_The Sequence._--A reasonable order for this work is the following:

Shut the door of the room unless the weather is warm.

Roll the shades to the top of the windows.

Open the windows top and bottom.

Open the closet doors.

Take the bedclothes from the bed and spread them across two chairs set

far enough apart to keep the clothes from lying on the floor. Spread

the lower sheet in a place by itself and remember which it is. Turn the

mattress over the foot of the bed, or turn it up on edge.

Do these things in all the rooms which are to be cared for, carefully

shutting the doors of each.

If there are washstands in the rooms, now remove the waste water and

put the stands in order.

If there are not, make the beds, beginning with the one first opened.

Dust and put the rooms in order.

Put the bathroom in order.

If the bedrooms are on more than one floor, it is well to do a floor at

a time, and the bathrooms after all the rooms are finished.

The upstairs work is then finished until the beds are opened and the

rooms put in order for the night.

_The Description._--The first five actions in this order of work are

done for the sake of letting as much light and air as possible into the

rooms and the beds.

The washstands are put in order next because this gives the beds a

longer time to air, and because it is desirable to get the waste water

out of the rooms as soon as possible.

_Washstands._--For this work one needs a pail for waste water and a

newspaper or some such thing for it to stand on; two cloths; a stiff

brush; and some sort of soap or powder which has been found good

for cleansing toilet china. Borax, ammonia and yellow soap are old

standbys for this purpose. Where there is not running water, one must

add to these a pail of water for rinsing. Many people think that the

water for this purpose must be hot, but I have found that hot water

tends to roughen and crack the glaze of toilet china, and to incline

the articles used for waste water to give off an odour. When water is

left in the pitchers it is well to use it for rinsing as this lessens

the amount of water to be carried, and insures that the water in the

pitchers is fresh each day.

Empty all the waste water into the pail brought for it. Pour a little

clean water into each thing emptied. Do not use all the clean water

for this first rinsing. With one of the cloths wipe the objects on

the washstand which have not been wet; rinse, and with this same

cloth dry the tooth mug, soap dish, pitchers and bowl. If one of the

pitchers contains water you need, attend to it after the other china

is finished. Wash the slop jar and chamber with the cleaning substance

or soap and the stiff brush. Rinse them with the remaining clean water

and dry them with the _other_ cloth. Never use for these articles the

cloth which in the next room will be needed for the cleaner china. To

have the two cloths of different materials helps the worker to remember

this. Fill the pitchers with fresh water, carry away soiled towels,

neatly spread or fold once used ones which are to be retained, and

leave everything in its place.

The daily care of a stationary basin consists merely in washing or

dusting the objects on the edge of the basin or on shelves over it,

washing and drying the basin and the frame which holds it, and wiping

dust from the pipes and fixtures underneath.

Whether the care of washstands is difficult or easy depends on the

water used, and on whether the work is done nicely every day. In

spite of daily care, very hard water will encrust the china. These

encrustations can usually be removed after they have been soaked with

vinegar for a few hours.

_Bed Making._--Making a bed is an art worth knowing, it gives such

comfort.

If the spring or other parts of the bedstead need dusting, that should

be done first, then the mattress replaced. This should be turned each

day, sometimes from end to end, sometimes from side to side, and given

as many thumps and punches as are needed to make it level and even with

the springs.

If a pad or cover of any kind is needed over the mattress, that is put

on first and spread very smoothly, or, if wide enough, it is drawn very

tightly and tucked under the mattress.

Then put on the under sheet, right side up, with the hems at the top

and bottom, the selvages at the sides and the middle crease in the

middle of the bed. Turn the sheet smoothly under the mattress at the

head and foot. In the case of the under sheet, this turn should be a

few inches deeper at the head than at the foot; in the upper sheet the

deeper turn should be made at the foot. The person who sleeps in the

bed naturally pushes the under sheet down, and pulls the upper sheet up.

To fold the corners, stand at the foot or head of the bed. Keeping the

fold even, hold the sheet straight out from the side of the bed. Put

your other hand under the corner of the mattress and run it round on

the fold of the sheet until the thumb is even with the upper edge of

the mattress. Hold it there. Then fold smoothly under the mattress the

part of the sheet you have held out and withdraw your hand which you

will find is in a sort of little pocket. This is sometimes called a pie

corner, and it is rather like the fold for a mitred corner in a hem.

When finished, the under sheet should be tight stretched and smooth.

Spread the upper sheet on the bed wrong side up, then when the hem is

turned back at the head of the bed, it will be right side out. Turn the

sheet under at the foot twelve inches if possible. Turn the corners at

the foot but do not turn the sides under nor the corners at the head.

See that the sheet lies straight, and smooth out all wrinkles.

[Illustration: Photograph by Helen W. Cooke

Straight and Smooth]

Put on the blankets, their upper edges reaching to the place where

you intend to make the backward fold in the sheet. Fold them under

about twelve inches at the foot, not at all at the sides; smooth them

carefully.

If two people sleep in a bed or if the blankets are narrow, put a

single blanket on crosswise, placing one of the selvages even with the

edge of the mattress at the foot of the bed, then the ends will hang

some distance over the sides. Some people fold double blankets evenly,

some prefer to fold them with one binding a good way below the other

binding. This preference depends on whether one likes the upper part of

the bed covering thick or thin, and also whether the blanket is long

enough to turn under at the foot when folded evenly. The fold, not the

bindings should be at the foot of the bed, in order that, if too warm,

one thickness of the blanket can be easily thrown back.

When all the bedclothes are on, with the exception of the spread, turn

back the edge of the upper sheet over the blankets, leaving about a

foot of the under sheet exposed. Then fold all the coverings neatly

under the mattress at the sides, drawing them smooth and straight.

The spread is put over the whole bed. It should hang over at the sides

and foot, far enough to hide the mattress, springs and all under parts

of the bed which are not of the same material or finish as the upper

parts.

Bolsters are laid flat either under or over the spread at the head of

the bed. They are not so invariably used as in times past.

If there is no bolster, two pillows are sometimes laid flat in its

place, and two pillows set on edge upon them. If there is a bolster,

the pillows are set edgewise upon it. They must be well beaten,

smoothed and set up securely.

If shams are used they should be spread over the pillows and bolster

as smoothly as possible. They are usually supported by tapes fastened

across the upper corners of the shams on the wrong side, and slipped

over the corners of the pillows.

In places where dust and smuts must be constantly guarded against, one

must either use shams or else cover the pillows with the spread. This

last is often not an agreeable arrangement to the eye, but it is better

than smirched and dingy pillows.

Bed linen is changed according to the quantity of linen the housewife

possesses, the amount of laundry she can have done, and her own taste

in the matter. The common tradition is a sheet a week for each bed,

and a pillowcase a week for each pillow regularly used. In this case,

the upper sheet becomes the lower sheet during the second week of its

wear. This change is made because it is more agreeable to have the

cleaner linen nearest one's face, and turned out to view when the bed

is opened for the night.

If you do not sleep long and soundly after reading this description of

bed making, I am sure it isn't my fault.

When the bed has been made, the room should be put in order; clothes

put in the closet and the closet door shut, the sweeper run over the

rugs if needful, all visible dust removed, articles on bureaus and

tables put in their accustomed places, all drawers tightly closed,

faded flowers and burnt matches removed, and everything _straightened_.

Then partly close the windows, draw the shades to the same level at

each window, and go on to the next room.

In extremely damp or extremely cold weather, one may have to get along

with less airing, but it should not be lessened except for grave cause.

In some houses, it will be more convenient to make all the beds before

doing any dusting. If there are people in the house who do not leave

their rooms until after breakfast, or who wish to occupy them very

soon after breakfast, such rooms will have to be done separately and

later or earlier than the others.

In the evening, bedrooms should be prepared for the night. Waste water

should be carried away, pitchers filled, washstands tidied and beds

opened. Shams and spread are removed from each bed and neatly folded.

Leaving the sheet folded over the other bedclothes as it is already,

turn them all back until they make a straight wide fold across the bed

a little above the middle. Then straighten the coverings at the sides

and tuck them under the mattress again, making everything very neat

and straight. Put the pillows on the bed as the person who occupies it

likes to have them. This can sometimes be discovered by noticing in the

morning how the pillows are placed, unless the person is so exemplary

as to open his own bed for airing. If you are preparing the bed for

a stranger put the bolster and pillows back on the bed and allow the

guest to arrange them later.

The night clothes and wrapper belonging to the occupant of the room

should be laid across the foot of the bed or over a chair, and bedroom

slippers put beside them on the floor.

This part of the upstairs work adds exceedingly to the comfort of

a family, but I think it is one of the things to be left undone in

households where the work is heavy and the workers few.

_Bathroom._--The bathroom, like other rooms, needs some daily care and

some periodical care.

Daily the stationary basin must be cared for as previously described.

The tub and its fixtures must be washed, and wiped entirely dry. For

this it is good to have a stiff brush with a handle and a soft cloth.

Both these conveniences should always be kept hanging on a hook near

the tub. It is only common decency after one has used a bathtub to

rinse and wipe it for the sake of the next person. If a brush and neat

cloth are kept near the tub, the good-intentioned will find it easier

to cleanse the tub, and the lazy will have less excuse for not doing it.

The wood and metal parts of the closet should be wiped, first with a

damp cloth, then with a dry one. The china parts should be scrubbed

thoroughly with soap and one of the long-handled brushes made for this

purpose. When the scrubbing is finished, flush the closet and rinse it

with the brush, then flush again. Leave the cover open. The bathroom

should be thoroughly aired and as much sun as possible let in while

the upstairs work is being done.

Once a week, or twice a week, the bathroom will need a more thorough

cleaning. Wipe the ceiling and walls with water if the finish permits.

If not, with a dry cloth or mop. Wash all the fixtures, the woodwork

and the floor with soap and water, and carefully dry them. Do not

forget the outsides of the tub and basin. If the fixtures are nickel,

they should be polished when they really need it, not oftener, with

some patent nickel polish or with whiting. The woodwork of the closet

should be rubbed with oil, especially if the finish begins to be worn.

This prevents the wood from absorbing impurities.

If there are rugs in the bathroom, they should be washed as soon as

they show need. No rug which cannot be washed should be allowed in an

ordinary bathroom.

Many people recommend flushing waste-pipes now and then with a strong

hot solution of washing soda. The overflow pipes should be included in

this performance. Good, new plumbing, however can probably be spared

treatment of this sort.

[Illustration: Photograph by Helen W. Cooke

Air, Sun, and Water]

Bedrooms are cleaned every week or every fortnight in the same way that

other rooms are. They are apt, however, to contain closets and these

require some special care.

_Closets._--When a room is being prepared for cleaning, the floor

and baseboards of the closet should be wiped with a dry mop or

cloth--anything which will not make a dust--and the door tightly

closed. Once in a while, before the cleaning of the room if there

is time, if not, on some other day, the clothing should be removed

from the closet, the walls wiped, and everything washed which can

be,--hooks, wire hangers, the rods on which these hang, shelves and

floor should be washed with water in which has been put a generous

quantity of ammonia, borax or boracic acid. These things are not liked

by the various small insects which annoy housewives. They also help to

prevent mustiness and "close" odours. After the washing, everything

should be carefully wiped dry, and as much light and air let into the

closet as possible. The contents should not be put in again until

this drying and airing is finished. Do not wash closets on a rainy or

humid day. If they have a musty or unpleasant odour, a few drops of

oil of lavender put on a shelf or on the floor will help to remove it.

A little chloride of lime, poured into a saucer and set on the floor

of the closet, will also remove odours. Little bags of lavender or

rose-geranium leaves laid on closet shelves add much to the daintiness

and freshness of the clothes kept there. The shelves should be covered

with white paper cut, not folded, to fit the shelf. Folds afford

harbourage for insects. Floors should be left without covering of any

sort. Ideally, they are of hard wood like the floor of the room.

Clothes get more air, and are less creased and rumpled if they are hung

on hangers suspended on a pole or wire, than when they are hung one

piece on top of another on hooks fastened into the wall. Even in a wall

closet, not more than ten inches deep, one gains space by stretching a

strong wire from opposite hooks, and putting hangers on this. Four or

five waists or dresses will hang without crushing on such a ten-inch

wire. A closet with a shelf in it offers better hanging-space if hooks

are put at intervals into the under side of the shelf. A hook like two

J's, back to back, is made especially for this purpose.

* * * * *

It is well to give bedrooms a look of peacefulness. Some things which

help in this are: perfect cleanliness, few decorations, few colours,

a bed which looks like a bed, a regard for the occupant's wishes to

have personal possessions one way rather than another, and something

else--I have no name for it, but it is there because the housewife has

wished, as she made the bed and arranged the room, that the person who

sleeps there may have rest and quiet of heart.

She has folded into the sheets perhaps this prayer:

_And four great Angels guard this bed,

Two at the foot and two at the head._

VIII

DINING-ROOM AND PANTRY WORK

THE dining room is put in order daily and cleaned periodically in the

same way that the other rooms in the house are cared for. The daily

care of this room, however, has to be a little more thoroughly and

thoughtfully given. It should be noticeably neat, carefully aired, and

a trifle cooler than a living room. Pure air and the restfulness of

order are favourable and refining to appetite.

To allow fruit or any kind of food to stand in the dining room is a

poor custom. Such things attract flies, create an odour of food in the

room, and encourage the indulgent habit of eating bits now and then

between meals.

The plant or flowers used on the table need a little care each day.

Water in which flowers stand, quickly becomes discoloured enough to

show dark against a white cloth, and soon gives off an unpleasant

odour. Even when there is little time for looking after such things,

one can take the flowers out, holding them in position, quickly clip

off the ends of the stems and the leaves that are wet, and put them

back into fresh water. A plant should be watered each day and have dust

and withered leaves removed from it.

The hours for meals should be times of rest and social pleasure, they

cannot be if disagreeable sights, sounds, or smells accompany them.

Keep the dining room neat, aired and cool. In a clean, well-kept

room there will be less fault-finding, scolding and gloom than in a

neglected one. Such a room will also help people to be agreeable,

attentive and interesting, in harmony with their surroundings.

_The Table._--If the dining table has a polished top it will need

special and frequent care. Some people prefer a table of which the top

is a plain white wood because it does not need special care. Such a

table must of course be kept covered with a linen cloth at meals and a

table cover at other times.

A polished table must be constantly guarded from heat and scratches,

and must be polished at regular intervals. Where very hot dishes are

to be placed the table should have added to the usual protection of an

undercloth the further protection of asbestos or basketwork mats. These

can be hidden, if you wish, with linen carving cloths or doilies.

Rub the table briskly for a few moments every day with a soft cloth or

a piece of chamois skin. About once a week polish it more carefully.

Before either of these performances remove any stickiness or greasiness

with a damp cloth.

The mixture of sweet oil and vinegar recommended for furniture is

excellent for a table. (1 tablespoonful of vinegar to 3 of sweet oil.)

A mixture of equal parts sweet oil and turpentine is also good. Rub the

table thoroughly with a soft cloth dampened with the mixture, then rub

it with a clean cloth.

Dull spots occasionally appear even on the most carefully guarded

tables. Long and frequent polishing will sometimes remove these. If the

finish is seriously injured, however, amateur efforts to restore it are

more likely to make it worse than better.

On account of frequent rubbing and unavoidable wear, the table-leaves

in use should often be changed for those not in use, the whole table

will then be of the same colour and in the same condition.

_Table Setting._--Before beginning to set the table, see that it is the

right size. Neither people nor dishes should be crowded if this can

possibly be avoided; it is also undesirable to have the table too large

for the number at the meal.

For dinner the table is first spread with a cotton-flannel or felt

undercloth. This is not only to save a polished table from injuries;

it improves the appearance of any table and prevents noise. Over it is

laid the linen cloth, the middle crease running the length of the table

exactly in the middle.

In some households a smaller, lighter tablecloth is used for breakfast

and luncheon. In others, a luncheon cloth of embroidered linen, lace or

drawn work is used for these less formal meals. In others, the table

is left bare and doilies spread where plates and dishes are to be set.

Many people who use doilies or a luncheon cloth for luncheon prefer a

covered table at breakfast. These are all matters of taste or economy

with one exception. It is the custom to spread the table for dinner

with a cloth which entirely covers it.

When the tablecloth has been laid, a centrepiece of linen or lace is

sometimes placed upon it in the centre of the table. If carving is to

be done, a carving cloth is placed at the foot of the table in such a

position that the platter will stand in the middle of it.

All the table linen, when removed, should be refolded in the creases

made by the iron. Centrepieces and doilies should be laid flat in a

drawer or the former rolled on a roller. A little care in this matter

keeps the cloths fresh longer and protects delicate linen from too

frequent washing.

A napkin is laid at each place, on the right or in the centre. Napkins

should match the tablecloth but this is not always possible because

they have to be changed more frequently than the cloth. Fresh napkins

every day at dinner is the agreeable and not extreme method of changing

them; to have fresh ones at every meal is rarely possible or necessary

except in hotels; a change twice a week is the minimum at which any

degree of comfort can be maintained.

When all the linen necessary is on the table, place exactly in the

middle of the linen centrepiece the vase of flowers, plant or dish

of fruit which is to be the centre decoration of the table. It makes

variety and daintiness if this decoration is flowers or a plant or even

a silver or glass vase rather than food in any form. A pretty thing

helps to remind us that eating is not the only thing for which we come

together. It may also afford a topic for pleasant conversation.

[Illustration: Photograph by Helen W. Cooke

Order and Daintiness]

After the centre decoration is placed put on candlesticks or lamps,

carafes, decanters, salts and peppers and any large objects which are

to be used, leaving places for bread plates, relish dishes and the

like. These things should be arranged symmetrically, not as if they

were men on a checker-board, but with the sort of symmetry which the

leaves on a vine have. If there is not some evidence of design in the

arrangement of a table, it will look littered.

Add now to the napkin at each place, everything which will be needed

during the meal, or until the serving of the sweet at luncheon or at

dinner, or until the serving of fruit as a last course at any meal. The

finger bowl, doily and silver needed for these courses are frequently

arranged on the plate to be used and brought to each place at the

beginning of the course.

At the left of the place lay the forks in the order in which they are

to be used; at the right lay the knives in the same order with their

edges toward the plates; at the right of the knives lay the soup spoon.

If the dessert spoon is put on the table it is placed at the right of

the knives and the soup spoon. Spoons are laid on the table with the

hollow of the bowl up, and forks with the ends of the tines up.

Besides the silver each place needs a glass for water--glasses are

turned up, not down--and others suitable for any beverages which are to

be served. A salt cellar will be needed if individual salts are used.

These are not regarded favourably at present but are tolerated if each

has a spoon. And either a small butter plate or a bread and butter

plate and butter knife are put at each place except sometimes at dinner

when butter is not served. When meals are formally served a plate is

put at each place which is removed when the first course is brought.

One cannot lay places correctly without knowing the menu for the meal.

The food to be eaten determines the objects needed for eating it.

When the table is set with the exception of the food, the sideboard or

serving table, or both should be arranged. On these are put dessert

or fruit plates arranged with finger bowls and silver, all the china

not to be heated which will be needed for the courses of the meal,

any seasonings or bottled sauces which the family are in the habit of

asking for, a crumb tray and napkin or scraper, a small napkin or doily

with which a spot of gravy or fruit juice could be quickly removed from

the tablecloth, a water pitcher and a serving tray. If after-dinner

coffee is made on the table, it is convenient to set out all the

articles needed for this on a tray on the sideboard. Room must be kept

on the serving table for the vegetable dishes which are usually left

there during the course to which they belong.

A few minutes before a meal is served is the time to place food such

as pickles, jelly, bread, butter and milk on the table or the serving

table and to fill the glasses with water. If ice is put into each glass

it should be done carefully with a spoon. It adds to the appearance of

butter balls and helps to keep them cool if a lettuce leaf is laid in

the dish under them. They keep their shape and firmness better if kept

in a bowl of water when in the refrigerator. At luncheon or breakfast

bread is served on a plate or tray, or the loaf, board and knife are

put on the table. At dinner a piece of bread is laid by each place or

tucked into each napkin. Hot biscuits keep hot longer if a napkin is

spread over the plate and folded over them. Cold bread or crackers,

also cheese, are often served on a folded napkin, they look better so

than on a plate.

In laying the table, time, steps and thought can be saved by taking

as many things as possible from one place at one time. That is,

after the linen is on the table. First put on everything needed from

the sideboard, then everything needed from the china closet, then

everything needed from the pantry. All the articles from each place

can sometimes be brought in one trip with the help of a tray. If the

flat silver is kept in a basket, it is better to carry the basket from

place to place and take out what is needed. This saves steps and some

handling of the silver.

When the places where the dishes and silver are to be kept are first

decided upon, and when the order in which the table is set is first

learned, both should be done with the thought of saving steps and of

opening drawers and doors as seldom as possible.

Tables should be set without noise. Not only because it is disagreeable

to hear the rattling of dishes but because thumps, and clatter, and

jingle mean scars on the table, nicks in the china, scratches on the

silver and a lack of that dainty carefulness without which a table is

never perfectly set.

_Waiting._--"Waiting" requires more "head" than other household

employments. One can keep accounts slowly and laboriously, one

can sweep without possessing much tact, one can even cook without

possessing a great degree of administrative ability, or do laundry work

without a good memory. To "wait" cleverly requires all these qualities.

The object of waiting is that the needs and wants of those seated at

table shall be supplied without effort, often without consciousness on

their part. It also preserves the orderliness of the table, and makes

inquiries about people's wishes unnecessary. One occasionally hears the

objection made to careful waiting that it makes people thoughtless

for the comfort of others. I would suggest that conversation made

agreeable and amusing to others requires greater and more continued

thoughtfulness than passing the beans and the butter.

The waitress should have in her mind a plan of the meal including not

only the food but also the china, silver and linen needed for serving

it. If a meal is more than two courses long, it is often better to have

the plan written out. This is a little trouble, but saves mistakes, and

the necessity of stopping to think when one has not time to think.

The waitress is expected to be in the dining room when the family enter

for the meal. She should be ready to serve the first course as soon

as they are seated. If this course is oysters or grape-fruit or some

such thing, plates containing it are set before each guest. Two plates

can be brought at once if there are no plates already on the table; if

there are, the waitress can only bring one plate for she must remove

the empty plate before she can set the other down. When the plates

are all on the table she will then pass anything which accompanies

the course. Sometimes various small relishes and biscuits such as are

required with raw oysters can be put on the tray and all passed at the

same time.

When the course is finished the soiled plates are removed two at a time

and after that anything from the table belonging to the course. The

soup plates are then brought and set before the hostess if the soup is

to be served on the table. The tureen is placed before her, uncovered,

and the cover deposited on the serving table. The waitress stands at

the left of the person serving, takes each plate as it is ready and

places it before a guest. If the soup is served from the pantry or the

serving table, the plates are brought two at a time, as for the former

course.

With a few changes in detail to be noted below, courses are served as

one or other of the two described. This is an outline for serving a

course.

Remove the food of the preceding course.

Remove the plates.

Remove relishes, biscuits, etc., belonging especially

to that course.

Remove unused plates and silver belonging especially to

that course.

Bring the plates for or containing the next course.

Bring the chief dish of the course.

Serve each person.

Pass anything which completes the course, like sauce or

gravy.

Pass anything which accompanies the course, like

vegetables, or sometimes, a salad.

See that glasses are filled, and guests supplied with

butter.

Listen for the answer when any one is asked to accept a

second helping or consulted about his wishes.

After an interval, pass a second time anything of which

a second helping may be taken, provided there is none

of it on the plate.

Detail (_a_).--It is the custom for the host to serve the fish and do

the carving. Perhaps it is a survival from the days when these things

were the trophies of his hunting and fishing. The hostess serves the

soup, salad and dessert.

Detail (_b_).--If the family is large the plates for the meat should

be put on the serving table and one placed before the carver at a

time. The waitress stands beside the carver with the next plate in her

hand and puts it before him when she removes the one which is ready to

pass. Or if the waitress is too much occupied to do this, three or four

plates can be put before the carver, then three or four more.

Detail (_c_).--A vegetable requiring a separate plate, such as

asparagus or corn on the cob, is served after the other vegetables.

A plate for it is first put at the left of each place and then the

vegetable is passed. Salad, when served with the meat course, is

arranged for and passed in the same way.

Detail (_d_).--Everything to which a guest is to help himself is passed

to him from the left side that he may comfortably use his right hand.

Things which he has already accepted, like a serving of meat or a cup

of coffee, are placed before him by the waitress.

Detail (_e_).--Some authorities say that the people on one side of

the table should be served in the order in which they sit, then the

people on the other side in the same order, without regard to sex or

precedence. This is well enough for a table full of people of about

equal age and importance, but in an ordinary family there are apt to

be guests or a grandmother to whom all slight deferences are due. I

took a meal with a family not a great while ago at which the two small

children were served before the guests and their mother. Extraordinary

spectacle!

The question whether the hostess shall be served first or not is much

discussed. I can only say that I have never yet seen a "guest of

honour" who would not have been glad if the hostess had been served

before her.

The outline for serving a course, with the addition of the suggestions

above, holds good until dessert. At the end of the course before

dessert, the table is cleared of everything except the decorations and

glasses. The carving cloth is lightly folded together and carried away.

Crumbs are removed and any disarrangement restored to order. Then the

dessert plates, arranged with finger bowl, doily and silver are brought

from the sideboard. As soon as one is placed before each guest the

dessert is served. If it is served by the hostess the waitress takes

the first plate from before the hostess as soon as it is ready and

replaces it with an extra one which she has in her hand. She brings

back the one she removes from before the guest whom she served and

places it before the hostess when she removes the one filled in her

absence.

The conventional dress for a waitress is a plain black frock with white

collar and cuffs, a large white apron with a bib and shoulder straps,

and a small cap. At breakfast she usually wears a light-coloured

cotton frock instead of the black one as this is more suitable for the

work she does in the morning. Her shoes should be comfortable for her

own sake, and noiseless for the sake of others. The same cleanliness

and daintiness which are necessary in her work should also be hers

personally. I cannot believe that it is ever very difficult to persuade

a girl to this. Probably a mistress need only express an interest in

her waitress's hair, and teeth, and hands, and pretty looks and they

will soon be well cared for. Such interest on the part of the mistress

is not merely requited with an improvement in the appearance of her

waitress. A girl who can put a dainty collar on herself has taken a

long step toward being able to put a dainty collar on a chop-bone; if

her hands are clean and soft, she will not like disgusting dishwater or

soppy glass-towels any better than her mistress does.

Waiting and elaborate methods of serving meals may easily become a

nuisance and a burden instead of a help and a pleasure. To try for

"appearances" to which the skill and strength of a waitress or a

maid-of-all-work are unequal is to produce a worried hostess and

nervous, wearied guests. A certain degree of order, daintiness and

formality should characterize every meal, but these things do not

depend upon the number of courses, nor upon the presence of a waitress.

In a household where there is no maid, thoughtfulness beforehand can

prevent any getting up from table except between courses. All the food

and accessories for a course must be placed on the table and served

by some member of the family, and the plates must be passed from hand

to hand. Sometimes two or even three courses can be agreeably put

together, as when a salad is served with the meat course, or fruit and

coffee are brought with the dessert. Often in this way a dinner can be

acceptably served with only one or two clearings of the table, which

under other circumstances would have been five or six courses long. A

large tray on the serving table upon which the plates and dishes can be

put and all removed together is a great assistance. Upon such a tray,

also, everything necessary for a whole course can often be brought from

the kitchen at one trip. The article known as a dinner wagon is even

better as an assistant than a tray.

In a small family it makes less confusion if only one person does the

necessary waiting. A daughter rather than a mother should do this, or

the person who has not done the cooking rather than the person who has.

In a large family two people should do the waiting, partly for speed,

partly because it is hard work. There is the further advantage that

work done by two people is much more cheerful than work done by one.

I have little patience with families in which one sister does all the

housework for a week or a month, and then another takes it for the same

length of time. It is well enough to divide the work into departments

and sometimes exchange those, but no sister should rock on the veranda

while the other washes the dishes alone. In the first place it is

not economic--two could do the work more quickly and then both could

rest. And besides, what a loss of companionship! The most helpful and

intimate talks I have ever had with one of my sisters have been while

we were washing dishes together.

In households where there is but one maid, it is wise to make her

duties as waitress few and simple. She is probably not trained for the

work, and besides, if she has cooked the meal, she is hot and tired

just at the moment when she should be fresh and alert. Under such

conditions the waiting is not likely to be well and quickly done. If

the maid does those things which prevent any getting up from table,

that is really enough for her to do. If, however, you wish her to pass

plates and vegetables, at least serve the sauce on the platter with the

fish, have the gravy for the meat and the sauce for the pudding placed

where the server can help them, and depend upon those seated at the

table to pass the bread, butter, pickles and jelly which are before

them.

In clearing the table, the large tray mentioned before is an aid

which should be allowed to one maid. Any piling of dishes as they are

removed, however carefully done, looks unpleasant; taking two plates to

the pantry at a time costs many steps. The large tray on the serving

table is a compromise between these alternatives which I have found

good.

Waiting, like table setting cannot become excellent unless it is

characterized by an almost exaggerated carefulness. Whether the meal

is elaborate or extremely simple, evidences should never be lacking of

minute thoughtfulness and of the use of careful hands.

_The Pantry._--A pantry is like a tea basket, or a handy box, or a

ship's cabin. It is a small space containing a great variety of useful

things. The one virtue necessary above all others in such a space

is orderliness. Without it convenient compactness becomes crowded

confusion.

Things not connected with pantry work should have a place found for

them elsewhere.

Things most frequently used should be on the shelves and in the drawers

which require least reaching and stooping.

Things of the same kind should be grouped together except when this

violates the previous rule. That is, for the sake of keeping all the

platters together, it is not necessary to use precious space on the

most practicable pantry shelf for a platter only used at Thanksgiving

and Christmas.

_Dish Washing._--Dish washing is such a frequent and important part of

pantry work that it deserves a few words of description, perhaps of

praise.

Dish-washing accessories should be within arms' reach as one stands at

the sink. They are: a dishpan, soap, borax or ammonia, towels--soft

ones for the fine dishes, coarser ones for the heavier dishes--a dish

drainer, a sink strainer for scraps. To these may be added a mop and a

dishcloth if you feel you must have these articles, but I wish I could

convert you to the use instead of a small-sized whisk, or a little

fibre broom such as is sold for cleaning sinks. Broom straws softened

by warm water will not scratch cut glass and yet are stiff enough to

use for washing pots. The little broom can be scalded and dried through

and through on the back of the stove. It does not smell, and dish

washing done with it is as different from dish washing done with a

cloth, as eating with a fork is different from eating with your fingers.

In a pantry where many dishes are washed a folding table is a

serviceable accessory to dish washing. It can be set up to receive the

dried dishes, and folded again when no longer needed.

The list of accessories for dish washing done where there is no running

water is slightly different. One must then have one or two kettles

of hot water on the fire. The dish drainer must have a tray to stand

on or be replaced with pans. The sink strainer will not be needed. A

bowl can be used instead, but not a tin receptacle, for scraps of food

sometimes combine to form acids which eat or discolour tin.

_The Preparation._--For the work of dish washing, first get yourself

ready. Put on an apron, preferably one with a bib. If your sleeves

are long, either turn them back or cover them with half-sleeves which

button tightly round the wrist.

Next put away all food.

Then prepare the dishes. Gather the glass together. Empty the tumblers

which have contained water, but fill with water those which have

contained milk. Collect the cups and saucers, emptying the cups and

rinsing out dregs or tea leaves. Scrape the plates thoroughly with a

spoon, not with a knife, and pile each kind together. If there is much

gravy or sauce upon them, rub them off quickly with a discarded crust

or a celery stalk. Put the silver into a bowl or pitcher and pour

water upon it. Platters should be scraped like the plates. Fill cream

pitchers, gravy boats and vegetable dishes with water.

All this preparation is not old-maidishness and a waste of time. It

saves time, and dishes, and disgust.

_The Process._--When the dishes have been made ready for washing, pour

a generous supply of hot water into the dishpan. Put into it a little

borax, or a larger supply if the water is hard. Lay in two or three

glasses. They should be put in edge first, wet inside and out at the

same moment, and not laid close enough to touch each other. Take them

out one at a time and immediately wipe them dry and bright. They become

streaked if allowed to drain. Replace those taken out with others to be

washed. Set the wiped glasses in a space prepared for them on a shelf

or table, or if there is little room in the pantry put them on a tray

which can be carried at once to the cupboard. After the glasses, wash

and wipe any other glass which is not greasy, but leave anything which

is until after soap has been put into the water.

Neither the glass nor any of the dishes should be touched with one's

bare hand after it is lifted from the water, but should be held always

with the cloth, wiped and polished with the cloth and set down at last

with a hand still covered.

When the glass is finished, put soap into the water with the aid of a

soap shaker or any other contrivance which prevents the soap from lying

in the water or from being stuck on a fork. Make good suds, but not

strong suds, for this injures colour and gilding.

Dishes are usually washed in the order of greasiness, therefore the

cups and saucers come next after the glass and after these any plates

which are but slightly soiled. These cleaner dishes often need no

rubbing with cloth or brush, but can be lifted out of the water and

placed in a drainer or pan, the cups on their sides, the plates on

edge. Rubbing, however gentle, at last wears off decoration. Dishes

must never lie soaking in the dish-water because this also injures

their decorations. A few of the same kind should be put in the water at

a time, washed and immediately removed. This is the chief preventive of

chipping and breaking, and it also allows room enough in the water for

thorough washing.

The silver is the next thing to wash. If the water has cooled by this

time it should be changed, or if one has to be economical, it can be

partially changed and more soap added. Usually the flat silver can all

be put into the water at once, then washed a few pieces at a time and

laid carefully in a drainer or pan. Some housewives prefer to wipe

the silver, like the glasses, immediately from the dish-water, but as

it has to be washed with soap, there is a good reason for rinsing it.

Larger pieces of silver must be put in like the dishes, a piece or two

at a time, to prevent dents and scratches.

Next wash plates, never allowing small ones and large ones in the water

together, then platters, vegetable dishes, milk pitchers, salad bowl

and gravy boat, putting not more than one or two in the water at a time.

As often as dishwater becomes cool or greasy, change it. This is a

fixed rule for those who have an ample water supply. If however, it is

necessary to be extremely economical with water, it is better to stint

the dishwater than the rinsing water.

There are two extreme ways of rinsing dishes and a middle way. One of

the extremes is to immerse the dishes in a pan of hot water and wipe

them therefrom. This is indeed cleanly but it takes much water and many

towels. The other extreme is to arrange them in a drainer and either

pour scalding water over them or immerse them for a moment in scalding

water and then leave them to dry by their own heat which they do almost

instantly. A zealous housewife finds it hard to believe that this is

as good as wiping, but the smooth, shining dishes which result from it

convince her.

The middle way is to set the dishes in a drainer and pour scalding

water over them as in the other case, but this time to complete the

work by wiping each piece. They are so nearly dry that the wiping is

but a small act, often little more than a keen inspection and a rub for

good measure.

Delicate china must not be rinsed with extremely hot water as a sudden

change of temperature sometimes breaks it as it does glass.

The rinsing method first described is best for silver for it should

be thoroughly rinsed in very hot water and dried with a cloth and

vigorous rubbing. Any evaporating process leaves it dull and spotted.

As one wipes it, any piece discoloured or dull should be laid aside for

special attention. Egg stains can be removed with a little salt, or

often just with rubbing them with a cloth which has been used to apply

silver polish. If one has no covered shelf or table on which the silver

can be laid as it is wiped, it is well to spread a towel to receive it.

This saves noise and scratching.

Carafes, decanters, vinegar cruets or any narrow necked articles can

be cleaned with chopped white potato, or with crushed egg shells. A

combination of crushed egg shells, ¼ cup of salt and ½ cup of vinegar

is also good for this purpose. A slim paint brush--the kind used to

paint window casings, not pictures--is excellent for washing bottles.

The brush end will do the washing and the handle end with a towel over

it will do the wiping. There are regular bottle brushes but I have

found a paint brush better than any one I have yet tried.

Steel knives, whether plated or not, need special care. They should

never, _never_ be laid in water but held in the dish washer's hands

while they are washed, then wiped perfectly dry. If they are silver

plated they are polished like the rest of the silver except that they

are wet as little as possible. If not plated they must be scoured as

often as used. This helps to keep them sharp as well as bright. Rest

the blades flat on a board when cleaning them, otherwise they may be

bent or even broken. After they have been scoured, they must be washed

with the same care as before and dried thoroughly. Avoid anything,

whether hot water or excessive friction, which greatly heats the

blades, for this breaks the handles by expanding the steel pieces which

run up into them.

Discoloured knife handles will sometimes whiten if scoured with a piece

of lemon dipped in salt and washed off quickly with hot soapsuds.

Powdered pumice also whitens them.

After the dishes are washed and wiped, all the cloths and brushes used

should be thoroughly washed in hot suds, then carefully rinsed. If they

can be hung out in the sun, that is best, but if not, they should be

hung where they will dry before they are needed again. One may not be

able to spare time to wash or even rinse the towels after every dish

washing, but they must positively be washed once a day. Sticky and

unpleasant-smelling table appointments quickly result from neglected

towels and dishcloths.

And what can be said in praise of dish washing? Well, it is making

things clean and there is always satisfaction in that; it is a sign

that one more thing is finished and there is satisfaction in that, even

though another begins at once; and, personally I like dish washing

because it is work that after a little practice can be done almost

entirely with hands and eyes, and so the time it takes may be a rest

time, or a thought time, or a prayer time as one wills it.

_Silver Cleaning._--Some people say silver must be cleaned once a week,

others once a fortnight, others contend that once a month is enough.

A general rule cannot be made, however, for a thing which depends

entirely on particular climate, particular light and heating apparatus

and particular standards of care and orderliness. One can only say

polish it as often as it needs polishing and not oftener.

Those silver polishes which are intended to be rubbed on the articles

and then removed with very hot water are the more desirable. A silver

polish which is hard on hands is to be avoided, not merely for the

hands' sake but for the silver's.

To clean silver, one requires a soft cloth and a soft hair brush for

applying the polish; also several other soft cloths, a piece of chamois

skin and a clean, soft brush for polishing.

Rub the polish on smooth surfaces with a soft cloth, on filigree or

engraving with a soft brush. Wash in very hot water, wipe with soft

cloths, polish with chamois skin and a soft brush. Never touch the

silver with bare hands after it comes out of the hot water. To wear a

pair of chamois gloves while doing this work is an excellent help and

protection.

If silver not constantly in use is kept in canton-flannel bags in a

box where there is a piece of gum camphor, it will be as bright when

it is taken out as it was when it was put in. The bags are better than

tissue paper, for this sometimes contains chemicals which discolour the

silver. New silver usually comes in such bags, but the time and money

necessary for making bags for older pieces, are saved again and again

by the unaided care they take of the silver committed to them. _White_

canton flannel is not good for this purpose, it soils easily and the

chemicals used for bleaching it discolour silver.

There remains but to say that ideal dining room and pantry work combine

military order with a daintiness which puts pansies into finger bowls.

That simple loveliness and devoted thoughtfulness are more necessary

in table service than heavy damask and beautiful china. And that,

above all, one must not think that care and work expended upon meals

are put to a poor use. Family meals are deeply hallowed by long custom

and by sacred associations. We shall not be wrong to try earnestly and

gladly to make the meal hours times of loveliness and thankfulness and

laughter.

IX

THE KITCHEN

(_a._) FURNISHINGS

KITCHENS have shrunk in size since the days of our grandmothers, not so

much because we know more than our grandmothers as because conditions

of living have changed. Kitchens are no longer used to store winter

supplies which must be kept from the cold, nor are they now used for

laundry and dairy work, spinning and sociability. A house in which

there are many workers, in which there is bountiful providing and

constant hospitality, still needs a large kitchen; on the contrary, an

apartment in which the dining room will barely permit six at table may

well have a kitchen in which everything is within hand's reach.

Many of us have no opportunity to choose whether our kitchens shall

be large or small. In building a new house, however, the opportunity

sometimes presents itself, and some of the things to consider in making

the choice are the number of people who are to work in the kitchen,

the size and elaborateness of the meals to be prepared there, whether

there is to be also a pantry and a store room, whether the laundry work

is done in the kitchen and whether the servant or servants have any

other place to sit. In regard to these two latter considerations, it

may be safely said that a small kitchen and a small laundry are almost

invariably better than a large room for both purposes; and that a tiny

kitchen and a tiny servants' sitting room are better both for health

and comfort than a combination. If it is possible, the kitchen should

be used only for cooking, and should contain only such things as are

needed for that work.

As a kitchen is a place where especial cleanliness is necessary, soap

and water should be no enemy to its contents. Probably a room lined

with glazed tiles is the best kitchen, but as yet these are rare.

_Walls and Woodwork._--Hard-finish plaster painted some light colour

and given a final coating of enamel paint is a satisfactory but

somewhat expensive finish for kitchen walls.

There are several kinds of wall covering of the nature of oilcloth

which look rather like tiles and may be wiped with water. They are not

so good as a finish which becomes part of the substance of the wall.

Oil and varnish rubbed into plaster walls make them light yellow in

colour, protect them from being discoloured with steam, and produce a

surface which may be frequently washed. A coating of oil followed by a

coating of shellac has much the same result.

Old, rough walls are better covered with a light-coloured, very

inexpensive paper. If this is coated with shellac the walls may

be wiped with a damp mop. Otherwise the paper should be changed

frequently. This is the reason it should be inexpensive. It is well

always to get a little more kitchen paper than is needed, that when

necessity arises badly soiled pieces may be stripped from the walls and

new ones fitted into their places.

I once had a whitewashed kitchen and liked it, but it might have looked

odd had it opened on a fire-escape instead of the wood-pile.

Two things are chiefly desirable in the finish of kitchen walls and

woodwork; it ought not to be hurt by soap and water and it ought to

be light coloured. The room is frequently filled with smoke or steam

which contains some greasiness; this can only be removed from the walls

and ceiling by washing them. People have been known to paint kitchens

a dark colour with the idea that they showed dirt less. Dirt _should_

show. Then there is a better chance that it will be removed. Light

colours are needed in the kitchen also to prevent dark corners, and to

increase the light from the windows. Much sun is a disadvantage to a

kitchen; much light is a great advantage. A yellow kitchen cheers my

soul, but many housewives like blue or green better. If you do your own

work, by all means have the kitchen the light colour most becoming to

you, and get your frocks to match; it's a great help.

_Floors._--The kitchen floor is a greater problem than kitchen walls.

Even tiles have one disadvantage, they are cold to stand on. There are

a variety of substances resembling mosaic or tiling in appearance which

are put down somewhat like cement or concrete. They are without cracks

and easily mopped, but have the same disadvantage of being hard and

cold.

A hardwood floor such as one might have in other rooms is easily

spotted and injured with the things which are rather likely to be

spilled or set upon it. This is true also of a painted floor, with the

added objection that heels and chair-legs quickly mar painted wood.

Linoleum is easily cared for and with reasonable usage lasts well.

Oilcloth is less expensive than linoleum but is in no way so good.

Neither of these floor coverings, nor paint, should be washed with

very hot water or with any strong or gritty cleaning substance, nor

should they be scrubbed with a stiff brush. Such treatment breaks

and spoils glossy surfaces. Wash them with a cloth wrung out of mild

luke-warm suds. Wipe them dry, otherwise they will be streaked.

When linoleum begins to show wear a coat of spar-varnish or carriage

varnish will restore it satisfactorily. These varnishes are not injured

by water, and they dry quickly. A floor varnished at night in dry

weather may be walked on as much as necessity requires the next day. It

is better in such a case to lay down papers to walk on, and move them

often to prevent sticking.

Sheets of newspaper or brown paper should be laid all over a floor

before linoleum is put down, otherwise it is almost impossible to get

it off the floor when it is worn out.

I wish to copy here a suggestion for finishing a kitchen floor, for

which I would gladly acknowledge my indebtedness, but I have merely the

paragraph signed G. D. which has been cut from some paper.

Plain, boiled linseed oil is a good finish for the

kitchen floor. It should be put on when the floor

is new or clean of other finish, and applied as

needed afterward. Such a floor will have a pleasing,

light-brown colour, will not show marks or scratches,

and, kept well oiled, will not spot with grease. Heat

the oil and apply at night, rubbing it in well. In the

morning wipe with cold water, and the floor is ready

for use. Wash it with warm water dashed with a little

kerosene.

G. D.

Just a plain floor is a convenient kitchen floor on all days except on

those when it must be scrubbed. Such scrubbing is hard, dirty work and

takes a good deal of time. And I know of no alleviation; one must down

on one's knees and go at it with a scrubbing brush or it will look all

the time as if it needed scrubbing.

_Rugs._--Rugs are needed in the kitchen wherever much continued

standing is done, as in front of the sink and the range or beside the

table. They prevent linoleum or oilcloth from becoming worn in one or

two spots, they are sometimes needed for warmth, and they are always

needed to spare the feet and back of the person who does the kitchen

work. It makes as much difference whether one stands for hours on a

soft thing or a hard one, as it does whether one sleeps for hours on

a board or a mattress. It is as well if kitchen rugs are of so little

value that they may frequently be thrown away without regret. A good

doormat too shabby to put before the front door is a treasure to lay

before the washtubs.

_The sink._--If the kitchen sink is under or beside a window, the pots

and pans will more surely be clean, and the dish washer will not have

the irritation of working in her own light. Sinks are apt to be set too

low. For comfort and for health the rim should be about even with the

dish washer's waist. It is convenient to have draining boards on both

sides of the sink, but by no means always possible.

Whatever material the sink is made of it will need careful cleaning

once every day with scouring soap or soap-powder and a scrubbing brush.

This is not only good for the sink but for the waste pipes, especially

if a pan of hot soapy water is prepared for the scouring and emptied

down the pipes when the sink is finished. This will do much toward

keeping the pipes from becoming grease clogged. Porcelain or enamelled

sinks are, of course, more easily kept clean than iron or tin ones.

_Tables._--In a kitchen where there is no sink, the substitute should

be a steady table placed as far from the stove as possible. If a

definite place is appointed for dish washing even to the choice between

two ends of a table, the appliances needed can be hung within reach,

and one will naturally pile soiled dishes in that place and go there to

wash them without taking thought about it.

Besides this table another will be needed on which cake and bread can

be made, or food can be set without fear of contact with soiled dishes

or dishwater. This table is equally necessary in kitchens where there

is a sink. Sometimes in small kitchens its place is taken by the shelf

of a dresser, the tops of the tubs or a board which, when not in use,

folds down beside the wall or the dresser. The point is to have some

place other than the draining boards where food can be prepared.

You will read in magazines that it is lovely to have kitchen tables

covered with white oilcloth. Unfortunately the statement is not always

followed by its complement, namely, that such a covering must be

protected from being scorched and cut by means of pot boards, asbestos

mats or folded newspapers. Several practical cooks and housekeepers

have told me that there is nothing so good in the kitchen as a

zinc-covered table. It is not pretty but one need never spare it any

usage, and at rest times its ugliness may be covered with a cloth.

Spots on zinc which will not yield to soap and water can sometimes be

removed with vinegar.

Plain wooden tables are hard to keep in satisfactory order. They are

easily scorched, easily stained, and they require daily scrubbing.

A pretty kitchen is a pride and delight, but the serviceableness and

practicability of its furnishings must be the first consideration

in selecting them. Things which have to be constantly remembered

and guarded take too much thought and strength to be in place in a

workshop. A kitchen should be bright, orderly and noticeably clean, but

I think the less it looks like a sitting room the better. Wherever it

is possible, maids should have some other place to sit.

_Chairs._--For much of the kitchen work a woman needs the reach,

muscular leverage and alertness which she gets from standing. There

are, however, some things such as preparing fruit and vegetables,

stoning raisins and beating eggs which she can do as well sitting

down. If the kitchen is as it should be, a workshop, stools are the

best seats with which to furnish it. They may be scrubbed, they take

up little room, and they afford an opportunity to rest, without an

accompanying temptation to loiter. "Sittin' back" is in some places an

equivalent phrase for "inactive." It picturesquely explains why people

work more alertly sitting on stools than in chairs.

If the kitchen is also the maids' sitting room, it must have

comfortable chairs in it. But they should be made of _scrubable_

materials, and cushions should be covered with wash fabrics. Rocking

chairs are the worst possible kind for a kitchen, they are especially

irritating to the ankles and temper of the cook.

_Shelves._--Shelves are necessary for kitchen comfort. They are for

dishes, crockery, utensils which can not be hung up and for stores if

one has no store closet. As it is easier to have things stand one deep

on shelves, more narrow shelves will be needed than wide ones. Some

people get along with a few shelves for the sake of having them shut

in with glass doors; others have many shelves like open book-cases and

keep the pans, dishes, cups and bowls turned upside down. Stores have

to be kept in tightly closed receptacles in either case. Most utensils

are the better for being kept on open shelves or hung on hooks in the

light and air. That is a rare pot closet which is quite agreeable

either to eye or nose.

Shelves painted white, or covered with white oilcloth or white paper,

are neat and pleasant to look at. Painted ones are probably the least

care, they have only to be occasionally washed and few things injure

them. Plain wooden shelves ought always to be covered, as they are

easily stained and become darkened with dust.

A special shelf or a special place on some shelf is needed for receipt

books.

_Hooks._--Each utensil which is to be hung up should have its own hook.

If two or three are hung on the same hook, it is difficult to take

down the undermost article. Rows of hooks should be so arranged that

the hooks alternate instead of coming directly under each other. Pots

and kettles which are hung up should be turned bottom outward as this

protects the insides from dust. The lids of pots and kettles may be

easily hung up on a string stretched tightly across the inside of a

closet door, or against the wall between two hooks. The handles rest on

the string and hold the lids up.

Either a roller for a hand towel or a hook on which one can be hung is

a necessary fixture in the kitchen, for a cook needs to wash her hands

many times a day.

_Curtains._--Shades are necessary to modify the light and to draw

at night, but the case seems to be against curtains in the kitchen,

even against sash curtains. There should be nothing at the windows

to intercept light and free currents of air, and nothing in the room

anywhere which catches dust and smoke as curtains do.

_Light Fixtures._--Light fixtures are better overhead. An additional

side light by the sink, or near both sink and range when possible is a

valuable convenience.

_Clock._--A good clock should be part of the kitchen furniture for the

sake of punctuality. An alarm attachment which can be turned off before

it has run completely down is a help to a cook's over-burdened memory.

If it is set for the time when the eggs will be boiled, or the bread or

a cake must be looked at, or the meat will be roasted, there will then

be one less thing to remember and absence from the kitchen will not so

invariably cause disaster.

_An Ornament._--If you or the cook would like an ornament in the

kitchen, the delightful thing to have is a copy of a Delia Robbia

terra-cotta. Bright coloured and washable, like the rest of the

kitchen! You will laugh perhaps at the idea of carrying the matter of

brightness and cleanliness so far, but do you not know how dingy and

depressing the kitchens of otherwise clean and lovely houses often

are? It is because things which might be cheerful coloured are dull

coloured, and because many things are half soiled for the reason that

they cannot be easily washed. Sometimes too, it is because nobody

cares whether the kitchen is pleasant or not.

(_b._) UTENSILS

The number and size of kitchen utensils depend upon the space in which

they must be kept and the number of persons in the household. Their

quality and, to some extent, their number depend on what we are able to

pay for them.

If the space for keeping utensils is small, their number must be kept

down to the minimum. Even with ample space, it is well now and then to

weed out superfluous or inadequate utensils, for each adds a straw's

weight to the work of the kitchen. It is only a straw, but you know

what happened to the camel.

One woman who entertains a large family at Thanksgiving and Christmas,

and at other times has a household of two with an intermittent maid,

buys each year at the five and ten cent store the large utensils and

serving dishes needed for the Thanksgiving dinner. She keeps them

until after the Christmas dinner, then gives them away and returns to

her usual outfit of small things. Perhaps you ask, why not use the

big ones all the time instead of having two sizes? Because they take

more time, more food, and in the case of the serving dishes, make a

poor appearance. A household which constantly changes in number needs

two sizes, one small and one large, of each thing in frequent use. Of

certain things there should be two or three in any kitchen; such are,

bowls, mixing spoons, platters, paring knives, saucepans and double

boilers. It is well to get such things of different kinds and of

graduated sizes because they are for various uses.

_Materials._--The kitchen is prettier if all the utensils are of the

same colour and in general of the same material. Expense and practical

usefulness, however, must be considered before good looks. If the

kitchen is blue, do not buy a bowl with a pink band round it, a cake

turner with a red handle and a brown agate pot, when you can perfectly

well get them in suitable colours. On the contrary, if the brown pot

is a more convenient shape and size than a blue or white one, get the

brown one; if a thick iron frying pan cooks food better than a white

agate one, take the iron one.

Enamelled utensils are neat, pretty, seldom acted upon by chemicals

in the food and are cared for more easily than those of any other

material. They are expensive, but last well if they are not abused.

Tin articles are light to handle and cheap, but soon become discoloured

and require a good deal of scouring to keep them in fair condition.

Iron utensils are heavy, hard to keep clean and rarely necessary.

Pots and pans are now frequently made of aluminum. It is a luxury to

lift them and they are pretty, but they are also costly and easily

injured.

Copper utensils have become rare; their chief recommendation is beauty.

A College kitchen in Oxford glowing with rows and rows of copper

platters and dish covers and pots and kettles remains in my memory as a

glory and a splendour. But, my stars! what generations of scourers have

toiled to see their crooked images appear in those red-gold surfaces!

Copper articles have a disadvantage beyond requiring much care. If

used for food they should be tin lined and the lining kept in good

condition, for sometimes chemicals in food form a poisonous combination

with the copper. Our ancestors did not have to worry about copper pots.

When they were poisoned, they drowned a witch or went on a pilgrimage,

and recovered or not according to their constitutions.

Wooden conveniences for the kitchen, such as rolling pins and pastry

boards are also gradually giving place to those made of other

materials, for the reason that they are less cleanly and less cool than

articles made of glass or metal.

_Selection._--The cook's personal preferences should be considered

whenever kitchen utensils are bought. Many housewives consult their

cooks before purchasing new articles. I know one who sends the cook to

the shop to do the purchasing. That such thoughtfulness and care are

not always exercised is evidenced by the fact that some excellent cooks

own a number of cooking utensils themselves because they do not find

them in the kitchens in which they work, and can seldom persuade their

mistresses to buy them.

The most satisfactory way to get a kitchen outfit is to buy a few

things at a time. They will in this way be more carefully selected, the

expense will not fall heavily on one week or on one month or even on

one year, and there will be things new and old. To have all new things

is only a little less inconvenient than to have all old things.

To give a list of appliances most necessary for the kitchen is to make

every one who reads it wish to improve it. That may be a good reason

for giving it. Be that as it may, here is such a list:

A teakettle

A dishpan

A frying pan

A coffee pot

A tea pot

A broiler

A colander

A meat chopper

A pail

A pastry board

A rolling pin

3 mixing bowls

A meat pan

A pudding dish

A bread board

A bread knife

2 and 3 qt. saucepans

2 and 3 qt. double boilers

A cake tin

3 tins for layer cake

3 bread tins

A cake turner

A can opener

A lemon squeezer

A corkscrew

A fine-wire strainer

A potato masher

An egg beater

A nutmeg grater

A graduated quart measure

A graduated pint measure

A few spoons of different sizes

A few plates, cups and saucers

A cake box

A bread box

Tin boxes or

Glass jars for flour, meal, sugar, coffee, etc.

A scrubbing brush

A sink strainer

A soap shaker

A holder for scouring soap

A whisk for dish washing

A pin cushion which can be hung up

A memorandum pad which can be hung up

3 pie plates

2 jelly moulds

An apple corer

A few knives and forks

A large wooden spoon

A large agate spoon

A knife for potatoes

A large tray

A salt box

A pepper box

A flour dredger

1 doz. dish towels

6 scrub cloths

2 pudding cloths

6 cloths for pots and pans

Scissors

Does it seem a very long list? You would not cook one day in a

kitchen fitted with these things without thinking of something else

you would like to have. This is an austere list. It contains none

of the luxuries which one's heart desires, such as tongs for hulling

strawberries.

_Care._--Pots and pans require thorough washing and wiping. Wash them

with a brush, good hot soapsuds, and occasional applications of a

scouring soap. Wipe them with squares of cheese cloth or old flour and

sugar bags washed and hemmed for the purpose. These cloths are better

than finer or heavier ones for they take up water quickly and are no

great loss if they are darkened by tin or iron utensils. The dishcloth

is the poorest thing with which to wipe pots and pans, for it cannot

possibly be free from soap and grease.

Scouring soap is not intended for direct application. A brush or cloth

should first be rubbed on the soap, then on the article to be scoured.

Only utensils made of iron may be scraped. Such treatment quickly

defaces and wears out other substances. Scraping may be entirely

avoided if every utensil is filled with water as soon as it is no

longer needed in cooking. Very greasy things should be filled with warm

water and kept warm. If a pot has been burned put a tablespoonful of

washing-soda into it and fill it with water. Set it away for a day or

a night, or for both, and at the end of the time no scraping will be

necessary to get it clean. This must not be done if the pot is made of

aluminum, in that case, soak the pot without soda.

Stains may usually be removed from aluminum pots with silver-soap.

Whitening such pots with acids is not a very wise thing to do. The

better way is to reserve them for delicate uses, they will then not

become seriously discoloured.

Do not wash articles made of wood in water in which other things have

been washed, for wood absorbs grease. Nor is it well to scour them with

a brush or a soap coarse enough to roughen their surfaces.

Iron pots and pans cannot be scrubbed too vigorously. Scrub the frying

pan until the inside feels like wet, black satin; it is then truly

clean. Both powdered pumice-stone and salt are good for scouring iron

or tin articles which are smoked or stained.

Unless precautions are taken, food fried or baked in new pans will

stick to them, and will not brown. A new iron frying pan should be

scrubbed hard with soap and sand or ashes, and should then have water

boiled in it. New cake and bread tins should be scoured, greased and

baked.

If you find that the kettle is becoming encrusted with lime from the

water, boil vinegar in it. This quickly removes the encrustation if it

has not been allowed to grow thick before the attempt is made.

A careful housewife does not wash coffee pots and tea pots in dish

water. She empties them, rinses them, scours them a little if they need

it, rinses them again, scalds them and finally wipes them dry.

The care of some kitchen contrivances begins before they are bought.

That is, when buying such articles as potato mashers, egg beaters and

their like, notice whether they have intricacies which will be hard

to keep clean. Do not be dazzled by the marvellous mashing or beating

performed by a demonstrator, but take the thing in your own hand and

see whether it is smooth and simple, and whether there is a way in

which it can be easily washed.

It can be said of kitchen dish washing even more emphatically than of

pantry dish washing, that going into it up to one's neck is no virtue;

better keep out of it as much as possible. To make the work easy, to

divest it of disgust, and even to find satisfaction in doing it, are

evidences of skill and cleverness.

If one does not take the satisfaction in making things clean previously

referred to, or if one has not pleasant thoughts to think while washing

pots, then one may pass the time like a rhythmic black mammie and croon

and croon a tune which has no end.

X

THE CELLAR, FIRES, PLUMBING, ETC.

IT IS more healthful to have a cellar--a _clean_ cellar--under a house

than not to have one.

And why?

Soil has air in it. Sometimes it is good air, sometimes bad air. The

soil newly turned up in the fields gives off a fragrance of its own.

The earth thrown out on the city pavement by a man looking for a leak

in a drain gives off an odour which makes one hurry one's steps. The

soil under a house gives off vapours and gases in the same way, good

or bad according to location. Inasmuch as we cannot watch the air

under the house as we can that in a room and would not always know its

quality if we could, it has been found better to dig out a chamber

under the house and line it with stones or cement, or even leave it

just a hole in the earth into which air can be admitted. For this

allows a circulation of upper air under the house which is safer to

have there than air from the soil.

The more we can shut out the breath of the soil in towns and cities

the better, for such soil is full of drains and gas pipes, and the

dirt of streets and crowded houses, and sometimes has buried in it

cess-pools and leaking sewers. Unpleasant to think of? Yes, but the

thought does very well as a spur to make one keep the cellar clean and

dry.

A cellar sealed with cement is the best kind, because the soil-air is

shut out unless there comes a crack in the cement. Walls of stone laid

in cement are good but not so good, and brick walls are not nearly so

good. Stones are a little porous and bricks very porous. Sooner or

later moisture comes through either. In the country one often sees

cellars with hard earth floors and they are fairly sanitary as long as

the soil surrounding the house is used only for cleanly purposes. But

before plumbing is put into the house or a sewer into the neighbourhood

the cellar should be cemented.

I have seen cellar windows which would not open. They ought to open

easily and one at least should be opened for a while every day that

it is not snowing or raining. They ought also, to be kept as clean as

other windows are, for light is necessary to the healthfulness of the

cellar. Have the window openings covered with wire netting, strong

enough on the one hand and fine enough on the other to exclude cats and

flies.

Every cellar without any exception whatever should be white. White!

They may be painted white or whitewashed white. There are also

substances of the nature of calcimine which are somewhat crystalline,

and are therefore especially good for whitening dark cellars.

Whitewash is often decried because it rubs off upon things which touch

it and also because flakes of it fall upon the floor and into uncovered

receptacles. If a little size or thin glue is put into whitewash its

objectionableness in these ways is much lessened, and comes to weigh

little against its excellent recommendations; it is purifying, it

destroys the eggs of insects, it is inexpensive and it requires no

special skill to apply it. There are a few words on this last point in

the chapter on housecleaning.

Whatever is done to the cellar walls should be done over again once or

twice a year. There is much dust, much dampness and much need for more

cleanliness even in the cleanest cellars.

It is more convenient if the cellar is divided into rooms, that food

and stores of various kinds may be kept separate from the furnace and

the fuel. If this is not possible, the next best thing is to have the

coalbin enclosed, for the coal makes the worst of the cellar dirt.

There should be a window in the coalbin through which the coal can be

put in.

One needs shelves in the cellar and receptacles for vegetables. The

shelves are better fastened to supports attached to the ceiling than

put against the walls. There are then no cracks and corners, for dust,

and the shelves are removed from the possible dampness of the wall.

Some people advocate the building of bins for vegetables. This is

probably advisable if one must store many. For keeping only a few,

neat boxes or baskets which may be moved about, are better. If one

keeps food in the cellar, a cupboard or safe made of wire netting is a

convenience. It should stand on legs which raise it two or three feet

off the floor. If preserves and jellies are kept in the cellar, it is

desirable to have a cupboard more completely enclosed than the safe, to

protect them from dust, quick changes of temperature and dampness.

Shelves, cupboards, bins and partitions should be as white as the walls.

The housewife pays a visit to the cellar now and then with no errand

except to look at it. The survey may give her housewifely satisfaction,

and it may give her something to do or to have done. She should go with

nose alert and eye keen.

Is there any odour noticeable beyond that slight unavoidable cellar

smell? If there is, is it a spoiled sweet potato, or clam, or a working

jar of canned fruit, or--what? Find it; never rest while there is an

objectionable smell in the cellar.

Is there a damp spot on walls or floor? If there is the cause must be

found and put an end to. If there is one near the place where the waste

pipes leave the house which cannot be accounted for, send for a plumber.

Is there any article out of its place? Is there any pile of things

which might be looked over and in part thrown away? Is there any

rubbish? Is the wood piled evenly? Is the coalbin swept up? Are the

vegetables in boxes or bins and not on the floor or in corners? Are

there cobwebs? Does the floor need sweeping? Are the windows clean and

some of them open?

If, in spite of everything one can do, the cellar smells a little

musty, some unslacked lime put in a box on the floor will help it. In a

cellar with an earth floor it is well sometimes to sprinkle lime in the

corners and in out-of-the-way places where it will not be walked upon.

Things which must stand permanently in the cellar are the better for

having racks to stand upon. Barrels, ashcans, kerosene cans and cases

containing bottles sometimes ooze moisture, sometimes absorb moisture

from the floor; their bottoms thus become sodden and mouldy.

Slats nailed on cross-pieces and laid on the floor for such things to

stand upon, make the cellar and its contents more cleanly and more dry.

They are a contrivance of great use and simply obtained. It is, of

course, pleasant to have them made by a carpenter, but three discarded

bedslats nailed on the flat sides of some short pieces of floor joist

make a rack that will hold two barrels, and small racks can be made in

a few minutes from the boards of a box cover nailed on the cleats that

have held the box together.

When the cellar floor is swept be sure to use something, preferably not

water, to lay the dust. This is especially necessary when the furnace

is in use. Dampened sawdust is good for this purpose.

THE PLUMBING

Before settling down to live in a place, one should know where the

water supply comes from, and where waste water goes. If the water

supply in a city or town comes from a far away stream or an artesian

well, and the health of the community is fairly good, one may rest

content. If, however, the water is notably or probably polluted, one

should boil or at least filter water for drinking and cooking and in

every way possible safeguard the family health from this source of

danger.

A sewerage system which does not carry the waste a long distance away

from any dwelling is not a very good system. If one must depend upon

such a system it is well to do and say everything possible to have it

improved.

If you live in a country place and must depend on a surface well for

water, you must guard it. Have it cleaned at regular intervals; have

the cover or platform over the mouth such that no creatures can get

in, nor water or dust fall through; allow no rubbish nor waste water

to be thrown near it; keep it well pumped off and see that pigpens,

barnyards, poultryyards and closets are as far off as possible. The

custom of keeping butter or other food cool by hanging it down the

well is picturesque, but I can think of no other recommendation of the

practice. Keep everything out of the well from frogs to custard pies.

Certain very simple natural laws have been taken advantage of in

getting water in and out of houses. It is an old axiom that water

will not run up hill, and one would not expect it to run up a house,

but another old axiom saves us from carrying rivers upstairs in

pails--namely, water seeks its level.

[Illustration]

If water is poured into a U-shaped tube, it will stand just as high

in one side of the U as in the other, will it not? When a house is

supplied with water from a spring on the side of a hill, we have a big

irregular U-tube like this dotted line. As even the garret of this

house is lower than the spring, the water will have _force_ when it

comes from the pipes, that is, it could yet go higher because it has

not run as far up in the U on the house side, as it is on the spring

side. Sometimes, as we approach a town, we see a water tower on a

hill, or a tall iron stand-pipe. They are one side of a U in a water

system. Water is pumped into the tower or the stand-pipe, then it runs

into the houses of the town through many pipes which are the other

side of the U. There is a library of books one may read about this

U performance--its relation to other laws, its limitations and the

thousand uses to which it has been put. But all there is to the simple,

extraordinary fact, can be seen in a bent glass tube which you can hold

in your hand.

The side of the U which comes into a town is no longer one pipe but

many water mains in streets and multitudes of little pipes in each

house. These last are part of the house plumbing. A plan of the

house with the position of all the pipes indicated should be one of

the housekeeper's possessions. She may not be able to do much about

disordered plumbing--in fact, she had better not try to do much; it is

not a safe direction for amateur effort--but such a plan is of use to

workmen who come to do jobs in the house, and it may keep some zealous

husband or brother from driving a nail into a gas pipe in an effort to

hang a picture.

Water is frequently got out of the house by giving it a good start and

then letting it run down according to its nature. Waste pipes are as

far as possible perpendicular, and the start is given the water by the

weight of a basin or a tubful, or by the sudden emptying of the tank of

the closet.

That principle of the U, however, is used also in the disposal of

waste water. It is the principle on which many traps are constructed.

Traps are contrivances for closing the connection between a house and

the public sewer. If you have an imagination, or if you will read

Victor Hugo's description of the Paris sewers in "Les Misérables" as

a help to imagination, it will not be necessary to explain why this

connection should be closed.

[Illustration]

To make a trap with what is known as a water-seal, the U pipe is turned

into an S fallen forward, [symbol s fallen forward]. Under the basin

in the bathroom one can see the waste pipe and can imagine where the

water is inside. It flows out of the basin into the first loop of the

S, rises into and flows over the other loop until the basin and pipe

are emptied as far as _a_. The water has then no power to force itself

beyond the loop _b_, and stays in the first loop, forming a water

seal between the sewer and the outlet of the basin. Through that loop

water gases and odours cannot come, and across the loop at _b_, impure

substances and water cannot force their way back from a lower level.

It is well to rinse a basin, sink or tub after it is used, and one must

be particular that the closet flushes generously, for the water left in

the loop should be clean water. If one merely allows the water from tub

or basin to sink through the outlet some of that water remains in the

loop, and it is water which contains impurities washed from clothes or

bodies. You see the practice of rinsing bathtubs and basins has more in

it even than courtesy.

Occasionally, clean, hot, strong suds should be emptied down basins,

tubs, sinks and closets and allowed to stand in the loop, as this

cleanses the pipe from impurities or grease which may have adhered to

its sides. Disinfectant may be used in the same way when it is thought

to be needed. Strong disinfectant should not be left long in a trap as

it may eat the joints or even the substance of the pipes. On the other

hand, in judging the quantity to use, allowance must be made for the

fact that disinfectant poured down pipes goes into water, into a good

deal of water in the case of the closet.

[Illustration]

Two things sometimes make traps ineffectual. One is that the loop

may not be deep enough. An S like this, for instance, is useless. So

much water can flow out that an air passage is left at _a_, and the

pipe is not sealed. The other thing is that sometimes the suction of

water rushing down from an upper story will draw the water out of the

traps it passes on the way. Either of these difficulties can only be

remedied by an alteration in the plumbing arrangements. The concern of

the housekeeper in the matter is not to rest if the waste pipes give

off the least odour, and to get as reliable a person as possible to

inspect them. To have good plumbing is worth going without much. In

truth, it is the last thing in which to exercise economy. In building a

new house, it is better to have no rugs, no table-linen, and to leave

two rooms unfurnished or unbuilt than to put in _cheap_ plumbing.

Besides the traps under basins, sinks, etc., there is usually a trap

wherever a drain-pipe runs out of the house to the street sewer.

This doubles the protection. These traps are sometimes outside the

foundation wall, sometimes in the wall and occasionally inside the

cellar. One should know where they are in case anything is the matter

with them, and also in order that one may not put up a shelf for milk,

or a bin for potatoes directly over the spot where a trap is.

Drainage systems always have to be ventilated. A pipe which extends

out of the roof of the house, or runs up the side beyond the eaves,

or comes up from the foundation or the lawn with a hood over it, is a

ventilator for the drainage. They help to make the air pressure right

in the pipes and they prevent the gathering of foul explosive gases. As

they are vents for such things, one does not want them close to a roof

window, nor under a veranda, nor anywhere except in the open upper air.

_Ashes and Garbage._--To say that only liquid substances should be

poured down waste-pipes seems a needless repetition of what everybody

knows, yet it is knowledge constantly disregarded and sometimes

forgotten even by careful people. Waste substances not suitable for the

pipes have to be somewhat classified. Cities and towns have different

regulations for the disposal of waste and sometimes one is required

to do a good deal of sorting in compliance. There are, however, three

general classes of waste; ashes, garbage and trash.

Nothing should be put into ashcans except ashes. Garbage is the waste

from food, or any substances which are wet or subject to decomposition.

Trash is papers, cans, bottles, egg shells, glass, hair, dust, broken

objects of all sorts and kindred things. This class may have to be

subdivided several times for the convenience of people who remove it,

but the three main divisions in house waste are made not on account of

requirement but for the sake of neatness and decency.

For all these things it is preferable to have covered cans; for

garbage it is necessary. In a house, ashcans will usually be kept in

the cellar convenient to the furnace. Trash receptacles can be kept

there also. They should be covered, and large enough to hold the

trash without spilling. Garbage cans should be kept outside the house

if possible. Often a little place can be built for them close to the

back door, enclosed in an area or on a back porch. Such an enclosure

needs some means of ventilation and should be periodically scrubbed,

then disinfected with chloride of lime or some such thing. In flats

or apartments, where the garbage can must be kept in the kitchen, it

is a good plan to wrap the garbage in many thicknesses of newspaper

and put these bundles into the can. When this method is employed the

can is less unpleasant and less difficult to clean. This cleaning

is disagreeable work but it must be done or the can will become

exceedingly offensive. One is fortunate if such work may be done out

of doors. First rinse the can with cold water and, if necessary,

assist the process with a wad of newspaper tied on a stick. Pour the

rinse-water on the ground or through a sink strainer. Then pour into

the can a liberal allowance of hot water and put some strong washing

powder into it. Rub the sides and bottom of the can with an old brush

or broom kept for the purpose. Pour out the water, rinse the can with

clean water and ammonia and begin its usefulness again by putting into

it the contents of the sink-strainer or the scraps that you gather off

the ground where the first rinse-water was poured.

The disposal of various forms of house waste in country places usually

requires more care and attention than the same matter in cities and

town. One gets little outside help, and the customary methods are often

untidy and unsanitary.

Water may be poured on grass or flower beds or on the ground, if one is

careful not to put it in the same place with any frequency. Soapy water

thrown on garden paths will help to keep the weeds from growing. Water

from an ice-cream freezer is good for the same purpose. Wash water, or

water carried down from bedrooms should never be thrown on a vegetable

garden. One cannot be sure that the earth, and the air, and the rain

will take up the impurities soon enough to keep the vegetables from

being contaminated.

Some garbage can be buried; some can be burned. A weekly bonfire is an

excellent thing in places where there is no regular means for disposing

of waste. Into it can go most of the trash and some of the garbage in

the shape of vegetable husks and parings, and other things not very

moist.

A little care on the part of the housewife will make an outdoor closet

an entirely sanitary convenience. It should be made as cleanly as

possible inside and out by means of paint or calcimine, and frequent

scrubbing of all its wooden fittings. One of these fittings should

be a good-sized box with a scoop or fire shovel to go with it. This

box should be kept filled with earth--not ashes--of which a liberal

quantity should be put down the closet whenever it has been used. An

earth closet, as it is called, if carefully looked after, is never

offensive. No waste water should ever be emptied down such a closet,

and depth should not be obtained by digging out the ground under the

building, because rain water will gather in the depression thus made.

The interior of the closet should be shallow and earth-covered. These

two characteristics make frequent removals of the contents necessary;

this is troublesome but sanitary.

FIRES

To make and manage fires one must understand them. They are simple and

easy to understand, but they are also capable of giving a person who is

unacquainted with their ways great trouble and anxiety.

_A Wood Fire._--A wood fire on the hearth is the simplest one in a

house. Can you make it? One must have in the first place, a hearth,

a flue and a draught. The hearth is merely a place in the floor laid

with stone or brick to put the fire on. A flue is a chimney or a part

of a chimney over the hearth to carry off the smoke and to increase

the draught. The desperate aborigine who sprang up weeping and choking

with smoke and chopped a hole in his new bark roof, discovered that it

not only let out the smoke but made the fire burn better. It made a

draught. The draught is the air that draws up the chimney. It is caused

chiefly by the fact that warm air rises. The air in a room draws up the

chimney if it is warmer than outside air, and when a fire is lighted

and the air at the bottom of the chimney becomes very hot, it draws up

hard and quickly. Sometimes when a fire smokes people say, "The chimney

is cold," that is, the chimney is so cold that the hot air ascending

becomes chilled and heavy before it reaches the top of the chimney, and

does not draw out hard and quickly enough to make a strong draught. So

the smoke stays down instead of going up, and the fire does not burn

well. The remedy is to burn as much paper and light, dry wood on the

hearth as you can until the chimney is warmed a little.

If there are a hearth, a flue and a draught, the next thing to observe

is whether there are ashes on the hearth from a former fire. If there

are a few, brush them together into a neat, flat pile under the flue

and against the back of the chimney. If there are many, remove some,

but never all unless you do not expect to have a fire again for a long

time. Ashes hold heat. They are soon warmed by the new fire, and help

to keep the coals hot. Just as a "cozy" keeps heat in a tea pot and a

fur coat keeps heat in you.

Place the andirons straight and close enough together to support the

average length of the wood. If one can get a big heavy piece of wood,

that should first be put in at the back of the hearth.

On the bed of ashes between the andirons or on the bare hearth put

paper crushed into soft balls.

If the kindling is little sticks, lay the fire by the pig-sty method.

That is, on the soft paper balls lay two little sticks parallel with

the andirons, then two more little sticks with their ends crossing the

ends of the first pair, [#] keep on doing this, laying the sticks first

in one direction then in the other until the sty is two or three rails

high. Then lay two larger sticks in an X on the top and the fire is

ready for lighting.

If the kindling is blocks and shavings scatter them loosely over

the paper balls, keeping it all in a small space but not packing or

crushing it together in the very least.

When we light a fire or blow a fire, we do so from the bottom because

it is the draught sweeping up through the fuel which makes it ignite

and burn. The fuel should therefore be laid loosely with many cracks

and holes for air. The advantage of making paper into balls is that one

cannot pack balls closely.

Light the fire from a light or from another fire or with a match.

This is the shortest and simplest act in fire making, but the most

extraordinary. It would take some one wiser than three philosophers,

four scientists and twelve owls to tell you what the flame is which

springs up on the hearth. A springing flame has remained through all

time such a mystery and wonder, that the poet, the musician and the

devotee have woven it into rhythm, and music, and worship--and what is

more, a boy and a fox terrier will keep still before it for half an

hour.

When the fire is lighted, first the paper burns easily and quickly,

then the small pieces of kindling light more slowly and burn more

slowly, and from them the small pieces of wood light yet more slowly

and burn yet longer, and when they are really burning one may put on

the ordinary sticks, leaving always cracks between for the air and

flames to draw through. Three sticks are needed to keep a good fire; a

heavy one at the back, in front of it a stick almost burned through and

a fresh one.

The person who lays the fire, unless she is expert, should light it.

There is no way of learning how to lay it, nor of finding out the

peculiarities of the fireplace and the fuel, except by seeing how the

fire acts when it is lighted.

_A Coal Fire._--The coal fire in the kitchen in no way differs in

principle from the wood fire on the hearth. The arrangements for it,

though, are different. A range or a stove holds the fire instead of

the hearthstone. The smoke and draught, instead of going directly up

the flue, are led to it by a stove pipe. The draught must get into the

stove in order to go up through the fire into the chimney.

The reason that a fire in a stove is more difficult to understand is

that we have several contrivances for regulating and utilizing the

heat. Most of these are called draughts or dampers. One knows from the

words what they are for; the draughts let in draught at the bottom of

the fire, the dampers in some way damp the ardour of the fire.

Stoves or ranges even of the same make are rarely exactly alike, but

one can learn to manage the draughts and dampers in a few minutes'

examination by keeping in mind the fixed principle that a stream of air

enters under the fire, flows through the fire and passes out through

the chimney. That to make the fire hot, we do our utmost to remove

obstructions from the stream; that to deaden the fire, we obstruct

the stream as much as we can. If we want the range hotter, we open a

door or slide open some slits which will let in air _underneath_ the

fire, and we open the damper in the stove pipe, that is we make as

much passage-way for draught through the pipe as we can. If we want

the range less hot, we let in air _on top_ of the fire, and shut the

pipe damper, that is, the space for the draught to go up the pipe is

made smaller and air coming in on top of the fire meets and checks air

coming from underneath.