The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-12-04
THE HOME.
Salt.

| There is no article of common use
more often put on the table in slovenly
way than the ordinary table salt 1t
should be pulverized, and in order to do
this the salt shouldsbe frequently dried
| and sifted. Special table salts, which are
sold at the stores, are usually prepared
| by mixing certain percentage OF corn
| starch with the pure salt. This starch
acts as an adulterant. and, while 1T is
harmless in the salt for ordinary table
use, it would not improve the seasoning
qualities, and in the case of clear soup
would add enough thickening to partly
destroy it's clearness.
The same objection applies to adulter-
ating salt in this way, though it be
all other condiments. Considered all in
all, pure salt, dried in the oven and
sifted occasionally, is the very best for
all purposes Heat the salt as hot as
| posi- bic in the oven for at least ten
minutes. Then crush it fine with po-
tato masher and sift it through a flour
sieve. Store it in q wooden box and
set i'll on n high shelf in a dry closet.
Treated in this way it will not cake.
The only reason for its caking is the
presence of dampness. Salt which is
exposed to the air in a common salt eel
lar is quite likely to become lumpy; and
| for this reason the salt box kept in use
| IN the kitchen should be covered The
Germans use little hanging Teceptacles
| for salt in the kitchen, which are covered
| to protect the contents from dust as we'll
as moisture. and are placed against the
wall near the kitchen stove in order to
keep it dry and be conyenient for its fire.
Quent use in cooking. But the German
kitchen is in many ways an ideal one.
| Salt, sugar, flour, and all articles which
are in hourly need are kept in boxes of
| blue and white Stoneware, which are
much more wholesome and easily kept
/ clean than the receptacles of Japan
! ware or tin and are much more pic
! turesQue.
| There are many uses for common salt,
| besides seasoning. Rock salt, which is
| by no means the purest salt for culinary
uses is excellent in the bath. The purest
| salt for table use is that prepared from
salt springs. Ordinary rock salt is too
apt TO be mixed with other substances
| to be safely pulverized for table, use.
Bathing the feet and limbs in hot salt
water is said to soothe the suffering from
| rheumatism and neuralgia. There is
nothing more soothing in case of nerv-
/ Gus restlessness than a hot salt bath tax
| en- just before retiring. The efficacy of
a simple gargle of salt and water has
1 long been proved in ordinary sore
/ throat. The poison of mosquito bites or
bee stings may be removed by a strong
4 solution of salt and water. A dose OF
4 salt, frequently repeated, is the ordinary
remedy from hemorrhage of the lungs
or stomach. , .e9.s.
In the laundry and in house cleaning
salt is scarcely less efffcacious than 1T is
incidentally. 1t is the simplest means of
setting the color in printed cottons,
quantity of a cupful to two ordinary
pailfuls of clear, cold water to prevent
| injury to the fabric, for q. powerful brine
tends to rot the material.
There are certain plants, like aspara-
gus, which originally came from the
| seashore, which require certain amount
in the soil to make them grow, while
on most vegetation salt acts as a blight.
| There is no surer way to destroy grass
and weeds which will spring up uncalled
for in the gravel paths than to SOW them
with sa1t.-N. Y. Tribune.
| Towels.
| In choosing towels, beauty of design.
satin finish, the brilliant damask play
no part. The important features are
softness. durability and absorbing
qualities.
-Huckabuck towels are made in Ireland
of pure old bleach linen. are. durable. soft
absobing. The more expensive are of ex-
quisite finish, delightful to the touch,
and will outlast any article in the towel
| line that can be bought. The prices
| vary according to the weave and quality,
| and they can be bought with plain OF
| damask borders with the ends fringed
and deep bands of drawn work above
the fringe, but the housewife of refined
taste prefers the plain hemstitch, with
simple yet choice initial embroidered
in white.
i Crash towels possess absorbing quail
/ ties, and as friction towels they are in
comparable.
The usual size for bath towels is
twenty -four by fifty, but in may cases
! they come one yard and a half wide and
! two yards and half long.
| The linen closet should include good
assortment of pantry towelling, glass
towelling and kitchen aowelling. The
housekeeper ill-advised often reaches the
conclusion that anything is good enough
for this department.. The wise house
| keeper selects linen store of unques-
tionable reliability and congratulates
herself on the fact that kitchen towel
Ing Is VI pure lluCus anu itCU pttIO JluG,
as is too often the case.
The pantry towelling is usually plaid
ed, and comes in a light and a heavy
grade. the latter for silver ware and the
tea service, the former, with "glass cloth'
woven in the border, is used exclusively
| for glassware. Kitchen towels should
| have no suspicious of union" but be
| of the purest linen; they come in natural
| color and pure white and the same
quality can be used for roller towels.
/ N. E. Farmer.
Hints to Housekeepers
Here is a recipe for cleaning delicate
laces which an old lacemaker who has
woven many gossamer web Tor the
great connoisseur and lover of laces,
Nine Modjeska, gave to her pupil and
patron: Spread the lace out on paper,
cover with calcined magnesia, place an
other paper over it and put it away be
tween the leaves of u book for two or
three days. Them all it naedssis a skill
full little shake to scatter the powder,
and its delicate threads are as fresh and
clean as when first woven. Nine. Mod
! ZACH, p,,ito m aJo,t of fhnEart of nc