lo Oct., 1910.] Building Hints for Settlers. 655 



100 gallons. The water can then be conveyed by pipes to any household 

 fitting, such as sink, bath, troughs, filters, &c. The top of the under- 

 _ground tank should be lighted, vented and guarded, and the contents kept 

 pure, for typhoid, cholera or dysentery may result from drinking impure 

 water. Beware of the old style dripstone germ-breeding filters ; there are 

 many up-to-date and safe filters now on the market. 



A few remarks on closed drains for domestic use may not be out of 

 place. They should not be larger than actually necessary for the duty 

 they have to perform; and should have a fall from i in 30 to i in 60. 

 If foul, the interior of a drain often smells more offensively than the 

 matter passing through it ; therefore, see that they are kept clean. Never 

 lay them inside an inhabited building if it is possible to get them outside. 

 Always use Y junctions for connecting branches to main drains. The 

 pipes should be laid perfectly straight from point to point, and an air 

 current should be constantly passing through them; and all joints must be 

 made water-tight. If a septic tank is in use, all waste pipes from baths, 

 sinks, troughs, &c., should enter the drain through a disconnecting trap. 



Disposal of Garbage. — Constantinople relies on its dogs as scavengers ; 

 India depends on kites and crows ; v.'hile the aborigines of Australia 

 simply move their camp to a clean spot. As already mentioned, city 

 authorities in Victoria deal with the disposal of the garbage, and, in many 

 cases, it gives them grave concern. To throw refuse into a running creek 

 is little short of criminal, and to leave it about until the dogs, &c., re- 

 move it is to descend to the level of the Asiatic. A good plan is to have 

 a tightly covered barrel or large oil drum near the house, and into this 

 all refuse may be dumped. This receptacle can be carried away when 

 full ; and the contents trenched into the garden. Household slops should 

 also be treated in the same way, and many experienced gardeners can testify 

 to their manurial value. 



Ventilation. — Every compartment of a building should be separately 

 ventilated. The outlets should be through the outside wall close to the 

 ceiling line, and protected on the outside by a small plain iron cover, 

 and finished on the inside by a plaster print, which will allow a free 

 circulation through the house all the year round. 



Closets. — A clean and well kept earth closet is the best available sub- 

 stitute for the sewered water closet. Below the seat is placed a box hold- 

 ing earth or ashes. A hinged door at the back of the building permits 

 the frequent removal of the box, which is set upon wheels so as to be 

 easilv drawn away to the fields. Ventilation and light are most impor- 

 tant in building a closet ; and the site should be selected .so as to insure 

 a certain amount of privacy. 



Sczvage Disposal by Biological Treatment. — This system has of late 

 years rapidly advanced. Before sewage can be thoroughly purified by this 

 process it must undergo two changes ; first the aerobic bacterial treatment 

 which liquefies the solids, then the further anaerobic bacterial treatment 

 which finallv converts it into harmless elements. The result of their com- 

 bined work is an effluent free from danger. 



This system can be installed in any country home or farm, large or 

 .small, where there is an adequate water supply, and brings the latest sani- 

 tary water closets within reach of those whose lot it is to develop the re- 

 sources of the country. But it is a system amateurs should not attempt 

 to carry out. A competent sanitary engineer or plumber who completely 

 understands this class of work .should be employed, and whatever reason- 

 able expense is undertaken, the result will justify the outlay. 



