Practical Housekeeping

Southland Times, Issue 10200, 4 July 1889, Page 4

Practical Housekeeping

;.. .r . - . r: - ■—. — . ♦'.. ' '.-■ •' ■:-■: - • ■• ■ '- : . . , J am ari-ardeat ■■■advocate of cremation, There ia nothing- tike it; for 'purification and cleanliness, ;./ pf coarse you will anderatand . th'at l mean entirely" as applied to Household ., refuse. Everything that you don't know e*V acUy-what else to do with bum,, that .is, if it is Combustible. There is no such purifier as fife,, and when refuse is burned, it is put of, the way-dnqd" for all? and f no pobible ihatml canijome" fronrit/ 1 I btira everything" that' will not do for other use, scraps from the table, potato peelings, "vege 1 able paringt, coftee grounds, everything of tbft^ kind. What in" the world is the use of keeping about the pestilential slop - bucket or refuge pail for the BCiyenger to .empty, on, his .weekly, or'B^mi.WeekJy "vieita. : Of this refuse ; pail, ai a rule, I can only say :— . • Its offence is rank, It swells to heaven, or, what is more to the purpose, to our houses. It is a breeder of disease.' Always in a greater or lesr state of fermentation, it lets off the noxious gases which poison the system, and to this unsavoury kitchen appendage may bs '.traced. many- a case of typhoid, malaria or diphtheria. It is not too strong a term to cay tkat it is an absolute breeder of pestilence. Now doaway with it, and burn everything that would otherwise find a place there* Scraps from the table, Bones, bits of fish, the scrapings from the >inkj burn them all and get them : out of J.he way. When the bouquet losee its freshness and is withered, ddn'c toss it carelessly out of doors to add to the dirt that-m»stbe cleared away, but burn it ; atonce. You have no idea how much this B : mple way j,oC disposiDg of tke refuse will add both to "health and comfort. Try it, and m^ word for ityoh will never return to the refuse pail again. Tae dishcloth, in addition to being carefully washed, rinsed and Hung to dry after washing dishes every time; should occasion' ally be washed in ammonia and water or pearline — although I doa't advocate the use of pearliaefor clothes washing— then allowed tdncaldatime before drying. A dishcloth seems harmless, but a ttory ia told of a celebrated pky»ieian who was called to a family where typhoid fever had broken out with great violence. Aa these cases were quite isolated ones lie was at a loss to account for its appeaiancc. He determined to ascertain the cause if posaible. He examined the drain?, they were all right ; he tested tke j water, that wai pare ; he found no fault with i he-cellar, but by chance he came across the dishcloth. H had not been properly cleaned after usiDg the odour from it was anything buts»voury and he at once seized upoa that as the source cf alt the trouble. It seems a fmall thing, doesn't it, but if the physician's theory was con«ct it wa* the source of much mischief. So keep your dishcloths clean, and cleaning cloths, and your dusters. Wasb them and ec&ld them and bang them so they will dry readi[y and keep well' aired. It takes a very little bit. of anything to.make an ill odour, and where that exists' alwajs feir trouble. When dishcloths are past usefu'nets burn them at once. In speaking about cleanirjg cellars 1 neglected to Bay anything about the use of lime. Eveiy cellar Bhould be whitewashed once a year, and it is well to do it in spring, after the sulphur burning. It will give a final touch to the purification, and after all is done jour cellar will emsll sweet and cleao, and if not too damp will be a suitable place to keep eatables. — American Cultivator.