New-York tribune., 1908-01-05

Those bieden by the bride-elect by informal
notes telephone 10 the farewell cup of tea have
the privilege Of seeing her presents and the tables
,aden with all kinds of silver. useful. ornamental
or absurd. suggest at the question, How
earth viii it be taken Of? The bride TO be,
happy creature. is not thinking of this. AS each
new box arrives she hastens 10 open it with Joy
ful anticipation another costly dish of intricate
workmanship and beautiful shape, and when her
hopes realized she views the gift with pride,
end really begins TO feel herself housekeeper
In the good old days Of the great-great- grand
mothers Of many of the brides Of the year the
tea SET, table silver silver patters and side dishes
the principal care that the mistress OF the
house had She herself had especial pan, in
which she washed in clear hot suds the silver
that had Just been used for the meal. and each
Daughter took her turn IN assisting in carefully
drying with a clean soft towel Then all was
put in large basket at night and locked away
securely In the 'kos' if In Knickerbocker regions,
and In q strong box if in Pennsylvania
still further south F1agons for sweet scent
ed toilet waters and perfumes. snuff boxes tea
scoops and the thousand and one trifles that were
brought to the Colonies by sailing vessels from
foreign shores were not as well treated. but
Che weekly cleaning day were given over TO the
hand maiden. who, under the supervision OF her
mistress, washed all in hot water TO which little
iye had been added. and rubbed hard and long
20 bring the iustre the proper brilliancy. Re
cipes were known to Virginia DANES for various
polishing soaps that kept their cherished pieces
mirror bright and this day followed out
by their descendants with the result, al
Though the servants Of to-day do not take the
same interest in the process did the coal black
sssarn" or jim" who spared not ''eIbow grease
fn order that CAonel Byrd's silver might outshine
Cotone. Carers.
AN INFALIIBLE RECIPE.
One Of the best known methods of making silver
that is constant use look like new again and of
removing every Of dulness for some time 10
come is to put the various articles in large tin
wash boiler, after q thorough polish with either
hartshora and whiting silicon, and to cover them
svith water into which handful Of washing soda
has been thrown. and allow the water TO boil for
two or hours On removal good rubbing with
"a soft charnois skin is productive Of q very high
polish In the case OF handsome hand made pieces
with repousSe or embossed designs In high relief
this is actually the only way of getting the de-
osits Of cleaning powders out Of the crevices and
fer several rubbing is all that is necessary
70 bring them up the proper brilliancy. once
month, once in six weeks is the time limit fer
these silver boilings, for otherwise the maids grow
to depend upon its efficacy and neglect the weekly
cleaning.
There are IN many Of the luxurious homes of the
country all manner Of labor saving devices. and
among them is an electrical machine. with adjust
able brushes. that viii fit into every nook and
Granny of any piece of silverware; with these. of
course the savng OF time is immense but, even so.
the final polishing has 10 be done by hand, although
there gre noplike attachments of chamoiS strips
that DO the roUgher first polishing. With these
machines exquisite has to be taken, in
the silver piece is oented 50 WhoeNer mas
the task Of cleaning the plate has TO be supervised
as critically the hand maidens Of two centuries
ago. The ornamental pieces, such as epergnes,
eentrepieces. candelahra and vases, We'll
large articles the library desk, have lacquer
finish which means that dust is the only enemy.
g gas or other atnospherical causes do not tar
xlsh or oiscoior. This certainly saves the butler
much arduous work, but the process is not, un-
fortunately for him, available for the useful table
silver. OF this les betes noires are the vegetable
rf -rhic
otherwise an indeinable greasy grayness appears.
shat is most naortifying to the hostess The best
santidote for this is the two-hour boiling in hot
soda and water already mentioned which may be
used in this instance every week or two If the dish
ls Of sterling silver, for plated ware Of any kind
cannot stand such drastic treatment even once.
In the last few years a score or more Of liquid
silver polishes, soaps and pastes have been invent
ed, and every silversmith Of any important stand
ing has some special preparation of his make
fo asvocate For toilet silver there various