South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2763, 31 January 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1882.

If there is one thing upon which above any other, the average colonist may be congratulated, it is the superiority he displays to the theories of physiologists, the medical faculty, and scientific persons generally concerning ventilation. These persons have lectured and written at great length upon the subject, treating it as a matter of vital importance. It may be so in the Old World, where the respiration of dense populations probably keeps the atmosphere, in such a state that under any circumstances it is scarcely fit to breathe. Here, where there is but a trifling population, and we may be said to have the run of the air over a fourth of the earth’s surface, theories of ventilation are of no more practical value than are speculations about the extent of the North Polar sea. This being the case it seems ridiculous almost to include ventilation among the subjects to be taught at our public schools. It is true that no direct harm will be caused in most cases by such teaching, for the children will see from the practice of their parents and others ! that no real value is to be attached to the lessons given them ; the only harm resulting will be the waste of the time spent on the lessons. Human nature is weak, however, and the advocates of ventilation have been pestering ua so much with alarming pictures of imaginary evils, which they assert : accompany. and follow-. < neglect of ;what they are pleased to terra a sanitary precaution, that merely for the ;sake of silencing them some of their, • notions : have been adopted here and •there, but more often an ingenious ‘evasion has been successfully achieved, Tt would not be right to condemn severely this following of a European practice as a mere fashion* any more than it would to condemn the covering of brick buildings with stucco to make believe they are built of stone. There is a certain satisfaction derived from being “ in the fashion,” and though we may condemn the fashion itself we must not be too hard upon its votaries, ' In the midst of so much submission to the dictates of a useless fashion, it is very gratifying to find here and there a body of men who can rise above silly prejudices and live before the world according to their own honest convictions. There are some representative bodies in-Timaru the members of which, are strongminded enough • to ignore altogether the . imbecilities of these ventilation fanatics,' and who in conducting their meetings enter: a practical protest against their absurd theories. These bodies hold meetings-extending over two or three hours, in rooms only just large enough to accommodate them, with windows afld doors closely shut, and chimneys, if any, blocked up the whole time. A more complete refutation of the assertion of the advocates lor ventilation could scarcely be wished for, —as they apply to this colony that is to say. It 'is true that a large number of persons are believed to have suffered great torment, under circumstances differing only in degree,' in the Black Hole at Calcutta, and that a large percentage ,of them died from continued exposure to the same conditions ; but it is possible that there was some mistake, and that they suffered and died from thirst or some other cause, and not simply through lack of fresh air. As a ; matter of fact the Black Hole had a: grated opening communicating with the outer atmosphere, andconaequently the occupants were in a better.pdsitiou as regards ventilation, than the Timaru people referred to. Yet these have never complained of suffering in health, even temporarily from their self-imposed confinement, a fact which ia worth a bushel of theories. Their experience is entirely destructive of the hobby of the colonial ventilationist, and proves that however necessary fresh air may be to human beings in the Old Country it is not so here. Any suggestion that manifestations of irritability or stupidity in the conduct of their business were due to their breathing so long a de-oxygeuated atmosphere,they would indignantly and properly repudiate. The affected compliance with the demands of the fresh-air theorists above alluded to is exemplified in several of the large public rooms in Timaru, wherein two or three hundred people sometimes spend several hours consecutively. In the ceilings of these may be seen a number of small apertures, or a few larger ones filled in .with some kind of metallic gauze. Should anyone enquire the purpose of these apertures he will be informed that they are “for ventilation.” , The average colonist will not care to ask farther whether ventilation is required ; his practice proves that he knows it is not. Nor will he care to inquire whether they are sufficient, for their ostensible purpose, or efficient as far as they go—this of course follows from his practical indifference to the whole subject, in most cases these aper- • 1

tares are not sufficient for purposes of .ye&tilation, attd then an opportunity if; giVen to the few faiiatics who may be present at the meeting, or among the audience or congregation as the case may be, to mount their hobby; and insist upon windows and doors being opened, whereby draughts are produced that are admittedly apt to giye, rise to. .colds and more serious affections of , the lungs. Inyetojher buildings devoted to similar purposes more or less elaborate and efficient means are provided for, the advent of fresh, and none provided for the exit ot contaminated, air, and vice versa. How much wiser and cheaper it .would be to omit to make these /arrangements until the necessity for ventilation in colonial buildings is proved, and then to take steps to secure the application of efficient systems. In the meantime those whose imaginations have been warped by the teachings they have have received must, in going to the church, the meeting, the concert or the theatre, be prepared to put up with what they are pleased to consider impure air, and the less they think about it in this hot weather the less uncomfortable they will make themselves.