The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-01-09

surely destined [ o taste the
dregs of and suffering
for having drunk its disease-la output. In
vestigations made by the United States depart
ment of agriculture indicate that only small
minority Of farm-water supplies be classed
as unqualifedly safe and desirable. On the aver
age three out Of four farm wells located with
In 70 feet of back door of the house and In
the direction of the barnyard
That convenience and first cost, not safety,
have been the deciding factors in such cases is
made evident by the nearness of barnyards pig
pens, pastures fertilized fields, sink drains priv
~ - I5o6ls, ana alg8s renoered- mssnstary oy
chickens, slops, and other filth Too frequently
the seepage from these and other sources, after
Joining the ground water, moves to wells and
springs. impairng the water supply by impurity,
and may be grossly poisonous.
Sewage Disposal.
Popular indifference to the effective disposal
of sewage has existed SO long and so universally
that only within comparatively recent years has
1t been realized that this waste product Of hu
man life is poisonous and must be kept from the
food and drink of man. From the specific germs
or poison that may be carried in sewage at any
time there may result typhoid fever. tuberculo-
sis, hookworm disease, cholera, dysentery, diar-
rhea, or other ailments, and 1t is not improbable
that certain obscure maladies may be traced event
ually to the poisonous effects of drainage from hu
man waste. The poison is invisible to the naked
eye and 1t may be carried by many agencies. by
devious routes, and be unsuspectingly received
into the human body. Typhoid fever is peculiarly
rural disease, and many instances clearly indi-
cate serious neglect of responsibility with regard
to sanitation by people who live in the country.
Not to dispose of sewage promptly invites null
sance. but not to dispose Of sewage ceanly and
completely invites disease. 1t is not enough that
human filth is taken 50 rs, 100. $50 feet
away from well spring. that 1t Is
taken merely to lower ground. Given loose
open subsoi seamy ledge, long-continued polu-
ton of one plat of ground, the zone of contamina-
ton is likely to extend and readily may reach
quite distant wells, especially at such times rs
well waters lowered by drought heavy
pumping. Whatever the system Of sewage dis
posal, 1t should be entirely and widely sepa
rated from the water supply. and If possible
the surface of the sewage In any leaky privy,
vault or cesspool should be lower than the low
est water in any nearby well. The United
States department of agriculture has prepared
bulletin No. 712 from its 1916 Yearbook enti
tied Sewage Disposal the Farm" which gives
details regarding various types Of outhouses sug-
gestions regarding plumbing cesspools septic
tanks and related subjects This pamphlet will
be mailed free on request
Pure Water the Need.
One of the first and obvious needs Of Ameri-
can farms is pure water supply. From the
standpoint of the housewife, second only in i'm
portance to purity, is the installation of a water
system in the farm house that will labor.
Continued pumping will not improve water in
well If the sources which feed it are permanent
~ At 1ault WellS cannot De lOcateQ IN all cases
to be wholly free from pollution but the great
est safeguards are clean ground and wide sep
arattons as possible from the probable channels
of impure drainage.
Water for domestic should be clean. lus-
trous ocorless, colorless wholesome, soft neither
strongly acid nor alkaline, and its temperature
for general farm purposes should be about so de-
grees. These characteristics, however, never
proof of purity, for glass of water may pos
sess them all and yet contain millions of disease
producing germs.
Ground water is the Ideal supply for the
farm Any farmer who is about to have deep
we'll and who is uncertain of the depth and guam
tty or quality of the water likely to be encoun-
tered should describe fully the location and con-
dition OF his project to national or state geoogf-
cal authorities and ask for advice. The use Of
,be willow. hazel or peach stick for locating