Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-13
BETTER BE ROBBED.
PURE AIR IN SLEEPING ROOMS
WORTH MORE THAN POSSIBLE
LOSS OF MONEY.
"Put on More Blankets = Build Up
the Fires - Raise the Windows But
Prevent Draughts." Prominent Ply
sicians Tells Of Value Of Ventilation.

Better be robbed of little filthy
lucre than of that priceless treasure,
health" writes one of Ottumwa's prom
inent and most successful physicians
in an article prepared for the Cou-
rier's Sanitary Column upon the ne.
cessity Of proper ventilation for the
preservation of health during the win
ter months. Foul air kills its thous-
ands where the burglar kills one" he
continues.
Put on more blankets Build up the
fires. Raise window lust little, but
try to prevent draughts," is the advice
of this authority. The point raised. is
that during the winter months when
doors and windows are kept tightly
closed and every breath Of fresh air
is religiously excluded from the liv-
Ing rooms the danger from foul and
impure air is many times greater than
1t is during the summer months when
doors and windows are left open.
The paper is as follows:
While no one questions the value
to the health Of pure air, compare
lively few persons take sufficient
thought as to the ventilation of their
sleeping rooms, especially in the win
ter. It is very natural to try to bar
out the cold, and In SO doing it is too
often the case that pure air is also
barred. 1t takes but short time to
figure out how long the supply may re-
main wholesome If not constantly re-
plenished. Suppose an Individual is
occupying the room alone and no fresh
air can get in.
ut Is estimated that 500 gallons an
hour Is sufficient for an average man.
Eight hours in this room would re-
quire 1000 gallons of air for this one
person But we must remember that
more often the bedroom contains from
two to four or more persons and the
amount must be correspondingly In
creased. This is figuring all the oc-
cupants to be healthy which we all
know cannot always be the case. There
may be several cases of sore throat
even diphtheria or possibly, and not
infrequently, case of consumption.
If So the need Of good ventilation is
still more important Did you ever
go into a house early in the morning
after walk in the fresh air, when the
family had not yet been astir. How
sitting and even how nauseating the
air of that house, ESPECIALLY If there
are quite a number of persons in it.
The Fear Of Burglars.
"But why are the houses SO closely
shut up? Because the fear of burg
lars. Well let me tell you that foul
air kills its thousands where the burg
lar kills one. But you say we do not
want to be robbed. Better be robbed
of little filthy lucre than of that
priceless treasure, health. Is it not q
fact that he who lives out doors sell
dom takes cold? Build UP the fire,
then put on more blankets. but let in
the pure life giving air.
Nov as to the methods of ventila-
ton. In considering this we must
consider the average home. Windows
in winter, and windows and doors in
summer must be the avenues by which
the air gains entrance.
Directions for VentlIatins.
at is not always best to try to ven-
tilate by letting windows down from
the top. That lets the warm air out,
but does not let out the most danger
GUS impurities. Then it too frequently
means draft of air coming down on
the head. Raising window a little
will separate the sashes and thus help
some without creating draft. Raise
a window on the opposite side from
which the wind is coming; or If you
can not do that, place screen in
front of the window to be raised. In
any convenient way. shut off the draft
but by all means let in the air, and
keep tcoming in all the time"
Another Ottumwa physician has pre-
pared the following article upon venti-
lation in school rooms which is worthy
the most careful reading by all those
in any way connected with the public
schools of the city:
"The frequent failure of the health
of children in our public schools is
slowly increasing and therefore should
receive the thoughtful consideration of
parents. The cause which has brought
about the loss of health should be
carefully sought out and measures de-
vised to eliminate it from school life.
"It may be possible that in many in
stances various causes will be found
to contribute to the disability and the
breaking down of the child's health.
But we are strongly inclined to believe
that in a great many cases poor venti-
lation of the school building will be
found to be the primary cause.
Unfortunately for many children
this cause is at work from the time
they enter school on up through the
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