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Show CELLAR FLOORS. Wooden floors should not be placed in cellars. It is not easy to tell what a cellar floor may conceal from sight, and it should always be remembered that the air of a cellar circulates freely through the house. A plank cellar floor of a family in a neighboring city had not been taken up for over ten years. The "cellar smell" was strong, notwithstanding almost [unreadable] ventilation even in winter. On removing the floor, there were found beneath it large quantities of [unreadable] decomposed to a moist, [unreadable] family being taken with severe tonsillitis. A cemented floor since given to the same cellar has rendered the air in the cellar as pure as that in any room in the house. A family near the one already mentioned was troubled with constantly recurring attacks of sickness. After receiving correct ideas of domestic hygiene, the "head of the family" had his premises carefully examined. An expert first found under the L-floor, an old, disused cistern, the water of which was thickly covered with decayed matter. The air of the parlor - thought care was constantly taken that this room should be aired - having a very disagreeable odor, the expert went into the front cellar, which was neat, and clean, and well-warmed. There, having pried up a plank, the man found a soft mass of deep black mud, the product of decay. The family at once sought other quarters, and have since enjoyed good health. - Youth's Companion. |