MOTHER'S' REMEDIES
Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada.
By DR. T. J. RITTER
PUBLISHED BY G.H. FOOTE PUB. CO. DETROIT MICH 1921
HOUSEKEEPERS' ALPHABET
Apples.--Keep in a dry place, as cool as possible, without freezing.Brooms.--Hang in the cellarway to keep soft and pliant.
Cranberries.--Keep under water in cellar; change water monthly.
Dish of hot water set in oven prevents cake from scorching.
Economize health, time, and means and you will never beg.
Flour.--Keep cool, dry and securely covered.
Glass.--Clean with a quart of water mixed with a tablespoonful of ammonia.
Herbs.--Gather when beginning to blossom; keep in paper sacks.
Ink Stains.--Wet with spirits of turpentine; after three hours, rub well.
Jars.--To prevent, coax husband to your will rather than order him.
Keep an account of all supplies with cost and date when purchased.
Love lightens labor.
Money.--Count carefully when you receive change.
Nutmegs.--Prick with a pin and if good oil will run out.
Orange and Lemon Peel.--Dry, pound and keep in corked bottles.
Parsnips.--Keep in ground until spring.
Quicksilver and white of an egg destroys bedbugs.
Rice.--Select the large, with a clear fresh look; old rice may have insects.
Sugar.--For family use, the granulated is the best.
Tea.--Equal parts Japan and green are as good as English breakfast.
Use a cement made of ashes, salt and water for cracks in stove.
Variety is the best culinary spice.
Watch your back yard for dirt and bones.
Xantippe was a scold. Don't imitate her.
Youth is best preserved by a cheerful temper.
Zinc lined sinks are better than wooden ones.
Regulate the clock by your husbands watch, and in all apportionment of time remember the Giver.
1. Charcoal to Prevent Rust
Charcoal absorbs all dampness, for which reason it should be kept in boxes with silverware to prevent rust.
2. A Needle Holder
A guest of ours kept all her needles in a bottle in which was a pinch or two of emery. She said that it keeps them always bright and free from rust, and she finds it much easier to pick out the needle she wants from the bottle than from a tray.
3. Care of a Scrubbing Brush
Scrubbing brushes should never be put away with their bristles upward, for thus the water would soak into the wooden part and the bristles would soon become loose.
4. In Case of Sickness
In our home, when hot cloths are needed wet ones are put in a steamer, and water kept boiling underneath. In this way the cloths are more easily handled and can be applied as hot as needed.
5. To Tighten Cane-Seated Chair Bottoms
Cane-seated chair bottoms that have sagged may be made as tight as ever by washing them with hot water and leaving them to dry in the open air.
6. For Chilblains
To relieve the chilblains bathe the feet in warm water at night, then rub them with castor oil. This method will cure very bad cases.
7. Paint, Smoked by Kerosene Lamps
Paint that has been smoked by kerosene lamps may be cleaned with kerosene, which can afterward be rubbed off with a clean brush.
8. A Use for Sacks
Save all salt and sugar sacks; wash and boil them and they can be put to various uses. Salt sacks are nice to strain jellies through; are also nice to bake veal or beef loaf in. Sugar sacks make nice dish-towels.
9. Soap With Stove Blacking
Use a half bar of laundry soap, and one cake of blacking. Put in an old kettle with three quarts of water. Boil down until thick. This will last a year.
10. To Remove White Spots from Tables
Wring cloths out of very hot water, lay them over spot and remove quickly. Repeat if necessary. When dry, rub the furniture with some of the good polish.
11. To Clean Mirrors
To clean a French mirror which has grown dull, rub with a cloth soaked in alcohol; follow this by rubbing with a dry cloth. The dullness will vanish, and the mirror will look like new. This method is used for cut glass with excellent result.
12. How to Whiten Linen
If you want your table linen to last do not use bleaching preparations. Use only clean soap and soft water. If the water is not soft, add a little ammonia.
13. Velveteen for Polishing Cloths
Old pieces of velveteen that have served their original purpose should be saved for polishing cloths. They will answer perfectly the purpose of chamois and save buying anything fresh. When soiled the cloths may be washed in soapy water and dried in the open air.
14. For Clearing Vinegar
Should your home-made vinegar refuse to settle, try this: To each gallon stir in a half pint of fresh milk and let stand undisturbed for twenty-four hours. The milk will form a curd at the bottom and all the dregs will settle with it, leaving the vinegar clear. Pour off very carefully.
15. Uses for Old Velvet
A bit of velvet is a fine polisher for brass. It quickly removes the dust from woodwork, or shoes soiled from walking which do not need reblacking. For dusting a felt hat there is nothing better than a piece of chiffon velvet. It is also good to keep the bottom of a silk skirt free from the dirt. One housekeeper even uses a big piece of old velvet to rub her stove to a high polish after it has been blackened.
16. Removing Warts
Warts can be removed permanently and safely by an application of a salve made by mixing common table salt into a yolk of an egg. Change the application daily, and within the week they will all drop out.
17. To Save Time by Sewing
When sewing on plain garments, cut out several garments at a time, and save time by stitching all the straight seams, then doing all the basting, etc.
18. To Remove Stains from Blankets
Stains on blankets and other woolen materials may be removed by using a mixture of equal parts of glycerin and a yolk of an egg. Spread it on the stain, let it stay for half an hour or more, then wash out.
19. Burn from Acid or Lye
In case of a burn with carbolic acid or lye, the speedy application of sweet oil or olive oil will give almost instant relief.
20. To Wash Laces
To wash delicate or tender laces put the lace in a fruit jar with shavings of some good soap, cover with warm water, let soak for awhile then shake, using if necessary several waters, then rinse in same manner, spread between pieces of muslin and roll up on a bottle or jar, and leave to dry. They will not be torn in this way and will look like new.
21. For Cut or Bruise
Bind sugar and turpentine on the wound or bruise at once. The healing properties of this simple remedy cannot be surpassed.
22. Lemons; How to Obtain More Juice
Lemons placed in a moderately hot oven, for a few minutes will yield a greater quantity of juice than if used in the ordinary way.
23. Whipping Cream
If cream does not whip well, add to it the white of an egg, and the result will be very satisfactory.
24. To Clean Lamp Burners
To remove the black gummy coating which sometimes comes on the brass parts of lamp burners, moisten the cloth with common household ammonia, rub it on sapolio, and apply it to the coated surface with the aid of a little elbow grease. A bright brassy surface will soon appear.
25. To Preserve Hot Water Bottle
Fill with air, cork tightly, and hang in a cool dry place. This keeps the walls of the bottle from coming in contact with each other and prevents deterioration and decay.
26. Sweep Stairs with Paint Brush
My mother uses a paint brush with long bristles for sweeping her stairs. With its use the work is more quickly and thoroughly done than by the old way, be¬cause the bristles reach every corner and crack as a cloth cannot do.
27. Washing Hair Brushes
To wash hair brushes take a piece of washing soda, dissolve it in warm water, and stand the brush in it, taking care that the water covers only the bristles. It will almost instantly become clean and white. Place it in the air to dry, bristles downward, and it will be as firm as a new brush.
28. Loops on Towels
Always have a loop on each end of the kitchen towel, where a roller is not used. Otherwise all the soil and the wear come on the lower end.
29. Changing Pillow Slips
To change pillow slips without scattering the feathers all over the house, sew up the clean tick, all except a space of about twelve inches. Take the full pillow unopened and baste one side of the empty one to the full one. Then with a knife slit open the seam of the pillow, the twelve-inch space. Quickly baste the other sides together so they will not come apart easily. Then slowly push the feathers into the clean and empty tick, and when finished undo the basting and sew tightly. Soak the soiled ticks in cold water immediately to remove remaining feathers.
30. Use of Old Linen Collars
Cut them up into narrow strips and use them for gas-lighting instead of using wax tapers. They make a steady flame and do not drip grease.
31. Discarded Toys
My baby came in the other day hugging to his breast a toy tin goat. It was evidently one of the discarded play¬things of a neighbor's child. On inquiry I found that the toy had been given to my boy, and he has taken so much pleasure in this cast¬off plaything that I have been saving his old toys and passing them on to other children of the neighborhood. I have discovered that in their baby hearts these are as good as new, because they have never played with them. It is nothing to them that they are not just out of the store.
32. How To Clean Silver
Try curdled milk for cleaning your silverware. Let the silver stand for several hours in the milk, and you will be surprised at the result.
33. Removing Stains
Damp salt will remove egg stains from silver and tea stains from cups.
34. To Keep Free from Mould
Jelly and jam can be kept entirely free from mould by pouring a thin layer of melted paraffin on top. This paraffin can be saved when the jelly is taken from the glass and used the next season so the cost is very small.
35. Hanging Out Clothes
The other day I came across a peculiar clothes bar. It was the same as any other, except that the cross¬bars had been removed, and for them ropes had been substituted. The owner told me she had had her husband fix it for her the previous winter when she was bothered with salt rheum. "I hang up all the baby's little things, fastening them with clothespins, right here in the house where it is warm," she explained. "Then it is but the work of a moment to take the whole thing out of doors, and there is no fishing around for the tiny things when my hands are so cold they feel as though they would drop off."
36. A Fine Cutting Board
I measured the top of my kitchen cabinet, and had a piece of zinc cut to fit it, allowing an inch for turn¬ing over the edges. My husband tacked it on, and I can cut meat and bread or anything on it, without harming it in the least, besides using it as a moulding board.
37. Convenient Place for Stiletto
It will he found a great convenience to have the stiletto tied to the embroidery hoop by a ribbon about a foot long, when that little instrument is necessary for the work in hand.
38. Cleaning Paint and Varnish
Many housekeepers have been annoyed by finding their paint and varnish brushes dry and hard. To soften them, heat to the boiling water point some good cider vinegar, immerse your brushes and allow them to simmer in it for a few minutes, then wash out in strong soapsuds and your brushes will be soft and pliable.
39. How to Keep Cookies from Burning
To keep cookies from burning on the bottom, turn the baking pan upside down and bake on the bottom of the pan.
40. Non-Sticking Cake Tins
Cake layers will not stick in cooking if a little meal is scorched on the cake tins and rubbed off with paper.
41. To Clean Sieve
Hold a sieve which has been used for straining oatmeal, tomatoes, fruit, etc., at once under the faucet, or shake it in enough water to cover it, then slap it, and it is easily cleaned; if it dries first it is almost impossible to get it clean even by more time and effort.
42. Washing Clothes
After the clothes have been soaked a while to loosen the dirt, spread on washboard, soap, and then rub with a common scrub brush. The dirt comes out easier and with much less wear on the clothes. Even when the washing machine is used, this is a help for the wrist bands that are not quite clean.
43. Discoveries
When old clothes, like worn-out aprons or waists or linings come to hand, and are absolutely good for nothing else, cut them into small pieces, say eight or twelve inches square, some larger, and put them into a bag or box easily accessible. Then when some¬thing is spilled over on stove or floor, or mess of any kind is made, use these bits for cleaning up and drop them into the fire.
44. To Stretch Curtains
Take curtains while wet and put on a curtain rod; also put a heavy rod as a weight on the lower hem. Hang one on curtain at a time at an open window and stretch the desired width.
45. Cleaning Windows in the Winter
It is a hard task in the winter time to wash windows in the old way, but if it is very cold, windows can be cleaned by using "Bon Ami," The same is useful for cleaning bright pieces on stoves.
46. How to Kill Black Ants
A request for information as to how to rid plants and trees of black ants, which was received at the Pennsylvania department of agriculture's division of zoology, elicited the following from Prof. H. A. Surface, State Zoologist. You can do this by finding the nesting places of the pests and making holes into the interior of them with a sharpened stick like a broom handle and pouring into each hole a half tea cup of carbon bisulphide. Fill the hole with earth and cover with a wet cloth or blanket to keep down the fumes and the ants will be destroyed at once. This is the best possible method for destroying ants of any kind.
47. Washing Windows
It is better to wash windows on a cloudy day or when the sun is not shining directly on them. Before washing, dust them thoroughly inside and out, then wash the wood¬work without touching the glass. For the glass use warm water, to which add a tablespoonful of kerosene to each pailful of water used. Dry with a cloth or chamois skin, wrung very dry; then polish with a soft cloth or soft old newspapers.
48. Home-made Soap Shaker
A baking powder can with holes punctured in both cover and bottom, makes a fine soap shaker. Put all the small scraps of soap in this, and when you wash dishes, just put box and all in your dishpan and shake about. You will have a nice suds and no soap rubbing off on the dishes.
49. Cleaning Rugs
When cleaning rugs first lay them out straight and brush with a stiff dry scrubbing brush. You will be surprised at the amount of dirt that is loosened and comes out in this way.
50. Clean Leather Furniture
A good way to clean leather furniture is to add a little vinegar to some warm water and wash the leather, using a clean soft cloth. Wipe with a dry cloth. To restore the polish, mix two teaspoonfuls of turpentine with the whites of two eggs; beat a little and apply with a soft flannel cloth. Dry with another cloth and rub well.
51. Ironing Board, Conveniences for
Try tacking a pocket on the under side of your ironing board to keep your holder, stand and sheet of sand paper in.
52. Clean Gilt Furniture
Gilt furniture can be cleaned with sifted whiting made into a cream with alcohol. Cover a small space at a time and rub off before it hardens. To clean brass fixtures rub them with cut lemon and then wash off in hot water.
53. For Tufted Furniture
For tufted furniture use a bicycle pump to remove dust. Garments to be stored for the summer months should first be aired well on a bright breezy day. Brush thoroughly and shake free of dust. Do not leave clothing out in the air after three o'clock in the afternoon, as from that time until dark all sorts of insects are seeking their beds. A trunk or box that has been thoroughly cleaned and sunned and then lined with fresh newspapers will prove an ideal place in which to store winter clothing. Sprinkle each layer with cloves and tuck newspapers well around them, moths detest printer's ink.
54. How to Clean Linoleum
To clean linoleum add one cupful of bees¬wax, shaved fine, to two cupfuls of turpentine and set on the back of the stove to melt. When cool it will be thick and ready for use. First thoroughly clean the linoleum and then apply the paste with a soft cloth. Rub in well, then polish with a dry cloth, preferably flannel. Linoleum treated in this manner will look like new.
55. For Broken Needles
A receptacle for broken needles in her work basket would be a boon to any woman, and this one which I am about to describe is very easily made, takes up little space and is really very convenient, when one is busy sewing and dislikes to get up to take care of the dangerous bits of steel. Take a little two dram bottle (homeopathic style), crochet for it a snug covering made of embroidery silk or silkaline, crocheting it tightly and covering the bottle completely, using some bright color if desired. When you break a needle just slip the pieces right through the meshes of silk into the bottle; they will go in easily, but the holes will close up after them, retaining them in safety till the receptacle is full.
56. How to Carry House Key
The pocketless woman often finds it troublesome to carry a key, especially the house key, when she goes out. If an old-fashioned split metal ring can be found, use it to connect the key to be carried to the circular end of a strong, sure acting safety pin, not necessarily of the largest size. If such a ring cannot be found, fasten pin and key together with a bit of fine wire, string or thread will be sure to break just at the wrong time. Then the pin may be fastened to the inside of the jacket or slipped inside of the shirtwaist band pinned to the undergarment, or attached to the skirtband and allowed to hang down outside.
57. A Sewing Room Hint
Thread will not become knotted so often if the newly-cut end is put into the needle instead of the other end, which is already broken.
58. Convenient Addition to Kitchen
One of the most highly¬-prized helps in our kitchen is a bird cage hook, one which can be hung on a nail, and thus easily changed from place to place. On this when placed over the sink, I hang macaroni, greens, etc., to drain; and when placed over the kitchen table, it is an ideal arrangement for holding the jelly bag.
59. To Remove Candle Grease
A simple way to remove candle grease is to scrape off all that will come off in that way, lay over the spot a piece of heavy brown wrapping paper (butcher's paper) and press with a very hot iron.
60. Using Silk on the Machine
When sewing on the machine with silk, it often unwinds and twists around the spool spindle in a very trying manner. To avoid this make a hole in a small piece of felt and slip it on the spindle before the silk is put on.
61. A Shoe Cover
When packing my trunk for a journey, I have found it to be a good scheme to use my stockings for shoe covers, this saves the added bulk of paper, and the shoes will be found less liable to muss up other things if protected by this clean and handy stocking covering. A stocking occupies practically no room when drawn over a shoe, and the two together will be found quite handy to tuck into chinks into which they alone can fall.
62. To Press Skirts
An easy way to press skirts is to use a sheet of paper in place of a cloth; lay the folds, or plaits and in place of ironing over a wet cloth take a sheet of common magazine paper lay it on the goods and iron. This presses the skirt very well and keeps the shine off and will, I think, give more satisfaction than if pressed with a damp cloth or ironed on the wrong side.
63. How to Attach Holders to Kitchen Apron
Pin two holders with long tape at each side of the apron when cooking. They are con-venient for handling hot kettles or dishes.
64. To Pack Music
An excellent place in which to pack away sheets of music that are not in constant use is a large box fitted with a hinged cover and upholstered in cretonne, after the manner of shirt-waist boxes so much in vogue. Such a box is kept in the hallway of a small flat, where room is at a premium. The music cabinet was full to overflowing and there was no closet shelf that could be utilized, as so often happens in an ordinary house. An unused shirtwaist box was suggested and has been found to answer every purpose, besides provid¬ing an extra seat when such a seat was desirable. The box seems to fit in as an article of furnishing and the reason for its being there would never be asked.
65. How to Bake Pie Crust
Bake empty pie crusts on the outside of the tin, instead of the inside, and they won't shrink.
66. Let the Poison Bottle Tinkle
A wise house mother with half a dozen little folk needing all sorts of medicines and medical applications, has purchased in a toy shop a handful of little bells, and when a bottle containing poison is added to the medicine closet it is adorned with a bell tied around its neck with a narrow ribbon. No danger with the bottle thus equipped of taking by mistake, in the dark, the dangerous medicine. The moment the poison bottle is touched the little bell tinkles its warning.
67. A New Night Lamp
Mothers who have timid little ones will appreciate the new night lamp, the apparatus of which may be carried to the country in a trunk or handbag. This apparatus consists of a small wooden float through which passes a tiny wick. An ordinary china teacup is half filled with cottonseed oil, the little floating wick placed in this, and a match touched to the upright wick. While the sides of the cup prevent the direct light of the flame being visible to the person in bed, a pleasant dim light is cast over the room.
68. Time Saved in Sewing
In a family of small children there are a great many buttonholes to be made. A quick way to make them in the everyday underwear, is on the sewing machine. Sew back and forth, leaving a small space in the center, three or four times where the buttonhole is wanted, and cut in the space left, being careful not to cut the stitching. In making little dresses, or slips after the skirts are sewed up, attach the gatherer to the machine and gather the top and bottom of sleeves and skirt. In this way work is quickly done.
69. Stews and Hash, How to Make
Stews and hash made of fresh meat or round steak instead of scraps, are delicious. When the steak is to be used without being ground, select only tender, young, pinkish pieces; otherwise it will be tough in spite of prolonged cooking.
70. Dusters
Another good idea about dusters. Do not use any¬thing that comes handy, but get squares of five-cent cheese cloth or silkoline, fold a neat hem, and whip it nicely around, then turn and go back the other way. These materials are the best one can use, as they do not leave lint behind. Always wash the dusters after the sweeping day. No one can do clean work with soiled tools; besides dusters ruin the hands.
71. Broom Bags
Good material for a broom bag or cover is old gauze underwear. The goods takes up dust very readily, and is easily rinsed out; or a piece can be thrown away without waste.
72. How To Settle Coffee
An economical and satisfactory way to settle coffee is as follows: Beat one egg well with an egg beater and pour over one pound of freshly-ground coffee, mix very thoroughly and no trace of dampness then remains. The coffee may then be put away as usual, and when used it will be found as clear as amber.
73. Stocking Tops for Convenient Holders
For soft, convenient holders use old stocking tops. Take two thicknesses, cut in squares, bind all around with some bias pieces left from calico dresses and sew a brass ring on one corner.
74. Hat Hangers
It is often convenient to hang up hats, even "Sunday-go-to-meeting ones." To make sure that everyone will stay hung up, and not fall to the floor to be soiled or crushed under foot, sew a loop of narrow ribbon or elastic braid or even shoestring, to the middle of the lining, making the loop long enough so that it will reach to the edge of the hat crown when the loop is pulled out. This can be done and passed over hook or nail or peg, and the hat hung over it, and even if the hat gets a hard knock, it's a case of "sure on" every time.
75. To Freshen Bread
To freshen bread pour cold water all over the loaf, drain quickly, and place in the oven. When the outside is dry and hot remove the loaf and it can scarcely be detected from a new one.
76. Renewing Wringer Rollers
A neighbor rejuvenated a worn¬-out wringer the other day by covering the rolls with white felt. She cut the felt so that it would just come together, not overlap anywhere, and caught the edges together with close stitches. It bids fair to last her as long again, and it is certain that just now the wringer does as good work as any new one.
77. To Prevent Cake Tins Sticking
Flour the baking tins after greasing them. If the flour is shaken all over the grease, and the tins rapped, you will have no difficulty with sticky cakes which break when you try to get them out. Lard is just as good as butter, for it will not taste through the flour.
78. Substitute for Chopping Bowl
When chopping mincemeat, tomatoes, or large quantities of other fruit, you will probably find that your chopping bowl is a good deal too small. Get a clean wooden box with a thick bottom, from your grocer and use it instead of your bowl. You will notice a great saving of time is effected.
79. Save the Gas
Cut strips of asbestos paper an inch and a half wide and long enough to go around the burners of the gas range. Pin together to form a ring, slip over the burner, and all the heat will be concentrated where wanted. In this way the gas can be half turned off and the same results obtained.
80. To Prevent Pitchers Dripping
Syrup or other liquids will not drip from a pitcher if a little butter or grease is rubbed on the edge and under the side of the lip.
81. Medicine Cupboard
An array of ordinary medicine bottles is always unsightly, and a nuisance, too, on cleaning days. Have a tiny cupboard with tight closing door, or a well-fitted curtain, and there is gain in looks and convenience.
82. How To Prevent Tablecloths from Blowing Off
We had some pieces of brass chain, and found them splendid to run through the hems of the tablecovers when in use on the porch in summer. Such "loaded" covers do not blow off easily, consequently they save quite a bit of annoyance and laundering.
83. To Mark Poison Bottle
When you purchase a bottle of poison run a brass-headed tack into the top of the cork. It serves as a marker, and children will be more cautious of the marked bottle. If the label comes off or is discolored, the marker remains as a warning that the bottle contains poison.
84. How To Remove White Spots Caused by Hot Dishes
For polish¬ing tables after hot dishes leave a white spot, take a cloth wet in alcohol, then have one wet in sweet oil. Do it quickly and spots will disappear at once.
85. Stains from Fly Paper, to Remove
Almost anything that has come in contact with sticky fly paper can be thoroughly cleansed by sponging with kerosene. The odor will soon evaporate if the article is exposed to the air for a short time.
86. A Use for Ravelings
In trimming a tablecloth to be hemmed or stitched, one very frequently has to cut off quite a piece of the linen. Ravelings from these pieces are invaluable for mending old cloths, and ought to be saved for that purpose,
87. How to Remove a Glass Stopper
The obstinate glass stopper in a glass bottle will yield to a string of seaweed around the neck of the bottle. Friction, heat, slight outside expansion solve the problem.
88. How To Prevent Starch from Boiling Over
Add a small piece of butter the size of a walnut when the starch comes to a good boil. This not only gives a nice, smooth finish and makes the ironing easier, but it prevents the starch from boiling over.
89. How To Hold Sheets in Place
I worked out a little scheme which has saved me a lot of trouble and inconvenience, so I thought I would pass it on. The sheets and bed clothes are constantly pulling out at the foot, so one day I sewed three buttons on to my mattress with strong thread, and worked buttonholes in the hems of the sheets to correspond, and since then have not had trouble with their pulling up in the middle of the night.
90. Hints for Bathing the Baby
It is a great advantage when bathing the baby to have all the towels heated before using, as they absorb the moisture much more readily and are very pleasant and soothing to the delicate skin. This is also excellent for bathing an invalid as it greatly hastens the work and lessens the danger of catch¬ing cold. It acts like a charm for the child who dreads a bath, this is usually a nervous child who does not like the feeling of the towel, on the wet surface of its skin; complains of feeling damp; and refuses to don its clothing when a less sensitive child would be perfectly comfortable.
91. A Satisfactory Shoe Polisher
Not long since I ripped up a velvet covered hat, only to find the velvet impossible for further use in the millinery line. A threw it into the big waste basket that stands near my husband's shoe cleaning apparatus. He caught up the velvet in a hurry one day to take a spot off a shoe, and now has it laid away as a treasure in his shoe kit. He says it is the best polisher he ever had, and uses it on my fine shoes to his own entire satisfaction.
92. Tasty Way of Preparing Beef-tea
Beef-tea will not prove so monotonous to an invalid if a different flavoring is used each day, as dove, bay leaf, or celery.
93. How To Preserve Silk Gloves
If white or delicately tinted silk gloves are wrapped in blue paper, then in brown they will not discolor. The chloride of lime in white paper is injurious.
94. Red Ants to Destroy
Dry sulphur, sprinkled about in cup¬boards or flour chests where small red ants frequent, will rid the place of the pests.
95. Kitchen Account Book
I have found a kitchen account book is a very useful record. I have a small vestpocket note book hanging by a string and pencil near my kitchen range. A page or two is de¬voted to each month's use. The month and year are entered at the top of page. When groceries are purchased, the date, article and price are noted, and summed up at the end of each month. It makes a handy, permanent record, showing how long supplies last, the expense of one month compared with another, and the monthly average of each year.
96. A Brick Pincushion
A brick pincushion was a dressmaker's ingenious way of making easy work of basting and sewing long seams. She took a common red brick, topped it with a flat oblong cushion size and shape of the brick, covering the whole neatly with a bright chintz cover. This standing on the edge of her cutting table was in constant use, and proved a great convenience.
97. How to Remove Fruit Stains from Hands
When your hands be¬come stained from paring fruit or vegetables, dip them in soap suds then rub thoroughly with coarse salt, and they will become smooth and white.
98. Suggestions for Eyelet Embroidery
For some time after I began doing "eyelet work" I wondered if there was not some way to fasten the thread after completing an eyelet. A friend of mine showed me a solution of my problem. It was to leave the last three loops loose enough so that I could pass the thread back through them after com¬pleting the eyelet. Then I carefully pulled each of these loops down and cut off the thread. This obviates the necessity of any knots that are so unsightly, and at the same time, the thread is firmly secured.
99. How To Prevent Stockings from Wearing Out
Paste pieces of velvet soft side up, into the heels of your shoes, bottom and back, and you will find your stockings darning reduced by a big per cent.
100. Needle Sharpener
I know a woman who always keeps a small piece of whetstone in her machine drawer for sharpening needles when they become blunted. It is a great scheme, and saves a lot of needles, as I have proved to my own satisfaction.
101. Burned Kettles
If you have had the misfortune to burn your kettle it may be made smooth and clean by filling it with ashes and water, leaving it for an hour or so, then washing with clear water.
102. Children's Petticoats
When making washable petticoats for her small daughters, a mother whom I know attaches two skirts to one belt, which in turn is sewed to a little lace trimmed waist.
The lower skirt is made of white cambric, and the top skirt is of swiss embroidery. This arrangement saves time in dressing the little ones and their upper and lower petticoats are always of the same length and set evenly.
103. Systematic Housekeeping
A friend of mine who has a six-¬room apartment delights in taking care of it in sections, one room a day. On each of the six days in the week one room is thoroughly cleaned and put in order. She plans, if possible, to add some little touch of adornment, a new rocker, or vase, or table cover, or pin¬cushion. In this way there is always something new to notice and admire, and yet no new and startling changes and never any accumula-tion of hard work.
104. To Keep Grape Fruit After Cutting
When half a grapefruit or melon is left from a meal, place it cut side down on a china or agate plate, so that no air can reach it, and the fruit will keep as though it had not been cut.
105. How to Freshen Nuts
We had a lot of nuts that became too dry to be good, and were about to throw them away, when a friend told us of a very easy and practical way to freshen them. It was this: to let them stand over night in a solution of equal parts of milk and water, then dry them slowly in a moderate oven. They tasted so fresh and proved to be such an economy, that we thought the idea well worth passing along.
106. Measure the Eggs
Try measuring the whites of eggs for angel food instead of counting them, for best results.
107. Kerosene Lamps
A neighbor who has to use kerosene for lighting purposes told me the secret of her bright lights. After cleans¬ing the lamps well and trimming the wick she fills the oil chamber, and drops into it a piece of camphor gum about as large as a marble. It is a very simple method of securing a splendid light.
108. Baking Help
When creaming butter and sugar for cake or cookies, add two tablespoonfuls of boiling water, then deduct this amount from the other liquid used. Beat hard with a spoon, and the mixture will become a light creamy mass in one-third of the time it otherwise would take.
109. To Destroy Disagreeable Odors
The cooking of onions, cabbage, or frying articles always leaves a disagreeable odor in our house. To get rid of this I place an old tin over a lighted burner and sprinkle some ground cinnamon on it. When the tin is very hot I carry it through the house on the dustpan, leaving behind me the pleasant pungent odor of the spice.
110. The Last Step
A great many times last winter I had to go into the cellar to tend to the furnace when it was too light to light a lamp, and too dark to enable one to see easily. Almost every time I had to feel around to be sure that I was on the bottom step. One day my husband was doing some painting in the cellar and happened to think that a little white paint on that step would help. Now we wonder why we did not think of it before.
111. Truth spoken with malicious intent is greater error than keeping of silence where wrong is meant.
112. Boiled Potatoes
Boiled potatoes should be served as soon as they are cooled. To make them dryer, drain off the water quickly, shake them in a strong draught of air and do not put back the lid of the kettle.
113. How To Prevent Ripping
When hemming table cloths, sheets, etc., on the machine, try the following plan: Sew the hem as you always do, but when you come to the end, instead of leaving a long thread to tie it, to keep from ripping, simply lift the presser-foot, turn the goods around, place the presser-foot down again and sew back over the same seam again, and sew about half an inch more. It makes a neat finish and no danger of the hem ever fraying out.
114. How To Mix Corn Bread
To mix corn bread more easily warm the bowl that it is to be mixed in.
115. Mending Table Linen
To mend table cloths and napkins, take the sewing machine, loosen the tension, lengthen the stitch, place embroidery rings over the place to be mended, and stitch back and forth closely. You have a neat darn, easily done. When laundered you can scarcely see it. Do the same with stockings.
116. Children's Toy
Save all the empty spools, and when any dyeing is done in the household, drop the spools into the fluid for a few minutes, and they will make fine playthings for the children on a rainy day.
117. To Keep Coffee From Boiling Over
To keep coffee from boiling over add a lump of butter about the size of a small marble.
118. Sour Milk Pancakes
We are very fond of sour milk pan¬cakes, and have often had to go without any in the winter when the weather was cold, just because the milk would not sour. I have learned to put a teaspoonful of vinegar in a pan of milk, that I wanted to use for the cakes the next morning, and find that it never fails me in making the milk sour. Placing the pan over the register for the night helps matters along.
119. When the Wooden Scrub Bucket Leaks
When the wooden scrub bucket leaks pour sealing wax into the crevice and paint on the outside. This will make it last for a longer period.
120. Rust Spots on Clothes
Many rust spots on clothes are caused by bits of soap adhering to the latter when they come in contact with the bluing water. The discovery has been of great help to me because I can now easily avoid having these unsightly marks. I merely cut the soap into small pieces, and tie them in a salt bag I keep for the purpose. With this treatment the soap dissolves just as quickly but does not come into direct contact with the clothes.
121. Cleaning Stoves
Before blacking my stove I rub soap on my hands, as if washing them, letting the soap dry on. When wash¬ing my hands after the work is done, the blacking and the soap come off together easily, leaving no stain on the hands.
122. Left-Over Peaches
If there are not peaches enough left from an opened can to go around, mix them with orange pulp and a little sliced banana and the family will find them improved.
123. Substitute for Cream in Coffee
For a substitute for cream in coffee put a pint of fresh milk into a double boiler and let it come to a boil, stirring often. Beat the yolk of one egg very light and pour it into the boiling milk and mix well.
124. Cooking cauliflower
Soak cauliflower an hour before cook¬ing. Put into boiling water to which a tablespoonful of salt is added. Boil from twenty to thirty minutes according to size of the head.
125. Uses for Child's Broom
A child's broom should find place in the bath room. It can be kept in the clothes hamper, and will be useful in sweeping under the bath-tub.
126. Dish Cloths
Dish cloths are often neglected. They should be kept scrupulously clean, and in order that they may be so they should be washed out carefully with soap, and well rinsed each time they have been used. After this has been done they may be hung in the air to dry. Some people, however, like to have a stone jar con¬taining a solution of soda by the sink and to keep the dish cloths in it when not in use.
127. Watch for the wishes of the customers and not the hands of the clock, and some day you will have your boss's job.
128. We judge our neighbor as queer and eccentric, but with the same measure comes back his judgment of us.
129. Uses for Men's Worn Out Collars
Men's collars when worn out, can be opened and bound together as a memorandum book which can be laundered each Monday.
130. Broiling Meat
A little salt thrown on the coal flame will clear it for broiling meat.
131. Combinations of Cherries and Pineapple
A combination of cherries and pineapple makes a most-delicious pie.
132. Crepe Paper for Dish Closet
A pretty effect for the dish closet may be found in crepe paper. Some prefer white, but a tint harmonizing well with the china is pretty too. Have it to fall about three inches below the edge of the shelves and ruffle the edge of the paper by stretching it lightly between forefinger and thumb.
133. Boiling Rice
One cook always puts a very little lemon juice in the water in which she boils the rice. She claims that it keeps the rice white and the grams whole and separate. It may be worth trying.
134. To Remove Grease from Silk
Grease may be removed from silk and woolen clothes by the use of magnesia. Scrape a quantity upon the spot, cover with a brown paper and place a hot flat-iron over it. The heat of the iron acts upon the magnesia and when the iron and the paper are removed and the magnesia brushed off the spot will have disappeared.
135. Hemstitching
When hemstitching wears out, take serpentine braid and stitch it across twice on the sewing machine. This makes the hem look neat and last a long time.
136. Moths
When moths get into dresser drawers, sweep them clean, expose the wood to the sunlight and with an atomizer spray turpentine where the pests are liable to be. A lighted match or sulphur candle will kill them.
137. To Remove Putty
To remove putty, rub a red hot poker over it, and cut off the putty with a steel knife.
138. New Method for Sprinkling Clothes
Turn the nozzle of the hose to a fine spray and sprinkle the clothes while they are on the line; a very quick and good method. All plain pieces may then be rolled up and laid in the basket as they are taken down, while starched articles need but a little further hand sprinkling on portions not exposed.
139. To Open Packages of Breakfast Food
To open packages of breakfast food and keep boxes in a dust proof condition until empty, make an opening in the side of box close to top by forcing a tablespoon through cardboard and turn flap downwards. The flap will fit back snugly in place each time package is used.
140. Preparing Oranges for the Table
In preparing oranges for the table take a sharp knife, cut the skin straight around, insert the handle of a spoon turned over flat to fit the orange and loosen shell by forcing spoon to within one-half inch of the end, around one side, then the other, after which cut the orange through the center, making two parts. Then turn the skin back in cup form, making a pretty decoration for the table and serving as handles. Always serve in halves.
141. To Make a Muddy Skirt Wash Easily
To make a muddy skirt wash easily and look white, take sour milk and dilute with water; soak the skirt in it over night, then wash in the usual way; the skirt washes easier and looks white.
142. To Make Stained Water Bottles Clean
To make stained water bottles clean and bright, put in salt and pour on vinegar, let stand a few minutes then shake. Rinse in clear water.
143. Sanitary Window Screen
Try tacking cheese cloth on the pantry window screen frame. This admits air that is sifted free from smoke and soot, before it comes into the pantry.
144. Cheerfulness at Meals
Cheer during the meals will do away with the need of digestive tablets. Make it a rule to come to the table smiling, and continue to smile, though the food does not suit you and everyone else is down on their luck. Your smile will prove contagious.
145. Uses for Stale Bread
Take stale biscuits and grind them with a food chopper; toast in oven to a delicate brown. Serve with plenty of sugar and cream. Makes fine breakfast food and saves the stale bread.
146. Washing Lemons
Always wash lemons before grating them, not only to remove any foreign matter sticking to them, but in order to remove the tiny insect eggs so often seen on them in the dis¬guise of black specks. They may be kept fresh indefinitely, if wiped perfectly dry and placed in a sealed top glass jar.
147. To Give Vinegar a Nice Flavor
A small button of garlic in a quart of vinegar will give it a mysterious delicious flavor, and it will immensely improve salads or anything in which it is used.
148. If Mice are Gnawing Holes
If mice are gnawing holes in the house, rub common laundry soap around the gnawed places, and you may depend on it they will cease labor in that district.
149. To Teach Darning
If young girls are taught to darn on canvas, the method of weaving the stitches is easily explained and put into practise.
150. Bed Sheeting
Sheeting should never be cut, but should be torn into lengths, usually two and a half yards for medium beds.
151. Browning Potatoes
For some kinds of frying the griddle is better and has a less tendency to grease than the frying pan. Among the other things potato cakes browned on a hot greased griddle are especially crisp and delicious.
152. To Keep Bread from Souring
You will find that light bread will not sour so quickly in summer if it is not covered when taken from the oven. This steam is unnatural and should be allowed to escape or it soaks into the bread, making it clammy and more liable to sour. Let the bread cool gradually then put a clean cloth in a large stone jar, place the bread in and cover with the cloth, before covering with the stone, or wooden lid. This keeps bread fresh and moist from one bake day to another.
153. Never Pour Scalding Water into Milk Vessels
Never pour scalding water into milk vessels; it cooks the milk on the sides and bottom of the vessels making it more difficult to clean such articles. Rinse them first with cold water. This same rule applies to cleansing of catsup bottles.
154. The Water Pipes in the Kitchen
The water pipes in the kitchen will not be so unattractive, if painted the color of the kitchen woodwork.
155. To Brush Fringe of a Doilie
Do not use a comb for the fringe of doilies as it pulls out the fringe, but brush it with a nail brush.
156. Wash Suits
Large buttons should be removed from wash suits before they are sent to the laundry.
157. Sewing Machine Conveniences
Always leave a piece of cloth under the presser foot of the sewing machine. This will save wear on the machine. Also it will absorb any drop of oil which might gather and spoil the first piece of fabric stitched, and will keep the needle from becoming blunted.
158. How To Make a Ruffle Easily
To make a ruffle easily, just above depth of the ruffle make a quarter inch tuck. Insert edge of ruffle under tuck, flatten down tuck over the ruffle edge and stitch on edge of tuck. If the ruffle is desired on very bottom of garment, make a quarter of an inch of tuck, leaving about half of an inch of goods underneath. Baste and stitch wrong side of ruffle to wrong side of half-inch piece, about quarter of an inch from edge. Turn back, making edge come under tuck. Flatten tuck and stitch on the edge. This will save all the trouble of bias bands, so dreaded by the dress¬maker.
159. Greasing Cake Tins
In making a cake, grease the tin with sweet lard rather than butter and sift a little dry flour over it.
160. Making Children's Petticoats
When making children's pet¬ticoats gather the skirt to waistband before hemming the backs and then turn in with the hem, and when band gets too small and narrow across the back, all you have to do is rip out the hem and face back, and the gathers are already there properly placed; and no ripping skirt from band to adjust fullness is necessary.
161. After Cake is Removed from Oven
A cake which has been removed from the oven should be placed on a wire stand on the stove and the steam allowed to thoroughly escape from it so as to obviate any chances of it becoming heavy.
162. When the Top Cannot be Removed from Fruit Cans
When the top cannot be removed from a fruit can, if the lid is carefully pried at one point, so the gum can be caught, the rubber can easily be removed. It is not difficult to pull the band from beneath the metal cap.
163. Darning
When darning must be done in the evening it is more easily done if a light colored darning ball be used.
164. In Pressing a Plaited Skirt
In pressing a plaited skirt one will gain time and have more satisfactory results if the plaits are basted before the pressing is done. Clean the skirt and brush it on the inside. Next baste the seams, cover with a damp cloth and press on the right side with a medium warm iron. Dampen the cloth, when necessary and press until the cloth is dry.
165. Stitching Down a Seam
After stitching down a seam, press with a hot iron, and if no seamboard is at hand, it is useful to know that a rolling pin, wrapped in a clean cloth, will answer this purpose equally as well.
166. The Color Meat Should be
Meat should be red with the fat a clear white. The fat besides being white should be firm, and suety, and never moist. Good meat has very little smell. Bad meat shrinks considerably in boiling. Meat which is fresh and good does not loose an ounce of weight, but swells rather, when it is being boiled.
167. Buying a New Oil Cloth
When you are ready to buy a new oil cloth for your kitchen table, take your old one and cut it up for aprons. Have it cover the whole front of your skirt, and make a large bib on it, and you will find, when you are through doing a wash¬ing, that you will be as dry as you were before you began.
168. Galvanized Tub
The popularity of the galvanized tub due to its weight and durability, is the cause of a great many people dis¬carding the wringer on account of their inability to fasten it to the tub securely. If a piece of heavy cloth is hung across the tub where the wringer fastens to it, you will find that it will fasten and hold as securely as to the old-fashioned wooden tub.
169. To Remove Mildew
Mildew, if not of too long standing, can be removed by the use of raw tomato and salt. Rub the stains with raw tomato, sprinkle thickly with salt and lay in the sun. It may be necessary to repeat the process two or three times.
170. Closed Cupboards in the Pantry
If there are closed cup¬boards in the pantry use them for storing provisions kept in screw top jars. There should be brass hooks for hanging up all the articles that can be suspended from the walls.
171. Keeping a House Account
There are fewer reckoning days if housekeepers pay cash. If they persist in running accounts for gro¬ceries and other staples they should have a book and see to it that the right price is put down the minute anything is bought.
172. Chestnuts as a Vegetable
Chestnuts have considerable food value. The boiled and mashed pulp may be used as one would use meat or vegetable, even croquettes being made of it.
173. To Give Starch a Gloss
A little sugar added to boiled starch will give a desirable gloss to the clothes when ironed.
174. Apples Cored for Baking
Apples cored for baking are de¬licious filled with orange marmalade and a little butter and sugar.
175. Beating Eggs
When heating eggs observe that there is no grease on the beater, as it will prevent the eggs from frothing.
176. If you judge as evil the actions of another, through the judging comes evil to you.
177. A Toy Saw
A toy saw may be utilized many times in the kitchen for sawing meat bones which are too large.
178. If a White Dress Has Turned Yellow
If last summer's white dress has turned yellow, put it in a stone jar, cover with butter-milk and let it stand a day and night. Then wash well and starch with blued starch. This is better to whiten goods than freezing, sun¬shine, or the use of borax.
179. Scorched Food
A practical cook says: When food has been scorched remove the pan from the fire and set into a pan of cold water. Lay a dish towel over the pan. The towel will absorb all the scorch
taste sent up by the steam and the family need never know it was burned.
180. Mutton Chops to Make Tender
Mutton chops can be made tender quite as much as lamb, if before they are boiled or fried they are allowed to simmer in just a little water on the back of the stove. This also makes the flavor more delicate.
181. Hollowing Out a Tomato
For hollowing out a tomato, previous to stuffing, a pair of scissors enables a person to remove all the pulp without breaking the skin. They are equally useful for fruit salads as the fine skin which separates the sections of the grape fruit and oranges is easily clipped off.
182. The Easiest Way to Blacken a Stove
The easiest way to blacken a stove is to use a flat paint brush about one and a half inches wide, and a tin or jar, large enough to receive the brush, to mix the blacking in. Apply the blacking to the stove as you would paint, and use a newspaper to polish with, which can be burned. In this way the hands do not come in contact with the blacking during the whole oper¬ation, and unsightly cloths and brushes, which soil the hands, are done away with.
183. Making Gravies
For making gravies, thickening of roast gravies, it will be found useful to have browned flour on hand at all times, which can readily be kept in a mason jar or any covered vessel.
184. Kitchen Mittens
Kitchen mittens can be bought in several thicknesses and sizes for various branches of housework. There are thick ones, with straps across the wrist to wear when polishing the ranges, then there are others to put on when scrubbing the sink or floors, and still thinner ones with chamois cloth inside to use for pol¬ishing silverware. These mittens are a great protection to the hands and finger-nails, and they really simplify the work to a great extent.
185. To Improve Baked Potatoes
To improve baked potatoes let them stand in a pan of cold water for about an hour, then put them in the oven while wet. This seems to steam them and cook them much quicker.
186. Meat Shortcake
Give your household a meat shortcake sometimes. Make the shortcake as you would for a fruit filling, a rather short biscuit dough, and put between the layers creamed chicken or creamed veal, and have it served with plenty of gravy.
187. Put a handful of coarse oatmeal in the water bottle and half fill with water. Let stand half an hour, then shake well and rinse. The bottle will look like new.
188. Making a Kitchen Apron
In making a kitchen apron, pro¬vide it with an immense pocket in which can be carried a large dust¬cloth. Often one notices dusty places, on the furniture, windows or banisters while doing the morning work, and the dust-cloth is at hand. Again one has to pick up numerous little articles to throw into the waste basket and the pocket holds such articles until the waste basket is reached. It is equally handy for holding a few clothes pins, while hanging out the clothes; in fact the large pocket is recognized as something decidedly useful in the kitchen apron.
189. How To Make a Neat Buttonhole
To make a neat buttonhole in thin white material that is likely to ravel when cut, take a piece of white soap and apply it to the back of the goods using enough to make a generous coat. Cut the buttonhole and work; you will find that the work is easily done and the buttonhole will not ravel.
190. To Mark Scallops
To mark scallops place your thimble or spool just outside the circle line and mark around it with a pencil. In this way, any sized scallop can be made.
191. Delicate Fabrics to Clean
Delicate fabrics can be cleaned perfectly by using gasoline with a teacupful of corn meal. The meal scours out all the spots. Place the meal in a dish, pour gasoline over it, then press and rub through the hands. Apply to soiled spots, rubbing carefully. Brush out with stiff brush.
192. When Using a Lap-Board
While sewing a garment with the material lying on the lap-board, use glass top push pins to hold the goods on the board. One pin will oftentimes be sufficient. The pin is very sharp, and is easily thrust through the material into the board, and leaves a hole about the size of that made with a needle.
193. To Shape Cookies
Cookies can be shaped with the bottom of a "star" tumbler. Flour the bottom of the glass and press it into the unbaked cookie until the indentions are imprinted upon the cake.
194. Have You Been Hoarding an Old Foulard Dress--One of that kind of dresses which you liked and hated to part with, but it went out of style. Get it out, clean it, rip it, and if there is not enough in it to make a scant shirt-waisted one-piece empire dress, make it into a pretty shirt-waist, with knife plaiting down the front.
195. To Wash Tarnished Brass
Save the water in which the potatoes have been boiled, and use it to wash tarnished brass. It will come out as bright as new.
196. Sewing Lace
When sewing two raw edges of fine lace to¬gether, like the tiny lace ruffles on lingerie blouses or dresses, do not fell it in the old-fashioned way, but place the two right sides together and bind the edge with the finest thread, making a buttonhole stitch along the edges. Put a stitch in each mesh, and you will have a neat lace seam which, when pressed, can scarcely be observed, and it will not fray.
197. Roasted Chestnuts
Roasted chestnuts are said to be very delicious when salted the same as peanuts.
198. Mud Stains, to Remove
Mud stains will disappear from cloth by the following method of cleansing: After brushing the dry mud away sponge the remaining stain with a weak solution of am¬monia and water. This is absolutely safe to apply to black cloth. Colored goods, however, should be sponged with a solution of bicarbonate of soda as the latter does not affect coloring matter.
199. Drop Table for Kitchen
A woman can have a kitchen made in a very cramped quarter if she provides it with a small work table, and a drop leaf table attached to the wall. If the stationary table is covered on all sides with a curtain and furnished with an undershelf, it will hold as much as a cupboard. Two large shelves will be found very convenient, even though it will be necessary to mount a chair or stool to reach the kitchen articles. Usually extremely small kitchens are more convenient than large ones, in which many steps must be taken.
200. A Convenience for Ironing Day
The laundress who knows how to take care of herself has a high stool with rungs for her feet, on which she may sit when she is ironing the light pieces. It will help reserve her strength for the next day's work.
201. Quickest Way to Core Apples
One of the simplest and quickest ways to core apples for baking is to use an ordinary clothes pin.
202. To Remove Iron Rust
Tartaric acid will remove almost any iron rust blemish from material and is excellent for removing yel¬low marks.
203. The Kitchen Apron
The kitchen apron should cover the skirt and the front of the waist, though not necessarily the sleeves, as most house dresses are made with short sleeves.
204. Cookies, to Keep
Cookies put in an earthen jar lined with clean cloth, while they are still hot, and kept covered closely, will be much more melting and crumbling than if they were allowed to cool in the air.
205. Discolored China Baking Dishes
Discolored china baking dishes can be made as clean as when new by rubbing them with whiting.
206. Care of Drippings
The care of drippings in the kitchen, with the price of food so high, should receive more attention. In cooking all meats, poultry, and in making soup the grease should be carefully skimmed off and saved. Render it out once a week and after a good boiling, strain through cheesecloth. When cool skim the fat off and use in place of lard,--except for pie and biscuit.
207. To Mend Rubber
To mend rubber, use soft kid from an old glove and paste to the patch the gum of automobile paste. The leather adheres better to the gum than a gum patch.
208. Cleaning Black Woolen Clothing
The following is a good recipe for cleaning black woolen clothing: Dissolve borax in water and saturate a sponge or cloth in the solution. Wash the greasy spots by rubbing vigorously, then rinse in clear water the same way and dry in the sun. This is especially good for cleaning men's coat collars.
209. How To Prevent Tinware Rusting
To prevent tinware from rusting rub over with fresh lard and put in a hot oven for a few minutes before using it. If treated in this way it will never rust.
210.How To Remove Machine Grease
Cold water and a teaspoonful of ammonia and soap will remove machine grease when other means would not answer on account of the colors running.
211. How To Keep Cheese From Drying
Wring a cloth from vinegar and wrap several thicknesses around the cheese to keep it from mould¬ing and drying.
212. Small Hand Churn
A small hand churn makes home-made butter and cheese possible. It is no trouble whatever to make a pot of yellow butter, fresh and sweet, by the aid of one of these convenient little churns. After it is made it may be rolled into a delicate little pat and kept in an earthen jar made purposely for butter.
213. Larding a Piece of Meat
Larding a piece of meat is a sim¬ple operation, and it is one which will greatly add to the juiciness of the dish. Cut a piece of salt pork into strips quarter of an inch thick and two or three inches long. Slip these into a larding needle and draw the needle through the meat, so either end of the pork will pro¬trude beyond the meat.
214.How To Make Vegetables Tender
Cutting onions, turnips, and carrots across the fiber makes them more tender when cooked.
215. Clear black coffee diluted with water containing a little ammonia, will clean and restore black clothes.
216. How To Make Linen Easier to Write on
To make linen easier to write on when marking, dip the pieces you wish to mark into cold starch, rub over with hot iron and you will be able to write without the pen scratching.
217. How To Air Pillows
To air pillows, rip the corner of the ticking an inch or more. Insert a piece of rubber hose pipe a few inches long, first covering the exposed end of the tube with strong netting. Sew the ticking firmly to it and then hang all day on the line, in the air punching and shaking many times during the day. They will be light and fluffy besides being thoroughly aired and sweet and clean.
218. Uses for Pea-Pods
Never throw away pea-pods; they give a delicious flavor to the puree for the next day.
219. How To Remove the Skins of Tomatoes Quickly
To remove the skins of tomatoes quickly, put them into a wire basket and sink it quickly into a kettle of hot water. Do not let the tomatoes stand in the water long enough to heat through, and plunge into cold water immediately from the hot. Another way is to rub the skins backward with the blunt edge of a knife. In this way the tomato does not need scalding, and according to epicures is more tasty.
220. Dyeing at Home
In dyeing at home amateurs often make the mistake of putting the dyed article through the wringer, possibly to avoid staining the hands for one reason, or perhaps hoping to dry the garment more quickly. This however, should never be done, for the creases so formed are most obstinate and in fact, often only disap¬pear with wear, despite all pressing. Dyed articles should be squeezed and hung out of doors to dry.
221 How To Save Children's Shoes
To save children's shoes wash them occasionally to remove the dirt and old polish, and soften them with oil. When any part of the sole becomes badly worn, it should be mended at once, for usually a shoe will wear out at one point more quickly than elsewhere, and by paying ten or fifteen cents to have that part mended it saves dollars in time. Gunmetal shoes are preferable for everyday wear, for such shoes are lusterless and can be cleaned with oils instead of polish, which is destructive to the best leather, even when sparingly used.
222. A Systematic Housewife
It is a handy plan for the busi¬ness woman or the housewife who has much domestic accounting to do to keep two calendars, one to tear off day by day, the other to refer back to past dates when necessary. The reference calendar which can be very small and inconspicuous should have its special hook on the desk or table.
223.How To Keep Candles in Warm Weather
Keep your candles in the ice box this warm weather. They will remain beautifully upright through a whole evening's use, if they are hardened first in this way.
224. Tea Towels
Keep the tea towels in sight, then have them fresh, clean, and whole, and hang them on a long metal curtain pole, in a convenient place, say back of the sink. This is better than plac¬ing the towels on a nail against the wall as is usually done, and it permits them to dry out quickly.
225. A Spotless House
A house that is spotless at the price of the family's peace or of the housekeeper's best self, is the worst sort of an investment. You, the woman, are of vastly more importance than your surroundings. If you feel yourself becoming a mere drudge, if your family is growing away from you mentally, if your nerves are weakening under a fetish of cleanliness, get time to read.
226. How To Keep Flooring in Place
Strips of moulding may be tacked around the edges of a room at the baseboard, so as to cover the edge of oilcloth or linoleum. This holds the floor covering in place and prevents dust from getting beneath it.
227. Light Colored Wall Paper
Light colored wall paper may be cleaned by a careful rubbing with a very clean rubber of the kind which artists use. If the spot cleaned seems lighter than the sur¬rounding color it may be toned down by a gentle rubbing with a clean chamois skin.
228. How To Keep Canary Seed Away from Mice
If there are any mice in the house, the best way to keep the canary from being robbed of its food is to empty the contents of a cardboard box of bird seed into a quart preserve jar and cover with a screw top.
229. Convenient Scrub Bucket
The most convenient scrub bucket is light, and is made of galvanized iron with a wide flaring top. The bucket is to be fitted with a wire soap tray on the outside, for often the soap is wasted while floating in the water if there is no con¬venient place to put it, while scrubbing. Holes can be punctured in the bucket and the wire tray fastened on with a heavy cord or a pliable wire,
230. Fruit Stains on Table Linen
Fruit stains on table linen should be taken out before the cloth is put in the wash tub. Soap and water will set the stains.
231. Wicker Furniture
Do not scrub your unpainted wicker furniture with soap and water, as it will turn it yellow and ruin its looks. Instead, try scrubbing it with a strong solution of salt water. If you have pieces that are so shabby that they must either be painted or thrown away, try the salt water treatment first. Scrub well and put in the sun and air and dry quickly.
232. Removing Dirt from Carpet
Of all the ways to remove dirt from a carpet, the worst is by the use of the ordinary short brush which involves the housemaid's kneeling down in the dust.
233. How to Preserve the Household Broom
The ordinary household broom will last twice as long, if care is taken of it, as it will if it is just used anyhow. When it is new, before using it, put it in a pail of hot water and let it remain there until the water is quite cold. Then thoroughly dry--in the sun if possible. Always clean it after sweeping, by dipping in water and shaking well before putting it away and occasionally give it a thorough washing in hot soda water.
234. A Good Furniture Polish
A good furniture polish may be made of paraffin oil and turpentine. Kerosene too is very good, while crude oil may be used to darken wood that has not been varnished.
235. Delicious Salad
Seeded raisins cut in pieces, broken nut meats, and a small part of celery in thin bits make up a delicious salad.
236. How To Clean Light Rugs
Rugs with white or very light ground may be cleaned by sprinkling with cornstarch, mixed with one-sixth its bulk of prepared chalk. Let the starch remain several hours and brush it out with a fine whiskbroom, then hang in the sun and heat well before putting down. This method is recommended for fine, silky rugs, as it injures neither tint nor texture and makes a beautifully clean surface.
237. How To Light a Closet of Any Kind
To light a closet of any kind, but especially a linen closet, the safest thing--next to electricity is a light clear glass lantern with wire guards outside the glass. Swing it by a light chain pulley, some little way in front of the shelves. Thus a touch sends it up or down, throwing the light wherever it may be needed.
238. How To Remove White Marks on Furniture
A mixture com¬posed of equal parts of turpentine and linseed oil will remove the white marks on furniture caused by water. Rub it on with a soft rag and wipe off with a perfectly clean duster.
239. If Your Paint Has Been Marred
If your paint has been marred by careless scratching of matches, try rubbing it with the finest sand paper. Use a half lemon for removing match marks from paint.
240. How To Remove Inkstains from Cotton
To remove ink-stains from cotton material, place the stain over the steam and apply salt and lemon juice which will soon remove the ink.
241. How To Clean Plaster-of-Paris
To clean plaster-of-paris figures, cover with a thick coating of starch and water, let it dry on the sur¬face and the dirt will brush off with the dry powder.
242. How To Clean Piano Keys
A cloth moistened with alcohol will clean piano keys.
243. Washing Veils
When veils are washed at home they usu¬ally come out quite limber and flimsy. To give them the stiffness add a pinch of sugar to the rinse water.
244. How To Take Candle Grease Out of Linen
To take candle grease out of linen, place the linen between two sheets of thick white blotting paper, and set a hot iron on it, leaving it there long enough for the iron to become perceptibly cooler. If necessary repeat this until the grease is removed.
245. Cleaning the Sweeping Brush
Try cleaning the sweeping brush with an old comb. It is a good plan, for it preserves the brush and keeps it clean, and at the same time saves your hands.
246. Bright Wood Berries May be Preserved
Almost any kind of bright wood berries may be preserved for decorative use in the winter, by dipping in melted paraffin and putting away in a cool place until needed. Treated in this way berries will remain firm and bright for a long time, and may be used in many ways.
247. Old Wood Work to Keep Clean
Old woodwork, that is so hard to keep clean, can be made to look like new grained wood, by first painting it with cream colored paint to give a body alike, and when dry go over it with a dark oak varnish stain; with a little prac¬tice it can be made to look like grained wood. The varnish dries quickly and leaves it darker in some places. Any old furniture can be treated in the same way.
248. How To Prevent Chairs Marring the Floor
One should have all rockers covered with half rounds of rubber to prevent the scratching of the porch floor. These rocker tires are procurable at any furniture establishment and are easily adjusted.
249. Summer Homes
Some of the wealthiest women are fur¬nishing their summer homes with rag rugs, instead of the handsome oriental floor coverings, that are a mark of luxury; and what seems odd to those who cannot afford to please each whim, the rooms are being repapered with simple sprigged effects and all evidences of up-to-date¬ness are being eliminated, to be in keeping with these copies of the col¬onial rag carpets.
250. How To Destroy Flies
Flies will get into the house during the summer in spite of the greatest care. One method of catching and killing them, without having disagreeable looking fly paper lying around is to prepare a mixture of cream, sugar and pepper. Put this on a plate and they will eat greedily of it and die. They will instantly seek the open air and it is easy to brush them from the screen doors. This is an old method and a good one.
251. Successful Fern Growing
A woman who has had her re¬frigerator placed on the porch has a long drain pipe to carry off the melted ice, and this is made to flow right into a large bed of ferns. The cold water in no way destroys the plants, in fact, they can endure the coldest water, and last year her ferns grew to an enormous size all due to the daily supply of water from the refrigerator.
252. Faded Crepe
Faded crepe can be dipped into a solution of water and indigo, the water made very dark with blueing for the pur¬pose. Dissolve in one quart of water, a teaspoonful of sugar. Lift the crepe out, and shake it and pin it to the bed to dry. As it can not be ironed pin it carefully over soft muslin with needles.
253. Sweeping as a Beautifier
The average woman who does her own housework gets exercise enough, only it is not under the best conditions, for the air, as a rule, is not sufficiently fresh. If she wants to be benefited physically, while putting her house in order, let her make it like outdoors, with the windows wide open so the fresh air can sweep through the rooms. If necessary she can wear a jacket while making beds and sweeping, and by the time her work is done she is bound to be in a healthy glow. If she does not do housework she must go outdoors, and walk, and indeed, a little walking is desir¬able even for the housekeeper.
254. Putting Screens Away
If screens were carefully put away last fall there should be little difficulty in getting them in place on the first hot fly-breeding day. The wise housekeeper writes on the top of her screen, where it is hidden from view by the upper sash, the room and window where it belongs. She also covers the wires with a coat¬ing of vaselin and stores them in a dry place with a cover thrown over them. Should the wire have become shabby and rusty looking it can be freshened up with a coat of paint. If the wires have gone into holes and are badly bulged, replace with copper wire netting. It costs more than the ordinary kind, but does not wear out nearly so soon.
255. Attractive Living Room
The living room is sure to have a cheery atmosphere if provided with a wooden seat at either side. The wooden shelf is a good place for the clock, candlesticks, and a few simple flower vases.
256. Finger Bowl
A finger bowel should always have a few flow¬ers or a leaf floating around on the surface.
257. Raw Oysters
Raw oysters are further improved by sec¬tions of lemon or sprigs of mint among the cracked ice.
258. Cheerfulness at Meals
Meals should be something more than the consumption of food. All work stops at those times and people meet together. Nothing that can be done should be omitted to make it an occasion of agreeable interchange of thought and conversation, and when this is done, not only the body, but the mind and nerves are refreshed.
259. How To Keep a Rug from Curling
The edge of the heavy rug will not curl if treated to a coat of shellac on the under side.
260. Grease Stains on Silk
For grease stains on silk, rub the silk with French chalk or magnesia, and then hold it to the fire. Thus the grease will be absorbed by the powder, which may then be brushed off.
261. Ironing Centerpieces
When ironing centerpieces of table¬cloths, see that the iron moves with the straight grain of the cloth. If this method is followed the circular edge will take its true line.
262. Tucking Children's Dresses
When hand tucks are to be used on children's dresses, they should be very carefully made, and the first one kept perfectly straight to use as a guide for the others. A good way to do this is to loosen one thread, not to pull out but sufficiently draw it to show the straight line, and crease the tuck in this line. After the width of the tuck and space between each is decided use a notched card as a measure for all the other tucks.
263. A Neat Way to Mend Table Linen
A neat way to mend table linen is to darn it with linen threads off an older tablecloth. It will look much neater than a patch sewed on. It is advisable to keep a piece of a discarded tablecloth in the mending basket for that purpose.
264. A Good Substitute for a Toaster
If the toaster is suddenly lost, you can find a very good substitute in the popcorn popper. It can be held over the gas or before the coal fire, and the bread will toast in a few minutes.
265. To Prepare Cauliflower
To prepare cauliflower remove all the large green leaves and greater part of stalk. Soak in cold water, to which has been added one teaspoonful of vinegar and a half tea¬spoonful of salt to each quart.
266. Preserving Dress Patterns
Some women, after they have used a pattern, just roll it up and tuck it away wherever it happens, and when they want to use it the next time, it curls up and acts so that there is no doing anything with it. If they would just lay the patterns out flat and put them where they might stay that way, all this trouble would be avoided.
267. Lace on Centerpieces
Lace that is used on centerpieces is not fulled, but is just held in enough to lie flat. The best way to get this flatness is to draw the thread of the lace and fasten one end to the linen, leaving enough to make a neat seam, and then to adjust fullness so that it lies evenly. When right side is up one cannot see that any fullness exists.
268. Uses of Mop Handles
Most women have found the mop handle with the handy clasp, a general utility tool. There is a great deal of unnecessary bending of the knees to the household gods. It is a painful attitude, and work that can be done just as well in a standing position, should never be done in a kneeling one.
270. Washing Quilts
To wash quilts a housekeeper gives the following directions: Dissolve a bar of white soap in a cupful of water. Run into your bath-tub sufficient water to cover one quilt; make a good suds, and put in the quilt, and let it soak for a few minutes. Do not rub, but use the washboard, top end down, to press or pound out the water and dirt. Never wring but with the wash-board press out the water. Rinse several times. When you have pressed out as dry as you can pin the quilt closely on the line to drain. When thoroughly dry, whip with a carpet beater until fluffy, before removing from the line. This method is especially fine for tied quilts. The bath tub is preferred, because of shape and water conveniences.
271. Shrinking Dress Goods
Before making the white linen dress skirt, or any material that is liable to shrink, fold the goods care¬fully and place it in a tub and cover with water. Let it get thoroughly wet, stretch the clothes line as tightly as possible, hang the goods through the center, and pin perfectly straight on the line. When dry, let two persons stretch the goods as curtains are stretched, fold it with the wrong side of the material out and iron double with the seam run-ning through the center of the goods on the length of the material. In shrinking colored prints add turpentine to the water, and it will set the color. A teaspoonful is used to a gallon of water.
272. Fixing Worn Corsets
For stitching over worn corset stays, a wide white tape is unequaled.
273. Cooking Breakfast Food
Don't leave the tin lid on the saucepan if you start the cereal in the evening for breakfast. It will rust and the moisture drip into the food.
274. Tough Meat to Make Tender
Tough meat can be made tender by adding a teacupful of lemon juice to the water in which it is boiled.
275. To Preserve Pineapple
To preserve pineapple allow only three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of pineapple.
276. Hemstitching Underclothing
Hemstitching forms a dainty finish for the household linen and underclothing, but the busy woman often will not undertake it because of the difficulty of drawing the threads. If a piece of white soap be rubbed on the underside of the cloth, where the hemstitching is to be done, the threads may be drawn with ease, in half the time that is usually required.
277. How To Boil Eggs Without Cracking Them
To boil eggs with¬out the risk of cracking, hold them in a spoonful of boiling water be-fore immersing them.
278. Save the Basting Thread
Basting threads, when saved, should be wound on a spool, otherwise they get hopelessly tangled and are not used again.
279. Threading Needles
Thread will knot less easily, if the end that is broken from the spool is run through the eye of the needle.
280. Measuring Dress Goods
Do not measure dress goods and laces with a tape line, as it stretches the material. Use a yardstick.
281. Do Not Use Coarse Thread
An expert needlewoman says that the reason why so much embroidery does not look attractive is that too coarse a thread is used for the work. It is not a bad rule to use a cotton a number or two finer than is recommended, unless the advice comes from one who understands embroidery perfectly.
282. Putting in a Temporary Hem
The hem of a dress that must be lengthened after it is laundered should be turned perfectly straight and stitched with number one hundred thread. It can be easily ripped and the fine threads will not leave the usual stitched lines that one often sees when a hem is lowered.
283. Serviceable Child's Dress
A quaint little frock that will be serviceable, can be made from a remnant of demi flouncing hemstitched on the embroidered edge. This placed at the hem, of course, and the top is gathered in Mother Hubbard style into a neck band edged with a little frill. The sleeves are in bishop style confined with bands trimmed to match the neck.
284. Convenience for the Sewing Room
A good sized waste basket should be continually close to every sewing machine. Then it is easy to form the habit of dropping all scraps into it just as the scissors make them, instead of leaving them to litter about the floor.
285. Buttons for Future Use
When buttons are removed from a dress for future use they should be loosely strung on a thread before being put in the button box. This is a time-saver as well as keeps the buttons from getting lost or several of a set from being used.
286. Basting Long Seams
When basting long seams, if the edge of the material is slipped under the machine needle and the needle is lowered it firmly holds the two pieces, and one can more quickly do the work.
287. Mending Table Linen
A woman who is expert in mending table linen does it in this manner: A piece of linen is coated with white soap, to make it stiff and the patch is evenly trimmed. This is placed under the hole in the damask after the edges around the hole in the tablecloth are soaped and trimmed to remove the rough edge.
288. Washing Cooking Utensils
All the cooking utensils should be washed with soda immediately after they have been used, which will remove every trace of grease.
289. How To Make Soft Soap
Soft soap made from half a pound of shaved hard soap and two quarts of water will save the soap bill at ¬cleaning time.
290. Separate Night and Day Pillows
If separate night and day pillows are not used, as is now generally done, the bed will look neater if special pillow slips are kept to put on over the wrinkled pillow cases by day.
291. How To Keep An Iron Sink in Good Condition
To keep an iron sink in good condition, scrub once or twice a week with hand soap and kerosene. Every night put a little chloride of lime in the strainer and pour through it a kettleful of boiling water.
292. Steaming or Boiling Pudding
In steaming or boiling pud¬dings, as the water boils away add more boiling water. If cold water is added, for a short time at least, the foodstuff will not be boiling, and this state of affairs may prove disastrous to the pudding.
293. Cooking Peas
When cooking peas do not shell them. Wash the pods and put them on to boil. When they are done the pods will break and rise to the top of the kettle leaving the peas at the bottom. They have a better flavor cooked this way.
294. Troubled With Ants
When troubled with ants in your pantry and kitchen pour kerosene around on the edge of your shelves and on your doorstep. They will soon disappear.
295. How To Exterminate Roaches
A housewife says that a few drops of turpentine sprinkled around where roaches gather will exter¬minate them at once.
296. How to Economize on Gas
More gas is wasted in the oven than elsewhere. Often one burner will suffice after the oven has been well heated. It is better to run one burner than to burn two low, as they frequently go out.
297. Less Noise in Washing Dishes
If your cook insists in washing the dishes in the pantry while the family is still at dessert, insist upon her placing the dishes to drain upon a heavy turkish towel. It will lessen much of the clatter.
298. A Useful Article in the Kitchen
A useful article in the kitchen is a small microscope. Show the cook how to use one. She will be so horrified if shown dates, prunes, or figs that are germ infested that she will take special pains in washing them. The micro¬scope is also useful to examine cereals, cornmeal, buckwheat and other things which unless kept tight may be unpleasantly infected.
299.How To Restore Freshness to Vegetables
For the housewife who must practise strict economy, as well as for her who lives at a distance from the market, it is well to know that cabbage, celery or lettuce and their like which have lost the first freshness, may be re¬stored by putting first into warm water, just comfortably warm to the hand, and after fifteen or twenty minutes, you will be surprised to note that it will have the original snappy crispness so much desired. Often the grocer will sell the second day celery and lettuce at half price. The above method will freshen same, and may make quite a saving of bills.
300. Worn Brooms or Whisks
Worn brooms or whisks may be dipped into hot water and uneven edges trimmed off with shears. This will make the straw harder, and the trimming makes the broom almost as good as new.
301. Making Over a Heatherbloom Petticoat
When you make over a heatherbloom petticoat, do not cut it off at the top and place the drawing string in again, and do not plait it to fit the band. Instead, place a band around the waist of the person being fitted, pin the petticoat to the band, then make large darts at each seam and cut off that superfluous material that otherwise would need to be put into gathers. It does not destroy the shape and permits the petticoat to lie smoothly over the hips.
302. The Gingham Apron for the Housewife
The gingham apron for the housewife at her daily tasks, especially if the maid is out and she has any kitchen work to do, is imperative, and she will find the long apron that buttons over the shoulders the most acceptable.
303. After Cleaning the Sewing Machine
After cleaning the sewing machine, several yards of stitching must be accomplished be-fore the machine runs smoothly and without leaving marks. If you have any long seams on dark material to sew up, sew them now before attempting any light work.
304. How To Remove Tangled Threads
No doubt you often have stopped sewing and patiently picked the threads out of the bobbin under the machine plate, or around the wheels, for this often occurs, says the Woman's National Daily. Save time in the future by lighting a match and burning out the threads, then brush the ashes off and oil the parts.
305. Clothes Rack for Children
In one home, in the rear hall, is a low rack on which children can hang their coats, hats and mittens when they come in from school. The hanger was made with two stout steel brackets and a curtain pole fitted up with hooks on which the articles were held. On one end of the pole was hung a whiskbroom, and each tot was taught its use.
306.How To Remove Dust from Any White Fabric
To remove dust from any white fabric lay the spot over a tea-kettle of boiling water.
Place a cut lemon over the spot, pressing firmly. Remove occasionally, in order to allow the juice to evaporate, and the stain will disappear before one's eyes, no matter how stubborn or how deep set.
307. Amateur Dressmakers
Amateur dressmakers will probably find it difficult to decide just how to finish the necks of the collarless frocks and waists that will be worn this summer. If the material is net, there is no prettier decoration than a band of the net piped with silk or satin and braided in a simple design. Necks of tub dresses while there is to be no contrasting yoke, may be trimmed with a threaded beading.
308. How To Prevent Marks on the Dining Table
If you have a highly polished dining table which you are afraid of spoiling, lay a piece of oilcloth on the table under the pad and you will have no trouble.
309. For Cupboard Shelves
Put a white oilcloth on kitchen shelves instead of paper. The cloth will not turn yellow as the paper does, and can be kept clean while washing dishes.
310. Cleaning Gilt Frames
When gilt frames or mouldings of the rooms have specks of dirt on them they can be cleaned with white of an egg, rubbed on with a camel's hair brush.
311. To Clean Kid Gloves
Take a fine soft cloth, dip it into a little sweet milk, then rub it on a cake of soap, and rub the gloves with it. They will look like new.
312. Washing Fine Woolens
To keep baby's sacques and socks and your own shawls and scarfs as fluffy as when new, dry and put in oven of range, shaking often between the palms while drying.
313. How To Wash Grained Woodwork
To wash grained woodwork take a half pail of hot water, add half a pound of soap chips, and boil until dissolved. Take from fire, add one pint kerosene, then boil for five minutes longer. Add one quarter of this to a half pailful of warm water. Wash woodwork thoroughly, wipe and dry, and lastly use a flannel to polish with.
314. Sewing on Buttons
How often the mother hears the com¬plaint: "I do wish you wouldn't sew these buttons on so tightly that I can't button them." When you start to sew on a button, before you take a stitch, lay a pin across the face of the button, and sew over the pin. Fasten your thread before you remove the pin, else you will draw the last stitch and spoil it. You will find there is a good shank to the button and yet it is perfectly secure.
315. Airing House After Meals
After each meal, there should be another thorough airing of the lower floor in the home. No matter how perfectly the system of ventilation, it is impossible to prevent cooking odors. This airing is doubly necessary should there be smok¬ers in the family.
316. House Cleaning Hints
For the last few days before house cleaning, ornaments and pictures can be washed at one's convenience.
They need only be removed or covered when a room is cleaned. With these preparations, the actual cleaning can be done quickly and with much less disturbance of the family routine.
317. Uses for Men's Old Silk Handkerchiefs
Men's old silk handkerchiefs should never be thrown away when worn thin. They are just the thing for dusting the polished surface of the piano, orna¬ments and fine china and glass and bric-a-brac.
318. Cleaning Fine Fabrics
In cleaning fabrics great care should be taken not to rub them roughly between the hands. The gentle rub¬bing on of the solvent with a fresh cloth is sufficient.
319. How To Wash White Woolen Blankets
To wash white woolen blankets, dissolve four tablespoonfuls of good washing powder in a dipperful of boiling water and pour into a tub of warm water. Open the blanket out wide and put it in the tub and let it soak all over for a half an hour. Then rub it all over between the hands, and if there are any stains left, rub them with soap. Rinse in clear water of the same temperature as the wash water. If you do this your blankets will be soft and will not shrink. Do not rub blankets on a washboard, as it makes them hard, and blueing added makes them a dull gray color.
320. How To Take Out Wagon Grease
To take out wagon grease, which is of two kinds, that made from coal tar may be removed from cloth by an application of petroleum; the other, made from animal fat, responds to a sponging of ether.
321. Old Perspiration Stains
Old perspiration stains may be re¬moved by applying oxalic acid and water in solution, one part of the former to twenty parts of the latter.
322. Eyelet Embroidery
Eyelet embroidery is one of the dain¬tiest as well as the simplest of embroideries, and, best of all, with a little practice the work can be accomplished quite rapidly. Eyelet embroidery is equally effective done on sheer or heavy material; and neat sewing is all that is required to gain good results.
323. A Convenience for the Household
A convenience for the household, that will be appreciated by men as well as women, is a wire rack to hang in the closet. It has a series of projecting arms upon which coat hangers may be placed without interfering with each other. This greatly augments the closet room. This rack may be slipped over an ordinary closet hook, and will accommodate five coat hangers.
324. How To Turn the Hems of the Table Linen Easily and Accurately
To turn the hems of the table linen easily and accurately, re¬move the needle from your sewing machine, adjust the hemmer to the desired width and pass the goods through. They are then ready for hemming by hand. You will find this saves a great deal of time, and gives you a straight, even hem.
325. Soft Wood Floors to Paint
If a soft wood floor is glue sized, before painting, it will take less paint.
326. Hanging Out Quilts
When hanging out quilts and pillows, pound and brush them the first thing, and let the fresh air get into them all day. Most people do this just before taking them in. Conse¬quently the beds did not get the proper airings.
327. Paint that Sticks to Glass
Paint that sticks to glass can be removed with hot vinegar.
328. Books with Delicate Bindings
Books with delicate bind¬ings which have become soiled through much handling, can be satis¬factorily cleaned by rubbing with chamois skin dipped in powdered pumice stone.
329. Cleaning Silverware
Old tooth brushes and nail brushes, and old knitted underwear should always be reserved for cleaning sil¬ver. Nothing is better than a tooth brush for brushing the dried whit-ing out of the heavily chased silver or repousse work. The chamois skin is best for the final polishing. If table silver be steeped in hot soap suds immediately after being used, and dried with a soft clean cloth, a regular cleaning will not be needed so often.
330. Cleaning Crockery and Enamel
By immersing, for a day or two in sour milk, glass, crockery or enamel ware articles may be perfectly cleaned of stains or limey accumulations from hard water. This is much better than a scouring, as the surface is not injured in any way, and every part can be reached.
331. Going to Market
The housekeeper who goes to market rather than order by telephone will find she gets better things for less money.
332. Moths in Carpets
If moths have attacked the carpet try putting gasoline on the edges, soaking the nap of the carpet. Also work powdered borax into the carpet wherever there is a sign of moths or under heavy pieces of furniture, which cannot easily be moved in the weekly sweeping.
333. A Serviceable Furniture Brush
A serviceable furniture brush is made of turkey tail feathers. Take a stout twine and needle, sew the quills tightly together and cover the handle with a piece of oilcloth, smoothly stitched into place, or wrap the handle with cloth and stitch. A brush of this kind is very soft and may be used to dust any highly polished piece of furniture.
334. Uses of a Wooden Spoon
Never use any but a wooden or silver spoon to stir anything with in cooking. Many a dish is spoiled by the cook stirring it with an iron or metal spoon. Wood is the best when any acid, such as vinegar, is used in the ingredients to be stirred.
335. Boiling Vegetables
Boil parsnips and such vegetables with thin skins; then peel when cold. The flavor is preserved and your hands are not stained.
336. To Wash Furniture
Furniture washed with castile soap and tepid water and rubbed with a piece of old silk will look like new.
337. Old Suitcases and Purses
When suitcases and purses begin to show wear, coat all the spots with tan water color paint, and when perfectly dry rub over with a little sweet oil. Let stand for an hour, then rub with woolen cloth. Tan and brown shoes which have become scuffed may be treated in the same way.
338. Putting up Lunches
Those who find the putting up of lunches a part of the daily routine may take comfort in the suggestion of one resourceful woman. When using eggs she sees to it that only a small piece of the shell is broken off from the end of one egg. The egg shell from which the piece has been cut is then washed and kept as a receptacle for jelly or jam for the noon lunch basket. The open end being protected by a piece of paper dipped in paraffin.
339. Paint Wicker Furniture
If you must paint wicker furni¬ture see that you buy paint that is well mixed and thinned to the proper consistency. If too thick it gets lumpy and the paint is apt to rub off on the clothes. Porch chairs which are exposed to weather should be finished with a coat of enamel to make them last longer. The coat of enamel is also more easily dusted.
340. Bureau Drawers that Stick
Wax is better to use on the bureau drawers that stick than soap. It works better and will not catch dirt so much.
341 Uses for Old Envelopes
Cut out the corners from all heavy envelopes, for they are excellent for holding coins sent by mail. They always make good corner protection.
342. How To Prevent Fruit from Moulding
A layer of absorbent cot¬ton laid over the fruit in the mouth of the fruit cans is an excellent preventive against the mould. If mould should form, it will cling to the cotton and leave the fruit clean.
343. Linoleum or Oilcloth That is Cracked
Linoleum that is badly cracked may be improved by a filler made of ochre and boiled flour paste. After the filling is dry the linoleum may be painted.
344. Borax as a Purifier for Ice Box
Borax is an invaluable aid to the woman who wishes to keep her ice box immaculate. It is espe¬cially desirable for use in small refrigerators where little food is kept, and where ice is kept more for the purpose of preserving butter and milk and keeping bottled water cool. Cold water with plenty of pure borax, is preferable to hot water to use in wiping off the walls of the refrigerator. It does not heat the box and, being a germ killer, it pur¬ifies everything it touches. It may also he put in the corners of the refrigerator. Its best use of all is perhaps in keeping the receptacle for the ice itself and the outside tube in pure and sanitary condition. It may be sprinkled freely over the bottom of the ice box proper and on the rack holding the ice.
345. How To Clean Gilded Surfaces
To clean gilded surfaces, dip a soft brush in alcohol to which a few drops of ammonia water have been added, and with it go over the surface. Do not rub roughly or harshly. In about five minutes the dirt will have become soft and easy of removal. Then go over the surface again gently with the same or similar brush dipped in rain water. Now lay the damp article in the sunlight to dry. If there is no sunlight place it near a warm (but not hot) stove, and let dry completely in order to avoid streaks, taking care that the position of the article, during the drying is not exactly vertical.
346. Hints for the Housewife
Every housewife should have plenty of waxed paper or paraffin paper about the house. It is of the greatest value in preserving eatables from the air and keeping them properly moist. In the sandwich basket it is indispensable. Cake wrapped in it will keep moist and fresh for a much longer time than if put directly into the box. When the paper has become sticky run cold water on it, and it may he used again. Cheese wrapped up in it and put in the refrigerator will keep fresh for a week.
347. Excessive Gas Light Weakens the Eyes
When the excessive light of the gas light or the electric bulb tires weak eyes, resort to the tallow candle. For the sick room wax candles are preferred, as they never produce smoke or smell. They seem to soothe the nerves of the invalid and in this way help to produce a restful night.
348. Handy Disinfectant for the Household
Chlorate of lime moistened with vinegar and water, equal parts, is a handy disinfectant for the household. It can be kept in the cellar, and in case of sickness a few drops scattered around the house will purify the air.
349. For Closing Windows
A piece of bamboo, an old blind roller, or any strong smoothly rounded stick about three feet long, with a small flat piece of wood about the same thickness, twelve inches long and covered with flannel, nailed across the ends, makes an admir¬able and useful article for closing top windows without either going outside or standing on a stool or a chair to reach, or straining one's self with the weight to be raised upward.
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