94 BULLETIN 414, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The slaked or unslaked lime may be kept in an open box and is to 
be used as directed in conjunction with the chloride of lime solution. 
It is not sufficient by itself, but creates an alkaline medium in which 
the action of the chloride of lime is most effective. It can be pur- 
chased for about 75 cents a barrel. 
3. Provide a watertight steel-coopered barrel with a stout cover. 
This may be mounted for convenience on wheels or on a hand truck. 
Dump all excreta from the cans and pails into this barrel every 
morning and allow it to stand until the following morning in order 
that the disinfectants may have time to reach and destroy the organ- 
isms. During the time that the mass is standing it need not be more 
than 100 feet from the camp. It will be neither offensive to the senses 
nor will it attract flies to any extent. It should, however, be kept 
covered. After 24 hours haul it away from the camp, 100 yards or 
more, pour it into a shallow trench similar to a plough furrow and 
cover with the excavated earth. The barrel then is ready to be 
returned to the camp and used over again in the same way. 
DISPOSAL OP EXCRETA AT PLACE OF WORK. 
With very few exceptions the roads being constructed by convict 
gangs led through sparsely inhabited regions with much vacant land 
on either side of the road. It was the common custom for the men 
to move a few feet from the side of the road and deposit their excreta 
on the surface of the ground. As the construction work progresses 
with fair rapidity, very few deposits of excreta are made in any one 
place, but, on the other hand, a certain amount is scattered over a 
considerable territory, and there is danger that some may reach 
streams or springs which furnish the water supplies for dwellings. 
To prevent this it is a very simple matter to require each man to 
dig a hole in the ground from 6 to 12 inches deep and cover his excreta 
with the earth immediately. This method, which is already in use 
among certain groups of convicts, embodies excellent sanitary prin- 
ciples and is similar to that prescribed by Moses to the children of 
Israel (Deuteronomy XXIII, 12 and 13). 
When prisoners are at work in more thickly populated districts it 
is the custom to provide for their use a small portable privy and 
to dig a shallow pit each time the privy is moved. This method 
is without objection provided the privy is kept a safe distance from 
wells and other water supplies, and each fresh deposit of excreta is 
covered immediately with earth. 
