Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-21
DIRE. DISEASE IN CARS
PUBLIC HEALTH, MENACED By
INITIATED ATMOSPHERE.
Lack Of Oxygen Causes Loss Of Ap
petite, Low Vitality, Headache
and Other Ills.

From the Municipal Journal and Engineer.
The menace to the public health from the
insanitary condition OF the street cars In
our large cities Is a subject that mpresses
every physician and student OF hygiene with
it's vital Importance. The physiological eff
fects of poor ventilation are well known.
Air vitiated by the lungs Is low In oxygen.
high in carbonc acid and high In organic
matter.
Want of sufficiency OF oxygen, combined
with the presence of products Of respiration
in the air, causes a reduction OF heart &C
ton, increases in the rate of respiration,
tendency, toward headache, loss of appetite.
reduction of vitality, nervous exhaustion.
and. in severe cases, or in delicate organiza-
tons. nausea may be an immediate result
of breathing foul air. Many who have trav-
eled In overcrowded street cars are familiar
with some Of these effects.
Musty odor in Cars.
The public appreciates that the musty
odor noticeable IN poorly ventilated street
cars indicates that there are waste matters
In the atmosphere which should have been
promptly got rid Of. Now. an average adult
takes into his lungs 800 cubic inches Of air
per minute, and gives OF the same amount
OF vitiated air, which must be greatly d.
luted before 1t is suitable for further respi-
ration
The measure Of this necessary dilution is
very easily understood, for we know that,
while fresh air contains about three parts
OF carbonfc acid and air which has been
passed through the lungs AL parts Of car
bonic acid per 10000 volumes, the air of
enclosed spaces becomes close when the car
bonfc acid exceeds about five parts per 10 :
600. From these data 1t is found that some
tnlnS IKE fifty cubic feet OF fresh air should
oe ADMITTED to each car every minute per
person.
No Allowance for Fresh Air.
1t Is clear that no such allowance OF
fresh air Is supplied to passengers on my
closed cars when they are running beyond
tnelr seating capacity. Such ventilation
as occurs takes Place irregularly by the
opening and closing of the doors for the
entrance or exit Of passengers, or throus h
primitive transoms and not by carefully
regulated ventilators
+ The writer has found the air of those cara
to contain as much as 1872 parts of carbontc
acid gas. Repeated counts of trolley cars IN
New York IN cold weather have shown that
about 90 per cent had all their transons
closed. The insufficient warming of street
cars In winter accounts in part. Tor the at
tempt made to keep them entirely shut up.
GarDonic acid gas In the cars Of the New
York elevated roads has been found by the
writer to run as high as 81 parts
That many species of bacteria exist In
the street atmosphere Of cities has been fire.
quently demonstrated by analysis, but ex-
animation OF the mats used on the floors OF
the cars have shown that fibers one and u
half inches long may hold three or four
million bacteria.
Splitting Partly Responsible.
The origin of many Of these disea Sc
germs. which occur In our street cars, can
be understood by anybody who has noticed
universal hob oP
ting. The findings of bacteriology leave no
doubt as to the fate of a large part of the
expectorated matter. 1t becomes dry and
is pulverized under foot and is finally dis
tributed through the air with dust.
How far the splitting habit common In
street cars Is responsible for the eight thou
sand deaths from consumption of the lungs
which occur In New York every year can
safely be left to the readers ina sination.
And from the facts at present known con-
corning the etiology Of other infectious dis
eases 1t can hardly be doubted that the In
fect1ve poisons of scarlet fever measles
influenza. diphtheria and pneumonia, not to
say smallpox, are spread from person to
person through the impure air and close
personal contact which occur in the cars.
Several Remedies.
Is there any remedy for the sanitary evils
Of street cars? There are several. In the
first place, the power Of the community to
make laws for public safety should be
utilized. and for this purpose 1t is needful
that the necessity for such ordinances
should be appreciated.
The principal objects toward which. as
the writer believes, laws intended to i'm
prove the sanitary condition of street cars
should be directed are a reduction of over
crowding, the prevention of splitting and
the proper ventilation and warming of the
cars.
II overcrowding can be prevented the
problems of ventilation and warming can
probably be solved. but not otherwise. The
remedies available for overcrowding lie In
providing more cars to carry the people and
In restricting the number of passengers car
ried per car.