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48 
HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. 
BY MAUDE LEYHAD. 
I have been thinking for a long time that I should 
like to give a few grains of the wisdom gained by ex¬ 
perience to those inexperienced ones who are stuck 
in the terrible “Slough of Despond ” of housework. 
But there are so many things to tell, it is hard to ar¬ 
range them methodically and condense them within 
the prescribed limits ■ of this article; but I will do 
the best I can, and as spring with its attendant 
evil of house-cleaning is already upon us, perhaps it 
is as well to begin with that. 
The less a woman really knows about housework 
the more she will undertake to do at once. Every 
room in the house must be in a state of confusion ; 
carpets up, furniture in disorder, floors wet and slip¬ 
pery, while the mistress herself goes about a “ damp, 
moist, unpleasant body,” her nerves as disordered as 
her house; and this state of things continues for a 
week or more, when tilings gradually return to their 
ordinary routine, and the spring cleaning is over; but 
the mistress has expended energy and vitality enough 
in that one week to carry her safely and smoothly 
through six months of the year. Perhaps two-thirds 
of the women in these hard times cannot afford to 
hire any one to help them, and it is for these women 
that these hints are intended; and if they serve to 
lighten the labors of one overworked housemother 1 
shall feel amply repaid. 
It is best to begin with the cellar. See that the 
walls and floor are thoroughly swept; all boxes and 
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stray bits of wood should be split up and put with the 
kindlings, and, if you can spare the money, lay in 
your year's supply of coal. You thus get rid of the 
dust and much of the sweeping that bringing coal in 
small quantities always necessitates. After sweep¬ 
ing and dusting, the walls should be whitewashed. 
If you cannot afford to hire this done, you can do it 
yourself at a trifling expense. The whitewash can 
be had ready for use at any paint-shop, and most of 
them will allow you the use of a brush. And white¬ 
washing the cellar walls requires no more skill than 
washing windows ; of course whitewashing the walls 
of a room is very different, but still a smart woman 
can do this, and even paint and paper her rooms at a 
slight expense, if she wishes. 
After the cellar is in order*, begin with the attics 
or upper rooms of the house, taking one at a time, 
and don’t try to do all that in one day. Go at your 
work leisurely, and don’t over-exert yourself trying 
to do a certain amount of work in one day. Be sure 
and cover your hands with a pair of old buckskin or 
kid gloves, to keep out dust and dirt and to keep the 
hands soft. If one is poor there is no reason why 
their hands should be discolored, rough, and hard, 
when a little care will keep them white and soft as 
the daintiest lady’s in the land. Then with a clean, 
old silk handkerchief slightly moistened go over every 
article of furniture, and then carry it to another 
room. Dust and remove pictures and mirrors; then 
with a long-handled duster remove all the dust from 
the walls; then, beginning at the outer edge of the 
carpet, sweep carefully toward the centre, sweeping 
slowly to avoid raising a dust; go over the carpet in 
this way four or five times, always sweeping toward 
the centre; by this time your carpet is ready to take 
up. To do this pull the tacks out carefully, being 
careful not to break the heads, as the points will be 
apt to be troublesome in relaying the carpet and in 
washing the paint. For carpet-beating take a bright, 
windy day, and beat with long, flexible sticks till no 
dust will rise from the carpet. 
Next in order comes the washing of doors, casings, 
etc. To do this put a small quantity of Minting 
into a dish, and have ready a piece of soft flannel 
and some clear warm water. Wet the flannel, 
squeeze it dry, dip it in the whiting, and rub the 
paint up and down till it is clean. Wash off with 
clean cold water, and when nearly dry finish it with 
a piece of soft leather. Be careful and not touch the 
paper with the wet flannel. If windows are washed 
in alcohol and then rubbed dry with a piece of 
chamois skin, their appearance is much improved; 
and a small quantity carefully used will go a great 
way. Next wash the floor thoroughly, sifting pow¬ 
dered camphor in all cracks and crevices as a pre¬ 
ventive against moths. Then relay your carpet, 
bring back your furniture and pictures and your 
room is ready for use. 
Proceed in this way with the whole house, taking 
tlr 
sitting-room 
aid kitchen last, and almost 
before you know it your spring cleaning is over, and 
you as fresh and vigorous as when it Mas begun. 
And while 1 am speaking of cleaning perhaps it is 
well to mention dixit-washing. In large families the 
tired mother usually puts this upon the older children, 
and I know from experience what a heavy burden 
this seems to them, and I recollect a lady’s telling 
me that this was so disagreeable to her as a child 
that she. was in the habit of breaking the largest 
cooking dishes to save washing them, especially if 
anything happened to stick to them. I think even 
this most disagreeable of all household tasks may be 
lightened, and even become almost a pleasure, if one 
goes rightly to work. Have ready a large pan filled 
with very hot soap-suds, and into this put the plates, 
one by one, as they are scraped clean of crumbs and 
fragments ; the large ones first and small ones at the 
top, after this cups, saucers, and bowls emptied 
of all slops, and other dishes as your pan will hold. 
Be sure that all are covered with the boiling water, 
let them soak in this water while you remove the 
food from the table and tidy the dining-room. By 
this time the water has cooled sufficiently to allow 
you to put your hands into it with comfort. Place a ! 
dish-drainer (this is made by nailing slats at regular 
distances on two pieces of wood, about a foot and a 
half apart, and looks something like an old-fashioned 
gridiron) in the sink at the right of your pan, and on 
this pile the dishes as you wash them. Have ready 
some boiling water and pour over them, leaving 
them while you rub the knives, which may be made 
very bright by mixing soft-soap and Bristol brick, 
and rubbing with a cork. Wash all glass in hot 
soap-suds, rinsing in hot water and polishing with a 
soft dry cloth. By this time your dishes are ready 
to be taken from the drainer and you will find them 
perfctlv dry, with a polish no amount of wiping could 
give them. All that remains is to place them in the 
closet. Kettles and greasy dishes can be easily cleans¬ 
ed by using a small quantity of ammonia, and, after 
washing, dry them on the stove instead of wiping. 
So much for what I call the drudgery of house¬ 
work ; and now a few words about cooking. I used 
to think cooking came by instinct, and when the 
right time came any one could c-ook; but I have 
grown wiser, for, unexpectedly thrown on my own 
resources in the cooking line, I was told that one 
might perform a war dance on the crust of my pies 
without making any impression on them. My bis¬ 
cuits I was advised to dispose of to the government 
for cannon-balls (it was in “ war time ”), and I found, 
much to my surprise, that I could not even cook meat 
and potatoes as they should be cooked. I was only 
an inexperienced girl just from school, where I had 
spent the last four years of my life, when my mother 
was suddenly called away by the sickness of my 
grandmother, leaving me with the sole charge of the 
house and the younger children. 
Of course I was delighted at the tliouglitof “keep¬ 
ing house,” and I looked round my little kingdom as 
the hack drove away and would not have changed 
places with Victoria on her throne. Before the first 
week had passed I would have changed with the 
poorest peasant in her dominions, and thought his 
hut, with its sodden floor and a diet of “ praties,” 
paradise compared to the life I must lead till my 
mother’s return. 
But hard as these weeks were, I have sometimes 
thought that in the end they were the most profita¬ 
ble ones of my life, for I realized my own ignorance 
in a way I never could have done had mother been 
at home all the time, and when she came home I 
M - as eager to learn. I hope I improved the lessons I 
then received, and have grown wiser since then; 
but I presume there are hundreds of inexperienced 
housekeepers Mho know no more about so simple a 
thing as preparing vegetables for the table than I 
did, and perhaps these hints will be welcome to them. 
Few people know how to properly cook a steak. 
While nearly all admit that broiling is the best way 
to cook it, there are but feM’ busy housewives who are 
willing to spend the feM - minutes extra time it requires. 
Nom*, if we must have our steak fried let this be done 
in the best manner. Place your frying-pan on a bed 
of hot coals, and let it remain till quite hot. Then 
on the hot, dry pan place your steak, well peppered, 
turning it three times in as many minutes. Then 
dust lightly with salt; put a lump of butter on each 
piece. Put on a hot platter and send to the table. 
In this M ay your steak is as nice as when broiled, 
and with no more trouble than the ordinary frying. 
And now with one more recipe my paper is done. 
If at any time you must have a “picked-up dinner” 
I think nothing tastes better than sandwiches, espe¬ 
cially if they are prepared by the following recipe, 
taken from an old book several years ago. Add a 
tablespoonful chopped'pickle to a quarter of a pound 
of chopped ham, a teaspoonful of mustard, and a 
sprinkle of cayenne. Place about six ounces of 
butter in a dish on the stove and stir till creamy. 
I hen stir in your ham. Cut anj r cold meat you may 
have in the house very thin, and put on bread, then 
spread M'ith the hot ham dressing, put two slices to¬ 
gether and cut in halves. 
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