flints ami Suggestions.

Otago Witness, Issue 2556, 11 March 1903, Page 62

flints ami Suggestions.

Rusty knives, or in fact any steel articles affected by rust, should be treated aa follows : — Rub them over with some sweet oil, and leave them in this state for a day or two. Then take some finely powdered unslaked lime and rub it on to the steel with a piece of old rag -until the rust is moved. When not in constant use steel articles should be kept rolled up in baize or flannel in a dry place. Salad oil makes the nicest dressing for patent leather, but only very little "should be used. Before wearing new patent leather shoes, well rub in a little salad oil and then thoroughly polish with a soft cloth. This treatment, if repeated occasionally, helps to prevent the leather -from cracking. Patent shoes should never be dried by the fire ; heat is apt to make the leather harden and crack.

As a cough mixture for children, the following recipe is unsurpassed : —Liquified honey, £oz, lemon juice loz. Another mixture for strengthening the voice, as well as for curing a tickling cough, is: — Glycerine £oz ; fresh lemon juice loz, whisky 1 teaspoonful. A quarter of a teaspoonful taken, every 15 minutes when the cough is troublesome will soon relievo it.

Salt will relieve the pain caused by the. stings or bites of insects if damped with water, applied to the affected , part, and bound round tightly with a bandage. Ammonia is also, of great service, especially for wasp stings, to which a blue-bag may also be applied. Flea bites are relieved by vinegar. A- lady, whose tea as becoming famous in her set, says that she follows the Hindoo rather than the Chinese methods of brewing it. Not even silver or gold is allowed to touch the beverage while it is in process of making. In place of the usual ball she has a fiae muslin bag, fitted with a ring that just slips over the top of the pot. The rule is one teaspoonful to five cups, unlesa it be spoiled with cream. In that case one to three is a better proportion. The tea is put into the bag. The pot is filled with freshly boiled water. The bag is slipped in, and both cover and cosey are called into use. 'Five minutes by the watch and out the bag comes. The tea — clear, delicate, delicious — is ready to drink. How to Wash Print Dresses. — Slice £lb of the best pale yellow eoap, and pour over it enough boiling water to make a. thick jelly ; stir this into a couple of gallons of- water, just warm, und then wash the dress in it. No dry soap must be rubbed on it or it will look patchy. Thorough washing in the' suds is the only thing that is necessary. Have another pan ready containing two gajlons of cold water and a handful of salt ; rinse in this, and hang out to diy at once. This quantity of soap will be sufficient for a couple of dresses or three or four little frocks.

To Keep Moths and Silverfish from Clothing and Furs. — (1) Soak blotting paper in a mixture of- equal parts of oil of camphor and spirits o£ turpentine, and lay sheets of the paper so prepared among the clothing or furs. (2) Use a mixture of alum, cayenne pepper, oil of camphor, and calcined plaster of Paris. (3) Take gum camphor loz, cayenne pepper loz, alcohol (spirits of wine) Boz. Macerate the pepper and camphor in the alcohol for several days ; then filter. With the tincture thus obtained sprinkle the clothing or furs, and roll up in sheets. The leaves of the bluegum, ii placed between the folds of .the clothing — i.e., in dfawers — are claimed to be one of the best remedies known against moths and silverfish. An authority recommends a mixture of lupulin ldr, snuff 2oz, camphor loz, cedar sawdust 4oz. Mix well, and sprinkle where the moths are numerous.

Toothache. — In the opinion of a wellknown doctor, one of the best local applications for toothache is warm salt and watei. It should be made as strong as possible, a little taken into the mouth, and held, some minutes on and around the painful tooth, when it may be ejected, and a little more taken into the mouth. Two or three such applications generally succeed in affording relief. Another doctor has been, enabled to cure the most desperate cases of toothache (unless the disease were connected with rheumatism) by the application of the following remedy to the diseased tooth by means of lint: — Take of alum, in impalpable powder two, drachms, sweet spirits of nitre seven drachms. Mix them. Toothache almost invariably means that the tooth which causes the pain needs stopping or extracting, and therefore too much faith must not be placed ia local

remedies. ,as affording anything more than, temporary relief.