The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-11-11
MIG1l3

quite often enough for this operation, and
after ii the rugs should never be replaced
until the floor is thoroughly dry.
Warm water and soap, with the addition
of a little household ammonia, is the pesi
cleaning medium for any and every Klho
of board floor. but a painted. varnlsheu OF
oiled surface must never be treated with a
~seruhbing brush, or ~unsightiy scratches
will be the result. Grease spots may. pc
removed with an application of fuller $
earth. while spots of ink will yield readily
to a rubbing with spirits of salt.
A stained floor will require restraining
once every year to keep it in good condl-
tions and this should be done after the
room has been thoroughly cleaned from
top TO bottom and the floor itself well
washed and dried. The stain and varhlsh
which can be bought all ready prepared
for use at any paint store, may be appilea
either separately or together. The former
method is the more lasting, as the STAN
must be allowed to dry perfectly before
the varnish is applied, thus insurlhg q
double coating over the entire surface
but the quicker process is that OF mixing
the stain and varnish together and apply
ing them ut the same time.
In treating an oiled floor the oil should
be applied in small quantities and rubbed
in with a piece of soft flannel until 1t mas
quite disappeared; otherwise the floor Will
catch and retain every flying particle OF
dust. and will actually look worse than
if it had not been treated at all.
An excellent floor polish, that is of Jap
anese origin. and very fine, too, for furnl-
tire. consists of one pint each of linseed
oil and cold, strong tea, the white OF two
eggs and two ounces of spirits of salts;
these several ingredients to be mixed to-
gether and poured into a bottle, which
should be we'll shaken before the polish
is used.
A few drops are poured upon a rubbing
pad of soft silk and the wood rubbed with
it. being afterward polished with an old
silk handkerchief. The process is a fedi-
GUS one for the cleaner. but its erect sur
passes that of any easier and quicker
method.
The best planned meals are failures
without the proper means for cooking
an easily regulated and uniform fre-and
this is only obtained by a first-class cook
ing stove or range. This is an essential
point in kitchen furnishing; for nothing
tries the patience of mistress and maid
more than the fire that will not burn
In cities. houses nave ranges put in the
kitchens, ard as a poor one means an
empty house, landlords nave profted from
sorrowful lessons of experience, and select
the best.
The kitchen is the main artery of the
domestic system, and its requirements TO
accomplish the necessary work and es-
peciaIly the cooking of the present, are
a~stonishingly numerous.
However small the family, or limited the
income. if education and r~einements are
elements in the household the preparation
of the food, however simple the name, is
a fine art.
To boil, fry, stew, bake and broil. and
by these combined place three meals. each
day upon the table, is not enough in TINS
age of the dainty and delicate.
We hear of the dinners of the past, pre-
pared in the old-fashioned ovens, where
the soup came first, and then entire meal
meat. vegetables, etc., followed, without
regard to courses, and only the dessert,
dignifed by change of dish, spoon and
fork.
But now the 'hospitable board instead
of groaning with excess of food, is more
renowned for dishes ~daintily prepared and
artistically served; and, as cooking has
become more and more a fine art. con-
veniences for cooking have been more
carefully studied, until the appliances of
the modern range or cooking stove leave
little to be desired. And every housewife
should insist upon having one.
This. says the .Woman's Home Com
panion,v is to be a fur season for both
the tots and the grown-ups, when all
kinds of furs will be worn, either as entire
wraps or as garnitures. The fur-trimmed
gown will be quite as much eourted as the
one decorated with the many fancy and
plain braids that are now having such a
rage, and their elegance needs no other
trimming to help out the style of the
gown. Short-haired furs are given the
preference as a trimming, though women
who have marten, fox and bear can use
them and feel we'll dressed. These furs
are used more in large pieces, such as col
lars, revers. panels, and quite deep bands
at the bottoms of the dress skirts, while
the short-haired furs appear as bands
when several are used, and also as a fin
ishing edge to jackets, revers and collars.
With the renovation of the revered Mt.
Vernon comes the reviva of the Martha
Washington table linen, which was pure
white, with a letter embroidered in one
corner. The letter must be in your own
handwriting and surrounded by a little
design of YOU own marking. 1t is need
less TO say that this linen is inexpensive
and requires only your own handiwork to
make it beautiful.
For the Martha Washington napery
many housewives do not care to go to the
expense of real lipen for everyday-and it
can be dressed up quite as much.
After the napkins have been hemmed by
hand Il little design can be stitched around
them a few inches from tie hem. but If
desired they can be hemStitehed at home
by turning over to the desired depth and
drawing asfew threads, after which the
hem is folded III place. This is a simple
operation of hemstitching. and is easy to
do. The script letter is done III Kate
Greena way stitch, after which a little
scroll Is drawn ;round with II pencil and
shaped design il then drawn over the let
ter. The writing need not be fine. the
everyday ~cilirogfaphy OF the housewife
being all that is needed.
Fancy boxes for perislable satin adorn-
ed with dainty but fragile water colors
or a~ust-invitiffg artificial flowers are no
longer the correct receptacle for bon-bons
Cx1i11.- -a.l Il. ,+,fJ ,,..f,, 49,.