The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-02-26
THE IDEAL SLEEPING ROOM

TO ''sleep all the year round with
the window open" is not easy OF at
tainment in houses abutting on streets
where noises and odors are not OF
agreeable order, nor, indeed, can there
be much circulation Of fresh breezes
between the towering walls of blocks
of flats, and yet in these conditions
hundreds of thousands Of persons far
removed from poverty must night
after night take. their rest. When to
these are added an overcrowding or
furniture and a quantity Of dust-har-
boring draperies there can be little
wonder at the headaches of which one
hears such frequent complaint.
s-s, In the matter of bedroom furnish
ing we have, it is true, made great ad-
vances in the course of the last genera
ton. The "four-poster" of antiquity,
pile Of pailliasse, hair mattress and
feather bed, has gone. The toilet
table, with a draping of pink glazed
calico and white muslin, has given way
| to the simpler severity of plain wood.
| But the carpet covering the entire
| floor: window curtains, and uphols-
| tered furniture are far from being
generally superseded as yet. 1t is the
heavy fixtures that cause the adequate
sweeping and busting Of bedrooms to
be so rarely undertaken, and they
constitute veritable dust traps to re-
| tain every particle that is floating or
is brought in on boots or trailing
skirts.
| With regard to the furnishing Of
1 a bedroom a we'll known doctor gives
it as his opinion that it should begin
at the walls, which he would see
neither papered nor distempered, but
covered with such a composition which
is hard of surface, decorative and cas-
lily brushed or washed. The floor
Il ho a nd
be only rugs or strips of carpet, which
could be easily taken up and beaten.
The bed would, Of course, have one
or other of the excellent wire woven
or spring mattresses now in the mar
ket, which, with their frames of hard
. wood, can be fitted to any bedstead.
4 Chiffoniers and bureaus should al
:. ways be raised on small legs three or
four inches from the ground, to allow
of passing a damp cloth or a brush be-
/ meath them to remove any dust.
Suites embodying all essential of artis-
tic appearance and good workmanship
4 are available at prices that would seem
/ to be within the reach Of any.
Window curtains and any necessary
hangings should be Of dainty chintz or
washing material, and freshness and
brightness should be the predominant
i idea. Whether the furniture is in the
natural colored wood or has been
eIldHlellSu Ill WH1le, ILLS Is us u1SL11l-
! gushing note, and it is also certain
4 that at the present time the fashiona-
BILE ideal in bedroom furnishing is
simplicity and an avoidance Of crowd
ing. And with present-day difficulties
in the matter Of finding servants who
are willing to give themselves much
exertion, that is surely as it should be
Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, of Colorado
I Springs, COL has won the prize offered
by the National Irrigation Congress for 8
poem on irrigation, to be sung at: the
5 opening Of the congress in Ogden, Utah
?. on Sept. Is. Mrs. McClurg is a clut
: woman, of more than local renown, having
been speaker at more than one nationa
{ federation. She is a regent Of the Colo