Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-03-13
farm, Gartlfn 4 a3oasehpld.
A FEW HINTS FROM AN OLD HOUSE
KEEPER.

| want to get new carpets for our two front
chambers, ana from long experience aud OBJ
servation. have decided to get Turkey car
net" as we used to say in my young days
Husband thinks Brussels or velvet would be
as cheap, or cheaper, than most other kinds
being so thick aud close that it would never
wear out.
Now, there are two sides, you know, to
this Question. and when the handsome side is
worn out, there is an end of it. So shall
snlit the difference, and take the money left
over from my favorite Ingram, and buy a
handsome bureau for jeanette. know hus
hand won't care when he sees how nicely our
tv,. rooms look carpeted alike, as jeanette
saws they should be, with good Ingram, (all
wool. fyou want serviceable carpet, and
one that looks neat and ornamental, get an
Ingram, -
ana though more costly, is the cheaper one
in the end.-EDI
I profess to be somewhat acquainted with
the carpet family, and because Of their dust
and untfdiness, husband and have concluded
to exclude them from our dining or living
room. In a family of a half dozen growing,
rampant, romping boys and girls, that are
frequently practicing heel and toe in all its
variations in heavy soled boots, or breaking
off into the more graceful waltz or schot-
tische, nothing is SO appropriate as good
oldfashioned oak floor, swept clean, and mop
ped over every morning with an ample house
cloth.
Carpets are well enough in the room where
father, mother, and the tanner members wish
to pursue their more quiet occupations OF
reading writing, and sewing.
Rag carpets, well put together with cotton
chain, as we used to have them, were, on
account of their durability, tolerated, but the
rag carpets Of to-day, with hemp chain a:
well as all manner of hemp carpets, are the
most expensive, because the least durable ot
any carpets in use. The ''German" carpets
with bright showy stripes Of chain, all wool,
and a heavy filing of coarse hemp thread, al
though appearing to be heavy and servicea.
bic, are really very unserviceable carpet,
showing the dust and lint, requiring frequent
sweepings, and wearing out sooner than so
expensive q carpet should. So all entry and
stair carpets, filed in with coarse hemp, al
though appearing handsome and heavy,
really wear but poorly on account of the
ridges ofherd hemp beneath the soft wool
chain.
Light coloys, either in wearing apparel or
carpets, wear much better than dark. Neatly
blended figures, covering the fabric evenly
and connecting the plies closely, render a
carpet more durable. In sweeping carpets
use q fine broom that has been but little worr
skim over the surface with a light, short, air.
brush, without making scrubbing noise o.
one like carpenter saving pine boards. Ere
duent sweeping wears carpet more than tht
uamping 1t IS good way to clean the room
mp with turkey wing in one hand and dust
pan in the other, going over it whenever dus
or lint appears, sweeping, or rather tanning
the dust into the dust pan. This saves
from the se7erer wear Of the broom. Their
is an art in sweepiE g as yell as in mos
other housekeeping operations. Some seen
to think that raising tGe dust is Of more i'm
portance than raising the wind or windows
and that making a big stir generally is th
ouly way 10 clean a room, and let the dust al
settle again from whence it came.
A few well cultivated plants in the sunni
windows Of your sitting give a Cheerful
air, but remember that window full Of plant
crowded iu so as to exclude the air aud tn
''sweet sunshine, Is rather a nuisance tha
an ornament.
Do not let the fear of fading carpets lea
you to fade the rosy tints from the huma
flowers about you that are Of more value tina
many carpets.-American 1gricUltrist