THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11843, 21 December 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

; ' MOTHER HINTS. ■ \ A Remedy for Styes : These often yield to the following ■ treatment On the very first sign of one dip the tip of your finger in brandy, and dab it on the place. . It- must be done at the first sign or it is useless, and in an 3* case it can do no harm. A Remedy ; for Thrush: Here is another hint which 'ft (correspondent sends me: A sage-leaf : clipped in cold ; water ; first, then in castor sugar, wound round the finger, and, rubbed round baby's mouth, will not only cure, but will prevent thrush if done every irritation of the Ear: An itching right inside the ear, which seems too far in, to rub, is sometimes caused by eczema. One drop of pine glycerine dropped into the ear will often relieve this. It should be done just, before going to bed for two or three nights m succession. ■ ,

To Make Baby's Hair Curl: A correspondent sends me the following hint: Every morning, after baby'« hair ..lias been washed and well brushed, do not leave it nice and smooth and tidy, but with ; the tips of . the fingens rub the head all over, very gently, with a short, circular motion from right to left. , This causes the roots of the hair to twist, and curly hair will be the result. Children's Appetites: To promote children's appetites there is no better plan than to give them plenty ot outdoor exercisefun and frolic make them regular in their habits—and diet only upon plain, nourishing food, and they will seldom, if ever, complain of ft lack .of appetite. If children are fed upon rich or highly-seasoned foods, or are allowed to eat between meals, it is hopeless to expect them to have an appetite for then proper meals. Sickness is the most expensive nuisance ill the world; and the best way t*> make children happy and good is to keep Ahem well. Don't allow them to study too much, and especially keep them from reading sensational stories. Early "Training: Don't forget that, it is the first few years of their lives in which children's characters are moulded. Early impressions are not easily erased ; the virgin wax is faithful- to the signet, ancl subsequent impressions scent rather to ident- the former one than to eradicate them. So teach your little ones to be brave and unselfish when tliev are small if you would have them exhibit these qualities in later life. Wax in the Kar: Don't attempt ,to get this out with any hard substance; you may injure the drum of the eiir seriously by doing so. Instead, make the little one hold his head on one side and drop one drop of glycerine in. The- best plan is to dip your finger in. and let it> drop from that, or use a quill. The glycerine softens the wax, and makes it work its way out.

HINTS FOR THE YOUNG HOUSEWIFE. When meat is being roasted &~nd there -is danger of its becoming too 1 brown- place a basin of water in the oven. The \steam will pi-event scorching and the . meat'twill cook better. •

Eggs poached in milk afford not only a pleasant variety to the invalid's menu butoffer a slight increase in nourishment over the usual way. The milk should conie to the scalding point, then the egg is dropped in and cooked as if in water. A little of the hot milk is poured over the toast to soften it before the egg is slipped on. . There is danger of giving house-plants top much rather than too little water in winter.. During the short days and ldng nights, with', little sunlight On the soil, it is hard to keep • the ; earth at a temperature in which the plants can grow vigorously. All the surplus water added lowers the temperature and re-1 tards growth. : It takes less than a minute to put on an old pair of gloves when one has a dirty piece of work, such as dusting or making a fire, to do; but what a saving it is to the hands! Housewives who make a point of thus protecting their skin never have unsightly ingrained blacks on their hands, nor those distressing cracks that get so dreadfully chapped and painful. 1 Cane chairs, the seats of which have sunk down, may. be improved by standing them upside-down and washing with strong soapsuds. After well soaking, set to dry, when it will be found that the seats have become quite flat. When you suspect what you are cooking has been scorched because you have neglected it for just one moment too long lift the saucepan quickly from the fire and stand it in a pan of water for a few minutes. In almost every case the scorched taste will entirely disappear.

1 AT TABLE. Quite the latest novelty for table decoration is the set of white linen embroidered with a bold design of either lilies, chestnut leaves, or some large conventional pattern, made in different coloured linens. A charming set was worked in this way. Great yellow lilies with their green leaves, in yellow and green linen, were outlined with white cord sewn down with yellow washing silk; the design bordered the tablecloth, serviettes, and centrepiece, the ground being cut away round the edge. WALLPAPER DONT'S. Don't choose wallpapers before you have 'carefully studied the rooms in which , they are to be put. Many people, when they go into a new house, make up their minds to certain-col-ours or styles of wall decoration without considering at all whether they are appropriate. They may long for a yellow drawing-room, and when the walls are hung with bright daffodil-coloured 'paper, and the furniture is upholstered in gold tapestry, or yellow and white cretonne, they wonder that the effect is fearfully garish. They had not noticed that the room faced south, and that the large bay-window let in floods of sunlight. Don't put wallpaper of warm, bright colouring in a south or west room, or a cool paper of subdued tone in a north or east room. For south and west rooms the best colours are greens and blues; and in a room where there is plentiy of sunshine a white wallpaper often has- a charming effect. For cold rooms facing north or east you can either have yellow wallpaper or any tone of red or pink. Don't have a large-patterned paper in a small room. For dining-rooms and libraries the self-coloured ingrain papers are the most suitable. The surface, being dull and rough, gives them a subdued effect. For drawingrooms and bedrooms the plain tinted lining papers tho best.

NAPHTHA AS AN EXTERMINATOR. Whenever a bureau drawer, a trunk, or a closet is cleaned it is a good plan to wash th crevices with naphtha. A long-spout oil-can kept for the purpose accomplishes this very quickly. The fumes of the naphtha quickly evaporate; but not before they have done their work of extermination upon any insects or eggs that may be deposited in cracks or corners. This course, persisted in at regular intervals, will practically protect from moths, carpet-bugs, and other pests.

A PROPHET ON LADIES' DRESSES. When they are grown up, the young ladies of the future who were born with this century will look back with amazement on the manners and dress of the days when their mothers were girls. If M. Octave Uzanne be a true prophet, evolution in things feminine will move, not by degrees, but by remarkable bounds, between the present*year and 1920. The long dresses of to-day will appear far more quaint to the girls of that period than do the flounced skirts of the eighties to the modern woman. In 1920, says M. Octave Uzanne, the " feminine prejudice," which causes ladies, except of course in ballets, "to object to displaying the calves of their legs," will have become entirely extinct. "Rational dress," as advocated by extremists, will not, however, prevail. The knickerbockei will not oust the petticoat, but the latter will never fall below the knee. On the other hand, the present clinging skirt will be abolished, and dresses will grow fuller in width as they decrease in length. M. Uzanne believes that these revolutions in costume will be promoted by hygienic considerations. He is a violent opponent of the long skirt, on the score of its being a microbe collecting and distributing agent. In the name of the laws of health, he likewise is persuaded that the corset has but a few years to live, and will i : n 1920 be preserved, if at all, in museums: of discarded instruments |of torture. Finally, veils will also be , tabooed for: hygienic-, reasons, as they, act as nets for microbes, which are' gathered in their meshes and- hence are conveyed to the mouth and eyes, ;