Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-15
VENTILATION OF CHURCHES
To Secure an Abundance of Fresh Air at
ANY Temperature.

To the F6itor Of The Evening Star:
'Oh il was SO hot and uncomfortable in our
church today; not any ventilation at ALL" is
what a lady said to me as she returned from
church yesterday, thus echo;ng the sentiments
of your correspondent, they have been
thousands of times before And yet people go
on building churches and halls without any
suitable means for ventilnting them, just as the
government has done in its public build
ings. As 800 cubic feet of fresh air per
hour is the very least required for the younger
school children, and from 900 to 1,5OO cubic
feet per hour for adults. it will be seen how
necessary 1t is to provide for ventilation in all
buildings occupied BY large number of PERSONS
In Massachusetts the law requires 800 feet
1t IL a very easy and inexpensive thing to pro-
vide for system of ventilation that will fur
nish this amount Of fresh air and at any re-
quired temperature. 1t is not at all necessary
to break the stained glass or lower the windows
and create drafts to do this suggested. All
that is necessary is TO provide openings for the
inlet of the required amount of air warmed to
the required temperature and outlets of the
same capacity, located at the base of the room
and connected with a vertical shaft Of equal
area reaching above the roof. with small
heater a fan in the latter TO create draft
This is the system patented by Rutan in 1913
and reported favorably By Gen. Norm. presi-
dent Of the Conservatory of Arts in Paris
years ago, and republished in the Smithsonian
reports Of 1S73-lS74.
Any one interested can see how perfectly it
operates bv visiting any of our eight-room
school buildings erected in the past few years.
it having been first introduced here in 1883
though not adopted until the year following
In order to test it thoroughly person should
go with some one familiar with the system and
with an air meter to measure the flow and
volume Of air passing through the building.
went with the mayor and a delegation of
city and school officials from Lynn, Mass,
to examine 1t in the Giddings School building
occupied by colored scholars. two wears ago.
On applying the air meter We found the air
passing from four rooms on one side OF the
hail at the rate of over 10000 cubic feet per
minute. and as the same amount PASSED
through the four rooms on the opposite side
it follows that there passed through the eight
rooms in each hour 200, 900 cubic feet OK fresh
air. An examination within the rooms showed
the mercury standing OF 10 degrees, and with no
perceptible drafts With scores of such il
lustrations here in our midst there would seem
TO be no excuse for architects or others not
providing for thorough ventilation not ONLY of
churches, but of other buildings also. including
those erected by the government. In cases
where there is power convenient fans may be
used to advantage to create the necessary
draft, and / observe that it has been done by
some of our city architects in a pun recently
prepared for n church to be erected here.
The fact is, We do not live up to our oppor-
tunites in this similar matters /. is n relic
of barbarism TO be carting coal into our houses
and cinders and ashes out, with all their dirt
and discomfort. All our fuel should be in the
form of gas. 1t is perfectly practicable a; the
present time. So. too. it is just as practicable
20 cool our houses mechanically as il is to heat
them mechanically, and III the not far distant
future both these results will be accomplished
In the meantime there is no excuse for not