By the way talking of flies let me give one or two simple ways of dealing with these torments and with their friends, the wasps, which however should never be destroyed heedlessly, because they in their turn prey on the flies and reduce their numbers pretty considerably. For flies the eucalyptus spray is a capital treatment, the only drawback being the extreme stickiness of the eucalyptus water which falls about, and often marks our cherished possessions. Then, Sanitas is very valuable, and if people are not sensitive to smells, no flies have ever been found which would face carbolic acid, a fact that I proved during one damp summer, when we were almost eaten alive by the little wretches. For one of my children caught scarlet fever, and the moment the orthodox sheets were erected, and the mop used freely on the floors to spread about the same disgusting stuff, with one accord the flies departed, and as far as I can make out have not yet returned at anyrate in any great numbers. I discovered, too, that wasps dislike eucalyptus, but not as much as flies do (these by the way retreat also before paraffin), while they vanished absolutely before Liberty’s ‘joss sticks.’ These when burned liberally, kept them entirely at bay, and that in a year when the newspapers were filled with complaints as to their numbers and ferocity. Gnats are sometimes circumvented by hanging ‘southernwood’ on the bed, or about the windows, while, if the house be old or much covered with creepers—I advise nothing but tiny virginian creepers and clematis, roses bring blight and increase one’s insect troubles at once—it is absolutely necessary to stretch very fine black gauze or net on a frame to cover entirely the window outside. This keeps out every insect, does not show, and does not keep out the very smallest amount of air or light. Only are earwigs circumvented by these means, or by a liberal use of disinfectants and of paraffin, but such remedies are to me worse than the disease and can only be employed if folks are not highly sensitive to smells. Carbolic makes me physically sick for hours at a time, and I think even the worst plague of flies which was ever experienced is better than the misery and discomfort of almost perpetual nausea. But when carbolic has not this effect it should undoubtedly be largely used to keep all insects at bay.
Now let us just for one moment describe a suburban house where decent nurseries are possible, where a good spare room is left, and a bedroom and dressing-room do exist, and which yet costs no more than £95 a year, for I see no reason why all small suburban houses should not be built on these lines. The staircase comes up from the hall to a narrow landing; on the left hand is the spare-room door, opposite that are good bed and dressing-rooms; and then on the right is an arch, beyond which are bathroom, day and night nurseries and a nursery pantry, designed first as a dressing-room to the room used for the night nursery.
This arrangement is small but perfect, for if infectious disease entered the nurseries, they could be isolated in one moment by a match boarding doorway erected in the arch and protected each side by the usual carbolic sheets. The strength of the carbolic, by the way, is 1 in 20, and the sheets are kept damp with an ordinary garden syringe. At the first hint of infection the rooms should be cleared of all superfluous furniture and draperies, and the carpets taken away and cleaned at once, while all floors should be mopped at least twice a day with the same carbolic as used for the sheets, etc., and in this every article used in the sick-room must be steeped before it leaves the place. Every mother and every nurse should know what to do on an emergency, and the moment anything infectious appears, the utmost precautions must be taken to prevent a spread of the complaint. Of course the doctor and the master of the house notify the complaint at once to the authorities, but the neighbours on each side and in front and back should be told too, and the tradesmen be warned; indeed, no precautions are too great to ensure that no one shall suffer by our fault or our carelessness and selfishness. Remember that we may be unconscious murderers if we are not super-careful at such times, for some child may die because we have not sufficiently realised the situation, or known how really wrong it is to run the very tiniest risk of giving someone else anything that may be fatal. As children more especially are liable to take infectious diseases the nurseries cannot be too lightly furnished, though of course, comfort must not in any way be neglected, nor must draughts be allowed. All curtains and portières must be washed, and the carpet and all furniture be removed at once, even if it have to be stored in the passages and other rooms, and be greatly in the way of the other inhabitants of the house. If the children have pets the dogs and cats must be washed with carbolic soap and water, and sent away at once, and the canaries must be removed downstairs. I do not think anyone realises how easily cats and dogs can spread complaints, else I should not have heard my nurse exclaim, ‘Oh! I should never have thought of sending away the dogs.’ Neither, by the same token, would the doctor, although both our dogs were in the habit of reposing on the beds, and one at least had extremely long hair.
To sum up briefly the necessities of a healthy nursery, I should say that they include two easily-isolated rooms, plenty of sun and air as opposed to heat and draughts, and above all, spotless cleanliness and well-made, simply-designed furniture, which can be easily moved, which allows of no accumulations, and which finally can be kept by the nurse herself in a state of perfect dustlessness without an undue amount of labour. Under these circumstances even a suburban house can be made to do its duty and to provide the proper accommodation for our future citizens the children of the home.
CHAPTER VIII
BEDROOMS
In the rooms set aside for the purposes of rest and sleep, I venture to remark that the ordinary builder, to say nothing of the ordinary decorator, rises to his very worst heights of villainy, and makes the task before us one of almost superhuman effort. I have had three of these houses to live in, and in all of them, when the doors did not face the only possible place to put the bed, they came exactly at the side of the fire, and left no space whatever to put a sofa, let alone a comfortable armchair should one be ill and have to remain in one’s room longer than the hours which are set apart for repose. And as illness is always possible, and moreover more than possible is it vain to ask when further ‘eligible sites’ are cut up for building, that the landlords of the future will kindly keep an eye on the
