Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-06

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k/TVWAMAt as is usually the case
,h WJN when two or three
WI Mp women are gathered
M N together for any
TM LAW length of time. One
of the group was a
woman noted for her
good management
and superb housekeeping. She doesn't do
any of the work herself. Bless you, no;
Her dainty white hands are satin soft, ana
look as though she might have been one or
the lilies of the field, always. But / hap
pen to know that she learned by experience,
much assisted by a natural aptitude for
homework, all that she knows about 1t.
which is great deal. One of the ladies,
only a recent recruit in the married ranks.
yet old enough to have considerable knowl-
edge of housekeeping If she had made any
effort to inform herself, which 1t seems she
has not, asked me what thought to be the
best method to go about housecleaning.
Whether tore up the whole house at once,
or whether / cleaned a room at time in
leisurely manner. AS she seemed to be
anxious for information In detail, 1 entered
into a lengthy description of my way Of
proceeding, epd found the ladies all ready
to take a hand in the enlightening business:
l feel pretty sure that a report of the knowl-
edge aired there that afternoon would make
eE imposing book.
housekeeping is one OF the terrors Of
every housewife until she learns to econo-
miZe in strength as in everything else. j
have just been through weeks siege of il,
and there has been no domestic cataclysm,
nor am / subject for the hospital, though
1 had to do the ma jor part of the work my
self. l don't mean that l took down bed
steads and pulled up carpets, or that 1
lifted the furniture about and did the scrub
bling. That is really the easiest part of the
work. 1t is the planning and adjusting that
worries one: the mending and renovating
the putting away of summer things and I'M
packing of winter ones.
Get Rid of the Rubbish.
I always begin to clean house at the top.
In the attic, which is the store room for the
cast-off things of the year in clothing and
furniture. In the course of six months an
awful lot of rubbish accumulates there, and
at housekeeping is good time to get rid
of 1t. In house where there are children
there is always considerable cast-off cloth
ing to look over. Some of 1t will do very
nicely to cut over for younger children, and
that should be brushed and aired, then
folded away in a box kept for that purpose
The garments that are outgrown and can
not be remodeled should be put In another
box, ready to bestow on some worthy per-
son less fortunate than yourself.
DO not hoard up old garments against
possible need next year" If YOU do not
see possible chance of making use of
them in the next six months, put them in
the poor box. They will bring you a richer
blessing there. Examine the broken furnf-
ture that has been 81 we'd away. II il can
be mended. have it ne at once, before
knocking about has destroyed the useful
ness of piece to which you are attached.
II you find that Ii is too worn and shabby
for your own house. perhaps you know
some deserving person who is ingenious
enough to fix 1t up, and would be very glad
to do so for the gift of it. Otherwise,
throw 1t into the kinding wood heap. There
isn't particle of sense in cluttering up a
house with n lot of useless old rubbish.
Unless You are sure that dilapidated
furniture can be fixed up il is bad iuds-
ment to send 1t to the attic anyhow. Look
over the old papers and magazines, and
make a package of those that you do not
intend to have bound. to send to the hos
pital, or some such institution, where a bit
of reading matexal is perfect boon. After
sorting over and putting away all the trash
in the attic You will have a heap of litter
that 1t is useless to try to put away. Dump
1t ON the ash heap. or bride your scrub
woman to relieve you of 1t. Then sweep
and dust and MOP out the attic, all ready to
receive the stores that will come up from
the lower part of the house IL will prob
ably take you whole Gay to go over the
attic properly. If you discover any signs of
that terror of the housewife, bedbugs make
war on them at once. A machine oil can of
gasoline Is a good companion in such an
1t will kill eggs and insects instantly and
evaporates almost as soon as applied. DO
not have a lighted lamp or gas around
when you use 1t. though, nor for some time
after unless you have raised the windows
and aired the attic.
Then Comes the Closets.
II you have found moths. take all the
infected clothes out into the sunshine
Beat and shake them well. then brush.
and If practicable dampen and run a hot
iron over them. Moths are the meanest
rests that ever got into a house. They do
more damage in a day than can be re-
paired In year, and there is absolutely
no way known yet, except vigilance, that
will keep them out of woclen clothing and
furs. After you have everything cleaned
and sweet smelling IN the attic, get a pint
of sulphur and put in an old iron kettle
and set 1t over an oil stove or charcoal
fire In the attic. Close the windows and
doors. and let it burn itself out.
- Then you may be reasonably sure that
there are no microbes or bacilll lurking
around to descend upon and destroy the
family. Be sure and remove all clothing
that the sulphur will be apt to discolor. Ii
Will injure nothing else. After cleaning the
attic 1 go through every closet In the
house next, and give them the same treat
ment. then begin on the house proper.
In cleaning the other rooms of the house,
l seldom attempt more than two at once.
| select one room on the floor to be clean
ed. that want for a work rocm and have
the carpets taken up and the furniture
covered Into this room l have all the pic
lures, bric-a-brac and furniture carried
and piled out OF harms way. The carpets
from the two other rooms are carried to
be shake an and busted, and then l have the
dusty floors sprinlSled with bits of torn
paper that have been dampened. When
swept, no dust is raised to penetrate other
portions of the house. The walls are swept
down with a broom, over which a flannel
cloth is pinned. ard an application OF elbow
grease.
If there are grease spots, / take them
out with an application of pipe clay, made
into a paste and applied damp. The grease
is generally extracted by the time the clay
is dry. Where there are smoke stains from
gas or from the register. l have the places
rubbed with a rag and corn or oatmeal.
This will not remove the smoke stains al
ways, but will as a general thing l have
taken such stains Off with rag saturated
with gasoline. but that has to be done
very carefully, or you Will smear the pa
per. / do those things myself, for / never
found servants yet that could be intrusted
to do things like that. After the walls are
cleaned, the wood work should be washed
with ammonia water, or boraX If you like.
1 use borax for everything. because 1 like