Vol. LXIV. No. 2883. NEW YORK, APRIL 29, 1905. weekly, ji.oopek year. 
THREE HOMEMADE BATHROOMS. 
WINNERS IN OUR BECENT COMPETITION. 
Yankee Ingenuity in Connecticut. 
Having purchased an old farmhouse, the bathroom 
problem promptly presented itself. It seemed to be a 
question of an addition or giving up a needed bedroom. 
A happy solution was at last reached by utilizing the 
attic in the ell over the kitchen. All of the work was 
done at odd times by myself, the employment of a 
plumber or carpenter being out of the question. Now, I 
am not a mechanic; never saw plumbers’ tools until this 
effort, therefore my experience and results obtained may 
be helpful to others similarly situated. The water sup¬ 
ply question was met by putting in a force pump and 
a battery of six vinegar barrels. Those barrels were 
connected with piping, and give a storage capacity of 
300 gallons. At present the water is pumped in by 
hand, but I am now making a small hot-air engine to 
do the work. The tanks were shut off from the bath¬ 
room by a partition. The entire room was ceiled with 
southern pine, one-half inch in thickness, three inches 
wide, and beaded, finish natural, varnished, which gives 
a pleasing and wholesome effect. The plumbing proved 
to be a very simple matter, the chief thing being to get 
water-tight joints. Heating is by an ordinary register 
in tlie floor, directly over kitchen stove. The only tools 
which it was necessary to purchase were an Armstrong 
thread cutter, adapted to one-inch pipe and less, a pipe 
vise and wrench and pipe cutter. All tools, pipe, fit¬ 
tings and supplies were purchased in Chicago at from 
50 to 70 per cent less than local quotations. An ordi¬ 
nary 40-gallon hot-water stove tank furnishes hot water 
supply. A paste of red lead mixed in linseed oil was 
used to make all joints tight before screwing up. 
The material required comprised the following: Six 
barrels for tank, $2; bathtub, enameled, $7; force pump, 
$5; 300 feet southern pine, $7.50; studding joists, $1; 
nails, 25 cents; four faucets, $1.80; one set bowl and 
connection, $1.30; 50 feet inch iron pipe, $3; 25 feet 
^ 2 -inch pipe, $1.25; six one-inch unions, 72 cents; 10 
couplings, 20 cents; six nipples, 12 cents; six tees, 18 
cents; four elbows, 12 cents; red lead and oil, 30 cents; 
pipe cutter, 90 cents; thread cutter (Armstrong), $3; 
vise, $1.20; pipe wrench, $1; water-back for stove, $2.50; 
hot water 40-gallon tank, $7.50; total, $47.84. 1 he bath¬ 
room is nine feet square. Sash door is not mentioned, 
as we had one on hand. Thus at an actual cash outlay 
of about $50 we have a modern and attractive bathroom. 
The work of making was in the nature of recreation, 
and educational along mechanical lines. While the tools 
are included in the bill of costs they have since been 
used in extending water system to laundry tubs, barns 
and henhouse, so that from bathroom beginnings a com¬ 
plete water supply, hot and cold, has resulted, and 
when pumping engine is installed a water closet wdl 
be put in. I had no trouble whatever from leaks, suffi¬ 
cient time being taken to do good, substantial work. 
From my experience I am convinced that many farmers 
could enjoy many modern conveniences by the exercise 
of inherent mechanical handiness in spare hours. Had 
I employed plumbers and carpenters my bill would have 
been about $150 instead of the actual $40. Fig. 143 
shows arrangement of tanks and rooms. 
Hartford Co., Conn. w. h. miller. 
! An Inexpensive Plan from New York. 
I have constructed a bathroom different from any I 
have yet become acquainted with, and plan is shown 
in Fig. 144. I built it in the end of an old storeroom 
over the kitchen. As is the eaves trough flowing in 
top of tank; B a galvanized iron tank 4 x G x 3 feet, 
cost $ 5 ; C, overflow from tank; D, bathtub, cost $5; 
E, overflow of tub; F, outlet of bathtub; G, kitchen 
range; H, hot-water tank, cost $5; I, I. I, I, hot-water 
pipe extending to top of bathtub, on the end of which 
is a faucet also extending beneath kitchen ceiling and 
into the bottom of tank, giving circulation in cold 
weather and avoiding freezing. J is cold water pipe, 
with faucet at L over tub. K is hot-water box in 
range; L cold-water faucet; M hot-water faucet; 
N stool under heater; O platform under tank, raising 
tank up so the bottom is above or even with top of 
bathtub. The whole cost was: Range, $33; tank, $5; 
bathtub, $5; heater, 30-gallon, $5; pipe, $2; plumbing, 
$2; total, $52. I had to have a new range, so the cost 
of the outfit was $19 aside from my own work. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. John s. buck. 
How a Pennsylvanian Arranged It. 
We provide water not only for our bathtub, but for 
COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
Fig. 145. 
our closet and for general house use, by a common lift- 
pump erected in the attic, and by its side is a five-barrel 
galvanized iron tank. The water enters the tank on a 
level with its bottom from a T joint on the pump, six 
inches below the base of the pump. The pump extends 
from the attic through the bathroom on the second floor 
and through the kitchen on the first floor into the cel¬ 
lar, a distance of 20 feet. The cylinder, which is brass, 
and 'i/ inches in diameter, is on a level with the kitchen 
floor. At the ceiling of the cellar is a right angle which 
leads out through the cellar wall into the arch of a 
large concrete cistern, the latter being 10 feet "from the 
side of the house. Inside of the arch is another right 
angle leading to the bottom of the cistern. The dis¬ 
tance from the angle in the cellar to the angle in the 
cistern is 18 feet. From this latter angle to the bottom 
of the cistern is 12 feet. 
On the pump, at the ceiling of the bathroom, is a T 
joint with a reducer. To this is attached an inch pioe 
running horizontally the length of the bathroom, 10 feet. 
This pipe has also three T joints, leading downward, one 
to the closet, one to the bathtub, and one to the basin. 
The waste water we run into the closet drain. This 
drain extends to a cesspool located on the opposite side 
of the house, about 20 feet away. The cesspool is six 
feet, cubical ip shape, well constructed and well covered. 
In the kitchen, at the ceiling, the pump has another 
T joint with a reducer, to which is attached an inch'pipe 
that runs horizontally. On this pipe are two T joints 
extending downward, one of which leads to the basin 
and the other to the sink. The pipes are all painted 
with aluminum paint and dp not deface our house in the 
least. Water for bathing is heated on a single burner, 
blue flame oil stove, which also heats the room to a com¬ 
fortable temperature in the coldest weather. It might 
occur to some of your readers that a force pump over 
the cistern with a T joint under the arch leading 
through the house, as already indicated, would be even 
more desirable, but experience has demonstrated to us 
that this latter system is heavy work for either one cr 
two men, and requires much more time, because of the 
extra resistance of the forcing feature of the pump. A 
lift pump can be operated by a boy, and will throw 
double the amount of water thrown by a force pump. 
We bought nearly all of our fixtures from a supply 
house'in Chicago, and the cost was as follows: Tank, 
$5.50; pump. $3.50; 50 feet of galvanized iron pipe at 
125/3 cents, $6.25; 20 feet of J^-inch pipe at six cents, 
$1.20; couplings, faucets, thread cutting, etc., $6; V/>- 
inch brass cylinder, $3.50; bathtub, $9.50; single burner 
oil stove, $1.80; block tin lard can and faucet, $1.50; 
two basins, $9; closet, $10.50; castiron piping to cess¬ 
pool, 30 feet, $7.50; freight, $2.90. The labor we per¬ 
formed ourselves, and we estimate it at $ 20 , which in¬ 
cludes the digging and construction of the cesspool. 
The total cost was $88.65. j. beam wingerd. 
Franklin Co., Pa. 
HOW LIME AND SULPHUR KILLS THE SCALE 
I question the explanation of the action of the lime- 
salt-sulphur wash used for the destruction of the San 
Jose scale that appeared on page 231. You call atten¬ 
tion to the slow and gradual action of the wash. If, 
therefore, hydrogen sulphide is the active agent, its for¬ 
mation must also be slow and gradual, but what ground 
is there for believing that this is the case? Further, 
admitting for the sake of argument the formation of 
hydrogen sulphide, what ground is there for assuming 
that it is an effective insecticide? Last Spring I pro¬ 
cured pamphlets from a large number of the experiment 
stations in the country where work was being carried 
on against the San Jose scale, and was greatly sur¬ 
prised to find absolutely no suggestion therein as to the 
way the wash acts, although this seemed to me the first 
essential for its proper preparation and use. I there¬ 
fore undertook some experiments, and these showed 
exclusively that the chief constituent of the fresh and 
carefully prepared wash is calcium penta-sulphide. It 
is to this compound that the yellow or reddish brown 
color of the mixture is due, and I doubt if there is an 
appreciable amount of any other sulphide present. Cal- 
