The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1880-12-25
HOme.Building.

down to your house, or ON high ground
over which winds commonly blow from
marshes, even though not very near tc
you. Nor is it wise to build at the head
Of glens, which often make channels fol
unhealthy air-currents. So, also, vege'
Eation and muddy sea-b aches or river.
banks, in a climate like ours, ought to
be summed if we would not court the
approach of disease.
Then where should we buildp On q
soil as porous as possible, so that water
does not lie in it; on ground from which
there is a fall; where there is free cur
rent of air not poisoned by near marsh
es; and where no near high ground SO
interrupts the air-currents as to make
stagnant air, which in certain conditions
acts like stagnant water. An enterpris-
ing young farmer with wife who ''nev-
er had days Sickness" may smile at
precautions like these. But, my dear
friends, if two or three years after this
your little Bessie were being carried to
her grave it is not smiles but bitter
tears we should see onfl &Sno longer
ruddy as they used to be.S We would
fain save Bessie to you and keep away
those tears.
The comparative unhealthiness OF
towns, camps and barracks is due in
part to the fact that rooms are small;
that too many human beings are breath
ing limited quantity of air; that the
buildings and rooms are so constructed
that free currents of air are not posi-
BILE, as where rows of houses are built
back to back, or with no free, open
spaces between; and to the quantity of
decaying animal or vegetable matter
that is allowed to lie around or sink into
and corrupt the soil. The knowledge
of these facts should lead to the removal
to the greatest distance possible from
the dwelling of cess-pools and manure
pits, and to the construction of the
buildings on such plans as would give
the largest hoor-space, the highest cell
ings and the freest circulation of air.
A man may, for example, build nice
and well-situated house and put wall,
a barn or stable in such a relation to
it as to shut out the very air-currents
he most requires for health. The more
sunlight you can get into your home the
better. s. The light is good" You and
your sunny wife now feel, no doubt,
that you can be bright and happy in a
cave; but little Bessie, and Frank and
Harry by-and-by will need many things
you do not now think of, and especially
when passing through the mysteries of
measles, teething, whooping-cough and
other trials of which mothers come to
learn, sometimes through bereavement
and bitterness.
In other connections purity of thought,
speech and life is urged upon you, and
it is quite proper to advise you to keep
impure books, pictures, language and
the people who use it, out of your dwell
ing as you would thieves, burglars, or
lepers, if We had such sufferers in the
land.
But now we are speaking of another
kind of puritv-a kind that is often
overlooked. To begin with very SIM
pie matter, try to get pure water. If
animal matter or decaying vegetable
matter mingles with it, it is unfit for
use in your home. Fevers of the most
types are often bred by wat
er which has been in contact with sew
erage matter, Or-which is the same
gas that has been genera
ted in sewers, or with air flowing
through them.
So pure air is to be sought at any cost.
Every moment one lives he is being af-
fected by the air entering into the lungs
and affecting the whole body. Unfor-
the breathing of the air, even
once, so far contaminates it; and after
air has been for some time in a room it
ought to be got rid Of 1t is common
to suppose that if you make an opening
out of room the bad air will take itself
Oft. But, unfortunately, nothing bad
ever does go off of itself from human be-
ing. 1t has to De forced away, often
with care. toll and pain. Ventilation
is the providing of means for forcing
the bad air out and getting in the good.
Doors and windows are to be arranged
with view to it. But even these are
not always sufficient, and especially in
q climate like ours. where we have great
heat in summer and require much arti-
icial heat during the cold of winter.
Chlmneys, properly constructed, and
better still. open fires in them, help the
5entilating process. Various contriv-
lnces are employed-into the compe-
ing merits of which we cannot here
'nter-for attaining the same end.
Whatever the means employed, this
ought to be aimed at as a condition of
the air brought in should
,e diffused through the apartment.
Otherwise it is draught and is held in |
domination. Cool air brought in near
he ceiling of the room will gradually |
ningle with the lower, the warmer, bv !
is being lighter, going up. At the |
anne time it is to be remembered that |
DOL air is not necessarily pure air, and
hat there may be disturbance of the
ir in room without proper, uniform
md healthy ventilation.
Warmth has also to be kept in a
welling-not only warmth of affection
nd confidence, but warmth for the
'ody. Bad digestion, dyspepsia and
he like are not the only causes of de-
ression and ill-temper. Cold in a
yelling will produce the same results.
healthy, vigorous person, in the open