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* Cbc Borne *
By RattK fiaiiui Churchill.
Questions will be cheerfully answer
ed by mail if postage is sent. Write
to the manager of this department and
tell what you would like best to ap
pear in these columns. We want the
housewives to look forward with pleas
ure to reading this part of The Kanch.
Spring Work.
It has been said that there is noth
ing new under the sun, but we doubt
it when it comes to the things that
are being invented and being used by
the city housewife. Washers and
wringers turned by electricity, irons
ready at once by attaching to the
electroline and turning a button, and
turned ott" by turning again. Vacuum
cleaners with several nozzles of dif
ferent size and shape to clean curtains,
carpets, wood work and even one for
the piano. It has its own motor and
all one has to do is to attach it, turn
the button, and guide the hose. Then
there is a hand vacuum cleaner cost
ing only eight dollars that will keep
carpets and rugs in tine shape if used
once a week, for it draws the Hue dust
on the floor right through the carpet
into a little bag.
It is only the fortunately situated
that can have these things. The
thousands of women on ranches and
in rural districts, where work is one
loug, steady firind have to content
themselves by taking advantage of the
simple means within their reach and
using just a little more common
sense, or rather planning better, than
our mothers did. But there are still
women who firmly believe that house
cleaning must be done the hardest
way; that they are and must be mar
tyrs to clouds of dust lor days, just
as their mothers were. We all re
member chairs piled with every thing
from clothing to books; of sleeping
iv damp rooms, because so many
rooms just had to have the floors
cleaned at the same time. Who does
not remember seeing the dear mother
with crimson spots on the cheeks or
being deathly pale from over work
and nervous straiu? We, of the
present generation, have our wits at
work constantly trying to devise
means to lighten our work, not be
cause we are lazy, but because we
know there are things in this beauti
fuJ world for us to enjoy if we will.
We know when we do six days work
in three, we will have to pay the price.
We know the members of our family
are not saints, but just ordinary mor
tals, who are apt to be cross when the
stomach is not furnished with nour
ishing food at the proper time. We
take pride in haviug the domestic
machinery moving with the lest pos
sible friction or noise.
It is impossible for one woman to
lay down fast rules for another as
sorue people seem to think. Condi
tions are not the same in every house
hold. Who shall say which is the
better house keeper; the woman who
makes a hobby of dusting, or the one
who can sit down calm in a dusty
chair if her potatoes are oooking prop
erly. And does it really matter if the
sheets are oulv clean, whether they
are folded lengthwise or crosswise but
in these we all agree to manage so
one can keep good natured and even
happy while doing the work.
The attic should be thoroughly over
hauled previous to the general clean
The JR>anctu
ing. All bedding packed away should
be aired in the sunshine. Trunks
should be aired. All garments need
ing attention should be put into a box
by themselves. Perhaps there is a
box of pieces all in confusion, if so
straighten them out, put each kind
in a roll and tie with a string. Don't
keep a lot of tiny scraps around.
Put them in a bag for carpet rags if
you are making one. Go through the
closets and take out every useless
garment. Don't let them hang from
year to year you won't have any more
time to fuss with them this year than
you did last. Give them away to
some one who can use them, or cut
them up and put the pieces away
clean. Rip 'ip your old velvet hats
clean the pieces by steaming, put
away in a box for future use.
As for old papers and magazines.
Why should you keep a stack of them
from year to year, since you never
get time or have an inclination to
read them? They only gather dust
and attract mice. Jf you can't give
them up, put them into a box with a
corer.
Clean the cupboards one at a time.
If you put into practice what was
advised in these columns last year
putting everything into cans or boxes
and putting on a label, your work
will not be a slow or hard task. 1
know, for cupboards in perfect order
the year around, is my hobby. Tak
ing a few minutes now and then to
dust those things, or renewing the
paper in other shelves, with an oc
casional cleaning will keep them in
good order.
In the matter of washing windows;
don't stick to the old way, that of
using water and soap, tiring yourself
out and spending valuable time rub
biug to make them dry and shiny.
Don't have the mistaken idea that you
can't afford a ten cent cake of
window cleaner, one that will not
scratch. Rub a wet cloth on the cake
and cover the glass with a good coat
ing; let dry. A few rubs with a soft
cloth to remove the powder is all that
will be required to make them clean
and brilliant in finish. Children like
to do this work. if your bed room
carpets are old or ragged and you
cannot get new ones, don't worry;
just remember that nearly all the
new homes have bare floors and
small rugs. Personally, I would not
have a carpet on a bed room floor. A
room so treated will not require the
strenuous work in spring, for it is
clean the entire year. Wash the
windows and curtains, wipe the walls
when they need it.
For the kitchen walls there is an
oil cloth that can be washed. It is
wider tnau paper and is put on just
like it. The cost will be about the
same for the room as good paper.
.1 do not know about cellars in
Washington, but if they are as much
used as in the eastern states, they
must be a problem to the owner in
such a damp climate for wet walls,
mould and decaying vegetables, are
certainly a menace to the health of
every person living in the house. A
few little bits lying here and there,
may mean not only a serious drain
upon the pocket book, but much
suffering and perhaps the sacrifice of
a life very dear. Every unnecessary
thing should be removed. The walls
and ceiling white washed. Every can
wiped with a dry cloth; not a potato
should be allowed to stay if at all dis
eased or decayed. The windows
Who is Who
The Insurance Report of the State of Washington
clearly shows who is who in the fire insurance business
in the State of Washington. The ten companies lead
ing in premiums are as follows:
COMPANY PREMIUMS
1. Northwestern Mutual $241,516
2. Aetna i75>°79
3. Liverpool & London & Globe i72>5°9
4. Home, N. V 160,773
5. Royal • 160,345
6. Hartford Fire 143,484
7. German American 128,772
8. Phoenix, Hartford 119,092
9. Fireman's Fund 112,579
10. London Assurance 109,781
11. Niagara Fire 101,922
should be kept open dry days and bits
of lime put around in every musty
smelling place.
While putting the house in order
one should remember that now is the
time to begin warfare against flies.
People put up screens and shoo them
out of the houses and think their part
of the work is done. It is said that
the education of a child begins a
hundred years before it is born. We
will make another statement that
ought to make people sit up and take
notice; that the doing away of flies
should be done before they are hatch
ed. It is an established fact that
they breed only in the tilthiest places.
They are not only a nuisance but an
actual menace to the health of people.
They are known to carry germs of
every known disease, from two
hundred to six millions are spread
about by it. A fly will eat more than
its weight every day of tilth and no
germ is killed by passing through its
system. The body and legs are cover
ed with tine hair that catch all germs.
To get rid of these horrible things
means constant vigilance on the part
of the housewife. Every female lays
about one hundred and twenty eggs
and it takes ten days for them to
hatch. All rubbish should be remov
ed, buried or burned at least once a
week so they can not hatch. Every
fly should be killed as it appears on
the window. You all know the "blow"
flies when you see them Don't
throw dish water around the door to
make breeding places or have a greasy
swill pail standing around. Get the
habit now of keeping things clean and
sweet; better have dirty window panes
than a pail of garbage standing around.
If water stands in stagnant pools near
the house pour in some coal oil.
The closet should be fitted witb a
drawer that can be drawn out, and the
contents buried. This should be done
once a week and some dirt or ashes
sifted in. If there is a vault, dirt or
ashes should be put in every day.
No one can get rid of flies if ttiey
do not take trouble enough to prevent
hatching. Ask the men of the place
to co-operate with you; move the pig
sty further away, and haul out all
the litter from the stable every week.
In the next issue we will give for
mulas for fly poison and killing by
vapor.
More on the Floor Question
Mrs. T. A. Belliugham.
After searching diligently for a
9
cheap home-made "crack Slier" 1
have found directions for making
something which was said to be very
satisfactory. lam sure it is worth a
trial for there is nothing that can set
the nerves of a good housekeeper
tingling more, than big cracks, which
will neither fill nor give up the dust.
As before stated, make as clean as
possible, and be sure the boards are
thoroughly dry, then oil with boiled
linseed oil. The "filler" is made by
taking two parts of slaked lime, one
part rye flour. Add enough of the
boiled oil to make the mass like putty.
Put into the cracks with an old case
knife if you have no putty knife. Let
dry and become thoroughly hard,
which will not take long if you have
not used too much oil. Sand paper
smooth before applying paint. If
Continued on page 19.
Canadian Pacific
Offers YOU Farm
in Sunny Alberta, Near
Existing Railway Lines
The last chance for a first selection of
low-priced land in Central Alberta, near
existing railway lines. Thousands of home
seekers and shrewd investors have snapped
up all the former tracts offered by the Can
adian Pacific Railway. This new one just
now opened is your best chance. Here you'll
find American neighbors -400,000 acres in this
district were bought by American home seek
ers during 1910. Now wo offer 2,000,000 ad
ditional acres—the pick of the Province, the
finest wheat land on the continent—where
farms are often paid for with one season's
crops—where climate, soil, transportation
and markets combine to build fortunes fast.
The eyes of the world are on this country.
Yet right here by the railroad, among neigh
bors, where good roads, schools and all
sound social conditions are established, wo
offer you a farm at $12 to $25 an Acre.
Three Ways of Buying
Your Farm —at your Option
FOR INVESTMENT — One-sixth cash,
balance in five equal annual installments.
DEVELOPMENT BY SETTLER One
tenth cash, balance in nine equal annual
installments.
CROP PAYMENT PLAN-In partnership
with Canadian Pacific Railway, one-tenth
cash, balance by crop payment NO CROP
NO PAY.
Think of It! Such an offer of the choicest
of "The Last Best West." The Rate is un
locked to the best great tract of virgin land
in Sunny Alberta. I )istricts previously sold
are making fortunes for American farmers
who realize that Western Canada is the
future source of wheat supply for the United
States.
Write for Free Book NOW
First come—first served; earliest arrival
—biggest value—quickest results. Write
quick for ".vlberta Hand Hook"—uml all tho
facts about this land of home and fortune.
Address
J. S. DcnnU, Manager. Alberta Land Dept.,
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY
286 9th Aye.. West. Calgary, Alberta, Can.
