In regard to externals, the first consideration should be
the drainage; nothing so nearly affects the health of the
inhabitants of a house as the local drainage and the quality
and quantity of the water supply. In city houses these
matters are usually under the control of the officials, the
individual having no direct power or responsibility, but in
most country neighborhoods each man has to attend per-
sonally to the details of drainage, etc., and consequently it
is every man's duty to inform himself as to the best means
of obtaining efficient bcal drainage and a pure water supply.
Where there is any general system of drainage for a town
or village, all that is necessary is to properly connect each
newly built house with the main drain, and this can be
done by means of a single small pipe, into which the whole
house-drainage, from water-closets, sinks, etc., must pass,
and which must be fitted with traps and properly jointed.
The latest experiments prove that brick sewers are almost
ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
II9
always failures, both on account of the material and the
size; for a sewer should never be of more than sufficient
capacity, because, as we already know, a current of water
spread over a large surface flows with much less force than
when it is confined within a smaller space, and the effect of
this in a sewer, is to permit the deposit of all heavy
substances which may have entered the drain and which lie
there choking the passage, when in a sewer of smaller
capacity they would quickly be carried down by the force of
the flow. A smooth two-inch pipe of some hard, vitreous
material, which cannot absorb sewer filth, will carry off all
the drainage from an ordinary house, is the best possible
sewer, and is comparatively inexpensive. Where there is no
public system and the drainage is purely local, it is best to
raise the foundation of the hou^e a little above the general
level of the ground, by filling in, so that there may be a
natural drainage of all moisture away from the house, while
all the house slops should be disposed of in ways to be
presently described. If pigs or cattle of any kind be kept,
their pens and yards should be as far as possible from the
house,. and should be kept clean by being frequently emptied
of the manure and filth, which should always be utilized at
once upon farm or garden. The water-closet should be, if
possible, an earth closet, as earth is the most effectual and
cheapest disinfectant and deodorizer at present known to
J20 ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
science. A cheap and cleanly out-of-door earth closet can
be made by simply digging a vault in the ground and keep-
ing in the building above it (which is merely an ordinary
privy) a box of thoroughly dry earth and a scoop. Each
person after using the closet should be required to empty
into it a couple of scoopfuls of the dry earth, and as often as
once a month, the contents of the vault should be removed,
and used at once as manure, tor they are almost completely
deodorized, and therefore inoffensive, which makes the
frequent cleaning a comparatively easy matter. Chamber
slops can of course be emptied into the same receptacle, but
it is much better to dispose of them in some other way, as
they largely neutralize the effect of the earth.
Page 53
Presented as published in 1888. 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
In regard to externals, the first consideration should be the drainage; nothing so nearly affects the health of the inhabitants of a house as the local drainage and the quality and quantity of the water supply. In city houses these matters are usually under the control of the officials, the individual having no direct power or responsibility, but in most country neighborhoods each man has to attend personally to the details of drainage, etc., and consequently it is every man's duty to inform himself as to the best means of obtaining efficient local drainage and a pure water supply. Where there is any general system of drainage for a town or village, all that is necessary is to properly connect each newly built house with the main drain, and this can be done by means of a single small pipe, into which the whole house-drainage, from water-closets, sinks, etc., must pass, and which must be fitted with traps and properly jointed. The latest experiments prove that brick sewers are almost
always failures, both on account of the material and the size; for a sewer should never be of more than sufficient capacity, because, as we already know, a current of water spread over a large surface flows with much less force than when it is confined within a smaller space, and the effect of this in a sewer, is to permit the deposit of all heavy substances which may have entered the drain and which lie there choking the passage, when in a sewer of smaller capacity they would quickly be carried down by the force of the flow. A smooth two-inch pipe of some hard, vitreous material, which cannot absorb sewer filth, will carry off all the drainage from an ordinary house, is the best possible sewer, and is comparatively inexpensive. Where there is no public system and the drainage is purely local, it is best to raise the foundation of the house a little above the general level of the ground, by filling in, so that there may be a natural drainage of all moisture away from the house, while all the house slops should be disposed of in ways to be presently described. If pigs or cattle of any kind be kept, their pens and yards should be as far as possible from the house,. and should be kept clean by being frequently emptied of the manure and filth, which should always be utilized at once upon farm or garden. The water-closet should be, if possible, an earth closet, as earth is the most effectual and cheapest disinfectant and deodorizer at present known to
science. A cheap and cleanly out-of-door earth closet can be made by simply digging a vault in the ground and keeping in the building above it (which is merely an ordinary privy) a box of thoroughly dry earth and a scoop. Each person after using the closet should be required to empty into it a couple of scoopfuls of the dry earth, and as often as once a month, the contents of the vault should be removed, and used at once as manure, tor they are almost completely deodorized, and therefore inoffensive, which makes the frequent cleaning a comparatively easy matter. Chamber slops can of course be emptied into the same receptacle, but it is much better to dispose of them in some other way, as they largely neutralize the effect of the earth.