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 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 Avery Library 
 
 
 
VENTILATION 
 
 WARMING OF BUILDINGS 
 
 UPON THE PRINCIPLES AS DESIGNED AND PATENTED 
 
 HON. HENRY RUTTAN, 
 
 IMPROVED AND PATENTED BY 
 
 B. R. HAWLEY ancl ISAAC D. SMEAD. 
 
 Now owned and controlled (under 13 patents), 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Heating and Ventilating Company, 
 
 TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Warming and Ventilating Co., 
 
 ELMIRA, NEW YORK. 
 
 (SOHTHCOTT a STINE, NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND). 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Warming and Ventilating Co., 
 
 ELMIRA, NEW YORK. 
 
 SMEAD, WILLS A CO., PENN., NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Company, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Company, 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MO. 
 
 Successors to the firm of IV. A. Pennell & Co., Normal, HI., original proprietors of the Ruttan 
 System of Ventilation, for the United States. 
 
 Copyrighted, 1SS3. by Isaac D. Smead & Co., Toledo, Ohio. 
 
NOTICE. — The only parties in the United States in any way interested in 
 the “Ruttan System” of warming and ventilating, or in any improve- 
 ments on the same, are the firms whose names appear below, and 
 any others representing to introduce the “Ruttan” or “ Ruttan- 
 Smead,” are imitators, and we caution the public against them. 
 
 RUTTAN VENTILATING AND HEATING ASSOCIATION 
 
 OF TIIE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHICAGO, KANSAS CITY, TOLEDO, ELMIRA. 
 
 ISAAC D. SMEAD. OTIS JONES, E. C. CONDIT, 
 
 President. Secretary. Treasurer. 
 
 S. D. FISHER, S. L. BAILEY, 
 
 Consulting Engineers. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Co., Kansas City, Mo. 
 
 (e. C. CONDIT & CO., PROPRIETORS.) 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Heating and Ventilating Co., Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 (ISAAC D. SMEAD & CO., PROPRIETORS.) 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Warming and Ventilating Co., Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 NORTItCOTT A STINE, PROPRIETORS FOR NEW YORK A NEW ENGLAND. 
 SMEAD, WILLS A CO., PROPRIETORS FOR PENN., NEW JERSEY A DELAWARE. 
 
 Shepap.d & Johnston, Printep.s, 140-146 Monroe St., Chicago. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Buildings Warmed by Ruttan-Smead Appa- 
 
 ratus 87 to 109 
 
 Cost of Warming School Buildings (Cost of 
 
 Fuel) 57 
 
 Care Given to Warming Apparatus ... 9 
 
 Cast-Iron Furnaces 6, 20 and 122 
 
 Church Warming 119-120 
 
 Duties of an Engineer .... 14, 15, and 10 
 
 Engineering, etc 13 
 
 Explanation of Lithographs 31 
 
 Explanation of Wood Cuts 19 
 
 Furnaces — Construction of Buildings, etc. 13 
 
 Floor Construction 77 
 
 How to Select a Warming and Ventilating 
 
 Apparatus 28 
 
 Hot-Air Furnaces — How Made and How Sold 5 
 
 Hot-Air Furnaces — A Few Samples . . . 58-59 
 
 Reports — Boards of Education of — 
 
 Toledo, Ohio 17, 19. 23, 24-54 
 
 Washington, D. C 117 
 
 Denver, Colo 115-116 
 
 Bowling Green, Ohio 50-51 
 
 Aurora, Ili 105 and 121 
 
 Albany, N. Y 52 
 
 St. Joseph, Mo 53 
 
 East Saginaw, Mich 53 
 
 Islip, Long Island 56 
 
 (There are also references to more than one hundred others.) 
 Relation of Architects to the Question of 
 
 Warming Buildings 11, 16-17 
 
 Ruttan System (Its History) 3 
 
 Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Co. . . 6-7 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co 7 
 
 Ruttan-Smead Warming and Ventilating Co. 7-8 
 Ruttan-Smead Heating and Ventilating Co. 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ruttan’s Publication (Extracts from) . . 35 
 
 Ruttan-Smead System vs. Steam Heating . . 30 
 
 Reliability of Reports or Statements Con- 
 cerning Any System 9-10 
 
 Smead’s System of Continuous Ventilation 21, 75-76 
 
 Smead’s System of Dry Closets, 22, 23, 24, 25, 
 
 26, 27, 28, 29, 71-72 
 Smead’s School-Room Heater . 81, 83, 84 and 121 
 
 Smead’s System of School House Construction 85-86 
 
 Steam Warming 30 and 43 
 
 Sewall on Ventilation 41 
 
 Stove and Furnace Gases 122 
 
 South Street (Toledo) School Building, 19, 
 
 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76-77 
 
 Testimonials . . 109 to 122 
 
 Ventilation — 
 
 First Attempt of Ruttan in United 
 
 States 
 
 3 
 
 Result 
 
 
 3 
 
 What Ventilation is .... 
 
 
 38 
 
 Ventilation of a School Room 
 
 
 3S 
 
 Ventilation of a Railroad Car . 
 
 
 39 
 
 Physiology of Respiration 
 
 
 42 
 
 Heat and Ventilation .... 
 
 
 42 
 
 Our Senses 
 
 
 30 
 
 Weight of Man 
 
 
 46 
 
 Wisconsin Board of Health , 
 
 Why Ruttan’s Tubular Air Warmer is 
 
 Neces- 
 
 48 
 
 SARY 
 
 Wrought-Iron Furnaces, and Resi 
 
 LT OF 
 
 4-5 
 
 Experiments 
 
 6 and 122 
 
 Wrougiit-Iron vs. Cast-Iron . 
 
 
 122 
 
 Why the Ruttan-Smead Apparatus is the 
 
 Best 13 and 20 
 
 Why There are So Many Failures .... 11 
 
 Youngstown Board of Education . . 18, 7S, 79-80 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/warmingventilatiOOsmea 
 
HISTORY OF THE RUTTAN-SMEAD SYSTEM 
 
 OF 
 
 WARMING AND VENTILATION. 
 
 BY ISAAC D. SMEAD, 
 
 WARMING AND VENTILATING ENGINEER. 
 
 I N 1862, the lion. Henry Rattan, of Coburg, Canada, after many years of patient experimenting 
 and after reading almost everything that had been printed upon the question of warming 
 and ventilation, published a large volume upon the subject, illustrating his theories by a 
 number of diagrams. 
 
 In IS66, a copy of Mr. Rattan’s book fell into the hands of Mr. B. R. Hawley, of Normal, 
 Illinois. Mr. Hawley was favorably impressed with the arguments therein contained, and at once 
 determined to build a residence for himself and to introduce Mr. Rattan’s system of ventilation. 
 After considerable correspondence, Mr. Rattan, who was at that time nearly eighty years of age, 
 came to Illinois from Canada, and Mr. Hawley, acting upon such suggestions as he made, con- 
 structed his residence for the system ; and this was the first building in the United States in which 
 the Ruttan system was ever used. 
 
 Mr. Hawley and his friends, who had become interested in reading Mr. Rattan’s book, were 
 very much surprised to learn that this residence was the first that had ever been built in accord- 
 ance with Mr. Ruttan’s ideas. Mr. Ruttan had secured some patents in Canada and in the United 
 States on his system of construction, and also had patented some ventilating stoves for use in 
 small rooms and school buildings, but he had never had any experience in the business of 
 warming and ventilating except from his experiments in a small way with these small heaters, 
 and also some work in the direction of ventilating railroad cars. 
 
 The system as applied to the residence of Mr. Hawley was a failure, as was also the heating 
 apparatus provided. 
 
 Mr. Hawley experimented with the apparatus in his residence for some time, making many 
 changes, and with considerable success ; and he finally became agent in the United States for the 
 sale of Mr. Ruttan’s stoves. The demand for them was limited, as they would only burn wood, 
 while, especially in the West, the natural fuel was soft or bituminous coal. 
 
 At this date ( 1866) but little had been attempted by anyone toward improving the sanitary 
 condition of our buildings ; there were a few who, like Mr. Ruttan, had theories, but nowhere 
 could be found a sanitary engineer who had practical experience / who could examine a building 
 or a plan of a building, and say just what ought to be done to make it breathe and at the same 
 time comfortably warm in the winter. Doctors had theories, architects had theories, writers were 
 writing about what was not done, a few scientific books were before the public, but with the 
 exception of Mr. Ruttan’s they were so very scientific that they were of little use to the average 
 reader : one would refer to the climate in England, and another to that in France, but as America 
 had more climate than either (if I may be permitted to use the expression), Ave did not know what 
 to do, and so hundreds and thousands of buildings were erected eA’ery year with no effort whatever 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 being made to ventilate them ; our residences, schools and churches were made as tight as 
 possible, and generally if flues were built to take air into them, none were built to take air out; or 
 if ventilating flues were built to take air out , none were provided to take any in. If the school 
 children were sick and died, the friends called it a “Dispensation of Providence,” closed the 
 school for a day to permit the others to attend the funeral, and then they were boxed up again 
 in the same school room. If they came home with a headache, kind friends said that they were 
 studying too hard ; and most children were pleased with the statement, accompanied by a few 
 days’ vacation. This was the condition of affairs all over the country. 
 
 In 1866 , Mr. Hawley associated with himself two other gentlemen, Mr. W. A. Pennell, of 
 Normal, Illinois, and Mr. Lemuel Grover, of Bloomington, Illinois, and together they commenced 
 to improve Mr. Ruttan’s system of construction, for it must be remembered that Mr. Ruttan, like 
 all others, had only a theory ; his entire publication was an argument in favor of constructing 
 with a building, large, cold and warm air flues to take air into the house, and large flues to take air 
 out of the house ; and that all exits for foul air should be made at the bottom of the room instead 
 of at the top, as was then the custom, and each room be supplied with warm air from a central 
 chamber, as, for instance, the corridor of the building. He did not seem to be at all familiar 
 with the construction of large buildings or he would easily have understood that his methods 
 would not be at all practical in, for instance, a school building of two or more stories. 
 
 Many readers of this who have become familiar with the much talked of “Ruttan System” 
 will be surprised to learn that, with the exception of the residence of Mr. Hawley, Mr. Ruttan 
 never had anything to do with the warming of a building containing more than one story , and 
 that he says in his book that he does “ not really know how to ventilate the second story of a 
 residence .” 
 
 This was the condition of the system when Messrs. W. A. Pennell & Co., with office at 
 Normal, Illinois, commenced their work. All they had to guide them was a few theories 
 advanced by Ruttan, and no member of the firm had ever had an hour’s experience in the busi- 
 ness of warming, ventilating, architecture or building; and only one of them experience in 
 manufacturing, one of the other two being a retired merchant, and the third a sanguine, imprac- 
 tical inventor. The firm purchased from Mr. Ruttan such patents as he had, a few stove patterns 
 and the right to use his name. Their idea being to furnish plans and specifications and collect a 
 royalty for the use of the patents. It was not their intention to manufacture a heating apparatus 
 of any kind , except perhaps the ventilating stoves. 
 
 Greater experience, or as it now seems the exercise of a little more common sense, would 
 have shown them that if large cold air conduits were provided to take the air into a building, and 
 large ventilating stacks were erected to take the air out of a building that large heating surface 
 must be provided to warm the air before passing into the rooms. But this important point the 
 very key-note of the success of the system as now — 1885 — introduced was overlooked, and as a 
 result, in every instance where their plans were followed they were pronounced a failure, and those 
 originally opposed were pleased, their customers displeased and the firm caused embarrassment 
 and loss. At that date ( 1866 ) there were six methods of warming in use, namely, the open fire- 
 place, stoves, hot air furnaces, steam and warm water. Manufacturers of all these appliances 
 were very happy because the “new system” had so completely failed to meet the guarantees of 
 the somewhat visionary owners and advertisers. But with firm faith in the correctness of some 
 of the principles argued for by Mr. Ruttan, the company acknowledged their defeat and com- 
 menced again. At that time all, or nearly all, the heating appliances used were manufactured in 
 the East and all made to consume hard coal or wood ; very little attention having ever been 
 given to the consumption of soft coal, the natural fuel of the West. 
 
 Great effort was made by Pennell & Co. to find some apparatus that had sufficient amount of 
 fire surface to warm the volume of air required ; the search was unsuccessful and they deter- 
 mined to build an Air Warmer to meet the new demand. The situation is well illustrated in the 
 experience of those who first used steam as a power ; previous to that date a common kettle was 
 sufficient to boil all the water required, but as soon as steam was wanted in large quantities, and 
 
XORTHCOTT cV STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 quickly, the kettle would not answer ; a new and better apparatus was needed and must be pro- 
 vided, and as “necessity is the mother of invention,” the inventive genius of the age gave to the 
 world the tubular boiler. This could furnish more steam simply because it presented to the 
 water to be boiled more fire surface to warm it. This is the secret and one easy to comprehend 
 now ; but if the reader knew the history of its growth and the trials of the inventors and the 
 manufacturers, he would learn a story that he would not soon forget. All furnaces were as 
 valuable for the purpose required by Pennell & Co., as was the old kettle to the steam-power 
 men, and the fact was a plain one that a new warming apparatus must be made, but how to make 
 it, or of what size it should be, or what material should be used, who could tell them ? The 
 books could not; no two theorists could agree ; the manufacturers were busy doing all in their 
 power to advertise the fact that Mr. Ruttan’s theory was wrong and that Pennell & Co. were a 
 set of “ cranks,” and that the large ventilating flues (not very handsome as built then, and in 
 some cases too large, I will admit) were “ factory stacks,” “ cold air ducts too large,” etc., etc., 
 
 It was very clear to Pennell & Co. that they must either abandon the entire business or make 
 an apparatus in which they could use either soft coal or wood, and that had a heating capacity 
 sufficient to warm the volume of air required. They determined to do the latter, but could they 
 have foreseen the losses, the defeats, the large amount of money required, the many years of hard 
 work before they should meet with any degree of success, the reader may be assured that they 
 would never have commenced, and that the millions of pounds of iron now manufactured yearly 
 by the Ruttan Warming and Ventilation Association into Ruttan-Smead Heating and Ventilat- 
 ing Apparatus would be made into some other kind of goods, and the large force of men 
 employed in their manufacture would be obliged to seek employment in some other field of labor. 
 It must be remembered that this firm had little to guide them, and could not copy , as most other 
 manufacturers do. 
 
 As an example of this habit of copying, we represent on other pages (pages 58 and 59 ) a large 
 number of furnaces of different makes. It will be seen at a glance that they are all substantially 
 the same , namely, a firepot and a dome, and if space would permit I could add a hundred more , 
 and the comparison woidd he unchanged. 
 
 One manufacturer calls his a “ Fire King,” another “The Commander”; “Prairie Queen” 
 is the name of a third, and “Peacemaker” is also on the list. 
 
 It always seemed to the writer that the name of a heating apparatus, or of any other ma- 
 chine, should, to some extent at least, explain the style or object of the designer ; otherwise it 
 would be as well to name them “Hannah,” “Jane,” or “Maria,” “Tom,” “ Hick” or “Harry.” 
 
 Messrs. Pennell & Co. were the first who were forced to make a heating apparatus ; all others 
 were then and arc now made by stove manufacturers simply as an incident to their general trade , 
 or in machine shops, as a minor part of their trade / they were sold to hardware dealers, stove 
 dealers, or to any one who wished to buy. They were placed in cellars, and generally failed to 
 warm the building over them ; and as a result there was a wide-spread dissatisfaction, and 
 “furnace men” were really considered “an evil,” not at all “necessary,” and to a very consider- 
 able extent the work done at this date is no better than the work done by the “hot air” furnace 
 dealers of twenty years ago. As a general thing, the only interest the salesman has in the con- 
 tract is the commission he gets for making the sale. I know of many localities where the 
 ‘ furnace man,” the “ lightning-rod man,” and the “book agent” are all placed in the same class, 
 and when I examined the work that some of them do I am not surprised at the classification. 
 Pennell tfc Co. had advertised this system of construction as one that would insure ventilation, and 
 had unwisely attached themselves to the furnace fraternity by using, in connection therewith, 
 about all the kinds of furnaces made, and, as before stated, had almost entirely failed ; they saw 
 that neither the “Fire King” nor the “Hot Blast” would be a “ Peacemaker ” between their 
 customers and themselves, and that the “Prairie Queen” would never become a ruler ; that they 
 must have an “Air Warmer,” some sort of an apparatus that would take a large volume of cold 
 air and warm it, while all others, owing to the lack of fire surface, could only take a small volume 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 6 
 
 and heat it very hot, converting into cinder all the dust and organic matter the air contained, and 
 rendering it unfit for breathing. 
 
 I have referred to the warming of water for the generation of steam and to the tubular 
 boiler as compared with a kettle ; the reason why the boiler will warm more water is because of 
 its greater amount of fire surface. Pennell A Co. determined to make an air warmer that should, 
 to some extent, duplicate the boiler or water warmer , and selected wrought iron as the material to 
 be used. The sanguine member could see “ millions ” in the idea while the plan was on 
 paper, and much against the wishes of his partners, ordered nearly a hundred to be made, costing 
 many thousand dollars. 
 
 Unfortunately, the first one finished was sold to a party who used wood for fuel, and, like 
 the old fashioned sheet-iron stove, the furnace was soon ready for “business,” and could quickly 
 furnish a very large volume of warm air. They immediately put about sixty into schools 
 buildings, churches and residences, in the states of Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, and at least nine 
 out of ten were required to burn coal (bituminous). Of course no fires were built until fall, and 
 then the reader can be assured that “ trouble commenced.” Pennell & Co. had guaranteed the 
 warming and ventilating, and of course there was an implied guarantee at least as to durability. 
 Many of the air warmers did not last a month ; they seemed to tire of life, and would sit right 
 down with a terribly discouraged appearance, and it did almost discourage the firm, and the cus- 
 tomers were not only discouraged, but mad j schools were dismissed because of cold school 
 rooms, sermons were half preached and to small congregations; church and school trustees seemed 
 to spend about half their time either in sending telegrams or writing letters to the firm that had 
 sold them such a short-lived apparatus, while owners of residences bought a few stoves and cau- 
 tioned their neighbors against buying any kind of a heating apparatus except stoves. Manufac- 
 turers of the steam appliances and the old hot air furnaces were happy of course, for occasion- 
 ally a furnace would (and generally by accident), be so set that it did warm the rooms, even 
 if it did not ventilate them, and their owners praised them, as they would rather be poi- 
 soned a little and be warm than to be frozen trying to keep the bad air from the rooms. It 
 is easily seen that this Avas a terrible back-set to the Ruttan system, and a great loss to its 
 owners as well as a humiliation to its friends. Two things, however, had been demonstrated : 
 1st. That there Avas a system of construction to secure ventilation that could be relied upon ; 
 2nd. That a machine or air warmer could be designed that would warm the volume of air required. 
 The Avork nqAV before them Avas to make the apparatus durable, and to so construct it that soft coal 
 might be used. The sanguine member of the firm retired ; the one best posted in mechanical 
 matters commenced the manufacture of patterns for a cast-iron air-warmer. After months of 
 work, and the expenditure of a large sum of money, three sizes were ready for use. A heating 
 apparatus cannot be thoroughly tested except in cold weather, and the winter Avas looked forward 
 to Avith no little anxiety. Upon trial it AA’as found that although the cast-iron furnaces were more 
 durable than the wrought-iron ones, there Avas a new trouble to contend with, namely, the smoke 
 and gas from the soft coal rendered them about as much of a nuisance as Avere the old wrought 
 heaters, and thus another Avinter Avas lost and the Ruttan system Avas still almost a failure. Of 
 course, to its friends, the defects were not so great that they did not expect to overcome them. 
 Another assessment Avas made, new patterns Avere manufactured, and in the spring of 1869 the 
 firm commenced to do their first good work; the winter of 1869-70 rvas the first since the intro- 
 duction of their system that they could point to a single job of warming and A'entilating that had 
 been entirely" satisfactory, either to the customer or to the owners and friends of the system. 
 But Avith the reputation the previous Avinters had given there Avas little to hope for ; other firms 
 had not neglected to advertise our failure ; as to the success of the Avinter just passed they 
 claimed that the Avork Avould not stand the test of time, and to some extent their statements 
 Avere true. Considerable work Avas done during the years of 1870-71, and in May, 1872, a new 
 firm Avas organized : The Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Company of Bloomington, Illinois ; 
 W. A. Pennell, President ; Isaac D. Smead, Secretary, and S. D. Fisher, Superintendent ; Messrs. 
 Pennell and Smead had been connected with the business from the first, the latter as an office 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 employe. The company at once commenced to push the system with all the ability they pos- 
 sessed ; several thousand dollars were expended to improve old patterns and to make new ones. 
 For five years the company expended almost every dollar of the earnings in developing, adver- 
 tising and extending the business ; several hundred buildings were provided with a system of 
 warming and ventilating that was, without doubt (and I say this without the least feeling of 
 egotism), the best on earth at that time ; hundreds and thousands of friends were made ; steam 
 heating apparatus , hot air f urnaces , and stoves were removed bg the score and ours introduced. 
 Such was our opportunity to experiment, as our work was scattered over a half-dozen states 
 (although confined mostly to public buildings) that we learned about all the requirements of a 
 successful apparatus, and how it should be introduced. At the end of four years scarcely a pattern 
 remained that was in use when the firm was organized in 1872. The question of fire surface , of 
 durability , of size and location, of warm and cold air flues, had been settled, and in fact almost 
 everything had been settled except the payment to the firm of the large amount of money they had 
 invested. The “times” had been growing “harder” for years, and yet, but for an unfortunate 
 investment in several thousand dollars’ worth of poor iron the company would have pulled 
 through their financial troubles ; but in the spring of 1877 they were forced to suspend, and it 
 again seemed as if the years of labor and toil were to be lost completely. Competing firms, or 
 firms that had tried with their “Hot Air Appliances” to compete, tried to effect a combination 
 to control such patents as we had, and also to secure the property that had been accumulated ; 
 but friends stepped in, and a new company was organized under the name of the “ Ruttan Manu- 
 facturing Company,” Isaac D. Smead, President ; E. C. Condit, Secretary ; S. D. Fisher, Superin- 
 tendent, and Otis Jones, Treasurer. Of the persons mentioned, two, Messrs. Fisher and Smead, 
 were experienced engineers in the so-called “Ruttan System;” the other members were new to 
 the business. I say “ So-called Ruttan System,” because all the work had been done under the 
 name of Ruttan, although there was even at that date very little that Mr. Ruttan would have 
 recognized as a part of his system could he have been called back from that “ other world.” The 
 offices of the company were removed to Chicago, and once more the business was started. 
 
 After two years of business success in Chicago, a new office was opened in Kansas City under 
 the name of the Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Company, with the firm of E. C. Condit it Co. 
 as proprietors. Mr. Condit having resigned his position with the Ruttan Manufacturing Co., he 
 was succeeded as an official in that company by Mr. W. B. Titus. Two years later the territory 
 was again subdivided ; a new office being established at Toledo, Ohio, under the name of the 
 “Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Co., Isaac D. Smead it Co., Proprietors ;” Messrs. Smead and 
 Titus resigning their positions in the Ruttan Manufacturing Co., the former after almost fifteen 
 years of constant service. 
 
 In 1877 the amount of iron manufactured into Ruttan apparatus amounted to about 200,000 
 pounds, and in 1884 to over 3,000,000 pounds. Hundreds of public buildings have been warmed 
 and ventilated by the apparatus manufactured by this association of firms, all operating under the 
 name of Ruttan ; although there has not been a Ruttan patent alive for years, nor has there 
 been a casting used that would be recognized by Mr. Ruttan were he alive. Thousands and 
 thousands of dollars have been expended to improve the apparatus and to advertise the system. 
 
 Under the agreements that bind the firms together a patent secured by one, either by pur- 
 chase or grant, is owned by the other firms in their respective territories. It will be thus seen 
 that a customer in Massachusetts purchasing of the firm to whose territory that State belongs, 
 receives the benefit of all the improvements that may originate in all the offices of the associa- 
 tion, whether Kansas City, Chicago, Toledo or Elmira. 
 
 In 1885, two more firms were organized, the members being from the force of Isaac 
 D. Smead it Co., at Toledo ; Messrs. Northcott it Stine, and Smead, Wills it Co., with offices 
 at Elmira, N. Y., under the name of “ Ruttan-Smead Warming it Ventilating Co.,” the former 
 having as their territory New York State and New England; the latter having New Jersey 
 Pennsylvania and Delaware. The name “Ruttan-Smead” was selected by these parties (and 
 allowed to be used after several months refusal by the writer), because it was claimed by them 
 
8 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 that the engineering ability and great experience of Mr. Smead had had more to do with the 
 creation and perfection of the system than ever Mr. Rattan had ; and also because there were 
 several manufacturers who claimed, and still claim, to furnish “Ruttan, or any. other system 
 desired ” (a compliment to their modesty, honesty and ability !) ; and also because they thought 
 it due to the public that the name of a live man be added to that of the originator, who, 
 were he alive, would fail to recognize the system that bears his name as it is now applied. 
 
 The writer of this has been connected with the work since its commencement and gives 
 this long detailed history of the Ruttan System for several reasons : 
 
 ] . That the readers may be familiar with the story of the “ Ruttan System,” and 
 understand why we use the name Ruttan as our trade-mark, and may not be misled by those 
 who formerly ridiculed, but who now try to imitate and counterfeit the work of the engineers who 
 for years labored to fully understand and apply the principles first brought before the public by 
 Henry Ruttan ; for no matter what theories other writers may advance, or how many there may 
 be to dispute them today, the principles first advocated by Mr. Ruttan are the ones that must 
 be followed wherever any degree of success is obtained. 
 
 2. To call attention to the fact that there has grown up with this system a force of experi- 
 enced sanitary and practical engineers ; men who have designed, introduced and guaranteed a 
 system of warming and ventilating, and in many instances left thousands of dollars to be 
 paid them after entire winters’ trials had demonstrated the truthfulness of their statements 
 and the correctness of their designs. 
 
 3. I wish to show the reader, that although Ruttan is entitled to great credit for suggesting 
 
 o o oo o 
 
 a certain system of construction, that not he, but others have had to improve , develop , perfect 
 and to advertise and work for years to get before the public a system now universally acknowl- 
 edged to be of incalculable benefit to more than one million school children, as applied by us in 
 school buildings alone. 
 
 4. This explanation is made that the reader may fully understand why the system is, even 
 now, called “a failure ” by some who only knew of it in its infancy, for there are those who 
 never hear of anything more than once ; and there are still others who, seeming to be of the 
 opinion that if they do not condemn, others will assume that they are not wise ; they are living 
 examples of the truthfulness of the saying that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” 
 
 5. To answer, as best I could, the very unjust, unfair and incorrect statements of a writer 
 who published a book in 1S84 upon the subject of ventilation, and who, in its “ Table of Con- 
 tents,” informs the seeker after light that he can learn about “ Ruttan’s System ” on page 77; and 
 upon examination of the chapter to which he is referred, the reader will learn all the writer of the 
 book knows about a system on which more than §100,000 had been expended to perfect, and of a 
 company bearing the name of “Ruttan” and giving employment to over 300 men, and in which 
 nearly a quarter of a million of dollars are invested. All he knows about it is expressed in the 
 following, which I quote verbatim from his valuable (7) addition to the literature of our age : 
 “ I have been told that along our Northern frontier and in Cauada, a number of private houses 
 were built on this plan about fifteen or twenty years ago, but I have not been able to obtain any 
 particulars as to the result.” 
 
 Is the reader surprised then that the writer of this, who, it must be distinctly understood, 
 makes no claim to literary ability, after reading the foregoing abstract from “ — on Venti- 
 
 lation,” should at once determine to tell the true story of “The Ruttan System,” and, so far as 
 possible, defend the name and protect the interests of the association which has so large a 
 pecuniary interest at stake, and with which he has been associated since boyhood ? 
 
 I do not propose to furnish additional literature that is so largely scientific that the average 
 reader cannot comprehend it or judge as to whether the matter presented is reasonably true. 
 During the past fifteen years I have designed more plans providing for the warming and ventilat- 
 ing of both public and private buildings than any other man in America, and contracted to intro- 
 duce the warming and ventilating apparatus, guaranteeing its successful operation, leaving in the 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 9 
 
 hands of the customers more than a quarter of a million of dollars to be paid after trial : and 
 there has not been one dollar in ten thousand of that amount that has not been paid cheerfully. 
 
 As I have been identified with the “ Ruttan System” since its first introduction, and so 
 closely identified that by many it is now called the “ Ruttan-Smead System,” as I have been 
 thoroughly familiar with all kinds of heating apparatus manufactured or sold during the past 
 twenty years, and been in more than two hundred contests before boards of education and other 
 legislative bodies, where the closest and most careful examination has been made into every 
 detail, and have been unsuccessful in securing the contracts in less than two per cent of the awards 
 made ; as I have been granted a large number of patents on warming and ventilating apparatus, 
 and also patents on improvements in the construction of buildings to secure better ventilation ; 
 as I have worked in every department of the business, from the setting of the apparatus in the 
 basements of the buildings to the managing of the offices with which I have been connected, 
 (Bloomington, Chicago and Toledo) and by a unanimous vote made the chief executive officer of 
 the Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Association ; as I have executed contract after contract for 
 years in succession for the same executive bodies, as for instance for the Board of Education of 
 Toledo, sixteen school buildings, fourteen school buildings for the District Commissioners of 
 Washington, D. C., three state normal school buildings for the State Board of Regents of Wis- 
 consin, four school buildings for the School Board of Youngstown, O., and a score of other 
 similar cases I could mention, and among them several of the largest, in the line of furnace con- 
 tracts, by many thousand dollars, of any ever awarded in America (and never because I was 
 merely the lowest bidder) but onty after investigations, lasting in some cases for months, by 
 careful, honest and competent officers who were trusted by their fellow citizens to attend to the 
 construction of their public buildings; in view of those and many other facts of a similar nature, 
 and, as before stated, in defense of the truth and the interests involved, I have decided, to the 
 extent of my ability, to present on the pages of this book, which to no inconsiderable extent is 
 published to advertise our business, th e plain facts concerning the warming and ventilating of the 
 buildings, especially those in which we confine our school children during the years which they 
 attend school — I assume that possibly I can interest if I cannot instruct. 
 
 I shall present for the consideration of the reader, various reports of committees who have 
 investigated and expressed their conclusions. There are a few points, however, to which I wish 
 to call attention, and these are, that these reports refer to buildings examined by those who were 
 unprejudiced and who desired to state the facts, and who were in no way interested in furnishing 
 a testimonial to the manufacturer. Take, as an illustration of this, the East Saginaw report on 
 page 53 . This report was made by a committee who, when appointed, were prejudiced against 
 furnaces of any kind, and also much dissatisfied with steam warming apparatus as introduced in 
 their schools, and were exceedingly anxious to secure the best, if it was possible for them to 
 find it. 
 
 There is no warming and ventilating apparatus with which I am familiar that has “brains ;” 
 I have never seen one that will run alone ; they all require care and fuel. It often happens that 
 after a committee has taken great pains to secure the best apparatus and to get it properly intro- 
 duced and properly cared for during their term of office, their successors come in “ for 
 political reasons,” knowing little of what has been done by their faithful predecessors, and often 
 caring less. This is especially true in the larger cities wherewith “an indifference born of 
 political life,” some good worker who, during election campaign, has done valuable service, as 
 a reward is given a position as janitor, although, possibly, he has never seen a furnace in operation 
 until he builds the first fire in the apparatus he is employed to run. What master mechanic 
 would employ an engineer who had never had experience on a locomotive ? Who would employ 
 a doctor that had never studied medicine ? Who would engage the services of an attorney that 
 had never opened a law book ? Yet every year, warming and ventilating apparatus costing 
 thousands of dollars is placed in the hands of men entirely without experience or interest in its 
 care. This is one of the most discouraging features of the entire business. I have gone into 
 
10 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 basements containing apparatus for which we had been paid thousands of dollars, climbed over 
 piles of ashes dumped wherever most convenient, finding cold air ducts closed , that should always, 
 during occupancy of building, be open, found the apparatus in the hands of an ignorant, lazy 
 fellow, who had been employed by the board, sometimes because he was “a cousin” or “an 
 uncle ”of some one, or simply because he could secure employment from no other parties. Can 
 any one wonder because an apparatus should fail under such management. The men who, in their 
 capacities as trustees, employ him to care for public property costing thousands would not trust 
 him with the care of a hundred dollar horse — -if the horse were their own. And it is for this 
 reason that I wish to call attention to the fact, that it is not always just or fair to wholly depend 
 on what may be said concerning an apparatus unless it is known that the parties expressing opin- 
 ions are competent to judge and are familiar with the facts* Some people always want what they 
 do not have ; if they have a Singer sewing machine they want a Wheeler & Wilson. Why, they 
 cannot tell. Some farmers who own a Buckeye reaper want a McCormick. Why, they do not 
 know ; they simply want it, and do not know enough about either to name a half dozen of the 
 many castings that are required to make the machine. I mention these illustrations to call atten- 
 tion to the necessity of a careful examination and investigation of the merits of the claims made 
 by each manufacturer, and a comparison of the principles involved, for if they are true and cor- 
 rectly applied they are right, no matter what any one may say about them. 
 
 All the claims made for the Ruttan-Smead System of warming and ventilating are very easily 
 understood if carefully examined ; and yet there are some who are ready to condemn simply 
 because they are too lazy to investigate, or for the reason that they are interested in some other 
 apparatus or experiment. I have met principals of schools who did not know whether their 
 buildings were warmed by furnaces or steam apparatus; “guessed neither were used, only reg- 
 isters ; ” and others who, when I complained of the lack of cleanliness in the basement, remarked 
 that they were “teachers, not janitors,” and that they had “ never been in the basement;” and 
 “ were not paid for giving attention to janitor’s duties ; ” and yet at some “ Teacher’s Association ” 
 they would read a long essay upon some wild theory which the press may copy, and the people 
 may call its author wise. They look pale and complain of “ overwork,” and try to look “all 
 worn out,” and unlike the hard worked business man of fifty-two weeks per year, must have a 
 vacation — about three months out of every twelve. What a rest that would give some of us 
 who are engaged in business ! A rest, I fear, a healthy condition of our bank accounts would 
 not permit. 
 
 The reports from which I quote do not furnish any literature from these poor “overworked,” 
 “tired out” chronic grumblers. 
 
 These reports herein contained are written by live men / men who will never be “tired” 
 until they are through with life’s work ; and the world is now and will always be much better 
 for their having been in it. For I honestly believe that those who aid in the improvement of the 
 sanitary condition of our buildings are, and to no small extent, public benefactors. 
 
 *See report of Bowling Green, Ohio, committee on page 49. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 1 1 
 
 WHY 
 
 THERE 
 
 ARE SO MANY FAILURES IN WARMING 
 VENTILATION OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 AND 
 
 rpiIE publication of circulars upon the subject of warming and ventilation has become very 
 JL common, and many theories are advanced by parties who have never had experience in the 
 practical application of any system , and who can guarantee nothing. Architects, doctors, divines, 
 stove companies, stove dealers, hardware men, and in fact there are among all classes those who 
 have their pet plans and theories ; but there are very few who have had actual experience in the 
 business — at least, when they have been held financially responsible for the successful warming 
 and ventilation of the building in which they experiment. Their theories sometimes are 
 attractive, but no beauty on paper can compensate for a failure in their practical working when 
 cold weather comes ; and as the plans they recommend are accompanied by no security against 
 loss in case of failure, the party building, finds, when it is too late, that they are wholly without 
 that which they are so anxious to secure — a good warming and ventilating apparatus — and can 
 only make good the defect by a heavy outlay of money. We can refer to hundreds of buildings 
 in proof of the above, where the owners have discarded their plans and thrown out their appar- 
 atus, and introduced the Ruttan-Smead apparatus, the expense incident to the change causing 
 large expenditures of money that could have been saved. 
 
 The experimenters referred to, generally, lose sight of the buildings when completed, and are 
 not aware of the blunders committed, but continue to recommend the same ; while those who 
 suffer for want of warmth and ventilation either condemn all systems or incur the expense neces- 
 sary to correct their mistake. 
 
 To illustrate : We were recently called before a board of education to explain the Ruttan- 
 Smead system with our improvements. A dozen plans had been submitted for a $40,000 school- 
 house, and of the lot only one was properly arranged for warming and ventilation ; and of the 
 half-dozen or more architects present, but one had ever had experience in applying a complete 
 system of warming and ventilation ; and yet the others were ready, and seemingly anxious, to 
 argue against our experience in more than one thousand buildings. In a conversation with one of 
 them, after adjournment, he remarked that “ although the plan submitted by you is the only com- 
 plete and sensible system I have ever seen, yet it will not answer for me to acknowledge it before the 
 board, as the design I have submitted for their consideration calls for the old-fashianed arrangement 
 of tin pipes and small flues.'''’ A\ r e refer to this to show the necessity of placing these matters in 
 the hands of parties who will guarantee and become responsible for the success of the plans they 
 submit ; and although we do not expect entire immunity from criticism (especially from old 
 fogies), such has been the lengthened period of time which has elapsed since the managers of the 
 Ruttan Company first commenced to operate with this system, and so varied have been our oppor- 
 tunities to apply it to all classes of buildings, that we do not hesitate to assert our ability to do 
 better work than any with whom we compete. We are the only firms in the United States who 
 devote their entire attention to the warming and ventilation of buildings, and can point with pride 
 to hundreds of the largest public buildings throughout the United States which are warmed and 
 ventilated by our system and apparatus. There can be but one popular system of warming and 
 ventilation, and that must be the natural. In 1862, in discussing the matter, the Hon. Henry 
 Ruttan said : 
 
 “Volume upon volume has been written, theory upon theory has been started, diagram upon diagram 
 has been published, to show the different operations of air under different circumstances; and experiments 
 
12 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 without number have been made on the two subjects of ventilation and warming, each writer and experi- 
 menter attempting to reconcile the general principles of philosophy to his own particular theory, instead of 
 working out his theory by the unerring principles of philosophy. Any system, to be philosophical, must be 
 universal in its application Without this universality, it must fall to the ground; and when we hear of 
 Dr. Reid’s system, and Dr. Wyman’s system, and a host of others who have written upon this subject, each 
 advancing ideas perhaps differing from the others, no clearer proof need be adduced, that this great subject has 
 never yet attained to the dignity of a system at all. It is a mere patching up of a piece of machinery by the stray 
 wheels and component parts of several other pieces of machinery, in order to produce a desired result, but 
 which, if we may judge by the progress of ventilation thus far, has ended in such a want of harmony in its 
 working, as to leave the whole subject, for all practical and useful purposes, very much in the same state that 
 it was in the beginning. 
 
 “The construction of an efficient system of warming and ventilation requires that all the details per- 
 taining to it should be reduced to one harmonious whole, w'hich shall be applicable to everything. If not good 
 in all cases, it is good for nothing. It must be adaptable to the palace and the cottage, to the ship and to the 
 railway carriage, to the habitations of animals as well as those of men, and in addition, it must be attainable 
 by the poor as well as the rich.” 
 
 General James Bind iff, of Wisconsin State Board of Health, in the annual report of 187T, 
 says : 
 
 “Enough has been said to challenge attention to the cardinal differences of opinion which obtain 
 among able, talented and experienced men ; and it is impossible, in the brief space at our disposal, to state 
 extensively the details of their opposing views. Unfortunately it is too evident that the rank and file of so-called 
 ventilators know little of the important service on which they depend for profitable employment. Here and there an 
 operator may be found with a conscience in his work, and appreciable rules for the direction of his labors 
 and the apportionment of his machinery. But in a majority of instances in which we have sought to obtain 
 information from men of that class we have been met by blank incapacity, allied with empirical assurance 
 embodied in assertions that no rules were required, that guess work would do, that it made no difference 
 how many persons were to be supplied with pure air, and with like silly statements which most painfully 
 illustrate the fact, that in matters of ventilation as in many others, the public are being misled and ditched by 
 blind leaders of the blind.” 
 
 ********** 
 
 “ The other side (Ruttan), with all the energy of deep conviction, resolutely affirm that the inlet ducts 
 must be sufficiently large to flow every apartment with pure warm air, so that in the event of a window 
 being temporarily opened, the pressure of atmosphere shall be from within outwards, the rooms literally 
 overflowing with desirable atmosphere. Failing in this condition, it is claimed as the result of many years’ 
 experience, that the discharge ducts will necessarily, under unfavorable circumstances, reverse their opera- 
 tions, becoming supply pipes to fill the semi-vacuum which the other scheme always tends to produce. 
 
 “Professional acumen must eventually be the main hope of the community, because it is impossible to 
 apply to every building the plans which may in some instances be found effective; and nothing less than 
 thorough scientific training, alied with practical experience, will enable the operator to determine where and 
 to what extent the normal conditions vary, so as to render radical changes inevitable.” 
 
 Our statements are based upon actual experience. We are not architects or builders. 
 We do not pretend to give advice regarding buildings on points other than those pertaining to 
 warmth and ventilation. We are manufacturers of apparatus designed to accompany the natural 
 system , and which was an outgrowth of its demands, and we give personal attention to the 
 fulfillment of every contract awarded us, and guarantee success. 
 
FURNACES, CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING, ETC. 
 
 NE of the first questions to be considered by almost every one contemplating the construction 
 
 v of a building, or in securing apparatus to warm an old one, is the question of cost — cost of 
 apparatus, cost of fuel required to be consumed, cost of janitor to care for the apparatus, and cost 
 of repairs. Now, these are all items of no small consideration, and are questions, to every on.e of 
 which the engineers of the Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Association have given a great 
 amount of time and attention. The four points named above are the important ones that require 
 careful attention from every one contemplating the purchase of warming and ventilating appa- 
 ratus ; and in presenting our arguments in favor of the system which we call the Ruttan-Smead 
 System, we sincerely trust the reader will not assume that our conclusions are reached because of 
 our desire to make a case for our apparatus. We hope others will carefully go over the questions 
 as we have done, and am confident that they will agree with us that we have succeeded in at least 
 establishing a reasonable theory. We shall illustrate, as far as is possible, most of our arguments 
 by the introduction of a large number of cuts, and the explanations must be carefully examined 
 that the cuts may be thoroughly understood. On the question of economy of fuel, we assume that 
 our tubular masonry air-warmer, represented on page 60, is constructed upon the only plan that 
 can be followed and the best results be obtained. Why ? In answer, let us call the attention of 
 the reader to the lithograph on page 33, representing an open lire. Now it must be apparent to 
 any thinking person that a very large portion of the heat consumed by the burning fuel is lost 
 up the fine so closely connected with the body of burning fuel. There is no argument on this — 
 any one will admit the claim. Is it not plain, then, that to economize fuel, we must hold on to 
 the smoke and blaze , and other heated products of combustion as long as possible before they are 
 permitted to escape up the smoke flue? Of course it is, and we have many times told prospective 
 customers that if other parties urged for their purchase an apparatus that retained the smoke, 
 blaze, etc., longer than did ours, that was the one for them to buy, and we say so now. Two 
 things are absolutely essential to the economical warming of air, namely : a properly constructed 
 air warmer, and some method of circulation that will rapidly carry away the air from the appa- 
 ratus that warms it. Probably the cheapest way to simply warm a room would be to build the 
 fire on the floor, for then all the heat generated would certainly be contained in the room ; but as 
 it would be impossible for any one to remain in the room containing an open fire of this kind, the 
 next best thing to do, provided both warming and ventilation are required, would be to cut a hole 
 in the fioor, build the fire in a box, put the box in the cellar, surround the box with an air 
 chamber, connect this air chamber with the room by means of a pipe or flue, and also connect the 
 air chamber with the outside air by means of another pipe or flue, build a fine in connection with 
 the room that shall permit the cold air to go out as the warm air comes in, and, assuming that 
 the box, or air warmer, in the air chamber, is properly constructed, and fines for cold air supply, 
 warm air exit, and for ventilation, are of proper size, and you will then have an apparatus that 
 will, with the least possible expense for fuel , secure not only the thorough warming, but the 
 ventilation as well. You will also have an apparatus that will require the least amount of care, 
 as there are but two things to be done, namely : put in the fuel and take out the ashes. If there 
 is more than one room to warm, connect it with the warm air chamber, and provide a ventilating 
 fine, and both rooms are warmed and ventilated from one fire, and with little care. Now, what 
 can be more simple than the plan described ? If properly done, the results are always the same 
 
u 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 for the success depends upon the operation of a natural law , a law established long before the 
 theories of any writer on the subject, or any manufacturer ever sold a heating apparatus. We have 
 no doubt but every reader will at once say that they can easily understand the plan ; many will 
 say that they knew all that before, and would like to have us state exactly the size they should 
 build the cold air flue, the air warmer, the air chamber, the warm air conduits, and the ventilating 
 flue. This is just what we shall not do, and for several reasons. 
 
 1. Because, although what we have called “ the Ruttan-Smead System ” rests on a few simple 
 principles (and when any one is found contradicting these principles he merely makes himself 
 conspicuous by his ignorance) ; as no two buildings are ever exactly alike, its application 
 continually varies. Each individual case requires careful study. An overdose of ventilation may 
 be as bad as an underdose. While too slow a change of air will cause a room to become close, 
 ill-smelling, and filled with carbonic acid and other gases injurious to life, too rapid a change will 
 cause unpleasant and sometimes dangerous currents of air. 
 
 A competent engineer will take into account not only the internal arrangement of a building, 
 but also the kind and quality of, floors, ceilings, windows, walls, etc,, as well as construction of 
 roof and the height of neighboring buildings. Variation in volume as caused by temperature ; in 
 velocity as caused by height and temperature ; percentage of moisture and the various gases in 
 the atmosphere must also be considered, and the successful application of the Ruttan-Smead 
 System depends, to some extent, upon each one of these things being correctly estimated. 
 
 For almost twenty years the members of this Association, have been steadily laboring to 
 bring this, the only natural system into general use, and have accordingly made a thorough and 
 long-continued study of every point pertaining to the science and art, if we may so call it, of 
 ventilation and warming. 
 
 2. Because it is a part of our business to furnish plans and specifications wherever called 
 upon to do so, and for which we expect remuneration. Is it easy? Yes, if one knows Juno. 
 
 The application of the system to public buildings differing in size, height, construction, etc., 
 requires engineers of education and years of experience on this particular subject. It is no more 
 a proper field for the clumsy attempts of inexperienced theorists, tinners, stove dealers and 
 plumbers, than a city hospital would be for a druggist, a quack or others with untried theories. 
 The average architect knows no more about the details of a complete plan of warming and 
 ventilation than the writer does about “the man in the moon.” It is a crime to permit experi- 
 ments in such cases where other methods have proven safe. When human health and life are 
 at stake the best is never too good nor too expensive. It is a very strange fact that jnembers of 
 Boards of Education and others in like position will sometimes decide such matters by awarding 
 contracts for ventilation and warming apparatus to the lowest bidder, and although our prices are 
 never more than enough to cover a reasonable profit, we always refuse to present an estimate if 
 imformed that the fact of a bid being “ low ” will aid the one tendering it. It must be evident to any 
 one that this method of settling so important a matter will rarely if ever secure the best methods 
 or results. It would seem that when men are selected by a community to act to a certain 
 extent as trustees for the knowledge, morals and health of the young people intrusted to their 
 care, they should endeavor to do tJce very best thing instead of the very cheapest thing. While 
 the plans are being drawn, and before commencing to build, is the time to decide every point of 
 ventilation and warming. The cost will not be one per cent more to so erect a building that 
 when good heating apparatus is introduced there will be thorough ventilation, and very often 
 we reduce the cost from the design furnished by architect. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that air is a substance occupying space and having definite 
 weight. An ordinary school building of twelve rooms, each room containing, say 12,000 cubic 
 feet of air, would contain at all times 144,000 cubic feet, but the weight of the air varies. The 
 weight of a cubic foot of air at 70° is 0.0752 pounds and the weight of the entire body of air in 
 the building would be 10,828.8 pounds. Suppose the number of pupils in each room should 
 require the air to be changed six times each hour to secure proper ventilation, the weight of air 
 to be moved into the house at the basement and out at the chimney tops would be 65,000 pounds 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. V. 
 
 per hour. This does not take into account the cooling of the air as it passes through the building, 
 thereby decreasing its bulk and increasing its specific gravity. Think of raising 65,000 
 pounds — thirty -two and one-half tons — sixty feet in height every hour during the school day. 
 Suppose that weight of stone is to be raised by steam ; it is evident that considerable force 
 is required to accomplish it ? This shows that if a building is to be ventilated there is ivork 
 to be done, and like any other work it will take power to do it. 
 
 When the tire is well managed, about 90 per cent of the heat or force thus produced is 
 communicated to the fresh air surrounding the air warmer. Each cubic foot of air is increased 
 in volume 0.00204 for each degree of heat added. At zero 11.66 cubic feet of air weigh one 
 pound. Warm it to 10°, keeping the barometric pressure the same throughout, and its volume 
 will be increased 1.66 cubic feet, making its total volume 13.32 cubic feet. The pound of air has 
 been increased in bulk over 14 per cent. Were this 1 1.66 cubic feet of air inclosed in an air-tight 
 sack which would not affect the weight of the air, but would resist the expansion, and then the 
 air warmed to 70°, its volume would remain the same, while the pressure would be increased 14 
 per cent, and its specific gravity not having been changed, it would remain practically in equili- 
 brium, without movement up or down. Now suppose the sack to be so changed as to- offer no 
 resistance to the expansion or contraction of the air. The 14 per cent of increased pressure would 
 disappear, while the volume would be increased 14 per cent, and the sack would immediately rise 
 like a balloon, continuing to rise, if permitted, until it reaches a point where densities are again 
 equal where it will be in equilibrium. Thus we see that of the 100 per cent of fuel burned, if the 
 combustion is as perfect as man’s ingenuity has thus far been able to make it for practical use, 
 ten per cent being allowed for unavoidable waste to secure good chimney draft for combustion 
 (and that is far less than the usual waste in common furnaces), we have 90 per cent left which 
 goes into the air as heat, an extremely active force, which is communicated to everything with 
 which it conies in contact of lower temperature, until it gives all that it can give, when an 
 equality of temperature is reached. When we speak of equilibrium, we use the word in a com- 
 parative sense only, and as explanatory of our meaning ; for it is evident that our atmospheric air 
 is never at rest; changes in temperature, and consequently in volume and density, following 
 each other every moment. 
 
 Now there are two kinds of power, viz., natural and artificial or mechanical. To lift thirty- 
 two and one-half tons of water, for example, requires artificial power. But natural power 
 drops it. It is pumped up hill, but it runs down hill of itself. The miner digs his trench 
 from the lake above to the mine below, and down comes the water. But the natural and 
 resistless movement of air when warmed is up. With any system whatever, or with any 
 lack of system of ventilation, air must be warmed to make a building comfortable in winter. 
 Now, why should we use engines and fans, or other mechanical appliances to lift thirty-two 
 and one-half tons of air up, when all we have to do is to make our chimney (trench) and it 
 will flow up. We lift this great weight without any further expense than would be required 
 to warm the room without ventilating. In our system, the only mechanical force used to 
 accomplish ventilation is the combustion of fuel required to warm the rooms. We simply 
 provide flues of proper size , location ami construction, and the enduring laws of nature step 
 in to bear the burden of fouled air from the rooms. This is a simple law of nature, but its 
 application is an art , To determine the proper construction, location and management of the 
 Air W armer, the Hues, the inlets and outlets, and the various details of the system is a task 
 at which the inexperienced will always fail, and the wisest will sometimes make mistakes. 
 
 The air is continually forced to seek its level as certainly as water does, and imperfections 
 of construction of walls, ceilings, floors and windows are thus found by this subtle fluid when the 
 builder may claim that his work has been perfectly done, and that “ the house is air-tight.” 
 Building committees therefore should not need urging by the warming and ventilating engineers 
 to induce them not only to build of materials which are the best non-conductors of heat, but also 
 to put in such other material as may be necessary to prevent the wind from blowing through. 
 Common brick is one of the best non-conductors of heat that we have, but many have seen the 
 
16 
 
 xorthcott & stine, elmira, x. y. 
 
 curious experiment of forcing so strong a blast of air against a brick wall as to blow out a lighted 
 candle on the opposite side. Yet place a single sheet of first quality paper on the outer face of 
 the wall, and it cannot be done. We insist, then, as a matter of economy and comfort, to secure 
 a large saving in fuel, and greater perfection in ventilation, that extreme care must be used, as 
 buildings are being erected to prevent cold from being forced through the walls and floors when 
 the severe wind storms occur in our northern latitudes. 
 
 Let it be borne in mind that there is only a definite amount of heat to be obtained from a 
 pound of fuel. All fuels have been tested, and a comparative value given in “ heat units.” The 
 heat produced by the perfect combustion of one pound of coal will raise 14,500 pounds of water 
 1 decree, or one pound of water 14,500 degrees. The amount of heat obtainable from any fuel is 
 therefore limited, and where combustion is equally good in two different forms of heating, the 
 advantage will incline to the one which can properly warm the largest volume of air. 
 
 Our large and powerful Air Warmers or Furnaces, illustrations of which are given in the 
 latter part of this book, pages 60 and 123, are perfectly adapted to the work to be done, and 
 are an outgrowth of the demands of the “ natural system ” and are as much a part and parcel of 
 the Ruttan-Smead System of warming and ventilation as a person’s hat is a necessary part of his 
 complete wardrobe. They are made on the same principle as a locomotive boiler, the best known 
 apparatus for rapidly warming water. The natural system of ventilation requires the introduction 
 of a very large volume of air, several times the amount used by steam and “hot air furnace” men ; 
 and the invention of our Heating Apparatus was? the result of trying almost every form of heating 
 apparatus made, with the result that we only secured heat enough with the very best to merely 
 move the air in the building, thereby producing but little ventilation. But this was not enough, 
 the air was required to be moved more rapidly and at the same time only warmed to a pleasant 
 summer temperature. We have on previous pages given the origin of our Air Warmer. It will 
 be readily seen that it is really a part , and an absolute necessity for the successful application , 
 of the Ruttan-Smead System of Warming and Ventilating. 
 
 Cuts will be found further on of our latest patterns of furnaces. It will be noticed by 
 those familiar with the old (see page 123), that many improvements, on which we have been 
 oranted patents, have been added. All that we need say of this powerful heater is, that it 
 is the result of almost twenty years’ effort to make the best possible apparatus regardless 
 of its cost. We believe it to be the perfection of Warm Air Heating Apparatus, and speak 
 for it your careful examination. More than one hundred thousand dollars have been expended to 
 perfect it. 
 
 We are publishing quite a number of plans and cuts illustrating our System. We have 
 frequently found that architects and others, not as familiar as they should be with our methods, 
 would copy parts of the work shown in plans arranged or drawn by us, and yet leave the plans 
 altogether incomplete or inadequate for thorough ventilation and warming. We will gladly give 
 such suggestions as mav be needed for the thorough and successful introduction of our system 
 into any building if the plans are submitted to us before finally arranged. It is only reasonable 
 to suppose that men who devote their entire time and thought to this one department of building 
 construction should become more competent for it than a general engineer or architect ; just as 
 the physician who confines himself to the treatment of diseases of the eye or ear comes to know 
 more of his particular specialty than the physician in general practice. We know several very 
 accomplished and successful architects, who understand the theories and general practice of 
 warming and ventilation thoroughly, and Avho have had great experience in arranging their 
 buildings for it; yet these same architects, although quite uniformly successful in all depart- 
 ments of their work, rarely if ever complete their plans without submitting them to p>rofes- 
 sionals or sp>ecialists for suggestions. An architect who claims to know all about every detail 
 pertaining to the construction of a building, is unworthy of the confidence of his client. 
 
 As an illustration of this foolishness of blindly following the advice of an architect or others 
 who have no experience, we will refer to two instances of more than one hundred of a similar 
 nature. Six years ago we called the attention of the Board of Education of a city, which can 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 be named if necessary, to the fact, that as planned their building could not be either warmed 
 or ventilated, and that to correct the error then they would be at no expense, and our price for the 
 apparatus would be eleven hundred dollars. They thought they knew more than any one else, 
 although no member of the board had ever had experience in building, and their architect had 
 never built a dozen buildings of any kind. A “hot air ” furnace firm sold them furnaces for seven 
 hundred dollars , and we paid no more attention to the matter until a few weeks ago when we 
 received a letter from the secretary of the board, asking an interview. Upon our arrival we found 
 two steam fitters ready to bid on the work, and to again assure the board that the flues were all 
 right , and to guarantee , as did the hot air furnace man six years ago. We found four hot air fur- 
 naces in the basement, and a stove in every school room. We again called attention to improper 
 construction ; we were awarded the contract, but, of course, had to raise our bid to cover expense 
 to correct errors which, added to the amount paid for worthless apparatus, causes the tax-pagers to 
 pay over three thousand dollars for what they could have secured for eleven hundred. Possibly 
 another instance nwy interest the reader, and we add an extract from a recent communication of 
 Mr. Smead’s to the Toledo Board of Education : 
 
 I have received great favors from your Honorable Board and wish to assure you that I most fully appre- 
 ciate them all, but I also wish .to call your attention to the fact that since the time I first presented my card 
 to your Building Committee, who had in charge the construction of the Humboldt addition, I have asked no 
 hearing before your Board, and have never importuned the members for a dollar’s worth of work. 
 
 When I came here three years ago, your buildings were all heated either by stoves, hot air furnaces or 
 steam. How well I do not say. I attacked your system of construction, offering my own, and after investi- 
 gation by your Board, consisting of Messrs. Thurstin, Dr. Bergen, Hubbard, Zirwas, Dr. Reed, Dr. Squire, Nor- 
 ton, and Judge Commager, and upon the report of Mr. Oechsler, your Superintendent of Buildings, after his 
 visit to Defiance High School building, our plans were selected and the cost of constructing the building 
 largely reduced. This action upon our part at once raised a howl from some of the stove dealers, and 
 especially from one or two who had been for years “ blind leaders of the blind.” About this time the Com- 
 mittee having in charge the construction of the Warren Street Building, asked me to present plans and 
 estimates of cost of warming and construction. I attended a Board meeting by invitation of the Committee, and 
 was there met by those whose revenue was being reduced by a little intelligent action upon the part of the 
 Board, who were interested in the sanitary condition of the buildings. These parties were ready to guarantee 
 anything I ivoidd, claim all and more than I claimed, and, in fact, were ready to yell themselves hoarse to suppress 
 the invader. I became disgusted with their performance, and the Committee (disposed, I suppose, to be con- 
 servative,) gave the old fashioned apparatus one more chance, and with the following results: 
 
 It cost during the winter of 1883 and 1884 to warm and ventilate ten school rooms and a hall at the Hum- 
 boldt building, $131.11 with the Ruttan-Smead apparatus. At the Warren building you attempt to warm and 
 do not ventilate four rooms with the apparatus that was guaranteed to warm eight rooms at the time contracts 
 were let, with an apparatus “so much superior” to ours, $334.33. 
 
 During the winter of ’83-’84 it cost to warm and ventilate with the Ruttan-Smead apparatus at the Hum- 
 boldt building, ten rooms and hall, $131.11. To warm and not ventilate the same building, five rooms and hall, it 
 cost $305.71 with the apparatus that was said to be “vastly superior” to ours. These facts came under the 
 observation of your Board, and a contract was made with me to improve the sanitary condition of several of 
 your buildings during the summer of 1884, and to provide heating apparatus to warm them. Again was the 
 howl raised that the Board were not consulting those who had been paid thousands and thousands of dollars to 
 provide apparatus that neither warms nor ventilates. They “can do anything Smead can do.” They know 
 “ more about warming and ventilating than Smead does.” I will not dispute this, but why didn't they do so 
 before he came? Why then did they go on year after year, introducing traps in no way suitable for the build- 
 ings in which they were introduced ? On the basis of the figures taken from your books showing the cost of 
 fuel used now, the introduction of the Ruttan-Smead apparatus in the 99 school rooms of the city now rearmed and 
 ventilated shows that during this winter (’84 and ’85), there is a net saving in fuel alone of over three thousand six 
 hundred dollars ($3,600). Not one cent has been expended for repairs, and I will guarantee that the entire 
 apparatus can be put in as good condition as when set in the twelve buildings we warm for you for fifty 
 dollars. Schools have been continued during the entire winter which has been the coldest within the 
 memory of the “ oldest inhabitant.” Supt. Dowd said to me recently that “ if the change in apparatus had 
 not been made there would have been weeks during the past winter when thousands of children in Toledo 
 would have been unable to attend school because of cold school rooms.” 
 
 I only call your attention to the question of cost. I say nothing about the still more important epiestion of 
 ventilation for over five thousand school children, and the better attendance thereby secured, the change of 
 air in each and every school room every fifteen minutes as shown by the meter, and ask you gentlemen of 
 
18 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 the board, the taxpayers of Toledo and patrons of the schools and the parents of our children, who have to 
 spend years in these buildings, have I been of any benefit to the city ? What return have you for the few 
 thousand dollars paid me ? Can it be counted in dollars and cents? I know of but few who can reasonably 
 complain, and they are the hot-air men, the plumbers, the coal dealers and the doctors. Some weeks since 
 your Committee (under instructions from the Board, I am informed) called at my office and requested that I 
 prepare estimates of cost of improving the condition of several more buildings, and now the same mob are 
 yelling again, going around to your places of business telling all sorts of yarns, and guaranteeing as heretofore. 
 They “ can do anything Smead can do,” “Smead has no patents to protect his system.” Other cities have 
 stolen from him, and so they recommend yqp to do the same ; they can do better work for $1.50 or $2 than 
 Smead can with $500 ! Your buildings that now slink can be made equal to a June morning if you will only 
 let them send an “ expert ” to examine and report. 
 
 In 1882 we were requested to submit an estimate to furnish warming and ventilating apparatus 
 for a school building in Youngstown, Ohio. We were informed that there were already in the 
 building “ hot air furnaces,” and that “ the only warm portion of the building during cold 
 weather was the basement,’' and that was too warm ; that about “ 1 00 tons of hard coal were 
 burned annually,” and schools were dismissed because of cold school rooms very often each 
 winter; that “ board were prejudiced against furnaces.” Upon examination of the building we 
 found exactly what we have seen many, many times before, namely, small furnaces, small warm 
 air pipes, small warm air flues, the basement rooms spoiled for any other purpose than for fuel 
 and the “ hot air traps ” which some inexperienced hardware dealer, or some traveling “ salesman ” 
 who sold furnaces on a commission, had sold the board. They could not be used for play rooms 
 or for janitor’s quarters, and, what was worse, there were no ventilating flues in the entire building / 
 the air of the school rooms was simjylg horrible. On page 78 we represent a basement plan of the 
 building as we found it. A careful measurement showed 570 feet of warm air jnpe. On page 
 79 we represent the plan we presented for the consideration of the board. A glance at each must 
 convince any one that the latter is the more simple. 
 
 With the first, the basement rooms are spoiled. 
 
 With ours, only a small portion is occupied by apparatus. 
 
 With the first, four fires must be built during fall and spring months. 
 
 With ours, only two fires are necessary during the fall and spring months. 
 
 With the first, there is a large expense for long, horizontal tin pipes. 
 
 With ours, there is not a foot of tin pipe used. 
 
 With the first, there was a small, damp underground cold air box, to be filled with rats, 
 dead cats, water and rubbish that always collect around a school building. 
 
 With ours, a cold air room that can easily be kept clean. 
 
 With the first, there are in the building (built into the walls) small, tin warm air flues that 
 are expensive and difficult to introduce. 
 
 With ours, large brick flues closely connected with the warm air chamber. 
 
 With the first, the air is conveyed a long distance horizontally. 
 
 With ours, the warm air only has to rise, which it can easily, up the large flues. On page 
 79 we represent the plan of first story, showing location of warm air, smoke and ventilating flues- 
 Arrows represent entrance of warm air and exit of foul air. Our guarantee was, the temperature 
 should be nearly the same in all portions of the room ; that the variation should not exceed two de- 
 grees, and that the entire building could be warmed within two hours after fires were lighted. Not- 
 withstanding the simplicity of our plan, and our strong guarantee, the prejudice of the board 
 against furnaces was so strong that our bid was rejected , and steam heating apparatus was 
 introduced. During the summer of 1883, one year later, the board, after using the steam 
 apparatus in the building referred to, one winter, with a vacation of two weeks for repairs to 
 apparatus, contracted with us to furnish furnaces for two school buildings, and the following 
 letter, written by the superintendent of Youngstown schools to superintendent of Ithaca, N. Y., 
 schools, gives evidence of the results : 
 
 Superintendent L. C. Foster, Ithaca, N. Y. : Youngstown, O., January 29, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your favor received. In answer, would say that we have tried about every kind of 
 heating apparatus, and prefer the “ Ruttan-Smead System of heating and ventilating” to anything else, in 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 10 . 
 
 respect either to heating, ventilating, or economy. We expect to put it into two additional buildings next 
 summer. Some of our teachers who taught last winter in a building heated with steam say that “ there is no 
 comparison.” One says the change to Euttan-Smead System has certainly improved her health. 
 
 Very truly, etc., R. McMillan, Superintendent. 
 
 w e will simply add that during the summer of 1884 the Youngstown board introduced our 
 apparatus in two more school buildings, and refer to W. N. Ashbaugh, Esq., secretary of the 
 board, for such other information as the reader may desire. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF WOOD CUTS. 
 
 O N pages 67, 6S, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, we represent various drawings, showing 
 the introduction of t lie Ruttan-Smead system of warming and ventilation as applied to 
 the South Street School Building in Toledo, a large eight room school with unusually 
 large corridor space and in an exposed portion of the city, and one of the most difficult 
 to warm of any we have. The entire system is applied to this building, vi/,. : floor 
 warming, Smead’s system of continuous ventilation, and also his system of Dry Closets. This 
 is the building referred to in the report on pages 23 and 24. We call attention to its 
 completeness, and we question if there is in any city one more simple in all its parts. We of 
 course refer to the system of warming and ventilation, not to the architecture. With tlte 
 latter we hare nothing to do. We do not think that one brick too many or one brick too few are 
 used, and the same may be said about all other items that enter into its construction, so far 
 as our work is concerned. The air warmers (furnaces) occupy spaces between walls that would 
 be of no value for other purposes, and the dry closets (privies) are between two carrying Avails, and 
 the entire system of closets (privies) did not cost Si 50, while vaults could not have been built out- 
 side for less than $800 to$l,000, and then, unlike those here shown, they Avould have been “veritable 
 plague spots upon the face of the earth.” The entire building, heating apparatus and all, is 
 cared for by a woman. No matter Iioav cold the Aveather may be, a tire built at seven o’clock in 
 the morning will secure rooms Avarmed to 70° Fall, at 8.30 A. M., and the air meter shows that all 
 the air contained in each room is changed every twelve minutes. Does the reader ask, “ Do 
 you always obtain these results?” With rare exceptions, Ave do, but not ahvays. “Why?” 
 There are a score of reasons why. We always do the best we can, considering all the circumstances, 
 but are often embarrassed by causes that should never exist, as, for instance, the interference by 
 an architect Avho has friends to aid, or schemes to experiment Avitli, or possibly by another 
 condition that should never happen — there is not enough money appropriated to complete the 
 building, and the item to be cut down is the very one that should be provided for at the outset, 
 viz. : the heating apparatus, and Ave haA r e been unwise enough to put in too little capacity, and 
 as a result there come days eA'ery Avinter Avhen there are one or more rooms that cannot be 
 Avarmed. AVe are now fully determined that Ave never again will yield to the persuasions of a 
 poverty-stricken, short-sighted, economical (?) board to put in capacity about which Ave have a 
 question, or Avhicli must be strained to do good work. We are now fully determined to never 
 again submit a bid on Avhich Ave haA'e the slightest doubt. If there is not enough money in 
 the treasury to buy sufficient apparatus, the “other felloAv” may secure the embarrassment that 
 is sure to folloAv. We won't. 
 
20 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 THE RUTTAU-SMEAD TUBULAR AIR WARMER. 
 
 LpHE cut on page 60 represents our latest improved furnace or “air warmer,” as it 
 JL appears when set ready to be inclosed in brick. On page 123 we represent the one used 
 previous to 1885. 
 
 It will be seen that this furnace is in principle, the same as a locomotive boiler , only that the 
 furnace is surrounded by air instead of water. The locomotive boiler is considered the best 
 apparatus for warming water rapidly. If this is true, why should not the same principle be 
 applied to warming air f Heat is not a material thing. We can only warm and ventilate our 
 buildings by taking into them a large volume of warm, pure air ; and therefore it is absolutely 
 necessary that the apparatus below shall present a large amount of fire surface ; and as “fire 
 surface ” is only surface with tire inside of it, this can only be obtained by retaining in the air- 
 chamber in basement (as long as possible without impeding combustion too much) the heat 
 generated by the burning fuel. One particle of air does not warm another particle of air ; and 
 as air can only be warmed by bringing it in direct contact with tire surface, we have in our appa- 
 ratus covered the necessary points to secure the greatest economy in fuel and the most satisfac- 
 tory results where the warming of a large volume of cold air is required. The blaze and smoke, 
 after it leaves the tire-box, passes back through the lower Hue into back chamber, then forward 
 through the twelve long flues to front chamber, then back through the large flue to chimney. 
 The whole furnace is surrounded with a brick case. The cold air, entering by the cold air duct, 
 from outside, has free circulation around every part of the furnace, fire-box, flues and chambers, 
 and thus every square inch of heating surface is made directly available. This furnace has more 
 tire surface from same amount of tire, and will warm a larger volume of cold air than any other. 
 The flues are accessible in front, and can be cleaned in a moment, so that it is impossible for them 
 to clog up. It is warranted to burn wood or soft coal equally well. The sides of fire-box are 
 protected by heavy cast-iron, gas-burning linings, which can be easily removed and replaced by new 
 ones, and at but slight expense / and as this is done through the fuel door it is not necessary, as in 
 other furnaces where repairs are required, to take the furnace apart. These linings stand off 
 from side of fire-box about two inches, and prevent the burning fuel from resting against the 
 sides of furnace over which the fresh air for the building passes, and thus red-hot surfaces are 
 avoided. The air chamber back of the lining is supplied with air from under the grate and also 
 through a damper directly under the fuel door. Very hot air is thus supplied to the fuel 
 through the perforations of the linings, which, coming in contact with the escaping smoke, 
 ignites it at once. The result of this is the burning of a large proportion of the smoke and a 
 consequent economy in fuel of nearly one-half over the single fire-pots now used by others and 
 shown on pages 58 and 59. We would call attention to the manner in which fuel is burned as 
 compared with combustion in other furnaces. See page 63. Instead of the deep body of coal and 
 the imperfect combustion in the red-hot fire-pots of other heaters, in this we have a thin layer of 
 fuel (4 in. to 6 in.) spread over a large grate surface, with an air supply on top of fuel, con- 
 sequently much more perfect combustion, a greater amount of fire surface, and furnace heated to a 
 much less degree. 
 
XOIvTI ICOTT & ST I X E, KLMIKA, X. Y. 
 
 SMEAD’S SYSTEM OF u CONTINUOUS VENTILATION. 
 
 / \N page 75 we represent a sectional drawing, representing basement and a portion of first story of 
 
 South Street school building, Toledo, Ohio, cutting through plan on line BB, shown on page 
 67. We introduce this cut to show a very valuable feature connected with our work as now applied. 
 By this arrangement it is absolutely impossible for the teacher or janitor, no matter hoio careless 
 they may be, to stop a floiu of air through the room ; and it at the same time enables the teacher to 
 secure air at any temperature desired, that is, any temperature ranging from the external air to 
 the warmest air that the air-warmer (furnace) can produce. If the valve is thrown back or down, 
 all the air passing into the room is warm, and in ratio to the distance the valve is raised is the 
 volume of the warm air diminished, and the cold air permitted to come up from below and mingle 
 with that in the room. On page 76 we represent the register and also the valve regulator. By 
 turning the crank to the right, cold air will come through the register, and by turning it to the 
 left, warm air will flow into the room. The regulator is simple, neat, and easily managed. 
 
 With all kinds of apparatus, the rooms are liable at times to become too warm, owing to 
 carelessness upon the part of janitors, and with all, except ours, if room is too warm, and the 
 teacher closes the register, she stops the flow of fresh air into the room, which will, and 
 without her noticing it, soon become unfit for occupancy. This difficulty is entirely done away 
 witli by the introduction of our system of construction. 
 
 We desire to call attention at this place to the register design we use for school and other large 
 rooms ; the ordinary register has more iron than air sjiace, while in this we have secured as little 
 iron and as great air space as possible. The convex diamond face is screwed to an iron frame 
 that is set when the brick walls are built, thus securing a permanent, solid and safe arrangement. 
 
NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 90 
 
 SMEAD’S SYSTEM OF DRY 
 
 CLOSETS. 
 
 I N the Look published by Mr. Ruttan can be found the following on the subject of Dry 
 
 Closets : 
 
 If the city council of London, some hundreds of years ago, could have foreseen the lamentable picture 
 presented in a late report by the Board of Commissioners to report upon the sanitary condition of the city, 
 appointed in consequence of the effluvia arising from the filthy condition of the Thames, I cannot believe 
 that it would ever have permitted the draining of water-closets in the sewers. This great city, with its 
 millions of human beings, is in a most perilous and deplorable condition, and if its present system of 
 drainage and sewerage be continued, I cannot imagine in what way it can escape depopulation by 
 pestilence. 
 
 There should be sewers, and there should be drains, no doubt, in every large city, but only to carry 
 off the water, not the sordes or the excrementitious matter from the human body ; this should all be 
 carried away. This idea will at first view be pronounced a most Herculean, as well as an intolerably 
 offensive, work. Not so ; the residue of twelve ounces of excrement will weigh, when dry, only about two 
 ounces. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, a building (such as represented on the large inset of this book), and the water- 
 closet to be so arranged that all deposits fall directly at base of ventilating stack. Then suppose a volume 
 of air flowing closely over the brick or earth basin, made at the bottom to receive the sordes, and up the 
 shaft at the rate of five feet per second all the year round, such will be the power of evaporation that one 
 man will carry upon his back at one load the whole of the deposits for years. This surely is no great 
 trouble or expense — nothing to be compared to the expense which is now incurred in keeping the ordinary 
 cesspools and drains in order. In order, however, to make this residuum more conveniently available to 
 be entirely consumed upon the premises where there is even a very small patch for a garden attached, 
 lime, ashes or plaster-of-Paris, should be thrown down the pipes of the closet, in the proportion of about a 
 gallon per week. This will not only render the mass hard and easily cut up for removal, but the ashes 
 and plaster-of-Paris will fix and retain a great portion of the ammonia, so valuable to flowers, and, indeed 
 plants of any kind. 
 
 But let us look at the actual state of things as at present. Every water-closet and cesspool is drained 
 into the sewers; the months of these sewers are in general run down to the edge of some body of water, which 
 does not always cover the whole mouth, as it should do in order to exclude the air, and especially does it not 
 exclude the air at low water where there is a tide. The consequence is, that every house whose drain is not 
 in perfect order becomes a foul-air shaft for the sewer, and the heat and chimneys accelerate the flow of air 
 from the drains upward and into the building, and especially so when the wind blows into the mouth of 
 the sewer, which it frequently does. The inmates, therefore, of these dwellings have not only to endure 
 the malaria generated within their own dwellings, but have also the advantage of that of their neighbors. 
 I have stood at the mouths of many sewers, and instead of experiencing any offensive odor as I had expected, 
 I frequently found a strong draft into the sewer. Thus, in these cases, these sewers carried down the. 
 insoluble matter which, in a sanitary point of view, could do little harm, while the noxious gases were 
 carried up into the houses. 
 
 These sewers, instead of thus becoming the greatest nuisances we have, might, in addition to being 
 the conduits for the waste water, be turned to good account in the ventilation of a whole city. Erect 
 foul-air shafts — say about four for every mile — at convenient places adjacent to the sewers, and connected 
 with them by underground ducts, and the exhaustion thus brought to bear upon the sewers, and the sewers 
 upon the drains, would go far to improve the sanitary condition of our cities. If the civic authorities would 
 be at half the expense of the erection of the many furnace-shafts scattered over our largest and most 
 populous places, upon condition of the proprietors allowing a connection with the sewer in the way stated, 
 a very cheap and effectual exhaustion might be had. In general, however, a single shaft, erected at or near 
 the mouth of a sewer, would, if properly built, be found sufficient. 
 
XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 23 
 
 For many years, whenever an opportunity presented itself, Mr. Sinead introduced in residences 
 the plans suggested by Mr. Ruttan, and always successfully; but as his suggestions could not be 
 followed when there were a large number of persons to use the closets, as only a very limited 
 number of seats, not more than two, could be used, and that they must be located above the 
 basement , and never receiving any encouragement from his business associates, but little was 
 done until the establishment of the office at Toledo. The circumstances attending the adop- 
 tion of his ideas are fully covered in the following extract from the annual report of the President 
 of the Toledo Board of Education : 
 
 Two years ago the Board introduced the Ruttan-Smead system of heating and ventilation into the 
 new part of the Humbolt building. Six rooms were heated by this system and six by the old hot-air furnaces. 
 An excellent opportunity was thus afforded of comparing the two systems as to efficiency and economy. 
 A careful account for the entire year was kept of each side, and the result showed that the new system was 
 what was claimed for it. It heated and thoroughly ventilated the rooms, and the schools on that side were 
 not dismissed fora single day. A test with an air-meter showed that on ordinarily cold days the air could be 
 changed from six to eight times per hour. As to economy, it cost $236 less to heat and ventilate these six 
 rooms than it did to heat the other six by the ordinary hot-air furnace. So successful was the experiment, 
 and so well pleased was the Board, that the new system was ordered placed in the six new buildings subse- 
 quently erected. The unsatisfactory condition of the heating apparatus in the old buildings and the constant 
 complaint of parents and teachers on account of having to dismiss on cold days, led the Board to investigate 
 the expense of introducing the new system into the old buildings. After a careful investigation the Commit- 
 tee on Buildings reported that an introduction of the Ruttan-Smead system into six old buildings would 
 secure the same results as were secured in the Humboldt building, and at a saving of fuel of about $1,800 per 
 annum. This saving in fuel alone would in seven years pay for the cost of making the change, to say nothing 
 about the saving of valuable time of the pupils on account of no dismissal of schools from the cold condition 
 of the rooms. The change recommended was made. 
 
 It is a matter of congratulation to the patrons of the schools that we now have ninety-eight school rooms 
 out of a total of one hundred and fifty-eight thoroughly heated and ventilated. It is safe to say that there 
 is no city in the United States that has its school rooms better heated and ventilated than the city of Toledo. 
 
 SOUTH STREET BUILDING. 
 
 Most of the school buildings in our city are three stories high, thereby causing a great deal of unneces- 
 sary climbing of stairs. The Board some time ago concluded that it was best hereafter to erect buildings only 
 two stories high. The South Street building is the first complete building of this kind ordered erected. It 
 is composed of eight rooms, four on each floor. The basement is large and roomy. In connection with this 
 building another important departure was made. The board have long been of the opinion that it is unwise 
 to force little children in inclement weather to pass through rain and cold to yard water-closets, and were 
 also sensible to the unsatisfactory arrangements of closets in the buildings. In this dilemma, a consultation 
 was invited with Mr. Isaac D. Smead, heating and ventilating engineer, who was known to have applied suc- 
 cessfully the Ruttan and Smead systems of ventilation to the construction of water-closets located in base- 
 ments in such manner as to remove all objections. Upon consultation and examination of the plans 
 presented, it was found that it would cost much less to construct closets upon this plan than upon any other, 
 and the work was ordered done. 
 
 At the time of the writing of this report, and after the occupancy of the building, it is found that the 
 basement is entirely free from all malodors, and an examination of the closets will convince any one that the 
 system must be a complete success. 
 
 If possible, changes should be made in the other buildings that will obviate the necessity of passing to 
 closets through rain and cold. 
 
 In this connection we will add that, since the above report was written, the Toledo Board of 
 Education have introduced the Ruttan-Smead system of warming and ventilation, and also the 
 Isaac D. Smead system of dry closets into three more buildings — one new and two being old, 
 three-story twelve room buildings. From the two last we removed steam-heating apparatus 
 and old system of water-closets. As in this book, on pages 67, 6S and 69, we represent the 
 plan of a Toledo School Building (the one referred to by President Zirwas), we will also call 
 attention to the following article from the Toledo Evening Bee February 21, 1885, and some 
 other extracts of similar character. 
 
24 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 THE DRY CLOSET SYSTEM. 
 
 ( Toledo Evening See.) 
 
 A TOLEDO MAN BECOMES A PUBLIC BENEFACTOR BY' THE HAPPY APPLI- 
 CATION OF A LITTLE PHILOSOPHY AND GOOD COMMON SENSE. 
 
 THE RESULTS AND IIOW THEY HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 Mr. Isaac D. Smead has perfected and patented a system known as the Ruttan-Smead System of 
 Heating and Ventilation, on which he is fast gaining a national reputation. There is no doubt of its being 
 the most perfect in effect and economy known to the world, and it so readily recommends itself that no 
 argument is necessary to secure its introduction, wherever known, in all new public buildings, especially 
 into school houses, where it has such a wonderful beneficial effect upon the health of the teachers and 
 pupils. 
 
 It is not the intention in this article to treat upon the system which has already been so thoroughly 
 and satisfactorily tested in Toledo, but to a comparatively recent and most valuable addition to it. Having 
 succeeded in perfecting his ventilating system, so that school rooms may readily be supplied with air as 
 fresh and wholesome as in the open fields, whose temperature can be easily graded and steadily preserved 
 at any recjuired degree, without producing any dangerous currents of air, varying but three degrees between 
 the floor and the ceiling, thus securing warm feet — all this having been accomplished, there still remained 
 one fearful evil which existed in connection with every crowded school building, and destroyed the health 
 and comfort of the inmates in a marked degree. This was the privies, whose noisome- odors and death- 
 dealing gases continued to pervade the building, to a greater or less extent, in spite of the best and most 
 costly appliances known. This evil can now be averted by a simple arrangement devised by Mr. Smead 
 and his eminent success in this most important matter entitles him to an honored position in the front rank 
 of the great benefactors of his age. Its value can hardly be estimated, and for that reason, although a 
 delicate subject to treat upon in a public journal, an effort will be made to give Bee readers a plain idea 
 of its arrangement and grand results. 
 
 The system has as yet been used in but one building in Toledo, that of the South Street School. After 
 this building had nearly approached completion, the Board of Education consulted Mr. Smead (who was 
 putting his heating and ventilating appliance in the building) regarding the evils which would arise in 
 connection with the privies, which must be placed outside the building, as they were out of reach of the 
 city water and sewer privileges. Under his direction, they then built the privies, both for the boys and 
 girls, in the basement of the building, the total cost of which was included in the carpenter work, 
 not exceeding $150. Notwithstanding that this arrangement was an afterthought, and that he labored under 
 many disadvantages in the construction of the building, Mr. Smead took the responsibility of counteracting all bad 
 effects, and has done it completely. 
 
 In order to obtain a perfect understanding of the practical workings of this system (which bids fair to 
 create a complete revolution in the constructing of vaults for public buildings), the following gentlemen 
 accompanied Mr. Smead to the South Street School building last Wednesday afternoon, on a tour of 
 inspection: Franklin Hubbard, a member of the Toledo Board of Education; Frank J. Scott and A. E. 
 Macomber, members of the Building Committee of the Manual Training School ; Prof. R. H. Miller, 
 Superintendent Manual Training School ; Prof. J. W. Dowd, Superintendent Toledo Public Schools, and a 
 Bee reporter. 
 
 An examination was first made of the ventilating and heating system, which has heretofore been 
 described in the Bee. Fresh air from out of doors is supplied in such quantities as may be desired, which 
 is heated by furnaces and passes through various flues into each school room. The same volume of air 
 enters the room constantly, and the proportions of warm and cold can be regulated to a nicety by the 
 
XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 25 
 
 teacher*, according to the requirements. After circulating through the room it passes out through grated 
 openings which are placed at short intervals in the baseboards on the outer boundaries of the room. This 
 warm air then passes under the floor, heating it sufficiently to warm the feet, and is carried to the foul-air 
 room in the basement. From thence it is drawn, by way of arched openings in the brick wall, through the 
 privy vaults beneath the seats to the brick foul-air chimney, whence it escapes into the open air, at the 
 rate of 49,200 cubic feet per minute. 
 
 The philosophy of the arrangement is exceedingly simple. This current is created by the natural 
 disposition of heated air to rise, and the draft thus produced in the stack is amply sufficient for the purpose. 
 For use in summer, a small heater is built into the walls at the base of the stack, and when the draft is not 
 sufficiently strong without it (as perhaps on damp, muggy days), a fire may be quickly kindled here, and 
 the hot-air rising through the stack at once stimulates the draft to any required extent. 
 
 The privies are built upon a platform raised three feet above the floor of the basement, furnished 
 with seats and lids, in the usual manner, and divided by wing partitions. X o odor of any kind was 
 distinguishable here. A seat was raised and the air-meter indicated a downward draft of 160 cubic feet 
 per minute. These seats occupy two rows, back to back, with a brick partition between them, and have 
 been in use constantly since September 10th last (with the exception of the week’s holiday vacation) by 
 400 pupils. 
 
 The investigators desiring the fullest information, entered the foul-air room by way of a low door leading 
 from the basement, which is always kept tightly closed and fastened. From here they crawled through the 
 arches into the vaults beneath the seats, carrying lighted candles, which it was found. difficult to keep 
 burning owing to the heavy drafts of air. The deposits of these 400 pupils for a period of five months 
 could all be readily stowed on an ordinary wheel-barrow. It has been demonstrated that five-sixths of the 
 deposit in a privy escapes in the form of gases, through the stack. These deposits were examined care- 
 fully, and found to be more or less devoid of odor — those three days old being entirely odorless, dry 
 and spongy. 
 
 After they had thus made the most thorough examination, the Bee representative called upon the 
 several gentlemen (who from their deep interest and careful study of the subject, he deemed eminently 
 capable of forming a correct judgment), for their various opinions, with the following result : 
 
 Mr. F. Hubbard, of the Toledo Board of Education : “ I cannot see the least defect in it, and it seems 
 to me to be the most perfect arrangement for the purpose that can be imagined. I only wish this dry- 
 closet system could be introduced into every school building in the city, for it could not fail to prove 
 exceedingly beneficial to the health of every inmate. The heating arrangement at the base of the chimney 
 renders it as available in the summer season as in the winter, and during the warm months is when its great 
 benefits will be the more perceptible.” 
 
 Prof. J. W. Dowd, Superintendent of the Toledo Schools: “Everything can be said for Smead’s dry- 
 closet system, and absolutely nothing against it. There is no odor ; no poisonous gases ; and one great benefit 
 is the fact that scholars will not be obliged to leave the school building in bad weather. And then, as a 
 matter of economy, look at the small cost and complete simplicity of it. In the Jefferson building $1,200 
 has recently been expended to produce healthy and comfortable closets ; they are more or less troublesome, 
 and apt to get out of repair, and are not free from offensive odors by any means. The closets in the Wash- 
 ington and Sherman schools, where considerable money has been spent, are exceedingly bad in winter, 
 and simply fearful in summer. Thousands of dollars have been expended upon the closets connected with the 
 Central High School building, and although they were superior to any others in the city when constructed, 
 there is a strong odor to them, which is at times very bad. Those connected with the other school buildings 
 (with the exception of the new South Street School), are all out of doors, and all are more or less offensive. 
 There is no doubt in my mind but that the Smead system of dry closets will soon supersede every other, 
 for its superiority cannot be questioned. The same might be said regarding his heating and ventilating 
 system, with which the other is connected. We now have it in 99 of our city school rooms, and the benefit 
 to health and comfort and saving of fuel is very noticeable. But a few days since, a teacher in one of the 
 rooms thus heated, who has a delicate constitution, told me that his health had been greatly benefited by it; 
 probably it is the first instance on record where the air of a school-room proved beneficial to an invalid. 
 In the Humboldt building, six rooms were heated by it, and six by other means ; and here it was fairly 
 tested. In the former the scholars were bright and animated, and in the latter, listless, with a constant air 
 of weariness; the attendance in the former averaged two and one half per cent better than the latter, owing 
 mainly to the more healthy condition of the scholars. I am gratified to having the opportunity of expressing 
 myself upon this subject, and could readily point out many more features which abundantly prove the 
 superiority of this heating, ventilating, and dry closet system.” 
 
 Prof. R. H. Miller, Superintendent of the Manual Training School: “The dry closet system far surpasses 
 anything of the kind that I ever saw or imagined. I had heard it explained, but never appreciated its value 
 until I saw it practically demonstrated. It does away with the need of plumbers, no water rates to pay, no 
 
26 
 
 NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 unpleasant odors ; no use for sickly-smelling disinfectants. The system is most complete, and the test at the 
 South Street School building ought to entirely satisfy and convince the most incredulous.” 
 
 A. E. Macomber, Director of the Toledo Manual Training School : “ I have been favorably impressed with 
 the Ruttan & Smead heating and ventilating plan from the first time my attention was called to it, and a 
 knowledge of its practical workings strengthens and confirms my original opinion. The practical benefits 
 derived from the dry -closet system are very great; it is, without question, far superior to the water system, 
 both in an economical and sanitary point of view. One cannot appreciate that entire cleanliness of the 
 system without a personal investigation.” 
 
 F. J. Scott, Manual Training School Board: “ The dry closet system of disposing of excretory matter, as 
 shown in the South Street School House in connection with the Smead-Ruttan system of heating, is the 
 beginning of a revolution in the whole system of household and city sewerage. It is a study for anyone 
 interested in this vital subject, and is one of the most useful inventions of our time. Every member of the 
 City Council, the Board of Health and other public boards of the city, and the whole medical fraternity 
 should give this system a careful examination.” 
 
 A special committee was recently appointed by the Canton, Ohio, Board of Education, for the purpose of 
 examining into the various mode of heating and ventilating school buildings, and their report, which was 
 published in the Canton Repository, embodies their disinterested opinions, and may be received as valuable 
 evidence. After first complimenting Mr. Smead’s system, as seen in a Norwalk school building, where it had 
 recently been placed, they say : 
 
 “We then went to Toledo, and reached the first building examined, a new one, about 4 p.m. The fires 
 were then out in some furnaces, and almost out in others. Here we found Smead’s Dry-Closet System in oper- 
 ation, in connection with the Ruttan & Smead heating and ventilating system.” * * * * * 
 
 [Here follows a description of the system similar to that already given.] The report of their inspection of 
 the closets at the South Street School closes as follows: “The members of the committee confess that these 
 results created in their minds a deep and profound sensation. Here was a system of closets sufficient to accom- 
 modate six hundred pupils, in constant use for four months, at an original cost of not to exceed $150 in perfect 
 condition, with no noisome odors; no unsightliness ; no pipes ; no water works ; no plumbers' appliances; no sewer- 
 age system; no loathsome and disease-creating cesspools; no stifling disinfectants ; nothing but a free and unob- 
 structed circulation of God’s atmosphere, which had already performed the double and important functions of 
 heating and ventilating the rooms above, in which over four hundred children had been engaged these four months 
 in their school work. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the benefits of Mr. Smead’s valuable improvements in heating and ventilating may 
 be extended until it has been universally adopted wherever it is found practicable ; and also applied to the 
 ventilation of sewers as soon as possible. Thus every public building and private residence, which has sewer 
 connections, may receive all of those benefits which we have attempted to portray. The value of such an 
 arrangement, in preserving the health of the city, can hardly be estimated. 
 
 The introduction of Isaac D. Smead’s system of heating and ventilating and dry-closets in all of our 
 school buildings is no doubt one of the best arrangements which could be devised for the preservation of the 
 health of pupils and teachers. This has been most satisfactorily demonstrated where it has already been in 
 use in the city, and its value is therefore beyond all estimate in dollars and cents, Its economy in the 
 annual saving of fuel, repairs, water rents, etc., also amounts to a large sum in the aggregate. — Toledo Bee. 
 
 “ We have the Isaac D. Smead system of heating and ventilating and dry closets in our new school building, 
 in the third ward, and too much cannot be said in its praise. Not one of the rooms in this large building but 
 has been enjoy ably comfortable every day this winter, no matter what the temperature was outside. The 
 dry-closets are a perfect success, and Supt. Knott says, taking the building in all its appointments, it is the 
 model school building of the state. — Tiffin Daily Herald, February 27. 
 
 We also add the following article upon the subject written by Mr. Otis Jones, President of 
 the Ruttan Manufacturing Co., of Chicago : 
 
 Our Dry -Closet System, as patented by Isaac D. Smead, March 31, 1885, will convince the most skeptical of 
 its superiority over any other system in use. Two others are practiced. The first and most common is the 
 old vault plan, in which the vault is used until it is filled, when either the building is placed on a new vault 
 and a little earth thrown over the old one : or, during the night, as secretly as possible, the contents of the 
 vault is removed by night-soil scavengers, taken to the limits of the city, where a pit is dug, the excreta 
 dumped in and a few feet of earth or sand covered over. There it lies for years, a festering mass of corrup- 
 tion, a veritable plague spot upon the face of the earth. In the course of time (how near eternity the “time” 
 may approach no one can tell), these disease-breeding particles will be absorbed and changed by the sur- 
 rounding earth ; but this is mainly through the action of the atmosphere and sunlight, the more deeply it is 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 covered the slower tlie action, and the longer the danger continues. However horrible the odors may be, 
 they are not in themselves poisons, but are notices to man, spoken in Nature’s loudest voice, that the penalty 
 for taking the poisons from whence the odors come into man’s system is death. 
 
 The second plan is the Water-Closet system as used in most large cities. It consists in washing all the 
 excreta in pipes, provided for the purpose, from the houses of the city into running streams, or large bodies of 
 water where “in course of time” it becomes so dissipated by the action of the water and atmosphere as to 
 cease to be injurious. There are two very great dangers that we encounter from the use of this system. 
 Sewer gas is a terrible enemy to life, and it requires the work of the most skillful sanitary engineers to merely 
 keep it at bay, as it is ever waiting for its opportunity, through careless workmen or imperfect material, to 
 make its silent and persistent attack. The other danger is in the contamination of drinking water. The 
 people of Chicago, or any other large city, need not be reminded how often there are epidemics of “ bowel 
 complaints.” It is undoubtedly true that “ winter cholera” and other similar epidemics have been caused 
 entirely by sewage contamination in the drinking water. The recent terrible typhoid fever scourge at Ply- 
 mouth, Pa., was at first a very mysterious disease, but the mystery disappeared when the drinking water was 
 analyzed. It was taken from a small river, near the margin of which, some miles above, several privy vaults 
 of a small town had stood for years. The filth so completely saturated the ground that it finally reached 
 the river, thereby contaminating the water, causing great suffering to over one thousand people and death to 
 more than a hundred and fifty, as estimated by Dr. Higgins, of Wilkesbarre. lie detected t he typhoid germ in 
 the water, although it was apparently pure. There is a modification of the water-closet system which many- 
 scientific men, notably, George E. Waring, .Tr., consider much better than the usual one we have named. This 
 consists in having two sets of sewage pipes; one for rain water for roofs and streets; the other for the waste 
 from water-closets, sinks, etc. The first named ,goes into the river or lake as in the former case, while the 
 other is forced by means of pumping machinery some miles from the city and thrown upon the surface of 
 a large tract of ground provided for the purpose, in some cases requiring thousands of acres for a single city. 
 There it is left for the atmosphere to evaporate its moisture when it becomes inoffensive and inoccuous. 
 
 Now let it be noticed that in each case there is danger until the excreta has been acted upon by the 
 atmosphere and the sunlight; and when that exposure has been free and ample, giving every opportunity for 
 evaporation, all danger has passed from it and it is ready to be mingled with “ mother earth.” Mr. Duclaux 
 claims to have recently proven, by experiments with fluids containing known percentages of germs, that 
 sunlight possesses a microbocide power fifty times more eneregtic than heat. The following, taken from the Sanitary 
 News of May 9th, 1885, is only one of thousands of similar cases throughout the United States: 
 
 The authorities of a county jail in Wisconsin are considerably perplexed by a problem of drainage for 
 their institution. The building is located on low ground and within a few hundred feet is a so-called river, 
 which is really nothing but a half-stagnant pond. For ten years the drainage of the institution has been 
 directed towards this “ river,” through an open ditch, without reaching it. The result is that the ditch is full 
 and its contents are spreading out over the low-lying ground. The waste is backing up under the building 
 itself, and the prisoners, of whom there are never less than forty, are suffering greatly with sickness. The 
 county commissioners want somebody to tell them what to do — and, of course, without cost to the county. 
 
 Since such epidemics are avoidable by avoiding the conditions which cause them, it becomes an impera- 
 tive necessity to make the conditions as harmless as possible. 
 
 The old systems confined and covered all human excreta with greatest care. The Dry-Closet system 
 follows an entirely different course. Each inmate of a building requires many thousands of cubic feet of 
 fresh air per day to give him life and health, and in buildings provided with our ventilating and warming 
 apparatus that quantity is abundantly large to absorb far more moisture each day than would be necessary for 
 each individual. We claim that by its use there is absolutely no chance for the excrement to cause disease 
 of any kind; that the necessary apparatus being as simple as the walls, floors, partitions, and doors of the 
 building, will be as permanent as the building itself ; that there will consequently be little or no expense for 
 repairs while the building stands; that when a building is erected the added expense is very small ; that by 
 its use you have no frozen water pipes preventing the use of closets: no unsightly, ill-smelling privies ; no 
 waste pipes breathing forth diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, death. We know it never fails and never can 
 fail when put in as specified by us. School Boards and others who have examined it, without a solitary 
 exception, say they believe it to be far superior to any other form of closet ever built. 
 
28 
 
 NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 We would like here to give building committees some suggestions that come from a wide experience. As Mr. Isaac D. Smead, 
 has successfully warmed and ventilated a larger number of public buildings than any other sanitary engineer living in this country 
 we invite careful attention to what he writes upon the following most important subject. 
 
 HOW TO SELECT WARMING AND VENTILATING APPARATUS. 
 
 “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, 
 
 AND WHICH CANNOT FAIL TO KEEP A MAN IN EVERLASTING IGNORANCE. Tills PRINCIPLE IS, 
 
 contempt prior to examination.” — Dr. Daley. 
 
 0 ~ XE of the greatest farces enacted by any man or set of men, is that one very frequently 
 enacted by boards of education and other committees having in charge the construction of 
 public buildings. Yet, I do not know that they are entirely at fault, nor am I sure that I can 
 make plain a better method than the one usually adopted. They generally know little or 
 nothing about the subject of warming and ventilating or of the various kinds of apparatus in 
 use ; they simply know that they must buy some kind of a heater, and as they work without pay 
 can give but little attention to the matter. They postpone the letting of the contract as long as 
 possible, then invite bids, get themselves in position to be talked to by the “agents” allowing each 
 “ agent” — say thirty minutes to teach them all he knows upon the subject. (Ample time I admit 
 for the majority to tell all they know of the matter, if we may judge of their knowledge by their 
 works ! ! ) But suppose there is among those who bid on the work to be done a careful, com- 
 petent, conservative and experienced engineer, who has given a score of years to the learning of 
 the business, who has had several hundred buildings under his personal supervision, and who is 
 honest enough to acknowledge that he has made many mistakes in the past and is anxious to 
 avoid them in the future, and who may have spent from §200 to §500 in preparing plans and 
 estimates on the building under consideration, and who may have discovered serious errors in 
 original construction or in the plans prepared by the architect; errors which if not corrected 
 would, to his positive knowledge, cause a failure, no matter what apparatus might be used. Can 
 he in thirty minutes time explain all these details and teach the committee a business it has 
 taken him years to learn, or make clear to them a set of plans it may have taken him two weeks 
 to design ? Manifestly not. It is preposterous to suppose he could, and especially if he be met 
 with and have to deny or explain a lot of statements that some “agent ” or visionary “ salesman ” 
 may have presented to the committee before his appearance. They (the “agents”) may have told 
 the committee that away down in some obscure corner of some distant state, “ away back when 
 Adam was a boy,” the Ruttan System was a failure, and that the systems used by all others than 
 themselves had “been used by the Chinese four thousand years ago.” And after answering all 
 these statements, how much time is left him of this “thirty minutes” in which to explain to the 
 committee who cast the vote, and of whom perhaps not more than two or three know the 
 difference between a plan of a building and a map of Europe. How much time I say has the 
 engineer left to explain his methods as represented probably by an expensive set of drawings 
 absolutely necessary to the proper execution of the contract ? First-class work in any line always 
 costs more than second or fourth-class, and as it is fair to suppose that the student knows more 
 than he who has never studied , it is as fair to presume that a carefully prepared estimate is 
 higher than one that is “guessed at.” 
 
 I can assure the reader that it is often mighty up-hill work to get a majority vote for the 
 best apparatus from the wise men who have devoted possibly three hours to the question. I was 
 recently given an hour in which to answer the arguments (?) of four “salesmen,” three of whom 
 had never warmed a building one-third the size of the one under consideration, and to explain a 
 
NORTH COTT STINK, KLMIKA, N. V. 
 
 2 !) 
 
 set of plans it had cost me §200 to prepare (no designs had been submitted by the others). I 
 was also asked to make plain to these wise men why my bid, on which there was not a profit to 
 exceed ten per cent, was over §4,000 higher than any of the others submitted and more than §0,000 
 more than the lowest. It could not be done , and I refused to attempt it, and the cheapest apparatus 
 was voted in by the executive committee, but the vote was afterwards reconsidered and, owing 
 to the earnest, honest efforts of a few members, faithful to the best interests of those who would 
 be obliged to occupy the building (a state university), the contract was awarded to me. There 
 are many “agents ” running around the country selling “hot-air furnaces” and steam fixtures 
 whose stock argument is that someone else has made a failure somewhere (and that generally a 
 long distance off), and who know no more about the business of successful engineering than the 
 average “quack” who hawks “patent medicine” about the country knows of surgery. No 
 matter how the building may have been planned and constructed, “it is all right,” and all the 
 occupant requires to complete his happiness is the possession of their “ Eureka ” or “ Florida.” 
 “Any hardware dealer or steamfftter can set it in position, and any ten year old boy can manage 
 it, and no matter what the quantity of fuel used the result will be the same!” They will 
 recommend, say a 50-inch furnace for a residence containing 20,000 cubic feet, and two of the 
 same size for a church or opera house containing 200,000 cubic feet, and of course in the latter 
 instance there can be but one result and that, failure. Now I have, and at a considerable length, 
 stated the condition of affairs as they exist, and the reader would like some recommendation as 
 to the course to be pursued by a committee who wish to avoid the errors referred to. I can only 
 urge investigation / honest, careful investigation. The principles governing the question of 
 warming and ventilating are easily understood, but the reader must bear in mind that the 
 successful application of these principles depends upon the knowledge and skill of the engineer 
 in charge of the work, and his knowledge and skill depends largely upon his experience. Con- 
 cerning this, the customer must decide, and it is for this reason I have presented for consideration 
 a large amount of evidence attesting the success of the work I have done. I do not claim that 
 in an experience of twenty years I have made no mistakes, either in construction or estimates. 
 I have made many , but never the same one twice to my knowledge, and have corrected all at mg 
 own expense, whenever possible for me to do so. 
 
 ISAAC D. SMEAD, 
 
 II arming and Ventilating Engineer. 
 
30 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 STEAM HEATING 
 
 THE RUTTAN-SMEAD SYSTEM. 
 
 WING to the general failure of “ Hot Air Furnaces” for warming large buildings, and to the fact that 
 
 \J enough steam pipe can be put into a building to make it hot, some who have observed the working o{ 
 both, and who have never seen the Ruttan-Smead System of Ventilation, or the Ruttan-Smead Air Warm- 
 ers, have come to the conclusion that Steam Heating is the only successful method in operation. After an 
 experience of nearly twenty years, and an opportunity to test in over fifteen hundred buildings, we do not hesitate 
 to state the following reasons why, for the warming and ventilation of School Buildings, Opera Houses, 
 Churches, Jails and Private Dwellings, the Ruttan-Smead Air Warmers are better than any Steam Heating 
 apparatus yet invented. 
 
 1. Because .ne first cost of the Ruttan-Smead is from one-third to two-thirds less than for first-class 
 Steam Heating. 
 
 2. Expense for fuel is from one-third to three-fifths less. 
 
 3. Expense for janitor to care for the Ruttan-Smead is about one-half less than for engineer to care for 
 Steam apparatus. 
 
 4. Thorough ventilation in a school room cannot be secured with Steam apparatus, at anything like a 
 reasonable cost, and is not secured at all where direct radiation is used, and never, either with direct or 
 indirect, when temperature outside of building is 12° below zero. 
 
 5. There is no possible danger from explosion with the Air Warmers, while with Steam there is constant 
 danger, whether the pressure be “ high ” or “ low.” 
 
 6. There are no water pipes to freeze, burst, and let water all through the building, ruining plaster and 
 furniture. 
 
 7. Repairs for Steam Boilers, pumps and Pipes, will cost in ten years ten limes as much as for the Ruttan, 
 and must always be made by a skilled steam-fitter, while any janitor who is competent to sweep a room, can 
 replace broken or worn-out castings in the Air Warmers. 
 
 8. The Ruttan-Smead will warm and ventilate a building during any kind of weather, no matter how hard 
 the wind blows or how low the mercury, while Steam contractors will seldom guarantee with mercury 12° below zero. 
 
 9. The Ruttan-Smead Air Warmers are set in connection with strong and important patents, on a plan of 
 ventilation that no Steam contractor can use. 
 
 10. Because with the Ruttan-Smead a building can be warmed in one hour from the time fires are fairly 
 burning, while from four to six hours are required with Steam apparatus. 
 
 11. Three-fifths of the force generated by the burning fuel in Steam apparatus is lost in the form of 
 mechanical motion, and does not appear as temperature in the rooms, while with the Ruttan seven-eighths 
 appears in room as temperature, and one-eighth only is lost. 
 
 12. With the Ruttan-Smead absolute uniformity of temperature can be secured throughout a building, 
 while with Steam Heating apparatus rooms a distance from the boiler are generally from ten to fifteen degrees 
 colder during cold and windy weather. 
 
Sf r 3rvwbndgt/Mtf> 'ffltdo, 0 
 
 STOVE HEATING. 
 
 The Lady is too warm, and has lowered the window from the top to remedy the difficulty. 
 Children often suffer by being in the stratum of cold air near the floor, while the heads of 
 their mothers, or nurse's, or teachers, are in a higher and hotter stratum. This is the condi- 
 tion of school rooms heated by .stores or steam coils. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF LITHOGRAPHS. 
 
 D URING the past few years much lias been said and written upon the subject of heating, each 
 manufacturer of apparatus claiming his to be the best. That the public may clearly under- 
 stand the different methods, and thus be enabled to easily decide which plan to adopt, I have, at 
 a great expense, published the cuts on pages 31 , 32 , 33 and 34 , showing the exact condition ol aii 
 in rooms under all plans , viz. : Grates, Stoves, Steam Coils, and warm air from a fmnace. lhe 
 red represents the warm air, and the gray the cold air. Cut “ I represents the ventilation of a 
 room directly into a Hue through a register (at base of room), or it may be done through an open 
 grate. This is the plan we usually adopt when called upon to warm and ventilate an old building, 
 as it is not always either convenient or possible to exhaust the air from the room nuclei the flooi, 
 as shown in cut “ G.” The plan represented in cut “ G” can always be successfully introduced m 
 a building during its construction, and the floors warmed by the heat that is lost , where the ventila- 
 tion is direct. Under no circumstances do we ever permit t he use of our Heating Apparatus except 
 in connection with one of these plans, as shown in cuts “ F ’ and “ G. It is hardly possible to 
 exactly represent on paper a substance that cannot be seen (air) and especially to represent it in 
 its almost constant condition — motion. The especial object of these lithographs is to represent 
 the position of air at different temperatures, as indicated by thermometer. 
 
 Note— W e desire to call especial attention to the fact that in the recommendation of the passing of warm 
 air under floors, as shown in cut “ G,” we refer only to passing it under floor after its use in the room and do 
 not recommend the wild scheme of those who would pass the warm air directly from furnace to the space 
 under the floor, as we do not consider the latter plan free from danger of taking fire, while the one we do recom- 
 mend is entirely free from all objections, and results in a saving of fuel of about one-third over direct ventila- 
 tion, as nearly' all the heat contained in the exhausting air is imparted to the floor, while in direct ventilation 
 all the heat is lost as soon as the air passes through ventilating register. 
 
 31 
 
Register closed to keep warm, and no other means provided for the escape of anyth 
 room soon becomes pressed fall of hot air, producing much headache, discomfort and 
 and furnace heating condemned. This is the present condition of most rooms in winter, 
 
 WHERE HOT-AIR FURNACES ARE USED. 
 
 This is better ; the register is open and relieves the room of cold and bad air down to 
 that point, but still leaves a stratum of cold, foul air at the floor, causing the frequent 
 complaint of cold feet and hot heads. 
 
 32 
 

WARMING BY AN OPEN FIRE. 
 
 PUBLISHED m 
 
 Stink &. C 
 
 
 cov-0 
 
 DIRECT RADIATION — ( Exclusively .) Feet cold and head loo hot. 
 
 Owing to the common mistaken belief that the breath rise&pffienings are generally made at the top of 
 the room, but as they let all the rearm air out and leave the occupied portions cold and foul, they 
 are always closed in winter, and consequently such ventilation (?) has well earned the reputa- 
 tion of humbug. 
 
CORRECT WHEN HEATING AND VENTILATING BY WARM AIR. Tbe abOVC plan can be 
 
 built into buildings already constructed, and successfully too, provided there is some 
 one in charge who knows how to do it. 
 
 By this plan the floors are warmed, and only one Ventilating Chimney is necessary. The 
 above also represents Isaac D. Sinead’s system of “continuous ventilation” referred to on 
 pages 21, 75 and 76. 
 
 34 
 
XORTIICOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE ROOK PUBLISHED IN 1802 . 
 
 li Y H ON. HENRY R U T T A N 
 
 t LTHOUGH a pioneer upon ventilation upon the “exhaustion principle,” I cannot of course expect 
 J\ entire immunity from criticism. In extenuation, however, and in justification of myself, I am 
 bound to say that such has been the lengthened period of time which has elapsed — more than nineteen 
 y r ears — since I first engaged in my experiments upon the subject, and I have, in some minor points, been so 
 •closely followed up, that my first suggestions have, and may now perhaps, properly be considered old. I have 
 no doubt but that some may be surprised to hear me call them my inventions ; yet if those who question 
 their originality as claimed by me will but think back to the year L843, they will fail to find at that period 
 .any traces of the points in question originating anywhere except by me. However, I am not jealous or 
 envious upon this subject; I am only too glad to find that the subject of ventilation has been progressing. 
 I only demand that the credit upon points to which I allude shall be given where it is due. 
 
 After many years of hard work, and the expenditure of thousands of dollars, I venture to launch forth 
 the result of my experiments in relation to the warming and ventilation of buildings. 
 
 Having read everything that I could lay my hand upon regarding the subject, and predicating my 
 experiments upon the information thus obtained, I invariably, at the end of each experiment, found myself 
 at fault, and just as far from accomplishing the object I had in view as ever, producing nothing more than 
 had been obtained before me, until at last I gave it up. 
 
 Still revolving the subject in my mind I was struck with the similarity of idea running through the 
 principle which so many learned men had adopted. So eminently is this the case, that when a person has 
 read one of these authors, he has, so far as regards the principle of a natural process of ventilation, read 
 them all ; and this is readily accounted for by the fact that nearly all these men lived in the Old Country, 
 where they have a comparatively mild climate, and 'where a system graduated to that climate was needed. 
 Living, as I did, in a cold climate, my object was to work out a plan which would not only secure a change 
 of air, but also insure warmth and an equalized temperature. 
 
 Now, here was an entirely new field, which no one had trodden before me ; the warming as well as 
 the ventilation of a building, in a cold climate, by natural means, and by one and the same process. So, 
 throwing aside my books, I resumed the experiments, and soon found that no natural process of warming 
 and ventilation could be produced unless natural laws were obeyed throughout; that we could not bend 
 these to our wills, nor in any one jot or tittle contravene them with impunity. 
 
 Several reasons may be assigned why we have never yet, in the colder parts of America, attained to t he 
 system of ventilation ; I say the system, because there can be but one. The fact is that our experimenters 
 hitherto have never made any distinction in the climates of different countries, but have derived their 
 ideas from what has been said and done in Europe, which, however applicable they may have been in 
 those countries, are in many cases worse than useless when applied to the northern parts of this 
 continent. 
 
 Another reason may be found in the fact that our architects, also copying from the books written in 
 the milder countries of Europe, where little provision for either warming or ventilation was required, have 
 never considered themselves responsible for either, and therefore have never turned their attention to the 
 study of either. 
 
 A third reason, and one which has operated more powerfully against it than either of the preceding, is 
 the ignorance w r hich has hitherto prevailed as to its necessity. This, however, is now rapidly giving way 
 before the light which has of late years been shed upon the subject ; and I think a continuation of the same 
 views will soon consummate its complete overthrow. 
 
 The chief thing now required to the general adoption of a system of warming and ventilation, by 
 proprietors of buildings, is persons who will carry it out. For this purpose it is necessary that our architects 
 and builders should learn how; and however presumptuous it may appear to those gentlemen for me, as a 
 non-professional man, to attempt to teach them, nevertheless that is the object I have in view in publishing 
 
36 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 this book. We must have men, such as we never had before — architects and builders for a cold climate. 
 They must learn to provide the building with lungs, for unless it breathes the inmates cannot breathe. 
 A man might as well trust to the pores of his body as channels through which to obtain the requisite supply 
 of air, as for a builder or family to trust to cracks and crevices, or the occasional opening of a door, for 
 purposes of ventilation. 
 
 A man may be what is called a good mechanic— he may form a piece of work after a model, and make 
 what is called a “good job,” by manual labor alone; but he will never become a master in his trade or 
 calling whose powers of mind have no part in the performance. He must look into the reason of things ; 
 he must exercise and accustom his mind to comprehend — to grasp the whole subject, of which every stroke 
 he strikes, or every stone or brick he lays, is but an infinitesimally small part. It is such a person, and such 
 only, who ought ever to be permitted to meddle with the ventilation of our buildings. 
 
 Knowing the distrust with which all new ideas are received, of course I cannot expect entire immunity 
 from those whose prejudices have, by long custom and habit, become so fixed as to be utterly ineradicable; 
 but from the young architect and builder, and from citizens generally, I hope fora fair, honest and candid 
 trial, and mv confidence that I shall receive it, is strengthened by the multiplied indications of progress by 
 which we are all surrounded. It is to this class, therefore, that I more especially address myself. 
 
 OUR SENSES. 
 
 It must seem to many an apprentice, brick -layer and joiner, a strange proceeding for me to attempt to 
 convert him to a new theory, by first attacking his senses of hearing, seeing, feeling and smelling, by the 
 statement that they are all at fault, and that none of them are to be depended upon ! Yet I can assure him 
 that such is actually the case, and that in this inquiry he will invariably be led astray if he places any 
 confidence in them, irrespective of the philosophical examination of the laws of nature. 
 
 Of all the means, says Dr. Lardner, of estimating physical effects, the most obvious, and those upon 
 which mankind place the strongest confidence, are the senses. The eye, the ear and the touch, are 
 appealed to by the whole world as the unerring witness of the presence or absence, the qualities and degrees 
 of light and color, sound and heat; but these witnesses, when submitted to the scrutiny of reason, and 
 cross-examined, so to speak, become involved in inexplicable confusion and contradiction, and speedily 
 stand self-convicted of palpable falsehood. Not only are our organs of sensation not the best witnesses to 
 which we can appeal for exact information of the qualities of the objects which surround us, but they are the 
 most fallible guides which can be selected. Not only do they fail in declaring the qualities or degrees of the 
 physical principles to which they are by nature severally adapted, but they often inform us of the presence 
 of a quality which is absent, and of the absence of a quality which is present. 
 
 The organs of sense were never designed by nature as instruments of scientific inquiry ; and had they 
 been so constituted they would probably have been unfit for the ordinary purposes of life. It is well 
 observed by Locke “that an eye adapted to discover the intimate constitution of the atoms which form the 
 hand of a clock, might be, from the very nature of its mechanism, incapable of informing its owner of the 
 hour indicated by the same hand.” 
 
 The term heat, in its ordinary acceptation, is used to express a feeling or sensation which is produced in 
 us when we touch a hot body. We say that the heat of a body is more or less intense, according to the degree 
 in which the feeling or sensation is produced in us. The touch by which we acquire the perception of heat, 
 like the eye, ear and other organs, is endowed with a sensibility confined within certain limits; and even 
 within these, we do not possess any exact power of perceiving or measuring the degree or quality by which 
 the sense is effected. If we take two heavy bodies in the hand, we shall in many cases be able to declare 
 that one is heavier than the other, but in what degree, or how much, our senses fail to inform us. 
 
 If we look at two objects, differently illuminated, we shall, in the same way, be in some cases able to 
 declare which is the more splendid, but the exact difference in the illumination we shall be unable to decide. 
 It is the same with heat. If the temperature of two bodies be very different, the touch will sometimes inform 
 us which is the hotter; but if they be nearly equal, we shall be unable to decide which has the greater and 
 which the less temperature. 
 
 Feeling can never inform us of the quantity of heat which a body contains, much less the relative quan- 
 tities contained in two bodies. Heat, in its latent state, can never be felt at all ; for example, ice-cold water 
 and ice appear to be of the same temperature, but the difference is considerable. 
 
 If we hold the hand in water which has a temperature of about 90°, after the agitation shall have ceased 
 we become wholly insensible of its presence, and shall be unconscious that the hand is in contact with any 
 body whatever. We shall of course be altogether unconscious of the temperature of the water. Having 
 held both hands in this, let us remove the one to water of a temperature of 200°, and the other to water of 32°. 
 After holding the hands for some time in this manner, let them both be removed and again inserted in the 
 water at 90°, and immediately we shall become sensible of warmth in the one and cold in the other. If, 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 therefore, the touch be in this case taken as the evidence of temperature, the same water will be judged to 
 be hot and cold at the same time. 
 
 If in the heat of summer, we descend into a cave, we are sensible of cold ; but if in winter, we have a 
 sensation of warmth. Now, a thermometer suspended in the cave will always show the same temperature. 
 
 Thus we see that the sensation of heat depends as much upon the state of our own bodies as upon the 
 several agencies which excite the sensation. If we step out of a warm bath into air at the same temperature, 
 we shall experience a sensation of coldness, because air being a more rare and attenuated substance, a less 
 number of its particles are in contact with the body. 
 
 If we step into a room of a high temperature, say 120°, the carpet will feel cool, and the tiles of the hearth 
 or chimney-piece will be insupportably hot. If we enter a room of low temperature, say 32°, the reverse is 
 the case — the carpet will feel warm and the tiles and chimney-piece cold, yet the temperature is the same. 
 If we wrap a thermometer in a blanket, and lay another upon a piece of marble, in a room of any tempera- 
 ture, the indications will be the same in both cases, yet to the touch the two bodies will be very different — 
 the one will feel cold and the other warm. 
 
 The air of a room has to our sight no color, yet we know it is blue. We know r that the sea is green, yet 
 there is not the slightest indication of color in a glass full of the water. If, as we have seen, we remove our 
 hands from water at 200°, to that which is at a temperature of 100°, it feels cold, yet we know it i,s warm. If 
 therefore, the senses of seeing and feeling, and in fact all others, are so imperfect, or rather, I should say 
 such erring guides, is it not reasonable that in all matters relating to our health we should have recourse 
 to sources of information other than those which we know may lead us astray ? 
 
 Of all the organs of sense, that whose nervous mechanism appears to be the most easily deadened by 
 excessive action is that of smelling. The most delightful odors can only be enjoyed occasionally, and for 
 short intervals. The scent of the rose, or the still more delicate odor of the magnolia, can be but fleeting 
 pleasures, and are destined only for occasional enjoyment. He who lives in a garden cannot smell a rose, 
 and the wood-cutter in the southern forests is insensible to the odor of the magnolia. 
 
 Persons who indulge in the use of artificial scents soon cease to be conscious of their presence, and can 
 only stimulate their jaded organs by continually changing the objects of their enjoyment. 
 
 But every day’s experience must convince the most careless observer how little dependence can be 
 placed upon the sense of smell. We move into a new tenement, for instance, and we are at once sensible of 
 a difference of smell ; but in a very few days we become accustomed and perfectly insensible to it. We walk 
 into a different apartment of the same building even, perhaps our own, and we are distinctly sensible of a 
 peculiarity of odor, but which soon passes away if we remain in the room. We notice the loathing with 
 which a person enters one of our prisons; in a few days, however, he ceases to complain. Pass from the pure 
 air into an unventilated bedroom which has been occupied the night previous by a lodger, and you at once 
 become sensible of an almost intolerable smell, yet the person who occupied it was unable to detect anything 
 of the sort. It is just so in the case of badly ventilated houses- — the inmates soon become so accustomed to 
 the foul air they are continually breathing, that it is an almost hopeless task to convince them that it is any- 
 thing but the most pure. In short, such is the uncertainty of our organs, that, delicate and refined as they 
 may be, if our health depended solely upon their indications, they would be worse than useless to the human 
 family. 
 
 It is indeed wisely ordered that our organs of sense should be constituted for active and practical use, 
 rather than that they should, by the delicacy or grossness of their sensation, render us miserable; and it is 
 especially so with the eye. It has already been observed that the eye, which was capable of discovering the 
 atoms of which the hands of a clock are composed, would fail to inform us of the hour indicated by the same 
 hand. It may be added that a pair of telescopic eyes, which would discover the molecules and population of 
 a distant planet, would ill requite the spectator for the loss of that rude power of vision necessary to guide 
 his steps through the city he inhabits, and to recognize the friends who surround him. 
 
 But, although no dependence can be placed upon the manifestations of our senses as to what may be 
 good or evil, useful or injurious, yet the Almighty has endowed man with a mind, and a capacity to investi- 
 gate, scientifically, all subjects connected with his physical existence; and this he is as much bound to do as 
 he is to investigate those laws which are placed before us as a guide in our moral existence. 
 
 If, therefore, by ordinary observation, we cannot see the contaminations of the atmosphere we breathe, 
 or detect its fetid odor, this is no more a reason why Ave should set at defiance all experience, both personal 
 and scientific, than it would be for a man who would swallow a poisonous drug merely because he could 
 perceive no difference, either in color or substance, between it and a cup of tea. 
 
 With these facts before us, establishing most clearly the fallibility of our senses, and their liability to 
 lead us astray, it obviously becomes necessary for us to go to some other source for reliable knowledge in 
 relation to the subject in hand. We find this knowledge furnished by science in its interpretation of-natural 
 phenomena; so let us go to that with our minds divested of all prejudice, and with a firm determination to 
 seek only after truth. 
 
3S 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 WHAT VENTILATION IS. 
 
 Ventilation is said to be of two kinds — natural and mechanical. With the latter mode we have nothing 
 to do, as, even were it the better way, it can never, from its expensiveness, be made available for the 
 “million,” — which is the great object I have in view. It would be no difficult matter, however, to show that 
 mechanical ventilation can never be made as effectual as a natural or spontaneous ventilation. It obtained 
 in an early period, before the natural laws which govern the motions of air were inquired into; and such is 
 the effect of the prejudice and ignorance derived from those times, that it is still extant in England, and 
 America also, to some extent. In this mode fans, blowers, pumps, etc., are set in motion by steam or any 
 other convenient power, and the air propelled or drawn in such direction and quantity as may be required. 
 
 The ventilation of a building is ordinarily accepted to be the removal of the foul air from within, and 
 its replenishment by pure air from without. This is true so far as it goes, but several other points, of 
 hardly less importance, must be taken into account also. We must not only effect a change of air, but in 
 our climate, and particularly in the winter, the requisite temperature must be imparted to it, and it must be 
 moved through the building in such a manner that currents of all sorts shall be avoided as far as possible. 
 
 Our dwelling stands at the bottom of an ocean of air forty miles deep. We erect brick, stone or wooden 
 walls about us, and therefore we must find means to get so much of this ocean of air through the building as 
 may be sufficient for our purpose. By opening windows, doors or other apertures on opposite sides of our 
 house we can probably get a current of air through the building at certain points. Now, even if we could 
 stand this in stormy or winter weather, and by night and day, still it would not be ventilation, because there 
 would be only a partial removal or change of air. Every particle and atom of air must go out, or of course the 
 process is not perfect. Currents of air, however, through a building, even if they would change the air 
 (which they certainly cannot do, be the process ever so ingeniously contrived), cannot be tolerated in this 
 cold climate, especially in winter, which is the very time when we need the most ventilation. The whole 
 body of air in each apartment must move together, and every local current necessary to its motion must be so guarded 
 and concealed that no inconvenience can be fell by the inmates. 
 
 VENTILATION OF SCHOOL ROOMS. 
 
 It is usually estimated that what with the destruction by the lungs and cutaneous transpiration and 
 other emanations from the body, every child will contaminate, so as to render it unfit for healthy breathing, 
 seven cubic feet per minute. A school-room, 40 by 20 feet on the ground and eighteen feet high, contains 
 fourteen thousand four hundred cubic feet, so that in about twenty minutes one hundred pupils will con- 
 taminate this whole body. The opening of a door (or two doors, if they are both on one side or one end) of 
 a room destitute of any open flue, will cause no change of the air in such room to speak of; because, if the 
 air cannot get out it cannot come in a room ; but we will allow, from this cause and from the air which 
 comes in through the cracks and crevices, one cubic foot of air to come into such a room every minute. 
 This fourteen hundred and forty feet every twenty-four hours will renew the air only once in ten days, so 
 that for all practical purposes the ventilation from doors, and cracks, and crevices amounts to nothing. 
 
 If, then, the whole body of air within this school room be contaminated in twenty minutes, what state 
 must the air be in at the end of even one day of eight hours, when it must of necessity have been subjected 
 to the same deterioration twenty -four times ! What at the end of one /week (the same body of air having 
 been carefully locked up every night for use the next day) when the emanations from the lungs and bodies 
 of these hundred children will have been added 144 times! in four weeks, 576 times! in a twenty-weeks’ 
 winter, 11,520 times ! The very walls, and especially the ceiling, of such a room become so impregnated as 
 to affect visitors’ olfactories to such an extent as to affect the stomach. This fact is within the experience 
 of all persons who are in the habit of occasionally entering an old school house, even when no pupils are 
 within it. Such appears to be the subtlety of this poison absorbed by the walls, ceiling and floor of a school 
 room, that a whole summer’s sweep of air through it has no perceptible effect in its extraction ; the very day 
 that it is again closed up for the winter the same smell of corruption is just as apparent as the year before. 
 
 “The condensed air of a crowded room,” says one of our first chemists, “ gives a deposit which, if 
 allowed to remain a few days, forms a solid, thick and glutinous mass, having a strong odor of animal matter. 
 If examined by a microscope, it is seen to undergo a remarkable change. First of all it is changed into a 
 vegetable growth, and this is followed by the production of multitudes of animalcule — a decisive proof that 
 it must contain organic matter, otherwise it could not nourish organic beings.” 
 
 Dr. Hiller, Secretary of the Metropolitan Medical Association, says : 
 
 “ In consequence of the ill construction and bad ventilation of the school houses in and about London, 
 seven thousand children between the ages of five and fifteen years annually lose their lives from these 
 causes alone.” 
 
NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. V. 
 
 39 
 
 Hear, again, another veteran in the medical profession : 
 
 “The occupation of such rooms being the lot of the larger portion of the rising generation, who can 
 wonder that our race is degenerating in physical powers? Who can doubt that such a state of things pre- 
 pares the soil and sows the seeds which in due time spring up into that luxuriant harvest of ailments and 
 complaints which is reaped by the victims of our school rooms? 
 
 “The stupefying effects of dark, venous blood poured through the brain is unhappily most apparent 
 where there is expected to be the highest degree of mental activity. School rooms should be provided with 
 due means of ventilation, by which a constant supply of pure air may be maintained; the inattention, dull- 
 ness and sleepiness of pupils are but the natural and inevitable consequences of taking into the system a 
 vitiated and poisonous atmosphere. It would be wise for teachers who are afflicted with pupils of dull and 
 stupid intellect to inquire how far the stimulus of pure air might be advantageously substituted for flogging. 
 
 “The tender, sensitive child, that sits and reads and learns his lesson, and perhaps cannot learn his 
 lesson, and stupifies, and pines, and droops, and maybe has scarce a smile to expect when his task is done, 
 yields day by day to his atmospheric foes. Day by day, and as he loses the first start of life, his lungs play 
 less freely, his blood circulates more slowly, his chest contracts, his limbs pine away, his digestion is 
 disordered, and before long he is delivered over to the tender care of the man who gallops in every other 
 day, sends whole bales of pills and draughts, and soon settles either the life or the constitution of his 
 unfortunate patient. 
 
 “ It is needless to urge that danger to the health and life of the child is so remote and trifling as to be 
 unworthy of consideration. The reverse is the case. Instances are constantly occurring in which the seeds 
 of disease are gathered in the close and polluted air of the school room, to ripen into premature decay and 
 an early death. Many parents can call to mind the frequent complaints of their children who have 
 returned from school rooms, feverish and pale, laboring under a depression of spirits and lassitude of body. 
 A passing emotion of compassion may have attributed their appearance to confinement and study, neither of 
 which is productive of evil effects, unless accompanied by an atmosphere rank with impurity, habits 
 opposed to cleanliness and health, and a loss of comfort and necessary' recreation. 
 
 “ In a school room with no means of ventilation, and containing from fifty to one hundred scholars, the 
 air breathed by each different pair of lungs loses its vital properties, and becomes loaded with the impurities 
 and infections thrown off from numerous systems. To contend that there is in this no danger to the health 
 of the child is folly. The temporary symptoms of suffering may disappear with the habit which occasioned 
 them, but the tendencies of disease linger in the system, awaiting some predisposing cause to develop their 
 active strength and hurry their victim to an untimely grave. 
 
 “These statements are no exaggeration of the evil, for exaggeration is impossible. Still, the evil is 
 allowed to exist, because its first manifestations are not in a form that appalls and terrifies. Its approach is 
 slow and insidious; the operation proceeds in secret. At length the frame, racked with pain, a mind 
 debilitated, unbalanced or diseased, powers of usefulness or enjoyment destroyed, are the fatal results of a 
 few years spent in a crowded and heated school room. For all these consequences the prevention is of the 
 simplest character. The most ordinary mechanical contrivance will insure pure air to the child and 
 happiness to the man. That is a costly economy which sacrifices sound health and disregards the danger 
 of disease to save a trifling expense.” 
 
 WINTER VENTILATION OF A RAILWAY CAR. 
 
 An ordinary railway carriage contains something under three thousand cubic feet of air. Supposing 
 there to be sixty passengers inside of this vehicle, and that by the lungs and the cutaneous and other 
 transpiration each one contaminates ten cubic feet of this air every minute, it is evident that in about five 
 minutes the whole body within the car will have been contaminated. We can form some estimate, therefore, 
 of the intensity or concentration of this contamination when, at the end of a winter’s night, of say fifteen 
 hours, the whole body has been thus rendered filthy' five times an hour — seventy-five times during the 
 night! It is useless to point to the “ ventilators” through the roof of the car, for not a particle of air can go 
 out of them for the whole fifteen hours, except a little puff perhaps at the opening of a door, for I have 
 already' explained and proved that no air can leave an air-tight apartment unless that same quantity be let 
 into it; and we all know from experience that none of the windows will be allowed to be opened during a 
 winter’s night. 
 
 The lungs of every adult person take in a pint of air at every' breath, and this about twenty times a 
 minute, so that into this small, tight box of a carriage there are poured twelve hundred pints of matter every 
 minute, the reeking contents of the lungs and stomachs of these sixty’ passengers, some of them consump- 
 tives, and many others, mayhap, redolent of brandy and tobacco! It is quite bad enough for a person to take 
 in, a second time, the effluvia from his own lungs and stomach, but how exceedingly disgusting is the idea 
 of taking in the emanations, not onlv from the stomach and lungs but other parts of the body, of so promis- 
 cuous a crowd, for the space of fifteen hours, the matter becoming more and more putrid every minute! 
 
40 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 Is it not a wonderful provision of nature that life can be sustained under such circumstances? and is it 
 not beyond all comprehension that an intelligent community quietly submits to and tolerates such a state of 
 things? 
 
 Now, couple with this the sufferings endured from cold feet, which rest all night upon an ice-cold floor, 
 while the head is in a bath of human filth nearly up to blood-heat. 
 
 WHAT IS HEAT ? 
 
 You cannot contravene the laws of nature ; but if you will work with and assist her, she will cause a 
 whole building and every apartment to inhale pure air, and exhale that which has been vitiated, just as 
 naturally as the lungs of an animal do. Heat plays an important part in these operations, not only as a 
 warming agent, but as a means for securing and continuing this healthy action. It is therefore proper that 
 we should devote a little space to the consideration of its relations to ventilation. 
 
 Cold is merely a relative term ; it has no existence as a positive agent or force, and is simply an absence 
 of heat. Of heat we know nothing, except through its effects. What it really is has puzzled many a wise 
 philosopher to satisfactorily explain; therefore we shall not presume to theorize on the subject. As stated in 
 the preface, we only have to do with practical matters, with just so much of science involved as will aid us in 
 our explanations. We know that heat enters into the substance of all bodies, producing greater or less 
 results, according to its intensity. We also know that its tendency is to pass from one body to another until 
 they all become equally heated, and the colder a body is when brought in contact with a hot one, the faster 
 will it take up heat. For instance, take three bars of iron, one at the ordinary temperature of the air, the 
 second just bordering on a red heat and the third white-hot. Place these together, the hottest in the middle, 
 and the cold bar will receive far more heat from it than the one nearly red-hot. This proves that the colder 
 a body by which you seek to extract heat from a hot one, the greater the quantity that will be obtained. 
 Another illustration may assist in bringing out the idea more clearly. Take three pieces of sponge ; let one 
 be perfectly dry, another about half saturated and the third perfectly filled with water. Bind these together, 
 and that which has the least water, namely, the perfectly dry one, will receive more from the one fully 
 saturated than the partly-filled sponge will. We all have experienced the fact that we lose heat from our 
 bodies much more rapidly in a very cold day than in one not so cold, which is accounted for by the increased 
 difference of temperature between our bodies and the air. 
 
 This passage of heat from one body to another is called radiation, and it not only occurs in the case of 
 solid bodies, but fluids and gases also radiate heat, though to a much less extent than solids. It is radiant 
 heat which warms us from stoves and fire-places. 
 
 Bodies are said to conduct heat when they will take it up and transmit it from particle to particle, the 
 whole substance becoming heated. For instance, if one end of a copper or iron rod is held in the fire, the 
 heat will gradually creep along through the metal until the rod becomes heated the whole length. Solid 
 bodies conduct heat much more readily than liquids, and liquids more readily than gases. Air, in fact, is the 
 poorest conductor of heat known, being almost absolutely a non-conductor, unless it contains considerable 
 moisture. Air, however, though it does not conduct heat — that is, transmit it from particle to particle — will 
 carry it by its own motion. For example, if you bring cold air into direct contact with a hot cannon ball, each 
 particle of air receives more or less heat, and, becoming lighter in proportion as it is heated, immediately 
 rises, giving place to other particles which, receiving their share of heat, also rise, thus creating an upward 
 current of warm air from the hot body. 
 
 Now, this is just what we want to get at. We cannot heat the air by radiation, for the heat-rays will 
 pass directly through, without warming it a particle ; and as we wish to warm the air in order to warm the 
 apartments through which it is to pass, the only way left us is to bring the air in direct contact with 
 some hot substance, so that it may take up heat in the manner just mentioned, and then pass in through the 
 building we wish to warm. 
 
 This brings us to the question of fuel. What arrangement shall we construct, by means of which we can 
 heat the proper amount of air to the desired temperature, and have as little waste of heat as possible? 
 
 It has for many years been an impression on my mind, as I have no doubt it has been upon the minds of 
 most inquiring people, that there was a great deficiency in the generation of heat, as well as in its application 
 to the warming of our buildings ; in short, a great waste of our fuel. 
 
 We should consider that it is the air in the room that is cold, nothing else. The question, then, is: 
 Which can I do the cheapest, warm the air where it is or get rid of it and replace it by other air that shall 
 Lave been warmed? 
 
 All our aim, all our experiments, and all our practice, have hitherto been predicated upon the supposition 
 that the body of air within the room was to be heated. Down to the year 1843, when I first began my 
 experiments, our fire-places, our stoves, and our hot-air machinery, were all directed to this end, namely, the 
 heating of the air already in the room. If we have but one apartment (and it is the mere heating of this that 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 41 
 
 is required), I believe that the most economical way is by the common stove ; but when we have several 
 apartments, the cheapest way of warming them is by means of other air. Indeed, there is no other way of 
 effecting this object — the warming of several rooms from one source of heat (unless that source be placed in 
 each apartment), than by substituting other and warmed air for that already within the room. 
 
 I once thought that several apartments might be warmed from the one in which the stove stood, and 
 instituted many experiments predicated upon this supposition, but for all practical purposes they turned out 
 failures. By making apertures at the top and bottom of the division wall between the stove-room and the 
 cold room adjoining, a change of temperature would take place; but, notwithstanding the stove was made red- 
 hot, and the room in which it stood much to warm for a person to live in, yet the adjoining room, in a zero 
 day, could not be brought up to over forty-five degrees at the center. 
 
 This I found was entirely owing to the want of a sufficiently rapid circulation. The difference of tempera- 
 ture between the top and bottom of an apartment, inducing vertical movements more or less rapid according 
 to its height, together with the direct radiation from the hot metal in the body of the immediately surround- 
 ing air, will warm a room, but it is doubtful whether the mere circulation derived from a difference of 
 temperature merely would be sufficient to warm it, much less an adjoining room. Indeed, my experiments 
 have convinced me that it is impossible to warm several apartments by one common stove, manage it how 
 you will. If, therefore, we want to warm several apartments from one source of heat, we must induce a 
 circulation much more rapid than cau be had by means of the mere difference of temperature in the room. 
 In a word, the air must be drawn entirely out of the house in order that a more rapid circulation may be had. 
 
 The removal of the air being the very process required for ventilation, it follows that it is cheaper to 
 warm a building containing more than one apartment by the ventilating process than by any other. 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 BY PROF. J. A. SEW ALL. 
 
 Formerly of Normal University, Illinois, now President State University, Boulder, Colorado. 
 
 rTMIREE things are absolutely essential to the physical well-being of man — air, food and sleep. Deprive 
 I him of either of these and he dies. Air and food are material things to act and be acted upon in 
 the economy. Sleep is a condition of the nervous system, depending upon the action of air and food. 
 Deprive a man of air and food and he ceases to sleep ; modify the air and food, and sleep is correspond- 
 ingly modified. If the air be pure, the food good in quality and sufficient in quantity, other things being 
 equal, the sleep will be sweet and refreshing; and if the air be impure, the food unwholesome or 
 insufficient in quantity, the sleep will be imperfect, troubled and dreamy. If the food be good and 
 sufficient, while the air is impure, the food, though good, will not act or be acted upon properly, and 
 consequently will not nourish the body; and if the body is not properly nourished and sustained, 
 sleep is imperfect — does not act as “tired nature’s sweet restorer.” Then, on the air we breathe depends 
 all that is essential to our physical well-being or health. It is the breath of life. 
 
 Experience teaches the same fact. The lumberman of our northern pine forests, in his camp of 
 boughs, his diet of beans and pork, lard and molasses (food that is ordinarily regarded not the most 
 wholesome), whose habits are not altogether the best, is always strong, robust and most nearly free from 
 all the ills that flesh is heir to. His food is coarse, his work is hard and exhausting, and he is exposed 
 to cold, wind and storm ; yet his breath in the forest by day, and in the camp by night, is the pure, 
 life-giving air from heaven, and breathing this his food is well digested, his sleep refreshing, and bare 
 existence is to him a pleasure. 
 
 Now, army statistics show that the field hospital is far better for sick and wounded soldiers than 
 the best constructed and best managed post hospitals. Though in the latter every comfort and conveni- 
 ence seem to have been provided, yet pure air in sufficient quantity was not supplied ; while in the 
 field hospital, though much was lacking, the supply of pure air was abundant. 
 
 Again, the statistics of Europe and of the United States touching this matter, demonstrate most 
 clearly that, other things being equal, out-door employments are the most healthy, and contribute most 
 to longevity. 
 
42 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 I think it needs no argument to demonstrate the proposition that man was intended by the Creator 
 to breathe pure air. 
 
 Therefore, breathing other than pure air is a violation of God’s law, and that for so doing we must 
 and do suffer the penalty. 
 
 There is a vast amount of diseased humanity in the world, as indicated by the number of physicians, 
 and the vast amount of nostrums offering themselves to mitigate the pain and to cure the ill. But there 
 is no philosopher’s stone, no elixir of life, no royal highroad to health. Only by regarding the 
 conditions, observing the laws, working in God’s appointed way, can we enjoy the blessings of health. 
 And as the breath is most emphatically the life, the character of the fluid we breathe to a great extent 
 determines the character of our physical life, whether it be good or evil. 
 
 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF RESPIRATION. 
 
 It is said that we breathe to purify the blood. But how ? Why is it, then, when we wish to preserve, to 
 keep pure, any organized matter, as vegetables or meat, we remove, as far as possible, all air, and secure it 
 from its action? If the air will purify the blood, why not meat, or any other organized body ? Now we know 
 that the air, or the positive acting agent, the oxygen, always acts as a des trover ; its sole office is to tear down, 
 to break up all organic compounds and resolve their elements into simple and more stable groups. Its office 
 and tendency is everywhere the same, and unless this tendency be resisted by some antagonizing force the 
 oxygen would speedily and completely destroy the whole organized world. Then why does not oxygen 
 destroy the animal? It does, and yet does not. It feeds upon the very tissues of the body, and is fed by 
 them ; it demands victims to be sacrificed to appease jts never-satiated appetite ; and were it not for that 
 strange and mighty force which we name and recognize, but do not comprehend — vitality — which regulates 
 and controls the action of this agent, it would speedily resolve all organized matter into stable and lifeless 
 forms. Literally, the organized world would be burned up and naught left but its ashes; and when vitality 
 ceases to antagonize or resist its action we return to the dust from which we sprung. 
 
 Then, breathing is not for the purpose of purifying the blood, but to break down the tissues of the body 
 and remove them under the direction and control of the vital principle. In all animal tissues there is a work 
 performed which has a tendency to wear out and render unfit for service parts of themselves — parts or mole- 
 cules that have lost their vitality — and these worn-out molecules become the food for oxygen. These worn- 
 out atoms are, for the most part, hydrogen and carbon. The oxygen seizes upon them and converts them, by 
 thus uniting with them, into carbonic acid and water, or, using another figure, the oxygen may be regarded 
 as scavenger boats, which enter the lungs, pass into the blood, and are carried into every part of the body, 
 where they are loaded with these worn-out elements, carbon and hydrogen. With these loads they return 
 through the veins to the lungs and pass out into the air in the form of carbonic acid and vapor of water. 
 They are now taken up by the leaves of the trees, unloaded, the carbon and hydrogen entering into and 
 becoming a part of the tree, while the unloaded scavenger boats (oxygen) are returned to the atmosphere to 
 repeat the process. Verily then, the “ leaves are for the healing of the nations.” This, then, is the office of 
 respiration — to remove the worn-out tissues of the body. 
 
 Now if the air is more or less saturated with this carbonic acid, some of these loaded barges, when we 
 inhale a breath of air, will enter too. The demand of the tissues is for vehicles to carry away the waste pro- 
 ducts, and the demand is imperative ; and though the loaded barges go at the call of the suffering tissues, 
 the}' cannot remove any of the material, for they are already completely loaded. Two atoms of oxygen can 
 take but one of carbon, and therefore they but obstruct and block up the way, and thus produce disorder and 
 disturbance — disease. 
 
 Now there must always be a small amount of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, because it is continually 
 being emitted by the whole animal kingdom, and as a product of combustion and decay. Yet, by the 
 peculiar law of gaseous diffusions, it is so completely diffused through or mingled with the atmosphere that 
 it amounts to only °f its weight. 
 
 As the specific gravity of carbonic acid is considerably greater than that of the air, were it not for this 
 gaseous diffusion it would settle to the bottom of the atmospheric ocean and form a layer five feet in depth. 
 
 But if only the normal amount be present, it is completely diffused, so that we find it existing in exactly 
 the same proportion on the mountain and in the valley. But if more than T-faq be present, the tendency is 
 to settle at the bottom, making the ten per cent of carbonic -acid greater near the surface than in the higher 
 regions. Thus in the Grotto del Cane, in Italy, where the gas escapes in large quantities from the earth, all 
 animals entering the cave almost instantly die from the effect of breathing the carbonic acid. Now, if the air 
 contain only one or two per cent, its effect is clearly poisonous. If ten per cent, it produces immediate death. 
 
 HEAT AND VENTILATION. 
 
 We have attempted to demonstrate that pure air is the normal breath of man, but art and civilization 
 have induced conditions which, to a greater or less extent, interfere with or antagonize the purely normal 
 conditions. 
 
XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 43 
 
 Man finds that it is necessary to his comfort to be sheltered from the heat and rain of the tropics, and 
 from the heat and cold and storms of the temperate and frigid regions. To accomplish this end he erects the 
 roof and builds the walls about him ; in short he builds a house. 
 
 Now this house is an evidence of high civilization; it adds to his comfort. But by living beneath this 
 roof, within these walls he has to a certain extent disregarded the normal conditions, for the air within the 
 confined space is not so pure as that which surrounds it, and therefore his respiration is imperfect. Again, in 
 all the regions of the earth north of 25° south latitude, and south of 25° north latitude, man finds that 
 artificial heat is necessary, and in our latitude is required in our houses for more than half the year. Here, 
 then, is another artificial condition, and one which, to a greater or less extent, interferes with the natural or 
 normal condition. If the fire be made to burn in an open fire-place, or in a close stove, a portion of the 
 oxygen of the air is required to oxidize the fuel. Now, if the supply from without be sufficient, both for 
 respiration and combustion, little heat could be imparted to the room, because the supply must be of the same 
 temperature as that of the air outside the house. On the other hand, if we cut off the full supply the air in the 
 house might be warmed, but would be rendered impure. In short, the air would be as we find it in nearly 
 all our houses — hot, but poisonous. No doubt that either the old-fashioned fire-place or the more modern 
 coal-grate is the best contrivance for warming. But a strong objection is, as we have stated, the drafts of cold 
 air induced; added to this is the great expense. In fact, the latter objection is so great that these methods 
 have been already entirely abandoned. 
 
 Few persons seem to understand just how the air in a room is warmed. It is generally thought that the 
 air in immediate contact with the burning fuel or heated stove is warmed, and that this warms another, and 
 so until all the air in the room is warmed. Not so at all. The air next to the burning fuel, in the case of the 
 open fire, is warmed, and for the most part goes up the chimney. A small part, however, arises, and the cold 
 air takes its place. The heated air that rose, slowly cools, and is displaced by the warmer and rarer air just 
 escaped from immediate contact with the fire, and after a time falls and is again warmed. So that we see 
 only a small part of the air of the room is warmed, while whole oceans are heated and escape from the 
 chimney. If a stove be used for heating, only a small part of the air comes in contact with the burning fuel, 
 — in fact, just enough to oxidize the fuel, while the air about is heated and rarified, and then pressed up 
 by the cooler and heavier air, which is in turn heated and forced up, and thus we have a current of air 
 established, moving toward the stove, then up to and along the ceiling, then down to be warmed again. But 
 as this current takes place in a closed room (and the tighter the better, we think), of course it is the same air 
 moving in a circle, to which we are constantly imparting the carbonic acid of the breath, which is warmed 
 and circulated and breathed again, and if our rooms were absolutely air-tight, in a short time the air would 
 be so saturated with carbonic acid as to produce death. We shall never be able to tell how much we are indebted 
 to green lumber and indifferent viorkmen. 
 
 Another method of heating is by driving steam through coils of iron pipe. Not only does this method of 
 warming render ventilation impossible, but it is, perhaps, the most uneconomical. 
 
 Now heat may manifest itself in two ways, viz.: as temperature and as expansion. All the force 
 generated by the burning fuel will appear in one of these forms, or a part of both. Water at the normal 
 pressure can be heated to only 212° Fahrenheit. Consume as much fuel as you will and the water will 
 remain at 212° Fahrenheit; but the force generated by the consuming fuel is not lost, but is transmitted 
 to the water in the form of expansion, and the water is converted into steam. Now if the water be 
 confined, and this tendency to expansion resisted, the temperature can be elevated to almost any extent ; 
 but if not thus resisted the temperature will not rise above 212° Fahrenheit. As it is necessary to force, 
 the steam through the pipes, this expansion must be resisted until sufficient force is accumulated to accomplish this 
 result. Now this mechanical work is performed at the expense of temperature. If a building is warmed by 
 steam, three-fifths of the force generated by the burning fuel is consumed in the form of mechanical motion. The 
 temperature of the steam in the boiler may be 400° or 500° Fahrenheit, but the pipes never indicate 
 a temperature above 212° Fahrenheit. I have never found it above 190° Fahrenheit. On the other 
 hand, air may be heated to 600° Fahrenheit, with but slight expansion, so that nearly all the force 
 generated by the burning fuel appears as temperature, while scarcely a particle appears as mechanical 
 motion. Here we see why Ericsson failed in his attempt to use heated air instead of steam as a motive 
 power. Heat being applied to the air appears as temperature, but being applied to water appears as 
 expansion, or mechanical motion. 
 
 Thus we see that in all these plans of heating there can be no adequate ventilation. 
 
 But as we accustom ourselves to an atmosphere impure and unfit for breathing, and do not feel any 
 direct and immediate effect, we endure it, and think little or nothing of it; yet we wonder why we 
 suffer from headaches and aches of every description, and gravely wonder at a mysterious Providence 
 when some terrible epidemic of a zymotic character appears and numbers its victims by thousands. 
 
 It may not be necessary here to dwell upon the fact that by the repeated passage of the same air 
 through the lungs it may, though originally pure and wholesome, be so strongly impregnated with 
 carbonic acid, and may lose so much of its oxygen, as to be rendered utterly unfit for the continued 
 
44 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 maintenance of the aerating process, so that the individual who continues to respire it shortly becomes 
 asphyxiated. There are several well known cases in which the speedy death of a number of persons 
 confined together has resulted from the neglect of the most ordinary precautions for supplying them 
 with air. That of the “Black Hole of Calcutta,” which occurred in 1756, has acquired an unenviable 
 preeminence, owing to the very large proportion of the prisoners — 123 out of 146 — who died during one 
 night'. x confinement in a room 18 feet square, only provided. with two small windows; and it is remarkable 
 that out of the twenty-three who were found alive in the morning many were subsequently cut off by 
 putrid fever. Such catastrophes have occurred even in this country from time to time, though usually 
 upon a smaller scale. There has happened one at no distant date, however, which rivaled it in magnitude. 
 On the night of the 1st of December, 1848, the deck passengers on board the Irish steamer Londonderry 
 were ordered below by the captain, on account of the stormy character of the weather, and although 
 they were crowded into a cabin far too small for their accommodation, the hatches were closed down 
 upon them. The consequence of this was that out of 150 individuals no fewer than 70 were suffocated 
 before the morning. 
 
 It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the medical practitioner, however, and through him upon the 
 public in general, that the continued respiration of an atmosphere charged in a far inferior degree with the 
 exhalations from the lungs and skin is among the most potent of all the predisposing causes of disease, and 
 especially of those zymotic diseases whose propagation seems to depend upon the presence of fermentable 
 matter in the blood. That such is really the fact will appear from evidence to be presently referred to, and 
 it is not difficult to find a complete and satisfactory explanation of it, for, as even the presence of a small 
 percentage of carbonic acid in the respired air is sufficient to cause a serious diminution in the amount of 
 carbonic acid thrown off and of oxygen absorbed, it follows that these oxidating processes, which minister to 
 the elimination of effete matter from the system, must be imperfectly performed, and that an accumulation of 
 substances tending to putrescence must take place in the blood. Hence there will probably be a considerable 
 increase in the amount of such matters in the pulmonary and cutaneous exhalation, and the unrenewed air 
 will become charged, not only with carbonic acid, but also with organic matter in a state of decomposition, 
 and will thus favor the accumulation of both these morbific substances in the blood, instead of effecting that 
 constant and complete removal of them which is one of the chief ends of the respiratory process to accom- 
 plish. It has been customary to consider the consequences of imperfect respiration as being exerted merely 
 in promoting an accumulation of carbonic acid in the system, and in thus depressing the vital powers and 
 rendering them prone to the attacks of disease. But the deficiency of oxygenation, and the consequent 
 increase of putrescent matter in the body, must be admitted as at least a concurrent agency, and when it is 
 borne in mind that the atmosphere in which a number of persons have been confined for some time becomes 
 actually offensive to the smell, in consequence of the accumulation of such exhalations, and that this 
 accumulation exerts precisely the same influence upon the spread of a zymotic disease as that which is 
 afforded by the diffusion of a sewer atmosphere through the respired air, it scarcely admits of reasonable 
 doubt that the pernicious effects of over-crowding are exerted yet more through its tendency to promote 
 putrescence in the system than through the obstruction it creates to the due elimination of a carbonic acid 
 from the blood, for it is to be remembered that while the complete oxidation of the effete matters will carry 
 them off from the lungs in the form of carbonic acid and water, leaving urea and other highly azotized 
 products to pass off' by the kidneys, an imperfect oxidation will only convert them into those peculiarly 
 offensive products which characterize the fieeal excretion. 
 
 Of the remarkable tendency of the respiration of an atmosphere charged with the- emanation of the 
 human body to favor the spread of zymotic diseases, a few characteristic examples will be given. All those 
 who have had the widest opportunities of studying the conditions which pre-dispose to the invasion of 
 cholera, are agreed that overcrowding is amongst the most potent of these; and from the numerous cases in 
 which this was most evident, contained in the “ Report of the General Board of Health” on the epidemic of 
 1S4S-9, the two following may be selected : 
 
 In the autumn of 1849 a sudden and violent outbreak of cholera occurred in the work-house of the town 
 of Taunton ; no case of cholera having previously existed, or subsequently presenting itself, among the 
 inhabitants of the town in general, although diarrhoea was prevalent to a considerable extent. The building 
 was altogether badly constructed, and the ventilation deficient ; but this was especially the case with the 
 school rooms, there being only about 68 cubic feet of air for each girl, and even less for the boys. On 
 November 3 one of the inmates was attacked with the disease. In ten minutes from the time of the seizure 
 the sufferer passed into a state of hopeless collapse. Within the space of 4S hours from the first attack, 42 cases 
 and 19 deaths took place ; and in the course of one week, 60 of the inmates, or nearly 22 per cent of the entire 
 number were carried off; while almost every one of the survivors suffered more or less severely from cholera 
 or diarrhoea. Among the fatal cases were those of 25 girls and 9 boys; and the comparative immunity of the 
 latter, notwithstanding the yet more limited dimensions of their school rooms, affords a retnarkable 
 confirmation of the general doctrine here advanced — for we learn that, although good and obedient in other 
 
NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 4.5 
 
 respects, they could not be kept from breaking the windows, so that many of them probably owed their lives 
 to the better ventilation thus established. 
 
 Now, in the jail of the same town, in which every prisoner is allowed from 819 to 935 cubic feet of air, and 
 this is continually renewed by an efficient system of ventilation, there was not the slightest indication of 
 the epidemic influence. 
 
 The other case to be here cited is at the Mil bank Prison, in which the good effects of the diminution of 
 previous overcrowding were extremely marked. In the month of July, 1849, when the epidemic was becom- 
 ing general and severe in the Metropolis, the number of male prisoners was reduced, by the transfer of a 
 large proportion of them to Shorneliff barracks, from 1,039 to 402 ; the number of female prisoners, on the other 
 hand, not only underwent no reduction, but was augmented from 120 to 131. Now, the cholera mortality of 
 London generally, which was 0.9 per 1,000 in June and July, increased to 4.5 per 1,000 in August and Septem- 
 ber ; and the mortality among th & female prisoners underwent a similar increase, from 8.3 to 53.4 per 1,000. But 
 the mortality among the male prisoners exhibited the extraordinary diminution from 23.1 per 1,000 — -which 
 was the rate during June and July, when the prison was crowded — to 9.9 per 1,000, which was its rate dur- 
 ing August and September, after the reduction had taken place. It is scarcely possible to imagine a more 
 probative case than this; since it shows, in the first place, the marked influence of the crowded state of the 
 prison upon the fatality of the disease ; secondly, the diminution of mortality among the male prisoners, con- 
 sequent upon the relief of the overcrowding — notwithstanding the quintupling of general mortality of the 
 metropolis, during the same period; and thirdly, the yet greater increase of mortality among the female 
 prisoners, which proved that the diminution among the males could not be attributed to any recession of the 
 epidemic influence from the locality. 
 
 From the very full and careful statistics prepared by the surgeon-general of the armies of India, I find 
 the mortality from cholera varied as the provision for ventilation varied. Every other circumstance and 
 condition being the same, the mortality, where the provision for respiration was good, amounted to 15 in 
 1,000; where it was very bad, it amounted to 108.6 in 1,000. Not only, then, does theory teach us that imper- 
 fect respiration induces disease, but also these facts, and hundreds of others that might be cited, demonstrate 
 the same truth. True, the effects of bad ventilation may not exhibit themselves in the form of cholera or 
 putrid fever, but they must, and do, manifest themselves in some other way, in slower diseased processes. 
 
 With all these facts confronting us, it would seem that science might devise, and philanthropy apply some 
 means by which, in our homes, in our churches, in our school houses, in all our public buildings, we could 
 enjoy this necessary luxury of pure air. Various methods have been attempted for the accomplishment of 
 this end; but these attempts have been, till within a few years ago, perfect failures, and the complaint of 
 poor or no ventilation, almost universal. Yet the principles upon which a perfect system of ventilation is 
 based are very simple. Two things are necessary: 1st. Pure air must be supplied in sufficient quantities. 
 2d. The foul or impure air must be removed. It is quite impossible to do one of these without doing the 
 other. You cannot introduce air into a room already filled with air. You cannot remove the air from a room 
 without admitting something to take its place. 
 
 THE RUTTAN SYSTEM. 
 
 These simple principles above referred to are those on which lion. II. Ruttan’s system of warming and 
 ventilation is based. These are in simple conditions observed. Cold air is admitted in abundance to the 
 “air warmer,” where it is warmed (not heated red-hot , and its life-sustaining qualities vitiated), then rises, and 
 is diffused through the room, or rooms; while the cold air, being heavier, falls to the floor, and escapes at or 
 near the bottom of the room, passes beneath the floor, and is collected into the foul air shaft, and escapes 
 into the outer air. 
 
 Still, it is the almost universal practice to set furnaces, and provide hot air pipes to conduct the heated 
 air into a room, and make no provision whatever for the air to get out of the room, and in most cases no cold 
 air duct is provided to supply air to the furnace ; and yet men expect to force a current of hot air from such 
 heaters into a room, and effectually warm it. Let anyone think, only for a moment, that all rooms are always 
 full of air of some kind, and then remember that it is just as impossible to put two quantities of air into a room at 
 the same time, as it is two quantities of anything else; and a man would be just as sensible, who should tr} r to 
 force twice as many cubic feet of marble into a room as thei’e were cubic feet of space, as he would be who 
 tries to force hot air into a room already full of cold air, without first providing for the cold air to go out. To 
 illustrate: the writer, only a few days ago, was called to visit a large church, designed to seat one thousand 
 people, which, it was said, was arranged for ventilation. And, upon examination, it was found to be arranged 
 for heating with four furnaces, and it had some eight or ten ventilating shafts or chimneys, expected to 
 exhaust or take the air out of the building, but not one inch of opening was provided to take air in. But the fur- 
 naces were to be set in the basement lecture-room, and then take the air from that room and heat it, and 
 send it up into the main audience-room, and out of doors through the chimneys. 
 
40 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Ruttan has demonstrated by many experiments during the last twenty years, and at an expense of 
 over $30,000, that there is no way to get the impure air out of a house except by chimneys or upright shafts. 
 He has perfected a plan to effect this result, which is simple and cheap, and when put into the building as it 
 is being built, costs actually little or nothing more than to build the house the ordinary way without providing 
 for ventilation. His plan is to take the air through the “ air-warmer,” and then pass it from it to the rooms, 
 through registers or transoms, and out at the bottom through an open base-board, under the floor, and thence 
 into the chimney. By this arrangement we avoid all currents of cold air over the floor, as in the case with 
 stoves, and keep the floor always warm, varying only some four or five degrees from the temperature at, say 
 five feet above the floor; while in any ordinary room, warmed in the ordinary way, the thermometer will 
 show a difference of ten to thirty degrees. 
 
 In a room thus ventilated the air cannot be impure; because, as we have before stated, the carbonic acid 
 exhaled from the lungs, being heavier, falls to the lower part of the room and escapes, while pure air from 
 without takes its place. Here, then, we have a perfect system of ventilation. We secure a complete supply 
 of pure, warmed air, but without strong currents being established, while the impure air flows out contin- 
 ually. Another great advantage gained by this plan is the equality of the temperature of the air. Actual experi- 
 ment shows that there is not more than 5° ( Fahrenheit ) difference between the temperature at the ceiling and at the floor; 
 while in a room warmed by a stove the difference is from 20° to 45° ( Fahrenheit ). 
 
 This plan of passing the foul air out at or near the floor is emphatically new. It is an idea which has 
 completely revolutionized the old systems of ventilation. The purest and warmest air is always at the top of 
 the room, while the coldest and most impure is always at the bottom. If we make an opening at the top of 
 the room, the purest and warmest air will escape; if at the bottom, the coldest and most impure air will 
 escape. It would seem that it is not difficult to determine which of these two plans is the sensible or true 
 one. It scarcely seems necessary to claim more for this system. If pure air is so absolutely essential to physical 
 well-being, and if we can adopt any means, however expensive, to secure it, we might rest satisfied. But it is 
 far from being expensive ; while, on the contrary, a building, whether large or small, can be constructed as 
 cheaply with such provisions for ventilation as without it, and can be warmed at much less expense than by 
 any other plan. The cost, as compared with that of heating and ventilating by steam, is less than one-third, 
 and as I have clearly demonstrated by a series of careful experiments and observations. As compared 
 with ordinary hot-air furnaces, not more than one-half. As compared with ordinary stoves, it is decidedly 
 less. In short, this system seems to possess every possible advantage. It is simpler, cheaper, and, best of 
 all, it gives what is so much needed — a full, complete, and constant supply of pure air: and I honestly 
 believe that when this system is generally adopted in our country, the rates of mortality will indicate a 
 marked decrease. 
 
 HUXLEY ON THE TRUE WEIGHT OF MAN. 
 
 Professor Huxley asserts that the proper weight of man is 154 pounds ; made up as follows : Muscles and 
 their appurtenances, 68 pounds; skeleton, 24 pounds; skin, 101 pounds; fat, 28 pounds; brain, 3 pounds; 
 thoracic viscera, 31 pounds ; abdominal viscera, 1 1 pounds ; blood which should drain from the body, 7 pounds. 
 The heart of such a man should beat 75 times a minute, and he should breathe 15 times a minute. In 24 
 hours he would vitiate 1,750 cubic feet of pure air to the extent of 1 per cent. A man, therefore, of the weight 
 mentioned should have 800 cubic feet of well ventilated space. He would throw off by the skin 18 ounces 
 of water, 300 grains of solid matter and 400 grains of carbonic acid every 24 hours, and his total loss during 
 that period would be 6 pounds of water and a little more than 2 pounds of other matter. 
 
 The following is from the Journal of the Illinois State Medical Society. This report was presented by 
 A. W. Foreman, M.D., under the head of “The Houses we Live in — Flow shall we Ventilate Them?” 
 He says : 
 
 “Men, in building houses, rarely pursue more than two or three lines of thought. Economy in the first 
 cost of building, convenience in relation to the internal arrangements and external elegance, are generally 
 amply discusssed ; but the more important and subtle arrangements for ventilating, warming and lighting are 
 scarcely more than glanced at. * * * 
 
 “We- send our children to school. The houses have generally been built grudgingly by the tax-payer, 
 who has striven to make a house containing just so many sittings as is actually necessary to accommodate the 
 pupils of legal age in his district, taking no thought of more being necessary than four square walls, a floor 
 under foot, and a roof over head. 
 
 “ This leads me to inquire, then, what is perfect ventilation? A perfect ventilation is a constant admis- 
 sion of pure air into the room to supply the place of the foul air just previously exhausted from it, and the 
 
N0RT1IC0TT A STINK, KLMIRA, N. V. 
 
 47 
 
 •exhaust must be perfect, removing from the room all the air it contains at any given time, at least every 
 thirty minutes. * * 
 
 “The stove, in America, has become almost a lixed institution, especially in dwelling-houses, yet on 
 account of its deleterious influence upon health, it should never be used. Few persons have a true conception 
 of how air is warmed or heated, thinking, generally, that the body of air in a room lies still, and is heated by 
 the stove imparting its heat to the air touching it, and that particle of air heating that touching it, and so on 
 until all the air in the room is heated, just as when you put one end of an iron rod into the fire, the heat 
 traverses from particle to particle until the whole rod becomes heated; but not so. The particles of air 
 coming in contact with a heated body, themselves become hot, in consequence of which they lose in specific 
 gravity, and rise — colder and heavier air rushing in and supplying their place. Thus a motion is imparted to 
 the body of air lying within the room, and if the room be tight the air will continue to circulate indefinitely 
 without any fresh air being admitted or any of the old air being expelled. In the meantime, the occupants 
 have been breathing the air over and over again, and each moment adding to the carbonic acid it contains ; 
 and as the normal conditions of the atmosphere no longer obtain, an equable diffusion of its gases is impos- 
 sible. The variation of temperature is so great that the feet will be cold, while the head, if not excessively 
 hot, experiences no such want of heat as the feet do. If a door in the room be now opened, the hot air will 
 rush out at the top, while cold air will rush in at the bottom to supply its place. The old-fashioned fire-place 
 warms a room in the same way ; but in consequence of the fact that the larger part of the warmed air escapes 
 up the chimney, the fireplace is so expensive in fuel as not to be tolerated. Besides, as the chimney serves as 
 an exhaust-shaft to the room, every possible crack and opening in the room sends whistling currents of cold 
 air from every direction toward the fire, in consequence of which the side of the body nearest the fire may 
 be as uncomfortably warm, while the other side will be as uncomfortably cold. 
 
 “ The ordinary pot furnaces are equally objectionable. The quantity of air warmed is so small that, in 
 •order to furnish a sufficiency of heat to the room, the furnace, in very cold weather, is heated red-hot, and 
 ■every particle of air coming in contact wdth it is heated to such a degree as to render it wholly unfit for 
 respiration. The little particles of dust floating in the air will be burned to coal, and the air in the room be 
 full of carbon. Coils of iron pipe filled with steam are open to the same objection as the stove, besides, to warm in 
 ■this way is the most expensive method in use. 
 
 “There is, however, a warm-air furnace in use (the Ruttan Tubular Furnace) which, in connection with 
 the method of ventilation just described, is an eminent success. It is tubular, and is an improvement upon 
 a locomotive steam boiler, warming the air exactly as the steam boiler does the water. Its capacity is so 
 great that the air is never heated, but only warmed to a genial summer temperature, thereby sending the air 
 into the room in its best possible condition. 
 
 “ A house thus furnished with air, brought from the outside of the house, and having no possible 
 connection with the basement or cellar, passed through the furnace until a genial warmth is imparted to it, 
 then passing into the room, ascending toward the ceiling, then gradually settling toward the floor, until in less 
 than thirty minutes all the air in the room has been changed, and thus continuing from hour to hour, and 
 from day to day, may be said to literally breathe. A house so arranged and furnished would be ventilated, 
 because means are provided for moving the old air out of the house, and constantly supplying its place with 
 fresh air. No other ventilation is possible, because this recognizes and acts in accordance with the specific 
 gravities of gases which cannot be overcome. The Hon. Henry Ruttan, who, perhaps, has done more in this 
 line of investigation than any man who has ever lived, and who has spent many years of his life and many 
 thousand dollars of his money in trying every sort of experiment, demonstrated beyond doubt that there is 
 no way of perfectly exhausting the air from a room except by perpendicular shafts and flues, perforated at or 
 helow the floor.” 
 
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OF WISCONSIN. 
 
 [Note.— The following we copy from the report of the “ State Board of Health ” for the State of Wisconsin for the year 1876, 
 
 by General James Bintliff.] 
 
 NECESSITY FOR VENTILATION. 
 
 H UMAN life demands fresh air, which must be in some degree pure. Eight parts of carbonic acid to ten 
 thousand parts of atmosphere has been named as the maximum of impurity that can be endured with- 
 out injurious consequences supervening. Unfortunately, in most of our public buildings (schools among the 
 rest) the proportion commonly obtained is live times as great as that indicated by science as the ultimatum. 
 The body has a wonderful capacity to adapt itself to surrounding circumstances. When the lungs fail to 
 purify the blood, the liver comes to the rescue and is proportionately overworked. The foetus supported 
 directly from the circulating system of ts mother, and having no action of the lungs to cleanse the vital cur- 
 rent, develops a corresponding proportion of the other organ which, at the time of birth, is always largely' in 
 excess of the post-natal requirements of the system. With food of another class less prepared to sustain life, 
 the breathing apparatus comes into operation, and the liver generally decreases in relative size. In later life 
 the two systems of purification supplement each other on the same principle, hence minor impurities can be 
 endured without immediate poisonous results. Children fall sick in overcrowded school rooms, and nausea 
 relieves the stomach from food which the want of sufficient oxygen and the presence of animal impurities in 
 the air, combined with carbonic acid, has rendered noxious to life. Such incidents are too common to procure 
 from the average observer such attention as they deserve. 
 
 It is not too strong an expression when we assert that millions of human lives have been and are being 
 sacrificed for want of care as to this primal necessity of our being — ventilation. 
 
 The President of our State Medical Association, Dr. J. B. Whiting, in the last annual address to that 
 society, says with much force : Our children are crowded into school rooms that have Utile or no ventilation, 
 except as the heat of summer admits of opening doors and windows. From fifty to seventy’ children are 
 often kept in the school room by’ the hour when the supply’ of fresh air is not sufficient for one-fourth that 
 
 number. If any one doubts this, let him visit the primary departments of the schools in this state at a 
 
 season of the y’ear when artificial heat is required, when doors and windows are closed, and he will find the 
 atmosphere of the room not simply impure and oppressive, but offensive and disgusting to the sense, and his 
 first impulse will be to escape. If he remains, the offended sense soon ceases to protest, and the visitor 
 
 breathes the contaminated air with seeming impunity ; but the little ones, who are compelled to live in such 
 
 an atmosphere day after day and month after month, do not thus escape. The more robust live through it, 
 but the delicate ones succumb to the poison and fall out of the ranks. ******* 
 Proper ventilation is impossible unless our buildings are so constructed as to permit of tbe best processes 
 being carried out in their integrity. Many of the finest buildings in this country, considered merely as 
 architectural beauties, are uninhabitable during winter in consequence of defective arrangements for heating 
 and airing the several apartments. 
 
 The Rattan system aims at making the house breathe ; that is the design of the best process yet submitted ; and if 
 it is not invariably successful it is not for want of a correct appreciation of the great purpose which an 
 architect should keep in view. The ventilating shaft constructed in the center of the building is traversed 
 by' the smoke-pipe, which serves for the whole structure, and this, by its warmth, compels a current of air 
 such as will not fail at all seasons to carry’ off the atmospheric impurities collected from all parts of the 
 building. The furnace is admirable in construction, and when applied to private dwellings the warm-air 
 pipes convey to registers in every room a supply’ of heated pure air from without. In school and other public 
 buildings there is connected with the furnace a continuous warm-air flue which can be tapped by the teacher 
 to supply any lack of atmospheric freshness. After the heated air has passed through the building, traversing 
 under the floor, specially' raised for the purpose — through the partitions and over the ceiling, so that all the 
 advantages of the Leeds scheme have been attained; the foul air, having no outlet but by the shaft already’ 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINK, ELM] HA, N. V. 
 
 49 
 
 described, must return to the basement of the building, radiating in its travel the last degree of its available 
 caloric before passing through the tall chimney into the upper region of the atmosphere. Objectors to the 
 system as now operating contend that, when the contrary winds prevail, the foul air is liable to be forced 
 back into the building with results disastrous to comfort, and that the draught does not operate on all the 
 rooms alike. It is even said that some rooms in well constructed buildings have altogether failed to procure 
 ventilation under certain conditions. It has been suggested in reply, that the inconveniences deprecated as 
 likely to result from contrary winds may be minimized or removed entirely by increasing the height of the 
 conducting shaft and the temperature therein. The answer seems to be conclusive. The second objection, 
 that some rooms are not ventilated at all, or partake in the general advantage insufficiently, may be found on 
 further experience to require graduated escape-pipes, traversing the common flue, adapted to carry the foul 
 air from each story; but a matter of detail so small as that need not be discussed in this article, as the 
 company concerned in introducing the system, confessedly the most successful, will not fail to adopt every substantial 
 improvement. 
 
 Ample experiments have demonstrated that pure air may be introduced into a room either at the top or 
 bottom as may be most convenient ; but the foul air should always be removed through the floor or on a level 
 with it, and conducted to some central reservoir at the base of the ventilating shaft. 
 
 Ventilation during the summer can be secured by the same system of house-breathing, by causing a tire 
 to be ignited at the base of the foul-air shaft. The current of air thus caused will afford thorough ventila- 
 tion with cool air, without the necessity to open one window in the edifice. The advantages accruing from 
 the exclusion of hot air, dust and insects need not be enforced. We would have the main expense incurred 
 in the preparation of school buildings, not to adornment, much as we admire beauty and value its aesthetic 
 worth, but to the procurement of efficient ventilation at all seasons, and healthful warmth in winter. 
 
 The ventilation of churches should receive ten-fold more attention than has been given, but the school 
 should command the first and largest meed of vigilance, because therein those who are helpless require our 
 protecting care, and upon the fulfillment of our obligations to them will largely depend not only their happi- 
 ness and health, but the future prosperity of the nation. The boys and girls of today may be the fathers 
 and mothers of many who will witness the next Centennial celebration, and the highest product that we can 
 offer for the approbation of the world is a better citizenship than that which ushered in the display in Fair- 
 mount Park. We must be able to show that our free institutions and numberless advantages have attained 
 for us commercial, inventive and manufacturing preeminence, because .of the nobler manhood builded on 
 this continent, in token of our thankfulness to Almighty God for the manifold blessings wherewith He 
 has surrounded this nation. 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF BOARD OF EDUCATION, BOWLING GREEN, OHIO. 
 
 To the Board of Education, Bowling Green, Ohio : 
 
 Gentlemen, — Your committee appointed to examine the different systems of heating and ventilating 
 public buildings, and to submit to you a statement of the result of its investigations, beg leave to report : 
 
 That by correspondence and by personal examination, we became somewhat familiar with the different 
 systems of heating and ventilation now in use in various public buildings, at Ann Arbor, Mich.; Elkhart, 
 Ind. ; Fostoria, O. ; Toledo, 0., and at some ten or twelve other points. Our examination of the system of 
 
 heating by hot-air furnaces brought to our knowledge no improvements of such importance, in the 
 
 hot-air furnace, or in the hot-air furnace, as would justify a substitution of either, for the hot-air 
 
 furnace of the make, that we now. have in use. Our examination also developed that the method of 
 
 heating by steam, by direct and indirect radiation, produces better results, than those that are accomplished 
 by means of steam, by direct radiation alone. We desire, therefore, to call your attention to two methods 
 only of heating and ventilating public buildings — specially those which are used for school purposes. 
 
 I. The method of heating by steam, by direct and indirect radiation. 
 
 Direct radiation is secured by piping, fastened to the wall, either under the windows or under the black- 
 board. Indirect radiation is secured either by clusters of cast-iron radiators, located in the basement at the 
 mouth of hot-air shafts leading to the different school rooms, or by coils of pipe located in the outside walls. 
 Air passing over these clusters or coils becomes heated, and is then admitted to the rooms through registers. 
 M T e find that steam heated the buildings in which it was used, quite satisfactorily the most of the time. 
 W hen, however, the wind was high, the rooms on the side from which the wind was blowing, were frequently 
 cold. Occasionally at Elkhart, and frequently at Toledo, the schools in such rooms were dismissed because 
 the temperature was too low for comfort. We were told that two or three rooms, were inadequately heated, 
 even in moderately cold weather. But, as a whole, when radiators of sufficient capacity are put in, the rooms 
 are heated. 
 
 The ventilation, in the buildings heated by steam, was defective. At Elkhart the system of ventilation 
 was found to con-fist of four large ventilating shafts, running from the basement to and above the roof of the 
 building, four air vents opened into these shafts from the different rooms and halls. To increase the exhaust 
 currents, and thus to draw the foul air from the rooms more rapidly, heated coils were placed in the ventilat- 
 ing shafts. By this means some of the rooms were fairly ventilated. In other rooms, in the same building, 
 the air was heavy. The air in one room was said to be as impure as it would be in a room heated bv a stove. 
 As far as we could learn, in none of the buildings heated by steam could the air be kept in its normal condi- 
 tion, and in none of them could the air be changed very rapidly. 
 
50 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 We found that the annual expense for fuel necessary to heat by steam was heavy and in some cases 
 enormous. We herewith submit a statement of the cost of heating different buildings, to which we invite 
 your careful attention. It is estimated that to heat our school building satisfactorily by steam will cost from 
 $350 (lowest estimate) to $450 (highest estimate) per annum. These estimates were furnished by men 
 thoroughly conversant with the subject of steam heating. It appears, also, that to keep steam apparatus in 
 repair necessitates a steady outlay; this outlay frequently commencing when the apparatus has been in only 
 one or two years. This item of expense should fairly be charged to the cost of maintaining the system. 
 
 The following are objections to the successful use of steam : 
 
 fl) The temperature of a room near the floor and near the ceiling is very unequal. 
 
 (2) The ■whole system has to be run in order to heat a single room, whenever it may be desirable or 
 necessary to use such room — a superintendent’s office for instance. 
 
 (3) At every point where we found steam in use, the ventilation was imperfect. The replies, also, to the 
 inquiries sent out by us are uniform on this point. Some of them put it strongly : that it is doubtful if good 
 ventilation can be secured where steam is used. 
 
 (4) Water will run out on the floors of the different rooms whenever steam is not made slowly on first 
 firing the engine, occasioning delay, annoyance and damage. 
 
 (5) Pipes are liable to burst in cold weather unless the boilers are emptied every night. To fill these 
 boilers daily, in places where there is no system of water works in operation, materially increases the 
 janitor’s labor. The running of an engine all night, to prevent this bursting, increases the annu al expense. 
 
 (6) The pounding of the steam in the pipes causes serious inconvenience. 
 
 II. The method of heating bv the Ruttan-Smead System of Warming and Ventilating. 
 
 The heat is produced by passing fresh air over a large warming surface. A tubular furnace is used. The 
 air, moderately heated, passes through shafts to the various rooms. That this warm air can sufficiently heat 
 the rooms into which it is thrown, is abundantly shown by the results already obtained in the various 
 buildings in Toledo (the only point where we saw the system in operation).* The record shows that, in 
 buildings in which one-half of the school rooms M'ere heated by hot-air furnaces, and the remaining 
 half were heated by the Ruttan-Smead System, no rooms were dismissed on account of cold in that part of 
 any of the buildings heated by the Ruttan-Smead System, while in the other part of the same buildings, 
 rooms were frequently dismissed on account of the low temperature. We submit herewith a copy of a letter 
 written by Superintendent J. W. Dowd, of the Toledo schools, to .1. C. Jones, of the East Saginaw schools, 
 showing the result of the experiment in one building. The statements contained in it were also given to 
 your committee by Mr. Dowd, when the committee called upon him for information as to the methods of 
 heating the school rooms under his control. The direction of the wind does not affect the ease and certainty 
 with which school rooms can be heated by this system, this being in marked contrast with the experience of 
 those who have used steam. The temperature also is even in all parts of the room, as the experiment made 
 proved. 
 
 In the matter of ventilation, this system excels all others. Foul air vents are placed at intervals around 
 the room, near the floor, and connected with foul air ventilating stacks. By means of these openings a con- 
 stant current of air is kept moving through the room. The foul air is drawn out as rapidly as the fresh air is 
 admitted. The whole volume of air in a room can be changed in from five to fifteen minutes. A valve in 
 the warm air flue is so arranged that the teacher can admit either warm air or cold air, or both ; but in no 
 case can she shut off the current of air passing into a room. 
 
 Tests made in different rooms and in various buildings show that the air is nearly in its normal condition, 
 even at the close of a day’s session of school. The amount of carbonic acid gas being but slightly increased, 
 and the amount of oxygen being practically twenty-three parts. We were unable to find, either by letter or 
 by personal inquiry, that this system of ventilation had ever failed to do all that is claimed for it. 
 
 Your Committee were surprised to find that the annual cost for fuel was so small. One building in 
 Toledo, heated by four furnaces during the school year, 1884—85, consumed only seventy-six tons of soft coal. 
 The Jefferson street building, during the same year, used even less than that. We also refer the board to 
 the letter from Superintendent Dowd to Superintendent Jones, above mentioned, for the result of another 
 experiment, in which it appears that in one year $236 more was required to pay for the fuel necessary to heat 
 
 one-half of a twelve-room building, by a warm-air furnace, than was necessary to heat the other half 
 
 by the Ruttan-Smead System. 
 
 The following reasons explain how this saving in the cost of fuel is obtained. 
 
 (1) Fires are started in the furnaces from two to three hours later than can be done when heating by 
 steam or by other methods, and yet the temperature of the rooms will be 70° Fahrenheit at the time of 
 opening school each morning. 
 
 (2) Fires are shut off each day at 4 p.m. in cold weather, and at 3 p.m. or earlier in moderate weather. 
 
 (3) The large foul air stacks remove the impure cold air from the rooms rapidly; this allows the 
 incoming warm air to settle to the floor more quickly, and to raise the temperature of the rooms uniformly. 
 
 (4) No fires are needed on Saturday or on Sunday, in cold weather, in order that the school rooms may 
 be thoroughly warmed on Monday mornings. 
 
 (5) The improved perforated grate in the bottom of the firebox admits currents of air to the burning 
 wood or coal along its entire length, prevents the accumulation of ashes or slag, and keeps the temperature in 
 the firebox more uniform, without unnecessary waste of fuel. 
 
 The Ruttan-Smead Company, moreover, guarantee that our building can be heated with sixty tons of 
 soft coal or sixty cords of good wood per annum, a guarantee which will protect us, and be safe for the com- 
 pany, in view of the actual cost of running the system in other places. The cost for repairs, as experience 
 with the system proves, is limited to providing new linings, occasionally, for the firebox, and is merely 
 a nominal one. 
 
 The committee proposed, among other questions, the following : 
 
 (a.) Can the rooms be heated and ventilated, when the warm air openings and the foul air exists, are 
 near each other, and on the same side of the room — specially when situated near either end of the room? 
 
 *Our apparatus is now used in one Ann Arbor School Building. — X. & S. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 51 
 
 In other words, will not the warm air current, by making a short circuit, pass out of the cold air vent 
 immediately, without distributing itself over the room? 
 
 The committee were taken into a room, constructed as in the case supposed. The experiment consisted 
 in sending a puli' of smoke from a cigar along the surface of a table, situated in the end of the room farthest 
 from the warm air and foul air openings. The smoke, after reaching the edge of the table, fell, in a condensed 
 form, to the floor, and keeping in its solid form, was rapidly drawn to the foul air vent. This showed that 
 air was being constantly drawn from the parts of the room most remote from the foul air exits. The 
 incoming warm air current, instead of mingling with the outgoing one, rose and spread itself evenly over the 
 room. As the cooler and heavier air was drawn out the upper layers of warm air gradually settled. This 
 resulted in a uniform rise of temperature throughout the room, as shown by the thermometer, when placed 
 on the floor at different points. 
 
 (b.) Is the air, coming from the warm air flues, burnt air, and oppressive to those sitting more directly in 
 the current? 
 
 Your committee sat for some time near a warm air flue, and directly in front of it, when the thermometer 
 indicated 80° Fahrenheit. We could not perceive that the air had any of that burnt or stifling smell, so 
 noticeable when one is in a tight unventilated room, and near an intensely heated surface. The air, flowing 
 in from the flue, moderately heated, although the temperature was high, did not seem to have lost its good 
 qualities. Upon going into the furnace room we found that the air in passing over the furnace did not come 
 in contact with the iron incasing the firebox. But between the fire and the current of air to be warmed 
 were two surfaces of iron, separated by several inches; between these surfaces was a volume of air; this air 
 kept t he outer layer of iron from becoming intensely heated. Hence, the current of air passing over it could 
 not become so, and the life of the air remained in it. 
 
 (c.) Did the Ruttan-Smead furnaces fail to satisfactorily heat the school building at Fostoria?* * 
 
 After a most careful inquiry, your committee became satisfied that they did not. The heaters were said 
 to have been discarded, by the Board of Education at Fostoria, on account of their lack of durability. The 
 facts show that in the basement of the High School building at Fostoria there is but a limited space in which 
 furnaces can be set, the remainder of the basement being used for other purposes. The Board required the 
 Ruttan-Smead company to heat the building — an eighteen room building, with high ceilings — with two furnaces. 
 The company attempted to do it; putting in furnaces of a different pattern from their regular make, and built 
 specially for that building. The furnaces were not large enough for the building. The effort to force the 
 furnaces to heat beyond their capacity ruined them. After four year’s use, under such circumstances, 
 the furnaces were taken out. That this apparent failure was not a real one, is evidenced by the fact that three 
 persons, who were members of the Board of Education at Fostoria, when the furnaces where in use in the 
 Union School building, and who, subsequently, were members of the Board of Trustees of the M. E. Church, 
 at the same place, voted to put the Ruttan-Smead system into a church building, then being erected for the 
 Methodist society ; this building being one of the largest and finest in the city. 
 
 We were unable to find any other point, where this system has not given entire satisfaction. 
 
 Your committee therefore say, that having examined the system of heating by steam, and also by warm 
 air furnaces, we believe that the Ruttan-Smead System of Warming and Ventilating, is the one best adapted 
 to secure both warmth and ventilation. We also find that the cost per year for fuel is much less by this 
 system than by any other, and that the outlay for repairs is not so large. Your committee therefore recom- 
 mend its adoption, in a modified form, for use in the central school building in this place. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 W. S. Haskell. 
 
 W. M. Tuller, M. D., 
 
 Bowling Green, 0., July 1, 1885. Committee. 
 
 W. II. II. Barton, Brockton, Mass.: La Porte, Ind., October 21, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — In reply to yours of the 19th inst., will say we are heating the high school building here with 
 Ruttan-Smead Furnaces, they have given excellent satisfaction, could not think of using any other. I 
 believe they are the best for large buildings. Ours is an old building, it has not the entire or complete Ruttan- 
 Smead system. The firm do their work well in every particular. I think them very reliable, and will do as 
 they agree. Very respectfully, 
 
 L. D. Webber. 
 
 Mr. W. II. H. Barton, Brockton, Mass. : Goshen, Ind., October 23, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir — Yours in relation to Ruttan system of heating, as put in by Messrs. Smead & Co., of Toledo, 
 Ohio, received, and in answer we have to say that it is without question the best heater and ventilator in use. 
 It will warm your building perfectly, and at same time give you perfectly pure air without opening doors or 
 windows. Messrs. Smead & Co. did more for us than we expected, and more than they agreed to do by contract. 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 John J. Freeland, Secretary. 
 
 Frank A. IIascall, Treasurer. 
 
 Aaron S. Zook, President. 
 
 W. FI. H. Barton, Brockton, Mass.: Kendallville, Ind., October 31, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Yours of October 19, at hand, in reply, will say to questions asked us, that we are delighted 
 with Ruttan-Smead system as introduced by them in our public school building. It is a perfect success, gives 
 perfect satisfaction to teachers, pupils and janitor. We can have, without any effort, any desired temperature 
 to 75°. The company did their part better than they agreed to ; you need have no hesitation in trusting 
 them. Yours truly, FI. A. Moyer, 
 
 Secretary Kendallville Board of Education. 
 
 See East Saginaw Report, page 54. 
 
 * As reported by “Agents.” 
 
52 
 
 NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y, 
 
 Trenton, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, March 18, 1885. 
 
 Messes. Isaac D. Smead & Co., Tolede, Ohio : 
 
 Gents, — Your system of heating and ventilating buildings has been in use in the new school house in this 
 village, since the 5th day of January last. 
 
 The continuous and extremely cold weather since that time has given us the best kind of an opportunity 
 to test the merits of your method of heating and ventilating, and we do not hesitate to say that it is the best 
 in use. 
 
 Quite a number of our citizens were very doubtful about the expediency of putting furnaces into the new 
 school building, and some of them sneered at the ventilation theory of the Ruttan-Smead C'o., but all are 
 now well pleased, and many are enthusiastic in commending it. 
 
 Your system of heating and ventilation is to be especially recommended for the following reasons: 
 
 First. — It cannot fail to make an equable temperature of from 65 and 70° in the coldest weather. 
 
 Second. — The ventilation is so thorough, that the usual languor in scholars and teachers, toward the noon 
 and evening recesses, is not perceptible at all. 
 
 Third. — The floors are always warm, and hence teachers and pupils do not suffer with cold feet. 
 
 Fourth . — The cost of fuel is not greater than it would he for stoves to heat the, same number of rooms, and. gives 
 much better results. 
 
 Fifth . — The services of a shilled engineer or janitor are not jiecessary, as anyone who knows enough to make and 
 keep up a good fire, and regulate the cold air doors, is capable of taking care of these furnaces. 
 
 Sixth. — There are no pipes of any kind imbedded in masonry, and in case repairs are at any time 
 necessary, any good ordinary mechanic is capable to make them. 
 
 Seventh,. — The apparatus is simple in design, philosophical in principle, more durable and economical than 
 all others that attain the same results ; and, in short, is just calculated to fill a much needed want in all our 
 public buildings. 
 
 Wishing you that success which your apparatus deserves, 
 
 I am, very respectfully yours, Jno. D. Cunning, 
 
 President of Board of Education, Warwick Township, Tuscarawas, Co., Ohio. 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON HYGIENE, ALBANY, N. Y. 
 
 To the Board of Public Instruction : Albany, May 18, 1885. 
 
 Your Committee on Hygiene herewith presents the following report: 
 
 In the discharge of our duty we have personally visited every public school building in the city, and have 
 examined the same with reference to location, seating capacity, drainage, ventilation, means of heating, and 
 the condition of outhouses and latrines. 
 
 While we do not contemplate the presentation of an exhaustive'report, covering all the above points, we 
 shall call attention to those matters which, in our opinion, demand most urgently the attention of the board. 
 
 In the opinion of your committee the ventilation and drainage of our school buildings bear most directly 
 upon the physical, mental, and moral health of the scholars, and are therefore the most important of all the 
 sanitary needs of the schools. * * * Air and light are the birth-right of all, and it is certainly unjust to 
 discriminate in the matter of healthful locations for any special part, section or class of our growing city. 
 
 In the matter of heating and ventilating your committee find ample room for improvement. Of the 
 twenty-four school buildings under the charge* of the board only six can be said to be really well heated. 
 The furnaces and stoves placed in the buildings under a contract system which looks to the cheapest article 
 only, no matter what its sanitary qualities, are entirely inadequate to do the work needed, and are generators 
 of discomfort rather than of comfort. 
 
 In school No. 5, on North Pearl street, a new school house, the hot-air flues are so ridiculously small that 
 the rooms can only be heated by a great consumption of fuel, and by extra night work on the part of the 
 janitor. In certain rooms in which the flues have been enlarged, a heightened temperature of at least ten 
 degrees has been attained. The flues should be enlarged throughout the entire building. 
 
 Ventilation and heating are so inseparably connected that where one is inadequate, the other must be. 
 Only seven school buildings are even fairly ventilated, and in the majority of the buildings there is no venti- 
 lation whatever other than the old and utterly insufficient method of opening flues near the ceilings, or by 
 means of so-called air-shafts, which are of no earthly use. 
 
 School No. 11, on Madison avenue, one of the best school buildings in the city, is well supplied with 
 steam-heating apparatus, but is entirely devoid of healthful ventilation. 
 
 School No. 21, on Clinton avenue, as originally ventilated, appears to have been in good condition, but for 
 some cause, which your committee have not been able to ascertain, four rooms in the building occasionally 
 pass their vitiated air through those directly above!! ! The heating capacity of this building is not sufficient, 
 and in six rooms during the prevalence of westerly winds, in zero weather, the temperature is never 
 above 50°. 
 
 In this connection your committee would report that they have listened to many different plans and propositions 
 relative to improved healing and ventilating methods, and have inspected certain systems suggested and recommended. 
 After careful investigation, however, they unanimously and unhesitatingly recommend what is known as the Ruttan-Smead 
 system as by far the best method of securing efficiency in these very necessary sanitary departments. 
 
 This system secures absolute uniformity of temperature, economy in consumption of fuel, desirable quality of air, 
 natural and healthful summer heat, complete control of the temperature by the teacher, and a supply of fresh air always 
 entering the room. 
 
 In company with members of the Committee on Construction and Repairs, your committee visited the 
 public school building located at Fultonville, New York, and carefully inspected the workings of the Ruttan- 
 Smead system of heating and ventilating there used. 
 
 The Fultonville school building, visited by your committee, is exposed to sharp winds on all sides, and 
 yet was perfectly heated and ventilated. This being so, it is obvious that in the most exposed school buildings 
 under control of the board, this system would be found entirely adequate and satisfactory, and your committee urge that at 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 .53 
 
 least in schools Nos. 21, 20 and 12, which have Ihemost exposed surface of any of our buildings, this Ruttan-Smead system 
 be at once introduced; adding also that in the case of No. 21 the windows on the western side, now in poor 
 condition, he made air-tight. 
 
 Your committee would offer these suggestions for special consideration : First, that the janitors of the 
 several school buildings be placed under the direct supervision of the superintendent of buildings, who, being 
 himself responsible to the commissioners, would see to it that proper care and attention be given to each 
 school building by the janitor in charge. 
 
 Second, That all plans for new school buildings be submitted to the Committee on Hygiene for sugges- 
 tions relative to sanitary arrangements and regulations. 
 
 Third, That hereafter a much larger proportion of the amount appropriated in each year’s budget for 
 repairs and heaters be devoted to heating, ventilation, drainage, etc., and thus gradually to put the buildings 
 under control of the board in complete sanitary condition. 
 
 0. E. Wilson, 
 
 Peter J. Flinn, 
 Herman Bendell. 
 
 From St. Joseph (Mo.) Evening News. 
 
 The Steinacker school building, which has just been completed, at the corner of Second and Lewis 
 streets, is one of the most completely appointed school structures in the West, and is very justly the pride of 
 the residents of that part of the city. 
 
 The building was first used for school purposes yesterday. This morning the members of the school 
 board proceeded to this school in a body to inspect it, more especially with a view of the heating and ventila- 
 tion. All the members were present except Mr. Hull, and a thorough test was made. There has been some 
 difference in opinion among the members of the board as to whether warm air or steam was the best system 
 of heating public buildings. 
 
 The board adopted the Ruttan-Smead system of furnaces, or air warmers, and warm air for this building, 
 and the members were, of course, anxious to know just how it would operate. The board visited the build- 
 ing at 9 o’clock, just as school was commencing, and at once commenced their task. The first test was that 
 of heating. The thermometer was run up from 70° to 92 in twenty minutes, and during this time Mr. Condit, 
 the agent who put in the furnaces, went to the basement and had the tires shut off. The schools were then 
 dismissed fora time, and the ventilation was then tested. One of the rooms was tilled so densely with pine 
 smoke that one could not see from one wall to the other. The ventilating valves were then opened, and the 
 smoke gradually descended in a solid body to the floor, rapidly. In just seventeen minutes from the time the 
 valves were open the room was perfectly clear of smoke. One peculiarity was that the smoke in descending 
 kept in a compact body, and when half out was so dense in the low r er part of the room that the seats could 
 not be seen; the air above was so clear that one could breathe freely and without the slightest suspicion 
 that there was smoke in the room. The temperature proved to be almost absolutely uniform, for the ther- 
 mometer hung near where the air entered, and on the opposite side of the room only differed If degrees. 
 The rooms can be warmed to any temperature desired, it being so arranged that no matter how hot the fires 
 below, the warm air can be shut off’, and cold air let on at any time by the teacher, so that fresh air is con- 
 stantly flowing into the room. On Saturday last, when the thermometer was 27° below zero, the rooms 
 were warmed to 87° above in about two hours. Miss Albin, the principal, and the other teachers say they 
 have never occupied more pleasant or comfortably heated rooms. 
 
 The board held an informal meeting at the school house after this examination, with Mr. John M. Arm- 
 strong in the chair, and voted the thanks of the board to Mr. Condit for the satisfactory manner in which 
 he had introduced the apparatus, expressing satisfaction with the operation of the system. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION OF EAST SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, 
 
 to select a system of warming and ventilation for the new school building about to be erected for that city, 
 made the following report, which we copy from the Saginaw Herald of March 20th, 1884: 
 
 To the Honorable, the Board of Education of the City of East Saginaw : 
 
 Gentlemen,— N our joint committee on Building and School Houses would respectfully report that, as 
 directed at the special meeting February 27th, they have investigated somewhat fully the matter of heating 
 and ventilating, by the use of warm air furnaces, and also by steam. As known to this board, neither method 
 has been altogether satisfactory as applied in our schools, so a portion of the committee visited Detroit and 
 Toledo, where steam and “ Ruttan-Smead ” method of heating and ventilating are in successful operation. 
 
 In Detroit we visited the Irving School House, a twelve room two-story building, which is the best 
 equipped and heated of any of the large school buildings of that city. The plan of heating is by steam, using 
 direct and indirect radiation. Indirect radiation is secured by coils of steam pipes located in recesses left in 
 the outside walls beneath the windows, and cased in by galvanized iron. The fresh air reaches the room 
 through gratings in the wall up through the heated coils and out through similar gratings placed just under 
 the window sills. Direct radiation is obtained by piping fastened to the wainscoting under the blackboard in 
 the most exposed corner of the room. In coldest weather, both means of warming are used ; in ordinary 
 weather only the indirect. The vitiated air is removed from the rooms by openings into ventilating shafts 
 similar in construction to those in our High School. It cost the School Board, in running order, about $4,000, 
 as certified to us by the Secretary of the Board. It requires something over one hundred tons of hard coal to 
 run it each year. In Toledo we visited a nine room building, warmed by steam, where seventy-five tons of 
 hard coal are required each year. This apparatus also cost $4,000. 
 
 Those members of the Board present at the meeting of February 20th, will remember that an agent of 
 the ‘‘ Ruttan-Smead ” method of heating and ventilating was present and explained at length the workings 
 and application of this system. To observe this system in practical operation, we were taken in Toledo to 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 54 
 
 the Humboldt School, where we found the system adapted to six rooms of this twelve room three-story 
 building. The remaining six rooms of the twelve room house were warmed by a furnace similar to those in 
 our High School. 
 
 The “ Ruttan-Smead ” system differs from all ordinary methods of warming by warm air furnaces, in that 
 it requires ventilation to be able to heat successfully. For this purpose it uses a very large tubular furnace 
 that, as in the use of steam, a large warming surface may be presented to the fresh cold air. In ventilation, 
 instead of removing the vitiated air from the room at one point, it takes it out through openings in the base 
 boards communicating directly with the space beneath the floors and between the joists, from which it is 
 drawn by an ample ventilating stack into the open air. 
 
 In this twelve room building we had an excellent opportunity to compare the old and the improved 
 methods of warming and ventilating, as the Supervisor of Buildings and the teachers courteously per- 
 mitted us to visit every room, going in and out from one side of the house to the other, arranging dampers, 
 shutting doors, and questioning teachers as to the workings of each furnace. The morning of our visit, there 
 was a strong southwest wind and the thermometer registered eight degrees below zero. We were some two 
 hours about the building. The result of our observation and study may be stated as follows : 
 
 1. That in the room warmed by the “ Ruttan-Smead” furnace the temperature was uniform in degree in 
 every part, with no perceptible chilling current of air at the level of floor. 
 
 2. That the rooms were excellently ventilated, being free, as far as we could discern, from that close, sour, 
 enervating odor so common in ordinary school rooms. 
 
 3. That hy the use of a delicately adjusted air-meter, we observed the supply of fresh warm air was 
 sufficient to fill the room every twelve minutes. By applying the same means of measurement to the venti- 
 lating vent in the base, the out-flow of vitiated and cold air corresponded in quantity to the supply of fresh 
 warm air. 
 
 4. That the method of removing the foul air at so many different points in each room, virtually prevents 
 drafts and reduces to a minimum the breathing over again by the pupils of vitiated air. 
 
 5. That by means of a valve or door in the warm air flues, each teacher can regulate the quantity of 
 inflowing warm air, but cannot prevent the sufficient, supply of pure air. thereby making it unnecessary 
 to lower windows. 
 
 6. That from the Superintendent of Schools and Supervisor of Buildings we learned for the year 1882-83 
 that less soft coal was consumed in the '‘Ruttan-Smead” furnaces than hard coal in the other furnaces, while 
 ventilation was secured in one set of rooms, but not in the other; that the attendance was better on 
 the “ Ruttan-Smead ” side, on the same enrollment, than on the other, and that the schools were not dis- 
 missed on the one, and were on the other, and for a time equal to thirty days for one school. We submit 
 herewith their certificates. 
 
 Office of Superintendent of School Buildings, 1 
 Mr. J. C. Jones : Toledo, Ohio, March 5, 1884. J 
 
 Dear Sir , — For year beginning September 1, 1882, and ending June 30, 1883, the following amounts of coal 
 
 were used in Humboldt School : six rooms, heated by furnace, took 56 tons of hard coal, at $6.50 per 
 
 ton ; six rooms, heated by Ruttan-Smead furnaces, took 46 tons of soft coal, at $2.80 per ton. 
 
 August Oeciisler, 
 Superintendent of School Buildings. 
 
 J. C. Jones, Superintendent of Schools, East Sagiijaw, Mich.: Toledo, Ohio, March 1, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir , — In answer to your inquiries, I would say we have a twelve-room building, six rooms heated by 
 
 Ruttan-Smead systems, and six rooms heated (and poorly heated) by the furnace. An accurate account 
 
 was kept for the year 1882-83 of the coal furnished each side ; it took less tons of soft coal for the Ruttan- 
 
 Smead side than of hard coal for the side. The Ruttan-Smead side was not only heated, but what is of 
 
 more importance, ventilated also. The side was not well heated ; schools having to be dismissed enough 
 
 to amount to a dismissal of one school for at least thirty days. It costs two hundred and thirty-six dollars 
 
 less for the Ruttan-Smead side than for the side. The attendance, based on same monthly enrollment, 
 
 was ten better for each day on the Ruttan than it was on the side. I have no hesitation in saying that 
 
 I consider the Ruttan-Smead system the best of any heating apparatus we have, and we have in some of our 
 buildings steam heating hy direct and indirect radiation. What our Board thinks of it may be seen from the 
 fact that they have ordered it to be put up in four buildings to be erected this summer, in addition to those 
 in which we already have it — seven in all. Very truly, J. W. Dowd, 
 
 Superintendent and Clerk Toledo City Schools. 
 
 Learning that these furnaces were in use in the four State Normal Schools of Wisconsin, we directed the 
 Superintendent to write the Secretary of the Board of Regents controlling them, the Hon. W. H. Chandler. 
 His letter is herewith appended : 
 
 J. C. Jones, Superintendent of Schools, East Saginaw, Mich. : Madison, Wis., March 5, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir , — Yours of March 3 is at hand. I very cheerfully give you all the information I have relating to 
 our experience with the “ Ruttan-Smead ” heating and ventilating system. 
 
 1. As to durability and efficiency, we have found the furnaces and system all that was claimed for them. 
 The expense for repairs and the renewal of parts is scarcely anything. A grate has to be renewed occasion- 
 ally, that is all. 
 
 2. We can depend upon their efficiency with absolute confidence. Whatever the temperature outside, 
 that of the school rooms is comfortable. And this means that the rooms are ventilated as well as heated, for 
 it is impossible, as you know, by this system to keep a room warm in cold weather, unless the air is fre- 
 quently changed. 
 
 3. We have no complaints now of prevalent headache, as formerly, with steam and other systems. Our 
 school houses, with warm corridors and rooms, are more comfortable than most homes, and no weather but 
 
NORTIICOTT & STINE. ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 blizzards which intercept going to and from, affects our attendance. They do ventilate, as claimed, wherever 
 the system is properly planned and executed. 
 
 4. As to economy in fuel, we use very much less fuel than with other furnaces, or with steam. In every 
 case now our rooms are equally heated, and our basements are not red hot and the rest of the building cold. 
 We do not prefer steam, which is liable to freeze up and fail at the time when we can least afford to have it 
 do so. 
 
 We have this year completed the substitution of the “ Ruttan & Smead ” for other systems in our normal 
 school buildings. We have had this system on trial now for five years, and the furnaces show no signs of 
 failure. We are more than pleased with the system in all respects, and congratulate ourselves we are now 
 to have a long rest from the trouble and expense of changing heating and ventilating apparatus. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, W. H. Chandler, 
 
 Secretary Board Regents Normal School. 
 
 The cost of placing this apparatus in our new proposed building will be one thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty dollars, with guarantees that if it does not work successfully, it shall be removed and money refunded. 
 From all herewith presented, and from what we have learned by personal investigation, and for the further 
 reason that it is less in cost than steam by one-half, and uses the cheaper fuel, we recommend its adoption as 
 a means of heating the new building, and that the Secretary enter into a contract for the same with the pro- 
 prietors of the system, Isaac I). Smead & Co., Toledo, Ohio, on the basis of their proposition herewith sub- 
 mitted. All of which is respectfully submitted. Jacob Christopher, 
 
 0. H. Hetherington, 
 
 Francis Brucker, 
 
 S. S. Linton, 
 
 W. G. Maier, 
 
 Dated March 19, 1884. Joint Committee on Buildings and School Houses. 
 
 Insp. Lawrence moved that the report be received and filed, and the recommendation therein contained 
 adopted. 
 
 Carried as follows : Ayes — Insps. Brucker, Camp, Christopher, Hetherington, Law renee, Linton, Maier, 
 Newton, Seely, and the President. Nays — None. 
 
 After apparatus referred to above had been used one winter, the Bast Saginaw Board of Education 
 have contracted with us to remove steam apparatus from the “Crary” building, and introduce t he Ruttan - 
 Smead apparatus, and are also introducing same in a new building now being erected. — The “ Houghton.” 
 
 The Saginaw^ City Board of Education contracted with us to furnish apparatus for a new building during 
 the summer of 1S84, and the following item from their local paper may be of interest: 
 
 The board of education contracted yesterday with Isaac Smead & Co. for the necessary heating and ven- 
 tilating apparatus for the new sixth ward building. The contract price is $1,580. This company put the 
 heating apparatus into the Hill building, and it proved very satisfactory last winter . — Saginaw Courier. 
 
56 
 
 NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 RTJTTAN-SMEAD 
 
 SYSTEM OF WARMING 
 
 AND VENTILATING 
 
 ON LONG ISLAND. 
 
 ISLIP’S NEW SCHOOL BUILDING. 
 
 rnHE village of Islip has recently completed one of the finest and most eligible school buildings to be found 
 I anywhere in the state of New York. * * * 
 
 By far the most important thing the Building Committee had to consider was the heating and ventila- 
 tion of the new building. Various systems were investigated, and numerous buildings supposed to be perfect 
 in this respect visited, among them the school building at Greenport, where steam is used. A physician 
 who visited this school says that he found it very poorly ventilated, and the air in the rooms so foul that it 
 was a shame to compel the pupils to breathe it. 
 
 After numerous interviews and much inquiry and correspondence, the committee selected as best the 
 Ruttan-Smead system of Isaac D. Smead & Co., Toledo, Ohio, and they are satisfied that this choice was a 
 wise one. The system acts upon the principle that it makes a house breathe just as a man does. It is so 
 arranged that all the air in the btiilding must enter a warm air room in the basement and become sufficiently 
 warm before entering the school rooms, where it makes its exit from a ventilator along the floor, under each 
 window, from whence it is conducted to the foul air room, where it makes its exit to the foul air stack. The 
 temperature of the rooms whether at floor, ceiling or windows, varies only two or three degrees by actual 
 test, and it is found by testing with an air meter that the total volume of air is changed once in every eleven 
 minutes. 
 
 Thus the air is just as fresh as it is out of doors ; there is no odor, and at 4 o’clock the air is as pure and 
 fresh as in the early morning hours. It has not been necessary to open a window for ventilating purposes 
 since the school house has been in use. The system costs less than steam, and is in every respect the most 
 perfect known. Dr. Dio Lewis, the famous medical writer and authority, recently visited this school build- 
 ing and thought it admirable in every particular, and especially as far as the heating and ventilating were 
 concerned. He was skeptical on this point before his visit, and he said he was convinced, from what he had 
 seen, of the superiority of the system adopted by the building committee. 
 
 The tests applied by the makers to their system were severe ones. One was to close all the windows, 
 doors, and registers, and to fill a room with dense smoke. In twenty minutes the room was free of smoke, 
 and the air as pure as that outside, and this was all done without opening a door or window. There are 
 10,000 pounds of iron in the furnaces. They are heavy, simple, and will last for years. The Superintendent 
 of construction of schools of New York City was invited to inspect the school building, but with that charac- 
 teristic indifference born of political life he preferred to stay at home. 
 
 In all New York City there is not a properly ventilated school building, and School Commissioner Devoe 
 recently said that something must soon be'done to remedy this defect, and that death frequently occurred from 
 poor ventilation and overcrowding. We fear New York does not stand alone in this respect. Foul school 
 rooms, breeding the germs of disease and death, are scattered all over the land, a blot on the face of nature, 
 and a standing disgrace to willful indifference of mankind. School Commissioner Douglas Conklin says the 
 Islip school building is the finest equipped he ever visited, and we do not hesitate to add that nowhere can 
 its superior be found . — Advance Patchogue, L. /., Feby. 14. 
 
COST OF WARMING SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 
 IN TOLEDO SCHOOLS. 
 
 For winter of 1S84-5 : 
 
 With Ruttan-Smead apparatus $22.79 per school room. 
 
 With steam heating apparatus 52.68 “ “ 
 
 With hot air furnace 86.25 “ “ 
 
 IN DETROIT. 
 
 With Ruttan-Smead apparatus (frame building) $25.25 per school room. 
 
 With steam heating apparatus (brick building) 54.00 “ “ 
 
 IN WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 With Ruttan-Smead apparatus $24.20 per school room. 
 
 With steam heating apparatus 56.00 “ “ 
 
 ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 With Ruttan-Smead $15.50 per school room. 
 
 With steam 40.70 “ “ 
 
 With hot air furnace 37.50 “ “ 
 
 There are ninety-nine school rooms in Toledo, warmed by the Ruttan-Smead apparatus, nearly as many 
 in Washington. — Toledo Blade, May IS. 
 
 There are now 127 school rooms in Toledo, warmed by our apparatus — Oct. 1. Isaac D. Smead & Co. 
 
 To Whom it may Concern : Elyria, O., May 14, 1884. 
 
 We have had in use since the 10th of September, 1883, two No. 8, and one No. 7, Ruttan-Smead 
 Furnace. These furnaces have been used to heat and ventilate a school building. The following statements 
 will show how well the work has been done : 
 
 1. They have warmed 121,960 cubic feet of school room, besides frequently allowing heat to escape into 
 the halls. This is equal to ten rooms of 12,196 cubic feet per room, and that is larger than the average school 
 room. 
 
 2. They have ventilated these rooms better than I have ever known school rooms to be ventilated in an 
 experience of a quarter of a century in the profession of teaching. 
 
 3. They have ventilated equally well the water closets in the basement of the building. 
 
 4. For two weeks during cold weather, six observations of the temperature of the High School room, 
 which is 48 x 50 x 16, were made daily, from 8.30 a.m., to 3 p.m. At every one of the sixty observations the 
 temperature was 68° or 70°, F. The thermometer registering the above was about three feet from the floor. A 
 thermometer was placed upon the floor and remained there all day. Six observations were made, and it 
 was 68° each time. 
 
 When the mercury was 10° below zero on Monday morning, there having been no fire in the building 
 since the preceding Friday, the fires in the furnaces were built at 5.30 and 8.30 the temperature in all the 
 rooms was 70°. 
 
 As our building was new, we started fires every day after entering it, the 10th of September, and we have 
 had but few days this spring when we have not started a fire in the morning. 
 
 The three furnaces have consumed exactly sixty-three tons of soft lump coal. Ventilating stoves (?) 
 heating the same amount of space, have consumed 70 tons of the same kind of coal, and have poorly 
 ventilated the rooms. We have saved in fuel, gained in even temperature and in ventilation. 
 
 A recent examination into the condition of the furnaces, showed them to be in a good state of preserva- 
 tion, and they need no repairs. 
 
 I am convinced from careful observation that the Ruttan-Smead Apparatus will do all that is claimed for 
 it, if the directions are carefully followed, and any careful man of average intelligence can learn to run the 
 apparatus successfully. Respectfully, 
 
 11. M. Parker, 
 
 Superintendent of Schools, Elyria, O. 
 
58 
 
 NOKTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 A GROUP OF “HOT AIR FURNACES." 
 
 (Which is the best ? See page 5.) 
 
 (These cuts are introduced here to show the faulty construction common to all “ Hot Air” Furnaces.) 
 
A GROUP OF HOT AIR FURNACES. 
 
 (Which is the best? See page 5.) 
 
 (These eats are introduced here to show the faulty construction common to all “ Hot Air ” Furnaces.) 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y 
 
 60 
 
 
 EXTERIOR VIEW OF RUTTAN-SMEAD TUBULAR AIR WARMER. 
 
 (1885 Pattern.) 
 
 The largest size is thirteen feet long, sis feet high, five feet wide, and weighs about three tons. (For description, see pages 5, 16 and 20.) 
 
61 
 
GRATE. 
 
 INTERIOR VIEW RUTTAN-SMEAD TUBULAR AIR WARMER. 
 
 18S5 Pattern. 
 
N0RT1IC0TT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 (53 
 
 THE RUTTAN-SMEAD TUBULAR AIR WARMER. 
 
 (1885 Pattern.) 
 
 View showing interior, with fire burning. (With heavy fire, flame will extend entire length of small flues, as shown above. 
 
LONGITUDINAL SECTION, RUTTAN-SME AD TUBULAR AIR WARMER. 
 
 (1S85 Pattern.) 
 

 NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 65 
 
 
 TRANSVERSE SECTION OF RUTTAN-SMEAD TUBULAR AIR WARMER, 
 
 (Represented on page 60.) 
 
 We desire to call especial attention to tlie patent grate shown above. We paid a large amount for patent and are of the opinion that it is the 
 
 best grate ever made, for either soft coal or wood. 
 
66 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 SOUTH STREET SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 D. W. GIBBS «i CO., TOLEDO, ARCHITECTS. 
 
 For basement plans, floor plans, sections and instructions, see pages 23, 24, G7, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 
 
 73, 74, 75, 76, 77. 
 
NORTTICOTT A STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 BASEMENT PLAN SOUTH STREET SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 Showing Furnaces, Cold Air Rooms, Foul Air Rooms, Smead’s System of Dry Closets, Warm Air Flues, 
 
 Ventilating and Smoke Flue. 
 
 (See pages 23 and 24.) 
 
68 
 
 NORTIICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 FIRST FLOOR PLAN. 
 
 SCALE jr, INCH — 1 CT 
 
 SOUTH STREET SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 Representing, by breaks in the floors, the passage of air tinder them ; location of main air register in 
 school rooms and corridors, and also location of foul air exits before it passes under floor. 
 
 See page GG for perspective of building, and page 19 for explanation of system of warming and ventilating. 
 
N0RT1 ICOTT A STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 69 
 
 PLAN OF SECOND FLOOR SOUTH 
 
 STREET SCHOOL 
 
 BUILDING, TOLEDO, O. 
 
 For explanation see pages 23 and 24. 
 
 
Hawwns ONiana 
 X3VHS 0NIXY3IXN3A 
 XY3H OX 30VNHH3 33YRS 
 
 ■■■ 
 
 — ■ 
 
 
 SECTION, LINE C. C. SHOWING DRY CLOSETS IN SOUTH STREET SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, 
 

/ 7 7 7 TigaiBMM 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 . <u 
 
 2 ° 
 of 
 
 rC O 
 
 oq-2 
 O g 
 
 X 
 
 co 
 
 be 
 
 
PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF ONE SCHOOLROOM IN SOUTH STREET SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, 0. 
 SHOWING WARM AIR REGISTER, VALVE REGULATOR, FOUL AIR EXITS, 
 
 FLOOR JOISTS, AND FURRING STRIPS. 
 

 
 
 
 „ 
 
mm 
 
 74 
 
 Isometric Drawing, representing one of the furnaces, cold air room and warm air flues, in the South Street School Building, Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 B. Air Warmer (furnace). C. Cold Air room. D. Entrance of cold air to Warm Air Flue. E. Valve to control supply of warm and cold air. With valve E closed as shown, cold air will go to 
 room through the opening at bottom of flue as shown at “D." See article on page 21, referring to Smead's System of “ continuous ventilation.” 
 
REuU LA] 
 
 COLD 
 
 COLD 
 
 OPENING 
 
 ROOM 
 
 SECTION, LINE B. B. SHOWING COLD AIR ROOM, 
 FURNACE, AND WARM AIR FLUE. 
 
 J&ckt- $ ^rowbndgt JiUdo, 0 
 
 SCHOOL ROOM. 
 
 This Lithograph is made to illustrate 
 ISAAC D. S MEAT’S 
 System of Continuous Ventilation 
 in the South Street School Building, 
 TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 Notk. — This is always used in all our school work; is pro- 
 tected by patent granted Isaac I). Sinead. 
 
 u 
 
 R 
 
 EX 
 
 R. 
 
 (South Street School Building, Toledo, Ohio. Also in fifteen other school buildings, Toledo.) 
 

 VIEW OF REGISTER AND REGULATOR. 
 
 (.See page 21.) 
 
 76 
 
 

 This is the plan referred to in lithograph G, page 34. This system of floor construction is protected by a patent owned by the live companies in whose interest this book is published. 
 
78 
 
 NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 a, Warm Air Pipes, b, Cold Air Box. 
 
 BASEMENT PLAN SCHOOL BUILDING, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO. 
 Showing application “ Hot Air ” System of Warming. For explanation see pages 18, 79 and 80. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 79 
 
 BASEMENT PLAN OF SCHOOL BUILDING, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO. 
 
 Showing application of Euttan-Smead System of Warming. 
 
 See pages IS, 7S, and SO. 
 
so 
 
 NORTH GOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 FLAX OF FIRST STORY OF SCHOOL BUILDING, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO. 
 
 See pages 18, 78 and 79. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 81 
 
 Smead’s School Room Heater. 
 
 (See pages 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86.) 
 
 r PIIE cuts on pages 83 and 84 represent the Ventilating Heater we are now manufacturing 
 1 for use in school or other buildings where a furnace cannot well be introduced. The favor 
 with which our School Room Heater has been received by school directors, church trustees, 
 merchants and others, has induced us to expend a large sum in adding new features which, we 
 think, will make it by far the most popular ventilating stove ever manufactured. The advantages 
 of an open' fire over a closed one, in the matter of warming the feet and conducting the foul 
 gases from the room, are too apparent to require comment from us. 
 
 The first ventilating stove ever made was patented by Mr. Ruttan. For the past twenty 
 years a great many of his stoves have been manufactured; but as they were only suitable for 
 burning wood , we could not meet the demand for a coal burner. We are aware that there are other 
 ventilating stoves (so called) in the West, and have examined them all with great care. We 
 made the examination with the intention of buying the right to manufacture the one best suited 
 to the work — that is, warming with a volume of air instead of by radiation. By our examination 
 we learned that all schoolroom stoves were but little more than a common cannon stove with a 
 sheet-iron case, and that the amount of air they would warm was by far too small to properly 
 ventilate a schoolroom. 
 
 The principles upon which we have constructed our stove are substantially the same as we 
 have heretofore used in our furnace, towit : a large amount of actual fire surface, large fire-box, 
 and more than twice the grate surface of any other heater. The casing being of cast-iron radiates 
 less heat, is more ornamental, and less liable to injury by rust or blows from pupils than if made 
 of sheet-iron. 
 
 We guarantee the Heater to burn soft coal or wood equally well, although it is made with 
 especial reference to the consumption of soft coal. Its weight is about four times ccs much as 
 other stores, and great care has been used to make it durable. 
 
82 
 
 D I R E C T R ADIATION. 
 
 A possible condition of a School Room warmed (in part) with a common radiating stove. If the pupils were permitted to “speak their mind,” the above 
 would very truly represent the scene. See report of W. S. Frazier, page 121. 
 
The condition of a School Room with Smead’s School-Room Heater, (See page 81.) 
 
Smoke 
 
 84 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 EH 
 
 W 
 
 Vj 
 
 W 
 
 CZj 
 
 o 
 
 02 
 
 0/ 
 
 o 
 
 til 
 
FLOOR AND GROUND PLANS OF THE MODEL DISTRICT SCHOOL. 
 
 (See page 86.) 
 
86 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 C 'O 
 
 'o .9 
 
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NORTHC'OTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 ST 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL B U I L DING, 1 1 Y D E PARK, ILL 
 
 Warmed and Ventilated by Ruttan-Smead System. 
 
88 
 
 NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 HUMBOLDT SCHOOL BUILDING, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 There are sixteen school buildings in Toledo (of which the above is a duplicate of eight) warmed and ventilated with the Ruttan-Smead Apparatus. 
 
 (See pages 50 and 54.) 
 
NOKTHC0TT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 89 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, WEST DENVER, COLORADO. 
 
 Louis Rochat, Atchison, Kansas: 
 
 Office of the Board of Education, District No. 2. 
 
 Denver, Colorado, April 26, 1881. 
 
 Dear Sir , — In reply to yours of the 14th inst., I would say that we have in our city six school buildings heated by the 
 Ruttan System, four that are' heated by steam, and several by the hot air system, and we consider the Ruttan System of heating 
 and ventilating superior to all of them, both in economy and results. 
 
 The Central School is a six-room building, erected in 1880, and heated by two Ruttan Furnaces, which cost us $1,350; 
 whereas the lowest bid we were able to get to heat it by steam was $1,850. The cost of repairs on these to date (three years) is 
 $17.00. * * * * The amount of coal charged’ to this building last year was $278.25. 
 
 The Ebert School is an eight-room building, erected in 1880, and is heated by steam. The expense for repairs alone on the 
 apparatus last year was $118 50. The amount of coal charged to the Ebert for the last year was $531.90. 
 
 The Franklin School * * * contains thirteen school rooms, Superintendent’s office, two wardrobes to each room, 
 
 a Director’s office and two very large halls * * is heated by four Ruttan Furnaces and has been in use one winter — no 
 
 expense for repairs. The amount of coal charged to this building for the year is $510.00. An exact record was kept for the 
 month of January last, and the building was warmed twenty-six days and consumed nineteen tons of soft coal. 
 
 The Gilpin School is a twelve-room building and is heated by steam ; was built about two years ago. The expense for 
 repairs on heating apparatus last year was $148.00 and the amount of coal charged to it was $744.25.' 
 
 The Longfellow School is an eight-room building, heated by the hot air system. It cost, for fuel last year $494.39. 
 
 The Fairmount School is a six-room building, heated by the Ruttan System for two winters, and no expense for repairs. 
 It cost us for fuel last winter $220.50. 
 
 The other three buildings heated by the Ruttan System have been in use one and two winters with no expense for 
 repairs, and the amount of fuel used is substantially the same as those given. I think the record of the buildings mentioned 
 sufficient to establish the fact that the Ruttan System is the most economical in three things: first cost, fuel, and repairs, 
 besides having the advantage of giving belter results in ventilation. We have two men on our board who are practical steam 
 men, and thoroughly understand the steam system, and they are opposed to the use of steam where heat and ventilation only 
 are required. * * * They are at the head of the Denver & Rio Grand shops * * * and are perfectly aware 
 of the petty annoyances of burnt crown«heets, leaking flues, sediment deposits, condensation of steam in pipes, freeze-ujrs, 
 bursting pipes, leaking joints, etc., etc., to say nothing of its first cost. In conclusion, let me say that there comes a time in 
 the history of every boiler when it must come out either for repairs or to be replaced by a new one, either of which is very 
 expensive, while everything connected with the Ruttan System that is liable to wear out can be replaced at small cost and 
 without detriment to ihe building or furnaces. 
 
 Please excuse delay, as 1 wished to examine the books before answering, so as to give exact figures. 
 
 We pay five dollars and twenty-five cents ($5.25) per ton for soft coal. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 A. D. Shepard, President oj the Board. 
 
 
90 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE, CHICAGO. 
 
 We refer by permission to Norman Bridge, M. D., for many years Professor of Hygiene and Adjunct 
 Professor of the Principles and Practices of Medicine in Rush Medical College, and Ex-President of Chicago 
 Board of Education. 
 
 The size of the building is 62 by 80 feet, independent of projections on the sides and in front, of four and 
 three feet respectively. The height is 80 feet. 
 
 On the floor above is the lower or chemical lecture-room, 38 by 69 feet, and 18 feet high. 
 
 On the third floor is the upper lecture-room, the amphitheater, 49 bv 69 feet, and 36 feet high, reaching 
 into the mansard roof, and lighted in part by a skylight 16 by 20 feet- In the rear of this room is the museum, 
 35 by 48 feet and 19 feet high; while under the seats of the amphitheater are eight rooms used for the 
 accommodation of different professors, and for various other purposes of the college. The seats of both rooms 
 are arranged on the amphitheater plan. The upper lecture-room has 362 numbered seats; the lower 316. 
 The seats are in the style of opera chairs, with iron frames and hardwood furnishing. 
 
 Over the museum is the dissecting-room, 25 by 64 feet and 19 feet high. This room is lighted by windows 
 on three sides and by a skylight 7 by 16 feet ; it is provided with an asphalt floor. 
 
 A very thorough investigation was made by building committee before contract for heating and ventilation 
 was let, and the “Ruttan” was unanimously adopted . — Annual Report. 
 
 Rush Medical College, Chicago. 
 
 J. E. Simpson, Decorah, Iowa : 
 
 Dear Sir , — Your letter of the 24th inst. came duly to hand. In reply to your interrogatories I would say 
 that we do gref the proper degree of heat and ventilation in the coldest weather from our heating and ventilat- 
 ing apparatus. I think the system is decidedly a success, and there is nothing in use in the way of heating 
 apparatus for public buildings equal to the Ruttan System. Very truly yours, 
 
 Joseph P. Ross, M.D. 
 
XORTIICOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 'll 
 
 MOUNT CARROLL FEMALE SEMINARY, MOUNT CARROLL, ILL. 
 
 (See page 110.) 
 
 The new and a portion of the old buildings are heated by Ruttan Furnaces and ventilated by the Ruttan 
 System. The admirable system of heating and ventilation here in use seems so nearly perfect as to remove 
 all possible objections to warm-air furnaces. Four Ruttan Furnaces warm evenly some eighty rooms, of great 
 variety of size, from the bath and private rooms, twelve by fourteen feet, up to the size of sitting-rooms, 
 parlors, library, dining-room, the last being forty-four feet square ; ceilings of height from nine to twelve feet. 
 Each room has an independent flue of brick, conveying the heat direct from a sheet-iron reservoir, which is 
 seventy feet long by six feet wide and two feet deep. This reservoir is supplied with pure air direct from the 
 tubular furnaces. The construction of the furnaces is such that they are never heated to redness, hence the 
 air is never “ burned.” The tubular arrangement applies the principle of the locomotive boiler, only that the 
 furnace is surrounded by air instead of wafer. The great amount of heating surface thus exposed admits of a 
 large volume of pure, cold air, which is not burned and deoxidized as in many furnaces, but warmed by 
 a pleasant, healthful temperature. To perfect the warming of each room the system of ventilation used in 
 connection with these furnaces, is the more important feature. A large chimney is located in the center of 
 the building, a small part of which is used for the smoke from the furnaces, and thus the volume of air in the 
 larger part is heated, adding to the draft. The air passes from the room through perforated iron base, under 
 the floors and down the partitions to base of the exhausting or ventilating chimney ; thus there is a constant 
 draft upon all the air ot the building, and the capacity of the box supplying fresh air, and the exhaust 
 chimney, are such as to allow complete change of the air in the building every half hour. As we have said, 
 eveiy room is evenly warmed, the temperature at floor and ceiling varying only 1 to 4°, all the heat in the 
 air passing from rooms to exhaust flue being utilized in warming the floors. A thermometer is furnished to 
 every room, and the standard temperature is 70°. The same system is here applied to the ventilation of the 
 “water-closets” (or more properly here, “ dry-closets ”), which are thereby kept from all offense, something 
 rarely attained to in so large a household. On the whole, we are convinced, by the uniformly pleasant and 
 healthful atmosphere we find pervading the seminary, that the method here in use cannot be excelled, and 
 that to it some of the credit is due for the uniform good health among the members of the institution . — Iowa 
 Homestead. 
 
 
92 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STNE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 FAYETTE COUNTY (OHIO) COURT HOUSE. 
 
 D. W. GIBBS & CO., TOLEDO, OHIO, ARCHITECTS. 
 
 After a very thorough investigation of the various plans for warming and ventilating public buildings, 
 the Commissioners made the following report. * * * The bid of Isaac D. Srnead & Co. being 
 the lowest, and their system being, in the opinion of the Commissioners, the best, the award is 
 
 made to them. * * - * . . 
 
 Robt. S. Sutherland, ) Commissioners of 
 
 W. J. Hornet, R. S. Eyre, 1 Fayette Co., 0. 
 
 James P. Robinson 
 
 Auditor. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, X. V. 
 
 93 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, OTTAWA, KANSAS. 
 
 Office of Board of Education, Ottawa, Kan.. January 30, 1885. 
 
 Robert Elliott, Church Building Committee, Hannibal, Mo. : 
 
 Dear Sir— l take pleasure in stating that we have used the Ruttan System of warming and ventilating in 
 our high school building continually for thirteen years. This building is a large, three-story, twelve-room 
 building. We also introduced it last year in a sixteen-room building. I can say that it has given us excellent 
 satisfaction, and we are well pleased with it. ^ cry respectfully yours, 
 
 A. Dobson, President Board of Education. 
 
 
94 
 
 NORTH COTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 \ 
 
 DISTRICT SCHOOL BUILDING, RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., 68 Lake Street, Chicago : River Falls, Wis., March 27, 1885. 
 
 Gentlemen , — At the close of the hardest winter Wisconsin has known in twenty years, it gives me pleasure 
 to testify that the "Warming and Ventilating Apparatus which you placed in our main building has fully met 
 the severe demand made upon it. "With weeks of weather during which the mercury constantly marked 25 to 
 40° below zero, we have had no difficulty in maintaining our rooms at a temperature of 72° Fahrenheit, and 
 securing a complete change of air every twenty-five minutes. I hope to see this system more thoroughly in- 
 troduced in the new public buildings of our state. Very truly, 
 
 C. H. Keyes, Principal of Schools. 
 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINK, KLMIRA, N. V. 
 
 jir> 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, NORWALK, OHIO. 
 
 L. D. C.ROSVENOR, JACKSON, MICH., ARCHITECT. 
 
 (See Canton report, page — .) 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON HEATING AND VENTILATION. 
 
 Norwalk, Ohio, June 14, 1883. 
 
 A Committee of the Board of Education, consisting of Mr. Boughton, Mr. Knapp, Mr. Parker, Doctor 
 Hildereth and Mr. Williams, would report that they have jointly or severally examined the system of heating 
 by steam and also by warm air, as used in the school building at Jackson, Mich., at Fostoria, at the new 
 high school building in Cleveland, at Painesville, at Toledo, and at Defiance, for the purpose of determining 
 upon the best system for heating and ventilating our new Central School house, and we think we may say 
 that we have given to this subject much more thorough and careful investigation than is usually given to it in 
 connection with public buildings, for we regard heating and ventilation as of paramount importance to the 
 health and comfort of our scholars, and the result of our investigation is that for combined heating and ventilation 
 we find the system known as the Rultan-Smead Warm A ir Heat ing and Ventilating has proved the most efficient in prac- 
 tical use of any that we have found, and we recommend its adoption in our new school building, and we would 
 further recommend that the proposition of Isaac D. Smead & Co. (Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Company) 
 to warm and ventilate our building in accordance with their contract which they propose for our acceptance, 
 be accepted by the Board. We would further say that while we think it the best system, the cost of putting 
 it in is but about one-half of steam heating, so far as we have investigated. 
 
 Tiieo. Williams, j 
 E. G. Boughton, 
 
 S. P. Hildereth, Committee. 
 Geo. W. Parker, 
 
 Geo. W. Knapp, 
 
 The President and Clerk of the Board were authorized and instructed to contract with the Ruttan Heat- 
 ing and Ventilating Company, in accordance with their proposition submitted. 
 
 May 1, 1885. Their experience has in every particular shown the wisdom of their action. 
 
 
 
PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING AT ROCHELLE, SHELBYVILLE, TUSCOLA, ILL., AND 
 
 MICHIGAN CITY, IND. 
 
 G. P. RANDALL, ARCHITECT. 
 
 ALL HEATED BY THE RDTTAN FURNACES. WARMED AND VENTILATED BY THE RUTTAN SYSTEM. 
 
 Office First National Bank, Rochelle, III., August 4, 1876. 
 
 E. M. Evans, See’y Board of Education, etc., Vinton, Iowa. 
 
 Dear Sir , — Yours of July 25 came to hand this morning. The Ruttan system of ventilation w'orks to perfection with us. 
 It keeps the rooms constantly full of fresh air, and the foul air passes out as fast as the fresh air comes in. The teachers do 
 not complain of the dizziness they formerly did. We attribute the great change to the introduction of the Ruttan furnace in 
 connection with the ventilation, thereby receiving a large amount of pure, outdoor air throughout every room. We have saved 
 in coal alone nearly $800 per annum, and the furnaces are but little worn, and not a dollar has been spent on them for repairs 
 since we first put them in the building — four years ago. 
 
 Yours respectfully, A. Bain, President Board of Education. 
 
 Note. — This building was formerly heated by six furnaces, in which they were obliged to use hard coal, at an 
 
 enormous expense. We replaced them with four of our Tublar Furnaces, which are especially designed for the use of soft coal — 
 hence the great saving in fuel. 
 
 At this date (October 1, 1881) less than twenty-five dollars has been expended for repairs, and furnaces are apparently as 
 good as when set. 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 ONE OF THE MADISON UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS. 
 
 T. I. LACEY, BING HAMPTON, X. Y\, ARCHITECT. 
 
 Warmed and ventilated by the Ruttan-Smead System. 
 
9S 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STIXE, ELMIRA, X. Y 
 
 SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL HALL, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 D. W. GIBBS A CO., TOLEDO, ARCHITECTS. 
 
 Warmed and ventilated by the Ruttan-Smead Apparatus. 
 
NORTH COTT & STINK. ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 !>!) 
 
 RESIDENCE OF M. W. DUNHAM, WAYNE, DU PAGE CO., ILL. 
 
 (IMPORTER AND BREEDER OF PERCEtERON HORSES.) 
 
 The building represented above is warmed and ventilated with the Rattan Apparatus. 
 
100 
 
 XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, DUNKIRK, OHIO 
 
 Warmed and ventilated with Ruttan-Smead Apparatus. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 Ruitan Manufacturing Co., Chicago. 111. : Galveston, Texas, February 19, 1885. 
 
 Gentleman , — * * * Our heating apparatus has turned out better than Mr. Fisher or I ever hoped. My standing 
 
 invitation to the city is: “Pick out the coldest, most disagreeable day that comes along and come to the Ball High School and see 
 how much more comfortable your children are than they could be at home.” H. Lee Sellers, Principal of High School. 
 

 102 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, HAVERHILL, MASS. 
 
 After our apparatus had been in use in above building one winter, the Haverhill Board of 
 Education contracted with us to furnish apparatus for three School Buildings, and we also contracted 
 with Trustees of Unitarian Church, Haverhill, to furnish apparatus for three large buildings. 
 
 This work has been so satisfactory that the city of Haverhill has since awarded us three large school 
 buildings. Other large work has been given us there, all giving most perfect satisfaction and to which we 
 
 re ^ er ' Haverhill, Mass., March 2, 1883. 
 
 * * * * ’We have run your furnaces all winter, and they have done splendidly. We kept the church 
 
 warm while plastering, and mercury 10° below zero. _ . . 
 
 1 0. L. Gildings, Contractor. 
 
 See also a letter from Haverhill regarding this work on page 110. 
 
 

 E. A. Kimball, Chairman Building Committee. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y 
 
 101 
 
 ONE OF THE COLLEGE BUILDINGS, OBERLIN, OHIO. 
 
 (recitation hall.) 
 
 WEARY & KRAMER, ARCHITECTS, AKRON, OHIO. 
 
 The above buildiny is warmed and ventilated by the Ruttan-Smead System. The Isaac D. Smead 
 
 System of Dry -Closets are also introduced. 
 
XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 105 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, AURORA, ILLINOIS. 
 
 From the Aurora (111.) Beacon. 
 
 The ventilation and warming of many hundreds of the finest and most expensive buildings in the United 
 States have been designed and very successfully carried out by them (Ruttan Manufacturing Co.) in a great 
 many cases where steam and other systems of heating and ventilation had been tried and had utterly failed. 
 A full description of their system and apparatus, as given in their large Illustrated Book, would be found use- 
 ful and instructive to every Board of Education. The work done by them in our West Side school building 
 is certainly the finest we have ever seen. The building is practically provided with lungs. The Company is 
 composed of men having a thorough scientific and practical knowledge of their business. We congratulate 
 the Board of Education and the city upon this part of the work in the new building. From what we have 
 seen, we would certainly recommend those wanting to secure for their buildings the very best warming and 
 ventilation, that they see the Ruttan Manufacturing Co. before completing plans or ordering work done. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y 
 
 K)(5 
 
 high school BUILDING, DEFIANCE, OHIO. 
 
 In addition to above building, in which our system has been used five years, we have also 
 furnished in Defiance apparatus for a Ward School Building, Masonic Hall, German Lutheran Church, 
 City Hall, Defiance Academy, County Infirmary, and residence of Dr. E. N. Lewis and Benj. L. Abell, 
 cashier Merchants’ National Bank. 
 
 Defiance, Ohio, March 9, 1882. 
 
 Isaac D. Smead & Co., Toledo, Ohio : 
 
 Gentlemen, — I report the following in reference to our school, viz. : The large twelve-room building is heated 
 bv warm air from the Ruttan Air Warmers. The cost of fuel per annum is about 40 cents per pupil, and the 
 cost of janitor is about 50 cents per pupil, all told, and coal costs more per ton in Defiance than in either loledo or 
 Cleveland.. At a meeting of the School Board of our town, the Board authorized me to state that we think 
 and know we have the best heating and ventilating system we ever saw, and highly recommend it to all parties 
 wishing a good heating and ventilating apparatus. T „ . 
 
 By order of Board of Education. J- H. Bevington, Secretary. 
 

 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 JOT 
 
 STATE NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDING, RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN. 
 
 (near ST. PAUL, MINN). 
 
 The following correspondence will explain why we have introduced the cut of Normal University, located 
 at River Falls, Wis. : 
 
 Office First National Bank, 
 
 Oshkosh, Wis., April 29, 1S79. 
 
 Isaac D. Smead, President Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago : 
 
 Dear Sir, — The heating and ventilation of the normal building at River Falls is a complete failure. The 
 Board, at its last meeting, instructed the Executive Committee to take such action as they thought best to 
 have the defects remedied. Can’t you go up there and look the thing over, and submit a plan, with price, 
 for good work ? I may go there within a few weeks, and would like to meet you at same time. 
 
 Yours truly, S. M. Hay, Regent. 
 
 State Normal School, River Falls, Wis., April 2, 1880. 
 Isaac D. Smead, Esq., President Ruttan Manufacturing Co., 68 Lake Street, Chicago, 111. : 
 
 Dear Sir, — In response to your inquiry we have to say that, contrary to our preconceived notions, the 
 results of your effort to warm and ventilate the normal school building, at this place, have verified your guar- 
 antees. The air is changed throughout the house three times per hour when the seven furnaces are fired. 
 The air within is maintained at a temperature of 70° when the air without is at a maximum of 30° below 
 zero. The air is supplied in a normal condition for respiration, and is distributed without appreciable 
 currents in the inhabited rooms. 
 
 We can say that the Ruttan Furnaces have warmed and distributed 25,000 cubic feet of pure air per 
 minute, without imparting to it any of the products of combustion that vitiate it for purposes of respiration, 
 and without depriving it of any of its vitalizing properties, and these superlatively excellent consequences 
 resulted from the consumption of only four-fifths of as much fuel as other furnaces required to yield results 
 that were inferior in every respect. 
 
 We take pleasure, therefore, in commending your work to the consideration of any parties who are 
 seeking for first-class results in warming and ventilating. 
 
 A. I>. Andrew, Resident Regent. 
 
 W. D. Parker, President of School. 
 

 108 
 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ILMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, CANTON, OHIO. 
 
 WEARY * KRAMER, ARCHITECTS, AKRON', OHIO. 
 
 (For report of committee on warming and ventilation, see page 26.) 
 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 J<)!> 
 
 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 I N presenting these testimonials, we are aware of the prejudice existing in the public mind 
 asxainst documents of this class, and therefore ben - leave to call attention to the fact that 
 many of these were not written to us, or by any solicitation on our part, but in reply to letters of 
 inquiry from third parties, who either contemplated the erection of new buildings or the intro- 
 duction of heating apparatus and some system of ventilation into old ones. As they are written 
 to parties who were anxious to know the whole truth , and by parties who in most instances had, 
 previous to the introduction of our work, used other furnaces and systems (?) of ventilation in the 
 same buildings, into which ours were afterward introduced, we feel that their testimony should 
 be considered as unimpeachable, as it is based upon experience, and made by parties who are wholly 
 disinterested as far as their relations to ns are concerned. Others are reports of committees or 
 officials made to higher authority upon the subject of heating and ventilation, after a thorough 
 test of our work. 
 
 Through courtesy to our competitors, we suppress the names of the furnaces or steam appara- 
 tus used previous to the introduction of ours. 
 
 We ask a fair, impartial perusal of the letters, and should further information be desired, 
 we will take pleasure in furnishing it upon application. 
 
 Office of Board of Education, Decatur, 111., December 8, 1884. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : 
 
 In the fall of 1S67, we first purchased Furnaces of the predecessors of the Ruttan Manufacturing Com- 
 pany. Since that time there has not been a year that we have not bought more or less of the Company. 
 
 I take pleasure in saying that we have always received fair and honorable treatment. The managers 
 of the Company have always endeavored to carry out every contract according to the spirit, as well as the 
 letter. I very cheerfully recommend them to my friends, as gentlemen who can be relied upon to do exactly 
 as they agree in every instance. E. A. Gastman, Superintendent of Schools. 
 
 State Normal School, Mankato, Minn., November 26, 1884. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.: 
 
 Gentlemen , — You wish to know how we like the Heating and V entilating apparatus you put into our build- 
 ing a year ago last summer 
 
 It was thoroughly tested during the long, cold winter of 1883-4, and found entirely satisfactory in its heat- 
 ing power, and, under fair conditions, equally so in the matter of ventilation. All rooms not overcrowded 
 with students have been well ventilated in cold weather, with the doors and windows closed. No means of 
 ventilation can render the air, as it ought to be every three or five minutes, in some of the rooms contain- 
 ing classes two or three times larger than they should be, save powerful steam fans or a northern blizzard 
 blowing through open windows. 
 
 I think your claim that the air is changed in a room every fifteen or twenty minutes is justified by our 
 experience. 
 
 Your system of ventilation (exhaust) is the true one, and your Furnaces are large, durable and easily 
 managed. Upon the whole, our experience with them is but a repetition of the satisfactory experience of the 
 four normal schools of Wisconsin, familiar to me a few years ago. 
 
 Very truly yours, Edward Searing, President. 
 
 Merchants National Bank, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, January 2, 1S85. 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.: 
 
 Gentlemen , — In reply to yours of 31st ult., we have three large school buildings heated and ventilated by 
 your system, and I am pleased to say that both the heating and the ventilating are a grand success. Should 
 our city build another school building the coming year, your admirable system will undoubtedly be adopted. 
 The writer has been a member of the Board of Education of this city for the past ten years, and during that 
 
110 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. A'. 
 
 time many methods of heating have been tried, and I can truthfully say none have given the satisfaction that 
 your system has. Ventilation is an important feature in your system. There is no system for both heating 
 and ventilating known to me that will compare with yours. 
 
 I am yours, etc., M. A. Higley. 
 
 May, 1885. We have since been awarded the building mentioned in Mr. Higley’s letter. 
 
 Hastings, Neb., March 6, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Yours of recent date received, and should have been answered sooner but for crowding work- 
 
 In reply, I am very happy to say that the Ruttan Furnaces you put in the high school have given us 
 the greatest satisfaction. During December, January and February just closed, we had some unusually severe 
 weather, very cold indeed, with terrible winds from north and west. But after the janitor got to understand 
 the proper adjustment of the fires, there has been no day when the building has not been entirely comfort- 
 able, all the four lower rooms being never less than 70°, and many times 82° and 84° ; while; on Mon- 
 day mornings, we have sometimes let the thermometers run up to 90° odd, for a time, until the rooms were 
 thoroughly heated after standing over Saturday and Sunday without fire. The upper rooms, including the 
 large high school room and its adjoining recitation room, my own office, and the halls of both the floors have 
 been perfectly warm, pleasant and comfortable for pupils and teachers. The ventilation has been perfect. 
 No gas, no bad odors, no headache, have troubled us, for the constant changing of the air in from 20 to 25 
 minutes has kept it pure and wholesome. 
 
 I am greatly pleased, and am satisfied the Ruttan will warm and ventilate any building if properly put 
 in and tended. Very truly yours, 
 
 F. W. Parsons, Superintendent. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.: Aledo, 111., November 19, 1884. 
 
 Gentlemen, — In reply to your request, asking information as to how I like my Furnace, I will say I am 
 well pleased with it. I consider it the most economical method of heating I have ever tried, and it certainly 
 is the most satisfactory. The Furnace was put in in the fall of 1878, and has been in use every winter since, 
 and my total outlay for repairs has been only $1.75, and the Furnace looks, to me, as though it was practically 
 as good as new. The fuel account is materially less than it would be to heat the same rooms with stoves. 
 
 Very truly yours, etc., J. W. Edwards. 
 
 G. L. Cole, Esq.: St. JosErn, Mo., March 1, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir, — In answer to your favor of the 24th, will say that we have only one of our school buildings 
 (seven rooms) warmed by steam, in use now a little more than a year, and one (a six-room building) warmed 
 by the Ruttan System in use since January 1, 1884. In the former (or the one warmed by steam) we 
 are able to obtain scarcely any ventilation, the atmosphere at times in the various rooms being very unpleas- 
 ant. The heat in the said building we find insufficient for the comfort and welfare of the pupils in extremely 
 cold weather. In the building warmed by the Ruttan System we have apparently perfect ventilation, and 
 can maintain any degree of temperature in each and every room (up to 100° if desirable) during the 
 severest weather, the temperature of each room being directly under the control of the teacher in that room 
 without interfering with the temperature of either of the other rooms. There are other minor points in my 
 opinion that give the Ruttan System superior advantages over steam. Therefore experience and observation 
 compel me to be very pronounced in favor of the Ruttan System over steam for heating and ventilating 
 school buildings. Yours truly, F.G. Hopkins, Chairman Building Committee. 
 
 Having carefully read the above letter, we heartily recommend every word of it. 
 
 Chas. G. Ernest, Chairman Supply Committee. 
 
 John M. Armstrong, Chairman Finance Committee. 
 
 W.C. Dodge: Mt. Carroll, Carroll Co., February 17, 1882. 
 
 Sir, — Your favor asking about expenses of repairs is at hand, and am happy to be able to say we have 
 never had occasion to call on the Ruttan Company to do any repairing for us in all the time we have used their furnaces, 
 put in in 1876. We have had some sections of grates to replace. If I could have seen to the furnace fires 
 myself, or always been certain of a trusty fireman, no repairs at all would have been needed. All that ever 
 has been done might have been avoided with reasonable care and exercise of ordinary common sense. We 
 all know the ashes should be kept from under the grate to admit a current of air; otherwise the grate will 
 soon burn out. This is just what happened with ours. We use anthracite coal mainly (some w'ood), and the 
 heat is, of course, very intense at times, and through the carelessness of the boys who tended the fires (proba- 
 bly too indolent to take up the ashes when they ought), the grates became so heated as to warp. and then 
 break. There is, however, no trouble in replacing them, as they are in sections just laid loosely in sockets 
 made for them, and any person can replace them. So lar there is no appearance of anything else giving out 
 in our furnaces. The average cost per year since we have used the Ruttan Furnaces will not exceed four dollars 
 for the repairs named. These furnaces are designed for soft coal or w r ood, although we burn hard coal, as it 
 costs less here. 
 
 With best wishes for success in the introduction of the furnaces, and fully believing you cannot do better 
 with any heating apparatus than the Ruttan, I am, sincerely, F. A. W. Shinier. 
 
 C. B. Tompkins, Supt. Education, Elmira. N. Y.: Haverhill, Mass., March 8, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I beg your pardon for delay in responding to your letter of inquiry in regard to the Iiuttan- 
 Smead Ventilating and Heating Furnace. At the time your letter came I w’as confined to my house and 
 therefore unable to get the report of facts, etc., from the Prudential Committee. The kind of fuel we use is 
 the Piction coal (bituminous), and use pine wood in starting a quick fire. We start the fire in three furnaces at 
 7 o'clock on Sabbath morning, when the weather is cold, and at 10 o'clock, the time of service, our church and chapel 
 are easily heated to 65°. The cost of coal to us here is $4.50 per ton, and it will take from one to one and 
 one-half tons per day. The main auditorium will seat 1,000, and the chapel seats from 500 to 700. One of 
 
NORTIJCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the grand points attained with this furnace is, that every part of the house is at a uniform temperature. 
 The feet are just the same degree of heat as the head or the air at the floor the same as at the ceiling, and the 
 ventilation is perfect, pure, fresh air all day, and you cannot if you would breathe the same air hut once — the 
 stale air going out doors and the fresh air coming in to take its place. I think, and so do the Prudential 
 Committee, that the new method is a saving of very nearly one-half the expense in producingthe same amount 
 of heat. But our fires have been so irregular this season, for all purposes, it is quite difficult to get at the true 
 cost of heating in average years. Allow me to say that our Building Committee, as well as Prudential Com- 
 mittee of our church, are more than satisfied with the Ruttan-Smead Ventilating Furnace, and that the 
 claims of the proprietors have been fully sustained, and for heating churches and public buildings it bas no 
 competitors. I am with great respect, very truly yours, 
 
 Ckas. B. Emerson, Building Committee. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111.: Saybrook, 111. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Accept our thanks for the good thing in heating and ventilating you have done for our 
 church. The furnace, a No. 6, which you placed in our church last December, is a success in every way. It 
 is economical in price and fuel — is a powerful and quick heater, and is easily managed. It is free from dust, 
 smoke and coal odors. The draft, ventilation and heating are all complete. The pure air and uniformity of 
 temperature, and freedom from cold currents through the whole building, make the heating and ventilation 
 most satisfactory and praiseworthy. Should you desire any references, I would refer you to everybody here ; 
 we are all pleased. The amount of coal used is a marvel of economy. I regard the ventilation (as well as 
 heating) a monument of Christian civilization, as well as common sense. 
 
 Yours truly, John A. Kumler, Pastor M. E. Church. 
 
 Minneapolis, Minn., June 1, 1885. 
 
 Otis Jones, Esq., President Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.: 
 
 Dear Sir, — In answer to your letter of inquiry as to how I am pleased with your Warming and 
 Ventilating system, I take pleasure in saying that I believe it to be the most perfect and complete system of 
 heating and ventilating I know of. My house is large, some sixty by eighty-five feet, three stories, with 
 basement under all. Although the past winter was exceedingly cold, I found no trouble in keeping all the 
 rooms comfortable and warm. I also consider it much more healthful than any other system, owing to the 
 warm air being so evenly distributed over the wlioie house and the foul air being continually carried off, fresh 
 air without taking its place, making a continuous fresh air circulation throughout the house. I also believe 
 it to be the most economical. Yours truly, John Edwards. 
 
 Milton College, Milton, Wis., April 20, 1885. 
 
 Mr. Otis Jones, President Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111. : 
 
 Dear Sir, — During the past fall and winter terms, the building of this institution, in which are conducted 
 the recitations of our classes, has been heated with two of your Furnaces, No. 7- For some time previous, all 
 the rooms, seven in number, have been supplied with wood stoves. This change in the method of heating 
 has contributed very greatly to the comfort of both the faculty and the students. During the past unusually 
 severe winter, we have experienced no difficulty in maintaining the temperature of about 70 degrees Fahren- 
 heit in all portions of this building, though it is located on a rise of ground exposed to the sweeping winds 
 of this region. Rooms which we have not been able to warm hitherto sufficiently in the coldest days, espec- 
 ially on the western side, have given us no trouble the past winter. 
 
 With your furnaces we use, also, the Ruttan system of ventilation. We cannot praise too highly the 
 results of this system. It has aided materially in securing the uniform warmth of the building. The rooms, 
 after being occupied with our classes during the day, have shown that they were filled with pure air when the 
 last recitations have closed. The health of all, both teachers and students, has never been better in the 
 winter than during the past term. Although one hundred and seventy persons have performed their school 
 work during the day in these rooms, only one of this number has been seriously ill, and he caught a severe 
 cold while stopping at a house for a short time, attending to some business on the farm. Steady and vigorous 
 study and uniform attendance upon the recitations have characterized all the classes. 
 
 Yours very truly, *W. C. AVhitford, President of Milton College. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111. : Ottawa, 111. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have used your system of ventilation and warming for a little more than eight years. I 
 am ready to say that it is a complete and thorough success. My house is a brick house. During all the rains 
 and damp weather it is so dry that not a particle of mold or moisture is seen from cellar to attic, and yet the 
 circulation of air was such that, during the summer heat, my house is cool ; and both winter and summer the 
 air all over the house was as pure as that out of doors. I kept from two to five rooms warmed nicely, with 
 about the same amount of coal that five stoves would use, but I get rid of all the dirt and dust, and the trouble 
 of taking care of so many stoves, and the heat I get is a summer heat instead of a burned air. When we get 
 up in the morning there is no lassitude, no oppression of the lungs ; the bedroom air is pure, and yet the 
 floors are comfortable to the bare feet. In fact, I would not live in a house that was not built with your sys- 
 tem of ventilation and warming. I would even build a house of only two rooms with it, rather than one of 
 six rooms without it. Yours respectfully, E. Y. Griggs. 
 
 Rev. J. A. Kumler, Pastor 31. E. Church, at Bloomington, 111., recently wrote to Rev. H. C. Adams, pastor 
 M. E. Church at Payson, 111., making inquiries regarding the new church building just completed at Payson, 
 and the following is quoted from Air. Adams’ reply : 
 
 “The heating and ventilating is perfect, there being only two or three degrees difference in the tempera- 
 ture three feet from the register and at platform. My babe sleeps on platform during service, and never takes 
 
 Formerly State Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
112 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 cold. People come in with cold feet, take their seats, and soon are comfortable. If the room gets a little too 
 warm, there is none of that hot, feverish feeling, that is the curse of so many churches not properly venti- 
 lated and heated. We had an accidental test of the ventilation a few days ago. I accidentally dropped a 
 pine stick on the furnace, and, of course, the room was soon filled with smoke, but without opening a 
 window or door, the smoke entirely disappeared in a very short time. There is very little coughing in the 
 congregation, and I attribute it to the purity of the air. Furnace is all right. I would never let a church be 
 heated in any other way if I could help it. On the coldest Sabbath I built a fire at 7:30, and at 9:30 was 
 
 ready for Sunday-school, with mercury at 70°. The Congregational Church, heated with a furnace, 
 
 fired up at 4 a.m., and at 11 a.m. was not comfortable.” 
 
 Reed’s Temple of Music, 136 State street, near Madison, Chicago. 
 
 Geo. D. Claflix, Secretary Blade Printing Co., Toledo, 0. : 
 
 Dear Sir, — We cannot commend the Ruttan Furnace too highly. It has proved all and more than rep- 
 resented, and pleases far better than anything else we have ever tried and we have tried several kinds, 
 including expensive steam apparatus. We find no trouble in heating our entire building, even with the ther- 
 mometer at 15° to 20° below zero, at far less expense to us than by any other system of heating. It is deci- 
 dedly A No. 1, and we would not be without it. 
 
 Respectfully, A. Reed & Sons. 
 
 This building is 25x100 feet, and four stories high. 
 
 From the Annual Report of the Chicago Board of Education. 
 
 Four new buildings were in process of construction at the beginning of the school year. These were 
 the new Walsh, Longfellow, Sangamon Street and Lawndale. All of the above named buildings are heated 
 and ventilated by the Ruttan furnaces. Five new buildings have been commenced during the year, namely, 
 Keith, Webster, Irving, Ogden and the New Wells: The Ogden school building will have eighteen rooms, 
 the otherfour fifteen roomseach. All of the above named school buildings will be heated and ventilated by 
 the Ruttan furnaces. ****** The Ruttan System of heating for school buildings is 
 very successful and makes good ventilation an unavoidable occurrence. Hence these school houses will be 
 much better heated and ventilated than any of our old buildings heated with furnaces of other patterns. 
 
 The poor ventilation in many of the older buildings has become notorious. The necessity of improving 
 it has engaged the serious attention of the Board, from time to time, and particularly during the past two 
 years. The Ruttan heating apparatus, which was put into the Calumet Avenue school during the previous 
 year, had so fully demonstrated its capacity to make good ventilation that the Board in July and August, 1882, 
 ordered it to be introduced into the Kinzie, Lincoln Street, and old Walsh buildings. During the past severe 
 winter these schools have been heated and ventilated in a satisfactory manner. The ventilation has been 
 very noticeably improved. It is safe to say that in these buildings the volume of fresh, warm air introduced 
 into the school rooms, and of foul air passing out, is twice as great as it was before the change was made. 
 
 Acting upon the experience of two winters, the Board, at the close of the year, has wisely ordered that the 
 furnaces and diminutive flues of six other buildings shall be replaced by the Ruttan and the enlarged flues 
 required for better ventilation. The buildings are the Burr, Vender Street, Pearson Street, Polk Street, West 
 Fourteenth Street, and the Old Cottage Grove. It is to be hoped that next year may witness the extension of 
 this kind of improvement to many or all of the remaining old buildings heated by furnaces, whose ventilation 
 is faulty. * * * * * * Some of the steam-heated buildings have ventilation even worse 
 
 than any heated by furnaces. 
 
 OAKLAND SCHOOL BUILDING, CHICAGO. 
 
 Chicago, 111.. June 8, 1885. 
 
 Gentlemen, — You ask my opinion regarding the Ruttan Furnaces now in the Oakland School building. 
 This building was erected in 1874 and was supplied by furnaces of another make which did not give us the 
 desired amount of heat and almost no ventilation. After using them for two years they were taken out and 
 replaced by two No. 7 furnaces made by the Ruttan Manufacturing Co. Our school building was an eight- 
 room, two-story building. We continued to use the two furnaces with the best of satisfaction until the sum- 
 mer of 18S0 when, our school accommodations being inadequate, we put on a third story making a twelve-room 
 building of what was heretofore an eight-room building. By the advice of Ruttan Manufacturing Co., when 
 we enlarged our building, we had the two furnaces replaced by four of their No. 7’s and they have been in 
 continuous use ever since, and I give it as my deliberate opinion that we now have the best warmed and ventilated 
 school building in Cook County. We are able at all times to thoroughly warm our school rooms during the 
 coldest weather, and the temperature has been as low as thirty-five degrees below zero. No teacher or pupil 
 has ever complained of rooms being too cold, and the ventilation is all that could be desired. 
 
 One year ago we erected a new twelve-room school building, and our committee (influenced by the arch- 
 itect) concluded to put in steam heating as an experiment. The new school building has only six rooms 
 finished and we have used as many tons of hard coal to warm the six rooms for the new building as we have tons of 
 soft coal to warm the twelve school rooms with the Ruttan Furnaces, and I consider the ventilation in the old build- 
 ing where the furnaces are placed much better than in the new building where steam heating is used. I can 
 truthfully say that for warming and ventilating school buildings the Ruttan System of heating and ventilating is 
 far superior to steam heating apparatus or any other with which I am acquainted. Were we to erect a new school 
 building I should prefer this work with all their latest improvement to any I know of in this country. I have 
 given the subject of heating and ventilating school buildings very careful attention, and I can truthfully say 
 that I believe it to be the best system of any now in use. 
 
 Should any party question the above statements, I have only to say, visit our two school buildings during 
 the coldest weather of next winter and you will not remain in doubt. Hoping this will be satisfactory, I am. 
 Yours very respectfully, John R. Hodsox, 
 
 Chairman Committee on Buildings and Grounds. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 113 
 
 Madison, Wis., November 25, 1884. 
 
 S. D. Fisher, Esq., Sup’t Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111. : 
 
 Dear Sir,-— I have your favor of the 24th, soliciting my statement in respect to the Ruttan system of heat- 
 ing and ventilating. 
 
 You inquire, of course, more particularly with respect to the working of the Ruttan system in the main 
 hall of the University of Wisconsin, with which as a regent and member of the executive committee I had 
 considerable to do. I am able to state that the heating system works satisfactorily, and the ventilating is 
 highly esteemed. 
 
 It requires for its most perfect working, as it seem to me, easy burning fires without pressing demand upon 
 them, then the heat and ventilation must be both very agreeably provided. I take especial pleasure in com- 
 mending the Ruttan Company, and yourself its Superintendent, to the confidence of any person with whom 
 you may deal, because I found you in vour transactions with us, zealous to do your work faithfully, and hon- 
 orable in meeting every requirement in respect to it. Very truly yours, *Wm. F. Vilas. 
 
 *Now Postmaster General United States. 
 
 Office of President of Board of Regents of Normal Schools, 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111. : Platteville, Wis., March 6, 1885. 
 
 Gentlemen , — I have always had serious objections to write commendations of devices offered for sale to 
 the public. But I feel that I might be omitting a duty to the public, and more especially to those seeking the 
 best method of heating and ventilating school buildings, should I withhold the results of my observation and 
 experience in warming and ventilating the four normal school buildings of Wisconsin. We have under our 
 supervision four large school buildings, located in different parts of the state, each having a cubic capacity of 
 over 350,000 feet, and a total enrollment of nearly 2,000 pupils. 
 
 When these buildings were erected they were equipped with hot-air furnaces or steam heating of differ- 
 ent manufacture, some doing reasonably well for a time, but all lacking sufficient power when the atmosphere 
 was at a low temperature, and all of them requiring constant repairs, and consequent annoyance and expense. 
 In the summer of 1875 a new wing was added to the Oshkosh building. The Board of Regents, after a full 
 and exhaustive investigation of different heating and ventilating appliances, concluded to adopt the Ruttan 
 Furnaces and system of ventilation in this wing, with a special guarantee on the part of the Company to heat 
 the building during the coldest weather, and furnish a constant supply of pure air. 
 
 This experiment proving entirely satisfactory and fulfilling all guarantees, the Board of Regents deter- 
 mined to adopt this system of heating and ventilation for all the schools under their charge ; this work has 
 been accomplished at considerable expense, but the results gained have amply repaid all expenditures. The 
 Ruttan Furnaces now in use in the several buildings are as follows: 
 
 Platteville Seven F urnaces. 
 
 Oshkosh Eight Furnaces. 
 
 River Falls Seven Furnaces. 
 
 Whitewater Eight F urnaces. 
 
 We find the advantages gained by the use of this system over any others known to us to be as follows : 
 
 1st. With the large amount of radiating surfaces, and weight of metal which these furnaces possess, an 
 ability to warm these large buildings during the coldest days of a Wisconsin winter. 
 
 2d. In connection with the admirable system of ventilation to furnish a constant supply of pure air to 
 each room, tests have been repeatedly made, showing an entire change of air every thirty minutes. 
 
 3d. A noticeable improvement in the health of the school population since the change in the system of 
 ventilation. 
 
 4th. By using brick hot-air flues instead of metal pipes, lessening the dangers from fires so often result- 
 ing from heated metal pipes coming in contact with woodwork. 
 
 5th. When the work is completed and ready for operation the expense, except for fuel, is practically at 
 an end. We have no expense to keep the furnaces in repair since placing them in our buildings. 
 
 Very truly yours, J. Id. Evans, Pres’t Board of Regents. 
 
 Mr. Otis Jones, President Ruttan Manufacturing Co.: Oshkosh, Wis., December 13, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir , — The Ruttan Heating and Ventilating Apparatus has been in use in this school since 1877. In 
 that time it has heated the building thoroughly, at less expense than ever before, while the efficiency of 
 ventilation is incomparably better. Had we the latest improvement by winch the air of a class-room may 
 be promptly cooled without cutting off the free flow for ventilation, nothing more could be desired. We 
 attribute the superior heating power of the Ruttan Furnace in the past, to a feature you maxe no claims for 
 in your circular, viz. : the perfect accessibility of the smoke flues, by which we can keep the flame in direct 
 contact with the iron, instead of having to radiate through a thick layer of soot, a very poor conductor of 
 heat. The only repairs we have made in the seven years is the cementing of the joints over the fire-bov. 
 
 Yours truly, G. S. Albee, President 
 
 Mr. Otis Jones, Chicago, 111.: Whitewater, Wis., December 1, 1884. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Mr. Rodgers was here Thanksgiving day, and seems to have done the work thoroughly and 
 satisfactorily. We have found the Ruttan system of heating and ventilation a great improvement over any- 
 thing we have previously tried. It provides abundant ventilation, and thus secures a constant supply of fresh 
 and properly warmed air, which is the only proper way of heating public buildings. Both the heating and 
 ventilation of our buildings have been entirely satisfactory since the introduction of this system. 
 
 Very truly yours, J. W. Stearns, President. 
 
114 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co.: Whitewater, Wis., November 24, 1884. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Your favor of the 11th inst., inquiring as to the working of the Ruttan Furnaces in the 
 Whitewater Normal School, was duly received. The building was formerly heated by steam. While this 
 served the purpose reasonably well, so far as heat was concerned, there was a lack of necessary ventilation, 
 so much so that the health of the teachers and pupils demanded a change. After thorough investigation the 
 board of regents selected your furnace, and gave you the contract. We have never regretted doing so. 
 Though the building is on an eminence, and exposed' to the north and west winds, we find no difficulty in heat- 
 ing it in the coldest weather, and the ventilation is complete. As regards economy and durability and power, your 
 furnace is a success. Yours truly, T. D. Weeks, Resident Regent. 
 
 W. C. Dodge, Esq. : River Falls, Wis., December 24, 1881. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your note of inquiry of the 16th inst. came in my absence and I regret the delay of my reply. 
 In many years’ experience with schools it has seemed that three results must be assured in the matter of 
 airing buildings; first, abundant air; second, pure air; third, air free from deleterious matter — all guided by 
 such economy as public service dictates. 
 
 First expense and constancy of repairs, together with probable interruptions, of nice adjustment of fuel 
 to changing temperature, preclude steam and hot water. Most furnaces impair their plate, light metal, and 
 render the air (inadequate in amount) totally unfit for purposes of healthful respiration. 
 
 This was the negative state of mind that I occupied at the time I found it necessary in 1879 to discard 
 $4,000 worth of apparatus, then in use only four years. I issued a circular of inquiry that year to hundreds 
 of schools in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa ; a second circular, more spe- 
 cific in character, brought evidence pointing to Ruttan so unmistakably that I determined to adopt Ruttan 
 warming and ventilating, and now a fter two years’ use I am satisfied with the change. 
 
 The secret of the qualities found in Ruttan is discovered in the amount of metal used and the complete 
 method of circulating the warmed air. In these respects I may say the Ruttan Company removed 3,500 pounds 
 of furnaces and introduced 35,000 pounds; used nine windows, each 3x5 feet for cold air, instead of two such used 
 by the discarded furnaces, and all dimensions were similarly enlarged ; air now enters the room at 100° to 
 150°, formerly 200° to 300° Fahr. — the air, 500,000 cubic feet, is now held at 70° top and bottom of rooms — with 
 mercury outside doors at 40° above or 40° below, the air is exhausted completely every twenty to thirty minutes, and 
 is entirely free from deleterious gases, and the most surprising result is found in the use of less fuel than formerly 
 —made possible by holding uniform force, and in utilizing all the heat, instead of allowing its escape up 
 chimney and into basement. 
 
 I consider the Ruttan a perfect system of warming and ventilating. To your interrogatories: 
 
 1. I have used steam and object to it on account of its first cost and cost of maintaining it, together with 
 the constant fear of fitters and janitors, of accidents from frosts. Have used direct and indirect radiation — in 
 this latitude we don’t dare to trust to indirect alone. 
 
 2. Already answered. Ruttan requires only ordinary day-laborer intelligence in attendance, and compar- 
 atively nothing for repairs. 
 
 3. Ruttan costs here from one-half to two-thirds of cost of steam apparatus to do similar work ; is more 
 economical in every respect than steam. 
 
 4. You can’t use any system of ventilation that does not assure ample exhaust, and I have no knowl- 
 edge of any system that effects all the desired purposes like Ruttan. 
 
 5. No difficulty in working with or against the wind in our “ blizzards ” or our zephyrs. 
 
 6. No evaporation at furnace seems to be needful; temperature of air being comparatively low, and no 
 occasion seems to call for saturation up to dew point or thereabout. 
 
 Anything I may have omitted, I will supply on application with pleasure. 
 
 Trusting your efforts will effect best purposes, I am, respectfully, 
 
 W. D. Parker, President State Normal School. 
 
 State Normal School, River Falls, Wis., April, 1885. 
 
 Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.: 
 
 Gentlemen, — Replying to your inquiry as to the services performed by Ruttan Furnaces and ventilation 
 applied for this school, I have to say : 
 
 1. The seven furnaces have been subjected to specially severe tests during the three past winters, and 
 have been used during seven years. The expenditure for repairs have been less than $30. 
 
 2. The furnaces have afforded an abundance of moderately warmed, pure air, in all temperatures out- 
 side ranging down to 52° below zero, as indicated by self-registering spirit thermometer. The 9th day of 
 January, 1884, afforded the severest test for the furnaces, when they warmed the building to 70° Fahrenheit, 
 in the midst of a gale with the thermometer sinking from 18° below zero to 40° below. 
 
 3. I know no furnaces that afford air so thoroughly adapted for bathing the body and for respiration, as 
 the Ruttan. They leak no gas, super-heat no air, and run without apparent deterioration under the min- 
 imum of attendance. 
 
 4. The admirable results of the Ruttan Furnaces are sure to gratify customers by reason of their large 
 capacity, their delivery of heat just when it is needed, and their thorough economy in all respects. 
 
 Respectfully yours, W. D. Parker, President. 
 
 *This building is nearly 500 miles northwest from Chicago. 
 
 Extract from the Thirtieth (last) Annual Report of the Board of Education, Chicago, issued May, 1885: 
 
 “ The heating and ventilation of the following school buildings have been satisfactorily perfected during 
 the past year by the introduction of the Ruttan Furnace System — Division and Cleaver St., Headley, Pickard, 
 Sheldon, Scammon (brick building), Ward and Wentworth Av. ; and the heating and ventilation of the north 
 half of the Lawndale school has been completed. ” * * * 
 
XORTIICOTT & STINK, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 115 
 
 ‘‘The improvements in the sanitary condition of the school buildings actually made and undertaken, 
 during the past year, have been, it is safe to say, more numerous and radical than those of any previous year 
 in the history of Chicago, and probably they surpass any year’s work in this direction ever done by any city in any 
 land. The improvements in ventilation alone have bettered the condition of more than 17,000 different pupils. 
 Following is a statement of the more important changes: 
 
 “Thirteen old school houses having old style furnaces and defective ventilation, have had their heating 
 apparatus removed and have received, instead, large Ruttan Furnaces with good fresh air supply. At the 
 same time the old foul air ducts, such as they were, have been discarded and in their stead large shafts have 
 been substituted. In the center of each large shaft stands an iron smoke-stack, which warms the air of the 
 shaft, causing a rapid up-current, and consequent exhaust of the foul air from the rooms. At a moderate 
 estimate the changes mentioned give each school room effected by them more than twice, probably three 
 times, as much fresh air as they formerly had, and reduce in the same ratio the fouling of the air the pupils 
 breathe. With the temperature outdoors at zero, Fahrenheit, the new apparatus put into these buildings sup- 
 plies every pupil per hour an average of about 1,500 cubic feet of fresh air, while a corresponding volume of 
 foul air is carried off - . This statement is based on observations actually made with instruments of precision 
 in the hands of experts who were entirely unconnected with the builders of the machinery. 
 
 “ In six buildings the work was completed in time to be tested during the severe weather of the past 
 winter, when it gave entire satisfaction, and great comfort to the teachers and pupils. 
 
 “ There attended these thirteen schools during the past year, upward of 13,000 different pupils. These 
 children have, by the improvements made, passed from a stuffy and impure air into one approaching the 
 ideal for an occupied room.” 
 
 Extracts from Minutes of Chicago Board of Education, January 11, 1883: 
 
 “Mr. Garvy, chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, presented the following: 
 
 To the Boaro of Education of the City of Chicago : 
 
 “ Gentlemen , — Your Committee on Buildings and Grounds respectfully report that, on September 7, the 
 Board directed the preparation of plans for a tifteen-room school building to be erected on the lot corner 
 Wentworth avenue and Thirty-third street, with a view of using steam for heating and ventilation. 
 
 “ Your committee, after a careful consideration and investigation of the most economical method of heat- 
 ing school buildings, are of the opinion that while steam, in comparison with the Ruttan System, is about 
 three times as expensive to introduce and nearly twice as expensive to operate, the temperature and ventila- 
 tion of the class rooms are fully as good from the Ruttan Furnace system as from steam heating. 
 
 “ Your committee would therefore ask authority, in giving the architect instructions to prepare plans for 
 the above described building to adopt the Ruttan System of heating and ventilation for said building instead 
 of steam, as at present ordered by the Board. 
 
 John W. Garvy, \ Committee on 
 M. J. Dunne, j Buildings and Grounds. 
 
 “ Mr. Story moved to concur in the recommendations of the committee. 
 
 “ Mr. Hoyne moved that the consideration of the question be postponed to next meeting of Board. 
 
 “ The motion to postpone was carried.” 
 
 From Minutes of Next Meeting, January 25, 1883 : 
 
 “ Mr. Garvy, chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, called up the report of the committee 
 presented at the meeting held January 11, 1883, recommending that the new building to be erected corner 
 Wentworth avenue and Thirty-third street be heated by the Ruttan Furnace System instead of by steam. 
 
 “ On motion of Mr. Dunne, the recommendation of the committee was concurred in.” 
 
 This is the very strongest commendation of the Ruttan System and Ruttan Air Warmers, and was given after a two years' trial 
 of our work. 
 
 Office of the Board of Education, District No. 2, 
 Denver, Colorado, April 26, 1884. 
 
 Louis Rochat, Atchison, Kansas : 
 
 Dear Sir , — In reply to yours of the 14th inst., I would say that we have in our city six school buildings 
 heated by the Ruttan System, four that are heated by steam, and several by the hot air system, and we 
 consider the Ruttan System of heating and ventilating superior to all of them, both in economy and results. 
 
 The Central School is a six-room building, erected in 1880, and heated by two Ruttan Furnaces, which 
 cost us §1,350, whereas the lowest bid we were able to get to heat it by steam was §1,850. The cost of repairs 
 on these to date (three years) is §17. * * * * The amount of coal charged to this building last 
 
 year was §278.25. 
 
 The Ebert School is an eight-room building, erected in 1880, and is heated by steam. The expense for 
 repairs alone on the apparatus last year was §118.50. The amount of coal charged to the Ebert for the last 
 year was §531.90. 
 
 The Franklin School * * * contains thirteen school rooms, Superintendent’s office, two 
 
 wardrobes to each room, a Director’s office and two very large halls * * is heated by four Ruttan 
 Furnaces and has been in use one winter — no expense for repairs. The amount of coal charged to this 
 building for the year is §510. An exact record was kept for the month of January last, and the building was 
 warmed twenty-six days and consumed nineteen tons of soft coal. 
 
 The Gilpin School is a twelve-room building and is heated by steam ; was built about two years ago. 
 The expense for repairs on heating apparatus last year was S148. and the amount of coal charged to it was 
 §744.25. 
 
 The Longfellow School is an eight-room building, heated by the hot air system. It cost for fuel last 
 year §494.39. 
 
116 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 The Fail-mount School is a six-room building, heated by the Ruttan System for two winters, and no 
 expense for repairs. It cost us for fuel last winter $220.50. 
 
 The other three buildings heated by the Ruttan System have been in use one and two winters with no 
 expense for repairs, and the amount of fuel used is substantially the same as those given. I think the 
 record of the buildings mentioned sufficient to establish the fact that the Ruttan System is the most 
 economical in three things : first cost, fuel and repairs, besides having the advantage of giving better results in 
 ventilation. We have two men on our board who are practical steam men, and thoroughly understand the 
 steam system, and they are opposed to the use of steam where heat and ventilation only are required. * 
 * * They are at the head of the Denver & Rio Grande shops * * * and are perfectly aware 
 
 of the petty annoyances of burnt crown-sheets, leaking flues, sediment deposits, condensation of steam in 
 pipes, freeze-ups, bursting pipes, leaking joints, etc., etc., to say notliing of its first cost. In conclusion, let 
 me say that there comes a time in the history of every boiler when it must come out either for repairs or to 
 be replaced by a new one, either of which is very expensive, while everything connected with the Ruttan 
 System that is liable to wear out can be replaced at small cost and without detriment to the building or 
 furnaces. 
 
 Please excuse delay, as I wished to examine the books before answering, so as to give exact figures. 
 
 We pay five dollars and twenty-five cents ($5.25) per ton for soft coal. 
 
 Respectfully yours, A. D. Shepard, President of the Board. 
 
 During a recent contest at Atchison, Kansas, the following statement was made to the Board of Educa- 
 tion of that city, by those trying to secure the introduction of Steam Heating Apparatus, to-wit : “If you 
 “ want something that costs more to begin with, but less for fuels and repairs, put in steam ; but if you want 
 “ something that is cheap in the first cost, but very expensive afterward, put in the Ruttan Furnaces.” In 
 reply to this we said : “ If that is true, you certainly do not want the Ruttan System, and therefore we 
 “ request that you correspond with those using both, and learn from their experience.” Mr. Rochat of that 
 board wrote to Denver, asking about the two systems, especially as to the cost for fuel, and repairs on the 
 heating apparatus, and received the letter hereto attached in reply. It was written without solicitation on 
 our part, and is published by permission. By analyzing it you will find the following tabulated statement 
 to be true, figured on the basis that the heating apparatus was used six months of the year, to-wit : 
 
 Name of Building. 
 
 No. of Rooms. 
 
 How Heated. 
 
 ICost of Fuel per Year. 
 At 85.25 per ton. 
 
 Cost of Fuel per Month 
 per Room. 
 
 Cost of Repairs on Heating 
 Apparatus per Year. 
 
 Central Sehool 
 
 0 
 
 Ruttan System. 
 
 8278 15 
 
 8 7 73 
 
 8 5 <>6 
 
 Ebert School 
 
 8 
 
 Steam. 
 
 531 90 
 
 11 08 
 
 118 50 
 
 Franklin School 
 
 14 
 
 Ruttan System 
 
 510 00 
 
 6 07 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Gilpin School 
 
 12 
 
 Steam. 
 
 714 23 
 
 10 03 
 
 148 00 
 
 Longfellow School 
 
 8 
 
 Hot Air System. 
 
 494 39 
 
 10 29 
 
 Not given. 
 
 Fairmount School 
 
 6 
 
 Ruttan System. 
 
 220 50 
 
 6 12 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 Average cost to heat rooms per month by RUTTAN SYSTEM $ .6 74 
 
 Average cost to heat rooms per month by Hot Air System 10 29 
 
 Average cost to heat rooms per month by Steam 10 70 
 
 Per cent saved by using RUTTAN SYSTEM 371 
 
 Also please note the difference in cost for repairs. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS AT ROCHELLE, SHELBY YILLE, TUSCOLA, ILL., AND MICHIGAN 
 CITY, IND., ALL WARMED AND VENTILATED BY THE RUTTAN SYSTEM. 
 
 Ruttan Manuf’g Co. : Rochelle, 111., May 11, 1885. 
 
 Gentlemen, — Your favor of the 11th duly received. In reply to your inquiry, the Ruttan Furnaces in the 
 public school building, also in the Presbyterian Church and Opera House, are giving good satisfaction, and 
 doing the work required of them to the satisfaction of all parties. 
 
 Respectfully yours, A. Bain. 
 
 HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, PRINCETON, ILL. 
 
 W. D. Parker, River Falls, Wis. : Princeton, 111. 
 
 We have five No. 5 Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Furnaces; three in one building and two in another 
 and in addition our High School Board have purchased three more for use in high school building (formerly 
 heated by the old style hot-air furnaces). It is next to impossible to get the janitors to use little enough coal. 
 They keep the rooms too warm. A very small fire in a No. 5 furnace will warm two rooms thirty feet square. 
 In an hour we can warm any of our buildings in the coldest weather to 70°. As a heater and ventilator, the 
 Ruttan Furnace is the best I know of, and indeed, the only satisfactory one. I like it better than steam. 
 
 Respectfully, C. P. Snow, Sup't City Schools. 
 
 S. L. Bailey, Chicago, 111. : Cherokee, Iowa, April 6, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — We have the Ruttan System of heating and ventilation in our new $20,000 house. With our 
 four furnaces we are able to warm all the rooms in the coldest weather, and to keep the air in them pure all 
 the time. 
 
 I feel confident that we have the best system now in operation. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Geo. T. Foster, Sup't City Schools. 
 
NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 1 IT 
 
 Boone, Iowa, June 4, 1880. 
 
 Secretary Board of Education, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: 
 
 Sir , — Yours of the 1st received and contents noted. We are using both steam and the Ruttan System in 
 our school buildings. 
 
 Our high school building was especially arranged for steam ; boiler-room was marked upon the ground 
 plan. Both give us a sufficient heat. Our steam does not secure good ventilation, nor can heat by it be 
 obtained in a short time. The Ruttan Heaters secure use good heat and the best of ventilation. 
 
 The expense for heating three buildings with the Ruttan Heaters, where we have had during the year 
 nearly 400 children, has been but little more than one-half what it has been with steam in one building 
 where we have had 226 pupils. The case is this — with Ruttan it is live days each week, say eight hours per 
 day ; with steam it is seven days per week, 24 hours per day. As it has been with us, I must say I would 
 prefer the Ruttan. Very respectfully, 
 
 W. 1’. Todd. 
 
 P. S. — When our high school building was erected in ’78 I was in favor of steam. — T. 
 
 Engineer Department, District of Columbia, 
 Laboratory of the Chemist, >• 
 
 Washington, February 26, 1885. j 
 
 The Honorable Commissioners, District of Columbia : 
 
 Gentlemen , — I have the honor to report that in compliance with directions of Commissioner General J. 
 R. West, to make tests and analyses of the atmospheric air of the “ Twining ” and “ Banneker ” school 
 buildings, I have performed and make the following statement : 
 
 On the 17th inst. I made some tests in both of these buildings, which lead me to the following con- 
 clusions as to the normal condition of the air therein. The tests made in the Twining building were in 
 School No. 9, on the third floor, containing 56 white children, and in School No. 6, on the second floor, 
 containing 57 colored children. On the 25th inst. I returned to the Twining building in order to make a 
 quantitative analysis of the air. 
 
 The process followed by me is that laid down by Boussingault, based upon the absorption of carbonic 
 acid by caustic potash and moisture by strong sulphuric acid, and finally the absorption of oxygen by 
 copper, etc. 
 
 The result of these analyses (taking the air from various heights in the school) are as follows : 
 
 Outside air 000.03 Carbonic Acid. 23.00 Oxygen. 1 
 
 Air Banneker School - By weight. 
 
 Air Twining School No. 9 000.045 “ “ 22.94 “ j 
 
 It is therefore concluded that the air in the Twining School is of normal condition, which is attributable to good 
 ventilation of the rooms. 
 
 It is the atmospheric air which is brought in a large volume by the heating apparatus from outside into 
 these buildings ; and the hot air of the rooms finding an outlet into cold conduits, effects a constant renewal 
 of air. Herein lies the secret of the small quantity of carbonic acid found in the rooms thus ventilated. 
 
 This report refers more particularly to the Twining building. I intend to again visit the Banneker 
 building and make an additional analysis of the atmospheric air therein, the report of which will be 
 forwarded hereafter. Very respectfully, 
 
 E. J. DeSmedt, Chemist, District of Columbia. 
 
 Engineer Department, District of Columbia, 
 Laboratory of the Chemist, 
 
 Washington, March 3, 1885. 
 
 The Honorable Commissioners, District of Columbia : 
 
 Gentlemen , — Yesterday I again visited the Banneker School building, and made there a quantitative 
 analysis of the air in Room No. 4 on second floor, while occupied by 52 colored children and one teacher. 
 Result of analysis by weight : 
 
 Carbonic Acid — 000.04 per cent. Oxygen — 22.98 per cent. 
 
 This air is of normal condition. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. J. DeSmedt, Chemist, District of Columbia. 
 
 THE REPORT OF WASHINGTON (D. C.) COMMITTEE ON BUILDINGS AND REPAIRS. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Board, June, 13, 1882. 
 
 The Committee on Buildings and Repairs have to report for the information of the Board: 
 
 That since the last meeting, a proposition for furnishing an apparatus for heating and ventilating the 
 Webster and Gale school buildings was submitted to the District Commissioners, and by them referred to this 
 Committee for approval or disapproval. 
 
 A special meeting of the Committee was held, and the proposition with the plans therefor were con- 
 sidered, and unanimously approved, for the following reasons : 
 
 1. Because it guarantees a temperature of 70° in the coldest weather, thus preventing the possibility of 
 having to close any of the schools on account of a lack of warmth, as had to be frequently done heretofore. 
 
 2. Because it provides for the admission of double the quantity of fresh air that the original plan did. 
 
 3. Because it provides means for the admission of fresh air, even when the heat is shut off, and without open- 
 ing the doors or windows, which the original plan will not do. 
 
118 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, X. Y. 
 
 4. Because it provides means for regulating the temperature of the rooms, by the mingling of fresh cold 
 and warm air at will, which is not done by any other plans, either proposed or in use, so far as known. 
 
 5. Because it guarantees an entire change of air in each school room, once every twenty minutes, if 
 desired, thus securing the most thorough ventilation. 
 
 6. Because it guarantees the District against any expense for repairs, except the burning out of grate 
 bars, lining, and short smoke pipe, for ten years. 
 
 7. Because it is simpler and cheaper, both as to first cost and as to management, than any steam heating 
 apparatus, and would prevent the possibility of loss by the bursting of coils, as well as the trouble arising 
 from the want of proper management of the air valves, as in the present buildings. 
 
 8. Because the proposition included the building of two brick ventilating flues in each building, in accordance 
 with the previous recommendation of the Board. 
 
 9. Because it would save §4,900 from the estimates made by the Inspector of Buildings, for the heating 
 apparatus and the ventilating Hues, in these two buildings. 
 
 10. Because one-fourth of the cost was to be retained until the apparatus had been tested one entire 
 winter, and then, if not entirely satisfactory, the apparatus was to be removed at the expense of the parties 
 furnishing it, and without detriment to the buildings. 
 
 It will be observed that several of the foregoing reasons are exactly in accord with the suggestions of the 
 Special Committee appointed by the house of representatives on the 20th of February last ; for in thejr 
 report (on p. 3), in speaking of the Peabody, Force, Henry and U street buildings, they say : 
 
 “ The principal defect, from a sanitary point of view, in all these buildings is in regard to the fresh air 
 supply, which is entirely insufficient.” 
 
 And again, on page 4, they say : 
 
 “ The heating apparatus in these buildings is entirely insufficient to heat during cold weather the amount 
 of air supply which should be furnished.” 
 
 Again the report says : 
 
 “ There is no provision in any building for diminishing the temperature of the incoming air without totally 
 cutting off the supply of heat, and when the rooms become over-heated, as appears to be not infrequently 
 the case, the only method of cooling is to shut off the heat and open the windows, thus creating drafts.” 
 
 Your Committee would further state for the information of the Board, that nearly a year ago its chair- 
 man, becoming satisfied that a better plan than any hitherto in use here might be found for heating and 
 ventilating our school buildings, set on foot an investigation on that subject; and finding that the proposed 
 plan was in extensive use elsewhere, especially at the West, he prepared a circular of inquiry and sent it to 
 the school authorities in various sections where this apparatus was in use. The result was a series of letters 
 from the President of the State Board of Wisconsin, the professors in their normal schools, the principals of 
 their high schools, the State Superintendent, the proprietor of the Mt. Carroll Seminary at Mt. Carroll, 111., 
 who also refers to their member of congress, Hon. R. M. A. Hawk, and from the business agent of the School 
 Board at Chicago, all of whom testified in the highest terms to the success of the proposed apparatus as used 
 in their schools. 
 
 This information had, from time to time, been laid before this Committee, and the matter had been fully 
 examined and considered long before the proposition was referred to them by the District Commissioners ; 
 and it will therefore be seen that the Committee did not act without full knowledge of the subject when they 
 recommended its adoption. „, r „ _ _ . , ^ 
 
 \\ . C. Dodge, Chairman of Committee. 
 
NORTFICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 1 1 !) 
 
 WARMING 
 
 AND VENTILATION OF CHURCHES. 
 
 T O those interested in the question of warming and ventilating church edifices we submit the 
 following letters received by Mr. J. II. Puck, chairman of a committee appointed by the 
 German Lutheran Church, of Toledo, to investigate, with a view of purchasing the best system 
 of warming for their church that could be found, the one now in use having totally failed to 
 heat the building. 
 
 J. H. Puck, Esq., Toledo, O. : Geneva, Ohio, April 28, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir , — Replying to your favor of 25th in regard to the Ruttan Heating and Ventilating System as 
 used by us, would say that we consider it the best of all in the circle of our knowledge of heaters. Our 
 experience during the past winter has been that we could easily heat our church in the coldest weather, in 
 fact the only fault we find is that our sexton keeps the room too warm. If we were to put in another would 
 buy the Ruttan-Smead apparatus. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, C. W. Knapp, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 J. H. Puck, Esq., Toledo, 0. : Hartford City, Ind., April 28, 18S5. 
 
 Dear Sir. — Your favor of 25th ins! to hand. We have used the Ruttan-Smead Furnace for seven years 
 in our church, 40 by 80, 35-foot ceiling. Have no trouble in making all parts of the house comfortable in the 
 coldest weather, provided fire is started soon enough to allow all the air to pass through the furnace. I have 
 served our church in all relations from sexton to pastor, and am perfectly free to say that the Ruttan-Smead 
 System is the best of which I have any knowledge. All parts of the house, except the gallery, are of same 
 temperature. If we were building again we would use the same heating system. 
 
 Respectfully, E. T. Chaffee, 
 
 President Board Trustees, Grace M. E. Church. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Puck : Sidney, Ohio, April 26, 1875. 
 
 Dear Sir, — The furnace placed in our church by Isaac D. Sinead & Co., answers the purpose admirably 
 The system is correct and your people can do no better. While the outlay may seem to them large it will be 
 economy in the end. If you trv to warm or ventilate your church without the change which Mr. Sinead 
 proposes, you will certainly fail, whatever furnace you may use. We regard the arrangements of our 
 church for heating and ventilating eminently successful. 
 
 Yours truly, D. R. Silver. 
 
 Mr. J. W. Puck : Lima, Ohio, April 27, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Yours, making inquiries about the Ruttan Furnace, just received. In reply I have to say that 
 we are well satisfied with the furnace. The heating and ventilation are as good as we could wish. Had it in 
 use four years ; is still in good condition. 
 
 Yours, etc., J. R. Hughes. 
 
 J. H. Puck, Toledo, Ohio : Bloomington, Ind., April 28, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your favor inquiring about Ruttan Furnaces received. We are much pleased with ours. We 
 have used it in our new Christian Church since February 1, and, of course, through some of the coldest 
 weather of this cold winter. We find, with the thermometer 10 or 15 degrees below zero, the room can be 
 comfortably warmed with one large register in from two to three hours. I am inclined to believe it to be the 
 best thing to be had. Hastily, etc., 
 
 Amzi Atwater. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Puck: Bellevue, Ohio, April 29, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — We put the Ruttan furnace in our beautiful new church, at Shelby, and I will, and must say 
 for it that it is a great success, both for ventilating and heating. I am now stationed at Bellevue, and we 
 expect to put the same furnace into our church here. I should put it in even at twice the cost of any other 
 furnace that I have ever heard of, and I have made the furnace business a study for years. Air. Sinead is 
 right in not letting his furnace go in without the ventilating flue, for one of the principal sources of its suc- 
 cess is its system of ventilation. Yours truly, 
 
 (Rev.) Geo. L. Hanawalt. 
 
120 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Puck: Creston, Ohio, April 28, 1885. 
 
 Your letter just received this morning. Now, concerning the heater and ventilator, I will say this, that 
 if you get any other heater (at least anything that ever I saw) you will not be satisfied. But if you get Mr. 
 Smead’s put in, although it is more expensive, you cannot help being satisfied. Our neighboring churches 
 will remove their old heaters just as soon as they have the means. We can heat our church in an hour, with 
 the mercury at 12° below. We have good, fresh, warm air, and a circulation of this fresh air all the time, and 
 no headache. Our organization is just a year and a half old, and of course are not very far along financially, 
 but we concluded we had better spend our money for something that was right at first, and in so doing save 
 money ; and I saw at first glance that the Ruttan-Smead Heater and Ventilator was got up on the correct 
 principle for health, comfort, and economy. I can heartily recommend to you Isaac D. Smead’s system, and 
 I think you will never regret it if you buy. Cost is nothing, if you have something that will suit you. 
 Remember that I have no interest in this heating concern, neither do I get paid for recommending, but that 
 you may have a comfortable place to worship God. Yours, 
 
 G. W. Littell. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Puck, Toledo, Ohio: Sharon, Pa., May 2, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir , — Yours of the 25th April at hand. Please excuse delay in answering, caused by press of work. 
 
 You inquire about the Ruttan Ventilating and Heating Furnace. I can say of it, after a careful trial of it, 
 during the past very cold winter, that it is the best heating apparatus that I have ever yet seen for use in 
 church buildings, and I verily believe the best there is made, and the best possible to be made, because con- 
 structed upon the true principle of heating and ventilating combined. The success of the system depends 
 entirely upon having the ventilating and smoke flues large enough and properly constructed. The expense 
 is nothing compared with the comfort and delight experienced in having your church warm, comfortable and 
 well supplied with pure air in the cold, bleak days of the coldest winter; beside, the expense of heating, 
 when once you have the “ System ” in its completeness, is far less than by any other way of heating known to 
 myself. During some of the coldest days of the winter just passed, when our school buildings, heated by 
 steam apparatus, were compelled to be closed because they could not be sufficiently warmed in time for 
 school, we could have our church as warm as on other times in the course of two or three hours, without in 
 any way urging the furnace beyond the usual manner of heating. I think I can safely say that one-third of 
 the fuel is saved by this system as compared with steam heating, to say nothing of the ease of heating, and 
 delight in breathing at all times a fresh, pure, warm air. With best wishes for your success, 
 
 I am yours truly, H. C. Hall, 
 
 Pastor Sharon Baptist Church. 
 
 J. H. Puck, Esq., Toledo, Ohio: Dayton, Ohio, April 28, 1885. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your favor of 25th inst. has been received. Mr. Smead contracted with us that for a certain 
 sum he would put in apparatus to warm Christ Church, and he fulfilled his contract. We have no ventilat- 
 ing shaft, but have contrived a substitute by using the stairway to the steeple. This answers in but an indif- 
 ferent manner. In justice to Mr. Smead I should state that he did not recommend or guarantee the perform- 
 ance of the ventilating shaft. We have had no trouble in keeping our church comfortable this winter, and 
 y r ou know we have had extremely cold weather. Trusting this will give the desired information, 
 
 Yours truly, J. Lane Reed. 
 
 From the Examiner ( New York), March 13, 1884. 
 
 DR. GOW’S VENTILATION EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — The method described by the second correspondent of March 6, comes very near the Ruttan 
 system of ventilation. That system seems to come as near perfection as human frailty will allow. We have 
 it in our new chapel. It is a building about sixty feet square and thirty feet high in the main room. A 
 Ruttan-Smead furnace with the Ruttan system of ventilation heats it. We have already tested it in the 
 essential points. When the thermometer is at 25° below zero we can make our rooms warm enough for 
 public service in two hours, from 65° to 70°, as we wish. The thermometer, at a recent test, showed a differ- 
 ence of only 2° between the floor and eighteen feet above the floor. It is not necessary to open windows and 
 doors to change the air in the rooms. The ventilating system gives a continual supply of air as sweet and 
 warm as a June day, and as continually removes whatever is impure or below the required temperature. A 
 congregation does not have time to breathe the air of the room all over before the first supply is entirely 
 removed and a fresh supply is poured in upon them. 
 
 There is no longer any need of cold feet or bad air in churches or public buildings. A service ten hours 
 long, with a packed audience, with no opening of windows or doors or ventilators in the roof or walls, will 
 leave the air as pure as it was fifteen minutes after the crowd came in. Isaac D. Smead & Co., of Toledo, 0., 
 will guarantee these things to any church, permitting the church to write the guarantee in any terms which 
 its sharpest lawyer may select. Our experience already satisfies us that they will forfeit nothing on their 
 guarantee to us. 
 
 Glen’s Falls, N. Y., March 5. 
 
 G. B. Gow. 
 
NORT1 ICOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 121 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEATING AND 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4, AURORA, ILLINOIS. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 So much perversion, misstatement and misrepresentation has been indulged in concerning the introduction and trial in the 
 West School District of two Smead Heaters, especially designed for school-room use, that the facts will be welcomed by candid minds. 
 
 The fuel bills of this school district were enormous, amounting, in winter previous to the past, to $597. The Ruttan Company, 
 manufacturing at Bloomington, called the attention of the Board of Education to their school-room heater, and promised that they 
 would work a very great saving in fuel, and proposed that two of them should be taken on trial for a winter, and that they would 
 take them away and save the board harmless from all cost, in case their guarantees as to them were not fulfilled. 
 
 The board, by unanimous vote, determined to test them, and authorized the committee on heating and ventilation to place two 
 of them in the school for trial, which was done, and in due course of time it became the duty of that committee to make report to 
 the board concerning the workings of the stoves. 
 
 It is hoped that no taxpayer will fail to candidly peruse the report, and that no parent, who values the health and well-being 
 -of his children, will neglect to read it, to the end that "just and unimpassioned information may obtain. 
 
 THE REPORT. 
 
 To the Board of Education, District No. 1. 
 
 The subject of heating and ventilating school buildings is the most important question with which boards of education have to 
 •deal. The sanitary condition of an apartment in which a teacher and 50 or 60 pupils are required to pass six hours per day, should 
 be a matter of the greatest solicitude and concern. The branches taught, methods of instruction, and the efficiency of teachers, are 
 matters of small moment in comparison, for no amount of knowledge absorbed by the mind can compensate for an impairment of 
 the physical powers. Deprived of health, graces of mind and intellect but make sharper bodily suffering. 
 
 Comparatively easy is it to heat a given number of cubic feet of confined air, but to keep that air in a condition fit to be inhaled 
 in a school room where" a large number of children are constantly consuming the vital properties of the atmosphere, and at every 
 breath making it more poisonous to the human system, rendered further impure by the exhalation from the pores of the skin, and 
 the odor from apparel too often soiled, is more difficult, and seems to be a question of too little public concern. 
 
 It is the opinion of physicians, eminent in their profession, that very many diseases are caused almost entirely by the inhalation 
 of a poisonous atmosphere. A well known practitioner in Chicago recently gave it as his opinion that the prevalence of scarlet fever 
 among the public school children of that city was due to the want of ventilation. “ Man’s worst enemy is his own breath." 
 
 We have in this school district numbers of children that are prostrated from time to time by the foul air of our school rooms, so 
 as to keep them from school for weeks together. A prominent physician said to one of your committee that he was unable to send 
 his daughter to our school for that cause ; while another gentleman, who has been honored as chief magistrate of our city, traces the 
 cause ot a fond daughter’s death directly to her efforts to obtain y.n education in our unventilated school rooms, and a daughter of a 
 clergyman is said to have died from a like cause. 
 
 In the opinion of your committee there is a remedy within our reach ; there is no excuse for so barbaric a condition ; it is 
 criminal in us as a board not to recognize and afford a remedy for the evil. 
 
 That as a board we have done this, in a measure, will appear further on. 
 
 Ventilation should not depend upon the whim of a janitor or the caprice of a teacher, but it should be constant, automatic, self- 
 working, to be of value. 
 
 The danger in a crowded room, from attempted ventilation from open windows, when the temperature is low out of doors, is 
 scarcely less than from the inhalation of foul air, for where cold draughts are introduced into a room some of its occupants must 
 seriously suffer. Quite recently complaint was made to one of your committee that a little girl in No. 4 had been made quite ill by a 
 column "of cold air striking her" from a transom accustomed to be opened. 
 
 Actuated by a desire to do what was wise and judicious toward securing better air for our school rooms, this board, one year ago, 
 authorized its committee upon heating and ventilation to place in the main school building, upon trial, two of Smead’s Ventilating 
 School-Room Heaters, using bituminous or soft coal as fuel ; and it is the duty and pleasure of your committee to make report there- 
 on: 
 
 1st — As to their capacity as heaters. 
 
 2d — As to their effectiveness as ventilators— their ability to keep up a constant and abundant supply of pure warm air. 
 
 3d — The cost of heating a school room with one of them, as compared with the ordinary anthracite or hard coal stoves in use in 
 the other rooms of the same building. 
 
 The High School room, from its exposed situation, and by reason of its being much larger than any of the other rooms, lias 
 always been a difficult room to warm properly in cold weather, "and the efforts of two hard coal stoves have been required therefor. 
 It was thought that this room would afford a test of the heating capacity of any one stove, and here was placed one ot the heaters on 
 trial. By repealed tests with thermometers, your committee demonstrated the fact, and. to our surprise, that the room was warmed in every portion 
 alike ; that there were no cold comers. How thoroughly they were warmed remains to be seen. ************** 
 
 It will be observed with satisfaction that No. 8, the High School room, the largest and most exposed room perhaps in the 
 building, was warmed as thoroughly on this morning with one of the new heaters as smaller rooms were with two of the ordinary 
 stoves. These tests your committee deem evidence conclusive as to their power and capacity. No unusual endeavor was made to 
 produce these results. 
 
 Your committee will not discuss the advantage of necessary attendance upon one stove rather than upon two, or of the relief 
 which is afforded to a school room by the absence of a second stove. The efficiency of these new heaters as ventilators can be best 
 understood by an explanation of the principle upon which they operate. They do not warm the cold air already in the room, but displace 
 it, and inject warmed air into the room to take its place. A copious volume of pure fresh air from out of doors passes constantly in contact with 
 the warm iron of the heater, is warmed by the contaction, and then passes "into the room, displacing through an exhaust next to the floor 
 a corresponding volume of cold foul air. In a recent trial directed by one of your committee, and made by the janitor, it was found that an 
 entire change in the air of the High School room, containing 13,800 cubic feet, was effected in fifteen minutes. In a second trial the same result 
 was produced in twenty minutes. Your committee were hardly prepared to believe it could be accomplished so soon. That the 
 heaters on trial are powerful as heaters, and that they ventilate effectually, is a conclusion which your committee cannot avoid. * * 
 
 Your committee has not been actuated by a determination to make a case for the new heaters, but has felt that a system ot 
 heating which promised to better guard the health of the pupils, and provide warmth and comfort where there is now chill and 
 inquietude, was entitled to full consideration and fair trial, and to such report and commendation as might be warranted by the 
 results obtained. 
 
 Your committee have the welfare of our school children very near at heart, and have a lively appreciation of the cold and 
 discomfort which many of them have suffered in the past winter. " In rooms 1 and 2 there have been many days in which it was 
 cruelty to confine small children in apartments so cold as they have been, and the condition at the branch building has been but 
 little better. To summarize, your committee find : 
 
 1st — That a heater like those on trial, has a heating capacity equal to, if not superior to, two stoves now in use. 
 
 2d — That one of them produces an entire change in the atmosphere of one of our school rooms as often as once in twenty minutes. 
 
 3d — That there is a saving of forty-tuio per cent of fuel in their use. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. W. S. FRAZIER, 
 
 Chairman Committee Heating and Ventilation. 
 
122 
 
 XORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. A'. 
 
 STOA^E GASES. 
 
 WROUGHT-1RON VS. CAST-IRON AND CARBONIC OXIDE. 
 
 To the Editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser: 
 
 During the past four or five years much has been written and said in regard to the effects of east-iron 
 used in the construction of stoves and furnaces. Cast-iron, it has been said, allows poisonous gases (carbonic 
 oxide, carburetted hydrogen, sulphur compounds, etc.) to pass freely through its pores, even at temperatures 
 below redness. Wrought-iron was claimed to be free from this objection. 
 
 Certain experiments made under the direction of the French Academy have been quoted in proof of these 
 statements, but have been so exaggerated, either by ignorance or from selfish motives, that there is a great 
 misapprehension on the part of the public in regard to the real facts of the case. 
 
 Furnaces and stoves have been invented, claiming to obviate the difficulties alleged, and recently the 
 matter was brought before a scientific body in this city, where the great dangers said to arise from the use of 
 cast-iron were freely discussed. 
 
 These dangers have been greatly exaggerated and overrated. What are the facts? In 1863-64 Deville and 
 Treost, at Paris, discovered that various metals — platinum, iron, etc. — were permeable to gases at a bright red 
 heat; this permeability was only slight, for after several hours traces only of certain gases found their way 
 through. l)r. Carrett, in 1865, and Gen. Morin, in 1868, brought their experiments to the notice of the French 
 Academy, and suggested the appointing of a commission of scientific men to report upon the extent to which 
 cast-iron stoves were detrimental to the public health. At the same time Gen. Morin presented the results of 
 several experiments, upon which all of the cry against cast-iron has been based. These experiments were 
 made with soft coal (which, as is well known, yields more gaseous products than anthracite,) and stoves of 
 cast-iron only one-tenth of an inch thick. The stoves were heated to a red heat, yet in the concluding experi- 
 ment, lasting twenty-seven hours, there was produced in the 250 liters of air in a close vessel surrounding the 
 stoves about of a liter of carbonic oxide, or only one part of this poisonous gas in 6,000 parts of the con- 
 fined air. Had the gas produced in twenty-seven hours escaped into a room of 1,000 cubic feet capacity — a 
 room without the slightest ventilation — there would have been found in 625,000 parts of air only one part of 
 carbonic oxide. If such a room were ventilated, is it possible that the air at any given time would have been 
 poisonous? Even this small quantity of carbonic oxide did not pass through the cast-iron, for by far the greater 
 part of it was developed on its outer surface, as the subsequent report of the commission shows. A commis- 
 sion was appointed to fully investigate the matter. Among its members were Fretny, Payen, St.Clair, Deville 
 and Gen. Morin, and after a series of experiments lasting more than a year, a full report was made. No one 
 of those who have said so much against cast-iron seems to have given this report any notice. It is contained 
 in the Comptes Rendus, May 3, 1869. After detailing at considerable length their various experiments and 
 methods showing the production of carbonic oxide in small quantities, under certain circumstances, by stoves 
 of either wrought or cast-iron, they report: 
 
 The results indicated above are produced only when the metal is brought to a red heat. 
 
 The most immediate effects are those due to the direct radiation of these surfaces, and in this respect 
 there is no difference between wrought and cast-iron. 
 
 The report further shows that carbonic oxide is produced mainly by the following causes : 
 
 I. The direct action of the air upon the carbon in the iron heated to redness. 
 
 II. The decomposition of the carbonic acid in the air by its contact with the metal heated to redness. 
 
 III. The influence of dust and organic matters naturally contained in the air. 
 
 The commission further report that a development of carbonic oxide may take place from wrought-iron 
 stoves brought to a red heat, and they close with the statement : 
 
 By lining stoves with fire-brick or clay all the inconveniences noted may be avoided. 
 
 It is far from my purpose to underrate the great importance of having the air of our houses as pure as 
 possible, and of avoiding the slightest presence of carbonic oxide or other dangerous gases, but it seems to me 
 very wrong that sensational stories should be circulated in the name of science, and facts exaggerated, causing 
 unnecessary alarm in regard to matters of great interest to the public. 
 
 Our stoves and furnaces too often emit dangerous gases, but it is not the cast-iron “ permeated by these 
 gases at every pore” that is at fault; it is the red-hot surfaces acting upon the air itself; the imperfect 
 dampers; the dust in the air. Let us hope we may hear no more of this great scare about poisonous gases 
 coming through the pores of cast-iron in a furnace an inch thick. Respectfully, 
 
 No. 8 Bovlston St., Boston, June 6. James F. Babcock. 
 
 OPINION OF A WELL KNOWN SCIENTIST. 
 
 Prof. Ivedzie, of the Michigan Board of Health, contradicts the notion that has been so industriously cir- 
 culated of late years that gas will not escape through the walls of wrought-iron furnaces. It will not penetrate 
 them as readily as cast-iron, but will pass through if highly heated. Cast-iron furnaces are good enough if 
 large enough, so as to furnish sufficient warmth without being overheated, if the joints are well closed with 
 cement, and if no dampers are allowed in the pipe to obstruct the passage of the gas into the chimney. More- 
 over, cast-iron radiates heat better than wrought-iron. 
 
Ihe RU11AN TUBULAR CAST-IRON FURNACE, as manufactured previous to 1885. The above is a correct representation of the Ruttan Tubular 
 Masonry Furnace, as shown before brick case is put around it. Our No. 7 is 10 feet long, 6 feet high, and 31 feet wide, and weighs about 5,000 pounds.'" 
 
124 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 THE TUBULAR CAST-IRON MASONRY FURNACE, WITH BRICK CASE ON FRONT, REAR, TOP AND ONE SIDE— Seven sizes. 
 
SMOKE 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y 
 
 I9r> 
 
 INTERIOR VIEW OF THE TUBULAR MASONRY FURNACE -Seven Size 
 
12G 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. Y. 
 
 The cut ou this page represents the New Joint introduced in the manut icture of 
 our No. 8 furnace. 
 
 We have also changed the patterns, and the same joint will be used in the 
 Ruttan-Smead Tubular Furnace. This is a great improvement over the old, 
 and is the most perfect joint made. 
 
 
 CAUTION 
 
 W E are constantly being informed of instances where the Rlttan 
 System of Ventilation, WITH OUR IMPROVEMENTS, has been 
 introduced by parties either representing themselves as our agents, or that 
 we have no patents to protect our rights. We are charged with the failure 
 to warm buildings of which we know nothing until we hear the reports so 
 detrimental to our interests. 
 
 So far as we are able to learn, these reports are started and circulated 
 by those having cheap, light furnaces, and no system of ventilation. Mr. 
 Ruttan was paid several thousand dollars for his patents, and many thou- 
 sands more have been expended to perfect the system. Patents have been 
 granted for our improvements, and WE SHALL COLLECT A ROYALTY 
 WHENEVER THEY ARE USED. 
 
 Any parties now using (without our consent), or desiring to use, the 
 above-mentioned systems of ventilation, must correspond directly with us 
 as we have no agents. 
 
 GUARANTEE. 
 
 All contracts made by us contain the following guarantee, to wit: 
 
 “ We hereby guarantee that the said furnace(s) shall, with good care 
 
 warm the rooms of said building to an average 
 
 temperature of from 65° to 70° Fahrenheit during the coldest weather, and at the same time secure good ventilation in all rooms 
 warmed. Provided the furnace(s) do(es) not fill the above guarantee, we agree to refund all money paid us, also money paid for 
 freight and mason work, and remove the furnace(s) from the building.” 
 
N0RT1IC0TT & STINE, ELMIRA, N. V. 
 
 127 
 
 TO SCHOOL DIRECTORS. 
 
 I F you are intending to buy wanning and ventilating apparatus for new or old buildings, it will 
 I pay you to correspond with us before buying elsewhere. When desired, we will send an 
 expert to examine buildings and make plans and estimates free of charge. Our specialty, above 
 everything else, is Warming and Ventilating School Buildings, of which our firms do 
 more than any other five firms in this country. When a new building is to be erected do 
 not delay the decision of how you will warm and ventilate it until contracts for building arc let. 
 Changes may be necessary and expensive. 
 
 Please notice in the foregoing pages, that the class of school buildings in which our work is 
 to be found, is unsurpassed in this or any other nation of the world. This is unquestionably true; 
 and the system of warming and ventilating is worthy of the buildings. Where Boards of Educa- 
 tion are desirous of investigating our system, we are ever happy to take them to various cities 
 where our work is in use, and explain its actual working to them in every way. It is always 
 more satisfactory to our customers and ourselves. They will then understand how much larger, 
 heavier and more durable our apparatus is than any other. It is especially desired, on our 
 part, that members of Boards go with us and fully examine our Dry Closet System. 
 
 If the ventilation of any of your buildings is not good, we shall be glad to correspond with 
 you concerning the matter. Inquiries regarding any of these matters will receive prompt atten- 
 tion. Connected with each office are experts who have made warming and ventilating their 
 study for many years. Our system and methods are uniform throughout our various houses, 
 and an opinion on these points from any one of them, after a careful examination of the build- 
 ing, or the plans, we believe will be found as nearly correct as can be obtained. It is our sole 
 business. We do not claim to be architects or doctors, but we do claim that we can design 
 a plan that will take out the impure air and supply your buildings with pure, fresh air, 
 warmed to a proper temperature. No firm in America can show work equal in quality to that 
 done by any of our Ruttan Companies : Ruttan Manufacturing Co., Chicago ; Ruttan Ven- 
 tilating and Heating Co., Kansas City; Ruttan-Smead Heating and Ventilating Co., Toledo; 
 and Ruttan-Smead Warming and Ventilating Co., Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 Remember that our Ruttan System of Ventilation is the only thoroughly successful one in 
 use, and that it is rapidly taking the place of all others ; and remember that the Ruttan- 
 Smead Tubular Furnaces are very much heavier and more durable than any other in the 
 market, their weight -being from one thousand five hundred pounds to five thousand eight 
 hundred pounds each. 
 
 Ours is not a “hot air” apparatus. We take into the rooms a large volume of moderately 
 warmed air, iustead of a small quantity intensely heated. 
 
 Our apparatus is largely used in churches, court houses, jails, insane asylums, alms 
 houses, opera houses, store buildings and dwellings. We will always, when it is de- 
 sired, send a reference list on any of our work, so that inquiry may be made of parties having 
 our apparatus in use. Trusting that you have found points of interest in reading the foregoing 
 pages, and that it may lead to further investigation and to correspondence with us, we are, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 NORTHCOTT & STINE, 
 
 ELM IRA,* N. Y.