The Robesonian., 1910-08-08
vided by E2Aler IN rne range or by
separate oil heater

With a good water system installed |
the work Of the housewife is reduced |
SO per cent. Cold and hot water, either
hard or soft, is always at hand for
use in the kitchen. The dishes can be |
piled into the sink and washed in al |
most half the time it took previously. !
A wash room with permanent tubs
can be provided in the cellar. The
washing machine can be run with the
gasoline engine or with a water mo- (
tor. While room of this kind may
not make washing exactly a pleasure.
1t will reduce the labor more than
half. With little planning a small
tank can be arranged in the kitchen,
so that all the water that is pumped
Tor the stock will pass through it. This
is almost as good as an icebox.
A good bath and toilet room is a
great convenience to all the family A
shower bath in one corner of the barn
will be greatly appreciated by the
boys at the close of a hot days work
The wastes from the kitchen sink
and from the wash room can be run
into tile and taken away. For the
wastes from the toilet room sewage
disposal plant will have to be pro-
Vided. The most convenient method is
the septic tank. This is an under
ground cement lined brick tank di-
vided into two compartments. AS one
compartment fills it overf1ows into the
next. Nearly all the solid substance
will be destroyed by bacteria, and the
water that flows out at the lower end
can be disposed Of through tile drain.
The entire cost of water system such
as the one described, with the COM
pressed air tank, together with the
sewage disposal plant, need not be
much more than $3.50.
The cheapest method of lighting the
farmhouse is by acetylene gas. This
gas is generated by a machine in the
cellar and can be piped to all the
rooms and to the barn. If desired it
can be used also for cooking. The
average cost Of installing an acetylene
plant is about $500. This includes
lights in the barn and in the yard. 1t
costs little to run an acetylene plant
after it is once in. The average cost is
about a cent for a sixteen candle pow-
er light for four hours Acetylene is
the nearest like daylight of any kind
Of artificial light and is incomparably
better than the old fashioned oil lamp.
The newer types of acetylene lamp are
provided with battery, so that they
can be lighted by merely turning a
button
!, By going to little more expense
J electric light can be had on the farm.
II gasoline engine is already at hand
the total cost Of installing an electric
plant, with lights In house and barn.
need not be more than 1876.
A few electric fans will make the
house comfortable in hot weather.
One convenience Of the city, ice, is still
lacking. The way the ice problem is
most satisfactorily handled in the
country is for half dozen neighbors
to build a cooperative icehouse. The
men club together and fill it in the
winter, and plentiful supply of ice is
at hand all through the summer. With
a small additional expense cold stor-
age room can be built in connection
with the icehouse for keeping meat
poultry, eggs and fruit In a number
of communities cooperative fresh
meat societies are successfully run
The members take turns killing beef
or hog, and fresh meat is supplied
all through the year at much less cOsl
than it could be obtained in the city.
The cost Of heating system. wasl
ol~ bot IN,
attachment and other devices Of tina
sort is the same in the country as il
the city. The cost Of the water an(
sewage system in the country is abou
$3.50 The cost of operating a waite
system in the country Is much les
than the cost of city water.
An electric lighting system for th
!, farm will cost from 1876 up. The lif
Of such a system can be figured safel
at twenty years. The storage batterie
will not last so long, but the rest o
the apparatus will last longer. Thi
: would mean an annual depreciation Q
$1S.75. Interest at 6 per cent woul
amount to $22.5O. The cost of opera1
ing the plant will depend, of course
l on the amount Of electricity used. Th
cost for lighting the average farm
house and barn for a year and furnish
ing electricity for sundry other pu
4 poses will not average more than 81
Il for gasoline. This makes the total COS
e for electricity $41.25 a year. In th
y city the average cost for electricit
e for an eight room house is about $50
year.
? The cost Of an icehouse and Of pu
ing up ice varies so much with cond
II tons that it is hard to give any ge
II eral figures. These can easily be O
IL tanned for any particular locality. hoy
H. lpxh~en
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