The National tribune., 1883-03-29
W0MAN'S WORK.
Aunt Helen'S Home Talks---Color in
DreSS---0ur Letter pp S1x &o.

Aunt Helen, resuming her talk on the max
ing of homes, touches upon some practical
things which form the foundation of a health
full and comfortable homo.
Every prudent architect" continued Aunt
Helen, at the next gathering of the little FAM
lily, "looks well to the foundation of the house
which he builds, and, initiating his method, we
in our home will make the cellar our starting
point. Here, the chief things to be avoided
are dampness and uncleanliness, and these two
conditions are largely dependent upon the ma
ture of the cellar floor. ce,:serted Hoor is
dryer and more easily kept clean than any
; uJner, and for this reason is preferable. As
! often as once during the week the floor should
be thoroughly swept. 1t will prevent much
disorder if there be separate compartments for
coal, wood, and kindling. Ashes should never
be allowed to accumulate in cellar; they are
untidy III appearance and unhealthful in elect,
and it is said that nothing forms more hospit-
able nest for fees than an ash pile. No refuse
| matter such as fallen bits of meat and vegeta-
bles, should be allowed to remain in the cellar.
Much care should be given to ventilation; ex-
cept in severe weather, the gratings should be
! left open. The confined air soon becomes foul,
and being denied rightful vent viii seek it
! elsewhere and In time the whole house may
| become penetrated by it, The walls ought oc-
spring they should be whitewashed. If the
cellar be visited, by rats, it is said that these
| intruderS may be eXterminated by whiteWash
| made yellow with copperas, and that crystals
of copperas may be dropped into the creyices of
the floor Should there be erevices) with the
! same result.
A little distance brings us from the cellar to
! the kitchen, and when we say kitchen we sor-
rowfully think of many place which we have
seen, dark, damp, teeming with disagreeable
fumes and resembling a prison vault Of me-
! di9yal times much more than place where
the table Injuries of the nineteenth century
are compounded. In our city homes there are
| many such kitchens, and yet the human beings
| whose dreary, mon0tCnous lives are spun out in
! such places are expected to be always well, al
ways cheerful, always good natured, and always
| prompt and successful in cooking and serving.
Themeans ofobtaning pure air and glad, health
| giving sunlight should be among the first re-
quisites in kitchen. Brick and stone floors
| should be unknown; the cold oil cloth so often
seen in kitchens, should also be banished, and
in its stead there should be- in winter, strips of
warm carpet or rugs in places where the cook
! Is accustomed to stand much, but in summer
nothing can be more desirable here than q
| bare, clean, wooden floor Shining tins are
| perhaps the natural ornaments of the kitchen,
| but 1t would add much to the habitabeness of
| the place If little ornaments were put up in
! there, and boxes neatly papered covered
with pretty chintz or cretonne. Most cooks
would have care about these little embellish-
ments in the kitchen if they were there to be
| cared for A kitchen should be plentifully
| supplied with useful and necessary utensils,
| and these should be made of good material The
| cook Will have enough to test her patience
without the cross of broken, leaking, or INSULT
cient kitchen-ware. The question, Whether
! we Shall have range or Stoye2' is individual.
Popular favor seems more and more 10 incline
toward the range. For ourselves, much OBJ
| seryation has convinced us that the improved
| oll-stovcS are more clearly, economical, and
quite as efficient as coal-stoves or ranges. One
OF the first injunctions to cook should be
caretulness about her range; at regular periods
the latter should be polished and the ashes re-
moved from all its crannies. Because of the
accumulation of ashes in the inside of a stove
or range many an oven has been untustly con-
demned. The cooking vessels should often
be thoroughly washed. Nothing can be
more unappetizing than the sight of deep
deposits OF dust aud grease on the outside
| OF vessels in which food is cooked. The copper
boiler and fauset may be cleaned with oxaIic
acid. The boiler should be cleaned when
nearly cold, rubbed with flannel cloth wet in
oxalic acid and water, and polished with dry
/ flannel or chamois. 0xalic acid should never
/ be used on cooking vessels; the bottle contain
ing it should be labeled poison, and should
never be kept IN the kitchen. If the kitchen
| floor is painted, it should be scrubbed with
! cold water. If the tables are of pine, they
| should be scrubbed with cold water and sand,
| in the direction Of the grain. Sand should
never be used on hard wood 0il-eans may be
cleaned with soda dissolved in water the pro-
| portion being one tablespoonful of soda in one
| quart OF water. The sink is a fruitful gen
orator OF bad odOrs and gas. 1t should be daily
cleaned, and If hot water be allowed to run for
some minutes down the pipe the slime and
! grease will be washed away. Cotfee-grounds
are efficient cieansers OF pipes but no substance
! larger than coiee-grounds should ever be al
lowed to enter any drain-pipe. Wooden sta
] tlonary wash-tubs are often a source of I'M
healthfui odors IN a house. The waste-pipe
| from them often runs untrapped into the soil
pipe. To remedy the odor, haze the pipe
| trapped, and occasionally leave the tubs open,
that they may have an opportunity to dry.
| When washing dishes, the cook should have
two dlsh-pans, the one for washing the other
for rinsing the dishes: there should also be
deep waiter, or a third pan, on which the
dishes may drain The dish-cloths and tea
| towels should be washed daily. Refuse matter
| should never be left in the kitchen, unless it
| be desirable to attract rats and insects Regu-
| larity in all things aud in the habits of all
insures to the whole household peace and COM
fort, and this means good health and good
temper The wheels of the domestic machinery
move neiselessly and without friction only in
| those homes where each duty has It's appointed
time of performance. A systematic distribu-
ton of duties throughout the days OF the week
lessons the weight of household cares. and
prevents any one day from being overcrowded
with work. But on this subject of home man
| agement many things must ever remain I'M
said. Domestic economy is science without
| limit. Its laws must often be regulated by
present conditions and its precepts varied ac-
cording TO the needs or common sense of the
individual. The ability perfectly to govern
and conduct household can be acquired only
through experience and continuous study of
home interests and as we say this there comes to
| our memory verse from that Book which is as
old as the history of our race: Through wis
dom is an house builded and by understand
ing it is established. And by knowledge shall
the chambers be filled with all precious and
| pleasant riches"
Then came our table, the weekly offering of
Aunt He!en's little ally, Table.
OUR TABLE.
Dishes for Breakfast and Tea.
Welsh Rare Bi;.-Half a pound of cheese two
eggs, specs of cayenne, tablespoonful of butter
one tcaspooniul OF mustard, half a teaspoonful of
salt, hall cupful of cream. Break the cheese in
small pieces and put it and the other ingredients
into a bright saucepan and Set the pan over boil
| Ing water Stir until the cheese nets; then spread
| the mixture slices of crisp toast Serve iLnme-
! diately. cupful OF ale beer may be used in