374 MAN'S IMPROVEMENT OF HIS ENVIRONMENT 



How I should ventilate my bed- 

 room. 



Home Conditions. — The Bedroom. — We spend about one 

 third of our total time in our bedroom. This room, therefore, 

 deserves more than passing attention. First of all, it should have 



good ventilation. Two windows 

 make an ideal condition, especially 

 if the windows receive some sun. 

 Such a condition as this is mani- 

 festly impossible in a crowded city, 

 where too often the apartment 

 bedrooms open upon narrow and 

 ill-ventilated courts. Until com- 

 paratively recent time, tenement 

 houses were built so that the bed- 

 rooms had practically no light or 

 air ; now, thanks to good tenement- 

 house laws, wide airshafts and larger windows are required by 

 statute. 



Care of the Bedroom. — Since sunlight cannot always be ob- 

 tained for a bedroom, we must so care for and furnish the room 

 that it will be difficult for germs to grow there. Bedroom furni- 

 ture should be light and easy to clean, the bedstead of iron, the 

 floors painted or of hardwood. No hangings should be allowed 

 at the windows to collect dust, nor should carpets be allowed for 

 the same reason. Rugs on the floor may easily be removed when 

 cleaning is done. The furniture and woodwork should be wiped 

 with a damp cloth every day. Why a darnp cloth? In certain 

 tenements in New York City, tuberculosis is believed to have been 

 spread by people occupying rooms in which a previous tenant has 

 had tuberculosis. A new tenant should insist on a thorough clean- 

 ing of the bedrooms and removal of old wall paper before occu- 

 pancy. 



Sunlight Important. — In choosing a house in the country we 

 would take a location in which the sunlight was abundant. A 

 shaded location might be too damp for health. Sunlight should 

 enter at least some of the rooms. In choosing an apartment we 

 should have this matter in mind, for, as we know, germs cannot 

 long exist in sunlight. 



