The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-12-19
LET COS IN THE HOME
Petty Annoyances of HOusekeepers
Due to Neglect.

- o. 49, eAN AO01N1 cAANS NNNS
inmates and add friction to the household
machinery, which should run smoothly.
Most of these ''let go's'' are in the
kitchen. l mightSphilosophize about that
fact, but ! will not just now! A dull
vegetable knife is Il of these. Inc
kitchen which contains a sharp one is the
execution, yet it is very exasperatlng TO
peel potatoes or apples, cut up beans, or
slice turnips. with a knife as dull as q
noe" In the first place n begrudges
the money for a fine 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 a
dull one, and will last longer.
A good, small whetstone should accom-
pany 1t, with instructions to use 1t, ana
not the s~tovepipe, stove edge or sole OF tne
cooks shoe. There is anold saying, that
one of the few questions the devil cannot
answer is, What is a woman's whet-
stone Y Another annoyance is leaking
tins of various kinds, notably quart meas
ures, dippers, dripping pans and sauce
pans. BITS OF rag drawn through me
tiny holes, OF flour paste rubbed on Inc
bottom to form q patch are common de-
vices for getting along with these let7go
tins, instead OF carrying them TO the
nearest tinsnop some morning and get
ting e back whole and strong in the
/ dlNtInOOH luz d very SI1dll OuUldy IL U1ulO
and money. There is for sale. and
doubt not it is quite commonly used, q
certain kind of solder that the dealers say
can be easily used at home. | think l
bought some once, but was not very sue
cessful in using it, probably from lack of
skill 1t in no way lessened my conviction
that tins should not be allowed 10 con-
tinue leaky whent time or service has made
them so.
A clothes wringer that will not wiring,
another annoyance. Perhaps one OF the
rollers will not turn. We oil the gearing
and fuss with it week after week. on
wash day, and forget it the other days,
all the time vaguely hoping 1t is only q
'c%onniption ft' and the matter will
fright i~tself,n If only we wait long
enough. 1t does not right ITSELF, and
so the annoyance continues, the clothes
are half wrung, or wrung by hand, when
it would be so easy TO drop a postal to the
man who repairs wringers, and then have
this cease to be a ''let-go." Dull scissors
who does not know them? Day after DAY
some people saw away" with suen z
pair, working their jaws meanwhile, n
getting a pain in their tempars,' all be-
cause this is one of the "let- go's'' that has
grown to be chronic. Isn't it queer
Why is it so? only know it is, AMI that
| rarely have a friend who uses my scis-
sharp your scissors areli Also, | never
so anywhere, taking my work, without
being very sure my scissors are with it,
because / know what l will meet, nine
times out of ten, if / borrow scissors.
Another "let-go" has a connection with
tides. Now, tides are very nice things,
and very saving to the furniture it they
are properly made n adjusted; but how
few are. Most of them are 'everlaStlngly
falling off," and all because We fail to
sew on little. tapes for tying, or little
tapes for pinning underneath. We mean
/ ~ aoa1,. ~ +Ia Sefy Vrna xryn rioR than
up and lay them OF the sofa or chair, but
somehow we let them go and fret our
selves and others by so doing. The
weekly repairing of garments is almost a
religious duty in some few homes, but ID
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 in time saves ninen remark
may be trite, but it is just as good as ever,
and when / find a home where mend
ing is one of the 'let-go's" | feel very sure
there is sad lack of thrift, and so of GER
tain moral qualities that go with iU.-
/ Good Housekeeping.
Copper COOKING Utensils.
English friends often ask me how il is
that one gets in the humblest places in
France appetizingss and varied food and
nice made dishes. My answer is:-"The
French always cook in copper" All
meat, from veal to game, that is used in
a made dish is first fried in b~utter,swhich
can only be doHe properly in a. copper yes
sci, because its heat is evenly ditfused
and it does not grow rapidly very hot or
cold. Butter melted in an iron vessel,
ever though it have porcelain FILLING,
soon blackens. Potatoes fried in butter
in q copper saucepan take a beautiful
ro1dan finnQ In an lPnn one fhAW Opt
black. That-glory of the French Gordon
bleu. "canard aux navets,o would stick
to the bottom of any but q copper stew
pan and get burned if not constantly STIR
red. Now, frequent stirring involves a
loss of aroma. What | Ia said of luck
applies to ''b@uf a la mode" or ''poulet a
la Marengo,' or shoulder of mutton
hraise, or s'gibelotte de lapin."
When new to France / set myself up
with a .bstterie de cuisine bought in Bel
GUM. 1t was or iron, enamelled with
blue without and white within. Having
one day invited a dozen or so friends to
dinner / secured the services of q chef.
I shall never forget how, on being taken
into the kitchen, he folded his arms and
eyed the utensils with which he was to
operate. you want. seriously" he said,
TO lay before your guests q dinner which
they will eat with pleasnre?', ''Of
course" well, as it is impossible to
work with that batterie de cuisine, and it
is too late to get another, | beg leave to
90 away. The vessels you have are only
fit to scald vegetables"
In England there is an exaggerated
fear of verdigris, which, however sicken-
ing, is really never fatal in its effects.
But, as the prejudice is strong, il might
be well for manufacturers to guarantee
absolute safety by using nickel instead of
tin for lining. MCKEE hardly ever wears
out, and is easy to keep clean. London
Truth
Not 81 Ghost.
heard yesterday of a graveyard Incl
dent, occurring in the suburbs, which, no
doubt, would have proved to many minds
that ghosts exist and may be encountered
any night, had it not promptly been in