National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-05-27
POISONED AIR IN THE HOUSE.

POISONED AIR IN THE HOUSE.
A Proposition to Replace It with Pure
Afr from tho Top OF tho Domo-The
Noxious Vnpors OF Underground Tun-
nels 90 He Driven Out.
1t may not DO generally known, but the
fact exists, that the house committee on ven
tiation aud acoustics have been at work
during tho present session trying to devise
some means by which to clean out the bad
air in the hall of tho house Of representa-
tives.
1t is universally conceded that there is no
public building in tho United States so badly
ventilated as the house of representatives.
II the facts wcro known it would probably
be ascertained that a large percentage Of the
persons compe He'd to occupy this room suffer-,
TO greater or less extent, from the impure
| and poisonous air which they are compelled
to breathe in that building, laying tho foun-
dation for disease, followed ultimately by tho
most serious consequences.
We understand that tho committee have
about come to the conclusion that there Is no
remedy for this state of things unless 1t be by
| changing the system Of ventilation.
The present system is what is known as the
up-drdn system; that is, the air Is forced into
the chamber from below, being taken from
through an underground passage or sewer
into tho cellar and basement and then forced
into the hall of tho house by tans-a system
in use at the capitol for q quarter of a CEN
fury, and wholly inadequate to vontilato the
house,
Modern science reveals the fact that this
Is the exact reverse from perfect system OF
ventilation; that air brought from level
with tho ground and carried through srbter-
ranean passages loses its vitality and comes
into tho hall loaded with poisonous and pol
luting yapors, which, of necessity, injure the
health. The remedy Is to bring air in from
the top Of the building, where 1t is pure and
free, drawing it down through the hall and
out at the floor exactly reversing the pres
ont syBtem.
We learn that there is q company Of gen.
tlcmen who are engaged in initiating by the
downdraft system; that they have had large
experience with universal success, and that
they have appeared before the committee and
agreed to ventilato the hall with pure air by
| the down-dratt system, and 30 certain are
they that they can remedy tho evils and in
furious effects as they now exist that they
havo agreed with the committee that they
will put in their new system Of ventilation,
and If 1t does not succeed in accomplishing
tho result desired they will not charge the
government a dollar.
This down-draft system has taken the place
oil over the world of the up-draft system. 1t
has for long time received the attention of
j. L.. Smithmeyer, ESQ.,, of this city, who has
made the subject study; has Travelled
throughout this country and Europe inspect
ing the public buildings, and has become
convinced that it is the only way perfect
ventilation con be secured in the house of
representatives. Ho appeared before the
committee on ventilation at the last meeting,
and read a very interesting paper on the sub
jcct. which, If we had space in this ISSUE We
would publish in full, as it ought to bo
brought to tho attention Of every man COM
PEELED to occupy for any length of time this
place which has proved SO dangerous to life
and health. We publish his concluding re-
marks, which should DO read by every men,
Der of the house.
To sum up the case as 1t stands: The
question of bringing in q fresh air supply
and OF removing from the capitol building
the inside air before it has become unfit for
respiration is purely an engineering quos-
ton. 1t is entirely within tho resources of
that science to control with exact precision
the influx and the outflow, the temperature.
the relative humidity, and the rate of move
ment of the air within the building. What
may be the rate of deterioration of the air
inside the building, and what may be the
conditions prevailing therein which cause
such deterioration are questions for the
Psychologist the chemist, and the hygienist.
Architects and engineers stand prepared to
execute their orders. 1t is as easy to bring
the air down through the building from
tho level of the dome, 200 feet above the
floor of the hall of tho house of representa-
tives, as it is TO bring 1t, as IL is now brought
200 yards underground from n distance
thirty odd feet below the level of that floor.
The question is, which is the best way2 The
pretense that the air is not better at the
greater elevation docs violence to everybody's
experience and to common sense. The sources
of the deleterous substances which deterio-
rate the air are at or near the surface of the
earth. Impurities, poiSons, contagious, and
miasms do not descend from above, but they
come up from the surface of the ground. 1t
is known fact that all such deleterious,
noxious. aud deadly emanations Turk near
tho ground, insomuch that any competent
physician knows that sleeping rooms should
not be on the ground floor of dwellings. The
pretense that tho air cannot be brought down
from above and distributed through the
building as wanted exhibits entire ignorance
ofthe resources OF modern engineering science.
Such an objection can have no weight.
Tho question is this, viz, whether IL Is better
to bring tho air from the ground floor after
bringing 10 in from 200 yards away under
ground, up through corridors, stairways, and
halls, to be discharged at the roof or to bring
it from the level of the dome, and discharge
it below the level of the ground floor. 1t can be
b rought i'll either direction with equal tacil-
ity. As IL comes in from below IL is contami-
mated with ground air, and not entirely free
of the combustion products of fires and gas
burners, which burn day and night in tho
basement with the mingled organic odors
and vapors arising from cookery, machinery,
sculleries, dining rooms barrOoms and
water closets, aud the various iilths insepa :
rable from the wastes and by products of
these operations. AS brought down from tho
upper strata it would reach the lungs of
members uucOntamnated by any source of
pollution, either from tho ground. or
from tho various operations CON
Quoted within tho building. IL would bring
with it neither vapors, SMELLS nor disease
germs. Ii is merely q question whether air
/ to DO breathed by the honorable members
shall come into their hall through these
sources of pollution or from tho opposite
direction. In this form, the question il
reduced TO one Of simple common sense.
With regard To the whole class of poisons,
contagious. miasms, fumes, smells, and
polluting vspors which devitalizo and
deteriorate the air, or render it dangerous to
health and uncomfortable to respire, it may
be said that they originate within the soil or
ut or near tho surface, and seldom if over
got far away from the ground. For every
foot that they ascend they arc rapidly diluted
and attenuared by diffusion, aud rendered
further imperceptiblo and innocuOus by COM
plets exposure to tho purifying Influence OF
light aud air or, to speak more exactly, the in
Auence of tho sun 8 rays and of oxygen gas. II
il true that 50 far as air analysts know,
caTbonic anhydrde, which is u natural and
normal constituent OF tho air, does not
diminish in relative proportion as we ascend
But is tho inference to be drawn from that
fact that the same thing is true of emana-