The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1884-12-12
BEDS ABROAD.
The Continental Red-Doub1e Beds
Rare in Europe-India and
Japan-Typical he'd or
the Orient.
Foreign Cor. Inter Ocean.l


per, before l have dullcd my indignation by
any discussion of side issues, l desire to
placard my protest against the European bed.
Let IL be recorded that room in Euro
pean hotel does contain a bed When you
hire a room you have to set up housekeeping
for housekeeping out and purchasing soap,
candles, comb and brush, letter-paper, etc.
lone usually prefers buying them outside OF
the hoteD; but believe the bed Is usually
included as part of the furniture of the
ROOM Whatever else there may be deficient,
let it be set down that the bed Is on hand.
have yet to discover place, also, where a
certain amount of water is not allowed b
each hotel guest. Let justice be done though
the heavens fall
The ntn,ntal bed is good enough what
there Is Of it, and there Is enough Of it. such
us it is. There is not enough Of it, such as it
ought to he, however. In other words, 1t
ends too quick. After thoroughly testing sew
eral score of them | am convinced that, as q
rule there ought to be n few more inches
put OH the average bed. To be sure l can
just manage to wedge myself in between the
head board and the foot board, but always
think when l commit myself to the arms OF
Morpheus what il l should swell up during
the night like a soaked Goldfish under the in
fluence Of this lachrymal weather. And
am not O Titan in stature, either.
But the chief feature Of the continental
bed against which wish to launch the invec-
tives of my outraged manhood Is its quilt.
There is a sheet, a thin counterpane, and
then slender, puffy quilt filed with feath-
ers, a little larger than pillow. 1t is suffi-
ciently warm and light, but so small that
the least motion may jostle it overheard.
af,ll,y tha
pit of your stomach, and then lie perfectly
quiet for few moments. The result Is
most gratifying. But presently you tire of
this lyins-still process, and discover
that you are uncomfortable. This is an
alarming discovery, for now you can not
be content until you have shifted your posi-
ton, and the moment you do so that dump
ling of feather quilt loses its equilibrium.
Perhaps you got to sleep before any such ac-
cident occurs, which is a remarkable stroke
of luck; but toward midnight you awake to
find that the aforesaid quilt has saunterei
or into one corner of the room
There il one remedy. You can get a die
tionary and put it on top of the quilt; but
this ieaders It impossible for you to breathe,
and though If may be some satisfaction to
you to have thus circumvented the obstinate
quilt, 1t is quite inconvient to be unable to
breathe Besides, the doctors say that 1t Is
not conducive to longevity to be deprived Of
the capacity to breathe. believe many
fellow sufferers will bear me out In these
statements; many who have twined their
feet around the lower dashboard, and
clutched in wild desperation at an illusve
quilt.
But, really, the round -the-world traveller
might fll book with his experiences in the
line of teds, and then have said nothing
about the novel tuss!es with native beds
After ing San Francisco slept on slender
bedsteads of iron or brass until reached
Vienna period of ten months. Never once
during all this time do remember having
seen wooden bedstead, and only once or
twice double bedstead, lin missionary
homss.) Tropical climates and tropical in
sects are death on wooden furniture. Even
in the frequented parts of Europe double
beds are rare.
After leaving San Francisco I slept under
musquito nettings until reached Athens,
except at Hong Kong and in the Himalaya
and japanese mountains, where insects do
not thrive. Thus miserable is a large part of
the world made by such commonplace pests
as mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were es-
pecially virulent in Egypt and Calcutta. As
for fleas, give the chrome to Palestine with
out moments hesitation. Japan and Asia
Minor are bad enough, but in Palestine the
| pestiferous things compel even the hardy
| Bedouins to move their camps.
In some parts Of India travellers are ex.
pected to carry their own Sheets counter
pane, and pillowcase, just as you must al-
ways do In railway carriage there IL you
propose to sleep en- route on one Of tho
| hanging shelves or cushioned seats This is
literally taking up your bed and riding. III
| Japan I had screens ornamented with
| painted storks around my couch while stop
| ping at the civilized European hotel In the
interior two flea infested blankets or "futons'
spread on the floor constituted my bed, while
usually rolled up third to put under my
head rather than use one of the native woodei
pillows shaped like double-end fiat-iron
with papered curve adapted to support the
neck The wooden pillow was suggestive o,
the guillotine to my mind, and on the Who'll.
scarce preferable TO the guillotine Beside
this bed was the andon, square paper Ian
tern on frame two feet high, with saucer
of grease and burning taper inside-the in
evitable all-night companion Of the sleeping
jap.
The typical bed of the Orient for European
| duu aiucllCuu ushBc 10 u sichucf hcu dpphih
tus, some four feet wide or less, with tai
iron rods at each corner, connected above
designed to support the musquito netting
Most often the netting hangs over this iron
framework, and loops each way on the sid
by which you ars wont to enter. This ar
rangement looks well, but it is q mockery, ,
delusion and a snare. The mosquitoes hav,
no trouble whatever in entering where Ii,
front strips overlap, and around the uprigh
rods at the bottoms where the netting /
tackled In. The ideal arrangement Is o net
ting as fine as cheese-cloth, suspended on tn
inside of the frame work, and 80 long tina
1t can pass completely under the mattres
below.
should not neglect to say that have ais
slept on steamers deck In tropic calms, OF
divans In monasteries, ON the floor and evel
ON the ground in Asia Minor, and nigh
almost add on horseback during night ride
In Palestine. In India native swayed
punkan over me all night while slept an,
at Canton, the island Of Shameen, wher
I sojourned, was guarded by 800 soldier
every night, while CHASTITY ruins of palace
on every hand attested the fury OF the Car
tonese mob, from which they were suppose
to give protection.