Milford chronicle., 1911-12-22
Of THE PUBLIC HEALT

Granting the logic of the assertion that
human beings can harbor parasitic worm.
, and germs which are discharged in the
? excreta, the pollution of the soil in un-
sanitary privies, which are used over a
length of time, should be acce pied as an
unvarying sequence.
As it is possible by the expenditure Of
small sum of money to prevent soil
pollution with human excreta by the cree
ton of sanitary privies it should not be
hard for one to realize the consequent
protection to the family, enabling it to
live many years on the same place with
out danger, at the same time saving doc
tors bills and avoiding unnecessary sick
ness and death.
The ordinary person has an idea that
the pIivy is a structure to which he NAV
retire in private when responding to the
calls of nature He does not realize that
the protection of modesty and privacy
are not the chief considerations in con-
the privacy secured by a clump of bushes
or a growth of trees, or barn, etc. suf- !
hcient for his purpose and such a person /
will often consider the privv unneces-
sary Nlodesty and privacy are laudable |
objects but should not be compared in /
to the saving of human life |
by the prevention of disease following
the reasoning above. A privv should
consist of two parts. First, a room to Sc
cure privacy; second, a receptacle for the
exCreta
We must protect the excreta in such a
way as to prevent spreading Of the germs
We must construct the entire clubhouse
in such way that persons will seek to
use II and not to avoid it. In other
words we must not only insure privacy
)ut 1t must not be a disagreeable place
n which to be private The strong con-
iideration with most persons will be the
,Cst OF construction and maintenance.
md shall endeayor to show that the ..
,ost of both IS within easy reach of even
he poorest of us In discussing with
on i'll the last issue, l stated that privies
# sanitary class may be termed dry
II wet. " c
.
arth, road dust, wood ashes, or lime, I
ver the eXcreta every time the privv is Z
sed The dry system if properly man I
ged, presents the following advantages: d
1t decreases the offensiness of the
rivy contents. 2. 1t is cheaper. 5. It a
ecreases the chance of spread of infec- 4
on by insects. 1t is easy to manage. l
The disadvantages are / 1t is verv ,
iticult to make the dry privy hy-proof Q.
ence tiies have more or less excess to &
le eXcreta on which they feed and Law 81
ggS Z. Its efficiency depends on care ~
Il and faithful cooperation of all per y
ms who use the privy, and experience Pss
lows that such can not be relied upon. al
II increases the amount of material to Al
removed, hence it increases the labor VI
IA frequency OF necessary cleaning 4 w
lperlence proves that it is exceptional y
at the eNcrement is properly covered.
nee, the system IS not so efficient as is u. -.
operly supposed. /. Neither dry earth ~ ~!
+ lime III practical usage can be relied o.,
on to destroy all germs that NAV be S
the eXCreta, hence their use is likely -
give rise to a false feeling of security G
the public mind 8. If the deiecta at ~
time OF burial contain fly grubs, the
we can crawl through to the surface. ~
ere they can complete their develop 'e'
mt and spread infection from the bur
night soil
'rivies of the dry system according to
entlhc rating should not be marked
re than Is points OH a scale of 100.
Il the wet system some fluid is used
the receptacle either to % disiufect ~
eNcreta, or (2) to act as an insect MI
ellant, or (5) to increase the destruc- IN
OF the disease germs by natural fer
ltatiOn
IS advantages are: ~ 1t decreases
ottensiveness of the privv contents.
It IS cheap. (3) 1t greatly decreases
chances of the spread of dv infection
ause they cannot breed in the excreta.
ce rigid fly screening is not so neces- 4
2; ~ 1t kills or renders harmless a
siderable percentage of certain infee-
5 contained in the excreta. (5) Its
lency does not depend on the COOP
ION and intelligence of all using it
ne advantages of it are, when applied u
1t is more difficult to
clean than the dry system because Je
le danger of soiling the floor when
emPued. ~ Unless the receptacle
ry deep, there is more or less splash
l5) The labor and frequency of
ing and about the same as in the co-.
of the dry system carp
may be that in some instances pre-
ice should be made for the use of