The San Francisco call., 1904-02-22
Household Hints.
BT CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK.
(Author of ''In City Tents Liberal Living
on Narrow Means" etc.)

on Narrow Means" etc.)
Copyright. 1904 by Joseph B. Bowles.)
The we'll furnished kitchen and pan
try Probably there is not a house
keeper in the country who has not her
ideal OF what she would like these to
be. What this ideal is depends upon
the housekeeper and her surroundings.
The only point on which one can be
tolerably sure is that she desires some
thing different from what she has.
That is human nature. In the words
of an observing old woman, Folks is
always Wantin' to have what they
hain't got and to be where they amt"
So the country hOusekeeper feels
that she would exchange her broad,
roomy kitchen, where it is a journey
from the stove TO the sink and from
the pantry TO the mixing table, for a
compact little city kitchen, with all the
cOnveniences she knows these TO pos
sess.
The dwellers in fats meanwhile, al
though acknowledging the convenience
of being able to stand in the middle
of the room and reach anything on the
walls, on the range or in the pantry
from that one position, frets at her
clamped quarters, and thinks if she
could only have one of the kitchens
presided over by out-of-town friends
she would gladly resign some of the
advantages of her city tents.
Most housekeepers are more or less
dissatisfied with their kitchen walls.
They know that the whitewashed or
calcimined walls are undesirable and
are yet doubtful how TO change them
The whitewash or calcimine blackens
and stains with smoke and the fumes
OF cookery and cannot be cleansed ex-
cept by removal The housekeeper who
can afford it has her kitchen wall
painted and then is able to wash this
off when it is spotted or darkened
But, even soap and water fail to have
effect upon the paint after a while, and
the old coat must be mended by a new
cne. II this is put on year after year
over the old layer the w is likely to
blister and crack and the wall to pre-
sent an unpleasant waTty appearance.
Rather more expensive but more en-
during, is an Oilcloth covering. For
this the ordinary table oilcloth, plain
or marbled, is used, and it is applied as
burlap or heavy paper might be-with
paste. At the top it is finished off
with an ordinary wooden molding. This
oilcloth does not discolor so rapidly as
does paint and may be kept clean for d
long time by washing or scrubbing.
The ceiling in such a room may be
painted, although here. too, the oilcloth
might be used. But it seems unneces-
sary expense. Those who have used
oilcloth claim that il wears longer and
looks better than half a dozen success
sive coats Of paint
The kitchen floor is also something
Of a problem. Some covering it must
have that can be washed. The rag
carpet, which in our childish days
was the regulation floor covering Of
the kitchen, does not appeal to this.
generation. They want something
more sanitary. Bare boards. plain or
painted are excellent if needed help
IS at hand to keep them clean. But
spots show on these boards and they
can be made really clean only by
scrubbing. So oil cloth or linoleum
seems better. The latter costs more
and wears longer. IL it can have a
couple of good coats OF varnish after
il is laid its wearing powers arc said
TO be much increased.
When it comes to the furniture of
the kitchen, much depends upon the
space to be filled. The owner of one
Of the large kitchens of which we
have spoken would not think she
could 90 her work without two or
thrEe tables on which to prepare her
food or wash her dishes.
The necessity for clos. packing has
taught many things to the dweller in
limited space. one clever woman has
devised Il double decker table. A
shelf has been fitted to her table un-
derneath and here she keeps bowls,
chopping trays and the like that she
needs most often. 1t saves her steps
If she can reach under the table for
what she needs instead of crossing the
kitchen to get it. Another house
keeper has put her shelf above the
table instead of below it. Still another.
to whom economy was an important
consideration, made her kitchen table
Of a good-sized dry goods box set on
end. Across the middle of the inside
she rplaced a shelf. The top of the
table had a sheet of zinc nailed upon
It ane the inside Of the rough box was
lined with heavy brown paper, neatly
pasted on.
There are few women who have
lived long in narrow quarters without
learning the advantages of rows of
nails or hooks. To hang up as much
as possible IN order to economize
shelf space for things that cannot be
hung UP, is the principle that regu-
lates them Jelly molds and sets of
gem pans or muffin tins dish mans
bread boards and chopping bowls are
hung up, as we'll as mixing spoons,
toasting forks, egg beaters, ladies',
skimmers and cake turner's. Some
women go further than this, and have
a narrow wooden cleat along the wall, |
with nails driven into it to space it, !
and between this strip and the wall |
thrust the knives for different pur-
poses-the carving knife, the bread |
knives the small meat and veQeta HE /