time, but it is probable which is growing in importance is the disposal of sewage. In 1893, only 31 cities, large and small, had established systems of sewage disposal. By 1902 the number had increased to 95. Data is not available showing the increase since that that the number of plants has increased at a proportionate rate at least. With the growth of cities, both in number and population, the necessity of at least partial purification before permitting sewage to be emptied into rivers, lakes, and streams is becoming more apparent to everyone. This is not only necessary from an æsthetic point of view, but from the hygienic point of view in protecting public water supplies, oyster beds, and other food supplies from pollution. Baltimore, Md., was recently required by the government to install over a thousand miles of sewers and to put in a new system of sewage purification to protect the oyster beds of the bay. As has already been pointed out, the problem of securing an adequate water supply has already become a very serious problem in many cities, and immediately connected with it is the problem of preventing stream pollution. The most common way of meeting the problem in American cities is the installation of purification plants. Sewage farms have been adopted by many European cities, where the sewage is irrigated on the land and made to serve as fertilizer, but in this country sewage farming has not been used to any great extent, and probably will not be except perhaps in some of the cities of the West where irrigation is necessary anyway. The common methods of disposal utilize the septic tank as a means of liquifying the solids in the sewage and then destroying the bacteria by processes of filtration. In these processes of purification biological methods are utilized;8 microbes are utilized to destroy microbes, and in all of the most modern plants a very high degree of purification is secured. Though not as expensive and delicate plants to operate as water purification plants, sewage disposal plants are sure to represent a large investment for the cities of the future, and will constitute one of their most important functions. (9) Municipal Baths. In addition to the governmental functions and the industrial or business functions which cities perform, there is a new and increasingly important and widening group of functions. which the city performs in the interests of the general welfare. Only a few of these can be mentioned here, but the class as a whole represents activities of the city which are sure to be extended very rapidly in the near future. Among such functions are those of furnishing municipal bathhouses, natatoriums, public comfort stations, rest rooms, auditoriums, theatres, lodging houses, municipal tenements, washhouses and laundries, municipal markets, and other facilities which our modern complex social conditions demand. The principal kinds of baths found in American cities are beach baths, floating baths, pool baths, shower baths, and combinations of these types. The beach baths are the oldest and simplest baths. Boston started one of these baths in 1866;9 it now maintains ten. Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit, and many other cities now also maintain several such baths. Boston and New York were also the first to establish floating baths. Boston now maintains twelve, New York fifteen, Brooklyn five, a large number of other cities from one to five such baths. These are floating platforms, with the pool constructed in the center and the dressing rooms arranged around the sides. Some such baths are very large and expensive, as in Boston and New York, but may be very simple and inexpensive affairs. They are available of course only to cities located on bodies of water. For inland cities, or cities where the available water is polluted, the pool is the most popular type of public bath. Philadelphia was the first city to establish such baths and now maintains fifteen. Chicago and a large number of other cities now maintain several of these pool baths. Shower baths are frequently provided in the same building with pool baths, and in most cities the bathers are required to take a shower bath before being allowed to enter the pool. The advantage of such baths is that they may be operated the year around. The necessity of maintaining public baths as a means of promoting the public health is now generally recognized, and the number of municipal baths and natatoriums is rapidly increasing. |