Camping For Boys | Page 8

camp, dig a small pit which can be filled
in again after use. If the camp is to be continued for a week or longer,
dig a pit or trench about two or three feet deep and about eighteen
inches wide, plant posts on each side of the trench, and eighteen inches
above the ground level. Nail shaped seating on these posts. The number
of seats will be determined by the size of the camping party. It is
desirable to erect a six-foot canvas screen with an opening around the
toilet. Dry earth should be sprinkled freely in the trench each time it is
used. Also each morning sprinkle plenty of chloride of lime or some
good, reliable disinfectant in the trench. Do not permit the throwing of
paper about the toilet. Have a box in which paper is to be kept. Flies
should be excluded by boxing up the sides of the seats and fastening a
hinged lid upon the seats (see illustration). It is an advantage to admit
the direct sunlight about the middle of the day because of its

bactericidal action on disease germs. In a permanent camp regular
wooden closets should be built, with covered roof for protection from
rain and wind. The back of the closet should be arranged either by a
hinged door or some other method so that the contents may be removed
as often as once a week. A wooden box on rollers placed beneath the
seats will facilitate removal. The seats should be scrubbed with hot
water, sulpho-naphthol, or soap, daily. "Springfield Oval" type of toilet
paper prevents unnecessary waste. In one camp the water from a
near-by brook is dammed and thus by gravity made to flow by a system
of modern plumbing through the urinals and flush closets. This is ideal.
Insist upon cleanliness. The cutting of initials and names upon the seats
and woodwork should be considered a disgrace as well as a
misdemeanor.
[Illustration: Pit Toilet; seat, hinged cover, hinged door at back.]
Taboo the taking of books and papers to the toilet to read. It should be
an imperative rule that no other place be used. A little carelessness will
cause disagreeable as well as dangerous results. By way of reiteration:
First, rigid prohibition of the pollution of the surface of the ground by
the strictest rules, diligently enforced. Second, the provision of toilets
or latrines of adequate size with proper precaution to prevent the
dispersal of excreta by wind, flies, or other agencies. The latrines
should be located a distance from camp but not so far as to offer
temptation to pollution of the ground. Third, boys should be educated
when on hikes or tramps in the old Mosaic Rule laid down in
Deuteronomy 23: 12-14. [1]
[Transcriber's Footnote 1: "Thou shalt have a place also without the
camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle
upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad,
thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which
cometh from thee: For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy
camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee;
therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee,
and turn away from thee."]
Garbage

Garbage, consisting chiefly of trimmings of meat and vegetables and
the waste from the table, if stored in open buckets soon becomes
offensive and is an ideal breeding place in warm weather for flies "that
drink of cesspools, dine at privy vaults, eat sputum and are likely to be
the most familiar guests at the dinner table, sampling every article of
food upon which they walk, leaving in their tracks disease-producing
germs which have adhered to their sticky feet where they have
previously dined." Declare war upon the "fly who won't wipe his feet"
by keeping the garbage in a covered galvanized-iron pail and dispose of
it before decomposition takes place. Wash and dry the pail after
emptying. If the camp is located near a farm, give the garbage to the
farmer. It is the natural food of swine or poultry. Where this is not
possible, the garbage should be buried every day in the earth and
covered with three or four inches of dirt. Another and better plan,
especially in a large camp, is the burning of the garbage and human
excreta in an incinerator, such as the McCall. This is the method of the
United States Army.
Exercise caution in throwing aside tin cans. The vegetable matter
remaining in the cans soon decays and attracts flies. Have a place
where these cans may be buried or burned with other refuse each day.
Keep the ground surrounding the kitchen free from all kinds of