244 



HOME AND FLOWERiS 



enced even with plumbing. There are 

 objections to a cesspool, although in 

 many places it seems the onl}^ alternative. 

 The pipe attached to the kitchen sink 

 through vs^hich the waste water of the 

 kitchen passes, should be as small as the 

 waste can pass through, for the greater 

 the velocity, the less opportunity there is 

 for the accumulation of grease and dirt. 

 Much of the greasy water poured through 

 the kitchen sink should be allowed to cool 

 and have removed from its surface the 

 coating of grease 

 which has collected. 

 This pipe should be 

 connected with a 

 larger vitrified pipe, 

 securely cemented. 

 This drain should 

 discharge itself, if 

 not into a sewer, into 

 a cesspool at such a 

 discharge itself, if 

 house as to prevent 

 any danger from con- 

 taminating the air or 

 the water used. The 

 fixtures and pipes in 

 the house should be 

 exposed to view in- 

 stead of, as in former 



enriched by means of the natural decline. 

 This should not fall near the house. 



The water supply of the household is 

 one admitting of careful study. Persons 

 have ]}een known to feel greatly injured' 

 because the sparkling, crystal water of the 

 old well was condemned. Water is not 

 necessarily pure because it is clear. 

 Germs are not evidenced by their physical 

 forms and they are as frequently found in 

 clear, sparkling water as in the less invit- 

 ing draught. Great care must be exercised 



1 



" T. 



days, being con- 

 cealed. A point may 



be gained in appearances by not ex- 

 posing the pipes, but much is lost in 

 health, since leakage may not be dis- 

 covered and repaired easily, and the walls 

 may become filled with dangerous gases 

 before their presence is discovered. If a 

 cesspool is a necessity in the household 

 plans, have it at least one hundred feet 

 from, the house, and give it proper venti- 

 lation. It should also be cleaned when 

 necessary. It may be possible to have the 

 drain enter a brook or stream which is not 

 depended upon for a water supply, or the 

 sewage may be used as a fertilizer. In 

 this case the sewage enters a tank, passing 

 through a sieve which collects the larger 

 refuse. It then passes to the land, to be 



OLD SENATE HOUSE KITCHEN, KINGSTON, N. Y. 



that the water supply used by the house- 

 hold does not come in contact with sewer 

 pollution ; that it does not receive any con- 

 tribution from impure soil where wash 

 and dish-water are thrown ; that the 

 drainage from barns and outbuildings 

 cannot reach it; that the stream from 

 which it may come has not been fed from 

 any house or barn contamination. The 

 drinking water forms one of the most 

 inviting means by which germs may visit 

 a household. The harmless bacteria which 

 collect in stagnant water may even give 

 rice to serious digestive disorders, while 

 more dangerous ones are the cause in 

 many cases of typhoid fever and cholera. 

 It is quite necessary that the water used' 



