Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-01-10
THE HOUSEHOLD.
The Care OF Lamps.

A handsome lamp is certainly great
adornment to n room. Lamps are now
so universally used that the care of
them has become one of the daily and
most important of domestic duties, not
only of the country, but of the luxurious
city home. A few remarks on their care
may not be out of place. says Parlor
and Kitchen, considering that clear,
bright light adds SO much to the comfort
tions that one is we'll repaid for the
daily disagreeable task of keeping the
lamps i'll perfect order.
To begin with it IS wrong to put off
cleaning the lamps until the latter part
of the day, or until wanted for actual
use, as the vapor OF the oil about
freshly filled lamp is liable so explosion.
A lamp should be filled at least two
thirds it's depth, and one which has but
never be lighted, us the empty oil space
is filled with explosive vapor.
The disagreeable Pickering of a stu
dent lamp is often caused by small par
ticles Of the wick dropping into the IN
side tube of the cylinder surrounding
the wick, which prevents the oil flowing
freely from the barrel. Remove the oil
barrel before you insert new wick, and
empty the lamp entirely of oil, pour into
the opening, down the wick cylinder and
wherever fluid will touch inside, boil
ing water to which has been added
spoonful of spirits of ammonia.
In lighting n lamp be careful not to
touch the wick with the match, as by SO
doing you are liable to roughen or
spread it. The proper way is to hold
the match over the wick, very close to
it, and wait until the flame reaches it.
When the lamp is lit the wick should
be first turned down and then slowly
raised.
When nearly burned away wick may
be heightened by fold of Canton fan
which, reaching to the bottom of the
lamp, will feed the wick as the oil burns
out. Don't cut your wick, but, turning
it just above the tube. take match and
shave of the charred end, thus insuring
an even fame. Wicks should be dipped
i'll vinegar and dried thoroughly at the
fire before being put into lamps, to pre-
vent their smoking.
A chimney frequently breaks from
having been too tightly screwed on, the
glass expanding from the heat of the
easily cleaned by breathing upon and
into il, and wiping and polishing it
with newspaper.
uncleanly, soiling everything brought
in contact with them. The wick should
be turned down below the top of the
burner as soon as the lamp is extin-
guished, and if this be done, and the
lamps are carefully wiped every morn
ing, there should be no oil on the out
side by evening: Many people after
wick turned up, ready to light This
G 0u1d never ha 6ona
IT you are annoyed by not being able
to keep your lamp chimney clear. try
using warm water and soda, or rub the
smoky appearance with dry salt. Lamp
chimneys land all glass that is to be
looked through, in fact) should have as
little water put on them, once they are
clear, as is possible. Dry rubbing the
chimney with salt or cooking soda and
discolorings. The use of soap suds is
to be avoided.
Lamps should be emptied OCCASION
ally, and washed out with soap suds
containing soda or ammonia. This will
remove the greasy sediment from the
bottom, but care Must be taken to dry it
thoroughly before refilling, or it will
sputter when lighted. Lamps are
ierked about, left to themselves, and
not infrequently rplenished while in
actual use. (By the way. why is it that
SO many housekeepers keep their COM
mon lamps behind the kitchen or sit
ting room stove, the very dirtiest place
to be foundry To put in fresh oil while
a lamp is burning is pretty sure to oc-
casion mischief. There is no reason to
doubt that if the kerosene lamp We're
fully understood such practices would
be discontinued, and fewer accidents
would be the result.