The tremendous
number of bacteria found in some of these "spring" samples we on
several occasions reported as indicating the presence of buried animal
matter in the immediate vicinity of the springs, and resulted in
finding this to be correct. In one case in which a badly polluted
water was so reported upon, the burial place of some fifty Germans
was found only a few feet away.
One suspected epidemic of dysentery was a typically water borne
infection which did not prove to be the real thing. Half of one
company was in a front line trench and half in support. Part of the
one section took their drinking water from a shallow well near at hand
without treating it, and practically every one who drank it,
thirty-one in all, came down with typical symptoms of dysentery, while
all the others who did not drink it raw escaped. The well water was
found to be badly polluted. The sick were all quite well in four or
five days, and able to return to the front line, but it proved to be
an excellent lesson in hygiene to that Division.
A curious phenomenon in connection with the army water supply was
noted that first spring in Flanders. The flat surface of the country
in our area consisted of a very tenacious clay, and the farm wells
were usually sunk ten to twelve feet in that clay. In the months of
March and April, though the fields were water logged and the ditches
brimming over, the wells which were being used by the troops were
going dry.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180