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HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. Some Artlcles of Household use Which Were Used llany Centuries ago. Combs are found in the earliest known graves. ' Brooms were used in Egypt 2000 years before Christ. Buttons were used in Troy. Schliemann found over 1800 of gold. Needles antedate history. first made in America in 1680. Lamps were used before written history. Thousands of ancient lamps have been found. Curtains were employed for bedsteads in the eleventh century: they were aftewards transferred to windows. Tea pots were the invention of either the Indians or the Chinese,and are of uncertain They were antiquity. They came to Europe with tea in 1610. Dishes of gold and silver used in table service in 900 B. C. were found at Troy by Dr. Schliemann. One of these was about the size now employed. Outer blinds for windows were unknown until the fourteenth century. The Vene- tian or interior blinds are so called because they were first used in Venice. Pepper casters were used by the Athen- ians, pepper being a common condiment. They were placed on the table with the salt in England in the sixteenth century. The first patent for a sewing-machine was issued in England in 1790. This early invention was not successful, and other patents were issued in 1804,1818 and scores of times since. Rocking~cradles for babies were used by the Egyptians many centuries before Christ. Among‘ the pictures copied by Belzoni is one of an Egyptian mother at work with her foot on the cradle. Tumblers of nearly the same shape and dimensions as those employed to-day have been found in great numbers in Pompeii. They were of gold, sili er, glass, agate, marble and other semi-precious stone. , Mosaic floors, laid with small pieces of ’, different colored stones set in regular pat- terns, were known to the Egyptians 2300 B, C. In Babylon floors of this kind dated from 1100 B. 0. They were corrmon in the Athenian and Roman houses. Lucifer matches were patented in 1834, While friction matches preceded them by thirteen years. The improved machinery by which matches are now made by the million at a trifling cost were the inven- tions of comparatively recent years. \1 i i Coffee pots are an Oriental invention,and are supposed to have come from Araba in A. D. 1400. About the same time they were used in Persia. but they did not come to France until 1662?, and make their appear- ance in England with codes in 1650. Rocking chairs of the styles prevailing nowadays are believed to have been in- vented in the present century. They are mentioned by Venerable Bede. “ The women now are so luxurious that they do have chairs with wooden circles on the legs and which sway back and forth in such sort that it maketh one sick to behold them.” Chairs were in use in Egypt as long ago as 3300 B. C. The Chinese employed them from about 1300 B. C. In India they were used, and are mentioned as dating from 1100 B. C. House chairs with backs were is use in India A. D. 300. There are known to have been employed in Rome as early asA. D. 70, being mentioned by Pliny at that date. Chairs with toot-rests were used in Rome A. D. [50. ‘ Goblets with stem and stand like those we use to-day were employed in Troy 900 B. C. Among the valuable objects found by Dr. Schliemann was a golden goblet. Vessels of this metal were commonly em- \ played in the service of the temples. A l curious goblet with three stems has been found at Pompeii. Its use is conjectural. but the supposition is that it was used to pour libations to the gods. Saltcellars first came into use in medias- val times: there was only one on the table, and it held from two or three quarts. The salt was placed about the middle of the table’s length. At the upper end sat the lord of the castle or palace and his inti- mates, and the saltcellsr marked the dividing line between the associates of the nobleman and his dependents, so that to “sit below the salt” meant social inferior- ity. Among the Arabs a practice from time immeinorial has prevailed of churning by placing the milk in leather skins which were shaken or beaten until the butter came. The Huns did their churning by tying abag of milk to a short lariat, the other end of which was fastened to the saddle. The horse was put at a brisk gallop, and after a round of some miles the churning was considered to be accomplish- ed. Smoothing irons were first used in France, and are supposed to have been a French invention, being introduced in the sixteenth century. After the introduction of starch, linens were first made smooth by pressure, being starched and placed between two boards. This being found not to give the best results, resort was next had to pressure with ii cold flatiron and finally the iron was heated to impart the polish now considered indispensable. Tongs were said to have been invented in China, B. C. 1122, but representations of them have been found on the Egyptian monuments, B. C. 2200. In India. they are claimed as in use since B. C. 900, and their principal employment in that coun- try, Where fires during the most of the year are superfluous, was to facilitate the handling of dead bodies in the funeral pyres. Seventy pairs of tongs, some bronze, some iron, have been taken from the ruins of Pompeii. Individual plates for table use were un- known to the ancients, who held their meat in their hands or employed the flat Wheaten cakes then made on which to hold their victuals. They are first mentioned in A. l). 600, as used by the luxurious on the Continent, and in the ninth century they had come into common use both in England and on the Continent. They were made of wood or some kind of earthen- ware, the former material being preferred because it did not dull the knives. The cups of the Assyrians closely resem- ble our saucers. Every nobleman and gen- tleman had his own cup and cup bearer, the latter of Whom always accompanied him to a feast.,carrying before him the cup of gold, silver, crystal or marble, which his master only used on state occasions. Saucers for cups were introduced in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and at first were greatly ridiculed, the persons who employed them being said not to be able to drink without having two cups. Stoves are thought to have been used by the Romans. They were of brick, closely resembling the Dutch earthenware stoves, which give forth heat but conceal the fire, Antiquarians say that Roman rooms were sometimes heated by building a fire in a large iron or earthenware tube in the mid- dle ofa room. Modern stoves were pat- ented in 1821, and since that date over 1,000 patents have been taken out on different varieties of stoves and ranges in America, and an almost equal number have been issued in Great Britain. _._*â€"_ DISASTERS IN THE TRANSATLAN. TIC. Acclilents in Whlch Hundreds of Persons lluve Perished at Sea. There have been a number of accidents similar to that which has befallen the Elbe aswell as others of different nature in which the loss of life has been appalling. In the early days of steam traffic across the Atlantic these mishaps wore comparatively few, but as tonnage and speed increased the fatalities grew in proportion. In 1854 the City of Glasgow sailed for New York with 480 passengers anl crew aboard, and was never heard from again. In the same year the Arctic, one of the finest vessels of that day, was sunk in colli- sion with the teamship Vesta in a fog off Cape Race. Five hundred and sixty-two persons perished. In 1856 the Pacific, with 186 souls abroad, sailed. and was never heard from again. Between 1857 and 1861 the Allan line lost nine steamships and in 1858 the Hamburg American liner Austria was burned at sea.and 471 lives were lost. In 1870 the City of Boston sailed from port with 215 passengers, and was never sighted again. The White Star steam- ship Atlantic ran ashore near Sambro in 1873, and 560 lives were lost. Some were drowned and others were frozen to death. The steamship Schiller was also sunk on the Soilly Rocks.and 200 persons were lost. Near the same place that the Elbe foundered the North German Lloyd liner Deutschlund ran ashore and 157 lives were lost. The Hamburg-American steamship Pommerania about the same time was in collision and 555 persons lost their lives. The Cimbria, of the same line, was sunk in the same way and eighty-four persons were lost. In another collision a little later the French line steamship Ville de Paris was lost and 230 passengers and seamen were drowned. Since 1879 the greatest disasters were these : The burning of the Egypt, of the National line, and the City of Montreal, of the Inman line, both without loss of life; the stranding of the State of Virginia ; the State of Flordia, sunk in collision with a sailing ship ; the National liner Erin disap- peared ; the sinking of the Cunarder Ore- gon by a coal schooner off Sandy Hook ; the disappearance of the Naronic and the sinking of the warship Victoria by Camper- down in which more than four hundred persons perished. .__..___ A Samson Among Birds. Very interesting facts about those ex- traordinary birds, the penguins, were learned during the British Antarctic Ex- pedition of 1892-3. The largest, as well as the rarest of the. penguins, is the emperor penguin, first seen by Captain Cook. These birds sometimes weigh as much as seventy-five or eighty pounds, and the muscles covering their breasts contribute more than one-third of their entire weight. A very large specimen was captured an taken on board ship during the expedition just referred to. Standing erect, in the ABOUT THE HOUSE. Points on Laundry Work. “There are women in this world who seem to think that they are never really accomplishing anything unless they make hard work of it. They scorn alleasy ways, characterizing them as ‘slack-twisted’ and ‘shirky,’ and take to themselves great credit for getting through an enormous amount of hard work." This remark was recently called forth by a. wordy encounter between an experienced housekeeper and a woman to whom she had given a great deal of Work. From the first there had been an effort to make the labor as light as possible, but it was at last given up as a hopeless undertaking. “ In all of my experience,” said this lady, in narrating the circumstances, “ I never met with a woman so set and obsti- nate as the one I have just been employing. She has resolutely refused to have the clothes put to soak, preferring What she calls ‘elbow gremse‘ to all manner of labor- saying appliances. “ Then she grumbled about the work in lone breath and boasted of her ability to do it in another, until it became so wearisome thatI gave her up in disgust. During my residence abroad 1 got some points in laun- dry Work that were Worthy of adoption, and others I have worked out for myself. “It is the greatest saving of time and strength to use a small table or flat board and a soft scrubbing brush. “1 can take an ordinary garment with collar and sleeves badly soiled and cleanse it by this prt cess in one-third of the time and with infinitely less hard work than the average laundress. I make a. mixture of soap and kerosene oil and let it stand over night, or prepare it and keep it in a stop- pered jug or bottle. With a soft brush rub the collars and cuffs and all of the soiled places, then roll the garment up for a few minutes while the others are being done. When all are prepared, begin with the first and rinse and brush the surface with hot soapsuds. In nine cases out of ten the garment will need no further rubbing. I do not approve of clothes being merely scalded. They need not be boiled for any length of time, but should have about one to three minutes in actually boiling suds. This dissolves any gummy substances that may not rub out of the fibres. and makes the clothes more clean and certainly more healthful. Clothes soaked over night in warm suds made with the scap and kero- sense mixture will wash easier and look better, to say nothing of wearing much longer, than those laundrcd in the ordinary way." Kerosene in Washing. An exchange gives the following as an easy way of washing without a washing machine by the use of kerosene :â€" Directly after breakfast the boiler is put over the stove with one pail of water, hale a cake of hard soap shaved fine, and two tablespoonfuls of kerosene. Let this come to a bOil and add two or three pailfuls of water as may be required and put in the cleanest clothes dry ; let them come to a sheen of its plumage, it seemed clothed with gold and purple, and white and black. Presently it gave an exhibition of its extraordinary strength. One blow of its flipper-like fore liinb sent an impertinent dog howling off to nurse his head. Five men were required to secure the penguin, and they succeeded only with great diffi- culty, one holding to each leg, one to each flipper, and one grasging the neck. After being strongly bound, the muscular bird succeeded in breaking loose. Another indication of the immense strength of the fore limbs, or flippers, of the penguin is the fact that, with their aid, . the birds are able to leap perpendicularly out of the water to a height of tliree'feet or more, landing upright on a cake of ice. They approach close to the edge of the ice before making the leap, and jump directly upward. -â€"â€"â€"â€".â€"â€"___. SAFETY OF STEAMSHIPS AT SEA. “'liy Most of the, III: [Monsters lo 01-min Liners lliippen In Shore. A peculiarity of all great disasters that have occurred to transatlantic liners is that almost every one has been close in share. This is for the reason tlut most of them have been due to either collision or stranding. In mid-ocean the transatlantic track is divided into two lanes, one to the east the other to the west. The two lanes are in mid-ocean, about fifty nizles apart, and there have been few instances when liners wandered away from them. The last occasion was when the officers of the American line steamship New York,bound west, alleged last summer that they had sighted the Cunard steamship Lucania, bound east, in mid-ocean. The position of the New York at that time showed that she was in the right lane, and that the Cunard steamships was nearly fifty miles off her course. The Cunard people, in defense, said, that the New York’s officers were trying to detract from the performances of the anania. There is no law, however, to compel steamships to travel in these lanes, but as a. measure of common safety con- scientious captains invariably follow these courses marked upon their charts. boil and remain over the fire twenty min- utes. Take them out and put in the towel and other things and leave them in the same way. Pour enough water over the clothes in the tub to cool them sufficiently to enable one to wring them out of the suds, and put them at once in the rinsing Water which has been blued and made ready for them. After standing a short time, the clothes may be wrong out and are ready for the line. Nothing need be rubbed unlessa collar or wrist band may be the better for it. Some very particular persons put the clothes in a tub before rinsing and pour boiling water over them,letting them stand in it until cool enough to handle before wringing them out to be rinsed. Colored clothes are washed out of the b“. has a suds, after the white ones have been dis- posed of. In using kerosene, the only skill required is to use the right amount of it, a tablespoonful to a pail of water being about the right quantity, and a little practice soon teaches one how to manage. Putting the clothes in the boiler dry saves time and labor and answers every purpose. Recipes. Palestine Soup.â€"â€"lngredients: slices of lean bacon or ham, half a head of celery, one turnip, one onion, three ounces of butter. four pounds of artichokes, one pint of boiling milk (or half a pint of boil- ng cream), salt and cayenne to taste, two lumps of sugar, two and a half quarts of white stock. Mode : Put the bacon and vegetables, which should be cut into thin slices, into the slewpan with the butter; braize these for half an hour, keeping them “ell stirred ; wash and pare the artichokes, and after cutting them into thin slices, add them with a pint of stock to the other ingredients. When those have gently stewed down to a smooth pulp, put in the remainder of the stock, stir it well, adding the seasoning, and when it has simmered for five minutes pass it through a strainer. Now pour it back into the stewpan, leti again simmer five minutes, taking care to skim it well, and stir it to the boiling milk “cm” We Serve Will] small sippets of Proteiuou- or cream. bread fried in butter. Sandwiches. Cut slices of brown bread. and spread them with Montpellier butter, in Time, one hour. which is made this way ‘â€"l$lancli a handful of parsley with a sprig each of l I, I ._â€"___~ i r - , ,â€"______â€"_‘â€"â€"â€"â€" ' -'â€"-_â€"_â€"-â€"â€"___â€"_fl _ . alternate slice, on which sprinkle a little SURPRISE FOR TARANTULA TON). mustard and cross, cover With another slice ul bread and butter, then trim and cut into sandwiches. Arrange them on a des- sert paper, and garnish with tufts of must- ard and cress. The lax for the sandwiches is prepared in the following way :â€"Drain the oil from half a tin of lax, pound it in a mortar with a dessert-spoonful of capers, the yolk of a hard-boiled egg and an ounce of butter, season with a pinch of coraiine pepper, and rub it through a hair sieve. __..____ USEFUL INVENTIONS. Every housekeeper knows the dificulty which is often experienced with the ordin- ary curtain-pole ring when it is desired to NEW' CURTAIN POLE RING. push the curtains to the side of the door especially where the curtains are made of heavy material. Numerous arrangements have been introduced to cause the rings to slide easily on the pole, the latest device in this line being shown in the annexed cut. Each ring is composed of two parts, with rivets holding the members together. At the upper portion there are prov1ded two open sockets and overlapping ears for retaining the two balls which come in con- tact with the pole. By this means the rings move readily backward and forward. A leht Slam for Guns. Here is the latest front sight for gun barrels to insure precision of aim at night- It consists of a hollow body of steel, conical or pyramidal in form. dust below the apex is an opening, which contains asmall incan- descent electric bulb of stained glass, the light from which illuminates the apex for sight- ing at night. The current supplying the lamp may be obtained from a dry cell located ELECTRIC in the gun stock. This arrange an): SIGHT. ment in no way interferes With the use of the sight for firing in the day- time. llserul T-Sqnnrc At tachment. An exceedingly clever idea in the line of draughtsmen’s tools is illustrated in the accompanying picture. The simplicity of the arrangement and its field of usefulness Will be seen at a glance. The trans verse V L ture AN ADJUSTABLE T-SQUARE ATTACHMENT. pivotal movement midway its length, which permits it to be adjusted to any designed angle with the fixed head of the square. Warmth for the Little Ones. With an undershirt constructed in the manner exhibited by the illustration here given there is no loophole for a chilling draft to strike the chest or abdomen of the little ones. The body of the shirt is so Three made that the two parts overlap across the UNDERSIIIR’I‘ FOR lNFASTs‘. front of the body and butt ID in the back, one side of the garment iiaVing an aper- io permit the fastening of the straps. double thickness of the garment body insures extra warmth and The .____.-â€"_â€"â€"â€" LAY DEAD ON THE FLOOR. llis Wife, strappedio ll. Chair. liiil No: Know It. A despatch from Stratford says:â€"Thomas thyme, tarragon, and Chem]! W933 ‘he Kelly, an old resident of Ellice, was found moisture from them in a cloth, and pound dead on the floor of his house on Maud,” . - _ ' I the herbs in a mortar, With a loblcspoonlul Keg“. was 84, and hved with his invahu of capers, a boned anchovy, the two lllll‘ll boiled eggs, and :2 oz. of butter, sion of Ellice. yolks of Wife on ptrt of lot 7 in the second conces- Mrs. Ktliy has been an season with salt, at pinch of cayenne pepper invalid ior many years and being also and ii. few drops of chili and tarragon Vin- afflicted mentally it is necessary, when she egar; when it is thoroughly uiiiulguinateil, rub the butter through a hair sieve. is not in bed, to keep her strapped in a Hziv- chair. About noon 3. ne:ghbor,.\lr.~i. Archer, iug Spread the slicesmover one with 1!. layer called at the house, as was ner cu-toni of skinned and boned sardines. cover With when going to town, to enquire if anything another slice in the usual way, triiii illlll cut into sandwiches. fully on p1ulcs.unil Cornish with Trip. ,._-‘ watercress. 'Ilicse lax sandwicncs are .- Arrunge them fzisvc- on the floor dead. She found the old man lying He had on his cap, coat and iriitts,snil his feet were stretchml i'nder tiie sieve. The tixe was oui. Mrs. Kelly was wanted. distinct novelty zâ€"Cutslices of white bread was sitting strapped in a chair near the from a thin loaf, spread them lightly with butter, put a layer of prepared lax on each stove, quite unconscious of what had over- taken her husband. A “’esiern Terror Temporarily llunithI by Elocirlclty and a “canal. It may be a matter of surprise to the reader that cowboys ever have the tom?» ache. But it is a fact that they do, and I am determined, says a writer, to set the poor, maligned, gentle, kindheartcd child of the cattle ranch right before the world. His actuating motives in life have not been understood. \Vhen he comes rushing down the street of a mining town bu his broncho, with a wild yell, discharging his pistol at every head he sees and popping over a. few miserable heathen Chinese, he is no cruel, hard-hearted murderous desperado; he has only got the toothache,and the poor fellow, in all his generous nature. wants to share his aches and pains with his fellow more. Even the dentist, that useful individual in the east, doesn’t understand him, because he shoots the very moment the forceps start the roots of the tooth, and so the dear boy is left to his fate. There is one honors able. bold, fearless exception. One dentist has dared to pull a Cowboy’s tooth, and, in slang phrase, yanked it out before a crowd of admiring friends. It was a little disap‘ pointment that they couldn’t attend the dentisc’s funeral, but altogether it was an. enjoyable affair, especially as it was some- thing new. The facts are as follows: One morning in Silver Ranch a Wild yell was heard at the far end of the street, and the anxious inhabitants who momentarily poked out their heads saw " Terranteler Tom” on his pony dashing up the street discharging a revolver from each hand. The heads disappeared, and it was a de~ serted street, with but one inhabitant. That temporary solid citizen was the afore- said “ T. Torn. Esq." A sign stayed his wild flight. Upon that sign was the in- scription, “ Dr. hopki'ns, surgeon dentist.” \Vhen the reliable old citizens cantioudy looked out and saw the pony in front of the dentist’s they knew Tom had the toothache. and realized that there was fun ahead. Of course, they knew he'd only shoot the dentist, and wind up With a i friendly drink all around, so they gathered. around the doors and windows of the tooth- pulling shop to see if Tom’s hand was jnsr as steady as ever. Tom opened the cork versation as foiiows : “ You long-legged grasshopper, pull this tooth, and be quick as lightning and. gen- tle as a Zephyr.” “ All right. Sit kown in that chain and. I'll ‘ yank’ it out for you.” Tom leaned back in the chair, with a. cocked revolver in each hand, and replied: “ You jest git the drop on that South - now, or I’ll yank you.” Dr. Hopkins had a chair fixed for just such customers. He had a. heavy galvanic l . to the feet. and battery under the seat, which could throw a circuit heavy enough to paralyze Jumbo, and he just quietly turned a knob on “To.” ranteler Tom," and walked around and took the pistols out of his hands. Tom wreathed as though he were fastened to the chair of the inquisition. His eyes stood out like door-knobs. He tried to yell, but no sound escaped his lips. It was some» thing new to Tom. He didn’t understand it; he had never heard of a galvanic bat- tery and he thought he was going to die. Quickly the dentist pulled the tooth, took the remaining cartridges out of Tom’s revolvers, and then, gradually letting up on the battery, he said cheerfully : “ Tooth is out, sir; $5, please.” “ What in all the tarnel grizzlies and Wild cats was the matter with me while you. was pulling that tooth.” “On, your nerves just gave way a little. That's the way with most everybody when they get in a dentist’s chair.” Tom was so ashamed to think his nerves gave way that he paid the dentist, invited- all hands to drink and rode off as gentle as a lamb, thinking for the first time in his life that he had mistaken his vocation and ought to enter the ministry. BRONZES OF OLD BABYLON. Spcclmens of Metal Work Made Thou sands of Years Ago. There have been placed on exhibition in he Babylonian room of the British Museum some very fine specimens of Babylonian bronze castings, says the London Graphic These interesting specimens of early metal work come from a place known to the ancients as Sir-pur-ra, or Lagash, the mod- ern name of which is Tell-lo,a1arge mound. or site in southern Chaldea. One of the bronzes shows the King of Babylonia, who appears clean shaven, in the dress of the high priest. The garment reaches down is raised over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm, which is raised, bare. The statuette is a full length one, standing on its own double plinth, and is some twelve inches high. This bronze comes from Abu Haobab and dates nbou: B. C. 29.00. A second statuetie represents a. king 1'1 the attitude cf adoration or con- templation, having his hands raised and clasped together in In Similar manner as the god Nebo is represented. The king wears u. long, flowing heard, but no costume can be traced. This figure is not full length, being cut off above the calves, and repres- ents probably the (loallcan king, Gudea, B. C. 2500. The third ligiire, whzch stands seven inches high, reprmcnts (Jamil-Sin. King of habyloniann the character of a. basket bearer, hth arms being uplifted and supportiiiga lubkct borne on the hen l. The date of the figure is zilout B. U. 3200. it is, SlippuSed that these sizituettes may have been dedicaiions to Niiigirsu, the fire god, whose WOl'.:lllp was a particular cult at Tellâ€"lo. The art of making bronze casts was known to the Babyloniaiis from very early times, and many examples are to be seen in the British Museum, as well as in the Louvre. A plaster cast of a Babylonian queen, taken from the original in the. Louvre, stands by the side of the new additions. casts of which have been sent to the French museum. Wise Ancients. Travelerâ€"The llUUst‘S in some of the ancient cities had walls ten feet thick. .\1 r. Brickrow (enviouslylâ€"l presume some of the neighbors were musical.