Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-09
LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
Why Some City People Are Not Ben
Gifted by a Summer Outing.
THE DANGERS OF THE FARM WELL.
A Little Peep Into the Cellars of Some Old
HOmeSteads.
THE IDEAL COUNTRY RESIDENCE.
WRITTEN FOR THr p1spArcH.1

|
am requested by the editor of this paper
to give my views on the sanitary aspects of
the country as compared with the city.
On such subject broad generalizations
are dangerous. Whether a person is better
off in the city or country depends, in such
case, upon where and how he lives. Many
city people who go to the country for a more
or less protracted stay during the summer
season receive no benefit from the change;
some of them select locality which is ma
larious, or, in some way unhealthy, while
others, owing to over exertion and impru-
dent habits in regard to eating and drink
ing, receive harm rather than benefit from
the change.
1t has been observed that typhoid and
malarial fevers are prevalent in cities in the
autumn, and chiefly amoug those persons
who have been enjoying rural vacation.
During the fall of 1888 the chief inspector
of the bureau Of contagious diseases of the
New York Health Department Investigated
146 cases of typhoid fever in New York, be-
tween Twenty-third and Forty-second streets.
OF these 72 had been away from New York
during the preceding 80 days. and 34of them
typhoid fever. Seventy-fve had not been
away from tine city, so far as could be
learned. Some of the cases were caused by
IMPURE WATER.
Four cases, occurring in boys, were traced
to their habit of bathing daily in the East
river, near the mouth of sewer, on line
Of which several cases of typhoid fever ex.
listed.
Many city people seem to think that if
you can only get out into the free open
country, breathe the fresh air and run
around in the green fields. you will be sure
to gain health. This is by no means neces-
sarily true. The fresh air may be laden
up a pestilence. / suppose that typhoid
fever is most frequently propagated by con-
taminated well water. DR.. Edison, of the
Board of Health, has said that scarcely
well existed in the country the water from
which is safe to drink. The water is con-
taminated through the proximity of the out
house which the unenlightened countryman
sinks near the well so that both may be con-
venient to his back door. He wants to "save
steps" and so the well, the cess-pool or blind
drain, the barnyard and the pig-sty are all
grouped so conveniently together that the
water of the well is sure to be contaminated.
Sometimes the well water is poisoned by
the entrance of kitchen slops thrown on the
ground near the well, and sometimes dis
ease is caused by the leakage of badly
constructed wooden drain, which has become
decayed and ceased to answer its original
purpose. 1t must he remembered, too, that,
when the water is contaminated by solutions
filtering through the earth from above there
is no safety, as some people may imagine,
driu fbat r,;1
still be raised up. The Michigan State
Board of Health recommend as the cheap
est and most desirable the wells that are
constructed by means of we'll auger, which
can bore from % to 30 feet In day; the well
is lined with glazed tile or pipe, cemented
at their joints by water lime cement. When
the well has been lined, q filter is made by
throwing in coarse sand and washed gravel
to the depth of 15 to 20 inches; the top is
securely closed with stone laid in cement.
In such we'll contamination by soil water
would be completely avoided, and if the
water came from below a stratum of con-
siderable, density it would remain uninfu-
enced by the local impurities of the region
much longer than if drawn from an ordi-
nary Dug well.
CELLARS IN THE COUNTRY.
Whether cellars are necessary to the
health of country houses depends, think,
very much upon circumstances-the site,
soil and many other conditions peculiar to
the house selected for a habitation. An
open air space under the floor is often better,
cleaner and dryer than the cellars we find
under country houses. A few years ago
Mr.. Henry F. French prepared a special
article for the Massachusetts, Board of
Health on cellars. He wrote that in many
of the fine old country houses in Massachu-
sets (and in other States as well) no pro-
vision is made for the draining of the cellar
and that every three or four years it is COW
cred with water to the depth of two or three
feet, which remains for several weeks. In an
old farm house cellar which has been in use
so years there have been stored the potatoes,
turnips, cabbages, onions and other vegeta-
bles for family use. The milk and cream,
the pork and beef, the cider and vinegar
have met with various accidents and have
had their juices absorbed by the soil of the
cellar. The cats have been there to fight
the rats and mice. When the water is in
the cellar it makes q broth of all three in
gradients; the air presses constantly upward.
often lifting the carpet from the floors, and
is breathed day and night by those who
dwell in the house. Above all, cellars
should be carefully ventilated and thor
oughly drained. Ifthe owner has not sufi- |
cient knowledge to attend to these matters |
himself he should employ an expert to do
the work for him.
THE SUMMER RESIDENCE.
In selecting residence should want |
house on knoll or rise of the ground with |
good natural drainage in all directions.
Shade trees are very desirable, out they |
should, if possible, be near the house and |
not over it. Nothing compensates for the |
absence OF sunshine in and about a house.
Glinging vines on the little rural cottage or
the stately old country mansion may have
very picturesque appearance, but they al
ways induce dampness, and dampness leads
to prosaic rheumatism.
Cleanliness in all outbuiidings on the
country farm is absolutely necessary. The |
barn and its surroundings should not be too |
near the dwelling, and preferably on lower
level. Whether the we'll is without pollu-
tion can only be determined by a proper
analysis. The earth closet should take the |
place of the more ancient abom1nation, the
clubhouse, built over hole in the ground. |
The dwelling should have plenty Of sun
shine upon and around it, and better care
snoulu De Iaken OF Lne wafer useu III tne
kitchen than is usually considered necessary
in the country. There is no doubt that one
might ride good many miles before finding
country boarding place which would pass
critical sanitary inspection. However,
the same can probably be said of the city
dwellings the health seekers have left be-
hind them. The subject of rural hygiene
would, of course, fill a book; l am only
touching generally on few important
points.