(1.) Prevention of dust.
(2.) More easy purification of the air of the ward in the morning.
The air of every ward becomes more or less impure during the night, and the floor and furniture more or less dusty. Making the beds in the morning adds to the dust the night has accumulated.
The dust is more thoroughly destroyed by the cleaning necessary to oiled and polished boards of the Bethanien variety, than by any other cleaning I have seen. It is fairly destroyed; whereas both parquets and boards generally retain a little.
Also, the water, with which the oiled boards after being swept are cleaned, freshens the ward and purifies it of the closeness remaining of the night air, in a very speedy and remarkable manner, which is even more evident as well as more useful in winter than in summer—as in winter it is not possible to admit as much air from the windows as in summer, especially when it is most wanted, in the cold, close, early mornings.
The advantages of oiled and polished boards as counteracting the spread of miasma, which is strongly dwelt on at Berlin by competent authorities, I have not alluded to, as probably parquets are considered equal in these respects to them.
Stains, mess, and dirt falling on polished oiled boards are much more easily cleaned than on parquets.
Note.
Mode of Cleaning Ward and Room Floors at Bethanien, Berlin.
I. Daily.
1. Take a common hair broom, a broom with a hard brush, a cloth of coarse flax, and one or two pails of cold water.