PAINTING WALLS—SEASONABLE 
HINTS. 
Of course, says the American Builder, everybody 
knows, or ought to know, that walls and ceilings are 
finished with plaster. But everybody may not be 
aware that plaster has the property of absorbing 
moisture. This, perhaps, will not take place in 
rooms where a fire is kept steadily; lmt in rooms 
left, as is often the case, for weeks without a fire, the 
walls will take up a considerable quantity of damp. 
The effect will be injurious to the health of the in¬ 
mates. There are few persons who have not suffered 
from a mysterious cold, caught they know not how, 
though, perhaps, damp in the plaster had something 
to do with it. 
The extent to which damp is absorbed in a plas¬ 
tered wall may be discovered by noticing what so 
often takes place in rooms where the walls are 
painted and have become chilled by a season of cold 
weather. As soon as the temperature becomes 
warmer the atmosphere is condensed on the walls, 
and at times in such quantities as to run off in 
streams. Now, had it not been for the paint, the 
greater portion of this moisture would have been 
absorbed by the plastered walls, and as a conse¬ 
quence the quality of the plaster would have been 
impaired and the room made unwholesome. In view 
of this defect in plastered walls, it becomes a ques¬ 
tion well worth considering whether, in finishing a 
house, the walls should be papered or painted. If 
paint is decided on, it is highly necessary that the 
painting be properly done and good materials em¬ 
ployed. White lead, which is the chief ingredient of 
all paint used, is of late years heavily adulterated— 
a reason why some painters can do work so much 
cheaper than others. There are also dishonest paint¬ 
ers who will lay on nothing but “ whiting” and size 
for the first coat, and finish off with one coat of oil 
paint It is not easy to detect the fraud at the time, 
but as such paint soon wears off the wall, and at¬ 
taches itself to the garments of those who rub against 
it, the customer speedily finds out that he has been 
cheated It takes three or four coats of good oil 
paint honestly laid on to make good work of paint¬ 
ing plastered walls. 
In painting walls there is ample scope for taste, 
and such colors may be chosen as are most suitable 
for each apartment and in harmony with the furni¬ 
ture. Apartments lighted from the south and west, 
j particularly in a summer residence, should be cool 
in their coloring; but the apartments of a town 
house ought all to approach toward a warm tone. 
In a drawing-room the coloring should be charac¬ 
terized by vivacity, gayety, and light cheerfulness, 
by light tints of brilliant colors with a considerable 
degree of contrast and gilding ; the walls being kept 
in due subordination to the furniture, though partak¬ 
ing of the general liveliness. The characteristic 
coloring of dining-rooms should be warm, rich, and 
substantial, without vivid contrasts, and gilding 
should be avoided, unless in small quantities for the 
sake of relief. Parlors ought to be in a medium 
style, between that of a drawing-room and dining¬ 
room. Libraries should be solemn, grave, and quiet 
in color and finish, while bed-chambers should be 
light, cleanly, and exceedingly cheerful. A greater 
degree of contrast between the room and its furni¬ 
ture may be admitted in a bed-chamber than in any 
other apartment. Stairways, halls, and vestibules 
should be of a cool tone and simple in their style of 
coloring, being in that what they are in utility—a 
i link between the exterior simplicity of a house and 
its interior richness and comfort. 
MY GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN. 
“ The old kitchen,” she says, “ was such a busy 
work-shop ! It was a large room with a huge fireplace 
on the east end ; on one side of it the great oven, on 
the other a sink. The old-fashioned fireplace—oh! 
how cheery it did make the old kitchen seem. 
Great-grandfather and the boys would roll in a great 
back-log; and first put that in the back of the fire¬ 
place. The andirons, or firedogs, were placed up 
against it, then a fore-stick put on them, then other 
sticks were put on and piled up to make a good 
business fire. Fastened to the jamb on one side 
was the crane, which swung out and back. It was 
a long arm of iron, on which hooks were suspended— 
often strings of them—on which to hang pots and 
kettles for domestic use. In front was a hearth of 
brick or stone to protect the floor from snapping fire 
or coals. What a sputtering, crackling, roaring 
noise the fire used to make as it went rollicking up 
the wide-mouthed chimney, taking with it chains of 
bright sparks, up and out into the darkness of a cold 
night in winter! Then the wonderful things we 
could see in the coals, as we sat and looked at them 
by their own light or that of a tallow candle — such 
castles, and ships, and animals, and birds, and 
things never thought of, would come and go like 
magic.” “ No stoves ?” I said. “ Why, child,” says 
grandmother, “ such a thing as a cook-stove was 
never heard of. Great-grandmother had a foot-stove 
made of tin—a little square box of tin full of 
holes, and a door to it through which to put in a 
small iron basin of coals, which she took to church 
Sundays in cold weather for her feet; for churches 
never had fires in them, you know, then. How did 
we cook ? Well, it did seem as if our brains would 
get cooked, and we roasted over such hot fires in 
order to cook the victuals and do the other work! 
Why, for breakfast we had pork, either fried in an 
iron spider set on coals, or a frying-pan with a long 
handle to hold over the fire, with brown bread and 
sometimes eggs. Tea was rare and seldom used. The 
Boston tea-party spoiled the use of it for many years 
after. Sage tea was a common drink for morning 
meals. Cider for dinner, with boiled victuals • some¬ 
times bean-porridge and brown bread alone for din¬ 
ner. Baked pork and beans, with bread and milk or 
mush and milk, for supper. Potatoes were scarce, but 
were a rare treat roasted in the ashes, of a Sunday 
eve, to the youngsters, and eaten with salt. When 
wheat flour came more into use white bread with 
pies and calces added to the variety of food. Great¬ 
grandmother’s big bread-tray had white-bread dough 
set to sponge in one end, and nut-cakes sweetened 
with maple sugar set to rise in the other end. These, 
when light, were cooked in a large iron pot of boiling- 
fat hung over the fire. When she did not want to 
heat up the big oven an iron bake-lcettle was found 
very convenient, which was round and flat on the 
bottom, with an iron cover. To bake things it was 
set on coals on the hearth, and the cover had hot 
coals placed on it, when almost anything could be 
had fresh by baking it separately. Short-cakes 
were baked in the iron spider turned up before the 
fire. Griddle-cakes were cooked on a round iron 
griddle, with a bail to hang over the fire on the crane- 
hook. Spare-ribs, turkeys, and fowls for Thanksgiving 
were hung up by a cord in front of the fire, and 
turned and basted often with the drippings, which 
fell into a spider below. Soda or saleratus were not 
known in the culinary art. 
MUFF FOR A YOUNG LADY. 
Here is a pretty style of knitting which may be 
used for a variety of articles, such as hoods, mats, 
etc. For a nice muff for a little girl use two needles, 
No. 6, and two kinds of double zephyr wool, say scarlet 
and chinchilla. The needles must be pointed at both 
ends. Cast on 35 stitches with the chinchilla, then 
begin at the last cast-on stitch with the scarlet and 
work as follows: First row (scarlet) .- knit the edge 
stitch plain, but from the back part of the loop; 
then * make one, slip one, knit two together; re¬ 
peat from*. Slip the last or edge stitch. Second 
row (chinchilla) : purl the first or edge stitch; then 
* slip one, purl two ; repeat from *. This slip stitch 
is a long scarlet one, and must be taken off as in 
purling; the last or edge stitch must be slipped in 
the same way. Third row (scarlet) : purl the first 
or edge stitch ; then * slip one (this is a short chin¬ 
chilla loop), make one, purl two together; repeat 
from *. Slip the last stitch, the slip stitches all 
through the row to be done as in purling. Fourth 
row (chinchilla): knit the first stitch plain, but from 
the back part of the loop ; then * knit one (this is a 
small chinchilla stitch almost covered by a long scar¬ 
let one), slip one, knit one; repeat from *. Slip the 
last stitch. 
These four rows are to be repeated. Work about 
half a yard in length, cast off, sew or knit the sides 
together, line with wadding covered with silk, draw 
in the ends with cords, add tassels, and the muff' is 
complete. The effect of this pattern is to produce 
an open net-work of scarlet upon a background of 
chinchilla. Neither of the wools is to be broken off 
during the progress of the knitting, and the row be¬ 
gins at whichever side of the work the wool to be 
used happens to be. There is no difficulty in doing 
this with double-pointed needles. 
Lace Curtains should never be ironed. Wash 
and starch them, using in the rinsing-water a table • 
spoonful of powdered borax. This makes them very 
stiff. When wet spread on a sheet, either on the 
floor or bed, and pin down every two or three inches. 
Let them dry for several days and they will look very 
nice. 
