The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-05-16


mitted to cheer the Englishman's home. A writer
In the London Examiner gives us pleasant piece
Of satire that embodies many salutary truths with
reference TO this subject. 1t may be read for the
it affords, but its instructive hints will
reward the reader for his pains.
- THE LIGHT NUISANCE.
Iieck tells us, in his "History Of the Schildbdr
ger" that the town council Of that spirited com
munity was very wise. II had been noticed that
many worthy aldermen and common councillors
Were in the habit of looking out of window when
they ought to be attending to their duties A vote
was therefore, on one occasion, passed by large
majority, to this effect, namely: Whereas the win
dows Of the Town Hall are a great impeachment to
the despatch Of the public business, it is ordered
that before the next day of meeting they be all
bricked up. When the next day OF meeting came,
the worthy representatives of Schildbarg were sur
prised to find themselves assembling in the dark.
Presently, accepting the unlocked for fact, they
settled down into edifying discussion of the
question, whether darkness was not more eonve-
nient for their purposes than daylight Had you
and been there, my friend our votes in the division
would have been, like the vote in our own House of
Commons few days ago, for keeping out the light
nuisance much as possible. Darkness is better
than daylight, certainly.
where do you find the best part of lettuce ?-not
in the outside leaves. Which are the choice parts
OF colery?-of course, the white shoots in the mid
die. Why, sir Because light has never come to
them. They become white and luxurious by tying
up, by earthing up, by any continuance which has
kept the sun at bay. It is the same with man
while we obstruct the light by putting. brick and
light by picturing impracticable windows
outside walls-so that our houses stare about like
blind men with glass eyes-while this is done, we
sit at home and blanch, we become, in our dim
apartments, pale and delicate, we grow to look
fined, Ms gentlemen and ladies ought to look. Let
the sanitary doctor, at whose head we have thrown
lettuces, go to the botanist and ask him, How is
thiss Let him come back and tell US, oh, gentle
men, in these vegetables the natural juices not
formed when you exclude the light. The natural
juices in the lettuce in celery favored much
more strongly than our tastes would relish, and
therefore we Induce in these plants an imperfect
development in order to make them eatable Very
we'll The natural juices in man stronger
than good taste can tolerate Man requires horti
culture to be fit to come to table To rear the finer
sorts of human kind, one great operation necessary
is to Danish light as much as possible
Ladies' know that. To keep their faces pale,
they pull the blinds down in their drawing rooms,
they put veil between their countenances and the
sun when they GO, out, and carry, like good sol
diers, great shield on high, by name parasol,
to ward his darts off They know better than to
let the old god kiss them into color, as he does the
peaches. They choose to remain green fruit; and
we all know that to be a delicacy
Yet there are men among us daring to propose
that there shall no longer be protection against
light; men who would tax a house by it's capacious-
so-called sanitary people really seem to look upon
their fellow creatures as 80 many cucumbers. But
we have not yet fallen 30 far back in our develop
ment. Disease is privilege. Those only who
know the tender touch of wifes hand, the quiet
kiss, the soothing whisper, appreciate its worth.
All who not dead to the tenderest emotions will
lament the day when light is turned on without
limit in our houses. We have no wish to be bazed
upon. Frequently pestilence itself avoids the sunny
side of any street. and prefers walking in the shade
Nay, even in one building as in the case of great
barrack at St. Petersburg, there will be three calls
made by disease upon the shady side of the estab
lshment for every visit that it pays to the side
frightened by the sun; and this is known to hap
pen uniformly, for a series of years. Let us be
warned, then. There must be no increase of win
dows in our houses; let US curtain those we have
and keep our blinds well down. Let morning sun
afternoon sun fire no voleys in upon Faded
curtains, faded carpets, all ye blinds Forbid But
faded faces desirable 1t is cheering spectacle
on summer afternoons to see the bright rays beat
ing on row of windows all the way down a street,
and failing To find entrance anywhere.
Who wants more windows? Is it not obvious
that, when daylight really comes, every window we
possess is counted one too many If we could send
up large balloon into the sky, with Mr.. Braid
wood and FIRE engine, to get the flames of the sun
under, just little bit, that would be something
tional. More light, indeed! More water next, no
doubt AS If it were not perfectly notorious that in
the articles Of light, water and air, nature outran
the constable We have to keep out light with
blinds and wells, and various machinery would
COCkrOdC0c6
with pads and curtains; and still there impert
nent reformers clamoring to increase our difficulty,
by giving more windows to protect against the
inroads Of those household nuisances.
! call upon consistent Englishmen to make a
stand against these innovators. There is need of
all our vigor In 1s4S the repeal of the window tax
was secuted from the Commons by sensible ma
jority of ninety four Last week the good cause
triumphed only by precarious majority OF three.
The exertions of right-thinking men will not be
wanting, when the value and importance Of little
energetic labor is once clearly perceived.
What is it that the sanitary agitators want To
tan and freckle all their countrywomen, and TO
make Britons apple-facedi The Persian hero, Rus
tum, when baby, exhausted seven nurses, and
was weancd upon seven sheep day, when he was
of age for spoon meat Are English babies 10 be
Rustums? When Rustum,s mother. Roubadah,
from high tower, first saw and admired her flu
ure husband Zal, she let her ringles fall, and they
were long and reached unto the ground, and Zal
climbed up by them, and knet down at her feet
and asked to marry her. Are British ladies TO be
strengthened into Roubadahs, with hair like ships
cable, up which husbands may camberI In the
present state of the mania for public health, it is
quite time that every patriotic man should put
these questions seriously to his conscience.
One topic more. Let IL be clearly understood
that against artificial light we can make no objec-
ton. Between sun and candle there are more con-
trasts than the mere difference in brilancy. The
light which comes down from the sly not only eats
air out Of our mouths, but il charged with
mysterious and subtle principles which have pu-
rifying, vivifying power. 1t is powerful ally OF
health, and we make war against IT, But artificial
light contains no sanitary marvels. When the gas
streams through half dozen Jets into your room,
and burns there and gives light; when candles be-
shorter and shorter until they "burnt OUT
and been no more, you know what happens. No
thing in Nature ceases to exist. Your camphine
has left the lamp, but IL has not vanished out of
being. Nor has IL been converted into light. Light
is visible action; and candles more con-
verted into light when they are burning, than
breath is converted into speech when you arc talk
ing. The breath, having produced speech, mixes
with the atmosphere; gas, camphine, candles, hav-
ing produced light, do the same II you saw
fifty wax-lights shrink to their sockets last week
in an unventiated ballroom, yet, though invisi-
bic, they had not left you; for their elements
in the room, and you were breathing them.
Their light had been sign that they we're com
bining chemically with the air; in so combining
they were changed, but they became poison
Every artificial light is of necessity little work
shop for the conversion Of gas, OIL spirit, candle
into rcsprable poison. Let no sanitary tongue
persuade you that the more we have Of such pro
cess, the more need we have of ventilation Ven
tillation is a catchword for the Of agtators in
which IL does not become any person OF refinement