SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART I. 38 



have his bath-room with wash-bowl and water-closet, his wife may have 

 sink conveniences for her work, and a laundry room may be readily pro- 

 vided in the cellar, cool in summer and warm in winter, and containing 

 covenient arrangements for obtaining both hot and cold wator. All of 

 the above may be supplied at a moderate cost. 



I would like to say a few words here of caution regarding the plumb- 

 ing of the farm home. There used to be a mistaken idea prevalent that 

 sanitary fixtures could be placed in any dark out of the way place. 

 The householder seemed to think that if he could only conceal these fix- 

 tures the germs of disease would never find them. More correct ideas 

 now prevail. The plunibing fixtures should be placed in well lighted and 

 well ventilated rooms having' windows opening into the outside air. The 

 fixtures themselves should be exposed to open view in all parts without 

 any spaces enclosed and concealed by woodwork. The pipes should run 

 where they can be readily gotten at. Immediately under each plumbing 

 fixture should be placed a trap to disconnect the house from all com- 

 munication with the sewer or the interior of the pipes. These traps 

 usually consist of a simple depression in the pipe which remains full of 

 water all the while. The fixtures should be of porcelain or enameled 

 iron, that is of non-absorbent materials which can be readily kept clean. 

 The kitchen sink should be supported on brackets and not be considered 

 as a roof for an enclosure in. which old boots and rags can be stored. 



In a house supplied with the modern sanitary conveniences the fiX' 

 tures required are water closet, bath tub, wash bowl, sink, and lauadrj', 

 tubs. The laundry tubs, of course, can be dispensed with, but it is very 

 desirable that a laundry room should be finished up in the basement, 

 with a cement fioor and windows to supply light, and with a properly 

 trapped opening in the floor by means of which the laundry water can 

 be readily gotten rid of. 



We come next to the sewer by which the waste liquids from these 

 plumbing fixtures is to be removed from the house. Here let me say that 

 under no circumstances should any kind of pipe or conduit be used 

 inside the house which is not made of either iron or lead. The use of 

 sewer pipe should be discontinued at a point about six feet outside the 

 outside wall of the house. It is impossible, even with the utmost care 

 and the most free use of cement, to make the joints in the sewer abso- 

 lutely tight. If it is continued under the house there is danger of the 

 escape of sewer gas into the earth and air under the house itself or even 

 of the leakage of sewage out of the sower. . Inside the house all the con- 

 duits of the plumbing system should be both air and water tight. The 

 main pipe, which is called the "soil pipe", should be 4 inches in diameter 

 and should extend in a direct course and of full size above the roof to 

 afford ventilation. 



The sewer outside the house should not be laid close to any cistern 

 or well, for there is danger that some leaky joint might permit the escape 

 of sewage to pollute the water. In case it becomes absolutely necessary 

 to pass near a well or cistern the sewer should be constructed of cast 

 iron pipe with leaded joints made absolutely air and water tight. 

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