The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-08-10


practice were to keep no pigs on the
| premises, but to remove the offal to field
where it might be kept or burned, then
all the offal would be removed together.
Hides and skins should be removed with
in two days of the time of killing, and
the tieshy side should be brushed over
with weak solution of carbolic acid. A
good floor tor a slaughter-house consists
of Portland cement, mixed with roughly
ground stone or granite, laid upon il basis
of brick, the whole thickness of the floor
ing being about 81 to 4 inches. The inner
walls of a slaughter. house should be kept
thoroughly clean and lime washed at
least once month. The yard should be
well paved and kept thoroughly clean,
and the blood should be caught and re-
moved in tight vessels. The dressed car
casses OF animals are likely TO imbibe a
sceptc poison when hung up in filthy
slau ghter- house.
can open cesspool is in most cases a
nuisance. The addition of small quanti-
ties of water to effect organic matter
causes fermentation and the liberation of
the gases of decomposition. Either an
abundance OF water to wash the matter
away through some sewer, or water
should be wholly excluded. In most
cases the ground is more or less porous,
and the water sinks into it and carries
with it in solution the communicating
matter of the cesspool, perhaps into a
we'll of drinking water, two, three, or
even five hundred feet distant. At best,
the case offers but choice of two evils;
either, the water is evaporate1, carry ing
into the air the noXious gases (and per-
haps the germs of specific Diseases or it
contaminates the underground water. All
pits, therefore, should be water-tight.
THE eyes of the public should be
opened to the dangerous results arising
from the practice of interriug the dead
in immediate proximity to the living.
The ceremonies of the Jews, the process
of embalming by the Egyptians, the
burning of the dead by the Greeks, the
Romans and the Philippians, were but
sanitary measures to escape the dangers
that arise from the process of putrefac-
ton. Not only should all burying places
of the dead be remote from habitation,
but the mode of burial should be regula-
ted by law. Graves should never be so
close to each other as to prevent the ac-
cess of air through the porous soil to the
body, and the earth, even of remote
cemeteries, should not be permitted to
become saturated with the putrescent ex-
halations which are characteristic of old
and crowded burial places. Both State
and municipal laws should require that
dead bodies be buried at such distance
from human habitatioDs that the putre-
factive process of the grave may not ex-
ercise its baneful effects upon the living.
1.-THE sources of contamination of well
water are l. Cesspools which are not
water-tight 2, soakage OF the top water
into the ground, especially over the area
of grave yards, and thence into the wells,
conveying with it refuse and putrefactive
matters g. house drains which lie near
the well, and which allow the house slops
to percolate into the surrounding ground
from which they gradually soak into the
we'll: 4 rats, frogs, and worms are fire.
| quent cause of contamination of wells;
| they seem to have peculiar instinct of
Epdipn THAR into walls and oic
| After long and careful investigation l
| have come to the conclusion that the
water of shallow wells is rarely, if ever,
| fit to drink. We know that typhoid
fever is most frequently propagated by
contaminated well water. 1t is safe to
say that there is not we'll in any town
| in the State the water of which it is safe
to drink. Most of the cases of typhoid
occurring in this State are caused by
water drunk from shallow wells. Such
WE'LL says DR.. Edison, may furnish nice
sweet tasting water, which will impress
the drnker with its purity, but they are
really what the Bible calls 'whited sepul-
chers.'" Fortunately the towns of our
State are waking up to the Importance of
good supply of unpolluted water. The
advancement in this direction has been
great during the past few years. Among
the towns in this State that can testify to
a marked improvement in the health of
the people after the construction of a
public water supply are Cumberland,
Frostburg, Hagerstown, Frederick City,
Westminster Havre de Grace, Annapo-
lis, Easton, Chestertown and Salisbury
Centreville has also begun the work of
introducing an abundant supply of pure
water.
"Rega riding the subject of sanitary i'm
provements at summer resorts, | am glad
to report that at Deer PARK, the Oakland
Hotel, aud Blue Mountain House, the
most approved sanitary arrangements
have been introduced. E,ston and Sails
bury contemplate the construction of
large modern hotels for the accommoda-
ton of winter guests. These places are
taking on new life and there can be no
reason why their hotels, if properly con-
structed and conducted, should not be
filled with guests nine months in the
year. The convenient locations and
superb climatic advantages of these
towns will give them the widespread
fame they merit if their sanitary admin
istration is well conducted and looked
after each year. Elston may be regarded
as the pioneer town of the State in this
respect. With enlightened care Hagers
town, with its splendid hotels, good
water, fine mountain climate and beau
tiful scenery, could number its Summer
! guests by thousands. The place has
wonderful possibilities as Summer
] resort.