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8 THE FAEM A3U) HOUSEHOLD I No. 2 in seven hours was in the same •condition as No. 3—spoiled. No. 1, after standing 120 hours was perfectly sweet, showing how milk va ries under ditierent circumstances. The are other taints from unclean pails and pans. These taints may be killed by boiling water. Water at a low temperature may destroy, but nothing less than 202 deg. is safe. And now, to ail who use wooden milk pails, ht would say, use them no longer for milk pails, but buy tin pails for milk. Hogs are said to need sour swill, and wooden pails are just the things for them, but they are never fit for milk pails. The neater your wife is the sooner they will be spoiled, for, if she is neat, she will very soon scour off the coat of paint, and then, after each scalding, the pail will be put out on a post or laid on a shelf to dry and get aired in the sun. The effect that fol lows is the drying and shrinking of the wood, by which a hundred little seams will be opened on every square inch of surface, each of which is large enough to take in the particles or atoms of milk. When the farmer comes to milk into these pails at night, the water of tbe milk acts on the pail as it does on all dry wood, by swelling it up and shutting all the seams with the milk in them. The next day the particles of milk are there, out of the reach of the neatest housekeeper, and the pails are again put in the sun to dry. The shrinking process is repeated, and the milk is exposed to the same condition of the sample just spoken of, which, in scv«n hours, was rotten. The next time it is used it imparts a taint, a fer ment like yeast, which will, under fa vorable circumstances, destroy the whole mess. Use tin for all milk ves sels, and have as few seams and sharp angles in them as possible. There aro other kinds of taints. Cow stable taints are the most inexctisable of all. He had been called in to see some cheese at a store in his village. The grocer said he had bought some cheese of one of Mr. D's neighbors which did not quite suit his customers, and he wanted to know what was the matter with them. *'I looked at the cheeses," said Mr. D., "rubbed a little between my fingers, smelt of it, tasted it, and told the grocer to let me go—I did not want to say anything about it." "But," said the* man, "we want you to tell us what ails this cheese. It cuts well and feels well, but there is something peculiar about it." "Well," said I, "if I must tell you, Mr. did not put in quite enough milk with his cow manure to make good cheese of it." A CHEAP REFRIGERATOR. A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says: Ice boxes, with their various compartments, are gotten up quite expensively but one can be made with little cost. The cheapest kind I know of is about the size of and re sembles on the outside an ordinary tool chest within, there are pieces of wood fastened on for supports, and a linin" of ainc put in, the space between the zinc and the wood being filled with pounded charcoal. This filling must be all around, in the cover as well as the bot tom and sides. In the ends of the box, cleats of zinc are soldered on, and shelves of perforated zinc or wira, or of wooden slats, are slipped in. For a rack to put the ice on, take four slats about four inches long, and nail them firmly to a little block of plank set this block down (like an inverted kitch en table) in a basin, and put it in the middle space in the box, between the jrows of shelves. To make a piece of See do the greatest amount of service iXnd last the longest possible time, wrap it closely in several thicknesses of flan nel and lay it on the rack it will not mol.t nearly so fast as if laid on the bot tom, and the basin receives its drip pings. A square tank, holding a pail or two of water, *an be made of tin or zinc, and fitted °losc up to the inside, with a £ottom, ipe leading' through the box, near the and .* faucet attached. If this is kept filled with cold storing or well water, and a lu.*P of ice thrown in oc- ™™*lbeitt Cleanliness WiUi Itliik. Harris Lewis expresses himself as I table tbe cream jug, custards, lemon follows with regard to the proper care'pies, Wane mange, jellies any such of milk: He says milk comes to us delicacy or luxury may be brought loaded with germs prepared for its own from the shelves, icy cold. An ice box, •destruction. These putrefactive germs so arranged, is not only a great conven can be retarded or hastened in their iience, but is a matter of economy growth, and they can be killed by heat ing to 212 degrees. Freshly-dravn milk emits an animal odor. This is worse in unhealthy than in healthy cows. Few people relish new miik when just drawn. This animal odor has •caused us a great deal of trouble. We used to think it was a gas, but have had to give up that idea. The best deodori ser of milk is pure air. We use a pail with small holes in the bottom, through which the milk is poured into the milk pans. The milk fails through the air in very small streams, and, in this way, wood shed, as it is most convenient. is thoroughly deodorized. It is first' is strained through cloth, before it enters the perforated pail. Never areate milk in the stable or where the air is impure, for it may be made worse. The pure Air of heaven is what is wanted. He had made many experiments to test this question. He took several lots of milk that were exactly alike. No. 1. He aired and cooled down to 51 degrees. No. 2 was shut up in a can at 98 •or the natural temperature of fresh milk, and exposed to the heat of the sun, as milk is exposed when carted to the factory or the village market in open wagons. No. 3 was exposed to bad odors, and in forty minutes fit had putrified and in seventy was rotten. will be found a conven- 1 jence in weather. On the shelves After the box is finished it should be painted and set where the cover, when lifted up, can rest back on a brace or frame, as it is heavy* and would easily break from the hinges. A cellar is a good place for the ice boi, but it may be kept in the pantry, store room, or Bathing tare Baby. It seems strange and tinaccountable that so many of the really intelligent class act as if in ignorance of the neeessi ty and benefitof bathing. It seems al I most incredible, but there are many I ladies most particular as to dress and their children get beyond two or three years of age the frequent entire bath can be dispensed with. If some of the facts of physiology were well known and understood, ev.ery one would per ceive that cleanliness of the skin is one of the conditions of good health. We learn that the skin bas innumerable t,mintite prespiration tubes, opening on tbe cuticle, and these openings are call ed pores. These tubes are hollow, like ja pipe-stem, lined with wonderfully minute capillaries, which are constant ly exhaling the noxious and decayed particles of the body, just as the lungs pour them out through the mouth and jj nose. It seems clear that injury, more or less, must ensue if this drainage for the body becomes obstructed. It hap pens when bathing is disregarded that the lungs, kidneys, or bowels have more than their apportionment of work. If these are strong and healthy they may bear the tax with'little apparent injury, but in most cases a lowering of the vi tality and tone of the system ensues. Large bath tubs are pleasant and convenient. but not indispensable to the proper cleansing of the skin. A speedy spong ing of the body in pure water, followed by friction in pure air, is all that is necessary. When disinclined to use water, a thorough application of the flesh-brush to the whole person is an admirable substitute especially on re tiring it relieves nervousness, equalizes the circulation, and induces quiet sleep. Mothers, above all, should see that their children arc well bathed. If their skins are kept active and healthy there will not be half the danger from fever, colds, and eruptive diseases. If your little one is cross or troublesome, and finds no occupation that pleases him, try the effect of a bath. Sometimes it is magical, and if tired he will go t© sleep, and awaken bright, cheerfui and happy. Do not, though, as we have seen some parents do, plunge a child into cold water when he screams and shrinks from it, thinking you are doing a good deed. Nature must be the guide. If your child has a nervous constitution, a shock of this kind is only exhausting and injurious. Tbe Reason "Why. The editor of Arthur's Home Maga zine gives the following questions and answers, which are pertinent to this season of the year. Why is irnit most unwholesome when eaten on an emptj' stomach Because it contains a large amount of fixed air, which requires great power to disengage and expel it before it be gins to digest. Why is boiled or roast fruit more wholesome than raw Because, in the process of boiling or roasting, fruit parts with its fixed air, and is thus rendered easy of digestion. Why are cherries recommended in cases of scurvy, putrid fever and simi lar diseases On account of their cooling and anti septic properties, and because they cor rect the condition of the blood and other fluids of the body when there is any tendency to putrescence at the same time, like all fresh fruits, they possess a mild aperient property, very peneficial to persons of a bilious habit. What effect have vegetable acids up on the blood They cool and dilute the blood, and generally refresh the system. All fruits contain acids and salt which ex ercise a cooling and invigorating influ ence. Apricots, peaches, apples, pears, gooseberries, and currants contain malic acid. Lemons, raspberries, grapes, and pine apples contain citric acid. The skins of grapes, plums, sloes, etc., contain tannic acid, which has a bitter taste. Why should salt be applied to vege tables intended for pickling, previously to putting them in the vinegar Because all vegetables abound in watery juices, which, if mixed with the vinegar, would dilute it so much as to destroy its preservative property. Salt absorbs a portion of this water, and in directly contributes to the strength of the vinegar. Why is bread made from wheat flour more strengthening than that made from barley or oats Because, as gluten, albumen and caseine are the only substance in the bread capable of forming blood, and consequently of sustaining the strength and vigor of the body, they have been appropriately called the food of nutri tion, AS a distinction from those which' merely support respiration. Wheat contains 825 parts of starch, 315 of may be kept constantly on hand, balls gluten, albumen and caseine, and sixty of butter, cold and hard, ready for the of sugar and gum while barley con tains 1,200 of stareh, 120 of gluten, al bumen and caseine, and 100 of sugar One- fifth the usual amount of ice will be of more benefit to a family than the usual amount used in thi ordinary way and no housekeeper who has once tested this convienence would ever be willing to do without it through the hot season. and gum hence wheat is much richer than barley in the food of nutrition. House bold Hints. Small round freckles can b? removed by the application of chlorine water every night and morning, ailewing it to dry in. For the more dense ones, chlo ride of lime, one to ten, fifteen or twen ty parts of water, according to tbe sen sitiveness of the skin. When using tbe stronger solutions, merely touch ths spots with a moistened earners hair brush. One of the London journals contains a statement by Dr. Berry of his suc cessful treatment of uncomplicated whooping cough with dilute nitric acid, in doses of from five to fifteen minims, according to age. with simple syrup,giv en every three or four hours, alleviating the cough and spasm, and apparently cutting short the disease. During an epidemic of the disorder he prescribed this frequently, and with very satisfac tory results. He offers no suggestion A it fashion, who almost wholly neglect this a on °f the mnedy, but (matter. Some mothers think when "k h"" believes^it« action to be that of a tonic though its refrigerating properties are not to be lost sight of, In all the cases treated, he has, of course, paid atten tion to the state of the digestive organs and in such cases as have required it, he has given an aperient combined with an alterative. A Heroine at tbe Diggings. In looking over an old newspaper over an (1853). we find a letter written by a young lady, who, owing to family mis fortunes, found it advisable to emigrate to Australia with her brother, their whole capital to start with being £300. active and hearty, and though brought up in luxurious and fashionable style, they resolved not to be particular as to any reputable line of industry that might cast up. On reaching Melbourne, which was then in its rudimental state, they found they could not encounter worse inconvenien ces at the gold diggins, and thither they went. "I was resolved," says the lady, "to accompany my brother and his iriends to the diggings, and I felt that to do so in my proper costume and character would be to run unnecessary hazard. Hence my change. cut my hair into a very masculine fashion I purchased a broad felt hat, a sort of tunic or smock of coarse blue cloth, trowsers to conform, boots of a miner and thus parting with my sex for a season (I hoped a better one), behold me an accomplished candidate for min ing operations and all the perils and in conveniences they might be supposed to bring. All this transmutation took place with Frank and Mr. 's sanction indeed, it was he who first suggested the change, which I grasped at, and improved on. I could not bear to be separated from Frank, and we all felt that I should be safer in my male attire than if I exposed myself to the dangers of the route and residence in my proper guise. We have now been nine weeks absent from Melbourne, and have tried three localities, at the latter of which we have been most fortunate. We are near water (a first-rate article), and our tent is pitched on the side of as pretty a valley as you could wish to visit. I have for myself a sort of 'sup plementary canvas chamber/ in which I sleep, cook, wash clothes—that, is my own and Frank's—and keep watch and ward over heaps of gold-dust and 'nug gets.' the sight and touch of which inspirit me when I grow dull, which I seldom do, for I have constant 'drop pers in,' and to own the truth, even in my palmiest days I never was treated with greater courtesy or respect. Of course, my sex is generally known. I am called 'Mr. Harry,' (an abbreviation of Harriet but no one intrudes the more on that account. In fact, I have become a sort of 'necessity,' as I am always ready to do a good turn—the great secret, after all, of social success and I never refuse to oblige a neighbor, be the trouble what it may. The consequences are pleasant enough. Many a 'nugget' is thrust on me, whether I will or no, in return for cooking a pudding or darning a shirt, and if all the cooks and seamstresses in the world* were as splendidly paid as I am, the 'Song of the Shirt' would never have been written, at all events. My own hoard amounts now to about ten pounds of gold, and if I go on accumu lating, even the richest heiress in my family in former days will be left im measurably behind. Sometimes, when I have a few idle hours, I accompany Frank and his comrades to the dig gings, and it is a rare thing to watch the avidity with which every 'bucket' is raised, washed, examined, and com mented upon. Wild the life is, cer tainly, but full of excitement and hope and, strange as it is, I almost fear to tell you that I do not wish it to end. You can hardly conceive what a merry company" gather together in our tent every evening, or how pleasantly the hours pass. T"ea and coffee we have in plenty, for every one brings a hoard, and milk we manage to obtain, for among us we have imported two cows, which cost us about £50 each, but that is a mere trifle. Cake of vari ous kinds I manufacture, thanks to old Betsy for teaching me and as for liquor, we sometimes have a little wine, brandy, or arrack, and sometimes not. And then we dance to the music of a German flute, played by a real German, or we sing glees or quartets,or talk of Moore, Byron, Burns, Goethe. Shakespeare and *he, musical glasses, etc., until midnight, and sometimes 0 W ere strong long after it. As to suitors, I have them in plenty, and not despicable ones either, I assure you. The lady, of course, was in due time happily married. At least she deserv ed to be and we trust she left the dig gins, not only with a good husband, but a heavy bag of nuggets. Romance of the Stavcr* House, Portsmouth. A record ofthe scenes, tragic and hu morous, that have been enacted within this old yellow house on the corner would fill a volume. A vivid picture of the social and public life of the old time might be painted by a skillful hand, using the two Earl of Halifax inns lor a background. The painter would find gay and sombre colors ready mixed for his palette, and a hundred romantic incidents, waiting for his canvas. One of these romantic episodes has been turned to very pretty account by Long fellow in the last series of Tht Talus of a Wayside Inn—the marriage of Governor Benning Wentworth with Martha Hilton, a sort of second edition of King Cophetaa and the Beggar Maid. Martha Hilton was a poor girl, whose bare feet and ankles and scant drapery when 6he was a child, and even after she was well in the bloom of h.r teens, used to scandalize good Dame Stavers, the innkeeper's wife. Standing one af ternoon in the door-way of the Earl of Halifax, Dame Stavers took occasion to remonstrate with the sleek-limbed and lightly draped Martha, who chanced to be passing the tavern, carrying a pail of water, in which, as the poet neatly savs, "the shifting sunbeam danced."' "You Pat! you Pat!" cried Mis. Stavers, severely, "why do you go look ing so You should be ashamed to be seen in the street." "Never mind how I look," says Miss Martha, with a merry laugh, letting slip a saucv brown shoulder out of her dress "I shall ride in my chariot, yet, ma'am." Fortunate prophecy Martha went to live as servant with Gov. Wentworth at his mansion at Little Harbor, look ing out to sea. Seven years past, and the "thin slip of a girl," who promised to be no great beauty, had flowored into the lovliest of women, with a lip like a cherry and a cheek like a rose— a lady by instinct, one of Nature's own ladies. The governor, a lonely widower, and not too young, fell in love with his fair handmaid. Without stating his purpose to any one, Governor Went worth invited a number of friends, (among others the Rev. Arthur Brown), to dine with him at Little Harbor on his birthday. After the dinner, which was a very elab orate one, was at an end, and the guests were discussing their tobacco pipes, Martha Hilton glided into the room, and stood blushing in front of the chimney place. She was exquis itely dressed, as you may conceive, and wore her hair three stories high. The guests stared at each other, and par ticularly at her, and wondered. Then the governor rising from his seat, "Played slightly with his ruffles, then looked down, And said unto the Reverend Arthur Brown: *Tis my birth day it shall likewise be My weddincr-day and you.shall marry ms!" The rector was dumbfounded, know ing the humble footing Martha had held in the house, and could think of noth ing cleverer to say than, "To whom, your excellency?" "To this lady," replied the governor, taking Martha Hilton by the hand. The Rev, Arthur Brown hesitated. "As the Chief Magistrate of New Hampshire I command you to marry me!" cried the £rm old governor. And so it was done and so the pret ty kitchen maid became Lady Went worth, and did ride in her own chariot, after all. She wasn't a woman if she didn't drive by Staver's Hotel \—[T. B. Aldrich, in Harpers Magazine for Oetcbtr. A Bitot Royal ossip. The celebrated Vienna painter, Herr Von Angely, has been stopping some time in Berlin, and occupying himself with taking the portraits of several of the imperial family. He received many marks of royal favor, and was invited to the festivities and receptions at court At one of the balls where he was pres ent, a cavalier attached to the suite of the Crown Princess Victoria stepped np to him with the message that her imperial highness wished to dance the next waltz with him. Angely started back at the intelligence, and, pointing to the floor, said to the cavalier, in the peculiar Vienna ac cent "On such a slippery floor I dare not undertake to dance, more especially with her imperial high ness." "Please," said the courtier, smiling, "to follow me into the next apartment, and there you can get the soles of your boots chalked by one of the lackeys." Angely obeyed the di rection of her highness' messenger, and after having taken these measures to insure his not falling, he stepped into tbe saloon where tbe dancing was going on. The crown princess was being con ducted through the mazes of the dance by a tall and distinguished courtier, who, out of respect for his partner, held her, as the etiquette at court pre scribed, at arm's length. After her highness had been led back to her sent by the cavalier, Angely stepped up, and, making a low reverence, said: "Your imperial highness has deigned to express a wish to danee with me but excuse my saying that I cannot dance like the gentleman who has just had the honor. I only understand the Vienna way to dance—that is, by clasp ing my partner round the waist." Smiling at this, the crown princess answered: "Dance with me. Herr Von Angely, as you choose—just as you have bften accustomed to dance in Vi enna." Angely now knew what he was about, and, clasping his distinguished partner round the waist, he danced three or four times around the saloon at a rate enough to make one giddy to look at it. When being conducted back to her seat by Angley, her impe rial highness turned to him and said ,'So that is the way you dance in Vi enna—well, I must say that I never found so much pleasure in dancing.— Berlin Letter. A Honkey in Trouble. Sam. Wilcoxen has a small menagerie of monkeys, badgers, foxes, and the like. He also has a large Newfoundland dog, on whose back he sometimes places one of his pet monkeys when he is go ing for a walk about the town—the monkey fastened to the collar of the dog by a string. As a general thing the monkey enjoys his ride but we saw him a day or two ago when he would willingly have traded himself off for some less privileged specimen of his species. His canine steed, being al lowed to roam the streets at will, saw another dog that he thought he could whip, and forthwith went for him like a hairy hurricane. In a mo ment both dogs were on their hind legs, and going for each other like two sau sage-machines. This made times very lively for the monkey, as the stranger dog evidently considered* him as part and parcel of his antagonist. Such wails of despair as that monkey uttered,, and such hideous faces as he made, we never heard or saw. He would climb/ down the side of the dog he bestrode opposite to where the war was going on, and thence peep over occasionally— his jaws quivering, his visage dis torted, and his eyes starting from their sockets with terror. As the dogs were constantly changing si 'es,it made times awfully lively with the monkey! When he jumped to the ground the string held him, and he found himself trampled under the feet of both friend and foe—and he was glad to get again upon the back of the steed and face the battle. The poor monkey was in a worse fix than the boy who stood on the burning deck, and, had not the dogs been separated, he must soon have been rendered a fit subject for the insane asylum. As it was, he did not get over examining the end of his tail for wounds for four hours after the battle. Perhaps he had fears of hydrophobia! Wife Auctions in Virginia. The history of this commonwealth commences with an auction sale—not, however, in a store, but beneath the green trees of Jamestown, where prob ably the most anxious and interested crowd of auction fuibiteus ever known in the history of the world were con gregated. In a letter, still to be seen, dated London, August 21, 1621, and directed to a worthy colonist of that settlement, the writer begins by saying: We send you a shipment, one widow and eleven maids, for wives of the people of Virginia. There hath been especial care in the selection of them, for there hath not one of them been received but upoon good commen dations. In case they cannot be pres ently married we desire that they may be put with several householders that hare wives until they can be provided with husbands." But the writer of this epistle had lit tle reason to fear that any of the "maidens faire" would be left over. The archives contain evidence to prove that these first cargoes of young ladies were put up at auction, and sold for one hundred and twenty pounds of to bacco each, and it was ordered that this debt should have precedence of all others. The solitary "one widow" went along with the others, for they could not be particular in those days. The good minister of the colony no doubt had a busy time that day. He did net mention any fees, nor did the bridegrooms think of tendering any. All was joy and gladness no storms ahead, no uneasiness for the future, no inquisitive clerk to stand and say: "Here's the license, fork over that one dollar." Nothing of that sort. From some of these couples the first families of Virginia are descended, and well may auctions be popular here.—Rich mond (Va.) Whig. Remedy for Poison by Ivy. It seems to me that I read all kinds: of cures for ivy poison except the right one. I have always endeavored to keep it before the public, but have failed. It is to dissolve sugar of lead, a bit the size of a hazelnut, in half a teacup of sweet milk or warm water. Apply as warm as can be easily borne with a soft, linty piece of linen rag. Three cr four applications are sufficient to effect a cure. If the poison is on the face and nearing the eyes or mouth, this astringent wash may be constantly applied. It is a marvelous cure, and by watch ing closely one can see the fevered blis ters turn from white to yellow during the application. This remedy for ivy poison should prevent a great deal of suffering. It is well where a member of a family is easily poisoned to keep sugar of lead in the house all the time. Let it be labeled and kept where it can be found the moment it is wanted. Keep it well wrapped up that it may not lose its strength.—Cor. Ohio Farmer. —The M. & St. P. railroad company has been restrained from issuing new mortgage bonds, by an injunction grant ed by Judge Benedict of the U. S. Court at New York, on suit of the hold ers of the third mortgage bonds of tbe old La Crosse & Milwaukee company, which was succeeded by the M. & St. P. Company.