Q. What do you consider the proper size for wash-hand basin waste-pipes? Is it well to have so great a difference as is common between the outlet of the basin and the trap? Would not the latter be more thoroughly flushed and kept cleaner if the hole in the bottom of the basin and the coupling connecting it with the waste-pipe were of the same size as the latter? Do you approve of bars or strainers over the outlet of basins and baths, and of the ordinary plug attached to a chain? Is there any way of doing away with the latter without using a patented device?

A. The outlets of basin-plugs could with advantage be larger. It is necessary to have the strainer to keep articles from dropping in and choking up the trap. The ordinary Boston waste-cock is not patented, though the fact of a device being patented should be no objection to its use.