THE BEDROOM

Grey River Argus, 26 July 1907, Page 1

THE BEDROOM

Its temperature, and the remedy for an evil.

Tlie late Drß. W, Etehards6n, lias the following excellent remarks on the above ***

..."IT IS ALWAYS a matter of great moment to maintain an equable temperature in the bedroom. A bedroom, the air of which is subject to sudden changes of temperature, is often a to great and frequent and rapid trap for danger. To persons who are in the prime of life, and who are in robust health, this danger is less pro nounced ; but to. the young and -the ; feeble, it is a most serious danger. It is very dangerous for aged people to sleep in a room that is easily low ered in warmth, "WHEN THE CREAT WAVES of cold come on in these islands, in the winter season, our old people begin to drop* off, with a rapidity that is iper fectly startling. We take up tbe list of deaths published in the newspapers during; these ' seasons and "the most marked facts is the number of decea sed aged persons. It is Jike an epi deflajjp pf death by old age. The pub lie qn.ijwl this record v as in dicatjvie , of/ a general change of ex terpaj t^nditions, and of a mortality •tßerefort^tHkt iis.jtiecfisa?y-4^ i a.^result of that"<:hange:• I woyldnot ; : mjself dispute that there is a line of. truth' and sound ...common sense and com mon .observation -'in 'this, view. j but when we descend f roan Z the': '-geneFaJ to the particular, we find that much of the mortality seen in such excess amon the aged is induced by mistakes on the subject of warmth in the bed room. "THE FATAL EVENT comes about in this way. -The. room in which the enfeebled person has been sitting before going to bed bas been warmed probably up to summer heat; a light meal has Tbeen taken before retiring to rest, and then the bedroom is enter cd. The bedroom, perchance, has no fire in '4, or, if a fire be lighted, pro vision is not made for keeping it alight more than an hour or two. The - result is that, in the early part of the morning from throe to four o'clock, When- itihe .temperature of the air in all parts .i^lowest, ' the glow fromT the flf!?fr9^ ~stove which should warm the Teased, and the' room is cold •to ( air; extreme degree. : • "IN SOME HOUSES . . the watter will often be found frozen m theihand basins or, ewers under th ~7 - — ...... .

ese conditions. Meanwhile the sleeper lies unconscious of the great change ; which is taking place in the air around hrn. Slowly and surely, there is a decline of temperature to the extenit, it may be, oi thirty, or forty de grees in thie Fahrenheit scale;-, and, though he _aay be fairly covered .with bedclothes, he is receiving into his. lungs this cold' air, by which the cir culation through .the rungs is much' troubled. "THE CONDITION OF THE BODY itself is, at this very time, fuhfavorable for meeting any emergency. In the period between midnight and six in the morning the anmal vital pro cesses are act thteir lowest <!bb» .It is in these hours thait those 'Who are en fetebled from this cause most frequently die. "We physicians often oon sider these ShoQrs a scritical, and forewarn anxious frieads in respect to \p them. From time' immemorial those who have bega accWs,tomed t» ■..'W4it and attend upon thje >liik Kave noted these hours -most anxiously, so .that rtlhey have been called vtoy bne-df our old writers 'the hours of fate.' Ia t£ns T t^^nftucsnoe-of dfce^fer giving 1 sunThiais' ibeen longe^f iWithdraiwn from man, Tand the' hearts that are even the strongest toeat then with": • subdued tone. "SLEEP IS HEAVIEST, and death is nearest to ius all, in 'the hours 'of fate.' The. feeble, therefore, are in greatest danger during this period of time, for they are subjected to one par ticular danger, that of congestion of the ; lungs. 'It is the /breathing surface of the lungs that is most exposed to the action of the ohilled air, and the aged tils .expoure is" always hazardous." ' ' r . TJie above evils may practically be avoided .iby the use of a-' small gas fire, costing but;, a few shillings. The charges for gas for the smaller sizes are as low as one penny per hour. ; Gas fires with or/without; flutes or to fit. into registered gVates:'; Gas fires are unexcelled forTthe,ofjfide, the s>hop, writing room, parlOuif, 'dining room, and bedrooms.' Call arid inspect, the large stocks of gas apparatus of all kinds at the Gas Works Show Roonv Tainui^Street. ' . I