With Johnsons Lake now merely mud flats and streamlets, the community became concerned that not only would Salisbury be without it's lakeside recreation but the quagmire would be a threat to their health.

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"Although there appears to be no danger just at present, Johnson's Pond will later become a menace to health if permitted to remain in its present state, Dr. Victor H. DeSomoskoey, deputy state health official declared today.

Unless the "lake" is refilled, or a better method of drainage established, the place will become as efficient for the incubation of malaria bearing mosquitoes as was the Cranberry Bog before it was made sanitary, the health officer stated.

Dr. DeSomoskoey recommended that the basin between New York avenue and the dam be cleared of stumps, the channel straightened and the beach scooped down. This would not only make the place sanitary, but would provide a lake for bathing and for water craft, he believes. It could be accomplished with an expenditure of something like $500, he said. What is needed is the voicing of public sentiment on the proposition.

Malaria, a few years ago a dread malady in Salisbury, because of the numerous breeding laces for the malaria mosquito, has no been reduced to a minimum because of the preventive measures taken. This feat was accomplished by draining as many stagnant pools of water as possible and in spreading oil over the others.

Enough oil cannot be secured, Dr. De Somoskoey said, to adopt these measures for the lake in its present state."

 
October 1997, Web Page Author George E. Richardson, III