St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-05-16
About the House and Garden.

One bit of work which you may very
well attend to now, while you are wait
ing for the ground to dry off fit fol
blowing and planting, is an examina
ton of sink drains and cesspOOls to SEE
whether the winters frost has broker
through them a1ywhere so that then
contents are leaking away into locall'
ties where they ale not wanted. L dc
not like very well to see the wash wa
ter from the kitchen sink running along
upon the surface of the ground, often
pertaining the air with an odOr that Is
disagreeable, and more unwholsOme
than that of a slaughter house. But
better so than an underground drain
which discharges at almost every point
but its mouth, and which is saturating
the ground for its whole length with Its
deposits of decaying vegetable and an
imal matter The first allows its mala-
rial germs to escape into the surrounds
ing air, and but part of it will return
to the house again, while its OdOr may
lead some one to think it worth while
to clean it up, and thus dispose of the
nuisance for a season. The under
ground drain, if not in good order,
sends all its pOisOns, generated by de-
cay, back into the house again, not al
ways with powerful odOr, but none
the less unwhOlesOme because less dis
agreeable. The open sink spout and
the uncovered cesspool are bad enough,
but the underground drain and cesspOOl
a"e foes more SECRET, which may dc
deadly work before we know that they
are not doing that which we intended
them to do.
Therefore l beg of you to clean them
out and add to the contents of the one
to the compost heap, and see that the
other is a perfect conductor without
break or leakage. See that they do not
have the least chance to leak or over
flow at any point where it may find an
underground passage into your supply
of we'll water. Look also that vaults
and barn yards do not drain their rich
juices where they will reach your well.
We boast of our pure country air and
pure water, we pity the unfortunate
poor of the cities who may not enjey
them we read with shudder the oc-
casional statements of enthusiastic
chemists who tell us of the poisonous
authorizations often found in our food
and our drink, but l honestly believe
that the vilest decOctiOns of the grOg
shops are scarcely more poisonous, ex-
cepting in the amount of alcohol in
them, than the ''pure water" from the
''old oaken bucket" at many a farm
house well, if it were taken for test at
time when the springs are low. Call
at farmers house for drink of water
at such time, and how often will he
acknowledge that "our water does not
taste good after it has stood a while"
How long will it be before the decay
ing matter in such water will make it
offensive to the smell?
We blame while we pity the sufferers
by the yellow fever last summer, be-
cause the doctors tell us of imperfect
drainage, and impure air and water re-
sulting therefrOm as a predisposing
cause, but when typhoid fever goes
through New England village or ah
isolated farm house in our neighbOr-
hood, we talk about "mysterious dis
pensatiOns."
A kindred job is the cleaning out of
the cellar, getting out all decayed or
decaying vegetables and all the dirt
which will accumulate in almost all
cellars, the letting in plenty of fresh air
and as much sunlight as may be posi-
BILE and the use of little plaster or
lime to absorb or neutralize whatever
may be lett of impurity either in earth,
wood or air within the cellar.-BOStOn
Journal.