The sun., 1918-10-27

sent its summer temperature up many de-
grees. Let US exercise our imaginations
If dwellers in high buildings used the
roofs for other than laundry purposes we
would not have lost our parklike island.
] call for Manhattan regained.
every tenement house, whatever it
laeR has roof. If mothers would take
their children to the roofs instead of the
streets an incalculable number of lives
would be spared
Summer the Enemy of Infant6
Summer is the enemy Of infancy. Sup
pose the child is afflicted with one of the
complaints that make the second summer
of life time of peril. It is taken i'll
in the morning. I'm the hope of saving it
it is kept out on the street all day. Dust
settles in its eyes and clogs its nostrils
end spreads veil over its face. The air
grows hotter and hotter. The noise
pounds upon its tortured little nerves.
"By nightfall the baby is dead. Often
when l was an inspector for the Health
Department l passed in the morning an
ailing child that lay on its mothers knees.
At dusk 1 would pass it again. The
mother still sat with her child on her
knees. But it was dying or dead.
"Tf these mothers can be induced or
compelled to take their children to the
roofs, there is far greater chance Of saw
ing their lives. hope that we may soon
have an ordinance requiring that every
landlord putting up a new building shall
provide roof suitable for a recreation
ground.
"There should be water on the roofs.
This should be obtained simply by ex-
tending the pipes q story higher than they
would otherwise 60 and adding fixture
for turning the water on or off. This is
necessary for cooling and cleaning the
roof, but more particularly for giving the
children drink and for bathing their
hands and faces.
"Roof gardens are regarded as desir-
able places Of recreation for the rich.
There they go to dine and to hear music
or watch a cabaret Then why not the
roof as a place for the betterment of con-
ditions of living for the poorer citizensf
The unused roof space Of New York rep
resents a. tremendous waste of health and
efficiency. Fortify the child by giving it
fresh air and exercise in the light, pure
air and the rate of mortality will be far
less appalling. The rayages of epidemics
would materially decrease. Give the OPP
portunities of the roof for two hours
day to old and young and the mortality
rate will be decreased by 80 per cent.
Roofs Far Better Than Back Yards.
"The roofs are ineomparably better as
Fairgrounds and recreation spots than
the back yard spaces, even though we
are able to have the back yards uniformly
cleaned and the partitions separating
them removed for the purpose Of estab-
fishing a common playground for the
children Of the block. Thost who adyo-
cate such back yard Fairgrounds do not
realize that the high buildings permit but
little sunshine to enter them. They do not
know the opinion of an expert horticultur-
ist who showed that a pitifully small
number of plants would grow in the soil
Of Manhattan Island.
Before finish my arguments for the
roofs as the first aid to making New York
the most healthful city in the world, let
mo add that there is q moral as well as a
physical aspect Of the question. The
moral health will be conserved. The chill
dren will be saved from the demoralizing
influences of the streets.
"Whatever trains the sense of beauty
enriches the citizenship of community.
Think how intellectually more beautiful
our city would be if for half the year or
longer the roofs we're overgrown with
green things and blooming flowers. And
think how the sense of beauty would be
developed if We might look out of our
biph homes unon gardens instead of rusty