The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-21
Edited by Dr. Morris Fishbein of the editorial staff of Hygeia and of the Journal of the American Medical As. sociation.
Copyright, 1924, by North American
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 DISPOSAL OF WASTE
 By the very nature of the construc- tion of the living animal body, it is a mechanism which takes in food sub stances that it converts into tissue and energy, and gives forth excretions in the form of body waste. When mankind was widely scattered over the surface of the earth, the disposal of waste was not a serious matter; but as man be- gan to assemble and live in colonies, in houses and in cities, it became neces- sary to provide some method whereby the excretions of one human being would not exert an unfavorable effect on others. It is known, for example, that in, the very lowest orders of living organisms, the accumulation of waste eventually kills the organism, provid- ing it is not transferred to any culture kind provides for proper disposal of waste, or it, too, would be killed by accumulation of waste and, by the dis posal arising therefrom.
 As pointed out by Dr. c. W. Stiles, the earliest Mosaic law provided for the disposal of excreta, with the sug- gestion that trench be dug and the material buried beneath the surface. In this way, surface pollution is avoided, and 1t is known that waste material dis integrates rapidly if disposed of in this manner. It is obvious, of course, that when men collected in cities and in houses, individuals could not be de- pended on to arrange in each instance for proper disposal of waste, so that various methods were devised, which led eventually in our large cities to modern, sanitary plumbing. In the his tory of mankind, the development of modern sewerage disposal will have to be counted among the greatest benefits thus far achieved.
 In country districts where such plumbing is not available, it becomes necessary to provide special construc- tions to accomplish satisfactorily the disposal of excreta. In such construc- tions, certain facts must be borne in mind-in the first place, 1t must be re- membered that ground water may drain from the pit to water supplies, and thus produce generalized infection of all who may use the water supply. In the sec ond place, open construction attracts insects, particularly flies, which breed rapidly and become a menace, not only in themselves but by their carrying of disease. Finally, cleaning and removal of such homemade contrivances is a difficult task, and frequently is car ried out in most unsatisfactory man. ner to the community. In an endeavor to overcome the deficiencies, various types of construction have been ad- vised by investigators of the United States Public Health Service. These include water-tight vaults, special cans which are regularly cleaned by a public scavenger, and septic tanks in which chemicals are used to disintegrate and disinfect sewerage material by ferment action. and to provide for it's gradual disposal into the subsoil. After such action has taken place, it is rendered chemically and bacteriologically inert.
 As Dr. Stiles has pointed out, there was a time when false modesty pre- vented the discussion of such subjects, not only in newspapers, but even by health officers. The result was a loss of millions of dollars, many thousands of cases of illnesses and unnecessary deaths, and a continuance of unesthetic and unsatisfactory nuisances. A sane discussion with the application of mod ern methods has resulted in saving such lives, and in bringing safety to mothers and children who were formerly sacri- ficed to false sense of delicacy.