The proper disposition of fecal matter or night soil in the country has
been one of the most pressing and vexatious problems of modern sanitation.
Many plans have been suggested, much apparatus has been invented to meet
the difficulty, but opinions not only differ but change from year to year
and have led to different practices in different countries. Moreover,
different climatic conditions and the divergent tendencies of rural
populations in the various sections of our own country make it impossible
to apply the same scheme to the whole country. Different degrees of
prosperity and wealth, even in the same locality, will bring into use
widely different schemes to accomplish the same end. There are in use
several systems--
_The privy._--The old-fashioned privy, at present still quite a common
thing even in cities, is, perhaps, the most favored method of disposing of
fecal matter in the country. A pit is dug and a small building set over
it. The excrement deposited in it slowly fills it up. The fluids and the
solids dissolved by them penetrate the subsoil and diffuse themselves in
the ground. Rarely is such a pit cleaned out. Another is dug and the old
one covered up. In this way the ground becomes overloaded with refuse
organic matter. It is even stated on good authority that such collections
of fecal matter have been found under the dwelling; also, that the privy
vaults have been dug until the current of ground-water was reached which
was to facilitate the removal of the excrement. It is difficult to
conceive a more pernicious custom, or one more certain to pollute the
drinking water. The privy vault is the most rudimentary way of getting rid
of night soil, and its dangerous features are too plain to be referred to.
_The cesspool._--Next comes the cesspool, which is usually connected with
a water-closet, and may also receive the slops from the kitchen.
These are constructed in two ways, either as water-tight receptacles or as
simple pervious pits differing in no way from the privy vault excepting,
perhaps, in their more dangerous tendencies. All sanitary authorities
agree in condemning the leaky cesspool as a most shiftless and dangerous
method of getting rid of sewage. In most countries they are prohibited
by law in populous communities. In exceptional cases, leaky cesspools
may do no harm, as in an isolated house in the country whose cesspool is
built at a considerable distance both from the house and the well. The
safe distance from any well it would be difficult to state, because that
would depend on the character of the subsoil and the general slope of the
land. In any case, the cesspool should be on lower ground than the well,
as the current of the ground water feeding the latter, usually but not
always, conforms to the slope of the surface. A fair estimate of the least
allowable distance between well and cesspool would be 100 feet. Soluble
salts from sewage might still find their way into the well water, but it
is quite improbable that disease germs could penetrate the soil for such a
distance except where fissures and cracks may be present.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Portable earth closet. A, the pail to receive the
excrement; B, the urine-separating receptacle hanging on the open door; C,
mouth of the hopper conveying the dry-earth or ashes from reservoir D upon
the night soil in A.]
In villages, leaky cesspools are still of frequent occurrence. If the
drinking water is taken from wells, such cesspools are a constant menace,
and all that is needed in many such towns is a spark in the shape of some
disease germ to kindle an epidemic. It is true that years may pass by
without the occurrence of more than the usual amount of illness, but even
then we have good reason to suppose that in many villages using cesspools
the average amount of sickness and mortality is far too high, not to
mention the occasional epidemics of typhoid-fever. We may sum up the
matter of leaky cesspools by the statement that they may do no harm near
isolated houses on farms, provided they are sufficiently far away from the
source of water-supply. In small towns cesspools should be prohibited, or
only very thoroughly constructed water-tight ones permitted, according to
circumstances. The same holds true for the well-known privies.
_The dry-earth closet._--The dry conservancy system is a much better
method of disposal of excrement, and is extensively in use to-day even
in certain large cities on the Continent of Europe where sewers have not
yet been introduced. This consists in the main of the frequent removal of
excreta in the country by some man servant or member of the family; in
villages and towns according to some cooperative plan. This system has
taken various directions, according to circumstances. Thus there are what
is called the pail system, which consists in the daily or less frequent
removal of a pail receiving the excreta; and the earth closet invented by
the Rev. Henry Moule, of England, the chief feature of which consists in
the covering of the excreta with some absorbent substance like dry-earth
or ashes. In some places the excreta are received into a well-built brick
or stone receptacle and covered with earth, from which they may be removed
from time to time. Of these systems the dry-earth closet has received the
greatest amount of attention and discussion. It consists, essentially, of
a pail to receive night soil, which is covered either automatically or
with a scoop with dry-earth (fig. 2). The earth absorbs the fluids and the
odors and keeps the closet inoffensive.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.--The old form of earth closet with frame and pail
removed to show the mechanism. The handle on the left when raised throws
into the pail a certain quantity of dry-earth or ashes from the reservoir
or hopper in the rear.]
The earth to be used should be a rather fine loam, sifted to remove
coarse particles, thoroughly dried by spreading out in the sun or under a
shed, and then stored in barrels. The drier the earth the better it is.
The finer the particles of earth the greater the capacity for absorbing
fluids. For this reason sand is not satisfactory. Goal or wood ashes are
quite satisfactory, as they are, after proper sifting, of the requisite
fineness and are thoroughly dry. The mixture of earth or ashes and night
soil should be removed at certain times, depending on the location of
the closet, the season of the year, and other conditions. The more
frequent the removal the better. The mixture of soil and excrement is so
unobjectionable that it has been used over a number of times after being
dried each time. This can not be recommended, however, as it is generally
accepted nowadays that disease germs may remain alive in such a mixture
for some time.
In place of the movable earth closets, a water-tight, concreted area
may be built in an annex to the house, which is to receive the night
soil from a closet on the floor above with the necessary quantity of dry
soil (see fig. 4). Poore, from whose book the illustration is taken,
recommends, in addition, the construction of the floor of such a pit with
an inclination sufficient to carry away the urine into some gutter outside
filled with absorbent soil. The area should have suitable openings for
inspection and for removal of contents, as well as for ventilation. Waring
recommended a similar system many years ago. The closet described by him
discharges into a water-tight vault in the cellar, which requires emptying
only occasionally. The contents remain inoffensive, provided sufficient
thoroughly dry earth is used.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Earth closet and dry catch (from Poore's
"Rural hygiene," scale, 1/2 inch equals 1 foot). To prevent drafts the
earth closet is closed below by a hinged flap which opens and shuts
automatically by means of a counterpoise. The catch below is provided with
air bricks and an air shaft leading to a ventilator.]
In cold climates, indoor closets are especially desirable to obviate
the exposure which can not be avoided when closets are out of doors.
For invalids there should be a carefully managed earth closet kept in
a well-aired room set apart for this purpose. In warm climates, earth
closets should be frequently cleaned. To prevent the attraction of flies
and insects and the too rapid decomposition of the contents a little
unslacked lime added with the earth to the excrement will be of value.
The discharges of persons suffering from typhoid-fever and bowel troubles
should be mixed with thin slacked lime[1] (milk of lime). One-half to
one hour after the mixing, such discharges may be put upon the soil,
always at some distance from a well or spring, a stream, or a field under
cultivation.
[1] Lime, to be used for disinfection, should not be air-slacked, but kept
in tightly covered receptacles to prevent this from taking place.
In Europe, the use of earth and ashes has been superseded by peat dust.
The upper layer of peat is dried in the air and ground in a suitable
machine. The coarser particles are removed by sifting and used for bedding
in stables. The fine portion, which has a very high absorbing power for
fluids and is also capable of preventing odors, is used in dry closets.
In Germany there are at present about thirty factories engaged in the
preparation of peat moss for the purposes mentioned. Its great advantages
over dry earth should bring it into use in our country. (See fig. 5.)
It does not matter from a sanitary standpoint which one of the dry-earth
systems is adopted, provided the necessary attention be given to it. Every
system which can be recommended is bad if not properly attended to. The
conditions to be observed are:
The night soil should be received in water-tight receptacles.
It should be frequently removed.
It should be utilized in the garden or field by being placed under a thin
layer of soil.
To excreta from the sick, milk of lime or unslacked lime should be added
before disposal in the soil.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Self-acting peat dust closet. The lid is replaced
by a hinged reservoir containing the peat dust. Whenever this is let down
a certain quantity of peat dust is discharged automatically and thrown,
upon the night soil. (From Weyl's Handbuch der Hygiene. II, p. 315.)]
_The water-closet._--There can be no doubt that to-day the water-carriage
system, as it is called, or, in simpler language, the indoor water-closet,
is preferred to all other contrivances. This is true for the open country
as well as for villages and the suburban territories of cities. There
is much to be said in favor of the present-day perfect contrivance for
the rapid removal of excreta and the exposure thereby prevented. But
for all rural inhabitants the cost should be carefully weighed before a
water-carriage system is introduced into a house, for none but the best
will answer, as all others are likely to become nuisances.
The supply of water must be sufficient to flush the water-closet
thoroughly and keep all the pipes clean; the plumbing must conform to
that in vogue in cities, with its traps and ventilating pipes to prevent
the odors of the pipes from escaping into the house; and the disposal of
the large quantity of liquid sewage, the most difficult problem, must
be properly attended to or it is likely to prove more dangerous to the
water-supply than the old dry privy pits.