The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-07-25
OLD CORDED BEDsTEAD
With Some RecolleotiOnS Also o
Straw and Feather Beds.

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Straw and Feather Beds.
A writer in the New York Sun says;
Pm wondering II there's any such thing
In use nowadays as a corded bedstead.
They used to have them when I was a
boy-bedsteads that were corded with a
rope running back and forth length
wise and back and forth crosswise
flllng the open space between the side
pieces and the headboard and endboard
with what was practically very Vide
me{hed netting OF cord running at right
angles, upon which the beds were laid'
q straw bed first and on top OF that q
feather bed. There were ropes maze
for this use and sold In the stores un,
der the name Of bedcords; you coulo
buy BEDFORD, just as you could BUY
clothesline.
In some bedsteads the BEDFORD was
run through holes In the side pieces OF
the bed, and In some II was turheo
around stout pegs, set at intervals IN
the ton OF these parts, the pegs being
mnde rounding out a little at the top,
like a pinhead, so that the cord couldn' I
slip on. The BEDFORD was stout and
of good material, but in use It would
stretch some, so that the bed would
come to Gag more or less in the middle;
then we used to tighten the cord up
with bed wrench.
In the course OF time the straw in the
straw bed would be come broken and
ground up into little bits. Then we
used TO take the straw ned down in the
yard and empty tilt seems sort or
funny to think Of "emptylng" a bed,
but that's what we used to do with
the straw beds-and we'd burn that
refuse and buy Of the grocer a bundle
or two Of straw, according to the size
Of the bundles, these bundles being
great sheRfs Of clean, handsome straw
tied around the middle with a band OF
straw, Just like you see sheafs OF wheat
in pictures. We used to open the bum
dies and put the straw In the bedsack
and spread It around so that 1t would
be even and OF uniform thickness ana
then sew up the sack again.
In the course ofNtime the Slated bed
stead came into common use, and what
tremendous improvement It was!
The cords used to break, and instead
OF getting a new one right away we'd
tie knots in 'em, and maybe knot
would come Just so, with the stretching
OF the rope, as to came to hole or a
peg, so that we couldn't draw the rope
quite tight; or maybe the rope finally,
with repeated breakings and knottings,
got SO short that we had to skip mesh
or two, leaving an extra large space
for the straw bed to sink into. With
u good BEDFORD in perfect order and
kept well set up the corded hedstead
was all right, but 1t wasn't always kept
up In that way. And the bedslats not
only gave more uniform and stable
support to the bed, but they were far
less trouble In every way; you didn' I
have to buy new stats every now and
then, nor did you have to devote more
or less time to setting them up. l
don't know of any household improve
ment OF greater value than the substi-
tuition OF the Slated for the corded
bedstead.
And besides the stats we have long
had all manner Of springs, cheap as
well as costly. We have nowadays mat
trcsses OF many materials, to say
nothing of those OF no material at all,
stuffed, so to speak, with air. don't
see any more, standing In front OF the
grocery store, bundles Of straw as SAM
pies, TO show that they have straw In
the barn. / suppose there are mighty
few people, in these parts at least, who
sleep on straw beds. / reckon that In
remote parts there are still people who
sleep on feather beds. and maybe they
have straw beds under them. quite in
the old way, but as for myself. have
not seen a corded bedstead, nor n
straw bed, nor u feather bed, these
many. many years.
Verify, have we departed from the
ways of our fathers, and with all re-
spect and reverence for the old ways,
the new ways are vastly better.