Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1885-10-21
CORRESPONDENTS.

EDITOR DAILY Honolulu PRESS
Sir Continuing the subject of the
removal of the city's dirt and the
peoples waste, / would say that in my
opinion the plan carried out now by
the officers of the Board of Health
that Of reviewing all the matter set out
In front Of dwellings each mornings
good as far as it goes. But it is by
no means as thorough as it should be,
inasmuch as people a1N not do all they
should in the matter unless under com
pulsion. Compulsion means that the
health officers should see for themselves
that all obnoxious matter is placed
where the carts can get it readily each
morning To do so the force of paid
employees would have to be increased,
and as it will Immediately be seen that
the present want Of funds at the dis
posal of the Board of Health will put a
stop to any such increase of expenses
the efficiency of the present system
cannot be increased in that manner.
l propose then to discuss another
scheme. Let the officers of the Board
Of Health 60 on doing as well as they
can, removing all the garbage and filth
that they find, and by means Of the
odorless excavator emptying vaults and
let people generally use the 'dry earth
system as far as they can.
1t is within the power and means o.
all to gather sufficient material from the
streets to deodorize all that is offensive
about dwellings. Aninchin depth Of fine
dry earth will efectually stop out al
offensive smells emenating from the
kitchen drain, the debris of the cook
house, and all other disagreeable matter
1t is simple and inexpensive matter tc
have barrel kept full of such earth
placed where it is convenient to use
and just as easy to use it freely on al
necessary occasions. Nor need one b,
afraid to use a sufficient quantity
There are two methods of ascertaininl
what that quantity should be. In tn
first place if there is any odor percepta
BILE about the deposit, more dry cart
should be applied 4; and SO if there i
any free moisture.
"There should always be enougl
earth applied to absorb all fluid matter
and as in the case of tn
drainage from the kitchen sink thi
will always be considerable Their
should be an abundant supply of cart
kept on hand. | am perfectly wei
aware of the fact that it vii
suggest itself to the minds of som
that to absorb all the liquid refuse @
the city, as well as to deodo;ize it
solid exn0ia will take large quantity Q
dry earth. But when one reflects tina
we must accept Of one Of two alter
natives-either absorb these fluids wit
earth that can be carried away or els
run it into the ground we live on
will probably be decided that the frs
is to be preferred to the last, or els
there need be no need of changing tn
existing state of things. And just her
| it may be stated what is the preser
state OF, thines as regards the sanitar
lulu is built In 1878 the populatio
} of Honolulu was, in rouud number
; $4,000. In 1884, 10000. The ave.
age then for the past six years woul
be, say, 1900 The amount of ma
ter that should be removed in tina
time would amount to al least 900, 90
cubic feet. To deodorize this mas
would take at least, $780, 600 cubi
feet of dry earth, the whole forming
mass of a, 500, 900 cubic feet. Nineteenth
of this has been produced within al
area of one square mile which it woul
cover to depth of two inches if sprea,
evenly over the surface.
In this calculation nothing is in
cluded as produced by animals, or tn
debris from kitchens, markets, an,
meat stalls. There is simply calculated
that for which vaults and sinks are du
in the good old-fashioned way, an,
from which more than half the ills tina
flesh is heir to arise.
But how to get rid of this "dry
earth" compact That is easily done
If the compact is placed in any sort o
a container that will hold it-and bein,
dry and deodorized this is not dis
agreeable thing to dot forms one O
the most valuable mixtures that can bt
used on the vegetable garden, the corr
or wheat field, and the sugar planta
ton. There would be a demand fo
all OF it--nay--there is n0w such {
demand, and our planters, who agree
that it is cheaper in the first place tc
grow five tons of sugar TO the acre in
stead of two; and certainly more profit
able in the end, would be glad to pur-
chase what is now nuisance and source
of disease. C.