In locating the cesspools we must see that they are placed low enough to allow the drain from house to have a good pitch. This drain will be of vitrified earthen pipe and should be laid at least three feet six inches below the surface, with an even pitch and with the bottom of the trench hollowed out where the hubs of pipes will come so that the pipes will lie flat in the trench. Great care must be taken in jointing the pipes to be sure that the cement is scraped off the inside of the pipes, where a projection would catch a portion of any solid matter which might pass through the pipes and they would soon become filled.
Cellar Walls. While it is necessary to consider the matter of drainage at this time, the actual work of building the cesspools and laying the drain pipes is us ually taken up at a later period and the whole of our energy at this time should he directed toward the building of the cel lar walls. Already the timbers for the frame are being deliv ered and the contractor for the carpenter work is filled with forebodings lest he have no wail to put his sill on when the first floor is framed. We di rect the mason to build the cellar walls with all the speed that he can, "consistent with good workmanship", and set ourselves the task of following him up sharply to see that this is done. The greater part of the stone for the cellar walls has been carted onto the lot and we shall do well to look it over with the mason, pointing out to him that many of the boulder stones are too round and should be split before being used, while some of the more slaty stones, which appear to have been recently blasted, may have cracks in them which will allow the water to soak in. This may he detected by striking the stones with a hammer to judge of their soundness by the clearness of their ringing. The stones, upon the whole, are a good looking lot, and it will remain only to see that the walls are properly built.
In the first place the walls must be built entirely free from the bank so that they are self-supporting (Fig. 13), besides giving an
opportunity of cementing the wall on the outside as called for. This is a thing generally neglected, and yet is much more important than that the inside of the wall should be smooth and handsome. The ordinary careless way of building the cellar wall of a country house, is to lay the wall up to the top of the ground without mortar, of stones of varying thickness, brought to a face on the cellar side, and with the "tails" of the stone in irregular projection on the outside, some partly resting against the bank and others barely filling out to the required thickness, and the whole smoothed over on the inside by a thin smearing of mortar. (Fig. 14.) This is a od which should be avoided for many reasons. In the first place a wall of this kind is little or no protection against water, for the uneven projections on the external face serve to catch the water which runs down on the outside and to lead it into the inner face, where the thin pointing of mortar is very little protection. Then, too, any movement as of frost in the ground, tends to throw the wall by reason of the long stones which tail into the ground, and often bear upon the soil in such a way that any settlement or heaving of the soil will open cracks, and cause the wall to bulge inward as is often seen in country cellars. In reality it is more important that the outside face of the wall should be smooth and impervious than the inside face. Satisfied that the stones which are being delivered are suitable for our wall we shall need to give our attention mainly to the construction, to the mortar and bonding, to the solidity, and later to the pointing. The specifications say that the stones shall be laid in "half cement" mortar. This we interpret to mean e9-ocal parts of cement and lime, and not half as touch ceanent as lime, as some contractors have been known to claim. In slaking the lime for mortar it is important that the water. in the proportion of one and one-half barrels to on barrel of lime, should be added in as large quantities as is practi cable, as the putting on of water by bucketfuls with time taken for stirring between, tends to chill the lime which is already to beat. After slaking, the lime must stand as long as possible before mixing with sand, and the cement should not be adclecl until required for use, as it will set in a few hours. This mortar is to ',.ye mixed in the proportion of one part of cement to one part of lime and eight parts of sand, and must be thoroughly mixed, as will be shown by the evenness of color and smoothness. To be of good quality, the lime should be free from cinders and clinkers, in hard lumps with little dust. It should slake actively and entirely, making a fine soft paste with no residue or "core". Lime should always be slaked in a pen built of boards and never on the ground or in a hollow in the sand. A pen about four feet by seven, and ten inches deep is Large enough to Unix a cask at a time.