"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ...
"David Hill" wrote
".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic
and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.

Works exactly like a cat litter tray in fact. You do your business and then
chuck some very dry earth on it to cover it, kills the smell and starts the
decomposing process.
I've seen it said that it was a much better system (for the environment) and
cleaner than the flush toilet. Mr Crapper has a lot to answer for.

Dorothy Hartley's excellent _Food in England_ even has an appendix
telling you how to make one. I call that stylish in a cookery book.

Some book I read recorded the response of an old Welsh farmer to a
suggestion that he should have an indoor lavatory installed: "I don't
want any of your dirty English habits here!"

Mike.

Bob Hobden popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
said
Mr Crapper has a lot
to answer for.

Who he ?

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/crapper.asp

--
yours S
addy not usable (not that you would try it)
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione

In article ,
"soup" writes:
| Bob Hobden popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
| said
| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?
|
| http://www.snopes.com/business/names/crapper.asp

One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:

http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 15 Jul 2004 13:28:16 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
"soup" writes:
| Bob Hobden popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
| said
| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?
|
| http://www.snopes.com/business/names/crapper.asp

One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:

http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html

Sounds like a load of old Twyford to me :-)
--
Martin

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in message ...
[...]
One of the interesting things is that his [T. Crapper's] name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:

http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html

Partridge reckons it's even earlier: he says mid-18C, but annoyingly
doesn't quote a source. My old OED doesn't give the meaning at all.
There's probably a discussion in the FAQ for alt.usage.english.

Mike.

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic
and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk


*********
Re earth "middens", - here's an amusing, (perhaps), anecdote from way back.
When my Dad , born in Grange-over Sands was a lad at the turn of the last
century most of the houses were still rusticated and had earth toilets at
the bottom of the garden which usually was on the edge of a field..
At the house of a widowed elderly lady my Dad and two pals saw her going
down the back path so they pulled a wild blackberry branch off the hedge,
and, quietly lifting up the rear hatch lid, stuck the blackbum branch
inside, pointing upwards.
Screams of terror as the genteel lady hastily secured her elastic and fled.
The miscreants promptly rushed round to the front and knocked on the door,
When the door was opened they were full of concern , - "We heard screaming
Ma-am can we be of help".
"Oh dear!, I've had such a fright, do come in"
"It must be those ruffian youths form below the railway line " the boys
vouchsafed.
" Oh! - such kind boys you are!, - here, do have this tea and my home-made
biscuits and cakies."
Later, as the "nice boys" were being shown out of the front door each was
presented with a sixpence for their kindness.
Incidentally, my Grandmother had a shop on main street and my Grandfather
was a Master Builder and Sculptor and built most of |Grange, including the
shop facade, most of the big houses and hotels as well as nursing Homes, so
my Dad was not a scruff from the other side of the railway line. His
Father's best known building is now the Netherwood Hotel characterised since
yonks ago by the front ancient topiary which is rows of evergreen
bushes.always clipped to a square shape.
His only known sculpted work was two lions on the hotel's front-drive gates.
They were stolen many years ago . His only other remaining work is in the
small ballroom, - a fireplace with the Owner's motto carved in an arch,
"Strike Deacon, - the Devil's in the hemp", sculpted long before the turn of
1900.
Doug.
********

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"David Hill" wrote
".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought
we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on
the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic
and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.

Works exactly like a cat litter tray in fact. You do your business and
then
chuck some very dry earth on it to cover it, kills the smell and starts
the
decomposing process.
I've seen it said that it was a much better system (for the environment)
and
cleaner than the flush toilet. Mr Crapper has a lot to answer for.

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

********
Cleaner?. Every terraced house nationwide had dry closets. In hot weather
they stank to high heaven and no-one batted an eyelid. They knew no other.
Those fortunate enough to have a po under the bed were lucky. Those deprived
of that blessing had to make sure that the bedroom sash- window's iron
balance-weights were in good order to assure them of safety to something in
a very vulnerable area of the torso, especially if it was early morning and
the visit of the knocker-up and your visit to the window coincided. His
knocking-up pole had a bunchof wire had a splay of wire ends at the business
end, the better to knock and scratch the window pane. If you didn't hear
his signal you missed a day's pay. There was no dole.
.. At the appropriate time the "Angels of the Night" came up the back streets
with their horse-drawn steel Half Moon Carts. With large bladed hoes they
dragged out the piles of ordure into two-handled steel drums for transfer
to the H.M.Cartand chucked inside the bog a small handful of lime.
Many's the time you could walk up a backstreet and hear a childs'
cry. -"Ma-a-am! Fetch some paper!".
You cut up a used newspaper , - if you could borrow a news sheet or two, -
into oblongs, piled them altogether and stick a hole through one corner
through which you threaded some string, This was hung on the inside if the
'bog' door. Nobody had ever heard of toilet paper, and no-one would ever be
able to afford it if theyb had, I'm talking about the 1920's when most of
the populace starved.
Make no mistake, - the advent of flush toilets and sewers was one of the
greatest advances in the human condition and their introduction has, ever
since , been the saviour of millions of lives.
Doug.
********

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"soup" writes:
| Bob Hobden popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
| said
| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?
|
| http://www.snopes.com/business/names/crapper.asp



One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:
http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html
Regards,
Nick Maclaren
********
Crap is a German word derived from their word krap and krappenhousem.
Doug.
********

..

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004, Douglas wrote:

| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?

One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:
http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html

Crap is a German word derived from their word krap and krappenhousem.
Doug.

Wishful thinking! And I see you don't speak German! :-)

--
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Internet: | writing from |
| Fidonet: David Rance 2:252/110 | Caversham, |
| BBS: telnet://mesnil.demon.co.uk | Reading, UK |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 16:38:15 +0100, David Rance
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004, Douglas wrote:

| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?

One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:
http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html

Crap is a German word derived from their word krap and krappenhousem.
Doug.

Wishful thinking! And I see you don't speak German! :-)

Write it? shirley?
--
Martin

"David Hill" wrote
".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic
and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.

Works exactly like a cat litter tray in fact. You do your business and then
chuck some very dry earth on it to cover it, kills the smell and starts the
decomposing process.
I've seen it said that it was a much better system (for the environment) and
cleaner than the flush toilet. Mr Crapper has a lot to answer for.

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

On 14/7/04 17:12, in article ,
" wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 16:59:46 +0100, Sacha
wrote:
snip Wouldn't formaldehyde have had the undesirable effect of preserving
the
contents? ;-)

to stop it decomposing? :-)

Cast in bronze!
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.



David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

On 15 Jul 2004 13:28:16 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
"soup" writes:
| Bob Hobden popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
| said
| Mr Crapper has a lot
| to answer for.
|
| Who he ?
|
| http://www.snopes.com/business/names/crapper.asp

One of the interesting things is that his name is NOT the origin
of the word 'crap', meaning defecate. The first record of that
is in 1846, when Thomas Crapper was ten. See:

http://www.plumbingworld.com/historythomas.html

Sounds like a load of old Twyford to me :-)
--
Martin

"David Hill" wrote
".......... We had one of those when I was a kid - an Elsan? I thought we
fed it formaldehyde and crap not Jeyes fluid. It was an improvement on the
earth closet that the previous owner of the house used .........."

The old Elsan toilet used to use Elsanol, specially made, but now it is
Elsan perfumed .

Properly used an Earth closet works better than anything and is hygienic
and
odour free, as I said, used Properly.

Works exactly like a cat litter tray in fact. You do your business and then
chuck some very dry earth on it to cover it, kills the smell and starts the
decomposing process.
I've seen it said that it was a much better system (for the environment) and
cleaner than the flush toilet. Mr Crapper has a lot to answer for.

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK