St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-03-09
ST. cyumsburp GaledOnian.
A still Better "Light'' for Our
Households.

1t is, in fact. far finer than the
electric 1t has two grand singular
tiles worth notice. 1t is much cheaper
than the electric, in the first place.
In the next place. nobody seems to
care anything about it, in the matter
of household economy. Ihheed, the
greatest singularity of all Is. that peo-
pie try to exclude this beautiful and
sanitary illumination from their homes
as much as possible.
To save the guessing and perpleXity
of the reader, we may mention that the
light we mean is the light of the sun,
the light of heaven. a thousand
grand things have been written and
spoken about it; but the best have
been those which identify it as one of
the finest sanitary agencies IN the uni
verse. There is no need to quote the
scientific opinions of those who know
how necessary a large supply of 1t Is
to the active life and good health of
human bcIngs-to say nothing of the
negotiations and what blight and
misery attend the privatiOn of it. In
brief. il concerns MS all rs much as its
tcr-blessings, the pure air of heaven,
and the whOlesomcness of our daily
food and our men of intelligence
should give it some of the attention
they bestow on other sanitary matters.
And yet the treatment we give this
"neccssary of life is wonderful enough.
A. general rule we keep it out of our
houses with great care and ingenuity,
OF only let it i'll as sparingly as posi-
bile. when we cannot help it. Need it
he said that, in the finest and most
spacious of our dwellings, it Is eXclud-
ed by blinds and heavy curtains, leav
in" the pictures and the crowded turni-
turc in a condition of twilight? In the
great mass of American houses, as
every body knows, there is cunning
addition to the drapcry in the shape of
outside shutters, all painted green. and
CLOSE fastened in which ease the
rooms have the dimncss of the sepul
Chril CatacOmbS, or the ancient lOdg-
g-houScs of the "unspeakable' frog
lodytcS. on the borders of the Red
Sea. When person gets inside one
of these houses mean i'll New
York, or any other great city-(most
of them rather genteel and cookbook
ing on the Outsidc) he must stand be
side the hat rack, for ii moment, till he
can get back his proper eye-sight, and
find out the exact position of the stair
case. The fan-light and side-lights of
the door behind him are darkened for
dignity and every room in the house
is found to he just rs dignified as the
hallway. In this respect, the mid
ding class of houses, as well as those
in the poorest streets, are found to
maintain as much dignity as the dwell
nd
avenues.
When we think of it, this general
love of darkness, seems absurd enough
and really our sanitary engineers
should begin to say something in the
matter. 1t is surprising that our guides
and ccnSOrS of public opinion do not
seem to think about it ut all, though
they have lattcrly got into the habit of
talking about the ''hcalth of the com
munity,' II thing that largely depends
on the elements about us. Sunshine,
we repeat, is one of the first necessities
of life and health, like the air we
breathe: and those who very properly
look to the plumbing, sewerage and
ventilation of their homes, should also
learn that the absence of sunshine is
rs much of household evil as the
presence of the stenchcs, whether mild
or maleVOlcnt, that 90 wandering all
around from cellar to attic.
"Morc light is the motto of our time
and certainly we shall have it in our
households, 10y and by. That is, when
we begin to understand it at present
we are very ignorant on this subject,
for Edison'S, while it gratifies most of
our good people, is still rather pulling.
Our "sunshine' is pulling also, and
our housekeepers will, no doubt, hold
out against it, as the gas manufacturers
are doing against the other sort of
illumination. But they will let it'll
come in by degrees, in safe and sat
iStactory manner, enlightened by the
advice which our Health Commission
ers will commend to their intelligence
and good sense.- The Builder.