KEEPING THE HOUSE CLEAN

Dunstan Times, Issue 987, 18 March 1881, Page 3

KEEPING THE HOUSE CLEAN

It is much to be regretted that (.he classes of society winch sho il I be an example of intelligence to rha less educate I, understand a id study so little the cleansing and washing of their dwellings. Without dipping too deeply into the vexed waters of Sanitary Reform, we may in a strong article bring a few facts and snggestisns to the minds and memories of' our readers that tmv prove useful. The art of washing one’s house inc'udes many ni“thnds of cleansing independent' of 3ap and water. The very atmosphere of it requires wash ing, by streams of fresh air being.contihuallv admitted to sweep away impure gases, which, would otherwise congregate and engender disease. The expression of “ a healthy mind in a healthy body” can hardly be effectually fulfilled unless the healthy body is in a healthy house,. All great reforms have, in times past and present, always run to ex--tiemes in their first,developments, and thus wo see in sanitary matters that fho use of disinfectants has become almost an abuse. Many people who notice an offensive drain odour in their houses are quite satisfied that, having put down the usual powders and disinfecting fluids, ihev have cured the evil. We cannot top ■trongly and forcibly bring to the notice of ail intelligent persons that it is worse than useless to use one disagreeable odour to cover up another with th idea of curing it —you do not cure the evil, you but ignore it—and for all time it should be a proverb, applied morally, socialiy. politically, and last, but not least, pby-.ici.lly, th at no evil is ever cured by being- ig uored. Therefore do not place carbolic powder boxes, nor sprinkle chloride of lime, &c,, where vour drain openings exist, merely to distract- your nose’s attention from the sewer gas which is issuing from some leaking pipe. or C inked trap ;by so doing »ou but ignore nature's warning, that, like the premonitory smoke and rumblings of a volcano, advises you of the eruption of the disease to come. Remember, first of all, that fresh air and fresh wrter are the supreme king ami queen of disinfectants. A learned doctor said that the principal use of disinfectants was that they made such an abominable smell that people were compelled to open the windows and doors to let the fresh air in. There is mu<'b tmth in the alleged statement of the plain-spoken doctor. One of the best ways of keeping the house clean is to let in plenty of air.—Town and Country Journal.