The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-07-17
COUNTRY HOUSES.
The Two Dangers that Environ Them :
Water Supply and Waste Matter.

The Two Dangers that Environ Them
Water Supply and Waste Matter.
The two great dangers of country
houses are pollution of the water sup
ply and of the air by contact with waste
matter. Owners of property are lett
to build their drains and bestow their
garbage az ignorance and Incidence
prompt, with no official supervision,
and the consequence is that some of the
loveliest spots are nests of low fever,
diphtheria and dysentery.
In choosing a summer home prefer
ence should be given to region of
gravelly or sandy soil, clay soils bold
ing the surface water too long and
making the air damp and chilly. Where
there is plumbing in the house the
waste-pipes should be at least fifty feet
from the WE'LL lest the ground, becon-
ing infiltrated with purifying organic
matter, should convey the faint thither.
Where waste-pipes or cess-pool are
nearer the well, Or wherever surface
washings can contaminate it, it is far
safer to substitute rain-water for cook
ing and drinking purposes than to use
well-water. If the roof and cutters are
kept clean, and the rain-water collected
and stored, which can be easily and
cheaply done, the supply will be suffi-
cient and perfectly healthful It is,
however, wiser to boil it for drinking,
then cool, and afterward aerate it. If
filters are used for publication they
must be taken apart and the strainers
carefully washed and dried at least
once a fortnight. Otherwise they be-
come useless, the sand and charcoal re-
tanning organic impurities; and impart-
ing disagreeable taste to the water.
No kitchen stops, either from wash
tubs or dish-pan, must be thrown upon
the ground or into that open drain too
often found at the back of the house.
Boarders should fly a place where this
untidiness exists. Organic waste testers
in the hot sun, and the saturated ground
gives forth incense fit for Beelzebub, god
of flies. All household Waste should be
removed as fast as it gathers and lightly
buried. In the dark laboratory of the
earth noxious matter is turned at once
to sweet and wholesome uses. Lawn
and garden thrive ON what is fatal to
man. But if this can not be done, then
the kitchen waste should be burned two
or three times day. No standing pals
of garbage should be allowed to tempt
flies and defile the fragrant air.
The condition of the cellar is far
more important than that of the parlor.
In light rooms dirt is comparatively
harmless. In dark places it is lurk-
ing danger. No old wood, no vegeta-
bles, no rubbish of any kind, should be
allowed to cumber the cellar, which
should have waterproof and air-tight
floor, to prevent ground-air and soil
moisture from rising to the living
rooms. But asS this is almost never
found in houses to rent, it is necessary
that all cellar doors and windows should
be daily opened for free circulation of
air.
The water from eaves-pipes, if not
saved in cistern, should be carried so
far from the house in well-laid pipes
that there will be no contiguous surface
dampness or wet foundation walls.
Dampness is a ready v3hice for disease,
as well as a fruitful cause for it.
Another source of danger is decaying
vegetable refuse in garden or grounds.
Careless. servaslts leave rhubarb leaves,
prunings of vines or weeds wherever
they fall, instead of taking them to the
compost pit or burning them. If they
are out of sight they are out of mind,
till they recall themselves in visitations
of headaches, aching bones. or irritable
tempers.
In Short eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty from disease, as from
ether usurpers. Voltaire said that ill.,
carnations would destroy flock of
sheep-if administered with the proper
quantity of arsenic. Going to the
country will ward off epidemics If The
proper sanitary conditions are OBJ
served But if we put a superstitious
faith in country air. to the neglect of
constant scrutiny and intelligent pre-
caution, it is likely that our last state
will be worse than our first There is
very little probability of a visitation of
Asiatic cholera. But the conditions
that favor American fever. malarial or
typhoid, are omnipresent And the
great army of summer refugees from
the cities should consider whether,
through heedlessness, they may not ex-
change King Log for King Stork.--
Reaper's 12azGr.