The record-union., 1891-08-07
Sanitary Plumbing Again.

Sanitary Plumbing Again.
EDS. RECORD UNION: 1t seems that /
am beat on the question of the special
vent-pipe to our cesspools, so far as the
Trustees are concerned, as they passed
the law in spite Of all I could say. Oh
course they believe what the doctors said
rather than what said, as no one came
to my support in public, although l had
| plenty of support on the outside in pri-
vate way. This IS too important sub
| ject to drop, consequently l crave youl
indulgence while | say few words
| more on natural philosophy, science
common sense, and what l know person
| ally about this subject.
The atmosphere which surrounds oul
earth to the hight of forty-five miles, and
in which we live and move and have oul
| being, is composed mainly Of two ingre-
dients, oxygen and nitrogen, with g
! slight admiXture of carbonic acid. The
| first is called the vital principle, the
breath of life, because by forming and
purifying the blood it alone sustains life
| and supports combustion. But to SuS-
tain these processes there is constant
| consumption of this ingredient going on
as will be seen by the facts in the case
| the formation and accumulation Of an
! other ingredient, carbonic acid, which is
| deadly hostile to animal life and combus-
| ton This gas is often found in wells
and is almost always present in deep
mines and at the bottom of caverns. and
why not in our cesspools?
In the name of heaven why should
| there be a law to compel property
/ ers to vent such places so that all noxious
gases will escape TO the top of our houses
and there be distributed over the city
and in our bedrooms? Mr.. Editor, it is
1 CT natural fhQEn 70 or,
| it is for water to run down hill, notwith-
standing what our doctors say and advo-
! cate, that all this noXious air will go right
up into the upper atmosphere, and we
will never know any more of 1t. Science
and natural philosophy tell me that it
won't do anything of the kind, but it
| will drop Just as soon as it leaves the
vent pipe, unless the wind blows it into
| someone's house, which would be about
nine times out of ten. For instance, [
am living in one-stOry house, and you
are living in two or three-Story house
next to me, is there anything to prevent
! the noxiouS gas from n vent pipe going
direct into your bedrooms! oh, yes, to
! be sure, you might shut your windows,
| but you would not like TO do that, espe-
cially on hot night. 1 know by actual
| experience 1t would do just what 1 have
| said above.
| Two years ago there was one of those
! little outhouseS just over the fence, and
almost in front OF my place on 0 street,
! which had a vent pipe some ten feet high,
and every time the wind was from that
| direction it blew the scent onto my front
! porch. OF course, at such times we had
! to vacate, but some time since the vent
has been cut off, and all is we'll now.
A number have told me in the slast
week or two that they are troubled in the
/ same way that | was. Our health officers
] thir,l- thaf fhnyy haN-n ho I,
ing ordinance all right, but there is one
very important thing that they
| have oyerlooked: every outdoor
water closet should have q brick cess
pool, open at the bottom and arched
over at the top, and made tight, with an
| overflow pipe to lead to the sewer; said
clubhouse to haYe patent water-closet
seat, but no special vent pipe.
! There is another thing which our health
! officers have got wrong, they specify that
all cesspools shall be made water-tight:
| but instead of that the brickwork should
| be laid loose four feet up from the bot
| tom. 1t is well-known fact that the
ground Sacramento is built on is full OF
water every winter right from the river
up TO very near the top of the natural
ground; consequently all our cesspools
| where the bricks are laid open are well
! filed with water, and when the river falls
| the water is drawn off, and more or less
of the impurities are drawn off with the
water-thus continual change is going
| on.
Some time last spring there was a com
mittee appointed from the health officers
! to examine into the sanitary condition oil
| the Protestant Orphan Asylum building
| of this city. / think that DIR. c. b.
| Nichols was Chairman of that committee.
| If my memory serves me right, that
committee reported, with other things,
| Il,
] which had a vent-pipe leading from il up
| to nearly opposite the second story OF
dormitory windows, which was thing
! in their opinion ought not to be allowed
and ought to have been discontinued
| long ago. / remember that cesspool my
| self, for it was there when built the new
! building some three years ago, and told
| the managers at that time it ought to be
abandoned, and l supposed it had been
| done, but ii seems it had not been discon.
| tinued.
But what / want to say is this--it seems
so very strange to me that a committee
would condemn a thing like that, ther
Immediately after write out a law, and
recommend its passage, compelling
property holders to put in the same kino
of vent to every cesspool in the city
! consistency, thou art a jewell
1t is well-known fact that carboniC
acid and all noxious gases when heated
| viii rise, but as soon as ii strikes the cold
air they become diffused and drop be-
! low.
Over forty years l have lived in Sacra-
mento City, and have stood by its welfare
through good and evil report, through
! floods. fires, riots and the cholera-yes
in 1850 we had the cholera in this city
when from 1000 to 800 died in single
month out of a population of about Il, 600
most of whom were young men. There
were but very few women here at that
time, consequently the city was not kept
any too clean. Everything was depos-
| tied at the most convenient place. Such
/ a thing as a cesspool or vault was not
! known unless it was small hole foot
| or two deep. Under such circumstances
what could our atmosphere be? Just
what our city officials are trying to make
1 it now.
| The question now is, will it be wise to
! take the chances of having another cpl
demic here, or shall we shut down on
| putting special vents into our cesspools ?
| If the sewers, plumbing and ventilation
could be carried out as / suggested in the
RECoRD-UNIoN of the Goth of July last
all would be well. If not that, let the
! plumbing be done as it has been done fol
/ the last two years, with the special vent
! left out. | .have said once in a former
article and now | say it again-just SO
/ sure as this system of ventilation is car
| ried out, just so sure you will make one
of the most unhealthy cities in the State
one which should be the healthiest, and
/ one which has been heretofore
4 loh