St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-12
LIFE IN The HOUSE.

1t Is rather strange, when you come
to think Of it, how many little things
are "let go'' III the house. that really
fret the inmates and add friction to the
household machinery, which should
run smoothly. Most Of these ''let-go's"
are in the kitchen. l might philoso-
phize about that fact, but / will not.
just now. A dull vegetable knife is one
of these. The kitchen which contains
sharp one is the exception. yet it is
very exasperating to peel potatoes or
apples, cut up beans or slice turnips
with knife as dull as ''hoe."
In the first place, one begrudges the
money for q iIne steel knife ''just to
pare potatoes with" never stopping TO
think that the better the knife the
cheaper it Is for this sort of work. A
sharp knife will pare thinner and waste
less than dull one, and will last longer.
A good, small milestone should ac-
company it, with instructions to use it,
and not the stoyepipe, stOye-edge or
sole of the cooks shoe. There is an old
saying that one Of the few questions the
devil cannot answer is: What is a
wOman'S whetstOne?"
Another annoyance Is leaking tins of
various kinds. notably, quart measures,
dippers, dripping-pans and sauce-pans.
Bits of rag drawn through the tiny
holes, or fiour-paste rubbed on the bot
tom to form patch, are common de-
vices for getting along with these let-go
tins. instead of carrying them to the
nearest tin shop some morning and get
ting them back whole and strong in the
afternoon for very small outlay of
time and money. There is for sale, and
doubt not it is quite commonly used,
certain kind of solder that the dealers
claim can easily be used at home. l
think bought some once, but was not
very successful in using il, probably
from lack of skill. 1t in no way less
ened nv conviction that tins should not
be allowed to continue leaky, when
time or service has made them so.
A clothes wringer that will not wiring is
another annoyance. Perhaps one of the
rollers will not turn. We oil the gear
ing and fuss with it week after week, ON
washday, and forget it the other days,
all the time vaguely hoping it is only
"cOnniption fit" and the matter will
''right ITSELF" il only we wait long
enough. 1t does not fright ITSELF" and
so the annoyance continues, the clothes
are half-wrung or wrung by hand. when
it would be so easy to drop q postal to
the man who repairs wringers, and then
have this cease to be '.let-go.'
Dull scissOrs-whO does not know
them? Day after day some people
"saw away" with such pair, working
their jaws meanwhile, and getting
"pain in their tempers," all because
this is one of the "let-g0's'' that has
grown to be chronic. Isn't it queer?
Why is it so? l only know it is, and
hat how fr.ix, rtln xTIC IfC
me and uses my scissors fail to say,
are!" Also, / never go anywhere, TAX
ing my work. without being very sure
my scissors are with me, because L
know what will meet, nine times out
of ten. if / borrow scissors.
Another ''let-gO'' has connection
with tides. Now, tides are very nice
things. and very saving to the furniture
il they are properly made and adjusted;
but how few are. Most of them are
''everlastingly falling Off" and all be-
cause we fail to sew on little tapes for
pinning underneath. We mean to each
one of the fifty times we pick them up
and lay them on the sofa or chair: but
somehow we let it go. and fret ourselves
and others by SO doing.
The weekly repairingof garments is
almost religious duty in some few
homes; but in how many are the little
rents and rips, the lost buttons and
hooks, the broken buttonhOles and worn
edges. and the tiny holes and thin places
in hosiery let go from time to time until
nothing remains to be done but throw
aside the garments. 'The stitch i'll time
saves nine" remark may be trite, but it
is just as good as ever, and when find
a home where mending is one of the
"let-go's'' feel very sure there is sad
lack of thrift, and so of certain moral
qualities that go with it.