382 



THE GAEDEN AND FIELD. 



January, I9l4 



Home Hints. 



— Care of Silverware. — 



The housekeepers of fifty vears 

 aoro considered it a careful house- 

 w-ife's duty to take care of her 

 own silver or to direct its clean- 

 ing, if left to a servant. In the 

 busy life of the women of to-day 

 time seems to be too precious to 

 devot'e to such work, and know- 

 ledge is made to take the place 

 of labour in the intelliirent house- 

 hold. Instead of scouring-, and 

 riibbinof, and polishinsf each mece 

 of silver, the service may be clean- 

 ed in a few minutes as effectively 

 as if an hour or two hoiirs were 

 devoted. After each meal the sil- 

 ver should be put in a clean cedar 

 tub or dish-pan kept for the pur- 

 pose and covered with hot waeer, 

 to which a teasnoonful of nowder- 

 ed borax is added, theti taken out 

 immediate'ly and laid on a soft 

 linen cloth, and each piece rubbed 

 quickly with a piece of chamois 

 skin. Silver should never be 

 rubbed with flannel or cotton 

 cloth. When not used it will be- 

 come tarnished if exposed to H^ht 

 and air ; therefore, to keep it in 

 eood condition, each piec<e should 

 be carefully w-rapntd in white tis- 

 sue paper. Even Plated ware.' will 

 assume a new dio^nitv treated in 

 this manner, and will always look 

 brifrht and clean. 



— To Ease the Feet. — 



If you are trodbled -with sore 

 corns, do not fail to trv the fol- 

 lownn? trentmont : — Soak the feet 

 well at niffht in hot water, in 

 whi'^h Ins been di'^solvi^d a few 

 cr-''^t^ls of nprm'^nn^anpte of pot- 

 nsh Tl^pn 'dry cnrr^f"!!-"-. ps-neciallv 

 Ket"'pen the toes, and dust the 

 skin in the.se n^rts freely w^th a 

 m'Ttnrp of tannic acid and boracic 

 pcid. Next morninfif wash careful- 

 ly with mire soft soap and cold 

 w^t^T thoron"-M\- dr^-, pr'd powder 

 with boracic acid. A Piece of le- 

 iT-on or a sr>1it raisin bound on a 

 hard corn will very often cure it. 

 The first annlication mav produce 

 soreness, but if treatment is per- 

 «:isted in a reasonable lensfth f>f 

 time a cure wn'll likdy he effected. 

 Tf not, trv the followinrr rrenara- 

 tion r — Thirty jjrains of salicylic 

 acid and fiive crains of Indian 

 hemp ; to be dissolved in half an 

 ounce of collodion. 



— The " Little Things " in House- 

 keepinjr. — 



How few women reali.se the true 

 value of attention to the details 

 of their owkr. A man in business 



g-ives to them his careful consider- 

 ation, but a housekeeper often, 

 from lack of time, perhaps, or phy- 

 sical strength, will nejjlect what 

 she feels is the trivial part of the 

 machine work. 



This is a mistake :* l>etter under- 

 take less and do it thoroug'hlv. 

 The people who do' great 

 thing's are those who have g'iven 

 attention to the little ones as 

 well. It is doubtful if a genuine 

 success in life can be achieved 

 without attention to little things, 

 for neglect of tbem gives the im- 

 pression of unreliability, a reputa- 

 tion fatal to anv kind of achieve- 

 msnt. " Want of time is a mo- 

 dern fiction Hil-'lv •^m-loyp'd bv 

 those who rarely put any portion 

 of their sixteen waking hours to 

 any useful purpose. 



— Real Ladyhood. — 



A lady is a gentlewoman on 

 every occasion and under all cir- 

 cumstances ; she does not reserve 

 fine manners for special People and 

 special occasions. Ladyhood is 

 not an outside veneer or polish 

 which may readily be rubbed f>ff 

 by contact or attrition with the 

 world, but is ingrained. Acquired 

 good manners are better than 

 none, but unless there is a solid 

 foundation of irentleness and kind- 

 ness behind them they are apt to 

 wear badly when subjected to 

 strain. '^Tien in unpleasant dilem- 

 mas the ladv proves it by never 

 forgetting what is due to herself 

 and others under the circum- 

 stances ; she does not lose her 

 temner and make use of languao'e 

 to be regretted afterwards ; she 

 also makes allowance for the 

 trans"TPSsor, and causes her.self to 

 be respected. 



— Hints on Food. — 



To eniov a natural apT^etite, the 

 following dietetic hints should be 

 taken into consideration : — Discard 

 all condiments and eat food pre- 

 pared as simply as possible. Mas- 

 ticat'.-? the food thoToucrhlv, allow- 

 ing it to remain in the mouth 

 unfi] the delicate nattiral flavors 

 of the food are developed. A larp^e 

 variety of foods .should not be 

 eaten at one meal. .'Vvoid care- 

 fulb'- the u,"*e of murh 'biid, espe- 

 cialli- cold fluids at mjeal«. M'anv 

 persons are better for discarding 

 all drinks at meals. 



— Coffee Essence. — 



Four o7.. coffee, one iiint water. 

 Place coffee in a mu.slin bacr and 

 pour slowly over it the boiling 

 water. Then bring the coffee to 



simmering point, but do not let it 

 boil. Strain and put in a clean, 

 dry bottle, cork well, and it will 

 keep for several days. Two table- 

 spoons of this to a breakfast cup 

 of hot milk. Pour another three 

 teacups of boiling water slowly on 

 the grounds, and keep to use in- 

 stead of water next time essence 

 is to be made. Boil it, and pour 

 on the same way as when using 

 water. In this way a better 

 coffee will be obtained. 



— Care of the Feet. — 



The best treatment for tired feet 

 is a nifT-htlv foot bath in tepid 

 water, to which a handful of bran 

 has been added. Stand in cold 

 water for two minutes afterwards. 

 There .should lie a frequent change 

 of footwea^-, and the shoes and 

 stockinsrs .should be chano-ed unon 

 comincr in from the street. The 

 feet need a p^reat deal of vpntila- 

 tion, and for this reason a chano-e 

 of footwear is ^■■ery advisabl?. It 

 is a rood practice, if v^n ran, to 

 keep several pairs of shoes ready 

 for wear. It is a little more ex- 

 nensive at first, but it is cheaper 

 in the end. The shoes will last 

 lonp^er. 



— The Colotir of the Ears. — 



With the era AC for ear-rinn^s 

 women ha-^'e suddpnb- discovered 

 that, small and d^liCatelv-.sharied 

 as their 'ears may be, one essential 

 eleiTient of beantv is mis.sino' when 

 these useful fpatures lack colour. 

 A woman with pale ears can be 

 saf-^K- cpif- flown as oup \yh'>se heart 

 is hard to reach, while she who.se 

 ears an.-> t^inl- o1r.-n.fT curlfvd 

 rims and 'down-- To'^es, is a crea- 

 ture of symnathptic and resnonsive 

 temperament. More iir-'Port'mt stilli 

 a well-coloured ear is as becoming 

 as^ a rosy cheek, and, in conse- 

 auenoe, many a scrunulo"s "irl 

 who would scorn to pven dust her 

 cheek with nowder, thinks it no 

 e^il to slightly rouTO hnr ears ti^l 

 they p-low with a delicate pink 

 colour. 



— Care of the Piano. — 



A prim little lady, who is not 

 cfuite an old maid, has the best 

 kePt instrument I know of, savs a 

 lady writer, and this is the secret. 

 Whenever .she swebps the parlour 

 she never fails to spread a ready 

 bleached sheet over the top and 

 pin it down around the ed"e and 

 comer. This is allowed to stay 

 on until thinf,s qre rin^hted. and 

 every narticle of dust "emoted. 

 When daily fires are kindled they 

 use the iiarlour as a sitting room. 



