Part 10

The earth-closet is a mechanical contrivance attached to the ordinary seat, for measuring out and discharging into the vault or pan below a sufficient quantity of sifted dry earth to entirely cover the solid ordure and to absorb the urine. The earth is discharged by an ordinary chain or wire-pull, similar to that used in the water-closet. The vault or pan beneath the seat is so arranged that the accumulation may be readily removed. In a small family once in two or three weeks is often enough to empty the pan or drawer unless it is small. The entire apparatus need not cover more than two feet square by three feet high.

It is estimated that our present wasteful method of disposing of the night-soil occasions an annual money loss to the country of over $100,000,000. When the economic value of human excreta becomes as well known in the United States as it is in China and Japan we will cease to cast it into the sea.

=A Truthful Picture.=--Any one who has lived among or mingled much with people in the country and in hamlets and villages will recognize the truthfulness of the following picture as presented by George E. Waring, Jr., in “How to Drain a House.” He says:

“Let us see what chance a woman living in the country has to escape the direst evils that ‘delicate health’ has in store for its victims. The privy stands perhaps at the bottom of the garden, fifty yards from the house, approached by a walk bordered by long grass, which is always wet except during the sunny part of the day, overhung by shrubbery and vines, which are often dripping with wet. In winter, snow-drifts block the way, and during rain there is no shelter from any side. The house itself is fearfully cold, if not drifted half-full with snow or flooded with rain.

“A woman who is comfortably housed during stormy weather will, if it is possible, postpone for days together the dreadful necessity for exposure that such conditions imply. If the walk is exposed to a neighboring workshop window, the visit will probably be put off until dark. In either case, no amount of reasoning will convince a woman that it is her duty, for the sake of preventing troubles of which she is yet ignorant, to expose herself to the danger, the discomfort, and the annoyance that regularity under such circumstances implies.

“I pass over now the barbarous foulness and the stifling odor of the privy-vault. It is only as an unavoidable evil that these have been tolerated; but I cannot too strongly urge attention to the point taken above, and insist on the fact that every consideration of humanity, and of the welfare not only of your own families, but of the whole community, demands a speedy reform of this abuse. * * * I make no apology for calling the attention of women themselves to this important matter, believing that they will universally concede that, however much of elegance and comfort may surround them in the appointments of their homes, their mode of life is neither decent, civilized, nor safe, unless they are provided with the conveniences that the water-closet and the earth-closet alone make possible.”

=Woman’s Part in Sanitation.=--Some years ago, Dr. B. W. Richardson, then president of the British Medical Association, said: “I want strongly to enforce that it is the women on whom full sanitary light requires to fall. Health in the home is health everywhere; elsewhere it has no abiding place. I have been brought indeed by experience to the conclusion that the whole future progress of the sanitary movement rests for permanent and executive support on the women of the country. When, as a physician, I enter a house where there is a contagious disease, I am, of course, primarily impressed by the type of the disease, and the age, strength, and condition of the sick person. From the observations made on these points, I form a judgment of the possible course and termination of the disease; and, at one time, I should have thought such observations sufficient. A glance at the appointments and arrangements and management of the house is now necessary to make perfect the judgment. The men of the house come and go; know little of the ins and outs of anything domestic; are guided by what they are told; and are practically of no assistance whatever. The women are conversant with every nook of the dwelling, from basement to roof; and on their knowledge, wisdom, and skill, the physician rests his hopes.”

=Materials of the Dwelling.=--No material is so dry and healthful as wood. Where the dangers of fire preclude the use of this material, as in close and compact cities and towns, and where brick and stone must be employed, such houses may, with very slight additional expense, be rendered comparatively dry. Ordinary bricks absorb a great deal of moisture, and carry dampness from cellar to attic. Soft building stone is nearly as bad. The use of a double course of vitrified brick on a thick layer of the best cement just above the foundation wall, or ground line, will prevent the dampness of the soil from being carried up through the walls. The outside dampness from rains and sleet may also be corrected by the use of thick studding against the walls on the inside to support the plastering. This leaves an inch or two of space between the outer wall and the plastering, through which the air can circulate, and thus preserve the inner walls of the dwelling from dampness.

=Lighting.=--The Italians have a proverb, “When you let the sunshine in you drive the doctor out.” A house should be constructed so as to admit an abundance of light. Architects, and builders, too, often undervalue the health-giving properties of sunshine, or sacrifice them to other considerations. Even the mistress of the house, whose first thought should be the health of herself and that of her children, frequently shuts out the sunshine to save her carpets and furniture. It is better to have the roses on the children’s cheeks than on the carpets.

Trees should not be planted so close to a house as to obstruct the free ingress of light and air. If the walls are damp, the tree’s shade will help to preserve the dampness. Numerous instances are recorded of the deaths of persons clearly traced to the damp walls, moss-covered roofs, and general unhealthfulness arising from the close proximity of dense trees which overhung the dwelling and shut out the sunlight. When the sad truth was at last discovered, and the trees were removed, the houses which, before, were seldom free from sickness and sorrow, became wholesome and cheerful.

=Warming.=--The subjects of warmth and ventilation are so closely related that they will necessarily overlap in their treatment. In point of importance probably no two subjects have a larger bearing upon health. No scheme has yet been devised by which satisfactory means of heating and ventilation are combined with money-saving. For purposes of ventilation, the old-time open hearth was without a rival. But while the faces of our grandparents were roasted, successive chills chased up their backs. In these days of scarcity of fuel, the open hearth is the rich man’s luxury.

Most houses throughout the country are still warmed by stoves. In cities and towns, dwelling houses are generally warmed by the hot-air furnaces, while many of the larger establishments--stores, offices, hotels, banks, apartment houses--are supplied with steam heat.

An important consideration in all cases of hot-air heating is that the air be taken from the outside through a conduit instead of using the air from the cellar, as is too frequently done. In some cities and suburban towns, pure air is brought into the cellar through a conduit where it passes through a box in which it is heated by steam pipes, the steam being brought from a central plant which supplies several hundred houses. The air when heated passes through flues to the several rooms of the dwelling, and is turned on and off by registers in the usual way. This system avoids all dirt of coal and ashes, and all care of fires, and is much to be commended.

=Uniform Temperature.=--In all schemes for the warming of houses, it is important to keep the entire building at a uniform, comfortable temperature. In dwellings, the halls and living rooms should be so evenly warmed that no sensation of chilliness is felt in passing from one room into another. This, in itself, costs much fuel, and when there is added the further cost of heating the fresh air which is necessary to supply the place of that which has become vitiated by use, the truth of the proposition that suitable heating and ventilation are costly becomes apparent.

Those who live in warm, close, ill-ventilated rooms are much more subject to colds from exposure to draughts and cold air than those who dwell in a pure atmosphere of moderate temperature. This being the case, persons should not accustom themselves to a higher temperature than is barely necessary for comfort. Some persons are most comfortable with a room temperature in winter of 68º or 69º Fahrenheit. Others require a temperature of 70º or 71º. Invalids, infants, and old persons, whose vitality is low, require a higher temperature than those in the full vigor of life.

=Ventilation.=--The importance of breathing pure air was fully discussed in a previous chapter. The best methods of securing it will be considered here.

Air, when heated, becomes lighter and rises. Cool air, when it enters a warm room, sinks to the bottom. The cooler and purer air of a room is, therefore, always found nearest the floor. Although the carbonic acid given out by the lungs is heavier than an equal quantity of atmospheric air, yet, by the operation of the law of diffusion, it commingles with the other gases, and is found in greatest quantity near the ceiling. Doors and windows are the means commonly employed for ventilation; transoms and special ventilating flues are used to some extent.

Where large numbers of people are congregated together for several hours at a time, as in churches, theatres, and public halls, proper ventilation becomes a matter of extreme importance. If, in such cases, doors and windows alone are depended upon, the results are never satisfactory. Those nearest the windows are made uncomfortable by the chilling drafts, while the persons in the middle of the room experience very little relief from the stifling atmosphere. In the construction of such buildings suitable provision should be made in floor, side-wall, and ceiling for an ample supply of pure air, without a conscious current or other annoyance to the audience. In school houses, where children are confined for long periods, and where their physical growth and mental activity demand the purest air, neglect of proper means of ventilation on the part of school directors and trustees is little short of criminal.

In the home the subject of ventilation during the day time is a simple matter. The frequent opening of outer doors and of inner doors, with the occasional lowering of the upper sash of the window, will furnish an abundant supply of pure air.

The ventilation of the sleeping room is not always so simple, especially where privacy demands the bolting of the chamber door. The diminished vitality of the individual during sleep requires that there shall be no draft over his bed. If there be but a single window, place the bed so as to escape the draft. Lower the upper sash about two inches. If there be two sleepers in the room lower it three inches. Raise the lower sash an inch or two. This gives three air spaces, top, bottom, and in the middle where the two sashes overlap. A thin board placed on edge in the window ledge, and fitting inside the window strip, will throw the current of air upward, and when the wind is strong, will prevent a draft. A transom over the door stimulates a gentle current of air, and is of great advantage. In some families, where privacy permits, the door is left slightly ajar at night. This, with a slight opening of an outer window, will secure ample ventilation.

=Air Currents.=--A current of two feet per second is scarcely perceptible; of three feet is quite noticeable; of five feet is a positive draft. In introducing fresh air into a room the current should nowhere exceed two feet per second at the point of entrance.

=Individual Requirements of Air.=--Each adult person requires three thousand cubic feet of air per hour. This will demand an opening or place of entrance equal to twenty-four square inches, and an equal amount of space for the foul air to escape. An opening four by six inches will give much more air than one twelve by two inches by reason of the smaller friction upon the sides. Ventilation through a single pipe or aperture is more effective than that through several apertures of equal aggregate area.

=Stairs.=--Many persons, especially women, who, as a rule, do more stair climbing than men, find it very exhausting. Some stairs are easier to mount than others. In the construction of stairways, architects and builders should reduce the labor to the minimum. The wants of a certain invalid necessitated a constant going up and down stairs. The successive nurses were wont to remark, “I never saw, before, such an easy flight of stairs.” The exact measurements of this stairway are: seven and one-eighth inches rise; eleven and one-half inches depth, or space from the front edge to the back part of each step. There is a landing near the middle. A landing gives the climber an opportunity to get a full breath, and greatly reduces the effort of mounting.

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