Ingenious D e v i c e s 
LABOR-SAVING SCHEMES AND SHORT CUTS IN THE HOUSE AND IN THE GARDEN 
Sticky Paint 
OUBTLESS 
many women 
have painted some¬ 
thing about the 
house, as I have 
done, only to have 
it refuse utterly to 
dry. As our old 
colored man says, 
“Dat's de stuff dey 
sells you alls, so you 
hab to hire a man 
whut knows paint 
to do it ober.” 
His sarcasm 
goaded me to one 
more effort. Be¬ 
fore sand-papering 
it off and trying 
their paint, as a 
dealer advised, I 
coated the sticky 
green paint with 
common varnish, 
and lo, my porch 
chairs were as dry 
and glossy as new. 
This may not 
work over some 
amateur painting, 
but don’t send for 
the “man whut 
knows paint” until 
you have at least 
given the varnish expedient a trial. 
L. McC. 
Don’t Close Faucets Tightly 
“XTEVER close your faucets tightly, as 
so many people do, by screwing 
them down after the water has ceased to 
run,” a veteran plumber told me. “It will 
ruin the washers in a short time, and then 
the faucets will continually drip.” I have 
followed his suggestions with the best of 
success, and think that it is thoughtless¬ 
ness or simple ignorance that makes so 
many people handle them in the other 
manner. F. 
Winter Window-Boxes 
TV/T ANY people leave up their outside 
LtI. window-boxes during the winter 
for lack of place to store them. I recently 
saw a beautiful effect produced by filling 
the boxes with hemlock branches set up¬ 
right in the soil like miniature trees. The 
ugly effect of the empty boxes was recti¬ 
fied, the glimpse of green from the win¬ 
dows within was very pleasing, and their 
burden of feathery flakes during a snow¬ 
storm was most beautiful. The house re¬ 
mained attractive all winter. A. M. A. 
Keeping Silverware Bright 
ILVER will keep bright much longer 
^ if kept in cases made of canton flan¬ 
nel. If pieces of gum camphor are placed 
Along the rear of a rather large country estate runs an electric car line. To afford a place 
of shelter and rest while waiting for the car this structure, which has in it a practical sug¬ 
gestion for a summer-house in any locality, was erected on the fence line, with a pair of 
gates and seats. Oswald C. Hering, architect 
in a box with silverware that is in daily 
use, it will prevent the articles from tar¬ 
nishing. It may also be used in the canton 
flannel cases. C. 
Loose Electric Lamps 
N EVER use an electric lamp which has 
become loose in its metal socket. The 
writer was carefully removing such a bulb 
But as many stores 
do not have such 
a device it is well 
to take your case 
each time. F. 
Draining the 
Water Pipes 
1 WAS much sur¬ 
prised to find 
the water pipes 
frozen after I had 
carefully shut dhe 
water off the night 
before and at the 
same time opened 
the way for the 
water to drain out 
through the com¬ 
bination stop-cock 
and drain-cock. As 
everyone knows, it 
is necessary to 
drain off the wa¬ 
ter that is in the 
pipes after shut¬ 
ting off the main 
supply. The trou¬ 
ble is that the wa¬ 
ter in the pipes will 
not always drain 
off through the op¬ 
ening at the main 
supply stop - cock 
unless you open 
wide a faucet at the far end of the pipe. 
This is because the water is held in place 
by a vacuum which can be broken only 
by letting in the air at the upper end. 
It is always best to leave a faucet open 
when shutting off the water for any rea¬ 
son, even in the summertime. This per¬ 
mits the air in the pipes to pass out when 
the water is turned on again. C. K. F. 
To Clean a Table Pad 
when it went to pieces, throwing the glass 
around and making a violent report. The 
lamp-shade, fortunately, protected the r 1 1 0 clean a dining-table pad, dissolve 
half 3 bar of some pood white soan 
writer’s eyes, and although his hand was 
covered with glass, it was not cut. Un¬ 
doubtedly the glass bulb broke because of 
its becoming loose ; when any lamp be¬ 
comes so, discard it at once. 
C. K. F. 
Electric Torchlight Batteries 
\\7 HEN buying new batteries for the 
* * “flashlights” bring along your case 
containing the lamp itself. Then you may 
purchase any battery that lights it the 
brightest. Remember that there is a wide 
variation in these batteries, and it is the 
best economy to purchase only the ones 
that have the greatest lighting power at 
the start, for that indicates that they are 
“fresh.” Some stores now have a lamp 
which they use to test each battery sold, 
giving the customer only perfect ones. 
half a bar of some good white soap 
in hot water, and when cool add two table- 
spoonsful of gasoline. Add this mixture 
to enough warm water to cover the pad 
and let it soak two or three hours. Then 
wash in a solution the same as above and 
rinse well. This is especially good for 
removing spots made by cream and it 
leaves the pad clean and white, 
O’C. 
To Clean and Toughen Matting 
A LL mattings, especially the rugs of 
Japanese fibre so popular for bed¬ 
rooms, are not only greatly brightened 
and improved in appearance, but are 
toughened and made more durable by fre¬ 
quent sponging off with wet cloths. No 
chemicals are needed, just the pure, cold 
water. L. McC. 
(306) 
