The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-04
DEFECTS IN VENTILATING SYSTEMS AND DANGERS OF FOUL AIR IN SCHOOL ROOMS| Open Windows The Best Means of Supplying Outside Air of
 Proper Humidity And
 Purity z=7
Over Warm Rooms Flooded With Bad Air Cause of Much HI Health in
 Children

Tn an interesting letter to the New York Times. Louise Waterman Wise discusses methods of ventilation in school rooms. and the dangers of foul air. as folloys;S Sx7 e-.s-4r-
 Compfa1nt has recently been made to your paper against our hl-Ventii- ed that the automatic ventilating sys- teus give self-suffocation instead of self-ventilation to the pupils ana teach CTS, causing mental dullness and physical sluggfshness. This com plaint was vigorously com batted.
 A committee of women of which the past two years gathered statistics in a large number of the pubic schools in which ventilating systems obtain, and in every case found con dftfons as described by your corres- 1ondent while in the older schoo-s where the windows were kept open the air was usually found fresh and pure and the children alert and alto getherz in better condition The Chair man of the committee brought to the attention of the Board of Education of public schools the ventilatkng sys- tenn hoE-TfeF ss=-tl1Eat -thermoStatS were broken in many cases, and that the temperature almost invariably rose above 70 degrees. in some instan- cee above 30 degrees In all eases the air waR heavy and lacked fresnness;
 
 Of Education, containing the following paragraph:
 In nearly all the schools mentioned in the list reports, there are we'll known defects in the ventilating sys- teri1s, but funds have not been avail able to enable us to install the added <.tlanxe Tvh0ugh the report continues. es,T1e dust Initiates the mucous mem brane and causes headache, throat troubles. and general feeling of 1rri- NraFf
 A number of New Yorl's leading physicIans absolutely condemn all our present known systems of Ventiiatlont, one Of them dec airing the thermostag to beEthe invention of the devil, ana would like through your columns to bring to the1attention of the 4Boaro >6f Education, If possible, the condi- lions @4 dt0leratess by acquiescence Tn the PFesent state of ventilation, or rather no ventilation, In our schools, which is so detrimental to the pnyst- cal and mental growth of the chtl- dren. In a publication of the Board of Education on heating and Ventila- ion ft3is stated that the offensive odor Of a badly ventilated room poisonS those who infale it. No member or the board of Education but would be horrlded and would protest 1T ne were to see a child given poison, yet con ditions are permitted to exist in the schools which lessen the vita fty and shorten the lives of thousands or enlI- dren day by day. would quote the opinions of some of our leading phy- sicIans. The President of the Ameri- can Medical Association, pr. A. Jacobi m a recent letter to the Chairman of this Committee on the Ventilation or Schools, writes:
 Unfortunately, the systems of ventil Ation- used in our. public school build fngss even the best, are failures. They are filled with foul aFr, which is < perpetual detriment to the develop Open windows, judic:ous y arranged, shorter lessons, and longer recesses will improve circulation, muscles, lungs, and brains No apparatus will ever take the place Of open windows. s.Alr tests,'' which have been recom- mended, are either useless or too uTn- sy for use and difficult to apply. Mere s measuring of earbon sdioxide in the atrnosp1eSezof A room or hall does not cover the ease at aIh More and thor oughly educated medical inspectors, school teachers well instructed and conscientious, and the loving work of strenuous members of the Board of Education will benefit the children and gradually secure the cooperation Of the parents
 pr Prannan, President of the Board Of Trustees 6f Bellevue and Al led Hospitals. m an illuminating paper re- centfy read before the Academy of MecTeine states:
 Tn the medical pavilions of the new Bellevue Hospital which were opened some three years ago complete mod ern system of ven ntilation was prov d. ed with double systems of fans and
 
 had been warmed and fndstened, the other taking out foul air. This sys- tenn has not been found satisfactory in operation ard during the past Win ter 1t was entirely discon tfnued, and the air iu the wards was simrty warmed by the radiators, and was kept fresh and pure by open transoms, supplemented by open windows when necessary. The temperature in the wards was kept at 65 degrees or less during the day. The ventilation of SoF7 rS HfJIIf ha n that of the hospital ward, as the room has usually windows only on one side. All the windows should be provided with transoms, which should be kept open at al times. There are many efficient mechanical devices for admit ting the aIr without a draft at the bottom Of the window sash. Raising the lower sash permits air to ent CT where the upper and lower sashes pass som over the door to permit the air in the room to rass. freely between 1t and the corridor The corridors should have windows and transoms at each end, witch should always be kept open Pivoted windows keep the air in the schoolroorn, frefh and pure at all times and without hraffs. A gco1 instance of this Is to be found in the E. vn Mott Street. The ventilation in 1rucTIcaiiy all of the public schoo1 Buildings of New York is very imper- feet Though in nearly all of them ar ttficfa1 systems Of securing pure air nave been provided by conpetent en- ztneers the fou' air is a sub visit the schools, as well as by the teachers. An engineer corrected with the Board of Education stated in this room a few weeks ago at a meeting of the American School Hygiene Asso- eiaNon that there were not twenty-five schools in the city in which the ven statement to come from one of those s---lonstbIe for installing the systems.