Scum on the Water —- Carleton Place 1958

Sept 1958

With the intense heat and the dirty hot water in the river it is probably a good thing that supervision at the bathing beach ceased some time ago, and that attendance at school will discourage children from swimming in that part of the river. An item in last week’s Carleton Place Canadian stated that there was a scum on the water there which made parents forbid their children to bathe in it. If the water is that way there it will be the same here. While the cause of polio is obscure there is a general belief “which may or may not have any foundation that it dan be induced by dirty water.

There may be nothing in this but certainly it is not healthy to swim in water that is lukewarm and smells of weeds and other vegetable matter. When the river level is high the fact that it is not too deep, at the bathing beach is an advantage but when it drops and there is a heat wave it makes swimming there less desirable. The river above the main bridge looks very dirty at presentwith weeds showing up and little “islands “which are submerged at high water level to be seen.

Most people would not care to eat fish out of the river now that the heat wave has lasted so long. It would be strange if they did not have worms and any who do go for them should skin them and cook them well. Even water in the lakes has become warm and the weeds are showing up everywhere. One thing this has done is make it less difficult for people who like summer resorts to break away from them and return to their homes.

Dan Williams

Seems to me that closing beaches on the Mississippi at times has been a thing as long as I can remember. Especially after a heavy rain. I’m 73 now and I spent every sunny summer day at the beach in CP when I was a kid. Still go for a dip now and again.