Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-01-30
Humidity IL Lining Rooms
How Husband and wife Have Made Their Home More
Comfortable and More Heathful
sy LILLIAN 9. LovELANo.
BY LILLIAN g. LovELANp.

we modern Americans, when we
build new home, have 1t back plast-
cred, or build 1t OF brick or stone.
squtp 1t with storm windows and
weather strips, lay double floors and In
every way strive to keep out the cold.
Then we put in the very newest and
best heating apparatus to be had, and
attach q thermostat to Insure even
temperature: we keep our living rooms
At whatever temperature we choose and
think we have solved the matter. But
In shutting out the cold. we also shut
out the moisture In the outside air, and
when we proceed to dry out what mois-
ture does get in by our various heating
appliances.
The houses In which we live are
dryer In winter than the dryest desert
regions Of the globe. For instance. the
average humidity at Yuma, Ariz., Is
42.9 per cent; at Santa Fe. N. NJ, 44.S
per cent; In the Punjab and north
western India, 81 per cent; and in the
deserts Of Africa ii averages from ~
to 33 per cent. The humidity of our
living rooms in winter Is from Is to SO
per cent, where no effective effort has
been made to raise the humidity. The
average outdoor humidity In the United
States is from SO to 20 per cent; there
fore the change from indoor to outdoor
humidity is very great. BY relative
humidity Is meant, the ratio of the
iamcun. OF moisture present to the
amount necessary for saturation: that
rs. II we say the relative humidity is
90 per cent. we mean that the air con
tains one-half as much moisture as 1t
would IL 1t We're saturated
In the old days when the houses We're
heated by aplaces. the occupants
probably suffered much discomfort
from cold, but their method Of heating
did not dry out the moisture In the air
of their houses as is done In ours
There are numberless i'll effects
which result from, the extremely dry
air of our living rooms; our furniture
cheeks, and cracks and falls to pieces:
our pianos lose their tune: house plants
get brown and Wither up: our skin be-
comes parched. and we women. without
knowing why we have to do It, apply
cold cream, glycerin and the like to
Keep our skin moist. our throats be-
come sore and our voices more and
more harsh and scratchy. Possibly this
explains the American voice. which is
such source OF ridicule among E.urop-
Guns. They do not keep their houses
not and dry as we do. because their
mild climate does not require our mod
,l'n heating methods Even in northern
europe. where the cold Is severe, their
method OF heating is primitive like that
or our forefathers in this country and
they do not dry out the air as we do
with our furnaces. steam and hot water
leallng, The dry atmosphere also acts
Ss a stimulant to the nervous system.
our sleep becomes restless and broken
saHds We become more and more con-
scious that we have nerves" The
chAnge II going from our dry living
rooms 70 the moister air OF outdoors.
sslso makes us more subject to colds
f furnace makers realize this state of
sHafrs to- some extent, as most furnaces
a q. Seq uipped with cast iron pan hold
ing about II quarts, from which to
.eVaporate water into the house.
s Il. during the winter OF 1901, my
and myself tested this furnace pan ban,
quite thoroughly We lived in the
north half of a. double house
both parts. being practically alike and
el pped with furnaces of the same size
ana make. We used the water pan
IN oalr furnace, while that in our neigh
st1ors Was not used. EACH day ait noon
for a period of three weeks j took the
humidity ny Observations In both houses
w e evaporated about two quarts OF
wafer q day from our pan, and the
result was only about I per cent higher
snumidity IN our house; difference 80
slight. tina I 1t seems probable that such
e = small pan. In a furnace is Of little or
no value. sS
Many people put small pals or pans
8of water just inside the registers and
I5have known physicians to recommend
this practice In cases of catarrh or.
threat troubles. We tried placing pans
sof water in four of the registers in adj
stiittongto the pan In the furnace, and
Increased the evaporat ionato SO quarts
per day when the humidity was "a
per cent higher In our house than our
neighbour So s3 AT 3ss
S From observations taken In steam
and hot water heated houses, we find
That here Is practically no difference
IN the relative humidity OF the air, be-
tween them and furnace heated houses.
Many people believe that hot water
sheat ting gives aymoister atmosphere In
the house. 1t does give more even.
uniform heat bur none of the n,ois-
tuHe; from the hot water itself can get
into the house. The only way to raise