Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 369, 4 June 1903, Page 7

Sketcher.

I THE CAEE OF COAL. being nowadays an article of value, it is a distinct duty on fch« WkJ part of every housewife to take all care of it. One great aid to coal economy is the possession of a fine sifter. Several of these sifters in a house would be advantageous, especially when several Area have to be kept going aa the weather turns, colder, 'sli

There should be a bos for oindersi Every day,' when the kitchen fireplace or range is cleaned, the cinders must be carefully sifted. No piece of cinder should be allowed to escape,, as every bit is of value in yielding up for a second time its unit of heat for the house.

Even when the ashes are all through the sifter, it will be found useful to pass ! them again through a very fine one. The resalt will be the acquisition of quite a quantity of very minute cinders which are not yet ash-dust. These will burn well, and should be saved in a box of their own. The real, ashes will be then very fiae and impalpable; They are useful for the garden. If thrown away into the ash-place, they are still of value, for their action is to dry up, and, in a measure, to purify any garbage that may have been ihrown there. ■

The highest-priced coal is the cheapest in the end. It has very much less ash and J therefore less waste. Hard coal is always economical. It gives out the most heat, but burns up slowly. Therefore, it is well to burn two kinds of coal, soft ooal for lighting and till one has made a good fire. which can be kept up by means of a hard and more slowly burning kind. The cinders saved daily will be found of the utmost use in eking out cleanly, economically and well, swiftly burning hard fires all over the house A small scuttleful put oh a bed of coals will burn very clearly, keeping, the fire in indefinitely ; whereas, if the fire were composed of all coal, it would need constant replenishing, or would burn itself out.

When ccal is kept for sitting-room um in a box, the bottom gradually fills np with fine dust. This dust also collects in quantity in the coal-place, being added to by every load of coal that is brought in. A coal-dust box is of as much use as the cinder-box in a house. As soon aa the coal gets low, every atom of the dust should be sifted into the dust-box. A quantity of very small nuts will thus be secured that may be mixed up with the cinders. The black, fine coal-dust itself goes into its own box. A housewife who has once experienced the value of this dust will not care to be without it.

When it is desirable to keep a fire in all night, or all day, without attention, damped coal-dust comeß in handy. The top of the fire is packed with it, and the top layer is well pressed down. It fills all crevices of the firo, which will burn slowly under it, the dust, as it burns up, forming a large cinder on the top. The smoke of the fire as it tries to escape is caught by the cinder and consumed, thus adding to the beat and preventing all waste.

Of eourse, the overlying cinder mast not be broken up by poking. This dußt, too, when put on a swiftly-burning fire, will be consumed as well as lumps of coal would be. A shoveful put on will quickly revive a fire that is going low. The dust, mixed with clay and sawdust, formed inte fireballß, will provide an economical means of keeping .the kitchen fire in, if needed. It is ecoromy to buy the winters supply of coal in Eummer when coal is cheaper, but it should be remembered that its quality deteriorates with keeping. Coal,, in a sense, yields up some of its gas to the atmosphere; especially if kept in the open air and t xposed to light. If rain gets to the coal, its quali y is marred.

* DEATH WATCHES.' The so-called 'Furniture Beetles,* usually known as * Death Watches,* beetles belonging to the genera Anobium and Xestobium, are described in the •Journal' of the Board of Agriculture. Eleven ppecies of Anobium are found in Great Britain. One species chiefly damages furniture and. woodwork j another attacks all kinds of stored goods, such as iiour, bread, biscuits, medical stores, skins, etc., and has been introduced into moat of our towns, bat appears not to be eommon in Scotland. ' Anobium domesticum* is a most destructive furniture pest, the lar\ as eating galleries into the solid wood, and often so completely riddling it that it falls to pieces.

The, Mysterious Ticking. Both those species make a curious ticking noise, which has given rise to their popular.same of 'Diath Watch.' This noise is made chiefly during the pairing season, and is produced by the beetles striking their heads upon the wood on which they | are standing, so as to attract their matea, who make a similar noise in reply. It is made during the day as well as at night, but it is not so noticeable as at the latter time.

How to Pbotict Youb Fubnitubk. . The 'Journal' recommends that when furniture cr woodwork is, attacked by these beetles and their larvaj steps should be taken at once to destroy them. Among the best ways of treating attacked furniture are the following:— ~ v (a) Painting with a camel-haw bruin with corrosive sublimate. The poison kills the beetleß as they make their exit. (b) Fumigatisg with hydrooyanio aeid gas. Where small objects snob, as chairs are invaded they may be put in soma closed cupboard and left in the fumes for some days. It must be remembered that this gas is a deadly poison, as well as the cyanide of potassium used in its manufacture. ' " , . (c) Benzine may also be applied topolished furniture, but is beat used mixed with carbolic acid. Furniture so treated has, of course, the polish taken off, and will require repolishing. Fumigate Youb Rooms. Rooms in which the Anobium are present should be fumigated every weefc.duringjuly, either with sulphur or hydrocyanic acid gas, and then well washed down with carbolic. Of course, during fumigation all windows should have the cr; vices, etc., papered up, and the doom tightly closed. Hydrocyanic gas must bo used with great care, and can only bo employed in certain cases. It could not be used in high attics, as the windows must be opened from the outside, so as to allow the fumes to escapa from the room before anyone enters. In.the case of attics where windows cannot bo opened from the outside, sulphur, had ..best Dt used.- ..':- ; - ■.--. •-■> \ nH '6 e