The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-01-22
L HOUSEHOLD AND FARM.
Country Wells and Sewerage.
BY PHILIP SNYDER.

III fhlllF SNnDEn'
The cooperative character of city life, by
which every house is, or may be, furnished
with water and sewerage, affords the city resi-.
dent some advantages rs to health and con.
veniences with which country life, so far, at
least, does not compare favorably. The or.
binary farmer dependent on his crops for his
living can rarely afford to pipe his house
above and below, and bring water to 1t from
some clear mountain stream or lake, or to
conduct the sewage from his sleeping.rooms
and kitchen through underground cutters to
some distan. place where II will do 10 harm.
Windmlls ard forcepumps are slowly-rery
slowly-impr0ving the water supply, and II
farming itself ever reaches the level it ought,
1t may IN time accomplish thorough reform
but the country sewage system is less hopeful,
anS indeed, IN some respects is horribly deiec-
tive and dangerous.
The well and the privy are generally located
according to convenience the consideration of
a possible relation to each other not being, in
general considered at all. The well must be
near the house, or in it, the privy is often
placed close to the house and it may be, to the
well. If there is partition between them,
or short corner to turn, or an elbow of the
house or of the garden renee for screening it
from general observation, the possible Conncc-
ton between them, through porous soil or
VIC IbCk VI u tlpUt vault, IN
at all. Typhoid fever may come and carry off
two or three members of the family, and even
then 1t will be regarded more as an "inscruta-
Bile dispensation Of Providence" than as a
specimen Of stupid neglect OF necessary SAM
tary precautions on the part of the owner No
city Board of Health would tolerate the ar
rangemcnt for II week; but in the country,
with all its charms of fresh air and pure wa
ter, these awful nuisances may be tolerated
generation after generation, undermining
health aud shortening life, and perhaps never
be suspected.
HOW TO INSURE AGAINST PERIL.
The question of positive connection may be
difficult Of proof at least without thorough
examination of the ground or an analysis Of
the water, both of which arc appalling to farm
ers on account Of the expense. But there is a
mode Of insurance against the danger which
costs nothing, or next to nothing, open to every
family, and which promotes convenience rath
or than interferes with 1t.
Put the well where it will be convenient. AS
to the prvy, the same may be said, except that
the average good taste of the community re.
Quires that 1t shall not be prominent object
IN the landscape, nor the way to it SO public
that the Journey shall be a tax on modesty.
But wherever it is placed, do not put vaut
under it. The reasons are: first, they soon be-
come horrible sinks of nastiness; second, the
deeper they are the greater the temptation to
put off cleaning them out; third, if not &C.
mented they poison the earth about them as
we'll as the air and the drainage may find Its
way to some water.ven fourth, they are waste.
full because, properly managed, the privy can
be made a valuable adjunct to regular manure
heap, and with no more care or labor than de-
Ccncy requires. In place of a vault of any
kind put II aoaterttgH, rectangular, movable
box under the seat Arrange it anyway you
please--with wheels under it, or a little rail
way track or 90 that 1t can be moved a foot or
two with u pry or crowbar when nearly full,
and the contents shoveled out and wheeled of
to the regular compost heap, or spread where
it will do good. But as part Of the plan-and
the most important--place a box in the privy,
and fill it with dry muck, sawdust, road,dust,
coal ashes, or even sand or dry earth, put a
shovel in it, and use the material as deodor
izer every time the prlvy Is used TIE often.
slve character of the privy will thus be changed,
and the manure pile will he sensibly in
creased. There will be no perCoatiOn OF poi
sonous fluids into the subsoil and waer-veins :;
and in emptying the box not a 1.-THE Of the
horrible stencil attending the clearing of deep
and long-neglected vaults or holes III the
ground. None of the excrements are lost, and
the aggregate of work not increased, though
intervals. But the man who complaing that
he "hasn't the time" to attend to such work
might as well say that he hasn't the time to be
decent, or to look out for his health, or that of
his family. 1t is part of his duty, rs good
citizen and head of a family to be neat and
clean-Clean enough, at least, about his prem
Uses to prevent any one suffering from his neg
lect A great many country people do suffer
most seriously now from this very cause.
ABovEGRoUND DRAINS.
The abundant room and fresh air of coun-
try life is usually supposed to furnish guar
antee against the spread of disease from nox.
iOus water or vapOrs, but the neglected cOndi-
ton of many homesteads, sometimes occupied
by people who claim great responsibility, docs
not always justify the suppostion. Some day
in the not distant future the state may see fit
to take the matter in hand and through the
agency of town Boards of Health exercise a
supervisory power in this matter and mainly
at the expense OF uelinquents. 1t would not
be unwise nor uni ust.
Sometimes there are open or underground
drains from kitchen sinks which pass near the
well, and through neglect or Misrepresentation
may send their polsOns into it. These openI
drains are disgusting and filthy, while those
underground may he defective through leak
age at the joints of the pipes or tubes. Then,
if near well, the Stops are almost sure to find
their way into it. There may be filterlngI
process, so that the water reaching the well
docs not dlscolor it, but even that is no safe
guard-poison, disease and death are In it. IfI
possible. no underground drain, unless con-
Quoted through a solid, water-tighttube, should
pass near well. If a tile-drain Is lald and
covered with cement, or with cement at the
joints, leakage may still occur long before 1t
IS suspected. A solid pipe above ground is
the safest for passing well. Then if a leak.
age should occur from any cause, it will be
seen, and can be repaired before serious harm
IS done-E1lnl,ner.
Protection Against Fire,