Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-11-06
Expert Adpice for the
Scientific HOuSekeeper

Women and girls merely dabble in
things now" said an expert and we'll
known domestic scientist the other
day, "They are not thorough. Every
woman should learn how to take care
of her household systematically wheth-
er she ever has actually to do 1t or
not. She cannot properly understand
how to superintend her servants II she
herself does not know how to 90
things Servants soon detect THIS
ignorance in mistress, and impose
on her accordingly.
Moreover, this knowing how often
spares a woman an embarrassing sit
uation remember one young wom-
an who came to me for cooking les
sons. She refused to watch and to
learn the preparation of turkey be-
cause it was not pleasant to look at
raw meat! Her mother urged her to
take this lesson, but she said: Why,
mother, I shall never have to prepare
I. turkey shall always have cook!'
The following Thanksgiving day she
gave her first dinner in her own home
All went we'll until the turkey arrived
to be carved. when it turned out that
the bird had not been properly pre-
pared. The cook did not know how
and the mistress did not know enough
to know that the cook was ignorant
The consequence was that the dinner
had to be adjourned and finished at
hotel.
Few women even understand how
to dust. They all think that is too ordin-
ary an item to need any lesson In. AS
matter of fact there Is much to learn
about it. Every room should be dust
ed from the top down. Feather dus-
tiers are an abomination, as they mere
ly scatter the dirt from place to place
and do not remove it. A clean duster
wrung out in water either lukewarm
or cold is the best possible article to
not necessary to use soap.
ITO take the dirt out of carpets, they
do not need to be sent to the clearn-
ers, nor to be beaten. In fact, throw
ing carpets over the line and then
beating them is the cause Of the holes
winch appear in them, and one reason
they wear out quickly. The servants
should carry the rugs into the yard
and sweep them off with a broom.
Tten they should be rolled up and
beaten with rattan beaten. Then
open them out and sweep off on both
sides. The same thing may be done
with mating or woven grass rugs.
Sometimes this process must be re-
peated several times in succession to
remove all the dirt, but in the end
they will be as clean as though they
had been done by carpet concern.
People often wonder why their
furniture never has fresh and polish
ed appearance after it has been rubbed
with oil and such preparations as are
usually sold for this purpose. The rea-
son is merely that the furniture is not
clean. 1t should be washed off first
with plain water, no soap, for the soap
rubbed with the oil; any reliable oil.
In half and half quantity Is excellent.
The second trouble with dull-looking
furniture is that the oil is not rubbed
in with sufficient vigor, but stands on
the top and is greasy. Furniture re-
quires a great deal Of oil to keep 1t
from getting fine cracks in the surface,
tut the oil must be all rubbed In.
Flannel is best for rubbing furniture.
"a woman should put more thought
into the care of the home. The more
smoothly it runs the more thought
you may be sure has been put into it
In the beginning. Never have all the
windows of an apartment or a house
cleaned on the same day. Have the
windows cleaned each day with each
room. And in doing them on a cold or
freezing day wipe them off with alco-
hol or with few drops of kerosene in
water. Then they will be perfectly
clear and the atmosphere will not
freeze the moistened dust to them as
when washed.
"1,he laundry should have the ex-
press interest of the lady Of the home,
for badly washed garments not only
wear out rapidly but do not typify a
gentlewoman. And yet how many
know anything of washing clothes?
Rinsing thoroughly is more important
to clothes than the actual washing.
But no laundress will take the trouble
to do it unless she sees that the result
will be watched for and recognized.
The clothes should be put to soak In a
tubful of water with a tablespoonful
of borax, and they must be rinsed in
three waters. The more they are
rinsed the whittier they are.
III there is rust stain, put common