The Washington bee., 1894-01-27
CARING FOR OIL STOVES.
Simple Rules to Prevent the Unpleasant
Effects of Smoking.

Simple Rules to Prevent the Unpleasant
Effects of Smoking.
Whenever 1 detect any odor In my
stove / always find a cause for 1t,
either in the oil which has flowed over
the edge Of the burner and is heated,
but not burning freely like the oil in
the wick, or in the half-burned, oily
crust on the edge of the burner, or in
a tiny speck Of SCOT from a previous
smoking As soon as the cause is re-
moved the odor disappears.
To clean the burners, turn the wick
quite low, then wet a bit Of soft cloth
In hot, soapy water, wiring quite dry
and rub it well with kitchen mineral
soap. With a dull-pointed knife or a
wooden skewer rub the cloth into the
inside of the burner down about one
fourth Of an inch, and scour off all the
Drowned deposit. As in all other forms
Of securing, generous use Of elbow
grease is essential here.
All that will not scour off can be
scraped off with knife. Scour the
outside Of the burner and wipe off any
oil, SCOT or charred wick that may be
on the netting Of the frame under
meath. Then wipe with a dry cloth.
up Il1c WIN Cho luD Oh dAy
bits of charred wick or sand that may
adhere to it. Wipe out the SCOT from
the chimney. Brushing is not Suffi-
cient; 1t needs hand rubbing with
cloth. Use a stick or skewer to enable
you to reach every spot. The wlcks
should be fitted so they will turn easily
in the burner. Cut them even with the
edge Of the burner, and clip the cor
nerS a trif1e lower
Turn the wick up and down several
times until you are sure it is even, then
light it, and see that the fame is at a
uniform height when turned as high
as possible. Should there be any points
that smoke, turn it out and trim again
until it is even. When once the wick
is even it will seldom need cutting.
Merely rubbing off the charred part
and clipping any loose threads is suffi-
cient.
When ready to use the stove turn
the wick up gradually and begin with
a low fame; watch it carefully and
increase the height after a little, but
do not turn it to its full height at first,
for as soon as the water bOilS in the
kettle the flame seems to be drawn up,
and it will surely smoke then if it did
not before. After ten minutes it may
be left with safety, but be careful that
no strong draught reaches it, and never
turn the wick so low that the combus-
ton is imperfect. When not in use
turn the wicks down till the flame goes
out, and wipe off the oil from the
burners.
If this oil be allowed to accumulate
1t hardens and burns on to the burner,
and is difficult to remove and the more
the stove is used the worse it smells;
but after this crust is once thoroughly
removed it is comparatively easy to
keep the burner clean by simply rub
bing it with a damp cloth and sand
soap every time before lighting it.
By taking special pains that the stove
shall not smoke q great amount Of
trouble may be avoided; for just as
surely as it smokes long enough to de-
posit any SCOT on the stove just so
surely will you have the odor Of smoke
until that SCOT has been removed.
Merely lowering the wick does not re-
move the odor. and it is much easier
to prevent its formal ton than to extin-
guish the flame and delay your other
work while you clean off the soot.-The
Household.