The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-04-21
A Practical Kitchen.


this subject.
"What else can kitchen bep' asked
young housekeeper the other day as
she CHANGED TO see the above heading.
THAT is the one point that dadoes and
portieries never invade. Mine is deco
rated il is true but it is with the grease
spots left by successive Biddies How
ever. il is always so dark that nobody
knows they are there, and / never en-
ter the hole If can help It,"
1.-The hole" That is the difference
between past and present. In spite OF
modern conveniences, set-tubs, ranges
and gas the kitchen of to-day is too often,
at any rate in city houses, gloomy, i'll
ventilated and depressing; a mere tenn
poray stopping place for servants OF all
nationalites, each one triile more in
competent than the last. The modern
conveniences soon have the look af an
cient Inconvenience. The range, every
cover of which is cracked and distorted
by course of red-hot fires, ceases to
bake or roast unless urged constantly to
the same point. The sink is the haunt
of reaches, for which and for mice titbits
are always in wait under or among the
3 pipes which burst or overflow in mystic
rious ways, and gradually through ne.
gect and abuse even the possibilities OF
the room turn to impossibilities, and the
only method of reconstruction lies. as in
other varieties and crises, in destruction
first and then new start.
There is no disinfectant like abundant
sunlight If the house faces in such di.
rection that this means of grace is known
only in front, there is partial remedy in
increasing the size of the windows, sup
posing the kitchen under discussion to
be the usual basement one OF cities and
towns. Where back porch or a piazza
shuts off light, it would be better if pos
sible to build the kitchen cut on the same
line, letting the intermediate space be
used for storage. Anything rather than
constant working in shadow, and thus
the inability to detect and Danish dirt,
which from the day it was used in our
manufacture has been the synonym OF
amending war, and will be so long rs
'earth goeth on earth"
Free ventilation means the possibility
of carrying off much of the mixed and
pervasive odor resulting from cooking,
but any description of such methods re-
quires more room than the present ar
tcle allows.
Economy of arrangements even more
essential To the architect, who never
having gone through the numberless
processes of getting meal, has no con-
ception of the number ofsteps TO be taken,
it seems II small matter whether a closet,
for instance, is near range or on the
other side of the room. He does not
plan, or from the position of the hot
water ppesis forced to plan, sink next
to the range, and underneath he elects,
having boxed it in, shall be the place
for pots and kettles.
Now nothing could well be less desir-
bale. About allwater pipes will, no matter
how well kept, be at. least occasional
visitations of Croton bugs or reaches, and
as they love devious ways their paths
will be through pots and saucepans far
more probably than any where else,
above all if any stray bits of the last
thing cooked adhere to them. If the
housokeepcr's susceptiblities revolt at
uncovered pies, keep nothing below be-
yond the box of sand and scrubbing
brushes, nor, pray you, let Bridget
"chuck'' floor cloths into remote corners
or even hang them on the pipes, Shiny
masses of possible fevers. Let them be
dried by sun or fire, and then if need be
find shelter there.
The floor if uncovered means week
ly scrubbing. A good oicloth requires
only washing over and thus saves time
and strength. An oiled floor of hard
wood is good and painted one also,
both requiring less labor than the ordin-
AIRY one Of pine boards. If the expense
is not too great painted walls thoroughly
vanished secure cleanliness, as they
can then simply be wipod down at inter-
walls. The color should be light, that
dirt may be revealed, not hidden. The
ceiling should be white or tinted to har-
monte with the walls. A wainscoting
is an advantage also, dirt adhering less
to wood than to plaster. Make the room
light airy and bright as possible, and it
will be easier to insist on its being kept
in suitable order than if both mistress
and maid are depressed and Disguised
the first consciously, the latter quite with
out her own knowledge of cause-by
darkness or gloom. For all evils, mental,
moral or physical, light is panacea,
and Bridget can be brought to terms
more speedily in sunshine than shadow
can ever dictate.