The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14
THE HO M E.


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THE HOME.
CURIOUS FACTS.
Paper clothing is being made by Mime
sofa inventor. 1t is as soft as cloth and it is
claimed that the cold cannot penetrate it.
The fleece of ten goats and the work Of
several men for half year are required to
make cashmere shawl a yard and half
square.
spider, the Caracurt, or sblack WOLF"
secretes powerful poison, which forms
twenty-five per cent. of its whole weight
The poison, Prof. Breeger finds, is a peculiar
unstable alkaloid. Introduced into the cir
culation of warm-blooded animals, one
thirtieth of a milligramme per kilogramme
Of the weight of the animal treated was
sufficient to cause DEATH 1t exceeds in
power all known vegetable principles. and
prussic acid, being comparable in toxicity
with the poison of snakes.
It is said that sham pearls are so well
made that, when properly set, they cannot
be distinguished from genuine ones. They
are simply beads of clear glass coated inside
with lustrious solution obtained from the
scales of some small fishes-bleak and dace.
1t takes the scales of 10000 of the fishes to
make two pounds of the solution, which is
called essence d'orient." The imitation
pearls are more durable than the real ones,
which are liable to be injured by perspira-
tion or various other incidents of wear.
The military custom of saluting by bring
abe hand into a horizontal position over the
eyebrows, Is thus accounted for. 1t is sup
posed to date back to the tournaments of the
middle ages, when. after the Queen of
Beauty was enthroned, the knights who
marched past the dais on which she sat- and
as they passed shielded their eyes from the
rays of her beauty.
A French chemist has spun nitrated cellu-
lose into artificial silk more wonderful and
more beautiful than the well known spun
glass: 1t Is colored at pleasure while in
solution and after drying Is unaffected by
acids alkalies. hot or cold water, alcohol or
ether.
Leghorn hats are made not at Leghorn,
but at Prato, some eleven miles from there.
About 10000 persons are employed either in
raising the straw or in preparing or planting
In lower Brittany on the birth of a child
nel q women at once take it in charge;
with oil to solder its Uranium bones"
THE FLOWER GARDEN.
Those who start cuttings in water will use
bottle with wide mouth. they will find it
an easy matter to remove the plant when the
time comes to pot it, without injuring the
roots. Or, after the roots have reached the
side of the glass, they can sift the fine earth
into the bottle till it is an inch or two in
depth. After the roots have taken possess
sion Of this soil. the top of the bottle can be
broken off by sharp blow with knife, and
then the mass of earth can be slipped out
without disturbing the roots in the least, in
exactly the same manner as the ball of earth
in which plant is growing can be removed
from pot.
In potting young plants, don't make the
too common mistake of putting them in too
large pots at first. Some pot off small
plant into six or seven inch pct. filled with
rich earth 1t is expected to make vigorous
growth, but it generally turns yellow, and
soon dies. They cannot understand why
this Is so. The reason is that there Is more
nutriment in the soil than the young and
delicate roots can dispose of. It is overfed.
Two and three inch pots are large enough
for young plants: Let them remain in these
pots till the roots completely fill the soil
Then change to a size larger.
Don't cut off the leaves of dubious plants
after they have done towering thinking tina!
them ripen: They will die off as the sap goes
back into the bulb. Give water as lorg as
new leaves are put forth. When they cease
to appear, withhold water, and as the leaves
allow it to remain so till the plant gives sign
Of new growth. This is applicable particu-
larly to Amaryllises and plants of that class
If you have an old Geranium that has done
duty through the winter by Towering, and
you do not care to keep the plant over an
other SAaS0n nut IL intn clinc nd mt
them in sand, to make young plants. An old
plant will often furnish enough cuttings to
fill bed in the garden. Never throw away
a good cutting, for If you don't want the
plant it will grow into, some one will.
INVENTOR OF THE THnfBLE.
There is rich family of the name of Loft
ing in England. the fortune of whose house
was founded by such an apparently insig-
nifcant thing as the thimble. The first ever
seen in England was made in London less
than two hundred years ago by metal
worker named John Lofting. The useful
ness of the article commended it at once to
all who used the needle, and Lofting acquired
large fortune. The implement was then
thumb when in use, and its shape suggesting
the rest of the name. This clumsy mode of
utilizing 1t was soon changed, however, but
the name s0ftened into ''thimble'' remains.
CONCERNING MOTHS.
Regarding moths, says the Upholstery
Trade Review, many are not aware that the
damage is done when the millers commence
to fly, as their very presence indicates the
absence of the worm. 1t is to prevent the
miller incubating that precautions should be
taken. A large proportion of the millers
never hatch eggs, but die without causing
any harm. The male miller, which does not
fly, but runs very rapidly, is quite easily de-
tected by his triangular shaped figure, but,
keeping, out of sight, he is not so easily
found. His hiding explains the devious
flights of the female in her search. The
killing of one male is equal to the extinction
of many ordinary millers. The male miller
is commonly known by the name of "silver
fish," Carpets are seldom troubled with
moth worms except where Matched in dark,
unprotected space, and where it is moderately
warm. 1t is for this reason no doubt that
carpet houses are seldom, If ever, troubled by
them, the stocks in the larger houses being
disposed OF between seasons. Nearly all the
trouble from moths emanates from the
furniture, the burlap inside the outer cover
ing being their best field for work, where
they can be free from annoyance and find
plenty to eat. Many furniture dealers
realize their danger and cleanse the burlap
ustu Will ndpnLna. III is Wnen the worms
are either tired of food or it lacksthe nourish-f
ment that they desire that they seek an out
let and drop upon the carpet. Cleansing
carpets by the naphtha process is regarded
as the surest and most satisfactory where
there is the slightest suspicion Of moth eggs
or worms. 1t is especialls adapted to pile
carpets Caution should be exercised as to
the purity and clearness of the naphtha used
and the thorough extraction of the grease,
else the dirt adheres more easily than before
When carpets are to remain in storage some
time, the odor can be left In the carpet A
more thorough cleansing can be assured by
having the carpet beaten first. A surface
application Of naphtha will drive the i'm
purities through the article, to be absorbed
by that which is under It.
LITTLE THINGS IN THE SICK ROOM.
One of the luxuries of invalid life is a fan
mel wash cloth. To sensitive person who
breads and shrinks from the touch of wet
linen or cotton cloth, the substitution of a
wash cloth of soft baby flannel will often
times serve to render the bath agreeable. il
not positively enjoyable. 1t should be made
of two or three thicknesses of the flannel