Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1885-11-19
THE MODERN BED.
low MADE IN THE VARIOUS COUN-
TRIES or The WORLD.
its Effect Upon the Physical Developments
of the Human Race -China's Bam-
boo Couches Italy and Rus
sIa-Frenca Abomina ai ions.

Let il then he established rule that
! tho bel IS the best that aijasts itself COM
/ iortably To the person. that allows the head
and limbs - maintain their natural position
I and gives freedom OF movement during
/ sleep 20 al. the interna! or gan. IL is not 70
I be deliel that these conditions are best
/ supplied in America. As nation, the
| Americans are the list comfortable in the
woril. They alone have the true idea VI
/ comfort, AMI their theories find legitimats
, application ia more comfortable AMI better
ventilated houses, better appointed hotels
/ more luxurious means of travel, and in beis
\ that, while they allow free Transportation oi
the or gan : alforl the needed requisite of eas'
and warmth. A a result OF this the
/ Americans are an exceedingly well Informed
people. considered en- masse; they are freer
| from the diseases that affiict the masses OF
/ Europe, ami there is among them an incom-
paraby smaller percentage Of deformity.
/ This Last result may, psrhaps in part be at
| tributed 10 the superior which Ameri-
/ can mothers give ths.r children, which has
| had telling effect on the last two or three
| generations.
The japanese who have not yet yielded To
/ modern civilization sleep on platforms soft
/ enel only by y thin mating. the head rest
/ ing on a pillow shaped like a flatiron, the
/ point Of support being the handle. which Is
\ slightly padded. The physiology Of the ma
tion, after many hundred years OF this mode
of rspose, presents few pecuiiarities deserv-
| ing admiration. japanese beds, neverthe-
\ less. are like the houses, remarkable for
\ their neatnes.
CHINA's BAMBOO BEDS.
All classes OF tie Chinese. except the man
/ darins ami merchants, slssp even more
roughly. Ii would be a very small estimate
for the populous provinces Of kwangtung, in
which Canton is situated, thai 1000, OOO OF
its inhabitants sleep, pass their lives even,
/ in boats-father, mother, AMI six or seven
children. sometimes three generations,
crowded together like pigs in a sty. Perhaps
5000 or -, OOO OF the Hongkong Chine g
pass their lives in the same manner. Tne
bel in Chinese houses Is platform having
a mat like those Of tie japanese. The pill
l loS is often Of bamboo. The manderins
provide them elvei with six quilts or
I cOverl.r.. filled with cotton or down,
with MATTRESSES similarly made, which they
multiply till they have received the desired
I degree OF comfort With the common peo-
pie OF China, a with tho.e OF all other ma
tions from the Pacific TO the north Of Africa,
1 the bed presents the same features. Some
times IL IS the ground sometimes a platform
Of bamboo or stone, softenei with mat
ting, cloth or carpet, and almost always
/ presenting similar peculiarities Of hardness,
dust ami dirt
The East Indian and tie Arab while pre-
senting the greatest pretensions to neatness,
are the least cleanly. The general resem-
blancs OF the bed found throughout Asia,
like the smilarisies OF dress, tools, agricul-
tural implements, mills, boats, AMI ships.
diiTused with equal widensss. Offers an al
most virgin field OF research To tine writer's
on race and antiquities.
RUSSIA AND ITALY.
The Russian sleeps on his, stove in the
dress be has worn during the day. or posi-
bly, has not removed for years, unconscious
Of its hariness by reason OF the liquor with
which he has stupe fed himself.
the Neapolitan sleeps on the pavement,
not as much as formerly, for the useful oc-
cupations have to a certain extent absorbed
the lazzlroai since Italy entered on its
a career Of unity and freedom. Still in this
great city OF 80 00) inhabitants the number
| Of poor people who, even il they have a
roof to cover them, have no easier bed than
this yavement-to whose hardness stone
has elsewhere never attained-is incon-
| ceivable. As Consequence the finest
| specmens Of humanity are not TO he found
among the common people in Naples. As a
class, they are small in stature, not well
formed, and deformity is common among
| them; while the Italians who have been
more delicately and comfortably reared,
those who have had some education, the
middle and higher classes, are without
question on the handsomest people in the
world.
THE FRENCH BED.
The French beisteads and beds, with the
| exception Of some that have been modified
along thu principal highways OF travel at
the yearly demand OF indignant tourists,
are a hereditary piecs OF furniture which
respect for ancestral bequest and an utter
ignorance OF the elemsnts OF comfort inher-
ent in the French character have but
slightly modified since the time OF the Gauls.
The first article OF indictment of the French
bed begins with the mattress. 1t is OF wool,
a mean ami stuffy substance for such use.
from which no amount of cleaning ana
preparation seems ever to remove the oil
or give the requisite degree Of buoy
ancy. The French mattress spreads
out like n pancake, projecting in a
| slippery fashion over the bedstead ON both
sides To accomplish soma object that the
traveller can never divine. several of these
mattresses are sometimes piled on one an
other As they are never OF the same sizs,
a sort of pyramid or terrace is formed, on
whose summit the sleepy guest, tortured
equally by the desire TO sleep and the fear
of falling passes night of brief intervals
Of slumber, blended with reckless pro-
family.
The vilest o. all the eppurteaances pf the
French bed Is the round bolster. The pillow,
though ordinarily narl. may be passed By
with few muttered curses; the bolster
win admit Of no such compounding Of a
feloay IL Is utterly and irredeemably bad,
sonseiess, and inexcusable.
SERIOUS PHYSICAL RESULTS.
Regarding the matter from a more serious
| standpoint, there can be no doubt that the
peculiaritiss os the French bed have had
muca 20 DO with the imperfect physical de-
eiopment OF the French common people.
Any one who has ever seen them in ma ses
he, surely remarked, that they ars almost
70 a man rouAd-shouldered. A tai, straight
policeman, such as are often seen in Eag-
land or America, is scarcely to be seen at all
ia French cities A person may look
through twenty regiments q soldiers made
up Of young men from tie country, and not
find hundred not having this defect. It IS
most undoubtedly caused by the peculiari.
ties OF the French bed, and more directly By
the bolster, which raises the head above ita
! s.-~rAar laval