USEFUL HINTS

To prevent sleeplessness after drinking co£fee at night : Eat a pickle or lemon to counteract the effect.

To remove ink from woolen fabrics, put on sugar imme- diately and let it absorb all it will, then brush off and put on more sugar until all the ink is absorbed.

To take out iron stains, put on lemon juice and salt and lay in the sun.

There is scarcely any ache to which children are subject so bad to bear as the earache. But there is a remedy never known to fail. Take a bit of cotton batting, put upon it a pinch of black pepper, gather it up and tie it, dip in sweet oil and insert into the ear. Put a flannel bandage over the head to keep it warm. It will give immediate relief.

If onions are sliced and kept in a sick room they will ab- sorb all the atmospheric poison. They should be changed every hour. In the room of a small-pox patient they blister and decompose very rapidly, but will prevent the spread of the disease. Their application has also proved effectual in the case of snake bites.

A Powerful Poultice. — Wounds made by rusty tools or nails, or by the teeth of dogs and ether animals, are not only very painful but generally quite dangerous. To allay the pain, extract the poison and hasten the healing process, there is nothing that we know of so wonderfully effective as raw, fat salt salt pork and onions, equal parts, chopped up togeth- er and applied in a thick layer either directly to the wound or first folded into a single layer of linen. Leave on until healed. Even a slice of raw salt pork, tied over the wound made by a rusty nail, will draw the inflammation all out, ren- der the flesh clear white, and heal up the injurj' quicker than any drug, known to us, will do it. This is the best use that can be made of fat pork, as we do not believe in its free in- ternal application, especially in summer.

Stains upon Lixen and Cotton. — In nearly all cases, stains may be removed by means of chloride of lime, which sub-

Remember Victor Flour.

106 stance is sufficiently common to be had of every druggist. It is applied thus : Dissolve about two teaspoonf uls of the chloride of lime in a quart of water; take another portion of water and make it perceptibly sour by the addition of white vinegar — the ordinary brown vinegar will do nearly as well ; now well wet the stained or discolored articles with the sour water, then put them into the solution of the chloride of lime ; perfect bleaching will then take place in f lom ten to twentv minutes ; in some instances the operation must be re- peated once or twice ; finally, well rinse in plenty of clean water. The omission of the vinegar is the chief reason why so many persons fail in their attempts to bleach w^th chlor- ide of lime.

Cream of tartar rubbed upon soiled white kid gloves cleanses them well.

Musty bottles or jars may be sweetened with lye or dis- solved soda. Let either remain in them a short time, then dry and scald them. They will not become musty if a little salt be kept in them.

Relief from Burns. — To obtain quick relief from burns, apply a layer of common salt and saturate it with laudanum. Hold it in position a few hours with a simple wrapper. The smarting disappears almost immediately, and the sore gets well with incredible rapidity.

Grease from Silk and Velvet. — Rub the spot on the silk or velvet lightly and I'apidly with a clean, soft cotton rag dipped in ether. Repeat the operation if necessary. Finish with a clean, dry cloth. Rub lightly and rapidly, or else a slight stain will be the result. We have known grease spots to be taken out of the most delicate colored silks in the way described.

To Wash Blankets. — Have an abundance of hot water in which borax has been dissolved, and a small quantity of Old Reliable soap — never use soap with rosin in it, as rosin al- ways hardens the fibre of wool. Put the ends into the wash- er, and then put in the blankets after all the dirt has been

Use Old Reliable Tomatoes.

107 removed, wring into another tub of hot suds, and from that wring into a tub of hot bluing water ; wring from this and hang at once in the open air to dry. If the water is abun- dant and soft, and you use this soap, blankets thus washed will not shrink^and will be as soft and fleecy as when they came from the store.

To Relieve a Cough. — For a dry, hacking cough, two or three times a day take a little pinch of salt, let it dissolve slowly on the tongue and swallow.

Another : Take five cents' worth of pulverized licorice extract and ground flaxseed ; mix together, put a little in a cup ; add strauied honey to sweeten well, steep in hot water till licorice is dissolved. Take a good dose of it as often as the cough is troublesome. It is a sure, safe, speedy relief. Try it once.

For sick headache : Two teaspoonfuls of finely pulver- ized charcoal in half a glass of water.

To Restore Old Crape. — Skimmed milk and water, with a bit of glue in it, made scalding hot, is excellent to restore old rusty black Italian crape. If clapped and pulled dry,like muslin, it will look as well or better than new.

To Clean Flat Irons. — Beeswax and salt will make rusty flat irons as clean and smooth as glass. Tie a lump of wax in a rag and keep it for that purpose. When the irons are hot, rub them first with the wax rag, then scour them with a paper or cloth sprinkled with salt.

To Clean Black Cashmere. — Wash in hot suds, with a little borax in the water ; rinse in bluing water — very blue — and iron while damp. It will look equal to new. Or, brush the article to be cleaned, and then wash in clear, cold water, and a handful of common washing soda, dissolved : use no soap or warm water. Iron on the wrong side while damp.

To Wash Calico. — Make flour starch as for ordinary starching, being sure that it is entirely free from lumps. This, of course, can be guarded against by straining the starch. Add enough to the clean water in which the gar- Old Reliable Soap is Strictly Pure.

108 ments are to be washed to make it a little soft and a little slippery to the hand. Do not use soap, nor let the fabrics lie or soak in the water, but wash them out quickly. Add a little of the starch in the same way to the rinsing water, wring dry, and hang up without more starch. Black calico or cambric dresses washed thus will look nearly as fresh as new, and so of all colors ; the only precaution needed is not to get too much of the Ftarch in the wash water. Practice will soon teach this.