Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-01-13
FIGHT ON FOR PURE AIR
BY DIR. w. A. EVANS.

Ia..E III LIN v
Until about 1909 the water supple:
of American cities We're most impure
1t was the custom of the local govern
ments to furnish their people with dl
luted sewage for drinking water. Nat
urally. a death rate from typhoid fever
OF 100 per 10000 was not unusual, ant
OF 200 was not unheard of.
The custom is rapidly changing. Most
local governments now supply the1l
people with pure water. A death rate
of 10 Is about the rule and a death ratt
OF n is not unheard of. We might say
pure water has been Won; we nigh,
say. with a moderate regard for ac-
curacy, the fight for pure. water has
been won.
Time was when the government al
lowed the seller to sell any food sub
stance he could find a market for. re-
CARELESS of whether it was wholesome.
1T was assumed that the buyer knew
he must beware and could and Would
protect himself. 1t was proved that
the assumption was not correct. Then
came the great fight for pure food. 1t
has been going on for over 10 years.
1t has won in places. The victory is
partial only.
The next fight is to be for pure air.
Although everybody knows of the i'm
portance of air to the human body,
very little accurate information was at
hand as to the physiology of he use
of air or the pathology which resulted
from air. or the mechanical principles
underlying ventilation. Everywhere rule
OF thumb methods prevail. To remedy
this defect various groups of investl-
gators are at work.
Two groups Of psychologists have
been at work. One group has proven
that our old ideas about the physiology
of breathing and our method of US
Ing oxygen We're all wrong. Another
group has proved that so far as i'm
mediate results are concerned, what
counts is the temperature of air, its
humidity, and its movement, and that
It's composition is Of little
consequence.
Another commission has proved that
dirty air is especially apt to produce
pneumonia. Other scientists are claim
ing, perhaps AVE proved, that more
important h the pollution of air by
Eases, more important than the dirt
Ind bacteria which fall out of the air,
nore important than either of these is
The fine dust which remains in the air
Ind which. thereby. stops some of that
part OF the suns rays which kills bac-
teria.
Two commission have been at work
IN the problems Of ventilation. One Of
Ihese. located in New York city, has
ssued oGe progress report and Is at
work on a final report, due to appear
n 1916. Another. the Chicago ventila-
aon commission, issued one progress
'eport IN 1911 and now issues a second.
Inc Chicago commission is a volun-
AIRY commission. 1t has no official
Handing, except that it was organized
Upon the initiative of the health com
missioner and the health department
PAS always had membership in it. 1t
las mad no funds at it's disposal. 1t
membership is composed of delegates
| from the 6anl rf ont re L.o1+L A..
BOARD Of education, the heating and
Ienlllatlng engineers. the Institute and
society of Architects, and the Society
If Engineers.
Ihe particular problems which they
nave been studying are the ventilation
Oh ears, schools, office buildings, and
theaters. Their conclusions are ex-
pressed in resolutions. Some of the
resolutions appearing in the 1911 re-
port have disappeared. Perhaps some
OF these in the 1915 report will not be
round in later reports. but it is only by
publicity. discussion, and investigation
that the truth is established and err
rors are eliminated. The commission is
wise in stating it's positions even
though some Of them may not stand.
one OF the points that is clear tc
those who are in touch with ventilation
problems is that the most satisfactory
Inethod OF measurement now available
Is the determination of comfort or dis
comfort produced. Comfort makes 70,
efficiency of the human body, at least
so far as the immediate work is con-
cerned. Discomfort makes for ineffi-
cheney.
No doubt we will find that in the lone
run the curve Of health does not always
run parallel with that of comfort; that
though certain atmospheric conditions
make for comfort for the time, in time
they make against health. This may
! hn frtJh H11f| fh1,.1 81
tory way to prove it now.
one CT the interesting scales worked
out by this commission is what they
call the comfort zone chart. In estab-
llshlng the comfort zone they take ac-
count of the temperature and the hu.
cuss the effect Of drafts and currents
of air on comfort, but they do not
cover these IN this chart.
Ih1s hart is divided into zones
called too cold" cool" comfort, !" too
able when the humidity is 2S. If the
humidity be 40 the borders Of the com
fort zone are al &c and ~. Comfort
lies between. At so humidity the tenn
perature borders are GA and 50. At &C
humidity they are 81 and 6S. AT II
humidity they are SO n 81.
The following are from the revised
list of resolutions of the Chicago com.
mittee on ventilation:
Resolved. That carbon dioxide, as
encountered in working practice, is not
the harmful agent of major Importance
in expired air or air otherwise contain
mated.
Resolved. That a temperature Of 6S
degrees Fahrenheit with a proper rela.
tive humidity is the proper maximum
temperature for living rooms artificial
ly heated.
"Resolved, That in those processes OF
manufacture where considerable CO.
is liberated, the COZ content is not {
proper index of air pollution.
"Resolvod, That for the removal OF
kitchen odors. body odors, stable
odors, and other odors associated witt
heat production, upward ventilation is
more efficient than downward ventil-
alton.
Resolved, That the delivery of q
certain volume of air per unit of time
per occupant into 4 given space does
not necessarily constitute ventilation
Resolved, That air which is intro
duced into an occupied room in such 6
way as to strike the occupants should
be not lower in temperature than CT
degrees Fahr.
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