Though it seems indelicate to suggest the possibility of a bug in a well-kept, charming chamber, even the best housekeeping is not always proof against feeling “things at night.”  Metal beds are rather inhospitable to bugs, and if carefully examined, with the mattress, once a week, there is small danger of their getting a foothold.  If traces are discovered, hunt out the bugs and exterminate them if possible, and sprinkle bed and mattress with a good, reliable insect powder; or spray with gasolene, or wood alcohol and corrosive sublimate, and keep the room shut up for a few hours.  Baseboard and moldings should also be treated in this way.  If, after repeating several times, this proves ineffectual, smoke out the room with sulphur, first removing all silver and brass articles and winding those which cannot be moved with cloth.  Then proceed according to directions for fumigating the closet, using a pound of sulphur for a room of average size.  If the room has become badly infested, it will be best to tear off the wall and ceiling paper, and fill all cracks and crevices with plaster of Paris.  Such shreds of self-respect as these terrors by night may possess cannot long survive such treatment, and they will soon depart to that country from whose bourne no bug returns.

CHAPTER X

THE BATHROOM

With the subject of the bathroom before us, it would seem to be in order to promulgate the only really true theory of bathing.  But this is not a treatise upon hygiene, and the world already has been flooded with advice on this subject, ranging from the urgings of those amphibiously inclined folk who would each day run the whole gamut of splash, souse, and scrub, to the theories of the dauntless Chicago doctor who would put all humanity on a level by abolishing bathing altogether.  So we shall merely discuss the means of making the bathroom attractive and serviceable, trusting to our individual good sense for its proper use.

Everyone has heard of the good woman who was showing some friends about her new home.  The bathtub was an object of special pride.  “Why,” she exclaimed, in a glow of enthusiasm, “it’s so nice that we can scarcely wait till Saturday night.”  We may laugh at her naivete, but there is a good deal more of the “waiting for Saturday night” proposition than is good for—­some of our neighbors.  And, on the other hand, there is more of the heroic sort of bathing by faithful devotees of cleanliness than is necessary.

The persistent spirit will have his bath, if it has to be with bowl and sponge in a cold room.  But while most persons are persistently cleanly, bathing in the interest of healthfulness should be regular, and it should be enjoyable, and it cannot be either unless the bathroom is properly equipped and is ready for service when wanted.  Even at some extra cost, it should be made possible to secure hot water promptly, and without agitating the whole household, at any reasonable hour of any day of the week.  No family that we ever knew went bankrupt on account of the cost of hot water for bathing, and if they did they would have a pretty valid excuse.