The Ordway new era., 1908-12-11
ARM M0ZEs


huiiding new cisterns. Seep water is
less now than for many years. Two
years ago an ordinary post hole would
contain water-dugouts and cellars
were iilled-some to within foot of
surface level. This will probably be
the case again iirst wet season, l.
have never been successful in building
or repairing II ci,tern while water was
leaking in. Have heard OF "master
mechanics" who said they could do IL.
and TO my sorrow have given half IA
dozen or more nf them Il chance. Wa
ter will push itself through soft ce-
ment aud leave your wall porous when
set. You will have none OF this truu-
bic now, for wells ten or twelve feet
deep are dry. My own experience is
that In Il cistern ten or twelve feet
deep, the outside pressure Is so great
in II wet time that IL will push the
plaster oil the hrick-at least crack IL,
and my only remedy is to put plenty
OF soft cement behind as well as on
front uf the brick walls. Then II
your brick are also laid In cement you
will have u cistern that will last and
give you for lifetime good supply
OF soft water.
or course the soot on our roofs will
discol5r the water to some extent
but this can be counteracted some
what by Offering for drinking purpos-
es. The ordinary rripoli stone filter.
sold by our hardware merchant,
think best, as IL can be thoroughly
cleaned with brush or scraper, as often
rs necessary. But the fixed, pcrma.
nent brick litter sometimes used, is
worse than nothing. for after using "a
few times IL is u germ. breeding con.
trivancc only. Any filter must be
cleaned after using.
hut some one objects to drinking
rain water-suys IL smells so All rain
water contains Il small amount OF vrg-
ctable matter, washed dawn from the
air-especially in summer or fall. In
about ten days after filling your cis-
tern you are sure something has got
ten into that water" 1t surely smells
so. Well, you quit using IL. but "A
month later you are surprised to lind
IL perfectly sweet and pure. No
''mousc" about II. Just the natural
clarifying process it must go through.
The vegetable matter has passed oil
AS Il gas. One Of the best purifiers l
have used, and one recommended by
government authority is blue vitrioI-
about a tablespoonful pulverized to
100 barrels OF water. Our government
authorities have treated thousands OF
town reservoirs by merely this simple
process and stopped number OF ty.
phoid epidemics In small towns.
| Doubtless many OF my readers know
all about these matters, more than
the writer, but to some IL may prove
0f value, but the eist OF the whole
matter is this:
First-Build your cistern egg-shap,
because more easily cleaned and
stronger.
Second-Ccmcnt thoroughly on both
sides of the brick, and the only way
to repair leaky ciStcrn is to build /;
new brick wall inside of the old one.
| Now l hope we shall all have tn,
Box Springs water piped into our towr
soon, but we shall probably then al
need ciste-ns.
We all have heard of that "mean
est man in the world" who made hi.
son-in.law Il marriage present OF hall
a COW, but afterward claimed all the
milk himself. because it WAS the hall
with the head on that he gave away
and then lie insisted on his partner
furnishing all the feed. because IL was
his half that ate all the hay. etc.
surmise that this is the same man
who compelled his wife to carry all
the water in and out OF the house be-
cause he Is too Stingy to run Il pipe
from the cistern to Il kitchen sink
equipped with pitcher pump and a
drain pipe to carry away the waste
water. A few dollars spent on thes.
kitchen improvements by nir farmers
would save much time for the good
housewife, and the wager is at odds
that her time is more valuable than
his.
d. c. ROBERTS,