The examples of air contamination shown in this chapter relate in general to defects in the house plumbing proper. The first example shown in Fig.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 7.

DRAINAGE BLUNDERS.

Fig. 6.

5 was found in a Madison Avenue, New York, dwelling of comparatively recent construction. The main soil pipe A extended from the cellar to the roof, and was provided with an accompanying " back-air " pipe B for trap ventilation. Both pipes passed through bedrooms on the upper floors, and were boxed in with a light wood casing F. A smoke test revealed the presence of a serious leak near the butler's sink, and on stripping the pipe it was found that the lower end C of the "back-air" pipe B was quite open, no attempt having been made to seal it. The plumber who did the work had evidently intended to connect with C the back-air pipe from fixtures on the floor below, but another arrangement had proved more convenient, and the open end C was overlooked and forgotten. An interesting feature connected with the test was the course of the smoke, which traveled from the open end of pipe C behind the wood casing Fas through a flue, and appeared three stories above in the children's bedroom, issuing through openings G at the floor. As the children at the time were under treatment for diphtheritic throat affections, there appears reasonable ground to believe that the defective plumbing was the cause of the difficulty.

Figure 6 was an arrangement found in a country house where at certain times one of the rooms H seemed to be contaminated with drain air. The soil pipe A extended above the roof with the open end B close to the top C of the chimney flue D, from the fireplace F of the room H. Under certain conditions, especially where there was an open-grate fire in an adjoining room, with no fire in F, the fire in the adjoining room appeared to establish a down-draft in the flue D, and to carry with it air streaming from the open end B of the soil pipe A. The trouble was corrected by moving the open end of the soil pipe.

Figure 7 is a curious example of the possibilities of the city dwelling. It was discovered in a block of houses on Lexington Avenue, New York. The bedroom A in one of the houses was occupied by an unprotected aristocratic lady of highstrung and somewhat nervous temperament. The party wall B separated her from inoffensive but unknown neighbors in the adjoining house. All went well for a season. Suddenly the inoffensive neighbors gave way to midnight disturbances that threatened nervous prostration to the occupant of bedroom A. She was awakened from her sleep by the clanking of chains, the clang of machinery, and the roar of the rush of mighty waters. At all hours of the night these horrors would awaken her. She contemplated building a massive sound-proof masonry lining against the party wall; and in final desperation called for an examination of the wall to see what could be done. The examination revealed the conditions shown in Fig. 7. The neighbors' bathroom D and closet C were next to the party wall B in which there were two ventilating flues F and H; the former connecting through a register E near the ceiling with the bedroom H, the latter connecting with a register G near the ceiling of the closet C. The brick partition K between the flues had been omitted or broken out by the mason near the registers; and direct sight and sound and air communication existed between the two rooms near the ceiling. The flush tank for the closet was close to register G, and might as well have been in the bedroom A so far as its powers of disturbance were concerned. The partition K between the flues was bricked up and the trouble ceased.

It has been found that certain features of house plumbing are so often defective under test that they should be condemned on general inspection without special trial. To this class belongs the cast-iron plate cover cleanouts so frequently used on iron traps. Figure 8 shows this cover. It is a plate A cast with two lugs B B, arranged to grip flange C C, on the under side. Two ears D D are cast on the top face to allow it to be turned. The flange C C is wedge-shape, or screwed on the under side with two vertical slots through which the clips B B pass when the plate is lifted off. A bed of putty is generally placed on the top of the flange C C and the cover pressed into it until the clips B B pass through the vertical slots in the flange. The cover is then turned by means of the ears D D, the clips B B bear against the screw under face of C C, and the plate is drawn to a firm seat in the putty. The security of the cover depends on the putty, and at its best will not stand a very mild pressure test. When the putty dries out, the cleanout is very apt to be found defective under the smoke test.

Figure 9 shows an improved form of cleanout. The trap is cast with a vertical cleanout hub A, into which a brass ferrule B is calked with oakum and lead. The brass ferrule has an inside turned thread, and is provided with a brass screw cover C with a wrench nut D cast on it. This form of cover properly set can be made to stand a severe water test.