The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-04-27
AlIERIclN rARM HOUSES.


Their PeeallaFitisa and Their ozark
ways n--some Most suggestive Hints.
Mrs. Plunkett in n paper, "Some
Farm-houses and Some Mistaken Ways
OF Living in Thom," read before the
Massachusetts Board OF Health, SAYS
the obnoxious houses of the farmers Of
the State and their work are an inheri-
tapee-a kind OF pilgrim fatherism,
evidently, which II Is difficult 10 de.
scribe faithfully without seeming 10 be
drawing caricatures. In the arstplace,
these houses were built before sanitary
engineering was thought Of, and with
On especial eye TO q handiness y Of some
sort built, for instance, at the foot Of
o hill for shelter, under a big willow
tree for shade, or close to the barns for
convenience. Everybody has noticed
how towering red barns are put In the
best position in many farmyards, near
to the water supply, while the little mn
painted house is stuck anywhere-too
near the barns often, Mrs. Plunkett
says, for safety. Under willow, too,
means in the water, and In the shade
any way means ont OF the sun while
ut the bottom OF q hill is apt 10 mean in
the drainage Of the hill. Then mighty
delusion Of the average farmer Is a
house nil on one floor, "long, sprawl.
ing, and mud-turtle shaped" This
may be picturesque, but II Is an
economical and sanitary failure. You
can't have cellar under the whole
mud. turtle, and where there Is no eel.
lar the floors arc terribly cold, the
foundations get loosened by frost, and
the uncellared portion Of the house be-
comes m aggregation OF "lean to's Z"
leaning every way. Mrs. Plunketts
paper deals especially with the mis-
taken ways and nisfortunes OF farmers
wives who, in Massachusetts,, have al
ways been kind Of goddessss In
poetry and romance. This is the chap.
ter devoted 10 feather beds.
Another widespread source Of dis.
comfort and ill.health, though happily
growing less by force Of circumstances,
Is the use OF feather beds. These are
often precious family heirlooms, and
they bad m excuse for being while yet
stoves aud furnaces were unheard OF,
but are none the less injurious for all
that. A coarse sacking, filed with in.
expensive straw, forms the "under
bed on this is laid n huge bag filled
with thirty or thirty-fve pounds OF
feathers. The farmer with his blood
at almost boiling heat, after a days
haying, lies down on this cheap and
unpatented vapor.bath and perspirator
and tries to sleep. Is II any wonder
that he losses and groans ; that he
finds his garments wringing wet :"
and himself nearly exhausted that
he rises with the I" first streak Of light"
from pure niseryP The poor wife,
who, very likely, in addition to all his
discomforts, has suckled an infant all
night finds herself more dead than alive
inthe morning, and looks forward with
justifable shrinking 10 the tasks OF the
day as she finds the baby all broken
out with priekly heat" and fretful nc.
cordingly. No wonder she calls this
world a "yale OF tears " md considers
life n thoroughly puzzling problem.
Had the bedroom been on the second
floor the air would have been sweet and
inviting, and the bed should have been
formed byf placing the feather heir.
loom under mattress "a good hair one
would cost S15 and last q lifetime).
The baby also should have been pro-
vided with q well mattressed crib.
The farmer himself would have found
that the air circulating about him, as II
would when raised up above but sup.
ported by m elastic mattress, cooled
his blood, and he would have fallen
into that refreshing sleep which is real
rest. The baby being cool would have
been mostly spared the eruption, and
the mother having received the full
benefit of the mysterious cordial that
nature pours through our veins while
sleeping, would have risen rested and
renewed being. Feather beds are
answerable for much OF the debility
among farmers wives.
After paying her respects to "beds
as cold morgue slabs, Mrs. Plunkett
says Of the wife's work:
Another error Of modern farm life
is that the wife tries to do too much
herself. This Is one Of the indirect re-
suits OF labor.saving machinery. In
former days some needy girl was given
q home and brought up. often thor
oughly initiated into the arts and mys-
teries OF the highest housekeeping in
consideration Of her services. Having
begun to supply hands and feet by ma
chinery, the housewives OF our day
carry It too far. To be sure, the hus
man aid Is q creature Of thought and
feeling, OF passions and impulses
while the machine causes neither
anxiety nor annoyance, and SO the wife
oyertaxes herself ratherthan be bothered
with girl"