Chapter 12

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. Grass 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. Grass 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 multitude of small forms of life, many quite harmless, but some organisms causing disease. For instance, germs of tetanus 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.

~9. Methods of Preserving Foods--~

1. Salting.

2. Pickling.

3. Refrigeration.

4. Canning.

5. Preserving.

6. Drying or evaporation.

~10. Method of Preserving Eggs--~

1. Packing in coarse salt.

2. Cover with water-glass in large stone jars, set in cool place.

~11. Care of Milk--~

1. Use certified milk or inspected milk.

2. Wash bottle top before removing cover.

3. Pour milk in pans that have been scalded and drained dry in the sun or, in damp weather, by the stove.

4. As soon as cool enough put in refrigerator or in coolest place possible, as milk spoils very quickly unless kept cold.

~12. Care of Meat--~

1. Wash thoroughly as soon as it arrives.

2. Place on clean pan of aluminum, porcelain or some such ware.

3. Place in refrigerator until ready to cook.

~13. General Rules For Care of Food--~

1. Keep food clean--(personal cleanliness, washing food).

2. Keep food dry.

3. Keep food cool.

4. Care for food left from each meal. If carefully put away it can be used and not wasted.

Inspected Milk--

1. Comes from sanitary farms where cows, cases and bottles are reasonably clean; the rules are much less strict than for certified milk.

2. Cannot by law contain more than 500,000 germs in each teaspoonful, while certified milk contains not more than 50,000 germs.

Pasteurized Milk--

1. Method recommended by Department of Health of Chicago. In a small tin pail place a saucer.

On the saucer stand the bottle of milk (leaving the cap on the bottle). Now put sufficient hot water (not so hot as to break the bottle) into the pail to fill same to within three or four inches of the top of the bottle, and then stand the pail and its contents on the top of the stove. The instant the water begins to boil remove the bottle of milk from the pail and cool it as rapidly as possible. Keep the bottle of milk in the ice box and keep the cap on the bottle when not in use. When you remove the cap do so with a clean prong, and be careful that the milk side of the cap does not come in contact with anything dirty. None but inspected or certified milk should be used.

Milk should be kept covered with clean cheese cloth to prevent dust getting in.

Water--

1. Water will carry germs of typhoid fever, cholera, etc.

2. Boiling and cooling all water that might be suspected.

Unprotected and Exposed Food--

a. Prevention--

1. Be sure of a pure water supply (inspection of Board of Health).

2. Cleanse all foods properly before eating.

House Fly--

a. Why it is a Disease Carrier--

1. Breeds in filth where disease germs are found.

2. Construction of feet, legs, body, wings, etc., favorable for catching and holding great numbers of filth and disease germs.

b. How to Fight the Fly--

1. Catch all flies that get in the house.

2. Keep food covered.

3. Trap flies out of doors.

4. Screen all windows of houses, barns or out-buildings.

Mosquito--

1. Carries germs of malaria and yellow fever.

2. Turn over every pail or tub that may hold water.

3. Pick up old tin cans and bottles and put them where rain cannot fill them.

4. Screen rain barrels and cisterns so mosquitoes cannot get to the water and lay eggs.

5. Screen the wash water if it is left standing over night.

6. Change water every day in drinking pans for birds and animals.

Rats--

Prevention--

Get rid of them by trapping and killing.

HINTS TO HOUSEKEEPERS

HOW TO CLEAN WIRE WINDOW SCREENS.

_Rub down with Kerosene oil outside and inside._

THREE PRIMARY COLORS _are, Red, Blue and Yellow._

POLISHING FLOORS

_One quart of turpentine to one quarter (1/4) pound of beeswax. Warm, taking care not to let any fire reach the turpentine. Rub in the floor with flannel and polish with hard brush. A little powdered burnt umber mixed in gives a nice brown stain._

TO PUT AWAY FLANNELS

_First thoroughly air and beat them, then wrap up with cedar chips, refuse tobacco, or camphor, and wrap in newspapers, being careful to close every outlet to keep out moths._

Babcock Test

_The Babcock test is a test for determining the butter fat in milk._

_Bottles are devised which are known as Babcock milk bottles, and are registered to show the per cent. of fat in milk. A certain amount of milk is mixed with a certain amount of Commercial Sulphuric acid of a specific gravity 1.83 which is added by degrees and thoroughly shaken up with the milk. Enough distilled water is added to fill the bottle. The mixture is then centrifuged in a Babcock Centrifuge, and the centrifuged fat read in per cent. on the neck of the bottle._

_The Official Travelers' Babcock Test can be purchased from the Creamery Package Manufactory Co., Chicago Ill., and costs between $5.00 and $6.00._

_All utensils used in dairy work should be sterilized by steaming or boiling for five minutes._

How to Cure Hams

Rub one tablespoonful of Saltpetre into the face of each ham; let it remain one day. Literally cover the ham with salt and pack it in a closed box. Leave it in box as many days as there are pounds to the ham.

Take it out, wash in warm water; cover the face of the ham with black pepper, and smoke it ten days with green hickory or red-oak chips.

Care of Children

_Mrs. Benson writes: "There is no way in which a girl can help her country better than by fitting herself to undertake the care of children. She should learn all she can about them, and take every opportunity of helping to look after these small Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of the future."_

An infant cannot tell you its wants, but a Scout with a knowledge of the needs of children, what to feed them on, and the rules for good health, may save many a baby, for she never knows how soon the precious gift of some child's life may be placed in her hands.

Baby does not know that fire will burn, or that water will drown one, so you need to guard him. Baby requires the proper food to build up a healthy body. He prefers milk for the first months of his life, and even up till three years old he takes mostly milk; and as a baby cannot digest flour, bread, corn-flour, and such things are so much poison to him. They may injure a little baby's health for life. As has been said to older children, let him keep quiet after eating. Even up to three years old, Baby's food must be chiefly milk--biscuits, puddings, and fruit being gradually added. He is very particular about his milk being fresh and good. Baby is extremely punctual. He feels it keenly if you do not feed him at the fixed hour, and will very likely let you know it, and woe betide you if he finds out that you have not properly scalded out his bottle before and after each meal.

When his digestion is not right, his appetite will not be so good. Digestion means that the food you eat is turned into muscle and brain and bone.

We eat onions to make bone, and oats to make brain, but Baby must not be allowed such food till he is older. What is _indigestion?_ It means not only uncomfortable pains in the middle of the night, but also that you have not used up the food you ate, and that food is going bad inside you, and making bad blood. Eat only the foods that you know you can digest comfortably. Do not give Baby too much at a time, or he will not be able to digest it, and keep him to plain food.

Air

Sun and air are life-giving. Put a pale withering plant or human being into the sun, and each will recover health. Give a baby plenty of fresh air, out of doors if you can, but avoid draughty places. Air the rooms well. You know, too, that the air inside the bed-clothes is impure, so do not let Baby sleep with his head under the sheet; tuck it in under his chin. You remember what air did in curing illness in the case of the expressman's children. He had two boys and three little girls all beginning to have consumption, and constantly requiring a doctor at great expense. He got the happy idea of putting them all into his cart when he started out very early on his work, and he drove them about every morning till school time. Every one of them soon got well, and became strong and healthy.

Bath

No one can be healthy unless she is extremely clean. Baby will want his bath daily, with soap and warmish water. He likes to kick the water and splash, as long as you support his head. Before starting on this swimming expedition, you should have all his clothes, warm, by you, and all that you will want must be within reach, and he expects a warm flannel on your knees to lie on. You must carefully dry all the creases in his fat body for him, with a soft towel.

Illnesses

What will you do when you suddenly find that baby is ill. Call in the doctor? Yes--that is, if there is one. But when there is no doctor! You will at once think of all the First Aid you have learnt, and what you know of nursing.

Drugs are bad things. You may ruin a child by giving it soothing drugs and advertised medicines. They sometimes produce constipation. Never neglect the bowels if they become stopped, or you may bring on inflammation. Children's illnesses often are brought on by damp floors; you can trace them to the evening that the boards were washed. A flood of water could not dry without damping the room and the children.

Bowed legs come from walking too soon. It does baby good to lie down and kick about, for crawling and climbing exercise his muscles.

The best remedy, if you find a child suffering from convulsions, is to place it in a warm bath, as hot as your bare elbow can endure.

Childhood is the time to form the body; it cannot be altered when you are grown up.

Clothing

Children's clothes should be warm but light, and the feet and legs should be kept warm and dry. To put on their stockings, turn the toe in a little way, and poke the toes into the end, then pull over a little at a time, instead of putting the foot in at the knee of the stocking. Put the left stocking on the right foot next day, so as to change them every day.

Flannelette is made of cotton, so it is not warm like wool, and it catches fire easily, as cotton-wool does.

Rubber is most unhealthful, and causes paralysis. Don't sit on rubber or on oilcloth unless covered, and never put rubber next to the skin.

Thermometers

To convert a given number of degrees Fahrenheit into Centigrade, deduct 32, multiply by 5, and divide by 9. To convert into Réaumur, deduct 32, multiply by 4, and divide by 9. To convert degrees Centigrade into Fahrenheit, multiply by 9, divide by 5, and add 32. To convert Réaumur into Fahrenheit, multiply by 9, divide by 4, and add 32.

The diagram shows corresponding degrees.

Beat of Pulse per minute

Pulse beat for normal person:

Infant before age of one year, 130 to 115 beats per minute.

Infant up to two years of age, 115 to 130 beats per minute.

Adult, 70 to 80 beats per minute. Adult in old age, 70 to 60 in normal health.