Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1889-04-02
TIE VALUE OF PURE AIR.
WHY SOME PEOPLE SUFFER FROM
HEADACHE AND NAUSEA.

Unpleasant Sensations the Result of n LacI
Impure Air, Continually Sapping Oul
Life Blood.
The atmosphere we breathe has in it
natural state a nearly uniform compost
ton of oxygen, nitrogen, carbonjo acit
and watery vapor. 1t is conceded tina
in each Inspiration four cubic inches il
taken into the lungs, one-half of which
disappears in the act of inspiration. This
consumption of oxygen is greater wher
the temperature is low than when it ii
high, and during digestion it is greater
than when the stomach is empty.
Riding in the steam and horse cars, we
are compelledto breathe not only the all
from peoples lungs. but the exhalations
from their skins and clothing. Fancy
riding in the steam cars for a long dis
lance in winter time, with two large
stoves heated almost red hot with an.
thracite coal, in n space say Of Is feet
wide and 10 feet high. This space viii
contain about eighty people, and is
closely shut up. Every one knows the
stove uses up oxygen with great rapidly,
and what is left is breathed over and
over again by the people, who are giving
out from their lungs constantly a gas ut,
terly unfit to be breathed.
Is it any wonder headache and nausea
steal over them? They must either sit in
a draught or endure the poison, as the
ventilators are not enough to carry off
the foul air.
In THE SCHOOL HOUSE.
Visit some school houses after a walk
in the fresh air and the odor is something
disgusting. These unpleasant sensations
come from want of greater ventilation.
Here again the air is vitiated by the
breaths, clothing; many of the pupils
scarcely know the luxury of a good bath
and plenty of clean underclothing. Now,
can the air be anything but bad under
such circumstances? If the windows are
opened long the teacher and children
take cold, and some are afraid and think
they cannot stand the smallest breath of
fresh air.
A schoolroom 80 feet square and 8 feet
high contains 1900 feet of cubic air.
This room will seat sixty pupils. Allow
ing ten cubic feet of Fir to each pupil
per minute, all the air in the room will
be yitiated in twelve minutes. Now,
granting that every means is used re-
garding ventilation, and a goodly supply
of soap and water to scrub the floors in
stead of sweeping. A recess of fMe min
utes ought to be given every fUIr, SO
that the children could move about, have
the windows and doors wide open, and
let them breathe in freely the pure air of
nature, to repair their mental and ply
steal condition.
Effects are proportional to causes, and
if an atmosphere filed with 8 per cent.
of carbonic acid will produce death in a
few minutes, what must be the effect of
breathing for ten, twenty or forty years
the much smaller proportion which must
be present in every inhabited room where
there is not a constant incoming and out
going of air? Unjust and does lower the
standard of health and shorten our lives.
Let a person who is in good health, with
a sound nasal organ, take a brisk walk
in the open air, then come at once into
the inhabited room, and If there is any
unpleasant odor the air of that room is
hurtful.
How many dwellings, sitting rooms or
bedrooms would pass such an ordeal in
the early morning after being occupied
all night?
A LITTLE GOOD ADVICE.
Bad air being heavy always sinks to
the floor, and to be got rid of must be
drawn from the floor, either by open fire.
places or some means of ventilation. A
room 10 by IL by 10 contains LAO cubic
feet of air. the available oxygen of which
is used up by n person in half an hour.
WHAT breathe then becomes the great
question, especially for persons unac-
quainted with the only way Of produc-
ing good health and long life. Breath is
our life-more to us than food. Breathe
pure fresh air day and night. You can
not get too much of it. Fresh air is the
one mighty disinfectant. It certainly is
its own purifier; nothing can take the
place of pure ventilation.
We suffer most in winter for want of
ventilation; the outside cold makes us
close all the apertures in the rooms,
while in summer the heat makes us open
all the doors and windows. I think it
preferable from my standpoint to have
less heat in the rooms, to air them every
two hours, to get rid of the furnace
gases, and in the evenings to get away
with the deadly carbon from our gas
jets. Let cleanliness be the watchword
in every home, from attic to cellar.
Keep plenty of ~disinfectants around the
washbowls and water closets. In damp
cellars keep charcoal always. 1t is sim
pie and cheap. Let in the blessed sun
light everywhere you can. Never mind
the fading of furniture or carpets; bet
ter than that our lives and those Of our
children be the forfeit.
Sunshine not only gladdens our hearts,
but it steals into the corners and makes
the surroundings pure. Where sunshine
enters, every room will be healthy. Get
the musty odor out of your. offices,
stores, every place of. business. Better
stand cold air than breathe slow death.
Live in open air all you can. Take a
brisk walk countrywards every day.
Go to the hill tops, but remember "God
breathed into your nostrils the breath of
life.' So learn to keep your mouths
closed. IT'S a good thing to practice.
Breathe through your nose at all times,
as mouth breathing is only an acquired
habit and brings thousands of evils.-Bos-
ton Globe.
Probably the Oldest and most famous