In milking, put the fingers around the teat close to the bag; then

firmly close the forefingers of each hand alternately, immediately

squeezing with the other fingers. The forefingers prevent the milk

flowing back into the bag, while the others press it out. Sit with the

left knee close to the right hind leg of the cow, the head pressed

against her flank, the left hand always ready to ward off a blow from

her feet, which the gentlest cow may give almost without knowing it,

if her tender teats be cut by long nails, or if a wart be hurt, or her

bag be tender. She must be stripped dry every time she is milked, or

she will dry up; and if she gives much milk, it pays to milk three

times a day, as nearly eight hours apart as possible. Never stop while

milking till done, as this will cause the cow to stop giving milk.

To tether a cow, tie her by one hind leg, making the rope fast above

the fetlock joint, and protecting the limb with a piece of an old

bootleg or similar thing. The knot must be one that will not slip;

regular fetters of iron bound with leather are much better.

A cow should go unmilked two months before calving, and her milk should

not be used by the family till four days after that time.

_Swine_.--The filthy state of hog-pens is allowed on account of

the amount of manure they will make by working over all sorts of

vegetable matter, spoiled hay, weeds, etc., etc. This is unhealthy for

the family near and also for the animal. The hog is, naturally, a

cleanly animal, and if given a chance he will keep himself very neat

and clean. Breeding sows should have the range of a small pasture, and

be regularly fed. They need fresh water constantly, and often suffer

for lack of it when they have liquid swill, which they do not like to

drink. All hogs should have a warm, dry, well-littered pen to lie in,

away from flies and disturbance of any kind. They are fond of charcoal,

and it is worth while frequently to throw a few handfuls where they

can get at it. It has a very beneficial effect on the appetite,

regulates the tone of the stomach and digestive organs, and can not

do any harm. Pigs ought always to be well fed and kept growing fast;

and when being fattened, they should be penned always, the herd being

sorted so that all may have an equal chance. It is well to feed soft

corn in the ear; but hard corn should always be ground and cooked for

pigs.

_Sheep_.--In the winter, sheep need deep, well-littered, dry

sheds, dry yards, and hay, wheat, or oat straw, as much as they will

eat. They should be kept gaining by grain regularly fed to them, and

so distributed that each gets its share. Corn, either whole or ground,

or oil-cake meal, or both, are used for fattening sheep. They will

easily surfeit themselves on any grain except oil-meal, which is very

safe feed for them, and usually economical. Strong sheep will often

drive the weaker ones away, and so get more than their share of food

and make themselves sick. This must be guarded against, and the flock

sorted, keeping the weaker and stronger apart.

Sheep are very useful in clearing land of brush and certain weeds,

which they gnaw down, and kill. To accomplish this, the land must be

overstocked, and it is best not to keep sheep on short pasturage more

than a few weeks at a time; but if they are returned after a few days,

it will serve as good a purpose as if they were to be kept on all the

time. Sheep at pasture must be restrained by good fences, or they will

be a great nuisance. Dog-proof hedge fences of Osage orange are to

be highly recommended, wherever this plant will grow. Mutton sheep

will generally pay better to raise than merinos, but they need more

care.

_Poultry_.--Few objects of labor are more remunerative than poultry,

raised on a moderate scale. _Turkeys_, when young, need great care; some

animal food, dry, warm quarters, and must be kept out of the wet grass,

and kept in when it rains. As soon as fledged, they become very hardy,

and, with free range, will almost take care of themselves. _Geese_ need

water and good grass pasture. _Ducks_ do very well without water to swim

in, if they have all they need to drink. They will lay a great many eggs

if kept shut in a pen until say eight o'clock in the morning. If let out

earlier, they wander away, and will hide their nests, and lay only about

as many eggs as they can cover. It is best to set duck's eggs under

hens, and to keep young ducks shut up in a dry roomy pen for four weeks,

at least. _Fowls_ need light, warm, dry quarters in winter, plenty of

feed, but not too much. They relish animal food, and ought to have some

frequently to make them lay. Pork or beef scrap-cake can be bought for

two to three cents a pound, and is very good for them. Any kind of grain

is good for poultry. Nothing is better than wheat screenings. Early

hatched chickens must be kept in a warm, dry, sunny room, with plenty of

gravel, and the hen should have no more than eight or nine chickens to

brood; though in summer, one hen will take good care of fifteen. Little,

chickens, turkeys, and ducks need frequent feeding, and must have their

water changed often. It is well to grease the body of the hen and the

heads of the chicks with lard, in order to prevent their becoming

lousy.

Hens set about twenty days, and should be well fed and watered. Cold

or damp weather is bad for young fowls, and when they have been chilled,

pepper-corns are a good remedy, in addition to the warmth of an

inclosed dry place.

The most absorbing part of the "Woman's question" of the present time

is the remedy for the varied sufferings of women who are widows or

unmarried, and without means of support. As yet, few are aware how

many sources of lucrative enterprise and industry lie open to woman

in the employments directly connected with the family state. A woman

can invest capital in the dairy and qualify herself to superintend a

dairy farm as well as a man. And if she has no capital of her own, if

well trained for this business, she can find those who have capital

ready to furnish--an investment that well managed will become

profitable. And, too, the raising of poultry, of dogs, and of sheep

are all within the reach of a woman with proper abilities and training

for this business. So that if a woman chooses, she can find employment

both interesting and profitable in studying the care of domestic

animals.

_Bees_.--But one of the most profitable as well as interesting

kinds of business for a woman is the care of bees. In a recent

agricultural report, it is stated that one lady bought four hives for

ten dollars, and in five years she was offered one thousand five hundred

dollars for her stock, and refused it as not enough. In addition to

this increase of her capital, in one of these five years she sold

twenty-two hives and four hundred and twenty pounds of honey. It is

also stated that in five years one man, from six colonies of bees to

start with, cleared eight thousand pounds of honey and one hundred and

fifty-four colonies of bees.

The raising of bees and their management is so curious and as yet

unknown an art in most parts of our country, that any directions or

advice will be omitted in this volume, as requiring too much space,

and largely set forth and illustrated in the second part. When properly

instructed, almost any woman in the city, as easily as in the country,

can manage bees, and make more profit than in any other method demanding

so little time and labor. But in the modes ordinarily practiced, few

can make any great profit in this employment.

It is hoped a time is at hand when every woman will be trained to some

employment by which she can secure to herself an independent home and

means to support a family, in case she does not marry, or is left a

widow, with herself and a family to support.

XXXV.

EARTH-CLOSETS.

In some particulars, the Chinese are in advance of our own nation in

neatness, economy, and healthful domestic arrangements. In China, nota

particle of manure is wasted, and all that with us is sent off in

drains and sewers from water-closets and privies, is collected in a

neat manner and used for manure. This is one reason that the compact

and close packing of inhabitants in their cities is practicable, and

it also accounts for the enormous yields of some of their crops.

The earth-closet is an invention which relieves the most disagreeable

item in domestic labor, and prevents the disagreeable and unhealthful

effluvium which is almost inevitable in all family residences, The

general principle of construction is somewhat like that of a

water-closet, except that in place of water is used dried earth. The

resulting compost is without disagreeable odor, and is the richest

species of manure. The expense of its construction and use is no greater

than that of the common water-closet; indeed, when the outlays for

plumber's work, the almost inevitable troubles and disorders of

water-pipes in a house, and the constant stream of petty repairs

consequent upon careless construction or use of water-works are

considered, the earth-closet is in itself much cheaper, besides being

an accumulator of valuable matter.

To give a clear idea of its principles, mode of fabrication, and use,

we can not do better than to take advantage of the permission given

by Mr. George E. Waring, Jr., of Newport, R. I., author of an admirable

pamphlet on the subject, published in 1868 by "The Tribune Association"

of New-York. Mr. Waring was formerly Agricultural Engineer of the

New-York Central Park, and has given much attention to sanitary and

agricultural engineering, having published several valuable works

bearing in the same general direction. He is now consulting director

of "The Earth-Closet Company," Hartford, Ct., which manufactures the

apparatus and all things appertaining to it--any part which might be

needed to complete a home-built structure. But with generous and no

less judicious freedom, they are endeavoring to extend the knowledge

of this wholesome and economical process of domestic sanitary

engineering as widely as possible, and so allow us to present the

following instructions for those who may desire to construct their own

apparatus.

In the brief introduction to his pamphlet, Mr. Waring says:

"It is sufficiently understood, by all who have given the least thought

to the subject, that the waste of the most vital elements of the soil's

fertility, through our present practice of treating human excrement

as a thing that is to be hurried into the sea, or buried in underground

vaults, or in some other way put out of sight and out of reach, is

full of danger to our future prosperity.

"Our bodies have come out of our fertile fields; our prosperity is

based on the production and the exchange of the earth's fruits; and

all our industry has its foundation in arts and interests connected

with, or dependent on, a successful agriculture.

"Liebig asserts that the greatness of the Roman empire was sapped by

the _Cloaca Maxima_, through which the entire sewage of Rome was

washed into the Tiber. The yearly decrease of productive power in the

older grain regions of the West, and the increasing demand for manures

in the Atlantic States, sufficiently prove that our own country is no

exception to the rule that has established its sway over Europe.

"The large class who will fail to feel the force of the agricultural

reasons in favor of the reform which this pamphlet is written to uphold,

will realize, more clearly than farmers will, the importance of

protecting dwellings against the gravest annoyance, the most fertile

source of disease, and the most certain vehicle of contagion."

Nevertheless, Mr. Waring thinks that the agricultural argument is no

mean or unimportant one, and says:

"The importance of any plan by which the excrement of our bodies may

be returned to our fields is in a measure shown in the following extract

from an article that I furnished for the _American Agricultural Annual_

for 1868.

"The average population of New York City--including its temporary

visitors--is probably not less than 1,000,000. This population consumes

food equivalent to at least 30,000,000 bushels of corn in a year.

Excepting the small proportion that is stored up in the bodies of the

growing young, which is fully offset by that contained in the bodies

of the dead, the constituents of the food are returned to the air by

the lungs and skin, or are voided as excrement. That which goes to the

air was originally taken from the air by vegetation, and will be so

taken again: here is no waste. The excrement contains all that was

furnished by the mineral elements of the soil oil which the food was

produced. This all passes into the sewers, and is washed into the sea.

Its loss to the present generation is complete."

... "30,000,000 bushels of corn contain, among other minerals, nearly

7000 tons of phosphoric acid, and this amount is annually lost in the

wasted night-soil of New-York City. [Footnote: Other mineral

constituents of food--important ones, too--are washed away in even

greater quantities through the same channels; but this element is the

best for illustration, because its effect in manure is the most

striking, even so small a dressing as twenty pounds per acre, producing

a marked effect on all cereal crops. Ammonia, too, which is so important

that it is usual in England to estimate the value of manure in exact

proportion to its supply of this element, is largely yielded by human

excrement.]

"Practically the human excrement of the whole country is nearly all

so disposed of as to be lost to the soil. The present population of

the United States is not far from 35,000,000. On the basis of the above

calculation, their annual food contains 200,000 tons of phosphoric

acid, being the amount contained in about 900,000 tons of bones, which,

at the price of the best flour of bone, (for manure,) would be worth

over $50,000,000. It would be a moderate estimate to say that the other

constituents of food are of at least equal value with the other

constituents of the bone, and to assume $50,000,000 as the money value

of the wasted night-soil of the United States every year.

"In another view, the importance of this waste can not be estimated

in money. Money values apply, rather, to the products of labor and to

the exchange of these products. The waste of fertilizing matter reaches

farther than the destruction or exchange of products: it lessens the

ability to produce.

"If mill-streams were failing year by year, and steam were yearly

losing force, and the ability of men to labor were yearly growing less,

the doom of our prosperity would not be more plainly written, than if

this slow but certain impoverishment of our soil were sure to continue.

.... "But the good time is coming, when (as now in China and Japan)

men must accept the fact that the soil is not a warehouse to be

plundered--only a factory to be worked. Then they will save their raw

material, instead of wasting it, and, aided by nature's wonderful laws,

will weave over and over again the fabric by which we live and prosper.

Men will build up as fast as men destroy; old matters will be reproduced

in new forms, and, as the decaying forests feed the growing wood, so

will all consumed food yield food again."

With the above brief extract, we shall cease using marks of quotation,

as the following information and statements are appropriated bodily,

either directly or with mere modifications for brevity, from the little

pamphlet of Mr. Waring.

The earth-closet is the invention of the Rev. Henry Moule, of Fordington

Vicarage, Dorsetshire, England.

It is based on the power of clay, and the decomposed organic matter

found in the soil, to absorb and retain all offensive odors and all

fertilizing matters; and it consists, essentially, of a mechanical

contrivance (attached to the ordinary seat) for measuring out and

discharging into the vault or pan below a sufficient quantity of sifted

dry earth to entirely cover the solid ordure and to absorb the urine.

The discharge of earth is effected by an ordinary pull-up similar to

that used in the water-closet, or (in the self-acting apparatus) by

the rising of the seat when the weight of the person is removed.

The vault or pan under the seat is so arranged that the accumulation

may be removed at pleasure.

From the moment when the earth is discharged, and the evacuation is

covered, all offensive exhalation entirely ceases. Under certain

circumstances, there may be, at times, a slight odor as of guano mixed

with earth; but this is so trifling and so local, that a commode

arranged on this plan may, without the least annoyance, be kept in use

in any room.

This statement is made as the result of personal experience. Mr. Waring

says:

"I have in constant use in a room in my house an earth-closet commode;

and even when the pan is entirely full, with the accumulation of a

week's use, visitors examining it invariably say, with some surprise,

'You don't mean that this particular one has been used!'"

HOW TO MAKE AN EARTH-CLOSET.

The principle on which the earth-closet is based is as free to all as

is the earth itself, and any person may adopt his own method of applying

it. All that is necessary is to have a supply of coarsely sifted

sun-dried earth with which to cover the bottom of the vessel to be

used, and after use to cover the deposit. A small box of earth, and

a tin scoop are sufficient to prevent the gravest annoyance of the

sickroom. But, of course, for constant use, it is desirable to have

a more convenient apparatus--something which requires less care, and

is less troublesome in many ways.

To this end, the patent invention of Mr. Moule is applicable. This

comprises a tight receptacle under the seat, a reservoir for storing

dry earth, and an apparatus to measure out the requisite quantity, and

throw it upon the deposit.

[Illustration: Fig. 67.]

The arrangement at the mechanism is shown in Fig. 67. A hopper-shaded

reservoir, made of galvanized iron, is supported by a framework at the

back of the seat, which rests on the framework _a_, _a_. Connected with

the handle at the right-hand side, there is an iron lever, which

operates a movable box at the bottom of the reservoir, and causes it to

discharge its contents directly under the seat. When the handle is

dropped, the box returns to its position, and is immediately filled

preparatory to another use.

The hopper-shaped reservoir is supported by two pivots, and has a

slight rocking or vibrating motion imparted to it by each lifting of

the lever. This prevents the earth from becoming clogged, and insures

its regular delivery.

[Illustration: Fig. 68 THE "PULL-UP" APPARATUS.]

The construction is more clearly shown in Fig. 68.

In this figure, A is the vibrating hopper for holding the earth. Its

capacity may be increased to any desired extent by building above it

a straight-sized box of any height. It is not unusual, in fixed privies,

to make this reservoir large enough to hold a supply for several months.

As the earth is dry, there is no occasion for the use of any thing

better than common pine boards in making this addition to the reservoir.

B is one side of the wooden, frame by which the hopper is supported

and it may be made of one inch pine or spruce.

C is a box of lacquered or galvanized iron, without either top or

bottom. It moves on two pivots, one of winch is shown on its exposed

side. In its present position, its upper end opens into the hopper,

and its lower end is dosed by the stationary board over which it stands.

When the handle is pulled up, the lever, which is connected with the

box, jerks it rapidly up, so that its back side closes the opening of

the reservoir, and its bottom opens to the front. In its movement it

discharges its contents of earth forward under the seat. When the

handle is dropped, the box returns to its natural position, and is

charged again.

D is one of the pivots--a corresponding one being on the other side--by

which the hopper is supported, and on which it vibrates.

_a_, _a_, _a_, _a_, _a_, _a_, are the parts of the framework, the

dimensions of which in feet and inches are given.

The only essential part not shown is an earthen-ware pan without a

bottom, similar to the pan of a water-closet, only not so deep and

with a larger opening, which is attached to the under side of the seat,

and which in a measure prevents the rising of dust, and conducts the

urine to the point at which the most earth falls. This is the least

important part of the invention, but it has a certain advantage.

The self-acting apparatus is more complicated, and persons wishing it

would do best to apply directly to the Company.

THE ORDINARY PRIVY.

In the circular published by the Earth-Closet Company, the following

directions are given:

[Illustration: Fig. 69.--Commode, 3 ft. 3 in. high, 1 ft. 11 in. wide,

2 ft. 2 in. deep.]

"An ordinary fixed closet requires the apparatus to be placed at the

back of, and in connection with, the usual seat; the reservoir for

containing the earth being placed above it. Under it there should be

a chamber or vault about four feet by three wide, and of any convenient

depth, with a paved or asphalted bottom, and the sides lined with

cement. Should there be an existing cesspool, it may be altered to the

above dimensions. Into this the deposit and earth fall, and may remain

there three, six, or twelve months, and continue perfectly inodorous

and innoxious, merely requiring to be occasionally leveled by a rake

or hoe. If, however, it should be found impossible or inconvenient to

have a vault underneath, a movable trough, of iron or tarred wood, on

wheels, may be substituted. In this case, it will be advisable to raise

the seat somewhat above the floor, to allow the trough to be of

sufficient size.

"By one form of construction, (the 'pull-up,') the pulling up of a

handle releases a sufficient quantity of the dry earth, which is thrown

into the pit or vault, covering the deposit and completely preventing

all smell. By another, (the 'self-acting,') the same effect is produced

by the action of the seat. The apparatus may be placed in, and adapted

to, almost any existing closet or privy, and so arranged that the

supply and removal of earth may be carried on inside or outside as

desired."

The following is taken from the company's circular:

"In the commode, the apparatus and earth-reservoir are self-contained,

and a movable pail takes the place of the chamber or vault above

described. This must be emptied as often as necessary, and the contents

may be applied to the garden or field, or be allowed to accumulate in

a heap under cover until wanted for use. This accumulation is inodorous,

and rapidly becomes dry. The commode can stand in any convenient place

in or out of doors. For use in bedrooms, hospital wards, infirmaries,

etc., the commode is invaluable. It is entirely free from those faint,

depressing odors common to portable water-closets and night-stools,

and through its admission one of the greatest miseries of human life,

the foul smells of the sick-room, and one of the most frequent means

of communicating infection, may be entirely prevented. It is invariably

found that, if any failure takes place, it arises from the earth _not

being properly dry_. Too much importance can not be attached to

this requirement. The earth-commode will no more act properly without

dry earth, than will a water-closet without water.

"These commodes are made in a variety of patterns, from the cottage

commode to the more expensive ones in mahogany or oak, and vary in

price accordingly. They are made to act either by a handle, as in the

ordinary water-closet, or self-acting on rising from the seat. The

earth-reservoir is calculated to hold enough for about twenty-five

times; and where earth is scarce, or the manure required of

extraordinary strength, the product may be dried as many as seven

times, and without losing any of its deodorizing properties.

"If care be taken to cast one service of earth into the pail when first

placed in the commode, and to have the commonest regard to cleanliness,

not the least offensive smell will be perceptible, though the receptacle

remain unemptied for weeks. Care must also be taken, that no liquid,

but that which they are intended to receive, be thrown into the pails."

The pail used in the commode is made of galvanized iron, and is shaped

very much like an ordinary coal-hod. It has a cover of the same

material, and it may be carried from an upper floor with no more

offensiveness than a hodful of common earth.

Fig. 70 represents a cross-section of the commode, and will enable the

reader more clearly to understand the construction and operation of

the apparatus.

_a_ is the opening in the seat; _b_, the "pan;" _c_, the pail for

receiving the deposit; _d_, the hopper for containing the earth supply;

_e_, the box by which the earth is measured, and by which it is thrown

into the pail when moved to the position _e'_ by the operation of the

"pull-up;" _f_, a door by which the pail is shut in; _g_, the cover of

the seat; _h_, the cover of the hopper; _i_ a platform which prevents

the escape of earth from _e_.

[Illustration: Fig. 70 HOW TO USE THE EARTH-CLOSET.]

Under this head, the circular issued by the original London company

contains the following:

"The first requirement for the proper working of the earth-closet is

earth perfectly dry and sifted. Earth alone is proved to be the best

deodorizer, and far superior to any disinfectants; but where it is

difficult to obtain earth abundantly, sifted ashes, as before stated,

may be mixed with, it in proportion of two of earth to one of ashes.

"As the first requirement is _dry earth sifted_, and as this is

usually thought to be a great difficulty in the way of the adoption

of the dry earth system, the following remarks will at once remove

such an impression.

"The earth-commode and closet, if used by six persons daily, will

require, on an average, about one hundred weight of earth per week.

This may be dried for family use in a drawer made to fit under the

kitchen range, and which may be filled with earth one morning and left

until the next. The drawer should reach to within two inches of the

bottom bar of the grate. A frame with a handle, covered with fine

wire-netting, forming a kind of shovel, should be placed on this drawer;

the finer ashes will fall through, mixing with the earth, whilst the

cinders will remain on the top, to be, from time to time, thrown on

the fire.

"Of course, the most economical method is to provide in the summer-time

a winter store of dry earth, which may be kept in an out-house, shed,

or other convenient place, just as we lay in a winter store of coals.

"THINGS TO BE OBSERVED

"Let one fall of earth be in the pail before using.

"The earth must be dry and sifted.

"Sand must not be used.

"No 'slops' must be thrown down.

"The handle must be pulled up with a jerk, and let fall sharply."

REPEATED USE OF EARTH

Concerning the value and use of the product of the earth-closet, the

following is copied from the London company's circular. (It will be

noticed that reference is made, to _the repeated use of the same

earth._ When the ordure is completely dried and decomposed, it has

not only lost its odor, but it has become, like all decomposed organic

matter, an excellent disinfectant, and the fifth or sixth time that

the same earth is passed through the closet it is fully as effective

in destroying odors as it was when used for the first time, and of

course each use adds to its value as manure, until it becomes as strong

as Peruvian guano, which is now worth seventy-five dollars per ton.

In fact, it may be made so rich that _one hundred pounds will be a

good dressing for an acre of land_.)

"If the closet is over a water-tight cesspool or pit, it will require

emptying at the end of three or six months. The produce, which will

be quite inodorous, should be thrown, together in a heap, sheltered

from wet, and occasionally turned over. At the end of a few weeks, it

will be dry and fit for use.

"If the receptacle be an iron trough or pail, the contents should be

thrown together, re-dried, and used over again, four or five times.

In a few weeks they will be dry and fit for use; the value being

increased by repeated action. The condition of the manure should be

much the same as that of guano, and fit for drilling."

The inventor of the earth-closet, Rev. Mr. Moule, says:

"It was to this point (the power of earth or clay to absorb the products

of the decomposition of manure) but particularly to the _repeated

action_, and consequently the repeated use of the same earth, that

I first directed the attention of the public. I then pointed out:

First. That a very small portion of dry and sifted earth (one and a

half pints) is sufficient by covering the deposit, to prevent

fermentation, (which so soon sets in whenever water is used,) and the

consequent generation and emission of noxious gases. Second. That if

within a few hours, or even a few days, the mass that would be formed

by the repeated layers of deposit, be intimately mixed by a coarse

rake or spade, or by a mixer made for the purpose, then, in five or

ten minutes, neither to the eye or sense of smell is any thing

perceptible but so much earth.... When about three cart-loads of sifted

earth had thus been used for my family, (which averaged fifteen

persons,) and left under a shed, I found that the material first

employed was sufficiently dried to be used again. This process of

alternate mixing and drying was renewed five times, the earth still

retaining its absorbent powers apparently unimpaired. Of the visitors

taken to the spot, none could guess the nature of the compost, though

in some cases the heap which they visited in the afternoon had been

turned over that same morning ...

"It is only in towns, where the delivery, stowage, and removal of earth

is attended with cost and difficulty, that any artificial aid for

drying the compost would be desirable. On premises not cramped for

space, the atmosphere, especially with a glass roof to the shed, will

act sufficiently fast.

"You may by means of it (the earth system) have a privy close to the

house and a closet up-stairs, from neither of which shall proceed any

offensive smell or any noxious gas. A projection from the back of the

cottage, eight feet long and six feet wide, would be amply sufficient

for this purpose. The nearer three or four feet down-stairs, would be

occupied by the privy, in which, by the seat, would be a receptacle

for dry earth. The 'soil' and earth would fall into the further five

or four feet, which would form the covered and closed shed for mixing

and drying. Up-stairs, the arrangement would be much the same, the

deposit being made to fall clear of every wall. Through, this closet

the removal of noxious and offensive matters in time of sickness, and

of slop-buckets, would be immediate and easy; and if the shed below

be kept well supplied with earth, all effluvium would be almost

immediately checked. As to the trouble which this will cause, a very

little experience will convince the cottager that it is less instead

of greater, than the women generally go through at present, while the

value of the manure will afford an inducement to exertion.

. . . . . . . . .

"The truth is, that the machinery is more simple, much less expensive,

and far less liable to injury than that of the water-closet. The

supply of earth to the house is as easy as that of coals. To the closet

it may be supplied more easily than water is supplied by a forcing-pump,

and to the commode it can be conveyed just as coal is carried to the

chamber. After use, it can be removed in either case by the bucket or

box placed under the seat, or from the fixed reservoir, with less

offense than that of the ordinary slop-bucket--indeed, (I speak after

four years' experience,) with as little offense as is found in the

removal of coal-ashes. So that, while servants and others will shrink

from novelty and at first imagine difficulties, yet many, to my

knowledge, would now vastly prefer the daily removal of the bucket or

the soil to either the daily working of a forcing-pump or to being

called upon once a year, or once in three years, to assist in emptying

a vault or cesspool."

To the above complete and convincingly apt arguments and statements

of fact, we do not care to add any thing. All that we desire is to

direct public attention to the admirable qualities of this Earth System,

and to suggest that, at least for those living in the country away

from the many conveniences of city life, great water power, and

mechanical assistance, the use of it will conduce largely to the economy

of families, the health of neighborhoods, and the increasing fertility

and prosperity of the country round about.

XXXVI.

WARMING AND VENTILATION

There is no department of science, as applied to practical matters,

which has so often baffled experimenters as the healthful mode of

warming and ventilating houses. The British nation spent over a million

on the House of Parliament for this end, and failed. Our own government

has spent half a million on the Capitol, with worse failure; and now

it is proposed to spend a million more. The reason is, that the old

open fireplace has been supplanted by less expensive modes of heating,

destructive to health; and science has but just begun experiments to

secure a remedy for the evil.

The open fire warms the person, the walls, the floors and the furniture

by radiation, and these, together with the fire, warm the air by

convection. For the air resting on the heated surfaces is warmed by

convection, rises and gives place to cooler particles, causing a

constant heating of its particles by movement. Thus in a room with an

open fire, the person is warmed in part by radiation from the fire and

the surrounding walls and furniture, and in part by the warm air

surrounding the body.

In regard to the warmth of air, the thermometer is not an exact index

of its temperature. For all bodies are constantly radiating their heat

to cooler adjacent surfaces until all come to the same temperature.

This being so, the thermometer is radiating its heat to walls and

surrounding objects, in addition to what is subtracted by the air that

surrounds it, and thus the air is really several degrees warmer than

the thermometer indicates. A room at 70 degrees by the thermometer is

usually filled with air five or more degrees warmer than this.

Now, the cold air is denser than warm, and therefore contains more

oxygen. Consequently, the cooler the air inspired, the larger the

supply of oxygen and of the vitality and vigor which it imparts. Thus,

the great problem for economy of health is to warm the person as much

as possible by radiated heat, and supply the lungs with cool air. For

when we breathe air at from 16 to 20 degrees, we take double the amount

of oxygen that we do when we inhale it at 80 to 90 degrees, and

consequently can do double the amount of muscle and brain work.

Warming by an open fire is nearest to the natural mode of the Creator,

who heats the earth and its furniture by the great central fire of

heaven, and sends cool breezes for our lungs. But open fires involve

great destruction of fuel and expenditure of money, and in consequence

economic methods have been introduced to the great destruction of

health and life.

Of these methods, the most popular is that by which radiated heat is

banished, and all warmth is gained by introducing heated air. This is

the method employed in our national Capitol, where both warming and

ventilation are attempted by means of _fans_ worked by steam, which

force in the heated air. This is an expensive mode, used only for large

establishments, and its entire failure at our capitol will probably

prevent in future any very extensive use of it.

But the most common mode of warming is by heated air introduced from

a furnace. The chief objection to this is the loss of all radiated

heat, and the consequent necessity of breathing air which is

debilitating both from its heat and also from being usually deprived

of the requisite moisture provided by the Creator in all out-door air.

Another objection is the fact that it is important to health to preserve

an equal circulation of the blood, and the greatest impediment to this

is a mode of heating which keeps the head in warmer air than the feet.

This is especially deleterious in an age and country where active

brains are constantly drawing blood from the extremities to the head.

All furnace-heated rooms have coldest air at the feet, and warmest

around the head. It is also rarely the case that furnace-heated houses

have proper arrangements for carrying off the vitiated air.

There are some recent scientific discoveries that relate to impure air

which may properly be introduced here. It is shown by the microscope

that _fermentation_ is a process which generates extremely minute

plants, that gradually increase till the whole mass is pervaded by

this vegetation. The microscope also has revealed the fact that, in

certain diseases, these microscopic plants are generated in the blood

and other fluids of the body, in a mode similar to the ordinary process

of fermentation.

And, what is very curious, each of these peculiar diseases generates

diverse kinds of plants. Thus in the typhoid fever, the microscope

reveals in the fluids of the patient a plant that resembles in form

some kinds of seaweed. In chills and fever, the microscopic plant has

another form, and in small-pox still another. A work has recently been

published in Europe, in which representations of these various

microscopic plants generated in the fluids of the diseased persons are

exhibited, enlarged several hundred times by the microscope. All

diseases that exhibit these microscopic plants are classed together,

and are called _Zymotic_, from a Greek word signifying _to ferment_.

These zymotic diseases sometimes have a _local_ origin, as in the case

of ague caused by miasma of swamps; and then they are named _endemic_.

In other cases, they are caused by personal contact with the diseased

body or its clothing, as the itch or small-pox; or else by effluvia from

the sick, as in measles. Such are called _contagious_ or _infectious_.

In other cases, diseases result from some unknown cause in the

atmosphere, and affect numbers of people at the same time, as in

influenza or scarlet fever, and these are called _epidemics_.

It is now regarded as probable that most of these diseases are generated

by the microscopic plants which float in an impure or miasmatic

atmosphere, and are taken into the blood by breathing.

Recent scientific investigations in Great Britain and other countries

prove that the _power of resisting_ these diseases depends upon the

purity of the air which has been _habitually_ inspired. The human body

gradually accommodates itself to unhealthful circumstances, so that

people can live a long time in bad air. But the "reserve power" of the

body, that is, the power of resisting disease, is under such

circumstances gradually destroyed, and then an epidemic easily sweeps

away those thus enfeebled. The plague of London, that destroyed

thousands every day, came immediately after a long period of damp,

warm days, when there was no wind to carry off the miasma thus

generated; while the people, by long breathing of bad air, were all

prepared, from having sunk into a low vitality, to fall before the

pestilence.

Multitudes of public documents show that the fatality of epidemics is

always proportioned to the degree in which impure air has previously

been respired. Sickness and death are therefore regulated by the degree

in which air is kept pure, especially in case of diseases in which

medical treatment is most uncertain, as in cholera and malignant fevers.

Investigations made by governmental authority, and by boards of health

in this country and in Great Britain, prove that zymotic diseases

ordinarily result from impure air generated by vegetable or animal

decay, and that in almost all cases they can be prevented by keeping

the air pure. The decayed animal matter sent off from the skin and

lungs in a close, unventilated bedroom is one thing that generates

these zymotic diseases. The decay of animal and vegetable matter in

cellars, sinks, drains, and marshy districts is another cause; and the

decayed vegetable matter thrown up by plowing up of decayed vegetable

matter in the rich soil in new countries is another.

In the investigations made in certain parts of Great Britain, it

appeared that in districts where the air is pure the deaths average

11 in 1000 each year; while in localities most exposed to impure miasma,

the mortality was 45 in every thousand. At this rate, thirty-four

persons in every thousand died from poisoned air, who would have

preserved health and life by well-ventilated homes in a pure atmosphere.

And, out of all who died, the proportion who owed their deaths to foul

air was more than three fourths. Similar facts have been obtained by

boards of health in our own country.

Mr. Leeds gives statistics showing, that in Philadelphia, by improved

modes of ventilation and other sanitary methods, there was a saving

of 3237 lives in two years; and a saving of three fourths of a million

of dollars, which would pay the whole expense of the public schools.

Philadelphia being previously an unusually cleanly and well-ventilated

city, what would be the saving of life, health, and wealth were such

a city as New-York perfectly cleansed and ventilated?

Here it is proper to state again that conflicting opinions are found

in many writers on ventilation, in regard to the position of ventilating

registers to carry off vitiated air. Most writers state that the impure

air is heavier, and falls to the bottom of a room. After consulting

scientific men extensively on this point, the writer finds the true

result to be as follows: Carbonic acid is heavier than common air,

and, unmixed, falls to the floor. But by the principle of _diffusion

of gases_, the air thrown from the lungs, though at first it sinks

a little, is gradually diffused, and in a heated room, in the majority

of cases, it is found more abundantly at the top than at the bottom

of the room, though in certain circumstances it is more at the bottom.

For this reason, registers to carry off impure air should be placed

at both the top and bottom of a room.

In arranging for pure air in dwellings, it is needful to proportion

the air admitted and discharged to the number of persons. As a guide

to this, we have the following calculation: On an average, every adult

vitiates about half a pint of air at each inspiration, and inspires

twenty times a minute. This would amount to one hogshead of air vitiated

every hour by every grown person. To keep the air pure, this amount

should enter and be carried out every hour for each person. If, then,

ten persons assemble in a dining-room, ten hogsheads of air should

enter and ten be discharged each hour. By the same rule, a gathering

of five hundred persons demands the entrance and discharge of five

hundred hogsheads of air every hour, and a thousand persons require

a thousand hogsheads of air every hour.

In calculating the size of registers and conductors, then, we must

have reference to the number of persons who are to abide in a dwelling;

while for rooms or halls intended for large gatherings, a far greater

allowance must be made.

The most successful mode before the public, both for warming and

ventilation, is that of Lewis Leeds, who was employed by government

to ventilate the military hospitals and also the treasury building at

Washington. This method has been adopted in various school-houses, and

also by A. T. Stewart in his hotel for women in New-York City. The

Leeds plan embraces the mode of heating both by radiation and

convection, very much resembling the open fireplace in operation, and

yet securing great economy. It is modeled strictly after the mode

adopted by the Creator in warming and ventilating the earth, the home

of his great earthly family. It aims to have a passage of pure air

through, every room, as the breezes pass over the hills, and to have

a method of warming chiefly by radiation, as the earth is warmed by

the sun. In addition to this, the air is to be provided with moisture,

as it is supplied out-doors by exhalations from the earth, and its

trees and plants.

The mode of accomplishing this is by placing coils of steam, or hot

water pipes, under windows, which warm the parlor walls and furniture,

partly by radiation, and partly by the air warmed on the heated surfaces

of the coils. At the same time, by regulating registers, or by simply

opening the lower part of the window, the pure air, guarded from

immediate entrance into the room, is admitted directly upon the coils,

so that it is partially warmed before it reaches the person: and thus

cold drafts are prevented. Then the vitiated air is drawn off through

registers both at the top and bottom of the room, opening into a heated

exhausting flue, through which the constantly ascending current of

warm air carries it off. These heated coils are often used for warming

houses without any arrangement for carrying off the vitiated air, when,

of course, their peculiar usefulness is gone.

The moisture may be supplied by a broad vessel placed on or close to

the heated coils, giving a large surface for evaporation. When rooms

are warmed chiefly by radiated heat, the air can be borne much cooler

than in rooms warmed by hot-air furnaces, just as a person in the

radiating sun can bear much cooler air than in the shade. A time will

come when walls and floors will be contrived to radiate heat instead

of absorbing it from the occupants of houses, as is generally the case

at the present time, and then all can breathe pure and cool air.

We are now prepared to examine more in detail the modes of warming and

ventilation employed in the dwellings planned for this work.

In doing this, it should be remembered that the aim is not to give

plans of houses to suit the architectural taste or the domestic

convenience of persons who intend to keep several servants, and care

little whether they breathe pure or bad air, nor of persons who do not

wish to educate their children to manual industry or to habits of close

economy.

On the contrary, the aim is, first, to secure a house in which every

room shall be perfectly ventilated both day and night, and that too

without the watchful care and constant attention and intelligence

needful in houses not provided with a proper and successful mode of

ventilation.

The next aim is, to arrange the conveniences of domestic labor so as

to save time, and also to render such work less repulsive than it is

made by common methods, so that children can be trained to love

house-work. And lastly, economy of expense in house-building is sought.

These things should be borne in mind in examining the plans of this

work.

In the Cottage plan, (Chap II. Fig. 1,) the pure air for rooms on the

ground floor is to be introduced by a wooden conductor one foot square,

running under the floor from the front door to the stove-room; with

cross branches to the two large rooms. The pure air passes through

this, protected outside by wire netting, and delivered inside through

registers in each room, as indicated in Fig. 1.

In case open Franklin stoves are used in the large rooms, the pure air

from the conductor should enter behind them, and thus be partially

warmed. The vitiated air is carried off at the bottom of the room

through the open stoves, and also at the top by a register opening

into a conductor to the exhausting warm-air shaft, which, it will be

remembered, is the square chimney, containing the iron pipe which

receives the kitchen stove-pipe. The stove-room receives pure air from

the conductor, and sends off impure air and the smells of cooking by

a register opening directly into the exhausting shaft; while its hot

air and smoke, passing through the iron pipe, heat the air of the

shaft, and produce the exhausting current. The construction of the

exhausting or warm-air shaft is described on page 63.

The large chambers on the second floor (Fig. 12) have pure air conducted

from the stove-room through registers that can be closed if the heat

or smells of cooking are unpleasant. The air in the stove-room will

always be moist from the water of the stove boiler,

The small chambers have pure air admitted from windows sunk at top

half an inch; and the warm, vitiated air is conducted by a register

in the ceiling which opens into a conductor to the exhausting warm-air

shaft at the centre of the house, as shown in Fig. 17.

The basement or cellar is ventilated by an opening into the exhausting

air shaft, to remove impure air, and a small opening over each glazed

door to admit pure air. The doors open out into a "well," or recess,

excavated in the earth before the cellar, for the admission of light

and air, neatly bricked up and whitewashed. The doors are to be made

entirely of strong, thick glass sashes, and this will give light enough

for laundry work; the tubs and ironing-table being placed close to the

glazed door. The floor must be plastered with water-lime, and the walls

and ceiling be whitewashed, which will add reflected light to the room.

There will thus be no need of other windows, and the house need not

be raised above the ground. Several cottages have been built thus, so

that the ground floors and conservatories are nearly on the same level;

and all agree that they are pleasanter than when raised higher.

When a window in any room is sunk at the top, it should have a narrow

shelf in front inclined to the opening, so as to keep out the rain.

In small chambers for one person, an inch opening is sufficient, and

in larger rooms for two persons, a two-inch opening is needed. The

openings into the exhausting air flue should vary from eight inches

to twelve inches square, or more, according to the number of persons

who are to sleep in the room.

The time when ventilation is most difficult is the medium weather in

spring and fall, when the air, though damp, is similar in temperature

outside and in. Then the warm-air flue is indispensable to proper

ventilation. This is especially needed in a room used for school or

church purposes.

Every room used for large numbers should have its air regulated not

only as to its warmth and purity, but also as to its supply of moisture;

and for this purpose will be found very convenient the instrument

called the Hygrodeik, [Footnote: It is manufactured by N. M. Lowe,

Boston, and sold by him: and J. Queen & Co., Philadelphia.] which shows

at once the temperature and the moisture. A work by Dr. Derby on

Anthracite Coal, scientific men say has done much mischief by an

_unproved_ theory that the discomfort of furnace heat is caused by the

passage of carbonic _oxide_ through the iron of the furnace heaters, and

_not_ by want of moisture. God made the air right, and taking out its

moisture _must_ be wrong.

The preceding remarks illustrate the advantages of the cottage plan

in respect to ventilation. The economy of the mode of warming next

demands attention. In the first place, it should be noted that the

chimney being at the centre of the house, no heat is lost by its

radiation through outside walls into open air, as is the case with all

fireplaces and grates that have their backs and flues joined to an

outside wall.

In this plan, all the radiated heat from the stove serves to warm the

walls of adjacent rooms in cold weather; while in the warm season, the

non-conducting summer casings of the stove send all the heat not used

in cooking either into the exhausting warm-air shaft or into the central

cast-iron pipe. In addition to this, the sliding doors of the stove-room

(which should be only six feet high, meeting the partition coming from

the ceiling) can be opened in cool days, and then the heat from the

stove would temper the rooms each side of the kitchen. In hot weather,

they could be kept closed except when the stove is used, and then

opened only for a short time. The Franklin stoves in the large room

would give the radiating warmth and cheerful blaze of an open fire,

while radiating heat also from all their surfaces. In cold weather,

the air of the larger chambers could be tempered by registers admitting

warm air from the stove-room, which would always be sufficiently

moistened by evaporation from the stationary boiler. The conservatories

in winter, protected from frost by double sashes, would contribute

agreeable moisture to the larger rooms. In case the size of a family

required more rooms, another story could be ventilated and warmed by

the same mode, with little additional expense.

We will next notice the economy of time, labor, and expense secured

by this cottage plan. The laundry work being done in the basement, all

the cooking, dish-washing, etc., can be done in the kitchen and

stove-room on the ground floor. But in case a larger kitchen is needed,

the lounges can be put in the front part of the large room, and the

movable screen placed so as to give a work-room adjacent to the

kitchen, and the front side of the same be used for the eating-room.

Where the movable screen is used, the floor should be oiled wood. A

square piece of carpet can be put in the centre of the front part of

the room, to keep the feet warm when sitting around the table, and

small rugs can be placed before the lounges or other sitting-places,

for the same purpose.

Most cottages are so divided by entries, stairs, closets, etc., that

there can be no large rooms. But in this plan, by the use of the movable

screen, two fine large rooms can be secured whenever the family work

is over, while the conveniences for work will very much lessen the

time required.

In certain cases, where the closest economy is needful, two small

families can occupy the cottage, by having a movable screen in both

rooms, and using the kitchen in common, or divide it and have two

smaller stoves. Each kitchen will then have a window and as much room

as is given to the kitchen in great steamers that provide for several

hundred.

Whoever plans a house with a view to economy must arrange rooms around

a central chimney, and avoid all projecting appendages. Dormer windows

are far more expensive than common ones, and are less pleasant. Every

addition projecting from a main building greatly increases expense of

building, and still more of warming and ventilating.

It should be introduced, as one school exercise in every female

seminary, to plan houses with reference to economy of time, labor, and

expense, and also with reference to good architectural taste; and the

teacher should be qualified to point out faults and give the instruction

needed to prevent such mistakes in practical life. Every girl should

be trained to be "a wise woman" that "buildeth her house" aright.

There is but one mode of ventilation yet tried, that will, at all

seasons of the year and all hours of the day and night, secure pure

air without dangerous draughts, and that is by an exhausting warm-air

flue. This is always secured by an open fireplace, so long as its

chimney is kept warm by any fire. And in many cases, a fireplace with

a flue of a certain dimension and height will secure good ventilation

except when the air without and within are at the same temperature.

When no exhausting warm-air flue can be used, the opening of doors and

windows is the only resort. Every sleeping-room _without a fireplace

that draws smoke well_ should have a window raised at the bottom

or sunk at the top at least an inch, with an inclined shelf outside

or in, to keep out rain, and then it is properly ventilated. Or a door

should be kept opened into a hall with an open window. Let the

bed-clothing be increased, so as to keep warm in bed, and protect the

head also, and then the more air comes into a sleeping-room the better

for health.

In reference to the warming of rooms and houses already built, there

is no doubt that stoves are the most economical mode, as they radiate

heat and also warm by convection. The grand objection to their use is

the difficulty of securing proper ventilation. If a room is well warmed

by a stove and then a suitable opening made for the entrance of a good

supply of out-door air, and by a mode that will prevent dangerous

draughts, all is right as to pure air. But in this case, the feet are

always on cold floors, surrounded by the coldest air, while the head

is in air of much higher temperature.

There is a great difference as to healthfulness and economy in the

great variety of stoves with which the market is filled. The competition

in this manufacture is so stringent, and so many devices are employed

by agents, that there is constant and enormous imposition on the public

and an incredible outlay on poor stoves, that soon burn out or break,

while they devour fuel beyond calculation. If some benevolent and

scientific organization could be formed that would, from disinterested

motives, afford some reliable guidance to the public, it probably would

save both millions of money and much domestic discomfort.

The stove described in Chapter V. is protected by patents in its chief

advantages, but this has not restrained many of the trade from

incorporating some of its leading excellencies and claiming to have

added superior elements. Others will inform any who inquire for it,

that it is out of market, because later stoves have proved superior.

Should any who read this work wish to be sure of securing this stove,

and also of gaining minute directions for its use, they may apply to

the writer, Miss C. E. Beecher, 69 West 38th Street, New-York, inclosing

25 cents.

She will then forward the manufacturers' printed descriptive circulars,

and her own advice as to the best selection from the different sizes,

and directions for its use, based on her own personal experience and

that of many friends. Should any purchases be made through this medium,

the manufacturers have agreed to pay a certain percentage into the

treasury of the Benevolent Association mentioned at the close of this

volume.

There is no more dangerous mode of heating a room than by a gas-stove.

There is inevitably more or less leakage of the gas which it is

unhealthful to breathe. And proper ventilation is scarcely ever secured

by those who use such stoves. The same fatal elements of imperfect

ventilation with its attendant horrors of disease, extravagant

wastefulness of material, of fuel, of labor, of time, and of destruction

to the apparatus itself, seem concomitants of all ordinary stoves and

cooking arrangements of the present day, unless those who use them are

constant and unremitting in the exercise of intelligent watchfulness,

guarding against these evils. And in view of the almost inevitable

stupidity and carelessness of servants, who generally have charge of

such things, and the frequent thoughtlessness even of intelligent women

who manage their own kitchens, the writer believes she is doing a

public service by offering her own experience as a guide to simpler,

cheaper, and more wholesome means of living and preparing the family

food.

XXXVII.

CARE OF THE HOMELESS, THE HELPLESS, AND THE VICIOUS.

In considering the duties of the Christian family in regard to the

helpless and vicious classes, some recently developed facts need to

be considered. We have stated that the great end for which, the family

was instituted is the training to virtue and happiness of our whole

race, as the children of our Heavenly Father, and this with chief

reference to their eternal existence after death. In the teachings of

our Lord we find that it is for sinners--for the lost and wandering

sheep, that he is most tenderly concerned. It is not those who by

careful training and happy temperaments have escaped the dangers of

life that God and good angels most anxiously watch. "For there is more

joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine

that went not astray."

The hardest work of all is to restore a guilty, selfish, hardened

spirit to honor, truth, and purity; and this is the divine labor to

which the pitying Saviour calls all his true followers; to lift up the

fallen, to sustain the weak, to protect the tempted, to bind up the

broken-hearted, and especially to rescue the sinful. This is the

peculiar privilege of woman in the sacred retreat of a "Christian

home." And it is for such self-denying ministries that she is to train

all who are under her care and influence, both by her teaching and by

her example.

In connection with these distinctive principles of Christ for which

the family state was instituted, let the following facts be considered.

The Massachusetts Board of State Charities, consisting of some of the

most benevolent and intelligent gentlemen of that State, in pursuance

of their official duty visited all the State institutions, and held

twenty-five meetings during the year 1867-8. By these visits and

consequent discussions they arrived at certain conclusions, which may

be briefly condensed as follows.

No state or nation excels Massachusetts in a wise and generous care

of the helpless, poor, and vicious. The agents employed for this end

are frugal, industrious, intelligent, and benevolent men and women,

with high moral principles. The pauper and criminal classes requiring

to be cared for by Massachusetts are less in proportion to the whole

number of inhabitants than in any other state or nation. Yet, admirable

as are these comparative results, there is room for improvement in a

most important particular. The report of the Board urges that the

present mode of collecting special classes in great establishments,

though it may be the best in a choice of evils, is not the best method

for the physical, social, and moral improvement of those classes; as

it involves many unfortunate influences (which are stated at large:)

and the report suggests that a better way would be to scatter these

unfortunates from temporary receiving asylums into families of Christian

people all over the State.

It is suggested in view of the above, that collecting fallen women

into one large community is not the best way to create a pure moral

atmosphere; and that gathering one or two hundred children in one

establishment is not so good for them as to give each child a home in

some loving Christian family. So of the aged and the sick, the blessings

of a quiet home, and the tender, patient nursing of true Christian

love, must be sought in a Christian family; not in a great asylum.

In view of these important facts and suggestions, it may be inquired,

if the great end and aim of the family state is to train the inmates

to self-denying love and labor for the weak, the suffering, and the

sinful, how can it be done where there are no young children, no aged

persons, no invalids, and no sinful ones for whom such sacrifices are

to be made?

Why are orphan children thrown upon the world, why are the aged held

in a useless, suffering life, except that they may aid in cultivating

tender love and labor for the helpless, and reverence for the hoary

head? And yet, how few children are trained thus to regard the orphan,

the aged, the helpless, and the vicious around them!

Great houses are built for these destitute ones, and all the labor and

self-denial in taking care of them is transferred to paid agents, while

thousands of families are thus deprived of all opportunity to cultivate

the distinctive virtues of the Christian household.

In this connection, let us look at some facts recently published in

the city of New-York.

The writer, Rev. W. O. Van Meter, says in his report:

"The following astounding statistics are carefully selected from the

Reports of the Police, Board of Health, Citizens' Association, and

more than twelve years' personal experience."

He then gives the following description of a section of the city only

a few rods from the stores and residences of those who count their

wealth by hundreds of thousands and millions, many of them professing

to be followers of Christ:

"First, we see old sheds, stable lofts, dilapidated buildings, too

worthless to be repaired, lofts over warehouses and shops; cellars,

too worthless for business purposes, and too unhealthy for horses or

pigs, and therefore occupied by human beings at high rent.--Second,

houses erected for tenant purposes. Take one near our Mission, as a

fair specimen of the better class of '_model_' tenant houses. It

contains one hundred and twenty-six families--is entered at the sides

from alleys eight feet wide; and by reason of another barrack of equal

height, the rooms are so darkened, that on a cloudy day it is impossible

to sew in them without artificial light. It has not one room that can

be thoroughly ventilated.

"The vaults and sewers which are to carry off the filth of one hundred

and twenty-six families have grated openings in the alleys, and doorways

in the cellars, through which the deadly miasma penetrates and poisons

the air of the house and courts. The water-closets for the whole vast

establishment are a range of stalls, without doors, and accessible not

only from the building, but even from the street. Comfort here is out

of the question; common decency impossible, and the horrid brutalities

of the passenger-ship are day after day repeated, but on a larger

scale.

"In similar dwellings are living five hundred and ten thousand persons,

(nearly one half of the inhabitants of the city,) chiefly from the

laboring classes, of very moderate means, and also the uncounted

thousands of those who do not know to-day what they shall have to live

on to-morrow. This immense population is found chiefly in an area of

less than four square miles. The vagrant and neglected children among

them would form a procession in double file eight miles long from the

Battery to Harlem.

"In the Fourth ward, the tenant-house population is crowded at the

rate of two hundred and ninety thousand inhabitants to the square mile.

Such packing was probably never equaled in any other city. Were the

buildings occupied by these miserable creatures removed, and the people

placed by each other, there would be but one and two ninths of a square

yard for each, and this unparalleled packing is _increasing_. Two

hundred and twenty-four families in the ward live below the sidewalk,

many of them _below high-water mark_. Often in very high tide they are

driven from their cellars or lie in bed until the tide ebbs. Not one

half of the houses have any drain or connection with the sewer. The

liquid refuse is emptied on the sidewalk or into the street, giving

forth sickening exhalations, and uniting its fetid streams with others

from similar sources. There are more than four hundred families in

this ward whose homes can only be reached by wading through a disgusting

deposit of filthy refuse. 'In one tenant-house one hundred and forty-six

were sick with small-pox, typhus fever, scarlatina, measles, marasmus,

phthisis pulmonalis, dysentery, and chronic diarrhea. In another,

containing three hundred and forty-nine persons, _one in nineteen died_

during the year, and on the day of inspection, which was during the most

healthy season of the year, there were one hundred and fifteen persons

sick! In another (in the Sixth Ward, but near us,) are sixty-five

families; seventy-seven persons were sick or diseased at the time of

inspection, and one in four _always_ sick. In fifteen of these families

twenty-five children were living, thirty-seven had died.'

"Here are found the lowest class of sailor boarding-houses, dance-

houses, and dens of infamy. There are _less than two dwelling-houses

for each rum-hole_. Here are the poorest, vilest, most degraded,

and desperate representatives of all nations. In the homes of thousands

here, a ray of sunlight never shines, a flower never blooms, a bird

song is never heard, a breath of pure air never breathed." A procession

of vagrant and neglected children that in double file would reach eight

miles, living in such filth, vice, and unhealthful pollution; all of

them God's children, all Christ's younger brethren, to save whom he

humbled himself, even to the shameful death of the cross!

Meantime, the city of New York has millions of wealth placed in the

hands of men and women who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ,

and to have consecrated themselves, their time, and their wealth to

his service. And they daily are passing and repassing within a stone's

throw of the streets where all this misery and sin are accumulated!

So in all our large cities and towns all over the land are found

similar, if not so extensive, collections of vice and misery. And even

where there are not such extremes of degradation, there are contrasts

of condition that should "give us pause." For example, in the vicinity

of our large towns and cities will be seen spacious mansions inhabited

by professed followers of Jesus Christ, each surrounded by ornamented

grounds. Not far from them will be seen small tenement-houses, abounding

with children, each house having about as many square yards of land

as the large houses have square acres. In the small tenements, the

boys rise early and go forth with the father to work from eight to ten

hours, with little opportunity for amusement or for reading or study.

In the large houses, the boys sleep till a late breakfast, then lounge

about till school-time, then spend three hours in school, stimulating

brain and nerves. Then home to a hearty dinner, and then again to

school.

So with the girls: in the tenement-houses, they, go to kitchens and

shops to work most of the day, with little chance for mental culture

or the refinements of taste. In the large mansions, the daughters sleep

late, do little or no labor for the family, and spend their time in

school, or in light reading, ornamental accomplishments, or amusement.

Thus one class are trained to feel that they are a privileged few for

whom others are to work, while they do little or nothing to promote

the improvement or enjoyment of their poorer neighbors.

Then, again, labor being confined chiefly to the unrefined and

uncultivated, is disgraced and rendered unattractive to the young. One

class is overworked, and the body deteriorates from excess. The other

class overwork the brain and nerves, and the neglected muscles grow

thin, flabby, and weak.

Notice also the style in which they accumulate the elegances of

civilization without even an attempt to elevate their destitute

neighbors to such culture and enjoyment. Their expensive pictures

multiply on their frescoed walls, their elegant books increase in their

closed bookcases, their fine pictures and prints remain shut in

portfolios, to be only occasionally opened by a privileged few. Their

handsome equipages are for the comfortable and prosperous--not for

the feeble and poor who have none of their own. All their social

amusements are exclusive, and their expensive entertainments are for

those only who can return the same to them.

Our Divine Master thus teaches, "When thou makest a feast, call not

thy kinsmen or thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and

a recompense he made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor,

for they can not recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the

resurrection of the just." Again, our Lord, after performing the most

servile office, taught thus: "If I, your Lord and Master, have washed

your feet, ye ought to wash one another's feet."

In all these large towns and cities are women of wealth and leisure,

who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ. Some of them, having

property in their own right, live in large mansions, with equipage and

servants demanding a large outlay. They travel abroad, and gather

around themselves the elegant refinements of foreign lands. They give,

perhaps, a tenth of their time and income (which is far less than was

required of the Jews), for benevolent purposes, and then think and say

that they have consecrated themselves and _all_ they have to the

service of Christ.

If there is any thing plainly taught in the New Testament it is, that

the followers of Christ are to be different and distinct from the world

around them; "a peculiar people," and subject to opposition and ill-will

for their distinctive peculiarities.

Of these peculiarities demanded, _humility_ and _meekness_ are

conspicuous: "Come and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and

ye shall find rest." Now, the grand aim of the rich, worldly, and

ambitious is to be at least equal, or else to rise higher than others,

in wealth, honor, and position. This is the great struggle of humanity

in all ages, especially in this country, and among all classes, to

_rise higher_--to be as rich or richer than others--to be as well

dressed--to be more learned, or in more honored positions than others.

This was the very thing that made contention among the apostles, even

in the company of their Lord, as they walked and "disputed who should

be the greatest." "And Jesus sat down and called the twelve, and said

unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same _shall be last

and servant of all;_" and "he that is least among you shall be

great."

At another time, the ambitious mother of two disciples came and asked

that her sons might have the _highest_ place in his kingdom, and the

other disciples were "moved with indignation." Then the Lord taught

them that the honor and glory of his kingdom was to be exactly the

reverse of this world; and that whoever would be great must be a

_minister_, and who would be chief must be a _servant_; even as the Son

of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister.

Again, he rebuked the love of high position and the desire of being

counted wise as teachers of others: "Be not ye called Rabbi, neither

be ye called Master; but he that is greatest among you shall be your

servant, and whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased."

Then, as to the strife after wealth, into which all are now rushing

so earnestly, the Lord teaches: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures

on earth. Whosoever of you forsaketh not all that he hath can not be

my disciple. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves with

bags that wax not old--a treasure in heaven that faileth not." To the

rich young man, asking how to gain eternal life, the reply was, "Sell

all thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me." When the

poor widow cast in _all her living_ she was approved. When the

first Christians were "filled with the Holy Ghost," they sold all their

possessions, to be distributed to those that had need, and were

approved.

And nowhere do we find any direction or approval of laying up money

for self or for children. A man is admonished to provide sustenance

and education for his family, but never to lay up money for them; and

the history of the children of the rich is a warning that, even in a

temporal view, the chances are all against the results of such use of

property. We are to spend all to _save the world_; For this we

are to labor and sacrifice ease and wealth, and we are to train children

to the same self-sacrificing labors; All that is spent for earthly

pleasure ends here. Nothing goes into the future world as a good secured

but training our own and other immortal minds. Thus only can we lay

up treasures in heaven.

There is a crisis at hand in the history of individuals, of the church,

and of our nation, which must inaugurate a new enterprise to save "the

whole world." There must be something coming in the Christian churches

more consistent, more comprehensive, more in keeping with the command

of our ascending Lord--"Go ye (_all_ my followers) into _all the world_,

and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth shall be

saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned!"

It is in hope and anticipation of such a "revival" of the true,

self-denying spirit of Christ and of his earnest followers, that plans

have been drawn for simple modes of living, in which both labor and

economy may be practiced for benevolent ends, and yet without

sacrificing the refinements of high civilization. One method is

exhibited in the first chapters, adapted to country residence. In what

follows will be presented a plan for a city home, having the same aim.

The chief points are to secure economy of labor and time by the

_selection and close packing of conveniences_, and also economy

of health by a proper mode of _warming and ventilation_. In this

connection will be indicated opportunities and modes that thus may be

attained for aiding to save the vicious, comfort the suffering, and

instruct the ignorant. Fig. 71 is the ground plan, of a city tenement

occupying two lots of twenty-two feet front, in which there can be no

side windows; as is the case with most city houses. There are two front

and two back-parlors, each twenty feet square, with a bedroom and

kitchen appended to each: making four complete sets of living-rooms.

A central hall runs from basement to roof, and is lighted by skylights.

There is also a ventilating recess running from basement to roof with

whitened walls, and windows opening into it secure both light and air

to the bedrooms. On one end of this recess is a trash-flue closed with

a door in the basement, and opening into each story, which must be

kept closed to prevent an upward draught, causing dust and light

articles to rise. At the other end is a dumb-waiter, running from

cellar to roof, and opening into the hall of each story. Four chimneys

are constructed near the centre of the house, one for each suite of

rooms, to receive a smoke-pipe of cast-iron or terra cotta, as described

previously, with a space around it for warm air; and this serves as

the exhausting-shaft to carry off the vitiated air from parlors,

kitchens, bedrooms, and water-closets. In each kitchen is a stove such

as is described in Chapter IV., its pipe connecting with the central

cast-iron or terra cotta pipe. The stove can be inclosed by sliding

doors shutting off the heat in warm weather. These kitchen stoves, and

a large stove in the basement to warm the central hall, would suffice

for all the rooms, except in the coldest months, when a small terra

cotta stove, made for this purpose, or even an ordinary iron stove,

placed by one window in each of the parlors, would give the additional

heat needed; while fresh air could be admitted from the windows behind

the stove, and thus be partially warmed.

This exhibits the essential feature and peculiarity of Mr. Leeds's

system of ventilation, before described. Fresh air, admitted at the

bottom of a slightly raised window, is to enter below a window-seat

which projects over the stove; the air being thus warmed before entering

the room. The flue of the stove is seen (in the finished corner of

Fig. 71, which is a model for the four other suites of rooms on each

floor) running along the wall to the _front_ chimney, which also

receives the corresponding stove-flue from the nearest window in the

adjoining parlor: the same arrangement being repeated at the back of

the house. This, the two front and back chimneys are for the heating

and ventilating parlor stoves; the four central chimneys for cooking,

heating, and ventilation.

When possible, in a large building, steam generated in the basement

heater will be found better than the parlor stove. In this case, the

room will be heated by the coil of steam-pipe mentioned before; the

slab covering it being the window-seat, or guard, under which the cool

fresh air is conducted to be warmed before passing into the room.

[Illustration: Fig. 71 Diagram of living quarters.]

Fig. 72 shows one side of the parlor, giving a series of sliding-

doors, behind which are hooks, shelves, and "shelf-boxes," as described

earlier in the book.

[Illustration: Fig. 72.]

The recess occupied by the sofa stands between these two closets. In

case the room is used for sleeping, the double couch on page 30 might

be substituted for the sofa, serving as a lounge by day, and two single

beds by night. The curtain hanging above can be so fastened by rings

on a strong semi-circular wire as to be let down while dressing and

undressing, as is done in some of our steamboats. Pockets and hooks

on the inside of the curtains may be made very useful.

[Illustration: Fig. 73.]

Fig. 73 represents another side of the same room where are two large

windows, each having a cushioned seat in its recess, (although one may

be occupied by a stove, as described above.) A study-table with drawers

or both the front and back sides furnishes large accommodations for

many small articles.

Fig. 74 represents a third side of the same room, with sliding doors

glazed from top to bottom to give light to the bedroom and kitchen.

[Illustration: Fig. 74.]

The fourth side appears on the ground plan (Fig. 71.) The ottomans and

a few chairs will complete the needful furniture.

By means of forms, shelves, and shelf-boxes, the kitchen, could hold

all stores and implements for cooking and setting tables, on the method

shown page 34. The eating table is close to the kitchen and sink, so

that few steps are required to bring and remove every article. Thus

stove, sink, cooking materials, the table and its furniture, are all

in close proximity, and yet, when the inmates are seated at table, the

sliding-doors will shut out the kitchen, while the bad air and smells

of cooking are earned off by the ventilating exhaust-shaft.

The bedroom has a bath-tub and water-closet. The tub need not be more

than four feet long, and a half-cover raised by a hinge will, when

down, hold wash-bowl and pitcher, when the tub is not in use. Around

the bedroom high and wide shelves and shelf-boxes near the ceiling

serve to store large articles; and narrower shelves with pegs under

them for clothing, protected by a curtain, furnish other conveniences

for storage. The trash-flue serves to send off rubbish, with but few

steps, and the dumb waiter brings up fuel, stores, etc. Each bedroom

must be provided with a ventilating register at the top, connecting

with the warm foul-air flue in the chimney.

For a family of four persons, one parlor, with its kitchen and bedroom,

couches and side closets, would supply all needful accommodations. For

a larger family, sliding-doors into the adjacent parlor, its appended

kitchen being arranged for another bedroom, would accommodate a family

of ten persons.

A front and a back entrance may be in the basement, which, can be used

for family stores, each family having one room. A general laundry with

drying closets could be provided in the attic, and lighted from the

roof.

Such a building, four stories high, would accommodate sixteen families

of four members, or eight larger families, and provide light, warmth,

ventilation, and more comforts and conveniences than are usually found

in most city houses built for only one family. Here young married

persons with frugal and benevolent tastes could commence housekeeping

in a style of comfort and good taste rarely excelled in mansions of

the rich. The spaces usually occupied by stairs, entries, closets,

etc., would on this plan be thrown into fine large airy rooms, with

every convenience close at hand.

In one of our large cities is to be found a Christian lady who inherited

a handsome establishment with means to support it in the style common

to the rich. In the spirit of Christ she "sold all that she had, and

gave to the poor," by establishing a _Home for Incurables_, and

making her home with them, giving her time and wealth to promoting

their temporal comfort and spiritual welfare. Was this doing _more_

than her duty--_more_ than the example and teachings of Christ require?

Suppose several ladies of similar views and character in one city,

having only moderate wealth, and leisure, unite to erect such a building

as the one described, in a light and healthful part of the city of New

York, and then should take up their residence in it, and from the vast

accumulation of misery and sin at hand on every side, should select

the orphans, the aged, the sick, and the sinful, and spend time and

money for their temporal and spiritual elevation; would they do

_more_ than the example and teachings of Christ enjoin? Or would

their enjoyment, even in this life, be diminished by exchanging a

routine chiefly of personal gratification for such self-denying

ministries? It was "for _the joy_ that was set before Him" through

the everlasting ages that our Lord "endured the cross," and it is to

the same supernal glories that he invites his followers, and by the

same path he trod.

Here it probably will be said that all rich women can not do what is

here suggested, owing to multitudinous claims, or to incapacity of

mind or body for carrying out such an attempt. It will also be said

that there are many other ways for practicing self-denial besides

selling our homes and taking a humbler style of living. This is all

true. But we are told that there are "greatest" and "least" in that

kingdom of heaven where the chief happiness is in living to serve

others, and not for self. Those who can not change their expensive

style of living, and are obliged to spend most of their thoughts and

wealth on self and those who are a part of self, will be among the

least and lowest in happiness and honor, while those who take the low

places on earth to raise others will be the happiest and most honored

in the kingdom of heaven.

There are many residences in our large cities where women claiming to

be Christ's followers live in almost solitary grandeur till the warm

season, and then shut them up to spend their time at watering-places

or country resorts. The property invested in such city establishments,

and the income required to keep them up, would secure "Christian homes"

to many suffering, neglected, homeless children of Christ, who are

living in impure air, with all the debasing influences found in city

tenement-houses. Meantime, the owners of this wealth are suffering in

mind and body for want of some grand and noble object in life. If such

could not personally live in such an establishment as is here described,

by self-denying arrangements and combination with others they could

provide and superintend one.

Our minds are created in the image of our Father in heaven, and capable

of being made happy, as his is, by the outpouring of blessings on

others. And when we are invited by our divine Lord to take his yoke

and bear his burden, it is for our own highest happiness as well as

for the good of others. And whoever truly obeys finds the yoke easy

and the burden light, and that they bring rest to the soul. But those

who shrink from the true good, to live a life of self-indulgent ease,

will surely find that mere earthly enjoyments pall on the taste, that

they perish in the using, that they never satisfy the cravings of a

soul created for a higher sphere and nobler mission.

The Bible represents that there is an emergency-a great conflict in

the world unseen-and that we on earth, who are Christ's people, are

to take a part in this conflict and in the "fellowship of his

sufferings," to redeem his children from the slavery of sin and eternal

death; and there is the same call to labor and sacrifice now as there

was when he commanded, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel

to _every_ creature."

But is not the larger part of the church--especially those who have

wealth--practically living on no higher principles than the pious Jews

and virtuous heathen? Are they not living just as if there were no

great emergency, no terrible risks and danger to their fellow-men in

the life to, come? Are they not living just as if all men were safe

after they leave this world, and all we need to aim at is to make

ourselves and others virtuous and happy in this life, without disturbing

anxiety about the life to come? And is the _training_ of most

Christian families diverse from that of pious Jews, in reference to

the dangers of our fellow-men in the future state, and the consequent

duty of labor and sacrifice in order to extend the true religion all

over the earth?

One mode of avoiding self-denial in style of living is by the plea

that, if all rich Christiana gave up the expensive establishments

common to this class and adopted such economies as are here suggested,

it would tend to lower civilization and take away support from those

living by the fine arts. But while the world is rushing on to such

profuse expenditure, will not all these elegancies and refinements be

abundantly supported, and is there as much danger in this direction

as there is of avoiding the self-denying example of Christ and his

early followers? They gave up all they had, and "were scattered abroad,

preaching the word;" and was there any reason existing then for

self-denying labor that does not exist now? There are more idolaters

and more sinful men now, in actual numbers, than there were then; while

teaching them the way of eternal life does not now, as it did then,

involve the "loss of all things" and "deaths often."

Moreover, would not the fine arts, in the end, he better supported by

imparting culture and refined tastes to the neglected ones? Teaching

industry, thrift, and benevolence is far better than scattering alms,

which often do more harm than good; and would not enabling the masses

to enjoy the fine arts and purchase in a moderate style subserve the

interests of civilization as truly as for the rich to accumulate

treasures for themselves in the common exclusive style?