254 
and if, as it should be, sani- 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
July, 1912 
it is a safe rule to eschew all 
tary efficiency is the sine qua 
non of plumbing, then only 
first-class material and ex- 
perienced and reputable 
plumbers should be em- 
ployed. Whether in a large 
house or in a small one, the 
employment of cheap mate- 
rial and labor cannot prove 
an economy but will, sooner 
or later, lead to ever recur- 
rent bills for constant. re- 
pairs and readjustment. 
FIXTURES 
In the design of plumbing 
fixtures there has been as. 
SOIL& VENT 
EXTENDING 
ABOVE ROOF. 
adorned fixtures, tiles and 
cornices, rather diverting the 
expenditure at hand to an 
increase of mechanical per- 
fection. 
A word is here in place 
about the bathroom designed 
for the servants’ use. A ser-- 
vice bathroom should be 
considered a necessity, not a 
luxury, even in small houses. 
The opportunity for cleanli- 
ness in this direction is too 
often overlooked by home 
planners. 
Of bathtubs the porcelain 
KEY to ABBREVIATIONS. 
I —— INP 
BW_— BRANCH WASTE 
V.— BRANCH VENT 
tonishing improvement in re- 
cent years. The essential 
points of perfect ones may 
be stated as an unabsorbent 
surface, smooth and easily 
MAIN SOIL— 
MAIN VENT. 
i HOT WATER 
COLD WATER: 
eras 
ones are most elegant and 
they are also most expensive. 
They are often designed to 
be built into the floors and 
walls with a tile finishing 
Wamean WATER LEADER, 
cleaned, and an absence of 
joints and square corners 
where dirt will stick. All 
against them in a most com- 
pact and cleanly manner, but 
are also set free or raised on 
these features are embodied 
in the modern fixtures of 
PIRES PROM WATE: 
BACK IN FuRNAcE |) UCNAC] METER —H 
WATER. | WATER. SUPPLY 
legs. Porcelain tubs absorb 
considerable heat and keep 
PUBLIC 
UW SEWER, 
glazed pottery and cast iron 
which are cast in one piece 
with rounded corners and 
edges, and with smooth im- 
pervious surfaces in white 
IN A DWELLING. 
Govse DRAIN TRAP WITH 
Z G 
DIAGRAM. TO ILLUSTRATE THE MAIN 
FEATURES or WATER. fUPPLY & DRAINAGE 
mE 
Gon SEWERS 
down the temperature of the — 
water until they are first 
warmed—a trifle annoying 
on a frosty morning. Enam- 
eled iron tubs are cheaper 
LEAN OUTSY 
and ivory tints scarcely sur- 
passed in appearance and sanitary perfection. Common 
observation has not revealed to many people that all white 
glazed vessels are not made of the same material. Some 
are made of pottery with a thick shell and are known to 
the trade as ‘Porcelain,’ while others are made of cast 
iron and are technically termed ‘‘Enameled.” Rolled rims 
on iron vessels increase their likeness to pottery which 
they so closely resemble that people often buy them in the 
belief that they are getting the other material. Pottery 
fixtures are generally more expensive, are more distinguished 
in appearance and for some purposes are best, but economy, 
added to the virtue of the material, often makes enameled 
iron a more suitable choice. Fixtures are made of other 
materials, some of which will be mentioned later. 
Beginning a review of fixtures with those of the bath- 
room we shall find, in the typical instance, that this room 
contains a tub, a lavatory and a water-closet, but greater 
luxury may add a shower bath or such implements as a 
sitz bath, a foot bath or a bidette. A well-appointed bath- 
room is a great comfort and ministers to the 
body as truly as does a good library to the 
mind, even though the average man’s bath 
cannot be large or sumptuous, let the plumb- 
ing fixtures of the bathroom be good and 
sanitarily correct. A bathroom may be a 
legitimate object for decoration of the high- 
est order, as in the example of the famous 
one at Rambouillet, France, and as sug- 
gested -in the fragmentary visions that 
Singer has reconstructed of Roman and 
Oriental splendor. A bathroom containing 
nothing not prescribed by utility will stand 
a much better chance of conforming not 
only to the standards of good taste, but even 
to the laws of art, than one attempting to 
follow lines of decoration not in keeping 
with its intention. ‘Therefore, in general, 
Porcelain wash basin 
and are more prominent in 
average houses, and they are excellent fixtures. They are 
also designed to set in the walls and floors, but usually 
stand free on legs. ‘Their range in length is considerable, 
according to space, but a convenient dimension is five feet. 
Companion of the tub is the lavatory. When of porce- 
lain it is often supported on a porcelain pedestal, or it may 
be keyed to the wall and have the additional support of 
one or two legs. When of enameled iron it is more often 
made with a raised integral back and hung on the walls 
with perhaps the reinforcement of brackets. Bowls may be 
circular, rectangular or oval, but there seems to be a pre- 
dilection for the latter shape. A marble slab to which a 
porcelain bowl was screwed was once a common form of 
lavatory, but it has corners and joints to loosen and become 
dirty and marble stains are often hard to remove, so it is 
now largely superseded by the one-piece glazed fixture. 
The water-closet is the most important fixture from the 
standpoint of sanitation and should be selected with care. 
Siphon jet-closets are best; also most expensive. Siphon 
wash-down fixtures are commended and are 
most preferable to the variety known as 
‘wash-out closets,” which lack the virtues of 
the superior traps and siphonic flushing ac- 
tion which the former two possess. 
There are numerous good makes of 
siphon jet-closets which vary in detail. Some 
are arranged to make less noise than others 
and some make a point of economy of water 
used in flushing or of details of cleanliness. 
For a perfect understanding of these it is 
necessary to study the sectional drawings 
and descriptions of manufacturers. A cer- 
tain fixture, for instance, has been invented » 
with a bowl and seat lower than the ordi- 
nary closet and with the seat slightly in- 
clined up from the hinge to be a little higher 
in front. Closet seats are of wood, gener- 
