Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-05-08
HOUSE CLEANING.
A Necessary Evil, but q Blessing
when Well Done.

There are thirteen million households in
the United States. In the greater proper
| ton OF these the annual housekeeping has
| already commenced, or preparations are
making for it. There will be an immense
turning and overturning, and no small
amount of turning upside down and in
side out. 1t is q season when every thrifty
head of a ouse-th that is, every good house
wife-institutes her regular house-clearing
and cleaning operations, and every fair
reader Of the SENTINEL in both city and
country. will be so engrossed in this sani-
tary occupation that for the time being all
things else will be but vanity Of ~vanities
and vexation of spirit. Just now we know
Of no subject more suggestive Of thought,
or one upon which q greater amount OF
valuable advice can be peofitably expended.
To our credit it must be said that, as q
people, we are not fond Of dirt. The chief
difficulty with us is that we do not exactly
know how properly to get rid OF it. 1t is
too much our habit to stir ii up vigorously
and then let it quietly settle down again
and imagine the work Of cleansing is done;
or we carefully cover it up or thrust it into
some out of the way corner, and then, not
seeing it, we disbelieve in its existence at
all. We never seem to realize that this
covered-up dirt is the foulest and most dan
gerous of all dirt. Yet, under the newly
| papered wall, down in the sink drain, all
along the sewer-pipe, under cover of the
| garbage heap, in the close air of the cellar.
are rank, foul smells, full of impurity and
the germs of disease, especially malarial
and typhoid ~fevers, and-deaths.
The necessity of house-cleaning must,
most reluctantly, however, on the part of
the male portion, be admitted. Theorize
and dogmatiZe as we may, the dear crea-
lures, God bless them who rule our des-
TIMES and clean our houses, will have their
way. We may convince them ever 80
much to our way Of thinking, and they
will then do just as they please. And,
shall we confess it? we like to have to have
them do SO. They always have an argu-
ment as irresistible as ours, before which
ours invariably goes to the wall. The
household has been a long time in possess
sion. They do not intend to move. They
will not be .orced to move if they exercise
the proper sanitarian rules, and use soap
INT water, and where it may be necessary
freely use the broom. The occupation Of
the premises has been SO long continued
that the family had grown rather careless.
The servants had fallen into loose and slat-
ternly ways, and had made mischief in the
pantry and the storeroom. There was
leak and wastage in more quarters than
one. Ravenous rats and other vermin had
become too abundant. 1t was full time
that a war of determination was waged
against them. The good housewife does
not for a moment think of abandoning her
house because the pests Of the household
increase upon her premises. Not she. She
knows a far better and more sensible way.
She opens her batteries upon them, tears
out the rubbish holes, lays bare the plague
spots, brings into play every known rem
edy, and invents some others never dreamed
Of before, and makes herself mistress of
the field. 1t is not by any means a pleas
ant process; it interrupts domestic COM
fort while in progress, but it is a very
necessary process and must be done. One
thing, however, we think it but fair to in
sist upon, and that is, that the work shall
be thoroughly done. There is 40 use of
having so much trouble without some re-
sulting benefit.