DIRTY DIRT VS. CLEAN DIRT
AVOID SWAMPS
SELECTING A SITE
LAYING OUT THE CAMP GROUND
THE LATRINES
GARBAGE
DISH WATER
WASTE BARRELS
WATER SUPPLY
AN INDIAN METHOD
INDIVIDUAL DRINKING CUPBOARD OF HEALTH
MAXIMS
Dirt
Clean camps are most easily kept by not allowing them to become dirty.
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Godliness means a right relation to
things spiritual, cleanliness a right relation to things material. An old
definition says that 'Dirt is merely misplaced matter.' Of all the
vehicles of disease, the most important perhaps is dirt. The word dirt in
its strict sense comes from the Anglo-Saxon 'drit,' or excrement. 'Dirt,'
then, is not earth or clean sand--not clean dirt, but dirty dirt, that is,
matter soiled by some of the excreta of the human or animal body.
Cleanliness must be insisted upon in a boys' Camp--not the cleanliness
that makes a boy squeamish about working with his hands upon some
necessary job, but cleanliness that makes him afraid of sharing his tooth
brush or table utensils or his clothes.
Cleanliness is not the shunning of good, clean dirt, but a recognition of
the fact that to pass anything from one mouth to another is a possible
source of death and destruction." [1] "Death to dirt" should be the
watchword of the camp. The camp should be a model of cleanliness. Every
boy should be taught the value of good sanitation and encouraged to
cooperate in making proper sanitation effective.
[Footnote 1: Dr. Chas. E. A. Winslow--"Camp Conference," p. 58.]
Avoid Swamps
The location chosen for a camp should be away from swamps. Avoid swampy
and low places as you would a plague. Damp places where there are
mosquitoes, should be well drained, and open to an abundance of sunshine.
Mosquitoes breed only in water, but a very little water is sufficient if
it is dirty and stagnant. Two inches of water standing in an old tin can
will breed an innumerable horde. These "diminutive musicians" are not only
a nuisance, but dangerous, as malaria and typhoid spreaders by their
poisonous stings.
The Site
In selecting a camp site bear in mind these things: (1) A sandy sub-soil,
with good drainage. Avoid very sandy soil; sand provides but little hold
for tent pegs, and there is grave risk of damage should there come a gale.
(2) An open campus surrounded by hills or sheltering trees, and facing the
water. (3) Plenty of good drinking water and water for swimming. (4) Base
from which supplies and provisions are to be drawn should be within
convenient distance, not more than four miles away. (5) Camp should be
away from civilization, far enough to be free from visitors and the
temptation to "go to town" on the part of the boys. Nothing demoralizes a
boys' camp so quickly as proximity to a summer resort.
Arrangement
Before opening the camp much thought and care should be given to its
sanitary arrangement. First of all, the dryest section of the camp ground
should be selected for the erection of the sleeping tents. Locate them
where they will have the full benefit of the sunshine. Tents erected under
trees are liable to mildew, for the want of sunshine, and the contents of
the tent will soon get musty. Next in importance to the location of
"quarters" is the location of the kitchen. This should be near the dining
tent, so that the serving of food may be quick, and yet far enough away to
insure that disagreeable odors will not destroy the pleasure of eating. If
it is very near the sleeping tents the campers will be awakened too early
by the chopping of wood and the necessary noises made in preparation of
the morning meal. It should be near water. This is very essential for
cooking and cleaning. In some of the large camps water is carried to the
kitchen in pipes from near-by springs or pumped from wells of pure water.
The dining quarters naturally should be located near the kitchen so that
food may be served warm. Provision should be made for the protection of
the boys from cold, wind, rain, and dampness while eating. The toilet
should be located rather far away from the camp, and not in the direction
from which the prevailing wind comes toward the camp. Make sure that it is
on the line of opposite drainage from the water used by the camp. The
details of laying out a camp, erection of tents, etc., are given in
another chapter.
Latrines
Particular precaution should be exercised in location and care of the
toilets or latrines, even in a one-night camp. Neglect of this will mean
disease. When on a one-night camp, dig a small pit which can be filled in
again after use. If the camp is to be continued for a week or longer, dig
a pit or trench about two or three feet deep and about eighteen inches
wide, plant posts on each side of the trench, and eighteen inches above
the ground level. Nail shaped seating on these posts. The number of seats
will be determined by the size of the camping party. It is desirable to
erect a six-foot canvas screen with an opening around the toilet. Dry
earth should be sprinkled freely in the trench each time it is used. Also
each morning sprinkle plenty of chloride of lime or some good, reliable
disinfectant in the trench. Do not permit the throwing of paper about the
toilet. Have a box in which paper is to be kept. Flies should be excluded
by boxing up the sides of the seats and fastening a hinged lid upon the
seats (see illustration). It is an advantage to admit the direct sunlight
about the middle of the day because of its bactericidal action on disease
germs. In a permanent camp regular wooden closets should be built, with
covered roof for protection from rain and wind. The back of the closet
should be arranged either by a hinged door or some other method so that
the contents may be removed as often as once a week. A wooden box on
rollers placed beneath the seats will facilitate removal. The seats should
be scrubbed with hot water, sulpho-naphthol, or soap, daily. "Springfield
Oval" type of toilet paper prevents unnecessary waste. In one camp the
water from a near-by brook is dammed and thus by gravity made to flow by a
system of modern plumbing through the urinals and flush closets. This is
ideal. Insist upon cleanliness. The cutting of initials and names upon the
seats and woodwork should be considered a disgrace as well as a
misdemeanor.
[Illustration: Pit Toilet; seat, hinged cover, hinged door at back.]
Taboo the taking of books and papers to the toilet to read. It should be
an imperative rule that no other place be used. A little carelessness will
cause disagreeable as well as dangerous results. By way of reiteration:
First, rigid prohibition of the pollution of the surface of the ground by
the strictest rules, diligently enforced. Second, the provision of toilets
or latrines of adequate size with proper precaution to prevent the
dispersal of excreta by wind, flies, or other agencies. The latrines
should be located a distance from camp but not so far as to offer
temptation to pollution of the ground. Third, boys should be educated when
on hikes or tramps in the old Mosaic Rule laid down in Deuteronomy 23:
12-14. [1]
[Transcriber's Footnote 1: "Thou shalt have a place also without the camp,
whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy
weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt
dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee,
and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be
holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee."]
Garbage
Garbage, consisting chiefly of trimmings of meat and vegetables and the
waste from the table, if stored in open buckets soon becomes offensive and
is an ideal breeding place in warm weather for flies "that drink of
cesspools, dine at privy vaults, eat sputum and are likely to be the most
familiar guests at the dinner table, sampling every article of food upon
which they walk, leaving in their tracks disease-producing germs which
have adhered to their sticky feet where they have previously dined."
Declare war upon the "fly who won't wipe his feet" by keeping the garbage
in a covered galvanized-iron pail and dispose of it before decomposition
takes place. Wash and dry the pail after emptying. If the camp is located
near a farm, give the garbage to the farmer. It is the natural food of
swine or poultry. Where this is not possible, the garbage should be buried
every day in the earth and covered with three or four inches of dirt.
Another and better plan, especially in a large camp, is the burning of the
garbage and human excreta in an incinerator, such as the McCall. This is
the method of the United States Army.
Exercise caution in throwing aside tin cans. The vegetable matter
remaining in the cans soon decays and attracts flies. Have a place where
these cans may be buried or burned with other refuse each day. Keep the
ground surrounding the kitchen free from all kinds of garbage or refuse.
Do not throw dirty dish water promiscuously upon the ground. Dig a trench
and put the water in this trench. Sprinkle chloride of lime or a
disinfectant upon it each day. In a permanent camp a waste water well
should be dug and lined with stone. The drain pipe should be laid from the
kitchen to the well. This water soon disappears in the soil and does not
become a nuisance. Make sure that the well is not in line with the water
supply of the camp. A little potash or some washing soda dissolved in the
sink will help to keep the drain clean.
Place barrels in different parts of the camp for refuse and scraps. A coat
of whitewash or white paint will make them conspicuous. In one camp the
following suggestive bit of verse was painted on the waste barrels:
Ravenous Barrel
I am all mouth and vacuum
I never get enough,
So cram me full of fruit peels,
Old papers, trash and stuff.
Epicurean Barrel
O, how sorry I feel for a boy
Who litters clean places with trash,
Who throws away papers and fruit peels
Which form my favorite hash.
Waste Barrels
These barrels should be set upon two strips of wood placed parallel. This
permits the air to pass beneath the barrel and keeps its bottom from
decaying by contact with the ground. The barrels should be emptied daily
and the trash burned.
A dirty, carelessly kept, untidy camp will make discipline and order very
difficult to attain and the influence will soon be noticed in the careless
personal habits of the boys. There is an educational and moral value in
cleanliness which is second only to that of good health.
Water Supply
Dr. Charles E. A. Winslow, the noted biologist, is authority for the
following statement; [Camp Conference, p.61] "The source of danger in
water is always human or animal pollution. Occasionally we find water
which is bad to drink on account of minerals dissolved on its way through
the ground or on account of passage through lead pipes, but the danger is
never from ordinary decomposing vegetable matter. If you have to choose
between a bright, clear stream which may be polluted at some point above,
and a pond full of dead leaves and peaty matter, but which you can inspect
all around and find free from contamination, choose the pond. Even in the
woods it is not easy to find surface waters that are surely protected, and
streams particularly are dangerous sources of water supply. We have now
got rid of the idea that running water purifies itself. It is standing
water which purifies itself, if anything, for in stagnation there is much
more chance for the disease germs to die out. Better than either a pond or
stream, unless you can carry out a rather careful exploration of their
surroundings, is ground water from a well or spring; though that again is
not necessarily safe. If the well is in good sandy soil with no cracks or
fissures, even water that has been polluted may be well purified and made
safe to drink. In a clayey or rocky region, on the other hand,
contaminating material may travel for considerable distance under ground.
Even if your well is protected below, a very important point to look after
is the pollution from the surface. I believe more cases of typhoid fever
from wells are due to surface pollution than to the character of the water
itself. This is a danger which can, of course, be done away with by
protection of the well from surface drainage, by seeing that the surface
wash is not allowed to drain toward it and that it is protected by a tight
covering from the entrance of its own waste water. If good water cannot be
secured in any of these ways, the water must be purified. It has been said
that what we desire in water supply is innocence and not repentance; but
if you cannot get pristine innocence, you can, at least, secure works meet
for repentance and make the water safe, by filtering through either a
Pasteur or a Berkefeld filter--either of those filters will take out
bacteria, while no other filters that I know of will or by various
chemical disinfectants, not any of them very satisfactory--or, best of
all, by boiling, which will surely destroy all disease germs."
Indians had a way of purifying water from a pond or swamp by digging a
hole about one foot across and down about six inches below the water
level, a few feet from the pond. After it had filled with water, they
bailed it out quickly, repeating the bailing process about three times.
After the third bailing the hole would fill with filtered water. Try it.
Drinking Cups
Insist upon the boys bringing to camp a supply of inexpensive paper cups
or collapsible pocket drinking cups. Filthy and dangerous diseases are not
infrequently transmitted by the use of a common drinking cup.
Paper Drinking Cup.
Take a piece of clean paper about 6 inches square and fold it on the
dotted lines, as shown in Figure 1, so as to make a triangle. Do not use
paper having anything printed on it, as there is danger of poison from the
ink. The other folds are made in the dotted lines, as shown in Figure 2.
Each pointed end of the triangle is turned over on one side, as shown in
Figure 3, then the sheets of the remaining points are separated and each
one folded down on its respective side. This practical idea is furnished
by R. H. Lufkin in Popular Mechanics for February, 1911.
Board of Health
Boys should be encouraged to cooperate in keeping the camp clean. A Board
of Health may be organized, to be composed of an equal number of boys and
camp leaders with the camp physician, or director of the camp as chairman.
[Illustration: A Paper Drinking Cup]
The duties of the board will be to inspect daily the toilets, sinks, and
drains, the water supply, the garbage disposal and waste barrels; condemn
everything that is unsanitary, and correct all sanitary disorders. The
board will also arrange for a series of talks upon "Sanitation and
Health," such as:
Sunshine and Health
Johnnie and the Microbes
Dirt and Cleanliness
Fresh Air
Flies and Filth
Health--Its Value and Its Cost.
Have the boys write essays upon these subjects and give credits or points
for original interpretation, accuracy of report of talk given, and
observance and correction of sanitary disorders.
Maxims
Clean up as you go. Sunshine and dryness are great microbe killers. It is
better to keep clean, than to get clean. Dirt, dampness and disease can
often be avoided by decency, dryness and determination. Uncleanness is at
the root of many of the evils which cause suffering and ill health. Fire
is the best disinfectant. Typhoid fever and cholera are carried by dirty
habits, by dirty water and dirty milk.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Camp Sanitation-Review and Herald Pub. Assn., Washington, D. C. 6 cents. A
twelve-page folder of useful hints on what to do and what not to do.
Wastes and Their Disposal--Henry J. Barnes, M.D. Health-Education League,
Boston, Mass., 4 cents. An authoritative booklet written by the Professor
of Hygiene, Tufts Medical School. This League publishes a number of very
valuable and comprehensive booklets on health subjects.
Good Health--Francis Gulick Jewett. Ginn and Co., 40 cents. Gives detail
instruction in matters of health and hygiene. Prepared especially for
younger people.
Health--B. Franklin Richards. Pacific Press Pub. Co., $1.00. Written in
language easily understood and filled with sensible suggestions.
[Illustration: "The Sardines"--Eight Boys in a 12X14 Tent--Camp Becket]