1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
439 
Laundry Work in Summer. 
HOW CAN WE LIGHTEN LABOR? 
During the Summer, when every house¬ 
keeper finds many extra duties, the laun¬ 
dry work becomes one of the heaviest 
tasks, and it is necessary to seek every 
method of lightening it. Have you any 
special plans for lessening the amount of 
washing, or of saving labor in doing the 
work? What is your greatest help on 
wash day? Do you plan special cooking 
to save labor on wash day, and to utilize 
the extra heat on ironing day? During 
the Summer we plan to do any extra bak¬ 
ing on ironing day, thus using heat that 
would otherwise be wasted, while the irons 
are on the stove, and lessening the need 
for keeping up a hot fire on other days. 
Do you save ironing by running towels 
and similar plain pieces through the 
wringer, after they have been folded flat? 
We have no special plans for saving 
labor in doing the washing, hut would 
he very much pleased to hear of an 
easier way. We plan to have as little 
cooking as possible to do that day, and 
generally hake our bread and other 
things on ironing day. Towels and oth¬ 
er plain pieces we pass through the 
wringer, and find that it answers the 
purpose well, and saves labor in ironing. 
I would like to hear of any other plans 
for lessening labor. j. s. m. t. 
Canada. 
For the ever recurring labor of wash¬ 
ing day nearly every one has her own 
theory and practice. My greatest helps 
are soft water in plenty, and good soap. 
Soft soap is preferred, as taking less 
time to use. A good washing machine 
is a very great assistance, but the best 
need to be run by man power, which is 
not always to be had. Clothes may be 
soaked in lukewarm soapsuds a half 
hour or an hour, hut longer than that 
seems to set the dirt in the clothes. 
When clothes are rubbed ready for the 
boiler it is a good thing to wring them 
out of a pail of clean water, as, if dirty 
suds is left in them, the boiling after¬ 
wards leaves the clothes grimy. After¬ 
wards good sudsing and rinsing and a 
thorough swinging on the line complete 
the process, but they should not be left 
out in a strong wind. In time of year 
when clothes can be spread on the grass, 
it is well to take the soap out and rub 
a little on the soiled spots that have es¬ 
caped the washboard. Rinsing twice in 
the morning gives a clear look that is 
pleasant to see. One benefit of spread¬ 
ing clothes on the grass is that they 
can be rinsed in the early morning and 
have the benefit of the whole day on 
the line. I have heard many recipes for 
washing where it was declared no rub¬ 
bing was required. I am very skeptical 
about the good of such ways. If they 
work once or twice they fail if used 
steadily. Borax is quite a help; a pound 
o? borax dissolved in hot water, well 
stirred in a barrel of soft soap when 
newly made and put in the cellar, pre¬ 
pares the soap to do its duty by clothes 
that are to be washed, but even +hen 
some hand rubbing is required. Many 
things are desirable to use if we take 
them for what they are worth for helps, 
and do not expect too much of them. 
Some washers have an unpleasant gift 
of washing out all the color from calico 
and denims. If colored garments are 
taken singly and rubbed out quickly and 
after wringing are plunged at once into 
cold hard water the fading process is at 
once arrested. Soaking calicoes or col- 
oied clothing of any kind to make them 
wash easier only soaks out the color. 
Clear water is not so trying on colored 
clothes as strong boiling suds. In iron¬ 
ing I have often folded the towels 
lengthwise on the ironing board, one on 
the other, and beginning at the top iron¬ 
ed and folded them. It is not quite so 
easy as takihg them singly, but no mus¬ 
cle is wasted. aunt rachel. 
Wisconsin. 
We live on a farm with the usual ex¬ 
tra help through the busy season out of 
doors. We are seven at home, two of us 
being school ma’ams, and we wash for 
live beds. During the Summer we can 
wash at the west end of our kitchen 
where is nice shade and almost every¬ 
thing to help with washing—plenty of 
line a few steps from the door, dry 
wood, and water so soft and pure it 
really looks blue. In the back yard are 
two clumps of trees which afford us just 
the right shade for drying delicate col¬ 
ored fabrics, and we always bring those 
in as soon as dry. We have a copper 
wash boiler with flat bottom for using 
on top of the stove covers. This has 
been in use weekly—often semi-weekly 
—for nine years. We use soft soap at 
times; but are now using a good wash¬ 
ing powder and a hard white soap. We 
also use a pounding barrel—not the 
large, clumsy affair my grandmother 
had—but a neat little cask, bought some 
years ago at the drug store. It was used 
for whisky, and is nearly as smooth in¬ 
side as a barrel churn. The pounder is 
light, and both dirt and fun are ex¬ 
tracted, when the seven-year-old boy 
wields it, dancing around the barrel. 
The washing is most carefully sorted, 
and we often boil in five separate lots. 
We also make fresh suds from one to 
five times, never using the water until 
it is very dirty. This may sound like a 
slow process, but it is productive of the 
best results. All suds (except that for 
woolen goods, which are quickly washed 
and rinsed through very warm water) is 
rather cool when the clothes are put in, 
but boiling water is added to the white 
washing after it is well wetted. 
Handkerchiefs are soaked and rinsed 
out in cold salted water before going in 
the warm suds. White tablecloths and 
napkins are whitened by being hung in 
the hottest sunshine, and then wet 
again when dry. All pieces to be starch¬ 
ed are first dried. Having tried many 
ways, we find that bluing, starch and 
smooth ironing tend to make garments 
wash much easier. We use a great deal 
of starch made with wheat flour. We 
bring in the clothes before night anu 
dampen and roll them. 
A brisk fire, a clean stove and irons, 
are absolutely necessary for proper iron¬ 
ing. We often give our irons a thorough 
washing all over in warm soapsuds, and 
wipe and dry them most carefully. We 
use a homemade ironing board and have 
a lump of beeswax tied in a cloth, coarse 
salt, brown paper, and soft old cloth as 
aids in keeping our irons perfectly clean 
and smooth. That one of us who irons 
places her work near a window in the 
sitting room, steps a few feet through 
the hall, and is almost entirely cut off 
from the heat of the stove. Every piece 
is thoroughly aired before being put 
away, and all needing any mending, 
darning, or buttons are left out until re¬ 
paired, usually being placed in the emp¬ 
tied wash basket. As we never iron 
stockings or socks—merely stretching 
them into shape as we turn them after 
they are well aired—and as they are 
nearly all cleansed in the pounding 
barrel, we feel quite free to change them 
often in warm weather. But, after all 
said and done, laundry work is hard, 
slow work. MRS. I,. II. NILES. 
Rural Recipes. 
Jam Dumplings.—To one quart of 
sifted flour add two heaping teaspoon¬ 
fuls of baking powder, half teaspoonful 
of salt and four tablespoonfuls of sugar 
and sift several times. Beat two eggs 
light and add to a cup of milk; stir into 
the flour, adding a large tablespoonful 
of butter melted; add enough milk to 
make a soft dough; roll out, cut in 
squares, put a large spoonful of jam in 
center of each square, pinch the edges 
together, place them in a baking pan and 
bake them for 25 minutes; serve with 
vanilla sauce. 
Black Angel Cake.—One egg, half a 
cupful of sweet milk, half a cupful of 
sugar, one-third cake Baker’s unsweet¬ 
ened chocolate. Cook these ingredients 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
till it thickens and let cool while making 
the cake part as follows: One cupful of 
sugar, half cupful butter creamed, two 
eggs beaten separately, half cupful 
sweet milk, two cupfuls flour, half tea¬ 
spoonful soda in the milk (do not use 
any cream tartar), half teaspoonful va¬ 
nilla. Mix the cake thoroughly, then 
add the chocolate paste and beat well. 
Bake in two layers and put together 
with white icing. This is a delicious 
cake. 
Delicate Fishballs.—Boil the quantity 
of codfish that would be required, 
changing the water once that it may 
not be too salt. While the fish is hot 
pick it very fine, so that it will be feath¬ 
ery. It cannot be done fine enough with 
a fork, and should be picked by hand. 
At the same time have hot boiled pota¬ 
toes ready, mash them thoroughly and 
make them creamy with milk • and a 
good-sized lump of butter. To three 
cupfuls of mashed potatoes take iy 2 
cupful of fish; the fish should not be 
packed down. Beat one egg lightly and 
stir into the other ingredients and sea¬ 
son to taste. Beat the mixture well to¬ 
gether and until light, then mold it into 
small balls, handling lightly and before 
frying roll the balls in flour. Fry them 
in smoking hot fat until a gold color. 
Shiny Gingerbread.—This is very 
crackly and shiny on top. The secret 
of making it thus is to pour the short¬ 
ening boiling hot on the molasses and 
beat the batter as little as possible. Pour 
a small half-teacupful of boiling hot 
shortening, lard and butter, or beef suet 
and butter mixed, upon one-half pint of 
New Orleans molasses; add two table¬ 
spoonfuls of milk, a tablespoonful of 
ground ginger, a teaspoonful of cinna¬ 
mon; then sift in about three-quarters 
of a pint of flour, to which a teaspoon¬ 
ful of baking soda has been added; last¬ 
ly add a well-beaten egg, then mix with 
a few deft turns of the spoon and bake 
in one large pan or two small ones in a 
moderate oven; serve hot, and break, 
not cut, at the table. 
Tiie Household Congress. 
Butter Dressing fob Potato Salad. 
—One cupful butter, melted, into which 
is stirred one tablespoonful of flour, half 
cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful salt, 
one egg, half teaspoonful mustard, and 
a little pepper. Add a small cupful of 
boiling water, and cook together until 
thickened like cream. m. 
New York. 
Laundry Suggestions. —Gum arabic 
dissolved in water and added to the 
starch will give it an extra stiffness. If 
you use flour starch for the colored 
clothes, wet the flour with cold water 
and stir or beat it until not a lump re¬ 
mains, then pour the boiling water on 
it. When it is ready to take from the 
stove add a teaspoonful of powdered 
borax which has been dissolved in a 
little boiling water. This will keep the 
starch from sticking when it is ironed, 
and make it glossy. Many housekeep¬ 
ers have been annoyed by having the 
colors of their beautifully embroidered 
centerpieces and doilies grow faded and 
dingy after laundering a few times. This 
is not necessary if they are washed 
properly. Prepare a suds of lukewarm 
water and good soap, then dissolve a 
little borax in it. Rub between the 
hands until the articles are clean. Rinse 
through two waters with a very little 
bluing in the second, and hang in the 
shade to dry. After they have been 
dampened and rolled up an hour or two, 
iron on the wrong side. Little starch is 
used on such articles, and many good 
housekeepers do not use any. A little 
boiled starch added to the second rinse 
water is all that is needed. e. j. c. 
Kansas. 
“A friend,” says Emerson, “is a per¬ 
son with whom I may be sincere. Be¬ 
fore him I may think aloud. I am ar¬ 
rived at last in the presence of a man 
so real and equal that I may drop even 
those undermost garments of dissimula¬ 
tion, courtesy and second thought, 
which men never put off and may deal 
with him with the simplicity and whole¬ 
ness with which one chemical atom 
meets another.” 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page. 
WHAT DO THE CHILDREN DRINK? 
Don't give them tea or coffee. Have you tried the 
now food drink called GRAIN-O? It is delicious 
and nourishing and takes the place of coffee. The 
more Grain-O you give the children the more health 
you distribute through their systems. Grain-O Is 
made of pure grains and when properly prepared 
tastes like the choice grades of coffee but costs about 
\i as much. All grocers sell it. 15c. and 25c. 
Very Low Rates 
FOR 
COLONISTS 
TO 
California, Montana, Utah, 
Washington, Oregon, 
British Columbia, Idaho, 
VIA 
Big Four Route 
One way second class colonist tickets 
to Helena, Butte, Ogden, Spokane, Port¬ 
land, Tacoma, Seattle, San Francisco, 
Los Angeles, San Jose, and other points 
in the West*and Northwest will be on sale 
at very low rates from all points on the 
“Big Four,” daily, until April 30, 1902. 
For full information and particulars as 
to rates, tickets, limits, etc., call on 
Agents “ Big Four Route,” or address 
the undersigned. 
WARREN J. LYNCH, W. F. DEPPE, 
Gen'l Hass. & Ticket Agt. Asst. G. P. & T. A 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
"The Sphinx of the Twentieth Century." 
ASIA AND 
THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 
Comparatively few people are 
familiar with the Chinese Empire 
as it exists to-day. in view of the 
constantly growing Oriental com¬ 
merce of the United States, every¬ 
one should become familiar with 
the Chinese Empire. The 
NEW YORK CENTRAL’S 
“Four-Track Series” No. 28 gives 
valuable statistics anti informa¬ 
tion regarding the Flowery King¬ 
dom, and contains a new and 
accurate map in colors. 
A copy of No. 28, “A Now Map of Asia 
and tho Chinese Empire, ' sent free, post¬ 
paid, on receipt of five cents in stamps by 
George H Daniels, General Passenger 
Agent, New York Central Railroad, Grand 
Central Station, New York. 
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