George E. Waring Jr. | |
|---|---|
 in 1883 | |
| Born | (1833-07-04)July 4, 1833 Pound Ridge, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 1898(1898-10-29) (aged 65) New York City, U.S. |
| Monuments | Woodland Cemetery, Stamford Connecticut |
| Occupation(s) | Sanitary engineer, civic reformer |
| Years active | 1865–1898 |
| Known for | Advocate of sewer systems that keep domestic sewage separate from storm runoff |
George E. Waring Jr. (July 4, 1833[1] – October 29, 1898) was an Americansanitary engineer and civic reformer. He was an early American designer and advocate of sewer systems that keep domestic sewage separate from storm runoff.
Waring was born inPound Ridge, New York, the son of George E. Waring Sr., a wealthy stove manufacturer. Trained inagricultural chemistry, he began to lecture on agricultural science[where?]. In 1855, he took charge ofHorace Greeley's farm atChappaqua, New York.[2]
In 1857, Waring was appointed agricultural and drainage engineer for the construction ofNew York City'sCentral Park.[2] This effort was considered to be the largest drainage project of its time. Prior to this time, much of the area of the proposed park was awetland. He designed and supervised construction of the drainage system that created the scenic lakes and ponds of the park.[3] An enthusiastic equestrian, he and his horse "Vixen" would often use the park's construction as jumping obstacles.[4]
At the beginning of theAmerican Civil War, Waring resigned from the Central Park project to accept a military commission as major. He departed New York in the early summer, and drilled for a month in Washington, DC, occasionally meeting President Lincoln as he reviewed the troops. Waring departed Washington, DC, on July 4, 1862, and fought atBattle of Blackburn's Ford.[4] He then joinedJohn C. Frémont and headed to St. Louis, where he commanded the Fremont Hussars. His beloved mare Vixen died on campaign in November 1862, nearJefferson City.
Waring acquired a new charger, Ruby, a chestnut described as "a picture of the most abject misery; his hind legs drawn under him; the immense muscles of his hips lying flabby, like a cart-horse’s; his head hanging to the level of his knees, and his under-lip drooping; his eyes half shut, and his long ears falling out sidewise like a sleepy mule’s."[4] Despite appearances, Ruby was an uncommonly good jumper.
He raised six companies ofcavalry for the Union side in theState of Missouri. These units were eventually consolidated as the4th Missouri Cavalry under Waring, who was promoted to the rank ofcolonel in January 1862. He commanded this regiment throughout the war, principally in theSouthwest.[2]
During the 18th century, merchants ofNewport, Rhode Island, developed country agricultural estates in the outlying towns. Following the Civil War, with a romanticizing of rural, country and farm life byAndrew Jackson Downing and others, estate farms for the Newport summer colony became widespread. Some of these were "model" farms based upon the latest agricultural practice, engineering and technology. Ogden Farm is such a model farm, named after Edward Ogden of New York City and Newport (1808–1872), whose summer house was on Narragansett Avenue. After Edward Ogden's death, the property became known as the Ogden Farm. In 1867 Colonel Waring settled there to manage the farm. At Ogden Farm, he introducedJersey cattle into the United States and founded the American Jersey Cattle Club. Waring is known to have laid clay drainage pipe there for field improvement, some of which is still extant. Waring devoted himself to agriculture, cattle breeding and drainage until 1877, when drainage and sanitary engineering became his major preoccupation.[2][5]
In 1876 William Smith patented a jet siphonwater closet, an innovation that caught the attention of Waring, who developed the design for larger pieces of sanitary ware (toilets).[6] In 1881, William Paul Gerhard, another historically important sanitary engineer became Waring's chief assistant.[7]
Memphis, Tennessee, had suffered several severecholera epidemics (1849, 1866, 1873) andyellow fever (1867, 1873, 1878 and 1879), with over 5,000 fatalities in 1878 alone.[8][9] Sanitary conditions in the city were poor, with many domestic wells close byprivies and drained by a fetidbayou. Many buildings had standing water underneath because of the poorly-draining clay soil. Civic leaders recognized the need for better drainage and a sewer system that would keep domestic waste away from the wells, although they were wrong in their belief thatyellow fever was spread by inadequate sanitation practices. It was, in fact, spread by theAedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water. The financially strapped city and the state legislature were unable to raise sufficient funds for construction of a conventionalcombined sewer system, due to the massexodus of residents for fear of yellow fever. The situation in Memphis aroused the sympathy of the nation and was largely responsible for the creation of the National Board of Health,[10] a predecessor to theUnited States Public Health Service. The Board sent Waring to Memphis, where he designed what he thought was a system Memphis could afford. Waring's design called for the separation of sewage waste from storm water runoff, an innovation that reduced the size of the pipes required to carry septic sewage. Until this time, this idea had not been used in the United States on a large scale.[11] Memphis constructed a separated sewer system according to Waring's plans, and its era of epidemics came to an end.[12]
In 1895,[13] Waring was brought to New York City, where sanitary conditions had become intolerable. Horses were leaving an estimated 2.5 million pounds of manure and 60,000 gallons of urine on the streets every day.[13] Horse carcasses rotted in the streets. Garbage piles reached a foot or two deep,[13][14] cleared only haphazardly by "ragtag army of the unemployed."[13]
Waring began by securing a law requiring horses and carts to be stabled overnight, instead of being left on the street.[13] He established a Street Cleaning Department, a white-uniformed corps of workers wearing pith helmets and pushing wheeled carts tasked with cleaning up city streets.[13] Waring's men cleared a shin-deep accumulation of waste across the city. Horse carcasses were removed from the streets and sold for glue; horse manure was sold for fertilizer.[13] Other refuse was sent to dumps along the waterfront.[13] Waring's crew even removed snow, packing it into trucks and dumping it into the rivers.[13]
The success of Waring's efforts was quick, dramatic and much appreciated by New York citizens. A parade was held for the sanitation works in 1896.[14]
Based on his reputation as one of the most distinguished Americans in the field of sanitary engineering, at the close of theSpanish–American War in 1898 PresidentWilliam McKinley appointed Waring to make a study of the sanitary situation inCuba. He had previously (1887) designed a sewer system forSantiago, Cuba.[2]
Waring was married three times: first in 1855 to Euphemia Johnston Blunt; second in 1865 to Virginia Clark; and third on July 20, 1898, to Louise Yates of New Orleans.[citation needed]
Soon after his third marriage, while in Cuba Waring contractedyellow fever and died shortly after returning to New York City on October 29, 1898.[15][16] His body was cremated and the ashes were placed in an urn, and buried in the family plot inStamford, Connecticut.[17]
An avenue in the North Bronx near Pelham Parkway was named in his honor, Waring Avenue. Memphis has a street named for Waring (Waring Road) running from Walnut Grove Road north to Macon Road at Wells Station Road, going through theBerclair neighborhood.[citation needed]
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