The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-07-19
LIGHTING or HOUSES.
Nave the bedroom Windows SO As to he
ceiye the Sunlight.

ceivs the Sunlight.
That n healthy room Is usually, Ii
cot always, u light room, and that
here is some connection between dark.
ness and disease, in addition to the fact
that both words begin with the same
letter and that they therefore sound
well together, are generally admitted.
When. however. we come to consider
The principles or rules which either dc
sr should guide the architect in his
plans for either natural or artificial
illumination, it will be found
that they are rather empirical.
and are not always or even
frequently followed. NJ. Trelat's def
milton of q well-lighted room is that it
is one in which light has been intro
duccd in sufficient quantity and has
been so distributed that objects in any
part of it are clearly seer without
special effort. This is much too vague
for either scientific OF practical pur-
poses. Must we require that a room
shall be so light that n Il in any
part OF 1t without trouble see clearly
the eye Of a fine cambria needle? That
might be a proper requirement in a
watch factory, but is unnecessary to
demand it in living rooms
On the other hand, it seems prob
able that to keep u living room healthy
1t needs not only the diffused light OF
day, but the entrance of the direct
rays of the sun--that is, we want sun
ming as, well as lighting. If we have
an isolated house in this latitude, its
east, west and south sides will be well
summed, while its north side will not.
For such a house the rules for window
height and area, from a sanitary point
of view, are that for rooms having
windows upon but one side the area of
the openings should be at least one
fourth or one-ffth of the area of the
wall in which they are placed, and the
distance from the window to the OPP
posite wall should not be more than
one and one-half times the height OF
the top of the window from the floor.
II we speak of houses in a city we have
to take into consideration the shadows
cast by other houses and the width
Of the street in its relation to
the height Of the houses upon
it. The theoretical rule is that the
height of buildings on a street should
never exceed one and a half times
the width of the street. Although, as
stated above, the north side of the
house is less summed, yet north win
dows give a very agreeable light.
They are preferred by those who work
Immediately in front of windows, as
microscopists, draughtsmen, etc, and
are strongly recommended for the main
source of lighting of school rooms,
though in this case they should al
ways be supplemented by windows in
the east or west walls. For bedrooms
south windows are preferable.
In the lighting of school rOoms the
chief point a to direction is that the
principal light should come from the
left Of the scholars, and that they
should never face the light. So long
as these rules are observed there can
not be too much light n II school rUUm
and there need be no fear about cross
lights unlees tho n o is to be used
as a drawing school, and ever then it
is easy enough to GU, off
the light from n side. In
living rooms, and more especially
in drawing-rooms and parlors, the full
benefit of the windows is, as a rule, not
obtained. They are more or less OBJ
scured with curtains and draperies
which are so arranged as to cut off
precisely that part Of the window
which is most important for illuminate
ing purposes-viz., the top. Careful
housekeepers do not want sunlight in
their parlOrs, and so long as this is the
case, it is probable that they will not
have it, sanitary reformerS to the @ n
trary Notwithstanding. In planning a
dwelling, therefore, we should try to
give the windows of the bedrooms such
an aspect that they will receive the
sunlight. and the same should be done
for the room which is to be the chief
sitting and living room, while the
apartments of state a do very well
without much natural illumination
Enqineetinl aud DMiIdinq Ree0rd.