Mr. Perkins. I mean the parts of sewage are so thoroughly diffused into the water and oxidized on the way down Niagara River that after going over the Falls it is practically sterilized.
Mr. Powell. By what special creation have we some 30,000 or more bacilli or bacteria to the cubic centimeter on the Niagara River below the Falls? You evidently have not read the report. The thing is a perfect sewer below the Falls.
Mr. Perkins. It is not from Buffalo sewage; it is the city of Niagara Falls sewage, which is dumped over the river bank and atomized, sending the odor back over the city.
Mr. Powell. You will have to knock out of existence a great many facts that have been shown by a scientific examination of the water if you establish your proposition.
Mr. Perkins. Has there been any report that it is Buffalo sewage that has caused the difficulty or the city of Niagara Falls sewage dumping into the lower river, with no aeration and a long trip through the Niagara River for 20 miles or more?
Mr. Powell. There must be some peculiarities about Buffalo sewage——
Mr. Perkins. I mean the water is good above the Falls but polluted by the sewers of the city of Niagara Falls, not Buffalo.
Mr. Powell. We assume the excreta from the people of Buffalo is about the same as the excreta from the people in Tonawanda and other places downstream.
Mr. Perkins. It is a question whether the Buffalo water has not been purified on the way down the Niagara River for 20 miles.
Mr. Powell. Running water might purify itself.