The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-27
HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.


Large heads and figures of brass on plush and
handsomely framed are now hung on fashionable
walls and designated as pictures
Some of the newest imported dinner china is
plain white, with simply single flower painted
on some part of the plate or dish.
High black satin screens, on which are beauti-
fully painted or embroidered scenes from cele-
brated plays, poems, or books, are in luxurious
homes.
New York Mail and Express: They even put
rosewood shelves and cabinets now on top Of the
upright piano, possibly ignorant of the fact that
this ruins the music of the instrument
Salt sprinked any substance burning on
| the stove will stop the smoke and smell. Salt
| thrown upon Goals blazing from the fat of
broiled chops or ham will cause the blaze to sub
| side
| Many elderly ladies are fond of breakfast caps.
A dainty one, to 60 with a breakfast apron of
scrim, is made Of cream white fine wool lace, the
rneshes run through with black velvet or laven-
der ribbon
Bamboo plays an important part in modern
| household decoration. 1t is seen In screens,
rocking chairs, footstools and even picture
| frames. the latter very odd and said to be the
style in India.
If you wish to prevent the unpleasant odor
| that arises from boiling cabbage, tie up piece
cabbage. A piece of stale bred on the end of a
| knife with which you are cutting onions Will
prevent the juice from affecting the eyes un-
| pleasantly.
| Rapid growth is seldom desirable in house
plants. When plants shoot up quickly, the leaves
| are more apt to turn yellow and drop early than
if the growth is slower. If there be one time
| more than any other that plants be given
stmulants to advantage, 1t is when they are IN
| bud, ready to break out strongly into bloom.
An excellent furniture polish that will keep
TOR any lenth Of time is made by this recipes One
nf 10 80 1tN,-
| one half ounce of white soap, and one pint of
| boiling water. Melt all together in a saucepan
over the fire and pour into bottle. Apply it by
| rubbing little on a small space with cloth of
any kind rub with second cloth and polish
with third.
In potting cuttings and shifting plants, many
amateurs, perhaps the majority of them. and
also some florists press the earth but lightly, as
if they were afraid of hurting the roots of the
plant To lightly press the soil only gives TO the
roots no fair chance to lay hold of the food for
them in the earth, and the plants suffer to CORE
| spond Press the soil very firmly in these opera
| tions, as rule. The soil, of course, must be
| light, porous and dry
Flannel which has become yellow with use may
| be bleached by putting it FOR some days in a
| solution of hard soap to which strong ammonia
has been added. The right proportions are one
| pound and half of hard-cure6 soap, fifty
| pounds of soft watersand two-thirds of pound
| of strong ammonia solution. The same object
| flannel for a quarter of an hour in weak solu-
| ton of bsulphate of sodium, to which little
| hydrochloric acid has been added.
| Anyone who has the courage to attempt a
| large piece of knitting work will be we'll paiddor
the trouble and the great length of time it takes
| if she will undertake the knitting of a bedspread
not one of the old fashioned, closely knit ones
| that were made of white cotton yarn, and were
as heavy as carpets when done and very hard to
| wash when soiled, but more modern affair, ju
Dad
| ted of gray Barbour's flax and blue or scarlet
| satin. The knitted part will be nearly as dura-
| BILE as the Pyramids Of the desert, and the satin
can be replaced when times effacing fingers have
| pressed it too severely.
TO give a black color to the willows used for
| baskets and other woven ware, let the material
remain from twelve to twentyfour hours in
| lukewarm water and then dipping it sufficient
length of time in dye composed of five parts of
ground fustic three of suphate of copper, five of
sulphate of iron, and four of cream of tartar
The dye should be kept at boiling heat for half
an hour to extract the color from the fustic and
dissolve the other Ingredients after which it may
be allowed to cool. small quantity oflogwood
added will sometimes improve the color The
same process may be used for coloring the
various fabrics of which summer hats are made,
such as straw, palmleaf, grass, etc.
A Paris fashion writer says: Even old bits of
cloth have their The other day 1 was ad-
miring table cover, made up of colored cloth
and embroidered in the Arab fashion, and the
friend, whose handiwork it was, informed me
that the dull blush grey cloth had been cut
from an old military cloak, and there was mel
lowness about the tones which could not have
been obtained with material. Another
specimen more curious than really pretty, was
made out of the uniform of a lieutenant of Mo
biles; the bits of gold lace, the grenades en-
brOidered on the collar, and the number of the
regiment appeared here and there amongst the
embroidery-a record, tenderly preserved of the
Franco German war.
The following directions for crystalizing flow
ers are given by an exchange: Construct some
baskets of fancy form with pliable copper wire,
and wrap them with gauze; into these tie to the
bottom volets, ferns, geranium leaves, in fact.
everything except full-bloom roses and sink
them in solution of alum, of one pound to a
gallon of water after the solution has cooled.
The colors will be preserved in their original
beauty and the crystallized alum will hold faster
! than from a hot solution. When you have a
light covering of crystals that cover completely
the flowers remove the basket carefully and al
low it to drip for twelve hours. These baskets
make beautiful ornament, and for long time
preserve the freshness of the flowers.
A fiat bag for holding stray photographs or
engravings is made of two pieces of plush of the
same width but one is third longer than the
other In a room whose walls are rather well
covered with decorative objects, the bag can be
hung on door with very good effect. The
| larger piece of plush should be sewe1 to brass
rod with a slender chain to hang it by. The
smaller piece being lined with satin and inter
lined with buckram. is sewed to the lower part
Of the longer piece, making of the whole sort
of envelope with square top. A heavy silk
cord should be sewed all around the edge. ex-
cepting the part that is fastened to the rod
The larger piece of plush should also be stiff
fened with buckram, and may be lined with cam
brio, for satin trimming will not be necessary
as its position against the wall prevents the lin
ing from showing.
CURIOUS WEDDING.
The Marriage Ceremony Performed by the
Son of the Contracting Parties.