The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-23

The Nec6ssity Of ssLungs'' In the lQidss
Of Popalous City.
New roek Mail ana Exprese
God 20 made the trees and plants q 70
give us pure air and health. Sick and pant.
ine iniants. toteering old men. feeble 10.
men, lusty youth, al renew their strength
In the pure atmosphere of the park. A
scieasific work says: there Is no osone in
the air a cifies, = and The p4rks ars OZONE
But - fat pa.nch makes Q lean pate, -
and some Of our fat contractors may ask.
In default OF school training. what is this
OZONE you arc talking about? Youmans
says that i 10 Oxygen greatly intensified in
activity. bus what h oxygen7 asks the
contractor. Any boy or girl in the public
schools could tel him. Oxygen is the life
giving principle Of the air. Il is the uni
versat supporter Of respiration, and there
fore the supporter Of life. II We have not
eass and death will follow.
And here the unschooled knight of the
shovel and the picksx should learn some
thing-fDot. about the process Of mans
breathing: and. secondly, about the breath
ing Of plants and flowers. The chief bene.
6clal effect in mans breathing results from
bringing the oxygen Of the ar into contact
with the blood, which Office is performed
through the lungs. Under the influence
Of the oxygen the dark blood of the veins
takes Immediately red color. The oxy.
gen has displaced the hydrogen and carbon.
The carbonic acid gas b thrown of in
breathing, and the oxygen, which gives
nav LIE % the blood, Il introduced into the
system. Thuswe see that We cannot make
good Mood without pure air. and without
good blood disease viii be the inevitable
The lesyss are the lungs of tress and
plants. The air is decomposed by the
ieAxoo, the cnr6onic acid gas being absorbed
into the 6ber Of the tree and the oxygen
rejected. These facts show there is re-
apeocai actton "a the process OF breathing
b man and in that oi plants. Man alb
sor6s the o1ygen and rejects the c.rbonic
jects The oxygen and abs0rbs the carbonic
acid gas. Each supplies what the other
needs. The tired workman seats himself
instinctively beneath . tree in summer.
He does not know why, but he feels that
i Is the best place for him. The leaves
feed him with the life-giving oxygen,
While he in turn supplies strength to the
out When seat myself in this manner
always exclaim: This tree is my friend. I"
But scientific man have made the re-
markable assertion that there 10 no double
disttlled air, or ozone, in the atmosphere Of
cit1e4. And what Is there of . deleterious
nature in the city atmoep here7 In the
first place the air is charged with gssses
emanating from many miles of sewers
filed with putrid and decaying matter;
secondly, the air 10 contaminated by the
fith AID garbage Of the streets. by the
smoke from mvriads of chimneys in dwell.
lne-houses and factories, by the noxious
elilusia from stables and sometimes from
tbe waste from the gas houses. In sum-
mer. especially. animal and vegetable suo-
stances are liable to the greatest amount of
putSefying fermentation. The sulphuretted
hydrogen gas produced by this ferment is
the most deadly of oil the gasses. Less than
thousandth part Of tnis gas in the air is
destructive to life. Carbonic acid gas Is also
generated by the influences above men,
n0ned. These two gases develop condi-
tioa in the air which is popularity known Is
malaria A long list Of diseases, among
which are dyspepsia, diphtheria, typhus
fever and bilious disorders are caused by
breathing air containing these gases. But
os0ne, which the parks furnish, is q pow
erful disinfecting agent designed by an
all-wise Providence to neutralize the pesti-
lential gases generated so abundantiy in
the city. and sustain the lives of our citi-
2ens.
The maintenance Of supply of fresh
mir in the city through the beneficial infu.
ence OF the parks is Of more Importance TO
the poor than to the rich. The rich man
Adirondacks. There he 5reathes the
mountain air, which is highly charged
with ozone. But the destitute poor, in
their damp, crowded, ill-ventiiated cellars
and apartments-wheres shall they 70 for a
breath of cir but to the parks?