REMARKS

On Beds and Bedsteads.

By SIMEON DE WITT, Esq.

(With an Engraving.)

Read before the Society, March 15th, 1819.

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TO obtain the greatest enjoyment at the least expense, is the perfection of economy. But this is true only in its fullest extent when all things are taken into the account-the smallest as well as the greatest. A greater saving is indeed made when this rule is applied to great objects than when it is confined to small ones, but true economy requires an equal attention to all, and embraces all those minor things which constitute the conveniences and comforts of life.

With this view, and without any further apology for the humble nature of my subject, I shall take the liberty of making some remarks on the apparatus for sleeping-that is, Beds and Bedsteads.

The frames of bedsteads are commonly made of pieces of timber joined together by screws or other. wise so as to admit of being occasionally separated. This construction is inconvenient, inasmuch as it makes it difficult to keep the parts firmly together. The bottom on which the bed is laid is made either of cords crossing each other, or of canvass stretched across the frame. In either way it is impossible to keep it horizontal. The middle part will of necessity be the lowest when a weight is on it, and if two

persons lie in one bed, the consequence is that each must lie on a declivity-a position extremely uncomfortable. For remedying these defects in a manner the most simple and economical, I have constructed a bedstead, of which a drawing is presented. It is done in the following manner :

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Of well seasoned timber three inches square, a frame is made six feet eight inches long and five feet wide, outside measure. This is a proper for what is called a double bedstead. The beams of it are permanently united by tenons and glued together so as to leave no crevices between them. Two posts about 22 inches high are joined together by a head-board mortised and glued in them, and of such a length as that the posts shall stand exactly on the centre of the junction at the corners of the frame, through which holes are made with an inch and an half auger at right angles to it. Round turned feet, about 20 inches long and three

inches thick at their

tops, are made with screws at the upper ends projecting six or seven inches, and of such a thickness as to fit the holes at the corners of the frame and enter female screws in the bottom of the posts. The feet are then screwed into them till they firmly unite themselves to the frame and the posts which are joined to the head-board. The foot-board, with its fect and posts is managed in the same way. Across the frame are laid slats or pieces of straight grained white-pine boards, three quarters of an inch thick and three inches wide, and the same distance apart from each other, with their ends sunk into the frame so as to make an even upper surface with it. Corresponding marks are made on them and the frame so

that when taken out each may be again put in its proper place.

Such a bedstead can be put together or taken apart in less than ten minutes. Its parts are so firmly joined to each other as not to admit of that movement which in some produces a most disagreeable noise. There will be no crevices in it in which bedbugs may harbour, and the bed on it will always lie horizontal, a circumstance essential to a comfortable resting place.

Excepting where beds are placed in rooms occupied for ordinary family purposes, bed curtains are uscless, and they are now generally discarded.Should, however, long posts be required for a curtained bedstead, they might be slipped into holes made in the tops of the short posts, and if knobs be fitted on them in the same manner, the same bedstead may be occasionally used with either short or long posts.

The most proper method of making a post is this: Take a piece of timber that will admit of being finished three inches thick and sixteen inches long, through which from end to end bore a hole with an inch and a half auger. Into the ends then drive turned plugs, to serve as centres on which to turn the post. That being done, in the one end make the female screw to receive the male screw, already mentioned, at the top of the foot to which the post is to be joined. Into the other end fit the spindle of a knob or other ornamental device, which may be taken off and a long post put in its place, if such should be required; but should long posts not be

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required, the knobs may be permanently glued to the posts.

The bed is to be a mattress, stuffed with husks of Indian corn. It is made in the following manner : After preparing the tick to suit the size of the bedstead, fill it evenly with the husks, well dried and cleared from the pieces of cobs that may stick to them, so that when finished the mattrass may be four, five or six inches thick. Then, at intervals of about nine inches, run a strong twine through the mattress perpendicularly from the upper to the lower side, and back again about half an inch from the same place, and on the upper side tie the two ends of the twine together, drawing them moderately tight. This is necessary to prevent the filling from shifting.

If greater perfection be aimed at, the husks may be coarsely hatchelled. This may be conveniently done in the following manner: Through a piece of narrow board, in a longitudinal line, drive sharp pointed nails of wrought iron, about a third of an inch apart from each other, and fasten this board with the points of the nails upwards on any sufficiently firm support. This will then serve as a hatchel to prepare the husks for the mattrass.

The husks of corn are soft, elastic, and will not crumble. In these respects they resemble hair, which is used to stuff the best mattresses, one of which will cost from forty to fifty dollars. The comparative cheapness of the one now described can easily be estimated, and its excellence will be little inferior. Such a mattress will be found to be much cheaper than a feather bed, and will, I am confident, be pronounced much more comfortable on a tried

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