San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-09
Mattress Especially Has
Much to Do With Nights
Rest and Comfort.
MANY MATERIALS USED
Old Fashioned Feather Bed
of Cold Chimes Not
Popular Any More.

she Deen saving 10 nlhhc can
bed" we early learned some OF me
innermost secrets involved III me
manufacture of what was then Inc
feather bed, but which, in these later
DAYS. has evolved into what Is now
termed mattress. Strange as IL
may seem this word mattress is
of Arabic origination. In ARABIAN
mattress signifies a tufted cusniou
We still recognize this Arabic form
in our English word "matellasse me
popular. tufted dress material whlcn
is 70 much in vogue today.
Historians failed TO record the type
of mattress Adam used, but we are
inclined to believe that 1t was only
soft. resilient mound OF dried leaves.
Later, in human progression, wheh
man learned the construction OF Weap,,
ons for the purpose OF defense ana
for the purpose of providing material
for bodily sustenance, We flnd MIN
sleeping upon the skins OF his ami
NAL kills, the soft furry covering OF
the animal acting as an intermediary
softness between himself and the
ground. The Latins introduced the
"culcita" or cushion as stage in the
DEVELOPMENT of the modern mattress.
I0eSe CuSQlOuS NtIt hCpl III a NOlhNA
of the room, and at night the head
was placed upon cushion, the re-
mainder of the body resting upon the
floor.
This method Of sleeping served the
people very well for some time, until
we find a few progressives placing
the cushions on seats of wood which
were built in on the sides of the room.
80 I,,r i,,o fka lor ond
beds at night. Gradually it was dis
covered that if the entire wooden seat
was covered with these cushions, rest
airy form of the first bed was develop
ed. The Egyptians were the first to
build beds which were not permanent
this innovation, the structural or
frame composition Of the bed became
a question of moment, while only
minor consideration was given to the
comfort affording properties of this
novel addition to the household furn-
ishings.
Entire Family in One Bed.
1t was not until the Fourteenth
century that beds had flexible bot
toms. This caused an increase in
bodily comfort. and the bed took
on a new aspect, becoming the most
important article of home equip
ment. In comparison with our mod
ern mattress of twin-bed size, the
mattress or feather bed of this age
was colossal: the single bed OF this
period accommodated the entire fam
lily and the servants, as many as six
teen people occupying one bed. The |
mattress first came into universal use
rs protective padding between the
soft feather tick and spiral springs
of the bed. To-day it serves the duo
fold purpose of feather tick and pad
ding of other days. This had been
brought about through the high de-
gree of perfection attained by spell
cialists in mattress manufacture.
Statsticians tell us that we spend
one-third of our lifetime in sleep. In
this be so, then is seems plausible
that at least some frugmentafy por-
ton of the other two-thirds of this
earthly existence should be expended
in acquiring a knowledge of what
will offer the greatest enjoyment and
render the greatest benefit to man
in his periodic hours of repOse. Some
one has said that it is not necessary
to travel to seek the rest cure. And
We believe him. A good mattress is
a magic panacea for fatigue and in
somnia.
The essentials Of a good mattress
are many. 1t should be elastic, in
order to afford buoyancy; durable, to
be practical; uniformly soft, to be
comfortable. 1t must also be nom
absorbent, dust proof and easily clean
ed. The foregoing essentials are
contingent upon the stuffing Of the
mattress, the material with which it is
filled. 1t is not any trouble to pro-
cure q mattress covered with a good
quality Of lasting material, even the
cheap and less desirable possess at
tractive and durable coverings, but
when purchasing a mattress. the two
dominant factors to be given careful
consideration are the filling compost
ton Of the mattress and the workman
ship on it.
Feather Bed Unsanitary.
The feather stuffings of our grand
mothers and mothers day have now
been replaced by several other types
of mattress Filings. Feathers were
considered unsanitary; they were
heating, and because Of their tend
ency to work through the ticking, they
were also uncomfortable. Today, the
materials in most common use for fill
ing are hair, kapOk, cotton. moss, ex-
celsior, jute and wool. Hair is con-
sidered TO be the best of any of these
materials because it conforms TO all
the essentials requirements of an ideal
mattress filling. 1t buoys up the
: body, for when curled it acts as so
many fine little springs. 1t is dur
able, and il carefully renovated. will
last for long period of time. Many
grades of hair are, of course, employ
I'd in mattress manufacture. and some
times hogs bristle is used for purposes
of adulteration in some of the cheaper
hair mattresses. This is illegitimate
( it is deleterious 10 the life of the
mattress. Kapok, a silk cotton or
fibre provided by nature as a carry
ing agent and found surrounding the
seeds of tropical tree which grows
in Java, is possessed Of lifting and
sustaining quality greatly like fine
goose down, and is therefore consid-
cred next best TO hair as mattress
stuffing. This material is blown into
the ticking by a specialized process.
Cotton. the light fluffy cellulose mate
rial from the Sunny South. is also
used in mattress manufacture. Cot
ton Inter. the fiber attached TO the
cotton seed. is commonly used for this
purpose. This is also blown into the
mattress bag, but this method is not
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