Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Problems And Their Peaceful Solution.
lated as recommended above , and be provided besides with an air-tight flap , through which should be introduced every morning a layer of fine sifted earth , occasionally adding a little disinfectant . Into such cesspool on no account suffer any drainage or other water to find its way .
All drains should have a good fall and be securely trapped at both ends . The drains themselves should take the form of a compressed oval , of which the vertical should bear to the horizontal diameter the proportion of three or four to one ; iu this
way the body of flushing water acquires a greater force , whilst the drain itself presents no angles to serve as lodgments for fatty or other solid matter . All water , whether for drinking , cooking , or cleansing purposes should be pure , and to this end
obtained ( if there be no service from waterworks ) from either spring , well , or tank , and not from ditches or ponds . If there be a good spring in the parish , a few subscribers will easily procure a stone trough , which , being fixed at some height above the ground , if the spring be in a bank , or being railed round if it be ou the ground level , will preserve the water from
fouling by dogs or cattle ; but let not these , by the way , be forgotten , for they suffer thirst as do we ourselves : provide , then , a rough trough into which the surplus water may be gathered from the overflow of the spring purposely for the relief of their wants . If a well be the
source of supply , the water should be drawn from it by means of a pump , or , at all events , the well should be kept closed , to hinder pollution by frogs , snails , and the like , as web as to prevent the growth of fungi , weeds , etc . Should the house bo
dependent upon a tank , then let its interior be , if possible , of bard cement , and present no surface of metal or wood . The former will certainly impregnate the water by oxidisation or absorption , whilst the latter will do still more mischief by
decaying , and so contaminating the water . For this reason open water-butts are to be rigorously condemned , as , too , are open cisterns , which speedil y become a breeding ground for infusoria and many forms of organic life , all highly deleterious to health . Lastl y , let all and every such water supply be frequently examined and cleaned , care having been taken at the
outset that pollution from cesspools or drains or their ventilating pipes shall be impossible . On every such occasion of cleansing a lump of quicklime and a piece of charcoal may be dropped in , by the combined effects of which substances any organic matter will be effectually destroyed .
Charcoal sufficiently good for this purpose may be easily made by lightly piling a few sticks of poplar , willow , or wood of a similar nature , and keeping them closel y covered with hot embers until the outsides arc quite charred . But all that is requisite
is not yet done , for although by these means Avater apparently clean may have been obtained , there will still be no guarantee of its purity . There is but one way of attaining this perfection , aud that is by boiling and filtrationwhich remark
, will equally apply to " service " water , toilet us remember that no water whatever , except of course that ivhich has been distilled , can be pure without at least one of these processes ; not even rain water caught fresh from the clouds is free from a certain
taint of impurity . There will be one popular objection inevitably raised to this , and that is its cost . " It is easy enough to boil water , " such au objector will say , " but lww about buying a filter 1 that ia quite beyond our means ! " No greater mistake can be madefor although the
, filters usually purchased are very expensive , a very cheap and yet equally serviceable one can be thus prepared at home . AVe say equally serviceable , but in some respects it is really better than those in general useinasmuch as the water
, cannot stand in it and become stale . Tho vapidity of the filtered water is corrected before use , whilst it is also refrigerated at the same time that it is filtered . The way then , in which a cheap filter and cooler combined can bo constructed is this : Take
two new earthen flower-pots , fitting closely the one . into the other at the rim , the outer one being considerably deeper than the inner ; into the hole of each pot screw tightly a piece of new sponge ; into the space between tho two put a layer of
animal aud vegetable charcoal , having above and below it a layer of clean-washed sand , and again above aud below these , and next to each of the sponges , a layer of well-washed gravel or very small p ieces of broken flower-pot . A cover should be pro-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Social Problems And Their Peaceful Solution.
lated as recommended above , and be provided besides with an air-tight flap , through which should be introduced every morning a layer of fine sifted earth , occasionally adding a little disinfectant . Into such cesspool on no account suffer any drainage or other water to find its way .
All drains should have a good fall and be securely trapped at both ends . The drains themselves should take the form of a compressed oval , of which the vertical should bear to the horizontal diameter the proportion of three or four to one ; iu this
way the body of flushing water acquires a greater force , whilst the drain itself presents no angles to serve as lodgments for fatty or other solid matter . All water , whether for drinking , cooking , or cleansing purposes should be pure , and to this end
obtained ( if there be no service from waterworks ) from either spring , well , or tank , and not from ditches or ponds . If there be a good spring in the parish , a few subscribers will easily procure a stone trough , which , being fixed at some height above the ground , if the spring be in a bank , or being railed round if it be ou the ground level , will preserve the water from
fouling by dogs or cattle ; but let not these , by the way , be forgotten , for they suffer thirst as do we ourselves : provide , then , a rough trough into which the surplus water may be gathered from the overflow of the spring purposely for the relief of their wants . If a well be the
source of supply , the water should be drawn from it by means of a pump , or , at all events , the well should be kept closed , to hinder pollution by frogs , snails , and the like , as web as to prevent the growth of fungi , weeds , etc . Should the house bo
dependent upon a tank , then let its interior be , if possible , of bard cement , and present no surface of metal or wood . The former will certainly impregnate the water by oxidisation or absorption , whilst the latter will do still more mischief by
decaying , and so contaminating the water . For this reason open water-butts are to be rigorously condemned , as , too , are open cisterns , which speedil y become a breeding ground for infusoria and many forms of organic life , all highly deleterious to health . Lastl y , let all and every such water supply be frequently examined and cleaned , care having been taken at the
outset that pollution from cesspools or drains or their ventilating pipes shall be impossible . On every such occasion of cleansing a lump of quicklime and a piece of charcoal may be dropped in , by the combined effects of which substances any organic matter will be effectually destroyed .
Charcoal sufficiently good for this purpose may be easily made by lightly piling a few sticks of poplar , willow , or wood of a similar nature , and keeping them closel y covered with hot embers until the outsides arc quite charred . But all that is requisite
is not yet done , for although by these means Avater apparently clean may have been obtained , there will still be no guarantee of its purity . There is but one way of attaining this perfection , aud that is by boiling and filtrationwhich remark
, will equally apply to " service " water , toilet us remember that no water whatever , except of course that ivhich has been distilled , can be pure without at least one of these processes ; not even rain water caught fresh from the clouds is free from a certain
taint of impurity . There will be one popular objection inevitably raised to this , and that is its cost . " It is easy enough to boil water , " such au objector will say , " but lww about buying a filter 1 that ia quite beyond our means ! " No greater mistake can be madefor although the
, filters usually purchased are very expensive , a very cheap and yet equally serviceable one can be thus prepared at home . AVe say equally serviceable , but in some respects it is really better than those in general useinasmuch as the water
, cannot stand in it and become stale . Tho vapidity of the filtered water is corrected before use , whilst it is also refrigerated at the same time that it is filtered . The way then , in which a cheap filter and cooler combined can bo constructed is this : Take
two new earthen flower-pots , fitting closely the one . into the other at the rim , the outer one being considerably deeper than the inner ; into the hole of each pot screw tightly a piece of new sponge ; into the space between tho two put a layer of
animal aud vegetable charcoal , having above and below it a layer of clean-washed sand , and again above aud below these , and next to each of the sponges , a layer of well-washed gravel or very small p ieces of broken flower-pot . A cover should be pro-