Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-08-20
THE EVENING STAR.
WEDNESDAY. August 20. lS70.
A DisaRreeable TOPIC.


Nothing but constant and continuous care
WIN prevent the inroadS OF vermin In beds. But
IL is not only beds which must be kept under
and the closets. Dark closets are perfect nur.
series Ior bugs; there they are born and bred.
ana from thence they often migrate. The eX-
Re,e n OF notes. or such Information as may
nave oeen derived from house keeperS In such
establishments. may be OF use.
,.,SompnGated beds-by that we mean beds
tiona pe fpn arrangements Of Stats, or por
removed-we never buy Every part or a bed
we want to be able to take to pieces and get mn
again AT Inc shortest notice. Anything which
is beyond the comprehension or the mechanical
genius OF the most stupid Of chambermaids, we
Will have nothing to do with. Complicated
spring mattresses may be comfortable, but they
keeping my beds clean Il have 400 OF them
consists In my being able to examine them
thoroughly. Bugs do not breed anywhere else
than In the solid material, be it wood or iron.
OF the bed. 1t is not in the mattresses that they
stay. know Of no difference between wooden
or iron beds; they can both be infected. II you
buy bed, watch out for the Stats. III these
Stats are made out OF poor wood, with knots.
and depreSsions in these knots, bugs In time
will be sure to breed there. II you were to
look through my beds you would see that the
Stats are Invariably smooth bits OF wood. Where
they fit into the bed they are carefully squared,
and not rough. After they have been sawed
on they must be smoothed. / should reject for
motel use. under instructions from the propri-
etor, any bed, no matter how cheap It was, IL
everything did not fit close aud was not smooth,
or II there were any cracks. | must take the
f pea 10 pieces, and build up my beds quickly.
been In this house five years and half and IL a
guest were to complain, and show the proof,
that bed was buggy-thats the word
might lose my place, and it would serve me
right. III find that Stats are rough and knotty.
the house carpenter has orders from me at
once TO smooth them, or he uses putty and
holes
OF II, Is what we use, and we keep using it all
the time right straight along. No, we never
have tried corrosive sublimate, though It might
be OF use, but our beds are not as bad as that.
DO what will, | find them sometimes. or
course, they are brought In on the trunks or
clothing OF the guests, and / watch or have q
Spring or the year-1n JuneNt6at am the most
careful Now, this is what / do should any
bugs appear In our beds: Wash boards are
carefully examined, and cracks, or where the
boards may have warped are stopped. With
the beds-for the ends OF the Stats: and where
they mt, after washing everything with stiff
brush, after having taken the bed to pieces,
and had every Granny examined. / use warm
1sh. 1t is copal varnish, which is made extra
thin On purpose, so that it dries almost tmme-
diately after an application. II there be any
prevents their Matching. But even that ought
not to be, don't let them come that far. We
have 20 servants In this house, who sleep here
when we are in the height OF business, and
their own bedS-but that would not amount to
much IL l did not watch them. Worry. OF
course 1t is. With all my care they do come
ccasionally-eSpectally In some OF the neigh
berlng houses, which though not exactly part
OF the hotel, have been rented. Sometimes
keep awake, fearing an invasion. By all this
mean, that ii you want to inform your readers
anything about these pests, tell them that the
only cure for them is constant v1gilance-keep
hunting for them-neveT believe that the last
one has been killed. Just as soon as you do
that and think yourself secure, you are gone
Sometimes we have people who come round
with nOstrumS who guarantee to do this and
that with the beds, but l have not time to
waste with them. The cure is work. Work at
the beds all the time-the waSh-boards and the
closets-and have your beds SO made that you
can easily go through them. Never used
pinch OF Persian or Turkish insect powder, and
never will while have my eyes to see." All
this was given in rapid, snappy, oracular way
by the housekeeper OF one of the principal no.
tells In this city. One popularity OF the person
who gave the Information to her tnquiring
sister was that the hated insect was rarely
designated by its six letters. When referred to
1t was described like would be large size OF
shot as B. B. It was quite evident all the time
that the subject was painful one to this ac-
complished hOusekeeper, and the suspicion was
entertained by her interviewer that the insect
was the pane or her tnformant's life.-[N. Y.