The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-03-16
HEALTH OF COUNTRY HOMES.

source Of danger to health in a farm
house, lies in the condition of the cellar,
or of the space which separates the
lowest floor from the ground. If there
be a cellar, observe whether it is dry
and free from standing water or decay
ing vegetable matter (allowed to accu-
mulate there through the negligence
of servants). If the house is built
upon the ground, the lower feor
should be at least IS inches above the
ground, and the sides should be so
open that the air can circulate freely
through the space.
The WeH.-1f the water is clear and
sweet, and free from any. unpleasant
odor, one may pretty safely assume
that no harm is to be anticipated from
this source. Farmers are often in the
habit, however, of hanging meat in
thewell for the purpose of keeping it
cool. A pretty severe epidemic Gin
1879 of diarrhea, IN bording house
at one of the healthiest Long Itland
Summer resorts, was traced to the ex-
istence of decomposing shoulder of
mutton at the bottom of the well, into
which it had accidentally fallen.
The Prfry.-There is little or no
danger from contamination of the air
by the contents OF the privy. The
real danger lies in the diffusion of
these contents through the soil and
their contamination of the water of
the well. To avoid such a possibility,
the privy should be placed 60 or 20
Feet from the well, and-if the direc-
ton of the natural drainage currents
be known-in such position that the
contents of the privy will drain away
from the well. Better yet, let the
privy be so constructed that its often
sive contents shall simply lie upon the
surface of the ground, and let there
be easy access to it from behind, so
that fresh earth may be frequently
added, and the entire accumulation
removed, say once a week.
The Slops.-How common it is for
the kitchen authorities in farm house
to throw the slops upon the ground,
Just outside the kitchen door. and per
haps within six feet of the well. /
have known of a boarding house epi-
demic of diarrhea which could be
traced to no other source than the
contamination of the well water by a
shallow pool of sun-exposed, foul
smelling slops. A cemented cistern
should be built about rs or a 100 feet
from the house, and at distance from
the well, and to this all the kitchen
slops, vegetable waste, &C., should be
conducted through a suitable pipe or
conduit. From the cistern these mat
tiers may be fed to the pigs, or thrown
upon the ground at proper distance
from the house.
The Ice.-The ice may be so loaded
with foul vegetable matter as to give
rise to quite severe disturbances of the
bowels and stomach. If it be found
free from imbedded impurities, and if,
when melted, it be free from an un-
pleasant odor, one may safely assume
that no danger is to be anticipated
from this source. An interesting cpl
demic of bowel troubles was traced to
impure ice last summer at Rye Beach.
Drainage.-This is a more difficult
subject to investigate, and one con-
corning which 1 hardly dare venture
any remarks in this place. In a gen
eral way, however, the statement may
be made that pools of standing water.
or marshy fats near brooks or streams
Except, perhaps, at the seaside), are
not desirable neighbors. This is e.
pecially the case If the house in which
you live is situated in a hollow (ss In
some mountain valley, however ele-
waited it may be above the ses), where
the air does not freely circulate. The
prevalence of typhoid fever in some of
the Vermont and New York mountain
valleys, especially in early Autumn, is
probably to be explained by the exist
ence of just such conditions. In the
case of large hotel, the investigation
should be practically the same as In
the case of a farm house. The diff
culties In the way of such an investi,