The book of good housekeeping : a thousand short-cuts for Australasian housewives.

Five Free Patterns.—All those shown on cover picture herewith—Miss’s Dress. Lady's Itlouse. Collar and Cuffs, and Little Girl’s Dress — given away free.

Stage-Struck Pilgrims from Australia: A well-illustrated and racily written account, by Alice Grant Rosman. of the girls who go to London Town. It tells what they do. what they earn, and how they succeed-

How to Make Real Old Irish Lace: Another of the new series of practical lessons by Mary Card, with original designs.

The Adventures of a Young Girl in Society: A splendid article in story form under the title of “ Nina Langtree Goes Calling”—a complete guide to the etiquette of visiting.

Making Money from Raffia Work: The first of an important series by Henrietta C. Walker on money-making home industries, with many original Australian designs.

Reducing the Cost of Living: A cluster of practical articles on making both ends meet without' lessening the comfort of the home.

Charles Barrett at His Best: Another Nature study article entitled “ The Wide Horizon.” by one of the most popular Nature study writers in Australia—well illustrated.

A timely collection of rilty fine illustrations is given away in this issue, with a review of current fashions and the latest novelties.

A capital article on a burning subject that will appeal strongly to wives and wives-to-be.

Making an Evening Dress at Home. One of an invaluable series of home dressmaking lessons which are now running In ” Everyladv's Journal.”

A Great Serial and Some Fine Short Stories: “ Everylady’s Journal ” for June is rich in fiction. Mrs. Humphry Ward’s ” The Mating of Lydia" is the serial, .and several short stories appear.

Personal and Practical Problems: A dozen departments covering women’s interests, including Entertainment, Answers to Personal Queries. Beauty, Cooking, Household Hints, etc.

“ Every lady's Journal " is a popular sixpenny magazine, published specially for the home-loving, home-making women of Australia and New Zealand. Into its 64 big and finely illustrated pages each month are crowded a feast of good things—See sample contents above

“ Everylady’s Journal ”—all booksellers sixpence, or sent post free to any address in Australasia for a full year, from current issue, if a 6s. postal note is sent to T. Shaw Eitchett, 376 Swan-ston Street. Melbourne.

“LIFE”

^M Life *’ surely needs no further recommendation than the mere exhibition of the contents of a single issue—any single issue. For convenience’ sake, we take a recent one, though every following issue will be as good, and better.

How to Enrich Australia, by

“Agricola.” A splendid illustrated article on the value of irrigation, with practical advice to those who wish to take up land in irrigated areas.

The Man Who Flew to Manchester: Two excellent portraits of Louis Paulhan. the hero of the air. and a graphic description of one of his flights.

Catching Wild Animals for the Zoo: Experiences of Carl ilagenbeck, beast tamer; fully Illustrated.

The Box of Chinese Gold: By

Albert Dorrington. How Captain Hayes caught a tartar.

Black Spots on the American

Landscape: The first of a series of sensational articles, written by an American about America.

The Conauest of the Blue Mountains: Second of Dr. Fitchett’s vivid series of articles on Australian and New Zealand Exploration.

The Birth of the Telephone: A

fascinating story of perhaps the greatest invention of modern times.

The Cloisonne Box: A thrilling story of a mysterious death recounted by an Australian writer.

The Judgments of the Sea: The

best short story of wreck and salvage printed for many a day.

How I Met Mark Twain: An illustrated interview with the famous humourist, by Charles Nuttall, in which he gives his views on smoking and other matters.

The World at a Glance: Dr

Fitchett sums up the story of the month for the man in the street in clear, forcible •manner.

"Life " costs 6d. a month, or 6s a year posted to anv address in Australia or New Zealand. Send a fis. postal note (stamps or cheque 6s. 6d.) to T. Shaw Fitchett. 376-382 Swanston Street. Melbourne, and your subscription will begin from any month you like.

In her quest for a thoroughly artistic and up-to-date home, the most economical of women may be tempted to extravagance. The housewife is wise who remembers practically that at most not more than one-sixth of the entire income should be spent in rent. It is a blunder of the most short-sighted kind to cripple resources by taking a house out of proportion to the means at disposal for its maintenance. Nearly every house of the better class is let from quarter to quarter, or from month to month. Written agreements, where a lease is involved, are necessary as a precaution against forgetfulness or misunderstanding. Promised repairs should be effected before the tenant takes possession. Everyone taking a house for any term should first ascertain that all arrears on telephone, rates, and taxes are defrayed before occupancy is entered upon. It must not be overlooked that if a tenant omits to give notice of intended vacation at the right time, he is legally bound, on the monetary side, for the next period.

In choosing a home, a healthy, rather than a fashionable, locality should be selected. In our hot Australian climate the aspect of the building so largely influences its comfort that this point should be most carefully considered. If a northern aspect is selected, rooms will unavoidably be exposed to the dust and full heat of the fierce northerly winds. The house should be of brick. It should face south or southwest; or, in northern States, to the point from which come the cool breezes. It should be built off the ground on an elevation; preferably on a slope. Health considerations necessitate that the drainage shoula be perfect. The condition of the sanitary arrangements, for the same reason, should be seen to by an expert. Small rooms are unhealthy. The rooms should be large and lofty, well ventilated, and with wide windows which can be opened to freely admit the air. A bathroom is an indispensable accessory. In country districts too many of us are aware that the necessity of this convenience is frequently overlooked. Climatic conditions demand that it should be supplied.

In her efforts to provide for her family a suitable and comfortable home, the Australasian housewife, whether she dwells in city or township, will never lose sight of the provision in this direction supplied by a well-equipped, if small, kitchen. It is valuable to know that the existence of smoking chimneys will be shown in discolouration of the mantelpieces. The oven should be examined, the gas stove thoroughly looked into, a satisfactory condition of the bills ascertained, and the existence of house pests determined by inquiry. The larder is only next in value to the kitchen. Coolness and shelter from the sun’s rays are required. The aspect should be southerly. Should the larder face north, provisions will be wasted during the summer months. It should be well lighted, but all glare must be avoided: dry. and scrupulously clean. Marble, slate, or shelves covered with oilcloth, are preferable to plain boards. Butter, milk, cream, etc., will keep better if put to stand on a cool surface.

The linen cupboard is a possession in which nearly all women take pride, and one which requires the special care and attention of the mistress of the house. Few Australasian women can afford more than one maid. Many are wholly dependent on their own efforts to keep the home as it should be. All, however, must personally superintend this department, if order and neatness are to prevail. The linen cupboard must be in a dry position, as a safeguard against mildew. It should be on the ground floor, to render access easy. Shelves should be about two and a half feet apart. Hooks, placed beneath the lower shelves, will prove useful, as from these may be suspended various odds and ends, such as dusters, tea-cloths, oven-cloths. All linen placed on the shelves should be carefully covered with clean calico or muslin, to protect against the least soiling or accumulation of dust. In small households, mildew is little to be feared. Frequent use of all articles is the best preventive.

Whether the dwelling-place is a house, cottage, or flat, arrangements should include something In the shape of a linen cupboard. It is an accessory essential to the comfort of the home. Rather a better plan than simply covering the linen on the shelves with strips of calico or muslin is to fasten a strip of cotton material along the selvedge to the front edge of each shelf. Use, for this purpose, ornamental nails. When the linen is in place upon the shelf, this curtain can be folded back over the linen, and thus exclude all dust. A chest of drawers is most valuable for holding smaller articles, doyleys, serviettes, etc.

The equipment of the linen cupboard for the average household, comprising two bedrooms and servant’s room, with, of course, the diningroom and kitchen requirements, should consist of at least three pairs of sheets to each bed. four pillow-cases to each pillow, three bolster-cases to each bolster, four face towels, three rough towels, and two bath towels for every member of the household. Two bedspreads over and above those in everyday use should prove sufficient. In hot climates such as our own, linen sheets are agreeable during the summer months, on account of their coolness. Cotton sheets are, however, cheaper, more healthy, and more durable. A prejudice exists against unbleached twifl cotton, but when washed several times it becomes perfectly white, and remains a better colour than most white sheetings. This sheeting is very useful for boys’ beds, as it is particularly strong and lasting.

Sheets should have a half-inch hem at the foot, and a hem quite an inch and a half deep at the top. Ordinary sheets should be marked on the lower left-hand corner. Monograms or handsomely worked initials may be on the top fold.

In Australia cotton sheets are nearly always used. Fine twilled sheeting is best. Every linen-press should, however, be supplied with an allowance of linen sheets. Jaeger sheets are strongly recommended to rheumatic subjects who object to sleeping in blankets.

In buying sheets, allow plenty of width and length—72 inches wide for single bed, 90 inches for double, and from 3 to 3J yards in length before hemming.

upper sheet should be made the lower sheet, and a clean upper sheet supplied. Pillow-cases should be replaced each week. Pillow-shams should be folded and put away each night.

No bed is complete without a counterpane of some kind. Some use old-fashioned white ones, lace, others lined with silk, Madras muslin to match the curtains, and many have prettily worked ones. An eiderdown quilt must be provided for winter.

In the matter of table linen it is wise to start with half a dozen tablecloths for dinner use, and the same number for breakfast. Three or four of each should be sufficient for everyday use, the remaining two should be kept in reserve. A dozen serviettes for regular use, and a dozen of better quality in reserve for special occasions, should be provided. Sideboard cloths, tea-table cloths, tray-cloths, duchesse sets, towels, and pillow-shams would, of course, also be necessary.

House linen in Its several varieties should be kept stacked In piles by itself. As the clean linen is returned from the laundry each week the items should be placed at the bottom of their respective piles; so arranged, the wear and tear is carried out equally through the whole set.

The bed and table linen should always be carefully overhauled before sending to the laundry, tapes and buttons replaced, and any necessary repairs duly attended to, and weak parts darned and strengthened.

Bags of lavender impart a pleasant fragrance if placed among the piles of linen, or, for those who prefer its odour, dried boronia. Housewives who use lavender for this purpose are frequently unaware that the scent is a preventive of many small household pests.

No matter on what scale the management, every housewife must necessarily be an organiser. On the arrangement of work, comfort depends. Forethought is needed, and an unflagging interest in detail. The wheels must run noiselessly. No small hitch must be permitted to upset any undertaking that otherwise would have been a success. Perfection in the home must be aimed at. Every housekeeper should seek to develop thought in the management of her duties. Skill and ingenuity to cope with the emergencies and difficulties inseparable from each day’s routine will thus be cultivated. Work done the right way. and methodically, will generally prove the best. Devise simple ways to get through the monotonous round of housework in as short a time as possible, but guard against slovenliness in work. It is not always the woman with the many modern appliances, who finishes her housework most satisfactorily and quickly. It is the smart and observant woman who does not waste time looking for various articles, but has a place for everything. The old saying, "A stitch in time saves nine,” is very true with regard to domestic routine. Duties postponed that should be done promptly mean double, if not treble, time spent in the long run. A practical expert says, “ My pet economy is certainly that of labour, and consequently time.” But possibilities of economising in many other departments than that of time alone, will occur at once to the mind of the experienced housewife.

In the matter of fuel and lights, extravagance is common. Few people consider how easy it is to save in all lights. Electric light, used now in many well-equipped houses, is so simple to turn off and on that there is no need to leave it burning when not required. Gas can be lowered; oil lamps will permit of being turned down. Few consider -what a difference thought of this kind makes to the bill every month. Many are anxious to practise economy, but few start on the right road. Some spend far too much on trifles which are costly and often quite useless. Others, instead of purchasing the one article unquestionably of service, allow bills to run up, then are amazed they are so high. Practise economy in small things. The truest economy never refuses to be generous, or to help those in need. It is a mistake to think that economy only concerns persons with small incomes. In a well-ordered household everything is turned to account. Economy consists, not in stinginess, but in not wasting.

Most housekeepers have apportioned to them, either weekly or monthly, a certain sum for the maintenance of the home. Expenditure of this amount should be carefully regulated. Some housewives, as soon as the house is tidied and in order, make a point of starting out on a marketing expedition. This plan is not recommended. It is wiser to select the shops offering the goods you require, and request the tradesmen to call daily. Accounts should be kept of all outlay. Where possible, ready money should be paid for everything. If this method is followed, It will ensure the best articles at lowest prices. To pay cash makes it impossible for expenditure to exceed income.

The general practice, and perhaps it is a good one for those with an average income, is to allow from 8s. to 10s. per head all round for the general household expenses. This would include such items as candles, matches, soap, and such requisites as may be considered essential things in one’s housekeeping list, and which the uninitiated would not take into consideration.

The actual food expenditure makes a large hole in one’s weekly allowance, but care and economy can effect wonders in this respect. The butcher’s bill is always a formidable item, second only to the grocer’s. It may be minimised by the addition of soup to the ’dally menu, and the serving, once a week, of a dinner on vegetarian principles, with vegetable, egg, or fish curries instead of meat.

Whilst insisting on the practice of economy, it must be pointed out that the economy which resolves itself into the art of going without is not by any means always true economy. The habit of entering dally in their respective books all articles purchased, will check extravagance. The housewife who has studied economy, and thoroughly mastered the meaning of the term, has learnt her hardest lesson. To know how to provide the household stores is an art. and it is only the most inexperienced of women in this department who does not consider it so.

A methodical and business-like arrangement of the day’s work will, in most cases, permit of some little leisure to be spent by the tired housewife in rest, recuperating those energies exhausted by the strain of her duties. It is a mistake to continue cooking, sweeping, or dusting until utter exhaustion is felt. A branch of economy, neglected at cost, consists in the housekeeper’s securing and preserving for herself and her household the greatest amount of health. This Is only to be done by the observance of natural and hygienic laws. In pursuit of it, it is sometimes wiser to spend than to save. It is no economy to refuse the expense of a charwoman, with the consequence that health is rendered indifferent, and the aid of doctor and chemist sought. Niggardliness in such matters may, and frequently does, prove the greatest extravagance.

In arranging the duties, Monday, in addition to the ordinary duties, should be devoted to cleaning out the mistress’s bedroom and sorting the clothes for the next day’s wash, if laundry work Is undertaken at home.

Tuesday must be the washing day, the afternoon and evening being devoted to folding and. perhaps, some ironing. The mistress must assist by doing the work of the house.

On Wednesday the bathroom, maid’s bedroom, and the spare room can be turned out and cleaned. This last apartment is, naturally, not in constant use, and will, therefore, not need special attention. When, however, visitors are in the house, it should be turned out thoroughly each week, alternately with the maid’s room.

Thursday must be devoted alternately to the thorough cleaning out of the drawing-room and dining-room.

Friday is the day for the kitchen, the flues of the stove being carefully brushed out and freed from soot and ashes, taps polished, and all door handles, etc. The plate should be polished in the afternoon.

On Saturday the hall, verandah, and scullery come under discussion; and thus the week's housework is successfully accomplished.

On Sunday as little work as possible should be undertaken. A good manager sees that, beyond the cooking of the midday meal, and tidying the bedrooms, practically nothing else is required of fhe maid.

Many housekeepers have discovered that the maxim, “A penny saved is twopence gained,” is less wise than it sounds. What folly it kads one into sometimes! The woman who pins her faith to this saying will walk miles to save a penny on a yard of muslin, not taking into account the expenditure of nerve force that is of more value than man; pence. “ Economy is the road to wealth " only when it means a Just estimate of relative values.

“Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well” is one of the sayings that will bear investigation. Household tasks may now and then be slighted. Exacting as these demands are, they may sometimes be set aside. It is the wise housekeeper who knows when this can be done. Better a little dust on the furniture, or a little comfortable disorder in the sitting-room, than go to bed with throbbing nerves or sacrifice the cosy chat with the children. There are some things for which absolute spick-and-spanness do not compensate. In sewing, there are times when a good long stitch answers Just as well as many fine ones. That work is well done which is done according to the requirements of the occasion.

In these days of increasing demand upon brain, nerve, and heart, the woman who knows how to practise the noble art of slighting with wisdom, judgment and consciousness has mastered a valuable knowledge.

With this point in mind, it is well to aim at procuring the greatest amount of comfort as a return for the least expenditure of time and nerve force. In homes where means allow a maid, the responsibilities of the mistress are naturally considerably lessened. Whether hired assistance is available or not, if the house is to be well kept the order of arrangement of daily duties should be practically the same. The maid or the mistress should rise not later than six a.m. The kitchen should be left clean and tidy over night, and the fire laid—a practice which saves much time at the busiest part of the day. Breakfast should be at eight o’clock. At the conclusion of the meal, the table should at once he cleared, the breakfast things washed up, and the work of the morning set in progress. On the day set apart for laundry work, whether the washing and ironing is done by a charwoman or a maid, the mistress herself should attend to the work of the house, prepare the midday meal, etc. This plan economises time, fire, and soap, and allows the maid a long, uninterrupted morning with the clothes.

Every housewife, intent upon the comfort of the home, understands that careful management of the larder and kitchen goes far to ensure it. In culinary art, “ Everylady’s Cook Book ” (advertised at the back of this volume) will largely instruct her. Recipes should be carefully adhered to, and no experiments made until proficiency is acquired. A pair of scales should stand on a small shelf over every kitchen table. On their value a reader of “ Everylady’s Journal ’’ writes:

“ The greatest aid to economy in my kitchen is my little ‘ family scales,’ weighing up to twenty-four pounds by ounces. I have had them less than a year, but I know they have long ago saved the price paid for them. Upon purchasing sugar a short time ago, I found by referring to my scales that It lacked but two ounces of being three pounds short. The next time it was just one pound short. Without my scales I would have lost just three pounds fourteen ounces of sugar on but two purchases. As it was, I called the grocer’s attention to it, and he made up the shortage. Dealers soon learn that you have scales in the house, and are more careful in their weights. For several months past we have been having fresh fish left at the house once a week, always taking the man’s weight for granted. After getting my scales, I found upon weighing the fish that it was one half pound short, and the next time one-fourth of a pound short. I then told the dealer, and said that thereafter I would expect correct weight—and I got it every time!”

A marked measuring jug will lend, too, invaluable assistance, and prevent waste inseparable from cookery of an unsatisfactory class. The table of measurements here given will prove an aid to many readers:

Every housekeeper likes to look neat and clean about her work, yet the laundry bills are so heavy that she feels that she must economise in every possible way. Who would not like to be able to wear a clean white apron every day? This can be done, and a neatness of appearance managed at little cost. Get white oilcloth and cut out a big apron coming down to the bottom of the dress and going over the shoulders— I believe it is called the princesse pattern—shaping it about the waist;

then sew up the seams and bind the edges with white tape. When the apron is soiled it can be laid on the table and scrubbed with dean, warm soapsuds. No washboard, no ironing, no laundry bill!

Aprons of oilcloth—they may be coloured if preferred—are found most useful, particularly for kitchen and rough work. Some are made with a bib, with long curved straps which button at the back. White oilcloth aprons are sometimes bound with a coloured oilcloth, which gives a pretty, fanciful effect to a strictly practical article. Rather deep cuffs made of the oilcloth are fine sleeve protectors, better than those made of ordinary cloth, as they are stiff, and will remain in place.

In Australian country parts, wood for fuel is so cheap that it causes, often enough, reckless waste. It is difficult to remember, when away from rural districts, that coal and wood are most expensive items in housekeeping. Very large fires are generally unnecessary. Coal burnt should be sifted, and the large pieces saved for future use. When no cooking is to be done, fires should be kept low.

Australian housekeepers wishing to reduce fuel bills can do so by procuring some lumps of common clay, which can be found in all gardens or yards a foot below the surface. They should be made into shapes similar to coal. When setting the fire in the grate, place them among the coal. As the fire burns, the clay turns beautifully red, throws out a good heat, and cannot be distinguished from the coal. The lumps may be used over and over. The clay, not burning away, makes less ashes, consequently less labour in cleaning out the grate.

A methodical and business-like arrangement of the day's work will In most cases permit of some little leisure to be spent by the tired housewife in rest, recuperating those energies exhausted by the strain of the daily routine.

Despite all efforts to lift housekeeping into the realm of high art, the average woman hates it. She may not say that she hates it, but she does.

Back of her spasmodic zeal in the cooking-class, and underlying her scientific roasts and artistic ices, is a deep and abiding distaste for the Whole business.

Yet there is no work in the world more healthful. There is no work that will drive away the blues or dissipate ill-temper like sweeping a room or washing dishes.

I know one woman who says: “ When I am so nervous that it seems as though I should fly into a thousand pieces, I go into some closet or cupboard that needs overhauling, and proceed to set it in order; and when it is done I have more than the orderly shelves, boxes and bags as a reward for my work. My nervous fit has disappeared. I am clearbrained and strong-hearted again. The doctors are wise who recom mend light housework to their patients."

But I’ve never heard my friend say that she would like to put cupboards and storerooms in order once a week, or even once a month, or that she would like to “ do-up ” the daily breakfast dishes.

Chief among the charges against housework is that it will not stay done. Rooms do not stay swept and dusted; pies disappear, while the appetite for. the same remains. The laundry basket yawns and the darning ha wet likewise.

The housekeeper who has set her house in order, who has replenished her larder with good things, is tempted to cry out, “ If this could only stay so!”

It does not, however. Housekeeping, like history, repeats itself, and because of this never-endingness, women early learn the rhyme:

“ A man works till set of sun.

But woman's work is never done.” •

The first impression a house gives is usually the lasting one. For this reason the hall, the front door, vestibule, steps, verandah and door bell should always be scrupulously neat and clean. No matter how plain and unpretentious they may be, their appearance will give the key to the housekeeping.

If the floor of the hall is carpeted a good brushing is all that will be required. If there are rugs and hard-wood or tiled floors, the rugs should be brushed, and with a covered broom the uncovered part of the floor should be dusted. Halls vary in dimensions from the narrow passage-way to that large enough to be converted into an elaborate lounge room. The Inexperienced housekeeper rarely appreciates the possibilities afforded by the choice of wall papers in lending a narrow passage-way an appearance of length and breadth. The different effects produced by certain colours and designs are well worth careful study. For a narrow, long hall, such as that generally seen In cottages or villas, a pale shade of blue, or terra-cotta, with a dado of the same colour in a darker tone, will prove a wise selection. Such a choice is in conformity with the well-known plan of putting dark colours near the ground and light colours up above. A dado of dark-brown Lincrusta is effective, and shows few signs of rubbing after years of wear. The paper above should be blue or green on a white ground. Its pattern may be lively, but symmetrical. You will see a good deal of wall space, remember, and if it is broken up by a nice Interesting design, the sense of mqpotony left by the builder will be very much reduced. A cream Lincrusta frieze, perhaps picked out here and there with a little colour, will lead up to the cornice and ceiling, both of which will be white. With cream paint or enamel on the woodwork, a pleasant, if not very novel effect will be arrived at.

Hall furniture is a more serious difficulty. You must have something for hats, coats, umbrellas, and brushes, though the conventional hall chair is of more than doubtful utility. It is a kind of perch for people of no importance, and in nine cases out of ten even they don't sit on it. They prefer to “ wait for an answer ” standing. But convention decrees that a seat is to be provided somehow, if only to convey a sense of hospitality by the dumb invitation to be seated. In a long, narrow passage I like a bench; an oak one for choice. It is longer than a chair, and seems more at home.

In the hall of a really up-to-date house, of course, you can not only turn round and move forward and backward, and up and down (all of which movements were possible in the passage), but the third dimension is added for your comfort, and you can go sideways. In other and more homely language, you have got “ room to swing a cat.” This is all excellent. The floor will be boarded, and I should advise you to cover it over entirely, first of all, with thick cork carpet. It will add immensely to your comfort, and will lengthen the life of your Oriental rug. Inlaid linoleum is another hard-wearing hall-floor covering, but it is a trifle harder to the feet than cork carpet. Its great advantage, however, is that its patterns go right through the material from front to hack, so that you cannot possibly wear out the design. A handsome hall cabinet, properly fitted with drawers below and a cupboard above, will stand nicely in this square hall, and yo.: will want a table which will be equally comfortable against the wall or in the middle of the floor.

The walls may be plain sage green with a frieze in terra-cottas to match linen sill curtains of the same hue. You will probably hang a few nice prints, not in gold frames, but narrow black ones with white or brown mounts. A dado will not be needed, for your hall will not be very high. Oak panelling is delightful, and if it runs up about seven feet, having a narrow shelf all round, will provide a sense of compactness and cosiness unattainable by any other means.

It is quite easy to purchase, nowadays, very pretty cane chairs in all sorts of comfortable shapes and artistic colours, which can be used in the house or on the lawn at will. Their unconventionality, their frank disregard of any known style, their lightness and strength, make their presence welcome anywhere. Another very serviceable kind of chair is the rush-bottom variety, constructed of strong, light wood in round rails and uprights, with the introduction sometimes of turned spindles in the back. Armchairs in this variety are very roomy and comfortable.

The whole of the furnishing of your hall must depend, however, upon your idea of its use. If it is to partake of the functions of a sitting-room, then you must bear that in mind and let comfort be your guide. On the other hand, if it is to be entrance and entrance only, its effect on entering should combine with severe utility in the production of a satisfactory interior.

In furnishing, above all things economy is emphatically not buying cheap things. Economy means saving the money you intended to lay out on a number of cheap articles and spending it on a few good things. If you are furnishing a house and find yourself short of cash, do not spread your money over a wide area by purchasing second-rate carpets and furniture that will contract the rickets in a year or so. Buy furniture calculated to last a lifetime. Do not, again, skimp the furniture and scatter it through the rooms. Rather furnish as many rooms as possible well, and make up your mind to shut up the other rooms till you are forced to use them or can afford to furnish them decently.

People are beginning to realise that the secret of a beautifully arranged house or room lies in the word simplicity. So the day of the gewgaw-laden mantelshelf, the picture-crowded wall, the knick-knackladen whatnot is passing.

If you have anything really good in your house, give it a chance. Don’t spoil a good picture by surrounding it with cheap prints. (Better a bare wall than an over-crowded one.) Don’t spoil a good piece of glass or china by hiding it amongst a heap of cheap ornaments. Don't spoil a good piece of furniture by filling the room with “ elegant ” fancy chairs.

During the hot months of the year, when everything out-of-doors looks hot and dusty, how refreshing it is to enter a room which not only has a lower temperature, but is arranged in such a way that the eye is rested by its cool appearance. To arrange rooms for cool effects requires considerable judgment and some work, but it pays in the added comfort of <he family.

Bare floors are the first requisite. A few rugs, preferably shaded greens and browns, will relieve the plainness. The floor should be stained or painted. Prepared wood stains are excellent for this purpose, as they are so easily applied. They come in a variety of colours, and have only to be dissolved in water to be ready for use. The floor should have one or two coats of oil after the stain dries.

Blues and greens are cool-looking colours, and one of them may be chosen for the colour scheme of the room. A wall-paper of cream and green is very pretty, and the furnishing can easily be made to harmonise with it. Willow or reed rockers are comfortable, and may have head-rests of pale green, with a little salmon pink in the figures and salmon-pink ribbons to tie them with.

Footstools of various sizes should be of the shaded browns or greens to match the rugs. The desired colours may be secured by using dyes for colouring the rug rags, and some suitable material for the stools. A rattan couch with a supply of pillows in cool shades is both comfortable and cool-looking.

Vases and bowls of flowers, with plenty of foliage, placed on shelves and tables about the room, give the finishing touch. The blinds should be kept closed during the hot part of the day, except when the room is opened for use, when they can be bowed, so as to shut out the glare and give a shaded light. Some kinds of vines grow well in the shade, and can be used for such rooms.

Few people realise liow much character shelves add to a room. Like cushions and rugs and books, they give that delicious air of comfort that is often lacking in some of the stately drawing-rooms of modern homes.

When decorating or arranging an apartment artistically, put in shelves if it is at all possible. A great many people do not take to the Idea at all. They associate shelves with the homely uses of the kitchen, the pantry and the cellar. The fact is, this very utility of the shelf constitutes much of its beauty.

People have become educated to bookshelves in a library or sitting-room in preference to set bookcases, for these have always seemed designed more as showcases for books and their bindings rather than to hold books ready for intimate use.

There are fewer bookcases sold nowadays than formerly, for everybody seems to appreciate the charm of the low bookcases built in around a room or occupying some special nook or corner in a bav window or alcove. On the top of these shelves one can always have plants, photographs, magazines—all the hundred and one little furnishings that add to the beauty of a room.

In scarcely any department of furnishing are there so many opportunities of making the house beautiful as in the draping of windows. And it may be added that no department offers more pitfalls for the unwary and the inartistic.

Two essentials should be borne in mind—(1) That windows exist for the purpose of letting in light and air. not for the purpose of being draped: (2) that the simpler the arrangement the healthier and more artistic will be the result.

The two classes of windows are the almost universal sash windows (for whict scarcely anything is possible except the long curtains hung from a pole) and the new casement windows, which are rapidly becom ing popular. The latter lend themselves readily to pretty casement curtains, arranged to hang on small brass rods, or on a metal arm that swings back, leaving the window free.

We cannot expect, out here in Australia—outside the big cities, that is—to march quite abreast of the times, but it is interesting to note that in England a great advance is being made in the style of curtains used and the materials.

The long, stiff starchy “ lace ” curtains, to begin with, are being entirely superseded by a much softer and more graceful class of curtains that fall in easy, soft folds. Kilmarnock net is one of the prettiest and least expensive materials; it is in a variety of designs, about 10s. to 13s. 6d. per pair. “ Sweet-pea Trellis " and “ The Vine ” are two suggestive titles of popular kinds. This Kilmarnock net can be bought by the yard, and makes effective short curtains. Next comes Swiss appliqud, with designs in fine net. averaging from 27s. 6d. per pair to £2 per pair, according to quality and design.

For the casement curtains there are materials galore, but all depends upon the character of the room where they have to hang. The Cretan cloth, a plain, coloured cotton, in fifty art shades, is very useful and pretty, and a heavy make of Sacque cloth is another very cheap material (Is. per yard), which can be used with very good results. Figured sateen, in a cream shade, with woven design, is particularly pretty and serviceable for windows which get much sun, as it is not so liable to fade as many other materials with more colour. Then earlier in the same character comes cotton Tussore, a very durable cloth, with silky appearance, 2s. per yard, and Pekin cloth, 2s. 3d. per yard. Another material having the appearance of silk is plain Khedive cloth, and a very soft material which hangs gracefully is wool Canton cloth. Tudor cloth also finds great favour; it is a mixture of silk and wool, with woven design in cream.

All rooms require blinds to keep the sun out in summer. Many pretty kinds of different widths can be found. Bedroom and passage windows should have either long, soft curtains or neat muslin blinds, fulled on the brass rods fitted to hold them. Outside blinds will keep a room much cooler. Venetian blinds, when dirty, should be taken down and unlaced, and each lath washed with soap and water, then dried. Untidy blinds give a room an unkempt appearance.

Rip off any fringe or lace edge and remove blind from the wood it is tacked to; wipe the blind clean with a damp cloth; remove every bit of dust and specks. The top part, which is usually left rolled up, will be bright and new-looking, while the bottom will be faded and frayed. Cut off the latter, and, when tacking back to the stick, turn it, putting the lower edge at the top.

If the blind is very badly stained or faded try painting it. Spread it out on the attic floor, or in some room that is not much used. Have a good new brush and a can of ready-mixed paint, and paint one side with a thin coat. Let dry thoroughly, and treat the other side the same way. It can be made brown, red, green, a dull brick colour, or any shade that you can buy. It is to be hoped that you have never perforated it down the centre with pin holes when fastening up; but even if you have, the paint will cover them all up. It is the latest thing to screw the little brackets which hold the blind on to a bit of lath and tack the latter up on the window frame, instead of fastening the brackets there. In this way shades can be moved and adjusted to narrow or wide windows with the greatest ease.

Portable window shades may be made by procuring smoothly planed, narrow strips of boards, just long enough to fasten window fixtures on them. Paint the desired colour, fasten the blind on strip, being sure it is straight. When ready to put in place, there is nothing to do but to fasten the strip to the top of the window-frame. This is easily and quickly done, and a great relief when one moves often.

If you find your window shades have become weather-beaten at the bottom from the opened windows of summer time, take them off the rollers and turn them upside down, making a hem at the bottom broad enough for the stick to go through, and using the large stitch on the machine; then cut off the original hem and tack the inverted shades on the rollers and you will find that the old worn parts are rolled up out of sight during the daytime, and only the fresh sections show. At night when the shades are pulled down, the upper parts will he hidden by curtains. If the shades are quite long, which will often happen if your windows chance to be shorter than the ordinary, you will be able to cut away the worst of the soiled part before re-mounting the shades.

When windows are difficult to open or close, rub the cords with soft soap, when they will run smoothly.

A drawing-room should be the most attractive room in the house. Ease, comfort, and daintiness should characterise It. A dining-room and a drawing-room should be furnished in entirely different styles. A drawing-room will be spoilt if the stiff-backed chairs suitable for a dining-room are placed in it. Saddleback furniture and low, comfortable chairs should be chosen.

Boudoirs should only have pretty, low, easy chairs. In all bedrooms there should be placed two cane chairs, and one or two comfortable chairs according to the size of the room. The basket-chairs with cushions are very light, comfortable, and cheap, but they are very irritating to have in a sick-room, or even where a person is nervous, as they crack when used, and even long after; rush chairs are better in this respect.

The piano is an instrument requiring almost as much attention to keep in good working order as the human body. A great deal of care and skill have entered into its manufacture, and in order to keep it in effective condition some points suggested by a maker of forty years' experience.may be worth noting.

In the first place, a piano cannot keep its tone in a damp place; dampness rusts both strings and tuning pins, and also causes the felt on the hammers and dampers to swell, thus causing the mechanism ♦o move irregularly or sluggishly.

To prevent the ivory keys from turning yellow, allow them to be exposed to the rays of the sun occasionally.

While avoiding dampness, do not, on the other hand, put your instrument in a place of extreme heat, such as near the radiator or stove or open fire.

To keep dust from accumulating on the sounding board, close your piano when not in use.

Most people have learned by experience that it is injurious to a watch to leave it without winding for a long time, thus causing the oil to clot. It is just as hurtful to a piano to keep it closed for months at a time. Even when not in use, open it occasionally.

If you insist upon burdening your piano by piling heavy loads of books, pictures and ornaments upon it, do not be surprised if it retaliates by sometimes emitting unpleasant sounds when played upon.

Place a small piece of camphor in a corner inside your instrument to keep the moths from destroying the felt.

Have the piano tuned often—if new, every three or four months the first year and less frequently thereafter.

Damp is one of the worst enemies of pianos, so they should never be placed against an outer wall; exposure to draughts, dust, and excessive heat from fire or sun are all injurious. A piano should not touch any wall or be placed between two windows or between a door and a window. Extreme heat is particularly injurious, and often causes the warping of some of the machinery. For getting the best volume of tone from a piano it should he placed as much in the centre of the room as convenient, as the floor there is hollow, and acts as a sounding-board, greatly enhancing the effect. The piano sounds much better when raised from the soft carpet on glass castors, especially made for the purpose. Whenever possible the keyboard should face the window, as the light helps to prevent the keys from turning yellow.

Housekeepers often deplore the fact that the rooms look bare and lack artistic effects. Now, if the house mistress is clever and energetic, any number of pretty accessories may be : rade at home that are often even more effective than expensive articles bought at an upholsterer's. A couple of floor cushions, for instance, are easily constructed, and fill in empty spaces with excellent effect, besides making comfortable seats. They are, of course, much larger and harder than cushions used on divans or sofas, as otherwise they could not be used in lieu of a chair. An elongated pillow is the best shape for a floor cushion, which is first made of stout muslin or ticking, and stuffed as tightly and firmly as possible with inexpensive filling. Four feet by three makes a good size, the stuffing raising it from the floor about a foot and a half. Care must be taken to make it perfectly regular when it is sewn up, after which it may be covered in any way desired. A couple of these cushion seats will he found useful in any sitting-room. Small folding screens placed behind tables give a smart look to a room, and do not need an expensive framing to make them beautiful, as the strips of wood that form the panel look better when entirely covered with material and finished with some soft raw silk gimp. Any pieces of rich material will do for these little screens—old brocade, breadths of pale-tinted satin, etc.

During the darker, colder months of winter, a handsome portiere, suspended above the doorway of the dining-room or drawing-room, keeps out the draught and gives the room a warm, comfortable, and finished appearance. They can be made of any heavy material, plush, velvet, or tapestry. The colour and material chosen should correspond with the furniture of the room. The rod on which they are hung is made so that it moves as the door opens, on a hinge.

This plan for preventing the ravages of moths in furniture was given me by a woman who tried it last year and was perfectly satisfied with the results. When she saw the first miller she went through her house, room by room, after this manner: She closed the windows and doors and opened the cupboards and drawers while she burned about a tablespoonful of gum camphor in a tin plate set on top of a pot, and away from all draperies or anything which might ignite from the flames. The room soon filled with the strong fumes of the burning camphor, which penetrated all the cupboards and drawers, and she let it remain for an hour because it discolours nothing. She also told me of an excellent powder which she keeps in her cupboards as a preventive against moth millers. It is made by mixing one ounce each of cloves, mace, nutmeg, Tonquin beans, caraway seeds and cinnamon with six ounces of Florentine orris root, all powdered. Put this mixture in bags and hang them among the clothing, or lay them in trunks or drawers where clothing liable to be injured by moths is packed away. There is no objectionable odour to cling to the clothing—nothing but sweet, spicy fragrance which pleases the senses. This is good all the year round.

During the hottest hours of the day the house should be kept closed. If the doors and windows are closed and shuttered from nine a.m. until evening, the atmosphere will be kept comparatively cool. When hot northerly winds are blowing, sand-bags should be placed before the doors. The house should be opened to the fresh air when the cool of night approaches, and in the early morning, and left open until heat begins. A hoBe played on walls and windows helps to lessen heat, and is of benefit in cooling the air when serious illness makes any alleviation necessary.

Enamelling is a very simple method of decorating and improving many shabby articles, old chairs, baths, etc., in a house. This work should not be done, as it frequently is, in a slovenly and careless manner. Brushes known as varnish brushes should be used, but they are expensive, and many manage equally well with the smaller hog-hair brushes. Any article to be enamelled must first be thoroughly washed, cleaned, and dried. If the surface of the wood is rough, make it smooth by using sand-paper before putting on the enamel. Thin the enamel before applying, by adding a certain quantity of either turpentine or methylated spirits. All articles should first be rubbed with sand-paper. Allow the first coat of paint to dry thoroughly before adding a second. Two coats will prove sufficient for chairs, tables, bookcases, etc. To improve the appearance of a bath, three coats should be given, and an interval of a day or two should be allowed to elapse between each painting. When the work is completed and the bath quite dry, fill with cold water and allow it to stand for twenty-four hours. When a tin of enamel is opened, seal closely before putting away. Air thickenB and spoils it.

This is a gift possessed by the fdw; but the many may achieve some success by remembering these five golden rules: Use plenty of foliage. Put your flowers in very lightly. Use artistic glasses. Do not use more than two, or at the most three, different kinds of flowers in one decoration. Arrange your colours to form a bold contrast, or, better still, a soft harmony. The aim of the decorator should be to show off the flowers, not the vases that contain them; therefore the simpler ones are preferable to even the most elaborate. Glasses for a dinner table should be either white, a delicate shade of green, brown, or rose colour, according to the flowers arranged in them.

Many flowers look best arranged by themselves, especially tulips, narcissi, lilies, and carnations. The latter are sweet for a dinner table, and look lovely In old china or silver bowls. The Japanese have taught us the beauty of a single branch of almond, crab, cherry, in a large, high, dark jar. Roses look well in old silver bowls. Water-lilies live a long time in a large bowl, and 100k very well with a few of their nandsome leaves. Foliage plants are excellent for the house, and in the autumn we have a large variety of rich coloured leaves to select from, besides Virginia creeper and vines.

To keep cut flowers fresh, put a little ice in the water and clip the ends of stems each day. Carnations are especially good for the sickroom, as they can be kept fresh several days, and have not the disagreeable odour so often noticed from violets. When fixing a bouquet of roses, lilies of the valley and jonquils, it is best to separate the jonquils from the others, as the flowers will last longer by so doing.

If cut flowers become faded a few drops of sal-volatile in the water will revive them. If very limp, put the stems into hot water, cut the ends off while under the water, and leave till cold; sometimes immersing them for a few seconds in cold, salt water will revive them. The petals of cut flowers will not drop for a long time if a fine camel-hair brush is dipped in gum arabic, and a drop put in the centre of each flower.

It seems hard to throw flowers away with their faces still bright, but the odour of the stems makes it necessary sometimes. Place a bit of charcoal in the vase. This keeps the water fresh and absorbs every vestige of odour.

Nearly everyone has some kind of fern or palm to give the house a bit of greenery, but a good many people find it very hard to keep these plants in good condition. Now the ordinary manner of watering palms and ferns is one of the surest ways of injuring them. Don’t water these plants every day by pouring the water into the top of the pot. This is all wrong. The proper method is to submerge the pot in a pail of water, and, after leaving It there for a few minutes, to take it out and allow it to drain thoroughly. If watered in this way plants will remain moist, and the operation need not be repeated more than once in three or four days. It also, prevents that decaying at the base of the stalk that arises from the water settling there when it has been poured into the top of the pot. Another thing that is very injurious to palms is the practice of setting a basin or saucer of water under them. In this way water is constantly absorbed and the lower roots become so saturated that they will in time decay.

It is often very difficult to prevent the foliage of these plants from turning brown. This is due to the dryness of the atmosphere of the house, and the only way to avoid it is to sponge the leaves with warm water every day, if the palm is large; or, if it is a fern or a palm with feathery foliage, it can be sprinkled. Ferns require less light than palms, but the light that enters an ordinary house in winter will do no harm to either. The best manner of destroying insects on palms Is a daily wash of warm water and whale-oil soap.

Hardy ferns should be selected for keeping in pots in the house, such as the haresfoot, and asparagus ferns. The maidenhair, although so graceful, is rather tender. No ferns should be kept long In a siting-room; it is better to change them frequently with those in the green-house. Ferns kept in a green- or fern-house should be excluded from glare, therefore whitewash the glass at the top during the summer. They should be syringed or watered every day.

If your ferns are not doing well, try giving them a few drops of castor oil at the roots, and setting them in a pan of water overnight. In a week’s time they will be pushing out new shoots. It should not be done any oftener than every two or three months, however. The remedy is good for any plant.

No water plant is more attractive or more successfully grown than the nasturtium. Break thrifty slips from the stalks, and start them in a clear glass vase, so that you can see the network of white root. Put lumps of charcoal in the bottom of the vase and keep in a warm window, adding more water as it evaporates. Roots will soon form, and new leaves appear, and the blooming will be almost unceasing.

Place a bowl of water on a table and the potted plants on the floor beside it. Insert lengths of woollen yarn, weighted at the ends, into the bowl, and adjust the other ends over the plants. This device will syphon the water from the bowl drop by drop to the plants. It is a good arrangement, as the old-time method of deluging the plants with water before your departure will often result in a mildewed condition before your return. The syphon gives a gradual moisture and administers it gently “ like the gentle dews from heaven.”

In every house there are boxes, travelling trunks, etc., which some of us are obliged to have in our bedrooms, for the average house does not rise to the dignity of a storeroom. Wherever they may be, they are an eyesore. But a tight-fitting cover of sateen or cretonne will transform them, If not into things of beauty, at least into something more pleasing to the eye than originally, especially if the colours be chosen with due regard to the other surroundings.

Door-Plates.—These will not tarnish so quickly when exposed to wet and damp if they are very lightly rubbed over with vaseline after polishing.

It is a good plan to partially fill valuable china vases with sand, or to place shot in them, for thus they are rendered too heavy to be easily upset.

Many houses contain a handsome collection of paintings or engravings; they are expensive to buy and require judgment and knowledge in selecting them. Pictures, if good, always Improve the appearance of a house; even a few photos are better than nothing, and brighten up the walls of a room.

Careless workmen may have neglected to remove nails before repainting, re-papering, or re-varnishing walls or other surfaces. To remove without injury to the surface, place a fair-sized piece of thick paper or pasteboard about the nail to the wall, and brace the clawhammer against it when pulling out the nail. This will prevent the scratching, denting or scraping the surface. This also applies to inserting screw-hangers, etc., that are liable to scratch the surface while being screwed in.

Having outlined the general plan for furnishing the house as a whole, let us now take a single room—one that will interest all our girl-readers—i.e., the bedroom.

Now, it is possible to make a room very lovable—to put upon it the stamp of one’s personality. Indeed, anyone who is observant, and who knows the world, can tell at the first glance round a room what manner of woman its mistress is. In a hundred little ways a room can speak; it either gives you “ a welcome true and kind ” or it depresses and repels you, or it is simply uninteresting, neutral, and characterless.

Colour has a good deal to do with the general effect of a room, and In furnishing an Australian bedroom it is well to remember that nine months of our year we have brightness and sunshine, so the heavy, rich colourings so favoured in England should be avoided, and the room made as light and bright as possible.

Dead white is, however, apt to weary, and a rich ivory with which the other contents of the room form a good contrast, is more to be desired.

As regards furniture, there is plenty of room for the exercise of taste and judgment. An enamelled white suite, with a white enamelled iron bedstead to match, looks charming, and any of the modern plain bedsteads in wood or plain brass are restful and tempting. The up-to-date, carved bedsteads have come down in price during the past few months, and are now within purchasable distance of the average householder.

A word here about the small furnishings of the bedroom. Do not crowd the room with tables and chairs, nor cover the walls with plc-tures, and every available ledge with nick-nacks. At the same time, more freedom is allowed in this respect than in, say, the dining-room or the drawing-room. Your walls will be hung (sparingly) with pictures that reflect your own personal tastes in art, and your dressing-table will be adorned with pretty things—mostly gifts that tell what your friends think of your taste. A large room may be furnished on a far more elaborate scale, with sofa, large wardrobe, cheval-glass, etc.

The important things to remember in furnishing a bedroom are (1) avoid formality in arranging the furniture; (2) see that the window-curtains and hangings, while plentiful and dainty, do not interfere with the free passage of the air, and do not afford too many resting-places for dust; (3) preserve a due regard for simplicity, and give space to only the things that you love best and admire most.

It is strange that the most important item in a bedroom—i.e., the bed should most often be neglected. How often do we see an otherwise well-furnished room spoiled by a clumsy metal structure, fantastically ornamented with brass at head and foot, and utterly out of keeping with the rest of the room?

The great complaint against brass bedsteads is the liability of any but the best to tarnish and become spotty. Nickel-plated and electroplated bedsteads are much used. In iron bedsteads the old-fashioned black colour is fast giving place to light and dainty colours, as suggested above, to match the decorations of the bedroom, and such a dainty bedstead in a dainty girl’s bedroom looks its best.

A firm, well-made spring mattress chosen, a good overlay mattress of horsehair or white wool should be spread upon it. Hair mattresses are the most comfortable, healthy, and very springy. They are, however, expensive, and in Australia are sold by weight. A fibre mattress is much cheaper and provides an excellent hygienic substitute. It must be remembered that the chief point of importance in a bed is neither its design nor its ornateness, but its comfort. As to what constitutes comfort is a matter for the individual to decide. Some people like a bed of the hardest description, while others revel in luxurious softness. Either extreme is objectionable from a hygienic point of view, and, as a rule, a good hair or fibre mattress makes as comfortable a bed as anyone need wish for. No drapery, not even a valance, should be added.

To guard against wear and tear, the wire mattress should be covered with a spread of hessian, which may be held in place by tapes setvn at Intervals. This precaution protects the overlay mattress from friction on the wire frame. If the mattress has been turned dally, as it should be, and, furthermore, encased in a twilled buttoned slip, as it should be, there will arise no necessity for the ordeal of mattress-cleaning. If this has been neglected, the mattress must be thoroughly cleaned without raising the dust. Wring out, as dry as possible, a couple of dusting-sheets. Lay one over the mattress. Now whip it with a carpet-beater until the sheet will hold no more dust. Turn the mattress, and use the other sheet in the same way. Of course, the sheets must now be sent to the laundry.

Pillows and pillow-shams are still used, but the bolster-roll, which Is not Intended for sleeping on, but only for day use, is becoming a much more fashionable style. Bolsters are made preferably with round ends, and are stuffed with flock, feathers, or mill pufT. For each bolster two—at least—calico covers should be provided, otherwise the stripe of the tick will be seen through the upper case.

Pillows are mostly made of feathers, or the very best quality pillow of the down of eider duck. Flock, too, is in demand for this purpose, but, though economical, the pillows are not so comfortable as those made of feathers. Geese, hens, ducks, practically all poultry, yield feathers suitable for such use.

All feathers intended for pillows should be either chemically treated or boiled for several hours, and a quantity of soda added to the water. They should then be dried in the sun, and not placed in the cases until all animal matter adhering to them is utterly destroyed. An excellent plan to prevent the points of the feathers w^rorking through is to prepare the new or washed tick by rubbing it thoroughly with a lump of beeswax. Some authorities recommend soap, but the bees-wax is preferable. Children only require a bolster or pillow, not both. For babies a bed of cut oat-chaff is sweet; it can be renewed frequently and the tick washed. In addition to the bolster each single bed should be provided with two pillows. Pillow-slips should button. Three slips should be allowed to each pillow.

Pillow-slips should be a half-inch narrower than the pillows they are to cover. This snugness in fit ensures the pillows keeping their shape when the bed is made up.

Frilled pillow-cases are extravagant for the reason that they are so frequently ripped and torn at the laundry. Embroidered pillow-slips, with hemstitched borders, or slips with lace or embroidery insertion, are recommended in preference.

The proper complement of bedclothes to each bed during the hottest months is an under blanket, two sheets, one upper blanket, and a coverlet. At least three blankets should be allowed for each bed in the winter, two smaller and one larger. One of the smaller blankets will serve as under blanket, and the larger upper blanket will double, so making three thicknesses on the top. A full description of the linen cupboard, with many practical suggestions about sheets and bed linen, is given in Chapter I.

Tack on to the left-hand lower corner of the blanket a few Inches of tape marked clearly with either the full name or the required initials. If preferred, such letters may be worked upon suitable material and stitched into place. A still neater method is to work the initials or name on canvas in coloured wool, attaching the canvas before beginning the cross stitch to the blanket. Then pull out the threads forming the canvas and a very neat effect is secured. Blankets that get thin should be carefully darned: they answer then for under blankets, and after that can be used for floorcloths.

An eiderdown is a luxury for winter use. A covering, stuffed with tfce lighter feathers of the tame or wild duck, goose, or young chickens, adds to comfort if the more expensive article is unprocurable. The eiderdown or quilt suggested should always match in colour the general scheme of the room, although those with a floral cover on a light ground may usually be adopted indiscriminately.

1. Open the wiudows wide, top and bottom. 2. Remove the bedclothes singly and shake well. 3. Particular care should be bestowed upon mattress, pillow and bolster. 4. Place these over the back of a wooden horse or chair near the window. 5. Brush wire mattress and bedstead, using a stiff furniture brush. 6. All bedclothes, mattress, etc., should be aired each morning for at least an hour. 7. Be careful to avoid placing bedclothes in an atmosphere damp with fog or rain. On such a morning defer the airing.

1. Wipe the washstand free of all dust or damp. 2. Hot water and soda should be poured into each chamber after being emptied into the pail. 3. Rinse the chamber with cold water and wipe dry. 4. Empty and dry the washing ewer. 5. Fill the jugs with fresh cold water. Wash and re-fill water bottle. The wash-pail and chambers should each be well scalded weekly on washing days. •

For bedroom windows the most fashionable curtains are of bob-binet or frilled swiss, and sometimes an added touch is given by inner and narrower curtains of cretonne or chintz. Both sets of curtains are usually draped back.

I-ace bedspreads, over a colour to harmonise with the decorations of the room, are also used, and sometimes the bed-covering, valance and bolster-roll are all of daintily flowered cretonne, usually white and pink.

If the bedroom is of good size, it should contain a couch In addition to the bed, a table, a writing-desk, a rocking-chair or easy chair of some sort, a dressing-table or bureau, and a chiffonier. Cretonne upholstered furniture, usually painted white or green, is the most economical for bedrooms.

A prejudice in favour of having one's housework done early in the day should not beguile the house mistress into having her beds made up before they are thoroughly aired. Next to the work of cooking, the care of beds and bedding bears most directly on the health of the family. In too many households the so-called “ airing ” of the beds is not worthy of the name. At the convenience of the chambermaid or some member of the family, the bedclothes are tossed off the bed, and the remaking takes place Immediately.

It ought to be more generally understood that one of the missions of the sun is to deodorise and purify. A beautiful sun-myth pictures the goddess Athena flying through the air, scattering health and healing from her outspread wings. There is literal truth as well as poetry in the fancy. The sun is the great enemy of disease germs. Let the sun have a chance to do its work in the sleeping-rooms

When the occupant leaves the bed, every article of clothing should be removed, as directed, piece by piece, and placed where the fresh sunny air from the opened windows may circulate through the fabric. The mattress should be exposed to the light. If there are two mattresses. the top one should be thrown over the footboard, so that the under mattress may have a chance to cool and get the light. If given this daily home renovation, mattresses and bedclothing will remain sweet indefinitely.

In chambers having a western exposure, the beds should be frequently left unmade until the afternoon, in order that the clothing may have the full benefit of the sun. No false notion of tidiness should be allowed to defeat the higher purpose of keeping the home pure and healthful.

Always scrub bedrooms in the morning, if possible, as they should be perfectly dry before being slept In, or severe cold or perhaps serious illness may result.

Housekeepers who hold to the old-fashioned way of putting away the summer clothes each autumn without starching and ironing, are preparing for themselves days of constant labour of the most wearing kind when the first warm days of spring arrive, and they are already worn out with spring sewing or house-cleaning, or enervated with the languor which attacks everyone with the coming of spring.

The objection that starch is apt to yellow, and certain to weaken, the fabric, has no weight when one remembers that the clothes made up and kept on sale in the shops, as well as the prints and the muslins bought by the yard, are starched before they leave the factory. Handkerchiefs, too, are invariably starched when in the shops, and do not grow yellow.

In the case of fine white lawns, organdies, or silk muslins, it is well to press out every wrinkle, line a large box with dark blue paper, and lay the dress inside, A chest long enough to allow skirts to lie at full length may be lined with blue paper and sprinkled with orris powder, that daintiest of perfumes. Into this chest may go all the skirts of the household, after they are mended and laundered, ready to put on with the first warm days. Into another box may be put blouses, also mended and laundered.

Even though one intends to alter, or even make-over, the entire dress before another season, this is much more easily done if the fabric is starched and laundered. It is the commoner clothing which is put into the large chests. Elaborate dresses and much-trimmed shirt-blouses should be given a box apiece. These boxes should be lined with blue paper, and all boxes, drawers, and chests into which delicate or white clothes are put should have this lining. A supply of blue paper, once bought, lasts many years with a little care. It keeps all discolourations from the fabric.

In many families light-weight flannel underwear is worn all summer. This must be washed and mended, and put away with every button and tape in place. Moths attack these just as they do the heavier winter flannels, so they should be wrapped in newspapers, and placed m a cedar chest, or a box containing some kind of preservative. The newspapers in which they are wrapped form as safe a protection as any, since moths have no liking for printer’s ink. However, the papers are apt to become torn, and it is well to saturate bits of cotton with turpentine, and place them in the corners of each box, between the newspaper lining and the box itself.

All paste-board suit boxes should be carefully saved, since the durability of a garment, especially if made of delicate summer materials, depends almost wholly on the care received when not in use. Such garments can be kept in no better way than by being placed in strong paste-board suit boxes, the cover securely tied, and the boxes piled one on top of the other, after the contents are indicated on the side.

A list of its contents should be pasted to the cover of each box, chest and trunk. By this one can tell at a glance whether the article desired is in a certain box or not, without disturbing anything.

If a summer hat is not to be worn again, remove the trimming, freshen and press it, and put it into a paste-board box with other millinery. A much richer hat can be bought for a given sum, if one has material, good in Itself, and well kept, to use with the new trimmings. Nothing repays care more than do hat trimmings.

Some women are very fond of perfuming their clothes, so that they will waft a delightful aroma about wherever they go. Violet sachets or powders are the smartest, and, indeed, there are people who say any other perfume is vulgar. But a scented lotion may be liked and found useful for the perfuming of gloves and slippers, which should be sponged inside with it. Take of extract of ambergris two drops only, and of spirits of wine one ounce; or, to make a more plentiful supply, proceed in this proportion and the result will be found to be a decidedly refreshing and lasting aroma.

The recipe for the following sachet powder may be preferred by some. Its fragrance is delightful. The powder should be placed between layers of cotton wool, encased in silk, and should then be laid between the lingerie, or sewn in gowns, etc. Mix thoroughly one and a half pounds of orris root, powdered; one-quarter of a pound of ground sandalwood; half an ounce of bergamot; fifteen drops of otto of roses; one ounce of extract of musk; half an ounce of extract of civet. Place all in air-tight Jars. In a week It is ready for uae.

Marking Good Things.—Many girls find it most diflicult to mark their handkerchiefs, and so on, successfully, on account of the “ flimsiness ” of the material to be written upon. Some manufacturers of ink supply a little stretcher with each bottle, but here is a first-class recipe that our grandmothers used: Mix half a teaspoonful of prepared chalk with two teaspoonfuls of starch; then, with the addition of boiling water, make a thick, boiled starch, in which should be put a few drops of spirits of camphor. Apply this preparation to the linen to be marked, smooth the place with an iron, and you may then write on it with a quill or fine pen and indelible ink. After the marking has “ set ”— that is, become black—wash out the stiffening preparation.

A Petticoat Hint.—To make one silk petticoat do service under both long and short skirts, make a silk skirt thirty-six inches long with three one-inch tucks near the bottom, the lowest tuck being two inches from the lower edge of the petticoat. tinder each tuck put a row of eyes two inches apart all around the skirt. Then make a shaped flounce, the upper edge just fitting the skirt under the tucks. This flounce has hooks corresponding with the eyes, concealed by the back. By hooking the flounce under any one of the three tucks, it may be worn under a long, round or ankle-length skirt. The flounce can be trimmed with narrow bias ruffles of silk or w^rith lace ruffles.

How to Pack.—In packing, put the heaviest articles—papers, music, photographs, books, shoes—at the bottom. Over this layer put, say, the mackintosh or commoner petticoats and skirts, and then the common heavy garments, then a large towel and the white underclothing, and on top the dainty, thin dresses and blouses, well protected by towels or an old thin night-gown. Fill all corners and crevices with stockings, under-vests, or old garments that can be rolled up tight. Lay skirts alternately as to direction—that is, if the bottom of one skirt is at the right end of the trunk, put the hem of the next skirt at the opposite end. The secret of good packing is compactness and smoothness. Therefore, fold garments as little as possible, and in the lines they naturally fall in. Fill sleeves, puffs, and bows of nice ribbon with crumpled paper to prevent their being badly creased. Do not pack any bottles of liquid of any kind, and wrap boxes of powder or cold cream thoroughly In ample bandages of old cloth, so there will be no possibility of their escape.

To Fold a Skirt.—It is difficult for those who travel much to know what Is the best way to fold the stylish pleated skirt. It takes a very short time to pin each pleat at the bottom, and then, if folded carefully, folding the skirt by the hem. one would scarcely know it had been packed.

The Best Hat Brush.—For dusting women's heavily trimmed hats the best brush is a cheap shaving-brush, as it is both stiff and small enough to reach every crevice.

The Hat-Box.—If you keep your hat-box on a high shelf in a cupboard you may find the following suggestion worth trying: Slit open the two upright edges of one side of the hat-box so that when the cover is raised, the side will drop down as if on hinges. This will allow you to remove or replace the hat without taking the box from the shelf.

Hatpins.—More care in choosing hatpins may make a woman's hat appear a great deal more harmonious and becoming. Look at the pins one sees ordinarily in hats and decide yourself how few are appropriate to the hat. Cheap pins that match different hats may be found in very good styles, or, if one cannot have pins to suit each hat, let all be as inconspicuous as possible.

Faded Artificial Flowers.—What ought one to do with artificial flowers that have served their first purpose, but still seem too good to be thrown away? They are expensive, too, and who likes to throwaway anything one has paid smartly for, especially when there seems a possibility that it may yet " come in ” for something? Well, it is said that marvels may be worked with faded but unworn artificial flowers with a camel-hair brush and a box of water-colours. It has been discovered also that aniline inks are very good dyeing stuff, and they seem to contain some matter that stiffens the petals slightly. You must dilute the ink with w-ater and dip the flowers in as many times as is necessary, drying after each time, until the desired shade is reached. Separate the petals with a hatpin, that each may be coloured. Common red ink diluted with water gives a neat shrimp pink, and faded chrysanthemums are lovely when renewed by this method. They should be lightly shaken from time to time w-hen drying, to keep the fluffiness of the flow-er. Ordinary purple ink may Ik. used for violets that have grown too pale. Not an unpleasant occupation for spare half-hours.

Perfuming Water.—Instead of throwing away the peels of oranges and lemons put them into a jug on the washstand. This will give the water a delightful perfume, besides softening it until it is equal to rainwater for the complexion.

To Freshen Under-Garments.—When under-garments worn during the day are to be put on again, they should be hung loosely about the room for airing during the night, and the night robes should be aired by day in the sun. The habit of some housekeepers, who like to keep their premises always in “ show ” order, of hiding away the nightgowns in dark closets, or rolling them into small compass and packing them behind the pillows, is not to be recommended. It is better to let the garments dangle on a clothes tree exposed to the light, and still better to have them cleansed and freshened by hanging a while on a line in the outside air. There is vitality in sunlight. Very sensitive people are conscious of a pleasant feeling of communicated refreshment from the mere contact of the person with fabric exposed to the sun and wind.

Where Neatness is Blameworthy.—Always air your dresses well and they will never be “stuffy.” Clothes should never be shut up in a wardrobe immediately after they have been worn. The neat little packs of clothes, folded up and put one on top of the other, in which our grandmothers delighted, were extremely unhygienic.

Lingerie Bags.—Bags for holding soiled lingerie are made of coloured linen, uhd worked In flax threads of cotton. They may also be simply arranged by sewing together two towels which have borders and deep fringe. The tops of the towels are turned over, and a stitching forms a casing in which a ribbon is run to draw up a bag. A stitching must run across the lower part of the bag, just above the ornamental border; thus the bag is formed. The word “ Lingerie ” may be worked across in Russian stitch.

Renewing Black Kid Gloves.—A reader of “ Everylady’s Journal ” writes: My black kid gloves were decidedly shabby, the thumbs and fingers being worn almost -white. I rubbed them with artist’s black tube paint. The oil gave them a smooth, shiny look like new gloves. A single tube of the paint costs but a trifle, and will last a long time for the purpose. As this is oil paint it should be allowed to dry thoroughly before the gloves are worn. A pretty, fancy collar of silk and chiffon was badly soiled—hopelessly ruined, I thought. A friend suggested that I give it a gasolene bath. I followed her advice, putting the soiled collar in gasolene to cover it, and washing it gently. It came out as fresh and dainty as when bought.

Economical Clothes-Bars.—A convenient set of clothes-bars may be made wi'th five old broom handles, ten screw-eyes, two large hooks and a piece of quarter-inch rope long enough to reach double from the ceiling to the floor. Buy screw-eyes large enough to allow the rope to pass easily through, then saw all the broom-handles the same length, scrub them clean, place a screw-eye in each, and fasten the two large hooks ill the ceiling or side wall, where you want your clothes-bars to hang, having them as far apart as the sticks are long; hang the rope over the hooks, place the ends of the rope through the screw-eyes on one of the sticks and then slide it up on the rope as high as you want the top bar to come; tie a single knot in the rope below each screw-eye to prevent the bar from slipping down; secure all the sticks on the rope in the same manner, about ten or twelve inches apart. When the last stick is on the rope tie a knot in the ends and your clothes-bars are complete. When not in use they may be taken down, rolled together, and laid away.

Pur Coat.—Never press a fur-lined coat. It will ruin the skins. Take a very wet sponge and go over the garment thoroughly if it has become very wrinkled. Then hang It on a form in the open air. It will look like a new coat when dry.

To Cut Fur.—Lay the fur, wrong side up, on a deal table and fix firmly with drawing-pins. Then trace clearly with w'hite chalk where you wish to cut. Take a sharp penknife and draw it along the chalk-marks till the skin is so nearly cut through that a gentle pull will divide it. Scissors should never be used, as they cut the pile and make neat joining impossible.

Enamelled Bedsteads—White enamelled bedsteads may be restored at home. Purchase a few cans of white enamel and a brush. Follow the directions on the can and you will get good results.

Cleaning Mirrors.—For cleaning windows anil mirrors, there are several articles on the market, but a little soda or kerosene and a little thin starch put over the glass and allowed to dry will give excellent results when rubbed off and polished with newspaper, or cloth that leaves no lint.

Apply soap to drawer slides that stick, and keep door hinges well oiled to prevent creaking and ill-temper.

Cleaning Cut Glass.—Cut-glass toilet articles should be cleaned one piece at a time, to prevent chipping, in a basin of warm water into which have been put a few drops of ammonia, or a pinch of washing soda. Rub with a soft brush, and bury temporarily in jewellers' white-wood sawdust. Put the silver toilet articles in a basin, and cover them with boiling water into which has been poured a little ammonia. If very tarnished, use a paste of French whiting and alcohol. Of course, judgment must be used where silver articles are combined with ivory, celluloid, glass, etc. Wash hair brushes in tepid ammonia-water.

Renewing Sponges.—To restore slimy sponges, dissolve a tablespoonful of sea-salt in a quart of hot water. Soak the spongeB in this mixture till quite cold; rinse out in several clean waters, when they will be found equal to new.

Renewing Ivory.—Ivory when not stained may be restored to its former whiteness by cleaning it with powdered burned pumice stone and water, and then placing it under glass in the sun’s rays.

Cleaning Jewellery.—To clean dull gold jewellery without removing jewels, etc., and without injuring either the dull gilding or the gem, rub it gently' with a soft brush, moistened in bicarbonate of soda and water, to which have been added a few drops of ammonia. Then rinse thoroughly, and dry in pure, warm sawdust.

Perfuming the Dress.—A famous perfumer in Paris suggests, as a means of perfuming articles of dress, the following method: Select the perfume which you like best, and which you always intend to use—for there must be an individuality about perfume—saturate tiny pieces of absorbent cotton with it and put these pieces in every bureau drawer and in every box. Even blouse boxes and hat boxes must receive their cotton balls of perfume if you wish always to have a dainty odour about you and your belongings. These balls will need to be re-saturated about once a month.

There is also a fancy among some dainty women for saturating pumice stone with perfume, and putting it In one’s bureau and boxes, to impart the desired fragrance to one’s clothing. By this means there is a certain delicacy of odour which is never given by direct use of perfumery; and, by the way, it is well to note that fashion says to-day that each woman shall use one perfume, and that she should use no other. This is one of the outgrowths of the Individuality of some few women.

Refreshing a Room.—OH of lavender is an old-fashioned remedy for refreshing a stuffy room. Put a few drops of it into a pint of boiling water; pour this into a bowl or a large-mouthed bottle, place It where there is a disagreeable odour and the air will soon be sweet and wholesome.

In many households these accessories to the.toilet do not receive their due share of care and attention. It is only at rare intervals —perhaps at house-cleaning seasons—that the brushes get a thorough cleansing; then they are allowed to do duty for months with nothing more being done to keep them in order than the comb drawn across them to remove loose hairs. As they absorb a certain amount of the natural oil of the scalp and collect the dust from the hair, they very soon become “ clogged ” and unable to perform the function of brushing to any great advantage.

Once a fortnight all the hair-brushes In dally use should be collected and thoroughly washed. To every pint of lukewarm water a dessertspoonful of household ammonia should be added; each brush should be held by the back, keeping that part clear of the water, and swirled backward and forward several times; the other hand may be put into the water and drawn across the hairs of the brush. Shake well out of this water, and uip into a ba3in of cold water, or hold below a running tap; shake free of water, dry back and handle with a soft cloth, and dry in a current of fresh air, or in the sun, if possible, placing the brushes on end to prevent the water injuring the backs. Under no circumstances should hot water be used, as it takes the " life ” out of the bristles, making them too soft to penetrate the hair. If this regular cleansing is carefully done, and the backs and handles kept dry and carefully wiped, the brushes will not only be more pleasant to use and more healthful, but will last much longer.

To Soften Hard Brushes.—Hard brushes should have the bristles soaked for twenty-four hours in raw linseed oil. Then rinse in a strong solution of ammonia or turpentine.

Ivory-handled Brushes.—Should the ivory become stained, it may be cleaned with a paste mixture of whiting and lemon-juice. Remove, and polish when dry.

To Clean the Backs.—To Improve and preserve ihe polished wood of the brushes, rub It lightly over with boiled linseed o.l and rub up with a soft duster. A drop or two of furniture polish may be used occasionally with good results. Fancy silver backs of brushes should be polished by making a thin paste of whiting and water, smearing the silver lightly, and brushing up with the plate brush; then dust over carefully with an old silk handkerchief.

Combs should never be placed in water. Clean by tying a thread to a firm nail, and work each tooth backwards and forwards. A stiff piece of card will effect the same end. Brush the comb free of dust, and rub well with oil.

To Wash Combs.—To wash combs may sometimes be necessary. Use ammonia and warm water, after removing all dirt. Rinse well. Water too hot may injure a comb.

A New Tooth Brush.—Soak a new tooth brush in cold water for at least twelve hours before using it. If any bristles appear uneven, cut level. Allow the brush to dry in the open air before being used.

Care of the Tooth Brush.—The care of tooth brushes is not sufficiently observed. They stand in their cups or hang on their racks above the stationary wash bowls day and night, absorbing anv disease germs that may be floating about. They should be washed frequently—at least about twice a week—in some antiseptic solution, strong salt and water or bicarbonate of sodium and water being two good and readily provided cleaners. Tooth washes and pastes should also be kept carefully covered.

Sponges—particularly those on which soap is rubbed—frequently become disagreeably slimy. Place the sponge in a bowl of either borax and water, or warm soft water to which has been added a little ammonia. Let It soak eight hours. If the condition does not yield to this treatment, try prolonged soaking in salt and water.

A mixture that is excellent for cleaning black cashmere and other woollen dresses, coats, and even felt hats, is made as follows; Dissolve one ounce of gum camphor and one ounce of borax in one quart of boiling water. When cool, add one quart of alcohol; put in a bottle and keep well corked. Before using, shake well; apply with a sponge.

Another preparation that can be used upon the most delicate materials, and will not affect any colour, is made by taking one part alcohol, one part ether and one part chloroform. This must be kept tightly corked, and should be most carefully used and only in the open air, otherwise serious consequences may result to the cleaner.

Heat half a pound of flour in the oven until very hot, but not browned. Spread the coat on a skirt board or a table, and apply with a cloth. As the flour becomes dirty, shake it off and use fresh. Brush with a perfectly clean clothes-brush. Should thecoat still appear soiled, send to a good cleaner.

Grease spots on clothes may often be removed merely by hanging in front of a fire, the grease gradually evaporating with the heat, and. if it was clean grease, leaving no trace behind. Creases from being crumpled through careless packing will also come out of a garment that is hung before a fire, which is much less trouble than ironing them out. Another method of eradicating grease spots is to hold a hot iron over the spot, with a piece of ordinary brown paper between it and the cloth. Grease stains of another kind are removed by sponging in ammonia water. This has also a tendency, when used all over a garment, to cleanse and brighten it considerably.

Cornstarch is an effective grease remover. Rub a small quantity into the soiled spot. When the grease is absorbed by several such applications, brush the garment free of the starch.

Another Method.—Place the starch on the grease spot, hold above it a very hot Iron. Repeat until all grease is taken up. Then brush the garment free of the starch.

I was wearing a new silk, a pinhead check in blue and white, at a luncheon, when a careless waitress dropped a butter-ball right into my lap; the consequence was a great spot of grease. After luncheon, my hostess asked me to come into the kitchen, where she heated—or, rather, slightly warmed—some floar, then placing her hand under the spot on the wrong side, she rubbed the spot right well with the flour, brushed it off, and repeated the process, when the spot entirely disappeared. This is as effective for a grease spot of long standing as for a recent one.

In regard to the various and sundry stains which accumulate on cloth garments, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, whose origin it would be difficult to trace, one often has to try various remedies. A thorough brushing should, of course, precede the use of any one of them. A good general cleanser is kerosene, but it must be applied plentifully' with a good big rag, preferably a woollen one, the whole garment, if it be much spotted, being gone over, special attention, in the shape of additional rubbing, being bestowed where spots appear. Some people dislike the odour of kerosene, but it disappears in a few minutes if the garment be held in the breeze or sun. It seems to act more satisfactorily on all-wool goods: a mixture of cotton and wool is harder to clean, and one succeeds better by some other means.

Turpentine is a handy thing to use for the removal of spots in a general way. For rosin, which one may get on one’s clothes from sitting on a pine log from whish the sticky substance so often oozes, it is almost the only thing.

A good method of cleaning velvet, ''elveteen and plush is the following: Procure a stiff whisk broom, a pan of boiling water, and an obliging friend who will brush up the nap as you hold the goods taut over the steam, the wrong side to the water. This simple process removes wrinkles, brightens the colour, and makes the crushed nap stay up when brushed against the grain, and will answer for black or coloured pile fabrics. If the velvet has a grease spot on it remove it with French chalk before steaming. A sticky spot may be lightly touched with clean, cold water before the steaming process; or if this fails, one of the several recipes given for the purpose may he tried. To clean velvet rub' with a piece of the same material dipped in spirits of turpentine, turning the piece as it becomes soiled.

For white articles use white starch; for cream, use cream starch or pollard; for coloured serge dresses, starch as near the shade as possible. To clean the article, lay a large cloth on the table, then place the shawl, or other article to be cleaned, on the cloth, sprinke freely with powdered starch, fold up in the cloth and knead and rub well till thoroughly cleansed. Lastly, remove from the cloth, take outside and shake well till all the white dust is removed. Woollen articles look like new when treated in this manner.

Benzine for cleansing cloth is best applied by means of a toothbrush. You know how difficult it is at times, when rubbing with a cloth, to avoid showing where you have cleaned. Soak the brush thoroughly in the benzine. No doubt you know that laces, gloves, and all sorts of things can be cleaned in petrol (or benzine as it is called), but pray, as you value your life, remember the highly inflammable nature of the spirit. Never open a bottle of it in a room in which there is a light or fire, or even in a room communicating with another in which there is a naked light. 1 have taken grease spots out of a cotton frock by sprinkling them with fine starch, covering with brown paper and ironing. Lemon and salt will remove ink stains from white materials. Cover the stain with salt and then squeeze on the lemon juice. Milk is said to take ink out of coloured clothes. Bolling water will usually cause tea or fruit stains to disappear from linen. If this is not effectual, whisky usually is, even in apparently hopeless cases. Turpentine is necessary to take off paint. French chalk rubbed on at once will often dissipate grease spots.

Spots of grease may be removed from light cloth by the application of a small quantity of mercantile chloroform. Apply out-of-doors, using a clean flannel. Several flannels should be used to prevent extension of the grease mark.

Pare and slice very thin one medium-sized white potato; pour over it a gill of boiling water, cover and let it stand all night. Next day strain, add enough pure alcohol to make it about the consistency of a thin water starch; then quickly sponge the right side of the silk with this liquid, carefully rubbing each spot, but wetting the whole goods. Then turn and iron with cool irons on the w'rong side, always lengthwise of the goods.

To renovate this expensive material, rub the silk on the right side with a mixture composed of two teaspoonfuls of powdered ammonia and one pint of warm water. Smooth on the wrong side with an iron—not too hot—and the silk will be much improved.

Black acquires a shiny appearance which may be removed by rubbing with a flannel moistened with turpentine. Hang the garment in the air to remove the odour.

Black lace or net that has been discoloured by age or through exposure to the sun, may be very much freshened up by the following process: Spread the lace out on a sheet of paper-and brush it carefully with a soft brush, then shake it to free it from as much dust as possible. If it is spotted or slained in any way, rub it gently with a sponge dipped ill sold tea, and then allow the lace to soak for at least half an hour in tea, prepared in the following manner: Put into a small, lined saucepan one teaspoonful of gum arabic, one dessertspoonful of dry tea, and one pint of boiling water. Simmer these slowly over the fire, stirring occasionally until the gum is dissolved and then strain into a basin. The gum arabic in the tea will give a slight stiffness to the lace. If the lace is made of silk, one teaspoonful of alcohol may he added to the other ingredients, which will help to give the silk a gloss.

After the lace has been soaked in the above preparation for the necessary time, squeeze it gently between the hands and then in the folds of a cloth, or fold it carefully in a cloth and put it through the wringer. Pull out all the points with the fingers, roll the lace in a dry cloth and let it remain at least an hour before ironing. When about to iron, spread a sheet of kitchen paper, smooth side uppermost, on a piece of double felt or thick ironing blanket: spread the lace smoothly on the top of this and place another piece of paper with the glossy side downward on the top. If the rough side of the paper is placed next the lace It will peel off in small pieces. Iron the lace carefully on the top of the paper with a cool iron, and. when partly finished, remove the paper, pull out the points of the lace and then iron again with the paper over. Never touch the lace with the bare iron, ns any glazing would quite spoil Its appearance. When quite dry, hang up the lace to air. The washing and dressing of lace is certainly a work which requires time and care; It cannot be hurried over, but it is interesting, and nothing better repays for the time and labour bestowed upon it. If the lace is only crumpled, Ironing it between tissue paper will stiffen it.

Ribbons are vised so extensively, that an examination of one’s belongings is sure to bring to light a quantity of them in various stages of dilapidation, for, no matter how careful we may be, they will get soiled and faded after wearing awhile. Almost any taffeta ribbon is washable, and will look fresh after each laundering. White ribbons and many of the coloured ones can be washed in warm suds, then rinsed in clear water. Black satin or other black ribbons may be cleaned and slightly stiffened like new ribbon by sponging them with clear black coffee, or with water in which an old kid glove has been boiled. Delicately coloured ribbons will not fade if washed in naphtha. Dip them up and down and rub them lightly between the hands until the first bowlful looks dark; get another supply, and wash until clean. If the naphtha is poured into a bottle and left tightly corked for a few days, the dirt will settle to the bottom, leaving the naphtha clean and ready for use again.

A simple way of freshening ribbons, lace, and similar finery is to pass them over the top of a saucepan in the steam of clean boiling water. Ribbons, lace, crepe, etc., treated in this way become as fresh and crisp as new. Feathers shaken in the steam, and again shaken in front of a fire to dry, will be as full and fluffy as when first bought.

Where there are many children in a family, and economy must be considered, it behoves the housemother to practise the thrifty art of dyeing. Many a faded muslin can appear the next summer in a fresh new colour: light evening frocks can be dyed a darker shade, and serve for school or afternoon wear. Remember, however, to dye at the same time any extra pieces of the material, to serve for altering or patching; braid for binding, silesia, or whatever may be needed for facing. If the dye permits the colouring of silk, a few pieces of ribbon may be pui In, to be used, later, as belt or trimming. It is almost impossible to match a dyed material.

Kerosene Stains.—Kerosene stains can be removed with fullers’ earth. Cover the stain with a thick layer of hot fullers’ earth, and let it remain for twenty-four hours, then brush off.

Paint Marks.—Paint marks can easily be removed from clothing by rubbing, when fresh, with turpentine or paraffin, applied with a bit of cloth. If they have dried on, rub with a mixture of equal parts of turpentine and pure alcohol, and clean off with benzine.

Cold Water.—Cold water can do no harm to any material that is washable. It will often remove stains better than any other agent, and should be given the first chance, unless In a ease where it is known that it has no power in the stain. It should always be used for blood stains, meat juice, white of egg or other albuminous substances.

Oil Stain.—If a drop of sewing-machine oil gets on white cloth, talcum powder sprinkled on it liberally will absorb the oil and leave no spot.

Ribbons are used so extensively, that an examination of one's belongings Is sure to bring to light a quantity of them in various stages of dilapidation, for, no matter how careful we may be, they will get soiled and faded after wearing awhile. Almost any taffeta ribbon is washable, and will look fresh after each laundering. White ribbons and many of the coloured ones can be washed in warm suds, then rinsed in clear water. Black satin or other black ribbons may be cleaned and slightly stiffened like new ribbon by sponging them with clear black coffee, or with water in which an old kid glove has been boiled. Delicately coloured ribbons will not fade if washed in naphtha. Dip them up and down and rub them lightly between the hands until the first bowlful looks dark; get another supply, and wash until clean. If the naphtha is poured into a bottle and left tightly corked for a few days, the dirt will settle to the bottom, leaving the naphtha clean and ready for use again.

Where there are many children in a family, and economy must be considered, it behoves the housemother to practise the thrifty art of dyeing. Many a faded muslin can appear the next summer in a fresh new colour; light evening frocks can be dyed a darker shade, and serve for school or afternoon wear. Remember, however, to dye at the same time any extra pieces of the material, to serve for altering or patching; braid for binding, silesia, or whatever may be needed for facing. if the dye permits the colouring of silk, a few pieces of ribbon may be put in, to be used, later, as belt or trimming. It is almost impossible to match a dyed material.

Kerosene Stains.—Kerosene stains can be removed with fullers' earth. Cover the stain with a thick layer of hot fullers’ earth, and let it remain for twenty-four hours, then brush off.

Cold Water.—Cold water can do no harm to any material that is washable. It will often remove stains better than any other agent, and should be given the first chance, unless in a case where it is known that it has no power in the stain. It should always be used for blood stains, meat juice, white of egg or other albuminous substances.

Oil Stain.—If a drop of sewing-machine oil gets on white cloth, talcum powder sprinkled on it liberally will absorb the oil and leave no spot,

To Clean Black Cashmere.—To clean black cashmere wash the goods in hot suds In which a little borax has been placed. Rinse in a bluing water—very blue—and iron while damp. If carefully done, the material will look equal to new.

Moisten a little cornmeal with benzine and apply to the article to be cleaned with a soft cloth. This will not leave water rings, and can be used successfully to clean kid gloves, blouses, skirts or anything of that nature.

Paint on Clothes.—Equal parts of ammonia and spirits of turpentine will take paint out of clothing, no matter how dry or hard the paint may be. Saturate the spot two or three times, then wash out in soap-suds.

Softening a Mackintosh.—When a mackintosh cloak becomes hard, dissolve a handful of best grey lime in half a pailful of water, and with this solution wipe the coat wherever it has hardened. The process should be repeated after an interval of four hours.

To Restore Crushed and Bent Feathers.—Expose the feathers for a few moments to steaming, or dip them for one minute in boiling water; then take them out and let them He for two hours or more in warm water, then dry by the fire, shaking the feathers frequently.

Scented Handkerchiefs.—To impart a fragrance as of violets to handkerchiefs, boil them in water with a small piece of orris root..

To Prevent Tarnishing.—A lump of camphor, placed where steel buttons or ornaments are kept, will prevent their tarnishing.

To Preserve Furs,—First, hang them out in the sun for a day or two, then give them a good beating and shaking up, to be sure no moth is in them already. Then wrap a lump of camphor in a cloth and place in each garment: then wrap each piece in a sound newspaper and paste together so that the e is no hole or crevice through which a moth ran gain entrance.

Cleaning Chamois-Leather.—Chamois-skins, which play such an important part in polishing glass, silver, and other metals, may. In turn, be cleaned by washing in tepid water and plenty of white soap.

Moth Exterminator.—For a moth preventive and exterminator, steep in about eight ounces of strong alcohol, for about four days, one ounce of gum camphor and one shell of red pepper; strain, and sprinkle the clothes or furs and roll in sheets.

Shoes and slippers, if taken care of properly, will last two or three times longer than they usually do and fit the feet more satisfactorily.

To Clean Kid Slippers.—Put half an ounce of hartshorn into a saucer, dip a bit of clean flannel into it and rub it on a piece of white curd soap. Rub the slipper with this, and as each piece of flannel becomes soiled, take a fresh piece. The slippers will look like new. To restore colour of kid shoes; Take a small quantity of good black ink. mix it with the white of an egg. and apply with a soft sponge. Patent leather: If patent leather shoes or slippers crack, brush a little blacking into the cracks, and rub them over with French polish or common furniture polish, using the finger to lay on the polish and a soft, dry rag to finish off with. In place of the furniture polish, a mixture of sweet

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oil and turpentine will answer. This treatment of the leather will preserve the polish till they are utterly worn out.

Tight Boots or Shoes.—To give a feeling of ease and comfort to new boots or shoes, rub the boot well with either olive or castor oil whilst it is on the foot. Do not remove the boot until the oil is dry.

To Polish New Boots.—New boots should be well rubbed with a sliced raw potato. They will then take polish as readily as will an old pair.

To Soften New Boots.—Vaseline rubbed into the kid will soften new boots and make them wear better.

Putting Away Boots.—Before putting winter boots away for the summer, rub castor oil into the leather. This will keep them soft and not prevent them taking a polish when required again. Lemon juice rubbed on makes them polish well.

Boot Dressing.—Orange juice makes an excellent dressing for black leather boots. Take a slice of orange and rub well into the leather. Polish, after allowing it to dry, with a flannel rubber.

Patent Leather.—Sponge off all dirt, and apply milk or oil with a dry, soft cloth.

Brown Boots.—An excellent cleanser for brown boots is the inside of a banana skin, which should lie rubbed evenly over the shoe. When dry, polish with a soft cloth.

To Keep Brown Shoes Clean.—New brown shoes should be rubbed first with a piece of lemon and then with vaseline, milk, or boot polish.

Grease on Brown Boots.—Grease may be removed from brown boots by the application of white of egg.

To Blacken Brown Boots.—A method to permanently blacken brown boots:—First wash the leather with warm, soapy water, and dry thoroughly before applying a coat of finishing ink. Finishing ink is obtainable at any shoemaker’s. Two pennyworth will blacken four pairs of boots. Two coats of the ink should be applied.

Wet Boots and Shoes.—Place wet boots or shoes on their sides, pull the uppers as flat as possible and allow the boots to dry. This position sxposes the soles to the air. and dries them more quickly If boot-trees are not possessed, fill boots and shoes with soft, crumpled paper so that the shape is retained.

Polish for Kid Boots.—Beat up the white of an egg with the same weight of water and a little sugar. When made properly the mixture should be transparent and free from stickiness. This is an excellent application for all fine leather.

The Care of Shoes.—Keep a soft cloth always at hand to wipe boots and shoes carefully, and a brush to remove the dust that accumulates between sole and uppers: also around the buttons, laces, and flap. Before putting them away, rub them all over with a thin coat of vaseline. Then put them on shoe-trees and let them stand there until they will have thorough ventilation. This will preserve the leather indefinitely. Before wearing them again, rub off the vaseline with a soft cloth and add a little polishing cream, followed by a brisk rub, sufficient

to remove all grease. Buy new insoles every few weeks. These the bootmaker will paste in for you while you wait, and they keep your shoes always dainty and fresh.

To Render Boots Waterproof.—Mix two ounces of mutton suet and four ounces of beeswax together. Soften by gentle heat, and rub the mixture on the soles of the boots and over the stitches. Boots so treated will not polish. Another mixture: One ounce of powdered resin, one pint of linseed oil, two ounces of chopped mutton fat melted over a slow fire. Apply with a brush.

To Mix Blacking.—Cut the cake into pieces and pour over it enough stale ale or fresh milk to form a thick cream. This gives a good polish.

To Make Paste Blacking.—Take half a pound of ivory black, half a pound of treacle, half an ounce of powdered alum, one drachm of turpentine, one ounce of sulphuric acid, two ounces of raw linseed oil. Mix thoroughly the ivory black and treacle, then gradually add other ingredients. Keep airtight.

Stains on Tan Shoes.—Stains on brown boots and shoes should be rubbed with a little methylated spirit. The leather may then be polished as usual.

Pressing Kid Gloves.—When I take my kid gloves off, if my hands are moist and warm I lay the gloves in a sheet of tissue paper, and then put them under a heavy book or some other substantial weight and allow- to remain there for some hours. When they are taken out they are found to be soft and pliable, not stiff and hard.

Cleaning and Strengthening Gloves.—To strengthen a thin place in kid gloves, wet and apply court plaster on the wrong side. Kid gloves can be cleansed with milk and Castile soap, and rinsed with warm water. Put them on the hands to prevent shrinking.

Light Kid Gloves,—Light-coloured evening gloves can be dry-cleaned easily at home in a short time. The gloves must be put on the hands, or on wooden dummy hands, then rubbed all over with fine fullers' earth, and next with a dry flannel, and finally shaken to get rid of the powder. Mix a little French chalk with sifted bran, and rub the gloves with this, after the former process.

Black Kid Gloves.—If black gloves get white at the ends, mix a little good black ink with half a teaspoonful of olive oil, and apply to the faded parts with a feather; dry thoroughly. Black suede gloves can be treated by the same method.

To Clean Light Gloves.—To clean light-coloured kid gloves, place the gloves in a flat, dish. Cover them with benzine. If only slightly soiled, allow them to remain five minutes. If very dirty, let them lie in the benzine for ten minutes. Squeeze each glove, separately, as dry as possible, and lay it, palm downwards, on a clean white cloth of several thicknesses, and rub it upwards towards the fingers with a clean soft rag. Then treat the reverse side in the same way. Place the gloves on a clean cloth and put them near an open window to dry. Benzine

is highly inflammable. To use it in a room where there is a Are or artificial light of any kind may cause loss of life. All such cleaning should be done in the open air.

All straw hats may he satisfactorily stiffened by the painting on of the white of an egg or a clear, transparent size.

A reader of " Everylady’s Journal” w'rites: 1 wanted to remove the rusty, dusty look from a straw hat, and found kerosene oil most efficient.

I applied it with a clean, soft cloth, rubbing the hat. on both sides. Another hat of which the straw had been entirely ripped apart, I dipped bodily into the kerosene, then scoured with a brush. To complete the renovation I then pressed the hat into the desired shape and allowed it to dry in the sun and air. All odour disappeared within a day or two.

Another Method.—Last spring I had a w'hitc straw hat which w^Tas quite soiled with dust and wear, but it was so becoming that 1 determined to save it for future usefulness if I could. First, in a basin of warm water suds, I thoroughly scrubbed the hat with a soft brush, then placed it. in the shade to dry. When thoroughly dry, X brought into the open air an old barrel and a tin pan. I placed cold ashes in the pan with a few live coals upon it, and set the pan in the barrel; then I sprinkled two tablespoonfuls of sulphur on the live coals, and quickly hung my hat from the top of the barrel, upside down, in the smoke that immediately ascended. I had previously basted two strings in the hat to hang it. Then I covered the barrel with a board and threw an old piece of rarpet over it to hold in the sulphurated smoke. I left the hat in this position until all the sulphur had burned away, and when 1 removed it I was surprised and delighted to find that the airly hat, had become as white and fresh as new. One word of caution: We all know that leghorn and some other light straws are enemies to water, so, in cleaning such straws, omit the preliminary bath of soap and water, and just thoroughly brush the surface free from dust before you introduce it into the sulphur fumes.

To Clean a White Sailor Hat.—Remove all dust by brushing, first with a clothes-brush, and then with a wet nail-brush. Dissolve a teaspoonful of oxalic acid in a quart of boiling water. Dip rhe hat in this mixture several times. When clean and dry, stiffen the straw with white of egg or a clean transparent size. Place the hat on a level surface to dry.

To Clean a Felt Hat.—Use fullers’ earth and water, or, when the felt, is very dirty, substitute turpentine for the water. Mix enough of the liquid with the earth to make it like thick cream. With a soft brush rub this on the hat. Let it rest for twenty-four hours, then brush it off the hat; or, instead, make a paste of powdered magnesia and water. With a paste brush paint the hat thoroughly all over with this mixture. Leave it to dry. Brush off all the magnesia with a stiff brush, when the dirt will comq off with the white powder.

To Clean White Straw Hats.—Take flowers of sulphur and one lemon. Sprinkle the sulphur over the straw. Cut the lemon in half and rub well into the straw. Riuse in clear tepid water. Dry slowly on a perfectly flat surface, and see that the brim lies evenly.

To Tint Hats.—Preparations are now procurable which w^Till tint a light hat any shade required. No home-made application can equal such either in economy or in the effect produced. The secret of successful result is to dilute such preparations with methylated spirits before applying.

A Silk Hat.—When wet, wipe the nap carefully with a silk handkerchief, then stroke the way of the nap with a soft brush. If the nap in any part Is stuck together, moisten a sponge with beer or vinegar, and brush the hat before a fire until the effect desired is achieved.

The spring and autumnal cleaning are the two most important household occasions of the year. To incommode the inmates of the house as little as possible, method in the work Is necessary. No matter how regularly the rooms are turned out, the cleaning operations at the springtime and autumn will reveal the accumulation of an amount of dust and dirt which will surprise the novice at such work. If household matters are to run smoothly during these two great cleanings of the year, and the domesUc machinery be in nowise upset, thought and system must be introduced in the arrangements.

Should the house, or any part of the house, require repapering or repainting, the earliest weeks of spring are the best to choose for the work. Before the blistering days of summer arrive, the paint, etc., will then be dry, and so remain uninjured, and undefaced by the sun's fierce rays.

For the business of papering and painting, select an efficient workman. It is truer economy to pay a skilled man well, than to save a few shillings on the work and have a poor result. Before operations are begun, the rooms should be cleared and all furniture placed elsewhere.

Prior to the regular systematic work of the spring cleaning beginning, cupboards, glass and china, the lumber room, wardrobes, etc., should be gone through, and everything useless laid on one side. If the linen press has received regular attention, but little work will be required to set it in order.

Curtains and all draperies should be carefully inspected and renovated. New cushion-covers should be made, or the old ones sent to the laundry. A good stock of polishes should be prepared, and for the business of polishing, many otherwise useless articles from wardrobe and linen press may be employed.

In well ordered households, one day’s Interval is allowed between the turning out of eaeh room. If the inmates of the home are several, one person should be deputed to attend to the preparing of meals and general duties. Odd minutes may be spent in polishing furniture and in washing pictures, china, etc.

If, however, the housekeeper feels that she must work all day long, so aB to get through as soon as possible, at least make a change in the work. If paint is washed in the forenoon, put In the afternoon taking spots out of carpets and rugs, mending the rips and bits of torn fringe on rugs, portieres and upholstered articles, or spend the afternoon out-of-doors, spreading the lace curtains on the lawn to dry; when spread in this fashion after they are starched they will keep their shape and need no ironing except around the edges. Change the form of labour as much as possible and as often as can be done sitting down. Sit down every chance you get, bringing the high stool from the kitchen for the purpose.

The professional house-cleaners of large cities, who take possession of a house and put it in spick and span shape from top to bottom, begin by taking down and thoroughly cleaning the pictures and bricra-brac of one Mom, and removing them as fast as cleaned to an unused room. Rugs are taken up and hangings are taken down, and a canvas spread over the carpet, while the furniture is thoroughly cleaned and polished. Upholstered furniture, of course, must be beaten in the open air.

The carpet is swept over and over before being taken up for beating, and re-swept after being put down. Walls, floor, woodwork, and windows are cleaned in their order, the carpet relaid, and the clean furniture and decorations quickly returned to their place.

While, as has been already said, nearly every woman in the world is indissolubly wedded to a particular method of house-cleaning, still one occasionally finds one who is willing to take suggestions, so the following hints may, after all, prove of practical value.

Should the house be a two-story building, spring cleaning should begin in the upper rooms, then the staircase and hall should claim attention, and, finally, the kitchen and scullery. Each room should be treated in the following manner. Remove as much heavy furniture from the room as possible. Take down all pictures and

wall ornaments and place them in the room in which they are to be washed and cleaned. Remove all curtains and draperies, and throw those that will not fade over the clothes-line out-of-doors. Roll up the carpet. If beaten at home, either hang it op ropes stretched for the purpose or spread it on a green lawn and beat it until it is free fiom dust, before laying it down again, wipe the surface of the carpet over with a wet flannel wrung out in ammonia and hot water—one tablespoonful of ammonia to three pints of water.

Upholstered Furniture.—All upholstered furniture should be dusted out-of-doors. Beat it when necessary, and use a whisk broom to remove all dust from the corners. Polish each piece of furniture carefully (see recipes, Furniture Polish chapter).

The Walls.—Next, the walls of the room should be brushed down with, first, a hair-broom. Then tie over the hair-broom a clean duster and repeat the brushing. To remove smudges, etc., from the wallpaper, rub it gently with a piece of the crumb of bread. All torn places, etc., should be papered over.

The Floor.—Then the floor should be swept. After this is done satisfactorily, scrub it thoroughly with water, to which add a small quantity of phenyle. Wash the skirting boards with a lather ol' soap and water. Polish the grate, fender, and fire-irons, and clean the windows. Before proceeding further, carefully survey your work. If quite satisfied that all is as it should be, replace the furniture, re-arranging the several articles, so as to give the room an entirely fresh appearance. This method, too, provides for equal wear and tear on the furniture and carpets.

Curtains.—The light lace and muslin curtains, so pretty and dainty for spring and summer use, should, in the autumn, give place to those of heavier make. Washing velveteen curtains are suitable for winter, also tapestry and those of similar material.

Common-Sense Dusting.—There is a right way and a wrong way even in such a simple matter as dusting. The ordinary method of using a dry cloth or a feather duster merely results in removing the dust from one object to enable it to settle upon another. It is best to use two dusters (of old art-muslin, if possible), one slightly damp, to absorb the dust, the other dry, to polish.

For a careful dusting take a large piece of si'k—a disearaed muffler is best—and with a bottle of your favourite furniture, polish go over at least the centre of your dust rag, merely tipping the bottle up and back all over it in spots until the surface is very slightly moist. Begin on your piano and finer pieces and continue until you have dusted even the kitchen furniture, if so desired. Wash your rag, when work is completed, in clear, tepid water, so that the dust will be discharged and a trifle of the oily texture retained. In this manner a bottle of polish lasts a long time and a renewal of the original lustre results, which lasts much longer than when the furniture is dusted in any other way.

Finger-Marks.—To clean finger-marks on doors, rub with a piece of flannel dipped in kersosene oil. The marks will disappear like magic. Afterward, wipe with a clean cloth, wrung out of hot water, to take away the smell. This is better than using soap and water, as it does not destroy the paint. Paraffin oil is also excellent for cleaning varnished hall doors.

Rub curtain poles with a piece of old flannel dipped in kerosene, and the rings will slip more easily.

Use a Short Skirt.—We have all heard of women who have tripped on a step-ladder, because of a long skirt, even if we have been so fortunate as not to know one who was injured in this way. The long skirt is a menace to life and limb, when worn at house-cleaning. A short skirt should always be worn.

Keep several pairs of old gloves, either cotton or kid, for use in sweeping, dusting and all other work that is hard cn the hands. The gloves must be several sizes too large if the hand is to have freedom for working.

Another Polish.—For rubbing up the furniture many mixtures are recommended to housekeepers. One of the simplest of these is prepared by cutting up fine an ounce of beeswax, adding four ounces .of turpentine, placing the dish in a pan of boiling water (off the fire, as turpentine is inflammable), and stirring occasionally until mixed; then adding one ounce of grated white Castile soap. When thoroughly blended, put into a wide-mouthed bottle and keep well corked. It needs to be thoroughly rubbed in, and will give a fine gloss without stickiness.

Mirrors.—To polish mirrors, sponge with tepid water, to which a little spirits of wine has been added, to remove dirt. Then polish with a soft cloth charged with powdered whiting. Finish with a silk handkerchief.

This housecleaning time offers one a golden opportunity to bring the complete household “ scheme of things entire " to a business basis, and after that it will be far easier to keep house.

Sweeping and Dusting.—Now that we fully realise that dust contains living germs, which are only waiting for favourable conditions in which to develop, we should be very careful as to how we sweep and dust a room. Once the dust is set in motion there is no knowing where some of the spores contained in it may lodge.

If there is a carpet on the floor, and there are heavy hangings and upholstered furniture in the room, it will be difficult to prevent the dust from rising and floating about. The order of cleaning a room so furnished should be this: Open the windows; take down the draperies and shake and hang outdoors. If there are oil paintings, and carved or gilded frames, on the walls wipe them with a soft cloth, then cover them. I keep pieces of unbleached muslin for this purpose.

Brush the upholstered furniture by an open window, and place it in another room. Dust the ornaments with a soft cloth and place them in another room. If any pieces of furniture are too heavy to be moved wipe them free from dust and cover with a cloth made for this purpose. Pin a piece of outing flannel on a long-handled brush or broom and sweep the ceiling and walls with it. Wipe the dust from the tops of windows and doors with a damp cloth.

Dust each side of the blind, and, if Venetian, each lath. Then pull it up high and protect from dust.

Brush the mattress with a stiff brush, and dust the bedstead. For the carpet use a carpet-sweeper, or sprinkle damp tea leaves over the carpet and sweep with a broom. Take short, strokes, being careful not to raise the broom much. Sweep the corners and edges with a small whisk-broom. I,et the dust settle, then dust the woodwork with a cloth, using a painter’s brush for grooves and windows. Put two table spoonfuls of ammonia Into a gallon of water; wring a cloth out of this and wipe the carpet. This will remove any dust and brighten the carpet.

Wash the windows; wipe any soiled places on the woodwork. Then put back the hangings, furniture and ornaments.

A room cleaned in this thorough manner should keep clean for two weeks unless It is in constant use. It will, of course, require dusting from time to time.

This is something that can he done when the room in question is seldom used, and is only dusty, but not really dirty. Go over the carpet or rug with a carpet-sweeper, wipe the floor with a cloth wrung out of warm water which has ammonia in it. Wipe all the furniture and woodwork with a clean cloth moistened with turpentine. This cleaning is dustless, leaving everything looking bright and fresh.

As autumn approaches, the housewife finds she has almost as big a “ clean ” to do as in early spring. Work has been lightened as much as possible during the hot days of the summer months, but the dust continued to fly in, not only through open doors and windows, but even with every crack and crevice blocked during a dust-storm, and furniture, etc., look smudgy and dusty. So, with the cooler days of March, one can get to work and polish up a bit. The following hints may serve to help the cleaner:

Home-Made Furniture Polish.—Dissolve two ounce- of Castile soap in a pint of cold water. Dissolve two ounces of white wax and two ounces of beeswax in one pint of turpentine. When each group of ingredients is separately dissolved, mix both carefully and thoroughly together. Two or three tablespoonfuls of methylated spirits should then be added. Bottle up and shake well before using.

If the buttous have come cut of upholstered furniture, carriage seats, etc., place a new button on the head of a hairpin, push the pin through the cushion, turn the ends back, and the button will never come out again.

Polishing Mahogany.—An experienced housewife gives the following directions for polishing mahogany: First, wash thoroughly with weak vinegar and water to remove all stains and dust; dry carefully and rub well with a mixture prepared in this way: Put into a jar two ounces of yellow wax, half a pint of boiled linseed oil and one ounce of boiled alkane! root ; stand this in a pan full of boiling water till the wax is all melted, and the whole well covered with the alkanet; strain it, and, when cool, add one gill each of spirits of turpentine and vinegar; mix well together and use. Apply this very thinly with a bit of flannel, rubbing it sharply all the way of the grain till rubbed in. Then rub again with another clean flannel, and lastly with an old silk handkerchief. The great secret in polishing furniture is to apply a very little polish with a large amount of rubbing. It is to this the “ egg-shell gloss ” so much admired on antique furniture is due.

' To remove the discolouration caused by placing a hot dish on a polished wood table, rub with wood alcohol and then with linseed oil.

As a rule, furniture in these days suffers from too much furniture polish rather than too little. The delicate surface for which old pieces are famous, known as “ egg-shell gloss,” was obtained by a minimum of furniture polish and a maximum of elbow grease. There is an art in applying furniture polish of which only the best trained servants are aware. First carefully remove all dust and dirt, stains, etc., then with a flannel apply a very thin film of furniture cream to the wood; take a duster in each hand, and rub up the wood, the way of the grain, till on touching the surface with your hand it leaves no mark. Tire reason for the two dusters is that your left hand may not mark the wood as you rest upon it. For the last polish use a clean, old silk handkerchief. Of course, if it has been once neglected, wood takes a long time to recover its condition; but once this is attained, it takes relatively but little trouble to keep it in good order. Furniture polish applied too thickly smears, and becomes a regular dust-trap, requiring far more time to keep in condition (even if this is possible) than if cleaned properly at first.

Get one pint of oak or walnut varnish stain, a small brush, and sandpaper. Clean the articles by smoothing with sandpaper; fasten any loose part with glue; or, if necessary, drive a small casing nail in carefully, to prevent splitting the wood, and putty all holes. Apply the stain thoroughly, and evenly, but thinly, and when well dried give another coat.

Here are a few proved recipes for brightening and cleaning what has become too shabby to be “ good form,” even in the days when “ the old ” is prized far higher than “ the new.” Regular applications, from week to week, of linseed oil and turpentine, in equal parts, rubbed in with a soft woollen cloth, will, after a few weeks, do much toward removing time stains and imparting the dull lustre so much admired.

Dark hard-woods may be rubbed occasionally with crude petroleum, though care must be used not to let it soak into the wood too long, or a sticky surface will result, apt to catch dust and to be very unpleasant to the touch. The petroleum should be rubbed off, carefully, with fresh cloths, and a good supply of the old-fashioned “ elbow grease ” applied. Indeed, some people claim that it is this part of the remedy which does the greater part of the good—not the chemicals and oils.

Leather-covered furniture may be cleaned with warm milk, applied with a soft cloth, and carefully rubbed till dry. The rubbing should be done gently, however, in order not to break the surface.

Another and more elaborate renovator is as follows, to be used when the leather is very old and shabby: Take a pint of linseed oil, boil it, and let it stand until it is nearly cold; then stir in half a pint of vinegar. Stir till mixed, then bottle for use. When required, shake the bottle well, pour a little on a soft cloth, rub well into the leather, turning the flannel as it gets dirty, then rub with a soft duster till the polish is restored. This softens the leather and prevents it from cracking.

Who is not tormented with “ white spots ” on the dining-room table? To remedy, have ready three cloths, and three saucers containing— one kerosene, one alcohol, and one sweet oil. Apply the kerosene first of all. If kerosene or raw linseed oil is applied as soon as the spot is first made, it will often remove it at once. After the stain has been allowed to stand for some time, however, first apply the kerosene, then the second cloth with alcohol, and finally the third doth with sweet oil or linseed oil, rubbing the last in thoroughly, until the spot has disappeared.

When sticky flypaper has in some way become fastened to table or woodwork, remove it with kerosene, rubbing with a doth saturated in the oil till all the stain is gone. If sticky flypaper has stained a rug. carpet, or portieres, remove with alcohol, for this is a most unsightly and sticky stain.

Caution.—Housewives are cautioned against applying too large a quantity of any polishing mixture to any article of furnituie treated.

Marks on Varnished Wood.—To remove marks from varnished furniture, wet a sponge in common alcohol camphor, and apply lightly. Polish with a clean cloth on which a very little kerosene has been put. Should such a mistake be made, result is likely to prove unsatisfactory.

White Stains.—To remove white stains provide three pieces of flannel. Dip the first one in linseed oil and rub well; wet the second with alcohol, and apply to oily surface, then quickly polish w ith the third cloth.

Dissolve four ounces orange shellac In one quart of ninety-five per cent, alcohol; to this add one quart of linseed oil and one pint of turpentine; when thoroughly mixed add four ounces of sulphuric ether and four ounces of aqua ammonia. Apply with a cloth or sponge, and rub the surface well until the polish appears.

Polish for Varnishing.—A good polish for varnished furniture is equal parts of vinegar, sweet oil, and spirits of turpentine.

Polish for Mahogany.—Another excellent polish for mahogany furniture is equal parts of linseed oil, vinegar, and turpentine. Rub well and polish with another cloth free from lint.

Shabby Leather.—Shabby dark leather will look like new if rubbed over with either linseed oil or the well-beaten white of an egg mixed with a little black ink. Polish with soft dusters until quite dry and glossy.

Ink on Furniture.—Add a few drops of spirits of nitre to a teaspoonful of water, and apply just to the spot with a camel-hair brush; dry off at once and wipe with a cloth dipped in cold water; dry and rub with oil.

Mildew.—Mildew on leather will disappear if rubbed with a piece of flannel and vaseline.

If you are so unfortunate as to have left a lamp burning too high, thus filling the room with soot, try blowing off the black mass. Properly done, it will not leave a stain on the most delicate furnishings. It happened in a friend’s house that a lighted lamp in the drawing-room was forgotten for many iiours. with the result that furniture, walls and ceiling were covered with a thick coat of soot, it would not shake off; wiping only made it worse. One member of the family tried blowing, and it worked like a charm. A painter’s bellows was procured, the furniture was taken outdoors, and the black mass blown off. The ceiling, walls, and floor were treated in the same manner, sheets being held so as to catch the soot as it fell from walls or ceiling. There was no trace of the soot left on the most delicate finishes and fabrics.

After each meal, when the bare table is used, wring a soft cloth out of very cold water and go over the top quickly (that the varnish may not be injured) to remove spots made during the meal, and then rub thoroughly dry with a soft cheesecloth to polish. About once in three months use a little good polish, and so you get good results with very little trouble.

To give an oil-finish to wood: Clean off every bit of the old varnish by rubbing with No. 2 sandpaper, then use No. 0 sandpaper, rubbing until smooth. Then with a cloth rub in the following wood fillers: One pint boiled linseed oil; dissolve in this half a package of corn-starch; stir it well, then rub into the grain. Let stand overnight, then sandpaper again, and pour oil cff filler, rub oil in well, and let stand again. Next day polish with a pumice-stone, and (hen give it a final oiling. When this is dry, smooth it off with a leather-covered block, or the hand. Polish until you have the desired dull, smooth finish.

Dust First.—Before applying any one of the many furniture polishes given, the furniture to be renovated must be quite free from dust, grease, and finger-marks. Carved parts should receive particular care To remove grease or finger-marks, more elaborate recipes are less effective than the simple one of rubbing with vinegar and water—equal parts.

Dirty Furniture.—Furniture particularly dirty from long disuse or any other cause should be freely rubbed with linseed oil. Allow this to remain until next day. Then remove, and make a second application of equal parts of vinegar and linseed oil, and polish well.

To Remove Finger-Marks.—Rub with a clean flannel dipped in paraffin oil, and then with a flannel wrung out in hot water.

Renovating Mixture for Leather.—Take equal parts of vinegar and linseed oil and white of egg. This simple preparation is excellent for preserving the leather. Polish with a soft cloth, and finally with a chamois leather.

To Clean Horsehair Chair Cushions.—Brush and beat them well to remove all dust. Take a quart of hot water, add to it a tablespoonful of ammonia. Wring a cloth out in this rather dry, and with it rub the cushions, rubbing with, not across, the grain.

To Prepare Beeswax and Turpentine.—Cover finely shredded beeswax with turpentine. Place in a vessel a sufficient quantity of boiling water. Now place the first vessel holding the beeswax covered with turpentine in the boiling water. This work should not hr done near the fire or any artificial light. Add more turpentine if necessary. The mixture should be of the consistency of cream.

Carved furniture, in addition to rubbing with a cloth, should be dusted every day with a stiff brush such as painters U3e.

To Remove White Marks.—Rub white marks, left by hot water jugs, etc., with boiled linseed oil. Should this fail to remove them, mix one pint of cold drawn linseed oil with one ounce of spirits of salts, half an ounce oil of cloves, and one pint of cold water, adding the water last.

Spots and Stains on Rosewood.—To remove stains from black walnut and rosewood, mix six drops of spirits of nitre with one teaspoonful of water, and apply lightly. Immediately the stains disappear, wash the wood quickly with cold water. Neglect of this latter precaution results in a white mark being left by the nitre.

Furniture Paste.—Mix together three ounces of common beeswax, one ounce of white wax, one ounce of curd soap, and one pint of turpentine. When cold, add one pint of cold, boiled water. Allow this to remain in the bottle for forty-eight hours before using, shaking it frequently during that period. Apply, and polish.

To Polish Walnutwood Furniture.—Take one pint of linseed oil, one ounce of butter of antimony, and half a gill of vinegar. Shake well together in a large bottle. T'se sparingly and polish with an old soft cloth.

To Remove Paint and Putty.—Add one part pearl ash to three parts quicklime, slaked to the consistency of paint. Lay this mixture on the paint mark, and allow it to remain twelve hours. The paint will then easily scrape off.

American Leather Furniture.—Chairs and sofas covered with this material should be rubbed with a flannel dipped in clean warm water. When quite dry, rub the surface of the leather with oil and white of egg, equal quantities. Polish well.

Another Furniture Polish.—Mix in equal parts turpentine, vinegar, linseed oil, and spirits of wine. Shake before using. Rub the furniture well with this mixture, and polish with a dry soft cloth.

To Clean Old Oak.—Boil one quart of beer, half an ounce of beeswax, half an ounce of coarse moist sugar. Dissolve thoroughly. When cold, apply to the oak with a soft, clean paint-brush. Allow this to dry. Then polish briskly.

To Clean Oak Furniture.—Rub the oak well with boiled linseed oil. Polish vigorously with a soft duster. Linseed oil will remove many ot the marks which appear on oak furniture.

To Remove Scratches.—Rub the furniture with almond oil. Several applications may be necesrary. Camphorated oil is a simple remedy for improving the scratched or defaced surface of any article of furniture.

To Clean Cane Chairs—Scrub well with warm water and salt. Soap yellows cane. Polish the frame with a polishing mixture.

To Make a Cane Chair More Elastic.—Cane chair-bottoms may be not only cleansed, but made more springy and elastic by washing with soap and hot water. The chair should be turned ipside down and well soaked. Dry out in the wind and sunshine, and it will be as firm as when new.

Willow Furniture.—Willow and rattan furniture may be successfully “ renewed ” at home by washing with a stiff brush in warm, soft water and white soap; then, while the chair or stool is still wet, put it in a box that can be closed, place a small quantity of burning sulphur upon the bottom of the box, close tightly, and leave for half or three-quarters of an hour.

Care of Brown Wicker Chairs.—-A stiff paint-brush should be used to remove all dust, etc., after well rubbing the chair with a dry cloth. Then apply paraffin, and polish briskly.

To Mend Old Furniture.—If old furniture requires mending by regluing, carefully scrape off all old glue before making a fre3h application.

To Ixiosen Screws Rusted in Wood.—Pour a quantity of paraffin round the top of the screw. When the oil has well sunk in the screw can be removed.

The pretty and inexpensive bamboo furniture so much used now, requires to be treated differently from the ordinary wooden furniture. As bamboo is liable to crack and come apart, it must be treated so as to counteract the ill-effects of the dryness of the room and other drawbacks. It should be exposed to the air whenever possible. Do not

place too near a fire. It should be rubbed regularly with equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine, applied with a soft flannel, and then rubbed well in with a soft cloth. An occasional wash in cold water, followed by thorough drying, is good for bamboo articles. The turpentine and oil cleaning does more than polish the good3—It helps to rid the furniture of any insect pest which might be eating its way into any soft parts, and thus ruining the furniture for ever.

To Clean White Wicker Chairs.—Take the juice of one lemon, two teaspoonfuls of salt, and add one teacupful of cold water. Scrub the chair with this mixture. Rinse it in cold water, and dry out-of-doors in the shade.

To Whiten Wicker Chairs.—Add four teaspoonfuls of lemon juice to a quarter of a pint of water, and apply with a stiff brush. Dry out-of-doors in the shade.

It will greatly aid in keeping the keys of a piano white if it is left open occasionally. To whiten discoloured keys, cover the ivories with a paste made from whiting and a solution of potash. Allow this to remain on for twenty-four hours. Then brush off very caufully, and polish with a soft duster. Another recipe is to use prepared whiting and lemon juice. Paint this on the keys, and remove when dry by means of a soft cloth. Then polish. Should the keyboard be greatly discoloured, it is wiser to call in professional aid, when the properly employed process of scraping and polishing will give an appearance equal to new.

To Renovate Ivory.—Ivory, when smoke-stained, should be soaked in a naphtha bath, using care to keep the naphtha away from the flame or fire. Yellow stains on ivory are removed with pumice-stone and soap.

Piano Polish.—One pint of boiled linseed oil; one-half pint each of henzine, Japan dryer, spirits of turpentine, one pint of strong vinegar. Mix thoroughly. Apply with a soft flannel and rub dry with another piece of the flannel. Polish only a small section of the surface before attempting another place. The piano should have lustre equal to new, if properly done.

Purchase a shilling bottle of gold or silver powder, half a pint of good varnish, and a small brush. Pour a tablespoonful of varnish into a small cup and stir in enough powder to give the desired shade. Clean the frame, putty broken places, apply the paint thinly and evenly. After twenty-four hours give the frame another thin coat. Good also for freshening the metal of hanging lamps.

In a climate such as our own. where prolonged summer heat makes it so desirable that a room should present a fresh and cool appearance, polished and stained floors are very popular. Rugs, squares of carpets, or some similar covering lend the necessary air of comfort. The stain used should as nearly as possible approach the general tone and colour of the carpet, and both should be chosen with a due regard to the wallpaper of the room. Amongst the stains which give the best effect are the following:

Walnut Stain.—1. One pennyworth of nutgalls; one pennyworth of Van. brown; a quarter of a pound of American potash; one gallon of water. Cost, about fourpence. Crush nutgalls, and mix with potash; add water, very hot; use hot or cold. 2. Mix equal parts of Van. brown and brown umber to a thin paste with liquid ammonia, thin down with water; then let stand for a day or two. 3. Tray of common black privet berries; soak and crush in half a pint of ammonia solution. Apply to woods to be polished, especially pine; it is hard to detect it from real walnut.

For Floor Margins.—Use ordinary glue-size, coloured with brown umber and a very little black. Apply with a brush, and rub on with a rag. Give as many coats as are needed to procure the desired colour, smooth down with glass-paper and varnish.

Oak Stain.—One ounce of bichromate of potash; two quarts of water; Vandyke brown. Dissolve the bichromate in the water; add enough Van. brown to give the shade needed. Apply as many times as required, till dark enough. Do this with a brush, and leave in the air and light to colour.

Mahogany Stain—Wipe first with weak walnut solution; then, when dry, with a solution of Bismarck brown; dissolve as much as will stand on a shilling in spirits; this amount will colour one pint of polish, though more may be added if wanted darker. Strain through muslin before using.

Rosewood Stain.—A quarter of a pound of extract of logwood; one ounce of salts of tartar; one pound of old iron in small pieces; one pint of water; one pint of vinegar; one pint of varnish; a quarter of a pound of rose pink. Put logwood and salts of tartar in the water in a bottle; then put old iron and vinegar in another bottle, and let both stand twenty-four hours. Stain wood with two coats of logwood, and allow to become nearly dry; then apply vinegar solution with a piece of rattan cane which has been cut to a wedge shape and then pounded to separate the fibres. When dry, varnish with a solution of varni3li and rose pink mixed.

Ebony Stain.—Eight ounces of logwood chips; half an ounce of copperas; one quart of water. Boil logwood in water half an hour; add copperas. Apply hot; give two or three coats; then polish with white polish and lampblack; then finally with polish alone. Always rub down black work with glass paper and a little oil of linseed.

Satinwood Stain.—One quart of spirits: two ounces of ground turmeric; one and a half ounces of gamboge.

Cherrywood Stain.—One quart of spirits of turpentine; one pint of varnish; one pound of dry burnt sienna. Stir all well together, apply with brush, and after leaving for five minutes, wipe off with rags. This stain takes twelve hours to dry.

Rich Purple or Chocolate Stain.—Dissolve in spirits of wine one ounce of common salt; half a pound of madder; a quarter of a pound ot fustic; a quarter of a pound of dragon’s blood.

Before staining wood, It is best to experiment with the colour on pieces of wood similar to that to be stained, until the required tint is attained, and bearing in mind that two rather weak applications are more effective than one strong one.

Stains from Dyes.—Very good stains are made from dyes. For cherry stain, dissolve one package of terra cotta in one quart of water. Then finish with a coat of shellac or varnish. Mahogany: Dissolve one package of terra cotta and one-fourth package of slate in a quart of water. For black walnut, dissolve in one quart of \£ater one package of terra cotta and one package of slate.

Coloured Linseed Oil.—A most excellent as well as durable floor stain is linseed oil coloured with burnt umber. Rub It in thoroughly with a flannel pad; it soaks in at once. Let stand for twenty-four hours, then polish with beeswax and turpentine.

Dissolve two ounces of potash crystals in one quart of water. Paint the part to be stained, using a large, soft perfectly clean brush. If a dark stain is required, apply two coats. When quite dry, brush over with boiled linseed oil, and the following day polish with beeswax and turpentine. After the boards have been polished two or three times, they will look very well, and If polished regularly the stain will wear endlessly, and will not chip off.

To Colour Floors.—Use one gallon of linseed oil, one pound of varnish. one pound of burnt umber; mix together, thin with spirits of turpentine, and rub on the floor with a thick woollen cloth.

To Re-Polish Hardwood Floors.—Melt half a pound of pure beeswax and add a pint of turpentine and half as much ammonia. Stand the mixture over a boiling kettle, in order to keep it warm. Apply to the floor with flannel cloth, and let stand until quite cold, then rub hard and well with clean soft cloths till polished.

To Remove Oil-Stains from Wood.—Mix pipeclay and water together till it forms a stiff paste, and spread it over the stain. If left till the next day, and then carefully removed, all trace of the stain will have disappeared.

To Remove Paint Spots.—One pound of common washing soda and one pound of quicklime, mixed with one gallon of boiling water, will remove all paint or grease spots, and restore the colour of the floor. Saturate the floor with the solution, sprinkle clean sharp sand over it. and scrub with soap and water. This will clean and bleach the floor perfectly, and it may then be waxed.

How to Scrub.—When cleaning boards, scrub the way of the grain of the wood. Wash and dry one small piece at a time.

Possibly the most beautiful carpet of all made is that known as the Turkey carpet. Such carpets are the products of a sing.e individual, and the pattern thus possesses a rarity impossible to carpets made by the thousand in factories. The best wearing carpet is the Brussels, of the “ five-ply ” make. The important particular in the pattern going through to the wrong side will be noticed by most housewives.

Tapestry is also a durable make of carpet, but is not so handsome a floor-covering as the Brussels, and is proportionately cheaper. Ax-minsters and Wiltons are rich in appearance and expensive to purchase. Kidderminster carpets have the merit of being reversible and washable. They also wear well, and are suitable for bedrooms. It is not wise to nail a Kidderminster square, as such carpets should be taken up frequently; otherwise, owing to their porous make, much dust will filter through the canvas to the floor, and lie in unhealthy quantities.

The most extravagant carpets—because less durable—are made of hemp and jute. Both makes quickly lose their colour, -vith the result that the room appears dingy and shabby.

Self-coloured felts are used as carpets, and wear well. As a surrounding to a carpet of a shade harmonising, they are both pretty and economical. Oriental carpets and rugs have a beauty of richness and colour not often approached by carpets produced from our factories. An expert, however, should select such carpets, otherwise an imitation is liable to be substituted for the real thing.

In choosing a carpet, the wall-paper of the room for which It Is designed should be carefully considered. Should the colours of wallpaper and carpet clash, harmony in effect is unobtainable. Self-coloured carpets accord readily with the colour scheme of mort rooms.

Carpets with a small pattern wear better than those ornamented with a bolder pattern. For stair carpets, the best are Brussels, Axmlnster, or Wilton.

If unable to get a carpet-beater to take your carpets away and properly clean them, ask some handy man to lift them and place them out on a back lawn or the nearest paddock, and there let them be thoroughly beaten, first one side, then the other, likewise your rugs—do not hang them on the clothes-line to beat; It is bad for the rugs, and worse for the line.

The very best carpet will, under the wear and tear of years, ultimately lose its colour and look faded and worn. Such a carpet should be taken up, thoroughly cleaned, and relaid. Then apply this renovator: Take one pint of ox-gall and add to it three pints of warm water. Use a chamois leather and wash the carpet, a small square at a time, very thoroughly, scrubbing soiled portions with a small stiff brush. Then rub the washed portion over with a cloth wrung out in told water to which salt has been added, and clean it well. Then dry as thoroughly as possible with fresh dry cloths. Treat the whole carpet bit by hit in this way. When the process is complete, the result will prove very satisfactory. To remove all odours from the room, open wide all doors and windows, and if in winter time light a fire.

To Remove Candle Spots.—To remove candle and grease spots from a carpet, first scrape the mark as cleanly as you can with a knife. Then place flat upon it a piece of blotting-paper. Then iron lightly with a very hot iron. Replace the paper quickly immediately it shows soil until all grease disappears.

Ink Marks.—Ink should be taken up from a carpet with blotting-paper. Then saturate the part with lemon and salt. Sponge then in fresh cold water.

To Remove Grease Marks.—Grease spots on carpets can be removed by means of a paste made of boiling water poured on equal quantities of magnesia and fullers’ earth. Place the hot paste on the grease spots, and when quite dry brush off. •

To Clean Brussels Carpet.—In cleaning Brussels carpet, have the carpet well shaken, then tack it down in the room where it is to remain and sweep it as thoroughly as possible. Take a pall of hot water, put in two tablespoonfuls of powdered borax; wash the carpet all over the surface, using a flannel cloth. For grease spots or very dirty places use a scrubbing brush freely, and a very little soap, taking care to rinse the soap off well after scrubbing. Change the water quite often. Rub the carpet well after washing with a dry cloth, and open the doors and windows so as to dry it as quickly as possible.

To Clean Carpets.—To every gallon of water used add two tablespoonfuls of ammonia. Wring out clean flannel cloths from this, leav ing them only damp, not wet; rub the carpet with them, drying with a dry cloth.

To Brighten Colours.—Brighten the colours in rug or carpet by sweeping it with a broom dipped in salt water. Shake the broom well, as It only needs to be dampened.

To Lay the Dust.—Before sweeping a carpet, sprinkle with moist salt. It will both lay the dust and revive the colours.

Removing Soot.—Soot may easily be swept from carpets by sprinkling lavishly with salt before sweeping.

Dye as a Renewer.—An old ingrain or Brussels carpet can be made new by a few packages of dye. Dissolve the dye in a gallon of hot water to one package, and while hot put on the carpet with a brush. When dry, the carpet resembles a new one. This has been tried several times successfully.

Pilling a Hole.—Sometimes a hole appears in a carpet which must still be used. Cut a patch suiting in size and design the place to be repaired. Make a good flour-paste and spread over the patch and fit to the floor. Have warm three or four irons and set on patch. If well done, it is far from unsightly, and will wear indefinitely.

To Clean and Brighten a Shabby Carpet.—Cut an ounce of yellow soap into small squares, and make into lather with a pint of boiling water. Add to this a quart of water and one ounce of borax. Place the mixture on the stove, and bring it to a boil; then remove it, and when quite cold add an ounce each of alcohol and ammonia, and half an ounce of glycerine. Wipe over quite a small portion of the carpet at a time, and rub vigorously with a clean flannel (which should he repeatedly turned as it gets soiled), dipped in the mixture until all spots are removed and the colour revived. When you have finished, you will be delighted to find how nice your once shabby carpet looks.

After having thoroughly swept carpets that were lifted and cleaned in the spring, and which are to have only this sweeping at this time, go over every inch with a clean mop wrung out of half a pailful of tepid water, to which has been added half a cupful of camphor and three or four tablespoonfuls of ammonia. This applies to dark carpets, of course, for these are the sort that generally need brightening.

Oil on Carpets.—To remove oil or grease from the carpets spread a layer of French chalk over the spots, cover with a sheet of blotting-paper, and iron with a warm iron. Repeat, if necessary. Or a paste made of fullers’ earth may be spread over the spot. When dry, brush off and renew till the spot is gone.

Carpets may be brightened and cleaned by first beating well and then going over them with a broom dipped in gasolene.

A Good Carpet Soap.—Mix together one ounce of shredded soap, one pint of boiling water, two tablespoonfuls of ammonia, half an ounce of soda. Scrub the soap on to the carpet with a strong nail-brush, and rinse with warm water and a cloth.

To Destroy Moths in Carpets.—Take a damp towel, spread it out upon the carpet and iron it dry with a hot iron. The heat and steam will destroy the worms and eggs.

Many directions for furnishing simple rooms economically give, as part of the preparation, "a goatskin rug or two scattered here and there about the room.” Perhaps one whose confidence in goatskin rugs has, ^v>efore this, been betrayed may here add a timely word of warning.

The grey or white cheap fur rugs are a snare and a delusion. There is simply no keeping moths out of them, and when once the moths are in they are beyond possibility of using. N .t only do they shed hairs everywhere, but they do more than this- the air is filled with the hairs; the passing foot tracks them on over the house; they cover everything. These rugs have no legitimate home except the bonfire. The other day two pretty white rugs were seen borne away to be burned after having tried their owner’s patience for several years of distress. The grey goatskins have the same fault, in the same proportion, but those dyed black (doubtless because cl the dye) are never seemingly molested by moths, and may be used with impunity and a sense of security.

Stains on portieres and rugs may be removed with kerosene, and stains on carpets may be removed in the same way. Soap and water can be used on an ingrain carpti, and on a Brussels of dark shades, but light-coloured carpets must be cleaned with naphtha or kerosene. Make a circle of the cleaning fluid, well outside of the stain, then work toward it in the middle, so that there will be no chance of spreading the stain into the surrounding carpet. After the rugs are cleaned and laid on the floor, the colours often look dingy. A solution made of bits of soap dissolved in a gallon of warm rain-water and a tablespoonful of ammonia added, if applied a little at a time with a good scrubbingbrush, will brighten the colours wonderfully. Only the top of the carpet gets wet, and in twelve hours the room is ready for use.

When cleaning rugs, lay them right side down on the grass and beat vigorously; then turn, and repeat the process on the other side. Finish with a good sweeping, and your rugs will look much fresher than when hung on a line and beaten, besides lasting much longer.

Salt prevents moths from getting into the carpets. If a piece of flannel or cotton wool be well saturated with turpentine, kept moist and hung up in a room, flies are said to give the apartment a wide berth. To clear a house of cockroaches, put powdered borax into a tin with a perforated lid, and dust the borax into cupboards, about the stove, on the floor, and everywhere the insects are found. Use the borax steadily in this way for a time, and you will find that the cockroaches disappear entirely. This remedy is perfectly safe, for borax will not injure dogs, cats or other animals.

Before a carpet Is laid down, the floor should first be scrubbed with warm water, soda and soap. It should then be washed over with water, to which phenyle has been added. When dry, the floor should be cov-vered to the width and length of the carpet with underlays. Underlays add much to the softness and sense of luxury of carpets. They increase, too, their durability, intervening between the friction of the boards and the natural traffic over the surface of the carpet. Old carpets, felt, of the coarser kind, thick hrown paper, or hessian, overlying newspapers, will all serve the purpose of underlays.

Axminsters, Wiltons, and any pile carpet require to be brushed the way of the pile, in the direction in which the widths are sewn. All tea leaves should be saved for tile sweeping of carpets. Leaves used for this purpose should not be too wet. They should be thrown from the teapot into a small kerosene or other tin, perforated with holes to permit of water draining away from them. Prior to the sweeping, the leaves should be freely scattered over the surface of the carpet. While sweeping, doors and windows may be closed, but windows should immediately be opened on the sweeping being finished.

Before relaying carpets, after autumn house-cleaning, sprinkle over the floor some strong-smelling liquid or powder that will act as a preventive to moths or other Insects, Red pepper, gum camphor, tobacco, borax, and indeed numerous other things, are good for this purpose.

Straw matting is gaining in popularity in these States, as healthier, cleaner and cheaper than carpets. Complaints, however, are made that matting soon looks shabby, end few housekeepers realise how much of this shabbiness is due, not to lack of care, but to the wrong kind of care. The treatment of matting should be different from that of carpet. Here are some useful hints:

When purchasing the matting, give the exact measurements of the room, but have the matting a trifle larger. On no account should It be “ stretched." for, while stretching is necessary for a carpet, it ruins straw matting.

Instead of laying it in single strips, have the widths sewed at the shop, just as a carpet is sewed, and the edges turned in about three inches all around, to prevent fraying. Do not have any furniture in the room while the matting is being laid, and it is as well not to drive the

tacks for a few days, go it will have a chance to smooth itself out, and not lie In ridges. Always use the double-headed tack, or bent, for ordinary tacks will not hold the matting, and succeed only in tearing it.

As good a carpet lining should be used for straw matting as for the richest carpet, and underneath the lining should lie several thicknesses of newspapers. These keep the cracks in the boards from marking the matting—for a “ mark ” on matting soon develops into a broken, shabby place—and keep away moths. A further precaution lies in washing the boards in carbolic water a day or two before laying the matting, or, best of all, applying to the entire floor a stain made of permanganate of potash crystals (poison), added to a bucket of hot water, and applied with a mop. This colours the floor a light brown, and If used under carpets and in wardrobes each spring, will keep away moths and even those little pests, silverfish, the terror particularly of Sydney and Perth housewives. The solution will cost not more than a shilling.

After the matting is laid, before placing the furniture make little pads of leather, or several thicknesses of cardboard, covered with a piece of the chintz. Slip these under the castors of bed, etc., for these castors, even if made of wood, leave unsightly marks on the matting which it is impossible wholly to remove. Little holders for the purpose are kept in all furniture stores, but the home-made ones answer every purpose. Look out for all stains, giving them immediate attention. Grease spots are best removed by means of a piece of blotting paper and warm flatiron; keep moving the blotter until all the grease is absorbed, and do not have the iron scorching hot. Ordinary stains will yield to a solution of salt and water. If any prove obstinate, try a paste made of fullers' earth and water, or starch and water; apply to the spot and leave for several hours, when it may be brushed up, and generally the spot comes with it.

If light-coloured or white matting on a floor has become discoloured and faded, go over every inch of it with hot water in which a handful of baking soda has been dissolved. This will turn the matting a darker shade and yellowish, but it will be all one shade and not variegated, and its appearance will be much improved. If there is a dark figure in it that has faded, this can be touched up with an old tooth brush dipped in dye of the right shade.

When sweeping matting, always follow the weave by sweeping across the breadths, instead of lengthwise. If a bare broom is used, let it be one of soft texture, kept for the purpose. An ordinary broom is too harsh, and will soon break the fibre. After sweeping, the matting may be wiped with a cloth wrung from tepid water, in which is a little borax or salt. This removes the dingy appearance and stains, and toughens the fibre. If white matting has become faded and discoloured in spots,

wash all over in strong soda water, which turns It to a deep cream or yellow, and makes It all one colour, which, though not so pretty as white matting, Is better than the variegated appearance of faded, discoloured matting.

When the figures which make the pattern become dingy and faded, they may be renewed by the application of dye. Purchase dye-powder of the original colour; follow the directions on the package for making liquid dye. Apply with a tooth-brush, or, if the figure is large, wash the colour in boldly with a large, coarse paint brush. Commence at some unimportant part of the room—for instance, beneath the bed—for one is sure to improve with each figure, and it is well to have the first attempt literally out of sight.

Soiled Matting.—Soiled floor matting should be washed with cold salt water, a pint of salt being allowed to a gallon of water. Matting requires very careful treatment. The salt water should not be applied with a brush, but with a soft flannel cloth, and the matting should be thoroughly dried afterward. If there are spots that are much soiled, they should be rubbed with water and cornmeal. White matting that has assumed a disagreeable hue may be changed to a pale butter-yellow tint by washing it in a weak solution of soda.

To Clean Straw Matting.—Bran water is excellent for cleaning straw matting. Add one large handful of bran to two quarts of cold water. Let this boil for twenty minutes, then strain off the liquid and wash the matting with a flannel, drying quickly with a soft clean cloth.

A Good Polish.—Oilcloth will not only retain a more attractive appearance, but lasts much longer if kept polished. This may be easily done by dissolving an ounce of beeswax in a pint of turpentine and applying with a clean woollen cloth. Polish with a dry cloth and it will be surprising with what ease it may be kept polished.

Bright Oilcloth.—Try wiping your oilcloth with a flannel cloth wrung from clear, warm water and see how much brighter it is than when any old mop cloth is used and water in which soap or ammonia abounds. If skim milk is plentiful it is still better than clear water. Linseed oil is a splendid oilcloth preservative, but it must, not be used too liberally. It should be warmed until it will run freely. Use a flannel cloth, moistened, to spread it very sparingly over the surface. If the least thickness of oil is left on the oilcloth it will collect dust constantly, and become a nuisance rather than a benefit Simply rub the oily flannel over the oilcloth until it shines but leaves no trace of the oil itself.

Don’t Use Soap.—Never use soap in the water when cleaning oilcloth. It fades the colours and breaks up the paint. Ammonia also is to be avoided, because it gives the cloth a dull, dead look. If a brush “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—The Best Magazine for Women.

is used, it should be a soft one, but it is better not to use any, except in cases when the oilcloth has been long neglected or poorly washed for some time previously. Take a clean flannel cloth and apply clean water, which is finally to be removed by soaking it up into the washing cloth again after it has been wrung out. The oilcloth is then wiped dry with another piece of clean flannel or coarse crash. After the oilcloth has become thoroughly dry apply to it some warm linseed oil. Only a very little is to be used, and slightly rubbed into the cloth, giving it a handsome gloss. The linseed oil will do more harm than good unless used sparingly. Skim milk may be used in place of oil, and will give the oilcloth a beautiful gloss.

To Renew Oilcloth.—To renew faded oilcloth dissolve half an ounce of beeswax in a claret-glass of turpentine, rub it lightly over the surface, and polish with a dry cloth. Oilcloth prepared in this way sprinkled with chalk makes an excellent dancing floor.

Pit the linoleum to the floor and lay it, but do not tack it down for three days or longer. By that time it will lie flatly without “ hunching up ” in places. Use linoleum tacks for tacking.

Never try to lay linoleum when it is cold. It should be left for at least twenty-four hours in a warm room, that the heat may thoroughly penetrate to the centre of the roll, or it will crack and peel off when unrolled. The floor should be scrubbed, and before it is entirely dry the linoleum should be unrolled slowly and carefully, then cut and laid in place. The slight dampness will not Injure the linoleum, but will cause it to stretch. In a couple of days it can be tacked down, no wrinkles then appearing, as would be the result were it tacked as soon as laid Every wrinkle will sooner or later crack.

A floor-covering of good linoleum for the kitchen should hold its own for at least five years. The way to prolong its period of usefulness is to keep it clean; dirt ground into the finished surface by the tread of feet is the floor-covering's greatest enemy. Linoleum needs no soap, ammonia or strong cleaning agents. For several weeks it can easily be cleaned by wiping off with a cloth wrung out of warm, soft water with milk in it. When it begins to lose freshness, dampen a flannel cloth in raw linseed oil and rub over it after it has been cleaned. Three-pennyworth of oil will last for weeks. A good way to make linoleum “ last ” is to put a handful of ordinary glue Into a pint of warm, soft water, or enough to go over the floor with, and set on the back of the range where it will keep warm all day. Have linoleum perfectly clean at night, and go over it with the glue water. In the morning it will have a fine, hard gloss, and look almost as fresh as new.

A quick and easy way of cleansing linoleum or oilcloth is to add about a tablespoonful of kerosene to an ordinary pail of warm water and to use four or five cloths to wash, dry and polish. Old art-muslin makes good floor-cloths, leaving no “ fluff,” and quickly absorbing moisture. One of these must be kept for the final polish. They may be washed and used repeatedly. This method preserves the gloss of new linoleum and gives brightness to old, renders it more durable, and destroys obnoxious germs. It is cheaper than to use linoleum cream, and much easier than the old-fashioned laborious polishing with beeswax and turpentine. The unpleasant odour is quickly removed by the draught from open doors and windows.

For ten square feet of linoleum allow two eggs; break these into a basin and beat sufficiently to partially mix them, and then add one quart of lukewarm water. Dip a soft flannel cloth in this mixture and go over the linoleum; wring out the cloth and wipe a second time, using care not to step where this has been done, then leave it to dry in the air, not using the room till the floor is quite dry. The linoleum will look like new. If some of the woodwork has had to be scrubbed vigorously because of fly traces, and is a little dull in consequence, try rubbing it with equal parts of turpentine and sweet oil; then wipe the paint occasionally with this mixture and it will not be necessary ever to scrub it again; flies seem to avoid woodwork that has been so treated, and the finish produced is like new.

In other rooms than the kitchen, the linoleum is usually polished frequently; the following is a very good cream to use, and is easily made: Take one quarter of a pound of beeswax, threepennyworth carbonate of potash, one and a half pints of water, and one pint of turpentine. Cut beeswax very finely, put into an old saucepan with the water and potash; stand it on the stove until it has dissolved. When nearly cold, add the turpentine. Put in a jar and tie down. Be careful not to have the turpentine anywhere near the stove; it is highly combustible.

At least once a year the linoleum, after being thoroughly cleaned, should be given a light coat of some kind of varnish. If the work is done in the evening, it will be dry the next morning.

generally decided upon before a tenant enters upon occupancy. Where this is not the case and where carpets are already bought, the paint, paper and furnishings of a room should be brought into as great harmony as possible.

In choosing wall papers, the size and aspect of the room should be carefully considered. Where a room is badly lighted, a light-ground paper should be chosen. A dark paper will still further emphasise gloom as well as apparently detract from the size of the room. A wall paper without any design whatever, but with a frieze, has an excellent effect. Colours not likely to fade should be selected. The lavatory, bathroom, kitchen, and nursery should be papered with varnished sanitary paper. This paper can be cleaned by washing it in the ordinary way, with borax and water.

Rooms with a northerly or hot aspect should be papered in cool greens, blues, or greys. Bedroom papers should be dainty and bright, and devoid of any but the simplest design. Where a room is designed for the use of an invalid, the wall paper should be altogether plain, of one colour. Any pattern which suggests counting, grouping, etc., is likely to worry and irritate where illness is in question.

Ceiling papers should be of one tone, or the design selected should be either small or but faintly delineated.

Before repapering a room, the walls should be stripped bare of all old papers. The practice of papering a new over an old wall paper is unhealthy in the extreme, productive often of illness, and always of moths. When papering a room remember that the paste must be brushed on the paper before hanging, and not on the wall. The length of paper should then be doubled, the paste side inwards, and the paper placed in position, beginning at the top of the wail, and smoothing out with oare, all creases and wrinkles, as the work proceeds.

A medical expert declares that consumption is frequently contracted as a result of sleeping and living in rooms which have previously been occupied by a phthisical patient. As a preventive to contracting this dread disease, householders should carefully and very thoroughly fumigate each room in the house before settling down as tenants. Ceilings, wall papers, cornices, are all harbours for germs clearly discernible under a microscope, if invisible and unsuspected by the naked eye.

Distempered walls are popular in many quarters. Grass cloths in many effective art shades are manufactured as substitutes for wall paper —but the style is expensive. Panels of green grass cloth sunk in an oak framework lend a refreshingly cool appearance to a room furnished in accordance with the suggested colour-scheme.

Wood panelling is more in vogue than formerly. If polished, it entails labour but is more artistic than when the panelling is simply painted.

The drawing-room and dining-room should be more ornately papered than the bedrooms. A library, wood-panelled, looks well, or a rather dark paper should be selected if for any reason wood panelling is not to be desired.

For halls, living-rooms, and dining-rooms, in nine cases out of ten the plain wall in some good tone of a pure colour is to be preferred to one which is covered with figured paper. This may be said in almost the same degree of libraries, though here the exceptions are made where a dark rich tapestry-paper breaks the plain dado or frieze, or a conventional figure or fleur-de-lis or a touch of the art nouveau which contains both grace and dignity is introduced. Flower designs should be reserved for bedchambers and reception-rooms. A country parlour (which should be treated in a distinctly different way from the same room in a city house) may most happily be papered with these light French papers in various flower designs, and it may also be appropriately hung with muslin curtains, whereas nothing less dignified than madras may be acceptably used In this portion of a town house. There is no cheaper wall-finish than this most effective one: Omit the final coat of smooth plaster which generally underlies wall paper, give this rough coat a sand-finish, and leave it in the soft French grey which it naturally assumes. There is

no better background for “ black-and-white," water-colours, and pastels than this neutral tone affords, and if there is much heavy woodwork, a beamed ceiling, etc., and this wood is stained to represent black oak, or is painted black or dark brown, the combination is very satisfactory artistically.

Rooms with low ceilings look better with a striped paper; straight lines have a tendency to heighten the walls. A small room appears larger if the walls are covered with a small-patterned or perfectly plain paper.

Plain paper, preferably in a dull red or terra-cotta tone, shows up pictures or engravings to the greatest advantage.

A yellow paper brightens a dark room, or one that has a south aspect, and helps to make it less gloomy and depressing, while a soft green paper relieved by white paint makes a delightfully cool and soothing wall covering for a sunny north room.

A lofty room with a perfectly plain or self-coloured paper is improved by a dado in contrasting or harmonising tones placed at the top beneath the ceiling moulding.

Once, while papering a new house, we were stupid enough to choose a delicate, grey-green ingrain for the walls of the staircase and hall. We had not taken into consideration that the hands of the small people in the home were frequently sticky and soiled. In less than six months the staircase paper was a sight, and neither stale bread nor any known cleanser would take off the marks. Above the reach of tiny hands, the wall was In good condition, and repapering seemed an extravagance. Instead, we covered the soiled lower portion of the staircase and hall with a dull green, yard-wide straw matting of tine weave. It harmonised perfectly with the tone of the paper. It was tacked securely In place. To finish the top, we applied split bamboo, stained dull green to match the matting. The impromptu dado has worn perfectly, and it shows no soil, although it has been in place for three years. ₍ The only treatment it has required was to be stretched and tacked a bit tighter when damp weather caused it to sag slightly.

Much may be done with wall paper by going over it with lengths Of cheesecloth. The discolourations over the gas-jets, pencil marks, coloured crayons, etc., as well as grease spots, may be . removed from wall paper by means of fullers’ earth. Make a paste, and spread it on overnight. Brush off next morning, and repeat. If necessary.

Marks on Wall Paper.—Where recent marks have been left on the wall through persons resting their heads against it. the mark may be removed by making a paste of pipeclay and cold water, and laying it on the stain without rubbing. Leave it on overnight, and in the morning it can be brushed off and the spot, unless a very old one, will have disappeared.

Engravings show better against a dull-tone plain paper—perfectly red, terra-cotta, mustard or olive-green.

After the spring housecleaning has been accomplished some spots on the walls may still remain in the rooms we could not afford to have repapered this year. When flowered or figured wall paper is soiled, it does not argue that the services of a professional decorator are needed. An amateur may repair the damage with little effort and small expense. Paste a piece of plain white paper over the damaged spot and with a box of water-colour paints fill in the design in the proper shades of colour. After a few days’ wear and tear, the mended places will be scarcely discernible.

The outer walls of rooms ane often damp, and the paper peels off in consequence. If coated with the following preparation, there will be no more bother of this kind: Take a quarter of a pound of shellac, add a quart of naphtha, and stir well together. Brush the wall over with the mixture, allow it to dry, and you will find it has become firm and hard.

A Coating for Damp Walls.—Mix four ounces of shellac with one quart of naphtha. Brush this varnish over the damp portions of the wall. When dry, the coating is impervious to damp. Paper in the usual way.

To Whitewash a Ceiling.—Mix four pounds of whiting; a piece of size; three ounces of alum; and water to the required quantity.

For Sweeping-Day.—An excellent way to brush down dusty walls is to take a roll of cotton batting and fasten a thick pad of it on the end of a stick. With this go over all the wall surface, burning the cotton as it becomes soiled, and renewing the pad. This method is economical and efficient—more so than the ordinary cloth, which is too limp to do the work well.

To clean hard finished walls, use a half-cupful of ammonia to a bucketful of water, and apply with a soft piece of muslin.

An Effective Whitewash.—Whitewash which will adhere to the -walls is made by adding powdered size to the whiting. Pour boiling water on this mixture till it becomes of a creamy consistency. To still further whiten the wash, add a squeeze of laundry blue. Whiting so made can be tinted with dye and used for many purposes.

Walls of the Hen House.—Take three pounds of white quicklime, add a disinfectant and some size. Then add hot water and stir well.

To Remove the Smell of Paint.—Fill several pails with fresh, cold water, and in each place a handful of hay. Place the pails about the rooms rendered disagreeable by the odour of new paint.

To Remove Old Paint.—There is no need to waste time and strength with sandpaper in removing old paint or varnish, when it can be washed off so much easier. Use half a cupful of washing soda to a pint of warm water, wet the article to be re-varnished, or painted, thoroughly with this solution, then go over it with a stiff scrubbing-brush. Rinse Ihe article with clear water, and let it get thoroughly dry before putting on the paint. •

To Clean White Paint.—To clean white paint, mix whiting and warm water to the consistency of cream. Dip a clean flannel in the mixture, and rub the paint lightly with it. Rinse with clear water, and dry. When all traces of the whiting have been finally removed, the paint will be beautifully clean.

To Wash Varnish.—Steep some tea-leaves in water for half an hour; strain, and use the liquid to wash the paint. This decoction will make the woodwork look cleaner and fresher than if only soap and water are used.

Five Free Patterns each issue, and many stories and splendid articles. Sixpence, all booksellers; or post free to any address in Australasia, for a full year, if a 6/- postal note is sent to T. Shaw Fitehett, 376 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

In every household are certain articles of brass, copper, etc., which require the greatest care if they are to reflect honour upon the housekeeper. The most simple and effective means of cleaning and polishing such possessions are those, particulars of which are here given.

To Remove Rust from Brass—Grind to powder a piece of bath-brick. Add a little paraffin to form a paste. Take a piece of coarse flannel and well rub the brass. Wash the brass, and then clean with salt and lemon. Repeat the process if necessary. This application will restore and improve the colour of all brass utensils.

To Prevent Brass Tarnishing.—To prevent brass tarnishing, add quarter of an ounce of shellac, to quarter of a pint of methylated spirits. Put in a glass bottle, and cork. Shake the mixture well, and place in a warm spot for three days. Strain off the clear liquid and it is ready for use. Before applying, heat the brass. Use a camel-hair brush to paint on the mixture. After a coat is put on, the brass should, if possible, be again warmed.

To Get Rid of Stains.—Vinegar and salt will remove stains from brass if made into a paste and rubbed on with a piece of flannel.

To Clean Brass.—I have a few brass articles which I had tried in vain to keep polished until I learned that a little crushed borax, sprinkled thickly on a flannel cloth which has first been wet in hot water and well soaped, will brighten them like magic.

Brass Trays.—To clean Indian brass trays, rub with a lemon cut in half, dipped frequently in salt. If badly soiled, more than one lemon will be needed to clean it properly.

To Remove Stains.—When cleaning brass, try moistening the rag with alcohol before dipping it in the brass paste. The alcohol soon removes all stains from the brass and makes it beautifully bright.

Very Tarnished Brass.—When very tarnished brass is to he cleaned, take a small piece of some good scouring soap and dissolve it in a saucer with ammonia. Apply this to the surface with a soft brush, afterwards rub with hot cloths, and lastly polish with a chamois leather.

Old Brass.—Old brass may be made to look like new by pouring strong ammonia on it, scrubbing with a scrubbing brush, and then rinsing in clear water.

To Preserve Brass Ornaments.—Be sure the ornaments are neither gilt nor lacquered. If brass, a good colour will result from the following treatment. Powder a small quantity of sal-ammoniac. Moisten it with soft water. Heat the ornaments, and rub well with the mixture. Then mix together bran and whiting, and with this rub the article till quite dry and bright.

Housewives will do well to remember that lacquer is only a kind of varnish, easily removable and liable to quickly tarnish. It must be treated most carefully. All lacquered brass articles should be washed without rubbing, in lukewarm, soapy water, dried, and finally gently cleaned with a cloth dipped in sour milk or equal parts of lemon juice and water.

Use No Polish.—No polish should ever be used for lacquered articles; if once applied the metal polish will spoil the surface of the lacquer. Lacquered goods should be rubbed up with leather, and, if dirty, washed with a little warm water and soap.

Copper articles may be polished with this mixture: Add to one cupful of vinegar one teaspoonful of salt. Warm it, after stirring well. Apply then to the copper, and rub till sufficiently bright.

Copper Polishes.—All polishes successful in cleaning brass will be equally so with copper utensils.

Verdigris—a deadly poison, which collects on neglected copper and brass—can generally be removed by the use of salt and vinegar. Whilst cleaning of this kind is being undertaken, gloves should be worn. Verdigris in a cut finger results most seriously. Copper utensils used for cooking purposes require to be very carefully watched. Cases of poisoning have been traced to their use when not thoroughly clean.

To Clean Copper.—Clean with hot vinegar, in which a little salt has been dissolved. Brass is cleaned in the same way, using either vinegar and salt, lemon Juice and salt, or oxalic acid. But with both brass and copper the treatment must not end thus, or verdigris will appear, and the article be ruined. A thorough washing with soap and water should follow, and every trace of the acid removed, and then the article must be given a thorough polishing with any of the good polishing recipes here given.

To Clean Bronze.—Mix together two drachms of sweet oil. two ounces of alcohol, three ounces of water. Apply quickly with a soft sponge. No rubbing is required.

Beeswax Polish.—Bronze may be plunged into boiling water until warm, then cleaned with soapsuds and dried with old linen cloths. If this is ineffectual, try beeswax and turpentine, rubbed on and off with a clean, soft cloth; sweet oil and polishing with a chamois is another

Bronze Articles.—Real bronze articles, when they stand In need of cleaning, can be regularly washed in boiling water and soap. They should be afterward dried with a chamois skin.

The appearance of bronze is much improved by rubbing the entire surface with a cloth wet with sweet oil, and finished by polishing with chamois leather.

Benares Ware.—This ware is cleaned very simply. Wash the article in warm soap lather. Dry it well, and rub with half a lemon. Rinse quickly in boiling water. Then dry with a soft cloth and polish with chamois leather.

To Clean Britannia Metal.—Take quarter of a pound of fine powdered whiting, half a wineglassful of sweet oil, half a tablespoonful of soft soap, quarter of an ounce of yellow soap melted in water. Add sufficient quantity of spirits of wine, stirring, the while, to make the whole of the consistency of cream. Apply to the metal with a soft rag, and polish with a dry cloth.

Silver is a term now indiscriminately applied to plated goods as well as the real article. Silver salvers, tea and coffee sets, and all other accessories of real silver, are hall-marked. The value of such silver is influenced by style, date of production, and historic interest. The best electroplate is fairly expensive, but wears well, and if kept in good order approaches silver as an attraction for the table. Table appointments of this class of ware can be bought guaranteed to last in good condition for many years. As the novice in housekeeping quickly learns, many articles both of silver and electroplate are quickly tarnished by certain foods.

Mustard spoons, egg spoons, and forks in contact with vinegar should be cleaned and polished each time after use. Grease discolours silver, and salt has a peculiarly tarnishing effect. Salt cellars of silver or plate should be fitted with a glass lining.

Tarnish, from whatever cause, is more quickly removed if dealt with at once. The box containing implements for the cleaning of silver and electroplate should contain—a hard, small brush; a soft brush similar to that used in cleaning jewellery; a chamois leather; a velveteen polisher; several clean, soft dusters; and a small piece of flannel.

Precipitate of chalk is better than whiting for polishing purposes. It may be moistened with water only. A teaspoonful of ammonia or methylated spirits, however, is much preferred by the housewife who takes a pride in the brightness of her table accessories.

All silver and plated articles should, before being polished, be well washed in hot soap-lather. They must then be dried

thoroughly, and the application made by dipping the small piece of flannel in the wet powder. When satisfied that the silver has been sufficiently rubbed with the moistened powder, set it aside. Do not rub off the powder until it is perfectly dry. Then polish first with a soft duster. Use the plate brush to free the powder from odd corners and tracery, next polish with the velveteen cloth, and finally with the chamois. All requisites for the work of such cleaning should be unsoiled. The flannel, etc., should be washed each week prior to using.

Teapots of this metal, when in constant use, should, every week, be filled with boiling water to which a lump of soda is added, and should be allowed to stand several hours. The inside of the teapot should then be well washed and scrubbed in several hot waters, a small brush being used for the purpose.

Dessert knives and forks and fish knives and forks should be attended to only by a responsible and careful person. Such articles should be washed in soap lather, but on no account must the water come up to the joint of the blade. After washing, each knife and fork may either be returned to its case, or rolled in chamois leather until required. Chamois leather gloves should be worn when cleaning silver.

Amongst the minor annoyances of housekeeping, one finds that however carefully plate may be cleaned before putting away, in the course of a week or so it becomes dull and tarnished. This may be avoided by the following simple means: After thoroughly cleaning the plate and polishing it with whiting, wrap up each piece in tinfoil, such as is used for wrapping up chocolate, tea, etc., then put it in a dry cupboard or drawer, and at the end of many years you will find your plate as bright as on the first day it was packed.

I recently picked up an idea at a bazaar which I adopted myself, and now pass on as a “ discovery ” for the benefit of fellow-readers who are housekeepers. The idea is to keep house-silver in good preservation. and this may be done by making a flannel case, with a succession of long pockets into which the articles will fit comfortably. Do not use pure white Canton flannel, as it is bleached with sulphur, and has a tendency to blacken the silver. (By the way, that is the reason that white tissue paper also blackens silver.) You may use unbleached, or get a colour. Cut the material so that the pocket will be about one inch shorter than the knife or spoon (then it can be more easily taken out), and with at least four inches to fold over at the top. The case may be finished as desired. Either hem the raw edges and form the “EVERYLADY'S JOURNAL.”—The Best Magazine for Women.

pockets with machine stitching, or else bind the edges with ribbon and feather-stitch the pockets. Roll and tie with tape or ribbons. If one has a quantity of silver to pack away, it is a great convenience to tie the roll with white tape, on which may be marked with indelible ink the number and kind of its contents. Another case is designed for holding souvenir spoons. This is made from chamois skin, with a pocket just deep enough to hold part of the bowl of the spoon. A ribbon, running across the whole case, and caught at regular intervals, holds the handles and keeps the spoons in place. On the chamois pocket is marked the place the spoon came from, and perhaps some other brief facts. The deep flap and end pieces fold over and keep the silver secure when rolled to put away.

To keep silver bright with the least trouble, it should always be washed in very hot water, well softened with borax instead of soap. While yet warm a brisk rubbing every second or third day with a chamois will keep it in good condition, and make the weekly cleaning an easy task. Dissolve a small handful of borax in a pan of hot water with a little soap. Place the silverware into this, and allow it to stand for a few hours. Pour off the suds and rinse the silver in clear water, dry with a soft cloth and polish with a piece of chamois. If silver is polished in this way a continued use of powders will not be necessary. After cleaning silver with whiting and ammonia (diluted with a little water) try washing the silver in strong suds of naphtha soap and warm water. It will stay bright very much longer. Unused silver will keep quite bright if laid away In a box of flour. If brushed over with collodion after cleaning and kept in a case, silver will very seldom need polishing. To remove the collodion, wash in warm soapy water.

Silver braid should always be laid aside in tissue paper, such as jewellers use, and, if sewn on to a material, strips of the paper should be lightly basted over the braid when the dress is folded away.

To Clean Silver Braid or I .are.—Rub the braid with dry powdered magnesia. Allow it to remain several hours. Then brush off the magnesia with a jeweller’s clean, dry brush.

Dissolve quarter of an ounce of sulphate of soda in one gill of boiling water. Dip a flannel in the solution, and well rub the silver. Rinse in hot water, dry, and polish with a chamois.

First w'ash the silver In a soap lather. Dry it, and rub the ink mark with a solution of chloride of lime. Afterwards rinse again in soap lather, and finally in hot, clean water.

Put one piece of cut glass at a time into a tub of suds, and wash carefully by rubbing with the cloth or mop; preferably the former. This generally suffices; but sometimes, particularly with those pieces which are deeply cut, dust will lodge in the grooves, then a soft silver-brush is brought forth and used in these indentations. After the piece has been thoroughly washed, rinse it in the basin of clear water. Dip It a second and a third time, if necessary, and when perfectly clear and bright, hold it for a moment to drain, then rest it on a folded Turkish towel. Wash and rinse three or four pieces in this way, allowing each to drain on the towel, but before the first glass is quite cool dry the hands, then wipe the several pieces with a fine linen towel.

Only one piece is washed at a time, but several may drain. Not too many, however, for if left to drain until cold It will be imposEnble to polish them to a brilliant lustre. Just as soon as the towel becomes the least bit damp, change it for a dry one. Polish gently, holding the piece up to the light to see that there are no blemishes or cloudy spots. Always hold the towel between the glass and the hand, so as to avoid marking. Do not put cut glass at once on a highly polished table 01 sideboard, for it is impossible to immediately remove all moisture from the deep cuts, therefore it is best to put the pieces on a dry Turkish towel for fifteen or twenty minutes. By this time the moisture is en tirely evaporated, and it will be perfectly safe to rest the glasses and bowls anywhere.

The directions for washing should be followed for all table glass, whether plain or cut. Crystal and clear pressed glass, Bohemian and others, should be handled very lightly, for, being exceedingly thin, they frequently snap in the hands while wiping, simply because the towel was pressed a little too heavily.

Glass dishes and ornaments decorated with gold should be treated with even greater care. These should not be allowed to become very soiled, therefore wiping with a soft cloth which has just a little soap on it, then rinsing with another cloth wrung from clear, lukewarm water, and dried and polished with a soft linen, will be all the process necessary, in this way very little moisture will remain on the glass, for the wet cloths should be well wrung out in each instance, and the piece polished immediately.

If the dish or ornament really needs to be washed, it should be treated as explained for cut glass, washing but one piece at a time, and having only a very weak suds. Dry and polish very quickly, touching lightly, so as not to mar the gold ornamentation.

Carafes, cruets, and other bottles, whether cut or plain, are very easily washed on the outside, but it is another story if diseoloured on the inside, particularly if the stains are of long standing. Vases with a sediment from flowers are also included in this class. A simple way of removing these stains is to chop raw potatoes in fine bits and put them in the bottle, then pour in soapsuds to about three-quarters full. Allow this to remain for several hours, shaking occasionally. Empty and rinse well. If not entirely removed, repeat the process, for excellent results have been attained from this method.

Where the bottle has not been too much discoloured, a very safe way of cleaning is to wash the inside of the bottle just as the outside was washed. About half-fill the bottle with strong suds, then take a strip of soft linen, a piece of old tablecloth about two inches wide and half a yard long will do, and a piece of wire somewhat longer than the depth of the bottle.

Turn up the bottom of the wire so that there will be no sharp end to scratch, and wind some linen around this like a swab. The size of this must be regulated so that it will not be too large to fit into the neck of the bottle. Wet the long strip of linen and soap it well, then thrust it inside, holding one end at the neck of the bottle with the left hand. Put In the wire, and with it move the cloth around on the inside, so that its soapy surface will remove the sediment or stain. After the entire inner surface has been cleaned, pull the cloth out and rinse the bottle. If washed in this way before the discolouration has settled too long, the bottle can easily be cleaned, both inside and out.

Shot put in the bottle with suds, and well shaken, proves effectual, but may be likely to scratch. To avoid this, put in some pieces of soft paper.

To clean decanters, crush an egg shell into small pieces, half fill the decanter with water, and shake well.

Glass can be cut without a diamond, and the way is very simple. Dip a piece of common string in alcohol and squeeze it reasonably dry. Then tie the string tightly around the glass on the line of cutting. Touch a match to the string and let it burn off. The heat of the burning string will weaken the glass in this particular place. While it is hot plunge the glass under water, letting the arm go under well to the elbow, so there will be no vibration when the glass Is struck. With the free hand strike the glass outside the line of cutting, giving a quick, sharp stroke with any long, flat instrument, such as a stick of wood or a long-bladed knife, and the cut will be as clean and straight as if made by a regular glass-cutter.

Slip the glasses in sideways, so that the water touches the outside and the inside of the glass at the same time, and there will be no danger of cracking from unequal expansion. Wash one at a time, rolling it around in the pan with the ends of the fingers, or use a dish mop kept specially for the glass and silver. Wipe at once, without rinsing or draining. Before washing a glass that has held milk, or a glass milk bottle, rinse it first in cold water. A piece of old cotton-cloth, neatly hemmed to avoid ravelling and lint, will be found the besi polishing towel for glass.

In filling a glass with hot water it is a good plan to lay it on a broad-bladed steel knife, as this will counteract the tendency of the glass to crack. Another excellent method which is said to be very efficacious in the case of tumblers of fine glass is to wrap a cloth wrung out In hot water round the tumbler, and when the chill of the glass has been removed, fill it up to the top. The old-fashioned method, however, is bard to beat, and if a spoon is placed in the glass and the hot liquid poured slowly in, letting the handle of the spoon receive the brunt of the heat, there will be little danger of breaking the glass.

Opening Glass Jars.—The resistance of glass jars that refuse to open can be overcome by setting them top downward in an inch of hot water.

To Remove Paint from Glass.—Wet the spot with strong liquid ammonia, being careful not to let the ammonia run down on the window paint or varnish. After two or three applications, scrape gently with a piece of soft wood, then rub with a paper wet with ammonia.

Cleaning Oil from Bottles.—When glass bottles which have held oil are needed for some other purpose, it is often difficult to remove all traces of the oil. This may be done by filling the bottle with ashes and placing them in cold water, which should gradually be brought to boiling. Keep boiling for an hour, and 'then allow the bottles to remain where they are till cold. Wash them in soapsuds, and rinse in clear water.

To Break a Bottle Evenly.—If you want to break off a glass jar or bottle evenly, soak a piece of string in turpentine, and tie it round the glass just where you wish the break to come. Then fill the glass up to that point with cold water, and set fire to the string. The glass will snap all along the heated line. By breaking off the top of a broken or battered decanter, it may, if the base he intact, be converted into a useful sugar-basin, fruit-dish, flower-vase, or many other uses may be found for such an article.

Removing a Stopper.—To remove a glass stopper, pour hot water over the neck of the bottle. The heat causes the glass to expand, and, it then being considerably larger than the stopper, readily releases the latter.

Cleaning a Bottle with Tacks.—A help for cleaning the insides of bottles always at hand is a handful of tacks, their rough edges easily dislodging particles which adhere to the glass.

Heating a Glass.—Thin glass is less likely to be broken by boiling water than glass which is thicker, since it allows the heat to pass through it more quickly. A teaspoon put into a tumbler before pouring in boiling water will often prevent the glass from cracking, especially if you pour the water in very slowly.

Cement for Glass.—Melt some alum in an Iron spoon. Smooth a portion of the mixture on the pieces of glass requiring mending, and tie firmly in position.

The cleaning of windows may be greatly facilitated by first dusting them with whiting. Sew up some whiting in a small linen bag, and rub the whole window and ledges. Rub this off with a rough cloth, and polish with chamois. Another plan is to rub the glass with a chamois, dampened with whiting, and polish with soft cloths.

The best solution for washing windows is composed of two quarts of strong soapsuds and a quarter of a cup of kerosene. Go over the glass carefully, and you will not be able to And the shadow of a Itreak, but you will have obtained a most desirable polish.

The kitchen, no matter how restricted as to space, should he well lighted and airy. The stove and cooking appliances, such as gas rings or gas stoves, should be in such a position that culinary duties are performed under the great advantage of a clear, steady stream of light. A dark or ill-ventilated kitchen is depressing, and difficult to work in without health and spirits being injuriously affected.

In Australian country districts, papered kitchens are, generally speaking, reserved for township residents. Housekeepers in the back-blocks are accustomed to whitewashed kitchen walls. Such walls should be treated with adhesive whitewash, recipe for which And in chapter on “ Walls,” etc. If paper is desired as wall covering for the kitchen, a washable sanitary paper is the best for the purpose. A light, bright colour should be chosen. The floor, as a means of saving much labour, may be entirely covered with linoleum. A strip of carpet by the kitchen table adds to comfort, and is easily removable when cleaning operations are about to begin.

Kitchen windows do not require, and are better without, curtains, other than short, neat ones. Any material of a light and flowing description is out of place in such surroundings, if not a source ot danger from its liability to quickly catch fire. Half-length curtains, fitting closely to the window frame, are all that are necessary. Such curtains may be readily constructed from any worn house curtains, portions of which may in this way be turned to service again.

If space allows, two tables in the kitchen are advisable, unless a separate room for Ironing is available. One table should be larger than the other, firm, and very Bolidly boarded, with a couple of drawers.

Kitchen cloths, dusters, etc., may be stored in these drawers, which will be found highly useful and convenient. A dresser, with hooks placed along the edge of the shelves, Is necessary furniture in a well ordered kitchen. Breakfast cups and jugs may be hung on the hooks, whilst plates, dishes, etc., are lined along the shelves. To keep all from dust, curtains of light muslin should depend from each shelf in such a way that all articles are protected.

Either a slate or book, with pencil attached, should not be forgotten when kitchen necessities are being considered. This precaution against omitting the ordering of goods required will save the housekeeper much trouble and delay.

A roller towel should be placed behind the kitchen door. In drawers or cupboards, readily accessible, china and glass cloths, polishing and plate cloths, may be stored. Only a limited number of such articles should be given out at one time. Such cloths, etc., should be kept perfectly sweet and clean, and, as a regular practice, washed through daily after use.

Frequently the scullery is attached to the kitchen. It should be utilised for the rougher portion of the kitchen duties. The floor of the scullery may be covered with linoleum, or boards may be left bare except for a strip of the material mentioned down the centre of the scullery. As a saving of labour, however, linoleum over the entire floor surface is recommended.

A plate rack and a proper draining board will lessen the work of washing up, whether this work is done in the kitchen or the scullery.

Vegetables, etc., should be prepared in the scullery, and all the rougher order of duties, such as knife and boot cleaning.

A cupboard or two in the scullery is a great convenience. A num ber of shelves on which tins, jars, etc., can be placed will be found an aid in keeping this portion of the dwelling in good order. Brooms, dustpans, etc., If no broom cupboard is provided, should be hung on hooks or nails driven in behind the scullery door.

A Useful Idea.—In households where space is restricted, and economy must be practised, a large, strong packing case, in which to keep saucepans and kitchen utensils in everyday use, is a good investment, and a fair substitute for the more commodious cupboard.

Saucepans and pans may be of aluminium, tin, enamelled iron, copper, or iron. Both brass and copper cooking utensils have special dangers, against which the housewife has already been warned.

Tin Saucepans—Tin saucepans quickly wear out if placed on an open fire, but for cooking by gas they are excellent, as they boll quickly, and so save expense.

Iron Saucepans.—Enamel ware has much to be said in its favour, but for ordinary use it is probable that iron saucepans will long hold their place as best and most durable.

As most housekeepers must cut their garment according to their cloth in the matter of expenditure in kitchen, as well as other requisites, it is only suggested that a small yet well appointed kitchen should be provided for cooking purposes with the following list of utensils. One enamel saucepan of large size; two, medium size; one small aluminium saucepan; three large iron saucepans; two frying pans, one baking pan; several cake tins; one gridiron; two kettles, one small, one large; and, if means allow, one fish kettle.

From the list of kitchen crockery do not omit two or three pudding basins, a mixing bowl or two, and one enamelled iron jug with the pints and quarts, etc., marked clearly upon its surface. Failing such a marked jug. the following hints will be of value:

Sixty drops of liquid make one teaspoonful; two teaspoonfuls make one dessertspoonful; two dessertspoonfuls or four teaspoonfuls one tablespoonful; four tablespoonfuls make one wineglassful, or two ounces. One common tumbler holds half a pint; a full tablespoonful of flour makes (approximately) one ounce; a quart of flour makes one pound.

One of the greatest conveniences in the modern kitchen is the number of shelves made like the leaves of an old-fashioned table, which hang flat against the wall when not in use, but are held up by a swinging bracket covered with white oilcloth, tacked on by brass-headed tacks. They are invaluable when extra cooking and serving has to be done.

A Useful Article.—An office stool should form part of every kitchen's furniture. The added height greatly increases the restfulness of the sitting posture.

Collect breakfast, tea or dinner things at that end of the table nearest the kitchen sink—if the household is an ordinarily small one, and no scullery or housemaid’s pantry is provided for washing-up purposes.

Scrape all broken bits from the plates and place in a receptacle. Put away any remaining meat, vegetables, etc. Arrange neatly in piles all china pieces of one kind; separate knives and forks. A dish of hot soapy water and one of clean hot water will be necessary. Wash the cleanest things first—tea cups, bread plates, etc.—leaving the meat plates and meat dishes until last.

To Wash the Silver.—Silver (forks, spoons, etc.) should be washed separately. It should be placed in a wooden bowl in very hot soapy water and rinsed in clean hot water. Glass should be treated in the same manner. Dry thoroughly, using soft glass towels.

Milk Jugs.—Jugs which have contained milk should first be well rinsed in cold water then steeped In very hot soapy lather and rinsed in cold water. Milk jugs should never be wiped inside with a cloth but simply placed on end to drain after the final rinsing.

Towels and dishcloths used for washing-up purposes should be frequently exposed to the air and sunlight. This, with continual washing out, will keep them sweet and clean.

Pewter Utensils.—To clean pewter, wash the article in hot water and rub with fine silver sand. Rub afterwards with a chamois or svelvyt cloth.

Pine China.—Where crockery is fine and good, it is apt to crack or break when placed in very hot water. A preventive is to put the china in a boiler, place old newspapers between each layer, fill the boiler with cold water and bring it slowly to the boil. After a few minutes, remove from the fire and allow the china to remain In the water until cold.

Boiling Water and China.—Particular care should be taken never to pour boiling water upon china of any kind. .

Washing-Up Mops.—Use three dish-mops when washing dishes, one for the glass and silver, one for the china, and one for the pots and pans. Keep them separated, or mark them in some way. These little mops may be bought for a few pence each, and their use will keep the hands In better condition.

Tea Trays.—Many japanned trays are ruined by boiling water being poured upon them. The varnish cracks and peels. The correct method of cleaning is to wet a sponge with soap lather and rub with a perfectly dry cloth. Sweet oil as an occasional application is good.

When a maid appears with a valued teacup in one hand and handle in the other, and announces “ it just came off in me hand, Mum,” nine times out of ten she tells the truth, having held the cup by the handle while wiping, not knowing that it gives it a peculiar twist, which will, If the grasp be strong and unyielding, literally twist the handle off. Servants should be guided in dish-wiping as well as In dish-washing.

Discoloured China.—When china dishes become discoloured from placing them in the oven, rub the brown spots with ordinary whiting, and wash as usual.

To Buy Dinner and Tea Sets.—All large crockeryware establishments store stock patterns. China of such a pattern can always be matched, and the set kept complete.

To Mend China.—Fish glue and diamond cement are amongst the best for this delicate work. A good recipe: Boil one ounce of isinglass in a small quantity of spirits of wine.

Before using a new saucepan always till It with water, add a lump of soda and some potato peelings, and let all stew some hours. Then wash out thoroughly, and all danger of poisoning from the tinned lining will be gone.

When Cooking with Enamel-Ware.—When one is cooking with enamel-ware stew-kettles, etc., and does not like to have them all smoked up, Just grease them on the outside thoroughly before putting on the stove. When through cooking with them, rub off with paper (any kind) and wash in the usual way, and they will look bright and new. The grease prevents the smoke from sticking fast.

To Clean Enamel-Ware.—Enamelled kitchenware may be thoroughly cleaned by first washing inside and outside with hot water and soda, and then scouring with a mixture of fine salt and sand, two parts sand to one of salt. Then rinse with hot water, and wipe clean and dry. Plain salt will also remove baking stains from plates, cups, and other dishes.

To Keep Enamel Coffee-Pots Sweet.—To keep coffee and tea pots sweet and clean, in addition to the thorough scalding each time after using, occasionally throw into them a cupful of wood ashes or some powdered borax, and fill up with boiling water. Empty and scour well with hot water and pure, clean soap, using a brush, never a dish-rag. Then scald several times. Many a time the delicate flavour of a cup of tea or coffee is ruined by a musty pot.

The Care of the Teapot.—The lid of a teapot should always be left so that the air may get in; slip in a piece of paper to keep it open. This prevents mustiness. The same rule applies to a coffee-pot.

Metal Teapots.—When metal teapots are put away to stand for a time they are apt to take on a musty odour. The latter may be avoided if a lump of sugar is placed in the teapot.

Burnt Saucepans.—When enamelled saucepans have been badly burned, rub them with pumice-stone, and the black burn will completely disappear.

Discoloured Ware.—Enamel-ware that has become burned or discoloured may be cleaned by rubbing with a paste formed of coarse salt and vinegar.

To Clean Enamel Saucepans.—To keep enamel saucepans clean, rub with a damp emery cloth, then rinse the saucepan in soap lather, and, finally, in cold water.

Enamel Pie-Dishes.—Enamel pie-dishes may be cleaned by rubbing stains and brown marks with salt.

To Remove Stains from Enamel Saucepans.—Fill the saucepans with cold water and add a dessertspoonful of borax. Let this come to the boil and remain on the fire for ten minutes. Then scour well with soap and a small brush. Rinse in cold water, and dry.

To Keep a Saucepan Bright.—Smear the saucepan with grease before , placing it on the fire. The smoke will then not tarnish the brightness. If washed afterwards in hot, soapy water, the saucepan will be as bright as before. *

To Wash Saucepans.—If directly the vegetables are dished, hot water is poured into the emptied saucepans, the washing of such articles is greatly facilitated. This applies to all utensils employed for culinary purposes.

Discoloured Enamel Saucepans.—Fill the saucepan with water, and add a little chloride of lime, and bring to the boil. Rinse in boiling water. All discoloration will, by this treatment, be removed.

New iron kettles may be cleaned by boiling in them a good-sized handful of hay. Let boil one hour, then scour with soap and sand; fill again with clear water, and allow it to boil. After this treatment, they will not discolour anything cooked in them.

A Rusty Kettle.—An old-fashioned recipe for cleaning the inside of a rusty kettle consists in filling it to the brim with hay. As much water as it will hold should then be poured over the top and the kettle placed on the fire and boiled for several hours, more water being added when required.

Perforated Kettle-Cover.—When cooking anything that needs the steam to escape, or that will run over if covered tight, try covering the kettle with a perforated tin tie-plate. It is fine. It is also useful to cover any kettle while draining off the boiling water. With a fork In the holes it can be held securely, every drop of water will run through, and there will be no danger of losing the vegetable.

Removing Onion Smells.—A little vinegar poured in vessels immediately after cooking onions, and allowed to come to the boil, will remove the odour and taste of the onions.

Buttermilk as a Cleanser.—I had a valuable water pitcher so coated with some mineral substance that nothing would scour it off. Quite by accident I left a little buttermilk in it overnight, and when 1 washed the pitcher in the morning was surprised to find the inside as clean, and glossy as when new. The same method will apply to tea and coffee pots. *

Cleaning with Salt.—If earthenware vessels have been burnt brown in cooking fruit or milk, or enamel pans or pie-dishes are stained, or if silver spoons are stained with eggs, or cups with tea, damp and rub them with a little common salt. By this simple method all stains will disappear.

To Preserve Knives.—Knives which are not in use will he prevented from becoming rusty If first cleaned and then rubbed over with vaseline, which must be allowed to remain on the steel. Wrap each knife separately in brown paper, fold in a cloth, and put away. Lard is a good substitute for vaseline.

To Clean Knives.—The German method of cleaning knives is good. Dip a cork In moistened knife powder, and rub the blade of the knife until all stains are removed. To polish, dip a second cork in dry powder, and finish off with a dry duster. Care should be taken not to soil the knife handle.

Grease and Knives.—Knives left standing in grease of any sort will become blunted.

To Remove Stains from Knife Handles.—Rub the knife handles with salt moistened with lemon juice. If the handles are wiped with spirits of wine, the treatment will have a whitening effect.

To Remove Stains from Knives.—Dip a raw potato slice in emery powder and well rub the surface of the knife until the marks disappear.

To Tighten a Knife Handle.—Mix and well heat three parts of resin to one of powdered bathbriclt. Take out the knife blade and scrape out the hole. Fill the hole with the hot mixture. Heat the steel spike of the knife and insert in the handle, press into position. The knife must not be used till next day. Another method: First scrape out the hole. Then fill the knife hole with powdered resin. Make the steel knife-spike red hot and insert it in the handle.

To Clean Rusty Steel—Rub the steel with sweet oil, then smear oil over the surface of the article to be cleaned and leave till next day. Dip a flannel in unslaked lime and rub until all rust is erased.

Rust Which Cannot Be Removed.—Rust cannot be removed if it has eaten deeply into the steel.

To Clean Steel.—Mix together to the consistency of cream sweet oil and soot. Apply with a flannel. Polish quickly with a second flannel, and finally either with a chamois or old velveteen cloth.

To Clean Aluminium.—Use fine whiting, the kind used for silver. Any of the silver soaps or powders may be employed for this purpose. The things to remember in caring for aluminium are: That the cleaning substance must not scratch; that strong alkalis must not he « EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—The Best Magazine for Women.

used; that the articles used must be mixed clean, and be free from any trace of soap or alkali. With this kind of care I have found aluminium utensils satisfactory.

To Clean Copper Pans.—To clean the inside of copper cooking utensils. fill with water, add a large lump of soda, and bring to the boil. Rinse well, and rub with silver sand and soap. Be careful to remove every speck of verdigris.

New Tinware.—If new tinware is rubbed over with fresh lard, and thoroughly heated in the oven before using, it will never rust.

To Clean Tinware.—Tinware may be easily cleaned with a damp cloth dipped in soda; rub the ware briskly and wipe dry. Any blackened or dingy ware can be made to look as well as new.

To Polish Tin.—To polish tinware, rub with a damp cloth, then rub well with dry flour; polish with newspaper. This will not scratch, and gives a bright and new appearance.

To Clean Tin Pans.—Wash the pan with strong soda and water, and scour with sand. Mix whiting with methylated spirits and rub the tin. Allow the whiting to dry. Then polish with a chamois or a soft cloth dipped in dry whiting.

To Remove Hard Rust from Tin.—Mix paraffin and sand, and scour the tin. After the rust is removed, boil the tin in soda and water—a strong solution.

Don’t allow graniteware to dry over a hot Are. The iron expands, chipping off the entire outside.

if there is a square of sine underneath the kitchen stove, or in use anywhere about the house, do not make the mistake of spending time and strength scouring it in the attempt to keep it clean. A zinc which had been neglected until it seemed too much soiled to ever be made clean again, was made as good as new with little labour, after two bars of scouring soap, sal-soda, and clear ammonia had been tried upon it all in vain.

A friend who came in just as discouragement was winning the battle, said: “Don’t you know that water is very bad for zinc, and only makes it look worse? Try kerosene oil and see how quickly it will become clean and bright; but first dry off all the water.”

The zinc was carefully dried with a dry cloth, and then the kerosene was applied and allowed to stand overnight; in the morning this was wiped off with a soft cloth, then more kerosene was applied, and lo! the zinc was perfectly clean, and shone brightly, the work taking only about ten minutes’ time. Since then, no zinc underneath a stove is ever washed; it is kept dry all the time, and whenever necessary the dust is removed with a clean cloth wet with kerosene. The oil seems to eat out all the soil which lodges In the crevices, giving even a fancy zinc, which is always difficult to keep clean, a white sheen which is the acme of cleanliness at all times. If water falls on the zinc accidentally, wipe it up at once with a dry cloth, and then oil the zinc all over, and next in importance to the good appearance thus obtained is the fact that the oil does away with much unpleasant labour. This applies as well to a zinc-lined sink or bath tub. These should always be thoroughly dried after using, and kerosene used occasionally will keep them bright.

Cleaning the Sink.—How to clean a porcelain-lined kitchen sink easily has long been a difficult question for me. I tried hot water, soap, and various kinds of washing-powders, but still it took too much time. One day 1 thought of a plan so simple that I wondered I had not thought of it before. I put a heaping tablespoonful of lye into a pan, poured boiling water over it, and then poured it over the most soiled places. Then I took a mop, gave the sink a light rub, and the dirt disappeared as if by magic. In using this plan, one must remember to rinse the sink thoroughly with clear, boiling water.

Food, or grease of any kind, should not be allowed to collect in the sink. Such waste pieces should be placed in a kerosene tin, or If one is provided, an enamel sink basket. Tea leaves will block the pipe If thrown into the sink. Cabbage, onion water, and all liquids of the kind should be thrown down the outside sink. Coffee grounds are excellent, used occasionally, as a sink disinfectant. Every two or three days the sink should be well scalded and scrubbed with strong soda and water, and every day a quantity of hot, soapy water should be poured into the sink, to ensure its thorough cleansing. Afterwards, allow the tap to run for a few minutes. Twice weekly, pour a disinfectant—such as phenyle—down the sink pipe.

In city houses either electricity or gas is employed for illuminating purposes. In country districts lamps are generally used for diningroom, drawing-room, and kitchen, and candles for bedrooms.

I-amps require special care in treatment. To ensure this, in an ordinary household the mistress of the house should personally attend to them. Most unpleasant consequences result from neglect If the wick is turned too high, smuts fall over everything, and the room is filled with a nauseating denseness of atmosphere of a most suffocating nature. If the burner becomes clogged the lamp will burn dim for lack of a sufficient supply of air. If a crust forms at the top of the burner it will cause a bad odour. If the charred particles are left on the wick they will cause a bad odour, and the light will be poor.

Accidents are caused by the careless use of a lamp or through the burning of poor oil. Lamps should be chosen, not only for their appearance, but with an eye to weight and safety. A lamp should be fairly heavy and the base firm. A metal reservoir is a further protection against fire should the lamp be knocked over. The chimney should be fireproof, and before being used should be boiled. The wick must he neither too large nor too small. Oil should be bought whose flashing point is not less than 100 degrees Fahr. Wicks which have been first steeped in vinegar and dried before being Inserted in the burner are less liable to smoke than others. An additional safeguard against this unpleasantness is to see that the wick is perfectly level. Both lamp and wick should be quite dry before the oil Is placed in the reservoir.

A special box containing all requisites for lamp cleaning purposes— wick-scissors, lampglass brush, chamois leather, soft dusters and newspapers—should be kept.

It would be interesting to know how many copies of “ Everylady's Journal " are read by the light of a kerosene lamp. The Editor feels almost tempted to ask for photographs of these lamps. What a collection they would make, from the common tin sconce that hangs on the kitchen wall, to the stately brass standard lamp that sheds its soft rays on the drawing-room!

It is surprising, fiadeed, what a variety of lamps there are, and how the fashions in the material and style of their shades vary. For a time it was plain severe glass or opal; next, flimsy paper and transparent silk; now it seems we are to have art glass and beads. Some of the new lamp-shades that are coming into vogue are more like miniature stained-glass windows than lamp shades; but they are very beautiful—and very expensive. It was natural that, with the current revival of bead-work, bead lamp and candle shades should come Into vogue. In these, beads of coloured or plain glass are always used. Sometimes they hang in long fringes, acting as the prisms on crystal chandeliers; at others, when the shade happens to be of silk, they are sewed over the surface In various designs, where they sparkle with the tinted light which glows through the fabric.

But many women will prefer the lighter, daintier shades of silk and crepe paper, not merely because they are cheaper, but because the possibilities of change are so much greater. Many artistic women, indeed, use sets of shades to harmonise with the table decorations and flowers. One ambitious hostess, who lived by the sea, created a lamp-shade of silk, covered with shells and hung round with a fringe of the tiniest little bead-like shells. As it happened, the maker was particularly expert, and the result was really excellent.

As a matter of fact, the making of lamp-shades appeals to a great number of women. If a woman attempts to manufacture any of the decorations for home herself, she usually begins a simple shade for a small lamp. A very smart, yet extremely simple design can be made as follows: First buy a medium-sized wire frame, which can be purchased at any lamp store very cheaply. China silk of good quality should now be gathered on the central wire, and then drawn tightly to shape. In the middle of the sections a very dainty bit of lace or passementerie Is secured, and in place of the usual flounce of lace is a deep fringe of embroidery silk, intermingled with drops of clear crystal beads. These shades will be very popular, for they are dainty and yet wear remarkably well. Reading lamps have always a fringe, as a finishing, to soften the glare for the eyes.

There is one paper shade which is used this year both in large forms and for table decoration. It is one also which a woman clever with her brush may make for herself. It is a plain shade, painted in watercolours, with scenes of country life, coaching, and hunting. A simple band of gold is painted about the lower and upper edges for a finishing.

In small sizes the shades are used for candles on the table at party dinners. The large ones are very popular for use in the halls and in the sitting-rooms of country homes.

Flower shades are used both for candles and small lamps. In these little shades the material is cut into the separate petals, and then pasted together to form a whole blossom—rose, poppy, or chrysanthemum, as desired. These are easy for the handy woman to make, and certainly nothing could look more dainty and charming than they do on a table which is decorated with natural flowers to harmonise with them.

A lamp never should be placed in the centre of the dining-table, either for formal occasions or in the family circle. Not only does it obstruct the view of those about the board, but it is sure to shine in the eyes of anyone sitting directly in front of it, causing severe discomfort. When the dining-table is lighted from above, care should also he taken upon this point. The lights should either be high above the heads of those at table, or, in the case of one of those low-hanging lamps of octagon shape, now so much in vogue, long fringes should be fastened to the lower edge.

The most inexpensive of all lamp-shades are made of crepe paper, and the simplest of these takes the form of a skirt of gathered paper, and the first point to be settled in making a shade, after the style has been decided upon, is the amount of material necessary. Take, for example, the ordinary banquet lamp. For the covering of one of those frames (18 in. in diameter) with a single skirted shade, two rolls only are required, but for the prevailing style of double skirts, three, and sometimes four, rolls are necessary. The underskirt is glued to the outside edge of the frame, after the wires have been first covered with a narrow strip of crepe paper to aid in holding the glue. This skirt is half the width and twice the length of a roll of crepe (one roll cut in halves answering the purpose.) Should this skirt be too wide to suit, it can he easily altered by cutting to required width. The outer skirt is made by gathering one roll and a half of crepe (full width) together about an inch from the top, and, joining the edges neatly together, glue firmly to a strip of cardboard measured carefully to encircle the neck of frame.

The lamps should first be collected from every room, and all put together on a large tray in the kitchen. Then a big wooden box is brought out, which contains greasy cloths, soft cloths, a pair of old gloves, wick rags, scissors, chamois leather, and chimney cleaners. Spread a newspaper on a tray or table; remove shade and chimney from the lamp; turn up the wick until the charred part is above the top of the burner; cut this off with a sharp scissors, or pinch off with the fingers and a piece of paper. Be sure to leave the top of the wick perfectly even. Now turn it well down; see if any of the charred wick has lodged in the air chamber. Wipe the burner with a soft cloth, and scrape off any incrustation that may have formed at the top. Fill the '

lamp to within about two inches of the top. Wipe clean; wash and wipe the chimney, and wipe the shade. Once in two weeks wash the burner in strong soapsuds, to which has been added a little dissolved soda; rinse in boiling water. Occasionally it may be boiled for half an hour in soda water. When the lamps or burners are washed you should always be sure that they are perfectly dry before you put in the wicks.

Opinions are divided as to whether a wick should be cut or rubbed down. I would recommend a combination of ways. Rub it down with a bit of rag (which should be burned, and not put hack in the box), and then any stray ends of cotton cut off with scissors. Great care should be taken to hold the burner well away from the lamp, when the wick is rubbed down, otherwise the charred portions are apt to fall on to it.

Once a month the burners should be boiled. Remove the wicks, and then place the whole of the burner—first releasing its various portions from one another—in a saucepan of water with a little soda, and bring to the boil. Twenty to thirty minutes’ boiling will make the burners as bright as ever they were, and should any black still adhere it can be removed with a hatpin, after which the burner is boiled up again. Of course, a saucepan must be kept specially for this, and it should be either plainly marked or kept away from other culinary utensils, as food cooked in it would be unpleasantly flavoured. The burners must be thoroughly dried, and, if possible, put in the sun for a few minutes, is extremely important that they should be quite dry before being put Meanwhile the wicks must have been seen to. If very dirty they should be washed out in clean suds, but usually a thorough drying in the sun or in a warm kitchen will put them in condition for burning properly. It back into the oil. Dally cleansing of every lamp in use should be as much a part of the housewife's duties as making the beds.

Another precaution to take to prevent wicks from smoking is to boil them. Buy them in bunches, place in a porcelain kettle, cover with strong vinegar, bring the latter to a boil, and set where the kettle will keep warm for three hours. Drain out the wicks, dry thoroughly, and keep from dust. Wicks thus soaked rarely smoke. If chimneys are bought in quantity and boiled, they also may be prevented in a great measure from breaking. Lay some shavings in the bottom of a wash boiler, pack in the chimneys, throw a handful of salt over them, and fill with cold water. Allow to come to a boil slowly, simmer for two hours, then take from the fire; cover thickly, so that they will be at least three hours in cooling. When cold, wash the chimneys In hot water in which a little soda has been dissolved.

A wick too narrow leaves an air space in which the flame may creep down into the oil reservoir and cause an explosion or Are. When a burner becomes clogged or dirty, boil it in soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly. A lamp should always be full when It is lighted-—almost up to the screw. It is the lamp only partly filled that explodes. Lamp chimneys will not break easily if they are placed In a saucepan of cold water, brought to a boil and allowed to cool in the water before they are cleaned and put to use. When about to blow out a lamp always turn down the wick first, and if carrying a lighted lamp from a warm room to a cold one, turn the wick down slightly beforehand. Never leave a lamp turned down for any length of time; if leaving the room for more than twenty minutes, put the light out altogether. An oil light turned low makes a very disagreeable smell, and vitiates the air seriously. If a lighted lamp is overturned, water will be of no use in extinguishing the flames. Earth, sand, or flour thrown on it will have the desired effect. When buying, get one or more extra chimneys and burners, also a yard or two of wicking. This practice saves delay and annoyance when one lives far from town and kerosene lamps are the only lights used. If lamps and burners are all alike, but one kind of supply need be kept on hand.

A veteran housekeeper says that washing lamp chimneys is a waste of time. Just hold them over the steam from a boiling tea kettle, then rub them off with a dry newspaper folded up into a wad, and lastly with a soft cloth, and they will be all that can be desired.

To clean lamp chimneys save the legs of all stockings. Pull on the hand. This removes the soot and protects the hand, also cleans the chimney. When you have cleaned the lamps and chimneys, drop a clean paper bag down over the chimney; this will effectually Keep off all dust from the clean chimney and the top of the lamp. Chimneys are liable to break if washed.

When a lampwick is too large for the burner, it catches, will not turn up readily, and is a trial to one’s patience. Instead of buying a new wick or cutting it down the side to make more trouble by ravelling, try this way: Draw two or three threads from the middle of the wick, and it will act like a charm. To put wide wicks in lamps or oil stoves, thoroughly starch, dry, and iron the wick, and it will slip in easily, without interference with its duty as conductor of oil. Should the lamp stream up and blacken a whitewashed ceiling, a layer of starch and water applied and allowed to dry, will, when brushed off, remove the greater part of the lampblack.

Before removing a lamp from one room to another, either turn the wick low. or altogether extinguish the light. The latter is the safer method.

Lamps are the least expensive means of illuminating. For satisfactory results from lamps you muBt be careful to keep them perfectly clean, and also to have plenty of pure air in the rooms in which the lamps are burning.

Many lamps are fitted with patent extinguishers. Where this is not the case the light should be put out by blowing across the top of the chimney, not down it. A simple plan is to lower the wick and place on the top of the chimney a circular piece of metal. This excludes all air, and so effects the purpose.

The simplest are the best. Lamps necessitating the use of benzoline should be avoided. Benzoline is a dangerously inflammable commodity. All spirit lamps demand care in handling.

Every housekeeper should be able to read the gas meter. It is simply learned, and the satisfaction of knowing the exact expenditure in this particular is great. As a safeguard against escape, and the additional expense it entails, the knowledge is invaluable.

Economy in Gas.—Where economy is a consideration money will be saved if the gas is lowered immediately prior to vacating a room for a period of time. Coloured globes are not In the best taste. Globes should be either crystal, opal, or milk-glass. These, too, afford the best light.

Incandescent Mantles.—To save incandescent mantles, when lighting turn on the gas for a few seconds, then hold the match one inch above the chimney. It is through applying the match too quickly that so many mantles are destroyed.

To Clean Globes.—The smoked and dusty globes of chandeliers can be nicely cleaned by soaking them in hot water to which a little sal-soda has been added. Then put some ammonia into hot water, immerse the globes and scrub quickly with a stiff brush. Rinse thoroughly, and wipe dry.

Truly this would be a good motto for every household: “A place for everything, and everything in its place;” but, alas! how many people live haphazard, with no certain place to keep anything. Some say, "Oh, it is too much trouble to always run and put things away;” but once the habit is formed it seems almost as easy; and think of the worry, and the time lost, in searching for mislaid articles, when in a hurry to use them. Let us begin with the kitchen. Think of the steps we can save if we exert our mental faculties a little, and arrange a place for everything we use there. For those who do not possess a kitchen cabinet, but like to have all their cooking utensils, condiments, etc., near at hand, one might have the following for convenience, and always keeping them in their places: a rather long, narrow table of any size desired, with shelves underneath, all neatly covered with oilcloth, with a piece of the oilcloth on the wall behind for protection, extending about three feet up, one or two narrow shelves running the length of the table; placed just high enough to reach comfortably while standing before the table. This, also, may be covered with oilcloth, and on these may be kepi salt, soda, baking powder, and all the condiments and spices, and each have its individual place, as may also the shelves below be devoted to the cooking utensils, each having a distinct place.

A brace of loops may be placed midway between the table and shelves above for knives, forks, spoons, etc., used in cooking, and hooks screwed beneath the lower shelf above the table for measuring-cups. This arrangement, with a convenient closet or cupboard near for groceries, will be appreciated by those who dislike constantly running about the kitchen while preparing a meal, and will make it possible to always know where each article is when desired.

There are very few housekeepers who do not find uses many times a day for the ordinary paper bags that are continually accumulating. A most excellent way to keep these bags so that they will always be not only easy of access but also in good condition, and in assorted sizes, is to have a pine board, three Inches wide by one inch thick, neatly planed. Screw two brass rings in the top, by which the board may be hung to the wall or pantry door, and drive three nails, with the heads filed off, on the board. The bags will slip on and off the nails easily. Another good idea is to reserve a small drawer in the kitchen or pantry for them. Before being placed in the drawer they should be carefully smoothed and folded. An enamel cloth bag tacked upon the pantry door is also a convenient receptacle for these bags. An ingenious housewife has fashioned a bag, convenient for holding paper bags, and also for odds and ends of string. The bag is made by cutting two pieces of linen or duck of the length required. One piece is four inches narrower than the other. The narrowed strip is stitched across its width to the wider strip to form three pockets. The two strips are placed flatly together and stitched and bound all around with braid. The middle pocket is made wide enough to hold large and small paper bags; the end pockets are intended for string.

Keep a kitchen scrap-book for hints and recipes—an old exercise book or magazine answers for the purpose. If you make a practice of never passing them by, you will be surprised to see how soon you will have collected an amount of valuable information which, when required immediately, can seldom be remembered unless you have it safely stored. Perhaps on reading them you have only time to clip them out; then slip them loosely into your scrap-book, and when you have a few spare moments paste or gum them in. Divide your book into two or three parts, and keep all of one kind as near as you can together. "Accidents will happen in the best-regulated families,” and at that time one of your collected hints may be of service. Better still, you should keep a set of “ Everylady's Journal ” library in the house—the best set of shilling reference books for women published.

In order to facilitate quick division of recipes, commit to memory, or tack up over your kitchen table, the calendar for weights and measures. Knowing what each measurement weighs helps materially in using recipes: One cupful is a half-pint; one cupful of flour weighs four ounces, and measures sixteen level tablespoonfuls: one cupful of butter weighs eight ounces, and is sixteen level tablespoonfuls; sugar is the same in weight as butter; ten medium-sized eggs weigh a pound; one tablespoonful is an ounce of common liquids; one teaspoonful is a fluid drachm; one level tablespoonful of flour is nearly an ounce; one tablespoonful of sugar is half an ounce; one tablespoonful of butter is half an ounce; one dessertspoonful is a half-tablespoonful; four level teaspoonfuls equal one tablespoonful.

Many housewives have kitchen cabinets, or kitchen tables, covereo with oilcloth, and often have hot dishes or pans that they would like to set down on them, but which would melt the oilcloth. If you haven’t room for an extra table covered with heavy tin or zinc, for such purposes, just get a few squares of wood, an inch in thickness, and about four or five inches square; have them nicely planed and smooth, screw a screw-eye into the end of each one, and hang on a nail or hook over the work table. Then, when you wish to set something hot on your table, just put one of these wooden squares under it, and your oilcloth is safe. They are also convenient to cut meat on. slice bread, roll lemons, and a great many other things which you will think of after using them.

Don't litter up the kitchen when getting a meal, because it will take hours to “ clean up ” after the meal is over.

Don't put a greasy spoon on the table. It leaves a stain which requires time to erase. Put it in a saucer.

Don’t crumple up your dishcloths. Hang them out to dry. They smell If you don’t.

Don’t pour boiling water over china packed in a pan. It will crack by the sudden contraction and expansion.

Don't put damp towels and napkins in the hamper. Dry them first, or they will mildew.

Don’t use good knives for scraping the table. A cheap knife will answer the purpose.

Don’t pour boiling water and soap on grease spots. Moisten the spots first with a cold saturated solution of sal soda, then scrub them with the grain of the wood, using cold soapsuds.

Don’t put egg dishes into hot water; it makes the egg adhere. Soak the dishes first in cold water.

Don’t allow the soap to remain in a bucket or pan of hot water; it wastes. Have soap-cups to fasten to'the sides.

Don’t scour the inside of coffee-pots. Wash them with hot soapsuds, using a mop to dry thoroughly.

Don’t put tin pans on the stove to dry. They become heated, the solder loosens, and they soon leak.

Don’t crack ice in a tin pan; the pan wears out quickly, or leaks at once. Use a wooden tub.

Don't moisten your food with the idea of saving your teeth. It spoils the teeth and you will soon lose them.

Don't throw away pieces of bread. Save, dry, roll, and put them aside for grated breadcrumbs.

Don’t salt cucumbers before cooking. It makes them indigestible and unpalatable.

Don't use steel knives for cutting fish, oysters, sweetbreads or brains. The steel blackens, and gives an unpleasant flavour.

Don’t save cold coffee in the pot in which it was made. Draw it off and put it in a jar; cover and reheat quickly at serving time.

Don't put ice in your drinking water. Cool the water by putting it near the ice.

Don't fill the teakettle the night before. Fill it with fresh water in the morning, bring it to the boiling-point, and then use it at once.

Don’t allow your marketing to stand in the kitchen, especially during warm weather; put it away at once. Meats frequently become heated, and quickly spoil.

Don’t salt meat before the cooking. Add it after the meat is cooked, or when nearly done.

Don't boil meat at a gallop. Boil five minutes, then cook it at a temperature of 160 deg. Fahrenheit.

Don’t make bread into large loaves. The centre is apt to be underdone, and spoil easily.

Standing while about one’s housework is often necessary, but it very often is not necessary. The little unnoticed strains are a greater wear and tear on one’s vitality than are the big ones. Every kitchen should contain a small armless rocker and a stool, the latter high enough to sit on and reach the ironing-board easily, low enough to be pushed under the table out of the way when not in use. Paring apples or potatoes and picking over fruit should be done while sitting in the rocker, as should the bit of sewing or the reading of a book taken up while superintending something cooking on the stove which must be waited for. Another thing which is of great value in preserving strength has been an after-breakfast rest. Breakfast over, everybody started off to school or business, it I3 a good plan to sit or lie down on convenient sofa with the morning paper for ten or fifteen minutes. Then get tip and attack the army of the day’s duties, beginning, of course, with the advance guard of the breakfast dishes. In those few minutes you will have gained needed rest and from the paper something to think about while at work.

Never wash a bread board in the sink, especially an iron sink. The iron will leave a dark stain on the board which is difficult to remove. Wash it on the table where you were using it, use cold water, and occasionally rub it with a cleanser, using a coarse cloth and brush. Always scrub boards and hardwood tables with the grain of the wood, and if it is necessary to scrape, do so with the grain of the wood, to prevent roughening the surface. Have a brush especially for scrubbing both moulding boards and tables, wash both and wipe dry, and be careful not to allow dough to accumulate in the cracks. The fish board should be washed and scrubbed with a solution of sal-soda, and thoroughly rinsed and dried in sunshine. Wooden bowls should be thoroughly rubbed with glycerine until they are soaked, to prevent cracking. They should be carefully washed and scoured with a hot solution of bi-carbonate of soda, and wiped dry, and these, too, should be dried in the air before putting away. If not cared for as directed above, an unpleasant flavour may be imparted to food prepared in them. The rolling-pin should be carefully scraped with the back of a knife, scrubbed with the grain of the wood, wiped and dried before putting away. Do not allow either rolling-pin or potato-masher to soak in dish-water.

Odours from cooking, the careful housewife may be glad to know, can be prevented by tying up in a linen bag a lump of bread about the size of a billiard ball, and placing it in the pot with the boiling greens, hams, etc. This will absorb the gases which oftentimes send such an effluvium to the regions above. A few red peppers or pieces of charcoal put into the pot are also said to stop the unpleasant odour which generally fills the house when green vegetables are boiled. Kitchen odours are a source of constant annoyance to many housekeepers because they do not know how to prevent or dispel them. This is one of the things in which an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Do not allow grease to sputter over, and do not scorch or burn the victuals which are cooking. Never leave pots and stewpans unwashed, or allow them to dry and simmer on the range. A solution of soda water, in the proportion of two pounds of washing soda to one gallon of water, kept on hand and poured into the bottom of pans and kettles, the solution shaken well up on the sides, will keep them from becoming odorous until washing time comes, and they will then be easily cleaned.

Salt used on the fingers when cleaning fowls, meat, or fish will prevent slipping; thrown on a coal fire when grilling steak will prevent blazing from dripping fat; used as a gargle will cure a sore throat; in solution inhaled, cures cold in the head; in water is the best thing to clean willowware or matting; used in the oven under baking-tins will prevent them from scorching on the bottom; mixed with vinegar wjll remove stains from discoloured teacups; mixed with soda is excellent for bee-stings and spider-bites; thrown on soot which has fallen on a carpet will prevent stain; put on ink when freshly spilled on a carpet will help to remove the spot; In whitewash makes it stick; thrown on a coal fire which is low will revive it; used in sweeping carpets keeps out moths; as a tooth-cleanser it will keep the teeth white and the-gums hard and rosy; it is one of the best gargles for sore throat and a preventive of diphtheria, if taken in time. Use salt and water to clean willow furniture; apply with a brush and rub dry. Salt and water held in the mouth after having a tooth extracted will stop bleeding. Two teaspoonfuls in half a pint of tepid water is an emetic always on hand, and is an antidote for poisoning from nitrate of silver. Neuralgia of the feet and limbs can be cured by bathing night and morning with salt and water as hot as can be borne. To keep table-salt from lumping mix one part of starch with eleven parts of salt. A tiny pinch of salt added to the whites of eggs, when beating, will make them froth quicker, and the froth will be stiffer. In whipping cream, a little salt helps to make it turn. Salt in cold or boiled starch imparts a gloss. Rub flatirons on salt before using them. Sprinkle salt on the fire before broiling. Dip a piece of damp flannel in salt to clean piano-keys, knife-handles, stained teacups and glasses spotted by hard water.

Add a speck of soda when cooking beans or any vegetable which seems tough, and the rooking process is quickened. Rub a bit of soda over meat or poultry that seems overripe, and wash in cold w'ater. A little soda will counteract the acidity of sour fruits as they are cooking, and less sugar will be required to sweeten them. Use a speck of soda with the stewed tomato when making a mock bisque soup. For cleaning paint before repainting, use two ounces of soda to one quart of cold water. Afterward rinse off with clear cold water. In using soda with cream of tartar, allow one level teaspoonful of soda to two rounding teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar for each quart of flour. To counteract the acidity of molasses, allow one teaspoonful of soda to one cupful of molasses. Soda should he pulverised, and carefully measured whenever it is used in cooking, as it is a powerful alkali, which must be used with discretion and accuracy. Add a little soda when stewing a fowl, to make the flesh more tender. If canned tomato ferments, a little soda will restore It.

Vinegar is an antidote for poisoning by alkalis; will brighten copper; brown paper saturated with it will heal bruises or a black eye; mixed with sugar will make a good stove polish; mixed with salt will strengthen a lame back; used to wash the walls before papering will help the paper to stick; soaking lamp-wicks in it makes them give a brilliant light.

Doth borax and ammonia dissolve dirt, grease, and resinous substances. When employed intelligently they are of great value to the housekeeper. Borax is so mild that it can be used in washing the most delicate fabrics. Fine handkerchiefs, underwear, laces, etc., can be soaked In a weak solution of borax, to which has been added a little soap, and they will require very little rubbing to remove the dirt. A few spoonfuls of a borax solution added to the hot, soapy water in which silver, glass and china are washed will give these articles added lustre. Three or four spoonfuls in a quart of water will clean hairbrushes beautifully. Have the water only tepid and high enough to wet the bristles, not the back, of the brush. Rinse well. Borax can be used for softening the water for bathing and for a mouth-wash—about two tablespoonfuls of the solution to a pint of water. To make a solution of borax, put over the fire one quart of boiling water and four heaping tablespoonfuls of powdered borax. When dissolved, cool and bottle. This is the strongest solution you can make to keep. If a larger proportion of boiax is used it will crystallise in the solution. Ammonia is more powerful than borax, and for this reason is better for very soiled and oily fabrics or substances. But it should not be used on paint or plated ware. Ammonia neutralises the action of acids. If you spill an acid on marble, pouj^a little ammonia on the spot, and the action will cease. Ammonia takes finger-marks from paint; in dish-water brightens silver; in water keeps flannels soft; cleans hair-brushes; bleaches yellow flannels; brightens windows and looking-glasses; is good in washing lace and fine muslin; in solution cleans sinks and drain-pipes.

Kerosene simplifies laundry-work; in starch prevents it from sticking; is a good counter-irritant; will remove rust from bolts and bars; will remove fresh paint; will remove tar; used on a cloth will prevent flatirons from sticking and scorching; cleans brass, but it should afterwards be wiped with dry whiting. There is no end to the uses for which kerosene can be used in cleaning. To clean the zinc under the kitchen range, rub with kerosene or. if much neglected, with ammonia and sandstone, and then polish with kerosene. A kerosene cloth will then keep the zinc in splendid condition, with that peculiar white shining that clean zinc always has. If the iron sink is rusty, rub it with kerosene, and leave it overnight without a drop of water. It will he black and clean the next day, unless in very bad condition, when the treatment should be repeated. An occasional wipe with a kerosene cloth will then keep it in good shape, black and shining.

An inverted baking-powder can will chop cold boiled potatoes much more quickly than will a knife or chopping knife.

When mashing potatoes, add a little hot milk to the butter used. It will prevent the potatoes from being heavy and tasteless.

To bake potatoes quickly, boil them in salted water for ten minutes, then put them in the oven. The boiling water will heat them through, and they will bake in a short time.

Two potatoes grated together in a basin of warm water are far better than soap for washing delicate silk, flannel or woollen goods.

Cut a snip off the end of potatoes before they are roasted. This lets out any stray moisture, and makes the potato mealy.

To cook sweet potatoes, boil them while the oven is heating. When about half done, remove the skins and finish by baking in the oven.

Use a small, stiff brush for cleaning vegetables. It does the work much quicker and easier than the ordinary way.

The water in which vegetables are to be boiled must actually be at boiling point before the vegetables are put into it to be cooked. If it is cold or lukewarm the freshness and flavour of the vegetables will soak out into the water. The saucepan should be placed over the hottest part of the stove, so that the contents may boil as quickly as possible, and care should be taken that the boiling does not cease till the vegetables are thoroughly cooked and ready to be dished.

When cooking green vegetables, do not cover the pot in which they are boiled, or they will be a bad colour. A small piece of common soda, the size of a pea, added to the water, will make them a vivid green.

Cauliflower should be placed head down in cold salted water for ten or fifteen minutes before cooking, to draw out insects. In boiling, slightly salted water should be used, and the head should be placed downward in the kettle.

To make tough meat tender, cover it with boiling water and put it where it will barely simmer for several hours. It should cook at least thirty minutes to the pound, and a good deal longer is better. A tablespoonful of vinegar added when the meat is first put on helps cut the fibres. Don’t let it boil hard, for that only toughens it.

Meat will keep, even in the hot weather, for many days if it Is hung in a current of air, and covered with muslin which has been wrung out jf vinegar. This should be renewed every day.

If meat, when cooking, has to be turned, be careful never to pierce it with a fork. Boiled or stewed meats should be seasoned when cooking. Broiled and fried meat should be salted and seasoned aftef removing from the Are.

Corned beef, ham, or any salted meat should be put in cold or lukewarm water. Fresh meat should he immersed in rapidly boiling water, to prevent loss of juices. Allow both kinds to boil quickly at first, removing any scum that rises, then push to hack part of stove to simmer, allowing thirty minutes to the pound for corned beef, eighteen to twenty minutes for ham and mutton. Boiled meat should always be left in its own liquor to cool.

Peas and beans should never be swimming in water. They should be cooked with as little liquid as possible, to retain flavour of the vegetables, but must be constantly watched, to prevent burning.

There is no reason why the disagreeable odours of boiling cabbage and cauliflower should fill the house. Have the water boiling rapidly, and plenty of it in an uncovered kettle. Cut the cabbage and cauliflower in pieces, put in a little at a time to prevent the water from cooling, and with a fork push it under the water every few minutes. In this way cabbage should cook in twenty-five minutes.

Before it is ready for the oven, bread should rise to twice its original size. Therefore, do not put in more than enough to half fill the pans, or the loaves may be an ugly shape and the rising dough may overflow into the oven.

yhen frying in deep fat, never put too much food in your frying-basket at once, or the heat of the fat will be reduced, and the outer surface of the food, instead of being crisp and dry, will absorb the fat, lose flavour or juice and become greasy and indigestible.

When boiling beets, peas, squash, corn, or turnips, a little sugar in the water will improve them.

A skilful cook attributes her famed success in making delicious mayonnaise to the fact that she always adds a few drops of onion juice.

When some member of the family is delayed, his dinner should be kept hot, not in the oven, where it will dry out, but on a covered plate over a pan of boiling water.

The freshness of fish can be readily judged by redness of the gills, brightness of the eyes, and firm, odourless flesh.

A tablespoonful of vinegar added to the water in which fish is boiled has a tendency to whiten the meat and render it firmer.

A squeeze of lemon improves scrambled eggs, and should be added to the dish while they are cooking.

Burnt Food.—If food becomes slightly burnt while cooking, set the pan at once in a basin of cold water and its flavour will be uninjured.

Fish and Onion Odours.—To dispel that disagreeable odour which clings to dishes in which fish or onions have been cooked, set the dish, after washing, in a warm oven for ten or fifteen minutes.

Nothing is more unpleasant than to find that a knife, fork, or spoon smells and tastes of fisb or onions, and it very often occurs. The speediest method to remove the disagreeable odour is to put the articles to soak in a basin of cold tea and leaves. Let them soak for ten minutes or so, then wash them in the ordinary way.

Pastry-Making.—For pastry-making provide a marble slab and a china rolling-pin. For the latter a bottle is a fair substitute.

Dripping.—Beef dripping and bacon fat are excellent for frying purposes. Drippings from the various joints should be poured into a basin of cold water. When cold, a cake of fat will be formed. This should be melted again, and then placed in jars until required for use.

Ways with Milk.—In order to prevent milk from burning while being boiled, rinse the saucepan thoroughly with cold water, and rub it with a little fresh butter before putting in the milk.

Milk will extinguish the flames from gasolene or any form of petroleum quickly and effectually, since it forms an emulsion with the oil, whereas water only spreads it.

Not long ago I saw a mother take off enough dinner for another member of the family who had been detained. With another plate to cover it, it was put in the oven to “ keep warm,” but, in reality, to dry up. I mentioned to her my way. A saucepan filled nearly full of boiling water is put on the stove, and a dinner-plate containing the vegetables is placed over it; a pan covered over the plate will keep i ’ the steam. For hours the dinner may be kept steaming hot and palatable.

Empty the refrigerator and remove all trays and racks. Now scald its walls and floors with soda water, and the trays likewise, and scour them well besides. Leave the refrigerator to dry and cool in draughts of fresh air before installing ice or provisions.

Cleaning the Sink.—It is often very hard to clean a dirty and greasy sink. To do this easily, take a cloth that has been moistened with kerosene and rub over the sink briskly. The dirt will come off immediately and leave your sink bright and clean.

Pipes from the kitchen sink should be regularly inspected by a careful housekeeper. They should be thoroughly cleansed and kept free from any accumulation of grease, waste food, etc. Salt thrust down the pipes by means of a long stick will purify if after an hour’s time a bucket of boiling water is poured down the sink.

To Clean the Sink Pipe.—To clean the pipe of the sink add a teaspoonful of powdered ammonia to two tablespoonfuls of soda, and pour over it a gallon of boiling water. This will dissolve any grease in the sink.

Among the many helps which may be used in housekeeping, plaster of Paris is one of the most satisfactory. It is good to tinker with, and saves many a plumber's bill. A writer in the “ Ladies’ World ” says:

“ Our water-boiler, which is attached to the gas-stove, began to drip from one of the joints. Someone exclaimed, ‘ Send for the plumber.’ That was in the winter, and I knew a plumber’s bill meant no summer hat for me, and I—well, I intended to have one. So. bethinking me of the plaster of Paris. I mixed some and began operations. It took perhaps a week to thoroughly stop the leakage, because the water kept the plaster from hardening, but I persisted, and the drips grew less and less, and now—that was months ago—it is sound and solid as need be, and I have my new summer hat through my plaster of Paris friend.”

A leaky tea kettle may be mended in the same way. Empty the kettle and very thoroughly dry it, inside and out, then proceed in the usual way to apply the plaster at every suspicious spot inside, after which . let it stand for several hours to harden. It will last good for months. Cracks and crevices in cupboards, etc., where insects creep in, may be stopped up with it. In fact, its uses are too varied to enumerate. Plaster of Paris should be mixed with vinegar Instead of water. If this plan is followed the plaster will not “ set ” for twenty minutes.

To Cool Water Without Ice.—To keep water cold without ice. wrap the pitcher, or other vessel containing water, in newspapers, then in a woollen blanket, and keep on the cellar floor or in the coolest place about the home. Wrap ice in the same way to prevent it melting quicker than necessary.

Rattling Windows.—An easy way to stop kitchen windows from rattling is to use broken clothes-pins as wedges. They will keep the window tight. If you tie a cord around the head of the pin and fasten it with a tack to the window-frame the wedge will always be handy. It may be stained to match the woodwork of the window-frame, making it less conspicuous.

Cleaning the Chopper.—After chopping meat which contains a good deal of fat, I run a crust of dry bread through the chopper, thereby removing all the grease and particles of meat from the crevices. After doing this it can easily be washed in the usual way.

Testing Eggs.—In a mixture of two ounces of salt to a pint of water, good eggs will be found to sink, while indifferent ones will always float.

Cooking Smells—When cooking by gas, a bowl of vinegar and water placed beside the stove will prevent the smell of cooking from spreading through the house.

Cooling the Oven.—If, when baking, the oven should get too hot. place a basin of cold water in it. This will cool the oven, and the steam which rises from the water will prevent the contents from burning.

Bad Water—Avoid drinking the first water that comes from the tap; for it has been in a lead or iron pipe all night, and is therefore unwholesome. This caution should be remembered whether the water is to be boiled or not.

To Keep Pared Apples.—Place in cold water until ready for use. This prevents them from turning brown.

Tea and Coffee.—Do not let tea and coffee remain in the paper bags they come in, or they will lose their flavour. All articles should be taken at once out of their paper bags and put away in their different receptacles in the store cupboard.

To Keep Salt Castors,-etc.—So many people have trouble with their salt shakers clogging up by the salt becoming damp. To prevent it and also to keep salt from getting lumpy, when filling put in twelve or thirteen grains of rice. These will not come through the hole in the cover of the salt castor but will break the lumps of salt and gather the moisture; thus the salt is always dry and fine.

Baking Soda and Dishes.—Use baking soda when washing very greasy or smelling dishes. It dispenses with so much soap, and is more of a purifier. It will give a nice sparkle to glassware.

Three New Ideas.—Do you know that by holding a glass fruit jar in the hand when you pour the first four or five spoonfuls and then setting it down on a warm cloth, it will never crack? That fruit is better sweetened after removing it from the fire? That a paper pinned around a churn prevents the cream from splashing?

To Keep Cheese Moist.—Wrap in a cloth wrung out of vinegar, place in a paper bag and hang in a cool place.

When making coffee, add a pinch of salt after placing the coffee In the pot. The flavour will be much improved.

A Diary.—A diary for the kitchen will be found a convenience and prevent forgetfulness. What is to be done at a future time may be noted, and .a glance at the record each morning will be a helpful reminder to the housekeeper of things needing attention that day.

Some Useful Hints.—A most useful article In the kitchen is a child’s small slate, on which to write articles to be ordered from the butcher or the grocer as fast as they run short—also any orders for the maid if she happens to be absent from the kitchen. It can be plainly seen, and there is no danger of its being overlooked—as is the case when one depends on paper and pencil.

Baking-Day Aprons.—Baking day should have an air of distinction about it. Of course, it is not an easy day. but there are many housekeepers who have learned to finish the day with cheerful hearts and spotless clothing, and the baking-day apron has helped them to learn it.

This apron is made of rather thin white goods, and covers nearly the entire dress. Suspended by straps from the belt on either side are two white cloths, to be used as holders when handling the hot baking dishes.

A Baker’s Plan.—A baker who makes jam on a large scale says ne never stirs it, but puts a large handful of marbles on the bottom of the kettle. These roll around when the jam boils, and prevent it from burning.

Alarm Clock Saves Worry.—When placing in the oven cake or pastry that should be looked at within a certain time, set an alarm clock at the time when such attention is needed, and you are safe to go about the regular duties in other parts of the house. You will be notified when time is upj and so save many an anxious moment and many burnt cakes and pies.

Kitchen Requisites—When about to hang up the egg-beater, horseradish grater, or any utensil which would he difficult to wipe free from any possible dust that might gather upon it if not used for some time, slip a bag over the article, give the top of the bag a twist about the handle, and hang it up. It will be free from dust when wanted.

The Cookery Book.—See that your cookery hooks have print covers which slip off easily and can be washed, and always use “ Everylady’s Cook-Book,” advertised in this volume.

Flour and Spices.—Flour, sugar, spices, and soda should always be sifted before measuring, unless the recipe says unsifted. The sieving livens and loosens the powders until they almost double their hulk.

To Mix Food.—Wooden spoons are the best to use in mixing foods, as they make less noise while stirring. The slitted wooden cake-spoons are considered best of all. as they enclose more air in the mixture while beating than an ordinary spoon would do.

To Beat Eggs.—Always use a silver fork to beat eggs instead of a steel ope, as the phosphorus of the yolk attacks the steel and forms a disagreeable salt.

Cake Wisdom.—When making cakes, dissolve the soda in a little cold milk. It will prevent the disagreeable lumps so often found.

A sure way to tell if a cake is cooked is to lightly insert a skewer in the centre, and if clean when withdrawn, the cake is perfectly cooked.

Heat your knife before cutting new bread or cake, and it will prevent crumbling.

Burning Oil.—Flour thrown upon burning oil will instantly extinguish it. while water only spreads the flames.

To Clean a Sieve.—Sieves should be cleansed with.soda and water, but no soap should be used. A brush will prove more effective in freeing from all dirt than a cloth.

Charcoal in the Safe.—Charcoal absorbs impure gases. Place a saucer filled with charcoal in the safe where meat is kept. It will act as a disinfectant.

What a comfort is cleanliness—books, papers, clothes, table-appointments, furniture, houses, yards, paths, roads, all clean; no smudges, grease-spots, stains, crumples, dust or dirt—and how much it adds to the ease of management, and shortens the labour of people, and facilitates the despatch of work, if things are kept clean, unentangled, and"ready for use! Half the secret of keeping things clean is not to dirty them, and the other half is to clean them as soon as they are dirtied. This applies especially to cooking utensils, cutlery, crockery, etc. If they are cleaned as soon as done with, and put away, they will last much longer, and much time will be saved, to say nothing of the appearance; and yet In how many houses will you see the very opposite of this—dirty crockery, stained knives, torn and crumpled books, and a general state of confusion, and yet the people wonder how it is that there is so much work and that it is so hard to get on. But the state of the house points to the cause; if there is outward muddle there is inward muddle, and where there is muddle there is a lack of system or plan; and if work is not well planned it cannot be well done, and time is wasted by having to do the thing twice over, or in leaving it till it gets so bad that it takes twice as long to do it, to say nothing of the ruin of neglect. No; if people would thrive they must not think it too much trouble to do everything well, and keep everything clean and in their places. Households would be managed with half the trouble, and much more cheaply, if these simple rules were followed.

The kitchen paint will soon acquire a shabby look from the frequent cleaning that is necessary in this apartment. The use of soap only increases the difficulty, especially if the paint Is varnished. The best plan is to boil one pound of bran in a gallon of water for an hour, then wash the paint with the bran water, and it will not only be kept clean, but bright and glossy.

To be careful of soap, never leave it standing in water, because it wastes it Never throw your shells of soap away, but put them in a jar, fill up with water, put it in the oven, and let the contents boll well, with a lid over the top. When the soap is all dissolved, take it out, put it to cool, and you will be able to cut it out; therefore, you can use it again. It is useful for washing flannels.

How many hours each day do you spend over the sink? There is no work in the whole round of household duties so wearing to me as that of washing and wiping dishes. The washing must be done, but the wiping need not—except the silver and tinware. X had an old wooden box, in the bottom of which was a zinc lining that extended up the sides about six inches, with a short lead-pipe soldered in the bottom—like the waste-pipe of a sink. I took this box and placed it on cleats between two boxes in the kitchen, near the sink. Under the pipe I placed an old pitcher to catch the drainage. After I wash my dishes in good hot suds, I put them in a pan, and pour scalding water over them. In the case of glasses I am careful not to have It too hot, for fear of cracking them. In hot weather, if the washing suds has been good and hot, the rinsing-water may be cold. I am always careful to rinse thoroughly on both sides, for which reason the pan is preferable to the wire drainer. In the bottom of the box are two wire drainers, and above them two narrow, movable shelves on cleats. After being rinsed, the dishes are placed in the drainers, the graniteware on the shelves, and the cover of the box closed. They are thus safe from dust, and stay there until dry, when they are put on the table. There is no lint to be polished off the glasses, little washing of wipers and little wear of them, and I have the extra time to put into work that is necessary. A box that will serve as a drainer may be made of a grocer’s good-sized box with a crack in the bottom at one end, or a small tub, with holes bored in one end of the bottom. Either of these may be set at one end of the sink, the holes coming over the sink for drainage, and a strip of wood under the other end, on the shelf of the sink, to make the water run into the sink.

A housekeeper of a strictly practical turn of mind tells of two or three discoveries: “I noticed that the legs of an old table which I had intended to consign to the fire were in perfect condition. so I sawed them off and made a wash-bench for one tub, by nailing a board over and putting castors on. Now I can roll a tubful of water to the stove, to any part of the room, or to the sink. It is one of the handiest articles in the house. There was also an old garden-hose lying in our back yard which leaked in so many places as to be useless for its original purpose. I cut off a piece that was good about four feet long; on wash-days I slip one end of it on the faucet and put the other in the tub; this enables me to fill all my tubs, and without lifting or carrying any water. Another piece of the hose about three feet long I nailed to the half of a broom-handle, and it makes the very best carpet-beater you ever saw, and will not tear the carpet.”

“ Watch the garbage-pail ” Is a note of warning from the instructor of a class of young women in home economics, A careful survey of this receptacle indicates the part of the kitchen supply that is lost as refuse or as waste. Poor cooking, unwarranted purchases and unwise planning contribute to this extravagance. The unnecessary waste should be eliminated by the use of a good cookbook, or wiser planning as to amounts needed and individual tastes. The necessary refuse from the kitchen may be turned to very good account by using it as a fertiliser in the garden. It may be covered with dirt to prevent disagreeable odours, while the soil takes the best kind of care of the decaying matter and receives much enrichment thereby.

When salt is dried for the table, do not put it into salt cellars until quite cold; if put in warm, it will harden into a lump.

When making jam tarts, brush the paste that will be under the jam with beaten white of an egg, and it will prevent it from getting sodden.

To Freshen Stale Cake.—To freshen stale cake, dip it for a second In cold milk, and then re-bake it in a rather cool oven. Cake that has been treated in this way will taste as if it had been newly baked, and may be eaten by anyone. Stale bread may be treated in the same way.

To Save Nutmegs.—To use nutmeg scraps, save all that are too small to grate and grind them in the coffee mill. WheVe a large quantity is used, this will be found a great saving.

Cleaning with a Whisk Broom.—An old one, worn short and stiff, is excellent in washing saucepans or mixing-dishes. Put hot suds in the greasy utensils, and cold water where dough or eggs have been mixed. Scrub hard with the broom, changing the water frequently. Finish up with a cloth and plenty of clean water. After using, scald and rinse the broom thoroughly and keep it dry.

Limewater Used in Canning Tomatoes.—When canning tomatoes, add three tablespoonfuls of limewater to each quart while they are cooking. With this precaution, you will never lose a can of tomatoes. The limewater may be made very cheaply at home by putting a lump of slaked lime, about the size of a goose egg. in a quart Jar and filling the jar with water. Stir this, and when the liquid has settled It is ready for use. Water may be added until the lime is all dissolved.

Don’t leave your groceries in paper bags, or they will soon become stale. Rice, oatmeal, tapioca and supplies of this kind should be kept in covered glass jars. Coffee and tea are best in tightly covered tins. For meal and flour, covered wooden bins should be used.

Candles burn better and more slowly if they have been stored In a dry place six or seven weeks before using. Soap will go twice as far if it is well dried. It should be cut into small blocks, and these arranged in tiers with spaces between to allow them to dry.

Sugar should be bought in small quantities, as it dries and loses flavour If kept; raisins, currants, and candied peel will not keep long. Vinegar soon loses flavour if kept. Macaroni will not keep, and spice, pepper, and roasted coffee soon deteriorate.

In catering for a home, butter and eggs should be of the best, there being no economy in the poorer qualities. For table use, delicate sweet butter, put up in print form, is more palatable. For cooking, cooking butter of good quality is all-sufficient, and, being salted, is better for the purpose. Milk and eggs should bsof the freshest,and both butter and milk kept carefully covered when placed in the refrigerator. Many families never know the making of a good cup of coffee. To be at its best the bean should be of the first quality, carefully roasted, then ground immediately before using, and made in one of those admirable pots devised for the purpose. With it should be served rich cream and cut sugar. The great trouble with most housekeepers is that they get in a groove, and the same dishes are served over and over again, until the appetite refuses to enjoy them. If a family prefer steaks to lamb and mutton, there is a variety of ways in which this same dish can be cooked by giving a sauce, garnishing the steak with watercress, or by adding a few mushrooms, each one being a tasty accessory for the juicy meat. Even a fried sirloin or rump steak with onions is acceptable, provided the cooking is good; and this same rule applies to all other meats.

To Economise Tea.—Put the tea leaves through the coffee-mill. A much less quantity will be required to make the tea.

Save Tea and Coffee Grounds.—Tea and coffee grounds should never be thrown away. One use is to place them around rose bushes; they will greatly improve the growth of such flowers.

To Economise Candles.—To make a small piece of candle burn throughout the night, and to dull the light, place finely powdered salt about the wick—but not on it. By this means the candles used in a sick-room will he greatly economised.

To Keep Meat.—All meats should be kept in a cool, dry place if waste is to be avoided. Fish should never be put in the same safe as meat. It may taint it.

Keeping Bread.—Bread may be kept either in a stoneware jar or in a covered boiler. If bread is placed in a tin it will become stale more quickly.

Crusts of Bread.—Crusts of bread and stale cakes may be used in making steam puddings. On the crusts of bread boiling milk should be poured and the bread then broken small with a wooden fork. By this means much labour and time are saved.

Economy in Soap.—Soap will go further if bought in quantities, cut into cakes, and hung in a string bag, through which the air may freely

Herbs.—When herbs are plentiful, they should be dried and stored for winter use. Herbs to be stored should be picked on a dry, warm day, cleansed, and dried in a slightly warm oven out-of-doors. Pick oft the leaves and place in bottles on which the correct labels are gummed.

To Store Apples and Lemons.—-Apples should be wrapped separately in paper and laid on shelves. They should be placed in a, dry, dark storeroom. Lemons will keep indefinitely if treated in the same manner.

Fruit Intended for Jam.—All fruits intended either for jam making or storing purposes should be picked in dry, clear weather. If the fruit is plucked after rain it will not keep. The storeroom should be inspected weekly, and decayed apples, etc., removed.

Apples and Pears to be Stored.—Apples and pears should be gathered for storing purposes before they are quite ripe. Only those perfectly sound are fit for the storeroom. To keep fruit in the best condition, the temperature of the storeroom should be between forty and fifty degrees.

Raisins, Currants, and Dried Fruits.—Raisins, currants, and dried fruits of all kinds should be kept closely covered. If this precaution against waste is omitted, much fruit will be lost through the incursions of insects.

Salt and Sugar.—Salt and sugar must be kept in covered tins in a dry place. In Australia, where ants and insects abound during the hotter months, the housekeeper will best secure herself against loss by guarding the cupboard containing such articles. To do this, place the legs of the cupboard in jam tins filled with water. This will prevent attacks by ants, etc.; or allow the legs of the cupboard to stand on small squares of sticky fly-paper.

Housewives in the bush are aware of the value of kerosene tins. Such tins are economical In many ways. They heat quickly, and so save firing or gas. The uses to which Australians in remote parts put this article are practically unlimited. It is used for the weekly wash, and will not rust if, first, rubbed with lard, and then well heated. It boils water for all household purposes, is used instead of pails, as rubbish tins, and in a variety of ways too numerous to mention. In cities the kerosene tin in its full utility is not fully known or appreciated, but the truly thrifty housekeeper whose means are very limited will not fail to acquaint herself with its value as an asset in keeping down expenses.

Hot water cans will rust if water is allowed to remain in them. The cans, after use, should be turned upside down until again required.

To Test Coffee.—Coffee may very easily be tested. Place some coffee in a basin and pour cold water upon it. If chicory is present the water will take a brownish appearance; if it is absent, the water will be scarcely discoloured. .

Care of Milk.—Milk will keep better in a flat, shallow dish than in a deep jug. In this country, where diseases are frequently conveyed in milk, it should always be scalded before being used. Consumption, typhoid fever and diphtheria may be contracted by neglect of this precaution. •

A Use for Milk.—When boiling old potatoes a little milk should be added to the water. This will make them whiter and more floury.

Save the Egg Shells.—Broken egg shells should be saved and put away in a covered tin till required. They are useful in cleaning vinegar cruets, decanters, and glass of all kinds. Crush the shells, partly fill the decanter and then add hot soapsuds. Shake well and rinse in cold water.

To Make a Broom I^ast.—Brooms will last longer if proper care is taken of them. After use they should be placed, with the broom part upwards, resting against the wall. A better plan is to hang them on nails, head upwards.

To Wash Brooms.—Brooms should be washed occasionally, first in warm soapsuds, and rinsed well under a running tap, or in salt and water.

Mildewed Jams.—To prevent loss by the mildewing of jams, fruit should be picked only in dry, clear weather. If the fruit is plucked after rain, jams will mildew. As a further safeguard, dip rounds of white paper in white of egg and place on the top of the jam before tying down. Cover closely so as to exclude all air. Jam made according to these directions should keep indefinitely.

An Economical Disinfectant.—Permanganate of potash is an excellent disinfectant, and one of the most economical. Add a few grains to a quart of cold water and pour down the sink regularly twice weekly.

To Restore a Leaking Bucket.—A wooden bucket, the wood of which has shrunk so that the utensil leaks, will swell again to its proper proportions if the bucket is allowed to stand for twenty-four hours in cold water.

An Invisible Cement.—Dissolve a little isinglass in spirits of wine. This cement is most useful to mend fine china and glass.

A Use for Tea Leaves.—Tea leaves or garden mould placed in pickle bottles or any utensil rendered unpleasant by the odour of onions will purify and sweeten. Pickle bottles which have contained onions should be filled with the garden mould and left for a couple of days; then wash thoroughly in hot soapsuds.

Save Strings About Parcels.—Strings wrapped about parcels should be saved and kept for use in a box.

Brown Paper.—Brown paper should never be destroyed. It is excellent in polishing tinware.

Many housewives are fortunate enough to have a voice in the selection of the kitchen stove. A few points in connection with the choice of this important purchase should be remembered.

Cheap Ranges.—Cheap ranges—that is, ranges made of thin iron— heat quickly, but possess no durability. If such a range is bought one should be chosen the several parts of which can be replaced by duplicates. But a preliminary larger outlay is more economical in the long run.

A Range with a Large Fireplace.—A range with a too large fireplace should not be chosen. Neither should a range with insufficient fire receptacle commend itself. A closed range is, in my opinion, best. Some housekeepers, however, prefer one of the makes which can be used either as a closed range or as an open fireplace.

A Gas Stove.—A gas stove, or at least a gas ring, is part of the equipment of a city kitchen. In country districts such are not really necessary. Fuel is so cheap that a fire can be kept going continuously with but little expense.

The Fuel Account.—In the town, where the expenses of housekeeping are greatly added to by the fuel account, care and forethought are required. Small coal may be caked by water being poured upon it. Small coal and large coal should be placed together in stoves or grates. The large coal should be laid on the fire first, and then a shovelful of the small coal-dust, caked with water, added. This will ensure a good and lasting fire, and guard against waste and extravagance in fuel. Do not damp coal stored in cellars, or poisonous fumes will generate. If coal is kept in a dry and airy place it will burn much better than if placed in a close, badly ventilated cellar. Coal that is excluded from the air soon “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL."—The Best Magazine for Women.

gets rid of its gas. and the absence of this renders it more wasteful when burned.

Charcoal.—Charcoal should be carefully sifted. It forms a splendid structure on which to build to-morrow’s fire, besides being useful in various ways.

Coal Cinders.—Large cinders from coal fires may be utilised in a similar way. Cinders laid on top of coal provide a hot and lasting fire.

Coke.—Coke is rather unhealthy as fuel. It produces a glowing fire, but may cause headache and a sense of weariness. If burnt at all, the room should be well ventilated, and a current of air keep the atmosphere fresh.

Clean the stove regularly, removing all debris, and not forgetting to bestow special care upon the flues with a flue brush.

Push in the Dampers.—Fuel will be economised if. when cooking is finished, the oven dampers which permit draught are pushed in. Brush daily all soot and dust from the stove, inside and outside. Brush out the oven, and wherever any accumulation of soot or dust may lodge. Wash the oven shelves twice weekly, if much cooking is done, with hot soda and water.

To Clean the Gas Stove.—A gas stove is cleaned much more quickly than an ordinary stove. The bars on which saucepans rest should be removed, washed in very hot soapsuds, and then polished with black-lead. The oven shelves should be washed in hot water and soda. Clean the brass taps with lemon and salt. A flannel dipped in moistened salt will effectually remove all stains from enamelled parts.

Old Stoves.—Old stoves and.grates, etc., beyond ordinary cleaning, may he renovated by painting them over with Brunswick Black. The unpleasant odour will soon evaporate if doors and windows are left open for a few hours.

Cleaning the Stove.—By rubbing the stove each day when It Is cold with a few drops of sweet oil or kerosene, it may be kept black and clean, and food spilled is easily washed off. as is not the case when a blacking is used. Be careful of the kind of stove-blacking you use. Many women have been seriously burned by the explosion of stoveblacking. Blacking which evaporates quickly or smokes considerably should be avoided. Only put a blacking on the stove when it is cool-before lighting a fire Is the only safe way. Buy your blacking of a reliable person, and be sure it is not explosive.

Leave the oven door open for a while when finished baking. It saves a gas oven from rusting.

First remove the upper reservoir, unscrew the cap at the end of the tube and pour out the oil. Unscrew the caps from the pipe, remove the wicks and lay them aside. Make a strong lye water and fill the lower reservoir, leaving it in for some time. Boil the caps in lye water until the dirt comes oif easily. Take a small wire and run it down in the small tubes, until the lye will run through easily, then pour out the lye and set the stove out-of-doors with the reservoir raised several inches higher than the other end of stove. Pour boiling hot water thr.ough, then leave the stove in this position until dry. Then after the caps are cleaned and dried, screw them back in place. Wipe out the chimneys with a flannel placed over a knife. Get some new wicks, if needed, and you have almost a new stove.

The remains of sauce Juices after a meal come in handy when blacking the stove, for the sugar in them will help the blacking to stick, even t6 a hot stove. Have a can or old jar standing under the sink, and empty into it such juices, coffee, etc., and when you blacken your stove, use this instead of water, to moisten the blacking. The stove-brush was not very handy when I kept it under the sink, and as I use coal I need to use that brush very often. So I have made a little shelf against my chimney, about an inch wider than the width of the brush, and as long as the depth of the chimney. It is right there behind the stove, just high enough, so I needn’t stoop to touch it, and I keep it handle up,'so it is always ready for the almost constant use it gets. Such a shelf, covered with oilcloth, is easily kept clean, and only a woman who knows what backache is will appreciate its convenience.

Stove Polishing.—Stove polishing was the bugbear of my existence until I learned to apply the blacking with a small paint-brush, and when dry shine it with a shoe-brush. In this manner the hands do not come in contact with the polish at all. The top of a range or cook stove can be kept smooth and bright by always washing with soapsuds.

Use good stove blacking, made into a paste about as thick as thin cream with cold water. Add a teaspoonful of sugar to about a gill of the blacking. Wet a piece of cloth in this mixture, and rub on the range. When nearly dry, polish with a brush. One always gets the best results with a cold, or only slightly warm, range. It is impossible to get a good polish on a hot surface. If the top of the range has been burned red, it will be necessary to repeat the coat of blacking and the polishing. It is a great mistake to put a thick coat of blacking on at one time, as only a small portion of it will adhere to the iron surface, the brush removing the greater part. A thorough polishing with the dry brush Is most important. If this is neglected, the utensils and garments that may come in contact with the range will become soiled. The thin coat of blacking may be required for the top of the range every day or two, but the sides and hearth will require merely a brisk rubbing with the brush, putting on a little blacking perhaps once a month. Remember that the application of great quantities of blacking means the filling of all the grooves and crevices with a substance that will require hours to remove or dig out.

To Mix Stove Polish.—Mix with your stove polish a teaspoonful of pulverised alum, to give the stove a brilliant and lasting lustre. It is said that if stove polish is mixed with turpentine instead of water, it will be very black and glossy, and the polish will be retained longer.

Rust on Stove.—Rust on a stove may be removed with kerosene. Wash well with a woollen cloth wet with kerosene. Use an old brush on the grooves and ornamental parts. Let the stove stand a day, and then repeat the washing. Finally rub dry with a woollen cloth, then polish with stove blacking.

Draughts and the Range.—The range should be so located as to escape a draught sweeping over it. This interferes often with the heat of the oven, and especially is this true where a gas range is used. A gas range should always have a flue connection. There is then no fluctuation of the oven temperature. A “ hood ” placed over the range is a great ventilator and helps to carry off the odours of various dishes in process of cooking.

To cleanse a kitchen range, always after using rub well with an old newspaper, which removes the grease, and then black it when cool.

New irons, such as a new range, etc., should always be very gradually heated at first, to prevent possibility of cracking.

An Over-Hot Range.—If a range has become red from overheating or rust, before applying stove blacking rub the surface well with vinegar, allowing it to dry. Blacken when the stove is slightly warm, not hot.

Rust on Fire-Irons.—To remove rust on fire-irons, rub them over with linseed oil, and let them soak for three days. Then wipe it off, and polish with finely powdered unslaked lime till the rust disappears; then polish in the usual w^ray with a little metal polish, which is specially prepared in such a way as to prevent the recurrence of rust.

Bottoms of Kettles.—By rubbing soap on the bottom of kettles before placing directly over the fire, the black may be washed off very easily. Grease will do, but not so well, as the soap helps when washing the vessels. As soft soap is preferable, and many do not have this, boil up scraps of toilet soap and keep ready for this purpose.

The ideal fire is one of wood. It burns clearly, brightly, and cheerfully, and lends a greater air of comfort than any built of coal. In the stove It cooks well. Toast gains flavour, as do grills, from being cooked before a glowing wood fire. With us, wood is not much more expensive to burn than coal, whilst the comfort derived from it is considerably greater.

Did the stove-man forget to tell you how to build a fire in the range? It was his business to do it! It is easy—when you know how. Crumple some paper—a good deal—and place it in the clear grate, then put in

some small bits of wood, then larger wood, nearly filling the firebox, and finally put on top a light sprinkling of coal. Have the lower front damper and the chimney damper open. Light the paper. When the fire has burned till the coal is burning, add more coal. When that is burning well, open the oven damper, so that the heat will circulate around the oven before going up the chimney. To keep the fire burning brightly, add a little coal at a time, but never do this while baking cake or bread. In making the acquaintance of the range, observe, first, that there is a firebox with two inlets of air, the draught and the check; the grate over the ashpan, whether revolving wholly or only in part; the oven; the oven draught; the chimney, chimney draught, and check. The firebox is lined with brick, above which the fire must not come. In front, at the lower part of the firebox, is a door or slide, which must be open when the fire is built, to give it air and cause a draught. The door at the top of and in front of the firebox may be opened to insert a broiler. The slide in It is opened to admit air to burn off the gases when soft coal is burned. Often it is necessary to open this a little when a fire has been covered with fresh coal to keep It.

To keep a fire, free it from ashes underneath by turning the grate or raking. Cover the fire with fresh coal, not filling above the bricks, close the lower front damper, open the upper front slide slightly, and if gas escapes, as it will from some stoves, open the chimney damper a trifle.

Most people when building a fire lay the wood flat, criss-cross over the paper in the bottom of the grate, but let them try placing the wood sloping from the sides of the grate to the centre. This forms a funnel for a free passage of air, and as the flame travels up the stick more quickly than it does across, the result is that fewer pieces are required, and the fire burns up more brightly and in half the time that it usually takes. Then when placing a lump of coal on the fire, if you wish it to last a long time lay it with the grain of the coal running across, as the flame travels more slowly across than upward.

* The main point in extinguishing a fire in a chimney is to prevent the draught going up. Promptly close all doors and windows at the first signs of the fire, and (if at hand) throw whiting or carbonate of soda on the fire. These substances give off carbonic acid gas on being heated, and the chimney will soon be filled with this gas, which is very effectual in extinguishing a fire. Salt or powdered sulphur is equally efficacious. While this is being done, have a piece of old carpet or sacking well soaked in water, and cover the front of the fireplace. This will stop the inrush of air to the fire, but it must be completely closed, as any small opening left will only Increase the draught.

Dresses of inflammable material should not be worn when engaged upon kitchen work. If a dress or any part of the clothing takes fire, and any other person is present, a life may be saved by prompt action. Seize a rug, coat, or woollen tablecloth, and throw it about the sufferer. Hold it firmly, and order the person on Are to lie on the floor and roll in the rug. If alone when a dress catches on fire, the person should immediately lie down and roll out the flames. Any draught will fan the flames, and cause them to ascend.

A Little Child on Fire.—Should the clothing of a little child catch fire, seize the child and roll it on the floor, beating out the flames as bdst you may, if no rug or coat is at hand.

A Room on Fire.—If a room is on fire, exclude all air before the work of extinguishing it is begun. Shut the doors and windows and pour upon the flames a plentiful supply of water.

Chimneys should be swept twice yearly. Should a chimney catch fire, shut doors and windows, close the dampers, throw wet salt on the fire, and soak an old carpet or potato sack and fix firmly in front of the fireplace. If possible, cover the top of the chimney with wet carpet, or pour buckets of water down the opening.

A quick, sure, and safe way of lighting a fire: Get a small tin (treacle tin is best), half fill with kerosene, and place several bits of kindling in this. Let them stand all night. Take two or three sticks out of this, and use each time you light a fire. Put fresh sticks in tin whenever some are taken out. 1 have used this mode of fire-lighting for ten years, and would not go back to the use of paper again. The sticks must be allowed to be soaked in kerosene, or you will find this a failure.

Another Method.—A good fire-kindling material is made thus: Fill tin cans two-thirds full with fine coal or wood ashes, pour in half a cupful of kerosene, and stir well, so that ashes will be well saturated. When a fire is to be made, use one or two spoonfuls of the ashes and light in the usual manner. One who has never tried this cannot realise how long oil-soaked ashes will burn.

Fuel Balls.—Mix sawdust with melted resin. Roll into balls. With fuel balls made thus no trouble will be found in lighting fires.

Wear Gloves.—Housemaid's gloves, or old gloves sufficiently large to give freedom to the hands, should be worn whilst the work of cleaning and black-leading a grate is in process.

A Gas Leak.—A leak in the gas pipe may be stopped with a paste of laundry soap and whiting until a more permanent repair can be made.

Gilt Frames of Pictures.—The white of an egg. applied with a small camel-hair brush, will remove fly traces and soil from gilt frames. The water In which onions have been boiled, if rubbed over the frames, will remove dust and specks and brighten the gilding wonderfully. Artists clean oil paintings by going over every inch of them with a large potato, removing a thin slice every time it shows the least soil.

To Brighten Picture Frames.—To brighten gilt picture frames take sufficient flowers of sulphur to give a golden tinge to about a pint and a half of water, and in this boil four or five bruised onions—or garlic, which will answer the same purpose. Strain off the liquid, and with it when cold wash with a soft brush any gilding which requires renewing, and when dry it will come out bright and new.

Hanging Unframed Pictures.—A simple way to hang unframed pictures is to fasten a wire paper clip to each of the upper corners of the pictures and slip these clips over tacks put in the wall at the proper places. This is appropriate for studios, bungalows, cottages, etc.

Most people, after using an umbrella on a wet day, even if they do carefully dry them, regard any further process as needless; but there are other means of lengthening their term of usefulness.

It is at the joints that unbrellas break first, and it is scarcely surprising, for they are never oiled, and yet are expected to work smoothly, and respond easily to the most sudden act of opening. To preserve an umbrella, and obtain the best possible use out of it, the joints should be -arefully oiled with paraffin or kerosene oil, to clean off any possible rust, just as in the case of a bicycle, and then be “ touched ” with lubricating oil, to make them work easily. Thus cared for, the framework will last in excellent order, with ordinary use, almost indefinitely.

To Mend an Umbrella.—To mend an umbrella, moisten a piece of black court-plaster and stick it on the inside over the hole. It will not be so noticeable as a darn; and although the plaster may have to be renewed after the umbrella has been out in a hard rain, it is easily done.

How to Utilise Broken China.—When the next breakage takes place in the house, I would suggest that my readers collect all the pieces, great and small, and carefully put them on one side. I have no doubt by the time the long winter evenings are here the collection will have grown rather formidable. I want to tell you how to make them into “ a thing of beauty.”

From Pudding Dish to Flower-Bowl.—A large-size pudding dish makes a very handsome flower-bowl when decorated in the following manner: Procure some putty, and spread on the bowl with a palette knife. Take your pieces of china and press them into the putty; put them as close together as possible, but do not let them overlap each other; no piece of china should be large. Before the putty is put on the dish the pieces of china should be arranged on a piece of paper as they are intended to be placed on the bowl, so that all the pieces may be quickly laid on the putty before it hardens. To give a nice finish, paint the exposed putty with a gold or silver paint.

To Repair Hot-Water Bottles.—For repairing hot-water bottles, and all rubber goods used in or out of water, except where the patch is constantly In contact with hard wear, 1 find this method satisfactory. Procure of a bicycle-dealer a sixpenny repair outfit for inside patching of inner tubes. Take a piece of fine emery-paper, and remove all outside substance from the boot or bottle. Apply one application, or more if needed. Let it stand for a minute. Take a patch of soft rubber, purchased at a drug-store, and called surgeons’ rubber. Sixpenceworth will be plenty for a number of patches. Cut the size patch you need, apply the same solution to one side of the rubber, after using the emery-paper on it, and let it stand a minute. Then, after the ether contained in the solution has evaporated, apply to the article, boot or bottle, putting a weight of some kind on the patch, to keep it from curling, and let it stand until dry.

Using a Broken Cup.—Having the misfortune to break the handle from an expensive and exceptionally pretty cup, I learned from a china painter how I could grind the two stubs of the handle off with emery cloth and convert the fragment into a charming little bowl, which I now use for a great many things. The emery cloth, which costs a penny a sheet, is placed flat on a table and the surface to be ground down is rubbed over it with considerable force. The finishing touches are given with a stick covered with emery cloth, and the china painter always adds a bit of gold paint or other decoration.

To Hang Plates.—I had some pretty plates which I wished to hang on the wall. So I took some large dresshooks and slipped them on

the edge of the plate. For each plate I used three or four, according to the shape of the plate. Then I took wrapping cord and ran it across the back of plate from one hook to another, and fastened it securely at the centre, making a small loop, where the cord fastened, to hang it up by. When on the wall, only the small edge of the hooks can be seen on the front of the plate.

To Prevent Breakage.—To avoid breakages when washing glass, fold a towel several times and place it in the bottom of the bowl used for washing up. This prevents thin glass from breaking and chipping.

Cleaning Light Globes.—For discoloured light globes, try strong soda water; wash them in this, then rinse in clear water; wash in ammonia and soapsuds, and then rinse and dry with soft old linen.

Do not spend hours scouring the tins in the pantry, but put them on to boil in strong borax water. They will come out bright as when new, and then require only a thorough washing and drying. Agateware, iron kettles, dripping-pans, enamelware, etc., can be made like new by putting them on to boil in lye water. Do not touch the water with the fingers, but scoop out the articles with a wooden spoon, and put at once into a tub of clear water to wash away the lye; from this water, put each article into a tub of hot soapsuds and wash thoroughly, using a little sand soap on any obstinate spots. Do not leave too long in the lye water, but work quickly.

If the galvanised iron set tubs are in bad condition, wash with hot vinegar and soda; let this stand for a short time, and then wash off in strong suds and rinse in clear water.

Old Looking-Glasses.—Old looking-glasses that are scratched, etc., can be made as good as new by applying the following mixture with a small brush: Three ounces of bismuth, half an ounce each of tin and lead melted together, and three ounces of mercury. Apply to back of looking-glass when the mixture is cool.

Cleaning Mirrors.—To clean mirrors, sponge them perfectly free from all dirt, drying with soft cloths, and when quite dry rub a little powdered blue over the glass, polishing it Anally with a soft old silk handkerchief.

In order to keep the solitary table in my small kitchen clear for work, I had two shelves put up, twenty-seven inches long and twenty inches wide. They were supported by strong brackets, both shelves and brackets folding against the wall when not in use. Instead of being obliged to stop and prepare table space for the grocery and meat “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL."—The Best Magazine for Women.

order that always comes at noon when I am usually busy. 1 instruct the delivery boy to place the parcels on this impromptu table. My bread, cakes and pies are cooled here, and, in preserving season, jellies and jams.

To Mend a Shoe.—To mend a hole in the sole of a shoe take a piece of any old leather or rubber, paste it on with strong glue and press until dry. It will last for weeks.

To Keep Shoes in Good Condition.—There are many preparations for keeping boots and shoes in good condition, but nothing is more practical and effective than plain castor oil. Keep it in a wide-necked bottle with a paint brush in it. Then let each of the children frequently oil his or her footwear all over, even the soles. Thus the leather will be kept full of oil and be waterproof and not grow stiff. The shoes should be oiled at night and left in a warm place to dry.

Have you a bag full of cotton and wool socks and stockings all hopelessly past mending? Well, let me help you to make use of them. Begin with the black woollen socks. Cut off the foot, put your hand on the leg, and shape for a mitten, keeping the ribbed top for the wrist. Cut a thumb from the top of the foot (you will find a scrap just the right size) and with very little work you have a warm, nice-looking pair of mittens.

Now for the stockings. Take six legs, cut them open, and make them into four-inch strips lengthwise; put them into a mop stick, and you have an excellent floor-cloth. Two more legs cut open and sewed up to form a bag make the best broom-bag imaginable. Four legs cut open and seamed up square give a dust cloth that is better than any other for taking up dust. Slip a pair of stocking legs over your sleeves, and see what splendid protectors you have without sewing a stitch. Make several pairs of mittens from the cotton socks to protect the hands while sweeping, dusting, attending to the stoves, etc. Take a pair of long legs, cut off the feet, and stitch in from the lower end one inch far enough apart to form fingers. Cut a hole for the thumb, and you have mitts and sleeve-protectors in one for wearing In the garden. These are for work where one needs the fingers free, as in sowing seeds, transplanting, or gathering fruit and vegetables.

A Home-Made Water-Bottle.—If you need an extra hot-water bottle fill a quart fruit-jar with hot water, screw down tight, and slip a stocking leg over it. You will find it a good substitute. Cut a few legs into suitable lengths, and stitch across one end, run a drawstring into the other end, and you have bags for buttons, seeds, small boys’ marbles, or any of the many uses for bags about the house.

New Stockings from Old.—New stockings made of old ones while you wait: Just flatten out the old feet and commence cutting three inches above the heel, towards the heel, then cut off the old worn heel and the lower part of the foot towards the toe; then cut off the old worn toe, and seam on the sewing-machine. The new stocking will look like a long bag tapering to a round point, but will shape itself perfectly to the foot and can be made in a few moments, and is entirely comfortable.

There is a use for everything, and even empty tins have many uses apart from the generally accepted ones of receptacles for buttons, nails and odds and ends.

An empty coffee tin is excellent to replace a sponge bag when travelling. A pound tin will hold a nail brush, flannel and sponge, and you will find it cheap and waterproof. If you add a coat of enamel, the sponge tin becomes quite decorative; but remember to leave a plain piece of tin at the top, otherwise the coat of paint will make the lid fit too tightly.

Syrup tins make capital little flower-pots when artistically enamelled, and fill up dark corners admirably. Flat-sided mustard tins are Invaluable for decoration. They must be painted dark oak inside and out, care having been taken to ascertain if they are watertight. Being flat, they can be nailed into otherwise impossible corners and are hardly discernible from the actual woodwork. Flowers and moss last wonderfully in these tins.

Another idea for an empty tin is to use it for a bottle tidy. Some medicines, particularly those containing oil, are apt, when set down, to leave an unsightly mark. Keeping the bottle in a tin obviates this, and, after taking a dose, the medicine itself remains hidden until the “ next time.”

Take one pound of white gelatine, one pound of glycerine, one pound of glucose, one pound of strong white glue, five pound of water. The glue should be soaked in water overnight, and then laid out to allow the surplus water to drain off. When this has been done, mix all the ingredients in a vessel or pan, partly submerged in another pan containing boiling water, great care being taken that the ingredients do not get burned. When thoroughly melted, pour gently through a fine sieve, or a piece of coarse linen, into a shallow tin or tray the desired size. When properly cooled it is ready for use. When about to use the pad write the copy on good paper with aniline ink. Then place paper, face downwards, on the pad, and press lightly all over the surface of the paper. Remove paper gently, when the writing or drawing will be found transferred to the pad. To take the impression (or to print the necessary copies) place upon the pad a clean sheet of paper, and gently rub it with the fingers, or go over it lightly with a small rubber roller. With a good aniline ink (which may be purchased at any stationer’s) many copies may be taken. To clean off the ink ready for new copy, rub lightly with a sponge. Should sur-

face get rough or broken up with cleaning, put tray into a warm oven for a short time until it melts; when cool it will again be ready for use.

There Is a craze just now for covering things with cigar labels, and, surprising as it may seem, some very pretty effects may be obtained. Plates, dishes, calendars, vases, pots, and many other little articles may be decorated in the manner described, and, hung on the walls of a smoking-room, make very pretty, attractive, and brightly coloured ornaments. All kinds of cigar bands may be used, and they should be carefully removed from the cigars without being torn. It is best to open them with a penknife. Then press them quite flat under a heavy weight, and they will be ready to be gummed on to the article chosen for decoration. A great variety of designs may be worked out, and for the centre of a plate it is a very good plan to cut out and use one of those embossed gold designs frequently found on the paper leaf inside a cigar box and covering the uppermost layer of cigars. It will take a large number to decorate even an ordinary plate, and for the one now in mind at writing about eighty bands were used. After the bands have all been gummed on, the article so ornamented may be varnished with a transparent varnish, as it can then be washed when it becomes dusty, and can always be made to look bright and new.

to revive a fire, and the shells of the Brazil nuts are particularly serviceable in this way. The stones of plums, greengages, etc., may be used for the same purpose, and should be dried and saved instead of being thrown away. Orange peel is another article which may be treated as above. All these may be kept in a small ornamental bag or box near the chimney-corner, as they are quite inodorous when dried, and will be at hand when required. Spent matches used in the same way will be found helpful, and in households where gas-stoves are used there will generally be a large number of struck matches which can thus be utilised.

To Prevent Wooden Tubs Shrinking—To prevent wooden pails or tubs from shrinking when not in use, paint them over with glycerine.

Old Dress Material.—Odd pieces of dress material can be made into serviceable iron-holders, or, if of serge, can be sewn together to make cloths for use in washing stone steps, scullery floors, window-sills, etc. Old postage stamps can be used for covering empty jars, some being put on whole, and others cut in half, and arranged to form various designs.

To Mend Broken Brooms.—To mend broken broom handles, take a piece of stout tin nearly four inches square, or just wide enough

to reach around handle and lap enough to tack together; punch six small holes in each of two edges, join edges of broken handle, wrap the tin tight around and tack firmly in holes, which should fit over each other.

A Shabby Straw Hat.—1 saw an old, shabby, black straw hat taken from a lumber-room, and treated by a friend as follows; First she well brushed it; then, with a small paste-brush, painted it over with a mixture of black ink and gum-arabic. She worked quickly and lightly, being very careful at the edge of the brim; then, while it was damp, bent it into shape. In the morning it had the appearance of a new hat. The time taken was about one hour, including the time for one dessertspoonful of gum-arabic to dissolve in a saucerful of good black ink, and I believe it cost her about sixpence.

Using Tea-Chest Matting.—Many articles may be made from the matting which comes around tea-chests, such as mats—bound with coloured braid—after being cut into oval shapes, for placing on the dinner table, under hot plates or dishes or teapot. Very pretty mats may also be made of this material by being stencilled or painted upon, and bound with coloured braid or ribbon. It might also add to their beauty, and he more serviceable, for them to be varnished. Out of the same material a very pretty and useful splash-back for washstand may be made, if splay work or painting be done on it, and varnished. This should be bound also.

An Old Clock.-—Someone who has tried it says that an old alarm clock which refused to go was given a lease on life by putting it into a saucepan, covering with cold water and bringing it slowly to a boil, keeping it at the boiling point for twenty minutes or so, then setting in the oven to drain for half an hour. The hands and alarm were then turned around several times, the clock was wound, and it behaved for several months.

The Old Tablecloth.—Every housewife wonders what to do with the old table oilcloth. It will not burn; you cannot sell it and it is hard work to bury it. Now try my plan. First boil the oilcloth in lye water; then rinse two or three times in clear water, and hang them on the clothes-line to bleach. As soon as they are bleached bring them in and make up into dish towels. You will find them soft, white and free from lint.

Hanging a Broom.—Instead of boring a hole and running a string through the handle of a broom to hang it by, it is much easier and more satisfactory to screw into the top of the handle one of the large rings that are used for pictures. This can be hung on a nail, or you can put a string through it.

Grease on Wall Paper.—Having had our living-room newly papered, I discovered several very bad grease-spots back of the couch, where the heads are apt to rest. After trying a blotter with a hot iron, also breadcrumbs, which both failed, I found that several applications of French chalk removed the spots entirely.

A Use for Old Flannel.—The skirts of flannel night-dresses and short petticoats themselves are usually good for considerable wear after being discarded from the wardrobe. They are excellent for broom covers and are little trouble to make over. Simply run a row of stitching across the bottom four or five inches from the edges, forming a bag. Turn down the top for an inch hem, and with darning needle and cord run a draw-string in place. No matter if the bag is rather large, it will take up the dirt just so much quicker, but if the garments are unusually full two covers are sometimes possible from one skirt.

A Good Substitute for Putty.—A cheap and effective substitute for putty, to stop the cracks in floors and other woodwork, is made by soaking newspapers in a paste made by boiling a pound of flour in three quarts of water, and adding a teaspoonful of alum. This mixture should be about the consistency of putty, and should be forced into the cracks with a blunt knife. It will harden as it dries, and then may be painted or stained to match the boards. If the cracks are neatly stopped, they will, after painting, be hardly perceptible.

To Save Stencilled Articles.—Use plenty of blotting-paper when stencilling, if you want the most satisfactory results. Many handsome pieces of material are ruined by a failure to place enough pads of blotting-paper under the goods during the process of stencilling.

Whether the household is small or on a large scale, one of the most important branches connected with its successful management is that of the laundry. In Australasia, housewives in remote parts are forced to undertake the weekly wash under conditions most difficult. Few country townships possess a water supply. Water for all household purposes is stored either in wells or tanks. This necessitates the heavy work of carrying water before the washing is begun. Much time will be saved if, in localities where tanks hold the only supply, the washing-tubs are filled overnight and the fire laid ready for the morning.

Coppers are not always provided in the houses so situated. Kerosene tins are substituted. Before kerosene tins are used for the purpose of boiling clothes they should be simply treated as a preventive against rust. On first being purchased, rub the tins well with lard, and heat very thoroughly. Allow them to remain, after cooling, for twenty-four hours before being used for laundry work.

A shed or protection of some kind should be erected. Failing this, a portion of the verandah or kitchen should be utilised. Before washing day dawns, all requisites such as soap, blue, soda, starch, should be procured in readiness. Clothes-lines and plenty of clothes-pegs will save time and labour. Both the lines and pegs should be kept thoroughly clean, and the latter, after each washing-day, placed in a bag or some receptacle until again required.

The night previous to the wash, or early in the morning of the day for laundry work, a bowl of soap-jelly should be made and kept in readiness for the washing of flannels, singlets, jaegers, etc.

In too many homes the receptacle for the soiled linen is not properly looked after. Bags are unwholesome unless they are frequently washed and boiled. The wicker baskets are better, but they should be frequently cleansed. Put them out in the air, and turn the hose on them, inside and out, leaving them in a good breeze and sun to air and dry thoroughly.

How to Sort the Clothes.—All linen, starched white articles, such as dresses, pinafores, cuffs, shirts, etc., should be placed in one heap. Body-linen, bed-linen, washhand towels, in a separate lot—and so on.

Every article used in the laundry should be in perfect order, and the plumbing of the best. The ironing boards should be of the best, and the covers changed every week. The wringer should be wiped dry after using and the metal part oiled. Then it should be thoroughly wiped before using. Always have plenty of sand-paper, beeswax and paraffin among your laundry supplies.

A most effective help in washing is soaking. First soap all of the dirtiest portion of the clothes. Then fold the soaped portions toward the centre, roll tightly and soak overnight in cold water, just sufficient to cover. When the clothes are all unrolled the washing will require less rubbing. Disinfection is ensured by boiling, but some housekeepers think that boiling yellows the clothes. It is not the boiling that yellows the clothes, but Impure materials in the soap and imperfect washing.

For the first lot of white garments, the best method is to place the clothes in the boiler and cover with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil and boil for fifteen minutes. This will remove any soap that was in the clothing and will disinfect at the same time. An addition of a tablespoonful of borax to each boiler of water will be found a great help in bleaching.

When perfectly dry spread the clothes out on the laundry table and sprinkle. Fold and roll and allow them to stand at least half an hour.

Woollen goods require the most careful washing. Never use soap hut only soap in solution or borax. Have all waters of the same temperature and always medium, never hot or cold

Most people wash blankets in warm suds. This entails far more work than the following method, and results are not nearly as satisfactory. Follow these directions, and your work will be lessened and your blankets like new. Dissolve a bar of white soap-in enough boiling water to make, when cold, a soap-jelly. Add to each half pound of white soap, before dissolving it, one large tablespoonful of

borax. Fill your tuba overnight with cold water. Allow a heaping tablespoonful of the jelly for each gallon of cold washing water. Churn it into a lather with the hand. Then place your blankets In the tubs, see that the water well saturates them, and leave till next morning. Then wash the blankets without adding any hot water whatever. Work across, then towards the centre, until every portion has been gone over. When the blanket looks clean, press out the dirty water and let one end fall in a tub containing a second mixture, whilst you keep working towards the other end of the blanket. Rinse well in the second tubful of water and soap-jelly. Then turn the blanket into a tub of clear, cold water; rinse It free from all soap, and throw across the line to drip and dry. Do not wring either with hand or machine. The day chosen for blanket-washing should be bright and breezy. Washed in this way, the very best results are obtained.

Dissolve a bar of white wool soap in enough boiling water to make a thin soft soap. Place two tubs on the wash bench. Fill each half full of cold soft water. Make a good suds in one with the prepared soap, and put in your first blanket. Begin at the corner and press and squeeze. Do not rub. Work across end, then toward centre, until every portion has been gone over. When it looks white and clean, begin at end, press water out and let fall in other tub as you keep working toward the other end of blanket. Rinse up and down in water, and throw over line to drip. Do not wring. If the day is bright, with a slight breeze, the blankets will dry in a few hours and be as soft and fleecy as new.

It is not enough that all the conditions be just right for the proper washing of woollens; if the manipulation is wrong they will shrink and become hard. Here is a method which will keep your woollens In good condition: Dissolve two tablespoonfuls of borax in a pint of boiling water; cut up half a pound of white soap, and put it. with a gallon of hot water, on the back of the stove where it will dissolve slowly. Add the dissolved borax to this. Have two tubs half filled with water in which you can comfortably bear the hand. To one tub add a quart of the soap mixture; to the second tub add a pint. Wash the garment in the first tub, sopping and squeezing, but not rubbing. Press the suds out of the article, and then wash in the second tub. Rinse in clear water of the same temperature in which you did the washing. Pass the article through the wringer, shake well, and hang up to dry. If you have not a wringer press as much of the water as possible from the garment, but do not wring it.

When the article is nearly dry, take it into the house and press it; use a medium-hot iron. Use a good deal of pressure.

Ammonia may be substituted for the borax, and for very soiled garments it is better than borax. Add it directly to the water, about, three tablespoonfuls to the first tub, and one tablespoonful to the second tub. Wet only two or three articles at a time. Wash, rinse, and hang out as quickly as possible.

Stockings.—Wash woollen stockings quickly in lukewarm lather, and do not let them lie in the water and soak. Rinse in the same temperature of water.

Never rub woollen things unless they are very dirty. In the case of stockings it is often necessary. They should be washed in rather hot water, with soap-jelly dissolved in it, turned first on the right side and then on the wrong. Rub a little soap on to the feet of the stockings and rinse in three waters. Stockings should not be washed in the same water as white flannels, since the little particles of white wool left In the water stick to the dark surface.

In the case of very heavy woollens they should be quite dry before ironing. Take a handkerchief or piece of muslin and wring it out of water, placing it between the garment, right side up, and the very hot iron indispensable with heavy goods, re-dip it in water, taking care not to let the iron touch the bare material on the right side, as it would make It shiny. If there are bulging parts stretched out of shape, they may be pulled as far as possible into shape while they are being ironed under a damp cloth. In the case of trousers the seams should first be pressed on the wrong side on a long, narrow board shaped for the purpose. They should then be folded—almost, but not precisely— with the seams meeting at the bottoms of the trouser legs, and pressed ail over with the wet cloth and very hot iron, taking care to bring the front crease exactly In the right place.

There is no department of a household where greater care is needed than the laundry. Here it is that all the clothing of the family is washed and disinfected and also all the table and bed linen, curtains and such drapery as can be laundered. The good health of the family depends largely on the conditions in the laundry. There is nothing more conducive to health than cleanliness, and our bodies are constantly throwing off dead organic matter, besides the oily and acid secretions. The three most effective agents in the laundry are sunshine, pure water and good soap.

Water is a solvent and also an absorbent, and for this reason is never pure. Rain water contains less impurities of some kinds than ground water. Rain water as drained by pipes is usually discoloured by soot and dust from the roof. Well water, having filtered from a greater or lesser distance through the ground, is free from these impurities, but has become more or less mineralised by its solvent and absorbent power. These minerals are insoluble with soap. Hard water may be softened by boiling, or, if very hard, may be softened by the use of sal-soda.

An important article in the laundry is soap. Laundry soaps are composed chiefly of fat and lye. Their action disposes of the grease, dirt, acids and stains. Washing soda should always be dissolved before it is used, and then it must be used with moderation and good judgment. One-half a pound of washing soda dissolved in one-half gallon of hot water makes a good strong solution, and one pint of this solution in a tub of water will be sufficient. In using this soda solution add it to the water in the tub before putting in the clothes.

Borax and ammonia are both valuable and useful in the laundry. A tablespoonful of borax (powdered) is the proper quantity for a boiler full of water. Buy pure ammonia at the druggists’ and do your own diluting. Turpentine and kerosene are also invaluable in the laundry. Turpentine in proportions of three tablespoonfuls to a gallon of warm water will be found excellent for washing silks.

The proper way to have lace curtains cleansed, and at the same time preserve them, is to have the curtains thoroughly washed and rinsed, then starched and ironed. Only good starch should be used, to which a little borax should be added. They should not be stiffened more than is necessary.

The removal of dirt is the first thing to be considered in the treatment of hangings. Great care should be taken to remove all iron rust or mould stains with oxalic acid before the curtains are wet. The curtains should be placed in cold water to soak about twelve hours, and should then be squeezed out and placed in a fresh lot of water for some hours, repeating this until no more dirt comes out. They should then be thoroughly washed in warm water with plenty of soap. After washing, it improves the looks of the curtains to boil them. They should then be passed through blued water to avoid the yellow appearance, and afterward dried out-of-doors in the bright sun.

After the curtains are dried they should be starched, using raw starch if they are to be ironed, and boiled starch If they are to be dried in a frame or pinned to the floor. If the curtains are to be ironed they must be rolled in a clean cloth for some hours, and if they are to be dried by pinning out flat, they should be pinned to a sheet and pulled out evenly, so that the pattern and shape appear all right. Ironing should always be done on a board of such length that the full width of the curtain can be ironed at once. Moderately hot irons only should be used, and the curtains should be kept square as the work proceeds. After they have been ironed, the frills, if there are any, should then be attended to.

Wishing to give my lace curtains an ecru tint when I washed them, I poured boiling water upon powdered rhubarb, and added starch and fresh water until I had sufficient to dip all at once. I used lJfcd. worth of rhubarb for three curtains. When it came to drying, I hung them by the sides, one over the other, using several pins. After carefully stretching down the lower corners, I pinned them together, and kept each curtain in its proper shape. I found this method quite as satisfactory as, and much easier and more convenient than, stretching them on the carpet.

The day before you intend to wash take a third of a bar of good soap, cut up into small pieces, and melt in about a gallon of water. Sort your clothes, putting the fine things into one tub, coarse into another, and so on. Mix the melted soap with a sufficient quantity of water to soak the clothes in the tubs, and allow them to remain all night. On washing day, wring the clothes out of the soaking tubs, have plenty of hot water ready, and wash them out, but do not boil them. Change the water frequently, and use plenty of clean water for rinsing. I have washed this way for years, and my clothes are beautifully white and clean. I boil only very dirty towels, greasy dish towels, or kitchen aprons. This way of washing is much less trouble than the usual way. Many a hard-worked mother, with a large family, would find the good of it if she would only try it. It is both a saving or labour and soap. The above quantity of soap would soak a week’s wash for eight or ten people. In washing out, use more soap if required.

A good washing fluid is made by mixing five pounds of sal-soda, one pound of borax, half a pound of fresh unslaked lime, and four ounces of liquid ammonia. Pour one gallon of boiling water upon the soda and borax. Let this cool, then add the ammonia. Pour one gallon of hot water over the lime, and let it stand until entirely settled, then carefully pour off the clear fluid and turn it upon the dissolved borax and soda. Add eight gallons of cold water. Six tablespoonfuls of this fluid may be added to a tubful of clothes.

With heavy double damask no starch should be used, but where the linen is of lighter weight a very thin starch will make it iron easier. Table-cloths should be well stretched and hung evenly on the line after washing, otherwise it is hard to pull them straight before ironing. When ready to iron they should he dampened thoroughly, and ironed until perfectly dry. All embroidery should be ironed on the wrong side. If napkins and all small pieces of this kind are READ “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—Sixpence Everywhere.

laid in large towels and wrung out of very hot water, they will iron much better and be stiffer than when sprinkled in the usual way.

One thing to remember when ironing lace is to iron it well to the width, so that the whole design will show clear and distinct, and look as like the new material as possible. To do this, the lace must be carefully pulled to the width, then placed on the table, wrong side up, and ironed along the straight edge, holding the lace up in front of the iron, so that the tip of the iron may press the lace to the width, and also keep the selvedge straight.

Again place the lace flat on the table, and iron across the width of it, pressing the tip of the iron into each point until it is quite dry. If the lace has a raised pattern, a thick piece of felt or three folds of ordinary blanket may be slipped under the iron sheet, and the lace be ironed over it. This will raise the work considerably.

Very fine lace should be ironed through muslin, and never touched with the bare metal.

Pocket-Handkerchiefs.—Pocket-handkerchiefs should be placed in cold salt and water. This renders washing such articles much less objectionable.

A Clothes-Horse.—A clothes-horse is necessary, and if not provided, can be constructed, and is an admirable help in airing, drying, etc. In wet weather, several such aids will be found a boon, as a clothes-horseful of articles placed in position in a warm room overnight will be found dry in the morning.

The Ironing Table.—A large table, smoothly boarded and covered with a blanket, over which is laid a clean sheet, will be necessary for ironing purposes.

Petticoats and Dresses.—For petticoats and dresses, the ironing of which takes time and care, a skirt-board will prove useful, saving much trouble and labour. Sleeve-boards and shirt-boards also form part of the equipment of an ordinarily well-managed laundry.

The Best Laundry Day.—Tuesday is the best day for laundry work. Many charwomen prefer soaking clothes overnight in cold water as a means of facilitating work on the following day. Tuesday, also, allows of some portion of the day before being allotted to the task of collecting and sorting all soiled clothes in their several separate heaps.

Many people have been annoyed at finding their irons quite rusty-after they have been put away a few days. The way to prevent this happening is: before you put them away, rub a little warm grease over them and then wrap them up in brown paper. When you take them out to use, dip them in hot water that has had a small piece of soda dissolved in it, rub dry, and then put them to heat in the usual way. When they are ready to be used on the ironing board, have a piece of brown paper with a little powdered bathbrick on it and rub the surface of your iron with this. It seems rather a lengthy process, but it really does not take long to do, and housewives will be rewarded for the trouble they have taken by finding the irons delightfully smooth and easy to use, and when they are like this, the ironing can be done twice as quickly.

To clean irons that have become rough through bits of starch sticking to them, wash thoroughly In soapsuds, and they will then be beautifully smooth and clean, but be sure to dry them thoroughly afterward, or they will rust.

When ironing, rub the iron with a cloth moistened with a little paraffin before using. If your iron is inclined to stick, rub frequently on sand-paper.

When sad-irons (without handles) are heated on a coal or gas stove, the space occupied Dy the Irons and a part of the heat used to warm them are lost, as they cannot be used for any other purpose. A new appliance for utilising both the space and the surplus heat consists of a flat sheet-iron tray with a handle and a perforated sheet-metal cover or heat-retainer. Experiments with the apparatus showed that two irons placed on the tray and enclosed by the cover were heated thoroughly and much more quickly than when standing exposed on the hot surface of the stove, the cover serving to concentrate the heat upon the irons. A kettle of cold water placed at the same time on top of the cover was slowly heated from the surplus heat that escaped through the perforations of the cover, showing that two operations can be carried on in the same surface space and by the same source of heat. The surplus heat from the cover was sufficient for ordinary slow cooking, such as stewing or soup-making.

To Remove Ink Stains.—The removal of ink stains is always a problem, because inks are made by so many processes. Soap and water will remove some inks, while strong chemicals make little impression on others. The sooner the stain is treated the more easily it is removed. Washing and soaking in cold water, or in sweet or sour milk, will remove the greater part of the ink, and frequently the stain. Spots

on washable articles should be soaked in milk or water. Rub the spot and change the liquid frequently. After two or three days, if a stain remains, wet it with a strong solution of oxalic acid, and place it in the sun. After this rinse very thoroughly.

Wet Ink Stains.—Ink stains are particularly easy to remove if, whilst still wet, the stained portion of the article is allowed to soak in a mixture of lemon juice and salt. As the mixture becomes soiled, it should be renewed. After all marks have disappeared, rinse the garment in cold water.

To remove an ink spot, rub cold tallow on it from a candle, allow it to remain twenty-four hours, and wash as usual. Properly done, the removal of the ink spot is certain.

To Remove Coffee Stains.—Glycerine rubbed into coffee stains will remove them from woollens and other materials.

Kerosene Stains.—Kerosene may be removed by the use of fullers’ earth. Cover the stain with a thick layer of hot fullers' earth, allow to remain for twenty-four hours, then brush off.

Vaseline-stains, when fresh, will come out by soaking in kerosene, before water and soap touch it

Removing Pencil Marks.—If there are any pencil marks on the linen, remove them carefully with a rubber eraser before the linen goes into the wash. Hot water will set them beyond hope of removal.

Fruit Stains.—Powdered starch, if applied at once, will take out almost any fruit stain from table linen. If the stain has dried, moisten with whisky before sending to the wash.

Mildew.—To remove mildew, soak the article in a weak solution of chloride of lime for a few hours, then rinse in cold water.

To remove rust, ink and mildew marks from white garments, nothing is better than salt and lemon juice. MoiBten the salt with the

juice and spread over the stains, allow it to remain on for a short time, and, if necessary, repeat the process. Rinse well afterward in clear water.

To remove grease from garments, dissolve a tablespoonful of salt in four tablespoonfuls of alcohol, shake well and apply with a sponge.

Iron your lace and needlework always on the wrong side, so as not to flatten the design.

Fruit stains may be removed by pouring boiling water over the article, then washing.

Ray in the sunlight articles that have been scorched in ironing, and the scorch will disappear.

Remove grass stains by saturating the spots with alcohol, allowing them to remain for a little time in the alcohol; then wash in clear water.

If an acid has been spilled on a fabric, and changed the colour, sponge with dilute ammonia, and the colour will be restored.

A Scorch on Linen.—Follow this method: Chop two onions, and wring in a cloth or a lemon-squeezer, to get the juice. Add to one-half pint of vinegar, one-half ounce of soap, and two ounces of fullers' earth; boil till thoroughly mixed. Spread some on the scorched article with a knife, let it dry on, wash off and the scorch disappears. This mixture should be kept in a covered jar.

Iron Rust.—When on iron it may be removed by using petroleum to soften, and then rubbing well with coarse sand-paper.

Strong sunlight is no mean reagent in the eradicating of spots. Mildew stains, after rubbing the affected part in lemon juice, may be taken out by bleaching in the sun, though, as in bleaching other stains, it may be necessary in some cases to wet several times, and leave in the sun a good while. Some people rub in soap and powdered chalk instead of the lemon juice. Sunlight alone will bleach out a slight scorch stain. When, however, the scorch is dark in colour, having penetrated the entire fabric, it can still be removed in most cases by onion juice. Slice and squeeze the juice of two onions by pounding, and mix with it about half an ounce of white soap shaved in little pieces, two ounces of fullers' earth, and half a pint of vinegar. Boil this mixture, and then spread it over the scorched part of the linen, which should, of course, be washed out subsequently.

Boiling water, more efficacious when poured through from a height of two feet or so, is the principal agent in removing print stains. The table-cloth, or whatever it is, should be placed with the affected part stretched over a washbowl, so that the water poured through it may strike with some force. The sooner this is attended to the better. This is also the treatment for wine-

stains, though the latter especially come out more easily if one sprinkles a little salt over the stain, and rubs it In immediately, which it is simple to do when wine is spilled on the tablecloth daring dinner.

Boiling water takes out the stains of nearly all kinds of fruits; but on the juice of some, such as blackberries, peaches, nectarines and pears, it has not such a satisfactory effect. In taking out stains from these fruits, a little bleaching powder moistened with an acid, either lemon-juice or vinegar, can be used in addition before putting them in the sun to bleach.

Many women make dreadfully hard work of washing, and yet their clothes never look well. I think that I have discovered the reason of tne failure. The clothes are put into a boiler with scalding hot water, instead of that which is either tepid or boiling, thereby setting all stains. Scalding water sets stains, while that which is briskly boiling removes them. Pour boiling water through tea-stained tablecloths and all discolouration will be eradicated, if not set in a previous washing. Most fresh berry stains may thus be removed.

All of the white clothes are liable to become stained. Fruit stains are the most common and the most lasting, when neglected. They should never be allowed to stand. To remove the stain when fresh, stretch the stained article over a bowl and pour the water, boiling hot, slowly upon the stain until it disappears, then place the article in the sun until dry. Boiling milk used in the same manner will remove wine stains. Medicine stains and iodine may be removed with ether, chloroform or alcohol. Coffee, tea, and chocolate stains should be washed out immediately. Stretch the stained part over a basin and pour boiling water on the stain. If it is of long standing it should be first soaked in cold water, then sprinkled with powdered borax and allowed to stand. Then use clear boiling water, but never soap, as the soap will set the tannin and colouring matter in the stain, and it will never come out

Fresh grass stains may be removed by ammonia and water, and old ones with alcohol. In cases where the colour is liable to be affected by the use of alcohol, keep the stain moistened with soda water, and in the sunshine, until the colour turns to a light brown, then wash in clear water. Mildew is a parasitic plant and requires moisture and heat for its growth. During the first stage, mildew can be removed, but if allowed to stand it will become so deep-rooted that it will destroy the fabric on which it grows. Make a paste of soft soap and salt and apply to the mildewed spot. Afterward expose It to a strong sunlight, and after the garment is washed the stain will disappear. Iron rust may be removed by applying salt and lemon juice.

If the spot is very stubborn, apply oxalic acid to it after moistening it slightly. Rinse in clear water. Repeat until the stain disappears. Then rinse in ammonia water to counteract the effect of the acid. Many spots on clothes which resemble iron rust are caused “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL."—The Best Magazine for Women.

from the bluing being used when the soap has not been rinsed thoroughly from the clothes. This must be treated in the same manner as true iron rust.

To bleach clothes, first wash thoroughly, thus removing all dirt, grease, acid and stains. Then rinse often enough and in sufficient water to remove every trace of soap. Afterwards, expose in the air and sunshine until thoroughly dry. •

Clothes-pegs are made much more durable by boiling for ten minutes before they are used.

Linen may be made beautifully white by the use of a little refined borax in the water, instead of using a washing-fluid.

Blankets should be washed in moderately warm water, in which a teaspoonful of ammonia has been put to each gallon of water.

Washing fabrics that are inclined to fade should be soaked and rinsed in very salt water, to set the colour, before washing in the suds.

Embroideries should be Ironed on a thin, smooth surface, over thick flannel, and only on the wrong side.

A tablespoonful of kerosene added to four or five quarts of starch will make the coloured starched clothes iron easier.

Good Starch.—To give a nice gloss, and to‘prevent the iron from sticking to the starch, add a large teaspoonful of turpentine to every quart of mixed starch.

Starching Correctly.—A woman whom I know, who launders linen beautifully, starches the shirts, collars, and cuffs in thick, boiled starch, rubbing it well in, and hangs them out to dry; an hour before ironing, the linen is dipped in boiling water that has been poured through the strainer containing all the odds and ends of fine white soaps. This soap-water keeps the starch from sticking to the iron and adds lustre when hard pressed.

If starched clothes become wet with rain on the line, do not take them down, but allow them to remain until the sun dries them, and they will have lost none of the stiffness.

The Ironing Board.—Use thumb-tacks for fastening the ironing-sheet to the board. They will hold it more firmly than pins, and are more easily removed than ordinary tacks. A cork-full of thumb-tacks kept in the work-basket will be found invaluable when cutting out garments, as the tacks hold the pattern securely and do not wrinkle the goods.

Why Coloured Garments Sometimes Fade.—The fading of coloured articles is due, often, not to the washing, but to the ironing. Irons too hot are used directly on the material, and this will more quickly fade delicate colours than any amount of washing. The effect is even worse than strong sunlight. Be sure that the article is evenly dampened, and that the iron is only hot enough to smooth the wrinkles properly by firm, even pressure, and you will have no more trouble from fading. Skirts must never be ironed across the gores, hut up and down; otherwise the fit of the garment is ruined.

Flannel Blouses.—Flannel blouses, if dried indoors, should never be hung near the fire, or they will certainly shrink. Hang in a Warm room away from the fire.

Washing Handkerchiefs.—Handkerchiefs should have a little borax added to the rinsing water. This will give them the least suspicion of stiffness. Hot starch, if made with slightly soapy water, will give a nice gloss, and the flatiron will not stick to the clothes when ironing.

How to Make Clothes-Lines Wear.—Rope clothes-lines wear much longer if boiled ten minutes before being used.

Even Soapsuds are Useful.—Save soapsuds if you have a garden, for they form a very useful manure for flowers as well as shrubs and vegetables. It is well to have a sunk tub in every garden, where the soapy water can stand till required for watering.

All who have used a clothes-wringer know that buttons, buckles, etc., cut the rubber rollers and cause the water to soak in and rot the rubber, which soon causes the wringer to become useless. To prevent this, take two thicknesses of new unbleached muslin (flour sacks are good) wide enough to come within an inch of the edge of the rollers. Fasten the wringer on the tub same as to use it. Have an assistant turn the wringer slowly, while you hold the cloth very tight with both hands, and wrap it round the roller, being very careful to have it tight and smooth. Then take a coarse needle and strong thread and sew it firmly at the edge of the cloth. Having the cloth wet makes it easier to keep smooth. Cover both rollers. It has to be renewed about once a year, but experience proves that as long as a wringer is kept wrapped this way there is no limit to the wear, as only the rollers wear out.

What great strides have been made of late years in what may be termed babyland furniture! How different are even the wall papers and decorations of the nursery from those of our childhood’s days! How very much better are the furniture, the infant chairs, the perambulators, the little go-carts that'one folds up and carries in the train or tram! And all these improvements are the outcome of thoughtful and careful study of the kind that developed the kindergarten. For example, we find a woman-architect (Miss Elspeth McClelland, of London) specialising in this department. This is what Miss McClelland writes on the subject of the up-to-date nursery and its furnishings:

“ That human nature is greatly influenced by environment is an indisputable fact. How important, therefore, that this environment be carefully considered during the impressionable time of childhood. This is the children’s age, and nothing is considered too good or too much trouble that contributes to their well-being and happiness. The nursery is no longer the last home of broken-down furniture and shabby carpets, but a veritable palace of delight, a setting and a stimulating influence to all the fairy dreams of the little ones. A nursery must be comfortable, but never luxurious; bright, but never overcrowded with highly coloured pictures and distracting mechanical toys. Simplicity should be the keynote, but it must not be carried to the extreme of puritanical dullness. Simple toys always give the most delight; the pleasure given by a box of bricks long outlasts the excitement of the most elaborate walking doll or toy steam engine, and is of far more value as a training to the hands and mind.

“ Much attention has been given of late years to nursery furniture, for all thoughtful mothers have realised that the old-fashioned nursery was a failure. The various furniture firms have not been slow to supply this new demand, and no exhibition is now complete without a room deREAD “EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—Sixpence Everywhere.

signed expressly for the children. The most noticeable reform, perhaps, is the small chair and table of a convenient height for the little ones, a great improvement upon the dangerous high chair places against an ordinary drawing-room table. Young children frequently push their feet against the table and tilt their chair backwards. Then the chair overbalances and the baby sustains serious injury to the head. A small unstained oak chair, with the child’s own name in poker-work on the back, should be found in every nursery. This is an unfailing source of delight to the child, and spares the mother much trouble and anxiety. The little table, too, may have a motto round the edge in poker-work, and on each of the four sides a line of the tallowing little verse:

“ The child’s name in the third line can, of course, in each case be altered to that of the little master or mistress of the room. Miss Ellen Collett, whose children’s poetry is so deservedly appreciated by the tiny tots, has written several little verses for the adornment of nurseries.

was used on the toy locker in the model nursery at the Glasgow Exhibition, while round the room these words were inscribed:

" Nursery furniture is best made of unstained oak, and may have a stencil decoration of bright green. Everything should be washable—an important consideration. There must be a place for everything, including a specially designed cupboard for baby's bottles and food, and a first-aid cabinet containing bandages and plaster and various simple remedies for the many little accidents that seem inevitable with children. On the inside of this cupboard door a few simple rules should be printed, telling the nurse how to act in cases of emergency. Round the room, about four feet from the floor, there might be a series of pictures illustrating the adventures of the nursery favourites. The floor should be covered with a plain green cork carpet—this being both durable and warm.

“ One of the principal features of the children's room should be a ■ play corner,’ a little fitted cosy corner with a seat all round, with a small window at each side and a iittle gate in front—an ideal place in which to play ‘ house.’ Every nursery should, if possible, have a wide window-seat, where the little ones may beguile the weary hours of a wet day by watching the passers-by or where they can curl up in a corner to listen “ EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—The Best Magazine for Women.

to a fairy tale or look at picture books. The night nursery should be sweet and clean in appearance as well as in fact. Simplicity should have reign supreme; pictures must be very few, if any, and those of a quiet and restful description. Children’s minds are very excitable, and it is often difficult to get them to sleep peacefully after a romping game. A flowery wall paper, for instance, is a great mistake, for in the dim illumination of the night-light an imaginative child will fashion all sorts of fantastic shapes from the flowers, and in consequence lie awake.”

Break macaroni into half-inch or inch lengths. Cut bright pieces of ribbon, silk, flannel or paper into small circles an inch in diameter, or into inch squares. Rub the point off a coarse needle with the sandpaper on the side of a matchbox, and thread it with dark thread. Use the thread double and wax it well. Put all these things—macaroni, cuttings, needle and thread—into a box of the kind that the housekeeper always saves for some such emergency. Now the child has the material with which to make a chain.

As a variation, let the children string beads and macaroni sticks, one, two, or three heads between each two sticks. Wooden or large glass beads may be used. Dye common button-moulds or tiny silk-spools with the dyes sold at stores. String these with macaroni. Again, use flat buttons with macaroni. String pretty buttons with a shank, using twine of bright colour. The coloured wooden beads may be strung with natural wooden ones, or with a pasteboard disc or square Let the child have the pieces of pasteboard that are often thrown away as useless. Using a strong disc as a pattern, he can trace several out on the pasteboard, and afterward cut them out with blunt-end scissors. The hole in the centre may be made wi h a stout needle. Encourage the child to prepare his own material. There is nothing of greater importance for the child to learn than to be industrious. For another occupation, wash and thorougly dry melon and pumpkin seeds. Rub off the thin membrane and make a hole in the middle or near an end. as fancy dictates. Some may be perforated in both places. String these seeds with medium-sized coloured glass beads—round or cylindrical.

“ In my anxiety to make my children all they should be, I found ray-self falling into the nagging habit. The children, naturally, resented it and there was a constant sub-surface ferment of criticism undermining the harmony of the home. Seeing the outcome of my methods would be the opposite of the end I had in view, I changed my tactics with such success that I am glad to offer my methods as a suggestion to other anxious mothers.

" My constant reminders of manners, standing straight, personal neatness, deference to their elders, and the inevitable naggings the half-grown boy is usually subjected to, were substituted by a course of encouragement and compliment whenever there waB a chance. The boy was told what a straight, fine fellow he was growing to be, how proud he had made me by remembering some little courtesy, etc., thereby stimulating his pride in himself, and the result is beyond what any amount of nagging could produce. With the little brother I profited by my first experience. Instead of the struggle to implant truth and honesty in his nature and punishing him for every lapse from straightforwardness I always speak of his frankness and honour before him with such confidence that he has as much pride in his ‘ squareness' as I have.

“ Whenever I discover a weak point in a child's character I watch until I find a chance to praise that very trait, in a way that can be sincere, until he becomes so proud that he is truthful or neat or whatever may be the quality I am anxious to instil In him, that he could not be otherwise. But best of all is the spirit of mutual appreciation between parent and child this course establishes.”

A baby pen is a great help if the mother has no nursemaid and wishes to work undisturbed while the baby is learning to creep or to walk. These pens can be easily made at home if the father knows how to use a saw and a hammer. Comforters or a mattress should be laid on the floor to protect the baby from the cold air. In fine weather the pen may be put out-of-doors. A chair-swing, hung from hooks in a doorway between two rooms, or from the roof of a verandah, is a source of great pleasure. Some of these swings stretch out so that a young baby can lie in them at full length. A baby jumper should not be used without a physician’s permission, lest the child’s bones be injured. If the bones are hard enough to allow the use of a jumper the child will take great delight in it.

In order to keep babies comfortable in the open air, make an immense box of two largQ packing cases. Cover the inside first with old quilts, to make it soft, then with coloured cambric and white muslin. Carry the coverings over the edges about two inches down on all sides, so that If the baby should strike the edge he will not be hurt. The outside of the box can be painted. In this box lay a mattress, and over it, fastened to a hook in the side of the house, hang a mosquito netting. Here the baby can eat and sleep during the fine weather. It is much better to let a child sleep outdoors in such a box than in a baby carriage, in which he cannot lie at full length, and which is easily upset. Whenever the baby is left outdoors, unless there is someone with him he should have constant supervision from the house. He should not be left alone for hours. Stray dogs and cats may come prowling about and frighten him. The postman killed two snakes on the verandah near a baby’s box. Of course, the snakes may not have been dangerous, but one would rather not have them crawling near a baby. I know of an

infant who was left out-of-doors two hours on a cold day. When the mother went to take it In she found it dead. With babies it is better to err on the side of too great care rather than too little.

When the baby begins to creep, get a box three feet long, nearly as wide, and from eighteen inches to two feet deep. Pad the sides, letting it lap over the edges, with an old blanket or thick quilt. Tack it firmly in place on the outside around the top, and pretty close to the bottom on the inside. The pad that lies on the floor of the box should be loose, to allow for taking out and shaking, airing, or drying when damp. Tack a strip of white cheesecloth, four inches wide, lightly on the outside and inside of the edge. This should be washed as often as once a week. Now the box is ready for baby, and he can be with you, whatever you do, without being under your feet. Set him in it with his toys, and he will amuse himself. You can have him out In the garden, if you are working there, or on the porch, and he will not get things In his mouth, and his feet will not get cold. He will soon learn to pull himself up. and walk around in the box, and his legs will grow strong that way. He can be left alone for ten or fifteen minutes, and still be safe. The box will be useful after he walks, until he learns to climb out of it.

High chairs for the nursery have vanished; use only diminutive chairs and tables of a convenient height for the little ones. The little table should have a simple motto in poker-work worked round it. Everything should be washable. Round the room, about four feet from the floor, have a series of pictures illustrating the adventures of the nursery favourites. The ¹¹ play corner," with a seat all round, with a small window at each side, and a little gate in front, is a feature of the modern nursery. Flowery wall papers should always be avoided. A first-aid cupboard should be provided, with a feto simple directions for emergency cases printed on the inside of the door.

Don’t worry about them. Guardian angels still exist, even in the twentieth century.

Don't disagree about them. The father and the mother should always be in unison in their training.

A very pretty rattle is made as follows: Split four English walnuts, remove the meats, and in the shells place tiny bells; glue the shells together and crochet worsted coverings for them in a pretty combination of colour. When the nut is covered, do not break the worsted, but crochet a chain about sixteen inches long. These four chains are put through a plain bone or rubber ring, letting the balls hang, one about eight, two of them nine, and the fourth one ten inches from the ring, as the effect is prettier than when they are of an equal length. Then braid in four strands for about three inches, and for the ends where there are no rattles make small worsted balls the same colour as the chain.

The baby's feet do not always touch the foot-rest of the go-cart. To supply the deficiency take a smooth, small board (about two and a half or three inches wide and nine or ten inches long), bore a small hole in each end, and pass through these a small rope or stout twine as In the seat of a child’s swing. Adjust the cord and fasten at the sides and baby will be more comfortable.

Never Wake a Child.—Never wake a child suddenly, and never carry a baby immediately into a glaring light when he wakes up; the sudden impression of light is very bad for the eyes.

Baby’s Shoe.—To keep the little ankle-strap shoes on the baby, sew a loop of velvet ribbon matching the shoe to the edge of the slipper, just over the toe. The loop should be long enough to reach up and let the ankle-strap pass through it. This will prevent the child from pulling them off.

To Prevent Thumb-Sucking.—A good way to prevent a baby from sucking its thumb is to make its nightgown with the sleeves very long, coming below the hands. Baby will probably look for his thumb, but will not be able to find It. and the feeling of the flannel will be uncomfortable to his mouth, and he will at last give up trying.

The Dribbling Baby.—Cut a dress-shield in two pieces, bind the raw edges, and tack under the baby's fancy bib. It will absorb the moisture and keep the little frock from getting damp.

Safety Pins at Hand.—When you want safety-pins always at hand, pin one of each size to the edge of a hanging pin-cushion, and chain each size to the one of like size, having four or five in each chain. After using a safety-pin, don’t lay it down, but chain it in its place, and it will save time.

Clothes Tree.—A most useful little piece of furniture for the children's bedroom or nursery. The child’s day-clothes may bang on it by night, and the little night-clothes by day, and so all get a good airing, and be kept tidy.

Nervous Children.—Nervous children should never be scolded unless it is absolutely necessary, and should never under any circumstances be ridiculed. Such treatment is only likely to make them more nervous, and in these days such a tendency should be specially guarded against.

When Children Paste.—When children are using paste let them have an old magazine to work on. As soon as a leaf is soiled it may he torn off and consigned to the waste-basket, and a clean one will be ready for them. This saves a table, which otherwise would be much smeared by the paste.

Treasures for a Child.—Save your bits of ribbon, silks, and ends of laces or embroidery, put them in a box—a pretty candy box, if possible— and see how happy that box will make some little girl to whom such are rare treasures! What wonderful gowns and hats her dolly will have, and how many happy hours the little gift will carry with it!

Amusements for a Small Guest.—The small guest in a childless home is often without entertainment. A little forethought will provide plenty of amusement if all odds and ends, pictures, silk scraps, fashion plates, tissue paper, etc., are stored in a box kept for that purpose. Little girls often enjoy making a kitchen holder or outlining a small doyley for their hostess.

A Pretty Game.—It is worth while to know that a blanket placed over the tables for a soap bubble party for the little folks will give much better results. One ounce of white Castile soap shaved fine and mixed with three-fourths of an ounce of glycerine and bottled tightly the day before, will make fine soap bubbles which can be blown with ordinary clay pipes.

Keeping the Tablecloth Clean.—If a piece of white oilcloth is placed under a small child’s plate at table, and a square of plain white linen laid over it, time and trouble will be saved In taking out stains which the little hands, not yet fully accustomed to the manipulation of knife, fork and spoon, might otherwise get on the tablecloth, and it will always look neat.

Baby’s Traycloth.—A traycloth for a child may be made in this way: Fold a table-napkin (if possible, matching the tablecloth) once through the centre, so that it shall be oblong in shape. Cut a piece of white oilcloth of the same shape, but two inches shorter and one inch narrower. Lay t-he piece of oilcloth between the folds of the napkin and you will have a reversible and very practical traycloth. As spots cannot penetrate the oilcloth, one side of the traycloth will be fresh and ready for use when the first side gets soiled.

A supply drawer containing bandages, plasters, and other necessaries, in case of sudden illness or accident, is as great a household convenience as the medicine chest. The drawer or shelf that is to hold the emergency supplies should be near the medicine chest, and it is most important that it should always be in order. The nature of the supplies must depend somewhat upon the needs of the family. If there are many children, with their various childish aches and pains, the cupboard should hold a generous supply of old muslin for plasters, as well as a roll of flannel for hot applications. Where there is a band of turbulent boys to be considered, bandages galore will be required and surgical plaster for the many cuts and wounds.

For general home supplies, first in importance is the hot-water bag. It is well to have two of these useful articles, a large one holding two quarts and a small one holding a pint of water. The smaller size is much better to use about the face and neck. The cupboard should also contain a two-ounce package of absorbent cotton, one roll of one-inch wide surgical plaster, and one half-yard of oil-silk. Heated, the cotton makes an excellent pad to ease severe pain, where the weight of a bag would be irritating. It is also a superior dressing, as it is absolutely free from all Impurities and has the extra advantage of absorbing moisture from the skin. The plaster will hold together a cut or keep a bandage In place, and the oil-silk may be used to cover hot applications to keep the heat in and prevent the moisture from spreading.

A good supply of old flannel is a positive luxury. It is. however, well to remember that it should always be boiled before being admitted to the supply cupboard. Canton flannel, which Is soft and holds the heat well, will serve where old flannel cannot be obtained. Old table linen makes the most useful sort of pieces for plaster, etc., and old sheets are equally valuable. They may be torn in wide strips and folded away.

Sheets are, however, best torn in three-inch-wide strips tor bandages, each strip being rolled up as tight as possible and pinned. When there is much demand tor bandages, and old muslin is scarce, cheesecloth can be used. The cheap, unbleached variety is best. It should first be boiled with a little washing soda in the water, and when dry tom in strips and rolled. Cheesecloth can also be used for poultices. It should be boiled as for bandages and cut in squares the width of the cloth. The same inexpensive material, cut in smaller squares, makes excellent handkerchiefs in cases of hay-fever or pulmonary difficulty, as the squares can be burned after being used.

To keep such a cupboard in order costs but little time and scarcely any money; and when an emergency arises, as it is sure to, again and again, where there are children, these few simple precautions may be the means of saving a great deal of anxiety and suffering, and in some cases of actually saving life.

In every home there should be kept, where it can be readily found In case of accident, a box containing various simple remedies and other articles likely to be needed if one of the family should be injured and the physician delayed, or if the injury should be so slight that the expense of a physician may be unnecessary if the patient receives intelligent and prompt attention. In the " emergency box ” should be kept a supply of bandages of different sizes and widths, and bundles of absorbent cotton, large squares of soft old linen, and a collection of worn-out linen handkerchiefs. The bandages may be bought in a large box from a druggist or the family physician, or they may be made at home. If they are to be made, everything about the work must be absolutely clean, or there is danger of infection. Tear into lengths an old sheet, having the strips from two to four inches wide. Pull out all the threads that ravel from the edges, and then roll tightly into little rolls, and fasten the ends. These should be kept in a small box or In a large-mouthed glass jar.

Arnica, witch-hazel, some true and tried liniment and as good a corn-cure should be kept in the box; also a jar of cold-cream, a jar of some really good skin-food, such as Tamris, another of vaseline, a package of bicarbonate of soda (for slight burns), a bottle of olive oil (to use with the soda), and such toothache remedies as seem efficacious. Of these, spirits of camphor or oil of cloves mixed with an equal quantity of ether or chloroform are perhaps as good as any. A pair of small hop-bags, made from empty salt-bags filled with the hops, that can be purchased by the package, are excellent for an attack of neuralgia. These should be kept in one of the tin boxes in which biscuits are packed, or the odour is likely to permeate the entire contents of the larger box.

Salt-bags are also good for pain, and are made by half filling two small-sized bags with salt. These bags are to be placed In the oven on a pan. and heated alternately, then applied to the seat of the pain. Pieces of flannel that can be wrung out of hot water should also be kept in the READ “EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—Sixpence Everywhere.

box, where they may be found at once if the small boy of the family has been indulging in green apples or other forbidden fruit, or for colic to which many adults are subject. In a glass fruit-jar should be kept flaxseed, and in another hop-leaves, for use in making poultices when required. Always spread a poultice with vaseline before applying it. so that it will not blister the skin. A can of mustard should find a place in the emergency box, as well as court-plaster and plasters of other kinds.

In changing the sheets on a bed,' and this should be done daily if the invalid is feverish, turn the patient on one side. Stand on the side away from the invalid. Fold the blanket and upper sheet carefully over on the patient. Pass to the other side of the bed and roll the lower sheet toward the Invalid. Place the clean sheet on this side of the mattress, rolling the part that will go under the patient. Gently roll or assist the patient over to that side of the bed on to the clean sheet, and in this way the old sheet can be removed and the new sheet unrolled and put into place. Raise the mattress in drawing out the used sheet, so it will not be torn. If you can get assistance, let one person sit on the edge of the bed and hold the patient, while you shake the pillows and put on clean covers. The change in posture often rests the invalid, and a clean pillow-case is always refreshing.

Many amateur nurses dread changing a patient’s nightgown, but this is not so difficult if understood. In some hospitals the night garments are buttoned down the back as well as in front, as this enables the nurse to get at the body. This is open to the objection that, if they become unbuttoned. a draught may strike the back, and buttons are often disagreeable to lie on. In changing the night garments, roll the skirt of the garment to the sleeves so that it forms a ring. Place it on the bed ready for use. Have the patient lie on his hack and draw up his knees. If he is too weak to do this, place one hand under the hips and assist to raise the body. With the other hand draw up the old nightdress over the hips, raise the shoulders and draw It over the head, and gently detach it from each arm separately. The rolled nightdress which has been waiting should instantly be placed over the head. Draw the invalid's hand through the sleeve by putting your band in the front opening and gently pushing the sleeve over the patient’s arm. Pull the gown down, again raising the body in the middle.

There are many new contrivances for the sick-room that facilitate the care of the Sick. One is an adjustable table which can be lowered or raised to any height. The top rests on a support which is on one side of the table. This allows the table to be placed close to the bed, and the top directly over the bed and in front of the patient. It is convenient to serve meals on, to rest a book on. or to play a game. Another excellent device is a wooden frame about twelve inches wide and six inches high. This is covered with ticking, and a piece of wood on the back allows it to be adjusted to any angle. The pillows can rest against it, and In this way the patient can be lifted to a half-reclining or sitting position. Other back-rests constructed on the same principle are made of steel and enamelled white, and have a spiral spring back. The back-rest folds up compactly when not in use. Another device for the sick-room is a big, white-enamelled tray, which can be filled with eatables in the kitchen and carried to the sick-room, and placed on an adjustable table.

It is desirable that the invalid should be given a sunny room, and towels, handkerchiefs, and clothing should be washed separately from the rest of the family’s clothes, boiled, and in some cases soaked for several hours in a disinfecting solution. One or more windows should be raised to ensure good ventilation, heavy carpets should be removed, and the floor should be wiped with a damp cloth, as sweeping raises a dust that is bad for a patient. There is nothing better for the invalid or well person than the intelligent use of water both in bathing and in drinking. Doctors now estimate that it requires five pints of water a day to run the body.

The air of the sick-room should always be kept fresh and sweet. It is not always possible to air the room thoroughly, but it can be freshened, and all disagreeable odour removed by placing a handful of dried lavender on a sheet of brown paper in a tin pan, and burning it. The paper must first be soaked in saltpetre and dried. The monotony of gazing at the same room is relieved by a change of light, which makes a surprising change in the appearance of it. At night, use different shapes and colours in the shades. Simple crepe paper shades can be easily made in many colours, and look very well. For daytime use, have some cheap wooden frames made, the size of the lower sash of the window, and cover them with cheesecloth in pretty colours. Leaf green is restful to tired eyes, and a soft rose colour actually makes one's thoughts rosier. Vary the meals in food and service, and when the patient can be propped up in bed, arrange a sewing table, with the legs folded fiat, propped to rest on pillows on each side of the patient. On this she can write or play solitaire; or, If the patient is a child, paper dolls can be cut out, toys arranged, and so on.

“ Get into the practice of taking a rest at noon," says “ Medical Talk.” “ Lie down, if only for ten minutes or five minutes. If you cannot lie down, lean back in a chair and close your eyes. Just forget everything. Rest. Relax. Even if you do not sleep, rest. This practice will make you live longer. It will make you healthier while you do live. It will probably make people want you to live longer. It will take the tangle out of your nerves, the irritability out of your temper, the wrinkles out of your face. It will make your eyes brighter, your face fuller. Try it”

Several cases of illness, from grandma down to our three-year-old, have proved the utility and convenience of what we call a “ bed table.” I made it myself from a piece of thin board about 10 x 18 inches, with a narrow cleat on three sides to prevent things slipping off, and with legs about eight inches long. Its original use was to hold playthings for baby, who could just sit alone and was constantly tossing her toys beyond reach; but pressed into service in the sick-room I found I could arrange it more conveniently and temptingly than a common tray, and the invalid, having a table, feels more “ like eating;” while it is almost impossible to tilt it or spill any of its contents, whether placed in front or at the side of the patient. Relief from the care and weight of the tray during a meal often induces an invalid to enjoy the food more, and after the meal a convalescent child can play games upon it without tiring from constantly reaching after lost pieces, or the irritation of having every game spoiled by something sliding out of place. For confirmed invalids and shut-ins the bed table would be of inestimable value as work and writing table, book holder, and for an infinite variety of uses where the more expensive manufactured article is an impossibility.

When a sick person becomes tired lying down, great relief is felt by using as a bed prop the padded back and arms of an old rocking-chair whose seat and legs have been sawn off.

When a small quantity of hot water is needed at night, hang a pail holding water on a chain a little above a gas jet; or a tin-cup full may be heated over a lamp by placing it on two nails laid across the top of the chimney.

When stimulants are needed, give scalded—not boiled—milk, with a pinch of salt added, if digestion is imperfect. This is a good heart tonic.

Tea-chest matting spread under the sheets will aid very much in keeping the bed cool for sick persons in hot weather.

The nurse of a patient suffering from a contagious disease should wear round her neck a thin muslin bag, holding a lump of camphor, to prevent infection.

In the case of invalids or small children it is often advisable to sterilise the milk or water given them, and this may be managed at home in a very simple manner; all that is required being a tin pail with a cover and a dairy thermometer. In the bottom of the pail place a false bottom consisting of a wire dishcloth or a small tin cover perforated with many holes; on this arrange the loosely covered cans or bottles containing the liquid to be sterilised. Pour water into the pail until it reaches the height of the contents of the cans, and put on the cover, which should have a hole fitted with a cork through which the thermometer is inserted so that the bulb reaches the water below. Place over the heat until the temperature reaches 155 degrees, then remove, leaving covered for half an hour. The cans should then be set in a cool place.

Nature has been lavish in providing remedies for many of the common ailments. Fruits often relieve diseased conditions of the body by encouraging natural processes. Taken early in the morning, an orange acts decidedly as a laxative, sometimes amounting to a purgative. Other laxatives are figs, prunes, mulberries, dates, nectarines, and plums. The astringent fruits are pomegranates, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, quinces, pears, and wild cherries. The diuretics are grapes, peaches, strawberries, prickly pears, black currants, and melon seeds. The refrigerants are gooseberries, red and white currants, pumpkins, and melons of all kinds. Those coming under the head of stomachic sedatives are lemons, limes, and apples. Pomegranates relieve a relaxed throat and uvula. The bark and root, in the form of a decoction, is especially obnoxious to tapeworm. Figs, split open, form excellent poultices for boils and abscesses. The juice of a lemon will remove tartar from the teeth. The oil of cocoanut has been recommended as a substitute for cod liver oil, and is much used in Germany for phthisis. Barberries, after being made into a drink, are used for fever patients. Apples are useful in nausea, and even in seasickness.

Housekeepers are often perplexed as to removing the stuffy odours which seem unavoidable in sleeping apartments and so forth; any of the following suggestions will dispel them readily. Sachet powder after it has lost its first freshness and strength by exposure to the air may be used as a deodoriser by placing a small quantity (a teaspoonful will be ample) In an old saucer and dropping some live coals on it; or it may be sprinkled over the coals. The smoke arising from it both purifies the atmosphere and imparts a delightful perfume. Orange peel which has been dried and cut into small bits and scattered over hot coals will remove any disagreeable odours. It will act as a charm in producing an intangible sweetness, and is especially desirable for the sick-room.

Months spent in the sick-room have taught me many things for the comfort of an invalid, one of the simplest and most effective of which is burning a string to purify the atmosphere. Take a soft string and READ “EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—Sixpence Everywhere.

stick it with a pin to the back of a chair; after lighting, blow it out gently, leaving the tiny spark, which will create smoke enough to make a decided difference in the atmosphere.

When it is not advisable to open the windows of a sick-room, yet necessary to change the heavy atmosphere, sprinkle a few spoonfuls of Cologne in a basin, and set fire to it. A very simple but effective recipe for clearing the atmosphere of a room was given me by a hospital nurse. Place a lump of camphor in a saucer and apply a very hot poker to it. This will cause strong fumes to arise, which will cleanse the air very speedily, and, at the same time, act as a powerful disinfectant.

The application of vaseline or cold cream will often heal the small bruises which are the experience of all childhood. Pour a little turpentine on a cut before applying the bandage of soft old linen, for this cleanses and disinfects the wound and hastens the healing process. A cut or bruise that is filled with sand or dirt must be thoroughly cleansed before it is bandaged. Dip the sponge or bit of cotton into warm water containing a few drops of carbolic, and squeeze over the wound so that the water will gently fall into it and wash away the dirt. Often this cleansing, and a careful bandaging to keep out the dirt and cold, is all that is necessary for the wound on a healthy child.

To Treat a Cut.—A severe cut, one that is long or deep, should have the edges gently pressed together after the wound has been thoroughly cleansed from all foreign matter, and held in place by narrow strips of court-plaster, first fastened to one side and then to the other, pulling the strips slightly from side to side.

Better than cream, oil, lime water, or any of the usual remedies for burns, is the raw white of an egg. It seems to “ take out the heat ” as nothing else does, and is a remedy rarely not at hand. A scream of fear from the young mother, whose wee one, sitting alone in front of a hearth, had its head and face scorched, brought her next-door neighbour quickly. Taking the sufferer from its mother’s arms, she smeared the whites of eggs, broken lightly with her hand, over the infant’s head and face. It ceased its cries in instant relief, and before the father could set out for the doctor, had fallen asleep as though nothing had happened. The physician approved of the treatment. When the burn healed, the scar was slight.

For a burn, apply equal parts of lime water and linseed oil mixed together till it looks creamy. A bottle of this mixture should always be kept on hand, as by applying the remedy promptly, much suffering can often be saved.

While preparing breakfast one morning, 1 had just placed the coffee pot of boiling coffee on the stove hearth, when my four-year-old girl, in passing, caught one of her long apron ties on the coffee pot handle, and pot, coffee, baby, and all were straightway in a tangle. It scalded her back and entire right limb very badly. Being four miles from either doctor or chemist, we had to think quickly of some available remedy. We bathed the burns in kerosene and rubbed on flour as long as it would adhere, repeating the process every twenty or thirty minutes. By noon there were no burns visible, and our family physician said that presence of mind had saved our baby girl from a long sickness.

Soap rubbed on a bee sting will give instant relief. Brandy and salt mixed is an excellent remedy.

The sting of a wasp or bee should be bathed with ammonia-water or strong carbolic-water. Mosquito-bites will yield to ammonia-water or saleratus. Bathe the parts affected by poison-ivy in saleratus-water, using it frequently. The bites of various insects should be bathed with carbolic-water. For a snake-bite, give plenty of -whisky (one poison counteracts the other), and seek the nearest physician.

The application of the juice of an onion to a wasp or bee sting will produce almost instantaneous relief. If left in the wound the stinger should first be removed.

If made according to the following directions, it will not blister the most sensitive skin: Two teaspoonfuls of mustard, two teaspoonfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of ground ginger. Do not mix too dry. Place between two pieces of old muslin and apply. If it burns too much at first, lay an extra piece of muslin between it and the skin; as the skin becomes accustomed to the heat, take the extra piece of muslin away.

To Remove Plasters.—In removing any form of adhesive plaster, start one corner and then give one quick, strong pull. If an outline of the resinous substance remains, do not try with soap and water to remove it, but dissolve the resin by putting on a little alcohol.

To prepare lime water, put a cupful of unslaked common lime into a wide-necked glass jar, and pour over it two quarts of water. It should be stirred until the lime dissolves and the

liquid is milky. Let it stand until the liquid is clear, then pour it off. Then pour the same quantity of filtered water over the sediment left, and let that stand overnight. This second distilling is what one should use for the teeth. Pour it from the sediment, and keep in glass-stoppered bottles. Lime is part of the composition of the teeth, which, if they lack, makes them too soft. Lime water is strengthening if taken internally, a tablespoonful of it in a glass of milk or water. Used as a wash, the mouth should be rinsed with It after eating fTuits, or other acids, which are injurious to the enamel. Precipitated chalk, freely rubbed on the teeth near the gums, and allowed to stay there overnight, will also help preserve the enamel when medicine or ill-health is threatening it.

A delicious way of preparing a beaten egg for a sick child or an older invalid is to beat the white until it is stiff and then put the yoke into the beaten white and continue beating for a second. It is simpler than beating both separately, and the bulk of egg seems the same. A very little sugar is all the needed flavouring.

I want to send helps for the children, and the mothers who are shut in with them. The kindergarten coloured-paper squares can easily be folded into many pretty forms.

With toothpicks and dry peas (the latter to be soaked as needed) doll’s furniture can be made, and a house easily built from pasteboard boxes.

Scrap-books of all kinds are good. By cutting furniture pictures from old catalogues, pasting in proper positions, each two pages can represent a room. Paper dolls can be cut and dressed from the different coloured wrapping papers, various nations being represented by the dresses.

Paper chains also amuse the little ones, also moulding clay figures. A sand-table produces much joy.

Brush and water-colours to colour or paint pictures; rag dolls made and dressed; with thin wood from old boxes doll furniture can be made, and tiny curtains, cushions, rugs, quilts, table-linen, etc., provide interesting work in sewing.

With a little help, children can be kept contented for hours, and thu tired mother and nurse have a chance to rest.

Procure a tube of liquid court-plaster from the chemist, and after cleansing the hands thoroughly, apply a drop to each finger-tip, spreading over the top of the nail. Allow this to dry for three or four minutes before using the hands. It will form a hard, smooth scale, which sticks very tight. In order to remove it the child must wilfully bite it off, and most children only bite their nails from nervousness. Renew the application every other day, soaking the previous plaster away, and stimulate the pride of the child by a little judicious talk on the improved appearance of the nails, the evils of biting the nails and the pride one should have in keeping the hands nice. A few pretty mant-cure articles will help wonderfully, too, as well as a visit to the professional manicure.

The very best way to make milk toast is by the time-honoured recipe handed down from our grandmothers. They browned and buttered the toast, setting it aside to keep hot while they heated and stirred smoothly together over the fire one tablespoonful each of flour and butter and one-quarter teaspoonful of salt to each cup of milk. The hot milk was added and all cooked to a smooth, slightly thickened cream. Then the slices of toast were bathed in the liquid just long enough to soften them, before the whole was dished and sent in to the table. This, it may be repeated, is the best way, but, if the milk is rather limited, an allowable variation is to add a pinch of salt to each slice of toast, pour boiling water quickly over, and then replace it with the hot, thickened milk on the platter on which it is to be served.

Many people use glycerine for toilet or medical purposes, and fail to obtain the desired result because they do not understand the nature of the article. Being an absorbent, glycerine will take up a great amount of water; hence, if used pure, as for a hand lotion, it absorbs the natural moisture of the skin, making it hard and red and sometimes causing severe irritation. If it is diluted with an equal amount of rosewater, elderflower water, lemon juice and water mixed, or even pure rain water, the effect will be to make the skin soft and moist.

Glycerine is valuable as a remedy for coughs caused by dryness or irritation of the throat or bronchial tubes.

One of the best cough syrups, especially for children, is made by mixing two parts glycerine, two parts common table syrup, and one part water. For grown persons a few drops of extract of ginger may be added. As a remedy for bronchitis it is excellent.

The best way to take castor oil, according to my experience, is to put it in the juice of an orange. Incredible as it seems, you will not taste the oil.

Children who refuse to take caBtor oil make no fuss If it is given this way: Take one cupful of milk, one of treacle, half a cupful of sugar, half a cupful of castor oil, a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, two of ginger, a little salt, and enough flour to make a stiff paste. Roll out, cut into shapes, and bake in a quick oven. One or two are as good as a dose of oil.

An Insect in the Ear.—Never be alarmed if an insect enters the ear. Pouring warm oil into the canal will drown it, when it will generally come to the surface and can be easily removed by the fingers.

To Steam Out Splinters.—When a splinter has been driven into the hand it can be extracted by steaming. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle nearly full of hot water, place the injured part over the mouth, and press it slightly. The action thus produced will draw the flesh down, and in a minute or two the steam will extract the splinter, also reduce the inflammation.

Hemorrhage of the Nose.—Reaching both hands high over the head, bathing the face with very hot water, placing bits of ice in the nostrils, rubbing ice on the back of the neck and compressing the nose frequently between the thumb and finger for several minutes are useful measures in checking nasal hemorrhage. Care should be taken to hold the head erect. Bathing the face with cold water while bending the head forward over a wash-basin often increases the bleeding.

For Insomnia.—A very simple method of inducing sleep in cases of persistent insomnia, and one that has succeeded where many drugs have failed, is—simply administer a moderate amount of liquid focal before the patient goes to bed.

A Use for an Old Clock.—If a small clock is beyond repair do not throw It away, but set it aside for use in a sick-room. It will then be found good to indicate the next time for taking medicine. As each dose is given to the patient, turn the hands to the hour when the next dose will be due. This is better than trusting to memory.

Cheesecloth.—I would advise every housekeeper to keep it on hand ready for use. Buy a roll of cheap, thin, white cheesecloth, boil in suds made from pure soap or washing powder, rinse thoroughly, dry, and keep away from dust. Cut small pieces from this to use as cloths or handkerchiefs in illness, and burn when soiled. This saves disagreeable and expensive washing, likewise danger of infection. It is preferable to old sheets or cloth, because softer. When some extra pillow cases are needed in sickness, make several pairs from the cheesecloth, running up seams and hems. These can be frequently changed (or burned if the disease is contagious), and medicine stains will not be a source of worry. If not burned, they can be washed and kept for similar service.

What Experience Teaches.—During the illness of a member of my family, I learned a valuable method for making a candle burn all night. Put finely powdered salt on the candle until it reaches the black part of the wick. In this connection it may be well to mention that if a pinch of salt be added to the lamp after filling it with kerosene, a brighter flame will result.

To Apply Liniment.—In applying liniment never rub the skin with flannel on which liniment has been poured. The combination of rough texture, friction and penetrating ingredients may easily cause an abrasion of the skin that is often tedious to heal.

Hot Milk.—Hot milk, heated to as high a temperature as it can be drunk, is a most refreshing stimulant in cases of cold or overfatigue. Its action is very quick and grateful. The effect of hot “EVERYLADY’S JOURNAL.”—The Best Magazine for Women.

milk is far more beneficial and lasting than that of alcohol. It gives real strength as well as acting as a fillip.

Rheumatism.—Anyone suffering from rheumatism should wear woollen clothing always next the skin, and be very careful never to get the feet wet or sit in damp clothes. If very thirsty, drink only milk and soda—no stimulants. Try rubbing the body night and morning with a rough towel.

Heartburn.—If you suffer from heartburn, try eating a small piece of dried orange-peel when the attack comes on. This will often work wonders. A simple and infallible remedy for heartburn is to take half a tumblerful of cold water, into which has been added half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; squeeze the juice of a small piece of lemon, and drink while effervescing. The half of a level teaspoonful of soda stirred into a glass of water, and sipped at intervals during the day, is a great relief for heartburn.

Perspiring Hands.—The seamstress who is troubled with perspiring hands should keep at hand a flannel bag with powdered alum or ordinary talcum powder, with which to dust the hands at intervals.

Constipation.—Figs soaked in water over-night, and eaten in the morning before other food, will often prove a relief for constipation, especially in young children.

A Crushed Finger.—If you shut your finger in a door or bruise it in any way, put it in water as hot as you can bear; in a few minutes change the water for hotter and keep the finger in water at least fifteen minutes. If the foot is bruised, take off the shoe and stocking and immerse foot in hot water from fifteen to thirty minutes, adding hot water often.

The Kidneys.—Rouse up your kidneys to a sense of duty. Give them plenty to do for a couple of months, until they renew their appointed task of carrying off waste. Uric acid is soluble in water, and the kidneys can soon rid the skin of all acid if you flush the system with enough water. Many doctors say that every person should drink one-tenth of his weight in water every day. Attention to this phase of your general health will bring about marked improvement in your hair. In addition to this, keep your hair clean, and clip the ends regularly.

Puffiness under the eyes is often due to drinking too little water. The majority of women do not drink nearly enough.

For Corns.—The small callous spot on the sole of the foot, from which so many housewives suffer, can be cured by placing a bit of absorbent cotton, saturated with olive oil, on the spot each morning, before putting on the stocking or shoe. If a corn has developed in the middle of the callous spot, touch with a little turpentine every

evening upoD retiring, and the corn will come out in a little while. Apply the turpentine with a toothpick, or the wrong end of a match, so it will touch only the corn. The oil will then soften the hard skin around it, and a bit of pumice will do the rest.

The Value of Hot Water.—A pint of hot water taken every morning on an empty stomach, thirty minutes before breakfast, will soon give noticeable results. It cleanses the system, aids digestion, regulates the bowels, and Is an enemy to blackheads and sallow complexions. The water must be taken hot; if taken only warm, it is nauseating.

Olive Oil.—The olive oil was prescribed for me by a physician whom I consulted for dyspepsia and constipation. I send to a reliable druggist for pint or quart bottles of guaranteed pure oil, and take a teaspoonful or dessertspoonful after each meal. I found the former amount best in my case. After two weeks’ use I found a perceptible increase in weight, the dyspeptic knots were smoothed out, and laxatives were almost entirely abolished.

An Economical Court-Plaster.—A very good and economical court-plaster can be made at home, as follows: Dissolve half an ounce of good isinglass in a very small quantity of water, then add one drachm of Friar’s Balsam. Simmer it for a short time over a clear fire, and then spread it over thin black silk (or white or pink silk), with a camel-hair brush.

The Teeth.—The teeth should always be cleaned the last thing at night. It keeps them in good condition and prevents decay.

Recipe for Tender Feet.—If you want a cure for tender feet simmer together a scant tablespoonful of lard, a piece of mutton tallow the size of an egg and two-thirds of an ounce of camphor gum. Pour into moulds while hot. Rub the feet thoroughly whenever changing stockings. Make a cot from a kid glove finger and draw over toes where there are corns, first covering them with the ointment. Persistent use will effect a cure.

Aching Feet.—To relieve sore and aching feet, make the footbath as hot as can be borne, mixing in ginger or mustard enough to make the water yellow. Leave the feet in the water until it is nearly cold.

Cold Feet at Night.—Folks who are troubled with cold feet at night should get a yard of warm wool flannel, make a bag, and put their feet into it when they go to bed.

Tired Eyes.—Bathe your tired eyes in salt and water, and you will be astonished at the strength it gives them.

To Relieve Indigestion.—A quarter of a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda taken in a cupful of hot water after meals will often relieve indigestion.

To Remove a Ring.—To enable anyone to take a ring off a swollen finger, take a cupful of salad oil. put in the finger, allowing the oil to come over the ring, and gently rub the finger up and down. You will find the swelling go back, and you will be able to draw it off easily.

Brittle Finger-Nails.—For brittle finger-nails anoint the nails at the roots every night with vaseline or dip them in warm sweet oil. This will cause them to grow better, and they will not split.

To Relieve Neuralgia.—Hot salt-bags relieve neuralgia, earache and toothache, and clothes wrung out of hot salt-water should be applied to all sprains and strained muscles. Salt-water foot-baths, hot or cold, are helpful for swollen or tired feet, and children with weak backs and ankles should have a gentle salt-water rub once a day.

The Use of a Ligature.—The use of a ligature, and how to apply it above the tvound so as to arrest the flow of blood, should be a part of the education of everyone, old and young. Prompt action of this sort has saved many a life that would otherwise have been lost while awaiting the arrival of a physician or a surgeon.

The following method of hanging a skirt, or getting it even all round at the hem, is a simple and good one for the girl who is the home dressmaker: Slip the skirt on and pin carefully at the waist line; then place the yardstick against the dress, with the end resting firmly on the floor, and place a pin or challt-mark where the other end of the stick touches the skirt at the hips. Repeat this process round the skirt— being careful always to have the end of the stick resting on the floor— until a row of pins or a chalk-mark encircles the hips of the skirt. If it is desired to have the skirt two inches from the floor, measure thirty-four inches from the line of pins or chalk-marks and turn the hem at that point. By following this method it is impossible to have an uneven or poorly hung skirt.

Strong tapes stretched along the wall of the sewing-room from convenient points, say from the door-frames to the window-frames, will be found a great convenience. Paper patterns and parts of garments may be pinned to the tapes, and one may be sure of finding them when needed.

When making buttonholes in a lace or net blouse one finds the need of a solid background upon which to work. This may be obtained by firmly basting a piece of cotton or silk on the wrong side of the lace where the buttonhole is to be made. After the buttonhole is worked the cotton or silk may be cut away from the stitches and be wholly unnoticed, while the result will be a firm buttonhole.

In a material that may ravel, like pongee or brilliantine, it is best to work the edge of the buttonhole before cutting. This is easily done by placing a basting line the proper size where the buttonhole is to 1 • me and working round it. A sharp knife may be used to cut the

opening, and if a little care is taken there is no danger of cutting the stitches.

The dressmaker will find a supply of small safety-pins a great help in fitting a gown.

The tucker attachment on the sewing-machine will be found a great convenience when one desires to make hand-run tucks

under tension. The result will be a clearly defined crease to show the line of the tucks, and the holes made by the machine needle will be so regular that the hand stitches cannot be irregular.

Not more than one in a hundred women seems to know what causes her machine to “ run hard ” or how to remedy it. Oiling the machine with kerosene seems to be their only idea. Such treatment will ease the machine for a few hours. But the house-mother seems not to know that machine oil and kerosene mixed make a very delicious paste. It is not hard to picture the works of a machine when kerosene is applied to " loosen ” the oil already on the works. The resulting friction is • very bad for the complicated parts of the machinery. On one of those lonesome days when you have “ nothing to do ” open your machine and move it to a sunny window (it can’t be too warm). Pill your oil-can with clean machine oil and place it in a pan of water on the stove until it is heated to the boiling-point. Then oil your warmed machine thoroughly with the hot oil. Oil every joint from the bobbin-winder to the «* foot.” Wipe off the superfluous oil and your machine is in good condition for six months.

If your machine does not run easily flood every oiling place with an oil-can filled with kerosene or gasolene; run it rapidly, wipe off, and then oil with good machine oil; if gasolene is used, have no light or fire in the room at the time. If the upper thread keeps snapping without apparent cause, reverse the bobbin in the shuttle, take the bobbin out and put it back, the other end foremost.

Be careful when sewing by hand to thread the needle from the first end of the thread as it comes from the spool, to prevent kinking and knotting. In preparing to cut buttonholes in a material that frays easily, mark a line the length of the hole desired, then stitch close around it on the sewing-machine before cutting; this gives a firm edge to work upon. When sewing through buttons, place a pin across the top and sew over it; when the pin is removed the button is not close to the cloth; wrap the thread a few times around the stem thus formed.

After oiling a sewing-machine it not infrequently happens that a drop of oil which has not been absorbed stains the material which is being stitched. To remove the mark a lather made with soap, cold water and a tablespoonful of ammonia will usually prove successful;

but, in the case of coloured linens and cottons, the ammonia should be employed cautiously, as it is apt to fade the colour.

If the sewing-machine band is too loose, drop a very little castor oil in the groove of the wheel and turn the wheel very fast for a few moments. This treatment of the belt works like a charm.

To read the almost invisible number on a machine needle, use a magnifying glass. Keep one handy, and it makes the setting or threading of a needle no trouble, and such a saving of the eyes.

Persons of defective sight, when threading a needle, should hold it over something white, by which the sight will be assisted.

Sewing on Buttons.—It is found, in making dainty summer dresses and blouses, that very often a button is torn off, taking a piece of the material with it, and leaving a hole in a practically new garment. This can be remedied only by a patch, which makes a new garment seem an old one. To avoid this, lay or baste a narrow tape inside of the hem, lengthwise, on the button side, sew the hem down by hand, and then sew the buttons on through the tape. This makes a neat finish, and saves work, in that the buttons, once sewed on, will remain until the garment is worn out.

Making Buttonholes.—In making a buttonhole, always “ bar ’’ it— that is, after cutting the buttonhole, run a thread around it; start at the back, take a stitch in front, then back on the other side. This will keep a buttonhole from stretching, and especially from tearing out at the front, where all the strain is. A buttonhole will wear twice as long made this way. If the material will allow, bar them twice. If you take time to make a buttonhole, do take time to bar it. Cut the buttonhole, bar it, overcast it, then work it. If the material is very sheer, I use heavier thread for barring than I do for working the buttonhole.

Two Good Buttonhole Hints.—Buttonholes for children’s trousers, drawers, petticoats—anything^n short, which Is to fasten to a waist should always be made up and down. Then, no matter how much too large the buttonholes become, the weight of the garments will make them hold quite securely. The buttonholes in my sweater became so stretched that the garment would not remain fastened. I took silk of the colour of the garment, and crocheted neatly with single stitch around each buttonhole, and filled in enough to make them fit snugly, with the result that I had good-looking-as-new buttonholes. If very much stretched, two rows of the single crochet or one of double crochet may be needed. Buttonhole-silk will do on a fine sweater, or if it is coarse, use the heavier silk-finished crochet-cotton.

An Oblong Eyelet.—In working an oblong eyelet, if the work is done first around a drawing, and cut when finished rather than before working, the result will be much more satisfactory.

Large Eyelets.—Large eyelets In embroidery will keep their shape better if they are not cut until after the embroidery Is done.

Don’t let buttons hang by their last thread, darn small holes, never wear dirty or tumbled lace, and bind frayed skirts.

Darning Tablecloths.—When the tablecloths begin to get thin and holes appear, we have found it convenient to darn the holes on the machine. Take a common embroidery hoop and slip the cloth over it so that the hole will be in the middle of the hoop; then, by means of a match or something sufficiently hard, lift the foot of the machine and push in the hoop. Stitch around the hole two or three times so as to make it firm, and then stitch back and forth, keeping the stitches as close as possible until the hole is filled with the threads running one way. Then turn the hoop around and stitch across the other way, keeping the threads close, the same as before. You will find that this method of darning not only saves time, but makes the work look much neater than if done by hand.

A home-made help for darning stocking—especially for the large holes made by marble-playing: Take two pieces of white cardboard and place between them the lid of a tin, such as a cocoa lid, or two or three corks—anything light in weight may be used; then sew them together with coarse thread. This placed under the holes will be found a great help to the eyes where much darning of black stockings is done. I have one made of light wood, in the shape of a mushroom with a long stalk. This was made by a wood-turner, but the above can be made at home, in a few moments, and will cost nothing.

Time Saved In Pairing Stockings.—To each stocking-top sew a short piece of narrow tape. As each pair of stockings becomes soiled, and before throwing into the clothes basket, tie the tapes together in a bow-knot. The stockings thus go through the wash paired, may be thrown over the line without pinning, and, best of all, are ready to put away without the usual tedious measuring arid sorting incident to pairing, especially in a large family.

Mending is a much pleasanter task if one has a well furnished work-basket. This basket should have good needles of all sizes, with a little woollen cushion to keep them in: there should be plenty of both white and black thread in various numbers, and darning cotton. There should be three pairs of scissors, large ones for cutting out, and small ones for ripping and clipping, and a pair of buttonhole scissors; there should be coarse and fine darners, bodkins, a bag of emery to clean the needles, a piece of beeswax to wax the thread, a tape measure, a lead pencil, and an egg-shaped gourd or piece of wood over which to darn.

Hand-run Tucks.—How to run narrow, hand-made tucks in thin materia] without having them of various widths is a puzzle to the woman who does her own sewing. Here is one plan that obviates the difficulty: Cut a measure double the width of the desired tuck. Lay this on the goods and draw one thread on both sides of the measure. Draw threads for all the tucks before you begin to sew. If your material is sheer, thin white goods, or mull, use your finest needle and 100 thread. Fold the goods so that two thin stripes come together. Sew in this stripe where the thread has been pulled, and, after the tuck is pressed down, the drawn thread will not show. By this plan one is sure that her tucks are all of the same width. Some people complain that it takes too much time to tuck with the fingers, but after the threads are pulled one can sew just as fast as the fingers can push the needle through the goods, and it is light and pleasant work.

An Even Hem.—Everyone knows how hard it is to turn a very narrow and perfectly even hem in serviettes. Put the hemmer attachment on your sewing-machine but do not use any thread. Just run the serviettes through the hemmer without sewing them, and they are creased as narrow as desired and are all ready for hand sewing.

When stitching a thick, heavy hem or seam on the machine and the needle almost refuses to go through, try rubbing a piece of soap on the wrong side of the material. The needle will then slip through easily.

Hints on Mending Shirts.—Almost invariably the collars and wristbands of men’s and boys’ shirts are the first to give way to wear and tear, when, without a scrap of like material for mending purposes, the garment must either be relegated to the rag-bag or repaired with an unsightly patch of contrasting colour. A way out of this difficulty is to take from the tail of the shirt the required amount of material, and with it either mend or replace the worn parts, thus rendering the article almost as good as new. The part from which the material has been removed may then be either hemmed or pieced down, as the case requires.

A Useful Hold-All—Odd buttons and loose hooks and eyes that find their way into one’s workbasket are convenient to have always at hand. I find a very useful holder in a large safety pin. Slip on the buttons, hooks and eyes, close the safety pin, and you have everything handy, easily seen and always In order.

A Pin-Saver.—Cut a strip of dark cloth or felt three inches wide and long enough to reach around the right-hand end of the table of your sewing-machine. Draw the ends together underneath as tightly as you can and fasten to the table with tiny tacks. As you take the pins from your work, stick them into the cloth slanting, or, if hurried, simply lay them on. They will not roll off and give one the bother of picking them up, as is usually the way. Then, too, one has pins always at hand when wanted.

A Clothes-Pin Bag.—A handy clothes-pin bag is made in form of a short apron. Turn up the end to form a large pocket, and sew on a large button and buttonhole in the centre of this pocket. You can thus reach your clothes-pins without stooping, and save yourself both time and labour. Use any material for this apron hag. If you have a faded gingham dress skirt which you can no longer wear, rip this up and make your apron from same.

An Embroidery Help.—A piece of white soap is quite- an adjunct to an embroidery outfit. Rubbed along the line taken by threads that are to be drawn from linen, it will make those same threads draw much more quickly and easily. Rubbed on the under side of the cloth when doing eyelet work, it stiffens the linen and makes it easier to do the work evenly and uniformly.

Substitute for a Bodkin.—As a substitute for a bodkin-needle, a narrow safety-pin is excellent. It opens up the way without puncturing the cloth. It is especially good to use with starched articles.

To Cut Bias Bands.—Instead of using a ruler for cutting bias bands, do as the tailors do. Mark the selvedge the desired width of the bands, then take a thin cord, chalk it well, and stretch it from side to side. Lift the centre with the teeth, and let the cord snap back. This gives an absolutely true line to cut on. The cord can be used half a dozen times before re-chalking.

To Press a Dress.—When pressing the dress after it has been made, the iron should be worked according to the nap; while in sponging and cleaning, a similar procedure should always be followed.

To Secure Threads.—To secure the threads in machine sewing, so that they will not rip nor need to be tied, turn the goods around and stitch backward for half an inch.

Skirt Bands.—A bit of old kid glove or stout canvas sewn under the bands of skirts, just where the hooks and eyes are to be placed, will prevent the bands tearing away.

Knitting a Shawl.—In knitting a long shoulder shawl of delicate colour I have found it more convenient to keep it in a cheesecloth bag (twenty by fifteen inches) than in a towel or apron. The bag has drawing strings in the top, which should be tied tightly around the knitting, a few inches below the needles. A pocket, about eight inches square, sewed on the outside of the bag, holds the ball of worsted loosely, yet keeps it from rolling off one’s lap.

The Necktie.—To keep your necktie from running up your collar, sew a short strip of kid glove to the tie, so that the rough side will come next the collar. It will stick like glue.

Sharpening Scissors.—When the scissors need sharpening, use the steel needle bar of the sewing machine, ' Open the blades full width, have the needle bar back between them as far as possible, close the blades and draw along the bar to the points. Repeat two or three times. The carving steel will answer the same purpose.

Elastics in Knickers.—Instead of making the elastic in a boy's knickerbockers tight enough to hold them up, make it just tight enough to hold the fullness and tack straight strips of cloth from the waist to the knees. Tight elastics are injurious to growing children.

Using Thread.—When sewing, if you want a fresh piece of cotton, thread your needle before cutting from the spool and begin working at the end just severed. You will then use the thread the right way, and it will not be continually getting into knots.

Don’t sew too much; don’t embroider too many hours a day; don't do one thing exclusively and all the time, for this means a strain upon your eyes.

To Freshen a Black Straw Hat.—Cut black sealing-wax up finely, and pour over enough methylated spirits to dissolve it; paint the hat all over with the mixture, and it will look, like new. Brown or blue wax may be used in the same way.

To Make Boys’ Sun Hats Wear.—I had a great deal of difficulty in keeping my three small boys supplied with decent sun hats. In a very short time after buying, with their boyish carelessness the edges of the rims would become torn or broken, and I was very unsuccessful in mending them. Finally I managed this way: The day they were bought I bound the edges with a two-inch bias strip of dark-red and blue-striped gingham (left from a dress), stitching with rather a long stitch on the machine. The result was better-looking hats at the end of the second season than they had formerly in the middle of the first.

To Mend a Curtain.—An easy method of mending a lace curtain in a hurry, until time can be spared for darning it, is to cut a piece of net of a mesh as near a match to that of the curtain as possible, dip it in boiled starch and iron over the torn part until dry.

In Sewing Lace.—In sewing lace which has a good heading on an edge of material where a narrow hem is desired, as for a small ruffle, make but one turn of the material on the right side and the lace stitched directly over this hides the raw edge.

Lace and Collars.—When sewing lace at the top of collars hold It against the wrong side of the collar, so that the stitches will come on the right side, drawing the thread moderately tight. This will make the lace stand up nicely around the neck.

Threads in Linen.—Before drawing threads in linen for hem-stitching, make a thick lather of soap and apply with a shaving-brush to the fabric. When the linen dries, the threads draw easily.

All clothes-moths belong to the family Tineidoe, and most of them to the genus Tinea. They embrace such insects as carpet moths, fur moths, and other destructive species. Their larvae cause considerable damage to clothes of all kinds, the webbed case of the common clothes moth, containing the caterpillar and the pupa, being only too well known to need description here. Any clothes, furs, woollens, or feathers left exposed for any length of time are almost sure to be attacked in the warm weather.

Remedies.—It is advisable to frequently examine and thoroughly brush all fabrics, especially in the summer, as this will destroy any eggs or larvm that happen to be on them. If clothes are to be stored it is advisable to put them in a close-fitting box, in which camphor or napthaline should be placed, and spray some benzine on the clothes three or four times during the summer. Cloth-covered furniture is often attacked by this moth, but a thorough spraying with benzine will have beneficial results. As benzine is highly inflammable it should be used with great care. Some writers recommend that the furniture should be sponged very carefully with a dilute solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, made just strong enough so as not to leave a white stain.

Camphor will not stop the ravages of moths in carpets after the insects have commenced eating; nor will they then pay any regard to the presence of cedar or tobacco. A good way in which to kill them is to take a coarse crash towel and wring it out of clean water, spread it smoothly on the carpet and then iron it dry with a good hot iron, repeating the operation on all suspected places and those least used. The process does not Injure the pile or the colour of the carpet in the least, and it is not necessary to press hard, heat and steam being the agents, and they do the work effectually on worms and eggs. Salt scattered over carpets will largely preserve them from damage by moths. Sprinkle the salt about the edges of the carpet. Sweep every carpet in the house occasionally after first scattering coarse salt upon it. Place salt in the tins in which winter furs are to be packed.

Coarse salt is the best remedy for these pests. Powdered borax or benzine is also of use. The former should be sprinkled in their haunts, and the latter syringed into any crevices.

Brush over drawers and wardrobes spirits of wine, special care being taken with cracks and crevices. If it is suspected that silver fish or moths are in any clothing, dissolve two drachms of camphor in four ounces of spirits of wine. Spray this mixture freely over the article. It will not injure in any way.

Tobacco decoction washed over the boards aids in preventing moths. Camphor, strong pepper or bitter apple powder are excellent remedies.

Woollen Garments.—All woollen garments should be regularly exposed at intervals to sunlight and air as a preventive against moths. Milk cans, billycans, or kerosene tins form safe storage for furs during summer months. Cool storage is also effective.

Bike the rat and the mosquito, scientists have proved that the fly is an active agent in the spread of many diseases, and must be exterminated, or at any rate must be treated as a dangerous enemy of mankind Under the miscroscope, over one hundred thousand bacteria have been counted on the legs and mouth of a single fly. It has been estimated that in one summer there will be twelve generations of flies, the sexes being about equally divided, and that each female will lay about one thousand eggs. These figures show that extermination during the summer would be practically an impossibility, so some other means must be found for protection against these microbe carriers.

No words fit to print can describe the place where the common housefly is born, her habits, and the real character of the microscopic dust she so industriously brushes from her wings and limbs in our house, in our very dining-room, perhaps, while standing on the food. This invisible dust from a fly’s foot often contains the germs of disease and death. There is hut one safe rule—wage endless war on all flies. Shut the screen-door, and put a wheel lock on it to keep it shut. Screen every window in the entire house, enclose the verandah In screens, use every possible method to keep flies out of your house in the summer—and kill every fly that gets Into the house. Buy fly-paper if you must; but there are objections to its use, and if flies are so thick that fly-paper must be used, there must be some leak in your screens. If the framed screens are too costly, use fly-netting. For a kitchen window tack it on the outside of the window frame. For a casement window tack netting inside the window frame, leaving it full and loose at the bottom, to enable the hand to slip under it to open and close the windows. The best screen of all is made of fine woven net, of bronze or painted wire.

To Destroy Flies.—(1) One teaspoonful of black pepper, one teaspoonful of brown sugar, and one of lard. Spread the mixture on paper. (2) Spread golden syrup on thick brown paper and scatter insect powder upon it. (3) Half fill a glass jar with a mixture of beer water and add sugar. Make a hole in the centre of a round of paper. Tie the paper over the jar. This attracts both flies and wasps.

Resin Paper.—Melt some resin, add a tablespoonful of treacle and spread the mixture upon paper.

Flower Cure for Flies.—A confectioner's shop was quite free of flies, though all the cakes and sweetmeats were uncovered. “ That mignonette,” said he, ” is what keeps the flies away; we have it in pots all over the place. The odour is so unpleasant to flies that they won’t come near it Butchers and confectioners should invest in plenty of it. It is a good idea. One sprig of mignonette in my window keeps it quite fly-free.” The odour of sweet-peas is so offensive to flies that it will drive them out of a sick-room.

In many parts of Australia, particularly the West, fleas constitute a very great annoyance and one not easily got rid of. Persons who keep cats and dogs should provide rugs or sacks for them to lie on. These should be brushed or well shaken daily, and the dust containing the eggs thrown into a fire. The animals should be continually washed with phenyle, or some other reliable preparation should be rubbed into their hair. Pyrethrum powder rubbed or sprinkled amongst the hair will cause the fleas to drop off. Avoid eocoanut matting or other such material for floors.

Fleas and Carpets.—To prevent fleas in carpets, sprinkle the room with oil of wormwood.

Burn a small piece of camphor in the room so that the smoke fills it. This will clear the room of mosquitoes. 'The odour of oil of citronella is much disliked by mosquitoes.

Gnat and Mosquito Bites. A useful remedy is to paint the affected parts at once with a paste of violet powder, moistened with an equal part of eau de Cologne. To prevent being bitten, paint the skin of the wrists and neck and other exposed parts with essence of pennyroyal, one drachm to two ounces of eau de Cologne. Weak carbolic acid sponged

Dainty Knitted Garments, soft, wgrm. and comfortable, can be made at home with Paton’s Alloa Knitting* Wools. Owing to the excellence of Paton's Wools, their superiority in colour, texture, finish, and durability, such garments are a constant source of satisf&c-to the wearer.

books, “ Helps to Knitters.” posted free for l%d. per copy. Particulars of working all the garments here are given in the following issues: T ig. 1 in No. XV., Fig 2 In No. XIV.; Figs. 3, 4. and 5 in No. XII.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT is of .special interest to every MAN AND WOMAN who have previously' tried other HAIR-OROWING PREPARATIONS. If you have HAD NO SUCCESS WITH OTHERS, please write to me. I REFRAIN from expressing any personal opinion as to other preparations but point to the vast array of letters received from patrons who. HAVING TESTED numerous advertised compounds, washes, etc., without benefit, used my pomade, and FOUND IT TO BE EXACTLY AS REPRESENTED—A REAL HAIR-GROWER. It is always prepared in accordance with the formula with which my name has become famous, and which is endorsed by NOTED ANALYTICAL EXPERTS OF ENGLAND. GERMANY, FRANCE, AND THE UNITED STATES. It can be shown by many letters which I receive that, IN A FEW DAYS AFTER THE FIRST APPLICATION, THE HAIR BEGINS TO GROW. AND CONTINUES UNTIL A HEALTHY, STRONG, PERMANENT GROWTH IS MANIFEST.

Hair troubles, like many other diseases, have been wrongly diagnosed and altogether misunderstood. The hair itself is not the thing to be treated, fir the reason that it la simply a product of the scalp, and wholly dependent upon its action The scalp Is the very soil in which the hair is produced, nurtured, and grown, and it alone should receive the attention if results are to be expected. It would do no earthly good to treat the stem of a plant with a view of making it grow and become more beautiful —the soil in which th? plant grows must be attended to. Therefore, the scalp, in which the hair grows, must receive the attention if you are to expect it to grow and become mire beautiful.

Loss of hair is caused by the scalp drying up. or losing its supply of moisture or nutriment: when baldness occurs the scalp has simply lost all its nourishment, leaving nothing for the hair to feed* upon (a plant, or even a tree, would die under similar conditions).

The natural thing to do in either case is to feed and replenish the soil or scalp, as the case may be, and your crop will grow and multiply as Nature intended it should.

My True Hair-Grower has a most wonderful effect upon the hair glands and tissues of the scalp. Tt is the only remedy for the hair ever discovered that is similar to the natural hair foods or liquids of the scalp.

It penetrates the pores quickly, and the hair soon shows the effects of its wonderfullv exhilarating and life-producing qualities

Besides being a True Hair-Grower, my preparation qulcklv removes DANDRUFF, and stops FALLING HAIR and TTCHING. It is known the world over, and I have in my consulting-rooms upwards of 3000 grateful letters from men and women who have derived so much benefit from the use of my True Hair “Grower” as to compel them to write and thank me. Now. 1 do not wish you to accept my word for any statement T make, but want you to prove the matter for yourself in your own home.

Having such complete confidence in this compound, I am offering a trial box to anyone interested. Send your name and full address, together with three penny stamps for postage, etc.

on the skin, and in some cases the clothing, will drive away a whole tribe of these pests. A good plan is to keep by one a saturated solution of the acid. The solution should not contain more than six or seven per cent., and it may be added to water until the latter smells strong.

Several species of ants are found about houses, the small Black Ant, the Sugar Ant, and the small Red Ant being the most troublesome. The first-named often make their nests in walls, and are sometimes difficult to find; but when once located it is an easy matter to destroy them. Syringe the nest with strong benzine, kerosene, boiling water, carbolic acid, or bisulphide of carbon. The last-named is one of the best remedies, but care must be taken when using It.

The so-called Sugar-ant (Camponotus nigriceps) makes large mound-like nests. When these are noticed, procure a stout stick, and make a hole about a foot deep. Into the centre of the nest pour about half a cupful of bisulphide of carbon, and immediately close the hole over with clay or some other heavy soil. The fumes from the carbon will penetrate through the nest, and will not only kill the ants, but destroy the eggs as well. The so-called White Ant (Termes sp) is perhaps the most serious pest. In some houses, joists, uprights, and verandah posts are completely hollowed out by these insects. If the joists or beams are badly Infested with white ants, it is far better to have them taken out carefully and new ones put in. But the latter, before being put in, should be treated with corrosive sublimate dissolved in alcohol, or even water. Carbolic acid may also be used for this purpose. The old ones should be at once destroyed by burning. Various patent preparations for the destruction of the white ant are on the market, and several have been found useful.

Ants and other insects may be kept from crawling upon tables in your store-room by cutting four pieces of sticky fly-paper, three inches square each, and placing one under each table leg. No insect will crawl over it. Mice may also be caught in this way.

Sprinkle the ants’ nests with powdered borax. Fill a watering can with warm water and pour it upon the borax. This plan is safe and effective.

Ants have an antipathy to cucumber. Cut the cucumber in strips and put where the ants congregate; or pour cucumber juice down their nests and then sprinkle with powdered sulphur.

Pantry Shelves and Ants.—Ants can be kept from the pantry by washing the shelves with strong carbolic water. Carbolic acid is a poison. All poisons should be carefully labelled such, and kept locked in a cupboard inaccessible to all except a responsible person.

Golden and Black Ants.—Draw a chalk ring around the sugar sack or sugar or jam dish. Ants of this kind will not pass over it.

To get rid of cockroaches observe alsolute cleanliness in all household arrangements. Cockroaches are particularly fond of cucumber. Cut the peel of a cucumber into small pieces and scatter over the kitchen floor at night. The feast will induce stupor. The cockroaches can then be killed. Should cucumbers not be In season try the following plan: To two ounces of powdered plaster of Paris add four ounces of oatmeal. Sprinkle freely about the floor.

Where cockroaches have installed themselves in great numbers, ordinary measures will scarcely prove satisfactory in ridding the room of the pests. Such insects multiply rapidly. No time should be lost, but every effort made at once to destroy them. The bedsteads and suspected boards should be washed with strong soda water. In bad cases a whole room must sometimes be dismantled. The woodwork must be scrubbed with carbolic solution, carbolic powdered into all cracks and crevices, the room re-papered, and pillows and mattresses re-stuffed. A further precaution: Before the papering of the room, empty buckets of scalding carbolic or strong soda water upon the bare floor until the water stands several inches deep. Allow this to remain till next day. This method is effective also in exterminating bugs.

Cockroach Mixture.—Melt together a quarter of a pound of sulphur and two ounces of potash. Allow the mixture to become cold. Then powder it and sprinkle in the locality infested.

Cockroaches in the House.—Save potato parings and burn at the back of the fire. This is one of the best remedies for banishing cockroaches.

Should timber or furniture be attacked by any species of furniture beetles, no time should be lost in taking measures to suppress the pest. If furniture is attacked it is advisable to treat it with strong benzine, by pouring it over the small holes made in the furniture by the larvae of these beetles; if this is repeated at intervals it penetrates into the wood and destroys the grubs. Corrosive sublimate (a poison which requires careful handling), carbolic acid, preservative oil, and other remedies recommended for treating white ants, will also be found effective.

A simple method to use in clearing a house of rats is to whitewash the cellar walls and ceilings with the addition of copperas to the usual mixture. Enough should be added to produce a light yellowish tint. It is well to strengthen the remedy by placing lumps of the copperas about the cellar; but as it is a deadly poison, it should be employed with much caution. The copperas in the whitewash will be quite a dispeller of the rats.

PERFECT

FIGURE

If you are f la t-cnested. - thin, run down and scraggly—even if you never have a nicely-rounded bosom, Dr. Falllere's Flesh-Food will build you up and develop your figure. Does your mirror mock you? Flesh-Food will remove the faults in your figure by rounding out and developing the deficient places Put up in Tablet form, it is easy to use and nleasant to take, and, if desired, may be taken secretly. Taken under our directions, it will work wonders for votir appearance.

In many cases bust measurements have been increased by over ten inches, and the ^weight over five pounds weekly. Other cases have shown an increase in weight of even a pound a day. The average bust increase desired is about six inches, and is readily accomplished. The lack of a well-rounded. nicely-formed bust deprives a woman of four-fifths of the charm that would otherwise be hers. . . Only curable cases

accepted

FLESH-FOOD offers relief and development to the thousands of chronically thin women who have despaired of ever possessing a nresentable figure. It is a nerve and tissue food treatment that adds weight and permanent development to attenuated women. RESULTS GUARANTEED.

It is not a common drug, but a skilfully-prepared, medicated food treatment Taken under our directions. it will work wonders for your appearance.

Had we the space we could reproduce hundreds of grateful letters attesting the efficacy of Flesh-Food. We will send scores of such letters to you upon request

positively removes excess fat. and will restore your spoiled fteure to decent and pleasing proportions, and is always a sure and lasting cure for obesitv and corpulency. A few doses Improves your breathing wonderfully, and the course of treatment will cure you.

It is the only successful, and at the same time harmless, fat reducer that has ever been discovered. Its efficacy has been undeniably demonstrated in thousands of successfully treated cases. It is totally and absolutely non-ooisonous. and can in no wise work any injury to the general ueaim. though it often reduces excess weight bv as much as a pound a day. Results guaranteed

Excess fat seriously interferes with the vital organs, principallv the heart and kidneys. Over-fat people temnt fate every day. Get rid of your obese state. Purging uoes not reduce weight.

Rats have been found to possess a strong antipathy to the odour of peppermint, and will flee from any place where it can be smelled.

Boil three or four onions in a pint of water, apply with a soft brush to gilt frames, and flies will keep off them.

To Relieve Ply-Bites.—Touch the bite with a mixture of brandy and salt. Ammonia and water alleviates quickly if applied to the bite at once.

The Value of Borax.—Borax is said to be a preventive for many household pests. Sprinkle the powder in places infested.

The Hen Roost.—For mites in the hen roost, throw coal ashes in every nook and corner. (Wood ashes will not do.)

(“ Everylady’s Journal ” Perfect Pattern Service Now Offered to Every Woman in Australasia.)

Most home-dressmakers in Australia and New Zealand know how difficult It is to secure reliable, seasonable, and well-cut paper patterns.

The publisher of “ Everylady’s Journal ”—the popular Australian sixpenny magazine for women— has pleasure in announcing an entirely new and practical plan which will enable any home dressmaker in Australasia to buy the patterns she wants at a saving of over 50 per cent, in cash, and in such .styles and cut as suit our seasons.

In the following pages will be found certain pages of Fashion Illustrations, each page containing a cluster of designs. To select these sets of designs a committee of three fashion experts was employed, who chose, from many hundreds, such designs as would appeal most strongly to the average Australian or New Zealand mother or home-dressmaker.

After the designs were selected by the experts, they were most carefully grouped into sixteen distinct clusters, so as to make a series of sixteen “ Paper Pattern Outfits." Then one of the cleverest and most experienced dressmaking experts in Australia was engaged to study these designs and cut such patterns for each as would be simple to make, accurate in cut, and just right in style —without extravagance—so as to fit exactly with our seasons and the tastes of the average Australasian woman.

Five out of these sixteen Outfits are illustrated In the following paiges. . .. .

As the result of the work of these fashion experts, any home-dressmaker in Australia or New Zealand may now buy with confidence one or several of these sixteen “Paper Pattern Outfits,’ knowing they are endorsed by “ Everylady’s Journal ” and that every pattern in any Outfit has been tested as to cut, style, and simplicity, and that quantities of material given have been, in every case, tested on the actual material as sold in Australasia.

Each Outfit contains from six to eleven perfectly cut patterns, which are sold as a set in a single strong covering envelope, thus making the Outfit complete. Each pattern within the Outfit has its own' covering envelope, bearing picture of design, and full instructions for making. The patterns have been so grouped—see illustrated pages—as to make each Outfit fill a distinct need, and are cut in varying sizes. For instance, “ Outfit No. 1 ’’ contains ten splendid patterns for an infant; and the others range up the scale of the entire family's need, till designs for the full-grown woman are reached.

Best of all, this new system of “ Paper Pattern Outfits ” creates a revolution in the price of the patterns. The price of each Outfit is 2/6. Thus a woman who buys any one of the sixteen Pattern Outfits will secure for 2/6 from six to eleven perfectly cut patterns, neatly enveloped, and with full directions for making. The same set of patterns, bought singly in the old way, would cost more than double the money—probably 5/- or 6/-;

and every pattern in e:ch Outfit is a complete ninepenny pattern in style, cut, reliability, and paper, and equals any ninepenny pattern sold anywhere in the world.

Look through the following pages now, and decide which Out-lit, or Outfits, or single patterns, you wish to buy, and order as described in next column.

We have prepared a 32-page booklet, illustrating all of the Sixteen Pattern Outfits, as well as Bight Transfer Outfits of Australian fancy-work designs. This catalogue will be sent by return post if you send your name and address with one penny stamp to Pattern Department, "Everylady's Journal,” 376 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Should any home-dressmaker feel disinclined to buy a complete Outfit for 2/6, she may select any single pattern from any Outfit, and buy this single pattern at the usual price of ninepence, post free.

Go to our sole agent in your town—usually the best draper— and he will supply one or more Outfits at 2/6 each, or single patterns at 9d. each. City drapers also stock them.

If our agent can't supply—or there is no agent in your town— send a 2/6 postal note or stamps, for each Outfit required, to “ Everylady’s Journal,” 376 Swanston Street, Melbourne, and the Outfit chosen will be sent by return, post free. In the same way order single patterns, sending 9d. in stamps to cover each pattern required, which will be sent post free. Simply state number of “ Outfit ” or Single Pattern, and give your name and address clearly, and mention this book.

In addition to supplying “ Pattern Outfits,” as described above, “ Everylady’s Journal ” has just published a series of eight “ Embroidery Transfer Outfits ” that will delight all fancy-workers.

Altogether there are 72 exclusive designs in “ Everylady’s Journal ” set, and these are arranged in eight “ Transfer Outfits ” of nine transfers each. The designs have been drawn by one of the finest art-craftsmen in Australia, and prepared by a highly skilled fancy-work expert.

Three of these 8 "Transfer Outfits ’’ are illustrated in following pages, but the complete eight are described and shown in Pattern Catalogue offered to you free as above—which send for to-day.

To buy one or more “ Transfer Outfits," decide on the Outfit required by looking at illustrations in following pages, and note number of the Outfit. Then go to our sole agent in your town (or leading drapers in big cities) and secure one or more “ Outfits ” at 2/6 each.

If sole agent or city draper can’t supply—or there is no agent in your town—-send a 2/6 postal note or stamps for each Outfit required to “Everylady’s Journal,” 376 Swanston Street, Melbourne, and the Outfit chosen will be sent by return, post free. In the same way orde.' single transfers, or designs stamped on linen, stating clearly the number and the price of the individual design required, as stated clearly under the illus trations. Give your name and address clearly. We pay all postage. Mention this book.

—price 2 t) the complete set, or 9d. for any sinele pattern. From our sole acent In vour town, or post free to anv address in Australia or New Zealand if price in postal note or stamps Is sent to

" livery lady s Journal/’ 37 »t Swansion St., Melbourne Outfit contains; Tunic Suit (40). Hat (11 i - Ranker ■' Suit (42) Komner (43), Overcoat (44). Shirt (45). Sleeping Suit (46).

Any woman in Australia or New Zealand may now choose any design in “ Everylady's Journal,” or in any fashion journal or catalogue, and our dressmaking experts will carefully cut the pattern to her individual measure. Every pattern will have the guarantee of “ Everylady’s Journal ” behind it.

Charges are moderate for the excellent service—a service unobtainable elsewhere, for our patterns will be cut by the cleverest and most experienced “ cut-to-measure” dressmakers in Australasia. Any design chosen tor “ ladies ” or “ misses ” will be cut for 2s. 6d. each pattern, post free to any address in Australia or New Zealand.

One-piece costumes, as well as coats and skirts, count as two separate patterns. Children’s patterns will be cut for 2s. each, post free.

Carefully select your design from “ Everylady’s Journal,” or any other fashion magazine or catalogue. Then fill in self-measurement form below, making sure that you fill in order form and sign your name and address. Attach illustration of design chosen to self-measurement form, and post to Fashion Department, “Everylady’s Journal," 376 Swanston Street. Melbourne. Enclose with the form postal note or stamps to cover price of pattern, or patterns, ordered- Several patterns may be ordered on one form.

Neck (round base) ..

Front (neck to waist)

Back (neck to waist)

Across Back (between shoulders)

Bust (round fullest part)

Waist............................

Under Arm (armhole to waist

Dart (from bust to waist)____

Hips (3inches from waist)

Armhole.............

Bound Elbow _________

Round Closed Hand Shoulder to Elbow Elbow to Hand (at back of arm)

Armhole to Hand (front of arm)

Order Form for “ Everylady’s Journal

PRICES.—Ladies’ and Misses' Patterns. 2 6 each, post free; Children's Patterns. 2/- each, nost free. A One-piece Dress or a Coat and Skirt coant as two patterns.

Enclosed please llnd postal note, or stamps for....................................................

for which post me pattern (or patterns) cut to measure, at prices stated above, according to my measurements given on form above. I enclose illustrations of the pattern (or patterns) I wish cut

Designs shown above, and described below, are included in Outfit No. 6. Price 2/6 the complete set. From sole agent in your town, or post free if 2/6 in postal note or stamps is sent to “ Everylady’s Journal.” Swanston Street. Melbourne. Sin trie transfers also may be bought—or will be Dosted separately at following prices:

61. Waratah design for Cushion, FireScreen. etc. (18 in. square), price 1/-52. Design for Table Scarf. Tray Cloth. Towel Ends etc., price 1/-. 4 6. Sheoak design for Book Covers, Carriers, etc., price

47. Thirteen-inch Table Mat. conventional Clematis design (suitable for centre of spread, cot cover, etc.), price 1/-. Also stamped on linen, price 2/6.

38. Clematis design for Theatre Bag, Photo Frame, etc., price 6d. Also stamped on linen sufficient to make bag 10 x 14. price 2/-.

39. Two designs for Sachets. Boxes, etc., on one sheet. 12 in. x 12 in., price 1/-.

20. Decoration in Swainson Pea, for various Gift Articles, with space for initial, price 6d.

Note.—We pay postage on all direct orders for Outfits, single Transfers, or Designs on Linen.

Designs shown above, and described below, are included in Outfit No. 7. Price 2/6 the complete set. Prom sole agent in your town, or post free if 2/6 in postal note or stamps is sent "to ⁴* Evefvlady’s Journal?’ Swanston Street, Melbourne. Single transfers also may be bought—or will be posted separately at following prices:

Note.—We pay postage on all direct orders for Outfits, single Transfers, or Designs on Linen.

Aluminium ware ...... — 165

Ammonia, the uses of ....« 191

Ants as pests ............ 308

Baps, good ways to keep

paper-........ — 180

Baby pens as mother-savers 259

Baby, a box for ............ 260

Baby, a pretty rattle for 263 Baby’s feet, comfort for the 264 Beaten egg, to prepare a 286 Bedroom, general rules

about the.......... 36

Bed, choosing the right .... 37

Bedclothes and sheets .... 41

Bed. to air a ................ 44

Bedrooms, sunlight in the 46

Benares ware .........-..... 130

Blankets, to mark............ 42

Blankets, to wash........ — 233

Boots, shoes, and slippers,

care of........ ............ — 67

Borax, the uses of............ 191

Bowls, to clean................ 186

Brass, cleaning and preserving........................ 127

Bread-boards, to clean — 186

Britannia metal ............ 130

Bruises, to heal small — 280

Buttons and buttonholes,

about .........-............. 296

Burns, the treatment of.... 281

Carpets, the most beautiful ................. 90

Carpet, to choose a ...... 92

Carpets, how to beat — — 93

Carpet, how to renovate a 94 Carpets, how to clean — 95

Carpet hints, general — 96

Carpets, preventive for

moths in ..............- — 99

Carpet, to lay a — ........ 100

Carpet, to sweep a .... — 101

Carafes, washing the insides of ..................- 143

Castor oil, to take......... 291

Cases, washing the insides of .................... 143

Chairs, the choice of........ 24

Child's amusement, stringing things as a ............ 257

Children, stimulating pride

in ............................ 258

Children, twelve don'ts

about ......... 262

China and its care............ 161

China, economies with — 221

Chimneys and their care 218

PAR-

228

202

^252

254

232

309

196

187

165

129

227

280

239

240

297

197 151

266

267

162

179

246

306

304

Cleaning hints, valuable Cleaners, professional .... Cleaning, preparing for — Cleaning, the autumn .... Cleanliness, the economy of Cleaning clothes in many

Clothes, soaking and boiling Clothes, grease spots on.... Clothes, perfuming one’s Clothing, putting away the

Cockroaches, conquering the Combs and their cleaning Cool, how to keep the house Cook, general hints for the

Felts and their use — — Flat-irons, the care of .... Fleas, the difficult question of..........- ........ —

Home, to keep plants fresh when away from 34 Home, a bed table in the 27 3 Home-nursing suggestions 274 Household accounts, the

Kitchen range, choice of the 209 Kitchen waste, to check.... 205 Kitchen lire, how to build a 215 Kitchen, a novelty in the 223 Kitchen floors — — — — 149

Linen, receptacles for soiled Linoleum, to keep it bright Linoleum, to make it last Linoleum and its many uses

Sewing-room hints, general 300 Sewing-room short-cuts.... 294 Sewing machine, proper

par.

154

268

222

226

166

153

299

Table-top, to oil-finish a.... Tables, treatment of polished ........................

182

9 2

148

119

234 236

235

10 9

167

“ Everylady's Journal ” announces a new, practical, and invaluable Shilling Library for Women. The four books now ready are listed below. Each book has been edited by an expert especially for the women of Australasia. To order, ask your bookseller, or use form below.

This volume is the best shilling Cook-Book on the market. It has been planned and edited to suit our climate, and contains 640 tested recipes—the garnered cookery experience of thousands of readers of " Every -lady’s Journal.” All booksellers, 1/-; or post free 1/1. Use form below.

This volume is worth three times the shilling asked for it. Its ISO pages, arranged in 20 chapters, cover the whole range of housekeeping, and give over 1000 invaluable ideas

The book Australasian women have been looking for! ISO pages of common-sense, reliable directions and hints for the preservation of youth and beauty. Not a volatile of generall-

If you have a little baby or bairns of a few vears old. get this volume to-dav. Your money will be returned if you do not think it is the best guide for Australasian mothers yet

for saving money, making monev, and saving time in the home, as well as countless hints for creating the home beautiful. All booksellers 1 or post free 1/1. Use form below.

ties and frothy writing, but a cluster of reallv valuable lessons by art expert that the most fastidious woman may follow. All booksellers, 1 / -; or post free 1/1. Use form below.

printed. Every page has been revised by a noted Australian women's doctor All booksellers. 1/-; or post free. 1/1. Use form below.

Prom local newsagent, 1/- each; or send 1/1 in stamps or postal note to publisher for each book wanted—post fre^—using; this form.

Enclosed find................... ............................In postal note or stamps <1/1 for

Library Nos................................................-.....................*> described above.

60 drops of liquid	=	one teaspoonful.
2 teaspoonfuls	=	one dessertspoonful.
2 dessertspoonfuls or
4 teaspoonfuls	=	one tablespoonful.
4 tablespoonfuls		one wineglassful or 2 oz.
16 tablespoonfuls	=	* lb.
8 tablespoonfuls	=	one gill. _t
2 wineglassfuls of liquid	=	one gill or 1 teacupful.
1 breakfastcupful	=:	i pint.
1 piled tablespoonful of
flour	=	% oz.
1 tablespoonful of butter		1 oz.
10 eggs	—	1 lb.
1 pint of broken sugar	=	1 lb.

Good Housekeeping.

“LIFE”

m&MGFjss

PERFECT

FIGURE

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