EARTH CLOSETS


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.