Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-11-18
FALL VS. SPRING HoUsEcLEANfsa.

Whether it is advisable to do our
most thorough housecleaning in the
Spring or Autumn of the the year, is a
qnestIon that deserves more careful
consideration than it receives from the
majority OF fhousekeepers.
No one questions the truth of the
old proverb, SIN the multitude of
counselors there is safety, 'and it would
certainly seem that custom which has
been sanctioned by the majority of
housekeepers for so many years must
be the best possible solution of diff
Guilty. / do not know when or where
the custom of an annual or semi-annual
house renovation originated; certain 1t
is that no other people carried it to
such extreme lengths or transmitted it
with such force to their descendants as
did our New England fore mothers.
To improve upon their methods of
accomplishing the work, not by a more
systematic, but more elastic routine
and the aid of labor-saving uten-
sils and materials, is easy. But is that
enough?
The needs and demands of to-day are
very different from those of a century
or even of fifty years ago. A properly
cared for modern range, base-burning
parlor stove or furnace makes very lit
tie dust compared to an open wood fire,
direct draft stove or old fashioned fur
mace. All our carpets are fast being
superseded by polished floors and rugs,
or carpets which extend only to within
few inches of the Dashboard and
leave no hiding place for dust. Every
year shows a marked increase in the
humber of houses that are closed for
shorter or longer period during sum-
mer while their inmates take a vaca-
tion, and even the stay at-homes are
learning that rest and recuperation for
pver-taxed muscles and Jaded nerves
comes frcm living out OF doors all that
It is possible to do.
And yet despite everything that
( tends to facilitate the work of houseclean-
| ing or to lessen the amount required
| to render our homes healthful and at
tractive, there is much that must be
tone. The question is: when is it most
| essential and when will we secure the
greatest benefit from our labors?
With the cellars, especially those of
country houses when vegetables are
stored during the winter, there is no
question but what they should receive
thorough spring renovation, and that
much earlier in the season than it Is
customary to do so. But surely unless
there has been sickness in the family,
there is no such valid reason for clean
ing the remainder of the house, aud
many reasons why 1t Is an unsatisfac-
tory operation. There is the out-of-
doors dust which the most tireless
housekeeper cannot control, and nasty
flies which somehow manage to initi-
ate themselves into our rooms despite
the best adjusted screen windows and
doors, and in order to maintain a nice
degree of cleanliness one must shut
out the cheerful. life-giving sun and
live in close, stuffy rooms, unless wise
enough to live out of doors).
But with the cool, short days of
Autumn all this is changed.
The housewife who has had a restfnl
vacation during the summer, and even
| she who has had little or no rest, are
in better physical condition to endure
the strain which housecleaning necessi-
tates even under favorable conditions,
than in the enervating weather OF
| Spring. Where the renovating is COM
pleted there is but modicum of dust
and no flies and We can open the shut
ters and welcome the sunshine and be
rewarded by the thought that our loved
ones will note and appreciate the ip-
creased attractiveness, beauty and com
tort which our efforts have secured.
L am neither young nor conceited
enough to expect that my opinions will
reform and established custom. But
if L could induce half dozen progress
sive housekeepers to make the expert
ment in earnest L am sure they would
be so thoroughly convinced of its ad
vantages that would be started which
shall one day permeate the entire
mass.