63o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
September 10 
| Woman and 
♦ The Home. 
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
FROM DAY TO DAY. 
Recknt inquiries about gasoline stoves 
at a great New York store elicited the 
fact that such stoves are not kept in 
stock at all. It was stated that they are 
certainly dangerous, and that the firm 
could not conscientiously recommend 
them, apart from the fact that, in some 
cases, their use nullifies an insurance 
policy. Oil stoves, however, have been 
improved greatly, and one of the recent 
patents has no wick, burning the vapor 
of the oil like gasoline. It seems to be 
a very desirable stove, easily cleaned and 
kept in order. 
* 
The Rainy Day Club, of New York, 
whose members are popularly described 
as Rainy Daysies, have been trying, for 
some time, to induce women to adopt a 
more rational dress during wet weather, 
the ideal being a skirt short enough to 
clear the ground thoroughly. They 
point to the bicycle dress as an example 
of sensible, convenient attire. Down at 
Coney Island, however, a woman going 
about in bicycle costume without either 
a wheel or a wheel check, is denied ad¬ 
mittance to many places of entertain¬ 
ment, and is likely to receive an admoni¬ 
tion from a policeman, the presumption 
being that she is not respectable. Pub¬ 
lic opinion does not seem sufficiently ad¬ 
vanced to receive the reformed dress 
with complacency. 
* 
During this Summer, a number of 
places in the vicinity of New Y T ork have 
been troubled with sand fleas, wdiich en¬ 
ter the houses, and become a nuisance. 
Some persons do not seem to fall vic¬ 
tims to them, while others are in misery 
from numerous bites. Dust forms a 
breeding place for them and, whenever 
they appear in a house, a general clean¬ 
ing should be the first step toward their 
removal. Usually, in our climate, they 
are easily removed ; if still present after 
the cleaning, gasoline may be used in all 
the cracks, destroying adults and young. 
Owing to their habit of jumping when 
disturbed, it is possible to destroy them 
by pouring a little kerosene in the pan 
of the carpet sweeper, and then running 
the sweeper about. 
* 
As the crowds enter New York by way 
of the Brooklyn Bridge every morning, 
the newsboys look out for people who 
have finished reading their morning 
papers, which they beg for the purpose 
of selling again. Many people thrust 
the paper into the hands of the first boy 
they meet, without looking at him; 
there are always plenty of outstretched 
hands. One morning recently, we saw 
a little newsboy stretch out his dirty, 
bony hand for the paper carried by an 
overdressed young man. Instead of 
handing over the paper, the young man 
struck the boy across the wrist, and 
went on with a scowl. The blow 
was a stinging one, but the boy recov¬ 
ered enough to say “ Yah ! Spaniard!” 
with profound contempt, and the epi¬ 
thet was taken up by the other boys, 
who pursued the offender across the 
street with queries as to whether his 
name was Weyler. These boys always 
stand up for one another against an out¬ 
sider, but they are continually scuffling 
among themselves, or indulginginfights 
with the women who dispute their ter¬ 
ritory. One of these women, who is a 
familiar figure near the Bridge, is News¬ 
paper Annie, a stout matron, who wears 
a battered black hat tied down under 
her chin. She was a widow, but she 
recently made a second venture into 
matrimony, her choice being an elderly 
sandwich man, who carried advertising 
signs for a cheap restaurant. Their 
courtship was carried on in the inter¬ 
vals of business, culminating in a mar¬ 
riage ceremony at one of the Bowery 
missions. Annie intends to be a help¬ 
mate to her husband, for she is still 
selling papers, as before. 
GASOLINE AND CLOTHES MOTHS. 
Two years ago, we had a couch in our house 
that proved to be infested with moths. We soaked 
it thoroughly with 15 gallons of gasoline, and 
had we then set fire to it, we would have done the 
right thing; but we didn’t, and now the women 
folks are fighting continually in closets and 
everywhere, and are, apparently, making no 
headway in getting rid of the pest. What shall 
we do ? c. a. h. 
Loekport, N. Y. 
ANSWERED BY M. V. 8LINGERLAND. 
There is no question but gasoline or 
benzine used freely will kill clothes 
moths or carpet “ bugs ” in all stages of 
their existence ; 15 gallons of gasoline 
should have been sufficient to kill all 
animal life in one couch, and it, doubt¬ 
less, did. Had the pest been wholly con¬ 
centrated in that couch, this thorough 
soaking would have exterminated it in 
the house. But such a state of affairs 
would be a remarkable case. Of course, 
the moths necessarily start somewhere 
in a house, but rarely are they located 
before they have established themselves 
in several places. Hence it is extremely 
doubtful whether the couch contained 
all the moths then in the house. As the 
gasoline would soon lose its effective¬ 
ness, the couch could easily have become 
reinfested by moths from another part 
of the house. Thus, it is doubtful 
whether the destruction of the couch 
by fire would have materially reduced 
the number of the moths, or checked the 
depredations of the pest, in the house. 
Only eternal vigilance can ever keep 
clothes moths in check; it would be 
practically almost impossible entirely to 
exterminate them from a house. Even 
though this were accomplished, your 
neighbor would soon breed a new stock 
for you. Some people keep loose pieces 
of old red flannel on the floors of their 
clothes closets to attract the moths or 
to entice them away from the clothing ; 
these pieces are then thoroughly shaken 
and cleaned frequently. A little extra 
care and effort to put away all Winter 
clothing, etc., in tight bags, like flour 
sacks, or into boxes which can be made 
tight by pasting strips over the cracks, 
will do away with much of the trouble 
from these pests. Shake all clothing 
frequently out-of-doors, and leave it in 
the sunlight for a time. 
If bed clothing, etc., packed away in 
nearly tight boxes and trunks, were 
treated with a little carbon bisulphide 
once a month, the moths would be held 
in check. An ounce of the liquid poured 
into an ordinary trunk and the lid 
quickly and tightly closed, would kill all 
animal life therein. Remember that 
this liquid is explosive if light be brought 
in contact with its fumes ; handle it like 
gunpowder, and keep it away from the 
nose. One treatment with this each 
month will be more effectual than moth¬ 
balls, and the clothing will not retain 
that sickening moth-ball odor for days, 
but can be thoroughly aired in a few 
hours. Use benzine freely in infested 
rooms. 
WOMEN AS REAL ESTATE AGENTS. 
Is there any business which women 
may enter, for which there is an increas¬ 
ing demand ? There is at least one, the 
renting and selling of real estate. Who, 
when trying to inform herself as to the 
condition or value of property, has not 
experienced unnecessary delay and 
trouble, occasioned by the ignorance and 
indifference of the men to whom such 
matters are intrusted? Yet this is a 
business that most emphatically de- 
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