Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-01-04

voir, river or lake from which the wa
ter Is obtained. A proper filtration
plant Is also advisable. and here expert
advice and engineering SIN viii prove
cheap In the long run
On farms and places disconnected
from d general water supply the mat
ter is under the immediate control Of
the householder.
If one cannot afford an artesian well,
at least a deep well should be sunk
and rigid ~precaution taken against n
tamination from household sewage.
The most horrible and uncivilized on
dition hal can possibly exist is a shall
low surface well or spring adjacent to
a shallow surface sewage vault.
No community should permit such a
combination to exist. and the individ-
ual who expose his family to such
risks assume a terrible responsibility.
The distance which a sewage vault
may be located from a well without
risk is theoretically sixty feet. AS a
matter of fact, the combination is al
ways dangerous, no matter what the
distance maintained, as the surface
water may carry the bacteria of dis
ease to a considerable distance. The
hest plan is to have a deep well thor
oughly protected within a radius of
several feet by a cement platform. so
that surface water from the d~ooryard
cannot pollute It. The earth closet
should be used instead of the pestif-
erous sewage vault, Oh If the latter
evil is permitted 1t should be as dis
tant from the well as possible on a
lower level and drain away from 1t.
The liberal use of dry earth and chic
ride of lime may prevent sickness and
suffering, not to speak of heavy anan-
cial loss.
Tho Ideal System.
a far better plan Is to install a "sur-
face irrigation" system. These sys-
TENS devised by the late Colonel War
ing Of New York provide for a dis
posal Of tine house waste and sewage
through a house drain to a tank or
reservoir, which automatically empties
its accumulated contents by espionage
into a series of pipes, which distribute
the material directly IN the surface
| of the soil in some field sloping away
from the house. An area of one-tenth
| of an acre will receive and care for the
waste of a household of twelve per-
sons. This waste when delivered to
the field is an inoffensive milky mix
ture, which the bacterial and chemical
agencies in the surface soil o 0 dis
pose of If a proper interval is allowed.
The cesspool, like all devices that
accumulate sewage and allow 1T to
deeompose, may be a focus of disease
| distribution. 1t is far inferior to the
above described system
All wells should be screened. pre-
venting contamination by flies, mos
guitoes, etc.
, II good we'll water cannot be oh.
4. tanned the rainwater may be Uttered
and collected In q cistern. CisterE
water Is not very palafables but 1t can
be kept pure and tends to purify itself
| on standing.
Rainwater Is soft and. like all soft
| waters, readily dissolyes lead. 1t
should not be stored In metal re-
e~eptacles- therefore, Or run through
leaden pipes.
What to Do With Pure Water.
Pure water having been obtained, the
question arises, How shall we use it?
Inasmuch as about 70 per CEN Of the
body weight is made up OF water, no
argument is necessary to show that a
certain daily supply Is necessary If
the body weight is to be maintained.
About one-half of the solid food we
eat is composed of water, but 1t is
estimated that, In addition, the average
man requires about two and one-half
pints, or fhree tumblerfuls, daily.
IA great deal of nonsense Is written
regarding the amount OF water that
should be taken daily, the amount
suggested running up into the gallons.
No doubt some people do not drink
enough water, especially between
meals, but the taking of vast quanti-
ties of water may work serious injury
by o~vertaxing the heart and eirenla-
ton and causing an ~overaetion of the
kidneys. Dilation of the stomach may
also result from overdistention with
fluid. 1t is believed that some of the
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