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more especially of diseases of the lungs, and
Consumption in particular. During the year, I had
my attention called to the sleeping rooms in one of
our large millinery establishments, and after some
difficulty obtained access to the rooms complained of,
and found them quite unfitted for the accommodation
of the number of persons who were alleged to have
slept in them. I believe, however, in this case as
in many others, that the proprietor was not really
aware of the danger to which he exposed the lives
of those he employed, and expressed his willingness
at once to make the necessary alterations to render
the rooms more healthful. The great deficiencies of
both our work rooms and sleeping rooms in the
great establishments are over-crowding and want of
ventilation.
With regard to over-crowding in bed rooms, this
is especially the case where young women are
employed, and many of them sleep in rooms with
not more than from two to three hundred cubic feet
for each individual; I have said before, that I
regard 500 cubic feet as the minimum that each
individual should have in a sleeping room, but I
believe a 1000 cubic feet is more consistent with
health. In work rooms where young men or women
have to work several hours a day, there should be
at least 500 cubic feet of air for each individual. It
should, however, be recollected, that a small space
well ventilated is better for health than a large space
badly ventilated; thus, a room shut up with 1000 cubic