Theobald Smith

“ The absence of any system of collecting garbage and miscellaneous waste shows itself by the littering of the yards, the alleys, streets, and even stream beds with all kinds of refuse. In some towns the premature introduction of a water-supply system causes the ground to become still more thoroughly saturated with diluted sewage, so that the wells of those households not yet connected with the water-supply are a continual source of danger. In such communities, appreciation of the necessity for a public control of sanitation has not yet made much headway. ”

“ The thousands of city people, who flock every summer to the country and bring to the farming community considerable sums of money, should be properly protected against the dangers of polluted water and infected milk by the adoption of suitable methods of sewage disposal. Too frequently those who left the city for the purpose of gaining strength by breathing pure air, drinking pure water, and eating pure food, only return with the germs of an often fatal disease within them to swell the typhoid statistics of our large cities. ”

“ Though he must procure for himself drinking water, he is, in most cases, able to get a purer water from the ground than the sewage-polluted fluid which is the only water accessible in many cities. While he must get rid of night soil himself rather than have it disposed of by a water-carriage system conveniently located within the house, he may avoid the annoying complications of plumbing, bringing with it the leakages of sewer gas, the plugging up of soil pipes by the roots of trees or by articles carelessly thrown into them. ”

“ It might be claimed that in an isolated homestead the danger is absent because the night soil from the healthy household can not contain the germs of typhoid-fever, and, therefore, the well water can not receive them from leaky cesspools and surface drainage. This would be true if the family lived secluded from other human beings. As the case stands, there is much more communication than is at first thought supposed. There is more or less coming and going of farm hands and other hired help, of tramps, peddlers, etc. The farmer travels more than formerly. ”

“ The simpler method of surface irrigation may be resorted to by laying out at some distance—at least 100 feet—from the house a small sewage farm where the sewage may flow in shallow trenches over the surface and slowly sink into the ground. Such an irrigation field must have the same qualities demanded by subsurface irrigation. Its surface should have sufficient slope and the soil should be porous, not retentive. The liquid sewage, including kitchen and chamber slops, is conducted to this field in a water-tight tile drain and then allowed to flow into shallow trenches. ”

“ Regulations are prescribed and enforced under which the individual household must avoid all conditions which are likely to prove dangerous to the health of the immediate neighborhood and of the entire community. In the country districts, and more particularly in isolated homesteads, the conditions affecting the health of the household are largely in its own hands, and more individual effort is required to maintain healthful surroundings than in cities. The farmer must supply himself with his drinking water and must get rid of the waste of the household as best he can. ”

“ The principles to be kept in the foreground are the disposal of sewage in the superficial layers of the soil in not too great quantity, the disinfection of the stools of the sick with lime before such disposition is made, the digging of wells in places kept permanently in grass and at some distance from barnyards, and, above all, their thorough protection from contamination from the surface and from the soil immediately below the surface. ”

“ Bacteria are more numerous where waste and excrement are most abundant. When night soil and manure are deposited in excavations or so-called cesspools in the earth, from which the fluid matter may enter the ground at some depth below the surface, where the air or certain kinds of bacteria can penetrate only to a slight extent, the substances, which under the influence of the air (oxygen) and of bacteria near the surface, would have decayed, now undergo partial putrefaction with the setting free of disagreeable gases and odors. ”

“ The acts of each family violating the laws of health not only react upon itself but upon the immediate neighborhood, often with disastrous results. When typhoid fever has once gained a foothold in such communities it is apt to develop into an epidemic.
The tendency of our population to concentrate in villages and towns makes the sanitary improvement of such communities a most important and vital condition of national health and prosperity. ”

“ WASTE AND GARBAGE.
The attractiveness of a rural home depends largely upon the promptness with which all kinds of waste material are disposed of. The abundance of space around the house is a great temptation for the members of the household to use it as a place for storing rubbish and useless, worn-out things. Sifted ashes are easily utilized in earth closets and upon walks and roads, to make them compact and firm. ”

“ Other articles of no use, such as broken crockery, bottles, tin cans, etc., can be thrown into depressions and gullies and covered over with earth, or else buried in trenches where subsoil drainage is desirable. The removal of rubbish is a very fruitful theme and might be dealt with at length. Its importance as related to health and disease is a subordinate one, and the reformer must appeal to the love of order, propriety, and beauty in and around the home in order to make an impression. ”

“ It is true that years may pass by without the occurrence of more than the usual amount of illness, but even then we have good reason to suppose that in many villages using cesspools the average amount of sickness and mortality is far too high, not to mention the occasional epidemics of typhoid-fever. We may sum up the matter of leaky cesspools by the statement that they may do no harm near isolated houses on farms, provided they are sufficiently far away from the source of water-supply. ”

“ The well itself must be so constructed that impurities can not get into it from above or from the sides. If water can soak into it after passing through a few feet of soil only, it can not be regarded as secure from pollution. To prevent this, the well may be provided with a water-tight wall built of hard-burned brick and cement down to the water level. The outside surface of this wall should be covered with a thin layer of cement, and clay pounded and puddled in around it. Or, tile may be used to line the well and the joints made water-tight with cement down to the water level. ”

“ Moreover, he has it often within his power to acquire sufficient land around his house to take charge of all sewage and waste and to utilize it as a manure for enriching the soil. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that when the circumstances under which healthful surroundings are procurable are under the immediate control of each individual household they are apt to be perverted through ignorance and neglect. Conditions may then arise which are not only unfavorable to health, but which are « 4 » likely to lead to severe sickness at any time when the opportunity presents itself. ”

“ The mixture of earth or ashes and night soil should be removed at certain times, depending on the location of the closet, the season of the year, and other conditions. The more frequent the removal the better. The mixture of soil and excrement is so unobjectionable that it has been used over a number of times after being dried each time. This can not be recommended, however, as it is generally accepted nowadays that disease germs may remain alive in such a mixture for some time. ”

“ On the other hand, the inhabitant of the country is in many ways better off than the dweller in large cities. Not only has he pure air to draw upon at all times, but he can supply himself often with purer food than is possible in large communities. ”

“ In every community there are public-spirited citizens who could do much good by taking hold of the simplest and safest methods of disposing of sewage and refuse, putting them into practice, and showing the rest of the community just what good can be accomplished and what harm avoided by a little continuous attention to sanitary matters. ”

“ This is true for the open country as well as for villages and the suburban territories of cities. There is much to be said in favor of the present-day perfect contrivance for the rapid removal of excreta and the exposure thereby prevented. But for all rural inhabitants the cost should be carefully weighed before a water-carriage system is introduced into a house, for none but the best will answer, as all others are likely to become nuisances. ”

“ In cold climates, indoor closets are especially desirable to obviate the exposure which can not be avoided when closets are out of doors. For invalids there should be a carefully managed earth closet kept in a well-aired room set apart for this purpose. In warm climates, earth closets should be frequently cleaned. To prevent the attraction of flies and insects and the too rapid decomposition of the contents a little unslacked lime added with the earth to the excrement will be of value. ”

“ To avoid the overloading of the soil with sewage at any one place the main distributing trench should be so arranged that it and the irrigating trenches branching from it may be temporarily blocked at any point to divert the sewage into one or more different trenches every day. ”

“ The removal of kitchen and chamber slops is a matter which also requires proper attention, as this liquid frequently gives rise to unhealthful conditions, annoying alike to sight and smell when carelessly disposed of. ”

“ In this way many may be led to undertake improvements who, with no definite knowledge of the expense involved and with misgivings as to the final success of the undertaking, would otherwise hesitate to make a beginning. ”

“ Such a deep supply must, however, be protected from the superficial supply by a water-tight wall extending to the surface of the deep supply, otherwise the water from the upper layers will simply drain into the well. ”

“ The fine portion, which has a very high absorbing power for fluids and is also capable of preventing odors, is used in dry closets. In Germany there are at present about thirty factories engaged in the preparation of peat moss for the purposes mentioned. Its great advantages over dry earth should bring it into use in our country. ”