How Girls Can Help Their Country Part 24

c. Put on upper sheet and blankets, tucking in at bottom only.

d. Turn upper sheet down over blankets.

e. Cover with counterpane and place on well-beaten pillows.

6. Weekly Cleaning--

a. Mattress, rugs, and unwashable hangings should be removed to some place in outdoor air and suns.h.i.+ne, beaten and dusted.

b. Closets must be cleaned and dusted first, then used to store all small articles from room after they have been thoroughly cleaned.

c. Clean walls, pictures, woodwork, floors, windows and shades.

d. Put room in order.

e. Such care of the rooms of a house make regular "housecleaning"

spells unnecessary.

~3. Kitchen Sanitation--~

a. Do not wash--

1. Iron (range).

2. Bra.s.s and copper.

3. Tin.

4. Zinc.

5. Aluminum, nickel, silver.

To clean metals of grease, use kerosene, gasoline, benzine, naphtha, chloroform, soap suds.

b. Care of Sink--

1. Pour dishwater through a sieve.

2. Greasy water must be changed into a soap or dissolved before being poured down to drain.

3. Flush sink drain three times a week with boiling sal soda solution, one pint sal soda to three gallons of water. Use at least two quarts.

c. Kitchen needs same treatment for general cleanliness, removal of dust, etc., as other rooms and walls. Woodwork--floor should be often washed thoroughly in hot soapsuds, rinsed and dried to be sure no germs develop where food is being prepared.

d. Care of Ice Chest--

1. Should be emptied and thoroughly washed and dried at least twice a week to make it a wholesome place for food.

~4. Cellar--~

1. Must be kept as free of dust and rubbish as the kitchen.

2. No decaying vegetables or fruit must be found in it.

~5. Door-Yard and Out-Building--~

1. Gra.s.s and growing things, especially if sprayed with water daily, will help keep dust out of houses.

2. Rubbish of any kind should be burned, for it is in such places that flies and mosquitoes breed.

3. Gra.s.s should be kept cut and lawns raked to keep mosquitoes from breeding.

4. No manure from domestic animals should be allowed to be exposed on the premises, for in such material the typhoid fly lays its eggs.

5. Barns and out-houses should be screened.

~6. To Clean Fruits and Vegetables--~

1. Garden soil is the home of a mult.i.tude of small forms of life, many quite harmless, but some organisms causing disease. For instance, germs of teta.n.u.s are found in dust and soil.

2. Top-dressing or fertilizer used to enrich the soil may contain such disease germs.

3. If fruits or vegetables come from the market instead of the garden they are quite as likely to have dust and bacteria clinging to them.

4. It is necessary, therefore, to wash all vegetables and fruits thoroughly before using.

~7. How to Wash Fruit and Vegetables~--

1. Put berries and small fruits in a colander, a few at a time, and dip lightly down and up in a basin of water, being careful not to crush the fruit.

2. Wash strawberries with hulls on.

3. Firm fruits, as grapes, cherries, etc., can be washed by standing the colander under the cold water faucet for some time.

4. Lettuce is best washed under the cold water faucet and celery needs scrubbing with a brush.

5. Apples from exposed fruit stands should be soaked for some time and carefully dried.

~8. Fresh Foods Are Best--~

1. Celery, cabbage, apples, pumpkins, beets, squash, white and sweet potatoes, etc., can be kept fresh for out of season use if carefully cleansed and stored away in a dry, cool, dark place.