n water are the best fire fighters.

Burning away dried grass and underbrush around exterior of camp is a
great protection against fire from outside.

=1246. Kitchen pits.= Pits of convenient size should be constructed
for the liquid refuse from the kitchens. Solid refuse should be burned
either in the kitchen fire or at some designated place, depending upon
whether the camp is of a temporary or permanent nature. Unless the
camp be of a very temporary nature, the pits should be covered with
boards or other material in order to exclude the flies.

All pits should be filled in with earth before breaking camp.

=1247. Incinerators.= The incineration pit shown in the following
diagram, affords an excellent, simple and economical way of disposing
of camp waste and offal, tin cans and dish-water included:

[Illustration: Fig. 5]

=Description:=

The pit is about 4-1/2 feet long, 1-1/2 feet wide and 2 feet deep at
one end and 2-1/2 at the other. It is partially filled with stones,
the larger ones on the bottom and the smaller on the top. At one end
of the pit the stones extend a little above the surface, and slope
gradually toward the other end until the fire pit is reached ten
inches below the surface of the trench. Over the fire pit, about five
inches above the ground, is placed a crab or a piece of boiler iron,
on which is boiled all the water for washing dishes, etc. The fire pit
is only about one-half of the stone surface, as the radiated heat
keeps the rest of the stones hot, causing all dish and slop water to
evaporate quickly.

Any tin cans that may be thrown into the fire pit are removed after a
short exposure to the heat and placed in a trench especially dug for
the purpose.

The company incinerator shown below was used with great success by
some of our troops at Texas City, Texas. The rocks should not be too
large. The men should be instructed to drop all liquid on the sides
of the incinerator and throw all solid matter on the fire--the liquids
will thus be evaporated and the solids burned. Until the men learn how
to use the incinerator properly, a noncommissioned officer should be
detailed to supervise its use.

[Illustration: Fig. 6]

=1248. Drainage.= When camp is established for an indefinite period,
drainage should be attended to at once. Each tent should have a
shallow trench dug around it and the company and other streets ditched
on both sides, all the trenches and ditches connecting with a ditc