Hidden Treasure: The Story of a Chore Boy Who Made the Old Farm PaySimpson, John Thomas
Science
Hidden Treasure: The Story of a Chore Boy Who Made the Old Farm Pay
Simpson, John Thomas
Farm life
"Here's the plumber's estimate, Joe," she said, opening a letter. "He
wants $250 for the bathroom and washroom equipment, including a four-
foot white enamel wash sink with soap dishes and tempering faucets.
You see, by putting in a sink of this sort, the hot and cold water is
mixed as it comes through the faucet, and all the dirty water runs
away so that you can always wash in clean water, which is better than
filling a bowl. This four-foot sink will allow two people to wash at
once. This is the hot-water heater that we will put in the cellar. It
will mean the putting in of a new door and steps on the north side of
the building for taking out the ashes. That will be some concrete work
for you, Bob," she smiled across to him. "The heater will keep the
floor of the washroom warm in winter and prevent the pipes from
freezing. We ought to take out the wood floor of the washroom and put
in a concrete floor, but I think the wood floor will have to answer
until we build our new house. The plumber said he could manage this by
putting in a galvanized iron tray on the floor under the shower and
connecting it to the waste pipes. If you are careful when you use the
shower and not splash the water too much over the wood floor, I guess
we can get along with this arrangement. This, however, doesn't include
the cost of bringing the water down from the spring. I thought,
inasmuch as our plowing and harrowing had been done so soon, you could
take the time off, Joe, to dig the ditch and put in the pipe yourself.
A one-inch galvanized genuine wrought-iron pipe will cost ten cents
per running foot and a two-inch pipe twenty-two cents per foot."
"A one-inch pipe ought to be big enough," said Joe, "to supply all the
water we want."
"Yes, perhaps it would be for the house alone," she replied, "but then
there's the barn and the hen house and the new dairy house to take
into account, besides a watering trough in the barnyard and water
bowls in the new cow barn for each cow, and I think for all these we
really ought to have at least a two-inch pipe, so that the pipe will
be in for all time, and, of course, it would not pay to use steel
pipe--that would rust too quickly. The hard job will be the digging of
the ditch, for the pipe ought to be at least three and a half feet to
four feet underground, so as to be sure it will not freeze up during
the winter."
"Don't you think we ought to build new concrete walls and put a cover
on the spring, Aunt Bettie?" inquired Bob, "so that nothing can get
into the spring to foul the water?"
"That would be a good idea, Bob. Do you suppose you could make a rough
sketch and figure out how much concrete it would take to do that?"
"Why, there's a sketch in one of the concrete bulletins that shows how
that can be done," replied Bob. "I'll get the book right away," he
said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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