Evening star., 1932-08-17
City Temperatures
And Apartments
To the Editor Of The STIR:

To the Editor Of The STR:
The temperature table published in
the newspapers one day recently showed
Washington to be II degrees warmer
than New York and on five days de-
grees warmer than Miami. Fla. Not
withstanding this unfavorable registra-
tfcn, Washington Is decidedly more
endurable in Summer than New York,
for, unlike the Metropolis. the National
| Capital has tree and lawn lined streets
and its numerous parks and open spaces
do much to ameliorate conditions during
! warm weather. For this we are in
debted to the foresight and courage CT
the original planners Of the city in pro-
viding ample space for ornamental
! planting and recreation.
| 1t Is not so much the climate as the
housing conditions that contribute to
the discomfort experienced in cities
! during the Summer. Local buildings are
| designed like those for a climate where
high temperatures are seldom registered.
Ample provision may be made for Winter
comfort, but little or none for passing
the Summer comfortably. A hot spell
never occurs but what the newspapers
i report the conversion of parks into
Sleeping grounds for multitude bent
! Oll CSSoPAb6 A4lOolCANbiC AldOVl tChdA-
| tions.
| While in New York during a heat
wave, when thousands of citizens spent
| the nights on the sands of Coney Island
or on the lawns of the city parks, Gen.
| Goethals, builder of the Panama Canal,
once declared in a press interview that
the houses on the isthmus were far
more comfortable than those of North
ern cities because the isthmian dwell
ings were designed for comfort under
the extreme weather conditions which
obtain in the tropics.
| Open doors along the corridors of
apartment houses here bear mute testi-
! mony to conditions within the suites
In apartment buildings having window
less halls this means Of cooling rooms
is hardly effective The entrances to
suites in some old buildings are usually
equipped with screen or shutter doors
to increase air circulation. Transoms
/ over the doorways of hotel rooms afford
cross ventilation, a feature which is
lacking in apartments having but a
single exposure. Some tenants find IL
necessary to seek relief in ice-cooled
theaters when their places Of business
close because of the extreme heat.
Modern planning has a tendency to
deprive apartments Of some of the de-
sirable features of the private residence
which make for health and comfort
Building authorities appear to be handi-
capped in formulating regulations be-
cause construction codes must be based
on the police power to be enforceable
AS consequence building regulations
provide for only minimum of health
and safety A different viewpoint should
be adopted and building codes fcrmu-
lated for the purpose of protecting an
investment as well as the health and
safety of tenants.
Many communities legally ban the
promotion of questionable financial
schemes, but the short-sighted specula-
tor. who builds apartments with an eye
more to quick sale than a satisfactory
investment and home is legally per-
mitted to inf1ict an injury on a COM
munity as serious as, if not greater than
the promoters of wildcat enterprises
The apartment house is something of a
public utility and its planning and con-
struction should be supervised and
regulated with view to providing COM
Portable accommodations at reasonable
rentals. LEWIS L. YOUNG.