The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-24
THE VIRGINS AND THEIR LAMPS.
Care Needed in Order to Make Them
o,.xir

SerVicehDle. .a4T IA, IL.
That lamps have of late Gsteadily
grown in popularity is sign of our
growing national instinct for beauty.
The flicker of gas and the hard, I'M
compromising glare of the electric light
have alike proved trying to many whose
sense of tone values in light is too fine
to be satisfied with crudities. The
warm, subdued tone of the shaded
lamp easily places it in advance Of all
rivals, while even in daytime a hand
some lamp is as distinctly an orna-
ment to room as any article of brio
a-brac
The great bugbears about lamps are
the chimneys and the wicks; on these
and on the kerosene oder depend the
objections. All of these may be readily
overcome. A perfect chimney for any
lamp should be as large in diameter as
the brackets of the burner will permit;
it should be as high as convenient and
not too narrow at the top.
For the best color in globes yellow or
white gives the best results. Green is
not so desirable, and although much
affected by students and others who
burn the midnight OIL it is easy to be
seen that the area of illumination is
contracted, while in the daytime no
lamp can show to advantage when
hooded in the dark shroud of the green
glass.
There are about SIS styles of burners
on the market, and the great trouble
is with the wicks. This is a crucial
test of patience to the housewife or the
maid who has the care of the lamps,
and truly it is one which would try
Job himself. Rewicking, which is nee
essary so often: the care of the wicks,
rubbing the wick each morning; the
charred portion, which insists in falling
on the burner with the intelligence of
original sin; the gummy substance
when forms on the tubing around the
wck-all these are teXasperatlng trials.
All these may easily be overcome by
few simple rules, so that almost any
lamp will give satisfaction.
First. be careful to see that the wick
space, or tube, is perfectly straight and
even, so that the wick will not bind
anywhere. Next, see that the draught
supply is perfect and adequate to sup
port a large flame Also do not neg
lect to have the reservoir at least two
thirds full of oil. Lamps are many
times blamed for giving a poor light
when the whole fault lies with the maid
who did not feed the lamp. enough
food to support its life. Last, and
well-nigh most important of all, see
that you have the proper wick. 1t
should not fit the space too tightly,
should not be woven too compactly,
and should be made of a material as
nearly noncombustible as is practical.
Lamps, from a sanitary point of
view, are not nearly so Objectionable as
is supposed, and are, as matter of
fact. not so injurious as gas. The lat
ter is detrimental to plant life, whereas
lamps are not. Florists know this well,
and gas is not found in the hothouses
and greenhouses whence come the
floral beauties of New York's market;
they use kerosene lamps altogether.
Lastly, the housewife who really I'M
derstands the care of her lamps will
give the reservoir a thorough cleaning
once a month, and If the wick has be-
come clogged with the waste matter 1t
has drawn up she will replace it with a
new one,