The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing

fe are hardest to find. Information on practical subjects is usually just beyond your reach when it is most desired. You will use this little book every day when you "want to know." It is equally valuable to all classes, men as well as women; to workers generally as well as people of leisure. It is the book for the busy housekeeper as well as the woman of fashion. We shall feel amply repaid for the painstaking labor, care and expense which we have bestowed upon this little volume if its constant utility to you more firmly cements your good will to our establishment. Just a few words about the advertisements. They are from concerns of established reputation whose products we freely recommend with full confidence that they are the best of their respective kinds. book excerpt: WHAT HOUSEKEEPERS SHOULD REMEMBER. That cold rain water and soap will remove machine grease from washable fabrics. That fish may be scaled much easier by first dipping them into boiling water for a minute. That fresh meat beginning to sour will sweeten if placed outdoors in the cool air over night. That milk which has changed may be sweetened or rendered fit for use again by stirring in a little soda. That a tablespoonful of turpentine boiled with your white clothes will greatly aid the whitening process. That kerosene will soften boots and shoes that have been hardened by water and will render them as pliable as new. That thoroughly wetting the hair once or twice with a solution of salt and water will keep it from falling out. That salt fish are quickest and best freshened by soaking in sour milk. That salt will curdle new milk; hence, in preparing porridge, gravies, etc., salt should not be added until the dish is prepared. That one teaspoonful of ammonia to a teacup of water, applied with a rag, will clean silver or gold jewelry perfectly. That paint stains that are dry and old may be removed from cotton and woolen goods with chloroform. It is a good plan to first cover the spot with olive oil or butter. That clear boiling water will remove tea stains. Pour the water through the stain and thus prevent it spreading over the fabric. That charcoal is recommended as an absorbent of gases in the milk-room where foul gases are present. It should be freshly powdered and kept there continually, especially in hot weather, when unwholesome odors are most liable to infect the milk. That applying kerosene with a rag, when you are about to put your stoves away for the summer, will prevent them from rusting. Treat your farming implements in the same way before you lay them aside for the fall. That a teaspoonful of borax, put in the last water in which clothes are rinsed, will whiten them surprisingly. Pound the borax so it will dissolve easily. This is especially good to remove the yellow that time gives to white garments that have been laid aside for two or three years.