The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-12-15
DHAINAGE ABOUT oUR HOUSES.
"oh wad some pow'r the giftfe gle US
To see oursels as itfcrs see us a4f 1T
II wad frae monte 4 blunder free us,

our surroundings in the light oftruth. Con-
ditions which have grown up with us seem
natural and proper to us, however they may
seem to others. This is especially true OF
farmers, who live on the farms or in the
neighborhoods where they were born. The
kinds of crops, the modes Of cultivation, the
arrangement of their buildings, the division
they are used to them, and have thought OF
nothing different. Let one Of these farmers
buy farm in another State, or let an intel.
igent stranger take one of these old places,
and there is ut once the improvement that
comes from new and unprecedented view OF
things. The new occupant is not afraid or
the ghost of his grandfather, and straight
way uses his own wits, demolishes old build
ings, removes the little. enclosures for front
yards and calf pastures and colt pastures,
and puts things into convenient shape.
But there is something more than mere
habit that seems to control US in our judg-
ment of our own affairs. We have an idea
that. we are exceptions to general rules.
We think our family healthy though we
have the doctor every week. Our dog won't
bite. and our chickens don't trouble the
neighbors. Saleratus bread and pickles and
candy don't hurt our children, though we
must confess they are always ailing. a wo-
man was heard to declare that she knew hot
tea and coffee were not injurious to the teeth,
for she had used both all her life, and when
she was reminded that she had Worn full
set Of false teeth for years, she said she did
not think of that!
No doubt many families are suffering, and
even slowly perishing, for want of proper
drainage of their dwellings and ont-build-
ines. and vet it seems to be regarded as per-
sonal affront to intimate to q man that pool
of saltwater at his door, or q pond of stag
| nant water in his cellar, is unheathful.
HOW WELLS ARE POISONED.
Many wells are bad i'll summer which for
merly were good. To put the matter plain
", this is generally because the drainage
from sink Or from vault runs into the
well. A deep drain takes the water from a
shaliower one, and well draws towards it
all the water that is higher, for long dis
tance-many rods even, in sandy soil.
In the spring, when the ground is fulkof
| water, it does not tend SO much towards
| the we'll. because the we'll is also full; and
besides, the saltwater is so much diluted
that we get less Gifts flavor. ,
Earth of any kind is q great disinfectant
and deodorizer. Dogs having bad wounds
sometimes dig holes in the ground and lay
| the wound against the fresh soil: and gar
ments infected by disease, or offensive with
animal odors, are purified by burylng them
in the ground.
For long time, therefore. the earth alb.
serbs the bad qualities of saltwater and the
like, but after months and years it becomes
saturated and the water, percolatine
through the soil, takes along its impurities
with it-so that suddenly old wells, which
have always been excellent, will be spoiled
There il a cause for everv thing, and very
natural one for wells thus becoming bad, al
though one dislikes to admit that his family
is drinking this sort Of fluid. In two in
stances, years ago, where persons came te
ask my advice as to the cause Of their well
water becoming bad, and attributed it tc
their sink-drains, they both declared 1t coulc
not be possible; but al investigation traced
the drainage water, by its discoloration O.
the earth, plainly to the wells. In one o
these cases the well had been dug only n veal
or two, and was fifty feet or more from tht
sink-hole. 1t was; however, in the direction
in which the water naturally flowed in thu
ground. There is always direction II
which water in the ground naturally flow
towards some swamp or ravine, where i
! finds an outlet in springs. There is little dan
yer that this current will be reversed, ant
in arranging for draining buildings it is 0
great importance to discharge your drain
: into this natural current beyond your we'll
Unless there is a great draft upon the wei
by pumping, the water in it will stand Il
high as in the ground around it, and vii
flow out of it with the natural underground
current.
Somebody has wisely said that no man
so poor that he need have his plg-trough q
his front door; but | fear there are man
men SO thoughtless and shiftless as to hay
open sink-holes close by their houses, AM
these are infinitely more unhealthful than
well managed feeding-trough.
NESS OF DRAINAGE
DEPOSITS.
The Smithsonian Report for 1868 contain
an elaborate report of a very learned com
! mittee on the Influence of the Washington
City canal OIL the health of the population
In a paper which | sent pou some week
. since, referred to Professor AntiselP analy
sis of the deposits in this canal, by which
! appeared that they were OF very little yalu
to the farmer, and would not pay for car
ing away-a ton Of the mud being wort
only about IS cents. He says the sewage wa
ter differs very little, chemically, from pur
Potomac water. 1t has an offensive odol
which is mainly due to the. soap-water {
sewage; yet he says the sun and air, operatln
on the mud in summer, decompose the veg
/ etable matters, and its emanations are Gu
ried over the city by the breezes and b.
come potent causes Of disease.
The committee say From the eXper
encc of other cities. and the Investigation
of chemists and engineers, we learn thu
omen sewers, as the canal in this city, eyolV
gases very preudicial to health. Observ;
ton has shown that the death-rate is niue
greater among the population along thes
open sewers than in streets removed but
short distance from them" III
4 1lNR, Of snf
discharge from IL TO II cubic inches of tn
, Doisonous) gas per hour, and the ferments
: ton continues for weeks. Whenever tn
gas escapes from privies, cesspools, or sew
ers, it causes disease, and finally sets up
Dutrid form of fever, which is eXceedlngl
fatal" They speak Of the effect ofthe drain
ace of the city of London into the Thame
which so contaminated the river that tt
houses of Parliament, upon its banks, wei
S hardly habitablc, so that in 1853 an appr'
priation of fifteen million dollars was autho
lied for sending the drainage in another d
rection. The committee attribute the pc
Soning Of many persons ut the National III
tel in Washington, in 1851, to the pestllel
, tial influences OF the sewers. Among tne
i were several distinguished members of Coz
gress. and at the time it was supposed /
many that a deliberate attempt had bee
: made to murder them by poison
DEATH FROM GAS OF SEWERS.
They cite instances given by an engine'
in a report relating to the London sewer
TO show how deadly are the effects som
? times of the emanations from these sewer
Five men were killed in 1852. Three Of the,
had gone into the sewer early in the morl
!, ing, and not returning, alarm was felt II
their safety. A surgeon entered the sew'
and was killed on the spot. AyouDgp polio
man followed, and was struck dead in a fe
minutes. On making an opening from I'll
street into the sewer to get the bodies
these men, the gases as they escaped we
set on lire by match, and burnt with ye