31 
LADIES DEPARTMENT. 
£ aiiies' Department. 
TEMALE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PRESENT DAY. 
We are frequently pained to see drawing rooms 
and parlors filled with young ladies, for hours to- 
e-ether, without any visible employment. They 
have run through an idle, unmeaning round of calls, 
or profligate, needless shopping in the early part of 
the day, and a tea fight, or hop, or a flirting match 
comes off at night, which consumes the remainder 
of the mis-spent day. Sad perversion of the intel- 
lect and bodies of what should be rational, intelli- 
gent, and useful beings. 
Wc boast of advancement in manners, refine- 
ment of pursuits — we deem many of the fashions 
and habits of the present day as retrogades, not ad- 
vances; as approximating closely to the idleness, 
frivolity, and dissipation of savage life, rather than 
progress towards one of greater refinement and 
utility. The good old days of the hatchel, the 
cards, the spinning wheel, the loom and the bleach- 
ing tub, were vastly more consonant to the duties of 
wives and mothers, and the welfare of the human 
race, than the present ones of the piano, the guitar, 
the opera, the polka, and the waltz. 
Let sensible women who have right notions of 
female manners and duties, take the matter in haud 
before it is too late, and correct the downward ten- 
dency of female (mis-called) accomplishments. 
Provide for the young women the large rim spin- 
ning wheel, by which they can dance off some of 
the buxom hilarity of youth; and for the older 
ones, or infirm, the smaller, buzzing, sedentary, 
pedal wheel and distaff, where they can compose 
and lull their matron sensibilities to the quiet reali- 
ties of life. "And when the evening shades pre- 
vail/' let the quiet knitting, with the old-fashioned 
sheath pinned upon the side, employ the busy fin- 
gers of all, as they are gathered round the cheerful 
fireside of the honest, prudent, and therefore, 
independent American farmer. Here, both brothers 
and beaux may learn a lesson of enjoyment, purity, 
and content, which they may look for in vain amid 
the saloons of the city, or even would-be-fashionable 
country life. What more is wanting for success 
and enjoyment on earth 1 What more favorable 
position for preparation for heaven 1 
Eva. 
New York, December, 1848. 
» 
TO PREVENT THE TJNPLEASANT EFFECTS OF 
LIMESTONE WATER. 
It is well known that in those regions of coun- 
try where limestone abounds, the water is so 
strongly impregnated with it (making it too hard as 
it is called), as to render it unfit for washing, and 
many other domestic purposes, by curdling with 
the soap — encrusting boilers, &c. Where no other 
water is to be had, the disagreeable effects may be 
remedied in some degree, by the following means : — 
For washing, the curdling of the soap in the 
water can be prevented, by boiling a bag of wood 
ashes in the kettle, which will not hurt the hands 
§o much as ley made in the common way. For 
cooking, salaeratus, in the proportion of about one 
small tea-spoonful to a gallon of water, will neu- 
tralize it sufficiently. For the toilette, its effects 
upon the skin are sometimes very distressing. I 
have often known the hands of children as well as 
those of other people, so chapped by it as to crack 
open, and bleed. This may be prevented by wash- 
ing with vinegar, after the hands, &c, have been 
wiped dry. E. S. 
Eutaicah, November, 1848. 
TO REMOVE STOPPERS FROM DECANTERS. 
With a brush and warm water and soap, clean 
around the stopper.; wipe dry and let it grow cold ; 
take the end of the stopper between the thumb and 
finger of one hand, while, with the other, you hold 
the neck of the bottle over the flame of a spirit 
lamp, and turn it round briskly for about a minute, 
or a longer or shorter time according to the thick- 
ness of the glass, and the size of the vessel. The 
heat will expand the glass of the bottle before it 
affects that of the stopper, which will come out, al- 
most, with a touch. One that has been broken 
close off may be removed in this simple way. 
E. S. 
TO CUP.E CHILBLAINS, OR FROSTED FEET. 
Mix, in a glass vial, a quarter of an ounce of pure 
muriatic acid, with two ounces of water. Wet a 
piece of sponge, or soft cloth, with the liquid, and 
gently bathe the parts that have been frozen. Let 
it dry on, and wrap the feet in bandages, or draw 
on a pair of old stockings to keep the bed linen 
from contact with the acid, which will drop into 
holes wherever it is touched by it. This speedily 
cools the inflammation, allays the intensely painful 
itching, and when the frost is not very deep, it 
cures by a few applications. 
When the chilblains are of long standing, and 
the skin has cracked, or when sores are formed, 
the first two or three bathings are apt to cause a 
smarting pain that is somewhat discouraging to per- 
sons unacquainted with the virtues of this simple 
remedy ; but if they will persevere, they will be 
rewarded by a complete cure. E. S. 
Hoarding up Linen. — Amongst the old customs 
still in vogue in this country, that of hoarding up 
linen is one of the most inveterate. The following 
is a singular instance of this habit : — An old maid, 
78 years of age, died recently at Tocqueville. 
This person, who possessed rather a large fortune, 
lived with extreme parsimony. Her only luxury, 
her only expenditure, was for linen, which she laid 
by in her closets. An inventory made after her 
death proves that in 14 closets she had, in reserve, 
more than 500 pairs of stockings, nearly 600 che- 
mises, the enormous quantity of 100 dozens of nap- 
kins, 12 dozen sheets, an innumerable quantity of 
caps, handkerchiefs, &c. ; and, lastly, linen cloth 
sufficient to provide for the wants of 500 persons. 
— Brussels Herald. 
To Prevent a Bruise from becoming Dis- 
colored. — Blood can be prevented from setling in 
a bruise, by applying to the place, a cloth wrung 
out of very warm water, and renewing it until the 
pain ceases. The moisture and heat liquify the 
blood, and send it back to the proper channels, 
which by neglect, or the use of cold applications, 
would be coagulated, and fixed in green and black 
blotches directly under the skin. E. S. 
