New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-16

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pend upon bard walls, they shoold either
be painted or 40 smooth 40 to admit OF
washing. In this way they are less apt
to retain floating parties, and are
more easily clesnsed by dry or moist rub
bling. Investigation shows that the kali
somined wall, while temporarily of some
what cleansing or disinfecting nature, is not
so clearly O. it has been rep1ted to be- me me
cases IN the New York and Paris hospitals
in which improperly cons tructed walls have
been the receptacles of cOntagiOn, are we'll
known, and in some instances it has been
found necessary to destroy even the whole
wall because it was thus impregnated.
Cross partitions constitute another evil
which needs rectifying. In frequent cases
these partitions are too extended across the
house and closets, and dark rooms go inter
poeed as to prevent circulation of air from
front to rear. Ventilation requires that a
certain steady movement of air to
and fro be kept up. 1t need not
necessarily move fast. Experiments
show that it has to reach max
imumi Of between nineteen and twenty
! inches per second before becoming apparent
to our senses. Between this and stagnation
there are many gradations. Mere diffusion
in close apartments is but an intermingling
of foul gases, unless there is an additional
activity of motion. A stir-about of impure
air does not OF itself give purity. It must
be still further displaced and diluted by
drafts or by insensib!e circulation. Many
house, by reason OF its construction, has
| its spots Of stagnant air, or. as they have
been called, dead ends" of foul air. The
present plan, which intercepts the passage
of air from outside to outside by two i'm
pervious walls. and then ihterposes double
walls with closets between, is wholly OBJ
| jectiOnable. In each middle wall there
should be trausOm windows opposite each
| other or over the doors, with pully
and cord inside to secure their open
| ing. In too many houses the base
ment hail. which should be one OF the
best and most thoroughly ventilated in
| the building, is the darkest, closest and
| dampest in the whole house. Few house
| holders appreciate how much Of their cup
! ply of Air comes up from the basement, by
| the ball, dumb walters and the ceiling. 1t
| is for this reason that the greatest pains in
construction should be taken here. The
| front and rear doors should be always pro-
| part of the door itself should be constructed
Of glass, projected by iron bars. Similar
notifications are necessary in the structure
of the outside steps and back porticO. An
other essential requisite is an open fireplace
in each large room of the basement. an ar
rangement by which additional ventilation
is afforded. In general, we claim for base
ments what Woodward claims for hospitals:
mo ward should be without an open CRATE,
10 matter what other mode of heating
ID adopted" All these precautions are
necessary in the construction of the base
ment, because it is 60 much more than is
commonly realized the distributing reser.
voir to the rest of the building.
IN the composition of the outside walls, the
great desideratum is to secure building ma
terial that air may freely permeate, and
L. <Lo 1~,a
and vet 90 porous as to allow perceptibie
outer currents of air to TOW drought it.
Builders, as q rule, aim 10 make air-tight
houses, but usually, and fortunately for the
public, fail in doing so. When. by the use
of the densest granite and the closely fitting
iron Stag, they succeed in accomplishing
their object, NO amount Of inside shafts or
heaters or window ventilators can make the
structure fit to live in. The various sub
stances in common use for building pur-
poses are valuable just as they contain
sufficient compactness and trmnees, and at
the same time admit of sufficient ad-
mission of atomized air circulation, with
out unduly absorbing moisture. The
densest GRANTEES and marbles will con-
tain about q pint OF water IN each cubic
yard, and SO, when dry, admit a similar
will hold one gallon to the cubic foot, and
so on. In building. something depends on
exposure, on size or blocks, as modifying
the amount Of mortar or cemen: used, aud
upon thickness or clearness OF walls
Where walls are exposed to beating rains,
smooth or glazed surface does better than
a rough one. The great value of our sharp
sand and lime mortar and cements is in the
fact that the lime and eand form a porous
s;licious limestone, the hydrate being
changed into a carbonate of lime. Thus
the mortar and the brick form good build
ing structure, the mortar forming one fifth. |
The lime and sand inside wall-fnish on dry
ceiling lath. not less than one-fcurth |
OF an inch apart helps the pro-
gressive porosity of the structure from
without inward. This should extend be- |
hind wainscot and baseboards. l: Is even |
better if the heavy coat OF plaster extends |
along the fl oor beams, so as 10 make con-
tint Ous inside wall from basement to attic. |
Where wood Enclosure is used, a similar re-
suit is gained by the use Of sheathicg, tar |
red paper, and overlapping clapboards, !
oiled or painted.
The problem of correc: heating is next |
to be considered. There are many soiu- |
tons offered but mono of them seem to dis |
pose of all the difficulties to bs encoUnt-
cred. The Old-fashioned fireplace or glow |
ing CRATE has been steadily growing in |
favor of late. and has evidently destiny |
to fulfill. One thing, however, should be |
and that is not to allow |
of heating appliances to do |
away with the healthy exercise of the heat |
giving properties of the human system. !
People in good health in riehtly-con-
and ventilated dwelling have no
need for the excess of calOric which dwell |
ers in damp. air-tight and unhealthy stcuc- |
lures demand. The inside finishing OF the |
house demands careful attention. The cell |
ngs should be sufficiently high, and the |
windows made to lower and raise. The |
latter point is specially important, from the
fact that ventilation 70 muchbetter promoted |
BY slight opening above and below than |
BY a single aperture. Keceases for sliding |
doors, the joints of inside blinds, and other |
places of deposit for dust, should be kept |
free and clean from all extraneous matter. |
In the papering of walls it must be borne in |
mind that much of the material used for |
ibis purpose is capable, under certain cir |
of emitting poisonous effects. |
Papers which are vanished and admit of |
washing are less Objectionable. Wall paper |
ng on new, well-dried walls is not to be |
10 mind these limitations. In the building
Of attics and roofs care should be taken to |
avoid as much as possible the tendency to |
overheating in summer and excess of cold |
IN winter as we'll as to secure the required |
amount of ventilation. A material inside of |
the roof which would correspond to wooden
as clothing would have effect in regulating
the heat within. A lath and plaster ceiling |
on the rafter beams and perforation from
under the cutters for air entrance often aids
much in equalizing the temperature.
English and American Horses.
The London Field, referring to the invi-
tation sent to England for the exhibition of |
live stock during the Philadelphia exhibi- |
ton, says: In the meantime it is amusing
to observe that prizes will be awarded al |