Household.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1024, 16 October 1891, Page 6

Household.

When roasting a shoulder of mutton do not baste it, but simply rub it with a little butter. Serve with onion sauce. It is said that castor oil if regularly applied each day to a wart will remove it without leaving a scar. The time it takes may try the patience of the user—from two to six weeks being required—but if faithfully used it will remove the most obdurate warts. Babies sucking their thumbs do serious injury in several ways (says a medical journal). The habit produces protruding and badly shaped lips, and destroys the contour of the thumb ; more than this, it seriously deforms the chest. The arm of a child addicted to this habit lies much of the time in only one position and its weight on the thorax occasions a depression of the ribs, to the serious diminution of the lung capacity. It is safe to predict that the constitution of a child who is indulged in this practice will be likely to be seriously and permanently impaired. Sponges cannot be kept clean unless always wrung out of clean water as dry as possible after use, and exposed to the air until all the moisture has evaporated. The proper mode of cleansing is to let them lie in strong borax and water or soda and water for some hours, squeezing them as hard as possible occasionally. If necessary they may then be laid for some hours more in muriatic acid and water, strong enough to taste exceedingly sour, and afterwards rinsed. Generally however, the soda will suffice. The bright yellow of many new sponges is really a stain, and cannot be preserved permanently.

To clean ribbons make suds with good, hard soap and lukewarm water ; take the ribbon, one piece at a time, dip it down in the suds, and pass through thumb and forefinger of the left hand until clean, dissolve a little granulated sugar in clear water, rinse the ribbons thoroughly in this, and strip them out as in washing them. Have an old sheet, or other soft cloth, folded so as to hang over the edge of the table, and draw the ribbons backwards and forwards on this until nearly dry, having the right side up ; then iron on the wrong side with an iron barely warm. Ribbons treated in this way look as nice as new ones, and will keep fresh quite as long.

Very few people take proper care of gloves. They are pulled on and wrenched off and done up in little wads, and then are expected to perform all their uses and give satisfactory wear. A pair of the finest French kid gloves will not long endure such treatment, nor one of the coarsest cotton or leather. A great deal depends on the way kid gloves are put on at first. They should be drawn on slowly and easily, the fingers being put on first, and then the glove drawn over the palm and buttoned around the wrist. If the glove is carefully drawn off the palm first each time it is worn, then the fingers one by one, it will last much longer. After removing from the hand pull the gloves into shape and lay them in tissue paper in a glove box. N otice when taking them off if they need mending or have become soiled ; a slight soiled spot may be readily removed by rubbing it lightly with a piece of flannel wet with benzine. Most gloves are now stitched by machinery in such a way that any different stitch shows. The best way of mending a slight break in kid is to lay it under a piece of silk as near the colour of the glove as possible. Catch the silk down by invisible stitches, and draw together the rent with darning stitches, which should be as nearly invisible as possible. Silk or fine cotton gloves are likely to become stretched with wear. After they have been in use for a while, therefore, it is a good plan to turn them inside out, and sew over the seams, taking them in a little, and they will then fit the hand as they did at first, and are not likely to stretch any more.