National Republican., 1883-02-07
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
SOME SANITARY SUGGESTIONS.
To The Editor.

To the Editor
Tho present agitation of tho eight hour
question recalls n conversation hold in my
presence u few years ago between DIR. Bliss u
momber of the then board OF health, and one
of his patients.
Patient. You say, doctor, ! am suffering
from blood poisoning; yet ] cannot imagine
where could have contracted such disorder
What arc the causes of blood poisoning2
Doctor. Your trouble results from foul air,
arising from defective drainage, lack of venti-
lation, or omanations from hidden filth some-
where
p. But, doctor, my room here, rs you see,
is large, well aired and summed while the
sewer connections are all in the back building
of this house.
ID. Oh, yes, your quarters here are unecep-
tionablo, but how about your room in tho
treasury?
i. Well, we are pretty crowded. Our room
has two south windows, but huge portico
projects thirty or forty feet over and beyond
them, preventing the suns rays from ever
entering there The exit door opens into u
long, unventilated hall, so dark that the gas
Is frequently kept burning during the day,
while the burning of gas in our room is Of
still more frequent necessity. / utilize my
lunch hour by taking brisk walk in the
open air, and in this way break the headache
which usually sets in about that time.
ID. Exactly | have about thirty patients
now, clerks, all suffering from disorders hav-
ing their source in just such conditions as you
describe.
"Couldn't the board of health intorposc," l
ventuecd.
1--WE have interposed,n p exclaimed the doctor.
we have called attention to the unsanitury
condition of the public buildings repeatedly
and urged the Importance of ventilation,
which appears TO be lost art. We have
threatened TO condemn, and have condemned
pf ug inr a N
We would not allow the same conditions to
exist in the management of any private cor
pOIatiOn, because our power is ample, but we
have not as yet been able to move the general
government"
Such, in substance, Mr.. Editor was the
conversation Of several years ago. | recall il
for the purpose of putting few pertinent in
quiries, 10 wit: DO the managers of large in
dustrlal concerns get good results from bad
conditions, and will not any one of them tell
you that among bad conditions" may be
enumerated lack of ventilation and sunlight,
overcrOwding in rooms, filthy surroundings,
and petty regulations which prevent the in
vigOrating effects of u midday sniff of fresh
air? As TO ventilation, all the older
public buildings tell their own pitiablo
story, and it would seem that our
architects are but Just acquiring tho
art of sanitary engineering. As. to filth,
let us examine the corners OF our office rooms,
peep under the coils of our steam heaters,
and note the piles of filth that have been
nccumulating for months upon months. |
have two cases in mind where serious illness
was traced to the leaks from these steam coils,
rotting the carpet, and fastening the decom-
position of the filth that had been brushed
beneath them. Now these conditions, which
exist to greater or less degree in ali of the
departments, prompt this query: DO gorgeous
ire5cOCs and tapestried decorations cOpnteraCt
the Dnlpiul effects Oi bnu mir and bad rpVuln-
tions? If it can be shown that they do not,
then let us acquire the moro necessary art
first
Now, aword for Tor against) our legislators.
Granted that they met with disastrous de-
feat last November, and that their equilib-
rum has not yet been restored, out OF pure
charity let us call it mental equilibrium, else
how can we excuse their proposed innovation
rs time-hOnored custom, based upon practi-
cal experience, and the needs of the public
service If they are not sincere, which | sus-
pect, but only seek to distract the public gaze
from their own shortcomings and overreach
ings, then verify, they sadly mlscalculate the
ability of the general public to discriminate
between fair play and iOul-almost as sadly
as they miscalculated last fall.
do not wish TO invegh against eight hours
labor per day. 1t is not too much for able
bodied men where the sanitary conditions are
good. But L pronounce the efforts of our
Legislators as unnecessary. The demand does
not come from the bureau officers nor from
the people. There is no occasion for the n-
crease. This being true, then our solons are
insinCere, their conduct is pucrile, and the
fool killer should bestir himself.
Let mo predict in closing that within
short year after the enforcement of such legs-
latiOn as is proposed the sick list and death
rate among government employees would be
greatly increased. w.