The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-07-10
TO sLEEP ON.
What . Mattress II Made of-Not Always
What IL Pretends to he.

Whist Mattress Il Made oE-Noe Always
What II Pretends to BE.
During the present moving and house
cleaning period the question OF renovat-
ing and revamping mattresses and ticks
is an interesting one to housewives, who
too frequently discover that what was
purchased year ago as valuable hair
msttress is only combination of wool
and shavings. The feather-bed is still
to be found in stock. but the trade is
confined entirely to the country. Ex-
cept for pillows and holsters. feathers are
rarely called for in the city trade. The
best bed offered is Foreground hair
mattress There are, however, two
kinds of hair which are rarely worked
up separately. because one is too ex-
pensive for the average purchaser, and
the other has too little body. The bet
ter hair is made of the tail and ruane of
tive South American horses which are
raised on the plains of ele OrinocO and
Rio de la Plata Rivers. This long hair
is cut twice year and shipped in knots
and Philadelphia, where it is cleaned
and curled by boiling 1t is then run
through a machine which picks out the
hairs and weaves them into rope an
inch in diameter. These ropes are sent
to the manufacturer, who has them I'M
twisted by children. Black hair sells at
seyenty-five cents pound, and is the
best filling for beds known. The white
is made so by bleaching black or sorrel
hair and. while it is worth eighty-five
cents per pound. is not as good as the
black, the bleaching processes being so
severe as to rob the hair of its strength
and elasticity. A genuine horse-hair
mattress costs between thirty dollars
aud forty dollars. according to the
quality of the ticking used. Cheaper
mattresses are made from the hair of
cows and pigs, aud are worth from
forty-five cents to sixty cents a pound.
The hair is treated in the same manner,
but makes heavy bed and one less
durable than curled hair.
..Shoddy" is the trademark for a
mattress made of wooden Rawlings.
Any kind of wool can be used for this
purpose, but the principal material is
obtained from old Brussels carpet,
which is unraveled by steam heat, thor
oughly cleansed, and afterward picked
like lint. A '.shoddy" n attress can DO
bought for five dollars, and will last
forever, but it is not readily ventilated,
is hard to move and can not be made
over Such beds are used in hotels in
rooms that are not much occupied. A
better mattress, so far as health goes,
is the husk mattress, with cotton on
one side. The cotton top makes the
mattress soft, but it is not reversible.
Excelsior mattresses, which are filled
with Eastwood shavings brought from
Wisconsin, are cheap enough, but get
saggy very soon.
Palm mattresses sell at two dollars
and half, and are about as good an
investment as the housewife with small
income can make. The fibre is much
finer and flexible than excelsior. and
has pleasant fragrance.
A great deal of cows hair is used by
people who want bed that will last
The hair is obtained here i'm Chicago in
great quantities. and after being
washed is sent to all parts of the coun-
try. These beds are perfectly clean,
but the hair is clinging. and it lakes the
strength OF an athlete to turn the mat
tress over for ventilation. Goat, deer
and pig hair is USED occasionally for
bedding, though more generally IS APP
propriated by barness-makers.- Chicago
Tribune.