GENERAL HINTS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 92, 12 January 1929, Page 16

GENERAL HINTS

After the weekly emptying of the dustbin, take the opportunity offered tq cleanse it, by pouring into it a kettleful of boiling soda water. Allow the water to get cold, after which empty it away, and allow the bin to dry. Then spray with one of the fly-killing liquids. Here is an excellent way to keep cheese free from mildew when put in a dish. Simply place a lump of sugar on the cheese. The sugar will absorb all moisture, and keep the cheese fresh. If your hands get rough and red with housework, mix equal parts of glycerine and lemon juice iu a bottle, and rub a few drops into the hands once or twice a day, after washing. It will keep them smooth and white, and free from cracks. Grease spots can be removed from silk with a piece of magnesia rubbed wet over the spot. Let it dry, brush off the powder, and the grease spot will have disappeared. French chalk is also employed for this purpose, but it is used dry, and brushed off after 24 hours.. When the legs and feet of golf socks are worn out, do not throw them away until you have carefully removed the tops. These very seldom, if ever, wear out with the first pair of socks. When new socks are needed, buy the plain ribbed ones, and attach the old tops. They look as good as the bought golf socks, and as these plain socks can be bought for about 2s. a pair cheaper, it means a big saving where there is a family of boys. One pair of tops will often last three pairs of socks. Angelica should not be bought in large quantities. It should be kept covered and soaked iu tepid water before being cut into fancy shapes, in order to make it pliable. When a chocolate mould looks shrunken and has cracks across it, the mixture is too stiff; it should be thin enough to flow' smoothly into the mould, not form ridges. ... , If flour for cake-making seems lumpy, and sticks together, it has probably been kept in a damp place, and should be dried in the oven, and sieved before use. When fish that has been rolled for cooking comes unrolled, it is because the skin is inside, and not outside, as it ought to be. If porridge has a nasty, bitter flavour, probably the oatmeal used is rancid. Buy the meal only in small quantities, as it never keeps well. When some burners of the\gas stove will not light, they are probably stopped up with grease, and should be brushed with hot soda water. When an -omelet is leathery, it has probably been cooked far too slowly. Omelets need a sharp, quick heat.

If ostrich feathers ever come back into favour many a poor man' will make a fortune. There are still many ostrich feathers in storage at Customs warehouses in Britain. The plumes were left on their owners’ hands when the fashion changed. Some of the feathers would have been extremely valuable twenty years ago. Now they can be used only in making cushions or dusters, while a few of the smaller feathers are sold each year to dressmakers for the costumes of debutantes who are to be presented at Court. The fact that artificial feathers are now being made causes the value of the real oues to depreciate still more. Yet. a number of dealers believe that feathers will come back soon, and are determined to keep the rarer plumes until they do. {