Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-28
DISH WASHING A PLEASURE.
How to Break bad Habits-Good Manners
and Good Health-How . Lady Can Work
and Still Have Fair Hands-The Good 70 Be
Derived From . Change Of Occupation.


|
speaking, faithfulness in little things, con-
sideration for others, justice to rich women
and poor women alike, to friend and foe alike
the only ones on these points which they will
probably have in all their lives.
If some evening in the week the friend and
teacher gives talk on behavior she may as
the lips and teach her class the beginning of
wisdom in personal appearance, which is to
hold the mouth closed and firm when not
speaking. 1t is one Of the hardest tasks in
| training to keep young peoples mouths shut.
Girls must be biting their lips out of nervous
ness, because they don't know exactly what to
| do with themselves-not knowing, as they
would say in school girl dialect, how they give
| then selves away by doing so.
Bella b. can do little to improve her thick
liIs hey ond ceasing the habit of biting them.
BIZ ding piece OF thick tinfoil over the mouth
| fifteen mil utes at time will tend to thin
them, but few girls have patience to follow up
| the advice for six weeks.
| WORTH OF GOOD BREATHING.
1t is more to the point to say that it is i'm
portant to keep the passages Of the nose per-
fectly clear, to have the mouth well closed and
mobile. The last thing before leaving privacy
| should always be toilette de nez, clearing it
by smiling water of cologne and water or spray
ing with the handy atOmizer, which has SO
fume There is no surer way Of keeping the
eyes bright than by keeping the nose clear and
| breath free. The compound stupidity OF the
stuffed head, the vermOuth eyes and open jaw
betoken not only physical but mental incom-
potency. 4 youth or a man cannot have good
| sense if his nasal and breathing apparatus is
| out of order, and, Of necessity, affecting his
brain. Physicians find that the stupidity of
many children at school vanishes with the cure
| of cataIrh, that sure sequence of want of in
| fell in, aarly Tho frnubla
moved, the lungs and breath working freely,
| the blood in body and brain aerated the
child seems to wake into new life, loses its log
giness and grows bright and playful as the
| brightest of its mates Boys in their teens and
| twenties often have touch OF catarrh from
| sleeping in stuffy, unventilated rooms. Green,
awkward animals, that hardly have their
growth without their strength, they feel and
dread the cold, shut up their sleeping rooms
/ to the fumes of damp boots and socks, and
bury their heads under the bedclothes, inhal-
| ing their own breath over and over, till the
| whole breathing canal is out of order, and they
| regularly poison and narcotize themselves for
the ensuing day. The mouths of such youths
| fall open partly from weakness of the hinges OF
| the jaw, partly because their only chance OF
breath is by leaving the door wide open.
WHERE RIDIcULE MAY SAVE.
The friends of such an unfortunate cannot do
kinder thing than to ridicule him till he
breaks the habit. One pities the friends, how
| ever, for mental obtuseness lends its obstInacy
to any correct impression and the clumsy young
idiot cannot be persuaded that his expression
is not on a par with his stiff shirt collar and
correct tie. Still let no faithful mother sis
ter despair. have seen bad habits chung to
for twenty-five years in spite Of daily criticism
and remonstrancc at last break upon their
Owner in their native Offense, followed by
speedy casting away. As a rule we arc too ten
der Of bad habits 1t il a kindness to any one,
lxx.k Ahx< t1<o<
to give the rebuke sharp a surgeons blade,
which will at once dissect the evil thing which
mars his daily presentment This sounds se-
we're. but every devoted mother will agree to
its truth and kindness.
If there were such things classes for do
pertinent, or, rather, private lessons given with
any degree OF strictness and faithfulness they
would bring a rich return. The boy or girl
who will not learn at home in years of training
will wake up to a strangers criticism and il
would be worth years income to some men
and women to be told the one bad habit which
makes their presence stunned or endured with
aversion by their FELLOW beings.
CARE OF THE HANDS.
To fall back on lighter themes, No. would
like advice in regard to her hands. I'm sum-
mer they are white, but as soon as cold weather
sets in they turn dark blue and red. They
are very soft and are never chapped. She does
no work whatever and seldom has them in
water except oatmeal water. As she has great
deal OF company and goes out very often, it is
mos. annoying" 1t would be well for her
hands if she did some work that would bring
| them into play and restore the circulation.
She could hardly do anything better for them
than to wash her own china and silver twice a
day, in all the elegance of tray in the dining
| room or buffers pantry, with q white cedar
| tub, its brass hoops like gold, a snowy cup mop
| and Napkin with clean hot suds Of good soap
| which would not dishonor the daintiest fingers.
wash u dozen or two plates in the old-fash-
| Toned way with hands in the warm water. rim
| sing them afterward with clear, warm water
having teaspoonful of lemon juice and a
tablespoonful of cologne in it. The usual advice
| to keep hands out Of dishwater must be re-
| versed in such cases. Asking pardon of your
| sensibilities for such a subject, the water our
cups and spoons are washed in should not be
| dirty water in the least.
| No manicure or hand bath will do the good Of
dabbling in very warm soap suds for these blue
| and red hands, and their owner should take
| every chance of doing up her own laces and
little things After this. fencing or throwing
bean bags or quoits gives the exercise which
| tremitles.
DISH WASHING MADE NICE.
While we are on this vulgar, but most highly
respectable topic, let me say to those ladies
who do themselves the honor Of attending to
their own housework, and consequently have
| il done by ladies as to ladies' taste, that there
Is no need of spelling hands by ever 80 much
dish washing ii the right care Is taken It is the
| scalding water, the hard water, bad soap and
hasty half drying which makes hands coarse.
A little soda, half teaspoonful or less to q gal
/ Ion of water warm enough to heat the china
well, but not parboil the hands, and decent
soap, not the strong kitchen bar, which ruins
skin wherever it touches, still less as some
| would-be refined women advise toilet soap for
this operation. The notion OF scented soap in
dishwashing would bar the use Of it forever
from most toilets. The white cotton oil soaps
| in which we sure of clean oil, and no more
alkali than is needed and which sell as cheaply
as any, should be used for china and light
washing. All stronger cleansing should be
managed with mop, with handle fifteen to
eighteen inches long, which few of the best
furnishing stores have the sense to sell, and
which keep hands and dress effectually from
injury. while doing the work with speed and
! 1reness.
WORKING HANDS THE BEST.
Rightly cared for, I repeat, there is no need
Of having hands grow stumpy and thick with
work. They were made to work and some of
the hardest working races in the world have
the finest hands and feet. Mark what Mr.
Stanley says Of the African pigmies who hunt
and grub Tor a living and yet have the most
beautiful cxtremities. do many Of the savage
tribes. The Japanese, the Hindoos, Italians
l. 4