The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1872-06-06
8arnr ,,sb Saroen.
RURAL HOMES AND SANITATION.


RURAL HOMES AND SANITATION.
1t has long been matter of surprisa
to US how the health of families could be
preserved among such unfarvorable cir
elmstances as We not unfrequently find
On farms. The dung heap, placed close
to the door of the residence, com posed
generally of all kinds Of decayed animal
| vegetable matters, is not unfrequently
bordered by a pool of ilthy halfstag-
nant water. The residents in houses 60.
situated do not always escape, and we
know many instances where fever has
none Its work, and where broken famil-
les testify to the effects of non-atteption
to these important mattersl
The i'll effects of bad sewerage arrange
ments are not, however, confined to man.
Do we no find that the farmer who is
most careless in regard to those matters
Is the greatest sufferer from disease, etc.,
among his live stock? Disease cannot be
altogether Kept away from our stock by
the greatest cleanliness; still the med
lum through which contagion is conveyed
is wanting if We properly attend to clean
illness.
Healthy Homes arc essential to the
welibeing OF society. Is this fact fully
realized in our rural districts? We fear
but in very few Instances. One would
almost imagine the fresh cir is consider
ed Injurious in many dwellings,, to SEQ
how carefully ii is excluded. We have
been In decent houses in the country
where the bedroom window did not open.
Bnt it is in the residence of our laborers
that we have more particularly noticed
this carelessnes regarding ventilation.
In many of their cottages the living
room is a sleeping room at night for sew
eral individuals; every outlet is closely
guarded, lest breath Of fresh air should
by chance 6no its way within. True,
many OF these rooms open directly to
outer air, and, as soon as daylight ap-
proaches, are cleared, by the opening
of the doors, Of the polluted atmosphere;
still the health ofthe occupants will be
afected-they cannot continue long,
breathing the pulinted air for eight or
nine hours 4 day, without injury.
In many country districts drinking
water of an admirable quality is obtained
but, for want of proper arrangements,
it is sadly injured by organic matters and
other impurities which get mixed up
with it. A very large proportion of the
rural population are entirely dependent
on surface wells for their supply of drink
ing water. These wells are seldom more
than a few feet in depth, aud being gen.
orally situated at the foot of hill or in
some hollow piece of ground, they are
frequently receptacles for all sorts of
impurities. Again, we have seen the
water supply of house drawn from we'll
sunk five or six feet into the gravel sub
soil, the same gravel bed acting as the
sewer for conveying away all the sewer.
age of the house and water closets, cess
pool being sunk down into it within five
or six yards CT the pump. Certainly the
arrangement appears economical and the
residents Of the house could not be charg-
ed by Liebig or his followers with allow
ing their sewage to run to waste.
Let US hope that these notes on q
most importants subjest may alarm tho
users of impure waters, aud then make
alive to the danger they incur. They
may then be induced to make some at
attempt to improve matters.-AgrtcuE
turaE Gazette.