The National tribune., 1889-02-07
DOMESTIC HYGIENE.


A healthy home is the principal condition OF
physical welfare. In the climate OF cur Win
ter lands it might, indeed, be doubted if the
influence of an unsanitary dwelling house can
be counteracted by any precautions IN the per-
soual habits of its tenants.
l recollect the case of an American family
who tried the mountain-air cure for weak
lungs, by passing few months in the high
lands of western North Carolina. where they
had secured board and lodging as the home Of
a well-tO-dO farmer. The season proved unus-
ually sunny and dry, and the yisitoFs-par-
ents, two haggard boys and a cousumptive girl
OF lo-made the best Of their opportunity.
With q mOuutain-b0y for guide. they r0amsd
the uplands in al directions, chasing squirrels.
collecting butterflies and botanical curi0sitics.
and often ate theiT dinner near a mountain
spring 40 an altitude o. more than 1000 feet
above the region 81 factory towns. Their diet
was the best that CogIt have been selected By
a committee Of hygiene experts. and the arm-
cr's good wife, who took quite an interest in
her liberal borders. arranged Der up stairs
rooms witb all the comforts her resources could
offer. ard engaged a carpenter t0r The special
purpose 81 tightening ali The chInks Of the
bedroom. and PreCluding the risk Of draft BY
putting in a frame Of double windows. That
mistake spoiled the entire elect Of the we'll
arranged program. The bedroom low and
stgny affair at bCsl-had Otter been used for
s.cSr00m. aud, by the accumuiGting efiluvia Of
Its lung sick tenants, was now converted into
veriJab.e hotbed OF pulmonary disorders
The girl got worse. her younger brother had
uai relapse Of MS hectic fever, and Tor the first
time in his life began to spit blood; The stout
father himself began TO cough and complain OF
pains IN his chest his wife had never felt SO lung
sore tor years, and after a sOjOuTn Of hardly two
months the afflicted family returned to their
city home with sincere regret for the mOrti6ea-
ton of the honest farmer, but with the firm
glllvri eti ION that 20 Hichfaud -pu~a rIqu WAS
humbuE Of the highest order.
4 Wc.l-aired clearinghouse, on the other
hand, may often alone compensate the tendency
OF an unhygienic occupation, though, IN addi-
ton 10 thorough ventilation, the ideal of a
healthy home can be attained only by various
other precautions, which we VIII now consider
with special reference to the sanitary condi-
tons Of our own continent.
THE CHOICE OF a HONE.
From geographical point Of view an excel
lent rule for the selection of sanitary home
stead is expressed in the German traveller Ger
staecker'5 advice to a eouutrymaG, IN quest Of
" good location In the United States Of
North America: Go south as far as you can
get without leaving the highlands" The
uplands would perhaps have stated the case
with sufficient precision, for there is no doubt
that many southern midland regions at the
moderate elevation OF 200 feet above sea-
level enjoy all the hygienic requisites Of earthly
/ happiness-mild Winters, breezy Summers,
good soil and water fOrest-air, and absence
of musketOes. Lower down, too, there are un-
questiOnabiy settlements where the descendants
/ of European ancestors have managed 70 reach
a good old age; but statistics Of longevity are
not absolutely decisive III eases where success
I i've generations OF permanent settlers have
eoutFived TO effect a survival by change Of
habit-great abstemiOusness, for instance, and
similar sanitary precautions. The experiences
of men retaining the same dIetetlc habits, etc,
under a variety OF climatic conditions, would
be a much safer test; and the sanitary record
of the L. S. Army from 1861 to '65 recalls the
7 suggestive fact that with the identical food,
I dress drill and miscellaneous morals OF the
soldiers. the sick-rate IN given number Of
men was from two 60 three times larger I'm the
/ lOwlands of western Mississippi than IN the
I highlands Of West Virginia.
I he enforced indoor life Of iar-northern up
I land districts % some degree Offsets their gen
eral healthfalness and the scale Of sanitary pre-
/ Cedeuce would therefore stand as follows;
/ 1. Southern highland regions. ? Northern
/ highland regions. 3. Northern l0wlancs. 4.
/ Southern loWlsnls.
/ East Of the Mississippi very endurabls Win
ter-clmates, alta sufficient elevation to preclude
1 the danger Of climatic feyeT5, can be found
I anywhere south of Pittsburg. Pa Further
/ west, where blizzard Winters are HobsOns
I choice Gill you strike the very edge Of the
/ Pacific slOpel, Gerstaeeker's advice might be
I supplemented with the rule to stick to the
/ timber-TegiOns" Somehow or other good drink
I ing-water and perennial springs seem to be
/ privilege of the wooded regions Of this planet,
] and woodland air is the very balm Of human
/ lungs-far more so, ! believe, than sea arr. For
childreu's Fairgrounds, too, tree parks cannot
7 be rivaled, and for weak eyes ramble in the
/ shade of the greenwood is better specific than
/ pair Of blue sPeetacles.
I 10 ,,d. al 4 al fsH
natural drainage IS a prime desideratum OF
good homestead-the accumulation Of Huid
filth being almost as fruitful a source Of disease
as the accumulation Of impure air.
BUILDING SITES.
Other things being equal, elevated building
sites deserve therefore decided preference IN
the choice Of a healthy home. High ground
secures easy drainage, free access of fresh air
currents, and a comparative immunity from
the influence Of the HoxiOus gases which settle
in peut-up holluws and downtown SUM alleys.
A sort of instinct seems, indeed, to guide the
choice OF background hOmesteads, for even
sayages show a preference Tor the highest
/ available building sites OF 8 rolling prairie
! region or often devise artificial means OF rem
edying the absolute fairness of an extensive
/ plain Quite aside from the business consider
atons OF their predatory mode OF life, tins
( aristOcrats OF our Saxon fOretather5 were re-
markzbIy fond Of hilltop locations, and in the
old homes Of the Celtic nations. too, nearly
every conspicuous hillock aud carr is crowned
with the ruins OF an old castle. Hence, perhaps
that iucomparabIy- pleasant hrst-look ImpEes-
sion OF that finest promenade on the American
continent, Euclid Avenue, in a suburb Of Cieve-
land, o. where nearly every private residence
stands on a mound OF slopes and shTUb0ery,
and artificialIy raised from 20 TO 80 feet above
the level of the street. In 3 factory town,
shrouded with its vail Of shifting sm0ke-ciouds,
an elevation of leo feet insures immunity from
the worst effects of the initiated atmosphere,
which. By chemical tests has been found 20 de-
/, posit all its vilest gases on low ground, while
the law OF gravity sits the drifting smoke
whirIs Of their cO3rser admixtures. thus giving
Z the downtown quarter q double share Of every
? disadvantage. ID Midsummer, when brOudlus
heat adds lis horrors to the uauseating fumes OF
1 ( a crowded street. the very life OF q sick child
may depend upon tie chance of getting breath
of the cool night wind, and that chance is about
Is 100 to one in favor Of an isolated bill tor
residence. as compared with the teuements of a
narrow slum alley. The architecture of oUi
! Anglo-American cities, In fact, reyerses the
plan of nature which excludes the direct rays
Of the Summer sun by a canopy Of screening
foliage The continuous brick ramparts of 0uI
American cities admit, and even intensity the
glare of the noOutidc sun, but Ob5truct the eur
: rent OF the breezes that sweep free through the
a-rH Hsn asarfF