Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-03-04
A MOuthful OF Air.

1t would seem as if good air would oe
cheaply purchaser even at cost as
great as that OF good diet, proper cloth
ing, sufficient fuel or any other of the
comforts and necessities which are con-
tinually finding use for our money We
have been in many log-churches, school
houses and residences where pure air
| came as freely as visitors did, but how
many buildings OF any sort are there
upon which attention has really been
given to the securing of proper supply
Of pure aE? Psychologists agree that
the smallest allowance of air per indi-
vidual should be 300 cubic feet, and that
even in that case the air should be
changed frequently; how many buildings
fulfill this requirement of health? The
| writer OF Perils of the Schoolroom," a
! paper which created marked sensation
when read before the American Health
| Association" at its late meeting, quotes
| from the report of late inspection of
| the public schools of one of our largest
| cities to show that certain children are
| daily confined in an atmosphere but lit
| tie if any better than that of the Black
Hole of Calcutta In one room in
new and favorite school there were 1876
children, the windows all closed, the
ventilating shaft closed and the hot-air
registers open. Each of these children
had fifty cubic feet of space" In a room
in another favorite school there was
found to be only forty cubic feet of air
space to each child. Rooms in other
school-buildings contained, respectively,
thirty-two, thirty, twenty nine, twenty
seven and twenty-four feet These
buildings are no worse than the school
buildings of many other cities, and the
worst of them might be matched by many
Sunday.school rooms. AS to churches,
we imagine every one can remember GER
tain sanctuaries in which no pulpit elo-
quence can keep the whole congregation
awake. And who does not remember
certain residences where the first mouth
tul Of air has a filing effect; where the
ghosts of many departed dinners float in
unwelcome fragrance through parlor and
hall; where the residents, who are smart
enough when met in the street or in bust
ness lapse into hopeful ,6 6tvYqpid 5NtY S9 s2
dencesg
'Re breathing of bad air is the most
ineXcusable of human eXtravagances.
The poorer the air the lower the animal
temperature, and the more money must
be expended for fuel, clothing and food
to maintain animal warmth. The poorer
the air the less able is the system to eX-
pei its waste matter, and, by consequence
of such inability, the less able is it to
work advantagcously, The poorer the air
the slower is the mind to comprehend
the lessons of book and pulpit, and nei-
Their teacher nor preacher can make good
the deficiency. The poorer the air the
slower and more imperfect is the physi-
sal growth of children, while in crowded
and badlyventilated recitation-rooms
and Sunday-school rooms they are in
more danger of contracting contagious
and infectious diseases than they would
be in a walk through the most unhealthy
neighborhoods of our dirtiest cities, The
poorer the air the more powerful is the
physical incentive to use liquor, tobacco
and other stimulants and narcotics. The
poorer the air the lower, inevitably, be-
come moral tone and moral force, for the
interdependence Of mind and body Is a
fact fixed beyond dispute.
Considering the greatness of the evil,
the means of relief which can often be
obtained seem ridiculous, for an indus.
trlous and frequent opening of windows
| and doors will in most cases fully com
ply with the requirements of health. In
residences this method is all hut per.
| feet; in churches ii is even more effective,
for there can be obtained Crossdrafts
| much easier than in residences. School
rooms, both in secular schools and Sun
day schools, are not SO easily dealt with.
Classrooms are generally as badly To-
| Gated rs bed-chambers, but need far
more frequent and steady ventilation,
while Sunday schools are as rule put
into Easements where the tops Of win
dows are not much higher than the
heads of the children. A concerted
removal of children from such
schools, by parents, the reason be
ing assigned with all possible pub
licity and frequency, would cause
Sunday-school officers to take hasty
steps toward reform. The same means
would have q similar result upon some
public school officials, and where they
did not, "A vigorous exercise of the right
of petition would have a wholesome in
tiuence upon those boards of education
whose members were elective. At a
small pro-rata expense few parents in
any neighborhood could have a scientific
inspection and report made by physi-
clan of large repute, and where all these
influences failed to work reformation
legal action against public officials would
be always in order. While mechanical
means for the changing of air and the
removal OF communicating influences are
SO inexpensive, the only cause for the ex.
isteuce of the evil we allude TO is the
apathy of the people who are the princi-
pal sufferers. Union