D., 
President of the Association. 
It is interesting to notice how little the elements of mere beauty of loca- 
tion, or healthfulness of surroundings, as things worthy to be considered, 
enter into the locating of towns which, in the usual growth of business and 
population, become large cities. Facilities for primitive trade and barter 
are the elements which generally first determine the sites of future cities. 
Careful selection of a site with reference to the wants of a large population 
from the necessities of the case cannot be made, and in many instances 
where it was supposed all the conditions obtained, failures have occurred. 
The sanitary problems that subsequently arise unite the necessity of accept- 
ing its deficiencies in regard to water supply, to soil, to atmosphere, to loca- 
tion and topography, with that of applying such artificial remedies and 
modifications as may be appropriate and practicable. 
Marsh, in his work on “ Man and Nature,” says, “ The influence of man 
in changing the climate and the physical condition of a country needs no 
argument to substantiate it.” Withdraw man, and you remove the disturber 
of all laws. People must be “ awakened to the necessity of restoring the 
disturbed harmonies of nature, where well-balanced influences are so pro- 
pitious to all her organic offspring; of repaying to our great mother the debt 
which the prodigality and thriftlessness of former generations have imposed 
upon their successors, thus fulfilling the command of religion and of practi- 
cal wisdom, to use this world as not abusing it,” He further says, “I am 
satisfied that we can become the architects of our own abiding place, as it 
is well known how the mode of our physical, moral, and intellectual being 
is affected by the character of the home Providence has appointed, and we 
have fashioned for our own material habitation.” 
Such is undoubtedly the case, and it becomes our duty as far as possible 
to restore this harmony which is destroyed by the accumulation of human 
beings. The collection of many people in a small space, no matter for 
what purpose, is unnatural and artificial ; and it is therefore necessary, in 
order to prevent the ill effects of such accumulations, to resort to artificial 
means of neutralizing the disturbing agencies. 2 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
THE NATURAL CONDITIONS. THE LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY OF 
CHICAGO. 
Up to the date when this town (Chicago) was laid out, in 1833, the terri- 
tory now comprised in the limits of the city and its surroundings was occu- 
pied chiefly by the Indians. The Jesuit missionaries Marquette and Joliet 
were attracted to the settlement at the mouth of “ the creek,” upon the 
shores of Lake Michigan, the future site of Chicago, Later we find a trad- 
ing post for barter and traffic between the Indians and venturesome and 
ambitious white men, who were willing to be pioneers upon the frontiers of 
the country, and in advance of civilization and of the government. Soon 
there was established a military post for the protection of the early settlers ; 
and, indeed, it is not very many years since the last log-building, composing 
a part of old Fort Dearborn, and located near the present Rush Street 
Bridge, was torn down. The fact, too, that during certain seasons of the year 
communication could be had in early days from Chicago, by means of boats 
and canoes, with the Indian villages along the Des Plaines and Illinois 
rivers, and thence with the settlements along the Mississippi River, was an 
additional feature which contributed to determine the site of the future 
metropolis of the Northwest. 
When this territory was first settled nearly the whole “ divide ” between 
the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi was frequently covered 
by water. Until a recent date, freshets and overflowing of large areas of 
territory adjacent and tributary to the early town of Chicago were of very 
common occurrence. 
This condition of the surrounding country can be better appreciated by 
bearing in mind that the original site of Chicago 1 was upon land lying flat 
and low, a level and, comparatively speaking, treeless plain, much of it 
marshy, and with but slight dip towards either the sluggish river or the 
neighboring lake. Indeed, the highest point above the level of Lake Michi- 
gan, for fifteen miles north, is only 38 feet, and southeast, for the same 
distance, only 23 feet. 
Directly south of the city, the surface is almost level, as the highest point 
in sixteen miles is only 22 feet. The topography southwest is still more 
remarkable, as for ten miles the highest point above the level of the lake 
is only 10 feet at the Summit, where the waters of the St. Lawrence run 
northeast, and those of the Mississippi southwest. From the Summit there 
is a gradual descent, until the ground is lower than the surface of the lake. 
At twenty miles, it is only one foot above the lake. 
Three miles directly west, the surface is 17 feet; five miles, 20 feet; and 
seven miles, 27 feet. At Austin, where no doubt was once the shore of 
the lake, and continuing two and a half miles further, to Harlem, we find 
an elevation of 48 feet, the highest point in any direction within ten miles 
of Chicago. Thence to the Des Plaines there is a descent, the bottom 
of the river being 26 feet; there is then a marked increase in the ascent, 
1 Chicago is situated in latitude 410 52', longitude 78° 35', and is 591 feet above the 
level of the sea. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
3 
so that at fifteen miles the surface is 102, and at twenty 125, feet above 
the level of the lake. Northwest of the city, at four miles, we find an eleva- 
tion of only 10 feet; at seven miles, of 27 feet, where we again strike the 
original lake shore; at ten miles, 40 feet; at eleven miles, 65 feet; at twelve 
miles, 82 feet; from this point there is a gradual descent to the Des Plaines 
River, where the elevation is 33 feet; thence the ascent is gradual, and at 
twenty miles it is 96 feet. 
It will be seen from the foregoing that the highest point within five miles 
from the mouth of the Chicago River, in any direction, is only 23 feet, and 
for ten miles 48 feet, above the level of the lake ; and that a large portion 
of this ground was originally low and swampy, with but little surface drain- 
age and an average elevation of about 12 feet only. 
As a necessary consequence, as in all plains, great and sudden changes 
of moisture and temperature take place. So far as regarded its sanitary 
and topographical features, such was the natural condition when Chicago 
was located. The winds, meeting with no obstructions, had full sweep. The 
only interruption to the winds in this open plain might be said to be the 
narrow belt of timber on the Des Plaines River, with here and there an 
occasional patch of thinly covered woodland on the elevations which once 
were the shores of the lake. With these exceptions, the open plain is con- 
tinuous for a great distance northwest, west, and southwest. It is true, tim- 
ber is scattered north and south, but, unfortunately, there is not enough to 
materially influence the climate, in addition to the fact that the winds are 
rarely from either of these directions. 
In an area of four hundred square miles surrounding Chicago, there were 
only about twenty-five square miles which were thinly covered with timber: 
ten of these were found on the north side of the city, and along the north 
branch of the Chicago River; five south and southeast; and ten on the 
ridges six miles west, and in the valley of the Des Plaines River. 
THE GEOLOGY OF THE SITE OF THE CITY. 
The geological structure of the region embracing Chicago and the sur- 
rounding country is exceedingly simple. 
The underlying rock is the Niagara limestone, which has a general dip 
N. N. E., and consequently sinks deeper as traced lakeward. 
Upon this floor was originally deposited a mass of blue clay, not less 
than 100 feet in thickness ; but as traced towards the former rim of the 
lake, it rapidly thins out.i 
This rim is clearly defined in one or more terraces, which are traceable 
from the head of the lake far into Indiana. To the west of the city, how- 
ever, eight and a half miles distant, at Harlem, they constitute the “ divide ” 
between the waters of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. 
While the lake has receded far below its former level, it has left behind a 
series of sand ridges, the intervals between which were occupied by ponds, 
which, by reason of the sluggish flow of the water and their sheltered posi- 
tion, have proved favorable to the growth of the peat-producing plants, from 
whose decay have resulted large accumulations of humus, or vegetable mat- 
ter. It is upon this ancient lake-bed that Chicago was founded. 4 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
The original surface was diversified by sand-banks, most numerous along 
the lake shore, extending occasionally to the depth of sixteen feet; by partly 
filled lagoons, and by a vegetable mold (which covers the greater portion of 
the city), resting sometimes on blue clay, and sometimes on beds of sand 
and gravel, and occasionally mixed ; the depth of these varying with their 
proximity to the Chicago River and its branches. The whole region, as be- 
fore remarked, was originally low, flat, and ill-drained. Some of the busi- 
ness blocks at the present time are built upon partly filled lagoons. In the 
soundings made, preparatory to the construction of the Lake Tunnel for 
the Water Works, it was found that the lake-bed was composed of blue clay, 
with superficial sands above, which shifted in heavy storms. Such a soil 
must necessarily exercise a decided influence upon the health of those liv- 
ing upon it, depending, of course, upon the question whether their houses 
rest upon sand, clay, or humus. 
Of all the local conditions that obtain at Chicago, none exercise a greater 
influence on the climate than Lake Michigan. It moderates the extreme 
cold of winter and the oppressive heat of summer; increases the humidity 
of the atmosphere and the quantity of rain that falls?; and causes local cur- 
rents of air, thus partially changing the prevailing winds of this latitude, 
producing necessarily local changes of temperature. These local undula- 
tions are most marked in the spring, owing to the fact that the specific heat 
of the land is only one quarter that of the water, and is both absorbed 
and given out more rapidly ; while water, on the other hand, absorbs it 
more slowly, stores up a greater quantity, and parts with it slowly, owing, 
no doubt, to the difference in their conducting and radiating proper- 
ties. It is mainly due to this fact that our springs are so cold, raw, and 
long continued ; that is, the water is not as soon heated as the land, thus 
giving rise to local changes of temperature and of winds. In the autumn, 
the heat of the water is less readily abstracted than that of the land, thus 
causing the temperature in the immediate vicinity of the lake to be milder 
than even at localities further south and west. The mean temperature of 
the lake is no doubt the same as that of the land for the year, differing 
only in the absorbing and parting power of heat, as is evidenced by the 
fact that the freezing point obtains only a short distance from the shore. 
It will therefore be seen how for eight months of the year, and sometimes 
even for nine, the lake exercises a wholesome influence upon health, 
counteracting, to some extent, the great and sudden changes incident to our 
level and open topography, while, during the remaining months, it is injuri- 
ous to health, on account of the cold and chilling effect it has, in addition 
to causing sudden changes. Its agency in purifying the atmosphere by 
absorption it is hardly necessary to dilate upon in this connection. 
THE INFLUENCE OF LAKE MICHIGAN ON HUMAN LIFE. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
5 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE WINDS. 
We come now to consider the winds. They are the result of changes of 
temperature and the precipitation of moisture, acting as changes of density, 
and as the movements of bodies would act to produce currents and move- 
ments in a mass of water. 
The free movement of air in summer, in certain localities, is beneficial in 
dissipating noxious emanations and purifying the atmosphere, while in the 
same locality, in the cold season, it abstracts heat, in proportion, of course, 
to its velocity and humidity, and thus often acts injuriously upon life. The 
seeds of disease are frequently wafted by winds from unhealthy localities, 
and thus endanger those who live quite remote from the local cause itself. 
Fevers and acute pulmonary and inflammatory diseases do not usually 
manifest themselves under the influence of the same wind, although fever 
and certain other diseases may occur in connection with any currents which 
waft the air from the neighboring surfaces, where the elaboration of a 
morbific cause is going on. 
The north wind, which is less frequent than any other, generally exercises 
a beneficial influence, and in winter is the mildest, with the exception of the 
southeast and east winds. This wind, like all others, is influenced by local- 
ity in its effects upon health. 
The northeast wind of March, April, and May, is cold and moist. This 
wind increases pulmonary, rheumatic, and inflammatory diseases in the 
spring months; but during the summer months, when the heat is extreme, 
or in winter, when very cold, it is beneficial and salutary. 
The east wind, with the exception of the north, is the least frequent, and 
is more common in the spring than at any other season of the year. In the 
winter it is warm, and when it prevails there is a diminution in the number 
of cases of acute inflammatory disease. The lake exercises a marked influ- 
ence upon this wind and that from the northeast. 
Of all the winds, none is so depressing and enervating as the southeast 
wind. It is oppressive to man and beast, in consequence of checking evap- 
oration, thus raising the temperature of the body, and causing the lungs to 
exhale a larger amount of carbonic acid than usual, and in this way exhaust- 
ing the vital energies. The topography of the country south and southeast 
of the city is such as to promote currents of air from this direction, and to 
direct them toward the city. When the weather has been intensely cold for 
a number of days, a change to the southeast wind will diminish the mor- 
tality, but for at least nine months in the year it is the most fatal wind that 
we have in Chicago. The south wind is more common than either the east 
or the north wind. In winter the south wind exercises a beneficial influence 
in moderating the extreme cold of the westerly winds, diminishing the mor- 
tality, and the same result is observable in the spring. 
The prevailing wind, not alone of Chicago, but of the greater portion of 
the valley of the Mississippi, is the southwest wind ; if long continued, it 
produces harshness and dryness of the skin and general malaise. It par- 
takes of the character of the country, and of the seasons. This wind, 6 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
sweeping over a greater unbroken expanse than any other, necessarily exer- 
cises a great influence upon health, in addition to its wafting the malarious 
exhalations of Mud Lake and the region contiguous to the Illinois and 
Michigan canal over every portion of our city, and next to the southeast is 
the most fatal, and causes the greatest mortality. There are years in which 
this is the hottest wind, and again it is the coldest. 
The west wind is more common than any from the direct points of the 
compass; is most frequent in winter, when it is the coldest and driest. The 
greatest mortality, when this wind prevails in winter, is by acute inflamma- 
tory diseases. In the summer its influence is marked by a great diminution 
in the number of deaths. It may be said to be the healthiest wind during 
the entire year. 
The northwest wind is cold, keen, and penetrating in winter; in the 
spring cold, blear, and bleak ; and in summer cool and refreshing. It is 
of about equal frequency during the winter, spring, and autumn months, 
being least prevalent in summer. Its injurious effects are strongly marked 
in winter, and particularly in the spring, -when it causes great changes of 
temperature, resulting in pulmonary, rheumatic, neuralgic, and inflammatory 
affections ; while in summer it diminishes the rate of mortality, and exercises 
a wholesome influence upon the general health. 
THE TEMPERATURE. 
Owing to the open and treeless plain upon which it is located, and by 
which it is surrounded, the consequent exposure to the winds, and the evap- 
oration from the lake, Chicago is subject to very frequent and sudden 
changes of temperature. From observations made at Fort Dearborn, ex- 
tending from 1832 to 1836, the annual mean temperature was 46.7° F., and 
from 1866 including 1876 49.50 F., which shows that the temperature is 
gradually becoming higher.1 As a rule, January is the coldest month, Feb- 
ruary and December are next; while July is the hottest, and August and June 
are next so. The extremes of temperature are not as great here as they are 
farther west, and at points remote from large bodies of water. The climate 
may be said to be semi-continental. By way of comparison with other local- 
ities, it has been found from observations made for a series of years that the 
range of temperature at St. Louis is 1250 F. ; at Prairie du Chien, 1320 ; at 
Rock Island, 120°; Fort Snelling, 140°; Council Bluffs, 1290; Detroit, 
107°; Toledo, 103° ; Lansing, Mich., 107°; Mackinaw, 1170; and Chicago 
from 1832 to 1836, 1160, and from 1866 to 1870 inclusive, m°. Since the 
latter period it has come down to 107°, showing that the climate is becom- 
ing more equable, and that the alternations of heat and cold are not as great 
as when the place was first settled. 
THE RAIN-FALL, 
The amount of rain that falls is an important factor in the healthfulness 
of a localit}', especially in one like that of Chicago, Here, as elsewhere, 
there are annual fluctuations of mortality, independent of epidemics. 
1 For 1877, 50.3°; for 1878, 51.8°. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
7 
The months of July, August, and September are those in which the lack 
of drainage has been most marked in its influence upon human life, espe- 
cially in cases of children under five years of age. The following table will 
show that the death-rate has tallied with the rain-fall during these months 
from the year 1866 to 1872 inclusive : 
Year. 
. July, 
inches. 
.Aug., 
inches. 
Sept., 
inches. 
Total 
3 mos., 
inches. 
Total 
year, 
inches. 
Death- 
rate per 
1,000. 
1866 
3 58 
7.84 
6-53 
17-95 
36-65 
32.22 
1867 
I-5I 
2.32 
.40 
4-23 
21.26 
2I.l6 
1868 . . . . • 
3-86 
3-58 
7.08 
14.52 
37-33 
23-74 
1869 
3.21 
1-38 
.89 
5-48 
31.66 
23.16 
1870 
3-71 
2.17 
2.82 
8.70 
23.62 
24 53 
1871 
2.56 
•50 
.10 
3.16 
32.85 
21.46 
1872 
4-os 
2.56 
6-43 
13.04 
28.94 
27.61 
The mean annual rain-fall at Milwaukee for twenty-five years was 30.20 
inches; at Toledo for six years, 38.94; at Lansing for four years, 30.56 ; 
and at Chicago from 1866 to 1874 inclusive, 30.84 inches. 
I have also observed that there were greater annual fluctuations at Chi- 
cago than at the other points mentioned, all being within the thirty-inch 
rain-belt. The difference is also greater in the summer. Since 1874 there 
has been a marked increase in the number of inches that fell at Chicago, so 
that for the last four years we have had 41.93 inches. Attention is called to 
the following table, showing the chief causes of death for the year 1872, 
nearly all the decedents being under five years, and showing how the rain- 
fall and temperature affect infantile life. Nearly one half of all the deaths 
during this period resulted from the six mentioned diseases. 
April. 
May. 
June. 
July. 
August. 
Sept. 
Total. 
Cholera infantum ' 
6 
10 
146 
549 
53° 
187 
1,428 
Convulsions 
94 
71 
101 
112 
Il6 
8l 
573 
Diarrhsea 
8 
5 
53 
73 
132 
63 
384 
Dysentery 
2 
3 
26 
38 
63 
3° 
162 
Tabes mesenterica .... 
8 
14 
21 
40 
38 
27 
148 
Teething 
3. 
14 
16 
25 
34 
14 
106 
Total 
121 
II7 
363 
837 
913 
402 
2,801 
Mean daily temperature, degrees. 
Rain-fall 
48.6 
2-99 
57-5 
3.28 
70.2 
341 
72.5 
4.08 
72 
2.56 
94 
6-43 
I have thus far described the natural conditions surrounding Chicago, 
and will now briefly call your attention to what has been done to improve 
its sanitary condition. The question of the water supply first attracted at- 
tention, as will be seen by the following: 
THE ARTIFICIAL CONDITIONS. 
1 In 1878, 48.84 inches fell, a greater amount than has fallen in any year since 1832, and 
probably than ever before. 8 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OR CHICAGO. 
During the prevalence of cholera in 1849 and 1850, it was observed that 
nearly all who drunk the water of a certain well on North La Salle Street, 
died. This of course attracted attention, and was supposed to be owing to 
the fact that the well received the drainage from privies in the neighbor- 
hood, and in this way infected those who drunk the water. This was true; 
but I found afterward that in this neighborhood the soil was stratified by 
thin layers of blue clay, *which is impervious to water, and whenever these 
layers were penetrated by wells they acted as drains for a great area, the 
remaining portion of the soil being composed of sand until the thick stra- 
tum of blue clay underlying the greater portion of the city was reached. 
My attention was first called to this fact in the City Cemetery, while I was 
investigating the subject of intramural interments, in 1859, I here found in 
certain portions of the ground, particularly that adjoining Clark Street, and 
supposed to be the highest and best for burial purposes, at a depth of about 
two and a half feet, a stratum of blue clay about six inches thick, the over- 
lying stratum being composed mostly of humus and of sand. The blue 
clay penetrated, sand was again found to the depth of five feet, the required 
depth of graves in this cemetery. After a heavy rain-fall, water had to be 
dipped out of the grave while the digging was in process. I also noticed, 
in a number of instances, that when the graves were finished but little water 
was found in them, while in the course of an hour or two they were filled to 
the upper edge of the blue clay. In one case, in a space where no graves 
had been dug before, I saw the water running through into the opening 
after the blue clay was cut. 
THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE CITY. 
The effect of drinking well-water was so marked during the prevalence of 
cholera in the years mentioned, compared with that of drinking lake water, 
which was supplied to a small number of inhabitants by the Chicago Hy- 
draulic Company, a private enterprise, that an act was passed, on February 
15, 1851, by the legislature of Illinois, incorporating the Chicago City 
Hydraulic Company. This was the commencement of our present magnifi- 
cent system of water supply, which has grown with our needs and necessi- 
ties ; and it is not presumptuous to say that at this time the supply of water 
is as great and good as that of any large city in the world. 
THE DRAINAGE OF THE CITY. 
The necessity of the systematic drainage of Chicago was not fully appre- 
ciated until it had suffered from epidemics for six years in succession, five 
of cholera and one of dysentery; the death-rate during this period being 
higher than that of any other city in the United States. As the result of 
this terrible experience, on February 14, 1855, an act was passed by the 
legislature of Illinois creating the Board of Sewerage Commissioners. In 
compliance with the act, the commissioners were elected as prescribed, and 
steps immediately taken to give practical effect to the same in surveys, and 
in the consideration of plans for the drainage of the city. The plan pro- 
posed by E. S. Chesbrough, Esq., was adopted in December, and in 1856 THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
9 
the work of constructing sewers commenced. This has been mainly ad- 
hered to since, and prosecuted with varying vigor and effect, as will be seen 
by the following table, showing the number of feet built annually, the popu- 
lation, the mortality, and the death-rate per thousand: 
Year. 
Number of Feet 
of Sewer Built. 
Population. 
Deaths. 
Death-Rate 
per 1,000. 
1856 
31.794 
84,113 
2,086 
24.80 
1857 
25,681 
93,000 
2,414 
25.66 
1858 
101,879 
84,000 
2,255 
26.84 
1859 
5S>2°8 
96,000 
2,008 
21.36 
i860 
69,024 
109,260 
2,264 
20.70 
1861 
2,826 
120,000 
2,279 
18.99 
1862 
15-685 
137,030 
2,835 
20.69 
1863 
39.6os 
150,000 
3,875 
25-83 
1864 
25,021 
161,288 
4,448 
27.57 
1865 
29,948 
178,492 
4,029 
22.57 
1866 
48,127 
200,418 
6,524 
32.22 
1867 
89,661 
225,000 
4,648 
21.17 
1868 
47,841 
252,000 
5,984 
23-74 
1869 
139.705 
280,000 
6,488 
23.16 
1870 
78,166 
299,227 
7,343 
24-53 
1871 
50.392 
325.000 
6,976 
21.46 
CO 
57.342 
367,293 
10,156 
27.60 
1873 
47.342 
385,000 
9-557 
24.82 
1874 
146,702 
395.409 
8,025 
20.29 
1875 
222,322 
405,000 
7,899 
I9-S° 
1876 
120,971 
415,000 
8,573 
20.65 
1877 
64,666 
434,000 
8,026 
18.24 
Sewerage. 
For the purpose of more clearly showing the influence upon life of this, 
the most important sanitary movement ever inaugurated in this city, I would 
call attention to the fact that the mean annual death-rate from 1843 to 
1856 1 was 37-91 per thousand, while from 1856 2 to 1870 it was only 23.97, 
and from 1870 to 1877 inclusive 22,13.3 The last period includes the effect 
upon life of the “great fire,” and also of an epidemic of scarlet fever. 
The following will more fully explain how drainage acts beneficially in 
this city. 
I have found, in judging of the comparative healthfulness of different 
wards, that the soil affects health by its conformation, elevation, and me- 
chanical structure, conditions which influence absorption and radiation of 
heat, reflection of light, absorption, retention, and movement of water over 
and through it, in addition to the passage of air through the soil. The soil 
1 This is still more marked when it is borne in mind that up to this date there was a 
great excess of adults, as is always the case in a newly settled country or town. 
2 The year when sewer construction commenced. 
3 Including 1878, the death-rate would be 21.51. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
may also affect health by its chemical character, which acts especially by 
altering the composition of the air over, or the water running through it. 
In this way, in addition to its natural character, the decomposition of organic 
matter affects the atmosphere or the water, and this is particularly the case 
when houses are located upon the ground, where, owing to the influence of 
temperature and moisture, septic gases are generated and pent up, and thus 
exercise an injurious effect upon the occupants of such towns. It is there- 
fore a matter of great importance to keep the ground under buildings as dry 
as possible, to prevent the formation of noxious gases, particularly where 
the sun and air have no direct influence.1 
In Chicago this can be accomplished only by thorough surface and sub- 
soil drainage. 
“The heat of the sun is absorbed in different amounts by different soils 
equally shielded. Color and aggregation seem chiefly to determine it. Loose 
and incoherent sands are the hottest, while compact and clayey soils are the 
coldest. The absorbing and radiating powers of soils are not necessarily 
equal, though they may be so. Generally, the radiating power is more rapid 
than the absorbing, soils cool more rapidly than they heat. Here the sandy 
soil is the most healthy, while the clayey soils are damp and moist, and 
naturally productive of certain classes of disease. 
“It has also been observed that some soils absorb and retain moisture 
more than others. Sand absorbs and retains but little water, clays from ten 
to twenty times more, and humus, or common surface soil, more than fifty 
times as much as sand,2 
“ Clays sometimes contain as much as ten per cent, of water by weight, and 
thus are injurious to health in two ways by being moist, and, although they 
contain but little organic matter, the moisture aids in its decomposition, and 
thus they are malarious.” 3 
In any depression into which there is drainage, no matter what the char- 
acter of the soil, there is danger to health. Even sandy soil may be damp 
from this cause, the water rising through the loose particles from the pressure 
of higher levels; or, as is frequently the case in this city, there are pockets 
of sand into which the drainage of the surrounding soil collects ; or an im- 
pervious clay is found forming a basin without an outlet, where the water 
collects and remains until removed by drainage or evaporation. 
In July and August, 1849, cholera was epidemic in this city, and generally 
prevailed in low and filthy localities. This did not obtain, however, in one 
instance, as in three blocks, not far from where the Water Works are now 
located, in the locality known as the “ Sands,” which was high, sandy, and 
1 At one time it was customary in Chicago to build the smaller houses directly on the 
ground; but the custom is gradually disappearing, because the death-rate was found to 
be higher where the tenement was so built than where it was elevated or had a basement. 
2 In the winter of 1870 and 1871 I went to South America at the request of the Orinoco 
Mining and Exploring Company, to see whether the sanitary condition of a gold-mining 
district, in Venezuela, south of the Orinoco, could be improved. By carefully weighing 
and drying the soils I found that they contained even more moisture than is indicated in 
the text. 
3 From my report on drainage to Chicago Board of Health, 186 S. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
11 
apparently dry and salubrious, it was very severe and fatal. This locality 
was inhabited by 322 persons, who were chiefly Norwegians, many of whom 
had recently arrived. 
Nearly all were attacked, and forty-four fell victims to the malady. At 
the time and for many years after it was queried as to the cause, since the 
locality was regarded as, comparatively speaking, a healthful one. It was 
not until 1869 that the chief factor in this high death-rate was discovered 
by myself. While engaged in examining the borings made in different parts 
of the city, I found that there was a depression or basin in this locality, in 
the blue clay, and, as a necessary consequence, the drainage of the neighbor- 
hood collected to the depth of two and three feet, while the drainage else- 
where found its way to the lake and the Chicago River. This basin was 
about seventeen feet from the surface, the overlying strata being composed 
of loose sand. As these people used lake-water for culinary and domestic 
purposes, the prevalence of the disease was regarded the more remarkable. 
No doubt the privies drained into this basin, and the excreta from the first 
cases was soon carried into it, with the foregoing result. They were living, 
as it were, above a hidden cesspool. The locality since sewers have been 
built is one of the healthiest in the city. 
In July, 1873, during the prevalence of what was called cholera in the 
southern portion of this city, I noticed a most marked effect of drainage. 
The district in which the disease prevailed was densely populated by Ger- 
mans, Swedes, and Poles, with a level sandy soil, and but little surface 
drainage. The water was obtained from shallow wells supplied with sur- 
face-water ordinarily from five to sixteen feet in depth, and to protect them 
from caving in, they were lined with plank. A careful inspection of the 
block in which the first cases occurred, satisfied Dr. Reid, the health offi- 
cer, and myself, that the water supply had something to do with the malady, 
being satisfied that the privies and the drainage of a number of cow-stables 
went into the wells. Steps were immediately taken to supply the locality 
with lake water, and the wells were all fouled, so that the water could not 
be used for domestic or culinary purposes. After these precautions had 
been taken, no new cases occurred for three weeks. 
The block fronting on the east side of Butterfield Street, north of Thirty- 
eighth Street, was perfectly level, and had really no surface drainage; while 
the block south of Thirty-eighth Street, and on the same side of the street, 
in population and other conditions was about the same, with the exception of 
a little better surface drainage, and a ditch of two feet in depth on two sides 
of it. The number of deaths north of the street, and where the disease 
first made its appearance, was eleven, and south, only two. I happened to 
be there on July 5, during a heavy rain-fall, and observed that the surface 
on the north side was covered with water, while on the south the ditch had 
carried it nearly all away. To my astonishment in half an hour the water 
had entirely disappeared on the north side, and the water in the wells had 
risen nearly two feet, while on the south side but little change had taken 
place in the depth of the water in the wells. 
I had frequently been impressed with our great infantile mortality, but 12 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
having made a study of this question early in 1873, I came to the conclu- 
sion that this mortality was greater in this, than in any other large city in 
the United States. In judging of this question, it must, however, be borne 
in mind that we have a younger and more vigorous population than any 
other city, and that proportionately we have more children and fewer deaths 
of those over fifty years of age. Since 1856 there were only two years, 
1866 (when cholera was epidemic) and 1870, that the number of deaths 
under five years was greater than all others.1 This great infantile death- 
rate is most marked in the undrained districts. 
In my report to the Board of Health of this city, in April, 1873, occurs 
the following : 
“The increase in the number of deaths in 1872 over 1871 was 3,180, a 
greater change than has occurred in any two years in the history of the city, 
no matter what the increase of population was, or whether the city was 
visited by cholera or any other malignant epidemic. This was the more 
noticeable from the fact that there was not a marked epidemic prevalent, 
although small-pox and cerebro-spinal meningitis existed in the city, but the 
number of deaths from these and similar diseases was not great enough to 
cause this change. 
“ Attention has already been called to the effect of rain-fall on life, and, 
after careful investigation, I can come to no other conclusion than that if our 
system of sewerage had been extended with the same rapidity that it was 
from 1866 to 1870, this great increase of mortality would not have occurred. 
“ Prepare tables and group data as we may, the same general facts meet 
us. This is the more noticeable when it is borne in mind that we know 
positively how many feet of sewers have been constructed, and how many 
deaths occurred in each ward, but we do not know with absolute certainty 
what the population was in each year, as in some years it was only esti- 
mated, and in 1872 obtained from the school census. With these uncer- 
tainties, and making due allowance for all errors, the result is still the same. 
For the first period of sewer construction ending in iB6O, there were built 
2.59 feet to one of the population; the next ending in 1866, there was 
a falling off to 2.23 feet, and from 1866 to 1870 inclusive, there was an 
increase to 2.67 feet, and in 1871 a decrease to 2.54, and in 1872 a still 
greater decrease to 2.43 feet. It will, therefore, be seen that for the last 
two years the population of the city has been increasing faster than the sew- 
erage has been extended, and that this is the chief cause of the increase in 
the death-rate. Allowing 1,200 of the deaths for increase of population 
and the direct result of the fire, 655 that died of small-pox, 425 from 
crowding and the indirect effects of the fire, we still have an increase of 
900, which, I am satisfied, was caused by the want of proper drainage. 
“ A comparison of the Eighteenth and Fifteenth Wards will demonstrate 
the truth of the position taken in regard to sewerage. The first mentioned 
ward has nearly three feet of sewerage to every inhabitant, while the other 
has but seven-eighths of a foot to each one of the population. What natural 
1 In 1878 the death-rate was lower than ever before, and this decrease is manifest in the 
act that there were 1,445 more deaths of those above five years than under. THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
13 
advantages there are, such as elevation, etc., are in favor of the Fifteenth 
Ward. 
“The number of deaths for July, August, and September, of 1872, were 1 
in 104 in the Eighteenth Ward, and 1 in 65 in the Fifteenth; and for the 
whole year, 1 in 56.70 in the Eighteenth and 1 in 27.02 in the Fifteenth. 
Of those under 6 years, we find in the Eighteenth Ward 1 in 14.35, while 
in the Fifteenth there was i in 7.81. 
“ In the Eighteenth Ward there are only 89 square yards to each inhabi- 
tant, while in the Fifteenth there are 374; but, taking an extent of territory 
equal to the area of the Eighteenth, from the lower and eastern portion of the 
Fifteenth, where the greatest mortality occurs, the difference is not so great, 
while the air space is still greater than in the Eighteenth Ward, The den- 
sity of the population in the Eighteenth Ward has been increased since the 
fire, by the building of a number of houses by the Relief and Aid Society, 
on lots on Hawthorne Avenue and Elm Street, two and three deep on the 
same lot, and in a portion of the ward that is undrained. In addition, 
almost every portion of this ward was burned over, so that the privation, 
added to the depressing effects of the fire, no doubt had some influence in 
increasing the death-rate. 
“The Eighteenth Ward, as a whole, was naturally lower than any other 
in the city, until sewers were constructed and the streets improved. These 
wards are selected for the purpose of comparison, because they are more 
nearly alike than any two in the city, and lie on the North Branch, directly 
opposite to each other. Taking all things into consideration, the Eighteenth 
is the poorest ward in the city. Every portion of the ground is clayey, and 
was originally low, and its inhabitants are nearly all of the poorer class of 
our foreign population, of different nationalities, as is also the case in the 
Fifteenth Ward, with the exception that there are more Irish in the 
Eighteenth than in the Fifteenth.” 
The, report to the Board had the desired effect, for by reference to the 
Table on Sewerage (page n), it will be observed that from 1873 to 
there was a large increase in the construction of sewers. Until this period 
the annual increase of sewerage did not keep pace with the annual increase 
of population, but during this period it really overtook it, and there was a 
corresponding decrease in the death-rate, and although in 1875, 1876, and 
1877 we had an epidemic of scarlatina, yet the death-rate steadily decreased. 
THE PUBLIC PARKS. 
It was not until 1866 that the people of Chicago began to take decided 
steps toward creating public parks on a scale commensurate with the pro- 
spective greatness of the city. Several squares- and plats of ground had 
been devoted to the public for breathing purposes in the original plat, when 
the town was first laid out, and in subsequent additions made to the city.1 
Nothing tangible, however, was really accomplished until in 1869, when, by 
acts of the legislature, the North, South, and West Chicago Parks were 
created. 
1 In 1859 I recommended that the Public Cemetery be converted into a public park. 
This cemetery now forms the greater portion of Lincoln Park. 14 
THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
The two South Parks contain about 900 acres. There are three parks on 
the West Side the Douglas, the Central, and the Humboldt Parks which 
contain in all 670 acres, and which are connected by boulevards nearly four 
miles in length. Lincoln Park contains 310 acres, and is located on the 
Lake Shore, in the north part of the city. All these parks will be connected 
by wide boulevards, which are already half built, thus encircling the city by 
a magnificent driveway twenty-four miles long. The parks proper and the 
boulevards contain nearly 2,500 acres, and when complete will make as 
beautiful a park system as there is in the world, and one which is the best 
arranged from a purely sanitary standpoint. 
In the year 1868 I had the honor to be requested by the Chicago Academy 
of Sciences to prepare a paper on this subject. My report made to that 
body was entitled “Public Parks: their Effects upon the Moral, Physical, 
and Sanitary Condition of the Inhabitants of large Cities, with special refer- 
ence to the City of Chicago,” and was published the following year. 
In this essay, after giving an account of the parks in all the large cities 
of this country and of Europe, I discussed the physiology of vegetation, and 
of tree-growth in their relations to climate and health. My main object was 
to show how by the proper location of parks and improvement, and the 
planting of trees, the various disadvantages of our location could be over- 
come by artificial means. It must be borne in mind that, on the South and 
West Sides especially, these parks were located on marshy grounds, which 
in the spring were liable to overflow, and in the summer and autumn to give 
off miasmatic exhalations. The improvement of these grounds necessitated 
their drainage, which brought the environs of the city under a healthful con- 
dition. It also afforded a place of deposit for manure and other offal that 
could be utilized, thus materially assisting in keeping the city proper in a 
good sanitary condition. Besides it stimulated and encouraged the improve- 
ment and adornment of the adjacent property to a very large extent. 
Within the last ten years at least one million of trees have been planted 
in the parks, along the boulevards, on private grounds and the suburbs, 
within twelve miles of the City Hall. 
The experience of the city of Chicago in the matter of these parks has fully 
verified the predictions made in the paper referred to. I said “ that it is 
not presuming too much to say that the climate of Chicago may be ma- 
terially modified, and rendered more equable, by the proper location of 
parks, and the planting of trees, thereby diminishing the mortality of pre- 
ventable diseases, and improving the general health.” 
From a careful examination of the meteorological record it will be seen 
that the drainage of the city, and of the outside lands, and this extensive 
tree-planting, have already diminished the climatic extremes incident to our 
peculiar location. It is also quite certain, as the trees become larger and 
others are planted, these results will be more apparent and more beneficial 
to the inhabitants. 
In the same paper I also said: “We, perhaps more than any other com- 
munity, need all the possible safeguards against overwork to be thrown 
around us, and I know of no better way than by the creation of parks, that THE SANITARY PROBLEMS OF CHICAGO. 
15 
will be an ornament to the city, and places of resort, where all may enjoy 
themselves in a rational and healthful manner. We need parks to induce 
out-door exercise, and for the pleasant influences connected with them, 
which are' so beneficial to our overworked business men, to dyspeptics, to 
those afflicted with nervous diseases, and particularly to the consumptive.” 
I introduce these quotations simply to show that sanitary science has 
made sufficient progress at the present time to admit of the supreme test 
which science falsely so-called can never endure, that of verification by 
subsequent experience ; and in this connection I will venture to make one 
additional quotation from my report to the Chicago Board of Health, on 
drainage, made in 1869, in which I said: 
“From the results of drainage and other sanitary measures carried on in 
this city, it may be inferred that the judicious expenditure of money for 
sanitary purposes is a sound maxim of municipal economy, and from past 
experience I am satisfied that the mean annual death-rate can be reduced 
to 17 per 1,000 by continuing in force the present sanitary and drainage 
regulations, thereby making Chicago one of the healthiest cities in the 
world.” 
I have thus briefly called your attention to the natural conditions that 
obtained here, and also to the artificial means used to improve the same, 
with the results. It now becomes my pleasant duty to introduce to you my 
friend, E. S. Chesbrough, Esq., who will describe the sanitary engineering 
of the city, and to whose skill as an engineer many of the results already 
spoken of are due.