The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-11-23
vEHTILATE

Pure air is as necessary to life as whole
som food, yet when we attend some OF our
churches, theatres, public halls or school
houses We are disagreeably impressed with
the idea that the architects of our day have
lost sight of the fact. 1t may be safely as
serted that not mere than one public building
out of every fifty is properly ventilated. More
care has been bestowed upon their proportion
and ornamentation than upon their arrange
ment for proper ventilation. OF late years,
however, public attention has been called to
the EMBELLISHMENTS of the atmosphere in
almost all public buildings in which there are
crowded assemblies. While much has been
said but little has been done to correct the
fault. A few minutes sitting in a packed as
sembiage of people in some Of our places of
worship or amusement will often produce
disagreeable and sometimes serious effects
upon healthy persons. 1t is stated that an
adult consumes 1000 cubic feet of air an
hour; or, In other words, he ~vitiates that
amount of air by consuming its oxygen, thus
leaving poisonous carbonized air to be rein
AoASu hAO oiopAoSCu Wy lICSu all. Ibis
being the case, the thorough ventilation of
our public buildings should command the at
ton and engage the efforts of builders to per-
feet it. In speaking OF the subject of ~ventila-
ton of school buildings, the superintendent
OF the San Francisco public schools uses the
following plain language: "The architect
who is responsible for the construction of a
school building which has not the most am
pie provision for ventilation ought to be
deemed guilty of an offense demanding CAPT
tai punishment. Non-progressive architects
seem to think that the outward appearance
Of the building is of more importance than
the health sf the children. They evidently
imagine that the people raise money, not to
furnish well-ventilated, comfortable rooms
for their children, but to be wasted on costly
White sepulchres' which indeed appear
beautiful or the outside, but are within full
of dead mems benes and of all uncleanness.
In most of the school houses there is no pro-
vision whatever for ventilation except by the
windows. There is no
trouble in getting plenty Of fresh air into a
room-the difficulty is to get the foul air out.
rooms in most of the buildings are air.
tight from the window stills to the fioor-they
are boxes apparently made to keep the child
rem constantly in a bath of diluted carbolic
acid"
The effect that impure ali has upon child
rem can hardly be appreciated. In school
rooms deficient in proper ventilation the
pupil becomes listless and drowsy, and COM
plains of headache and cold extremities.
Colds, coughs and indisposition follow when
the child is withdrawn from school and
gorged with drugs 10 cure that which ought
not to have existed. Youth and pure air
soon enable hin to enter into another contest
with disease and death, to be followed by the
usual course of hygIenic treatment. This is
ali wrong. The season is now upon lis when
all of the children of the country are, or
should be, attending school, and a due regard
for their health should receive the first con-
sideration Of their parents. We are aware
that every district is not provided with a
school building finished after the most APP
proved modern style. Some of these are
good. some are the reverse, but many of them
are very Indifferent structures. Still. the peo-
pie in most of the districts have done as
much towards erecting comfortable school
houses as their means permitted them, but as
a rule they have paid but little regardto their
proper ventilation. A few suggestions upon
this point may not be out OF place. An EN-
ineait physician once remarked that il a per-