Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 2 March 1911, Page 401

Domestic

To Bleach Yellow Lace. First expose the lace to the sunlight in soapsuds, and afterwards dry it on a cloth, pinning the points or scallops in their proper places. Then rub both sides of the lace carefully with a sponge, dipped in suds made of glycerine soap, and rinse free'from soap with clear water, in which a little alum is dissolved. Next pass a small quantity of rice-water over the wrong side of the lace with a sponge, iron with care, and lastly pick out the flowers with a small ivory stick. To Wash Chamois Skins. In washing chamois skins (or any garment made of that material), make warm suds of mild soap, or simply put a little ammonia in the water. They must not be wrung out like other clothes but pin them on a piece of cloth and hang them before the fire, rubbing the articles every few minutes with the hands to prevent stiffening. Rub them as much in shape as possible. Hot Fomentations. There is nothing that will relieve pain more quickly than hot wet cloths, but it is hard on the hands to wring them out of hot water. We have found it an excellent plan to lay the cloths in a steamer over a kettle of boiling water. They are piping hot and just moist enough. There should be two cloths to make the changes, as they are worse than nothing unless changed often. If the pain does not lessen at once, pour a few drops of vinegar over the cloths while on the steamer. A thick, dry cloth should be spread over the wet one so that the clothing will not become damp. Do not let anyone suffer pain if it can be so easily, relieved. A hot-water bottle is a very comfortable, convenient thing to have in case of sickness, but does not relieve acute pain like the hot fomentations. Hygienic Diet. . J n ,. t J le f (, a- w lien the attention is so frequently called to health foods, to maintaining the proper proportion of the health-giving elements, the phosphates, the carbonates, and the nitrates, the question often arises, ' How may I know what foods are meant, without a study of the chemical analysis of each article used?' The question may be simply and efficiently answered by saying that all natural foods are healthful The grains, milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables, oysters, and meats, all contain the elements needed tor the development of the human system, and such a diet s easily followed and will prove beneficial. It is the rS C l ISI r 5 the . Salads > pastry, and highly-seasoned relishes that prove injurious to the digestive organs and SHEfS t 0 the + genra , h f al \ h - ™ course it is essential that these natural foods be prepared in a proper manner, for the best of foods may have their health-givTng properties quite destroyed by the manner in which thev are cooked, n or otherwise treated. But follow nature in the selection of foods, and you cannot go far amiss.

Old Screens. A simple and inexpensive method of renovating an old screen is to cover it with heavy wall paper, either a plain paper of damask or satin-like surface, or one showing a large floral design. A certain amount of care should be taken m the covering process if the screen, is to work well lne first proceeding « to measure a fold of the screen with tl and + , then -Y tl \ Wry Shar ? scissors to cut the paper to fit exactly inside the surrounding frame which encloses the cloth of the previous covering. Have- in readiness some thin glue, and with this quickly bruJh the edge of your paper An inch or two is sufficient If too much glue ,s applied it will cause the paper to cockle Apply the strip deftly to the screen, and with a soft clean wSff LT f i ? n V ly , contact - Proceed in like manner with each fold, laying the screen flat upon a large table for greater ease in working. Sometimes the edge? do not require any kind of finish. But when this seems desirable a narrow border of gold Japanese leather paper, or round brass-headed nails serve the purpose admirably. It is quite easy to obtain a richer effect by employing one of had U »ll U J fP a » eSG rl? ather 5 a P. ers are now to be Hop TL SOrtS ° f , dlft< ™* designs and at almost any puce. These can be applied to the screen in exactly the same manner A screen of plain paper may in several different ways be rendered more ornamental. One method is to mount a good-sized photograph, in bromide o pTatinatype, on each flap near the top. Or if desire! ™™i +i one print may 'be employed these being ? arrknged svm metrically against a . paper of suitable tone Another pretty way of rendering a plain screen more attractive is to hang upon it any small miniatures, pictures, bas relfefs bits of silver, medals, coins, and so on. Not only do these serve to make, the screen into a feature in itself but it is an ideal way of displaying little collections of this kind!