CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



warp and blister after a few months' exposure to 

 the ordinary heat of a dwelling-house. In order- 

 ing sofas, chairs, and mattresses, you should also 

 take care to bargain for genuine hair-stuffing, for 

 in many instances the stuffing is composed of 

 what is technically called fob, or a composition of 

 tow, wool, and other kinds of rubbish. Likewise 

 the hair should be well baked and prepared. We 

 have seen a hair-sofa, for which the highest price 

 was paid, swarming with a species of louse, shortly 

 after being sent home from the upholsterer's, in 

 consequence of the hair not having been properly 

 dried by baking. In every case it will be safer 

 to pay a fair price to a respectable tradesman, and 

 take the benefit of his experience in the selection 

 of the articles, than to purchase from the self- 

 styled 'cheap warehouses ;' for though the articles 

 may be of elegant enough designs, and look as 

 brilliant as French polish can make them, yet in 

 a few years they will become warped, disjointed, 

 and rickety. 



Fire-grates. In choosing fire-grates or stoves 

 for your rooms, do not buy those which have 

 burnished steel fronts, as they require a consider- 

 able degree of care in cleaning, and are very liable 

 to rust during summer when not in use. The best 

 and neatest, as well as the cheapest grates, are 

 those which are made of cast-iron. For bed- 

 rooms and sitting-rooms, no fire-grates, as regards 

 venting well, prevention of smoke, neatness in 

 appearance, and economical radiation of heat, 

 excel Wright's patent bivalves. On this subject 

 consult No. 31, in Vol. I. pp. 482-3. 



Hardware Cutlery. Be particular in the 

 choice of hardware and cutlery, as there is 

 now no branch of British manufactures in which 

 there is greater deception practised. There are 

 hundreds of workshops in which these articles 

 are made only for 'cheap sales' and 'sales by 

 auction ;' and in such cases, only the most worth- 

 less materials are made use of. See that your 

 cutlery has a full, sound ring, and is sufficiently 

 elastic to resist all ordinary pressure. Avoid the 

 purchase of fantastic shapes and patterns, not 

 only from the difficulty of matching any article, 

 in the event of loss or breakage, but from motives 

 of good taste. 



Plate. In the matter of silver articles, there is 

 this to be said in favour of genuine sterling silver- 

 plate, that it always keeps its value, however old 

 and worn. Yet, there are good reasons for 

 preferring articles of electro-plate on nickel. Be- 

 sides being costly, genuine silver-plate if there 

 be much of it becomes a source of constant 

 trouble, through an apprehension of thieves. 

 Many persons are consequently giving up their 

 silver, all except a few articles, such as spoons 

 and forks, and resorting to the use of electro- 

 plate, of which there is now a superior manufacture. 

 The articles are covered with a deposit of pure 

 silver thrown down by a current of electricity. 

 The plating varies in thickness, and is known in 

 the trade as of A, B, and C quality. The A being 

 the thickest, is of course the most expensive 

 and most durable. It costs about one-fourth of 

 the price of sterling silver, and, with ordinary 

 care, will last for a quarter of a century, and at 

 the end of that time, if replated, it will be as good 

 as when new. 



Gilding. Gilding is of two kinds, -water and oil. 

 The former is the most durable and beautiful, and 



786 



is used for all flat and burnished surfaces, the 

 latter being used only on small and intricate 

 ornamentation. Home-cleaning should not be 

 attempted beyond the removal of dust with a 

 brush of feathers or soft hair, and, with ordinary 

 care, nothing more will be necessary oftener than 

 once in fifty years. 



Earthenware and China. In purchasing sets of 

 earthenware articles for the table, take care, as 

 before directed, to set out on a right plan. Select 

 a set which, in case of breakage, can at all times, 

 and in all places, be easily matched. If you buy 

 a set of table-ware which is peculiar or rare in its 

 pattern, and afterwards break several pieces, you 

 may be put to a very great degree of trouble, or 

 even find it impossible, to restore them. Thus a 

 peculiar set of earthenware or china, however 

 beautiful and cheap, may ultimately prove a 

 source of vexation and expense. 



Glass and Crystal. Articles of this kind are 

 now fabricated in the most elegant shapes and 

 designs, and at extremely moderate prices. There 

 are two sorts in the market cut-glass, and glass 

 moulded so as to resemble cut patterns (see Vol. I. 

 p. 364). The latter is cheaper, but not so elegant as 

 the former. Tumblers and other articles intended 

 for hot-water should be hand-made, plain, and 

 of thin glass, cut or moulded articles being more 

 liable to fracture from unequal expansion. Observe, 

 in purchasing glass, that it be well annealed, as 

 otherwise, on the first exposure to hot water, it 

 will fly in pieces. 



ORDER AND MANAGEMENT. 



Housekeeping. Every good housewife is ex- 

 pected to keep a regular and continuous account 

 of her income and expenditure. This is indeed 

 perhaps the most essential in the routine of 

 domestic duties, and she must possess an ill- 

 regulated mind, or have had an insufficient educa- 

 tion, who neglects it. When properly set about, 

 and methodically managed, there is little or no 

 trouble in keeping the household accounts. Some 

 housewives have one method, and some have 

 another. Always presuming that we are address- 

 ing young housewives in the middle ranks of 

 society, with whom frugality is an object, we beg 

 to suggest the following simple plan of keeping 

 house- accounts : Procure a small slate-book that 

 is, a little book composed of three slates, bound 

 in a plain cover. Artificial slate is now manu- 

 factured and done up in books, which we recom- 

 mend as preferable. A book of this kind, with its 

 appropriate pencil, is your day-book; it is always 

 at hand for you to scroll down any note of outlay, 

 and will keep several days' or a week's accounts 

 at a time. At any leisure moment, you carry the 

 entries of outlay from the slates to a small-ruled 

 paper-book, which is your ledger. One page of 

 this is devoted to money received, and the opposite 

 page to money paid out. By doing this regularly, 

 and comparing the entries of sums received with 

 the entries of sums expended, so as to see that 

 they square with each other, you will find that 

 you possess a complete record of family expenses, 

 satisfactory alike to yourself and to your husband, 

 should he make any inquiry into the subject. The 

 keeping of an account of receipts and disburse- 

 ments in this or any other convenient manner, is 



