The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-09-08
Worth While for Women to Know.

en- now-a-davs who not only don't build
or holm to build their homes, but don't
know how they should be done. Ifthey
understood some practical details Of
I bouse buildine there would be fewer
sligbtlv made. uncomfortable, incon-
ve5ient houses. Especially the finish
! inc ouoht TO be looked after by the mis-
I tress of a house. She knows what color
! of paint is going to wear well for nur-
/ seTv and dining-rOOm, and how the pam
/ trv should be arranged. 1t is singular
] fbat women are so Indifferent to occu-
nations which touch their peculiar sur
/ roundings. We never hear of woman
architect, or indoor painter, or uphol-
sferer. Theconsequence Is that we have
warned doors and furniture blistering
walnut paint; unhandy arrangements of
stairs leading into bathroom (actuallv
/ I have known practical carpenter to
buiId his own house with the bathroom
? for a side PASSAGE; kitchens in the mid
de of the house, or in the next ward.
either too close or too far off; narrow
stairs: and sinks with the drain i'm the
elevated end-blunders which veX a
woman's soul from years end to years
end. but which she never thinks of
! remedying by prevention, by applying
! herself to the correction of such details
while her home is building. She ought
TO know as much about plaster and paint
as she does about wallpaper and cur
tains: for it is much more important
that the walls should be warm and dry,
and the paint durable, than that her
parlor should have French satin paper,
and the bedrooms be finished off in
Pompadour chintzes.
When the first rough coat of plaster is
on the walls of house, and the doors
and window-casings up, woman's
province is ready for her oversight II
il suits her TO have the work completed
in the most economical manner pOssi-
bile, let the walls be washed with this
sizing: Two pounds of glue i'm hot wa
ter, which is reduced with eight gallons
of cold, and thickened with twelve
pounds of whiting. This gives a smooth
finish, which can be washed in cold wa
ter, instead of needing to be whitened
every year. 1t is applied with white
wash-brush, and forms a smooth coat to
receive paper; or it may remain, for
Kitchens and servants rooms, tinting il
a pale gray with little cobalt. Where
there is a suspicion of damp walls
neither paper nor wash Will last, and no
application will be tOlerable but a wa
! ter-prOof paint. For painting, "A woman
who is ambitious enough TO attempt the
work herself needs a low chair, sup
ported by barrels laid on trestle-wOTk
or benches, which may be changed for
lower ones as she reaches the base of
the wall. y paint-pot must be pro-
vided, which may be made of white
lead can, with thick wire ball put in,
and hook attached TO hang il on any
convenient projection. y number 5
IL.
work, as new brushes are too soft. When
laying aside work, cover the paint i'm
the can with cold water TO keep the dust
off, and hang the brushes in so that the
heads will be covered. In laying paint
dip the brush only an inch into the
paint, and tap it once or twice against
the sides to let surplus flakes fall off,
then make straight strokes of the brush
with the grain of the wood, not against
il, drawing downward on vertical and
from left to right on horizontal surfaces.
Carry the brush off, and lift, at the end
of each stroke. Make the first coat the
lightest and thinnest one, stopping all
cracks and holes with putty after they
are dry. Paint all crevices, bevels, and
headings, before you do the fiat surfaces
next them, with a full brush. Work
the paint well into the wood by passing
the brush vigorously back and forth
when each coat is on. For sashes and
fine work use a number brush, and
carry it only one way, not back and
forth. Protect the glass in the sashes,
and walls at the side of the mOuldings,
/ by tacking strip Of pasteboard several
/ inches wide against the surface next the
work to catch dashes Of paint.
If spots of mildew or blister appear
on wallpaper in a room where steam
does not penetrate, do not try to save
the paper, but strip il off, and apply a
delicate tint, mixed with boiled linseed-
oil, to every gallon of which a quarter
of pound of glue has been added, first
softened by heat, with a very little wa
ter TO prevent il from burning. An
other more effectual coating is made oi
five pounds of rubber melted in a gallon
of boiled linseed-oil The mixture
should be heated in a tin kettle sus-
pended i'm boiling water, so that il will
not take fire. Coat the wall with this
reducing, if necessary, by more oil, anC
paint or paper above it. One gallon o.
the preparation should coat fifty yards
of surface, and never be penetrated 10y
moisture. One gallon of the oil anC
glue requires twenty pounds of dry
paint ground in it to give two coats t.
nothing but boiled oil for inside
work; the raw requires nearly a seasoI
to dry. A good drying oil Is made bl
boiling one ounce os sugar Of lead, an'
the same of sulphate Of zinc, with tw'
ounces each of litharge, red-lead, an'
umber, in a gallon of linseed-oil, till l
will scorch feather. Whitehead give
the most body TO paint, and is mos
durable, but turns yellow, and is apt L
be mixed with inferior pigment. Zinc
white is the purest color. Three coat
are desirable on inside work for lastin;
finish. The first is called priming, AM
is the only coat in which oil should b
used, for in the upper coats it is apt Z
= turn yellow by exposure to the air
Y The cheapest priming is given by Goa
: OF OIL ON which whiting is rubbed, fill
!, ing all the pores Of the wood with thil
Il putty, which preserves it well, an,
leaves smooth surface for paint. !
good common finish is given by mixini
! a second coat of Zinc-white with enoupi
q oil to moisten it, and reducing Wit
naphtha; then third coat of zinc i
i naphtha, with one-third Dammar van
! nish. This gives the glossy white :
dear TO neat housewives The most cy
pensive and durable white finish is thu
e given: One coat of shellac varnish; for
Il coats of pure zinc ground in oil an
mixed with turpentine, each coat we
i dried, and the whole rubbed down wit
g pumice; and finally two coats of Frenc
zinc i'm varnish. This is hard, shinin;
and fine as senameL-Hdrpe5' : Bdsar.
. Great Salt Lake has been a sort
e mystery to scientific and geograph
V explorers. 1t has been supposed that i
waters were kept at uniform level l