Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-09-23
The Housewives Tool Chest.


tool chest is as important to "A good
bouSekeoper as her busters, brooms,
brushes or sewing machine. Men may
iaer nj the feminine swing of Il ham
mer which, it is true, has a particular
swing of its own. but they must admit
rbot = woman can do more with hammer
ord nails than Il man with needle and
thread. 4 hundred little accidents hap
men in a household, too trivial for the
rarpcnter. but requiring attention: here
+. where the tool chest comes into play
\ board may be loose in the kitchen
fable: a picture need rehanging, or some
igcks required to hold down strip of
CARPET. No art or practice is required
10 remedy any of these defects. The
average feminine tool chest contains Il
few nails of odd sizes, Il few screws, Il
little "lady-like" hammer, a poor screw
driver. probably from the sewing ma
chine drawer; a few hairpins, the wom-
ans universal implement for mending or
fixing anything, and possibly saw.
such an equipment is of little or no
value There are five principal tools
with which the household tool box
should be supplied, and with which al
most any kind of work such as women
undertake may be done i'll neat and
satisfactory manner. The entire cost of
these amounts to less than a dollar and
Il half. for tools are cheap-though the
substitutes one often makes use of are
exceedingly dear. The first in import
ance is the hammer, and i'll buying one
the first principle is to select one with
a st0utly made and secure head that
will not fly off, and of medium weight.
The second instrument is an awl, often
forgotten i'll the furnishing of an anna
tours tool chest but an instrument of
infinite Uses and necessary wherever
home carpentry is undertaken, even of
the simplest kind, as screws must CON
stantly be used in renOvating, and when
put carelessly into hard wood are likely
TO split il. so by preparing the place for
nail or screw by drilling small hole
with the awl much trouble may be
averted.
Wire nails of all sizes are so generally
known that it seems almost necessary to
mention them, but the value of screws is
not always appreciated. Plenty of nails,
lacks and screws must find Il place in
the chest. Next in Importance is the
Screwdriver, and for household purposes
one having three-eighthS inch end and
ii nine-inch handle would be the proper
size. The tack-lifter should always be
separate instrument, and not part of
the hammer head The forked end OF
lhe separate tack-lifter being directed
from a straight handle is much stronger
than that extended from the head Of a
hammer. and under all circumstances is
more satisfactory
The utility of the pIer is perhaps less
known to women than that of almost
any other implement in the tool box
Fo, general usefulness they rank next
TO The hammer. they serve to tighten
rivets. nuts. bolts, and gas-ietS. ana by
twist Of the bolt there paced have
been known to free waste water pipes
and SO save the visit of a plumber Eek
ccpt 10 draw large nails they serve all
the purposes of the larger pincers. Many
e them are made with Il Wire-cutting
arrangement in the side. in which pic
ture wire max be inserted and cut off
2ieanly at any given point. They cost
from 20 to so cents each, but in the
matter Of Wire-cutting alone, so often
necessary in the house, they are Il real
economy. The last. useful. indeed a
necessary article for the housewives tool
box. is the inelaStic rule by which meas
urements may be taken. y careful use
Of such q rule will make the perfect
spacing of ornamental tacks an easy
NATTER and is useful in no end of other
ways. This is really all that is abso-
utely necessary for the household tool
chest, hut she who is more ambitiously
inclined, and who attempts ShirtwaiSt
boxes and many other feminine acces-
series not difficult to make, may add to
II according to her Observation-Disclosures
phla Evening Telegraph.