(Rmmll ^nivmxi^ % 
 
 lihXM^ 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 1891 
 
 /^'IXIHU 
 
 
 ^.////7; 
 
Water-closets 
 
 3 1924 031 226 123 
 olin.anx 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924031 2261 23 
 
WATER-CLOSETS 
 
 HISTORICAL, MECHANICAL, 
 
 SANITARY TREATISE. 
 
 BY 
 Abchitect. Associate Amekican Institute of Akchitects. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY. 
 
 1884 
 
 Copyright Secured, 1884, by John Phin, 
 
 i. 
 
PE 
 
PHEF^CE. 
 
 The principal i)art of this book is a republication of the series 
 on Watek-Closets which appeared in the Jmerivan Architect and 
 Building News during the year 1883. 
 
 The matter has been revised, and tlie section on tanks and 
 supply-valves added. 
 
 All illustrations were engraved from drawings made by the 
 author, in a uniform style, specially for this work. 
 
 In book form the author hopes that the matter contained in 
 it may be of service to all (and I think there are many such) who 
 desire information on this plumbing fixture eil her from a mechan- 
 ical, historical, or sanitary standpoint. The information con- 
 tained herein lias been gleaned from all available sources. 
 
 Glenn Beown. 
 607 Louisiana Aveuuo, 
 
 Washington, D. C, 1884. 
 
OOI^TEN^TS. 
 
 Section I.— Ancient Closets. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 lutioductorj'— Eoman Closets— Pompeian— Middle Ages— From 
 
 Foui-tecnth to Nineteenth Century. Figs. 1-33 - - 7-27 
 
 Section II.— Modebn Closets. 
 Classification— Valve Water-Closets— Sliding and Hinged Valves— 
 Valvi>s ' Opening Upward, Outward and Downward- Sliip and 
 Forcing Closets. Figs. 34-95 28-60 
 
 Section III.— Pan Closets. 
 English, French and American Pan Watur-Closets— Automatic, 
 Spring and Tilting Pans— Receiver or Container Sprinkler- 
 Closet Bowls. Figs. 96-128 - - 61-76 
 
 Section IV.— Plunger Closets. 
 Hollow and Solid Plungers or Plugs— Methods of Trapping Over- 
 flow—Plunger Chambers with Floats and Sprinklers. Figs. 
 129-159 77-97 
 
 Section V.— Hoppee Closets. 
 
 Long and Short Hopper Water-Closets— Side-Outlet Closets— Closets 
 
 with Jet Supply-Siphon Closets. Figs. 160-199 - 98-118 
 
 Section VI.— MiscELLANEOtrs Closets. 
 Latrines— Trough Closets, etc. Figs. 202-208 - - - 119-124 
 
 Section VII.— Watek-Closet Attachments. 
 Seats.aud Casings— Safes— Water Supply Connections- Soil and Vent 
 
 Pipe Connections— Bidet Attacliment— Levers. Figs. 209-231 - 125-137 
 
 Section VIII.— Supply Valves and Tanks. 
 Supply Valves— Tanks or Cisterns -Siphon, Tilting and Plug 
 
 Tanks— Waste Preventers— Bali-Cocks. Figs. 23^-252 - 138-156 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ANCIENT CLOSETS. 
 
 |ATER-CLOSETS as conveniences are so necessary, and 
 in their proper construction are so important to our com- 
 fort and liealtli, that I tliinlc any research into their 
 history will repay us by increasing our knowledge on the subject. 
 
 It will be necessary in the first place to review, cursorily, other 
 modes of convenience in countries where, and at times when, water- 
 closets properly speaking were not in use. 
 
 Naturally, we first examine the ruins of Egypt, where existed 
 the earhest traces of civilization, for remains of water-closets. The 
 small private and detached rooms which we find in the remains of 
 Egyptian houses were probably used as privies. Ewbank, in his 
 work on hydraulics, calls the summer chamber* of Eglon, king of 
 Moab, a water-closet. 
 
 If I thought proper to follow the example of Ewbank I would 
 call water-closets the private rooms which were in an isolated posi- 
 tion in one of the halls, being near a door communicating with the 
 other chambers. Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson says: "These rooms 
 bear a striking resemblance to the before-mentioned private room 
 of Eglon. "t 
 
 That the Greeksf made use of privies in their houses is proved 
 
 * Judges, ill, 20-25 
 
 \ Egypt, Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, Vol. II., page 104. 
 
 X \^iollet-le-Duo has given tlie Egyptians', Greeks' and Romans' privies (la- 
 trines) in their houses in the B-ibitations nf Man, pages 92-102, 197 and 231. 
 
8 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 by an old writer* from a- passage in Aristophanes (Ecclesiaz., verse 
 1050). This was about four hundred years before Christ. 
 
 The Romans, if not tlie first in art, the leaders in all that per- 
 tained to lu.Kury and comfort, were the first, as far as we can ascer- 
 tain, to use water-closets. In Rome we find four kinds of recep- 
 tacles for excreui. Close stools [lasa/ia), in which the rich ancients 
 sometimes used gold or silver bowls; \ases (gas/ra) which were 
 stationed on the roadways; public privies (^/fci(7«V/(?), of which Sir 
 William Gell tells us there were one hundred and forty-four in 
 Rome; privies {Jatrina), probably for private use. 
 
 From their derivation we would infer the two classes last men- 
 tioned to be water-closets, doaciiia being derived from cloaca, a 
 sewer or drain, and latrina being a diminutive o{ lavafrina, a wash- 
 bowl or basin. No doubt, as at the present day, the name included 
 the room as well as the basin or receptacle contained in the room. 
 Pompeii was covered with ashes and lava by an eruption of Moinit 
 Vesuvius more than eighteen hundred }ears ago, and among its 
 ruins were found the most perfect remains of an ancient water- 
 closet. Pompeii being a small town and a province of Rome, I 
 woukl suppose the water-closets to have been more numerous and 
 more elaborately ornamented in the capital city. 
 
 In the PoDipeiana Sir William Gell,t describing a privy, writes of 
 an arched recess about three feet deep discovered in the kitchen of 
 one of the ruined dwellings of Pompeii, 
 mo^t inconveniently placed, according to 
 American ideas (Fig. i). The wood- 
 work was gone when discovered, about 
 181 g, but the marks of the hinges and 
 fastenings were still visible. Three or 
 four feet to one side were the remains of 
 
 Fig. 1.— Privy in kitchen in brick ovens. It would appear, according 
 Pompoii. . ^ .„ . , . 
 
 u Niche h Ovens to a quotation irom Pretonuis, that ni 
 
 ancient Italy it was considered desirable to 
 
 have in close proximity the place for the preparation of the food and 
 
 * M&iu de I' Anii/'')nii- des Sciences Inscriptions noiivellcmenl elablie a Tfoyes en 
 (Jliiiinpaipie. A. Triiyi'iset, Paris. ITTiU. 
 ^Poinpeiana, Sir William Gell, Vol. 11., page 171; illnstration, page 151. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 9 
 
 the rece()tacle for the excreta. The privies in or adjoining the kitchen 
 were probably for the women, while others which have been discov- 
 ered at the back of the liouse were for the men. These chambers 
 were sometimes finished beautifully, having tessellated pavements 
 and in some instances windows looking into small interior courts, 
 an example which the moderns seem injudiciously prone to follow. 
 
 Fosbroke says, under the head of ancient water-closets,* " That 
 of the Palace of the Caesars is adorned with marble and mosaick. 
 At the back of one is a cistern, the water of which is distributed by 
 cocks to the different seats. The pipe and bason of one still re- 
 mains at Pompeii and is like ours." (1825 a. d.) 
 
 In a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries in 1775, re- 
 lating to discoveries in Pompeii, Sir A\'illiam Hamiltonf says: 
 " Close to the Temple of Isis is a theatre, no more of which has 
 been cleared than the scene and corridor which leads to the seats. 
 In the corridor was, a retiring place for necessary occasions, where 
 the pipe to convey the water, and the bason like that of our water- 
 closets (1775) still remain, the wood of the seat only liaving 
 mouldered away by time." 
 
 The above-mentioned remains, seen by Sir William Hamilton, 
 conclusively prove the existence of water-closets more than eighteen 
 hundred years ago, with basin, water-supply and waste for the 
 water, and excreta must necessarily have been carried off by a 
 drain of some kind. 
 
 In all descriptions of ancient baths we find a latrina, that near 
 the entrance of the ruins of the one in Pompeii, mentioned and 
 shown by illustrations, but it is in no case fully described.^ 
 
 According to Olympiodorous there were in the Thermte of An- 
 toninus (about 200 A. D.) sixteen hundred seats of marble with 
 holes like a close stool for the convenience of those who attended 
 either the baths or the gymnasium. 
 
 F. Liger,|| in his work on this subject, informs us that the remains 
 
 * Encyclopedia of Antiquities, Rev. Tliomas Dudley Fosbrolce. Page 348. 
 1985. 
 ^ ArchcBologia, Vol. IV., page 168. 1777. 
 % Encyclopedia Brilannica, Vol. III., page 435. 
 H " Fosses d'aissance Latrines Urinoirs et Vidanrjes." F. Llger, Architect. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 of three privies were found in the ruins of Acteon's house, 
 Pompeii. 
 
 One was situated against the wall on the alley, another under 
 the steps, and the third was in the kitchen. The first was the only 
 one that received light from thp outside. Remains of privies 
 {latrines) are still found in Lucretius's house, placed in a narrow 
 closet. 
 
 A drawing by Piranesi represents a water-closet {sterquiliniitm) 
 from the same town. There are three compartments placed in a 
 laige chamber, one of which has a seat ; the other seems intended 
 for use after the manner of Orientals (by squatting), while the third 
 was evidently used as a urinal. The A\'ater is admitted by a pipe 
 
 which runs through 
 the \\all ; thence it 
 flows in front of the 
 seats through a gutter, 
 falling into the urinal 
 from a higher level, 
 where it turns and 
 runs under the closet 
 seats, carrying away 
 faecal and other ex- 
 crementitious matter. 
 This wns probably a 
 cleanly arrangement, 
 when we take into 
 consideration the fact 
 that the Romans 
 cleaned off all sedi- 
 ment or other particles which adhered to the surface with a sponge 
 iir mop fixed on the end of a stick* (Fig. 2). In the work entitled 
 
 * Mazols' Poynpriii. 
 
 \Inscrip/ioii fttunil on ti wall in it privy in Pompeii.l 
 i)u;H'ras ceiiseo, si k'jjes laboras 
 Niyri Tovnicls etrium poetam 
 (^iii cfirboni' niili p;irrir|ue ciita 
 Sc-ribil carmiiKi quae leguiit cacantes. 
 
 Fis. 2, 
 a. Seat for si 
 Urinal, d. Waler-pipe. 
 urinal 
 
 AVater-CliiscI in Pompeii. 
 nic on. b. Place for crouching, 
 e. Stri'am running in 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 " Le Case et i Moniimenti" are mentioned remains of privies M'hicli 
 were found in the house of Marco Lucretio. In these rooms re- 
 mains or indications of tiling were found, and obscene figures 
 pointedly drawn. Cochin and Belicard, in " Les Aiitiqidtes d' Hercii- 
 laneutn," mention and illustrate several seats with holes which were 
 found in the palace of Serapis (1750), Puozzoli (Figs. 3 and 4). 
 
 SECTION. PLAN. 
 
 Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 
 
 Privy from Palace of Serapis, Puozzoli. 
 
 Public latrines among the Romans had no seats, they being in the 
 habit of crouching, after the manner of Orientals. In private 
 houses marble seats were usually used; but in some cases the choice 
 
 Fig. 5. Pig. e. 
 
 Roman Seats in Louvre Museum. 
 
 of arrangements was given them, both kinds, with and without 
 seats, being placed in the same room. In Constantine's time 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 (300 A. D.) and probably at an earlier date, seats in the shape of 
 chairs, with backs and arms and ehiborately carved legs and feet^ 
 were used for this purpose. A fine example was in the Louvre 
 some years ago, which is supposed to liave dated back' to Con- 
 stantine's reign (Figs. 5 and 6). 
 
 Vitruvius, strange to say, does not mention water-closets or 
 privies in his description of private houses. Both ancient and 
 modern writers seem to avoid the subject. Ewbank states that a 
 number of water-closets were erected near the mosques and temples 
 in Old Rome, Smyrna, Constantinople, and probably all ancient 
 cities. He does not give his authorities for the statement, and it 
 would appear as if it were a little overdrawn.* With the decline 
 of the Roman empire, water-closets, following her other luxuries 
 and comforts, seem to have gone out of date. 
 
 Giving a cursory review of the privies used in the middle ages 
 we leave unaccounted for nearly a thousand years, during which 
 tune there seems to have been no privies used inside houses. The 
 castle of Rochester, designed in part by Bishoii Gundulph about 
 108S, has outlets for privies and sinks similar to the outlets for 
 smoke, in the first instance going downward, instead of upward as 
 in the case of their chimne3S. 
 
 In a paper read by Edward Kingf before the Society of Anti- 
 
 quaries (1782 a. d.) in lelation to a Saxon 
 
 'X^^^i^m, W^ii^Lm castle, he says: "In one of the corners is 
 
 a narrow passage to a small closet in the wall, 
 
 which served for a privy, having the usual 
 
 kind of an outlet through a loop." (Fig. 7). 
 
 Diagonally across from the privy is a similar 
 
 ^ passage and closet supposed to have been a 
 
 Plan of Castle ^'^^'" '^'^'^ tower or castle was undoubtedly 
 
 Saxon, having been given by William the 
 
 Conqueror to \Villiam de Peverel and called 
 
 the Castle on the Peake. We learn from VioUet-le-DucJ that 
 
 * Hi/di-iiiilifs. Thomas liwbauk, pages 2i;i, 5G2. New edition, 1876. 
 
 t Archceolni/iii. Vol. ^'I.,pll^•e 'll'i. 
 
 XDiclwiiuirc d' Arcldltctiu-t, Xllth an XVlLli, sidcle, Vol. VI.. pages 163-170. 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 on tlie Pealce. 
 7i, Privy. ), Well, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 13 
 
 castles (chateaux) at the commencement of the thirteenth century 
 liad privies [latrines) on each floor, constructed so as to avoid the 
 inconveniences attached to these necessities. They were generally 
 found projecting on corbels, from an angle formed by a buttress 
 and the main wall (Figs. 8 and 9), so the ffecal matter might be cast 
 well out and down the precipice into the 
 woods which usually surrounded these 
 I __ buildings. ' 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 x: 
 
 z 
 
 n 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 Fig. 8. — Elevation. 
 
 Fig. 9.— Plan. 
 
 Thirteenth-Century Privy. 
 
 rt, Window. 6, Urinal, t 
 
 Seat. /, Wall, e Buttress. 
 
 d. Door, g, Corbels. 
 
 Fig. 12.— Perspec- 
 tive Sketch. 
 
 Fig. 10.— Section. 
 Fig. 11.— Plan. 
 
 Landsberg Latrine. 
 a, Seat. 6. Window. c, Hanging T-shaped 
 stone, d, Corbels, e, Door. 
 
 He describes one wliich is corbelled from the wall and buttress 
 in the usual way. The seat is concealed and protected from 
 missiles by the corbels, and it communicates with the lialls and 
 stairways by a door. In the same closet there is a urinal with 
 drain, and a drip on the outside, and also a window opening into 
 the outer air. In the castle of Landsberg on the Lower Rhine, 
 which dates from the twelfth century, there is one (Figs. 10, 11 and 
 12) that differs from the above. The seat is guarded by a rectan- 
 gular projection from the wall which is supported on corbels. The 
 
'4 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 m 
 
 seat is protected from arrows and other projectiles by a stone 
 shaped Uke a T, which hangs on and below the corbels. In gar- 
 risoned castles they always had projections reserved for privies, and 
 
 they were separated from 
 the main building by small 
 passage-ways. There are 
 privies of this kind in the 
 castle of Chauvigny (Poi- 
 tou), while the castle of 
 Langley, Northumberland, 
 England, has them, almost 
 monumental in character or 
 design. The castle of Mar- 
 cousis has an extension de- 
 voted to latrines, a set of 
 four for each story (Figs. 13 
 and 14). There is a pas- 
 sage-way extending from 
 the main building with solid 
 stone balustrade to prevent 
 people from falling. There 
 is a chute or drain from 
 each seat leading to a 
 double-arched cesspool. 
 This part of the building is 
 ventilated by a large window 
 ^ above the hii^hest tier of la- 
 ^ trines. The castle of Pierre- 
 fonds was constructed in the 
 fourteenth century. It has 
 a set of latrines arranged for 
 each story in a semi-circular 
 projection (Figs. 15, 16, and 
 17). The cesspool, as we 
 
 (!, Entrance will call the place for the 
 
 Winduw. , ^ , 
 
 receptacle of the excreta. 
 
 FTT 
 
 Ei 
 
 II ! I 
 
 II I 
 
 II I 
 
 LJ lJ 
 
 I I 
 
 I I 
 
 / ■ \ I 
 
 I 
 
 Fig. 13.— Elevation. Fig. 14. — Section. 
 Latrines, Jlaieimsis Castle. 
 ., Seat, b, Cliute or Drain 
 from Main Bnilding. d 
 
 /, Cesspool. c, BaluslniUo 
 
WATER-CLCSETS. 
 
 IS 
 
 has a door for cleaning out the filth, and a window for ventilation. 
 In the centre of this chamber is a large piece of cut stone on which 
 a man can stand conveniently while cleaning out the pit. The 
 chute or drain leads directly ..^//i ^^ v/y, 
 
 from the seats to the cesspool, 
 and is carried through the roof 
 for the purpose of ventilation; 
 the first instance probably, of a 
 soil-pipe being carried through 
 the roof. These closets, and it 
 
 Fig. 15 Plan of Cesspool. 
 
 A, Door, i, Window, g, Stone. 
 
 Kg. 16. — Plan of Principal Story. Fig. 17.— Perspective Sketcli. 
 
 Latrine Pierrefonds. 
 a, Seats, h. Chute or Drain, e, 
 Vent. c. Window, d. Small 
 Entrance Hall. 
 
 was nearly always the case at this period, as we have mentioned 
 before, were separated from the main building by a short hall with 
 a door at each end. Tiiis idea, in some instances, has been utilized 
 in modern times. These closets also have windows and vents in 
 each story. 
 
 Sometimes latrines were directly adjoining dungeons with drain 
 running to the cesspool (Fig. i8). 
 
 Sight-seers are frequently shown through these latrines, and are 
 
i6 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 informed that tlie cesspools are dungeons, tlie agonies which have 
 been endured by prisoners in their depths being graphically de- 
 picted by the guides. 
 
 Curiously enough the first mention we have of a water-closet, 
 proper!)' speaking, after the ones used by the Romans, is connected 
 with the publication of a poem by Sir John Harrington on the 
 " Metamorphosis of Ajax " (a close stool 
 or commode), published in 1596. Tiiis 
 poem was occasioned, as Henry Harring- 
 ton reports, by the author having invented 
 a kind of water-closet for his house at 
 Kelson.* 
 
 In the East water-closets, or what may 
 be called water-closets, seem to have been 
 used at an early date. 
 
 Ogilby, in a description of the city of 
 Fez, says : " The river Fez subdivides 
 into many clear-running channels through 
 the streets, serving not onl}' each jjrivate 
 house, but churches, inns, hospitals, and 
 other public places, to their great con- 
 venience. Round about the mosques are 
 one hundred and fifty common places of 
 ease, built four-square and divided into 
 single stool-rooms, each furnished with a 
 cock and marble cistern, which scoureth 
 and keepetli all neat and clean, as if these 
 places were intended for some sweeter em- 
 ployment."t 
 
 Tavernier, in his " Relations to the 
 Seraglio," says : " The places for the 
 easing of nature are on the right hand 
 divided into four little rooms, which are 
 always kept very clean, and paved with square pieces of white 
 
 ^- iVnr/rr .4;)//'/f/^/', puLi'*-' xi. Isdl. Now edition, 
 t Ogilby'.s A/rie-i, page iss. 1670. 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 Latrine. b, Dungeon. 
 0, Clmlc or Drain. 
 /, Cesspool. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 17 
 
 marble. The Turks do not sit down as we do when we are in those 
 places, but they squat down over the holes, which is not half a foot, 
 or a little more, above the ground. The hole is covered with an 
 iron i)late, which rises and falls by a S|)ring, and turning one \\'ay 
 or the other, at the falling of the least weight upon it, resumes the 
 station it was in before as soon as the ordure has fallen from it. 
 I have observed that the Turks and generally all the Moham- 
 medans do not use paper in such cases, or upon any indecent occa- 
 sion, and when they go to those kind of jilaces they carry along 
 with them a pot of water, to wash themselves withal, and the iron 
 plate is also made clean at the same time, and so the hole being 
 always covered, and the iron plate always kept clean, there 
 can be no ill smell in the place, and that the rather for the small 
 current of water that passes under tliat place carries away all the 
 ordure." 
 
 " A little gallery which lies to the left hand of the bath, 
 
 leads to places designed for the easing of nature, and every seat 
 has a little cock which supplies them with water to wash them- 
 selves after they are done.'' 
 
 Baldwin Latham, quoting from Ewbank, would lead us to sup- 
 pose the above-mentioned cocks were primarily for the purpose of 
 washing the bowl of the closet, if there was one, while it was for 
 the purpose of washing the person using the closet. 
 
 We see no mention of water-closets in Europe again until 1770. 
 During the intervening period, while art had professedly entered 
 into a new life, the useful arts seem to have been ignored. 
 
 In England a close stool or commode, called an ajax, or jakes, 
 was generally used. According to Viollet-le-Duc and other writers, 
 cleanliness, the first principje of sanitation, was thought of very little 
 importance during this period. 
 
 Privies were used in Germany before they were in France. In 
 Paris people were allowed to throw their excreta from the windows 
 into the street, provided they gave the verbal warning, " Gare /' 
 eau" three times. In Edinburgli the same custom prevailed; 
 parties walking the streets had necessarily to cry " Hand your 
 han," for fear of what might befall tliem. 
 
l8 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 The above practice was forbidden in Paris in 1395, but seems to 
 have continued in Edinburgli until 1750. It was during this 
 period also, that men walked the streets of Edinburgh carrying 
 l)ails or buckets for the public convenience, and wearing a cloak 
 huge enough to enveloi^e their customers and apparatus, crying 
 " Wha wants me for a bawbee." 
 
 The Parisian code of laws, improved in 1513, expressly ordered 
 that every house should have a privy, but as late as 1700 a. d. the 
 police were instructed to close all houses whose occupants did not 
 provide one within a month. 
 
 During the reign of Louis XIV. of France the courtiers found it 
 necessary to ease themselves in the halls of the palace of Versailles 
 because there were neither privies nor water-closets. Viollet-le- 
 Duc tells us that close stools were used in the palace of Versailles 
 in the eighteenth century. He also writes of an old lady belong- 
 ing to the court of Louis the XV. of France, who passed through 
 the halls of St. Cloud with him when a young man. Tiie odor of 
 an offensive vessel caused her to exclaim with pleasure, " This 
 smell recalls the good old times." Some of our modern closets 
 would have deliglited the old lady. 
 
 Privies were not used in Spain until about 1770, and have not 
 been used in Warsaw more than fifty years. As late as 1846 we 
 find in Berlin "small closets located on die landings of the stairs, 
 which require to be emptied e\ery other night, to the no great 
 satisfaction of the olfiiclory nerves." 
 
 Aubrey, writing in 1718, describes a water-closet which he had 
 seen. He says : " Here (at Sir Francis Carew's, IJeddington, Sur 
 rey) I saw a jjretty machine to cleanse an House of Office — viz., 
 l)y a small stream of water no bigger than one's fingers, which ran 
 into an engine made like a bit of a fire shovel which hung upon 
 its centre of gravity, so that when it was full a considerable body 
 of water fell down with some force and washed away the filth.'' 
 
 This must have been very much like the one seen in Fez by 
 Ogilby. 
 
 S. S. Hellyer gives a cut of a water-closet taken from Osterly 
 House, which he considers a t\pe of the closets used in England 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 19 
 
 one hundred to one hundred and fifty jears ago. Describing it he 
 says:* "A niche in a fair-sized room was formed to receive the 
 , marble closet-pan [bowl], and a door 
 
 shutting up close to the seat hid the 
 whole arrangement from sight. A lead 
 soil-pipe was connected with the outlet- 
 plug (plunger) waste of the pan, and 
 continued from it to the drain, which 
 was brought into the house to receive 
 it. The soil-pipe had no ventilation." 
 (Fig. 19). 
 
 A. J. Roubo describes a water-closet, 
 and also gives several views to illustrate the subject in the great 
 French book on joiners' work (L'Art Menuisier), published in 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 , Bowl. 6, Plunger, c Waste. 
 
 d, Overflow. e, Supply. 
 
 h. Handle. 
 
 Fig. 20.— Plan, or Top View, 
 li, Bowl, c. Waste with plungor re- 
 moved, e, Supply, f. Bidet- 
 attachment. ^.'Overflow. 
 
 Fig. 21 Longitudinal Section. 
 
 a, e, d, e, f, Same as Fi:;. 20. 6, Plunger. 
 g, Seat Cover. 
 
 1770.1 I think these are the earliest illustrations of a water- 
 closet extant. (Figs. 20-25). The bowl is cut from a single block 
 
 Fig. 22.— Cross-Section. 
 Letters same as above. 
 
 Fig. 23.— Section of Closet. 
 I Without bidet-attachment and diflerent ar- 
 I rangement of seat. Letters same as Fig. 21. 
 
 of stone, all the inside lines being curves so it will not retain the 
 filth as readily, and be easier to clean than if it Avere in another 
 
 * Sanilarij Plumbing. 1882. 
 
 t VArt Menuisier, page 203, plate 69, Vol. II. 1770, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 ^^m y^^^'^<^>\^^'^^^^^^ 
 
 -^/ 
 
 r 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 View of seal siiowiiig mitres and 
 
 joints. 
 
 shape. The lead supply-pipe has T-shaped handles and a nozzle 
 spread into the form of a fan, wliich is evidently for the purpose of 
 spreading the water over a larger surface of the bowl than would be 
 the case if the nozzle was of the same shape as the pipe. The above- 
 mentioned closet is one of the simplest forms of plunger-closets, 
 and if we are determined to use a 
 closet of this class, then the sim- 
 pler style would be better and 
 more cleanly tlian tliose which 
 have concealed and foul com- 
 partments in which the plunger 
 works, and of which only experts 
 have cognizance. In this closet 
 we see a branch from the suppl)'-pipe which could have been used 
 only as a bidet-attachment. This has a hinge-joint so it can be 
 folded back under the seat when not in use. The wood-work is 
 carefully mitred, being tongued and grooved wherever it is advan- 
 tageous, as is shown 
 by the details. A lid 
 covers the seat, and is 
 made so it will fit as 
 nearly air-tight as pos- 
 sible when it is closed. 
 The closet described 
 was called " a closet 
 with a plug" (Lieuxde 
 soupapes), and it was 
 in use in France a 
 long time before it was in England, as the author informs us. 
 
 The first English patent* for a water-closet was issued in 1775 
 A. D., to Alexander Cummings, a watch-maker in Bond Street. 
 This closet has a sliding valve, or slider, as it is called, between the 
 trap and bowl. The title being " a water-closet upon a new con- 
 struction," proves the use, we might say the common use, of 
 water-closets during and before this time, but of a different pattern 
 * JBrilish Paleiil-Jleports,Yol. X]Y., X(i. llii.'i, 
 
 Fig. 25. — Details of Joiners' Worlc. 
 
 u., Cover. 6, Seat, d, Bowl (stone), c, Opening 
 
 for plunger and cocli lianJles. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 from Cummings's closet. Here we find the first recorded instance 
 of a siphon trap being used under and in connection with a water- 
 closet, although we have evidence of siphons having been used in 
 the time of the Egyptians. Below are quoted a few extracts from 
 Cummings's specifications: "The advantages of the said water- 
 closet depend upon the shape of the pan or bason [bowl], the 
 manner of admitting water into it [near the bottom], and on 
 having the stink-tiap hitherto used for water-closets so constructed 
 that its contents shall or may be totally emptied every time the 
 
 closet is used The stink-trap hitherto used for water-closets is too 
 
 well known to require a description here; and although it may 
 
 serve effectually to cut off all com- 
 munication of smell from the drains, 
 pipe and cesspool, it becomes in 
 
 Fig. 26. — Cummings's Closet. 
 
 , Bowl. 6, Slider, or valve. 
 
 d, Siphon-trap. 
 
 Fig. 27.— Prosser's Closet, 
 a, Bowl, ft, Plunger. A, Chamber for ball- 
 cock, j/. Balls lor cock, e. Supply. 
 
 itself a magazine of fetid matter, which emits an offensive smell 
 every time that it is disturbed by using the closet. In this water- 
 closet the pipe which carries off the soil and \\ater is recurved 
 about twelve or eighteen inches below the pan or bason [bowl] so 
 as constantly to retain a quantity of water suflicient to cut off all 
 communication of smell from below, and this stagnated water in 
 the recurved part of the pipe is totally emptied and succeeded by 
 fresh every time the pan or bason is emptied .... Tlie horizontal 
 sections are circular, or nearly so." The mechanism is very clearly 
 shown in the drawing which accompanies the specification. If the 
 siphon-trap fulfils the the duties specified, and we think it does, 
 why complicate matters with the "slider."? (Fig. 26). 
 
22 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 The next patent* was issued in 1777 to Samuel Prosser, a 
 plumber living in tlie parish of Martin-in-the-fields, for a plunger- 
 closet with a double-ball-cock for shutting off" the water when it 
 had risen to a certain height in tiie bowl, and for turning on the 
 water-supply when it liad fallen below a definite point. Here we 
 see, for the first time, the (as we consider it) pernicious practice of 
 placing the plunger and ball-cocks in compartments separated from 
 the bowl, as far as the sight can penetrate, but connected as far as 
 the deposits from the water and filtli are concerned. This closet 
 is described in the specifications as " a water-closet upon an en- 
 tirely new construction, wliich will always remain free from any 
 offensive smell." We, at the present time, know too well the folly 
 
 Fig. 28.— Bvamah Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Valve-box. c, 0\'erflow. rf, Supply, e, Handle and jiull-rod. 
 
 /, Wire to taali. g, Spring, h. Valve-crank'. 1, Lever, m, Fan. 
 
 of such claims. Wherever concealed chambers exist connected 
 directly with the bowl, there filth and decayed matter «'ill accumu- 
 late, and will become not only offensive to our olfactory nerves, but 
 hurtful to our health. ']"he excreta, in finely-divided particles, in 
 
 * British Puleiif Bejmrls, Vol. XV,, Xo. IICO. 
 
WATER-CI.OSETS. 
 
 23 
 
 this and all similar cases, has free access to compartments that can 
 never be cleaned without the assistance of an expert mechanic 
 (Fig. 27). 
 
 In 1778 Joseph Bramah had a patent* issued to him for a water- 
 closet with a valve at the bottom of the bowl, working on a hinge. 
 This valve was for the purpose of cutting oft" all connection with 
 the soil-pipe (Figs. 28, 29). It will be seen at a glance, that tliis 
 closet was the forerunner of a large number of inventions, differing 
 more or less from the original, of which the parent is certainly equal 
 
 Fig. 29.— Detail of Valve in the Bramali Closet. 
 a, Valve, b, Valve-seat, c, Place for crank, d, Hinge. 
 
 to, if not superior to, any of its offspring. All valve-closets with a 
 horizontal valve working on a hinge, and the numerous patterns of 
 pan-closets, are an outgrowtli from the Bramah. The valve works 
 in a small chamber not much larger than the pipe. The mechan- 
 ism is comparatively simple, and it has a simple U-trap as an 
 overflow. We also note the flap or fan placed over the supply-pipe 
 
 * British Patent-Beporls, Vol. XV., No. 1177. 
 
24 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 for spreading the \yater over the bowl. T quote the following from 
 the sjiecifications : " In this closet two \;i!ves are simultaneousl)' 
 acted on by the handle. The one valve is placed under the bottom 
 of the basin [bowlj.and when closed retains any water that may be 
 therein, thus cutting off all smell that may be therein. It moves 
 on a horizontal axis, and in such a direction that its surface is the 
 more thoroughly washed every time tlie contents of the basin is 
 discharged, both b)' the water falling upon it whilst opening, and 
 by its meeting the water wlien shutting to again. The other valve 
 is placed in the service-box, or the top part of the feeding-pipe; 
 this valve opens and shuts in a similar manner: always meeting the 
 natural currrency of the water, when shutting, and falls from it 
 when oi)ening, and is not liable at any time to have its motion ob- 
 structed by the frost, no part of it being immersed in the water. Its 
 
 movement is com- 
 municaled through 
 a lead-pipe or tube, 
 soldered into the 
 part where it acts, 
 and is continued 
 above the highest 
 surface of the water 
 in the reservoir." 
 From the drawings 
 it \N ould appear that 
 the bowls of the last- 
 three water-closets 
 mentioned were 
 made of lead, al- 
 though there is no 
 statement to that ef- 
 fect in the specifica- 
 tions. 
 Patents were issued to James Grease, 1782; David Riz, 
 1783; and Thomas Roundtree, 1789, for improvements on com- 
 modes. 
 
 (copy OF PATENT DRAWING). 
 
 Fig. .'iO.-^.Nslilcy's Walcr-Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl, ft, Snpplv ti) bowl, c Valve, d, Stlnk-trap. 
 
 e, God-piece. /, Hall-rofk. </ Supply to cod-piece. 
 
 h, Waste from cod-piece, j, Beaiii. fc, Wire 
 
 to tank. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Ill 1792 a patent was issued to John Ashley* for "a New In- 
 vented Self-Acting Water-Closet (Fig. 30), which constantly keeps 
 itself sweet and clean and is upon a more simple construction than 
 any heretofore discovered." This is a valve-closet supplied by a 
 tank, the hopper being flushed by pressure on the seat. The speci- 
 fications say : " Anyone sitting on the seat presses it down about 
 an inch, which presses on the beam, and opens the sucker in the 
 upper part of double cistern and lets the water in, and wlien the 
 person rises off the seat the upper sucker closes and opens the 
 lower sucker and lets the water down the two pipes; the one 
 washes the bason [bowl] while the other fills the cod-piece and 
 causes the air-ball to rise, the closer [valve] falls and lets out soil 
 and water into said stink-trap, and by means of the small pipe the 
 cod-piece is emptied of the water, the ball falls and raises the closer 
 [valve], and prevents the effluvia ascending." 
 
 The common form of stink-trap is used under this closet, as we 
 are told by the author, and in 
 this way we gain as clear an in- 
 sight into the form of trap used 
 at that time as it is possible to do 
 from such an imperfect drawing. 
 It was probably something like 
 our D-traps. 
 
 A patentt was issued to 
 Thomas Binn, carpenter, 1793, 
 for a valve water-closet (Fig. 31). 
 It is very much like the Bramah 
 closet, with the exception of the 
 way the levers are arranged in 
 
 *NN- 
 
 TT 
 
 Fig. 31.— Binn's Closet. 
 connection with a complicated a. Bowl, b Valve, c, Supply, d Wlrea 
 , ^ , ^ „ , . to tank. e. Overflow. / Soil-pipe. 
 
 tank for the purpose of flushmg y_ Lever, worked by seat. 
 
 the closet. Binn received a 
 
 patent for an improvement on his closet in 1799. The improve- 
 ment consisted in joining a bidet-pan to the bowl of the closet. 
 
 * British Patent-BepoHs, Vol, XXIV., No. 1875. 
 
 t British Patent-Beports, Vols. XXV. and XXXI., Nos. 1937 and 2352. 
 
2 6 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 William La\vi5 received a patent* in 1796 for an improved water- 
 closet. He show.s us a receu er and a top view of a valve which 
 he calls a pan. He does not claim novelty for either the pan or 
 the receiver, so it is jjossible that there maj- have been pan-closets 
 in use before the Bramah closet was invented, and therefore it may 
 be wrong to cast the odium of their parentage upon it. The 
 
 TX3 
 
 Fig. 32.— LaWs Closet, 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver or ci'SKiioiil. c, Soil- 
 pipe, rf, Ratcliet. e Supply. ./', I'liU-rod. 
 g, Wire to tank. «i, Catch. 
 
 Fig. 33.— Details of Pan. 
 
 a, Pan-valve, b .ixes. c, Ratcliet. 
 
 i1, Weisflit. 
 
 Laws closet is intended to act on the seat being relieved from 
 pressure. The handle is j)atentecl in connection with a self-acting 
 closet " to put the sclf-actiui:; paii to rights, and may be found very 
 useful at some time." . . . .Another accommodation is a lever con- 
 veniently situated to act by the foot The weight on the axis 
 
 of the pan turns back to a catch, that holds the pan fast to bear 
 the water for the next action of the closet. 
 
 The receiver or cesspool is very much like those used on pan- 
 closets at the present day. 
 
 French Patent Law began 1791. Between 1794 and 1800 (the 
 date which I have assumed as the date for ancient closets to 
 merge into modern closets) the French Government issued one 
 patent for a water-closet to De Coeur, January 5, 1796. 
 
 There was no patent issued for water-closets in America until 
 
 * Brilish PakiiL-lieports, Vol. XXVII., Xo. 2111. 
 
WATER-CtOSETS. i'J 
 
 1833 and 1835, 'and those were issues for portable water-closets or 
 commodes. 
 
 Reviewing contemporaneous literature we find that water-closets 
 before the nineteenth century were not considered a [lart of the 
 plumbers' work. There is no mention of water-closets in "Art du 
 Plombier," by C. M. de Gardette, an exhaustive work on the sub- 
 ject (1761-1779), while I find a description of the one described 
 above in " L'Art Menuisier," by A. J. Roubo. S. S. Hellyer tells 
 us that he could find no mention of them in the " Art of Building," 
 published in London, 1734, or in Campbell's "Compendious View 
 of all the Trades practiced in the cities of London and West- 
 minster," published in 1747. 
 
 A point which strikes me as curious is that T do not find men- 
 tioned or shown among the earliest closets, the simplest form or 
 hopijer-closet. AVas it because hopper-closets were not in use at 
 this eady date, or because they were considered too simple to put 
 on record ? 
 
2 8 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SECTION TI. 
 
 MODERN CLOSETS. 
 
 HE subject of water-closets tliat were in use before the 
 year 1800 was reviewed by the author in a paper read 
 before the Sixteenth Annual Convention of the American 
 Insiitute of Architects, printed in the preceding pages. In the fol- 
 lowing sections I will treat of the forms or patterns that have been 
 used between 1800 and the present time, covering' a period which 
 has been remarkably prolific in mechanical inventions and con- 
 trivances. 
 
 It would be neither useful nor profitable to describe all the in- 
 ventions for which patents have been issued on this device; but 
 those will receive due attention that have either merit in themselves, 
 or have merits or demerits that in tlie opinion of the author bear 
 upon the man)' i)atterns of closets now in use. 
 
 Classification. — -Water- closets may be divided into the classes in 
 whicli they naturally fall. This mode of classification was first used 
 by IMr. T. M. Clark, in his articles on " Modern Plumbing," pub- 
 lished several years ago. The " valve-closets " include all that 
 have a valve whose points of contact with the bowl or additions 
 thereto form a water-tight joint. The valve keeps a certain quan- 
 tity of water in the bowl. 
 
 " Pan-closets" include all that have a dish-shaped basin or pan 
 at the bottom of the bowl, The pan forms a water-seal with the 
 bowl or a projection therefrom. 
 
 " Plunger closets " include all that have a plug or plunger fitting 
 over or into the entrance of the trap or soil-pipe; by this means 
 any required amount of water is kept in the bowl. 
 
 Among " hopper-closets " I include all that have a simple bowl 
 and no mechanical contrivances other than a water-seal to keep the 
 sewer-air of tlie soil, drain or sewer pipes from entering the house. 
 
 Under the head of " latrines " are classed all rows of closet-bowls 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 29 
 
 which are in reality one receijtacle, having one outlet or junction 
 with the soil-pipe, and a trai), plunger or valve common to them all. 
 
 There are a small numher of water-closets that will deserve no- 
 tice, which cannot be properly jilaced under either of the above 
 classes. 
 
 Among the early inventions, by far the greater number were for 
 valve-closets. It is probable that hopper and pan-closets were in 
 use before the invention of valve-closets, while there is positive evi- 
 dence of the plunger-closet being in existence and use before the 
 invention of either the Cummings or Bramah closets. 
 
 VALVE-CLOSETS. 
 
 Valve-closets may be treated of under the head of sliding and 
 hinged valves, the latter being by far the most useful and numerous 
 type of this class. 
 
 It is sometimes difficult to decide, when the pan is intended to 
 fit tightly against the receiver, whether a closet belongs properl)' to 
 the valve or the pan class ; so under this head I describe only those 
 that have valves properly so called. The object of the valve is to 
 intercept any .sewer-air or organic germs that may come from tlie 
 traps, soil, drain or sewer-pipes, and at the same time to keep the 
 bowl filled with a certain amount of water, about half-filled in most 
 cases. The large volume of water deodorizes the fascal matter dis- 
 charged into it, and at the same time it jjrevents the bowl from 
 becoming soiled. 
 
 In connection with these closets we always find a compartment 
 between the bowl and soil-pipe, in which the valve either slides or 
 works on its hinge or spindle. This closet must of necessity have 
 an overflow. 
 
 In early times these closets were supplied from a special cistern 
 placed over and above the closet ; now they are supijlied either 
 from the main supply or from special cisterns. The water-supply 
 is generally turned on into the bowl, and at the same time the valve 
 of the closet is opened by one and the same lever. The largest 
 number of patents are issued for novelty in the manner of combfn- 
 iii^ these cranks, wires and levers with the hand-pull ; in some cases 
 
3° 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 the inventions are only remarkable for the complication of their 
 mechanism, the inventors forgetting that the foundation of their use- 
 fulness is simplicity. 
 
 Sliding- Valves. — The sliding-valve closets have the first closet 
 jiaLented in Great Britain in their class. (See Cummings' closet). 
 
 Liukiww's Closet — The only patent issued for a val\e similar to 
 the Cummings' valve via& issued to John Lucknowin the year 1854 
 
 by Great Britain. This closet 
 has a sliding-valve, with a cir- 
 cular hole of the same diameter 
 as the soil-pi| e in one end. 
 ■\Vhen ihevahehas been drawn 
 back as far as possible, the two 
 holes coincide, and the waste 
 matter in the bowl is precipi- 
 tated into the soil-pipe The sliding bar which operates the valve 
 is connected with the hand-pull. 
 
 Viiicv's Closet. — In the year 1824 there was a valve-closet in- 
 vented in England liy J.nnes ^'i^ey, that was the first of another 
 type belonging to this class. The 
 \alve in this dosct might be 
 called a sliding s;;Ue, that slides 
 up and down in a \ertic:il posi- 
 tion. Tlie vahe has grooxes or 
 guides in wliich it works. The 
 bowl is kept partially full of water 
 when the \alve is closed. The 
 compartment in which the valve 
 works is ventiLated, and the 
 
 Fig. 34.— Valve and Receiver of Lucls- 
 now's Closet. 
 
 tt, Slide-valvi'. 6,Hiilc in valve, r Re- 
 ceiver, d DviTfldW. r, Soil-pipe. 
 /, Pull-rod connected ^\■itll hand-pull. 
 
 Fig. 3.1. 
 riiiev's Closet, 
 
 branch from the water-closet 
 
 n Bowl. 6. Supply, c, Outlet to soil- 
 
 . pipe. ((. Vent to valve-compartment, 
 
 a flap-valve where it enters the '• Overflow. / Valve. .7 Ropeorclialn. 
 
 ■1 ■ ...i ^ , a h, Soil-pipe, i Fiushins rim. 
 
 soil-pijie. llie vent and overflow ° 
 
 pipes run directly through the wall and have their ends open on 
 
 the outside of the building. This closet has a minimum of space 
 
 (levoted to the valve-compartment, having a large body of water to 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 31 
 
 Fig. 36.— Tyler's Closet. 
 
 Top view .with bowl and part of 
 
 valve-chamber removed. 
 
 flush the drains and no water-seal trap under it, so it would be an 
 excellent closet according to Mr. Norman Shaw's ideas. A valve 
 of this kind and a|)parent weight would be liable to fail from waste 
 matter catching in the grooves, and in this manner preventing the 
 gate taking a proper seat. In this 
 closet I note, also, the earliest flush- 
 ing rim that extends around the bowl 
 in an annular ring, and has an outlet 
 so arranged as to flush and scour all 
 parts of the bowl. 
 
 Hanson's Closet. — A patent was 
 issued by die United States in 1882, 
 to E. Hanson, for a sliding valve 
 that is intended to slide across the 
 outlet of the closet, retaining its ver- 
 tical position, similar to the valve on the closet of S. N. Grubb, 
 but sliding up and down vertically, instead of horizontally, as in the 
 
 case of the latler. (See 
 Fig. 40). 
 
 Tylei^'s Close t. — In 
 1829, Hayward Tyler, 
 a Quaker, and a brass- 
 founder of London, in- 
 vented a closet with a 
 horizontal sliding-valve 
 that rotates on a pivot. 
 The valve consisted of 
 a circular disc with a 
 hole in one side of it, 
 which had the same di- 
 ameter as the soil-pipe. 
 When the disc is turned 
 so that the hole in it 
 
 Fig. 37. Tyler's Closet.— Section. 
 
 coincides with the opening in the soil-pipe or trap, the contents of 
 the bowl are emptied directly into- the soil-pipe. Motion is im- 
 parted to this valve by a hand-lever connected \o a vertical 
 
3^ 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 toolHed quadrant, that has its axis at rigJit angles to, and its teeth 
 geared witli, a horizontal quadrant. The axis 
 of tlie horizontal ()uadrant is also the pivot on 
 which the \alve turns, so that any movement 
 of the liand-lever will cause tlie valve to rotate 
 oil its centre. In this closet the valve-com- 
 liartuient is small and 
 it does not act as a 
 recei\'er for fiUh, the 
 waste matter passin 
 directly into the soil- 
 pipe or trap; but 
 the machinery is 
 ver)' comphcaied, 
 and for tliis reason 
 liable to get out of 
 order and to require 
 intelligent supei"\'i- 
 sion, which is rarely 
 CNpectetl from the 
 householder, and 
 never from the ser- 
 vants. I note three 
 water-closets in- 
 vented in the United States with pivoted horizontal sliding- 
 valves : S. N. Grubb, 1879; F- Watson, 1880; T.Robertson, 
 1881. 
 
 GriibU's Closet. — In Grubb's closet and in the otiier two men- 
 tioned above, the only difference being in tlieir details and in the 
 manner of working the \alves, is a disc that has a diameter a little 
 greater tlian tlie opening in tlie soil-pipe. This disc is attaclied to 
 one end of an arm, while at tlie other end is the pivot on which the 
 val\-e rotates. The valve lias springs to press it tightly against its 
 seat, and a branch from the supply-pipe to wasli off the vah'e and 
 to wash out the val\ e-comiiartment. The iiupply-valve is worked 
 by the same pull that rotates or slides the \'alve. 
 
 Fig. 38.— Tyler's Closet— Perspective View. 
 
 (•(, Bnwl. ft. (ivorflow. r. Supplv. i? Valve-compart- 
 
 nioiit. c, Enn-aiicc l.o soil-pipe in trap. /, Geared 
 
 ipKulraiits. <j, Liever. 
 
WATER-CLOSKl'S. 
 
 33 
 
 Fig. 39.— Section of Valve-cliamber. Fig. 40.— Section. 
 
 Grubb's Closet. 
 a. Bowl. 6, Valve, c, Valve-compartment, d, Entrance to soil-pipe or trap, 
 e. Supply-pipe to valve-chamber. /, Rod connecting with haud-puU. i, Springs. 
 
 Wilkin's Closets. — There was a curious sliding or turning valve 
 closet invented in England in 1846 by one J. W. Wilkins. The 
 receiver was a cylindrical box in which worked a cylindrical valve, 
 
 Fig. 41.— Section 
 
 a, Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 42.— Side View. 
 Wilkin's Closet. 
 5, Receiver, d, Trap, e, Vent-pipe. /, Supply to valve. 1, Crank. 
 7c, Lever connected with pull-rod. 
 
 a section only being solid. This solid part of the valve was kept 
 in position by a weighted lever, so as to form a bottom for the 
 the bowl of the closet ; when the lever was raised, it turned the 
 solid part of the valve away from the bottom of the bowl, drop- 
 ping its contents into the receiver. In connection with this closet 
 I find for the first time a vent-pipe connected with the crown of 
 the trap. The specifications claim it as a novelty. 
 
 Nortoris Closet. — The two following closets, which work on the 
 same principle as the Wilkins, were invented in the United Slates 
 
34 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 ill 1876 and 1882 respectively. Norton in his invention applied 
 
 tiie principle of a ground-cock to the valve 
 
 of a water-closet. The valve is simply a 
 piece of conjcal metal 
 with a hole the same di- 
 ameter as the soil-pipe, 
 which, when turned so 
 that th-y will be concen- 
 tric, will allow the waste 
 
 a, Bowl. b, Crank, 
 c, Val\e. d. Weight, 
 c, Soil-pipe. /, Spring. 
 
 j-v 
 
 Fig. 44. 
 
 Daggett's Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver. 
 
 c, Valve. rf, Set-screw. 
 
 e, Crank. /, Pull-rod. 
 
 matter in the bowl 
 to pass into the 
 soil-pipe. The 
 vah'e is kept in 
 position by the aiil 
 of a weiL;ht and 
 spring, as is shown 
 in the cut. 
 
 Ddi^fft/ 's Clos- 
 et. — Dag g e 1 1 ' s 
 closet in the action 
 of the valve is 
 almost identical 
 with the one in- 
 vented by Wilkin's. 
 The \alve is a seg- 
 ment of a c\'Iiiider that revolves on its axis. This \alve is operated 
 by means of a crank attached to the hand-pull. A\'hen the valve 
 lias revolved to a certain distance, it leaves the orifice at tne 
 bottom of the bowl open, 'i'his closet has a screw witli the 
 handle on the outside of the receiver, so ilie \'al\c may be 
 
 Fin'. 4.).— End View.— Downton's Closet. 
 
 ;i, Tii^fh:iii;r-pipe. 6. Supply-pipe, c, Bowl, rf, Cylinder, 
 
 /, \eiil-iiipe. (•/, Pistoii. /. Place lor handle. 
 
 It, Upward valve, i. Hand-hole. /.*, Vent. pipe. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 3S 
 
 made to press more firmly against its seat if it should become 
 loose. 
 
 Sliding-valve closets seem to 
 have been in actual use to a very- 
 limited extent, the reason proba- 
 bly being that the inventors or 
 manufacturers found that they 
 would not work in practice, it not 
 being practicable to make the 
 valve slide when and where the 
 operator desired. It would be al- 
 most impossible to adjust the parts 
 so they would have a water-dght 
 joint for any length of time. The 
 hinged valve-closets are generally 
 simpler in their construction ; a 
 tight joint with this form of valve is 
 more practicable, and there are a 
 large number of the hinged type of 
 valve-closet's in use at the present 
 day in all parts of the world. 
 
 Fig. 46.— Partial View of Top. 
 Downton's Closet. 
 
 HINGED-VALVE CLOSETS. 
 
 Among closets that have hinged valves, or valves working on a 
 spindle, I find one type in which the valve opens upward, another 
 outward, and another downward in a direcrion relative to the bowl 
 of the closet. 
 
 Downton's Closet. — Taking under consideration first the closets 
 in wliich the valves open upward or toward the bowl, I find the 
 first invention of tliis type was made in Great Britain in 1825, by 
 J. Downton, for what he calls a " pump-closet." In this closet the 
 matter in the bowl is drawn by the upward action of the piston 
 into a cylinder, where it is retained by a valve that opens only in 
 an upward direction. When the piston is pressed down by a 
 handle, the faecal and other matter is discharged in any direction 
 that may be desired. The return to the cylinder of the matter dis- 
 
36 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 charged is prevented by a flap-valve opening only in an upward 
 direction. To enable the piston to work easily, the cylinder has an 
 air-inlet near the top. The supply-valve is connected with the 
 handle that works the piston. Messrs. Tylor & Son, of Newgate 
 
 Street, London, manufacture Down- 
 ton's closet at the present day, with 
 
 Fig. 47.— Section. Sands's Closet. 
 
 a Bowl. 6, Discliarge-pipe. c. Piston. i1 I,i'ver. 
 (J, Cylinder, i, Viiives. 
 
 Fig. i%. 
 e, Supply. / Air-pipe. 
 
 what they consider an improved form of lever-handle, " which 
 
 works the double-action j)ump and water-tap at one action It 
 
 is equally effective above or below the water-line." 
 
 Saiids's Closet. — In the United States, in 1874, one Sands in- 
 vented a closet of this tyye that is \ery similar to Downton's. 
 This device is also intended to be placed below the water-line or 
 
 the point of discharge. By raising a 
 lever, the cxcrementitious matter in 
 the bowl is drawi b\' the suctiog of a 
 piston direct!)' into a cylinder. When 
 the lever is pressed down, the waste 
 matter may be discharged in any di- 
 rection required, through the soil-pipe 
 previously placed in the proper posi- 
 tion. The flup-val\'es, of which there 
 are two, opening in an upward di- 
 rection, |)revcnt the return of the 
 
 Fiff. 49.— Blackwood's Closet. 
 
 a. Bowl. 6. First receiver. 
 
 c, Second reeeiver. rf, Valve 
 
 c, Haud-pull. 
 
 waste matter to either the bowl or the cistern, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 37 
 
 Blackwood^ Closet. — I note, as tlie only instance of this type of 
 closet being intended for general use, one invented in this country 
 by W. Blackwood in i88i. In this closet the matter which drops 
 into the bowl would go directly into a large compartment or re- 
 ceiver. The valve is opened upwards by means of a combination 
 of levers connected with the hand-pull. When the valve is raised, 
 the water and excreta would find their way into a second receiver. 
 The first compartment, which opens directly into the room through 
 tlie bowl, would without doubt get and remain in a very filthy con- 
 dition. 
 
 Bunnetfs Closet. — The first closet invented with a valve which 
 opens in a direction 
 outward from the 
 bowl was designed 
 by an English engi- 
 neer named Joseph 
 Bunnett, in 1846. 
 This closet was de- 
 signed to be placed 
 below the water-line 
 or point of discharge. 
 
 This closet ap[)ears 
 to be simpler in its 
 construction than the 
 Downton closet, and 
 for that reason would 
 be better for the pur- 
 pose which that is 
 intended to fulfil. 
 The outlet at the 
 bottom of the bowl 
 and the piston which 
 works in the receiver 
 both have flap- 
 valves, which open 
 from the bowl in an pig. 51.— Top View.— Bunnetfs Closet. 
 
 Fig. 50.— Section.— Bunnett's Closet. 
 
 «, Bowl. h. Piston chamber, d. Piston, e, Valves. 
 
 /, Supply-pipe, g. Hand-lever, ft, Piston-rod. i. Rod 
 
 for operating supply-valve, /c, Inspection-hole. 
 
 I, Soil-pipe. ?«,'Fan. it. Connecting-rod. 
 
38 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Fig. 52. 
 Side View.— Bunnctt's Closet. 
 
 outward direction. The waste mat- 
 ter from the bowl will descend into 
 the receiver by the action of gravity ; 
 thence it would be ibrced b\- the 
 action of the piston through a third 
 valve into the soil-piiie. The last- 
 mentioned valve is for the purpose of 
 ])reventing the return of the dis- 
 charged matter into the receiver. 
 The outlet of the soil-pipe may be 
 carried in any direction desired. In 
 this manner the discharge of the ex- 
 creta may be governed to suit circumstances. "Water-closets of this 
 type may in rare instances become necessary; for instance, in cases 
 where it is required to put a water-closet below the point of 
 connection with the sewer. 
 
 When used it would be advisable to run the soil-pipe higlier 
 than its point of juncture with the sewer, so there could be no 
 back-flow from the sewer in 
 case the valves should leak — 
 and valves of this kind are 
 liable to leak at the most in- 
 opportune time. 
 
 Armstrong's Closet. — In 
 1848 a closet of this type and 
 class was patented in England 
 by John Armstrong. The 
 novelty in this closet consists 
 in the manner of opening the 
 vaKe, by means of a slotted 
 quadrant and cain. The 
 valve is lifted by -a cam at- 
 tached to a vertical rod, the cam being bolted to the rod so that 
 the valve will be lifted when the cam is turned on its greatest 
 axis. 
 
 Fc'ilJing's Closet. — Another English patent was taken out for a 
 
 Fig. 53. — Armstrong's Closet. 
 , Bowl. 6, Receiver, c, Trap, d, Valve. 
 c, Cam. /, Slutfeil quadrant. </, Con- 
 necting-rod. 
 
WATliR-CtOSEl'S. 
 
 39 
 
 closet, in which the valve opens outwardly, in the year 1855, by 
 Fletcher Feilding. 
 
 There is a reservoir below the bowl that forms a water-seal trap 
 for the overflow. Tliis reservoir 
 woukl become very filthy from de- 
 posits and stagnant water, as there 
 is no means of flushing it. The 
 valve has a leather washer, and is 
 lifted by means of a crank that 
 works in a U-shaped attachment to 
 the valve. 
 
 Bean's Closet. — Bean's closet, 
 used in Scotland, may properly be 
 classified as one of this t^pe of F'f 54.-Feiiaing's Closet. 
 
 - 1 a. Bowl. 6 Receiver, c. Valve, 
 
 valve-closets. The valve seems in- ^, Crank, e. Overflow. /, Washer. 
 
 , J , r ,, „ ff, Trap to overflow, 
 
 tended only for the purpose of re- 
 taining a large amount of water in the bowl, so that by opening 
 the valve quickly the whole amount would be discharged suddenly 
 into the soil-pipe, for the purpose of scouring it more thoroughly. 
 
 There is an opening above the \alve 
 which is an overflow. This closet is 
 simply a short hopper-closet with its 
 trap, the valve being placed where the 
 trap discharges into the soil-pipe. 
 
 Dummis's Closet. — F. Liger, in 
 the French work on water-closets, 
 urinals, etc., published in 1875, de- 
 scribes, among other closets, a valve- 
 closet of this type, which he tells us 
 was at that time (1875) '•'' common use in France. This closet has 
 a chamber or compartment at one side, very similar in appearance 
 to the ones used in connection with plunger-closets. In this 
 chamber there is a weight attached to the rod of the hand-pull and 
 connected with the valve by a short hinged arm. 'I'he weight, 
 which moves only in a vertical direction, keeps the valve pressed 
 tightly against its seat, and unless the weight is lifted, it would be 
 
 Pig. 55. — Bean's Closet. 
 
 M, Bowl. 6, Trap. c, A'alve. 
 
 d, Inspection-cover. 
 
40 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 impossible for tlie valve to open. F. Liger says of this closet, that 
 it is one of the best, uniting all the conditions required for healtii, 
 and that it is odorless. I can see no reason why it is exempt from 
 the faults of tlie class to which it belongs. 
 
 Duramis invented, in connection with his closet, a device for 
 separating the liquid from the solid excreta. At the point where 
 
 the trap enters the soil- 
 pipe it is divided into 
 two branches. A grat- 
 ing or jierforated plate 
 is placed over the outlet 
 nearest the closet, while 
 a valve opening out- 
 ward closes the one 
 furthest from the closet 
 bowl. This valve is 
 held in position by two 
 weighted levers. When 
 the waste matter is dis- 
 charged from the bowl, 
 it passes through the trap, but is checked by the valve and stopped 
 directly over the grating. The liquid matter would then pass 
 
 Fig. 56. Fig. 57. 
 
 Dummis's Closet. 
 
 u, Bowl. 6, Valve-comimrtraent. c. Trap. 
 
 d, Hand-puU. e, Supply-pipe. /, Soil-pipe. 
 
 </, Valve, h, Weijilit. i. Connecting-aim. 
 
 A-, Hinge, 
 
 Fig. 58.— Side View.— Dummis's Cloact. Fig. 59.— Section.— Dummis's Closet. 
 
 Pevipe for dividing liquid from solid oxcretr.T. 
 
 f, Water-closet trap. I, Soil-pipe for liquid matter, m. Soil-pipe for solid matter. 
 
 n, ValTe. o. Perforated plale. jo, q, r. Combination of weiglits and 
 
 levers for \'alvc. 
 
 through the perforated plate into the branch of the soil-pipe nearest 
 the closet bowl, leaving the solid matter to be discharged into the 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 41 
 
 Other branch of the soil-pipe by opening the valve. This wonld be 
 accomi)lished by raising the weighted levers on the outside. By 
 thus dividing the liquid from the faecal matter, its manuiial quahties 
 can be more easily utilized, and I find that the French inventors 
 almost invariably have this point in view in making their inventions. 
 This ])ractice must often be a detriment to comfort by reason of 
 the unpleasant odors generated, anil to cleanliness and health, for 
 as soon as the liquid matter is separated from solid matter, all the 
 scouring and deodorizing qualities of water are lost. The soil- 
 pipes must become very foul, as the solid excreta passes, in many 
 instances, through several stories befoie reaching its final receptacle 
 in a large barrel or iron can (Jvsse mobile). 
 
 Cart's Side- Outlet Valve-Closet. — W. S. Carr received letters 
 patent in this country for a closet similar to the French closet in the 
 arrangement of the valve and the weight which holds it in position. 
 
 Fig. 60. — Perspective. Doulton's Trapless Closet. Fig. 61.— Section. 
 a, Bowl. 6, Valve-compartment. 0, Valve. e, Vi-nt. /, Supply. 
 
 g. Overflow. A, Weifflits. t, Flushing-rim. A-, Valve-soat. 
 Z, Removable cover. )i, Valve-crank. 
 
 Doultoiis Trapless Closet. — Probably the best of this type, and I 
 think the best valve-closet, provided it has a siphon-trap below it, 
 properly vented, is the "trapless" closet manufactured by Doulton 
 & Co., Lambeth, London. This closet has a flushing-rim that gives 
 an equal distribution of water to all parts of the bowl, by means of 
 small holes in the rim which encircles the top of tlie bowl. The 
 manufacturer says : " The construcdon of the closet renders the 
 usual complication of levers, both for the supply and discharge 
 valves, unnecessary, as both are worked from the same spindle with 
 direct action at each end, a very small weight being necessary to 
 
42 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 render the discharge -valve tiglit." There is a metal rim for the 
 valve to fit against, while the valve has a yielding substance such 
 as rubber where it comes in contact with the seat, and an earthen 
 face. 
 
 The overflow from the bowl to the valve-compartment is sealed 
 by a U-trap. The bowl is furnished in different ornamental pat- 
 terns and attached to an iron receiver or valve-chamber by means 
 of bolts. The perspective view shows the simplicity of the mechan- 
 ism. The hand-imll is connected to the spindle, which turns the 
 valve by a slotted crank. The weight which holds the valve in 
 position is attached to the lower end of the pull-rod. The valve- 
 chamber of this closet has a large \ent-pipe, and a cover held on 
 by screws that maj' be easily removed for the purpose of cleaning 
 out this compartment. It is important that these inspection-covers 
 should fit air-tight; when once removed, they are generally put 
 back in a careless manner, and in the case of a trapless closet this 
 would allow free communication between the soil-pipe and the 
 
 house. Doul ton's 
 closet can receive its 
 water directly from the 
 water-main, through 
 his patent supply- 
 valve; or it can be 
 flushed from a cistern, 
 through a pipe with 
 an inch and a c^uarter 
 diameter. 
 
 Pohlefs Closet. — In 
 this countr)', in 1877, 
 a vahe-closet of this 
 tN pe was invented by F. Pohle)'. The val\-e is held in its ])lace 
 by a si)ring that encircles the rod by which the vah'e is drawn back 
 or held in position. The valve, of metal, fits against a pliable band 
 which is let into the bottom of the bowl. The valve is opened 
 by an L-shapc(l lever, and the bowl has a simple sijjhon over- 
 flow. 
 
 Fig. 62. - PoWey's Closet, 
 o, Bowl, ft, v'lilvp-cli^amber. c Valve, 
 pipe. <• Sprini: 
 
 /, Lever, rj. Overflow. 
 
 (?, Soil- 
 i. Rotl. 
 
WAI'ER-CLOSETS. 
 
 43 
 
 Tylor &» Son's Valve-Closet. — Tylor & Son, of Newgate Street, 
 London, inventeil, in 1878, a closet in which the valve opens in 
 the same direction as the closets described 
 above. The outlet to tlie bowl is at 
 the bottom ; a projection kom this open- 
 ing turns at right angles or forms a qiiar- 
 ter-bend, and on the end of this projection I 
 the valve finds its seat. The overflow I 
 enters the valve-chamber immediately 
 bark of the valve, and is sealed by dip- 
 ping into a box formed in the receiver. 
 The valve with a " rubber or other suitable 
 material, washer closes against the brass 
 or other metal valve-seat." This valve- ^'S' «/„J-t^,lc^°l\^^''«- 
 
 seat is clam[)ed to, and made to project be- «, Bowl. 5, Trap and receiver. 
 
 J ., , , , • 1 7 1 -1 c, Valve, d, Overflow, 
 
 yond tlie bowl, as shown m the detail cut. 
 
 The type of valve-closets which I. have last described has an ad- 
 vantage over other closets of this class, as well as over plunger- 
 closets, in the position of the valve and its chamber. The waste 
 matter passes directly into the soil-pipe with- 
 out passing through the valve-chamber proper, 
 as it does in other closets of this class, and the 
 water does not stand in this chamber, coating 
 it with foul deposits, as is the case in plunger- 
 closets. With this form of closet there is very 
 little opportunity for the back of the valve to 
 become foul, as neither the water nor waste 
 matter ever reaches it. 
 
 At the present day Doulton & Co.'s " trap- 
 less" closet and Bean's closet are used in 
 Great Britain, while Dummis's is used in 
 France. There are no closets of this type 
 manufactured in this country, and none in 
 use, unless a small number of the English 
 closets have been imported for parties who have been pleased with 
 their construction. 
 
 Fig. 64.— Tylor & Son's 
 Side Outlet Val re- 
 Closet. —Del all 
 of Valve. 
 «, Bowl. c, Valve, 
 c, Earthenware face. 
 /, Yielding waslier. 
 i, Metal seat. 
 /,-, Spindle. 
 
44 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 VALVES THAT OPEN DOWNWARD. 
 
 I now come to the last type of valve-closets, and this form of the 
 class ha;s been in use since the beginning of the eighteenth centui-y, 
 with slight variations in the arrangement of their mechanism, and 
 in the materials used in their construction. These closets, in which 
 the valve opens in a downward direction from the 
 bowl, have their prototype in the Bramah closet 
 invented more than a hundred years ago. Eng- 
 lish manufacturing firms, notably Tylor & Son, 
 Underhay, and Jennings, manufacture closets 
 under that name at the present day. Doulton & 
 Co. manufacture a valve very much like the Bra- 
 mah, adding a weight to the end of the lever. 
 
 rig. 65. 
 
 Early French 
 Valve-Closets. 
 
 ceiver'''' v 1^*^" ^^''"'''^''' '"oves the valve, and a vent-pipe to the re- 
 
 Fig. 66. 
 
 Early French Valve-Closet. — Liger gives a description of a closet 
 of this type which was first brought into use in France about the 
 year 1823. This closet had a metal valve which was intended to 
 fit tightly against the bowl. The valve was con- 
 nected with the hand-pull in the simplest manner, 
 by means of a short hinged arm. Judging from 
 appearances there was no weight to keep the valve 
 in position. The ])ull-rod and connecting arm were 
 both within the receiver. The opening where the 
 rod passed through appears to have received special Flameiits Closet. 
 
 attention. «i Bowl. 
 
 o, 1st Receiver. 
 
 Flaiiienfs Closet. — Another closet used in France *'^^"''- 
 
 a Balance-Talve. 
 was invented by M. Flaraent. The bowl, with a e, 2nd Receiver. 
 _ , . . . ,. , . , . /, Soil-pipe, 
 
 flushmg-nm, is set directly into a hopper or receiver. 
 
 This hopper has a large vent, which is intended to run into a warm 
 flue, if one is convenient; otherwise, into the outer air with a ven- 
 tilating cowl on top, M. Flanient designing a cowl in connection 
 with his closet. At the bottom of this receiver, having a seat on a 
 projection therefrom, is a balanced valve that works in a second 
 receiver or valve-chamber. The valve is hinged, and on the side 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 45 
 
 of the hinge opposite to, and forming a part of the valve, is a 
 weiglited projection that would cause the valve to rest firmly 
 against its seat. When the first receiver has become filled or par- 
 tially filled with water or excrementitious matter, the balance of the 
 valve would be overcome and the waste matter dropped into the 
 second receiver and soil-pipe. In the cases mentioned above, the 
 valve is intended to keep disagreeable odors from entering tlie| 
 house. They are not intended to be placed over a siphon-' 
 trap. 
 
 The following closets are almost widiout a single excep- 
 tion in common use at the present day in different parts of the 
 world. 
 
 Can's Valve-Closei. — W. S. Carr, of New York, invented a 
 simple vaJve-closet of this type in 1868. The bowl is set in a small 
 
 Hg. 67. Fig. 68. 
 
 W. S. Carr'9 Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver. d, Valve. e, Overflow. /, Lever. 
 
 hopper and the bottom of this hopper forms the valve-seat. The 
 overflow is in the space between the hopper and bowl. The valve 
 is held in position by a weighted lever. The inventor made some 
 improvements on this closet in 1875, calling the improved closet llie 
 " American Defiance Closet." The novelty consisted in having 
 the bowl and overflow made in one piece of earthenware, which is 
 bolted to the receiver. The receiver is enamelled, and the part 
 of the valve that shows in the bowl is also made of earth- 
 enware, closing against a rubber packuig. Henry Huber & 
 Co, noAV manufacture this closet with an opening at the top of the 
 
46 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 oveiHow for a vent-pipe, and tliey also furnish the bowls with a 
 vent pipe h-oni the closet bowl. 
 
 Peters' s Closet. — Messrs. Peters & Donalds, of Glasgow, Scotland, 
 manufacture a valve-closet in which the valve opens downward. 
 
 The bowl of this closet is set in a small 
 hopiier which is placed above and 
 forms a part of the receiver. The trap 
 or water-seal to the overflow in this 
 case is double, and has a vent-pipe 
 from ihe crown of the tra[), which would 
 prevent the trap from being siphoned 
 by the discharge from the bowl. 
 
 J. Bailey Denton considers this one 
 of the best closets in use, and in de- 
 scribing it says: "The valve arrange- 
 ment of this closet is composed of a 
 brass ilisc which is closed against an 
 india-rubber ring by means of a project- 
 ing arm cast on a spindle. By this ar- 
 rangement, the patentee states, the disc 
 is closed perfectly tight against any uneven sinface which at any 
 time may present itself." The valve is held in,position by the sim- 
 plest form of weighteil le\'cr, while the supply-tank is connected 
 with the closet by means of wires and bell-cranks, motion being 
 imparted to both at the same lime by the hand-pull. The trap, 
 «'hich is under the floor and formed in one piece with the receiver, 
 is not vented. Letters patent were issue<l lor the above closet to 
 lVlcrs& Peters, in 1871. 
 
 llellxei's ]'alvc-Closet. — S. S. Hellyer, of London, leceixed 
 ])ateiits, in 1875, for a valve-closet in winch the \al\e opened in 
 a downward direc lion from the howl. Tlie bowl is attached to the 
 receixer by set-si rews, and the receiver is enamelled. The part of 
 the vaKe which siiows from the bowl is earthenware, under which, 
 and with a larger diameter, is a disc of rubber, leather, or other 
 pliable material, which has a seat against a metal rim, in this man- 
 ner forming a water-tight joint. The rubber disc rests on a third 
 
 Flir. 69.— Peters's Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. S, lioccivcT. r. Valve, 
 e, lIuiiil-iMill. /. Wci-hU'il ]<■- 
 vcr. V- ^\ irt's III timli. A, A'ciit 
 to (i\'i.'rfio\v. i. Riiljbor-rint^' 
 (val\'o-.seat). /.•, Trapped over- 
 liuw. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 47 
 
 disc of brass or some other suit- 
 able metallic substance. The 
 valve is held firnil)- against its 
 seat by the usual weighted lever, 
 but the end of this lever, instead 
 of being bolted so as to work on 
 a fixed axis, is hinged or bolted 
 to a spring. By this means the 
 valve would be less liable to in- 
 jury from violent jerks at, or „.„„■„„,■„, , ^ 
 ' ' . ■" ' Fig. 70.— Hellyer'sValve-Oloset 
 
 careless droppmg of, the hand- „, bowI. 6, Receiver, c. Vent. 
 
 null The overflow enters the ''' Overflow. «, Supply, g. Weighted 
 pun. ine uveinow Liiceis tne ^^^^^ A, Hand-pull and stud for 
 
 receiver behuid the valve, and is opening supply-valve, i, wasle 
 
 , , , . ^ , preventer, k, Valve, 
 
 supposed to keep this part of the 
 
 valve and receiver clean. The receiver is ventilated, enamelled, 
 
 and small, being only large 
 enough to permit the vnlve 
 to work jiroperly. The 
 water is admitted to the 
 bowl through a flushing- 
 rim, and is taken from a 
 special cistern, or directly 
 from the water-main. In 
 the illustration the supply-valve is connected to a waste-preventer, 
 and is operated by a small adjustable stud attached to the hand- 
 pull by a set-screw. 
 
 Underhay's Valve-Closet. — F. G. Underhay, of London, manu- 
 factures the Bramah, with slight changes. He also manufactures 
 another simple valve-closet, in describing which he writes: "The 
 bottom valve shuts against a ring of thick India-rubber bedded into 
 a metal seating, effectually preventing leakage from unsoundness of 
 valve — the great drawback to the old valve or Bramah closet. A 
 good flush of water is obtained, no matter how carelessly the handle 
 is pulled up or suddenly let down .... As the connection is already 
 made between the supply-valve aiul fan, but one joint is necessary 
 in fixing these closets," 
 
 Fig. 71.— Detail of Valve.— Hellyer's Closet. 
 a, Earthen, or porcelain top. 
 S, Rubber, or metal disc, 
 c. Brass, or other metal back. 
 
45 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Tlie simple U-sliaped overflow enters the receiver, so as to flice 
 the valve A\hen it is open. En the 
 more costly closets of this kind are 
 silvered-glass valves, hermetically 
 sealed, so that a bright surface is seen 
 on looking- into the basin ; also white, 
 gold-lined, and fancy basins, cut-glass 
 and ivory handles, with silver-plated 
 dish and fans. This closet has been 
 extensively used in England. In the 
 illustration, one of Underhay's "air- 
 valve regulators is shown in position 
 attached to the closet. This regulator 
 will be described in the last section of 
 the book. 
 
 Demarcst's Whirlpool, Climax, and Acme. — Mr. John Demarest, 
 of the firm of J. L. Mott & Co., New York, has been a prolific in- 
 ventor of water-closet apparatus, and his closets have been exlen- 
 
 m 
 
 Fi.^r. 72. 
 Underhay's Valve Closet. 
 a. Bowl. h Overflow. c. Re- 
 ceiver, e Valve. / Weisjlitcil 
 lever. 7 Brass resiilalnr-valve. 
 i, KlJig of India-rubber. 
 
 -Section of Receiver. 
 
 Demarest's rioscts. 
 Fig-. V:;.—" Whirlpool "Closet. Fig. 74.- 
 
 (See Fig. 76 ior explanation of reference letters). 
 
 sivL'ly used in this country. He received letters patent from the 
 United States for a valve-closet, and also from Great Britain for 
 the same closet in 1876. J. L. Mott & Co. manufacture this closet 
 under three names: " \\'hirlpool," "Climax," and "Acme." The 
 valve and its mode of working and the receiver are the same in 
 each case. In the " \vhiilpoor' closet the bowl is placed in a 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 49 
 
 Fig. 75.— "Climax" Closet. 
 
 metal hopper that is joined to and forms a part of the receiver or 
 
 container, while in both the 
 
 other closets the bowl is 
 
 placed directly on the re- 
 ceiver, and iield in place by 
 
 metal buttons or strips 
 
 bolted' to the receiver, and 
 
 projecting over -a flange at. 
 
 the bottom of the bowl. In 
 
 the " Acme " closet the bowl 
 
 is attached to the receiver in 
 
 the usual manner by set- 
 screws. I quote the following from Demarest's specifications: — 
 " The basin-valve is operated by an arm upon a weighted rock- 
 shaft; the opening through which 
 the shaft (or spindle) passes is 
 rendered tight by a washer. The 
 weighted arm of the rock-shaft is 
 operated upon by teeth upon a 
 lever which receives motion from 
 an ordinary water-closet pull. 
 The valve which admits ^^■ater to 
 the bowl is operated by a cam on 
 the rock-shaft, and is provided 
 with a cup leather ])iston and a 
 spring to regulate the gradual 
 closing of the spring. ... The 
 
 is 
 
 Fig. 76. 
 Perspective View.— "Acme 
 
 Closet. 
 
 Demarest's Valve-Closets. 
 (Figs. 73, 74, 75 and 76.) 
 a, Bowl. S, Receiver. c, Overflow, valve (at the bottom of bowl 
 
 "'f^^^'lf^VPotllt^l ^'f o™ ?o '"'-^de of an elastic ring below the 
 open supply-valve. 1, Rubber-ring porcelain or enamelled surface. 
 
 Jc, Metal-seat. (. Swivel, n. Supply- ' 
 valve, m, Rod to operate supply- The weight on crank arm is 
 valve. o. Rock-shaft, or spindle. ^ ,, -j i -..i 
 
 p, Weiglited lever. q Counterpoise, preferably provided with a sprmg 
 
 *'J°Tnfer^'t"s|ringk.'''T Washer! between the weight and its arm, 
 w. Flushing-rim. :r. Flap-valve. to prevent concusssion." 
 
 y, Vent to overflow. ' . , . , ■ 
 
 In practice the weight is not 
 
 attached directly to the spindle, as described in the specifica- 
 
5° 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 tions, but is placed at the end of the lever, which is connected 
 with the liand-pull. (Figure 76). 
 
 The ovei'flow in the " \\'liiili)Ool" closet is between the bowl and 
 the hopper in which the bowl is set; while the "Climax" and 
 "Acme" have the greater part of the overflow moulded on the 
 bowl. A vent pi[)e enters ihc overflow at its crown, and is in- 
 tended to cany ofl' any gases generated in the receiver and prevent 
 the trap of tlie overflow from being 'siphoned. The overflow of 
 the " Climax closet " lias a flap-valve as au additional protection 
 against gases entering the room througli the overflow. This flap- 
 valve was probably added because of Dr. Fergus's experiments on 
 the permeability of water-traps; while Dr. Carmicliael's experiments 
 
 on tlie same subject at a later 
 date have caused the manufac- 
 turers to leave it out of the 
 " Acme" closet. The "Climax" 
 and "Acme" closets both have 
 flushing-rims which differ from 
 each other in their form. 
 
 'jfeniimgs^s ]''alvc-Closet. — J. 
 G. Jennings, of London, in- 
 vented a valve-closet which was 
 [latented in this country in 1880, 
 having previously received let- 
 ters patent from Great Britain in 
 1878. This closet Jemiings 
 claims as an improvement on the Bramah. The bowl supply, 
 rcccl\'er, \ent-|)i[)es, and manner of working tlie valve haxe nothing 
 new in them; the principal novelty is in the arrangement of the 
 overflow. Tile \alve was invented by Jciniings in 1868. The 
 overflow empties directly into a U or lialf-S traji, in which tliere is 
 a bell opening lor a laxatory or l)alh waste (this is claimed as a 
 r.o\el feature). Tliere is a ball-xah'c in the overflow which has its 
 seat on a sharp metal ring. 'I'liis ball would take and keep its 
 seat b\' the action of gra\'it\-, being raised onl)' by water coming 
 into the leceiver, and backward pressure either of water or gas 
 
 Fig. 77. 
 Top View. — Jenniiifre's Valve Clo.set. 
 a Bowl. h, VmIvc. c Receiver. 
 
 d. Vent-pipe. r. .Supiily. / Ball-ralv c. 
 9, OpeninstbrlrtViilorywasle. /i. Over- 
 flow, i, Tjevev for siiiiply-valve. 
 A-, Waste-preventer. Z, Fan. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SI 
 
 would only tend to make the ball fit more tightly, unless some 
 foreign substance should get between the ball and its seat. To 
 prevent waste matter entering 
 the overflow, the valve at the 
 bottom of the bowl, when open, 
 closes the outlet of the overflow 
 into the rec§i\er. The receiver 
 is properly vented. 
 
 In 1868 Jennings received 
 patents for an impro\enieut on 
 valves for closets of this class. 
 A vulcanized India-rubber band 
 was properly stretched in a 
 groove or slot which was made 
 in the valve for this purpose. In a fitting attached to the receiver was 
 another vulcanized-rubber ring of the same diameter as the one in 
 the valve, the bottom of the last rubber ring being V-shaped. When 
 these two rings come in contact, as they would do -when the valve 
 is closed, in a valve of this kind, the joint would remain water-tight, 
 
 Section. 
 
 Fig. 78. 
 -Jennings's Valve-Closet. 
 
 Fig. 79.— Section Jennings's Valve.— Details. 
 
 aa, Viilcanized-nibber rings. ft, Top of receiver, c. Collar, or fitting for 
 
 rubber ring. d. Bowl, e, I'orcelain face, f. Metal bade. g. Arm. 
 
 A, Nut. t, Slotted crank. y, Spindle. 
 
 even in case a small foreign body should come between the points 
 of contact with its seat. The efficacy of this joint and many others 
 described depends upon the durability of vulcanised rubber. This 
 
52 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 valve combines the best points of all the valves belonging to the 
 useful closets of this class. It will be seen by reference to the dif- 
 
 Top View.^ennings's Valve. 
 
 ferent closets described herein, that in the practicable closets the 
 valve either has a rubber disc or ring around its circumference, or 
 has a seat against a rubber ring, while this closet lias the ring in 
 both places, one being a portion of the valve, and another forming 
 the valve-seat. 
 
 The Alexander Closet. — Tire Alexander closet was invented in 
 1880, and is called by the inventor the " Sanitary Closet.'' This is 
 one of the few valve-closets that have a ball-cock and compart- 
 ments for floating it connected with the bowl. In 1835 Joliii 
 Odys combined a float snp[»ly-vah-e-chamber Avith a valve-closet. 
 The patentee of the Alexander closet claims that " there is no po,s- 
 sibility of the float being fouled; the bottom of bowl and lower 
 valve being thoroughly washed each time by a flush from tank" 
 (ball-cock chamber). The top of the valve, which is porcelain, can 
 be taken oft", and a new M'asher placed on without dsconnecting 
 the closet. There is a connection between the supply-chamber and 
 valve-seat, the flowing of water through which is sup[)Osed to pre- 
 ■\ent paper, etc., from lodging either on the valve or its seat. The 
 rock-shaft or spindle has a stuffing-box to trunk to prevent an' eg- 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 S3 
 
 cape of gases generated in the receiver. The height of water in the 
 bowl may be regulated by adjusting the float. The overflow is 
 
 Alexander's Closet. 
 
 Fig. 82. 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Snpply-valve compartmeut. c, Float for supply-valve, d, Valve, 
 e, Opening between bowl and supply-valve compartment. /, Opening to wash 
 valve. </, Water-supply pipe, h, Overflow, i Supply-valve, k, Receiver. 
 I, Hand-puU. n, Weights on rock-sliafts. 
 
 " doubly-trapped and has an outlet for ventilation." These closets 
 are furnished by Miller & Coates, of New York, made entirely of 
 earthenware, or with an 
 iron body in which the 
 earthenware bowl is set; 
 the side of the bowl form- 
 ing, in this manner, one 
 side of the supply-valve 
 chamber. 
 
 Llewellyn's Closet. — In 
 1864, Peter Llewellyn, a 
 Welshman, invented a 
 closet belonging to this 
 class in which the valve 
 is worked by means of an 
 eccentiic inclined plane or 
 
 cam that turns on aver- pig. gs.— Perspective.— Llewellyn's Closet, 
 tical axis. Motion is im- 
 parted to this axis either by means of a crank placed just above and 
 
54 
 
 WATEP-CLOSETS. 
 
 pajallel to the seat, or by means of a hand-pull connected by a 
 combination of wheels with this upright axis. The valve is kept in 
 position by means of a spring which encircles the axis. The arm 
 to which the valve is attached lias a projection or stud that rests 
 on the cam, which, when the axis is turned eitiier by the crank or 
 
 hand-pull, travels or slides up 
 or down the surface of the in- 
 clined ])lane, at the same time 
 causing the valve to open or 
 close. The valve is of metal 
 and it has a seat of a more pli- 
 able material. 'I'his closet has 
 a trapi)ed overflow. The dif- 
 ferent parts of the closet and 
 their arrangement are clearly 
 shown in the illustrations. 
 
 Fresfon's Close/. — There was a 
 closet of this class invented in 
 England by one Preston in 
 1876. The novelty consisted 
 
 in three valves, each in its 
 d, OverHow. e, Spring. /, A inticalaxis. . ,■ , 
 
 .7, Connectins-rod. /i, Knnb for hand, separate receiver, one directly 
 
 n, Valve. o, Cam or Inclined iilane. below the othei, and so ai- 
 
 ranged that when the top valve 
 is open the second one is closed. In this way it is intended to 
 shut off direct communication with the sewer. 
 
 Rice &" Sargent's Closet. — A closet was invented in this coun- 
 try in 1876 by Rice & Sargent. This closet was intended to be 
 placed below the point of discharge. The spindle on which the 
 valve works, and to Aviiich it is connected by an arm six or eight 
 inches long, is turned by the same lever and at the same time that 
 a piston, which fits into the cylinder below the receiver is pressed 
 tlown. The waste matter is forced into the soil-pipe by the action 
 of this piston. There is a valve at the entrance to the soil-pipe 
 that opens only in a downward direction, so as to jirevent the re- 
 turn of waste matter into the cylinder. This valve is held in posi- 
 
 Fig. 84.— Section.— Llewellyn's Clos 
 a Bowl. 6, Fan. v. Receiver. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 55 
 
 tion by a spiral spring. The mechanism of this closet does not 
 appear to be as simple as that in the " Eunnet " or " Sand " closets 
 (Figs. 47, 48, 51-52) both of which are intended for use below the 
 water line. Among other closets of this class, in which the trap, 
 when one is used, is below the floor-level, I will mention the 
 " Victor " closet, in which 
 the valve is moved b)' a 
 toothed lever, similar to 
 the D e m a re s t valve- 
 closets ; Bolding's simple 
 closet; Atwater's closet; 
 Edwards's closet, worked 
 by geared tooth wheels ; 
 Blackwood's closets, for 
 he has invented several 
 complicated ones belong- 
 ing to the above class; 
 James & Drewett's closet, 
 similar to the Bramah, 
 differing from it only in 
 the combination of the 
 levers for opening the 
 valve. The closets just 
 mentioned above are 
 either in use at the present 
 time or have been recently invented. 
 
 Other closets, which jjroperly belong to this class and type have 
 been patented and manufactured, but the variation is so slight 
 from some of the closets that have been already described, tliat I 
 do not think it necessary to describe them. 
 
 Tylor's Valve-Closet. ~'Vv;o prominent English firms manufac- 
 ture valve-closets in whicli the valve-chamber or receiver is formed 
 in one piece with the trap, the combined trap or receiver being 
 placed above the floor-level. J. Tylor & Son, London, claim the 
 trap above the floor as a novelty in their valve-closet, which was 
 invented in 1874, and improved in 1876-1878. The bowl is con- 
 
 Fig. 85.— Bice & Sargent's Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver, c, Pislon-cl.amber. 
 
 (J, Mam valve, c, Piston-valve. /, Connecting- 
 bar, g, Valve-avm. I; Piston, o, Valve at 
 entrance to Soil-pipe. 
 
S6 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 nected with the receiver by small set-screws. The space between 
 the bowl and the flange is filled with putty or a cement of wliitc 
 and red lead or some similar composition. From the different 
 
 a, Bowl, 
 c, Vent-iiipe. 
 
 -Section. Fig 
 
 Tylor's Valve-Closets. 
 6, Trap and Rc'coivt-r. c, Valvo. 
 
 /, Removable cover for hand-hok". 
 A, Weighted lever. 
 
 ST.— Perspective. 
 
 cl, Entrance to soil-pipe. 
 (/, Hand-pull, 
 o, Overflow. 
 
 illustrations it maybe seen that this is a common mode of connect- 
 ing the bowl and receiver. The receiver is made of galvanized, or, 
 more properly speaking, zinc-coated iron, and the valve, when 
 oj)en, closes the mouth of the 
 overflow trap, thus, the inventor 
 claims, keeping filth from enter- 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Detail of Yalve.^Tylor's Closet. 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver, c, \'ah'e. 
 e, Metal-seat. /, Leather or rubber. 
 
 Fig. 89. 
 
 Improved Rcct'iver.— Tylor's Closet. 
 
 6, Reeeiver. c, Box for overflow. 
 
 d, Trap, c, Opening for bath or lavatory 
 
 waste. 
 
 ing the overflow, and at the same time preventing siphon action 
 from taking place. The trap has a small box cast on the part back 
 of the valve, into which the overflow pipe runs, and dipping below 
 the water-line it forms a trap. 
 
 Tylor & Son manufacture several valve-closets which differ from 
 each other only in unimportant details. They invented, in 1878, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 57 
 
 as an improvement on their old closet, an inlet into the receiver 
 rnnning below the water-line, for a bath-tub or lavatory waste-pipe. 
 We have all probably had experience in the effect produced when 
 a trap like this becomes accidentally stopped in any way, as this 
 was a common mode of connecting the waste-pipes (it saved a 
 
 C? g 
 
 Fig. 90. Pig. 92 
 
 Details of Tylor's Valve-Closet. 
 a, Crank. 6, Chain, c, Lever, d, Trap to closet e and /, Wheels at right- 
 angles, jr, Stud for supply-lever. A, Hand-pull, i, Eack. A;, Toothed-lever. 
 
 trap) a few years ago in this country. A small number of plumbers 
 still continue the bad practice. 
 
 In the closet under consideration the valve is very similar in con- 
 struction to the Hellyer valve, a rubber or leather disc enclosed be- 
 tween an earthenware disc on top and a metal one beneath. The 
 earthenware disc is the smallest, thus enabling the pliable disc to 
 fit against a projecting metal seat. The tra]is of these closets have 
 an inspection cover bolted to the tiaji, with a vent-pipe inserted 
 
S8 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 into the crown; tlie vent is so very small as to be almost, if not 
 (jLiile, useless. 'J'liere is no vent-pipe to the receiver. 'I'ylor claims 
 as his invention the three ways of opening the \alve illustrated 
 on page 57. The first method was by forming a rack and pinion of the 
 hand-pull and a segmental projection on the lever that opened the 
 
 ^ valve. 'I'he second methiid was 
 
 by means of a crank placed in a 
 horizontal position above the seat 
 (see Fig. yi), as shown in the 
 cut. This crank when turned 
 imparts motion to a combination 
 of wheels, on one of which is a drimi upon which a small chain is 
 wound (the drum is in a vertical position)'. In this manner the 
 weighted lever is raised or lowered. The third method consists in 
 simply attaching a cliain to the lever and a bell-crank ; any pressure 
 on the crank would raise the lever. 
 
 Doulton Lambetli Valve-Closet. — Doulton & Co., of England, 
 manufacture a valve-closet in which the receiver or valve-compart- 
 ment and trap are in one piece, and this piece is placed above the 
 
 Fig. 93. 
 Flushing-Riin.— Tjlor's Closet. 
 
 -Section. Fig. 95.— Perspective. 
 
 Doulton Lambetii Valve-Closet, 
 a, Bowl. 6, c, Receiver ami trap, rf, vent-pipe, jr Supply-pipe. /, Inspection- 
 i,„T„ I. Tir „.„,,..., , i, Supply-valve. J-, Flusliing-rim. 0, Overflow. 
 
 liole. li, "Weighted le 
 
 floor. This closet appears simple in its mechanism. The manner 
 of trapping the overflow by introducing it into the main trap below 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. S9 
 
 the water-line is a novelty with this class of closets, and while it 
 has the advantage of insuring a water-seal for the overflow, it is 
 liable to become foul where it enters the traii. The receiver lias 
 an ample vent-pij^e", but the trap is not ventilated from the side 
 where it is connected with the soil-pipe, as it should be. " The 
 trap is provided with an opening for inspection, . which is se- 
 cured with a patent cap ground into the opening, and so constructed 
 
 that a slight turn one way or the other disengages or fixes it 
 
 'l"he valve has an earthenware facing, and the interior of the trap 
 is lined with strong, smooth glaze, perfectly impervious and inca- 
 pable of corrosion," for these reasons offering the least resistance 
 to water or soil passing through it, and at the same time insuring 
 more perfect cleanliness. The traj) is furnished so the bowl may be 
 placed in front, or on the right or left side, of the soil-pipe. In 
 the perspective, the mode of attaching the Doulton patent supply- 
 valve is shown. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS. 
 
 If it should be necessary at any time to select a valve-closet, 
 one should be chosen with simple mechanism and few ])arts. The 
 only closets of this class which appear to be iiracticable are those 
 with hinged valves, the valves having either a rubber seat or disc, 
 or both seat and disc of rubber. The time the valve will last with- 
 out fixing depends on the durability of vulcanized rubber. The 
 receiver should always be enamelled, earthenware being still better, 
 as there is a possibility of the enamel being thrown off by corrosion 
 or rust between the enamel and its iron back. The receiver should 
 be ventilated, as there will always be more or less offensive 
 matter deposited on its sides ; for this reason the smaller and 
 smoother the receiver is the better. The vent-pipe in the receiver 
 also keeps the overflow-trap from being siphoned by the water dis- 
 charged from the bowl. This compartment should also be separ- 
 ately flushed, although I have no idea that a surface, no matter how 
 well glazed or vitrified, over which faecal matter, urine, and water 
 in which these matters are floating in particles so finely divided as 
 to be invisible, can be kept clean without the application of soap 
 and water on a mop or swab by hand, I consider the variety in 
 
6o WATER-CLCSETS. 
 
 which the trap is above the floor, forming at the same time the re- 
 ceiver, as tlie best arrangement for this part of the closet, but the 
 advantage gained would not counterbalance lack of ventilation. 
 
 I consider the side- outlet valve-closet, in which the valve opens 
 in an outward direction from the bowl, as the best of this class. 
 The back of the valve never coming in contact with the waste 
 matter, the only part of the closet between the bowl and the trap 
 that could become foul and not be noticod would be the short pipe 
 between the valve and the floor; while this would become more 
 or less foul, it would be scoured as thoroughly as a column of water 
 unaided could wash any surface ; but a trap must be used below 
 the floor. These closets are far superior to the pan-closets, of 
 which I will give a description in the following pages, in their 
 capacity for retaining a large amount of wat r in the bowl, and in 
 the receiver being smaller; but they are defective in having a com- 
 partment, however small, between die bowl and trap when they 
 have a trap, and the valves are liable to leak when least expected; 
 then the advantage of the body of water in the bowl is lost. The 
 overflow, unless filled by a driblet, will be emptied by evaporation. 
 It will have been noticed in the foregoing descriptions that the 
 better closets of this class have a flushing-rim, by which water is 
 supplied to all parts of the bowl at the same time from a cistern. 
 Where these closets have only a fan supplied from a supply- 
 valve, the waste matter is liable to remain in the trap until the 
 bowl has been emptied several times. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 6i 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 PAN-CLOSETS. 
 
 CCORDING to the definition given on a preceding pays 
 pan-closets include all that have a disli-sba|)ed valve or 
 pan at the bottom of the bowl. The pan is intended to 
 hold a sufficient quantity of water to allow tlie bottom of the bowl, 
 or a conical attachment to the top of the receiver (its base being 
 uppermost), to dip intc^it below tlie water-line; in this manner a 
 
 Pig. 9G.— Section. Fig. 97.— Perspective. 
 
 Tylor's Pan-Closet. 
 a, Bowl. 6, Receiver, c, Pan. d. Overflow, e, Fan. /, Leather seat for pan. 
 g, Weighted lever. A, Hand-puU. i. Slotted crank. k, Supply-pipe. 
 
 m, Set-screws. 
 
 water-seal is formed. Except in rare instances the pan is intended 
 to form the overflow. The receiver in tliis class of closets is neces- 
 sarily large, and filtli accunniUUes and remains in it. Sanitary au- 
 
62 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 thoiities agree, without an exception, that pan-closets should never 
 be used ; but as they have been so extensively introduced in all 
 jiarts of the civilized world, their description and history properly 
 form a part of the literature of the subject which is under consider- 
 ation. 
 
 I think the pan-closet wa.s in use before a valve-closet was in- 
 vented, as I do not find a single instance in the specifications be- 
 longing to the Patent Reports in which the pan is claimed as a 
 novelty; on the contrary, the pan is always mentioned as if it 
 
 Fig. ns.—Section. 
 
 Ilclails ul'Tylcir's I'an-Closet. 
 
 <i Bowl. /), I'iui. f. liocciver or 
 
 (.onlnincr. d Ovfrflow. 
 
 /, LcMlhor soul. g, Spindle. 
 
 Fiji. 100.— Pan.— Tylor's Closet. 
 
 were so well known that it would be unnecessary to describe it. 
 Tiiis class of water-closet is, or Mas, as I do not think any one 
 would use a pan-clo.ct at the present time, usual! v connected with 
 a trap below the floor. In this country the trap was usually a lead 
 or iron siphon-trap, while in England one "container" of filth was 
 added to a second filth accumulator, by joining the receiver to a 
 D-trap. 
 
 The following descriptions will show how persistent have been the 
 
' WATER-CLOSETS. 63 
 
 efforts of inventors and manufacturers to obtaki some coiitrivance 
 by which the container of a [jan-closet might be kspt clean and 
 wholesome. 
 
 In tiie different trade-catalogues, pan-closets usually have the 
 title " valve-closet " prefixed to them. This terra, when applied to 
 the pan, is a misnomer, but the term usually has reference to some 
 form of supi)ly-valve, and does not properly apply to the closet, as 
 the su])ply-valve could be attached to other classes of closets with 
 equal facility. Gases generated in the receiver may escape into 
 the room when the pan is thrown back when opened, or through 
 the hole in which tlie spindle works, as it frequently becomes loose. 
 The bowl being generally placed on the receiver, a joint of putty 
 or white and red lead cement is dejiended upon to keep it in posi- 
 tion. This putty is generally full of cracks, the bowl being loose, 
 thus allowing access for gas. The container of pan-closets requires 
 an air-hole, and Hellyer tells us that in England this air-hole is 
 usually left open and allows the smell to enter the room direct. 
 There is little doubt that the days of pan-closets are numbered, and 
 that in a few years, at most, we will never see them put into even 
 the cheapest house. Pan-closets may be properly divided into two 
 types, one in which the pan fits tightly against the bowl or projec- 
 tion, and the other and most numerous l)pe where the pan is only 
 intended to form a barrier to sewer-air by forming a water-seal. 
 
 Tyler's Pan- Closet. —T\ye. first mention of a pan-closet in which 
 the pan was intended to form a water-tight joint was made by 
 Edward Tyler, of London, in 1829. In the specifications he says: 
 " this is similar to what is known as a pan-closet,'' and he claims as 
 his invention the application of leather or other suitable material 
 against which the edges of the pan or saucer (as he calls it) might 
 have a seat and form a water-tight joint. Further on in the speci- 
 fication he states, naively, that should the joint leak, even then it 
 would be in every way equal to a pan-closet. In this closet is 
 illustrated one of the early instances of a weighted lever. Modifi- 
 cations -of this weighted lever have been in general use ever since, 
 on valve and pan closets, to hold the valve or pan in position. Tlie 
 container and pan were niailc in different sizes and sliapes, as is 
 
64 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 shown clearly by the illustrations that accompanied the specifi-- 
 cations. 
 
 In this closet is seen one of the few instances, in closets of this 
 class, of a separate overflow for the bowl; the pan fitting tightly 
 makes it necessary. The bowl is fitted into place more securely 
 tluiH is usually the case uilh closets of this class, being set into a 
 metal rim or collar, and held in position by small set-screws. The 
 ])an in some cases was attached to an arm that was joined to the 
 spindle. B)' removmg the bolt in the centre of the pan, the pan 
 could be taken out witb.out removing the spindle. The overflow 
 would probably be siphoned by the sudden discharge of waste 
 matter into the receiver. 
 
 Hiigicr &' Mothers Pan- Closet — In 
 France this class of closets has been in 
 common use for years, and in some cases 
 it seems to have been the intention to 
 have the pan fit tightly against a metal 
 rim. The device of Rogier & Mothe 
 illustrated by Liger in his work, has a pan 
 balanced b)' a weight on the side of the 
 axis opposite to the pan. When a certain amount of water had ac- 
 cumulated in the bowl, the pan would tilt and drop its contents 
 into the receiver. In one case the weight forms a part of the pan; 
 in the other instance the weight had 
 an eye, to be i)laccd over a hook on 
 the rim of the pan. This closet is very 
 much like Flament's closet in the man- 
 ner of balancing the pan in the first 
 instance and the valve in the second 
 instance. This closet received a first- 
 class medal at the Universal Exposi- 
 tion held in Paris in 1855. In the p,^^ ^^^_ p,^_ j„3_ 
 larger number of closets belonging to Section of Pan. SicleVievv. 
 this class the pan is made fiiiriy deep, Hawkins's Closet. 
 
 1 • 1 r 11 c c ■ "i Pan. b. Weislit. 
 
 and IS only for the purpose (>f forming 1 = • 
 
 a water-seal at or near the bottom of the bowl, 
 
 Fig. 101. Fiff. 102. 
 
 Eogler A Mottle's Closet. 
 
 a, Howl. h. lirueiver 
 
 c. Pan. d, Weiylit. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 65 
 
 Hawkins's Closet. — In 1821, Stephen Hawkins, an Englishman, 
 received letters-patent for a pan-closet on the same principle as the 
 one just described, except in the latter case there was no intention 
 of having the pan fit tightly against the bottom of the bowl. The 
 weight is attached directly to the end of the pan, as in the case of 
 Rogier & Mothe's closet, or it forms one end of a balanced lever, 
 the pan forming the other end. These forms are shown in Figures 
 103 and 104. 
 
 Beacham's Fan. — In England, in 1825, Beacham inxented a 
 curious arrangement for holding a pan in position. This consisted 
 of a band-spring enclosed in a cylindrical box ; to this box was at- 
 tached a short arm. On the end of the arm is a small wheel. 
 This wheel pressed against and rolled on a liinged bar, to 
 wliich the pan was joined. When the pan is jiressed down by a 
 lever or ciank in the usual manner, the wheel would roll along the 
 bar, the short arm woukl be depressed, and the spring wound up 
 more tightly than it was. \Vhen the pressure was removed from 
 
 Fig. 105.— Side View. Fiff. 106.— Section. 
 
 Beacham's Pan-Closet. 
 
 a, Pan. 6, Wheel at end of arm. c, Spring in and attached to box. 
 
 (Z, Racliet and oatcli. 
 
 the lever, a contrary movement would take place, and the pan 
 would be forced into position again by the spring. If the sjjring 
 should become weak, it could be tightened by a wrench to any de- 
 sired tension, a rachet wheel and catch being placed there for the 
 purpose. This pan was intended for use either on commodes or 
 water-closets, but any one can see at a glance there is too much 
 mechanism in the receiver for practical purposes. 
 Findon's Pm-Qo?et,-'\\\ 1836, James Findon, an Englishman, 
 
66 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 invented a combination of levers and arms for opening a pan-closet. 
 The pan is held in position by a long, weighted lever. A rod, 
 
 Fig. 107.— Finflon's Pan-Closet. 
 
 which was connected with the lever near the weight, was also 
 joined to a short lever that was attaclied to the pan. These arms 
 and levers were so connected as to revohe freely for a certain dis- 
 tance on their joints, while the short arm or lever was connected 
 rigidly with the pan. The spindle formed a fulcrum on which the 
 pan would be bahuucd b)' the lever. 
 
 Havard's Closd. -In France the use of this class of closet seems 
 
 Fig. 108. 
 Perspective. 
 
 Havard's Closet 
 
 Bowl. &,Pan. c Levers coiiin'ciiHl with rack. 
 /, Ciiniiecling-roils. c, Fuiit-rest. 
 
 Mg. 109. 
 
 Section showing working parts. 
 
 d. Toothed quadrant. 
 
 to have Ijeen general. Among other French closets I note one in- 
 vented in 1840 by Ha\'ard. This closet received a medal at the 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 67 
 
 Universal Exj)osition held .11 Paris in 1855. In this closet motion 
 is imparted to the pan by means of a rack' and mutilated pinion or 
 toothed quadrant. The axis of one of the quadrants is the spindle 
 on which the pan turns. Any pressure on the seat would cause 
 the rack to jiartially revolve the quadrant that was connected with 
 the i)an. In this manner the pan would be openetl whenever there 
 was pressure on the seat. This closet was inlendetl for use in 
 public places, and Liger tells us that in 1875 it was still used in 
 public places in Paris. 
 
 Giiinier's Pan-Closet. — Guinier, a manufacturer of plumbers' su]> 
 plies in Paris, in 1840 invented a closet which I illustrate as an ex- 
 ample of a large receiver, and a com[)licated arrangement for 
 accomplishing a simple move- 
 ment. I must refer to the illus- 
 tration to explain the manner of 
 opening the pan. The pull-rod, 
 levers, arms, connecting-rods, 
 and a large, slotted shoe-shaped 
 arrangement are all concealed 
 in the receiver. The pull-rod 
 passes through a stuffing-box. 
 It will be readily seen that this 
 machinery could not be repaired 
 without taking the closet to 
 pieces, and also that it would be 
 liable to fail in a short time. 
 Any arrangement of tiiis kind 
 would afford excellent opportunity for the accumulation of filth 
 on the different pieces of machinery. There seems to be no effort 
 made in any of the French closets to ventilate the receiver. 
 
 Common English Pan-CJoset. — Baldwin Latham* describes and 
 illustrates as types of pan-closets which had been in common use, 
 and were still used in England in 1873, the closet of u^iich the fol- 
 lowing is a description : — 
 * Sanitary Engineering. >Suw'era:;e, London : 1873. 
 
 Fig. 110.— Cuinier's Pan-Closet, 
 o, Bowl. 6, Deceiver, c. Pan. d. Pull- 
 rod e, Connecting-rods. /, StufBng- 
 box. (/, Supply-pipe. h. Slotted-shoe. 
 
63 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 In this closet are shown some of the worst features of the pan- 
 closet. The bowl is conical in shape, fitting into a hole in the top 
 of the receiver. The bowl is held in position by a projecting rim, 
 moulded around it about half-way between the top and bottom ; 
 between this rim and tiie top ot the receiver a layer of putty is 
 usually placed. I have never seen a joint formed iu this manner 
 between the bowl and the recei\er in which the joint was perfect 
 unless it had just l)cci) made. The least pre.ssure against the bowl 
 or receiver, a jan ing of the floor or supply-pipe, may cause the 
 joint to open. Tlie putty is generally full of cracks, the cracks con- 
 taining putrid urine and other foul matter. It can be easily seen 
 that all foul gases generated in the receiver can come directly into 
 
 U2.— S.'clion. 
 
 Fig. 111. — Perspective. 
 
 ("iiiiimon Eniflish Pan-Clfiscl. 
 (I, Bowl. i, Ri'ceiVL-i-. c. Pan. d, D-Trap. ,■. Ilaml-pull. /, Wires and 
 
 y, Siililily-pipu.' 
 
 licll-eriink foniU'clniL;- with cisU'ni. 
 
 the room whttn tliis joint is imi.)erfert. The pan is moved in the 
 usual manner by a spindle that has a slotted crank on one end con-* 
 nected with tlie hand-pull l)y a weighted le\er. In the perspective 
 sketcli the mode of connecting the haiid-])ull wilh the cistern or 
 tank by means of bell-cranks and wires is clearly shown. The 
 usual receiver is shown in connection with a 1) trap, both of which 
 fict as receptacles for the excreraentitious matter passing through 
 
WATER-CU3SETS. 
 
 69 
 
 <ff>o 
 
 them. In these receptacles the waste matter lodges, remains, de- 
 cays, and generates gases, and most jirobably liberates germs far 
 more deleterious than would usually come from a well-ventilated 
 sewer or drain. 
 
 The closets described in the following pages are manufactured at 
 the present day by prominent manufacturers of plumbers' supplies. 
 Patents, when claimed on them, are usually for some novelty in the 
 ]iosition or form of the supply-valve, or the weigliteii lever. As 
 these parts might be with equal 
 facility, with some exception, at- 
 tached to a valve-closet, they 
 cannot be put down as distinct 
 features in the class which is 
 under discussion. 
 
 Hcllyei-'s Fan - Closet. — Al- 
 though Hellyer* condenms the 
 pan-closet in very strong terms in 
 both his works on plumbing, he 
 finds it a commercial necessity to 
 manufacture them to supply the 
 demand. This closet is similar 
 to the one described above, ex- 
 cept the vent-pipe, which is inserted into the top of the receiver. 
 In this illustration is shown the usual manner of setting the bowl 
 on the receiver, and the way in whicli it dips into the pan and 
 forms a water-seal. This closet has a combination of the old- 
 fashioned fan with a small flushing-rim for spreading the water 
 around the bowl. Tlie vent-pipe is screwed into the top of the re- 
 ceiver back of the pan, where most of the filth accumulates. 
 
 Dotdton Pan-Closet, — The Doulton Company manufacture a pan- 
 closet that has an ample vent-pipe which enters the receiver on the 
 side near the bottom. This closet has a stoneware container, of 
 which the manufacturer says : " and thereby is obviated the hitherto 
 
 * Tlie Plumher and Sanitary Souses. S. S. Hellyer, London: 1880. 
 The Art ayid Science of Sanitary Plumbing. P. S. Hellyer, London; 1882, 
 
 Fig. 113.— Hellyer'B Pan-Closet. 
 a Bowl. h. Receiver. c. Pan. 
 
 d. Tent, c, Weighted Lever. /, Fan. 
 
7° 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 great objei tion to this closet, from the container, when of iron, be- 
 coming encrusted with soil and emitting impure gases." This con- 
 tainer lias a white glaze inside. 
 
 Cnzaiiboii's Closet. — F. Liger illustrates a closet invented by 
 Cazaubon. In this closet the pan is moved by a short arm or 
 lever, which moves up and down on a fixed axis. The end of the 
 lever, where it comes in contact with the pan, has a semi-spherical 
 button. The pan is Ihnged, and when it 0[)ens the end of the lever 
 slides along the bottom of tlie pan. Tlie principle is very much 
 
 Fiy. 114.— Pcrsprtiivc. Fig. 115. 
 
 CazaulKin's Pan-Closet. 
 
 -Section. 
 
 n, Bowl. i, Ciiutainer. 
 <j. 0\'eril()\\'. /, Jounuils 
 
 Pan. e, I'liu-s (111 lever. 
 /.■. Sliort le\er or liu^a'r. 
 
 /, Weifflit on lever. 
 1)1, t'oiiiiecting-rod. 
 
 like the one adopted by Mott in tlie Demarest valve-closets. The 
 perspective shows an arrangement for opening the pan by pressure 
 on the seat, or, more propeily speaking, the stand, as tlie seat is ar- 
 ranged after the OiiL-ntal manner. The stand in this instance rests 
 on two journals, and is connected with a lever, on the short arm of 
 wliich is a rack. The Kick imparts motion to a mutilaled pinion, 
 which, partially rcvo1\iiig on its centre, mo\es the short lever or 
 finger that opens and sliuts the ])an. 
 
 Jones's Closet.~\\\ the I'car i860 a patent was issued in Eng- 
 land to one Jones, for a tilting-pan very similar to the flushing- 
 tanks now in use, wliich tilt when the water has attained a certain 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 71 
 
 Fig. 116 Jones's Pan-Closet. 
 
 a. Bowl. 6, Pan. e, Receiver, d, Rod 
 for holding pan in position. 
 
 height The pan was held in a level position by a small rod, which 
 had a bearing on the rim at the 
 back part of the pan. By rais- 
 ing this rod or hand-pull, the 
 weight in the portion of the 
 pan in front of the joiuiials, on 
 which it was balanced, would 
 cause it to tilt and empty its 
 contents into the receiver. 
 
 Tyler's Fan-Closet. — Tylor & 
 Son, of London, invented in 
 1878 a pan-closet receiver in 
 which the trap and receiver 
 were combined in one piece, 
 both being above the floor. In 
 this closet there is an inspec- 
 tion-hole in the crown of the trap, but no vent-pipe. The same 
 firm manufacture an earthenware container, which is yellow on the 
 
 the outside, and glazed with wliite 
 on the inside. The top or cover 
 to this container, and to which tho 
 mechanism is attached, is com- 
 l)0sed of galvanized iron ; having 
 the working parts connected with 
 top of the receiver, the opportunity 
 for breaking the earthenware por- 
 tion is lessened. 
 
 These manufacturers also have a 
 patent for a sprinkler to be con- 
 nected with the container of a pan- 
 closet. The sprinkler is divided 
 into two branches, and is carried 
 partially around just below the top 
 of the container. In it are a row 
 of small perforations. The sprinkler is connected with the supply- 
 pipe, and when the water is turned on to flush the bowl, small jets 
 
 Fig. 117.— Tylor's Pan-Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 5, Receiver. t, Pan, 
 
 «, Trap. /, Fan. 
 
72 
 
 WA'I'EW-CI.OSETS. 
 
 of water are thrown against all sides of tire receiver, from the dif- 
 ferent perforations. No doubt such a device would be of some 
 service, althougli I have little confidence in an arrangement placed 
 as this is, out of sight and out of mind. The pipe would corrode 
 
 Fig. 119.— SprinMer. 
 
 Fig. llH. ('(lUtaiiicr and Riirinkler. 
 
 Tylnr's Pun-Closet. 
 a, Receiver or container. h Siipply-ijipe. o, Sprinkler. 
 
 /, Jels ol water. 
 
 e, Conplini;. 
 
 and collect the spatterings from the container. A pan-closet with 
 an earthenware container that has a flushing arrangement and is 
 pro])erly ventilated, the pan being opened or shut by a simple crank 
 antl held in position by a weighted lever, would probably form one 
 
 of the best arrangements for a closL-t 
 of this class. Underhav, of London, 
 also supplies a Avhite earthenware 
 container with the pan-closets whicli 
 he manufactures, when there is a call 
 for them. It seems remarkable, when 
 llieir faulty construction is considered, 
 that such a large numlier and variety 
 of tliese closets should have been 
 used in this countr)'. 
 
 Bartholomew Pan-Closet. — • The 
 Bartholomew closet takes its name 
 from the supply-valve, which was 
 patented in 1854-1858. This closet, if the number used were a 
 (orrect criterion, might be considered one of the best of the class. 
 [ give the ilkistralion of this closet as it is manufactured by Henry 
 
 Fi^-. 120.- liarllioli. mew's rioset, 
 ((, l"*aii. i, ltefei\"cr. r. Weiu-lil. 
 d Saiicrf. c, I'laee lor drip. 
 /, Supply. ij. Top of receiver. 
 
WA'l'ER-CLOSE'JS. 
 
 73 
 
 Fig. 121.- 
 Bowl 
 
 "Monitor" Closet with side- 
 piece removed. 
 6, Pan. e, Container. 
 d, Removable piece. <■ Adjustable 
 weiglited lever. /, Snpply-pipe and 
 valve. g. Spindle. /;■', Stud for 
 operating supply-valve. 
 
 Huber & Co., of New York ; it has a simple weighted lever, pan, 
 container and bowl. The snpply-valve, on which the novelty is 
 claimed, is sciewed to the top of the container, and has a dish or 
 basin formed by a rim raised on 
 the top of the container, to catch 
 any leakage from the supply- 
 valve. 
 
 The ''Monitor" Closet— T\-ie 
 same manufacturers suiiply a 
 closet patented by W. S. Cair in 
 1872, under the name of the 
 " Monitor" closet, which has a 
 piece bolted to the side of the 
 container, that can be easily re- 
 moved. This is intended to be 
 used in case the pan should need 
 repair, or the container need 
 cleaning out, contingencies which 
 may be looked upon as certainties. " All the trouble of shutting 
 off the water, taking down the seat and detaching the bowl from 
 the top of the receiver is avoided." In the last-mentioned closets 
 the bowl is simply set on the receiver, the bottom projecting 
 through the hole made for the purpose. There is no arrangement 
 
 for screwing or clamping to the re- 
 ceiver. The " O. I. C." closet is 
 the " Monitor " closet without the 
 removable plate. In the illustra- 
 tion of the " Monitor '' closet, one 
 of Carr's supply-valves is shown in 
 position. Huber & Co. Supply 
 these closets with the receivers 
 tarred, zinc-coated (galvanized), or 
 enamelled, and they may be at- 
 tached to a tank or cistern, instead of directly to a water-main, for 
 the supply to flush them. Vent-couplings are also furnished, when 
 desired, that can be connected with the top of the receiver by 
 
 Circular Bowl. 
 
74 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 means of threads cut into the top of the receiver, into which the 
 brass coupHng may be screwed, and a lead pipe soldered on it. 
 Tlie lever in the " Monitor" closet is made so it can be adjusted to 
 different lengths. 
 
 Harrison's Pan-Closets. — Clias. Harrison, of Philadelphia, manu- 
 factures a number of pan-closets that differ from each other in the 
 position or mechanism of the supply-valve, or in the weighted 
 lexer. Harrison furnishes with his pan-closets, when desired, a pan 
 made of rubber, of which he says : they " are non-corrosive, and 
 are impervious to acids.'' Bowls are manufactured for pan-closets 
 
 Fig. 123. 
 Oval Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 124. 
 (iiul Bowl with \'ent and Flushing-rim. 
 
 a, Flusliing-rim. 
 
 S, Oriiici' for siipply-pipr. c. Tent, e, Rim to rest on top of 
 conlaiiRn-. d, Torlion of dip into pan. 
 
 in a variety of shapes, antl it seems appropriate to give a descrip- 
 tion of the different forms in connection with this class of closet, 
 although the same st\le of bowls are sometimes used in connection 
 with iron hoppers, and properly come under the head of hopper- 
 closets. 
 
 Pan-Closet Bowls. — The most objectionable, as well as the most 
 common form of closet bowl is circular. The water to flush the 
 bowl comes through an opening a little less than half an inch 
 in diameter, when the lead pipe has been inserted into the earthen- 
 ware orifice made for the purpose, "^i'he water when turned on 
 forms a puny, spiral stream, that does little if any good in flowing 
 around the sides of the bowl. These bowls are sometimes fur- 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 7S 
 
 iiislied with flushing-rims. There are conical bowls in w hich the 
 supply of water is brought in at right angles with the circumference, 
 
 Fig. 125.-01(J 
 
 Fig. 126.— New. 
 
 Ship Closet-Bowls. 
 
 the water being spread over the surface by means of a fan of metal 
 screwed on tlie bowl. The orifice in which the lead pipe is in- 
 serted is generally an inch and a quarter in diameter in this form of 
 bowl. These bowls are manufactured with an opening near the 
 top, in which a pipe to ventilate the bowl of the closet may be in- 
 serted. 
 
 There are two kinds of bowl manufactured for ship-closets, both 
 of which are sometimes used in connection with valve-closets. 
 One is conical, the other is hemispherical. The Enterprise Pottery 
 Company make what they call a square French rloset-bowl. This 
 bowl has a flushing-rim, and answers 
 ior a drip-tray safe and a slop-tra)', 
 as well as for a urinal. 
 
 This form of bowl is used by A. 
 G. Myers, of New York, on his pan- 
 closets. In 1876, Harrison, of Phila- 
 delphia, received patents on the 
 
 combination of a closet-bowl and a ^.^^ i27._Square French Bowl. 
 drip or slop tray m one piece of „ F,„shins-rim. 6, Supply. 
 
 earthenware. The bowls last men- <•, Ri'" to set on receiver. </, Por- 
 tion that diijs nil pan. 
 tioned have forms convenient and 
 
 useful for the purposes they are intended to fulfil. Harrison's 
 
 bowl, having the smallest surface exposed to f»cal matter dropping 
 
 upon it should be preferred. 
 
 Among other pan closets, I will mention Jones's " Em- 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 76 
 
 pire " closet, Harrison's " Eureka " and " Ne Plus Ultra " closets, 
 Craigie's " Century " closet, which differ from the ones already de- 
 scribed onl\' ill the form and jiosition of the weighted lever or 
 supply-vaKc. The "Cistern" pan-closet, as its name implies, is 
 arranged without a supply valve, being flushed by water from a 
 tank or cistern. 
 
 In addition to the nuisance created by the accumulation of filth 
 in llie container, the supply-va]\es, as they are usually made and 
 
 attjched to pan-closets, will generally 
 lie found out of order and in a leak- 
 ing condition, and the joint between 
 tlie bowl and container is rarely in a 
 perfect state. 
 
 A container with a vent-pipe and 
 flushing arrangements, and made of 
 earthenware or enamelled iron; a 
 bowl with a flushing-rim and at least 
 an inch-and-a-quarter inlet for the 
 supply-pipe, and the water-supjjly taken from a small tank or cis- 
 tern placed direcdy over the closet, should be obtained, if at any 
 time it be absolutely necessary to select a closet of this class. 
 AVlicn the improvements aljove enumerated have been applied to a 
 pan-closet, it loses its only hold on the people — cheapness. 
 
 FiK. 12fi,— Hurrisdn's Bdwl. 
 a. Dii|i-li-ay. b Bowl, r Supply, 
 e, Kiiii tci rcs[ on loji ofconluiiu'r. 
 d, I'lirl I" furm wator-seul in jiiui. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 77 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 PLUNGER-CLOSETS. 
 
 HERE is evidence that closets which properly belong to 
 to this class were in use both in France and England 
 more than one hundred years ago (See Figures 19-25) ; in 
 fact, this appears to be the only form or class of modern closet 
 which it can be positively asserted was in use at this early date. 
 
 It is a strange fact that, while such a large number of patents 
 were issued for improvements or variations on valve and pan 
 closets, not a single at- 
 tempt was made to im- 
 l)rove on the plunger- 
 closets, as no patent 
 was granted until the 
 year 1857, when a pa- 
 tent was issued by the 
 United States for a tank 
 connected with a solid 
 plunger-closet, invented 
 by Henry & Campbells. 
 Under this class prop- 
 erly come all closets 
 that have a plug in- 
 stead of a valve or pan 
 to break the connec- 
 tion between the soil- 
 pipe or trap and the 
 bowl. The plug may 
 be sohd or hollow, and 
 
 Fig. 129.— Section. 
 Jennings & Lovegroove's Plunger-Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl, i, Plunger or plug, c, Trap, d. Over- 
 flow througli plunger, e, Supply-orifice. /. Float 
 for governing the supply-valve, jr. Lever con- 
 necting float with supply-valve. A, Hand-pull. 
 
 i. India-rubber band around plunger, h. Saucer-' 
 trap to the overflow. I, Support for supiily- 
 valve. wi, Cross-bar in plunger. p. Fan. 
 
 »■, Dotted line to show where vent-pipe is formed 
 on Jennings's closet at the present time. 
 
 o, Supply-valve. 
 
 have its seat over the trap or the soil-pipe or over an offset from 
 the soil-pipe. The plug is raised and lowered into position by a 
 
78 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Fig. 130.— Section. 
 
 Sliowinjr Plunjier-C'dm- 
 
 parlment and Supjily. 
 
 short rod, which is attached direcdy to the plug, and at the top of 
 wliich is the knob or handle for the hand. The bowl is usually 
 kept about half fuU.of water by the plunger. 
 An overflow is provided through tlie 
 phniger, when it is hollow, and tln'ough a 
 se|)arate p'pe usually having a water-seal, 
 when it is solid. 
 
 'yennings 6^ Lovegroove' s Plunger-Closet. 
 Tiie first letters patent for a closet of this 
 class issued by Great Britain were issued to 
 George Jennings & Lovegroove, in the 
 year 1858. This might, with propriety, be 
 named as the first invention in the class, 
 containing as it does a novelty in the hol- 
 low plunger; the solid plunger being old. Since the date men- 
 tioned, Jennings has received a niniiber of patents for alterations 
 in the form and ])osition of the dif- 
 ferent portions of his closet, whicli 
 he considers improvements on his 
 first invention. Jennings ap])ears 
 at first to have received the un- 
 qualified support of, and recom- 
 mendations from sanitary engineers 
 and architects; but those who 
 praised bis closet most highly have 
 seen reason to withdraw 
 or at least qualify their 
 recommendations. The 
 chamber which contains 
 the float for closing the 
 su|)ply-valve, and also 
 tlie chamljer in \\hith 
 tlie plunger mo\es, were 
 connected with tlie bowl of the closet, and it has been found in 
 practice that this chamber, plunger and float become foul by sedi- 
 ment composed of excremetitious matter collecting on them, as well 
 
 'iu'. l.'il. 
 ?*, Plnngor. 
 
 Fig. l:>2.— ['wo Forms of Plunger, 
 rf, Ovevliciw. 
 
 !, Inrlia-nibber ring, 
 /f, Ball-valve of rubber. I, Rubber seat willi 
 knife-edge. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 79 
 
 as larger particles lodging in the concealed parts of the closet, in 
 their passage to tlie trap. The overflow and i)lunger have a nnm- 
 ber of different forms. As first invented (Fig. 129), the closet was 
 made in one jiiece of earthenware. The supply-valve is operated 
 by a float, which encircles the top of the plunger. The mouth ol 
 the siphon trap is in tlie shape of an inverted frustum of a hollow 
 cone, and into this opening the plunger, encircled by a rubber 
 band, fits tightly. The central part of the plunger, which is hollow, 
 and forms the overflow, dips below the water in a small saucer, in 
 this manner forming a water-seal trap. The saucer is suspended 
 from the plunger by means of small hooks and eyes. Jennings 
 on some occasions uses a 
 plunger in which the overflow 
 has a mechanical valve simi- 
 lar to the ball-valve described 
 in connection with the over 
 flow of his valve-closet. This 
 is used in connection with his 
 trapless closet. The ball in 
 this valve is composed- of 
 india-rubber, and has its seat 
 on a rubber band or ring, 
 which has a knife edge. On 
 this seat the ball will adjust 
 itself, a slight inequality in the 
 ball, or a small piece of foreign 
 matter making little difference 
 in tlie efficiency of the joint. 
 A mechanical trap in the overflow is a superfluous precaution, 
 unless the closet is placed in a position where it will be so rarely 
 used that the water-trap might lose its seal by evaporation and 
 thus become inoperative. In a closet like Jennings's, the supply- 
 valve being governed by a float, the bowl would be kept lull of watei-, 
 provided the supply-valve did not get out of order ; but the siphon 
 trap under the closet, if the water should evaporate, would allow 
 the gases to get into the room through the plunger-chamber. 
 
 Fig. 13,S. 
 Urinal and Plunger-Closet Combined. 
 
 a, Bowl of closet or urinal. 6, Plunger 
 compartment, c, Trap. rf, Supply- 
 valve, c, Projecting lip. 
 
So WATER-CLOSE IS. 
 
 Tliese closets are so arranged that tbey may be supplied either 
 from a tank or cistern, or directly from the supply-pipe through one 
 of Jennings's hjdrostatic diaphragm supply-valves. This valve is 
 so delicate, and requires such nice adjustment, that it is rarely in 
 proper working order. A. E. Jennings, of New York, furnishes 
 these closets with or without a trap in one piece of earthenware, or 
 with an earthenware bowl, a plunger-compartment, and trap or 
 oftset of iron. The trap is properly provided with a vent-pipe at 
 the crown, on the side connecting with the soil-pipe. 
 
 The Jennings 'Night Urinal and Water-Closet" is a fixture, 
 with a high earthenware back and projecting lip, intended to stand 
 without wood-work, made in one piece of earthenware, for bowl, 
 I'llug, chamber and trap. 
 
 For llie purpose which Jennings claims utihty in his closet, and 
 under such circumstances if they should arise, a closet of this cla.ss 
 would untloubtedly be useful. He says : " the object being to sa\e 
 water fiom sinks, waste-pipes, or other sources wliere the water- 
 supply will be linn'ted." Jennings's closets have been used exten- 
 sively in all ci\'ilized parts of Europe and America. 
 
 Quite a number of English and American inventors have fol- 
 lowed in Flenry & Campbell's, and Jenning's and Lovegroove's 
 steps, making supposed improvements on their closets, the only 
 leal improvements beuig in the form of the supply-valve and in 
 contrivances for flushing the plunger-chamber. The variations 
 consist ui tlie foim and position of the supply-\-al\'es, plunger- 
 chamber, plugs or plungers, and the oveiflow. Closets of this class 
 divide nalurally into two forms or types, those which follow the 
 Jennings idea having hollow plungers, while the closets which have 
 solid plungers had their prototype in the closets used more than a 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 Raiison's Flunger.—Thtt second patent for a hollow plunger 
 was issued to Thomas Renison, a plumber, of Glasgow, by Great 
 Britaui, ui 1862. The plunger is so arranged that the i)ressiire of 
 compressed air confined within the iihmger will retain the water at 
 any <lesired height in the bowl; but when the water rises above 
 the height for which the mechanism is .aiTanged, it pyercomes the 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 81 
 
 This plunger is 
 
 force of the air and flows through the plunger 
 formed by a small cylinder 
 placed within a large one, 
 a space for air being left 
 between them, and the 
 top, to which the hantl- 
 puU is attached, is cov- 
 ered over without an 
 opeJiing. The plunger 
 fits into a similar double 
 compartment, which 
 forms a part of the 
 plunger-chamber. This 
 closet is not practicable, 
 as the chamber in which 
 the plunger fits would in 
 a little while be filled 
 with excrementitious mat- 
 ter, so the plunger would 
 be useless. 
 
 Baldwin Latham's Closet. — Baldwin Latham, in his work on 
 sewerage, describes a plunger-closet which he designed as an im- 
 provement on the simple hopper-closet. 'I'he bowl and plunger- 
 compartment are in one piece. The plunger, which is hollow, re- 
 tains a large amount of water in the bowl. 
 As is the case in other closets of this class, 
 when the plunger is raised a large body of 
 water is discharged througli the soil-pipe, in 
 this manner tending more eftectually to scoiu' 
 it than would otherwise be the case. The 
 bottom or outlet from the bowl, and the 
 opening into the soil-pipe are so arranged 
 as to form a water-seal trap. The plunger- 
 compartment has a special vent-pipe, and 
 the bowl a flushing-rim, while the rod con- 
 nected with the hand-pull passes througli 
 
 Fig. 134.— Eenison's Plunger. 
 
 a, Plunger. 6, Compressed air. c, Hand-pull, 
 d, Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 135. 
 
 Latham's Closet. 
 
 a. Bowl. c Trap. 
 
 d. Plunger-chamber. 
 
 h Vent. / Overflow. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 a Stuffing-box, thus effectually preventing the passage of gas at this 
 point. 
 
 Tylor df Sims' riiin:^cr C^.?^/.— Tylor & Sons, of London, in 
 1873 invented a plunyer-closet, the novelty of which consisted 
 in the form of the jjlunger and trap under the closet. The 
 plunger is hollow, the hand-pull being attached to it by means of a 
 bar vvhi(;.h cxtcn.ls across the plunger on the inside. The bottom 
 of the plunger is bell-shaped, with a ridge encircling it. Over diis 
 part of the plunger a rubber cylinder or pouch is stretched. This 
 plunger has its seat on a rubber band. In this manner it is pro- 
 proposed to make a tight 
 joint. The plunger forms 
 the overflow, and has its 
 seat on the opening of a 
 U-shaped trap; the other 
 end opens into a chamber 
 
 a Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 13G.— Tylor & Sous' Plunger-Closet. 
 S, Plunger-chamber. i', Plunu'er. /, Trap. 
 
 s, Rubber band. 
 
 which is joined to the soil-pipe. There are a number of corners 
 aiul hollows in a trap of this kind, that would be sure to collect and 
 rclain filth, and for tliat reason it should be avoided. 
 
 DeniaresVs Plunger-Closets.—^. I.. Mott & Co. manufacture 
 several forms of i)lunger-closets : the "Demurest," the " H)'geia," 
 and "Premier." Each has a bowl with a side oudet, while the 
 earliest pattern has a compartment that contains the plunger, afloat 
 for governing the supply-valve, and the supply-valve. The plunger 
 is a hollow cylinder closed at the top. The overflow is through an 
 
WATER-(JI,OSETS. 
 
 83 
 
 opening in the side, from below which a partition rises to a shght 
 distance above the top of the opening. In this manner a water- 
 seal trap is formed to the overflow. The bottom of the plunger is 
 encircled by a rubber liantl or ring, which has a seat on the top of 
 the soil-pipe offset or trap. The float is connected with the supply- 
 valve by means of a lever that encircles the rod of the hand-pull, 
 the float and supply-valve being on opposite sides of the plunger, 
 so that the flow of water would be shut off" when it had reached tlie 
 top of the overflow. The ui)per part of the supply-valve has a row 
 of small holes around it, so arranged as to throw small jets of water 
 into the plunger-chamber. These jets are for the purpose of wash- 
 ing off" any sediment or 
 waste matter that may 
 collect on the plunger, 
 float, or the sides of the 
 
 Fis. 137. 
 
 FiK. 138. 
 
 Ut'inarest's Plunger-Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl, b, Plunger-chainbcr. c. Plunger. d, Offset. A siplion-trap may bfi 
 put iH same place. c, Lever connecting float and supply-valve. / Supply- 
 valve, g, Supply-pipe h. Overflow. t. Rubber band around the plunger. 
 
 Jc. Slop-safe or urinal. I, Float. 0, Perforations in supply-valve for washing 
 plunger-compartment. 
 
 compartment. This closet has been extensively used in this coun- 
 try, and has been patented both in this country and in England. 
 John Demarest designed the " Hygeia" and " Premier" as an im- 
 proved form of plunger. The plunger consists of a simple cylinder, 
 open at each end, with a neck formed on the bottom, around which 
 a vulcanized rubber band, circular in section, is stretched. This 
 
84 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 baud enables the plunger to make a tight joint on its seat. The 
 overflow is between the plungei-chaniber and the plunger, and 
 forms an opening about an eighth of an inch around tlie plunger. 
 The hand-pull has a short lever bolted to it, the other end of which 
 is connected by a chain to a tank or cistern, from which the water 
 is conducted by an inch-and-a-qnarter jiipe to a flushing-rim around 
 the closet ; in this manner the sides of the closet are washed more 
 efficiently than they would be with a simple | an. ' 
 
 I'lie " Premier " closet differs from tlie '' H\ geia " only in the fact 
 that it is arranged for a su|iply-va1vc insteail of for a cistern. The 
 vahe is attached to the top of the phmgei-cliamber, and is operated 
 by a short lever simihir to the one used in connection with the tank. 
 These closets have porcelain bowls and enamelled iron plunger- 
 
 Fiu'. 139.— Section. I'iy. IJO.-l'iTsiieclive. 
 
 nrinarcsl's Hyircia. 
 a. Bowl. ft. Plnnscr. e Tnip, <l ','imiI I" Iriip. <■. FlMsliintr-rim. 
 
 /.'Supplv from rislcni. </ Cliaiu 1o cislcni. t, Haiid-iiiiU. 
 
 A-, Kiililiri-riii- 
 
 m, I'liuiucr-cliainber. 
 
 o IjC'ver. 
 
 chambers, while the jjlunger and the cover for the chamber, bridge 
 and lever are zinc-coated (gah'anized), and put together by means 
 of screw-bolts and clamps. Tlie)' have above the floor a straight 
 outlet, an oftset, or a trap. The trap and offset have an opening at 
 their crown, with a bell into which a Aent-pipe must be caulked. 
 Where the trap or outlet passes through the floor there is a broad 
 flange, which is arranged no as to be screwed to the floor o\ er the 
 soil-pipe, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 8S 
 
 For a plunger-closet, these closets are probably arranged as well 
 as a closet of this class could be made, as they have a small 
 plunger-chamber, no float, a rubber ring on the bottom of the 
 plunger, a flushing-rim to the bowl, a siplion vented trap above the 
 floor; while the different parts are thoroughly put together, well 
 made and of good materials. The only arrangement devised for 
 washing the plunger-chamber consists in the water passing between 
 the plunger and its chamber to tlie overflow. 
 
 The Hartford Glass Closet. — Tlie glass closet which lias been re- 
 cently introduced into the market was invented in this country by 
 W. Hogan in 1878, and he also received patents 
 for improvements in the year 1882. In addition 
 to the novelty in the form of the overflow, which is 
 intended to take place through an opening in the 
 plunger, this closet is provided with a lining or 
 
 CCXD 
 
 Fig. 141. 
 
 Fig. U2. 
 Hartford Glass Closet. 
 
 o, Bowl. 6, Plunger-chamber. c, Float. rf. Valve Cui- supply. 
 
 f, Top of plunger, showing perforations for overflow. m Iron casing. 
 
 ff, Inspection opening. /t, Trap. n. Flap-valve. ,/', Overflow. 
 
 /., Mechanical valve. i, India-rubber ring. 
 
 inner shell composed of glass, on the supposition that glass will not 
 liave the small net-work of cracks wliich cover tlie glazed surface 
 of most earthenwaie. These small cracks, the ''craze," in earthen- 
 ware serve as a nucleus around which filth and sediment collect. 
 Of course glass can be used as readily in this connection with a 
 valve or hopper closet as with the one under considenilion, and to 
 their advastage, if the claim made of the non-collecliou of sediment 
 can be sustained. The plunger in this closet has an overflow 
 through perforations on top of the plug into a^water-seal trap situ- 
 
86 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 ated ill the bottom of the plunger. The overflow also has a me- 
 chanical valve as an addiiional seal against sewer-air. The valve 
 is so arranged that the water flowing from the bowl of the closet 
 would raise it from its seat, while it would drop into its place again 
 as soon as the pressure of the water should be removed. The 
 water-seal trap is arranged either as shown in the illustration or 
 in the form of a simple U-trap, with the mechanical valve on the 
 top of the short arm of the trap. The 
 siphon trap under the closet has a flap- 
 valve and inspection-cover bolted on near 
 its crown, the flap-valve being intended to 
 form a fourtli inter\-ention between the 
 soil-pipe and clohcl-bowl. 
 
 Among other closets belonging projjerly 
 to this class and type, in which the 
 plunger is dfferent from the ones previously- 
 described, I find one invented by Blunt in 
 1876, one by \V. Turton, 1878, one each 
 by Keith and Blesch in 1882. These 
 closets all received patents from the 
 United States. 
 
 Fig. 113.— Blunfs Plunger. 
 
 (I. Small cylinder. 
 I, Spiico between cylinders. 
 i India-nibbcr flange. 
 k. Hand-pull. 
 
 T/ie Blunt Plunger. — The Blunt plunger 
 consists of one cylinder, closed at the top, 
 slipped over one of a smaller diameter, 
 which is open at both ends. When the 
 two cylinders are joined together there is 
 a passageway for the water through the space formed by the dif- 
 ference in their diameters, the outside cxlimler being closed at the 
 top and open at the bottom, while the inside C)lin(ler is open both 
 at the top and the bottom. The water which stands in the space 
 between the two cylinders forms a Avater-seal e(iual to the height of 
 the inside cylinder. This phmger has a ruljber flange fiistened to 
 the bottom of the plunger by screw-bolts. 
 
 The Keitli Plunger. — Keith's plunger consists of a cup or bell 
 fitted into a receptacle made for the purpose on the top of the 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 87 
 
 plunger. The water-seal trap is formed on the sarae jMinciple 
 as that of the bell-trap in such common use for area cesspools. 
 The seal in the trap is slight and would be easily destroyed by 
 evaporation. 
 
 The Blesch Plunger. — Blesch's plunger is arranged with a supply- 
 pipe running down into the centre of it. In this manner tlie 
 centre of the plunger, which is hollow, is filled with water when the 
 
 Fig. 144. 
 
 Keith's Plunger. 
 
 a. Overflow. 
 6, Trap, 
 c. Bell. 
 
 I'G 
 
 Fig. 145 Blesch's Plunger. 
 
 a, Hollow In centre of plunger. 
 /, Supply-pipe. 
 /i, Piston on supply-pipe, 
 i, India-rubber bottom. 
 
 plunger is lifted from its seat. The water can only escape through 
 small holes left for the purpose, and consequently the plunger takes 
 its seat gradually. The illustration shows the plunger raised to its 
 highest point. 
 
 SOLID-PLUNGER CLOSETS. 
 
 Closets of this type cannot claim a novelty on the distinctive 
 feature of the class, as the solid plunger is old, unless it be for the 
 shape, position, or manner of lifting. The first closet of this type 
 and class, and also the first plunger-closet for which a patent was 
 issued, was invented in this country by Henry & Campbells in 1857, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 being one year eailier than the invention of Jennings in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Jfniry 6"" CamphcUs's Closet. — There was nothing new in either 
 the tank, whicli was placed under the seat, or in the plnnger, which 
 
 was solid, when this closet was 
 Fiir. U6.- Si.flion. i,:itenlcd. This closet, as will 
 
 lie seen by the illustration, 
 { ontains a large amount of 
 water for scouring the soil- 
 pipe. When the jilunger is 
 lifted from its seat, the con- 
 tents of the tank, plunger- 
 chamber and bowl would be 
 emptied into the soil-pipe. 
 Tlie interest in this closet con- 
 sists ill its being the first of 
 
 the class patented. 
 Y\%. 147.— Top Tie-iv. 
 Henry A- Campbells's Closet. Coinoji' s Clo se t.—"\:\\t 
 
 „, ni)wl. fc, i'limfrer-cliamber. <■ Plunger. United States in 1868 granted 
 
 patents to G. Conron for a 
 solid plunger-closet. In this closet tlie bowl is conical, while the 
 outlet is at the bottom; thence it passes through a horizontal jjipe 
 about eighteen inches long, at 
 the end of wliich is situated 
 the plunger-chairiber. Be- 
 tween this chamber and the 
 bowl is a branch pi|)e, which 
 serves as a conduit for water 
 into the float-cliamber thnt 
 contains the float governing 
 the supply-valve. The oxer- 
 flow opens near the top of the 
 „, „„ 1 , 1 Fit;-. 1 IS. -Courou's Closet, 
 
 phmger-chaniber, and con- ,, , f ,„ , , t.i 
 
 . . «, lidul. ft. Plunger-chamber, c, Plunger, 
 
 nects with the soil-pipe below </, "verllow. c, Float for supiily-valve. 
 ^, 1 r 1 1 1 ■ /i Horizontal connecting-pipe. n. Float, 
 
 the seat of the plunger, this chamber. A, Supply-valve. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 89 
 
 part of the closet being a solid sphere joined directly to the liand- 
 pull by a simple rod. J. J. Frey improvetl this closet by adding a 
 flushing- rim. 
 
 Ingletoris Closet. — In 1869 a closet belonging to this type was 
 invented in England by James Ingleton. This closet is a good ex- 
 ample of the form with a solid plunger. The plunger and float 
 compartments are separate from the bowl and each other, being 
 
 Fig. 149.— Ingleton's Closet. 
 
 a, Bow. 6, Plunger-chamber. c. Cast-iron block on bottom of plunger. 
 i, India-rubber bottom. d, Float-chamber. f, Overflow. /, Float. 
 
 sr, Supply-valve. A, Supply-pipe. k, Rort for hanrl-pull. 
 
 /, Driblet to till trap of overflow, m, Connection between bowl and float-chamber. 
 
 only connected by short pieces of pipe. What is gained by having 
 these compartments only large enough for the. plunger and float 
 to move in them is more than counterbalanced by the disadvantage 
 of the pieces of pipe connecting the bowl with the two chambers. 
 Such are always to be avoided on account of the difficulty in iceep- 
 ing them clean. The overflow is from the top of the float-chamber 
 tlirough a siphon-trap, and empties into the soil-pipe just below the 
 seat of the plunger. The overflow is kept full of water by a 
 driblet. The top part of the plug of the plunger is made of 
 cast-iron, being intended to act as a weight and keep the plunger 
 in place, while the bottom is a slightly conical piece of vulcanized 
 
90 
 
 WaTER-CLCSETS. 
 
 india-rubber, the part that fits into tlie seat being in the form of a 
 l)rojecting lip, so as to be flexible. 
 
 Pi(i/so/i's " Twill-Basin " Closet. — -The " Twin-Basin Closet," 
 invented in England by Pearson, in 1874, appears to have been 
 extensively used in that country, and also to have had a limited 
 sale in this country. This closet was divided into two compart- 
 ments of almost equal dimensions, one for the bowl, the other for 
 the ball-cock-float and plunger. This closet when first introduced 
 ■was without an overflow, but the manufacturers found it necessary 
 to supply the closet with an overflow which is taken from the top 
 of the plunger-chamber and is sealed by water before it enters the 
 
 a 
 
 Fig. 150.— Section ol (.'Inset. Fig. 151.— Section of Plunger. 
 
 Pearson's Closet. 
 b, Plunger-chamber. <•, Plunger. d. Siipjily-pipe. 
 
 u, Bowl. 
 
 e, Float for ball-cock. 
 
 1, Rubber band around piungc'r. 
 
 soil-pipe below the ])lunger. The ball-cock is not as delicate as 
 the hydrostatic diaphragm valve; it does not require the nice ad- 
 justment, and is less liable to get out of order. 
 
 Zaiic's Closet. — The " Sanitary " Closet is manufactured by 
 Joseph Zaiie & Co., of Boston. The bowl, of i)orcelain, is attached 
 to the plunger-chamber, which is of zinc-coated (gahanized) or 
 enamelled iron, by means of clamp-screws. The supply-valve is a 
 ball-cock designed specially for this closet. The ])lunger is solid 
 and has a rubber ring around the bottom. The overflow is through 
 a balanced pan or saucer that will tilt when it has received a cer- 
 tain amount of water, thus allowing any excess of water to jiass 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 91 
 
 are inserted into a heated 
 vent-pipes are intended to 
 
 through it. Tliere is a small driblet from the supply-valve, placed 
 so as to drip into the pan of tlie overflow. The plunger-chamber 
 and the bowl connecting with tlie plunger-chamber have large 
 openings to wliich vent-pipes, which 
 flue are to be connected. These 
 cause a current of air, created by 
 the heat in the flue, to pass from 
 the room through the two com- 
 partments of the closet, thence into 
 and up the flue, taking with it any 
 offensive or injurious gases, left by 
 the actual passage of fsecal matter, 
 or arising from the sediment that 
 adheres to the sides of the plunger- 
 compartment. This closet takes a 
 large amount of water when used, 
 but the simplicity of the mechan- 
 ism, the enamelled plunger-cham- 
 ber and vent-pipes, make it one of 
 the best of its class in the market. 
 This closet should be supplied 
 with a siphon-trap, properly vented. 
 It is furnished with a straight outlet and an offset that is intended 
 to be joined directly to the soil pipe. It can only receive its 
 supply through a valve, and has no flushing-rim of consequence. 
 
 The Gale Closet. — Among other closets manufactured by A. G. 
 Myers, of New York, which belong to this class and type, is one 
 invented by M. F. Gale, in 1880. The peculiarity in this closet 
 consists in the arrangements for the overflow, and for washing the 
 plunger-chamber. The overflow is through an upright pipe, while 
 the float which governs the supply is in the form of a cylindrical 
 cup slightly enlarged, and closed at one end, and it is placed with 
 its open end downward over the overflow pipe. In this manner a 
 water-trap is formed between the plunger-cliamber and the soil- 
 pipe. The float is connected with the supply-valve by a crooked 
 lever, while its chamber is separated from the plunger-compartment 
 
 Fi^. 152 Ziine's "Sanilary Closet." 
 
 a Bowl, ft. Phirmcr-fliamber. 
 
 c, Float. d, CoiHM'Otlon betweou 
 
 liliinger-cliambor and bowl. 
 
 /, e, Vent, gr, Ovortlow. n. lialanced 
 
 pan. i, Driblet. /.■, Sii|>ply. 
 
 711, Cover, o, Hand-pull, jj, Clanii)- 
 
 screw. 
 
92 
 
 WA-I'ER-CLOSKTS. 
 
 by means of a perforated partition. The Overflow is again trappetl 
 by dipping into a small box of water, before it enters tlie soil-pipe, 
 
 Fijc. 1S3. Tlie Rale Closet Fig. 154. 
 
 Section and t(]ii view of Plunger-Chamber. 
 
 a, Plunger-cliiimber. 5, Plunger. c Overflow. d. Float-chamber. 
 
 e, Float gDverning supply-valve. /, Supply-valve. .7, Sprinkler for 
 
 h. Lever connecting Hoa't anil supply-valve. ^susliing plunger-cliamber. 
 
 t, Small jets of water. 
 
 The plunger-cliamber lias a small jjipe connected with the supply- 
 pipe encircling it, around the circumference of which are a row of 
 
 small holes, through which 
 small jets of ^\ater are thrown 
 o\er different parts of the 
 plunger-chamber. In this man- 
 ner it is proposed to keep this 
 art of the closet clean. The 
 bowl of this closet is porcelain, 
 \\ hile the iron parts are all ena- 
 melled and are connected with 
 
 „. ,„ „ .. tlie bowl by niean^ of set- 
 
 Fia-. I.'i.'i.— Section. ^ 
 
 THycrs's ,U1 China closcl. Sciews. 
 
 a, Bowl. &, Trap. f. Plnngi'v. d, Overflow. Ary,^i-c''e '' J n ri,;„ ■,'• r'r,^„f 
 
 e, Vent-pipe enuplin- 7, Flushing-rim. ^^'y^'ss AIL Lliiiia Closet. 
 
 A,Plunger-cluunhci-. ;. Hop's for lei ling Tlie same firm nianufictured a 
 
 water inid plunger-chamber. *, Sii[iplv- 
 
 pipe. " sohd plunger-closet invented ill 
 
WATER-CLO&KTS. 
 
 93 
 
 Fig. 156. 
 Flushlng-rim, All China Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Flualiing-rimonbowl. 
 for plunger- 
 
 i88i. " This closet has an independent overflow, a sohd phniger, 
 and a flushing-rim with patent jagged points, causing the water to 
 
 form a cataract .There is also an 
 
 encircling chamber " around the 
 [jlunger-compartment, which would 
 throw jets of water in all directions, 
 crossing each other, probably wasli- 
 ing a chamber of this kind as eftec- 
 tually as any contrivance of the kind 
 could. The overflow does not enter 
 the soil-pipe, but is intended either to 
 empty into the safe, or it may be car- 
 ried through the wall, and empty on 
 the outside of the house. The trap 
 
 has a brass coupling inserted at its c, Flushing-circle 
 
 , . , . , cliamber. d, I^liinger. /, Plunger 
 
 crown, to which a vent-pipe ma)' be compartment. c, Supply. 
 
 soldered. An opening for a vent- "'fl^uTtSnu'rims.'"'"'"'" ""'" '''''° 
 pipe should at the least be two inches 
 
 in diameter. The same closet is supplied with a simple oftset in- 
 stead of a trap. 
 
 Myers also manufactures the " Egg Oval " Closet ; the peculi- 
 arity of which consists in the 
 shape o( the outlet from the 
 bowl. This outlet in cross 
 section is egg-shaped. Such 
 a section would be of value 
 only in large sewers. 
 
 Moore's Closet. — A solid- 
 plunger closet was invented 
 in i88i, by C. H. Moore, of 
 
 ^. ,,„ >■ , T.1 /-I, * Philadelijhia, Penn. 'I'his 
 
 Fig. 157.— Moore's Plunger-Closet. » ' 
 
 a Bowl 6, Plunger-chamber. c, Float, closet IS made in one piece 
 
 <«; Lever. /, Flushing-rim e Plun>'er. of earthenware, and the nov- 
 
 </, Eod connecting with tank. _ ' 
 
 elty consists in the float be- 
 ing SO arranged that when the water falls to a certain point 
 in the bowl and plunger-chamber, the closet is flushed frotrj 
 
94 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 tlie tank. The float, in falling, pulh down the long aiTn of a lever 
 that is bolted to it. The short arm of this lever is connected witli 
 a long upright rod, and the head of this rod projects up into the 
 tank, where it forms a valve which governs the supply to the 
 closet. The necessity for an overflow in this closet is obviated 
 ii\' an enlargement of the arm of the plunger; this enlargement 
 
 being too great to pass through 
 the float, the plunger would be 
 necessarily lifted from its s.at, 
 when the water had risen above 
 a certain height. 
 
 J/i7//e and Gaiifs Closet. — In 
 1880, letters ])atent w&it issued 
 to Milne and Gant, of San Fran- 
 cisco, for a solid-jjlunger closet. 
 This closet has plunger and float 
 chambers, just large enough for 
 the plunger and float to move \\\i 
 and down in tliem, and they are 
 connected with each other only 
 b)r small openings. The over- 
 flow in this closet rises from the top of the float-chamber, 
 just below the top of the bowl, and enters the offset before it 
 joins the soil-pipe. Although the compartments, as in the Ingle- 
 ton Closet (Fig. 149), are simply large enough for the purpose 
 they are intended to serve, still the small conduits connecting 
 them would make the scouring and cleaning received from the 
 water passing through it even less effectual than if everything 
 were contained in one large compartment. 
 
 Bndde's Closet. — .V plunger-closet was invented in diis country 
 in 1882, by J. Budde. The arrangement of the mechanical valve 
 in the overflow is the new feature of this closet. The overflow is 
 through a tube attached to, and jjarallel with the plunger-chamber. 
 At the bottom of the overflow there is a ball-valve; this ball is 
 connected bv a rod with a hinged float, that covers the top of the 
 plimgcr-chaniber ; when the water rises to the top of this chamber, 
 
 Fis. 1.58.— Milne anfl Ganl's Glnset. 
 a lliiwi. h. I'iuiijfor-cliainlior. 
 
 c, I'liiii^vr, .-. Float unvcrninjtl 111' ru|i- 
 
 pl.v-valve. ;/, Knppl.v-valVf. /, Over- 
 
 ilciw. i, l'"lushinj>'-rim. 
 
WATER-CI.OSETS. 
 
 95 
 
 it fills the overflow, raises the valve by means of the float, and 
 passes into the soil-pipe. Neilson, 1873; Gilchrist, 1S74; Keyser, 
 1876; Moelhnanii, 1882, in- 
 vented slight and unimportant 
 improvements either in the 
 form and position of the over- 
 flew or supply-valve, in con- 
 nection witli which each used 
 a plain solid plunger. 
 
 E. S. Hutchinson's Closet 
 has the plug in the same com- 
 partment that forms the bowl, 
 in this respect being similar to 
 closets that were in use more 
 than one hundred years ago. 
 
 Stanton M. Howard has re- 
 cently (1884) invented a closet 
 
 159. 
 
 Budde's Closet. 
 a, Bowl. ft, Plnnger-chamber. 
 
 c, Ball-valvo in overflow, d. Plunger, 
 e, Float for ovcm'How. /, Sujiiily-pipe. 
 
 in which the plunger moves in a h, Supply-valve. i, Overflow. 
 
 horizontal position. The plug 
 
 being conical, it fits tightly into the side oudet of the bowl. The 
 
 plunger is operated by means of a rack, and ventilated. The 
 
 pinion is weighted, and by this means the plunger is forced back 
 
 against its seat. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS. 
 
 It will have been noticed by those who have read the fore- 
 going descriptions, that the mechanical faults and the sani- 
 tary objections to the plunger-closet are almost identical to those 
 mentioned in connection with valve-closets. The utility of the 
 ])lunger in a closet of this class depends upon its taking a water- 
 tight seat. All the useful plunger-closets have a rubber flange 
 or ring around the bottom of the plunger, and this form of plunger 
 is generally effective, as long as the vulcanized rubber retains its 
 elasticity ; when it gets hard the plumber must be called in to put 
 on a new one. 
 
 This form of closet is liable at any time to lose the water in the 
 bowl and plunger-chamber, by foreign matter lodging between the 
 
96 ' WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 plunger and its seat; so it is nevei' safe to have a closet of this 
 kind connected to the soil-pipe without a tra|j ; although the pa- 
 tentees usually claim it as one of the advantages of their closet, 
 thai it docs not need a trap between it and tlie soil-pipe. The 
 lilunger takes and retains its seat by the action of gravity, and for 
 this uason it is more simple, and a better mechanical device than 
 tlie \-alve; requiring no levers, -weights, or cranks to operate it, or 
 keep it in }iosilion. 
 
 It is necessciry for a jilunger to be heavy, so it can take and keep 
 its seat propeily ; this weight is often a decided inconvenience and 
 objection where the closet is to be constantly used by delicate 
 women and small children. 
 
 Taking a sanitary view of the subject, the greater number of the 
 different patterns of iilunger-closets sliould be considered inferior to 
 the valve-closets, the plunger chamber being — as with a few excep- 
 tions it is — laiger than the receiver of a valve-closet, and containing 
 the jilunger, float, lexer, and frequently the supply-valve, upon the 
 different surflx( es of which filthy matter is liable to collect and 
 decay. 
 
 Mr. E. S. Philbrick sa)'s of closets belonging to this class, "The 
 construction of these (supjily) x alves is various, and tlieir action is 
 not always reliable, whicli has at times caused considerable annoy- 
 ance. If these vaUes can be made more certain in their action, and 
 the float-chamber made more accessible for frequent cleaning, the 
 apparatus can be made a \'ery satisfactory one; but it needs careful 
 treatment and good care." 
 
 The supply-vahcs not being reliable, closets of this class must 
 ha\'e overflows. 
 
 Where tlie plunger is hollow, the overflow is carrieil off through 
 the plunger, but where the plunger is solid, a sejiarate con<luit has 
 to be provided J. and where this is trapped by a water-seal the 
 water is liable to be drawn fiora the tra[) by siplion action when- 
 ever the closet is used. To prevent this siphon action, a vent must 
 be coupled to the closet, somewhere between the seat of the plunger 
 and tlie point where the closet is connected with the soil-pipe. 
 
 If the closet is collected with the soil-pipe without the interveii- 
 
WATER-CLOSE-IS. 97 
 
 lion of a siphon-tiap, the breaking of the seal in tlie overflow would 
 put the occupants of the house in direct communication with the 
 soil-pipe, as tiie covers to the plunger-chamber are not intended to 
 have their joints air-tight, except in one or two instances. In 
 selecting a closet of this class, care should be taken to get one with 
 a plunger-chamber at least enamelled, while a bowl and plunger- 
 chamber in one piece of earthenware is the best. The mechanism 
 should be simple, the plunger-chamber small, and with a top or 
 cover that can be easily removed. 
 
 Tiie closet should be supplied with water from a cistern or tank, 
 and should be admitted to the bowl through a fiushing-rim. There 
 should be a branch-supply for washing the plunger-compartment 
 and plunger, admitted through a ring or sprinkler. 
 
 A hollow plunger simplifies the question of the overflow. It is 
 necessary for the plunger to have a vulcanized-rubber ring or flange 
 around its bottom. 
 
 The closet must- have a siphon-trap under it, with a coupling or 
 hub at its crown, to which a pipe may be soldered, or into which a 
 pipe may be caulked; the vent must not be less than two inches in 
 diameter. 
 
98 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 HOPPER-CLOSETS. 
 
 NDER this heading I have thought it best to group all 
 closets that have a simple bowl and no mechanical device 
 
 other than a water-seal between them and the soil-pipe. 
 
 This branch of the subject may with advantage be treated under 
 the two l)'pes of long and short hopper-closets. 
 
 The long hopper is connected with a trap which is placed be- 
 neath tlie floor, while the short hoppeis have their trap, which is 
 often formed in one piece with the bowl, placed above the floor. 
 
 Long Hopper-Closets. — This t3'pe of closet being apparendy the 
 
 simplest form, we would naturally exi)ect to find it the earliest kuid 
 
 put into use, but although this may have been the case there is no 
 
 c\ idence to that etlect ; and if it was so, it was 
 
 considered until recent years too simple to put 
 
 on record. 
 
 The opportunitv for invention in this class is 
 limited to the shape of the closet, the shape and 
 position of its water-supply device and flushing- 
 rini, or to the manner adopted for ventilating it. 
 Long hopper-closets are manufactured by all 
 _.^ . the firms making plumbers' supplies, and may 
 
 P1iil;(clel|)liia HopiiiT. be obtained of iron, plain, painted or enamelled, 
 as well as in solid earthenware or porcelain. 
 The most common form is what is called the Philadelphia hop- 
 per. Tliis has a bowl at the top, which suddenly changes to a di- 
 ameter about the size of the soil-pipe. This closet is the cheapest 
 and most oljjectionable form of its class. 'I'lie sides are liable to 
 become foul, the water being introduced in such a way that it can 
 (hen flow around the bowl in ?. stream insufhcier.t either to cleanse 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 99 
 
 the sides of the bowl, or to empty the trap properly. The trap is 
 connected with the bowl just below the floor line. 
 
 Foley's Closet. — A good type of an improved form of long hopper- 
 closet was invented in 1883, by J. Foley. This closet as well as 
 other better forms of the class are straiglit or nearly so at the back, 
 so faecal matter will drop directly into the mouth of the trap. The 
 water-supply is conducted through an annular branch, formed in 
 
 Q 
 
 Fig. Ifll. Fig. 162. 
 
 Foley's Closet. 
 a, Inlet for water. 6, Bowl. c. Outlet. 
 
 c, Fans. 
 
 one piece of earthenware with the bowl. This conductor extends 
 about half-way around the top of t1ie bowl. The water is admitted 
 to the bowl through three openings, one being at the back and one 
 on each side. Tiie water is dictributed over the surface of tlie 
 bowl by means of fans, instead of a flushing-rim, as is the case in 
 other closets of its form. I think a good flusliing-rim washes the 
 bow! more thoroughly than any arrangement of fans. 
 
 Deinarest Long Hopper. — The long hopper-closet furnished under 
 this name by J. L. Mott & Co., is either round or oval in .shape, 
 and has one of Demarest's patent flushing-rims, the same that is 
 used on the Hygeia closet (Fig. 139). This is in one piece of 
 earthenware, and forms a very neat and effective closet when sup- 
 plied, as it is intend to be, by a tank or cistern. 
 
WATER-CLObElS. 
 
 Myers's Niagara Closet. — A. G. M}ers, of New York, manu- 
 factures a closet of this type and class. This hopper has Myers's 
 patent zigzag flushing-rim, described in connec- 
 tion with the same firm's "All Cnina Closet" 
 (Fig. 156). It is useless to enumerate the many 
 dififerent closets which are similar to the ones 
 named. All the prominent firms in England and 
 America manufacture closets which vary from the 
 ones illustrated only in the mode of flushing, or 
 in a slight variation , in their form. The long 
 hopper closet is the best form for exposed situa- 
 The Xia,i,™-a Closet, tions where it is nece^isary to place the trap some 
 
 n, Bowl. 6, Oiitk't. distance below ground, according to the severity 
 c, Fluslimg-nm. ° . . 
 
 of the climate. It is necessary in a closet of this 
 
 kind to have the supply-cock placed at the same distance below 
 
 the surface, opening it by means of a long key or rod. 
 
 Maddock's'' Wash- Out" Closet.— T\\(t Maddock's "Wash-Out" 
 closet is of the long hopper class, and has a projecting lip formed 
 on the upper and front part of the rim, to better 
 adapt it for use as a urinal. 
 
 Rhoads's Closet. — The Rhoads long hopper 
 closet was inxented in this country in the year 
 1877. This closet is intended to be used wilhout 
 either a wooden casing or seal, in this manner 
 avoiding the accumulation of, or collections of 
 urine on, in, or behind the wood-work. A closet y\<'. ku. 
 
 arranged in this manner is excellent for use in Macidock's Hopper, 
 hospitals or prisons. lu the first case the w ood- ", Bowl, 
 work might absorb and communicate infectious ,';" ounet"^'""™' 
 diseases, in the latter case the wood-work would ^' Projecting lip. [ 
 become foul from careless usage. 
 
 A large number of long hopijer closets have vent-pipes at- 
 tached to the lower part of the hopper just before it is connected 
 with the soil-pipe or trap. Among clt)sets with tlie vent, maybe 
 mentioned the "Worcester" closet, and I have been inlbrmed by 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Mr. O. W. Norcross, that it was in use in the city from wliich it 
 takes its name a number of years previous to tlie year 1876. In 
 these closets the arrangement of the vent is for 
 the same purpose, and in principle they seem to 
 be identical. The receiver is a decided objec- 
 tion in the Smiili closet, acting as a collector of 
 filth: it is almost as objectionable as a receiver 
 under a pan-closet. 
 
 The intention was to use these closets without 
 a trap, in which case the vent near the soil-pipe, 
 as in the Worcester closet, would be advantage- Fis- 165. 
 
 ous; but they are also intended to act as a vent ™'°'>-''«'« Hopper. 
 
 ' ■' .ft, Howl, 
 
 for the room : for this purpose tlie Smith closet 6, Supply. _ 
 
 would have a slight advantage. 
 
 The Phillips Closet. — In 1882, a closet was 
 invented which is a combination of the Worcester and Smith 
 closets. The bowl is formed separately to set into a small hopper. 
 The vent-pipe starts near the floor, runs along the side of the hop- 
 per, and has an opening into it near the bottom of the bowl. This 
 
 c, Scat and fliishing- 
 rim. 
 
 d, Outlet. 
 
 Fig. 166.— Perspective. Fig. 167. ■ Section, 
 
 w Phillips Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Flushing-rim. c, Yent-pipe. d, Outlet. c, Supply-coupling. 
 /, Upper opening into vent-pipe. 
 
 closet instead of having a metal hopper into which the bowl is set 
 with the same objectionable putty-joint described in connection 
 with the pan-closets, has the bowl, hopper and vent-pipe made in 
 one piece of earthenware. 
 
102 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Watson's Closet.— K\-\oV\\(tx closet of this kind, designed by 
 Watson, is so arranged, by curving the outlet from the bowl, that 
 the trap and its contents will be out of sight. This closet has a 
 vent let into socket for a vent-pipe just before it joins the trap or 
 soil-pipe. The bowls of this closet are made oval or square, and 
 are much larger than this jjortion of the closet usually is. They 
 can thus be used as slop-hoppers or urinals to better advantage 
 than if the bowl were small. 
 
 There is no objection to using a vent-pipe in the position show 
 in the preceding closets ; and it might be found advantageous i 
 
 own 
 in 
 
 e 
 
 Fig. lG8.-0val Bowl. Fis- 169.— Sciuare Bowl. 
 
 Watson'.s Closet. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Vent. c, Flushing-rim. e, Trap. /, Supply. 
 
 taking oft" odors from the room, or odors created while some one 
 was at stool. It must be remembered that a vent-pipe can never 
 be a substitute for a proper siphon trap under the closet. Pa- 
 tentees sometimes claim that there is no further necessity for a 
 trap, as the vent-pipe opening into a hot flue would carry off all 
 noxious gases generated in what Mr. Eardley F. Bailey-Denton 
 properly calls the inside sewerage system of the house. 
 
 The purpose which a vent-pipe of this kind is intended to fulfil- 
 to carry off odors from die closet bowl or room — would be better 
 served by an annular ring with slots in it, extending around the 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 103 
 
 top of the bowl, and connected with some heated flue or pipe, and 
 made eitlier of metal separate from the closet, or of earthenware 
 formed in one piece with the bowl. 
 
 Fmvler's Closet. — Baldwin Latham describes a novel form of 
 long hopper closet in the one designed by Fowler. The novelty in 
 this closet consists in the trap being connected with the drain-pipe 
 from the yard, sink, wash-basin, or other 
 fixture. 
 
 In this manner only waste-water could 
 be used in washing matter from the trap. 
 Under some circumstances, in villages or 
 country places a closet of this kind might 
 be found useful. I consider the better Fig. 170.— Fowler's Closet, 
 long hopper-closets preferable to any S; ^nTp^^ctionVo^e?: "'"'"■"'"■ 
 other class or form, except the short hop- 
 per, and there are only two reasons why the short hopper is to be 
 preferred. It has less distance between the bowl and trap, and 
 thus less surface to become foul. 
 
 It ap[)ears to have been conclusively proved by the experiments 
 of Messrs Edw. S. Philbrick and E. W. Bowditch made under the 
 auspices of the National Board of Health, that the momentum of 
 the water created by the distance between the top of the bowl, and 
 the water in the trap was sufficient to force sufficient water out of 
 the trap to break the seal. The vent-pipe (2") seems to have very 
 little effect in preventing loss of seal by momentum, which must 
 not be mistaken for siphon action. So it can be seen that a closet 
 of this kind might lose its water-seal, and the party using it be 
 none the wiser. The trap is such a distance from the closet seat, 
 that it is impossible to see whether the trap has lost its seal or not. 
 
 SHORT-HOPPER CLOSETS. 
 
 This type may be conveniently treated by grouping together 
 those which have a bottom outlet in distinction from those which 
 have a side outlet. 
 
 Mr. W. P. Gerhard has seen proper in his book,* to classify a 
 
 number of the short-hopper closets, some of which have their outlet 
 
 * Himse Drainage and Sanihiri/ Plumhing. Wm. Paul Gerhard, New York, 1882. 
 
I04 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Fig. 171.— Thomas Smith's Closet. 
 a, Bowl. 6, Trap. c, Supply-pipe. 
 
 d. Branch to bottom of trap from supi>ly- 
 plpe. c, Inspeotioii-liole. 
 
 at the bottom and others at the side, under the name of "Wash- 
 out Closets." I think it sim|)hfies tlie matter to place them where 
 they certainly belong, in the class of hopper-closets. Mr. Gerhard 
 
 himself says : " A wash-out 
 Z closet is in fact only a modi- 
 fied and improved form of 
 hopper." 
 
 Thomas Smith's Closet. — 
 The earliest patent for a closet 
 of this type was issued by 
 Great Britain to Thomas 
 Smith, in 1842. The pa- 
 tentee claims as a novelty the 
 branch from the supply-pipe 
 (tlie closet being siipphed 
 from a tank), which is con- 
 nected with the bottom of the trap. This branch from the supply- 
 ])ipe is intended to thoroughly wash out any matter which might 
 be in, or would otherwise remain in the trap. In this closet the 
 trap, instead of being circular in 
 cross-section, is rectangular. It 
 has an inspection-cover on the 
 crown of the trap, and the water 
 is spread over the bowl by 
 means of a fan. 
 
 Frencli Short Hoppii: — F. 
 Liger* tells us that this closet 
 (Fig. 172) was designed in Paris, 
 in 1872, for use in public places, 
 being modelled according to 
 English patterns. He states 
 " that the gases from the sewer 
 are cut off by a siphon-tra])." 
 
 Fi.if. 172. 
 French Short-Hopper Closet. 
 a, Bowl. h. Trap. r. Inspection-hole. 
 d, Supply-iiipe. c. Branch from siipplv- 
 pipe connected wilh howl. /^, Opeii- 
 \\\il into bowl. (J, Lever 'oiienhnf 
 SMiiply-valvc. 
 
 In public places where this closet had been introduced, it was made 
 to operate by opening the doors. The closet is arranged so it can 
 
 *■ Fosses <VAisunre,L(il7-incs, Uriiioirs, li ^Idniii/es. P. Liger, Paris 1875. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 lOS 
 
 be supplied witli water, either by means of a su|)ply-valve or from 
 a tank. The pecuHarities of this closet consist in the branch from 
 the main supply-pipe for flushing the trap, and in the |)artition of 
 the trap being so placed as to form a screen, and hide, rather than 
 get rid of, any disagreeable matter that might possibly remain. 
 
 Hellyer's " Vortex " Closet. — S. S. Helljer, of London, received 
 patents from Great Britain in 1878, and from the United States in 
 1880, for a short hopper closet which he has named the " Vortex." 
 The novelty of this closet is based on the shape of the bowl and 
 flushing-rim. The flushing-rim is so arranged as to throw a strong 
 
 5/ 
 
 Fig. 173.— Section with Jet. Fig. 174.— Section. 
 
 Hellyer's '■ Vortex" Closol 
 
 a. Bowl. 
 
 6, Trap, 
 s, Supply. 
 
 c, Opening for jet of water. 
 D, Vent. 
 
 l''ig. 175.— rcrspective. 
 e, Flusliins-rim.. 
 
 jet of -water direcdy into the bottom of the bowl, this being also 
 the bottom of the trap, by this means forcing whatever water or 
 foreign matter there is through the trap into the soil-pipe. It will 
 be seen by the illustration (Fi'g. 173) that it is intended in some 
 cases to have a branch from the main supply-pipe feeding the bot- 
 tom of the trap, as described in tlie Smith closet ( Fig. 171). There 
 are openings in the flushing-rim around the sides of the bowl, by 
 which the surface of the bowl is washed. The trap is propeily 
 vented. This branch connecting with the bottom of the trap is 
 unnecessary in the better forms of shori-hopper closets, where they 
 are flushed from a tank, through a properly-arranged flushing-rim. 
 
 Wm. Smith's C7^.f^/.— The "Siphon-Jet" closet, manufactured in 
 San Francisco, and patented in 1876 and 1878 by AVm. Smith, also 
 depends upon the branch from the supply-pipe to cleanse the trap 
 and force the waste matter into the soil-pipe. This closet is fur- 
 
io6 
 
 WATER-CI.OSfiTg. 
 
 Fig. 176.— Win, Smilli's Clusct. 
 t(, Bowl. 6 Fall. (■ Tr;ip. d Branoh. 
 
 supply-pipe. c, Supply-pipt-. 
 /, Inspeotion-liole. 
 
 nislied in one piece of earthenware, or with an earthenware bowl and 
 iron trap. It is connected with a tank, or may be connected directly 
 with the supply-pipe, the flush being governed by a patent valve. 
 
 Mr. J. Pickering Putnam, in 
 1884 — within the last month — 
 has patented a closet w'wh a jet 
 supply to the trap. 
 
 The jet is large. It forms a 
 part of the tank, and the water 
 is held in position by a vacuum 
 formed in the top of the tank 
 itself. It claims to be noiseless, 
 as the water enters below the 
 water line. I should think this 
 large receptacle would become 
 foul by the water from the closet. 
 From the illustrations it appears 
 complicated and to have many 
 corners and crannies to collect dirt. 
 
 English Closet. — Ixildwin Latham describes a short-hopper 
 clo.set in whicli the flushing-rim is comiected with the bottom of 
 the trap. He sa\s: "this form of closet with bye flushing-pipe 
 was introduced to remedy the defect, which, as already referred 
 to, attends tiie ho[iper-closet, tliat is the cleansing of the trap after 
 the use of the closet." This e\il mentioned by Latham lias been 
 remedied by properly anangeil and devised water-supply and 
 flushing-rims, which are now manufac- 
 tured as a part of tlie better short-hopper 
 closets. 
 
 Closets manufactured as described, with 
 a branch from tlie suppl)'-pipe connecting 
 willi the bottom of the trap, would be pe- 
 culiarly susceptible to the evil which it is Fi„.n7.-Englisli Closet, 
 claimed sometimes takes place when tlie a. Bowl. c. Trap 
 
 sui.|il)-pipe is attached directly to the bowl ^, iSi'.'ig'-^;;;]:''- 
 of tlie closet, a \-al\'e only interx'ening; \'\z., 
 the liability of foul air or fihhy water being drawn from the closet 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 107 
 
 when a faucet is opened on some floor below, the snjjpty-valvf of 
 the closet being open at the same time. For the reason stated 
 care should be taken always to connect closets of this kind with a 
 separate tank or cistern when — and they are simple and useful — 
 they are used. 
 
 Hellyer's " Short Atiisan Hopper." — This closet is composed of 
 two i)ieces of earthenware, the bowl and trap, which are joined to- 
 gether by means of clamp-screws, putty or cement being put into 
 the joint. The bowl of this closet is oval in shape, with its back 
 edge nearly straight, so the bowl need not become foul by fascal 
 matter dropping on it. This closet has a flushing-rim which serves 
 its purpose well, and the trap is properly vented at the crown. In 
 
 Fig. IVS. 
 
 Hellyei-'s Short Artisan Hopper. 
 
 Fig. 179. 
 
 connection with his patent flushing-rim, Hellyer arranges an an- 
 nular rubber band, in a groove made for the purpose on the top of 
 tiie flushing-rim. The seat of the closet is intended to fit down on 
 this band and thus prevent smells or cold air from coming into the 
 room from beneath the seat. It is the custom in England to have 
 the " tell-tale " jiipe from the closet-safe run through the wall into the 
 outer air. A draught through this pipe might become disagreeable 
 to a person occupying the seat of the closet. This closet has an 
 opening at the crown of the trap, to which a vent must be attached, 
 and in use it is simple and effective. 
 
 Demarest's Shott-Hopper Closet. — The J. 
 L. Mott Iron Works manufacture a short- 
 hopper closet which in appearance and in its 
 manner of working is almost identical with 
 the Hellyer short hopper. The novelty con- 
 sists in the manner of connecting the bowl 
 with the trap, and the trap with the vent-pipe, and in the Demarest 
 
 Fig. 180. — Fliisliins-rim. 
 i. India-nibber ring. 
 C Flusliing-rim. 
 
ro8 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 paleiit flushing-rim (see Fig. 180). Tlie top of the trap and the 
 bottom of the bowl are both encircled by a projecting ring or flange, 
 over and around which a metal collar fits. This collar when l)olted 
 
 makes a very strong joint. 
 -pi=g The space between the 
 collar and the joints has 
 to be filled with putty or 
 cement. The coupling 
 for the vent-pipe is a 
 two-inch zinc-coated iron 
 quarter-bend, which has 
 a hub on the free end, into 
 which the spigot of the 
 vent-pipe can be caulked. 
 If a lead vent-pipe is to 
 be used, a brass coupling 
 must be connected with 
 the trap instead of the 
 iron one described. 
 
 Fig. 181.— Section. 
 Demarest'sSliort-Hoijper Closet. Fig. Ls2. 
 
 Seel ion tln'oiigii line cl-e. 
 u Fliisliing-rim. h. Bowl, r, Trap, g, Vent- 
 pipe. /, Collar or clamp. 
 
 Roe's Closet. — Baldwin Latham, in his work on sewerage, illus- 
 trates two sliort-hopper closets. Mr. I,;itham states that in this 
 closet exists tlie first instance of a vent-pipe being properly placed 
 on the trap. I'he reader of the foregoing pages will probably 
 
 Ci C: 
 
 6, Trap. 
 
 Fig. 183. 
 Roe's Closet, 
 n, Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 184. 
 Straiglit-Back Hopper, 
 c, Vent. 
 
 recollect that the vent to the trap was used or invented in connec- 
 tion with the Wilkins closet forty )ears ago. Figure 184 is shown 
 as an example of this class, in which the back is made straight, so 
 frecal matter will drop directly into the trap, and not adhere to the 
 sides of the bowl. 
 
 CarmiehnePs " ]]'tish-dowii " C/oset. Mr. W. P. Ijuchan, in 
 1879, invented a closet of this class, which he informs us is fur- 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 109 
 
 Buclian's 
 a, Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 185. 
 
 ' Carmichael " Closet. 
 6, Trap. e, A''oiit. 
 
 nished in one or two pieces of eaithenware, the joint being made 
 
 above the watei-hne.* This closet is suppHed witii a flushing-rim 
 
 to wash the sides of the bowl, and also with a jet of water which 
 
 strikes the water in the bowl so as to 
 
 force it through the trap. The trap 
 
 lias an inspection-hole on top. This 
 
 closet seems to have deservedly met 
 
 with success in England, where there 
 
 seems to be a tendency, wliich should 
 
 be followed in this country, to adojit 
 
 short-hopper closets in preference to 
 
 all styles or patterns. Mr. Buclian 
 
 calls the short-hopper closets which 
 
 have an outlet at the bottom wash-down closets, while those whicli 
 
 have an oudet from the side he calls wash-out closets. 
 
 A. G. Myers' s '' Niagara" Closet No. 2. — A sliort-hopper closet 
 has been quite recently introduced into the market by A. G. Myers, 
 of New York. This closet is made in one 
 piece of earthenware, or it is furnislied with 
 a iiart of the trap separate from the bowl. 
 It is flushed by carrying the water-supply 
 through or against a fan. The bowl of this 
 closet is waved or corrugated in circles par- 
 allel to the floor. The idea is diat the water, 
 coming in contact with the inequalities of the 
 surface, will wash the bowl more thoroughly 
 than would be the case if it were smooth. 
 It appears to me that the under side of the 
 wavy surface would not be washed at all, and if this is the case, 
 more harm than good would be done by making a bowl in this 
 manner.t The trap in this closet has a hub for a vent-pipe, which 
 is placed, in accordance with the suggestion of Hellyer, on the side 
 of the trap nearer the soil-pipe than is usual. This position is in- 
 tended to prevent foul matter from being forced up into, and lodg- 
 
 » Plumbing. W. P. Buchan, London, 1883. 
 
 f Since the iiliove ^^'as written, Mr. Myers has changed tlie form of this elosel, 
 and put it on the market in the form of itellyer's short hopper (see Figs. 178-179) . 
 
 Fig. 186. 
 
 "Niagara" No. 2. 
 
 a, Corrugated bowl. 
 
 6 Fender. c, Pan. 
 
 d. Trap. e , Vent, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 ing in the vent-pipe. It is claimed that tlie vent-pipe is sometimes 
 
 made useless in this manner. 
 
 Owens' s Closet. — Henry 
 Owens, in 1878, invented a 
 
 Fig. 1ST.— Single Trap. 
 a Bowl. 6, Trap No. 1. 
 
 d Trap No. 2, c, Vents. 
 e, Flushing-rim. /, Water-.svipply 
 inlet. 
 
 Fig. 188.— Double Trap. 
 
 Owens's Closet. 
 
 closet which is made in one piece of earthenware, and is designed 
 so as to have either two traps or a trap and an offset between it and 
 the soil-pipe. The traps, and also the offset have openings for vent- 
 pipes. The closet with the double trap would have a confined air- 
 space which. could only be ventilated 
 bv an inlet as well as an outlet pipe 
 for the air. I think as there is nothing 
 gained by the double trap, the closet 
 with tlie trap and offset is to be pre- 
 fcired. 
 
 ]Vanib:^s Siphon Closet. — Tliis 
 cl jsct, which was designed by Mr. 
 Clco. E. Waring, Jr., of Newport, 
 R. I., has a very deep water-seal trap 
 at the the bottom of the bowl. The 
 cloNct is set over a weir, which is 
 placed beneath the floor. The con- 
 tents of the bowl are siphoned out 
 
 Fig. Intl.— Waring's Siplion Closet. 
 a, Bowl. ft Pan. c, Siiilion. 
 
 a, Trap No. 2. 
 every time the bowl is used. ]''i-om its shape it is necessary that 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 this closet should be filled to witliin a short distance of the top of 
 the bowl, before the necessary siphon action which empties the 
 bowl can take place. I'his excessive amount, or, more properly 
 sj^eaking, the height to which the water rises in the bowl, is exceed- 
 ingly disagreeable sometimes. The weir below the floor is in shape 
 or form very much like the objectionable D-trap. The first trap by 
 reason of its siphon action cannot have a vent-pipe in the usual 
 position. The closet is gracefully formed in one piece of white 
 earthenware. 
 
 Boyle's "Tidal Wave" Closet. — In the year 1882 a closet with 
 the double trap was invented by J. E. Boyle. An air-pipe runs 
 from the space between the two traps, up and through the tank. 
 This air-pipe is governed by a valve which opens only when acted 
 on by a pressure from below, so 
 this vent-pipe ■\\ould not inter- 
 fere with forming of the partial 
 vacuum, which would be neces- 
 sary before the closet could be 
 
 emptied by siphon action. When 
 
 two-thirds of the service-box has 
 
 run off", the vacuum is broken and 
 
 the remaining third fills the bowl. 
 
 The bowl and its double trap is 
 
 manufactured in one piece of 
 
 earthenware. The lower trap is 
 
 properly ventilated. The closet 
 
 must be supphed from one of Boyle's 
 
 patent cisterns or tanks. 
 
 William Bunting, of New York, received patents from the United 
 
 States, in 1878, for a closet in which the siphon action is created 
 
 by a piston which works in a chamber situated above the trap. 
 A. G. yennings's Side-Outlet Hopper.— 1\\& first short hopper 
 
 with a side outlet was invented in 1852, by A. G. Jennings, of 
 
 London, in which he claims as novelties "the basin (bowl) and 
 
 trap combined in one piece of earthenware, so formed that the 
 
 basin is made to contain a quantity of water The escape may 
 
 Pig. 
 
 o, Bowl. 
 d, Vent, 
 pipe. 
 
 190.— Boyle's Closet. 
 
 5, Siphon. c, Trap, 
 
 e, Flushins rim. /, Supply 
 ff, Air pipe. 
 
WATER-CLOSKTS. 
 
 be from the face, side, or front. The basin may be of any shape to 
 liold water in the bottom." In 1876 an improvement was made on 
 tliis closet, for which a patent was issued. He says : " It has been 
 
 fomid to have the dis- 
 
 atlvantage that the 
 water tends to run 
 aioiind and around, in- 
 stead of passing out in 
 a stream." To remedy 
 this delect, a rib, wliich 
 is shown in the illustra- 
 by a dotted line, was 
 introduced. This rib 
 causes the water to be 
 thrown in a mass to- 
 ward the outlet, carry- 
 ing whatever waste 
 matter there was in the 
 bowl with it through 
 the trap. An opening 
 for a veut-pipe, which is not shown in the illustration, is now 
 manufactured in the usual i)Osition on the crown of the trap. The 
 water is supplied through a fan instead of a flush- 
 ing-rini, ami it is inteniled to be connected with a 
 tank. 
 
 Biicklaiid 'S' Reis's Closet. — The second closet 
 of this class was invented in England in 1862, 
 by Buckland & Rees. This closet has its fan so 
 shaped that a portion or half the water entering 
 the bo\\l is driven to each side, " instead of being 
 driven with a s[)iral motion, as is usually the case, 
 the greater jjart of the water being allowed to Bucklaiia * Hoes'; 
 flow directly to the bottom of the basin, and Hopper-Closet, 
 thence through the aperture or discharge-pipe on "'paT'' /,' Supply, 
 the other side.'' This closet has its trap and bowl 
 in separate pieces. The '-National" side-outlet closet manufac- 
 
 Fifj. 191.— .Jeniiiniis's SiUc-Outlet Hopper. 
 
 a, Bowl. 6, Trap. r. Supply. rf. I>(]|t<Ml lines 
 
 sliow iUL; where rib t was added ill IsTO. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 "3 
 
 tured in this country is apparently a combination of the two closets 
 which have just been described. 
 
 Hellyet's Side-Outlet Hopper. — I illustrate two forms of short 
 hopper of the type under discussion, which were invented by S. S. 
 Hellyer, of London. He acknowledges that he was unable to 
 make closets of this kinil act satisfactorily, 'i'lie fsecal matter 
 would strike against the sides of the ouUet, and leave it in a foul 
 condition. To obviate the tendency which the waste had to re- 
 main in the bottom of the bowl, the supply-pipe was divided into 
 
 Fig. 193. Fig. 194. 
 
 Hellycr's Side-Outlet Sliort-Hopper. 
 It, Bowl. c, Flushing-rim. e, Inlet for supply. /■, Oullul. 
 
 two parts, one of which entered the bowl near the bottom, and in 
 this manner forced the water and foreign matter through the outlet. 
 Hellyer concluded that this particular form of hopper was not good 
 for the purpose which it was intended to serve. The bowl is 
 formed so it can be placed in an ordinary trap that is placed above 
 the floor. 
 
 BosteVs '■^Brighton" Closet. — A closet of this class, which has re- 
 cently been extensively used in this country and in Europe, was in- 
 vented in 1877, by D. T. Bostel, of Brighton, England. This closet 
 is made in one piece of earthenware, the bowl and trap being 
 formed in a manner similar to the Jennings short hopper (Fig. 191), 
 the difference being in the flushing-rim, inspection-hole, and in the 
 vent-pipe. The supply-pipe is divided so as to enter the flushing- 
 rim at two points. Flowing aro\md the flushing-rim, the water 
 enters the bowl through small holes, which are purposely made 
 larger on the side of the bowl, opposite to, or furthest from the 
 outlet. By this arrangement the greatest volume of water is thrown 
 
1 14 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 where it is most needed, and the matter in the bowl is carried into 
 the trap, if not through it. There is an opening with a cover, to be 
 used for the purpose of inspecting the mouth of the trap, and form- 
 
 Fig. 195. 
 
 The 
 
 Fig. 196. 
 'Brigliton" Cluset. 
 
 Fig. 197. 
 
 , Bowl. 6, Trap. e, Iiispcction-cOTer. 
 f. Slots in iiusliing-riin. 
 
 d, Flusliing-rim. 
 g, Double-supply. 
 
 e, Vent. 
 
 ing a top to the ^iile outlet. The opening for a vent-pipe is just 
 below the inspection-cover. A \'cnt-pipe in this position will only 
 serve to carry off locally-generated gases, and must never be con- 
 nected with the soil-i)ipe, as it would form a 
 communicating duct lietween the inside sewer- 
 age system and the house. In this closet a 
 vent-pipe to ])ievent si])honage, back pressure, 
 and to carry off gases generated in the soil 
 and other waste jiipes, would have to be con- 
 nected with the branch from the soil-pipe 
 below the floor, a^ there is no opening for the 
 purpose near the traj). Tliere is sometimes a 
 false bottom or screen manufactuied in this 
 closet. I can see no good purpose served by 
 this screen, while it increases the space and 
 surface between the howl and trap, which is 
 liable to be fouled by matter in its passage to 
 the trap. This closet is arranged to receive its water from a tank. 
 Stidda's Closet. — In 1878, one Stidder invented, and received 
 patents from Great Britain, for a supply-pipe di\ide<l so tlie water 
 
 Fig. IDS. 
 
 Stidder's 
 
 Branch Supjily. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 1 1 5 
 
 could enter tlie flushing-rim at three points. This flushing device 
 was intended for use with a short-hopper closet. 
 
 The Lambeth " Flush-out " Closet. — A closet of this form and 
 class, which was designed ami is manufactured by Doulton & Co., 
 of England, is made in two pieces of earthenware. This closet has 
 an inspection-liole so that the comi)artnnjiit over the top of the 
 trap can be examined without difficulty. There is also an opening 
 in the crown of the trap, which may either be used as an inspection- 
 hole or as a place into which a vent-pipe can be inserted. The 
 flushing-rim is similar to the one de- 
 scribed in connection with the Lambeth 
 " Trapless " closet (Fig. 6i). The 
 openings in the flushing-rim, opposite 
 the side-outlet, are so arranged that a 
 large body of water is thrown directly 
 into the bottom of the bowl, and in 
 this manner the bowl and trap are 
 cleaned by the scour of the water. The Fig. 199. 
 
 J. L. Mott Iron Works, of New York, T'"= L'^"''^* "Flush-out" 
 
 have recently introduced a closet of „ , , „ , 
 
 ■' ti, Bowl. 6, Trap, c, Inspection- 
 
 this kind into the market, which has an oovcr. a, FlushiHs;-rim. 
 
 , ., , e, Smiply. /, Opeulhg for vent, 
 
 mspection-opemng over the sule outlet, 
 
 and a brass coupling in the usual position on the soil-pipe side of 
 the trap, to which a vent-pipe must be soldered or caulked. These 
 closets are furnished in one piece of earthenware, or with an earthen- 
 ware bowl and an iron trap, and are called the "Inodora" and 
 " Purita." 
 
 DEDUCTIONS. 
 
 As Stated before, / consider ike simple short-hopper closet, with 
 a bottom outlet, the best form of water-closet in use at the present time, 
 when it is properly flushed from a tank, through a well-arnmged 
 flushing-rim, and has a trap properly ventilated. Although I have 
 not found it necessary, a vent-pipe encircling the bowl and con- 
 nected with a heated flue may sometimes be found advantageous. 
 
 In this form of closet we find one simple in its construction, 
 effective in its action, immediately discharging the fa2cal matter into 
 
Il6 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 the soil-pipe, and at the same time cleanly and healthful, having no 
 concealed chambers or compartments to become foul and generate 
 unwholesome gases. In fact, it leaves little to be desired as an im- 
 provement on ^^ ater-closels. Closets with bottom outlet and of 
 the short-hopper pattern, with effective flushing-rims, are manufac- 
 tured by the majority of dealers in plumbers' supplies in the United 
 States and Great Britain, and the Frencli have also made an effort, 
 to manufacture and introduce thcni into Paris. The short-hopper 
 closets of the form under consideration are recommended by such 
 prominent authorities on sanitary plumbing as S. S. Hellyer,* of 
 England; W, P. Buchaii,! of Scotland, and Prof. P. Putvo| in a 
 work recently published in Belgium. l!y a comparison with other 
 forms which are and ha\e been in use, the cleanliness, simplicity 
 and effectiveness of the short hopper can easil}' be ai)preciated by 
 those who are least e.xiiert on the subject. With the valve-closet 
 we have the bowl and its usually faulty connection with the receiver. 
 The valve itself and its seat, nicely adjusted with all necessary 
 cranks, spindles, journals, springs, le\ers, w eights, etc., according to 
 the pattern of closet, are all liable to get out of order, and all parts 
 which are within the receiver and tlie sides of the receiver are liable 
 to become foul. Port'ons of the valve are formed of [jerishable 
 rubber, the overflow is more or less complicated, and the trap, when 
 one is used, is necessaril)' placed below the floor, with few excep- 
 tions. 
 
 The plunger-closet has its plunger, plunger-compartment, and, in 
 all except a very few cases, floats aud supply-\'alves with overflows, 
 all connected with the bowl, and between it and the trap. 
 
 In the classes just mentioned, all the described mechanism is 
 used in place of the simple bowl and trap of earthenware. And 
 with what gain ? The speedy and effectual removal of waste 
 matter is accomplished more quickly and thoroughly by the simple 
 than by the complex closet. In the plunger and valve closet small 
 jiarticles of filthy matter and foul sediment collect in the compart- 
 
 * The Plnmher and Sanilury JTimsif: . 
 
 ^Plumbing. 
 
 ^ Jj' nyyiene duns In CnvslriidiDii, drs Ihihiliitinns Prii-ces, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 1 1 7 
 
 ments which are under the valve or around the pkmger, and con- 
 cealed from view. These particles decay and generate foul and in 
 some instances poisonous gases. 
 
 The whole surface of the short hopper, except in tlie side-outlet 
 form, is visible, and any particles that cling to the bowl are in plain 
 view, and I think all will acknowledge that it is better to have such 
 foulness where it can and will be cleaned off by a careful house- 
 keeper, than to have it out of sight, wliere it will remain and un- 
 dergo decay ; fair without, but foul within. When these closets 
 (the simple short hopper) have their seats in the proper position, 
 the tank placed at a sufficient height, between seven and eight feet, 
 one-and-a-quarter-incli supply-pipe, whicli must not be diminished 
 by bends, I have never known them to fail to wash the bowl per- 
 fectly whenever flushed. The plunger and valve closets are sup- 
 posed by many to form a mechanical seal between the bowl and 
 the soil-pipe, but this is not the case witli the closets of this class 
 which are in the market, as the oveiflow only interposes a water- 
 seal, except in the closets mentioned in preceding pages, which is 
 the same seal as the trap of the short hopper. Altliough the ex- 
 periments of Dr. Fergus, of Glasgow, and Doremus, of New York, 
 have apparently proved that gases in a concentrated form will pass 
 througli a water-seal trap, nevertheless I think it can be said with- 
 out exaggeration, that the majoity of sanitarians have accepted the 
 experiments of Dr. Neil Carmichael, of Scotland, wliich have since 
 been confirmed by Dr. Wernich, as conclusively proving that 
 "water-traps are tlierefore, for the purpose for whicli they are em- 
 ployed, that is for the exclusion from the house of injurious sub- 
 stances contained in the soil-pipes, perfectly trustwortliy ; " in other 
 words, organic germs will not pass through a watei'-seal trap. With 
 the traps vented and the soil-pipe open, we need have no fear of 
 gases passing through the trap, provided the water seal remains 
 intact. 
 
 The advantage which a short hopper has over a long hopper 
 has been mentioned in connection with the description of the latter 
 type, as having less surface to become foul between the seat and 
 the trap, and the possibility which exists of the trap under the long 
 
Il8 WATER-CLOSETS, 
 
 hopper losing its seal by the impetus attained by the water. The 
 advantage whicli this form has over the hopper with the side outlet 
 is having the mouth of the trap always visible, and being without 
 the concealed space formed by the side-outlet between the bowl 
 and trap, which should always be avoided. It is needless to say 
 tliat the pan-closet, as it is usually manufactured, with its container 
 which becomes almost filled with filth, tlie faulty connection be- 
 tween bowl and container, which allow gases generated to enter 
 the room, its imiierfect flush and leaky supply-valves, is not to be 
 compared with the short-hopper closet. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS CLOSETS. 
 
 HE two closets of which the followhig is a description, cb 
 not belong to either of the classes which have been 
 enumerated; at the same time they appear worthy of 
 description. 
 
 The first is a closet of German pattern, described by Baldwin 
 Latham in his work on sewerage. 
 
 German Closet. — This closet consists of a side-outlet hopper, 
 with a siphon trap above the floor, in the bowl of \\hich there is a 
 tilting-basin that can be filled with water. The inside basin con- 
 ceals the outlet from the bowl into the trap. 
 When this basin is lifted, or tilted, its contents 
 are discharged through the trap into the soil- 
 pipe. 
 
 This closet in its manner of operation is almost 
 exactly like the tilting wash-basins patented and 
 manufactured by J. G. Jennings, of London, and 
 I should think the space between the two basins 
 was liable to become very foul. 
 
 The second closet that belongs to the miscel- 
 laneous class, which I have selected for description, is one invented 
 by John Tylor & Son, of London, in the year 1873. 
 
 This closet has a large receiver (in every way equal to, and as 
 objectionable as the receiver under the ordinary pan-closet), into 
 which the bowl projects. 
 
 The projecting oudet from the bowl turns at a right angle with 
 itself after entering the receiver, and over its outlet is fitted a horn- 
 like valve which revolves on a short arm and has its upper end 
 open. This valve has a rubber band stretched over its larger end, 
 where it fits against a metal seat that is clamped to the oudet of 
 
 Fig. 200. 
 fierman Closet. 
 
 «, TUting-basin. 
 f, Trap. 
 e, Supply. 
 
120 
 
 WATEK-CLOSETS. 
 
 the bowl. Ill this manner the water-closet bowl is kept filled with 
 
 water to the height of the small 
 end of the horn. The oveiflow, 
 which, according to Mr. E. F. 
 Bailey-Denton, is now s\ip]ilied 
 with a ball-i'alve, takes place 
 through the horn. 
 
 There is an inlet cast on the 
 receiver of this closet into which 
 bath or water-basin wastes may 
 be caulked. 
 
 Neither of the above described 
 closets probably will ever come 
 into extended use, as they are 
 inferior to most plunger and 
 valve closets, and for this reason 
 far inferior to the class of hop- 
 per-closets. 
 
 Fiji. 201.— Tylor & Son's Clowt. 
 
 It, Bowl. 6, Horn-valve, c lU'Ccivcr. 
 
 g, Bath-waste. 
 
 LATRINES. 
 
 Tl-.e class of which the following is a description is in reality a 
 combination of closets, rather than a single one, and is always in- 
 tended for use in public places, such as depots, schools, hospitals, 
 barracks, asylums, or any place where the usual closet will most 
 probably be neglected or abused, and where a janitor can take 
 charge of flushing and emptying them ; the plug, valve, or tank, 
 which forms the mechanism of the closet are under lock and key, 
 and accessible only to the janitor in charge of the building. 
 
 The Lambeth Improved Latrine. — Doulton & Co., of England, 
 manufacture a latrine that consists of a series of stone-ware bowls 
 connected with each other and the main drain by suitable stone- 
 ware pipes. The plunger is a simple hollow one that is formed by 
 an iron tube. The plunger forms the overflow and has a perfect 
 seat over the siphon-trap. The plunger is lifted by a handle that is 
 kept under look and key by the janitor. 
 
 The bowls are filled from one cock. When it is necessary to 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 empty the latiine, the handle is raised and the outlet pipe (5" di 
 aineter) is opened, when the 
 contents of the whole row of 
 bowls and connecting-pipes will r 
 be discharged through the trap 
 into the soil-pipe, in a few mo- 
 ments. 
 
 The trap of this latrine is sup- 
 plied with an inspection-hole, 
 and it should also have, when pig. 202.— Lambeth Latrines. 
 
 used, an opening for a vent-pipe »• Bowls. 6, Coiiiu'ctinn-pipes jointed 
 
 , . , - , to bowls, d Connectins-lJipe. 
 
 on the side of the trap next to e, Plunger-ohamber. f, Plunger, 
 the soil-pipe. »■ '^'^^P- ''■ Insuection-bover. 
 
 'jfennings' s Patent Latrines. — These latrines have been exten- 
 sively used in public buildings in England. They are composed of 
 bowls made on a special spherical pattern, connected with each 
 other by means of short pipes, the flanges of which are bolted 
 together. The bowls rest on short legs, so the whole system is 
 
 raised above the floor. The 
 bowl is divided in hemi- 
 spherical pieces. This form 
 and arrangement is conven- 
 ient lor shipping, as the 
 upper half will set into the 
 lower one. The bowls are 
 furnished either in highly 
 glazed vitrified stone-ware or 
 enamelled iron. The plug is one of Jennings's hollow plungers 
 opening over a simple siphon-trap. The plunger should be raised 
 once a day, and oftener if ample water can be obtained. The 
 water-cock as well as the plunger should be in charge of the 
 janitor. 
 
 Tyler's Latrine. — In the year 1873, Tylor & Son, of London, 
 received patents for a latrine of a peculiar form. The bowl is 
 formed so as to set into and rest upon a receiver. This receiver 
 
 Fig. 203.— Jennings's Latrines, 
 a. Upper part of bowl. b Lower half. 
 
 c, Connecting-pipe. 
 
 d, Feet. 
 
t22 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 has on each side at the bottom a projecting spigot that could be 
 cemented or caulked into the bell of a pipe. In this way a con- 
 tinuous line of lilrine'^ can be formed. The bowl, which is oblong, 
 
 a, Bowl. 
 
 Tylor's Latrine. 
 b. Receiver. 
 
 c. Spigot ends. 
 
 has foot-rests on each side, and is intended to be used by parties 
 crouching, no seat being provided. The patentee says they were 
 invented for the foreign market. In public parks where water- 
 closet seats would be liable to abuse, or where they might com- 
 municate disease, latrines of this or a pattern to accomplish the 
 
 same end would be found 
 
 useful. 
 
 Motfs Lai lilies. — The 
 J. L. Mott Iron Works, 
 of New York, manufac- 
 ture latrines in lliis coun- 
 try, of plain, zinc coated, 
 or enamelled iron. The 
 bowl is formed in one 
 h piece with a section of 
 the connecting pipe. The 
 pipes are octagonal in 
 section, and have flanges 
 on the end by which they can be bolted together. The water is 
 
 I'ly. 206.— Mulf 
 n, Bowl. 6, SupiJly. 
 
 Latrine. 
 , Connectlng-plpo. 
 
WATER-CLOSE IS. 
 
 125 
 
 held at the same level in each of the bowls by means of a liollow 
 trapped plunger. This plunger as well as the compartment in 
 which it is placed is of the same kind as the one described in con- 
 nection with Demarest's closet (Fig. 138). The same firm manu- 
 factures a number of trough-closets. In closets of this kind there 
 is no bowl ; but a trough long enough to receive the number of 
 seats desired. The outlets to the trough 
 are closed by a hollow trapped plunger 
 according to Demarest's patent. The 
 plunger operates in a chamber separated 
 from the trough, and it is lifted by a 
 combination of levers, which are clearly 
 shown in the illustration. (Fig. 207.) 
 
 Parfitt's Latrines. — A. G. Myers, of 
 New York, manufactures a latrine 
 formed in the shape of a long wooden 
 box lined with lead, the cover to this 
 box being divided into as many seats as 
 it is necessary to have. This box is 
 connected by a six-inch outlet and trap 
 to the main soil-pipe. The novel feature in tliis latrine is the ar- 
 rangement of a tilting-tank above the end farthest from the outlet. 
 The tank is connected with, and is to be filled from waslr-basin or 
 
 Fig. 207.— Trough-Closet. 
 
 a Trough. b, Plunger-cham- 
 ber, c Plunger, d, Levi-r- 
 handle. /, Overflow. 
 
 Fig. 208.— Parfltt's Latrine. 
 a, Slnlt or wash-bowl. 6, Tilting-tank. c, Outlet, d, Seats. /, Lead lining. 
 
 slop-sink wastes. The tank being balanced on journals is so ar- 
 ranged that one end will be heavier than the other when it be- 
 
124 WATER-CLOSE'l'S. 
 
 comes filled with water. Tilling automatically it will empty its 
 contents into the trough, and at the same time force the contents 
 of the latrine through the trap. 
 
 In the place of latrines it is now a common, and I think the best 
 practice, to use a row of long or short-hopper closets, either flushed 
 by a tilting-tank, or a tank which is operated by connection with 
 the seat or door of the water-closet room. 
 
 A tilting-tank can have its water-supply so arranged that the 
 closet may be flushed at either short or long intervals. The time 
 between the fluslies should be regulated according to the abund- 
 ance of the water-supply as well as according to the use the closet 
 receives. 
 
 One or two arrangements for opening the supply-valve in the 
 tank automatically will be described further on. Where rows of 
 either long or short-hopper closets are used in place of a latrine, 
 each bowl has the advantage of a separate and ventilated trap be- 
 tween it and the soil-pipe. While with the ordinary latrine we 
 have each bowl with its connections to become foul, and these foul 
 surfaces will be exposed to the room whenever the latrine is 
 emptied. When foul matter is dropped into one bowl of a latrine, 
 there it must remain, no matter how great or offensive the stench 
 may be. 
 
 In hospitals it is often imperative to have the faecal matter from 
 patients discharged directly into the soil-pipe, in which case a de- 
 tached closet, one of a row, would be found most serviceable. 
 
 I do not think any case could arise in which a row of hopj^er- 
 closets would not be su|)erior to a latrine unless it were in the case 
 of a public park, where the closet would be open to the most com- 
 mon forms of public use and abuse. 
 
WAJER-CLOSETS. 
 
 125 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 SUPPLY-PIPE CONNECTIONS. 
 
 HE common manner a few years ago of joining the su[)ply- 
 pipe to the water-closet was by enlarging the mouth of 
 the lead supply-pipe so it would fit against, or making it 
 small enough to enter, the nozzle of the bowl ; when the two were 
 fitted, a piece of putty was put around it, and the whole covered 
 with a piece of cloth held in place by a string. Tlie joint is some- 
 times covered with a piece of sheet-rubber, the rubber being 
 wrapped with wire instead of cord. Joints of this kiixl are rarely 
 tight for any length of time, antl they cause a great deal of trouble 
 by their leakage. Years ago efforts were made to perfect the joint 
 between the supply-pipe and the bowl; but the plumbers as a class 
 do not appear to have taken advantage of tlie best methods. 
 
 As early as 1829, Tyler, of London, invented a nozzle which was 
 to be bolted to the side of the bowl by means of a plate made in 
 one piece with the nozzle, and shaped the 
 same as a portion of the surface of the 
 bowl. This plate had ridges, and the 
 bowl corresponding grooves. "\^'hen the 
 plate was bolted to the bowl, and the 
 space between the two was filled with red 
 lead, or a cement of red and white lead, it 
 made a good joint. The metal nozzle, 
 being made of brass, either had threads to 
 which a pipe could be screwed, or a lead 
 pipe could be connected with it by means 
 of a wiped solder-joint. Before making a ■ 
 solder-joint, the surface of the metal had to be made clean. 
 
 In 1848, Armstrong invented a mode of connecting the supply- 
 pipe with the closet-bowl, A metal ferule, with screw-threads on 
 
 Fig. 209. 
 
 Tyler's Joint. 
 
 a. Brass nozzle and plate. 
 
 6, Opening into bowl with 
 
 raised rim. c, Bowl. 
 
126 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 FiK. 210. 
 
 Annstnjiig's ConiiecUoii. 
 
 a Nozzle of bowl, b, First ferule 
 
 c, Second ferule. d, t'kimp nut. 
 
 e, Rubber washer. 
 
 the outside edge, is imbedded in the nozzle of the bowl. Working 
 
 on the thread is a clamp nut. A secoiid brass ferule, with a flange 
 
 around the larger end, is firmly 
 screwed up against a rubber washer 
 that rests on the first ferule. The 
 lead supply-pipe can be connected 
 by the usual wiped solder-joint to 
 the brass nozzle. 
 
 A novel method of connecting 
 the bowl with the water-supply pipe 
 was iaveuted in this country by W. 
 S. Carr, of New York. A piece of 
 brass tubing is bent or cast so as to 
 
 form a riglit-angle with one end made smaller lh;;n the eartlien 
 
 ware opening into which it is intended to 
 
 fit. This metal tul)e has a flange or 
 
 shoulder tliat fils against tlie outer edge 
 
 of the eardienware nozzle, there being a 
 
 rubber washer between the brass flange 
 
 and the earthenware. Where the brass 
 
 pipe bends, a hole is left tlnough which 
 
 a hook passes. This hook is made to 
 
 fit around the earthenware where the 
 
 orifice enters the bowl. Where the hook 
 
 passes through the bend of the pipe 
 
 there is a nut, by which tlie ])ipe can be 
 
 screwed u[) tight against tlie earthenware 
 
 nozzle, A leail pipe may be joined to 
 
 this connecting pipe by a wiped solder- 
 joint if it is brass, or it may be connected 
 
 with iron or brass pipes by a screw-joint. Fi^-. 211.— Carr's Connection. 
 
 I find patented in this country a man- "-Bowl. 6, Eartlienware 
 
 . ^ c. Hook. nozzle, 
 
 ner of connectmg the supjily-pipe by </, Brass connecting-pipe. 
 
 ■ T .1 • 1 .^1 1 , ■ 1 e, Lead pipe. /.Solder-Joint, 
 
 putting It directly into the nozzle which ^, Nut. i, Rubber washer. 
 
 projects from the bowl, when a piece of 
 
 vulrnnized-rubber tubing, whii h fits tightly around the pipe, ig 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 127 
 
 b 
 
 Fi;;. 212. 
 a, Lead pipe, b, lliibber-tiibing. c, Bowl. 
 
 Stretched over the earthenware nozzle. This manner of connecting 
 the suiiply-pipe might be em- 
 ployed as a temporary expedient. 
 J. L. Mott has patented an in- 
 genious mode of connecting the 
 supply-pipe with the closet bowl. 
 A small metal plate is used, which 
 is zinc-coated or brass, and has 
 a conical hole in the centre of 
 it. The inlet formed on the bowl has a conical projection of earth- 
 enware that corresponds to the hole in the metal plate. A piece of 
 lead pipe is fitted over the conical projection, when the plate is put 
 over the pipe and screwed fast by means of clamp-screws introduced 
 through slots which are made in the earthenware for the purpose. 
 
 Soil-Pipe Connections. — With the most approved forms of water- 
 closets where the t.iap is above the floor and forms a part of the 
 
 closet instead of a part of the soil- 
 pipe system, it becomes very im- 
 portant to have the joint between the 
 water-closet and the branch from tlie 
 soil-pipe made gas-tight ; otherwise 
 the trap and vent-pipes would be 
 useless. 
 
 The common method of bringing 
 the mouth of a trap, or a bell on the 
 branch from the soil-pipe, and beat- 
 ing a part of the sheet-lead safe into it, then putting a little putty or 
 cement on the floor, and screwing the closet 
 down, is very defective. ,^ 
 
 Where the sheet-lead is 
 beaten into the bell it is a 
 very imperfect joint, even 
 when the space is filled 
 'I'he sheet- 
 
 Fig. 213. 
 
 Mott's Supply-Pipe Connection. 
 
 a, Metal plate, e. Clamp-screws. 
 
 e, Bowl. 
 
 Fig. 214. 
 Common mode of con- with putty 
 
 necting the Soil-pipe. ^^^^ j,^^ „o power to re- 
 a. Outlet. 6, Sheet-lead. . , , . ^ 
 
 c, Putty. (/, Soil-pipe, Sist tlie jjacknig of even 
 
 Fig. 215. 
 Hellyer's Connection. 
 a, Outgo of closet. 
 b Soil-pipe, 
 e, Cement. 
 i India-rubber ring. 
 
1 28 WAJEli CLOSliTS. 
 
 |iurty into the bell of the pipe. A joint of this kind might be 
 opened, even when gas-tiglit in the first instance, by jarring on the 
 fl(jor, by any movement of the closet itself, or by the jarring of the 
 soil-pipe. 
 
 Hell)cr in his work describes a method of connecting a lead soil- 
 pipc to the "Vortex" closet. A soft india-rubber ring is sent out 
 with these closets, for fixnig between the flange of tlie outgo and 
 tlie " tafted " (bent over and beaten down) edge of the soil-pipe or 
 lead safe. This india-rubber ring can be made to perfectly seal the 
 jointing, and it will allow for considerable movement in the closet 
 or tlie floor. The space between the flange of tlie closet which is 
 screwed to the floor and the " tafted " edge of the soil-pipe or safe 
 can be caulked with spun yarn and a cement composed of red and 
 white lead. 
 
 liuchaii in Ins work on plumbing illustrates his method of con- 
 necting the " Carmicliael" closet to the soil-pipe. A lead branch 
 is brought through a hole left in the floor for 
 the purpose, and beaten out flat upon the floor 
 by a dresser. The outlet of the closet, instead 
 of having a flange, in the usual manner, has 
 three grooves formed in the earthenware. A 
 Fiir. 216. piece of lead is placed around the bottom of 
 
 Buclmn'3 Connection. j,,g ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^,,^1 ,^gi,,g f^^.^^^^ j.^^q j^^g 
 a, Outlrl of cldsi'l. I ,1 J • cii 4 -..1 ij 
 
 6, Soil-pipe linmcli. grooves, and the depressions nlled with solder, 
 d' sX'e!f-j'oi'nl'' """'''■ " "■""''^' probably form a tight joint. The lead 
 on the ouUet of the closet and the tafted edge 
 of the pipe are joined by sokler. 
 
 What is generall)' considered the best American practice is a 
 modification of Helhxr's and the common methods. A Y-branch 
 is brought from the soil-pipe to within a limited distance of the floor. 
 Into the hub of the Y-branch a short section of brass pipe is 
 caulked, by putting in a gaskiii, then pouring in molten le.id and 
 dri\ing it firmly in with a caulking tool. A short section of lead 
 pipe is put ill, just long enough to be carried tlirough the hole 
 made for the purpose in the floor, and beaten over so as to form a 
 flange about two inches wiile on the top of the floor, and at the same 
 lime reaching the brass pipe. AVhen the lead pipe has been proi)eiiy 
 
WA'IKR-CLOSETS 
 
 12C) 
 
 soiled and shaved, and the brass tube filed 
 bright, they can be joined together by a 
 wiped solder-joint. Where the pipe is 
 turned over the floor, it is usually joined 
 to the safe by a solder joint. There is 
 a soft rubber ring stretched around the 
 outgo of the closet just beneath the 
 flange which is screwed to the floor. 
 The space between the flange and the 
 tafted edge of the lead pipe or the safe 
 can be filled by a cement composed of 
 white and red lead. This method of 
 joining the closet to the soil-pipe is 
 recommended by the most prominent 
 sanitarians, but I think it objectionable 
 in having the short lead pipe where it is exposed to the action of 
 gases generated in the soil-ijij^e. There is every reason to believe 
 that this acts on lead injuriously; in fact, reasons which are urged 
 against lead soil-pipe may with equal force be urged against this 
 short [jiece of lead ; the whole inside sewerage system b;ing only 
 as efficient or as perfect as is its weakest point. I also object to 
 having the closet depend for its stability on the floor, which is con- 
 stantly undergoing expansion and contraction, according to the 
 moisture and dryness of the air, and is subjected to vibrations from 
 movements that may occur upon it. The above methods are all 
 imperfect in their mode of connection. I think the methods de- 
 scribed below are the best that have been introduced. 
 
 Fig. 217. 
 Improved Connection. 
 It, Outlet of closet. 6, Lead 
 pipe, c. Putty, d, Solder 
 joint, e, Brass" pipe. /, Iron 
 pipe, g. Outlet-joint. 
 i, India-rubber ring. 
 
 Fig. 218. 
 
 Fig. 2i8 represents the method adopted by the Meyer Sniften 
 Co. in connecting the Brighton closet with the soil pipe. 
 
130 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 A brass plate tliat rests upon the seat is soldered to a short section 
 of lead pipe, as shown in the cut. The flange on the outgo of die 
 closet is bolted to this plate, being first bedded in red lead. There 
 is a circular ridge on the brass plate that fits into a corresponding 
 depression in the flange of the closet. 
 
 The Durham Drainage Company, of New York, have connected 
 w llli the branch from the soil-pipe an iron fitting with a large plate 
 or flange formed on it to receive the closet. When the outgo of 
 the closet has a soft rubber ring put just beneath its flange, and it 
 is screwed down tii^litly, a permanent gas-tight joint would be 
 lornietl, the space between the two flanges which was not filled by 
 the rubber ring being filled with cement. In section its appearance 
 would be tlie same as Fig. 214, except an unyielding plate, which 
 forms a part of the soil-pipe, would take the place of the yielding 
 floor, and an iron pipe the place of the lead one. This method 
 may be used where the trap, flange, and outlet 
 are made in porcelain or earthenware. 
 
 The other method, which can only be used 
 where the trap is of iron, has been recently 
 introduced b}' J. L. Mott in connection with 
 his side-outlet short-hopper closet. A branch 
 from the soil-pipe has its hub brought to a 
 '^^ 219 level with the floor. The end of the trap is 
 
 11, Trap. 6, Branch from formed, as it is usual, with the spigot end of 
 c, Caulked joiiu. '^' '" ^''^ soil-pipe with a small projecting ring 
 around it. The trap is formed so it can run 
 below the floor, the dei)tli of the hub, into which it is caulked in 
 the usual manner. In either of the cases mentioned, the trap of 
 the closet and the closet itself forms a part of the soil-pipe system, 
 the joints being as perfectly formed as any other joints in the 
 system. 
 
 Safes. — It is customary and usually necessary to have sheet-lead 
 safes under closets, to catch leakage or splashing that may occur 
 from .water or slops thrown into the bowl. These safes are simple 
 shallow pans, formed by the turning of a piece of sheet-lead up 
 about an inch-and-a-quarier high. These pans are placed beneath 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 13! 
 
 the closet, and their size varies, according to circumstances, from a 
 safe which covers the whole of the bath-room floor to one that will 
 only cover a space about two feet square. Safes, to be useful in 
 case of an emergency, must have a waste-pipe. A few years ago 
 (and the same manner of connection may be found in a large num- 
 ber of houses at the present day) it was tlie custom to connect this 
 waste-pipe witli the soil-pipe. In some cases there was not even a 
 siplion-trap between the soil-pipe and the room. In the better 
 class of work it was usual to connect the supply-valve with the trap 
 of this waste by a small quarter-inch pipe, called a " weeping" pipe. 
 This \veeping-i)ipe was intended to carry the water that remained 
 in the short section between the valve and the bowl when the 
 water is cut off, into the trap of the safe-waste. It is positively 
 wrong to connect the safe directly with soil-pipe. The weeping- 
 pipe may be stopped without the knowledge of any one, leaving 
 the water in the trap to evaporate. The traj) of tlie waste would 
 be siphoned by each discharge from the closet. The best practice 
 is to carry a "tell-tale" pipe from the safe into the kitchen or 
 cellar, and leaving it open over a sink that is in constant use, 
 where if anything were wrong, it might be noticed and stopped. 
 In England the custom is to carry this waste-pipe through the 
 wall, where it is allowed to form a drip or overflow. In some in- 
 stances the outlet is closed by a flap-valve, to be opened by the 
 pressure of water, if the hinge has not in the meantime become 
 rusty. North of the Potomac, in this country, our cold winters 
 would prevent a waste-pipe of this kind from being effective, as a 
 small leakage trickling through would be sure to freeze and stop up 
 the waste-pipe. 
 
 Where the floors of bath-rooms are made of im|)ervious ma- 
 terials, such as glazed tile or slate laid in cement, they should be 
 made to drain to a convenient point, and have a waste-pipe similar 
 to the lead safe. 
 
 Slop or Urinal Safes. — All prominent firms who manufacture 
 lihimbers' supphes in this country and England furnish these safes 
 to fit in beneath the seat and over the bowl. These safes are 
 
132 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 simply a square, dished covering for 
 the bowl, which has either a circular 
 or oval hole about the size of the hole 
 in the seat, with a surface of an im- 
 pervious character formed so as to 
 
 Fig. 220.— Oval Sloi) Sale. 
 
 Fit;. 221. — Section. 
 
 conduct water or urine into the closet bowl. They are made from 
 solid earthenware, glazed, or from iron or copper enamelled. In 
 all cases they are useful and cleanly in fact and in appearance. 
 Thin metal safes are the most convenient for fitting over closets in 
 which the wood-work has already been put in position, l)ut fioni 
 tlie liability to chipping, which even the best enamel has, a i;lnzed 
 
 earthenware safe is to be preferred 
 where a new closet is being fitted up. 
 Where the closet is to be used as the 
 uiinal, a slop-safe is very important, as 
 it prevents dripping on the wood-work 
 or into the .safe below the closet. In 
 either case the rapid decay of urine 
 would generate dangerous and offen- 
 sive gases. A poor substitute is some- 
 times found for a slop-safe, b)' beating 
 sheet-lead over a wooden piece shaped 
 in a manner similar to the regular slop-safe. Although better than 
 wood, a substitute of this kind is a mere make-shift, and should 
 never be used in place of an enamelled or porcelain one. 
 
 Fig. 222.— Circular Sliip S; 
 
 WATER CLOSET SEATS. 
 
 All are familiar with common bo.xed water-closet seats, often 
 fine and expensive pieces of cabinet-work, fair without but foul 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 133 
 
 .--French Closet Seat. 
 
 5, Door in riser, 
 c, Paper-box. 
 
 within. These boxes secrete dust, 
 dirt, and in many instances leakage 
 and drippings from the closet. Seats 
 of this kind, when made in their 
 best form, have both seat and riser 
 to open upon hinges, stout brass 
 ones being the best : iron rusts 
 easily, and the hinges become use- 
 less. When the riser and seat open 
 the housekeeper can easily see that 
 this space is kept clean. 
 
 A convenient shape for the hole in a seat is egg-shaped, eight 
 inches wide and ten inches long, and commencing about three 
 inches and a half from the edge of the seat. This form of hole was 
 patented in England thirty years ago. The manner of such work 
 must be in keeping with the other wood-work in the bath-room. 
 Heavy rubber duck is sometimes used instead of brass for hinges 
 to the seat. 
 
 I take an illustration from Liger of a French panelled box water- 
 closet seat. The riser has a panelled, hinged door. The hole in 
 
 a. Seat. h, Legs. 
 
 Fig. 22<t.— Open Seat. 
 c, Gas-jet for ventilation. 
 
 d, Ventilating-pipe. 
 
'34 
 
 WATER-CLOSli'l'S. 
 
 the seat is decidedly pcar-sliaped, being very much like the ones 
 represented in the closet fiom Herculaneum, which must have been 
 in use more than eighteen hundred years ago. 
 
 I give here two illlustra- 
 tions of what I consider the 
 best forms of water-closet seat. 
 The seat is supported by legs, 
 which may be as ornamental 
 as desired, and should be of 
 some impervious material. 
 Tlie seat itself consists of a 
 simple hinged leaf or board 
 with a hole in it. A seat of 
 this kind is furnished with the 
 Biighton closet (Fig. 195). 
 Wlien not in use, the seat is 
 turned back against the wall, 
 exposing the white porcelain 
 closet setting on a white or 
 colored glazed tile floor, pro- 
 ducing a neat appearance, and 
 it is in fact very cleanly and 
 easily cared for. A seat of this 
 kind may be used with any 
 form of closet exce])t those 
 wliich have unsightly or com- 
 plicated parts that require con- 
 cealment. The illustration 
 shows a ventilating pipe that is 
 intended to create a current of 
 air from and through the closet 
 bowl, carrying off any local of- 
 fensive odors that may occur. 
 In Fig. 225 is sliown a 
 seat, the front of which is supported by legs, a slop-safe and tank 
 in position. This arrangement as furnished by J. L. Mott & Co. 
 
 
 Fi^r. 22.5. 
 
 (t, Tank. 
 U, Suul. 
 
 h, Si'iviec-bo.x. c, Flnsliing-pipe. 
 c, Slii|)-safe. </, Seal-fnuiie. 
 h, Sii|)ply. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 135 
 
 has either brass or nickel-plated legs, which are intended to rest 
 upon a tile floor. Similar seats of this kind, having plain iron legs, 
 are furnished by the different manufacturers. The slop-safe is let 
 into the frame of the seat. The seat proper being thrown back 
 against the wall when it is not in use, leaves the enamelled surface 
 of the slop-safe exposed. This closet is flushed by the weight of 
 the person using the closet. The seat presses down on a shoit 
 lever, which corammiicates motion to the valve of the tank, hy 
 means of a. lock chain. The floor and side of the bath-room are 
 intended to be tiled. It is scarcely necessary to say that this makes 
 a clean, healthy and efficient apparatus for the purpose it is in- 
 tended to fulfil. 
 
 For prison use, or in places where the same abuse is likely to 
 occur, it is best to use a jump-up seat like the one illustrated in 
 Figure 226. The seat is oval, formed of wood, and is just large 
 
 Fig. 226 Jump-up Seat 
 
 a, Weight. 
 c. Journals. 
 
 6, Lever. 
 d. Seat. 
 
 Fig. 227. 
 a, Closet. fc, Seat. 
 
 c, Clamp. 
 
 enough to cover the bowl of the closet. Two iron journals are 
 screwed, by means of an iron plate from which they project, to the 
 wooden seat. One side has a lever and weight attached to the 
 journal. By means of the weight the seat is kept thrown back 
 
136 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Kig-. 228. 
 Seat for Standing on. 
 
 against the wall, unless it is held down over 
 
 the bowl by a greater weight. 
 Sometimes the long hopper porcelain closet 
 
 is set on a tile floor and has a wooden seat 
 
 which is held in jjosition by iron clam^js, that 
 
 are clamped around the earthenware rim. 
 Liger describes a closet seat or stand 
 
 which is intended for use in the crouching or Oriental fashion, in- 
 stead of as a seat. Places are arranged for the feet, being made 
 
 rough or ridged, so there \\ill be no danger of slipping. 
 
 Levers. — It seems ad\ i.sable to describe the two following simple lev- 
 ers for opening the valve in the flushing-tank by pressure on the seat : 
 Fig. 229 is a double lever which has its pivots or fulcrums at- 
 tached to the under side of the 
 seat. Motion is imparted to the 
 first lever by pressure on the 
 seat, while it in turn moves the 
 short arm of the second lever. 
 The long arm of the second 
 lever is connected by a chain 
 with the lever that operates the 
 flushing valve in the tank. 
 The arrangement used by Henry Huber & Co., of New York, 
 
 in connection with his " Tidal Wave " closet is simple, and not 
 
 liable to get out of order. 
 
 It is a simple lever which 
 
 moves up or down on two 
 
 journals, the bearings in 
 
 which they work being 
 
 screwed to the floor. The 
 
 lever is iiressed down by 
 
 rods which are attached to 
 
 it; these run through guides 
 
 and come in contact with 
 
 the under side of the seat. 
 
 The weight of the tank lever 
 
 229. — Lever for opening Supply- 
 tank. 
 «, Seat. h. Lever. u, Connecting, 
 cliain. 
 
 Fig. 230.— Lever for opening Supply-Tanlc. 
 
 keeps the seat slightly raised 
 
 a, Cliain. 
 
 6, Eods. 
 boxes. 
 
 c, Lever, 
 f, Gnides. 
 
 d, Journal 
 
WATER- CtOSlil'S. 137 
 
 unless there is sufficient weight on the seat to counteract its 
 effect. 
 
 Bidet Attachment. — Cragie's bidet attachment is a small branch 
 from the supply that is attacheil to the inside of the water-closet 
 bowl. When not in use it is turned up luider the seat or urinal 
 safe; when in use, it is turned down into the centre of the bowl. 
 From it a small jet or spray of water is thrown up toward the seat. 
 Tliis attachment is important in some diseases. 
 
 Quite a number of devices liave been invented for llie purpose 
 of disinfecting water-closets. These " germicides,'' as some of 
 them are called, are intended to destroy 
 germs and odors that may be generated in 
 receivers or other concealed compartments 
 that may be connected with badly designed 
 water-closets. Instead of using disinfecting 
 apparatus and a bad or poorly constructed 
 closet, it is far preferable, both on the score Fig. 
 of health and comfort, to select a simjjle, " Jjut '' e Valve" 
 
 cleanly closet, with its trap properly con- /. ^ozzle for jet. 
 nected with the soil-pipe and ventilated, 
 and thus have no need of a "germicide." 
 
138 
 
 WATER-CtOSETS. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 SUPPLY VALVES AND TANKS. 
 
 ATER-CLOSETS are supplied or flushed with water by 
 means of supply valves and tanks, or cisterns. 
 
 Su[iply valves may be automatic ni their operation, or 
 opened by the party using the closet. 
 
 The simplest form of supply valves are ground and compression 
 cocks, which are opened respectively by a lever and screw. Be- 
 tween these simple valves and the complicated diaphragm valves 
 there are many deviations. 
 
 The following valves which I 
 
 Fig. 232.— Bartli' 
 :, Inli-I. 6, Outlet, 
 rodf?. i. Diaphragm. 
 111. Washer, i 
 
 7u 
 
 jlomew's Supply-Valve. 
 
 will describe are the ones that 
 have been most ex- 
 tensively used m 
 connection with 
 water-closets. 
 
 Bartholom ew's 
 Supply- Valve. — This 
 valve has been ex- 
 tensively used in 
 connection with the 
 pan-closet of the 
 same name (Fig. 
 i2o). This supply 
 valve was intended 
 to close itself after a 
 certain amount of 
 water had passed 
 through it into the 
 closet. A projecting 
 disc into which a 
 fitted 
 of 
 
 c Air cliiimlier. o, /, Talve diaphragm IS 
 
 7i-. Water inlet to aircliamber. ^ , 
 
 , T.eaiv ortiiip. forms the bottom 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 139 
 
 t'me the 
 occupies in 
 
 the valve. When llie valve is first opened, either by pressure upon 
 the seat or by means of a lever, the chamber above the diaphragm 
 would be immediately filled with water, and it would be impossible 
 for the valve to close until the air chamber beneath the diaphragm 
 fills with water 
 through a small 
 hole made for the 
 purpose. 
 
 The 
 valve 
 
 closing is governed 
 by the size of this 
 orifice. A spiral 
 spring forces the 
 valve back against 
 its seat as soon as 
 the pressure above 
 and below the valve 
 has become equal. 
 The water in the 
 bottom compart- 
 meut wastes 
 tlirough a small 
 hole, and leaves the 
 valve ready again 
 for action. Fig. 
 233 is a later pat- 
 tern of Bartholo- 
 mew's supply-valve. 
 The spring in this 
 
 one is omitted, and Yig. 233.— Bartholomew's Supply-Talve. 
 
 gravity is depended «• Water-closet. d. Inlet for water. <•, Outlet. 
 
 11''' ^alve rod. n. Valve, m Air chamber. i. Inlet 
 on to close the and e Outlet of air. n Diaphragms. (, Slotted disc. 
 
 valve when the *' ^"^ ■■'*"■ *' ^"■^^^^' '*''^^^^- *' ^^asher. 
 pressure in the two compartments has been equ.alized. 
 
 The air chamber is situated in the top of the valve, and the 
 
140 
 
 Water-closets. 
 
 water passes into it through a liole left for tlie purpose, and leaks 
 out through a small hole, which is covered by 
 C a rubber valve that o[)ens only in an outward 
 
 direction. To assist the valve by retarding 
 the flow of water, so it will fill the upper 
 chamber, a slotted disc is inserted in tlie outlet 
 of the valve. 
 
 The Climax Valve. — The valve used in 
 connection with Demarest's Climax Closet is 
 simple. It consists of a piston-shaped valve, 
 which is held in position, or against its seat, 
 ■^ by means of a spiral spring. The valve works 
 
 between guides. Screwed into tlie top of the 
 valve is a small rod, which, when pressed 
 down, opens the valve. When the rod is re- 
 lie\e(l from pressure, the valve is closed by 
 
 FiK. 234. 
 
 «, Valvr. 6, Inlet. 
 
 c, Outlol. f. Rod. 
 
 /, Spring. 
 
 means of the spring in the bot- 
 tom of the chamber. 
 
 Demarest Closet- Valve. — Tliis 
 valve is placed within the plunger 
 chamber, and is operated by 
 means of a float situated within 
 the same compartment, when 
 the water has attained a certain 
 fixed height. 
 
 The upper part of the valve is 
 perforated, so that the water 
 passing through the same 
 sprinkles, and is supposed to 
 wash the plunger and plunger 
 chamber. It seems hard to 
 keep this valve from leaking 
 in practice. A spring in the 
 bottom of the vnhe assists in 
 keeping the vahe against ils 
 seat. 
 
 Pig. 235 Demarest's Valve. 
 
 ri. Plunger chamber in closet. 
 
 6, Outlet, c Inlet. e. Rod connect- 
 in<j with float, m Vah'e. n Valve 
 seal. / Nuls to atlneh to closet. 
 
 1; "^iH-inL''. n. Perforation for sprin- 
 klinj,' plunger chamber. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS, 
 
 141 
 
 tdM 
 
 E.S- 
 
 5 2 
 
 ^3 
 
 S^::M?^^^&g^»i 
 
 a\hv>,>i.i.i,tctt;; 
 
 ^^^^^s^^s^-^vvg 
 
142 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Jinmings' Hydrostatic Valve. — Tin's, valve I's also operated by 
 means of a float which encircles the plunger (see Fig. 130). When 
 the water-closet bowl is emptied by raising the plunger, the float 
 drops, the valve is oi)ened, and tlie closet is flushed. When the 
 float rises it opens an orifice, which lets the water into a diaphragm 
 cliamber. The pressure of the water in this chamber closes the 
 valve gradually. The different parts of the hydrostatic vahe have 
 to be so nicely adjusted to themselves, and to suit the pressure of 
 the water supply, that they are usually troublesome, and it is hard 
 to keep them from leaking. 
 
 Kelly s Stop and Waste Cock. — This cock or valve is manufac- 
 tured in Chicago, and it will be readily understood by reference to 
 the Illustration (Fig. 237). 
 
 Two plugs or valves are attached to a crank that moves in a 
 
 •SS^Sfis 
 
 :^'^^^»v^w^^^; 
 
 Fig. 237.— Kelly's \^alvp. 
 
 ti, .Inside of valve. 6, Plug to inlet, d, Ping to outlet or waste, c, Crank that 
 
 opens and closes plugs, c. Connecting arm. /, Inlet for supplj'. 
 
 /t', Waste. ?«, Opening to tlie flushing outlet. 
 
 centre spherical chamber. When the inlet plug is open the waste 
 plug is closed, and the water supply will flow into the closet. 
 Where it is necessary to place a closet in an exposed situation, 
 this supply valve can be used and placed beneath the frost line, 
 when the water in the pipe between the valve and the outlet in the 
 closet would run to waste through the waste valve, and leave no 
 water in the pipe to freeze. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 143 
 
 <a 
 
 B 
 
 Tig. 
 
 Underhay's Regulator. 
 a, Large cylinder. 6, Small 
 
 cylinder. c, Air hole. 
 c, Thnmb-Bcrew with air hole 
 in it. /, Point of attach- 
 ment to Talvo lever. 
 g. Point of attachment to the 
 floor. », Cupped washer. 
 
 Undt-rhafs Waste Preventtr. — In 
 connection with supply valves I note 
 and illustrate Underhay's Waste Pre- 
 venter, designed to close supply valves 
 when a certain amount of water has 
 passed tiirough the valve. This regu- 
 lator consists of two cylindrical cham- 
 bers. The small one, which is closed 
 at the top, moves up and down freely 
 in the large one that is closed at the 
 bottom. 
 
 The small cylinder has on its lower 
 end a cupped leather piston, and on its 
 upper end an air hole; the size of 
 which is regulated by a thumb-screw. 
 The lever that opens and closes the 
 valve is fastened to the regulator by a 
 bolt and slot in the top of the small 
 cylinder. It can be readily raised, as 
 the cupped leather acts as a valve, and 
 lets the air enter the small cylinder 
 freely. When the small cylinder com- 
 mences to descend by the action of 
 gravity, the air in it would be com- 
 pressed, and could escape only through 
 the air hole in the top. The leather 
 cup would be pressed tightly against 
 the sides of the large cylinder. The 
 cup dips into a lubricating oil, and in 
 its passage up and down lubricates the 
 side of the large cylinder. The regu- 
 lator is illustrated in position in Figure 
 72. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Water-closet supply valves that are 
 connected directly with the supply pipe 
 
144 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 of the building must be condemned, from a sanitary standpoint, 
 because there is a possibility, if not a probability, of the water 
 supply becoming contaminated by suction of either dirty air or 
 water from the bowl of the closet. This may take place when a 
 valve or foucet is opened on a floor below the closet, at the same 
 moment when tlie water-closet valve is open, the water or air 
 passing back from the closet into the supply pipe and out through 
 the open faucet below. 
 
 Valves must also be condemned on the score of economy, as it 
 does not seem possible to prevent them from leaking and keeping 
 up a constant waste of water, and re|)airs are always needed. 
 
 Their principal defect as a water-closet supply is that they do not 
 let the water out at once in a large quantity so as to cleanse tlie 
 closet thoroughly, ^^'here a large flush can be emptied directly 
 into the bowl it will have the desired cleansing effect, while triple 
 the quantity would be of no avail if supplied in dribblets. 
 
 WATER-CLOSET TANKS. 
 
 Tanks have been used at least a hundred years for the purpose 
 of storing water, so as lo flush or wash water-closets. 
 
 Both the Cummings' and Bramah closets, two of the earliest 
 
 Fig 
 
 239.— Shones' Tank. 
 
 o, Tiimblins; tank. b. Fiuincl-sliiiped iiilet. c, Syphon. /, Reservoh'. 
 i, Supply pipe, i, Waste pipe for utilizing waste water for flushing 
 purposes, 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 HS 
 
 English closets, and patented before the nineteenth century, were 
 flushed by means of tanks. 
 
 It has not been many years since tanks were discarded in favor 
 of some of the many patented supply valves. 
 
 Tanks for flushing closets are fast coming into general use again 
 as their utility is appreciated. Tanks may be treated under the 
 head of automatic and non-automatic. 
 
 Shoties' Syphon Tank. — Tliis tank is simply a reservoir m itli an 
 outlet through a syphon, antl a funnel-shaped inlet at the top. The 
 reservoir is filled by means of a small tumbling tank. Tire last time 
 the small tank empties, wlien the reservoir is nearly full, the syphon 
 will be started, and the whole contents emptied into the closet. 
 
 McFarland^ s Tumbling Tank is simply a small receiver or bucket 
 hung on journals. 
 The method of 
 its operation is 
 clearly shown in 
 the cut. By regu- 
 lating the flow of 
 water from the sup- 
 ply cock the tank 
 can be made to 
 empty at long or 
 short intervals. 
 
 Either of the 
 
 last-mentioned 
 
 tanks are simple in 
 
 their construction, 
 
 and, if the journals 
 
 and journal boxes 
 
 are well made, they 
 
 will not be hable 
 
 to get out of order, 
 
 , .„ FiK. 240.— McFarland's Tank, 
 
 and will answer 
 
 II, Keceivev or tank. 6, Tumbling tank, c, Outlet to 
 well for use ni closet, e, Supply cook, i, Supply pipe 
 
146 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 public places where persons using the closet would be too careless 
 to operate a non-automatic tank. 
 
 Among non-automatic tanks I will describe a small number of 
 plug and syphon tanks. 
 
 Tylor a' Son's Plug Tank. — This tank, wliich is illustrated in 
 Fig. 241, seems a fair example of its class. It has a tank proper 
 and a service box beneath. A plug which is held in position by a 
 weighted lever stops the outgo from the service box. When the 
 lever is pulled down a plug attached to the same lever on the op- 
 posite side of the fulcrum closes the communication between the 
 
 tank and the ser- 
 vice box. Unless 
 the plug between 
 the tank and ser- 
 vice box fails to 
 take its seat prop- 
 erly, only the water 
 in the service box 
 can be discharged 
 at one time into 
 the closet, although 
 the lever may be 
 held up any length 
 of time. This tank 
 as well as nearly all 
 11 o n - a u t o m a t i c 
 tanks, are supplied 
 with water through 
 a ball cock. A 
 floating copper ball 
 by means of a lever 
 shuts the water oft" when it has reached a certain height in the 
 tank. This height is generally near the height of the outlet into 
 the overflow. The tank is manufactured with a cover, as is usual 
 in England. 
 
 The Dnphx Tank, manufactured by J. L. Mott & Co., is a good 
 
 Fiii. 2.il 
 
 1/j 
 
 -Tylor h Son's Tank. 
 
 II. Tank. h. Final for liall-cock. c. Service box. 
 e. Plujis or valves. /, Welsthted lever i, Overflow. 
 ij, Supply valve. »i, OiiUetlo closet. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 147 
 
 example of a before and after-wasli tank. This tank has three 
 compartments, so arranged that while the service box is being filled 
 the same pull of the lever opens the compartment that gives the 
 
 Fig. 242.— The Duplex Tank. 
 
 Float valve. 6, Tank, c, Sen'ice box. d, Before-wasli. e, Funnel-shaped 
 outlet / Valve between tank and service box. <?, Valve of before-wash. 
 
 Valve to close service box while tilling, i, Valve to close after-wash while 
 emptying. A-, Ontlet to closet. /, Lever chain. m, Weighted lever. 
 n, Overflow. 0, Air pipe. 
 
 before-wash. As soon as the lever is relieved from weight, it takes 
 its normal condition by the act of gravity, and opens the service 
 box which flushes the closet. 
 
 The before-wash is of importance, as it prevents faecal matter 
 from adhering to the bowl. The valves or plugs have all either 
 
148 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 rubber washers or 
 seats, so that they 
 can easily make a 
 water-tight joijit. 
 
 An ar pipe is 
 shown attaclied to 
 the outlet pii)e be-, 
 low the closet. This 
 l)revents air being 
 sucked through the 
 water in the tank, 
 and so prevents 
 noise that would 
 otherwise occur. 
 
 The Doulton Sy- 
 
 Fig. 243.— Doullon's Syphon Tank. t^^on Tank. — This 
 
 «, Syphon. 6, Cylimler. c, Mouth of Syphon, d, Plate tank is waste pre- 
 nearly the sanie diameter a.5 cylinder, f, Floiil. valve. ,,„,,f;,,„ _„j v 
 g. Overflow, /i, Lever. /,-, Outlet. venting, ana its 
 
 contents are emp- 
 tied by means of a syphon. An annular syphon is surrounded by 
 a cylinder, air tight on top and connected with the lever, that is 
 operated either by the movement of the seat or by hand. To start 
 the waste preventer the le\er 
 must be pulled down ; this 
 raises the cylinder and emp- 
 ties enough water into tlie 
 syphon to start it into action. 
 A two-gallon flush is obtained 
 in this way without the neces- 
 sity of holding the lever down 
 for a moment. 
 
 The supply is governed by 
 the usual float-valve, and 
 there is also an overflow in 
 case the svipnly valve should f^S- 2U._winn's Syphon Tank. 
 
 o. Tank. 6. Float, c, Cylinder, e Syphon. 
 leaKi /, Lever, A-, Supply. \ Outlet, ns, Cover. 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 149 
 
 Winn's Syphon Tank. — ^Tliis tank is manufactured in Birming- 
 ham, England. In this tank there is also a cylinder, which, when 
 raised by the lever, empties water into and starts a syphon. When 
 started the syphon would extract the water. The amount of water 
 would be regulated by the size of the tank and the length of tiie 
 cylinder. The illustration shows the ta\ik covered, a custom almost 
 universal in England, but not usual in this country. It serves a 
 good purpose by preventing dust and other impurities from settling 
 into the tank. Either of the two last-described tanks are simple, and 
 have no valves (except the ball-cock) to get out of order. For 
 this reason they are to be commended. 
 
 Figs. 245 and 246. 
 a Tank. «, Valve and overflow, c, Lead or copper lining, i, Eubber flange. 
 A; Service box. i, Connecting rod between two valves, m, Outlet, n, Valve 
 ' to close service box while filling. 
 
iS<^ 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 Figs. 245 and 246 show a method of using one large tank for a 
 row of closets. The tank can be lined witli either copper or sheet 
 lead. The valve or plug is a hollow tube, being open near the top 
 and acting as an overflow. At the bottom it is encircled by a rub- 
 
 ber flange or ring. This rubber rests on a seat prepared in the 
 bottom of the tank. 
 
 Fig. 245 has a service box beneath the outlet, so arranged that 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 151 
 
 when the pUig is raised the outlet to the service box is closed by a 
 second valve, but as soon as the lever is dropped the opening be- 
 tweeu the tank and service box is closed, the outlet of the service 
 box is opened, and its contents discharged into the closet. Fig. 
 246 shows a non-waste-preventing plug. 
 
 Boyle's Tank. — The plug or valve is the distinguishing feature in 
 this tank. A number of plugs may be used in one tank, each con- 
 nected with a separate closet. Ey the arrangement of this plug a 
 before and after-wash is obtained, and the cistern is made waste 
 preventing if the mechanism is in proper order. 
 
 The lever, which moves on two trunnions in a journal plate, has 
 two dogs or short levers pivoted in a slot of the large lever equi- 
 distant from the journals. These dogs are pointed in opposite di- 
 rections and each rests on independent fulcrums. 
 
 In order to obtain the first wash, when the lever is pulled down 
 the dog strikes against a projecting plate on the piston rod and 
 raises the plug, and allows the water to 
 escape and flush the closet. The dog 
 which raises the piston has its fulcrum 
 nearest the end of the lever where the 
 motive power is applied. The valve, 
 which slides up and down on the piston 
 rod, takes its seat by the action of gravity. 
 As soon as the hand-pull is released, the 
 weight on the opposite end of the lever 
 causes the plug to be again raised by the 
 second dog. The position of the fulcrum 
 of this dog causes the plug to be raised 
 higher than it was in the first instance. 
 By the arrangement of these dogs the de- 
 sired amount of water may be obtained. 
 The plug is a short piece of tubing with 
 a leather or rubber disc on its bottom, so 
 
 the plug can make a water-tight joint with the seat. In the tube 
 is a piston with a soft leather washer. On the top of the piston 
 rod is a weight, which forces the jiiston down to the bottom of the 
 
 Fig. 248.— Tylor's Yalve. 
 
 s, Cup. c, Valve, e. Bot- 
 tom of tank. /, Attach- 
 ment for lever. 
 
152 
 
 WA'IKU-CLOSETS. 
 
 tube as soon as die long lever is horizontal, the Avater escaping 
 past the soft leather cup. When tlie dogs or short levers raise the 
 piston, the plug is lifteil at the same time by capillary attraction. 
 
 Fig. 249.— Kelly's Tank. 
 
 a, Tank. 6, Supply-pipe, c, Valve (Fig. 237). /, Weighted lever. 
 "/.-, Water-closet connection. 
 
 Xylol's Waste-Preventing Plug. — Fig. 248 represents a waste-pre- 
 venting plug to be used in connection with a tank, manufactured 
 by Tylor & Son, of l.oiidon. The valve in this case is within an 
 
WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 153 
 
 
 > 
 
154 
 
 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 iiivei'ttnl cu[). AVhen the cup is raised the pUig or valve is raised at 
 the same time. If the cup should be held up for any length of 
 time the plug would descend by the action of gra\ity, as soon as 
 equilibrium was established between the upper part of the cup 
 and the tank. This valve is generally regulated so the lank will 
 discharge about two gallons of water each time the valve is 
 raised. 
 
 Kelly's Tank. — In connection with his supply valve, Thomas 
 Kelly, of Chicago, has a tank which is operated by compressed 
 air. This apparatus also professes to be waste preventing. Weight 
 on the water-closet seat by means of, a weighted lever opens one 
 side of the valve, when water will rush into the cylindrical and 
 air-tight chamber above the closet. The air would be compressed 
 according to the head of water in the street mains. As soon as the 
 water-closet seat is freed from the imposed weight, the weighted 
 lever would open the outlet side of the valve, when the water 
 under pressure would be driven through the flushing-rim of the 
 closet (see Figs. 237 and 249). 
 
 As almost without an exception tanks are supplied with water 
 
 through ball-cocks, I have illus- 
 trated some of tlie best in the fol- 
 lowing cuts. 
 
 The balls are always of spun 
 copper, and, being hollow or filled 
 with air, they float. The ingenuity 
 of inventors has shown itself in 
 the methods adopted in closing 
 ^fl B/ the supply pipe with the lever, 
 
 ^ — " , which is moved by the floating 
 
 ball. The illustrations scarcely 
 need description as they explain 
 themselves. 
 
 Fig. 250 is one of Tyler & 
 Son's, of London. The valve is forced against its seat by a 
 double lever. This is sinple and effective. 
 
 Figs. 251 and 252 are taken from Bailey Denton's work. One 
 
 ? 
 
 Fig. 251. 
 
wa'i:er-closets. 
 
 iSS 
 
 is a simple tube, wliich, when closed, presses against a rubber seat- 
 ing. The otlier is a valve with a piston and piston rod attached, 
 which aids in keeping the valve against its seat. 
 
 Tanks should be 
 connected with the 
 closet by at least an 
 inch-a n d-a-qu a r t e r 
 pipe. The bore ot the 
 outlet of the tank, the 
 inside diameter of the 
 pipe, or the inlet to 
 closet should never be 
 diminished in any 
 way. Plumbers, in 
 some cases, diminish 
 the opening by beat- 
 ing the lead pipe to- 
 gether, in bending it, £ 
 by washers, red lead, ^ 
 and putty used in ^ 
 making the couplings. 
 
 Tanks are superior 
 to the valve as a 
 means of flushing 
 closets, because by 
 their means a much 
 larger amount of 
 water can be thrown 
 suddenly into the 
 bowl of the closet, 
 and they disconnect 
 the closet' from the 
 main supply-pipe. 
 Neither are they as 
 
 liable to get out of order as the usual supply valve. All sanitarians 
 agree that tanks are superior to supply-valves as a flushing arrange- 
 
 "^ 
 
156 WATER-CLOSETS. 
 
 ment for water-closets. The closet should be flushed by at least two 
 gallons of water at eacli discharge of the tank. Where water 
 is abundant the closet should receive a before-wash of a gallon 
 and an after-wash of three gallons. With a simple closet, properly 
 vented and connected, a simple tank properly connected, the 
 closet all open to inspection, selected as advised in the different 
 [jarts of this work, there will be no danger from sewer air being 
 generated in or passing through the plumbing fixture which I have 
 treated of in this book. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Alexander's Valve Closet 82 
 
 Armstrong " " 53 
 
 " Supply Pipe. ,. 
 
 ** Connection 209 
 
 Ashley's Valve Closet 30 
 
 Ancient Closets 1-33 
 
 Ball Cocks 250-252 
 
 Bartholomew's Suppl y- Valve . 232 
 
 Bartholomew Pan Closet 120 
 
 Beacham'A " " 105 
 
 Bean Valve Closet 55 
 
 B.nn " " 31 
 
 Blackwood Valve Closet 49 
 
 Bleisch Plunger Closet 145 
 
 Blunt " 143 
 
 Bostel Brighton Hopper 195 
 
 Boyles* Hopper 190 
 
 Boyle's Tank 247 
 
 Bowls for Pan Closets 122-125 
 
 Bramah Valve Closet 29 
 
 Buckland & Reis Hopper 192 
 
 Budde Plunger Closet 159 
 
 Bunting Closet 
 
 Bunnet Valve Closet 50 
 
 Bidet Attachment 230 
 
 Biichan Hopper 185 
 
 Carr Supply-Pipe Connection. 211 
 
 " Monitor Pan-Closet 121 
 
 " Defiance Valve-Closet... 68 
 
 " Side-Outlet 
 
 Campbell & Henry Plunger. . . 147 
 
 Cazaubon Pan-Closet 114 
 
 Conron Plunger " 148 
 
 Connections, Soil-Pipe 218 
 
 " Supply-Pipe 209 
 
 Carews' Water-Closet 
 
 Cummings' Tvcsi Patent 26 
 
 Classification 
 
 Climax Supply- Val ve 234 
 
 Daggett Valve-Closet 44 
 
 Demarest Long Hopper 73 
 
 " Valve 80 
 
 " Plungers 137-140 
 
 " Supply- Valve 235 
 
 PouUon's Tank ,,--..- 243 
 
 Page 
 
 53 
 37 
 125 
 125 
 24 
 7-27 
 
 153 
 
 138 I 
 
 72 
 
 65 
 
 39 
 
 25 
 
 36 
 
 87 
 
 86 
 
 114 
 
 III 
 
 150 
 
 73-75 
 
 23 
 
 1 1 -2 
 
 95 
 
 Ttl 
 
 37 
 137 
 109 
 
 126 
 73 
 45 
 41 
 
 130 
 125 
 18 
 21 
 28 
 140 
 
 34 
 48 
 52 
 83-84 
 140 
 
 Fig. Pagt 
 
 Doulton Valve-Closet 60-94 41-58 
 
 Downton ** " 43 34 
 
 Dummis' '* *' 58 40 
 
 Dflplex Tank 242 146 
 
 Early English Pliinaer 19 19 
 
 English Short-Hopper Closet. 177 106 
 
 " Common Pan Closet. iii 68 
 
 Eastern Closets 7 27 
 
 Fielding Valve Closet 54 39 
 
 Fez, Water-Closet in 16 
 
 Findon Pan Closet 107 66 
 
 Flament Valve Closet 66 44 
 
 Fowler Long-Hopper Closet. 170 103 
 
 Foley ■' " " 162 99 
 
 French Short Hopper '* 172 104 
 
 French PlugCIoset, Old 20-25 ig-20 
 
 French Valve, Early 65 44 
 
 French Seat - 222 132 
 
 Giiinier Pan Closet no 67 
 
 German Tilling Closet 200 119 
 
 Gilctirist Plunger 95 
 
 Grubb Valve 40 33 
 
 Hartford Plunger. 141 85 
 
 Havard Pan Closet 108 66 
 
 Hawkins' Pan Closet 103 64 
 
 Hellyer's Hoppers 178-193 107-113 
 
 '* Vortex 173 105 
 
 " Pan 113 69 
 
 " Valve 71 47 
 
 Harrington's Closet, 1596 16 
 
 Hanson's Valve Closet 31 
 
 Howard's Plunger. 95 
 
 Hutchinson Plunger 95 
 
 Ingleton Plunger Closet... 149 89 
 
 Jennings' Urinal and Closet.. 133 79 
 
 '* Latrines 203 121 
 
 " Side Outlet Hopper 191 112 
 
 " Valve Closet 77 50 
 
 Jennings & Lovegroove Plun- 
 der 129 77 
 
 Jennings' Supply- Valve 236 142 
 
 Jones Pan Closet , ,- 1 16 71 
 
iS8 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Keith Plunger Closet 144 
 
 Kelly's Tank 249 
 
 '* Supply- Valve 237 
 
 Keyser Plunger 
 
 Law's Closet 32 
 
 Laiidsbei'g Latrine 10 
 
 Lambeth Hopper 199 
 
 " Latrine 202 
 
 Llewellyn Valve Closet 84 
 
 LRtham's Plunger 135 
 
 Lucknow's Valve 34 
 
 Lever's Valve 228 
 
 McFarland's Tank 240 
 
 Maddock's Long Hopper 164 
 
 Moore Plunger Closet 157 
 
 Mott Latrine 206 
 
 " Short Hopper 181 
 
 Mott's Tank-Valve 245 
 
 Milne & Gant Plunger 158 
 
 Myers, the Gale Plunger 153 
 
 " All-China 155 
 
 " Niagara Hopper 163 
 
 Marcousis Castle 13 
 
 Neilson Plunger 
 
 Norton Valve Closet 43 
 
 Owens' Hopper 187 
 
 Gpen Seat 223 
 
 Pan Closets 96-1 28 
 
 Parfitt Latnne 208 
 
 Peake, Closet in Castle on. . . 7 
 
 Pearson Plunger 150 
 
 Preston's Closet 
 
 Phillips Long Hopper 167 
 
 Philadelphia Hopper 160 
 
 Puozzoli, Closet in Pal ice 3 
 
 Pohley Valve 62 
 
 Pierrefonds Latrine 17 
 
 Plunger Closets 129-159 
 
 Rhoads Long Hopper 1 65 
 
 Rogier & Mothe Pan loi 
 
 Page 
 
 87 
 152 
 142 
 
 95 
 
 26 
 13 
 
 121 
 54 
 81 
 30 
 
 136 
 
 145 
 100 
 93 
 122 
 
 108 
 149 
 94 
 92 
 92 
 100 
 
 95 
 34 
 
 no 
 
 133 
 61-76 
 
 123 
 
 90 
 54 
 
 lOl 
 
 42 
 15 
 
 77-95 
 
 lOI 
 
 64 
 
 Fig- 
 
 Rice & Sargent Valve 85 
 
 Renison's Plunger 134 
 
 Robertson's Valve 
 
 Roman Seat 5 
 
 Safe Under Closet. 
 
 Safe, Slop 219 
 
 Sands' Valve Closet 47 
 
 Shone's Tank 239 
 
 Seat, French Closet 222 
 
 Seat, Open Casing. 223 
 
 Seat, Jump Up 225 
 
 Seat, Standing 227 
 
 Supply Valves 232 
 
 Stidder's Branch 1 gS 
 
 Smith, R. D. O 
 
 Smith, Wm- , Siphon 1 76 
 
 Smith, Thomas, Siphon 171 
 
 Spnnkler iig 
 
 Soil-Pipe Connections 218 
 
 Supply- Pipe Connections — 209 
 
 Tyler Valve ..._. 37 
 
 '* Supply- Pipe 
 
 " Connection 209-212 
 
 Tylor Latrines 205 
 
 " Plunger 136 
 
 " Pati Closet 96-117 
 
 " Valve Closet 63-86 
 
 Tylor & Son's Tank 241 
 
 Tylor's Tank- Valve 248 
 
 Thirtecn'.h Century Closet. . . 8 
 
 Underhay's Valve 72 
 
 Underhay's Waste Preventer 238 
 
 Viney's Closet 35 
 
 Valve Closets 34-95. 
 
 Waring's Dececo 189 
 
 Watson's Long Hopper 168 
 
 Wilkins' Valve 41 
 
 Winn's Tank 244 
 
 Worcester Hopper 
 
 Zane's " Sanitary" Closet. . 352 
 
 Page 
 
 55 
 81 
 31 
 
 130 
 131 
 36 
 145 
 132 
 
 133 
 135 
 '35 
 138 
 
 114 
 
 lOI 
 
 106 
 104 
 72 
 130 
 125 
 
 3» 
 
 125 
 
 125-127 
 
 122 
 
 82 
 
 61-71 
 
 43-56 
 
 146 
 
 J51 
 
 13 
 
 48 
 143 
 
 30 
 3*^58 
 
 no 
 102 
 
 33 
 149 
 
 lOI 
 
STANDARD BOOKS 
 
 PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY THE 
 
 IJNDUSTRIAL PUBLICATIOJN CO. 
 
 9 Barclay Street, New York. 
 
 These books will be sent, post-paid, to any address in any accessible 
 part of the world, on receipt of price. Full descriptive catalogues may be had 
 free. New catalogues, with additions of new books, are issued from time to 
 time,. and will be sent free to any address on request. 
 
 The Steel Square and Its Uses. By Fred. T. Hodgson. The most 
 valuable, practical and simple work for mechanics ever published. Third 
 edition, enlarged and improved, with lOO engravings. Just issued. 
 Cloth $1 .00 
 
 Steel Squares and Their Uses. Being a Description of the various 
 Steel Squares and their Uses in Solving a large number of Mechanical Prob- 
 lems in Constructive Carpentry, Joinery, Sheet Metal Work, Cut Stone and 
 Brick Work; also showing how many geometrical and other problems may be 
 solved by the use of the Steel Square. By Fred. T. Hodgson, editor of " The 
 Builder and Woodworker." This forms Part II. of "The Steel Square and Its 
 Uses." It gives new problems, new methods and new wrinkles for shorten- 
 ing work. Finely jllustrated. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 ^^~ With these two volumes in his possession, the workman is prepared 
 to lay out any piece of work more easily, quickly and accurately than it can 
 be done by any other method. 
 
 Practical Carpentry. Being a Guide to the Correct Working and I^aying 
 Out of all kinds of Carpenters' and Joiners' Work. By Fred. T. Hodgson. 
 Illustrated by over 300 engravings. Cloth 81 .00 
 
 Stair-Building Made Easy, By F. T. Hodgson. The orily book that 
 "begins at the beginning." Over 120 engravings — many of them full-page 
 size. Cloth $1.00 
 
 A New System of Hand-Railing; or. How to Cut Hand-Railing for 
 Circular and other Stairs, Square from the Plank, without the Aid of a Falling 
 Mould. The System is New, Economic, Easily Learned and Thoroughly Practi- 
 cal. Edited by F. T. Hodgson. Cloth; several folding plates gi .00 
 
 Plaster : How to Make and How to Use. Illustrated with numerous 
 Engravings in the Text and Three Plates giving some Forty Figures of Ceilings, 
 Center-pieces, Cornices, Panels, Soffits, etc. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 Hand-Saws : Their Use, Care and Abuse. How to Select and How to 
 File Them. By F. T. Hodgson. Over 75 engravings. The most complete 
 and practical work on the subject ever published. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 The Builders' Guide and Estimator's Price Book. By Fred. T. 
 Hodo-son. This work has been prepared on a new and peculiar plan which 
 greatly simplifies the work of getting up Plans and Estimates. It contains all 
 the mecessary Rules, Data, Tables, etc. Cloth S2 .00 
 
Manual for Furniture Men, Cabinet Makers, Upholsterers, etc. A 
 thoroughly piactical treatise on Hardwijod Finishing. Contains many of the 
 Secret Recipes for which ?5 to S50 liave been charged. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 Easy Lessons in Architecture. By Thomas Mitchell. This book sets 
 forth in simple Language the Principles of Architecture, describes the different 
 styles and explains the terms. It is a standard authority. Illustrated by 
 nearly 150 Engravings 50c. 
 
 Buck's Cottage and Other Designs. Just the book you want if you 
 are going to build a cheap and comfortable home. The iiiformafion in regard 
 to site, general arrangement of plan, sanitary matters, etc., etc., is worth a 
 great deal more than the cost of the work. Paper 50c. 
 
 Carpenters' and Joiners' Pocket Companion. Containing Rules, Data 
 and Directions for Layuig Out Work toi Calculating and Estimating. By Thomas 
 Moloney, Carpenter and Joiner. This book is by a thoroughly practical man, 
 and'just meets the wants of the ordinary carpenter, to whom the algebraic 
 formulcB of the high-priced pocket-books are so much Greek. Cloth 50c. 
 
 \Vater-Closets. Gives a Description of every Water-Closet ever invented, 
 with an account of their qualities, advantages and defects. By Glenn Brown. 
 Over 150 Engravings. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 ■ Lightning Rods. Plain Directions for the- Constructiqn and Erection of 
 Lightning Rods. By John Phin, C. E. Fully Illustrated. This is a well-known 
 standard work. It is the only book on the subject published in this country 
 that has not been written in the interest of some' patent, or some manufactur- 
 ing concern. Out of print and scarce. Avery few copies, slightly soiled,. -75c. 
 
 Hints and Aids in Building and Estimating. Gives Hints, Prices, Tells 
 how to Measure, E.\plains Building Terms, etc. : Paper 25c. 
 
 Mechanical Draughting. The Students' Guide to Practical Draughting. 
 By T. P. Pemberton. Well Illustrated ■.-- ; $1.00 
 
 Drawing Instruments. A Treatise on Draughting Instruments, with 
 Rules for their Use and Care, Explanations of Scales, Sectors, Protractors, 
 etc., etc. By Fred. T. Hodgson. Paper , 25c. 
 
 The Slide Rule and How to Use It. Possessed of this little book and 
 a good Slide Rule, mechanics might carry in their pockets some hundreds of 
 times the power of calculation that they now have in their heads, and the use 
 of the instrument is very easily acquired 25c. 
 
 The Engineer's Slide Rule and Its AppUcations. By William Tonkes. 
 Paper - . . — - 25c. 
 
 The Lightning Calculator. With Rules, Tables^ Data, F'ormulse, Memo- 
 randa, etc. Paper -...---.. 20G. 
 
 Lectures in a Workshop. By T. P. Pemberton $i-00 
 
 How to Become a Good Mechanic. A Practical Guide for Self-Taught 
 Students of the Mechanic Arts. Tells What to Study.; How to Study; What 
 DifHculties will be Met, and How to Overcome Them. Paper 15c. 
 
 Electricians' Pocket Companion. Electrical Rules, Tables, Tests and 
 Formulae. By Andrew Jamieson, C. E., F. R. S. E. This is the most compact 
 and thorough work in the market for the practical Electrician. It contains 
 minute directions for all calculations, tests, etc., with clear engravings of tlie 
 apparatus employed. Fully illustrated. i2mo. Cloth 75c. 
 
Trade " Secrets " and Private Recipes. A Collection of Recipes, Pro- 
 cesses and Formulas that have been offered for sale at prices varying from 25 
 cents to $500. With notes, corrections, additions and special hints for im- 
 provements. By John Phin. Cloth .60c. 
 
 The ^Vorkshop Companion.. A. collection of Useful and Reliable 
 Recipes, Rules, Processes, Methods, Wrinkles and Practical Hints for the 
 Household ariid the Shop. Paper, 35 cents. Cloth, Gilt Title 6qc. 
 
 A book of 164 closely-printed pages, forming a. Dictionary of Practical 
 Information for Mechanics, Amateurs, Housekeepers, Farmers — everybody. 
 
 Workshop Companion : Part II." This is an extension of the First 
 Part, and contains subjects which have not been discussed in the earlier vol- 
 ume. These two volumes are not a mere collection of newspaper clippings, 
 like most of the books of "Recipes," but a series of thorough articles on 
 practical matters in regard to which information is constantly desired in the 
 shop, the house and on the farm. Nearly ready. Paper 35c. ; Cloth 6oe. 
 
 The two parts will also be issued in one volume, printed on extra paper, 
 and handsomely bound in cloth, under the title of the "Practical Assistant." 
 Price $1 .00 
 
 Success with Recipes. A Practical Guide to Success in the use of Re- 
 cipes, Formuke, etc. With Hints on Chemical and Mechanical Manipulation. 
 Intended as a. Supplement to all Books of Recipes. By John Phin. i2mo. 
 Paper. ; '. ..'... 25c. 
 
 The Amateur's Hand-Book of Practical Information for the Work- 
 shop and the Laboratory. Paper : 15c. 
 
 Hints for Painters, IJecorators and Paper-Hangers. Prepared with 
 Special Reference to the Wants of Non-Professionals. Paper 25c. 
 
 Cements and Glue. A Practical Treatise on the Preparation and Use 
 of all kinds of Cements, Glue and Paste. ByJolinPhin, Author of "How to 
 Use the Microscope." Paper 25c. 
 
 Wood Engraving. Full Instructions in The Art. By S. Fuller. Fully 
 Illustrated. Cloth. 500. 
 
 CoUodio-Etching. Full Instructions in this Most Delightful Art. Illus- 
 trated with actual Photo-Prints. Cloth $1.00 
 
 A Century of Inventions. An Exact Reprint of the Famous Century of 
 Inventions of the. Marquis of Worcester. One of the most curious books ever 
 published. Cloth .$1 .00 
 
 Common. Sense in the Poultry Yard. A full account of 1,000 Hens 
 and what they did. With many new Wrinkles and Economical Dodges. The 
 most thoroughly practical book on Poultry in market. ByJ. P. Haig. Illus- 
 trated. Cloth , $1 .00 
 
 Dictionary of Practical Beekeeping. With Numerous Illustrations, 
 Notes and Practical Hints. By John Phin. Cloth 50c. 
 
 What to Do and How to Do It in Case of Accident. One of the 
 most useful books ever published. Cloth 50c. 
 
 Shooting on the Wing. Plain Directions for Acquiring this Art. With 
 several Valuable and hitherto Secret Recipes of Great Practical Importance 
 to the Sportsman. Finely- Illustrated. Cloth 75c. 
 
 The Pistol as a Weapon of Defense in the House and on the Road. 
 How to Choose it and how to Use it. Cloth. . , 50c. 
 
How to Use the Microscope. By John Phin. Sixth Edition. Over 80 
 Engravings in the Text and 8 Full page Engravings $t -25 
 
 A Book for Beginners with the Microscope. By John Phin. Fully 
 Illustrated and very simple 30c. 
 
 Marvels of Pond Life. A Year's Recreations amongst Polyps, Rotifers, 
 Infusoria, Water Bears and Polyzoa. By H. J. Slack. Seven Plates and 
 numet-ous Illustrations ' $1 _oo 
 
 Microscope Objectives. A Treatise on Angular Aperture. By Geo. E. 
 Elackham, M. D. Eighteen full page Illustrations. Cloth $1 -ZS 
 
 The Microscope. A Practical Treatise. By Andrew Ross (the famous 
 Microscope maker). Fully Illustrated. Cloth --75«- 
 
 Section Cutting. A Practical Guide to the Preparation and Mounting of 
 Sections for the Microscope. By Sylvester Marsh, M. D. With numerous 
 Illustrations. Cloth ...75c. 
 
 Diatoms. Practical Directions for Collecting, Preserving, Transporting, 
 Preparing and Mounting Diatoms. By Edwards, Johnson and Smith 75c. 
 
 Handbook of Urinary Analysis, Chemical and Microscopical. For 
 the Use of Physicans, Medical Students and Chemical Assistants. By Frank 
 M. Deems, M. D. Fully Illustrated. Cloth $1 .00 
 
 Bacteria. A Practical Treatise Illustrated with over 30 Engravings, 
 showing the Forms and Modes of Growth of the various Species and the Ap- 
 paratus Used in the Different Cultures. \ By Watson Cheyne. Paper 25c. 
 
 .Trichina Spiralis. A Treatise on Pork Worms or Flesh Worms, How 
 to Detect Them, How to Avoid Them and How to Stamp Them Out. By John 
 Phin, Author of "How to Use the Microscope. " Paper 25c. 
 
 The Microscopists' Annual for l879. Contains a large amount of useful 
 matter not found elsewhere 258. 
 
 The Sun. A familiar Description of His Phenomena. By Rev. Thos. 
 W. Webb. Illustrated 40c. 
 
 The Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation. By John 
 Phin 75c- 
 
 Rhymes of Science, Wise and Otherwise. By O. W. Holmes, Bret 
 Harte, Ingoldsby, Prof. Forbes, Prof. J. W. McQ. Rankine, Hon. R. W. Ray- 
 mond and others. With Illustrations. Cloth, Gilt Title 50c. 
 
 A Book About Books. Practical Notes on the Selection, Use and Care 
 of Books. A readable, gossipy book, full of anecdote and practical sugges- 
 tions. Contains some very singular Engravings. (The Birth of Eve, for ex- 
 ample) 40e- 
 
 The New Pocket Cyclopaedia. A Compendium of General Knowl- 
 edge, Useful and Interesting Facts, Valuable Statistics and Practical Informa- 
 tion. l6mo. Cloth .' 5<^- 
 
 This is a handy volume, printed in small but clear type, on very fine, thin 
 paper, so that the book may be readily carried in pocket or trunk. It con- 
 tains all those facts and figures which are most commonly referred to in every 
 day life, great care being taken to secure accuracy and clearness. It is not a 
 collection of " curious information " made up from newspaper clippings, but 
 a thoroughly arranged manual of the most useful general knowledge. 
 
f -^itJin/AM 
 
 
 it fT\