Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-10-15
OF Public Buildings and Dwelling
Houses.
AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION
Into History. Some Remarkable
Contrasts. Reforms That Are .
Nee. ssary to Health.
(Wlitten for the Daily Prcss.)

ceased to rrvagc civilized communities,
| and the mean duration Of lii" is steadily
| increasing. At Geneva in the sixteenth
century the mean probability of Ifs
| was under nine years by slow process
| step by step. progress was made to
| fourteen years in the seventeenth
thirty years in the eighteenth ana in
! this century the limit is rapidly ap-
preaching furty-tive year,: The i'm
Drovcmcnt indicated within three con-
'uries has resulted fro:n advancing
knowledge and more enlightened rr,c-
Trees for the maintenance Of life in
| health This country has not kept pace
| with the better ratio observed in G me
va, mainly because there has been I.
rack OF attention to the grand principles
and essential details % sanitary
science. Prior to 1860 Dr. Rush was The
only author discoursing OH this pres-
| nant subject and it was not until six
years later that the first State Board o.
| Health was organized. .@
In estimating the value or life, it is
| important to ascertain how many days
of sickness are included in the sum to-
| tai Of existence In Europe the aver
age duration of sickness FOR each inli-
vidual is less than twent, days per
year. Let US cite. for instance, the
| State OF Massachusetts and quote from
its statistics. This State is divided into
siN geogra phcal sections for compiling
and supplying returns similar TO t!.at
| collected by European boards Of health,
and from those figures we learn that
| the highest rate of Interpretation
| through ill-health obtains in the Boston
| division where the average is twenty
| four days per year While in the Rerh-
shire district it is but fourteen days.
| true it is. every man must die, but a
large proportion of the sickness COM
monty endured is known to be prevent
able. SO much so that the average death
| in any State should not exceed IL ner
| thousand.
Ventilation is but one of the many
subjects which should command uni
Versal attention. Upon the realizat
| Of efficient ventilation depends ,if,,
! health and happiness Cor untold mil
| lions who shall inherit this fertile land:
| hence it is impossible 70 ovcrate its
| Importance. . 3.. .". a.
Prevention is barely possible With the
means at our Disposal. but once the
| operating causes have eventuate;f in
disease, insanity and crime no human
| power can effect a cure. a sound minl
| can seldom be discovered unless assC-
| ciated with a healthy body. The major
portion OF the work to be accomplished
| must he devolved upon individuals
| Culture. which means more than col
| leSiate training, and does not include.
| erudition, should produce perfect hui
mainly. we'll developed in mind. body
and estate. capable of perpetuating the
! best qualities of the race, and, there
| tore, able to appreciate all the eli cum
stances that favor it's highest develop
ment.
EARLIER TRACES OF v,ENTII. g.
| TON
| Five thousand years ago. when the
| plans for the pyramid of CheopS may
have been in preparation, there was
more knowledge among the Carmel as
to ventilation than we find to have been
| in existence among the Anelo-Saxons a
| century since. The great pyramid had
an arrangement for the ventilation OF
| its interior chambers. The information
| implied by that provision contrasts
| with singular force when we consiuer
| that less than one hundred years ago
| i'm Plymouth Sound. within sight of
two marvels Of engineering work. q
man was permitted to sink himself III
| Il strong box in fu!fl,nent Of a foolish
| wager because the scientific nef CT
| that time and the governing classes
were alike ignorant as to the necessity
| or fresh air to maintain life The death
| OF that man remained an unsolvcd
| problem for several years. Egypt had
no darkness to parallel such ignora nee.
Less than two centuries ago the rres-
dent of the college of physicians in
| London, in an address, informed his
| felloW-physicians that no one knew
nor ever could know, What purpose
! was served by the phenomena Of
! brea thing.
The knowledge which the Egyptians
possessed had probably come to them
from much earlier time by intercourse
| with the civilized Ethiopian nation in
habiting Arabia, Felix and the coast.
The Greeks and the Romans certainly
| possessed such information, seeing that
the early temples of Esculapias were
'sanitaria' rather than medical schools
and that Hipporates wrote the earlies,
hygienic treatise now extant treating
of Airs. Waters and Places" Means
/ OF dlslnf2ction were Used in Athens d,r-
ing TIE plague, the agancy C li.e hich
IS only Few beginning to lie again rec
| osnzed. having been used by .Acrcn of
Crotona with great advantage.
! Ancient Rome appreciated sanitary
art and appointed inspectors to SUPER
intend the construction and manage
ment of buildings, public ana private,
| to secure salubrity and safety The
| Mosaic ceremonial laws. which had
their origin in the enlightenment or the
| court and priesthood Of Egypt were
founded upon correct informa ton as to
human requirements
| The Greeks cared as much for the
physical as for the intellectual suprem-
acy OF the people, and in their cities
public baths were provided for the roor
as well as the rich. The Romans imi-
tated this feature OF Greek civilization,
and also, following the example of shat
nation. Antoninus Plus initiated the APP