Housekeeper.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 661, 10 February 1909, Page 7

Housekeeper.

USEFUL KITCHEN WRINKLES.

Add a little glycerine when making jam, and the sugar will not ferment ox crystalise on the top of the pots. To remove bad odors from a room, burn a piece of dried orange peel on a hot shovel or old tin. The odour will disappear, leaving a pleasant one in its place. To clean brass ornaments wash them over with strong ammonia. The fancy parts should be well scrubbed with a brush dipped in the ammonit. Rinse in Clear water, wipe dry, and polish with a wash leather. If you wish to know if an egg is fresh, place it in a basin of cold water, if it remains at the bottom it is all right ; if it floats at all it is of rather duubtful freshness; and if it floats gaily on the surface, you may be certain it is quite bad. To give handkerchiefs a faint scent of violets add a small piece of orrisroot to the water they are boiled in. An ordinary telegraph wire makes a better line to hang clothes on to dry than the hempen one generally used. The wire does not sag, rot, or break, it is easily made clean.' Every cook should clean all her flues and remove all the soot at least once a week if she wants her range to •'draw" properly. An oven will never heat, however bip- a fire is put on, if the stove is choked with soot. Coins make good substitutes for weights in an emergency. Three pennies weigh an ounce, a florin and a sixpence together equal half an ounce, and a threepeny bit and a halfpenny together weigh a quarter of an ounce.

SUMMER ORNAMENTS. Put away all your household ornaments during the warm months. If your mantelpieces and tables are loaded with little things, take ail away. Leave a few framed photographs if you like, and glass vases for flowers. Make the flowers your summer ornaments, cutting them with a lavish hand. At first your rooms may look bare, but the restfulness to the eyes and. the relief from dusting so many ornaments and bric-a-brac will repay you. Have your books and magazines about, and with plenty of cut flowers your room will be attractive enough.

REAL HOLIDAY SPIRIT. Whatever the holiday may be, leave your work at home it you can. If \ou must take it, try to select something as different as possible' from what you have at home. Should you be so utterly tired out and worn down, as so many are, when the holiday time comes, lie down and try to let the others see after themselves. Lie in bed iate in the morning", go out when your conscience tells you to stay in, he down when the same monitor tells you to get up, and, in general, do all things that at home you feel obliged to leave undone, and do everything that in like circumstances you ought not to do. You have no idea how it will refresh you.

A CHILD S LOVE OF BOOKS. One matter to be. emphasised in connection with reading is the desirability of encouraging children to collect a library, and of giving them a feeling of proprietorship in theT own books and appreciative care for books. This cannot be begun too early. It is always a great pity when there is a lack of respect for books permitted to children in the nursery, who are allowed to tear their books and treat them as though they were mere toys. Whatever be the choice of books, insist that they be cared for properly, and awaken in the child a desire to collect a little library of his own The taste founded in infancy will prove a joy to him in later years.

THE CtfARM OF CONVERSATION,

just as the steel is attracted to the magnet, so are people attracted to those who have learned the true art of conversation. There is an irresistible fascination about them, and others gather round to enjoy their company. There have been talkers who have actually mesmerised their listeners by the magic of their words. Knowing this it is only fair to young people to be encouraged to talk well. ■ It is actually painful for a girl well versed in all other respects to sit idly by while others, not half so accomplished as she is. monopolise the attention and gain the goodwill of ail by their charm of talk and vivacity of speech. HOARDING SCRAPS. Each house-cleaning time most women stoically decide to dispense with a few of their hoarded-up treasures. They weigh carefully the merits of each separate scrap, anl grudgingly decide to part with those whose usefulness seems improbable. If only women were connoisseurs in the way of hoarding. It is the indiscriminate saving that is so maddening. Keep all sorts of useless things and nervous prostration is on your heels. You will never want half of them, and should you want them hours will be spent in fruitless search for something you think you must have by you. But if hoard you must, do it systematically. If you would not waste half a day searching in chaotic heaps for half a yafel of ribbon, classify and label whatever is put away.