THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2501, 14 May 1909, Page 7

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

THE DUST DEMON. ■<By E. T, Hamilton in the “Forerunner.”) The subject of the Ideal House,, and now to keep it so, is one in which we arc all interested, and is interwoven with the servant problem, which is now forcing itse'f on our attention. The simplifying 0 f conditions, will do much to solve the difficulty. The adoption of <>uo large living-room, instead of dining, drawing, and perhaps breakfastroom, in which every detail will be thought out with the- greatest care to secure the utmost beauty with the maximum of usefulness, and last but not least, the keeping down of that ancient enemy of the house-wife, the Dust Demon. If he cannot bo entirely slam, we may do something to cut off his supplies, and do away with his strongholds. AVe surround ourselves with a multitude of objects, each of which must he •dusted, or brushed, or polished, as the ease may be, every few days, if the household ‘Nancy’ would keep ‘all so neat and clean and sweet.’ To the masculine perhaps a few flicks with the feather duster will be thought to dispose of tho matter, but any woman who has had to keep a house in order singlehanded knows tho endless persistence of this dust fiend. Driven forth with brooms and wet cloths on Monday, he steals silently hack on Tuesday, and by Wednesday has covered everything with pestilent atoms. His recruits are drawn from ! the three Kingdoms: there is tho mineral dust, which has some sense of the law of gravity, and usually stays where it first falls —the vegetable fibres of cotton, thistledown, etc., iind the animal gives us wool and hairs in abundance. These latter are of a gregarious nature, fond of lurking in secret places; they will also rise at your approach aid -remain in the air to avoid capture, till your hack is turned. It does not require a microscope to reveal to us some of the sources of the trouble, a sunbeam will show millions of particles from tho carpet, tho curtains, our clothes, etc., which lose by friction continua’ly some of their substance. • The disintegration of blankets in a bedroom is slow but sure. What can we do then to abate this

-Scourge? Shall we clothe ourselves in gfy leather like Fox the Quaker, and cultivate the chamois "oat instead of the sheep? Or, silk and linen seem to hold together better—shall we go in for silkworms and flax? The first would be heresy in New Zealand, and the latter, I fear, expensive. Remembering that ‘chi va piano va -isatio’, perhaps the most we can do at present is to adopt the living-room plan; then what to do with all our knick-knacks? Could we not with advantage learn from our Japanese friends to keep the bulk of our treasures in reserve. Let the Idea! House have a fire-proof storehouse (not a lumber room) in the garden, if possible, where extra pictures, china, and thousand and one adornments of a home* •could he stored in an orderly manner. Then we could have one -or two pictures or bric-a-brac, or hangings out at a time and enjoy them more singly than we ever can with such a distracting number. Think of the pleasure ot •selecting a suitable combination of objects of art for certain occasions, instead of spreading all our possessions out at once as we do now. - v e should not dream of putting on all our waid.rohe at once—why do so with the house? Besides adding a life and variety fy tho room, by changing frequently, in. the event of fire one would only lure a few things, the rest would be safe in their fire-proof shelter. The plan would give more pleasure than trouble in carrying it cut, and tfould bo a great saving of dusting. Each room in the Idea! House would be bountiful in itself, and would include built-in furniture, wherever possible, one with the wall, so that no ctu.-.t could get in underneath or lie on the top. No multivoluted .-Lifting hr r*rci« so dear to the average builder! If the walls were panelled, or partially so, a substitute for the little ‘lowers and photographs, could be arranged in the wall itself. A pane! could be n ode to open downwards like a desk-flap oa vbieli ■could be placed a bowl of flowers. Then two half-doors would open hack, like a triptych, and disclose the photographs fixed on the centre tad siues in "their appropriate frames, having the effect of a little shrine, and shutting up when the room wa.s net ‘en fete’, secure from dust, if the joints were lined with c’oth. Or instead of the flap, a little shelf could be made to draw out, and tho triptych doors would he sufficient to close the opening. Then we need not banish so many of our ,cherished photographs, hut still keep them within instant reach. With devices such as these we can ■certainly lighten the daily tasks in the up-keep of our dwellings, and save a little time for higher things. HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

For Wrinkled Silk.—To make a wrinkled silk dress look as well as new, .sponge the silk on the surface with a weak solution of gum arabic, then iron it on the wrong side. To Blue in Hard Water.—Take the usual amount of bluing, mix it with two iablespoonfuls of sweet- milk. vStir in the rinsing water until the desired shade. Then'rinse the clothes as usual. ‘They will never streak. Put Potato in Lard.—To keep your lard nice and white and prevent it from becoming strong, use a few Irish potatoes. When the lard is nearly done, •drop in a potato about the size of an •e cr g to each gallon of lard. "To Extract a Splinter.—A spnnter <-an he extracted without any pain in this manner: Nearly fill a wide-mouth-ed bottle with hot water; place the injured part over the mouth, and press tightly. The suction will draw the flesh ■down; and in a minute or two the splinter will come out.