222 The Country House 



action. Each closet should have a separate tank of its own, used only for the 

 individual needs of such fixtures. This is important, as with the single tank one 

 breakdown may hold up several closets. 



To remove local odours, a "local vent" should be attached to every closet 

 above the syphon. This, to be effective, should connect with the kitchen chimney 

 flue or some other medium of heat, which should induce a draught at all times if 

 possible. It should not open directly into such flue but be carried up inside it to 

 the top in a 2-inch iron pipe. If such a connection cannot be made, a special 

 heat should be provided to induce a draught, and never should the local vent 

 rely on natural draught or be connected with the soil ventilating pipe. This is 

 often done, but it is exceedingly risky. 



In some houses a special "slop" closet is provided, so that the chamber 

 work may not interfere with the bathroom. In this is set a slop sink, which is a deep 

 sink very like a laundry tub, having water cocks and waste with no stopper. 



The complete bathroom varies much in cost owing to the style of fittings em- 

 ployed. Such fittings as the tub, closet and lavatory or basin (unset), in a good 

 quality of enamelled iron, may be had for $75. Adding a shower bath to the 

 above, the cost would be about $100. In porcelain the bath, closet and lava- 

 tory might cost about $170. The more elaborate affair will easily spoil the com- 

 mercial value of a thousand-dollar bill. 



If one has a cold-water system in the house and wishes to install a bathroom 

 and hot-water system, he can get an enamelled tub and closet, a porcelain bowl ami 

 marble slab, copper tank, iron sink and two soapstone tubs for laundry for 

 about $300, the whole set in the best manner, simple and complete. 



Having considered the supply system and its fixtures, we will now turn our 

 attention to the disposal of waste. This is effected through iron pipes, the la FLU r 

 of which, called the soil pipe, constitutes the main artery of the sanitation system . 

 Naturally the various fixtures connect with this in various ways, which we 

 shall consider later. 



When one looks at the sanitation drawing for an average house within the 

 limits of our bigger cities, one is struck by its apparent complication, and, 

 when one considers that this is but about half the plumbing problem, it looks 

 more than ever like a plumber's dream of perpetual bliss. But this is not all a 

 dream; it is a reality made compulsory by the building laws of most of our chief 

 cities and even lesser cities. How the plumber must have smiled when this law 

 made the amount of work on the sanitary system nearly double what it was before. 

 Yet this law was intended to remedy an evil with what result we may judge. 



We have already stated that the sanitary outlets were through the soil pipe 

 and its branches, but, having disposed of the wastes in this manner, we are still 

 confronted by the problem of the rising sewer gas, which would find unobstructed 

 outlets through the open waste connections. To obviate this the trap was in- 

 vented. This consists in a certain form of pipe, or attachment, designed to hold a 

 small quantity of water at all times, so that the escape of the aforesaid gaj may be 

 absolutely checked. 



The common form was the "S" trap, which was merely the reverse 

 bending of an ordinary pipe (see Fig. 40). As the water was poured from the 



