Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-09-10
Jhc Pou=cholo.
CLOSETS IN THE HOUSE.

Having suffered some for closet room
at one time and another. or for places to
stow away things. have had considera-
BILE sympathy with that man who said
that when he built a house he should
begin with biz closet and make addi-
tons to that. When speak of closet,
my husband understands me. but imme-
diately begins to talk about modes of
ventilating closets. and have only grad
ually grown to understand his strong
sense of the necessity for closet ventila-
ton. Having for several years hung the
clothing of the family in rooms where
there was a free circulation of air. am
surprised when | 90 into the well-tn-
iShed clotheS-roomS (let Us call them
close rooms in some fine houses to find
how dead and unwholeSome-not to say
foul-the air j.. The Soiled garments.
hung in Il tight and dark room. contami-
nate the whole apartment. and such
contamination is very perceptible to a
well-trained nose or to olfaCtories accus-
toned to the refinement of hahitual pure
air. Old boots and shoes cause Il bad
smell in Il close room.
To pursue an unpleasant subject Il little
further-why will people keep the dirty
clothes designed for the weekly wash in
Il close closet: That which has come
from the skin of unclean or unhealthy
persons (the latter adjective describes
nine-tenthS of the human family grows
constantly more impure shut away from
light and air. and everything kept III the
same room is contaminated by the elilu-
via. Cannot soiled garments be kept,
while waiting for the wash, in some bag
or covered basket in the wood-shed or
some such place: There are baskets on
purpose for soiled clothing. open enough
for ventilation but too fine TO admit mice.
Unless closet is ventilated so that
there is some circulation of air through
it, it is no place to hang away night
gowns. unless they have previouslysbeen
aired. so that the perspiration accumu-
lated in the previous night-only insen-
Slpl' ItlNRlld ll'll, pVl Has b'Nh
dried and summed away,
| have no means of ascertaining this
morning how far science has attended to
this subject of closet ventilation, but
/, am very sure that it is an important mat
ter, and should be well looked into. OF
course there can be closets with windows
in them, and this should generally be the
case. They can be kept dark, as gen
eral rule. if desired, but it ought to be
possible to admit a flood of light.
Closets built under stairways might be
ventilated by CRATE closed by a sliding
shutter under one of the stairs. 1t would
be well to have the CRATE capable of be-
| ing shut to keep out the dust when the
stairs are swept. | do not know whether
this has been tried, but the the idea has
occurred to me as practicable. \ sliding
window in the closet door is also posi-
BILE The small sliding window in the
r door and the CRATE in the elevation of one
of the stairs ought to give sufficient
circulation of air to a small stairway
/ closet.
1t is idle to suppose that closet Cor
{ any other room is provided with Venti-
/ lation because it is built large and high.
, There must be some circulation of air or
| the atmosphere becomes dead Am.
Agriculturist.