HOME ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 657 



yet this wave of mission design has given modern furniture a trend 

 in the right direction. There may be found on the market durable 

 and appropriate furniture that compares favorably with colonial 

 work in the solidity of its construction and in the refinement of its 

 form and finish. 



CARE OF THE HOME. 



In the elaborately furnished house of the present time, the 

 best sanitary conditions are well nigh impossible. They are too full 

 of things too much bric-a-brac, too many pictures, too much drap- 

 eries, upholstered furniture and heavy carpets. Light and air have 

 not free access, dust finds many lodging places, and last, but not 

 least, the housekeeper's life is a burden to her. Let us sacrifice ele- 

 gance on the altar of comfort and cleanliness. It is with the germ 

 life in its many forms that the sanitary housewife has to do. Some 

 of these attack the human body and cause disease; others work in 

 our kitchens and pantries. The war against dust must be evermore 

 waged, so simplicity of woodwork and furnishings is desirable. Hard- 

 wood, stained or painted floors with rugs easily lifted and cleaned, 

 walls smooth and easily cleaned, windows not so much shaded and 

 draped that sunlight and fresh air are denied entrance, and up- 

 holstered or much carved furniture reduced to the least possible 

 point, all these things count for much in the housekeeper s work 

 against dust and dirt. 



Dust will form in any room where people live or congregate; 

 but we do not have to breathe it in quantity, if sweeping and dusting 

 are done in a proper way ; that is, in such a way as to lay the dust, 

 instead of filling the air with it. Dusting is best done with a damp 

 cloth and floors top, may be be wiped up frequently so as to reduce 

 sweeping to a minimum. 



The housekeeper's problems are many and great care is needed 

 not only to keep her home clean, but to see that this cleanliness is so 

 far-reaching as to make it sanitary. Dust, aside from its untidiness, 

 brings danger for it carries germs of decay and disease ; flies are not 

 merely inconvenient and annoying, they too are carriers of disease ; 

 mosquitoes formerly considered only troublesome are now recognized 

 as the means of spreading both malaria and yellow fever. The ticks 

 of Montana have been proved to transmit spotted fever, but for- 

 tunately are confined to bushy hillsides and rarely enter the house. 

 Fleas, bedbugs, and other insect pests not only feed on our blood but 

 may infect us with noxious disease. In our Southern States an eye 

 disease, pink-eye, is carried from one to another by certain very 

 minute flies. Rats and mice not only steal our food and destroy 

 our property but threaten our lives. Rats harbor fleas and as they 

 are some times affected with the dread disease known as the plague, 

 these fleas may later bite persons and inoculate them. The house- 

 keeper must bear all this in mind and by cleanliness, careful covering 

 of all foods, careful exclusion of all insect pests, and protection from 

 rodents, she will be able to protect herself and family from infection. 



Probably the greatest danger comes from house flies. This is 

 perhaps greater in the country than in cities. The female house-fly 



