The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-01-20
SHEET LENGHTH Is
CAUSE OF SCRAP
Long Men of House Hold Out for
Prolonged Bedding Against Shorts

Long Men of House Hold Out for
Prolonged Bedding Against Shorts
(Statesman)
The leading question that capped
all others at the last session of the
legislature was: Are you wet or
dry?"
But that query is overshado wed
by the sphynx puzzle that is going
the rounds of the senate and house
(more particularly the latter body +,
al the present session.
Every representative is asking ev-
cry other representative: "Are you
long or short?" And this is how it
came about.
The United Commercial Travellers
of America conspired few days ago
with State Dairy, Food and Sanitary
Commissioner Wallis, and after deep
plotting, they brought forth a bill
to regulate hotels in all sorts Of
ways. The committee on public
health fathered the bill, and 1t is GER
tain to become law.
The only serious thing tha. threat
ened its passage is that the house is
taking sides on the matter. Party
politics has nothing whatever to do
with it. Tie Republicans are squab-
bling among themselves, while the
Democrats are tearing each other
limb from limb. The cause of the
excitemet is that they differ on the
provision requiring hotel sheets to
be of certain definite length.
Minimum Eight Feet
In the original draft, minimum
of eight feet was refuired. But now
comes Representative R. C. Thomp.
son, of Kootenai county, the tallest
man in the house, and threatens to
kill the bill unless the minimum
length of hotel sheets is made ten
feet in the law. He is backed up
by an army which is not as broad
as 1t is long, but menacing in num-
bers and power, including such
elongated statesmen as C. L. War
nick of Bingham, E. J. Hammer of
Lemhi, John ]. Wood of NezPerce,
Fred Nihart of Twin Falls, John
p Elmers of Idaho, and others too
numerous and too lengthy to name.
Thompson stands feet and 5
inches in his stocking feet. Wood is
6 feet and inches, Hammer is 6
feet and 1 inch, Nihart an even 6
feet, and so it goes.
Sacred American Right
The "tall men" aver that to secure
minimum length sheet of eight
feet would be class discrimination
and that the law could be attacked
on the ground of unconstitutionality,
because a tall man sleeping there
undre would not be able to fold over
the sheet at the head of the bed with
out exposing his toes, ankles and
legs, as the case might be, according
to the longness of his length.
This, it is admitted even by the
shorts" would render the law un-
constitutional, as every American cit
izen has the inalienable right of
keeping under cover.
Wallis idea of having an eight
foot limit to hotel sheets was that |
sheet should be long enough to
not only cover the sleeper comfort
ably from head to foot, but also to
leave extra sheeting which should be |
turned back over the comfort or
regular blanket, thereby protecting |
the sleeper from breathing infectious |
or contagious bacteria or contracting !
loathsome disease by contact with |
a blanket under which a sick person |
has previously slept.
War Cry Adopted
The Shorts say they will never
consent to an increase in the mini
mum length required. The abbrevi- |
ated solons aver that a sheet eight |
feet long is long enough for an or
binary man and that the law should |
not be built just to accommodate |