Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1881-08-05
A Cool House ami Dry Cellar.


Much comfort may be secured by
keeping the house cool in the hot days.
This may be done bv closing all the
windows about eight o'clock in the
morning and opening them only 5ftel
six in the evening; dark green window
shades being inside of the white ones
will keep out the heat of the sun, and
the darkness will drive out the flies.
Children and old persons suffer greatly
if they cannot rest for an hour or two
about midday, and in cool, dark room.
where there are no flies, an hours s re It
for the weary mother and the young
children may be easily secured. The
windows may be opened at night when
the air is cooler and less damp than in
the daytime and thorough ventilation
given. The condition of the cellar i;
much improved by the same treatment
If the cellar windows are open in the
day time and the warm air let in large
quantity of moisture comes in with the
hot air and is deposited like dew on the
cellar walls and floor. This encourages
mold, and in few days the cellar is
impregnated with mildew. The cooler
night air contains less moisture, and il
bushel of fresh lime is kept in the
cellar it will absorb great quantity of
moisture from the air and keep the eel
lar dry. = A bushel of lime weighing
eighty pounds will absorb twenty-seyen
| pounds of water before it becomes at all
damp. A peck of it will absorb more
than six pounds, and peck is very
manageable. When it is slaked down
to a powder and appears very moist it
can be taken away and fresh lime sup
piled. Ten cubic feet of air saturated
with moisture until it begins to be de-
posted on the walls of cool cellar
may contain one cubic inch OF water
or half an ounce or thereabout. A cell
lar thirty by twenty and seven feet
high contains 4.200 cubic feet, and
may contain, dissolved in the
mir, about thirteen pounds, or nearly
two gallons of water. when it begins to
be deposited as dew on the walls at
sixty degrees temperature. Half q
bushel OF lime will completely dry the
air in cellar of this size but it is not
requisite to dry it completely; all that
is wanted is to absorb the surplus that
cannot be held in Sthe air at a tempera
ture of forty-five or fifty degrees. Then
the cellarwill be practically dry and
there will be no mold or moisture oi
earthly smell about it. This is OF the
utmost Importance in dairies where
milk, cream and butter are kept in Gel
lars, and more so in regard to food. II
is known that the spore of common
mildew will produce germs that arc
found in the stomach and blood in GER
tain diseases. 1t is quite logical to be
lieve, then, that to eat musty or moldy
food will be dangerous to health, anc
may produce serious diseases as surel,
as impure water will. Sometimes
cake taken from a damp cellar may bt
found, on breaking, to contain fla,
glutinous strings or threads which
stretch from piece to piece. Thes'
threads are mold. Pies and bread ar,
often imperceptibly moldy in warm
damp weather, and consequently dan
gerous to health. So that damp eel
lar may be easily a source OF unsus
pected danger, and the dampness may
be all due to an improper method o
ventilation. The cellar should, then
never be ventilated in the daytime ex
cept In dry, cool weather, when it i
pereeptibly warmer than the outsid,
] air-Cor. N, y Times,