Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-01-02
THE HoUsEHoLn



handsome lamp is certainly great
adornment to q 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 PGrtor
and Kitchen, considering that a clear,
bright light adds so much to the comfort
and enjoyment of the evening occupa-
tions, that one is we'll repaid for the
daily disagreeable task of keeping the
lamps in perfect order.
To begin with it is wrong to put OF
cleaning the lamps, until the latter part
of the day, or until wanted for actual
use, as the vapor OF the oil about
freshly filed lamp is liable TO explosion.
A lamp should be filed at least two
thirds its depth, and one which has but
a spoonful or two of oil in it should
never be lighted, ps the empty oil space
is filed with explosive vapor.
The disagreeable Pickering of sta
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 n 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 o
spoonful of spirits of ammonia.
In lighting lamp be careful not tot
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 fame 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 fam
mel pinned to the end OF the wick,
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 o match and
an even fame. Wicks should be dipped
in 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
! flame. The chimney may be quickly and
easily cleaned by breathing upon and
into it, and wiping and polishing it
with newspaper.
| Lamps filled to overfowing are very
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
| filing and trimming a lamp leave the
wick turned up ready to light. This
should never be done.
| III 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 oil 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
bit OF newspaper should remove all
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 reflling, or it will
sputter when lighted. Lamps are
| jerked about, left to themselves, and
not infrequently replenished 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 were
fully understood such practices would
be discontinued, and fewer accidents
would be the result.