The Opelousas courier., 1890-01-04
AFFAIRS.
row TO CONQUER DUST.


That dr,st is unavoidable Is a trulsn1 as
thoroughly settled in the belief OF mos
housekeepers as that it is disagreeaele;
and that it is disagreeable is to be sclen.
tifcally known from the very dlheren1
sensations one experiences in G room DC,
fore and after it has been swept aho
e,eansed, in the lightness and buoyancy
and pleasant scent of the air there.
Every roon in modern houses mas more
or less coal dust, more or less WOOD asst,
dust from the surfaces Of wallpaper ana
c%eilinos. dust from the wear and tear OF
carpets and rugs, q certain amount OF
fine, almost imperceptible earth oHst,
and a vast amount OF half-decomposeo
vegetable dust from the roadWays' IRON
fower-boxes, from gardens, from cio'n-
ing, from everywhere.
At all times unwholesome, when ami
ness gets hold of this dust it termenls,
DECAYS and becomes positively POISONOUS
and this must needs happen on any RAINY
day, on foggy mornings, on dewy nlgn1S
and at that season of the year when the
dampness seems to penetrate the mouse
and it is not yet time to light the hres
that might dry it out or hinder It,
The rooms of q dwelling-house then,
cannot be kept too thoroughly well
swept and busted off, in order that the
least possible deposit OF dust may be left
in them. The usual sweeping OF a room
with closed doors and windows. so tnat
the rest Of the house shall not be dis
turbed. is not SO effective as it is desired
to be. The broom cannot reach much OF
the dust; a powerful draught of air must
help it out by loosening and carrying
away a great deal of it that is beyond the
broom, such as that about the walls, the
shelves, the mirrors, that dust which IS
the finest and the lightest, which rises
while the heavier mineral dust sinks, and
so proclaims itself the dust Of organic
decay, and infinitely more injurious to the
lungs and other vital organs than any
other dust.
MANY wives think that the less the dust
is stirred in sweeping the better the work
is done, and t~ea-Ieaves and wet grass and
moistened meal are thrown about the
floor in order to gather the dust and pre-
vent it from rising. But people giving
the matter philosophical attention have
come to the conclusion that precisely the
opposite course is the fit and proper one;
that a good stirring up and then a good
blowing out is what the dust needs, and
that with blowing unobstructedly through
the room as thoroughly as a wind can be
made to blow, 80 that it is doubtful if at
some time a huge patent bellows shall not
be invented, to oe applied every time the
broom goes to work. and scatter all the
slumbering dust to thefour winds OF out"
side.
But till this is done. or something like
it, Il becomes the interest Of the indWel-
lers of a house to see that, after the sweep
ing il over, the busting shall be sui"
fciently thorough to remove SO much OF
the dust as is left, and not merely to send
il flying and let it settle again. The
feather buster may have its use before
sweeping in wiping down the walls and
dislodging the all but invisible particles
behind pictures and bookcases and in
inaccessible corners, and setting that dust
10 free that the draught may sweep it out
af the room farther than the broom can
p the broom Is laid aside, then
leah cloth busters should come into iec
QUESTION, and they, frequently and re-
notely shaken, are the only things that
by any possibility emoye dust SO as to
make the removal satisfactory until the
time when mole dust shall have accumu-
lated.