The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-06-18
The Earth GIoSet

. shall The waste be eifectually Dr,
vented from being an annoyance an
source OF disease ? and the Other
how shall it be made means of lei
tlllty 20 the soil, and thus au item G
. national wealth I?
"Nothing is better estab!ishe,
than the connection between huma
excrement and certain fearful epi
denies.
SIT is on all hands admitted tha
cholera is most frequently and cer
tainly transmitted to healthy per
sons by the intestinal evacuation
of th csc who have been sick will
! this disease. Atf @A
Typhoid fever, form of diseas,
very prevalent among us, is oitel
traceable with scarcely less certainty
to privy vaults, cesspools, and sew
ers. 1t is stated that Prince Albert
of England probably contracted the
disease that was fatal to him fror
the foul air that found its way into
his study out of a forgotten sewer
I through q crack in the wall.
'.Most often It is our drinking wa
ter that brings unto us the contamI
nation. Ia multitudes OF cases the
we'll is but few yards or feet from a
cesspool that receives the kitchen
slops en- one hand and privy vault
on the other. The writer knows a
well which furnished good water for
about five years after it was excavat-
ed, in what was until then a vacant
lot, but after this interval became
unpleasant in taste, its flavor plainly
suggesting tie nature Of its impuri-
ties. ~ H
sin his researches on the cholera
in Bavaria, III 1854, Pettenkofer
traced its spread in several cases, in
the most undubitable manner, to the
use of water which had been in con-
tact with the feces Of cholera pa
tientS.
"rhe waste involved in the s'civ
ilized'' way of treating the materials
under notice is immense. Every
harvest brings from the country to
the city, from the West to the East,
a vast bulk OF beef, corn and hay,
whose use 10 the city people does
not for the most part consist in any
permanent giving Of iss clements,
bat which, after he7 ~ htet
the wheel of life through hail turn
and dropped off as waste, admits OF
conversion into food sgain, il but
carried back TO the feitlz The gar
deners and farmersiin our Immediate
vicinity are obliged 70 idisbnrse
heavy SUNS each year for tue phOs-
pilates and nitrogen which their
crops demand and which their land
cgnnot adequately supply. The gu
amos and fish nlanures which are
br0u.hs !:'nl a distance or manu-
iactureG at q heavy cost for their
use, are in reality paid for, not By
them. but nv those who purchase
their produce in tue city markets. -
The animal Who stands a. the head
OF creation roqnIrcstha richest food,
and Yields to the food-producer the
richest reluya. [. requires but little
att 10 convert his eXcrement into in
creinea', and the conversion may he
made extremely profitable.
-"Ehe means of satisfying at once
all demands of sanitary science and
OF agriculture is, however, fortunate
ly everywhere AZ hand, and of eX
lrcmc simplicity aud cheapness in
its application. Dry and .tine earth
is the material. lr's
This property Of earth is no new
discovery. Its use was prescribe d
to the lsrae'iles deuteronomy, %,
II and l3) and Is turned to good
account by the instincts of Our do
mestic carnivore. The Rev. Henry
Monte, an English clergyman, was
the first to elaborate, by careful
study Of the subject, plan for the
systematic employment OF earth for
this purpose.
"Fhe arrangements required to
an earth closet are not
necessarily complex or expensive
IL is only ncedful that q space be had
below the privy seat, the bottom OF
which should be of tagging or ce-
ment, and little above the ground
level, or at least protected from the
wet OF rain and of the ground
This space should communicate with
q shed ct the rear of the privy, TO
hold on one side load or two of dry
fine earth (not sandy or sifted coal
ashes, and leave an equal room un
occupied on the other. For hospital
or sick-room, use either simple
commode or pail, with a hod OF earth
to apply, or self acting commodes Of
Mr.. Moule may be used.
"Very important it is that hotels,
schools, snd, we may add, colleges,
should be provided with this labor
and health-savi arrangement. In
large schools it is sufficient to put
the application of earth in charge OF
8u alItuuaht. Al uOtSio tAO oSAA- eSe-
ing apparatus is better. i.
"The fertilizing value of the prop
erly managed compost should be
abundant remuneration to parties
supplying earth, especially as its
carriage is not attended with the
slightest odor, and requires not the
cover of darkness to mitigate its
terrors, while its use is less disa
greeable than that of Peruvian or
fish guano, and not worse than the
em ployment OF any old compost.
'.Reader, lose no time in proyid-
ing yourself, and melting your
neightor TO provide, some form OF
earth closet in lieu of the vault
which has hitherto sufiiced. Health
and eoonoiny both demand it! City
authorities would do well To enact
that ali privies within hundred feel
of dwellings, or Of wells in use
should be converted into earth clos
etc. and 10 provide for their system
aiic and thorough inspection ~
y. 7TiJune.
A POOR plan is better than IA