In 1900, an epidemic of typhoid occurred at Newport, Rhode Island, through the pollution of a well, and about 80 persons were affected, most of whom lived within a radius of 300 feet of the well and all of whom used the well water. The well was a shallow one with dry stone sides and a plank cover, and surrounding the well were about 20 privies, the nearest one only 25 feet away. The water in the well was 2 feet below the surface of the ground. It was found that a month before the epidemic broke out, there had been cases of typhoid fever in houses adjacent to the well, and that discharges from the typhoid patients found access to the privy vault which was only 25 feet from the well. It was practically certain that the well was infected by the leechings of these privies, particularly from the one only 25 feet away. [Illustration: FIG. 77.--Spring infected by polluted ditch.] Another example of the way in which underground waters, such as springs, may become contaminated is described by Whipple as occurring at Mount Savage, Maryland, in 1904. Through this village ran a small stream known as Jennings Run, which was grossly contaminated with fecal matter. In July, 1904, a woman who had nursed a typhoid patient in another town came home to Mount Savage, ill with the disease. She lived in a cottage on the hillside above the stream, and the drainage of the cottage was conveyed through an iron pipe onto the ground just above the stream. Figure 77 (after Whipple) shows the relative positions of the cottage and stream. Heavy rains occurred during the first week in July which probably washed the infectious matter from the ground into the ditch and then through the ground into a spring just below down the slope. A week afterwards twenty workmen who had been drinking water from the spring came down with the fever and new cases occurred daily for a week or two. An interesting epidemic occurred in Massachusetts, caused by a farmer's boots carrying infectious matter from recently manured fields onto the well cover, whence it was washed into the well by repeated pumping. The moral of these incidents is very plain, namely, that where any possibility of the infection of drinking water occurs, that water ought either to be avoided or else to be thoroughly sterilized before using. This applies particularly to the old-fashioned well,--the kind with loose board covers and chain pumps. _Construction of wells in reference to typhoid._