The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-08-10
HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS.
Methods That Obtained in the Early Part
Of fEa CoYf1,rv

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS.
Methods That Obtained In the Early Part
of the Century.
An old cookbook, printed in the
year 1885 and bearing the title "The
American Frugal Housewife" with
dedication "to those who are not
ashamed of economy" is full of in
teresting reading as comparative
study in household economics. Many
things were necessary to the house
keeper of so years ago that are un-
known nowadays or have complete
ly outlived their usefulness. It is
Greek almost to the modern woman
to be told that the coverings of oil
TASKS, neatly sewed together with
strong thread, make useful table
mats or when a white navarino
bonnet gets soiled, rip it in pieces
and wash it with soft water and,
while damp, sponge it with strong,
strained saffron tea,. then press on
the wrong side, and it will look like
a new leghorn. Other cautions
that are obsolete today are to "save
walls and bottles, % preserve the
backs of old letters to write upon, !"
elaborate directions for making over
mattresses and pillows at home,
how to prevent a pump handle from
freezing set in cold weather and
scores of similar directions. The
compiler advises, for example, that
it is wise to have always the tinder
box and lantern ready on going to
bed, in case of sudden alarm, and,
after much considering, decides that
"in the city it is better to exchange
ashes and grease for soap, but in the
country it is by far the best econ
omy to make ones own SOAP" and
pages of minute directions follow.
So on with scores of similar direc-
tions concerning life that has
ceased to be.
The chapter devoted to simple
remedies would cause the hair of the
modern practitioner, stepped in the
germ theory of disease, to rise up
right. To prevent lockjaw, lye, a
rind Of pork, strong soft soap, spir-
it's of turpentine and pulverized
chalk are recommended. For throat
distemper, the old name for diph-
iberia, poultice of roasted apple
mixed with an ounce of tobacco, the
whole wet with spirits of wine and
spread on linen rag, to be bound
about the throat, is a panacea. To
stop the blood from a wound apply
scrapings of sole leather A spoon
full of ashes stirred in cider is sug-
gested to relieve nausea in cholera
morbus. A salve to reduce infamma-
ton in wounds is made from lard
melted and cooled five times in sue
cession, then simmered with sliced
onions and once more cooled. Low
blackberry tea is prescribed for calo-
mel sore mouth. One suggestion
may be of value to the modern moth
er. 10 administer dose of castor
oil to children so that they will
never suspect its presence-wil
even love the decoction-it should
be boiled with an equal quantity OF
sweetened milk, and, when cold,
given as a drink. The actual food
recipes of the book are held in a
dozen pages, but there is much space
devoted to herb lore, the prepara-
tions for keeping meats, the max
ing of dyestuffs, homemade wines,
beers and the like Preserves are
dismissed in page with the laconid
introduction: Economical people
will seldom use preserves except
for sickness. They are unhealthy,
expensive and useless to those who
are we'll. Altogether the Frugal
Housewife" is an Illuminating bit of
retrospective literature.-New York