Ito RURAL NEW. YORKER 
II265 
Simple Science- 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
L. 
Earthenware with Cracked Glaze 
Is there any way of refinishing crocks 
both inside and out? I have some on 
which the glaze is cracked; they mold on 
the outside, and things do not keep so 
well as in the better conditioned crocks. 
Monroe, N. Y. W. a. w. 
No, the case is hopeless. After the 
glaze of the ordinary earthenware crock 
is once cracked the liquids within seep 
into the porous interior, and you can 
never again get the crock clean. 
Cleaning Water Pipes 
I have a country place near Califon, 
N. J., and my source of water supply, 
which furnishes all the conveniences in 
the house, is piped from a spring about 
1.000 feet distance. The pressure of this 
water has retarded considerably the last 
two years on account of the sediment 
which has collected in the galvanized iron 
pipes. Can you advise me how to clean 
out these pipes, either by using some 
chemical compound which dissolves this 
sediment, or otherwise? w. f. B. 
Bayonne, N. J. 
This matter comes up repeatedly, and 
we hesitate to suggest anything except 
taking up and cleaning the pipe. It is 
true that a rathey dilute, say one to five, 
solution of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid 
will attack the deposit inside an iron 
pipe, but it will also attack the pipe it¬ 
self. more or less, if it gets a chance, and 
is liable to cut through a -weak spot. The 
fact that some, pipes will clog with a 
deposit from the water has to be faced, 
and we think that your best procedure 
is a new pipe of a somewhat larger diam¬ 
eter. Still, if you wish to try the acid, 
calculate the cubic contents of the pipe, 
and prepare the required quantity _ of 
acid, plug up the lower end of the pipe, 
after having emptied it, add the acid 
through a funnel and allow it to remain, 
say 24 hours. But we consider this treat¬ 
ment rather risky. 
Curing Squeaky Shoes 
What will stop shoes from squeaking? 
Ridgebury, N. Y. J. b. h. 
The noise is due to two layers of the 
sole rubbing together, and a good shoe¬ 
maker will put in one nail, in just the 
right spot, and stop it. If you have no 
expert available, better try greasing the 
leather, which is easily done by setting 
the sole in a thin layer of any simple oil. 
lard or neat’s-foot, and letting it stay a 
few hours. Enough oil will soak in to 
grease the squeaky spot and the leather 
will be helped also. 
Sulphur-bleached Molasses 
Some molasses I bought came labeled 
as “prepared with sulphur dioxide.” What 
is this, and is it harmful? J. J. L. 
Central Square, N. Y. 
Sulphur dioxide is the gas which re¬ 
sults from burning sulphur in air. and if 
you are old enough to read fake hair 
restorer advertisements, with a sneaking 
wonder if there is anything in the idea, 
you will recall the time 'when practically 
all except “parlor” matches gave you a 
little dose of sulphur dioxide when you 
used them. You got about as much sul¬ 
phur dioxide from each match as you 
could get if you took a whole pint of 
molasses at once. It is true that the gas 
when concentrated is deadly, but if your 
system is rugged enough to withstand the 
shock of eating an egg you will endure 
the molasses, as there is more actual 
sulphur in the egg than in amount of 
molasses you will ordinarly eat at one 
meal. When the sugar cane juice is con 
centrated most of the sugar goes out and 
is refined for use. But there is non- 
cr.vstallizable sugar and some natural 
salts that are sold in the thick solution 
we call molasses, and this is quite likely 
to ferment. It has been found that a 
very little sulphur dioxide will prevent 
this, and all the best molasses is so 
treated, germs are killed and color im¬ 
proved by an entirely harmless amount 
of sulphur. 
Nickel-plating 
Can I nickel-plate a revolver, which is 
Chipping off, in the san e way I learned 
to Plate with copper in high school? 
Massachusetts. M. B. 
The principle is the same, but t 
practice is much move complex, a 
rather beyond the amateur uuless y 
ore willing to spend considerable tii 
ancl some money in learning just how 
no it. In the first place, the present co; 
whatever remains of it. must be entir< 
.(■moved. This is usually done with aq 
,? la : a mixture of nitric and liydi 
«rit-?5 ie acids, which is unpleasant to wo 
..aad may easily act too strongly 
artK ‘ e - Then you must make up 
lather complex bath to get good resul 
aithongh an eight per cent solution of t 
•V, e sulphate of nickel and ammouit 
Wi work if handled just right. T 
w 18 , us »»lly worked at about bio 
Qeat ’ aud the current is adapted to t 
resistance and the surface to be plated. 
Batteries will furnish a very nice but 
rather expensive current, but what kind 
and how many to use have to be deter¬ 
mined by the job itself. While we are 
always glad to give what help we can, 
this is one of the cases in which we can¬ 
not encourage you to go ahead unless you 
want to play with it. In that case take 
things easy at first, and let your gun wait 
till you have learned. 
Removing Indelible Ink 
How can I get indelible ink out of a 
white table cloth? w. F. b. 
Sardinia, N. Y. 
It is unlikely that you can; that is 
why the maker called it indelible. How¬ 
ever, you might try javelle water, which 
you can make from washing soda and 
chloride of lime (the directions are on the 
can), and follow it without rinsing with 
strong vinegar, which will give a little 
free chlorine. Rinse out well and repeat 
the treatment if there appears to be some 
change for. the better. Finally, rinse 
very well, indeed. Many of these inks 
have finely divided carbon in them, and 
if you have one of this sort you will take 
everything but that, which, in the fiber, 
will resist all treatment. 
Cleaning Limestone on Porch 
How can I clean Indiana limestone, 
used as a trim around a porch? 
Scranton, Pa. c. H. w. 
You probably have a .very difficult task, 
and the only safe thing to suggest is 
elbow grease, sand and water, applied 
even unto the third and fourth genera¬ 
tion. and then some. The discoloration 
of limestone out-of-doors is often due to 
the growth on and into the stone of min¬ 
ute plants, and you practically have to re¬ 
surface the stone. Of course, if you want 
to take a chance, some half and half 
hydrochloric (muriatic) acid and water 
applied with a swab and washed off well 
will take the present surface off the 
stone, and the dirt with it. but you will 
then have to resurface the stone, or the 
last state of that trim will be the worse 
after a few days of soft coal smoke. A 
block of medium grain carborundum will 
be a good scrub brush, and it is to be 
hoped that at least a part of the job is 
on the shady side of the porch. 
Saccharin for Preserving 
Can saccharin be used as a sugar sub¬ 
stitute fir preserving fruit? b. D. 
Congress, N. Y. 
It cannot; it is a material which has 
a peculiar action on the nerves of taste, 
so stimulating them that they report to 
the brain the sensation which we call 
“sweet,” and which, after that has been 
done, passes unchanged from the system 
by way of the kidneys. There is as yet 
no reason to consider that in the amounts 
actually used, it has any other action on 
the body except the sweet effect as it 
passes the mouth, and this is. of course, 
temporary. There has been a lot of talk 
on both sides, but those who claim that 
saccharin does harm have not yet proved 
the case, where there is plenty of evidence 
that it has been taken for a long time in 
fairly large doses without inconvenience. 
But it lias no nutritive value, and the 
only excuse for adding it to the canned 
fruit would be to get the sweet effect. 
A far better way will be to can the fruit 
without sugar, trusting to heat to sterilize 
it. and add sugar as you use the fruit, tin- 
situation being probably easier by that 
time. By the way, saccharin is not a 
“mineral” at all; it is made from toluene, 
which is closely related to benzene, and 
is entirely harmless. 
Root Beer Extract 
Have you a recipe for a good root beer 
extract ? mbs. m. m. 
Henderson, N. C. 
We cannot give you the composition of 
the extract you mention, as it is a pro¬ 
prietary article, and the recipe, of course, 
is private property, but from a number 
of formulas we have selected the follow¬ 
ing, which will, at least, give you all the 
tonic effect to be expected. All the roots 
and herbs should be chipped or rasped 
line, and the spices ground. 
Sassafras root bark 
Wintergreen leave.-. 
Snice wood bark. . . 
Wild cherry bark.. 
V-How dock root.. . 
Hemlock tips. 
Sweet fern . 
Hons . 
Ginger . 
Allspice . 
Nutmeg. 
Cloves .. 
5 ozs. 
4 oze. 
3 ozs. 
3 ozs. 
2 ozs. 
2 ozs 
2 ozs. 
1 oz. 
1 oz. 
V> oz. 
% oz. 
14 OZ. 
Boil all but the spices about two hours 
in two gallons of water, add the spices 
and boil au hour more, strain and bottle. 
This is, of course, concentrated; for use 
it may be diluted considerably, depending 
on the taste, as no one can tel! at a dis¬ 
tance iust how rich in extractives the 
materials used may be; in fact, that will 
vary from lot to lot. according to the time 
of year. The above formula should giv** 
an extract which will not snoil, but in 
your warm climate it might be as well to 
.seal the cans as if it were grape juice. 
Protection Against Lightning 
I appreciate the value of lightning rods, 
but this year cannot afford them, as we 
have just bought the place, which needs 
other things more. Is the wearing of 
rubbers any protection to a person, pro¬ 
vided there is no other connection with 
the ground, or being in an automobile? 
Or is there any other protection for one 
so. she can, with calmness, attend to 
things during a severe electrical storm? 
There are three small children, and the 
father must be away most of the time. 
Westfield, N. Y. mbs. j. p. 
. You are quite right. It is a problem, 
since full half of the farm fires come 
from lightning. Yet the personal danger 
is very small indeed, so small that some 
of us .who are no more disturbed by the 
lightning than by the subsequent rainbow 
are rather inclined to suggest the old- 
fashioned feather-bed sandwich. This is 
surely safe, but to get yn one feather bed 
and pull another one over seems unat¬ 
tractive on an August afternoon. Be¬ 
sides, they are telling us nowadays that 
feather beds are unhealthy. But are yon 
quite sure that there is any real danger? 
Some places have no thunderstorms at all, 
and if you have moved from such a local¬ 
ity they may seem unduly-serious. Most 
of the lightning in our hilly Eastern 
country is from cloud to cloud, and not 
to earth at all, but it is just as bright 
and makes rather more noise. When you 
consider the voltage of a flash you will 
see that the ordinary rubber overshoes 
are slight protection ; still, they can do 
no harm, unless putting them on fills the 
minds of the little ones with fear, which 
is about the worst thing that can happen. 
There is not much chance of being injured 
within a building, but there is one thing 
you can do, which is some real protection, 
and that is to shut all windows and doors 
and see that there are no drafts. You 
have to shut part of the windows anyway, 
to keep out the rain, and it is not much 
hotter with them all shut. Lightning is 
the. symbol of uncertain and irregular 
action, but there is a definite tendency 
for the discharge to follow an air current, 
and the high voltage discharge always 
stays on the outside of any object unless 
it is conducted inside. 
Another very practical thing. If you 
have tin gutters and leaders, is to see 
that they are well joined and that the 
leaders are “grounded"; that is, electri¬ 
cally connected with always damp earth, 
say some two feet underground. This can 
be done with a few feet of heavy wire 
that is handy, or several strands of light 
wire can be used. Then, though you may 
have a few bricks shaken out of the chim¬ 
ney if you should get hit, there will be 
very little chance of any current entering 
the house itself. If you find by inquiry 
that there have been several strokes al¬ 
ready in your neighborhood there may be 
some danger, but if not there is small 
need to worry, even if you are alone and 
there is more or less noise. Still, there 
is nothing like a lightning rod for safety 
when you get around to it. 
Coa! Ashes for Packing 
Could I use coal ashes to pack a fire- 
less cooker, a refrigerator, an icehouse or 
the walls of a house? If dried, would 
they cause decay of studding? Would 
they absorb moisture? Would they make 
a house slow burning? F. G. 
Long Valley, N. J. 
Properly dried and well-sifted coal 
ashes could be used for all those things, 
but would not be very efficient and would 
be very heavy. The thing that holds heat 
in or out in cookers and refrigerators is 
not the packing, but the dead air held by 
the packing. Coal ashes would quickly 
settle, and be no more value than dry 
sand. They would do no harm iu the 
walls of a house, but the weight would 
soon spread the walls. 
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Good Judgment 
leads thousands of 
housewives to serve 
Grape=Nuts 
in place of foods that require 
hours of drudgery in a Hot 
kitchen. Needs No Sugar* 
Comes ready to eat from the 
package. 
Theres a Reason" for 6rape=Nuts 
