Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1879 — HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. [ARTICLE]

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY.

Rats.—Keep the house as clear as possible of these pests. If they will not enter the traps set for them, drop a little oil of sodium in them; that will atrract them without fail. To Remove Grease Spots.—To remove grease spots from carpet and restore colors, take a handful of crushed soap bark —quillaya—to a pail of water. Scrub the spots and sponge the carpet all over. Servants.^—Talk to them not merely to give orders, but to enter kindly into their interests; warn them gently 6f their failures, and praise them always when they do well. Encourage with moderate but hearty praise. To Cleanse Gilt Frames.—Take sufficient flour of sulphur to give a golden tinge to one and one-half pints of water; boil in this water four or five onions, strain, and when cold wash with soft brush any part that requires restoring ; when dry it will come out as good as new. Stale Bread.—lt should be broken up, dried slowly in the oven, then grated or pounded in a mortar to coarse powder and kept in wide-mouthed bottles, well corked. It will keep a long time in a dry place, and is useful for every dinner in the week, in one way or another, for breading chops, cutlets, and the like. Coloring Carpet Rags Green.— Color the rags blue first by getting Prussian blue and oxalic acid—five ounces of Prussian blue to three of oxalic acid—that proportion. Have the druggist mix them. Then get four ounces of bichromate, and sugar of lead for yellow to dip the blue rags in to make them green. The latter part of the recipe is good to color yellow rags alone. Lemon Sirup.—Squeeze two lemons into a dish, not tin, add a pint of water and boil a few moments. A pound of white sugar should be added to a pint of the juice; boil again ten minutes, bottle, and your lemonade is made. Two tablespoonfuls of the mixture added to a tumbler of water makes a very healthful and palatable drink. Fit for a King.—Put a pint and a half of milk to boil in a thoroughly clean sauce-pan; sweeten and flavor it with some orange-flower water, or any other essence. Beat up the whites ®f eggs until they are quite firm and crisp, like snow. Put a table-spoonful at a time into the boiling milk, turning them after a few seconds. Arrange in a pyramid on a deep dish. Let the milk get cool, and then make a custard with the yelks, and pour round. The whites should be beaten in a cold place. Ventilation of Cupboards.—The ventilation of cupboards is one of those minor matters that are frequently overlooked in the erection of houses, while the want of a thorough draught is apt to make itself unpleasantly apparent to the smell. The remedy of the defect is, however, very simple; if possible, have perforations made through the back wall of the closet, and a few in the door; when the wall of the closet cannot be perforated, bore holes freely in the door on the top and bottom. To prevent dampness, with the accompanying unpleasantness and injurious effects Of mildew ip cupboards, a tray quick-

lime should be kept, and changed from time to time as the lime becomes slacked. This remedy will also be found useful in safes or document rooms, the damp air of which is often destructive to valuable deeds and other contents.