The record-union., 1899-06-18

suburban home a small but perfectly
equipped soda fountain is a. fixture. in
the dining room. Once a week a man
is sent from the firm which supplied
it to refill the syrup bottles, recharge
it, and look it over generally. The ice
man packs it periodically with ice;
and soda water, with a variety of syr-
ups, is to be- had at any time.
=
A professional picture-hanger gives
and screws hold firmly in the plaster of
a wall. This is to enlarge the hole
made by the screw, moisten the edge
of the plaster thoroughly with water,
then fill the space with plaster or
Paris, pressing the screw into the soft
plaster. The latter hardens around
the screw or mail and keeps it in place.
An Englishman who has lived for
dozen years or more in New York COM
ments upon the comparative rarity IN
New York homes of the hall-maid or
man to show the retiring visitor out.
'It is curious he says, 'that with
all the plays dealing with English life
that are seen on the American stage,
and in which the shabbiest and most
poverty stricken gentlewoman will ring
for her slavey to facilitate the visitor $
exit from the house, the American
hostess should omit SO persistently this
little ceremony. In large establish
D.ents I find ON reaching the hall
man or maid to open the door for me,
but in dozens of otherwise well-con-
=. L 1,F< off q
my adieus in the parlor, to get out the
best way 1 can. When 1 married here
and set up housekeeping, l discovered
that the average American servant has
no understanding of that ceremony. TO
this day the native maids in our en-
ploy think it quite extraordinary that
they should be rung for to open the
door when a caller leaves" The last
remark was an assertion that his list
ener was very ready to believe. Ger
tainly the average general houseWork
girl would deeply resent and undouot-
elly protest if her days duties were
interrupted for that purpose. Any one
who has been ushered from the house
by a well-trained English maid, either
here or in England will recall, the at
tractive Difference of these experts in
this 'tshowing-out" duty.
A cooking teacher advises that lean
fish like halibut, cod, and others of that
character may be brushed with oil or
melted butter and bredled ON the gas
broiler. This way of cooking, it is as
serted, is similar to frying and does cot
fill the house with the smell Of fried
fish.
A novelty seen at a silversmith's is
a double sugar-bowl, intended to hold
powdered and lump sugar, a sugar
tongs and spoon completing the Set. A
grape-stand, instead of dish. was also
seen, and was an ornamented silver
bar on a graceful stand The bar
was long enough to permit two punches
of grapes to depend from 1t, while at
the base Of the standard was a holder
for the grape scissors that completed
the outfit.
With the most careful calculations
often there is some coffee left over, not
enough perhaps for another serving as
a beverage, but there are many ways
in which it may be utilized. Do not
leave it in the pot with the grounds.
but pour it off or strain it carefully,
and if to be used again hot let it just
come to the boiling point. This will be
much nicer than to reheat it with the
grounds. 1t may be used to dilute the
egg for the next mornings coffee, or as
a favoring in custards and creams and
ices; or as the liquid in place of or with
milk in gingerbread, cookies, cakes, etc,
or when there is sufficient quantity it
can be made into jelly.
An authority in the matter of meats
for children says that they should
never have pork, veal, or any of the
internal organs that are used as food,
like liver, kidneys, ETC., except sweet
breads These are both nutritious and
easily digested. Shell-fish or crusta-
ceans, too, should not be part of the
regular diet of children.
In a lecture delivered not long ago
to the Boston School Of Housekeeping.
Frederic Tudor pointed out some of the
defects in house building, about which
the homeseeker should inform himself,
in order to avoid them Among the de-
tails of building that are almost sure
to be overlooked are" says Mr.. Tudor,
protection against fire; arrangements
to make cleanliness easy; and effective
barriers against the intrusion of ver-
mirA'' These precautions are not so
much matters of expense as of care
and proper use of materials. "As to
fire, while it cannot be prevented, its
greatest dangers may be taken away
by blocking all possible passages for
flame and smoke in the hidden spaces
of floors and walls. 1t is not neces-
sary to fill these spaces with incombust-
ible material, but to separate each hori-
zontal and vertical air space by one
or two courses of bricks and mortar;
sometimes by tin or galvanized iron, SO
that neither air, nor rats, mice and in
sects can find continuous passageways.
"a further essential precaution is to
dry out the house thoroughly after it
is framed, rooted. f1oored and plastered.
By this means all the timbers will
shrink to the place they will eventually
reach If preliminary drying out is ne
elected In the latter case, the finish
is rushed in as soon as the plaster IS
hard, the upper floors are put down,
and the house is probably occupied be-
fore any general shrinking of the frame
begins.
Mr.. Tudor makes the interesting
statement that the quantity of water
in the timbering, floor beams. rough
floors, etc., of a 25x1O four-story and
basement house is enormous. 1t
amounts to about one-fourth OF the
whole weight of the timber, would I'LL
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