CAMPS 75 
troubles are one of the more common ailments in camps during 
the warm months, and are often due to poorly cooked or tainted 
food, and polluted water. Such diseases may be guarded against 
by supplying pure drinking water, by burning or burying all 
kitchen and stable refuse,^ by providing tight latrines, so that 
flies cannot infect the food supply, and by making provision for 
adequate ventilation and suitable bathing facilities. 
The essentials of camp sanitation are: 
(1) A pure water supply. This can be provided only when 
the camp buildings are so located with reference to the water 
supply that there is no possibility of contamination from camp 
sewage. When drinking water is taken from streams, care must 
be taken to see that the supply is not contaminated at any point 
on the stream above the camp.^ 
(2) Adequate disposal of garbage, manure, and all forms of 
human excrement. Garbage and manure should be burned, 
buried or treated with some preparation which will keep jflies 
away from it, since they are a common means of spreading disease. 
Incinerators for garbage and manure can be built cheaply and 
are an admirable method of disposal.^ 
Tin cans should be collected daily during warm weather and 
placed in deep earthen pits and covered with earth, or else they 
should be placed in a pile, covered with oil and burned over. 
During the winter months, garbage and tin cans may be stored 
safely at a distance of 200 feet from camp, provided they are 
hauled away or otherwise disposed of before the fly season. 
In warm weather, waste water from the kitchen, wash and 
bunk houses, and baths should be carried in closed trenches to 
1 Kerosene sprinkled on bam manure and garbage will keep away flies, 
but lessens the value of the manure for fertilizing purposes. Borax 0.62 
pounds, or crude calcium borax 0.75 pounds per eight bushels of garbage or 
manure will keep away flies and will not injure the fertilizer value. Two 
ounces of either of the above chemicals are sufficient to keep fhes out of gar- 
bage cans. 
2 A simple test for water purity is as follows: To one glass of water add 
one-fifth grain of permanganate of potash. This will turn the water a wine 
color. If organic matter is present the water will turn a muddy brown color. 
It should not be used for drinking purposes unless, on chemical analysis, 
the water is pronounced potable. 
' Specifications for industrial camp garbage incinerators maj- be found in 
Advisory Pamphlet on Camp Sanitation and Housing, Commission of Im- 
migration and Housing of California, San Franci.sco, 1914. 
