Health Dangers in Empty Houses

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Aug 7, 1879

Health Dangers in Empty Houses

Houses that have been empty may become fever breeders when they come to be re-occupied. An English sanitary officer alleges that he has observed typhoid, diphtheria, or other zymotic affections to arise under these circumstances. The cause is supposed to be in the disuse of cisterns, pipes, and drains, the processes of putrefaction going on in the impure air in them, the unobstructed access of this air to the house, while the closure of windows and doors effectually shuts out fresh air. Persons moving from the city to their country homes for the summer should see that the drain and pipes are in perfect order, that the cellar and closets are cleared of rubbish, and the whole house thoroughly aired before occupying. Carbolic acid used freely in the cellar is a good and cheap disinfectant.