Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-05-06

5EleMzA4' - the Phi ladelphia
1[1Ez4a = Times. The Amerl-
gLyylrrT.-s-V .s-Ss7iSsS. cans as people
are probably no
worse or more un-
healthy than other nations, but we are
by no means free from blemishes and
now and then we have our attention
called to some Of our national faults
by a sharp-eyed, quickwitted for
eigner, One of the late criticisms Is
the American habit of overheating our
! houses. 1t is an undisputed fact that
In the northern sections Of the country,
at least, we habitually keep our living
rooms and halls Of public assembly
rs well at too high a temperature. The
habit is bad one and is not only cost
ly but unhealthy.
A thoughtful physician who has
combated this pernicious custom all
his life attributes one-half the colds
and throat disorders that prevail to
this cause alone. Rooms having a
temperature of much above 70 degrees
are necessarily enervating to the sys-
tenn and weakened body Is much more
apt to succumb to disease than a
strong, healthy one. 1t is no wonder
that so many of our women are sickly
and low-spirited confined as they are
day after day and week after week
In such houses, going out of doors
only when 1t is absolutely necessary.
We constantly find tender" people
who keep their living rooms at tenn
perature of 80 degrees during the
winter, who will assert that the air is
chilly If 1t is cooler. The cause of this
foolish habit Is not far to seek. Most
American women, even those of more
than average means, are accustomed to
pass part of their time in the kitchen,
where culinary necessities put a whole
some temperature quite out of the
question. When they have finished
their tasks in this department our
tired and overheated housewives turn
to the other rooms to find them cold"
They are cold only by comparison, but
lit would be difficult to make one be-
lieve 1t. The consequence is the regis
ter is opened or the fire stirred up I'M
til the sitting room is as warm as the
kitchen, and the habit of overheating,
coming down from the days of huge
woodpiles and roaring chimney places,
projects itself into the age of double
windows, steam-heating apparatus and
redhot coal stoves.
1t is astonishing to what degree we
are creatures of habit in this respect
and how readily we become habituated
to much higher temperature than is
necessary or beneficial to us. was
recently at house where the house
wife constantly wore light shawl over
her shoulders, at the same time keep
ing the temperature of her living
rooms up to nearly 80, and yet she
declared that she suffered from cold.
She was thin and pale and dyspeptic
and was always doctoring for cold.
What she needed was cold shower
bath every day and daily exercise in
the open air. She could have then dis
pensed with her wraps and could have
been comfortable in lower tempera-
ture.
1t is well to remember that colds"
are as often caught by going suddenly
from a cold to an overheated at
mosphere-as from the street on a cold
winter day into room at so degrees
as from heated room into the cold
The less perceptible the change, the
greater the security.
A little thought and experimenting
will work a reform in many house
holds, to the increased comfort and
health Of it's inmates and to the ad-
vantage of the coal bin and wood
pile In these days of dear fuel and
cheap thermometers, the latter should
be INDUCED in until we have reduced
the temperature of our overheated
apartments, public and private, to a
point favorable to economy and health.
A thermometer should be in every
sitting room, and it should not be per-
mitted to indicate temperature of
more than 70 degrees. This is warm
enough for health and perhaps a lower
temperature would be still better. DR..
Kane, during his arctic explorations,
said that his men were more COM
Portable when the cabin was at 81 or
60 degrees than when it was warmer,
and that is the temperature recon-
mended for hospital wards.