14. The Outhouse Police Are Coming

The Winchester Herald, 1889

  To the Citizens within the Corporate limits of the Town of Winchester: You are hereby respectfully asked to put the premises which you now occupy, own or control, within the corporate limits of the town of Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, in a good sanitary condition by May 1, 1889, by removing from said premises all Manures, Accumulations in Outhouse Vaults, Pig Styes, Stables, Barn-Yards and all other places on said premises, the same to be moved outside of the corporate limits of the Town of Winchester. You are further notified to disinfect all outhouse vaults by thoroughly slushing each vault with not less than two gallons of a solution of copperas in water, using one and one-half pound to the gallon of water, or as much more as should be necessary to thoroughly disinfect the same, and repeat the disinfection as often as should be necessary, and not less than once a month during fly season being May, June, July, August, September and October. Pig styes, poultry houses and yards must be kept clean and free from foul odors by frequently cleaning and disinfecting with lime and copperas.
  You are also notified to fill up with earth, or drain all cesspools or places where water or pig slops accumulate and become stagnant.
  Serious objections are also being raised to the practice indulged in by some citizens of throwing rats which have been killed into the street, there to fester and rot, and raise a stench which is offensive to the nostrils of all persons passing by. This must stop.

By order of the Town Board of Health, Winchester, Indiana. J.W. Jackson, Pres't, F.A. Chenoweth, Sec'y.