Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-01-09
BEDS ABROAD.
Summary of Travellers Experience
in the Line of Beds
The Continental Bed-Doubic Reds
Rare la Europe-lndia aud
Japau-Typical bed Of
the Orient.
Foreign Cor. Inter Ocean.1


At the very top Of this clean sheet Of ra-
per, before have dulled m Indignation by
any discussion of side ISSUES, | de>iIe {
placard my protest gains: the European bed.
Let it lie recorded that room in a Euro
pean hotel does contain n bed. When you
hire n room you have u set up housekeeping
for yourself-going out and purchasing soep.
candles, comb and brush, letter-Iaper, etc.
lone usually prefers buying them outside Of
the hotel: but believe the b.-l Is usually
included as part Of the furniture of tho
room. Whatever else there may be deficient
let it 6e set down that the bed i ga hand
i have Yet TO discover place. also where a
certain amount of water l. MT allowed to
each hotel guest. Let justice be done though
the heavens fall
Tie continental bel il good enough, what
there Is Of II, IN there Is enough Of it. such
as it is There i not IN yu.h If il. such a. il
ought TO lie, however. In other words, it
ends too quick After thoroughly testing sew
eral score Of them am convinced that, as a
rule t.l''c ought 10 b. few more incl G
put IN the average led. To he sure | can
just manage TO wedge myself in between the
head board and the foot board. but alaays
think when commit myself 10 the arms OF
Morpheus what if | should swell up during
the night ike 4 soaked Goldfish under the iIl-
fiuenee Of this iachryHal weather: And
am not Titan in stature, either
But the chief feature Of the continental
bed agains; which wish to launch the invec-
tives Of my outraged manhood is its quilt
There Is sheet, a thin counterpane, and
then slender. puffy quilt filled with feath-
ers, little lar-er than pillow. 1t is suffi-
GENTLY warm and light but small that
the least motion may jostle it overheard
You carefully poi>e this curiosity upon the
pit Of your stomach, and then lie perfectly
quiet for few moments. The result il
most gratifying. But presently You tire Of
this iyins-still process, and discover
that you are uncomfortable. 1h:s Is an
alarming discovery, FOR row you can not
be content until you have shifted your p.ssi-
ton, and the moment you do - that lump
ling of feather quilt loses its equilibrium.
Perhaps you set f. sleep hefore any snch ac-
cident occurs. which L. a remarRabi.. stroke
of luck; but toward midnight you awake to
find that the aforesaid quilt has sainterel
off into cnc corner III the room
There is one remedy You can get die
tionary and put If on top of tho quilt; hut
this renders it impossible for YOU 10 breathe,
and though If may lie some abstraction 10
you TO have thus cirCUmVente the obstinate
quilt, it is quite ia onyin' - h. unable To-
breathe. beside, The slo-t,rs say that i: l.
not conducive to longevit. to b. deprived %
the capacity b. breathe. | believe MANY
fellow sufferers viii bear me out IN these
statements; many VIII" have twinei their
feet around the lower dash-i-oari and
clutched in wild desperation at an illusive
quilt.
But. really, the round the rid trayei,r
might fill book with ms EXPERIENCES IN the
line OF leds. and th,n have said nothing
about the novel tUsses with native beds
After leav ing San Francis, 70 / slept On slender
bedsteadS OF iron or Lras> until reached
Vienna period ~ len months. Never once
during ali this time do | remember having
seen a wooden belsieai. ami only once or
twice a double bad>toad. I'm missionary
homes Tropical climates and tropical in
sects are death on wooden furniture Even
in the frequentei parts Of Europe double
beds are rare.
After leaving San Francisco >lepi u. d II
musquito MEETINGS until | reached Athens
except ut Hong Kong and in tie HImilaya
and japanese mountains, where insects do
not thrive. Thus miserable is a large part Of
the world made by such commonplace pests
as musquitoeS The mosquitoes were eS-
pecially virulent in Egypt and Calcutta. As
for heas, give the chrome To Palestine with
out n moments hesitation. japan ard Asia
Minor are had enough. hut IN Palestine the
pestiferous things compel even the hardy
Bedouins to move their camps.
In some parts Of India travellers are eS-
pectcd To- carry their own sheets counter
pane, and pillowcase. gust a. you must al
ways do in a railway carriage there # you
propose to sleep en- route On one If the
hanging shelves or cushioned seats. This il
literally taking up your bed and riding. In
Japan | had screens oInameuted with
painted Storks around my couch wife stop
ping at the civilized European h".e!. la the
interior two flea-inftstei blankets 81 ~iutoiI>'
spread ON the floor constituted my bel. while
] usually rolled up q thir.i To- INT III der nv
head rather than use ne of the natiy. wood I
pillows SHAPED like a doubl"-,ud iiat-iron.
with a } apoIed curve adal ted / -upEort the
neck Tl, wooden pi. Nv Wa digestive Of
the guilloiinc u my min 4, and GA the whole
scarce preferable 10 she guillutine Beside
this bed WAS the and,n, square apr IAN
tern on "a frame two feet high. with "a saucer
Of grease and burning taper inside-the in
evitablr all -nig LIT conn aniOn of the Sleeping
Jap
The tyllc al bed Of the Orient for Euro can
and American usage is a slender iron app ara I
tus, some four feet wide or les. with tall I
iron rods AT each corner, connected above. I
designed 10 SUI post the nu-guIto netting /
Most often the netting hangs over this ron /
frame work ard loops each way ,n the side 4
by which you are won. To 'nte- IRIS ar I
loosS well. but ii Is a mockery. u
ielusion ara a snare The mus-Iui;oe> have !
no trouble whatever IN tcriEg where tie
front STRIPS overlap, and around the upright /
rods AT the ottomS where I'll, netting l. .
tackled IN. The ideal airana, m.nt i net 1
tihg a. tine as cheese cloth, susr, Eded on the /
inside Of the frame work, and 80 hong that .
IL can pass completely under fAe mattress
below
/ should not neglect 10 SAY that have a.>c
slept ON steam rs deck in troric calnIS, OF
aivans Ia munnstericS. On the for aud even
ON the grou 4 IN Asia Minor, and | NIGH; .
almost add un horseback during sht ride,
in Palestine. In India II tive waved g
punkan over me all night while I SLEPT and .
At Canton. the island Of SEameen. where .
Sojourr.ed. was guarded by 80 soiiier>
every mi. ht, while ghaStly ruins 81 Ia!aoe,
on everyhand attest~ll The fury 4 the Can
tonese mob, lrnII Win, b They were SUPPOSED
10 give protection,
pidn't Have Much Practice.
Merchant Traveller
f,,afY,