Household Hints.

Waipa Post, Volume VIII, Issue 372, 4 December 1914, Page 4

Household Hints.

When slicing tomatoes use a bread knife with saw teeth. It will cut the slices thinner, and you can do the' work more quickly than with an ordinary knife.

To clean threads from a carpet after sowing, dampen a whisk broom and brush around where the threads are. The broom will quickly pick them' up without raising dust.

To remove typewriting ink from linen place the inked parts in turpentine and soak twenty-four hours, then pour boiling soda water on it, rinse and dry, and the stains will be completely removed.

Sometimes when lamp chimneys have become very blackened with smoke, water alone will not remove the grease. But it can be removed without any trouble by mixing a little spirits of wirie with the water.

Fingermarks on doors and cupboards vanish when lightly rubbed with a piece of flannel clipped in paraffin. In order to do away with the odour of the oil, nib the door down with a clean flannel wrung out in hot water.

To clean the bone handles of knives or any bone article,' it is a good plan to use salt and lemon juice. First rub the article well with the lemon juice, then with the salt. This will remove all kinds of stains and grease spots.

When shoes are packed in a trunk the legs of old stockings will be the best and softest protectors' for them. Slip a shoe in the leg of each stocking. Use black stockings for black shoes and white stockings for white shoe.

If you wish plants to branch, as geraniums and begonias, tie a piece of sponge on the leaf scar where yon would like the branch to be. Keen the sponge moistened and the new shoot will soon start.

Launder a roll of white pieces and keep them for patching lingerie waists and underclothing. If new material is put in for a patch it will shrink, and the garment will have a puckered effect. In such a roll keep pieces of different qualities, all of which have been washed and ironed.

Before sweeping linoleum or cork lino, tie a soft, damp muslin cloth over the brush—this should be tied so as not to crush the hairs of the brush—which should then be used in-the usual way. A floor swept in this manner looks beautifully fresh and clean, and does not require frequent washing.

When making rag rugs a good colour scheme for blue rugs is to sew the rags in the following order: Dark blue, light blue, dark blue, white. The rugs will not be too light coloured for a blue room. Have all the rags of uniform width (about one inch) and also of nearly uniform length.

One of the best old remedies for sore throat is to roast a potato, then crack it, place it in a piece of flannel, and apply it very hot, when the steam from it will be found to have effected a cure in one night; or an obstinate sore throat is cured with a little alum dissolved in sage-tea sweetened with honey.

To keep saucepan lids and tin goods like silver dip the article to be cleaned in boiling water, with soda in it, to remove all grease; then rinse with cold water and polish with a cabbage or with a rhubarb leaf, and rinse again with cold water. Do not wipe, but put the utensils before the fire to dry.

Here is a good point to rememberwhen bottling ketchup of fruit juices: boil the corks in water for about twenty minutes. This process makes them soft and pliable, and they may then be easily inserted and driven into the necks of the bottles. No wax need be used for scaling, as this method makes the bottle ingredients airtight.

Placing the watch under a tumbler near the bed of a sick person will give him relief from the ticking, which is often very trying to sensitive nerves. If there is no timepiece near, a sense of loneliness may be felt, but if a watch is laid under a tumbler, even close to the bed, the ticking is almost inaudible. ,

A good way to remove old wallpaper is to use the following solution : A thick pasty solution should be made by adding flour and a few spr-ons of salt into boiling water. After this is made, add' a few ounces of acetic acid, which may be purchased at any drug store. This pasty solution should be applied with a brush to the old wallpaper in quantities. After a few minutes the old paper can be removed in great strips very easily, and with very little dust or dirt.

Old Morocco leather can be cleaned by rubbing it with the partially whipped white of egg. A. little should be left to dry in, and the leather polished when dry with a soft silk handkerchief. For black leather, such as is sometimes found, on old leather covered flaps of bureaux, a piece of flannel should be moistened with paraffin and rubbed over the surface. When dr.v, equal parts of linseed oil, vinegar, and turpentine should be mixed together and rubbed well into the leather. A polish with a flannel will give the desired' result.

date if I was satisfied, I gave the terse andemphatic reply " Quite." Three years ago Mr Young deplored the fact that the National Debt stood at 80 millions. I asked what was the figures now. As near as Mr Young could remember it was 91 millions, but offered to look it up and be exact. To save this trouble I said "Near enough." I had no desire to be too exacting. Eleven millions in two years is not a bad achievement. You also say " Mr Elliott's remarks" that is when moving a vote of thanks to Mr Scholes, " were subjected to some criticism and frequent interjections—even from the chairman—which caused some merriment." This is absolutely untrue. Even if your independence must slip from your grasp, try and keep a hold on veracity. If you lose that as well your plight will indeed be a sorry one.—Yours faithfully, JAMES H. ELLIOTT, [[f Mr Elliott will persist in giving himself away, we see no reason why we should protect him against himself. It seems incredible to think that he believes he is acting honestly when he challenges the veracity of the report. We have confirmed its correctness by reference to reliable electors present at the meetings. It is clear that there will never, in Mr Elliott's opinion, be any virtue in the WAIPA POST till it becomes a " dumb dog " of the great Liberal Party.—ED.]