The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-07-17


in paper Of this kind we can do no
more than touch upon few of the
most important points The following
phases OF the problem Will be briefly
considered
Ventilation.
Heating.
Lighting
Promiscuous use Of books, drinking
cups. etc.
Medical inspection OF schools.
Ventilation
Normal atmospheric air contains
about 21 per cent of oxygen, .04 per
cent of carbonic acid, a trace of hy-
drogen, argon and ammonia, some
water vapor and nearly 70 per cent OF
nitrogen. The only substances that are
OF importance in this connection are
oxygen, carbonic acid and water vapor
Although normal pure air contains 81
per cent of oxygen and only .04 per
cent of carbonic acid IL has been found
by analysis that air which has been
breathed into the lungs and is again
exhaled contains but 16 per cent of
oxygen and as high as per cent OF
carbonic acid. Experiments on ami
mails have shown that air thus deprived
OF about one fourth of its oxygen and
enriched a thousand fold with carbon
ic acid is no longer capable of sup
porting life for more than a very short
period. That is, an animal kept in
exhaled air will die of asphyxia with
in a short time. We can see, therefore,
that it is absolutely necessary that the
tt fV7 IL
must be renewed from thine to time
or the inhabitants would die from as
phyxia In many houses no provision
is made for this renewal Of air but
fortunately for those who live therein,
there are always cracks about the
windows and doors which permit of
some interchange of air with the out
side, even though this interchange is
very imperfect. 1t is stated by the
highest authorities that a persons
health is sure to suffer more or less
If he spends the greater part of his
time in an atmosphere that contains
more than l per cent of carbonic acid.
This is especially important in the
case of our school houses because here
many people are confined for four or
five hours day in comparatively
small room which often has little or
no provision for ventilation. We must
also remember that the young and
growing body is more easily affected
by the breathing of impure air than
is an older person. In order to have
a perfect system of ventilation every
person in the room must be supplied
with at least 5000 cubic feet Of fresh
q iV &c Of r..
ually quite impossible. but no system
can be considered satisfactory that
does not supply every person in the
room with at least 1900 cubic feet of
fresh air an hour. In getting thar
amount of fresh air to every person
in the room some care must be exer-
cised to avoid unpleasant drafts. In
large halls and in school houses 1t is
possible TO get proper ventilation with
out drafts If we allow at least Is
square feet of floor room, and 200 cubic
feet Of space for each person. A
school room 20x30 with a 1O-foot cell
ing, is, therefore, crowded to its ut
most capacity when occupied by thirty
pupils.
In order to get proper ventilation in
a room of this kind we cannot depend
| on the chance interchange of air that
always takes place through cracks and
crevices but suitable arrangements
must be made to exhaust the vitiated
air and bring in fresh supply from
the outside. There must be properly
constructed inlets and outlets and in
| the case of large school houses special
appliances must be used to exhaust
the vitiated air or force in fresh air
This can sometimes be brought about
by the use Of properly constructed
coWls, or by the use of a large fan.
Another very important factor il
! connection with ventilation and one
that is nearly always neglected, is the
providing of a proper degree Of hu.
midity of the air. Under ordinary
| conditions outdoor air has relative
| humidity of about 65. We know how
ever that warm air takes up much
more moisture than does cold air and
| therefore special provision for mois-
| ture must be made when very colo
! air is conducted into a schoolroom anC
| heated to 20 degrees r. When out -dool
air, having a temperature of rs de.
grees f. and relative humidity of 65
| is conducted into room and warmed
to 20 degrees F. every 1000 cubic
/ feet of air thus warmed should bt
permitted TO take UP about one-hal1
| pint of water, If we wish to bring the
degree of humidity up to point where
4 the atmosphere is perfectly comforta.
BILE in the respiratory passages. Thi:
means that several barrels of water
should be evaporated every day in {
school house of six to ten rooms Yol
all know that this is never done bu
this fact is no argument against it.
introduction in the future. The con.
tant breathing of atmosphere havin,
too low a degree Of humidity produce!
an uncomfortable feeling in the throa
and nose, not infrequently an annoying
cough, ad reders the pupils more sus
| ceptdble to colds. The costant breath
ing of impure air in an inadequatel!
ventilated room often produces head
aches and drowsiness, pallor and di
/ minished resisting powers against dis
ease, and more or less hinders tn,
pupils development and mental pro
gress.
Heating.
The temperature of the school room
should be kept constantly at TO- de
grees f. throughout the coldest winte
weather. Heating and ventilation oft
en- go hand in hand but some heaGin
plants are better adapted than other
to bring about proper ventilation, with
out the use Of special appliances. Thu
hot air furnace always produce
good circulation of the air and thu
favors ventilation, although there ma,
be other objections to the use of no