83 
AMERICAN AGEIC U LTURIST. 
[March, 
l ight win) saitl “ let me write the songs of a na¬ 
tion and I care not who makes their laws,” for 
the words of song melt their way into the heart. 
No one can doubt that at least one President of 
the United States owed much of the enthusiastic 
support given him to the spirited songs every¬ 
where sung during the canvass. We can yet 
almost hear the “ Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” as 
it used to swell from the thousands assembled at 
mass-meetings. As a source of innocent and re¬ 
fining enjoyment, a means of right moral training, 
and a gentle but powerful home magnetism, pa¬ 
rents should encourage the practice of music at 
the fireside. The piano maybe too costly, but the 
accordeon, the flute, or the violin, are within 
reach of all; and even better than any or all of 
these, is that wonderful instrument, the human 
organ, fashioned by I he Master, adapted to and 
intended for the richest melody, which may he 
tuned in childhood, and taught to fill the house 
with praise and with delight. Vocalist. 
New Mode of Making Brushes. 
The common method of making most kinds of 
brushes has been to draw the bristles into gimlet 
aides, in little tufts. Mr. Shaler has recently in¬ 
vented a plan of making them in the manner il¬ 
lustrated in fig. 1. A spiral groove is cut upon 
a round piece of wood ; the bristles are then laid 
on, and with a continuous wire are bent into the 
groove and held firmly there. The advantages 
claimed for this method are, that the bristles are 
more uniformly spread over the surface ; that a 
considerable saving is made in the labor of man¬ 
ufacturing ; arid that a round brush presents a 
bristle surface on all sides, and will wear longer 
bit;; ixiAi; A 
Fig 2 -A COMMON 
CLOTHES-BRUSH. 
than one having only a single flat surface. We 
are not certain that this mode will take prece¬ 
dence over the old one for common clothes- 
brushes, though the manufacturers claim that 
they can and do furnish a better round brush at 
the price of the flat; but for cylindrical brushes, 
required in machinery, jn carpet-sweepers, etc., it 
appears to be a valuable improvement. 
Escaping from a House on Eire. 
The Western Female Seminary, at Oxford, 
Ohio, was entirely consumed on the night of Jan. 
i:5th. The fire caught under the roof, and made 
such headway before being discovered, that only 
a part of iho furniture and clothing in the upper 
rooms could be saved. Our special object in al¬ 
luding to this matter, is to. speak of the self pos¬ 
session of one of the young ladies, which doubtless 
saved her life. The example ofthe benefit ofself- 
possession and not allowing fear to run away 
with the judgment, and also the means of escape 
adopted, will, we hope, not be forgotten by those 
who may chance to be placed in similar circum¬ 
stances. The lady, whose room was in the fifth 
story, had returned to it to secure some articles 
still remaining. While in the room, the llames 
and smoke burst into the hall and cut off her re¬ 
treat. She immediately closed the door tightly, 
and then tore up the bedding and made a rope of 
it. Shoving the bedstead against the window, she 
tied one end of the rope fast to the rail, and the 
other end around her body, and let herself down. 
But the rope proved too short, as it reached only 
down to the second story and left her suspended 
in the air twenty feet from the ground. Holding 
firmly on with one hand, with the other she un¬ 
wound the portion around her body, and this let 
her down so far that she dropped to the ground 
without injury. Springing up as if nothing had 
happened, she ran to her Preceptress and asked 
what further she could do to help others. This 
is one of the most striking instances of cool, in¬ 
trepid courage we have heard of. How much bet¬ 
ter than to have run to the window and called for 
help which probably could not have been afforded, 
or, in despair, to have flung herself to the ground 
to meet almost certain death. 
Combined Lamp and Match Box. 
» ® ' 
Annexed we present an illustration of an ar¬ 
rangement invented by Thomas Shanks, of Mary¬ 
land, which is designed especially as a conveni¬ 
ence for those who have occasion to light a lamp 
during the night. The 
base of the lamp A, is 
made hollow to admit 
the drawer B,in which, 
matches or tapers, or 
both, may be kept so 
as to be always at 
hand. The drawer is 
pulled in and held there 
by a concealed spring. 
The knob C is on the 
end of a rod which is 
connected with t h e 
catch D, so that on 
pulling out the draw¬ 
er and turning the 
knob part way round, 
the catch is turned up and holds the drawer out 
until the knob is turned back. In front of the 
box is a piece of sand paper for rubbing the match¬ 
es upon. The two compartments in the drawer 
are designed, one for matches, and the other for 
burnt slicks. 
Freezing out Cockroaches. 
To th' 1 Editor of the American Agriculturist 
I went with my family into the country, to 
spend a portion of the holidays, leaving my city 
house closed during what Merriam would call a 
“cold term.” Upon reopening it again, the first 
discovery made, was the large number of appa¬ 
rently dead cockroaches, which traps, ponders, 
and poisons, had failed to exterminate. Looking 
into the cracks and crannies which they had 
formerly infested, scarcely a roach was found, 
they having stiffened and fallen upon the floors 
and shelves I found, however, on warming the 
house, that a few of them began to show signs 
of life, so I immediately brushed them into the 
dust-pan and made a burnt, or peace offering of 
them. I now have scarcely alive roach left,where 
before were hundreds, and I throw outthehintto 
your city readers, some of whom I have reason 
to know would take a trip to the country, even 
in the dead of winter, if by so doing they could 
rid their premises of these pests ofthe 
Brooklyn, Feb. 5. Housekeeper. 
An Effective Mouse and Rat Trap, -which 
Costs Nothing. 
One of the simplest, and most effective traps we 
have ever seen, has just been presented to us by 
an office associate. Others may have seen it 
before; we have not. It consists of a piece of 
basket or chair bottom splint, bent into hoop 
form, as shown at A in the engraving. Where 
the two ends are brought together, a piece of 
cheese is tied in for bait. The hoop is then 
placed under the edge of a bowl or other vessel, 
inverted upon a piece of board, as seen in the 
sketch. A slight nibbling at the bait lets the 
bowl down, and catches the intruder, who may 
then be drowned by dipping the bowl into water, 
or sliding him into it. The apparatus is so simple 
as not to be feared by mice, or the notoriously 
shy rats. For the latter animals, a heavy tin pail, 
or milk pan, or large earthen dish may be used. 
A weight may be put on, if necessary. For mice 
a common bowl is large enough. Half a dozen 
bowls may be rigged out and set in a very few 
minutes. 
A Home-made Shawl Pin- 
A correspondent sends to the Agriculturist a 
description of a shawl pin, which is so easily and 
cheaply made, that we publish it for the benefit 
of those needing such an article, and who can not 
readily purchase one of more finished manufac¬ 
ture. Take a piece of bright brass, steel, or iron 
wire, about eight inches long ; sharpen one end 
with a file or on a grindstone, smoothing it on a 
whetstone. Three inches from the sharp end, 
wind it twice or three times about a round stick, 
making a coil as shown at A. At about three inch¬ 
es from A, make a single coil B; give the remain¬ 
ing end a turn down, then up, to make the hook 
C. Then twist it out towards D, so as to form 
a guard over the sharp point, cut it off the right 
length, and the pin is completed in less time than 
we have taken to describe it. 
Hints on Cooking, etc. 
[The follow ing nine good recipes are taken by permis¬ 
sion fro in a copy-righted pamphlet rs-sued by Mr. Crozer, 
ofMercerCo , N. J , who was formerly largely engaged 
in the baking business, preparing cooking extracts, etc. 
We doubt not our readers will find them valuable.—E d ] 
Almond Cake.— -Mix together until very light, 
1 lb. of sugar, and -J lb. of butter; then add grad¬ 
ually 1 pint of white of eggs, well beaten up ; 
mix until light, and flavor with extract of Bitter 
Almond; then add li lbs. of flour; mix it in 
carefully until smooth. Put in a greased and 
papered pan ; bake in a moderately hot oven. If 
baked in smaller cakes they need a hotter oven. 
Ginger Cake — Of the very best himl. —Gradu¬ 
ally mix 1 quart ofthe best molasses into 6 ounces 
