The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-10-27
SIMPLE WAYS TO
KEEP SILVER BRIGHT

From the 81. Louis Republic.
only by careful attention 10 table
silver can a housewife keep IL in con-
dition. unless she has competent servants.
And these the average young house,
employ.
Therefore, when teaching an inexpen-
sive and new maid her duties in the
household. the mistress should specially
stipulate that the silver must be cleaned
at least once a week, and that list OF
all the pieces should be kept on a hook
IN the pantry. And that after the cleans
ing all spoons. dishes. &c, OF silver must
be counted. TO be sure none Is missing.
If the head Of the house has confidence
IN her maid she need not be present dur
ing the counting, but II the servant is
careless, or in any way unreliable, the
employer should attend the weekly count
and herself check off the articles
Such action is not a reflection upon the
employees honesty, although candor COM
pels one 10 admit that Il IS a slur upon
her reliability The object OF a count
once a week Is that, should any article
be missing there IS more chance Of its
being brought TO light If missed imme-
dlately when lost than il many weeks
elapse In the interval before its loss IS
discovered.
Under no conditions should any silver
be allowed to remain out in the pantry
at night unless there Is a special place
for f. For not only does this mean
untidiness, but even in an apartment a
pantry is generally nearest the outside
kitchen door, and, If any one wishes to
carry off the valuables the theft is thus
made easier.
The old custom. unfaillngly followed by
our GRANDMOTHER. Of having all the sill
yer carried upstairs at night. is going by
the board as the number Of pieces owned
by individuals increases. making it too
much labor to take them back and forth
Safes are an expensive commodity. so
that it requires some thought 70 decide
what Is best for security. One solution
Of this problem has been effected IN a
| house in the country, where a cupboard
under the pantry shelves has been fitted
with a special lock and compartments
made for different pieces. a shelf The
\ length OF the cupboard Is placed a little
| higher than the center thus leaving the
I lower portion for big pieces. Both shelf
and bottom are covered with thick red
| flannel. and that dust may not gather
there is a separate flooring, as it were.
under the flannel, which permits of it's
| being taken out and thoroughly brushed.
The upper shelf is divided into boxlike
/ sections in which the small pieces tit ca
/ silly Ii requires less than five minutes to
put away everything. and no longer TO
take them out in the morning. The cup
| board is locked at night when the maid
/ goes upstairs. and the key taken to the
| employers bedroom, the maid getting It
again in the morning.
| II one can afford 20 have drawers In
which silver IS kept during the day lined
with channels skin, the metal will remain
| bright much longer and. indeed. will re-
quire less polishing in the weekly clean
/ ing Pieces which have been used in
acids, such as pickle forks or salad fork
/ and spoon. should be put into water as
/ soon as taken from the table after using,
4 otherwise they are apt to tarnish so
badly they will need furnishing by q
professional to restore them.