The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-12-19
Mi7)Ila Eagle
HAVE PLENTY OF FRESH AIR.

HAVE PLENTY OF FRESH AIR.
Good Ventilation Does Not Mean, How
ever, That One Must Have a Draft.
In spite of all that has been preached
and written upon the subject, it is doubt
full whether the vast multitude of people
yet appreciate the value of fresh air. A
considerable acquaintance with the travel
ing public forces person to this conclu-
sion. Even persons of intelligence are in
inclined to endure with far more equanim-
ity the dangers of a superheated house
than the temporary discomfort caused by
lowering the temperature to the degree
called for by health. In order to expert
ence all the benefits of pure air it is not
necessary to be what is popularity known
RS "fresh air crank"
The amount of actual drafts of air which
different persons can endure with equa-
nimity is quite different. In due consider
alton for the welfare of those around us, we
should not throw open the windows of a
railway car or of any room suddenly, how
ever close and unwholesome the atmos-
phere may seem. Persons who have been
sitting in close apartment have by that
- means become weakened, so that they are
quite liable to catch cold from the sudden
change caused by the entrance of pure
air. In all cases of this kind the air must
be gradually changed. Many case of
pneumonia may be traced to some robust
persons coming in from the outdoor air,
announcing ''the room was close' and
throwing open the windows to change it
as suddenly as possible, despite the pres
ence of other occupants who had been sit
ting in the close room.
Such sudden change of the tempera-
ture of the room is always safe for the per-
son coming in from the fresh air, but not
to those who happen to be in the room for
some time.
But because it is necessary To exercise
care in changing the air of a room which
has become vitiated, it does not prove it
safe to breathe such air. 1t simply proves
the power of close air as an active agent in
deteriorating the system. Nothing is more
hazardous than to habituate ones self to
close, superheated house Only persons Of
the greatest strength can endure such I'M
wholesome surroundings. AS matter of
fact the very poor, who necessarily suffer
more from diseases caused by exposure, do
not show as high mortality as people in
a well to do or wealthy rank of life from
foul air of overheaUed rooms poisoned as it
so often is with dangerous gases of the
sewer and furnace.
The statement seems startling, vet it is
supported by statistics of the highest au-
thority, that diphtheria, that most dreaded
of scourges, hourisheS to a far greater ex-
tent in the dwellings Of the rich than in
the homes of the very poor The poor
mans dwelling, in spite of the want of by
giene apparent in all the household man
agement, has at least the advantage of be-
ing disinfecUed by the most powerful of all
disinfectants, cold and frost. The fact that
his children have but scanty clothing does
not affect their health to any such extent
as the poisonous gases do the children in
comfortable circumstances. The poor child
becomes hardened to cold
No house is fit to live in that is not sys-
tematically washed out every day with
fresh, cold air. The windows in each room
in the house that is occupied should be
Systematically opened for at least ten min
utes some time during the day, and should !
be arranged so that there is a continuous !
supply of pure, fresh air coming in the !
room and an exit for the used UP air. An |
open fireplace is one of the best means of !
solving this difficulty. There are various |
systems OF ventilation on which volumes |
have been written. The greatest need, |
however, is to adopt some system and not |
to neglect matter so essential to the well /
being Of those whom you care most for.
Where furnace is used it is necessary
to see that the cold air box opens outdoors.
AS furnace or stove heat tends to exhaust
the supply of pure air, it is essential that .
water be always kept on the furnace in the /
receptacle intended for it. 1t is also neces-
sary that a constant supply of pure air be I
kept flowing into the room in some way so
it does not produce draft.-New York
Tribune