Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 11 October 1906, Page 33

Domestic

By * Maureen'

List jot Foods of Easy or Active Digestion. The following articles .take about one -hour for digestion : Treacle, honey, keumiss, lemons, plasmon, rice, sugar. The following take about an hour and. a half for ■digestion : Apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, oranges, peaches, pears, asparagus,' dandelion' greens, "tomatoes, /water cress, mushrooms, sago, and tapioca. Care of the Feet. - Two or three times a week one should have a hot foot bath;, ten minutes is long enough. The nails should be trimmed lower in the middle than^ at 4he corners. Shoes should fit closely, but not ■ . tightly. Loose shoes are as damaging as tight ones. But, above all things, don't have a shoe too short. A short .shoe is the cause of ingrowing^ nails and bunions, and makes an easy, graceful walk impossible. Thin soles often lead to very ba-d corns that almost cripple the owner. A Durable Door Mat. A most durable door mat for Ward outside use may. be made of coils of rope, -that which has had t; some use=-.being preferable to that which is perfectly '- new;: Take a darning needle and strong cord. ("oil the rope around once, and sew on the under side ; ' then make another coil, and -do likewise until you have a large mat. Such a mat is not easily blown or kicked out of place. Try one and you will be surprised at the utility and durability of it, that you will never let any more rope go to waste. A Tonic for the Hair. For those who have good and abundant hair and for those who have poor hair, an occasional scalp tome is equally good. Salt is said to be an excellent tonic for the 'hair. A dry saline shampoo mat' be made by mixing salt of a coarse quality with powdered orris 'root, the proportions being two ounces of orris root to a pound of salt,- Mix thoroughly, and rub into the hair and scalp. Then brush with a good bristle brush, and you will be well pleased with the result. Children's hair is much beautified by this treatment. Enamelling Baths. The baths, especially where the water is hard, usually get terribly discolored and stained ; this is easily remedied by damping a cloth in paraffin, dippinc it in salt, an-d rubbing over the surface ; but where the enamel has worn away, it can be replaced by painting the interior of the bath with specially prepared enamel which will resist hot water Some people say . that • they find it impossible to make a satisfactory job of this themselves, because the enamel does not get hard for such a long time. This is because it is ladled on instead of being applied in -the thinnest coats. Mist make the surface . quite • smooth with sandpaper, and then apply one, thin coat, ' never heeding the effect of. previous coloring, or lhe" metal ' of the bath itself showing through. Leave for 24 hours, and then give another equally thin coat and repeat the. process a third time, after whioh' the bath must be left at least 3d hours to dry ; in fact it takes four days to enamel a bath properly but ' the results are quite worth the trouble. • To Loosen a Glass Stopper. When the ground glass stopper of a bottle becomes jammed and defies all ordinary endeavors do not waste temper and strength in vain attempts to twist it out. Take the wooden handle of a kitchen < knife and tap the - stopper first one side- and then the other; if this fails to loosen it. 'run the cold faucet on the stopper and suddenly turn a warm stream on the neck of the bottle. You should be careful that the difference in temperature is not son great as to ■ cause the glass to crack. 'The" warm water will expand the neck of the bottle while the stepper is still contracted with the cold, and the slight difference i, size between the two will loosen the latter Failing in this method, take a stout piece of cord about five feet long and make a single loop with it about the neck of the bottle, holding it between the knees or getting another, person to hold it steady Now null the cowl rapidly from end to end -and the' heal develqped by the friction will in a 'few seconds slichtlv expand the neck and the stopper may be removed with a couple of, taps.