May, 1891. 
97 
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The Aladdin Oven. 
All housekeepers are interested in new 
methods of cooking, and welcome any in- 
vention which promises to be an improve- 
ment on the costly and clumsy range: con- 
sequently the announcement of an oven, in 
which all kinds of cooking may be done 
with a trifling outlay of fuel and trouble, 
demands prompt investigation. 
The Aladdin oven is the invention of Dr. 
Edward Atkinson of Boston who has, for 
^ years, devoted himself to the subject of 
economy in food, and has demonstrated 
that Americans might be better fed at half 
the present expense, if the cooking could be 
done in a more intelligent and scientific 
manner. This, he claims, may be success- 
fully accomplished in the Aladdin, which 
will do the cooking for ten persons at an 
expense for fuel of only a cent a day, and 
with absolutely no waste cf food materials. 
The Oven is made of sheet iron, covered 
with wood pulp, the heat coming from a 
Ro> hester or other good lamp, and it is said 
that the smoke and odor which render the 
ordinary kerosene stove so objectionable 
are entirely wanting here. A variety of 
food, such as fish, meat, vegetables and 
puddings, may be cooked at (he same time, 
each article retaining its own flavor, as the 
heat is never sufficiently high to distil the 
juices. Of couise the work is done slowly; 
but food cooked for a long time with even 
heat is found to be more nutritious, whole- 
some, and digestible than by the usual quick 
S processes. 
It is, of course, too early to predict the 
future of the Aladdin; but, as it is simply a 
cooker, it can hardly be more than an ad- 
junct to the range which, in most families, 
would still be required for heating water, 
and for laundry work, as well as for warmth 
during the cold months. Its cost— twenty 
five dollars without lamp or cooking uten- 
sils— renders it too expensive for the multi- 
tude who need it most. 
For people camping, or living in close 
quarters, and for all who do not need the 
range in addition, it must be invaluable. 
As there can be no waste of food, through 
burning or scorching, and no watching is ne- 
cessary after placing the dishes in the oven, 
its economy is sufficient recommendation; 
while its compact form and great conven- 
ience render it still more desirable. Think of 
putting the whole breakfast, c iffee includ- 
ed, into the oven on retiring at night, and 
hiding it in the morning perfectly cooked 
and realyfor the table! Surely an oven 
that can do this will be dear to the heart of 
many a housekeeper. 
After washing an oilcloth, rub it over 
with a cloth wet with milk. 
Salt and Newspapers. 
It is now said that if we would protect 
ourselves from moths, we can do it most 
effectually by the use of newspapers and 
common salt. 
Careful housekeepers have found that ar- 
ticles of clothing which have been wrapped 
in two or three thicknesses of newspaper, 
have been kept intact even in houses which 
were over-run with these insect pests. They 
seem to liavean abhorrence for printer's ink. 
By sprinkling salt over the garments just 
before storing, assurance is made doubly 
sure. 
For carpets, bureau drawers, and similar 
places, the generous use of salt has proved 
the very best exterminator of moths. This 
remedy is so simple that some find it diffi- 
cult to believe in it, but it certainly needs 
only a trial to prove its superiority to the 
expensive moth powders so often bought. 
How to Wash Colored Dresses. 
Nothing spoils colored fabrics so much as 
to begin them and let them remain, waiting 
for a convenient season to be finished. 
After being once wetted they should be 
rinsed and dried as quickly as possible, 
otherwise the colors will run. Everything 
that is hot should be avoided for them also: 
they should not be washed in hot water, 
they should never be boiled, they should 
never be dipped into hot starch, they should 
not be ironed with a hot iron, and they 
should be hung to dry, not in the sun, but 
in the shade. A cloudy day, when there is 
a light breeze, is the beau ideal of a day for 
drying col< red goods. Soda, and all chem- 
ical washing compounds, should be scrupu- 
lously avoided. Soap must not be rubbed 
upon them. Wash quickly in two soapy 
waters, and rinse in clear cold water. 
Colored dresses should always be hung to 
dry with the inside outwards. 
Salt, alum, ammonia, and ox-gall may be 
used to “set” the color, but with good ma- 
terials, carefully washed in this manner, no 
such aid is necessary. — Cassell's Family 
Magazine. 
Women As Wage-Earners. 
The number of women who support them- 
selves in profess'ons, trades, or handicrafts, 
is increasing so rapidily that alarmists are 
asking what is to become of the men. 
Fifty years ago there were few women 
who labored outside of their own homes, 
unless driven by actual necessity; and the 
variety of occupations in which a woman 
might engage was painfully limited. The 
professions were not to be though of : the 
colleges closed their doors; and although 
they often taught in the primary schools, it 
was rather a makeshift than a business. 
Women could not be editors, or reporters; 
the type writer was not yet practical; and 
General Spinner had not opened the door of 
government employment to them. 
To-day many colleges have women pro- 
fessors or assistants: every newspaper and 
magazine w*elcomes them to its staff: wo- 
men have entered all the professions: they 
are stenographers, typewriters, reporters, 
government clerks, and postmasters. The 
times change: and women change with 
them. 
Of course their presence in such increas- 
ing numbers must crowd men out to a 
greater or lesser degree, and the outlook 
might be somewhat gloomy were it not for 
the fact that the majority of women do not 
go into business seriously, as a life-work, 
but simply enter it for a few years, or untd 
they marry. Marriage does not end a man's 
business life; but, in most cases, it ought to 
end a woman’s. For, whatever “ woman’s 
rights” women may say to the contrary, 
that cannot be an ideal home from which 
both husband and wife are absent all day. 
This lack of permanence ought not to 
make any difference in the quality of work 
done; but all who have employed many 
women unite in attributing to it the lack of 
care and serious interest in their work 
which renders women less successful than 
men in many occupations. 
We believe fully that, whatever the finan- 
cial condition of the family, every girl, as 
well as every boy, should be trained to self- 
support: and while we would not, in the 
least, dissuade girls from marriage, we do 
urge them to dovote themselves to their 
work with the same earnestness and serious- 
ness that they would if marriage were out 
of the question. Then they will be equal to 
men in business ability, and will no longer 
be chagrined by talk, at present so common, 
of the vanity and frivolity of girls who are 
working simply because they mutt support 
themselves until they can find some man to 
do it for them. 
Eggs. 
We have previously spoken of the false 
economy which leads many housekeepers to 
scrimp the family supply of milk, oblivious 
of its great food value. The same mistake 
is often made in regard to eggs, which are 
an even more important food. 
The egg, properly cooked, is easily digest- 
ed, and contains life-giving elements in con- 
centrated form. Hence eggs should be 
freely used, even when high-priced. They 
are always cheaper than meat, and often a 
wise substitute for it, especially as a bieak- 
fast dish. 
It is needless to say that eggs for table use 
should always be fresh : indeed persons of 
delicate digestion often refuse to touch an 
egg that has been laid more than three days. 
Remember that an egg grows lighter with 
keeping, as the water in its composition is 
evaporated through the porous shell and its 
place filled with air. Consequently, if an 
egg floats on the surface of water, it is not 
fresh. 
A fresh egg, thoroughly beaten, and added 
to a glass of cream, with sugar and flavor- 
ing to taste, has been of great value to many 
invalids, and is sometimes the only form in 
which it can be taken. 
Although there are scores of appetizing 
ways of cooking eggs, the average house- 
keeper seldom attempts more than three or 
