The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-10-02
THE HOME.
CONCERNING RRooMS.


In spite of the proverb to the contrary,
the modern new broom does not always
sweep clean. Quite 1ikely it is a brittle
affair, which breaks off and leaves many
splinters behind it. There has been SO
much chemical treatment of brooms in
recent years to make them look like
green broom corn and, to make them
appear everything which they are not, it
is not strange that the new broom has
suffered. 1t is great pity that the or
binary broom corn broom is the general
standby in most households for sweeping.
1t is not to be compared in sweeping
carpets with good carpet sweeper,
which will out-last couple of dozen
brooms, and will not cost half as much.
Armed with good carpet sweeper and
whisks to brush the edges of the room,
a.room may be swept in much more
cleanly manner, and with much less ex-
ertion than with the old-fashioned
broom. A broom of fibre such as the
| Japanese use or of hair will not cost a
! great deal more than a good broom-corn
| broom, and will sweep off wood floors,
| mattings and oil cloths great deal
takes up the coarse rubbish, but also the
| fine dust on the floor. 1t is true such a
| broom cannot be used quite SO rapidly,
| but this is because it does not do It's
work in makeshift manner. No one
| who has used an ordinary broom, and
afterward a hair broom, will hesitate
about the utility of the two. A good
ha1r broom may be bought for about
SLIPS. The Japanese broom, when it can
| be found in our shops, costs about 50
| cents, but at it is generally considered
more piece of brie-a-brac than an artl-
| Gle for general use, it is not regularly
| imported.
The common practice ofcoloring cheap
broom corn with green coloring mat
| ter. which looks suspiciously like arseni-
cal dye, should be discouraged by all
good housekeepers. The green coloring
matter can be easily recognized, because
| it is unevenly distributed. tits doubt
| full whether this green solution in which
such brooms are dipped is not the cause
| tain it is that the excellent broom which
was sold in the stores a generation ago is
| hardly to be found in the shops today.
| 1t has been driven out of the shops by
| the competition of cheap manufacture,
| and for this the public is as much at fault
as the manufacturer. New York Tribune.
SWEET PICKLES.:
| A good all-round sweet pickle is made
of seven pounds of fruit, three and one
half pounds of sugar, one quart of vine
gar, one teaspoonful of bits of mace OF
nutmeg, two tablespoonfuls of stick Gin
namon, and one-half tablespoonful OF
cloves. Extract the strength of tie
spices by simmering in a very little
water. Strain the water into the vinegar
and sugar aud when the syrup boils pIt
in the fruit and simmer from fifteen tc
thirty minutes. Add two sliced lemons,
with two ounces of ginger root for Gu.
! cumbers or melons.
Apple. Two quarts of vinegar, three
pounds of sugar, one ounce each of Glove
cinnamon and allspice, and seven pounds
| of apples Steam the apples till tender,
then place in a jar. Boil the vinegar
and sugar together, steep the spices
! in a separate dish, settle and strain info
| the syrup. Pour the syrup while hot
over the apples and let them stand three
days: then drain off the syrup and boil
| it, down and pour over the apples hot.
Set in cool place.
Peaches. Take ripe but'not soft peach
es and put Glove into one end Of each
| peach. Take.two pounds of brown sugar
to gallon of vinegar, skim and boil
up twice; pour it hot over the peaches,
and cover close In a week Or two, pour
off and scald toe vinegar again. After
this they will keep any length of time.
Tomato.-Make hot spiced syrup OF
one pint of vinegar, two pounds of brown
sugar, one-haif ounce of stick cinnamon,
and one-quarter of whole cloves, and
Geek in it four pounds of tomatoes,
take them out and let the syrup cook
| slowly. When the fruit is cool return
to the syrup and cook ten minutes Put
in jars when cold, and pour the syrup,
which should he as thick as molasses,
| over them Seal carefully. f. l.. Condit
in The Housekeeper
THoUGHTLEssNEss OF SPEECH.
1t is not, however. the pen that woman
| should fear so much and try to control,
as it is the tongue, writes Edward W. Box
in "At Home with the Editor" in the
October Ladies Home journal. The
greatest lesson that woman has yet to
learn is to think before she speaks. In
! comparison with the thoughtless tongue
| the pen in a woman's hand is as harm
less as a dove All too prevalent in these
days is the spirit of cruel and thought
less criticism among women. thought
| fitness of speech has done more to injure
woman than any sinlge element in hel
life. 1t has laid her open to the charge
of being unreliable-and ofttimes justly
so. 1t has kept from her condolences
that were hers by right; it has stood in
the way of her progress; it has placed
h az ;nng1Yoara hle firnaS in false nOsjti0nS