Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-03-04
THE HOUSEHOLD.
THE CARPET QUESTION REVIVED =.
HOUSEWIVES EXPERIENCE.
Partial Carpets or Rugs-Their Advantages
and their Disadvantages Matter Of
Vital Sanitary Importance.
S,cp.,,rSro March . ia,

tlbai SS%04puiy 1mpVl tA4Ccs
SACRAMENTO, March 2, 1882
Dear Household: Two years ago, with
strong, and to me convincing. reasons, you
and several of your correspondents dis.
| cussed the carpet question, and, if I re-
member Alright, it was pretty much agreed
| that we would be far better off without
carpets. Now / wish to ask yousto renew
| the discussion, if you think it will be
| profitable for your columns, because l
know several ladies who have been expert
| menting-myself among them-and have
worked out certain results on the carpet
problem, and l think the readers of the
| RECORD UNION should have the benefit of
them. Now, supposiDg you to consent, let
me give you my experience; hope you
may be able to publish it.
When the question first came up was
great doubter. What go without carpets
in my house? The thing was too absurd.
But one day my Edgar went down with
| the lung fever, and when the doctor came
| he told me that in the room where the
child lay there must be no sweeping of the
Turkey carpet without removing the little
fellow from the room, and as to that he
would prefer that he be not removed. If /
must sweep then do it without raising any
more dust than is possible. l asked the
reason why, woman like, and my doctor,
who always tries to give reason for what
ever he advises, replied that the lungs of
the child were in very delicate state, and
he desired to keep out of them any .irritat-
ing substances that whatever people might
say, he knew from his own experiments
that carpets conceal such fine particles of
matter, and send them into the air of the
room whenever agitated by the broom, or
the foot even, that whoever is in the room
must breathe these particles into the lungs,
and in all cases that was injurious, and
doubly so where the lungs were violently
inflamed Well, that set me to thinking
l couldn't bear the idea of living without
carpets, but we bundled the boy all up,
and in fifteen minutes we had that carpet
up and out of the room. Then we covered
the floor, very nearly, with large new
rug, or sort of halfway concern between
crumbcloth and rug, and then we put
Edgar back and when the doctor came l
tell you he was greatly pleased. Then, as
he saw | was open to reason, he said,
"Don't put the carpet back when the boy
gets well" and 1 did not. More than that,
we have up to this time taken up the car
pets in every chamber in the house
except the guest chamber, which is
used very little. Also, we have
abolished the carpet in the dining room and |
the llving-room, but have not touched those |
in the library or parlor, as they are little |
used. What have l substituted in their |
place? Well, I'll tell you. All the car
pets that took up l reduced in size, so
that some cover the floor within one foot !
and some within three feet of the wall, and |
in one case it covers the entire floor. 1 |
turned and bound all the edges with
broad hem that filed in with burlaps to |
give the hem weight. Wherever the car
pet left margin of bare floor painted the |
floor pleasing tint. That is all l needed |
to do. You argued two years ago in favor |
of total abolition of carpets. You see |
that do not abolish but still use, and do |
it in way that removes all the objections !
to the carpet and at the same time gives me
all the comforts of the carpet. Every |
other day the maid runs carpet sweeper |
over the floors, and ON the alternate DAYS
these rugs are taken up and shaken out.
out of doors, and then spread again. Now
some ladies will find objections to all this,
and to them l will make reply, for 1 have
fought the ground all over with my neigh
bors, and have in every case won them to
my way of thinking, though only few
have had the courage to follow suit, and do
as we have done in our house.
First" The plan will make the house
cold No such thing. How much cold,
madam, do you think you keep out of the
room by having your carpet fast to the
floor as comparable the carpet unfastened
Not one-tenth more. No carpet can be
laid air. tight along the board. Cold
air will come up if the floor and base board
do not match closely. What / did was to
close up any cracks tightly by caulking
them and waxing over the caulking; but
had but one room in my house that was so
poorly constructed as to need that. In
one, where the settling of the building had
opened a seam between the base board and
floor, my husband had strips driven in
tightly and then finished over, just as If the
base, or wash board, as some call it, had
been broadened.
Second But the cold air comes in at
the cracks of the floors" Well, the more
shame to you, madam housewife, if it does.
All floor cracks should, carpet or no carpet,
be cleaned out and filled dramatically
sealed with wax, and rot left, as nine cut
VI tSu W iCdsc " Lc Cd~cu- 1l!S lOE
dirt that will beat up into the carpet and
go into the air, and be breathed into the
lungs. Sit, my dear woman, opposite the
window, and when the sunbeams come
glinting into the apartn ent, watch the
millions upon millions of fine particles
floating in the air that you and your chill
dren must breathe in with every inspira-
ton. True, as science teaches, some of
them are there in the purest air, and all
that but 60 into an uncarpeted room and
watch the play of the sunbeam there and
note the wonderful difference.
Third" But it in such hard work to
lift heavy floor cloths, or rugs, or loose car
pets, and shake them QUIT is back
destroying" As to that, yes, it is not
easy work. do not know CT any house
work that does not have its drawbacks
no pun intended-but my experience is
that it is just as easy again to shake out
those rugs or loose carpets as it is TO sweep
the permanent carpet Sweeping always
did Kill me out. Besides, good neighbor,
the dusting is lessened nine enths under
my system. Also, my furniture is saved,
and does not have to be cleaned once where
before it had to be wiped out ten times.
Add to this the fact that your own lungs
and eyes and ears are not filled with dust
by your ouse-cleaning as much as before,
and remember that the movable carpet
does not gather dust enough in two days
II l i