Housekeeper.

Lake County Press, Issue 2167, 2 May 1907, Page 7

Housekeeper.

THE FILTER. THE ofibiency of a water filter may be tested by passing through it a solution of Condy's Fluid (ten drops to a pint of water) ; if it comes out of the filter with any 2Jink colour, or any taste, it is a proof that the filter does not act at all, and that it cannot arrest the germs of disease ; if it comes out a yellow, or brown colour, it shows that the filter poisons the water. AN EFFECTIVE /.NTIDOTE TO POISON. It is a great thing to thoroughly understand what simple antidote to take if one is so unlucky as to swallow poison of any kind through mistake. Sweet oil is to be found in nearly every hou6C, however humble, and half a pint of it, taken immediately, is an effectual antidote to almost all poisons. Anybody with a strong constitution should take a larger quantity of this simple remedy. EYELASHES AND EYIiBSOY/'. Long, thick eyelashes lend a soft expression to the eyes, and add considerably to thoir beauty, says a beauty expert. If the lashes are scant they may be improved by bathing in rosewater, or even in cold water to which a little carbonate of soda or borax has been added. Cutting them every two or three months tends to make them grow, but the operation must be carefully performed. Thin, badly-shaped eyebrows may be coaxed into something like symmetry by freely bathing in cold water every morning, and anointing with a drop of olive oil or lanoline each evening, and brushed in the way they should go. AFTERNOON HKST. The necessity of a rest hour for a busy mother and housekeeper cannot be too strongly insisted upon. All other women arc apt to take this rest except the woman whose ' work is never done,' and who needs it the most of all. Jk is not necessary to take a full hour's rest, but as much time as this should be allowed in the early afternoon alter the work of the dinner is over, for the simple object of resting. The habit should be acquired of going to one's room and of shutting out the outside world as much as it is possible, together with all the worldly care and worry. Bathe the temples, loosen the dress, and, if possible, put on a loose wrapper and lie down. Sleep may not come at once, but the habit is soon acquired, and in a short time the tired woman who adopts this remedy will fall asleep almost as soon as she ! touches the pillow. Even if her enforced ' nap does not lust over half an hour, no period of sleep in the 24 hours covering the same amount of time will be so refreshing or give so much rest to tired brain and I muscle. SOME USEFUL Mljirt. Salt fish are quickly freshened by soaking •it sour milk.

A tablespoouful 0 f turpentine boiled witli clothes will greatly help to whiten and disinfect them. I For a Burn.—Powdered charcoal, if laid I thickly on a burn, affords immediate relief from pain ; it will heal a superficial burn in about an hour. To clean mother of pearl, wash it with powdered whiting and cold water. Hot water and soap must not be used on any account, for they would destroy the soft brilliancy which is the chief beauty of this shell. Tho creases can be taken out of velvet and the pil« raised by drawing it across a hot iron over which a wet cloth has been spread. If there are pin marks over which the piie refuses to rise, brush it up with a stiff brush and steam it, repeating the operation several times. Sliced Raw Onions.—These kept constantly in tt sick room, where there are irruptivo diseases, may not be very pleasant, but they arc an excellent preventive from the contagion. The slices will be soon discoloured, grow quite dark, and should thou be at once removed and replaced by fresh slices. Thin Children.—A child may bo well nourished and in perfect health without being fat. If the body is supplied with more food than it needs and can utilise at the moment the excess is stored usually in the shapi of fat. There may be no surplus and yet the necessary wants of the body may be fully met. Firm, well-developed muscle is better than fat. LAUNDKY ll&SONS. Before beginning to wash, all the bedlinen and under-clothing should be placed by themselves, the table linen and tea towels put in another pile, the flannels treated similarly, while coloured clothes should be laid aside until last. Stains of all kinds on clothes should be washed out before they are laid aside for the regular wash. Spots on table linen usually yield readily to soap and warm water; wine stains should be covered with salt, wet, and rinsed out; fruit stains may be removed by pouring boiling water over them before they are wot, coal oil and common baking soda, mixed in equal parts, will have the same effect. To remove ink stains, dip the parts in hot tallow, or wash in new milk. If clothes are ironmoulded, use oxalic acid, which will also remove mildew. Paint can be washed from any article by rubbing with lard and then washing. As to the length of time clothes should be boiled, a great difference of opinion exists. Sonic xcry excellent authorities on the subject condemn the practice, and advise scalding instead; if boiled, it should only be for ten or fifteen minutes, as long boiling is sure to discolour clothes ; after they arc scalded or boiled add blue water, and wash clean through tho suds, then rinse through plenty of clear, cold water before taking through the process of blueing. Wring as dry as possible. This is one of the most important operations of the work, as clothes with the water left in them will be streaked and yellow. There arc now so many excellent wringers that every family should be supplied with one; but if clothes arc wrung by hand, they should be gathered in a twist evenly, and then wrung with a gentle squeezing motion until the water is all extracted. As soon as wrung, all garments should be at once shaken from their folds, and hung out to dry. Coloured prints and muslins require very careful washing in two soapy waters (no soap being rubbed on them), and rinsirg in clear, cold water. In washing coloured articles, there are a great number of ways by which the colour may be preserved in such as are liable to fade. For buffs, greys, or any delicate colours, a tablespoonful of black pepper to a bucket of water will set the colour. If boiled in vinegar, black cotton goods will never lose their freshness. Ox gall is also excellent to preserve colours, and is particularly useful in washing delicate tinted stockings. All coloured goods should be hung in the shade to dry. Merino, woollen, and silk underclothes and stockings arc very easily spoiled in washing. None but the best soap should be used, and it should bo dissolved in hot water. Do not rub the woollen clothos, but cleanse them by drawing through the hands, in and out of the suds. Rubbing shrinks and injures them. When clean, wring from tho suits and rinse in warm, soapy blue water, stretch into shape, and hang out immediately. Woollen or silk goods should never be washed on a stormy or cloudy day.