The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-30
CONCERNING FOLDING BEDS.
Unnecessary. Unhenithful. Uncomfortable
Dangerous Nuisnnces. but They Stay.

Unnecessary. UnhenIthfuI. Uncomfortable
Dangerous Nuisnnces. but They Stay.
Another folding bed s~tory-from Kansas this
time-brings up, once more. the disputed ques-
ton. Is the folding bed q necessity The furni.
ture dealers say that 1t is. but then they say.
too. that there is no danger about 1t, and that
the stories against its good fame are myths.
libels. There's a housemaid in Kansas who
knows better. She may have been n lineal de-
scendant OF the Irish Kings and eligible to the
Order OF the Crown. but the rooms in the an
cestral mansion were small. However. the fam
lily didn't allow that to drive them to folding
beds. As Nora puts 1t, "Div!l a haythen trap
did we have on the primises."
When Nora arrived in this country she Joined
her brother In Kansas. That's how she hap.
pcned to work for Mrs. Perkins. The day Of her
advent in the Perkins household she failed TO
put in an appearance at luncheon time. Mrs.
Perkins marched upstairs, bent on reproof, but
on the second floor she heard muffied cries. She
hurried up to the third floor, and on opening the
door of the front room was greeted by
curses mot loud but Deep" She looked
wildly around. and at the top of
the handsome chiffonier she saw two
stout legs clad in white stockings. and two
colossal carpet slippers. Naturally. she dropped
into a chair and screamed. Later, she thought
of pulling down the bed. With the assistance of
tho cook, that was accomplished. and Nora
emerged, apoplectic and raging. She refused to
DO propitiatei. She took the affair as u fiendisb
plot against her life. and left the house in q
Celtic tempest.
Since then she interviews her prospective
mistress. She doesn't care how many children
they have. or whether they allow followers"
but she asks sternly whether they've a "devilish
trap bed" in the house, and II they have, that
onttlaS ~ Shn Npnn'f mn n h. plana
There are folding beds warranted not. to shut
up unexpectedly. but the trou BILE is that they
are all the plebeian. awkward ones. and are hard
to handle. The kind that moves smoothly and
easily-is perfectly adjusted, as the salesman
puts it's the one that has ways that are dark.
or course. the most elaborate and heavy beds
are the ones for which this nice brlance is neces.
sary; and most persons will take the chances
Of smothering a, child or a guest rather
A furniture dealer cheeriiy said the esr otReri
day =; that the majority of the accidents
ing on sfo se a aecon0f of o fSs, come bSs IRON fr Their fall;
hitting people. rather than from their shutting
up. There may be comfort in that, and then,
tsSinR It doubled LED the haz a%i f II yoa e %ssps
smothering you have your skull fractured.
a folding bed with a lock which can be turned,
and SO insure safety. Lik most safety iuven-
Trms,i II mas ao Pee Gsen lo 6ee most mos a mafayy q its species;
bed with a most delicate balance. It can be
showed up with one finger, and, az nine persons
caspalties that beats thu, Brooklyn trolley.
comproinisingly a bed. No one could mistake it
for a grand piano or n sideboard; but 1t has its
Il Is once pulled down, there's no further danger MIsr
unless the legs. which are always patheticaily
weak.kneed. should give way. The mantcl
Of Photographic and 'bric;a.brac. EverythiDs
Invariably falls of when the bed comes down;
and well meaning that IL seems hard luck it
should have been olbowod inside by pretentlous
bedroomsof second.rNte boarding house"
Tho folding bed is strictly n metropolitan lux
ury. In the rural districts IL is looked upon
cousins are not used to the risks of city life.
They keep a certain consideration for their lives
South Dakota drifted into tho Auditorium
TSore @ Sna a , Gorgeous e"s f foiding q bed IN s% the r sS,ss;
but when the maid went, in to explain how Il
worked. The old lady would have nothing to do
had heard about those folding beds. She was
polite. but firm. There, were risks which a
was not one OF them. She didn't suspect the
management Of any evil design but she
called. and then tho assistant manager. They
hadn't another room, Gnd The old lady ives ada
mant: Finally: a small bellboy, who had been
ran away and came back with a coli OF rope.
Then he anchored the bed to the sofa. the radla-
tor, and the dresser; Even the old lady, was
and comfortable" What the manager did for
the bellboy. deponent sayeth not, but the other
boys dubbed him "Life-saying jim" and the
uninitiated wonder why. when any one around
the hotel gets into trouble. some one is sure to
suggest "Jim's rope"
The evolution OF the city apartment was
what called folding beds into being; or perhaps
the angel who watches over impecuniOus young
women and knows the difficulty of putting a
dresser. washstand. desk, table. chairs, book
case, and trunk into u hall bedroom. figured out
the, folding bed as Il way OF simplifying tho
problem. Whatever may have been the cause
OF It's coming. II is here TO stay. 1t isn't abso-
lutaly necessary. it isn't healthful, II isn't COM
Portable. II Is dangerous, and IL 10 n nuisance;
but 1t looks well. and IL makes room for more
things that look we'll. In this day and genera
ton. that il enough to guarantee long life and
prosperity TO anything.