The Washington herald., 1915-06-03
HOT WEATHER
SLEEPING COMFORT

1T was too hot to sleep last night"
That is one of the most uncomfort-
able thoughts that come with the tor
rid days and nights of midsummer.
In reality. il is never too hot to sleep
if you have the ordinary comforts
of life about you and make judicious
use of them.
To begin with. there is the cooling
bath. The right temperature for the
bedtime bath. which is to induce
sleep. is about 75 degrees. A reany
cold bath is bracing to the nerves.
stimulating to the senses. and what
it accomplishes in actual bodily COM
fort. il counteracts in awakened sensi-
bilities But shower bath. taken
for extra comfort. in darkened bath
room with the window open. of water
which registers between 70 and - de-
grees cools the body and soothes the
nerves.
Another cooling bath. a sponge bath.
ran he taken in the morning. This can
be taken with really cold water. and
such a sponge bath will he found
stimulating and refreshing in the
morning.
After the cooling night bath you
" ill he comfortab BILE and. for the mo-
mcnt. really cool. Do not dry the skin
with a coarse Turkish towel. Produce
as little friction as possible in the
drying process Simply pat the body
with soft towel until 1t is sufficiently
dry to be comfortable A little water
left on il will not be harmful.
II possible. the summer bedroom should
be used for absolutely no other purpose
than sleeping. The windows should be
left open. wide open. all the time, from
morning till night and from night till
morning OF course. a room the windows
of which are closed during the hottest
1T of the day Is sometimes few de-
grees cooler in the evening than one In
which the windows are all left open all
the time, but 1t goes without saying that
the OPEN window room is better venti-
lated. and hence healthier place to
sleep in. than the other room. If there
is a hot tin roof just outside the bedroom
windows. the windows can, as conces-
sion to your desire, be closed while the
sun is beating on the roof.
The clothes should be removed in an
other room, so that no lights need be
made in the sleeping room. Thus it will
be unnecessary to lose even the slightest
breeze because of drawn curtains or
shades.
Don't Make the Bed.
There are several ways of making the
bed actually cooler to sleep in than 1t
ordinarily is. Probably the best way Is
to let it air acknowledgement longer than
usual-and then to make it only partly.
Spread the bottom sheet tight. turning
it snuEly under at the corners. II the
rooms need not be used during the day,
leave the bed this way until night. Then.
at bedtime. spread the top sheet evenly
over the bed and fasten II to the head
and foot boards foot or so above the
bed. This arrangement creates a draught
of air which, in its passing. cools the
body
Mrs. Good Housekeeper. But what Of
that? Is it not better to let your family
sleep comfortably through the few really
torrid nights of the summer at the ex-
pense of untidy rooms for a few days,
than to have the rooms always in order
and the family threshing about wake
fully on their cots? Take your choice be-
tween comfortable family and neat
rooms.
Linen sheets are cooler than cotton
ones. most every one agrees: SO. IL you
have linen sheets, use them in the hot
weather. Let the sheets be always crisp
and fresh looking. even at the expense
of a bigger laundry bill. IL sleeping COM
fort is what you are trying to bring
about.
Some persons find sleeping without a
mattrc-s cooler than sleeping with one
But doubtless 1t would take most of US
the few hot nishts of the summer to
learn - accustom our POOR bones to the
somewhat doubtful comforts o. springs
covered with I blanket anu a sheet. For
the advocates the no-mattress theory
recommend a blanket in consideration Of
the human weakness for Q soft place
TO lay the head.
Others sleep with a strip Of mating
between the sheet and the mattress
This method Of making the bed really
does bring GOODNESS. for the mating IL
Porous and so permits the circulation of
air between the body and the mattress
all night long.
II It is possible to do 50. convert some
veranda into an outdoor sleeping\ place
during the very warm weather. But II
this veranda IL not screened don't send
your family forth unarmed against fies, |
and other insects. Provide |
each with a big piece Of mosquito net |
ting to drape over the cot. couch. ham, |
mock. bed or chair which u = be his |
sleeping place