Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1875 — About the House. [ARTICLE]

About the House.

Knives and forks may be fastened in their handies by the following: One pound colophony (obtained at druggist’s), eight ounces sulphur; melt, and, when cool, powder. Mix one part of the , powjer with half a part fine sand or brick dust, fill the handle cavity, heat the stem of the knife or fork, and insert. Kerosene oil is good for removing rust from cutlery. Saturate sponges with water and stand them on plates around and among the window plants. The object is to supply moisture to neutralize the effects of any furnace or grate heat. In hanging paper first pumicestone the wall and wash with size made of one ounce of glue to a gallon of water. See that the paste has no lumps and that the back of the paper is covered with it for fully ten minutes before hanging. It is said that lining the walls, ceiling and windows of a cellar with four or five thicknesses of old newspapers, pasted and other articles stored there from freezing. A section of wire cloth, grade from No. 20 to No. 30, is the best material to strike matches upon. Two cords of hardwood are about equal ’in hen thriving qualities to one ton of bitumiu is coal. ' If thejink spout freezes, insert a piece of lead pipe, into which pour boiling water through a funnel. Keep the pipe constantly pressed against the ice. Two parts gum camphor, with one part of crystallized carbolic acid, the whole rubbed together withs whitening, is an excellent disinfectant and preservative lor furs. The odor of the acid is mostly dissipated by the camphor. To take ink spots out of mahogany, touch with a feather dipped in a teaspoonful of water to which a few drops of spirits of niter have been added, and rub quickly with a wet cloth. ’ To each bowl of starch, before boiling, add a teaspoonful of Epsom salts. Articles prepared with this will be stiffer and in a measure fire-proof. When cockroaches get into smooth bowls half filled with molasses and water, they cannot get out. When an iron poker becomes soft by long usage it can be hardened by heating to a redness and plunging several times in a pail of cold water. . To clean gilt jewelry, to half a pint of boiling water add one ounce of cyanide of potassium. When the liquid is cold, mix in half an ounce of ammonia liquoi; and one ounce of rectified alcohol. Objects will be rendered bright by brushing with this compound. Ink stains may be removed from books By wetting the spot with a solution "of oxalic acid, one ounce; water, half a pint. : Hyposulphite of soda is better than common washing soda for laundry purposes. Linen can be glazed by adding a teaspoonful of salt and one of finely-scraped white soap to a pound of starch. If possible, buy an oil-cloth which has been made, for several years, as the longer it has lain unwashea the better it will bear, the paint being harder. Never scrub. Sweep with a soft hair brush and wash with a soft cloth dipped in milk and water. Don’t use soap. Rub drv with a handful of rags. The best bedbug poison is a globule of mercury of about the size of a silver five-cent piece, thoroughly mingled with the white of an egg, the last previously beaten to a froth. Stop all cracks with putty both of the bed and of the surbase and floor joints of the room, and apply the above mixture with a feather. There is no necessity of washing the bedstead for some time. After washing, however, repeat the above-described operation.— Save the inner white husks for mattresses. Dry them in a clean, airy place. No need to strip them fine. Use them whole and they will answer the purpose better than straw. In dealing with furniture, remember’ to keep water away from everything soluble therein, oil from everything porous, alcohol from varnish, and acids from marble. Water window plants with tepid waten and wash the leaves often. A thick paste of strong gum arabic, into which plaster of Paris is stirred, makes an excellent china cement. Apply with a brush and let the articles stand three days. Preserve eggs by a quick dipping in boiling -water and packing in fresh salt, small end down. To japan old tea trays, scrub clean with soap and water and rottenstone, dry, and apply copal varnish mixed with bronze powder to the denuded parts. Set in an oven at about 300 deg. until dry. Two coats needed. Rub the buckwffieat cake griddle with half a turnip, to make the cakes come oft nicely. This is better than fat. — Scientific American.