Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1947-10-02

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How little he knew, poor fellow.
After a year of Islral bliss, Mr..
and Mrs. X had a big Fourth OF
July all-day picnic. Dozens Of peo-
pie ran in and out of the house
turning faucets and pulling chains
as people will at times. During
the afternoon a quiet warning
word was passed around which
caused the traffic flow to show a
marked decline. Then, rather ear
lier than expected, the guests be-
gan leaving. Some sped toward
home, evidently in a great hurry
to get somewhere.
Next day the plumber found the
stoppage was in the teaching bed
and his final bill, after prodigious
excavations, left vivid memories of
the Fourth of July picnic.
You would hardly expect an in
animate thing like sanitary sys-
tenn to be a creature of habit, but
the KS experiences prove it be-
yond reasonable doubt. During
the succeeding years it happened
regularly, Christmas Eve or
Christmas morning, Labor Day,
Fourth of July and. twice on Fa-
theirs Day. Then Mrs. X would
hand Mr.. x the force pump and
point down the stairs to the base
ment where the plumbers had left
various emergency traps and CAD
gets for his recreation
The climax developed during
recent little rainy spell. When Mr..
x came home the cellar was only
IS inches deep but rising fast =
and it wasn't rose-water.
He posted warning signs at
strategic points around the house,
took long handled shovel and
started digging in the lower pas
ture in the pouring rain.
He uncovered the tile outlet line
from the teaching bed at two
points and pried up two tiles, but
the water rose steadily in the eel
lar. The emergency plumber came
with long flexible cables and swi-
wells and took soundings here and
there. Then in an appropriate
sepulehral voice he announced,
"The troubles in your septic tank.
You better start digging"
Mr.. X found the original house
blue prints in the attic. A small
white line ma ked the spot where
the soil pipe left the house but
there was no indication how far
along that line one might find the
5OO-gallon treasure chest. The ex-
terror work had been on a sub
contract and Mr.. X had forgotten
to mark the spot.
BY phone the plumber recalled
the distance as 200 feet, the con-
tractor 1C0 and the architect 25.
Did you ever take sharp shovel
and start slicing through the beau
tiful thick turf that you have
nursed through sickness and
health for eight years? Mr.. x
says it is quite like an appended
tony without anesthetic.
Do you know how wide the top
OF a hole must be to permit dig
ging it to 10-foot depth? Do you
know the trick of tossing each
shovelful halfway up onto a step,
then climbing up and retossing it
out of the hole? Mr.. X does.
The first excavation was a dud
no tank. The second one, the
same. The third one = Eureka!
Mr.. x uncovered a 2-foot section
of the tank, a flimsy corroded
piece of metal with 80 ragged
holes eaten through the steel.
House service will be interrupted
tank is being installed. But the
X family is going away, out to the
wide open spaces where = well,
just away. They have already
placed a small order at the lumber
yard for tiny emergency housing
unit to be built out behind the gar
den hedge, just in case cement
also corrodes.