The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-09-13

IN waves OF Smouloering nre, Wnlle
money is spent lavishly for gowns,
trinkets, and superfouous table luxu-
ries. True, the first cost of mattress
of curled hair, laid over a frame of
woven wire, is greater than that Of an
inferior bed, but it lasts. with proper
care, an ordinary life time, needing only
occasionally to be taken apart and made
over, when it is as good as new, and
being always clean and sweet is pledge
in itself of refreshing rest.
Pillows, too, should be adapted to in
dividual preferences, if sleep is to come
without too much counting. An i'm
mense pillow which breaks ones neck !,
SO to speak, or tiny little thing which
slips away and leaves the head uncom-
fortably low, is in either case mistake.
Blessings on the house mother who al
lows to each member of the family a
choice as to pillows, and who, when
enacting the role Of hostess, gives the
guest at least two of kind from which
to make a selection
The comparative merits Of linen and
cotton sheets depend upon climate, and
also on the taste of the sleeper. There
are those who SILVER in linen, and dis
like it for a certain ciamminess even in
warm weather, while again to some
people the touch of cotton is abhorrent.
Old and very delicate persons some
times sleep most comfortably between
sheets of soft fine flannel, the wool
giving sense Of ease, and soothing the
nerves as no other fabric can. But
whatever material may go to fashion
the sheets, pray let there be enough Of
it, SO that they may be of goodly length
for tucking in at the head and the foot
of the bed, and come we'll down at
either side. And beware of wrinkles.
A sheet should fit the bed as smoothly
as the paper fits the wall or the glow
the hand. Sheets are usually seamless,
but are sometimes made OF two widths
of narrow muslin, over-handed down
the middle, and careless bed. max er,
with utter want of thought putting the
wrong side Of the seam uppermost, has
succeeded in imparting great deal of
discomfort to the unfortunate victim
obliged to stretch a tired body upon
this corrugation.
Now word about blankets. Why
do ten women out of dozen-intelli-
gent women. too, not merely unthink-
ing peasants from the boys of old Ire.
land or the skirts of the Black Forest
in making bed, put the open end
of the blankets at the foot and the
doubled end at the head of the bed?
The other way is obviously the right
one, because if one be too warm with
both folds, single thickness of the
blanket will keep off a chill, and
towards morning, when the air is always
sensibly colder, one may draw up the
other fold, and be comfortable. Which
of US has not had often to instruct
maids in this branch of bed making,
often to have called attention TO it as
of prime importance, when boarding
with sensible women and good house.
keepers in the country, having been
thought "pernickity' for our pains,
but insisting nevertheless?
Another thing too often overlooked
is the improperly of putting children
to sleep in the same bed with old or
feeble people, course always detri-
mental to the health of the young. 1t
is frequently noted that the pale,
anemic condition of young girls
blood has been directly traceable to
the fact that she has slept, for the sake
Of convenience, with her grandma other,
and physicians will tell you that many
cases Of consumption may be attributed
to the sleeping of a girl, in apparently
buoyant health, with sister or mother
whose lungs have felt the morbid faint
of tuberculous deposit and growth.
Each child should, possible, have
his or her own bed, and If rooms are to
be shared. then let arrangements for
privacy be made by screens or curtains,
while plenty Of fresh air is admitted by
windows opening both at the top and
bottom.-Harper's Bazar.