Part 26

The white tissue-paper is not to be cut or decorated with an open pattern or flowering. It is to form a lining for the pink, through the open work of which the white is to appear. The form or arrangement of this white paper is to fit or correspond with that of the pink, only that the white must be allowed two or three inches deeper at the edge, that it may project out beyond the pink. These projecting white edges are to be cut into a fringe. Additional fringe must be made of white tissue-paper, and twisted together so as to represent cords; the cords to be finished with tassels made of rolls of white paper fringe, fastened to the cords very neatly by sewing them on with a needle and thread. Observe that none of the _white_ paper is to be cut out in flower patterns, or any sort of open work. It is only to furnish lining, fringe, cords, and tassels for the pink. Observe, also, that the fringed edge of this white lining is to appear beyond the scolloped edge of the pink outside.

When all is ready, arrange it handsomely in the fire-place, so as entirely to conceal the whole of the grate. It must be fixed at the top by sewing it to a covered piece of broom-handle, made to fit the draught aperture. The two long straight pieces of pink paper, with their white lining underneath, are to go on first. Then put up the festoons with their falls, having their white lining beneath, with its fringe appearing beyond the pink scollops. Then put on, at proper distances, the white cords and tassels. The effect, when complete, will represent at the back, closed pink curtains, with their white lining appearing through the cut-out flower pattern; over them, two festoons and falls of pink lined with white, opening in front with their white fringe, and white cords and tassels. In these festoons and falls, the cut-out flowers of the pink paper outside, show the white paper lining beneath. If well executed, these hearth curtains will (as we have seen) have a most beautiful effect. The pattern or flowering of the cut work is displayed to great advantage by the white lining. In one parlour you may have hearth curtains of pink and white; in the other of green and white, or blue and white.

Hearth curtains of tissue-paper may be fixed to the front ledge or slab that goes along the top of the grate, provided this ledge is wide enough. Leave, uncut, at the top of the sheets of paper, a plain piece to fit the ledge. To keep down this paper upon the ledge, prepare three heavy weights (for instance smooth stones) covered with thick silk or satin, and decorated with large bows of ribbon of the same colour. In this way, by keeping it down with weights on the top, we have seen a very handsome drapery of cut out tissue-paper entirely concealing a Franklin stove.

MARKING THE KEYS OF A PIANO.--Beginners on the piano (children especially) sometimes find much difficulty in learning the affinity between the keys and the notes. After acquiring the gamut theoretically, it is frequently a long time before they can apply it practically to the keys of the instrument, so as at once to find the right key on looking at the corresponding note. The process may be much accelerated (and indeed made perfectly easy) by some grown person marking on the keys the letters that designate the notes. By the following simple method this can be done without any injury or defacement of the ivory. Take a sheet of thick smooth writing-paper, and cut out of it as many little square pieces as there are white keys on the piano. Paste these papers on the ivory; and when _perfectly_ dry, mark on each with common _blue_ ink the letter belonging to that key. It will be best to do this in Roman capitals. If the natural keys are thus distinctly designated, the learner will find little difficulty from the flats and sharps, or black keys, being left unmarked.

The learner will thus in a very short time become familiar with the correspondence of the keys of the piano and the notes in the music book; and will soon be at no loss in finding them. It is well, however, not to remove the marks in less than a month or two. Then loosen the papers by wetting them with a little water; take them off, and wipe the keys first with a wet and then with a dry cloth. Blue ink of the common sort will leave no trace upon the ivory; but good black ink might probably leave a slight stain, unless the paper was very thick. Therefore do not use it.

The learner having thus become thoroughly acquainted with the keys while they were lettered, will not find the least difficulty in remembering them after the marks are taken off.

TO USE A PAPER-KNIFE.--In using a paper-knife to cut open the leaves of a new book, keep your left hand firmly pressed down upon the open page, while you hold the knife in your right. This will prevent the edges of the leaves from cutting rough and jagged. Cut open the tops of the leaves before you run the knife up the side-edges, and cut with a short, quick, hard stroke. The most serviceable paper-knives are of ivory, and without a handle; the handles being very apt to break.

The best way of writing your name in a book is on the inside of the cover; but if the paper that lines it seems likely to cause the ink to run or spread, cut out a handsome slip of fine smooth paper, write your name upon that, and paste it on nicely. If you put your name on one of the fly-leaves, it may be torn out; and if written on the corner of the title-page, that corner may be snipped off, should the book fall into the hands of a dishonest person.

HOUSEHOLD TOOLS.--Much inconvenience and considerable expense would be saved, if it was the universal custom to keep in every house a few tools, for the purpose of performing at home what are called small jobs; instead of being always obliged to send for a mechanic, and pay him for executing little things that might be very well done by a man or boy belonging to the family; provided that the proper instruments were at hand. The cost of these articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them always in the house (particularly in the country) are beyond all price. In a small private family it may not be necessary to keep more than a few of these things; but that few are almost indispensable to comfort. For instance, there should be an axe, a saw, a claw-hammer, a mallet, a screw-driver, a bed-screw, a gimlet, one or two jack-knives, a pair of large scissors or shears, and a trowel. If there were two gimlets, and two screw-drivers, (large and small,) it would be better still. Likewise, an assortment of hooks, and of nails of different sizes, from large spikes down to small tacks; not forgetting a supply of brass-headed nails, some large and some small. Screws, also, will be found very convenient. The nails and screws should be kept in a wooden box, with divisions or partitions to separate the various sorts; for it is very troublesome to select them when all mixed together.

No house should be without glue, chalk, putty, paint, cord, twine, and wrapping-paper of different sorts. And care should be taken that the supply is not suffered to run out, lest the deficiency might cause delay and inconvenience at a time when most wanted.

It is well to have, in the lower part of the house, a deep closet appropriated entirely to tools and things of equal utility, for performing at once such little repairs as convenience may require, without the delay or expense of sending for an artisan. This closet may have one large, broad shelf; and that not more than three feet above the floor. Beneath the shelf may be a deep drawer, divided in two. This drawer may contain cakes of glue; pieces of chalk; hanks of manilla-grass cord; and balls of twine, of different size and thickness. At the sides of the closet may be small shelves for glue-pots, paste-pots, and brushes; pots for black, white, green, and red paint; cans of painting-oil, &c. On the wall above the large shelf, let the tools be suspended, or laid across nails or hooks of proper size to support them. This is much better than to keep them all in a box, where they may be injured by rubbing against each other, and the hand may be hurt by feeling among them to find the one that is wanted. When hung up against the closet-wall, each tool may be seen at a glance. We have been shown an excellent and simple contrivance for designating the exact places of these things. On the wall, directly under the nails that support the tools, is drawn, with a small brush dipped in black paint or ink, an outline representation of the tool or instrument appropriated to that particular place. For instance, under each saw is sketched the outline of the saw; under each gimlet is a sketch of the gimlet; under the screw-drivers are slight drawings of the screw-drivers. So that when any tool is brought back after being taken away for use, the exact spot to which it belongs may be seen in a moment by its representation on the wall; and all confusion in putting them up, or finding them again, is thus prevented. We highly recommend this plan.

Wrapping-paper may be piled on the floor beneath the large shelf. It can be bought very low, by the ream, at the wholesale paper stores; and every house should be supplied with it in several varieties. For instance, coarse brown paper for common things. That denominated ironmongers’ paper, being strong, thick, and in large sheets, is useful for enclosing heavy articles. Nankeen-paper is best for putting up nice parcels, such as books, or things of fine quality that are to be sent to a distance. What is called shoe-paper (each ream generally containing a variety of colours, red, blue, buff, &c.) is also very useful for wrapping small articles, as, though soft, it is not brittle. This paper is very cheap, the usual price seldom exceeding 56 cents per ream, (twenty quires.)

Old waste newspapers are unfit for wrapping any articles that can be soiled by the printing-ink rubbing off upon them. But they may be used for packing china, glass, brass, tin, &c. Also for lighting fires, singeing poultry, and cleaning mirrors or windows. Waste written-paper is of little use, except for allumettes or lamp-lighters. It is well to keep a large jar or bag to receive scraps of waste paper, as it sells for a cent a pound, and these cents may be given to poor children.

We have seen persons, when preparing for a journey, or putting up things to send away, “at their wits’ end” for want of a sheet of good wrapping-paper; a string of twine; a few nails; or a little paint to mark a box. We have seen a door standing ajar during a whole week, (and in cold weather too,) for want of a screw-driver to fix a disordered lock, the locksmith not coming when he was sent for.

It seems scarcely credible that any respectable house should be without a hammer; yet we have known genteel families, whose sole dependence for that indispensable article was on borrowing it of their neighbours. And when the hammer was obtained, there were, perhaps, no nails in the house; at least none of the requisite size.

The attention of boys should be early directed to the use of common tools. And if there were tools at hand, there are few American boys that would not take pleasure in learning to use them. By seeing carpenters, locksmiths, bell-hangers, &c., at work, they may soon learn to be passably expert in those arts; and a smart and observant boy will soon acquire considerable amateur proficiency in them. Many useful jobs can be done by servant-men, if there are proper tools in the house.

LETTERS.--For letter-writing, always use good paper; it should be fine, smooth, white, and sufficiently thick not to let the writing show through on the other side. Very good letter-paper can seldom be purchased at less than twenty-five cents per quire. That which is lower in price is inferior in quality. If you cannot trust yourself to write straightly without some guide, have printed ruled lines to slip beneath the page; for a letter does not look well if written on paper that is already ruled with pale blue ink. If you write a small hand, your lines should be closer together than if your writing is large. It is well to have several sorts of ruled lines; they are to be bought at any stationer’s for a few cents a page.

If you are writing to a relative, or to an intimate friend, and have much to say, and expect to fill the sheet, begin near the top of the first page. But if your letter is to be a short one, commence lower down, several inches from the top. If a _very_ short letter, of only a few lines, begin but a little above the middle of the page.

Write the date near the right-hand side, and place it about a line higher than the two or three words of greeting or accosting with which letters usually commence. Begin the first sentence a little below these words, and farther towards the right than the lines that are to follow it. It is well, in dating _every_ letter, to give always your exact residence,--not only the town, but the street also, and the number of your house. If your correspondent has had but one notification of your present place of abode, the number, and even the street may have been forgotten; the letter containing it may not be at hand as a reference; and the reply may, in consequence, be misdirected; or directed in so vague a manner that it may never reach you. We have known much trouble, inconvenience, and indeed loss, ensue from not specifying, in the date of _each_ letter, the exact dwelling-place of the writer. But if it is always designated at the top of _every one_, a reference to any of your letters will furnish the proper address. It is customary to date letters at the top, and notes at the bottom. If your letter is so long as to fill more than one sheet, number the pages.

As important words are frequently lost by being torn off with the seal in opening a letter, leave always, in the third or last page, two blank spaces where the seal is to come. These spaces should be left rather too large than too small. You can write in short lines between them. If you cannot otherwise ascertain where the sealing is likely to be, fold your sheet into the form of a letter before you begin to write it; and then, with the point of a pin, (or something similar,) trace, as faintly as possible, two circles, one on the turn-over, the other on the corresponding part of the paper that comes beneath it. These faint circles, when you are writing the last page, will show you where the seal is to go, and what space you are to leave for it. In opening a letter, it is best to cut round the seal; rather than to break it, and _tear_ the letter open.

In folding a letter let the breadth (from right to left) far exceed the height. A letter the least verging towards squareness looks very awkward. It is well to use a folding-stick (or ivory paper-knife) to press along the edges of the folds, and make them smooth and even. Take care in folding a letter to make _all_ the creases _exactly straight_ and even. If one is looser than another, or if there is the slightest widening out or narrowing in towards the edge of the turn-over, the letter will have a crooked, unsightly appearance. You may direct it before sealing; slipping your ruled paper under the back of the letter, that you may run no risk of writing the direction crooked. Begin the address rather nearer to the bottom than the top of the folded letter. Write the name of the person to whom you send it about the middle, and very clearly and distinctly. Then give the number and street on the next line a little nearer to the right. Then the town in _large_ letters, and extending almost close to the extreme right. Just under the town, add the abbreviation of the name of the state--as, Pa. for Pennsylvania, N. Y. for New York. But if the letter is to go to New York _city_, put the words New York in full, written large. Much confusion is caused by this state and its metropolis having both the same name. It has been well suggested that the name of the state might be changed to Ontario--a beautiful change.

If the letter is to go to a provincial town, put the name of the county in which that town is situated, immediately over the designation of the state. We believe that throughout the union there are more than fifty towns called Washington. If your letter is for the _city_ of Washington, direct for Washington, D. C.--these initials implying the District of Columbia.

Another reason for the propriety of designating the state is, that many of our towns are called after places in Europe: and it has chanced (though not very often) that letters not explicitly and fully directed, have found their way into the mail-bags of packet vessels, and been carried across the Atlantic. We know an instance of a gentleman who directed an important letter simply to Boston, without any indication of the state of Massachusetts; and the letter went from Philadelphia to the small town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. In writing _from_ Europe, it is well always to finish the direction with the words United States of North America.

If you send the letter by a private opportunity, it will be sufficient to introduce close to the lower edge of the left-hand corner on the back, simply the name of the gentleman who takes it, written small. It is now considered old fashioned to insert on the back of such a letter, “Politeness of Mr. Smith,” “Favoured by Mr. Jones,” “Honoured by Mr. Brown.” If to cross the sea, write the name of the vessel on the left hand corner of the outside.

If you make a mistake in a word, it will be better to draw your pen through the error, so as to render it entirely illegible, and then interline the correction, rather than attempt scratching out the mistake with a penknife, and afterwards trying to write another word in the identical place; a thing that is rarely, if ever, done well.

At the end of the letter, nearly on a line with your signature, (which should be close to the right side,) it is usual to put, near the extremity of the _left_ side of the page, the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed. Write your signature rather larger than your usual hand; and put a dot or period after your name.

In writing a ceremonious and very respectful note, or in addressing a person with whom you are not very intimate, enclose it in an envelope, and put the direction _on the cover only_. It is now customary always to enclose in envelopes invitations to parties; visiting cards sent to strangers; cards left previous to a marriage; and farewell cards on leaving the place. On the latter it is usual to put the initials _t. t. l._ (to take leave,) or _p. p. c._ (_pour prendre congé_, which has the same signification.) We have also seen _p. d. a._ (_pour dire adieu_, to bid adieu.) For a note, always use a very small seal. There are varieties of beautiful little wafers for notes; also of beautiful note-paper. It is not necessary in addressing an intimate friend to follow, particularly, any of these conventional observances.

For sealing letters no light is so convenient as a wax taper. A lamp or candle may smoke and blacken the wax. To seal well, your wax should be of the finest quality. Good red wax is generally the best, and its colour should be of a brilliant scarlet. Inferior red wax consumes very fast; and always, when melted, looks purplish or brownish. When going to melt sealing-wax, rest your elbow on the table to keep your hand steady. Take the stick of wax between your thumb and finger, and hold it a little above the light, so that it barely touches the point of the flame. Then insert a little of the melted wax _under_ the turn-over part of the letter, just where the seal is to come. This will make it more secure than if the sole dependence was on the outside seal. Or instead of this little touch of wax, you may slip under the turn-over a small wafer, either white or of the same colour as the wax. Take the stick of wax, hold it over the flame just so as to touch the tip; next turn it round till the end of the stick is equally softened on every side. Then apply it to your letter, beginning on the outer edge of the place you intend for the seal; and moving the wax round in a circle, which must gradually diminish till it terminates in the centre. Put the seal exactly into the middle of the soft wax, and press it down hard, but do not screw it round. Then withdraw it suddenly. Do not use motto seals unless writing to a member of your own family, or to an intimate friend. For common use, (and particularly for letters of business, or in addressing strangers,) a plain seal with the initials of your name will be best.

We subjoin the usual abbreviations of the states, &c.:--

Maine, _Me._ New Hampshire, _N. H._ Vermont, _Vt._ Massachusetts, _Mass._ Rhode Island, _R. I._ Connecticut, _Ct._ New York, _N. Y._ New Jersey, _N. J._ Pennsylvania, _Pa._ Delaware, _Del._ Maryland, _Md._ Virginia, _Va._ North Carolina, _N. C._ South Carolina, _S. C._ Georgia, _Geo._ or _Ga._ Alabama, _Ala._ Mississippi, _Mi._ Louisiana, _La._ Tennessee, _Ten._ Kentucky, _Ky._ Ohio, _O._ Indiana, _Ind._ Illinois, _Ill._ Missouri, _Mo._ District of Columbia, _D. C._ Michigan, _Mich._ Arkansas, _Ark._ Florida, _Fl._ Wisconsin, _Wis._ Iowa, _Io._ Texas, _Tex._ Oregon, _Or._

To these may be added the abbreviations of the British possessions in North America. Upper Canada, _U. C._ Lower Canada, _L. C._ Nova Scotia, _N. S._ New Brunswick, _N. B._ New Providence, _N. P._

The name of the town to which the letter is to go, should always be superscribed in full. If a country town or village, it will be necessary to designate the county in which it is situated, as there are so many provincial towns of the same name. Finish with the designation of the state under the whole, close to the right-hand corner.

In directing to a clergyman, put _Rev._ (Reverend) before his name. To an officer, immediately after his name, and on the same line with it, put _U. S. A._ for United States Army; _U. S. N._ for United States Navy. To a member of Congress, precede his name with _Hon._ (Honourable.)

In putting up packets to send away, either tie them round and across with red tape (sealing them also) or seal them without tying. Twine or cord may cut through the paper, and is better omitted. Never put up any thing in newspaper. Beside the danger of soiling the articles inside, it looks mean and disrespectful. Keep yourself provided with different sorts of wrapping-paper. A large parcel should have more than one seal, and the seal may be rather larger than for a letter.

CROSSING THE SEA.--The most usual voyage made by American ladies is across the Atlantic; and the time chosen for that voyage is generally in the spring or autumn. A winter passage is seldom attempted by ladies; and few that have tried it once are willing to undertake it a second time. To those who are preparing to traverse the ocean that separates us from Europe, we hope the following hints may not be unacceptable.