Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-06-08
ROOFS OF CITY HOUSES.
A Physician Recommends That the House,
tops he Turned into Fairgrounds

Physician Recommends That the House,
tops BE Turned Into Fairgrounds
DR.. 0ouverneur NJ Smith has contri-
buted to O recent number Of The Medical
Record an interesting and suggestive
paper. The main point Of this article is
that by neglecting to make the roofs of
the houses places of safety and pleasantly
habitable, New Workers miss the best
and most readily available opportunity
open to them of enjoying fresh sunshine
In moderate weather and fresh and COM
paratively cool air during the sweltering
heats of summer.
DR.. Smith describes the state of things
which all New Workers know when he
speaks of the clark closet with precipit-
GUS ladder leading to the scuttle, rarely
entered and assembled except by work
men to repair the roof" In q private
dwelling of the smallest size habitually
built on this island, the roof has an area
as large as that Of the yard, immeasur-
ably better lighted and aired, and intrin-
sicalfy far better place as a playground
for children or a resort for adults in
pleasant or in oppressively hot weather.
That Is to say, In the houses most favor
half of the available breathing space Of
the city. excluding the streets, Is abso-
lutely wasted. In the more expensive
and extensive dwellings the case Is
worse, because the yard Is contracted as
the house is extended, until in most cases
1t amounts to little more than an air
shaft, and Is not available at all as O
place of recreation.
In the tenement houses the case Ia far
worse. Nobody who has ever visited the
back yard of one In the more populous
quarters of the city would ever there
after think Of It as playground or
breathing space or place Of resort for
rest and refreshment. Yet the choice
for these purposes Is practically between
this place, one-thfrd the area of the
house, and the street, while the house
top, three times as large as the yard and
In every respect more eligible, is abso-
lutely wasted, 30 far as concerns any pre-
cautions taken for fts use and enjoyment
by the builder, who nevertheless prides
himself upon his economy Of room.
1t Is no wonder that Dr.. Smith asks
whether architectural ingenuity, coached
by sanitary science" cannot "contrive
some method OF using the thousands Of
acres Of housetops ON this island 50 that
roofs can be made additionally useful at
certain seasons by affording outdoor rec
reation and protection from invaidisln. 4"
Really 1t seems as If architectural inge-
nuity had been exerted In the opposite
direction, for there is no difficulty In the
way of achieving this result New York
Is already fiat rooted city. All that Is
absolutely needed to convert its roofs into
the pleasantest parts of the house after
the sun goes down in summer, and while
the sun is up during the spring and au-
tumn- Is perhaps slightly to increase
their structural strength, to cover them
with some material that shall be practi-
cable as pavement, to provide decent
and commodious access to them bv con-
tinuing to the roof the main stairway Of
the house. and to provide parapet that
will obviate any danger Of falling by
children or careless persons. The cost Of
all this Is not worth counting in COM
parison to the benefits to be derived from
it.-New York Times