VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 28, 1904.
E> INQJ
NO 22.
SUMMER CONVENIENCES ABOUT THE
HOUSE.
A   Well   Furnished Kitchen.
lst Premium.—The firstlliingis, or ought
to be, p. convenient kitchen, for here is
woman's kingdom. It should Ibo large,
airy and light, with all modern conveniences for labor saving, such as gas or
gasoline stove, washing machines, kitchen
cabinet, water sink, and kindred helps
for carrying on the work of the kitchen.
How many women are compelled cither
to stay in the hot, stuffy, winter kitchen,
or else move out and "away from the
house to a blackened smoke house, with
perhaps one. little window and a door
for light and ventilation.
In a. convenient kitchen a woman may
be ablo to diminish __eir work more than
half, and with one-tenth the worry and
fret of the old time methods.
' If one lives in th*. natural gas region,
a gas stove, or hot plate, as wits call it,
would be the greatest help I know of,
for by its use one can do away with the
awful heat caused by burning a wood
stove, and which is to most women the
most trying thing she has to contenil
with during the heated term, for with
nearly everything woman has to do there
must be a fire at some stage of the
work. With tho gas stoves one can cook
any and everything that can be cooked
on a range or stove, as ovens are made fbr
these stoves that bake to perfection, and
that too, with so littlo heat it is hardly
perceptible. Gasoline stoves are th3
same way. If not provided with natural gas, then gasoline is a good substitute and with the same results.
In extremely hot weather ono can, by
a little good management, prepare enough
in the morning to last all day, such as
frying meat or chicken, baking pies, or
preparing a custard or other little dainty
that is .relished just as well or better
cold than hot. Then when dinner time
comes, all that need be done is to set tlie
table, bring up or out your dinner, and
tat.' Many pjcople prefer a good drink of
buttermilk, sweet milk, lemonade, or
even a glass of pure cold water, to a hot
drink of tea or coffee; but .should tea
or coffee be needed, if kettle is filled ami
heated in tlie morning it will still be
to the stove comes a good kitchen cabinet,
warm at noon, and the coffee or tea could
be quickly prepared with little heat. During the summer months, when one can
have so much nice ftuit and fresh vegetables, melons, etc., one oan prepare n
very inviting meal witli little work. Next
to (he stove comes a good kitchen cabinet.
In tliis day and ago of modien. inventions, this is one of £_v_> many things
that has come to stay. A good cabinet,
ono that is roomy and handy, as some
are, will savo enough shoe leather in a few-
years to pay for itself. In it may be
kept the flour, meal, sugar, spices, kneading board, pie pans, rolling pins, and
every article needed in cooking or baking,
and every one too in a receptacle specially prepared for it. One may always
know just where to find it, and that too
without even turning round to look for
it.
A good ice box saves many steps for the
tired housewife. This need not be an
expensive refrigerator. Any good, tight
clean box can be used for this purpose,
and with a little ingerruity made into
a very serviceable ice chest. I know
of such a box that |was made of pine
flooring, with double wall  filled in with
mineral wool, also top and bottom were
made double and filled, then the interior
was lined throughout with galvanized
iron, and so arranged that ice was kept
in one end and tlie various articles in the
other, so that it not only accommodates
the no-ds of a. family of several persons
but will also hold 10 or 20 crocks of milk,
besides cream jar, butter jar, etc. This
box too was of home manufacture, and
any one who can use a saw and hammer
can have the same, with a little work and
not a great deal ofi expense. The saving
of time, labor and "grub" would soon more
than pay for it, to say nothing of tha
pleasure it affords.
Sometimes the wiells and cisterns are
awiay out, even across the yard from th*
kitchen, and every drop of water must
be carried all that distance. With a
few hours' work and little expense, both
well and cistern water could be piped in
the kitchen right where Deeded, aiul one
sink would answ*er for both, while the
pipo for waste water could very easily be
arranged to carry the waste out to the
chickens, pigs, cows, etc., and whlat a
world of.steps that would save, besides
the pleasure of having things handy.
Milking and ehu.ning would lose half its
horrors if people would just try keeping
the milk in an ice box once. No sour,
clabbered milk before cream has time to
raise, no soft, oily, streaked butter, but
cream thick and tough enough to lift off
with a knife, milk sweet and cold, good
enough for a king, and, ifl butter is churned, often it does not have time to get
soft but can be printed at once, and is
more sweet and wholesome than any
soured cream butter and will command
at least 5 cents more per pound on market. A good washer is not to be left out,
nor a good ironing board. If clothes are
washed on a good washer, much hard
labor in board rubbing will be avoided.
If clothes are washed often, and well, it
will not be as hard as if left or worn until badly soiled. In ironing, if one
would take sheets, pillow cases, knit underwear, hose ,etc, off the line, smooth
nicely, roll tight, and let lie for an hour
or so, they could be used very easily without ironing. Plain clotlreg should e worn,
thus lessening the ironing. Nice white
oil cloth could be used on dining table
and save tho ironing of linen, so tiresome
to a woman already tired to death. Granite pans, kettles, etc., should be used, as
they require no scouring. A good carpet sweeper saves much sweeping and a
great deal -more dusting. Chickens always come iiinder woman's work, and
this is a palce whjere conveniences are
needed if ever. Chickens should have
yards fenced off for their own use, and
nothing else, then there should be modern coops, and self feeding and watering
troughs, the latter supplied constantly by
waste water from well. If ono could
have all these things, thon tho care of
chickens would become a great pleasure, instead of such a soul-trying experience as it sometimes is, when one is compelled to run hither and yon to look after
this or that brood, and then perhaps lose
half of them by drowning.
Vegetables should be gathered in the
cool of the evening. A good vegetable
brush would save many minutes at this
work. Different kinds of fruits and vegetables should be prepared at the same
time, and then one fire is made to cook
all.
When a woman has risen at 4 in the
morning and looked after all these multitudinous affairs, she should have handy a
convenient,    comfortable couch, or    easy
chair, where she may rest and recuperate
for tho next trial. Let her have things
ever so convenient, the peace, comfort and
happiness oS the home depends on woman, and the strain and responsibility cannot help but be wearing, morally, mentally, physically and spiritually; hence, let
the conveniences come.
One Who Has Tried It.
Have a Place to Rest.
2d Premium.—These suggestions are
taken from hon_--s where they have been
thoroughly tested and found so s.t-isfac-
tory that they have become almost necessities instead of conveniences. First,
the farmer's wif;e needs an oil or gasoline
stove, one that will save her strength
while cooking and putting up fruit. The
fuel may cost a little more than wood or
coal, but the strength saved and tlie
cooler atmosphere of the house repay
tho extra expense. Some women have
tried these stoves and, because they could
not manage their cooking very well for
the first few times, concluded that a large
meal could not be prepared on one; but,
line all things worth while, it takes experience and good management to give the
best results, and it can be done. An oil
stove with four or five burners and au
oven will I>e large enough to prepare meals
for a largo {amily, and for ironing and
putting up fruit it has no equal.
One neighborhood that I know of gets
its ico supply  from  ono    pond. This
pond is kept in repair by three or four
neighbors, and all tlio rest pay a nominal
sum for each load hauled. By this means
erery family that is willing to make the
effort has a supply of ice through the hot
weather. A very    convenient,    home
made ice box is made ofl ordinary siding,
zinc-lined, with a close-fitting lid and a
siphon outlet, which excludes the air and
yet drains off the water .thereby causing
the ice to keep much better than an open
outlet would. Some families uso tho
ice in cement milk troughs. This makes
possible a variety of delicious, cooling food
and drink, during the hot season, Jbesides
the advantage in butter-making it affords.
Some people cannot have ice, so the next
best tiling is a cool cellar and a convenient
dumb-waiter, which saves many steps in
all seasons of the year. A hole is cut
in the floor, any desired size, and a shelf
or platform made to fit easily into this
hole. The platform is raised and lowered by means of pulleys, attached
to tho ceiling. All articles for one meal
may be placed on the platform, making
but ono trip down cellar necessary, where
without the waiter perhaps two or three
would have beon required. In like manner n meal can be cleared away* also
canned fruit can be lowered, a milking
safely disposed of, and so on, saving much
time and strength.
Cleanliness is one of the essentials for
keeping cool in hot weather, and many
farmers' families have access to nothing
that make the bath inviting. The eldest son of a large family recognized the
need for a convenient bath-tub. He set
his wits to work and devised a tub which
answered tlie purpose, and more. There
was no room that could be spared for a
bath-room, so a space in the kitchen was
utiliz-ed. From pine siding he made a
box tin ee feet wide and six feet long. To
this he hinged a solid lid, and neatly varnished jtII. Then the services of a tinsmith were required to make the zinc or
heavy tin tub insido the box. A pipe was
fitted in the bottom and connected with a
drain, and there was the bath-tub ready
for  use.       To  be  sure,   thlere  were  no
hot and cold water faucets, but the cistern pump and the cook stove were close.
About the small space occupied by the
tub a ca.'ico curtain, to which were sewed
brass rings, was stretched on a wire. It
could b? removed when not in .use, and
the tub when closed served as a table
or  bench. .
Last of all, I would suggest to every
farmer's wife, have a place to rest—a
place away from the sights and sounds
and smell of the kitchen. It may be
a lounge rolled up to a breezy, shaded
win low, a chair in a cool corner of the
porch, or, best of all, a hammock out unde.-
the shady trees, where you can see th*
restful green of God's earth and the
spirit-healing blue of God's sky; a place
where the birds and insects are as busy
as ever you could be. Whatever it is,
wherever it is, have a place to rest.
Hamilton Co. A Reader.
A Screened Porch Is a Great Convenience.
3d Premium.—With tho heat of summer
comes the hard work on cooking for the
e.-tra help, employed on the farm during
haying and harvesting, and tlie canning
nnd preserving ot fruit for th* coming
winter. Any convenience that will save
the slrttgth and energy of the house-
i.<—per is  an <eco._omieal   investment.
Plenty of water, pumped into the house
thiiuigh pipes, lightens tlie burdens of
the lu.iiie-maker at any time, but especially in the sumri-j.r. when there is so
much to do. There is no more debilitating work on the farm than that done in a
close k-tchen, whei-. a hot fire must be
kept from morning till noon, often longer,
in order to do the necessary cooking,
washing, ironing and other work; and
either a gasoline or kerosene stove should
be a part of the furniture of every farmhouse. A casing of sheet-iron a little
higher than the top of the stove, and
having a door in front, will save tael and
make less heat in the house.
A back porch, inclosed with wire netting, is another summer convenience. If
there are trees ito give shade, nothing
moro is needed; if not, quick growling
vines should be planted in the spring, and
trained over the porch. The wild cucumber is one of tho best vines for this
purpose, • It seeds itself and needs no
care. Washing and ironing cau be
done on the porch, and fruit and vegetables prepared for the table there. It is*
also a comfortablo place in which to do
sewing and mending in the long, hot afternoons.
A refrigerator in the dining-room saves
the labor of carrying the food that must
be kept in a cool place into the cellar,
f nd going after it every time it is needed.
Besides, custards and other dishes that
are used cold can be cooled quickly on the
ice.
When butter or cheese is mado on the
farm, a milk-room is almost indispensable. I once saw ono that was built on
the north side of the house, and shaded
by large eviergreen trees. In the hot days
of summer it w|as la pleasant place to
work in. Another, built a few feet
from the house, had inside walls of oiled
boards, and a hard wood floor that sloped
slightly to one sidei, and a drain-pipe fitted
in one corner. That milk-room was a
very easy place to keep clean.
A bath-room in a corner of the wood-
house, or some oilier suitable plaoe, where
the hired men can make themselves clean
.and comfortable after the toil and heat
of |the day, ia a boon to them, and saves
work in the house.     Even when there is
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