If obliged to use impure water how should it be puri-
fied? Filter through a good, slow filter, not one that
runs a full stream from the spigot. Then boil, cool, and
place in the ice box in covered fruit jars near the ice.
Ice should not be put in drinking water but next it.
How can the flat taste of boiled water be overcome?
Pour back and forth from one jar to another in a clean
place free from dust, or partly fill can, put on cover and
shake thoroughly.
How should the filter be cared for. It must be washed
every day, scrubbing the porcelain tubes with a brush
used for nothing else. They should be baked every few
days, to kill any microbes or germs.
Is well water better than good city water ? Seldom ;
for well water is very liable to contamination, from sur-
Efficiency in Home Making 7
face drainage. Stables, outhouses, or any kind of pollu-
tion, though some distance away may make the well
water unfit for use.
Why is the modern driven well preferable to the old
style dug wells ? No surface water can get into it, which
is very important. If the small driven pipe is not re-
placed by a large iron one it becomes self cleansing, and
the water must be fresh, as there is no space for it to
stand. Such a well, of course, does not need cleaning,
or ventilating.
What precaution must be taken with the old style well
or the driven well if it has a large tank pipe? It must be
covered in such a way at the top that no small animals
can fall into it, that the water cannot trickle back, carry-
ing filth that may have fallen on, or been tracked across
the covering, and it must have a ventilating shaft. It
must be cleaned regularly, and the water analyzed.
Are the old style wells with a rope to be drawn up by
hand objectionable? Very, indeed; the perspiration,
dirt, microbes and germs from the hands are transferred
to the rope, to be washed down from it into the next
bucket of water. A well should be so placed that water
from a cemetery, slaughter house, stables and closets
will not drain towards it.
Are rain water and snow pure? Not that which first
falls, for they have washed down all the dust and germs
in the air. If used for drinking, do not let them run into
the cistern ; but rinse the roof off first with that.
What special care do cisterns need? To be properly
ventilated and cleaned regularly. Do not have an ill-
smelling cistern ; it is insanitary.
HEATING THE HOUSE.
Is it economy to buy a small heater that has to be
forced to heat the house ? No ; a larger one will last
longer and give more satisfactory service.
What advantage has hot water heating over steam ?
The heat is not so dry ; it gives a more even temperature
8 Efficiency in Home Making
to the house, as with steam the water has to reach boil-
ing before the heat comes up, and as soon as it falls
below boiling, it ceases to carry heat above.
Can very large buildings be heated by hot water ? Not
satisfactorily.
Are steam and hot water heat preferable to hot air?
Yes ; there is dust from the hot air furnace in the rooms
above, and gas is liable to enter through the heating
flues. These flues must be kept free of dust, and intake
of fresh air must be from a point where the air is pure,
not under a veranda, or from the cellar or drawn from
any room in the house.
Page 1
Presented as published in 1915. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
If obliged to use impure water how should it be purified? Filter through a good, slow filter, not one that runs a full stream from the spigot. Then boil, cool, and place in the ice box in covered fruit jars near the ice. Ice should not be put in drinking water but next it.
How can the flat taste of boiled water be overcome? Pour back and forth from one jar to another in a clean place free from dust, or partly fill can, put on cover and shake thoroughly.
How should the filter be cared for. It must be washed every day, scrubbing the porcelain tubes with a brush used for nothing else. They should be baked every few days, to kill any microbes or germs.
Is well water better than good city water ? Seldom ; for well water is very liable to contamination, from sur-
Efficiency in Home Making 7
face drainage. Stables, outhouses, or any kind of pollution, though some distance away may make the well water unfit for use.
Why is the modern driven well preferable to the old style dug wells ? No surface water can get into it, which is very important. If the small driven pipe is not replaced by a large iron one it becomes self cleansing, and the water must be fresh, as there is no space for it to stand. Such a well, of course, does not need cleaning, or ventilating.
What precaution must be taken with the old style well or the driven well if it has a large tank pipe? It must be covered in such a way at the top that no small animals can fall into it, that the water cannot trickle back, carrying filth that may have fallen on, or been tracked across the covering, and it must have a ventilating shaft. It must be cleaned regularly, and the water analyzed.
Are the old style wells with a rope to be drawn up by hand objectionable? Very, indeed; the perspiration, dirt, microbes and germs from the hands are transferred to the rope, to be washed down from it into the next bucket of water. A well should be so placed that water from a cemetery, slaughter house, stables and closets will not drain towards it.
Are rain water and snow pure? Not that which first falls, for they have washed down all the dust and germs in the air. If used for drinking, do not let them run into the cistern ; but rinse the roof off first with that.
What special care do cisterns need? To be properly ventilated and cleaned regularly. Do not have an illsmelling cistern ; it is insanitary.
HEATING THE HOUSE.
Is it economy to buy a small heater that has to be forced to heat the house ? No ; a larger one will last longer and give more satisfactory service.
What advantage has hot water heating over steam ? The heat is not so dry ; it gives a more even temperature
8 Efficiency in Home Making
to the house, as with steam the water has to reach boiling before the heat comes up, and as soon as it falls below boiling, it ceases to carry heat above.
Can very large buildings be heated by hot water ? Not satisfactorily.
Are steam and hot water heat preferable to hot air? Yes ; there is dust from the hot air furnace in the rooms above, and gas is liable to enter through the heating flues. These flues must be kept free of dust, and intake of fresh air must be from a point where the air is pure, not under a veranda, or from the cellar or drawn from any room in the house.