The Portland daily press., 1897-07-03

glass on which 1t rests, the exact color
will be seen. This is the test given by
the commissary department of the army
to officers whose duties are to buy flour
which. is to be used by the army. 1t is
perfect in its character, and is so simple
that he or she who runs can read it. Per
sonally. do not care much about the col
or of bread, but many do, and these
| aesthetic tastes have to be gratified. When
-four makes pretty bread" it always does
so at the expense of other things, and
many of the best qualities of the wheat
are taken from it, of the things that make
bone and muscle, so that pretty bread"
is not exactly the best for food after all.
Baking Powder.
There are many baking powders on the
market, good, bad and Indifferent. The
great majority of them are not injurious,
though some of them are positively harm
full. The Department Of Agriculture some
years ago made thorough examination
into the baking powder question and tes-
ted over fifty brands which are popular in
the market The result was that the De-
partment recommended that housekeep-
ers to be on the safe side, economically
and otherwise, should manufacture their
own baking powders. They recommended
several formulas, but gave preference
to powder made as follows: Cream of
tartar, two parts; bicarbonate of soda,
one part; cornstarch, one part. Or, to
10 of hoJ ~, /
ounces of cream of tartar, four ounces
each of bicarbonate of soda and corn
starch. This can be relied upon. 1t is
cheaper and better than any Of the popu-
! lar brands on sale, will go farther, and is
more satisfactory in many ways N. E.
| Farmer.
| Purifying the Water.
| A small phial of the crystals of perman-
ganate Of potash carried in ones travel
ing bag will, according to Mrs. Richards,
Of the Boston Institute Of Technology,
make one comparatively impervious to
the dangers of impure drinking waters.
A small piece or two of the crystals added
to pitcher of water that one is offered
at the summer boarding house, or the
seaside hotel room, or in European stop
ping places-anywhere, in fact, where the
history of the water supply is either I'M
known or suspected, will quickly rid it
of all dangerous bacteria. The water
dition which shows that the disinfectant
has done its work, and may be drank in
this rosy hue with confidence. Mrs. Rich
ards evidently does not put her faith in
filtered water. She says: ''Do not boil
and filter, but filter and boil" These
are valuable bits of information, which,
coming from such an authority, may be
accepted with confidence by the anxious
house mothers, who realize that, with all
good plumbing, cleanliness and whole
som food. their families may still be ex-
posed to the most serious contagion by
way of the water faucets.
Hints 10 Bousekeepers.
For cleaning silver. whiting may be
made into paste with ammonia or alco-
hol, the article coated with this and left
till the liquid has evaporated. Then the
powder should be rubbed off with soft tbs.
sue paper, or soft unbleached cloth, and
polished with channels.
/ Copper or brass articles cleaned with
acids tarnish much more quickly from
the action of moisture in the air than
when cleaned with oil and rotten stone.
Small spots may be removed with bit
of lemon Juice and hot water. An occa-
sional rubbing with kerosene helps to