PREVENTIVE MEASURES 
211 
fixed at a sum which will enable the city or town to 
provide the receptacles (tub, pail, etc.), the disinfectant, 
and the service for cleaning. The expense involved 
will vary according to local conditions, such as cost 
of labor and density of population. If the “chain gang” 
can be utilized for cleaning, the expense for labor is 
reduced. 
“The importance of taking the responsibility for the 
care of the privy out of the hands of the family is 
evident when one considers that one careless family 
in ten or in a hundred might be a menace to all. The 
removal of garbage and of ashes is recognized as a 
function of the city or town in all better-organized com¬ 
munities, and the idea is constantly spreading that this 
service should extend to a removal of the night-soil 
also. 
“In correspondence with certain cotton mills, esti¬ 
mates for privy cleaning (once a week) vary from 
about twenty to twenty-five cents per privy per month. 
A privy tax of $3.50 to $5 per privy per year ought 
to give satisfactory service, including receptacle, but 
the exact amount of the tax must be determined by 
experience in each locality. 
“It is probably the exception that an economical pub¬ 
lic privy-cleaning service can be carried out in the open 
country, on account of the distances between the 
houses. To meet the difficulties involved, several sug¬ 
gestions may be considered, according to conditions: 
“A country privy tax can be levied, the county can 
furnish the pail and the disinfectant, and (1) one mem- 
