The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-11-21
THE SHUT-IN SEASON,
A Time That Tries the Souls of House
keepers.

$500 A11Cb III SOulS VI t1Quoc"
keepers.
The season when the chilly weather
of autumn begins is an exceedingly try
ing one. The fresh, pure air of summer
has flowed in and III of the house,
keeping the atmosphere pure. The sud-
den change TO 4 shut-in season, when
the house is not always Systematically
ventilated, as it should be, is sure to be
injurious to health. To add TO this any
defective plumbing which was innocu-
GUS when the atmosphere was kept
pure by currents of fresh air from the
outside now becomes dangerous. 1t is
always a safe %precaution before closing
the house and starting the winter fires
to test the sewers. This is very easily
done. Put an ounce of oil of peppermint
in n pail of cold water. Go to the plumb
ing at the top of the house, and pour the
mixture carefully down the wastepipe.
Let some one be located at the fixture
below, and if the odor of peppermint
escapes at any point it shows that there
sewer gas may also escape. In n large
city, where there is continued pressure
from gas in the mains, there is
more danger from this source than in
small villages or isolated houses, where
the o of sewer gas in the main
is always small in comparison. Yet
this is a matter to be looked after care
fully even when the amountof plumbing
is limited. The only safety lies in thor
ough ventilation through the extension
of the soil pipe to the roof in connection
with some ventilation in the sewer.
This secures n current of air through
the pipes and is far better than ans
traps, that are at the best dangerous
to depend upon. There may be danger
from the furnace heat. The oppressive
headaches that aflict those within
GOors Immediately after the furnace is
started are not to be considered lightly.
They are certain indications of some
impurity in the air. 1t may be gas from
the furnace, or it may be that the fresh
cir supplied by the cold air box is i'm
pure. All these matters must be at
tended to, Is the health of the family
depends upon it. Sometimes there is
a leak, SO that the pipe of the furnace
escapes into the hot air pipes. Some
times there is some impurity near the
opening of the cold air box. Cats, rats
and even chickens sometimes creep into
this place and become suffocated or
overcome in some way. 1t should be
carefully inspected when the furnace is
lighted. The cellar is a fruitful cause
of bad air in the house. Before the
house is shut up and listed to keep out
the cold air of winter the cellar should
be cleaned carefully and disinfected
with a coat of whitewash before shut
ting up the cellar for the winter. The
carpets that have been in continual use
all summer need shaking and must be
freed from the floating dust of the at
mosphere that settles in them. and be-
cOmes 4 culture-bed for germs, harm
less. perhaps, when the house is kept
flied with fresh air, but developing
with fearful rapidity in the closed at
nIOsphere of a furnace-heated room.
y great open fire of roaring logs in
the hall, which ventilates every room in
the house through the staircase and
doors, is, perhaps, the best way of ven.
t~ilating the house. 1t keeps the house
air pure in winter, when all the WIN
dOws are closed. So valuable is thu
open fire as a means of ventilation that
one of the best English authorities on
nursing the sick considers it an essen
tial feature of n properly-fitted sick
room. All clothes closets should be
thoroughly ventilated at this season
and their contents looked over and
shaken an exposed TO the sun and air.
N. /. Tribune.