The Louisiana Democrat., 1891-11-18
LOCATION or THE WELL.
Extract from Lecture by Hr. j. II. Kel
loSg, of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.


Extract from Lecture by Br. j. H. Kel.
logg, of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
Dug wells are likely to contain va
riety of germs unless their. location is
exceptionally good and they are we'll
taken care of. The bottom of the we'll
should always reach, bedrock, but it
does not in every case. We are all
familiar with the fact that the soil
which overlies bedrock always con-
tains water, and that this water win
Gil the we'll up to the level of the
ground water. Now suppose that at
| any distance from the well which is not
| SO great as to be- out of the sphere of
possible contamination of the well, are
located vault, cess-pool, a heap of de-
| composing rubbish, pig-styeo or a barn
yafd-then the rain in filtering through
these filthy substances will carry par
ticles from them below tile surface of
| the earth, and after awhile they will
reach and contaminate the ground
! water, thus, of course, affecting the
purity of the well. Matters may go on
about as usual for months, or even
/ years, and the persons who drink from
! the well suffer no apparent harm, al
1 though they are swallowing a mass of
i germs all the while. The reason is that
BY a peculiarly benefcent arrangement
the body is able to protect itself against
/ these intruders The gastric juice is =
great germicide, and makes way witt
4 most of them. especially becoming &C
customed to those -habitually received
4 But suppose some new germ like thai
of typhoid fever finds lodgment ir
some of these reservoirs of filth; they
propagate rapidly, and finally are car.
ried to the ground-water and SO to tho
we'll. Then there will likely be an out:
break of typhoid fever in the family,
unless all the water is boiled before
using. s.1t.a{,at Sin .'s.r.. ,srq:I,ftst!e}
4 We look with contempt upon the
practices of the Hindoos, who bathe
their bodies and wash their clothes in
the tanks which contain their drinking
water; but we really do worse things,
because our wells are often SO, located
that they receive the extract Of the
cess-pool and the barnyard, to
say nothing of the slopsl from
the house. Some semi-civilized and
savage people have learned the wis
dom of boiling the water which they
use for household purposes, and so sell
4 dom suffer from epidemics, although
they live in the midst Of the most unhy-
gienic surroundings. For instance, the
Chinese, who live in large numbers in
boats.upon sluggish streams into which
they deposit their filth, and from which
they take the water they, use. There
are also certain savage tribes in, Africa
who no more think of taking their
Id rinking water uncooked than they do
their yams. '''., ,,..,..., .,. y. 60 - !,
We are utterly thoughtless about
what takes place underground and out
of our sight, and in this respect are as
stupid as the ostrich which, by hiding
its head so that it can not see it's enc
mics. imagines that none are about! II
we can contrive to put our filth out OF
sight, we feel perfectly safe. about it,
though it is really more dangerous
when hidden than when exposed on
the surface of the ground. II
would beirmore offensive to a the
senses of sight and smell if unburied,
but not nearly so dangerous to life
Why? Because natural means, woulc
be brought to, reduce it to a harmless
condition as rapidly as possible. The
ozone in the air, the sunshine and the
germs would do their part and the
wind blowing over it would scatter ant
dilute the filth, which, being no longel
concentrated, would soon be! harmless
Keep then the drainage area of YOU
well free from all possible contarninat
ing influences, and whenever you hav'
any doubts about the. purity OF you
water supply, boil every drop you use
Reported by Helen L.. Manning. +,