Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-17


or RIGS.
Prom the n. Y. Times.
In one Of Hans Andersen's most charming
fairy tales the happy possessor Of the Clogs Of
Fortune" gained the power to transport him
self at viii to any period of time or place of
abode he might desire. Like good many
other people the man who came into possession
OF the clogs was in a state of chronic discon-
tent being one OF those initiating individuals
who are always benoanins the good old times
and who find nothing IN modern improvements
to compensate for imaginary benefits seen
through the glamour of history. The clogs,
We remember played an important part in the
conversion OF this melancholy mortal by sud-
denly transporting him. i'm one of his RETROSPECT
tive moments. back 100 years into the past. A
very lew hours practical experience of the life
tnen lived restored cheerful appreciation of
his own surroundings which was well worth the
misery through which Ii was gained.
In like manner il We luxurious house-Owners
and tenants of these latter days could but
realize how very much our comforts are in
advance of those enjoyed by our great-grand-
parents 1t would prove an advantage. And
snch an experience would certainly lead Us to
consider every Improvement as it came up con-
hdent that the fact of its having appeared at all
was strong argument in favor of its being an
advance upon the past Every day experience
proves how completely the reverse of this is the
case. New inventions, fresh ideas. improve
ments of all kinds have hard fight for recOgni-
fiOn, ard it is only after they have become
fashionable" that the world at large finds out
that 1t is absolutely indispensable to adopt
them. Take. for example. the question of
floors Floors from all ares must have been
prolific source of discomfort and expense but
1t was reserved for the latest civilization to
conceive the idea of covering them up in such
way tNat it should require the energies of a
strong man to uncover them again. Carpets
fitted to the floor, stretched by main
force, and naked so securely that even
an earthquake would have left them I'M
disturbed. became so popular that it required
moral revolution to make them questionable.
Probably even the unenlightened Frenchmen of
the twelfth century would have looked upon
The flrst importers OF eastern carpets into Eu-
rope with horror if they could have foreseen
that ci:ilized progression would ever have
reached such a stage of devotion to them as to
equip whole houses with thick, immOvable floor
COVERINGS. But the French, after all, have
never adopted the absurd fashion to the same
extent as their English neghbOrs. and there is
no probability that they ever will; and time has
SO far niended matters that even that cOnserva-
tive being the British matrOn, has left off faint
Ing with horror at the idea of an uncarpeted bed
room. 1t is possible now for the most preju-
diced Of her kind to admit that there are advan-
tages i'm painted and washed floors. and little by
little she has been weaned from abject alteration
OF Brussels. kidderminster, and tapestry carpets.
But even on this side of the Atlantic. where pro-
gressive ideas are more apt to flourish. the rec
Ognition of the advantages of movable carpets
has come very slowly, and it is only after some
twenty years of discussion that common sense
has gained the upper hand. that new houses are
built especially with the view to the use of rugs,
squares and strips of carpeting.
Before another 30 years shall have passed
away we venture to predict that there will
scarcely be room in the city which will be
covered from end to end and side to side with
thick impenetrable carpet. Apart from all fash
Ion and all theory. it will be recognized fact
that health demands movable floor coverings.
or. falling these, coverings which can be cleanSed
daily. The ancieDtS understood this perfectly
Socrates waxed eloquent in describing what a
house should be, how needful air and sunshine
and cleanliness were for health and Imagination
calls up the interiors of that time with their
sale pavements and the absence of all that would
have harbored dust. and In doing so disease.
The luxurious native of the east the inventor
Of carpets. never wen in his most indolent mo-
Dents conceived the possibility of saving him
self the trouble of shaking his carpet by fixing
Il to the floor and although cannot credit
him with any exalted ideas of cleanliness In his
domestic arrangements We must at least con-
cede that he showed a good deal Of common
sense in this respect.
Twenty-Five years ago physicians began to
enter a protest against the enervation of modern
homes; thence they passed to DETAIL the more
enlightened entered upon sort of crusade
against floor coverings. and declared that in
fectlous diseases were harbOred in the wooden
hangings and carpets of their well-tO-dO patients
quite as surely as amid the squaor and filth OF
Overcrowded alleys. From that time to this a
good deal of progress has been made. People
no longer sleep lat least sensible peOple do nOt)
In i.ur post bedSteads with wooden curtains
drawn closely round them; they are even recOg-
niZing the desirability of leaving their windows
unincumbered with yoluminous folds of velvet
and of rep. and going a stage further they are
beginning to realize that floors and their cover
ings are important factors in the question of
hygiene.
Rugs are certainly free from many OF the most
serious objections to carpets even when they are
fixed upon the floor, which in our estimation
they never ought to be. 1t is possible to wash
well all around them. to remove the dust from
the corners of the room, and even under the
edges of the rug itself But such condition of
affairs is still far from satisfactory. There is
always more or less dirt about stationary car
pet. i'm any room that is much lived in and the
best house maids i'm the world cannot rid an
mmoyable rug OF dust as readily on the floor as
they could OF it, Carpets ought, as a matter of
health. to be taken up once week. laid over
line and thoroughly beaten. but where is the
household where this rule is enforced? We are
apt TO think ourselves very much i'm advance of
the Germans In matters of household comfort
and yet it is question whether any house in
New York Is as strictly clean as that of a
notable German haus-frau. whose house floors
are daily wiped over with wet ''lumpen," and
waxed once week. Close-ftting carpets were
luxury almost unknown in her country until
after the FrancO-Prussian war; and their adOp-
tion into general use for the best room has by
NO means all the advantage she may suppose.
The growing conviction of the superiority of
rugs to carpets is shown in the newest houses
In many of which the floors are exp, essly ar
ranged with stained borders, parquet floor
Ing. which it is possible to leave entirely uncOv-
cred What a boon this is to persons Of small
means: Nothing eats into a small sum of money
for house-furnishing more disastrously than
carpet. 1t is useless to buy a cheap one; cheap
carpets are never of any use. and the price Of
good one is a formidable consideration This Is
another argument in favor of rugs-cheap rugs
wear great deal better than cheap Carpets for
the obvious reason that they are not pulled and
strained In every direction. and are only sub
jected to legitimate wear and tear.
The question Of colored floors is debatable
one Ii must be admitted that for living rooms
or rooms in which there is much passing to and
no. painted floors are not all one could wish
First, they are noisy: secondly. they show every
mark. and after q little wear have a scratched
and worn appearance. which Is dshear.ening.
Even with constant care, rubbing and washing,
IL is difficult to keep colOred floor as nicely
one would wish, and moreover, 1t has a cold
and desolate appearance If entirely uncovered.