The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-14
FIGHT THE HOT WAVES
HOW AxuxA1fDDH GRAHAM HILL WoULD AVERT
 yATALfTu2
Liquid Afr, 1smsdslsd Houses. Heusss Can Ds Kept Cool au
 Sumner as Well as Warn

Washington Post
 .sThat people should die from the ef- fects of heat in their own homes and ofYices," declared Mir. Alexander Gra- ham Bell, inventor. traveller. end scientist, In conversation with . re, portor for. The Post last night. "is as much . reflection upon the inventive genius of the American people as though they were to die in their own houses from cold. The invention of means of rapid transit has stopped in- yention relating to the cooling of houses. Every man who can afford 1t simply travels to . cooler place during the hot weather. and these who cannot are left to their fate"
 > Mir. Bell has just returned to the city for a few days to attend to some busi- ness matters. The tragic results of the hot wave in all the large cities has appealed to him forcibly and led him to turn his thoughts in the direction of . remedy. He is of the opinoin that there is a promising field for architec- tural science in the planning of dwell ings which will net only afford protec- tion against the blasts of cold in winter, but also the effects of |caloric energy in the summer.
 "In artificial buildings" he said, "it should certainly be possible for man to control the internal climate of his resi- dence."
 His ideal of house construction is one open at the top to permit the free escape of hot air and closed at the bottom to prevent the sgress of cold air. In his opinion. it is a mistake to close the openings and windows at the top of the house and open the bottom, for then. he contends. the cold air leaks out at the bottom and the heated att mosphere. having no route of escape at the roof. remains in the building. Heat Disasters Largely Preventable.
 Three hundred and thirteen deaths and 672 prostrations." he said to the reporter, ''are incidentally reported in The Post this morning as having occur red in various cities. This indicates that throughout the country thousands of people were prostrated yests. day and that there were many hundred deaths. They have been reported on a wholesale scale for more than . week past. and 1t is obvious that the passage of heat wave across the continent causes as much death. and probably more suffering than a great battle Mortality from every cause iA increased largely because of the enervation of the human system. The sum total of disaster is probably beyond computa- ton .and 1t is largely preventable."
 ''In what way?'' he was asked.
 "It's true we cannot control the weather outside, but why cannot we control the weather inside our own houses and offices?" he rejoined. What would we say were hundreds of people to be frozen to death in their own houses during every cold snap? Would 1t not be obvious that the remedy would be in the hands of the people :? Ts 1t not equally obvious that where hundreds die during every hot wave the remedy is the converse--to cool the houses? As we have furnaces in base ments to heat houses in cold climates. so should we hay erefrigerating plants in the attice to cool dwellings in warm climates. The houses themselves would need to be changed. They are all open belowlto allow the circulation of air, and windows and docrs' are generally thrown wide open, 50 that should cold air be poured into them from above 1t would run out below like water from sieve.
 A Simple Hint for Householders.
 You might produce a Niagara of cold air rushing down from above. and 1t would have comparatively little ef- feet in cooling the house if it escaped below. Houses must be tight below. The hot air in the lower part of the