2009. As to the waste, that evidently proceeds from the frequent, intemperate and injudicious use of the poker, which not only throws a great portion of the small coals among the cinders, but often extinguishes the fire it was intended to foster.
2010. Economy in Carpets.—In buying a carpet, as in every thing else, those of the best quality are cheapest in the end. As it is extremely desirable that they should look as clean as possible, avoid buying carpet that has any white in it. Even a very small portion of white interspersed through the pattern will in a short time give a dirty appearance to the whole; and certainly no carpet can be worse for use than one with a white ground.
2011. A carpet in which all the colors are light, never has a clean, bright effect, from the want of dark tints to contrast and set off the light ones.
2012. For a similar reason, carpets whose colors are all of what artists call middle tint (neither dark nor light), cannot fail to look dull and dingy, even when quite new.
2013. The caprices of fashion at times bring these ill-colored carpets into vogue; but in apartments where elegance is desirable, they always have a bad effect.