New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-07-04
the Coming yslnn's House.

7uc coming SIuh' 3 SS0usce
A., editoria; article in the New York
E...i..y Pos. has an interesting glance at
Che residence Of the future, the mundane
future. of course. We quote:
We care not Of what materials the com
Snc man builds his house, SO long as he
use. substances proof against tire and
worns; nor what architectural style he en-
pioys. provided 10 violates none Of the
common rules Of art. Back of these ques.
lions, however. lie other involving eousid
erati0ns of equal Importance on tbs score
VI both utility and taste.
II may be safely assumed tina: our remote
ancestors knew nothing of living in layers
~ we do. A house ia tho good old times
was all ground hoOr with neither cellar nor
attic. 1: more space was needed ic was
added iaterally and not vertically: and it
was probably not till fears Of night as
saults suggested the notion OF tree-beds,
like those used in some OF the islands Of Il Q
South Pacific that such q thing as q seconu
story entered the mind OF man. AZ this
point a new era began. which has culmias'-
I'd in the skyw2rd architecture now 60 much
in vogue. come of whose worst annoyances
we're avoided by the introduction Of the
French ''.lat" system few years ago But
the end Is not yet. All persOns cannot live
IN fats. They arc for many reasons insult:
able TOR large families. or for nervous inva-
iid.; and decided objections may be urged
against any system which sets ones comfor.
90 largely at the mercy Of neighbors direct:
w overhead and underneath. The coming
man will doubtless live in u fat while he IS
voun. and eubsistin. on a small income,
but pecuniary independence will carry him
into . house exclusively his own, and that
house. if it be in a city, will be divided into
stories. Granting, then, the existence OF 3
series OF floors ono above another, the ques
ton arises, on which Of The series will the
coming man cook and eat his dinner.
Yhe arrangement OF most houses az The
present time represents a course Of natural
development The ground floor, which was
At first the only one, is devoted 20 the com.
mon uaes of she household. It is usually
here that the family eat and drink, hold So
ciai intercourse, and entertain their friends.
The cellar, whose primary type was the
'soe the savage dug to hide his teasure. is
now . store-rO04n for the safe-keeping o:
Coed: and the kitchen is either just little
below the ground, or just a little above it.
a. we have animated, the'tirst ascent from
Che solid level was made tor the sake of Sc
Vurity while sleeping: and this fiction is still
retained in the division of the upper part of
che dwelling into sleeping apartments Now.
Che first thing science will teach the com
ing man is that odcrs and vitiated Air arise
hence he will leduce the necessity, ii he
would breathe fresh air while sleeping-an
essential condition of health-Of reversing
che order of his ancestors, and putting his
sitcaen and dining room At the top OF the
house and his sleeping rooms nearer the
bottom. He will then hear NO longer the
complaint that an adverse wind has driven
easts of smoke out Of the kitchen range
and filled the house with them, for all
vapors will be dispersed in the upper air.
His critical visitor will experience ne Of
fence through his most delicate of senses,
and his inquisitive friend will not be able
to guess what viands have lately graced.
or are soon about to grace, his convivial
board.
"But." cries the f,ousekeeper of conserva-
five proclivities, "what will the coming cook I
do for access to her cellar? Will it be neces I
sary to take long journey down stairs
every time bit of cheese or alice OF ham |
10 wantedi" By no meane. Even if such 4
barbarisms as stairs are allowed to remain |
in being (which We doubt. the cellar ques-
ton will be greatly simplihed. Science has |
demonstrated the fact that any spare room |
NAV be turned into q chamber of refrigera
ton. with temperature that will defy the \
invasion of animal or vegetable corruption. |
The purposes to which the underground |
cellar of the future will be devoted are the |
reception of wood and coal, space for the |
machinery for heating and ventilating the /
super structure, and the admission OF air
currents to ward of the terrors OF msasma
In these capacities. but probably in no
Others the cellar will always be an impor- |
tant adjunct to the well appointed dwelling.
The theory we have preached in this ar
ticle is neither crude nor impractical. We
have seen it put to the test OF experiment
with unequivocal success, and there is no
good reason why some such plan as we
have suggested should not ultimately pre-
vail. The accustomed mode of ordering
house rests on no tirmer foundation than
usage. and that is often frail
indeed. The North American aboriginee,
in their natural state, turned their toes in
ward. in obedience to the exigencies of war
and the chase. 1t does not follow, how
ever. that those of their descendants who
have adopted higher civilization should
cling, for traditions sake, to this most awk-
ward habit. No more will it be binding on
the coming man to perpetuste senseless
domestic custom whose only merit lies in