The author once had three of these going in a very large house day and night. And that house was a haven of refuge for every one in the station, since, during a stifling hot weather, its temperature never rose above 85 degrees. In regard to punkahs, in the writer’s opinion they are comparatively of little use except to keep away mosquitoes, or when sleeping on the roof. At meal- times they are a necessity. But they are too intermittent a palliative to be satisfactory. The presence of a punkah rope in a coolie’s hand seems positively to have a soporific effect on him, whereas the handle or treadle of a thermantidote acquires an impetus of its own, and asserts its intention of going round, will-he nill-he. Finally, owing to the ther- mantidote being built into the wall or door, there is less temptation to burst out on the offender and slay him on the spot, since to do this you must go round deliberately by another door. Even if this homicidal mania does not seize on you, a thermantidote prevents the possibility of spoiling )'our boots and shoes by throwing them at the coolie’s head. It must be admitted that many people consider thermanti- dotes unwholesome, and provocative of climatic disease. The writer’s experience, however, is that they virtually stopped 201 Housekeeper and Cook tlie intermittent fever which year after year attacked one of her household. After adopting them he never had a bad attack, though the current of damp air in which he sat by day and slept by night ought, in the opinion of most doctors, to have aggravated his complaint. Care must, of course, be taken to avoid chills ; but the increase of comfort and the refreshing sleep enjoyed are well worth some trouble. Punkahs are generally put up in Northern India about the beginning of April. The cloth-covered frames supplied by the landlord of the house are usually whitewashed, and after several coats the lime is sure to come off in flakes and get into your eyes. This is an evil only to be mitigated by having the frames well scraped. The Bombay and Bengal punkahs consist often of a bar of polished wood, from which the fringe hangs. This is prettier and cleaner, but it hardly gives so much wind as the broad, flat frame. Sometimes you meet with wooden panelled frames. These are best ; but failing this, and if the whitewash nuisance be great, it will be found wiser to re-cover the frames with cotton dyed to match your room. The frill can be made pretty in a thou- sand ways. It will not cost much. There is nothing more difficult than to judge the height at which a punkah should be hung. Strictly speaking, it is always too high or too low ; in other words, it either scrapes your head or leaves you per- spiring. In fiict, at its best it is an instrument of torture. On the other hand, it appears to please the coolie who pulls it. The squeaking of a punkah at night is very distracting, but can generally be cured by black lead or oil. The latter, however, is apt to smell. Leather thongs for pulling are dearer to begin with, but more satisfactory than ropes; nothing is more maddening than to have to get up and splice the latter in the middle of the night. A towel pinned on at night to the punkah fringe makes its sweep greater. After punkahs and thermantidotes, the next luxury is an ice-box. In this, again, stinting is wo economy.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The author once had three of these going in a very large house day and night. And that house was a haven of refuge for every one in the station, since, during a stifling hot weather, its temperature never rose above 85 degrees. In regard to punkahs, in the writer’s opinion they are comparatively of little use except to keep away mosquitoes, or when sleeping on the roof. At mealtimes they are a necessity. But they are too intermittent a palliative to be satisfactory. The presence of a punkah rope in a coolie’s hand seems positively to have a soporific effect on him, whereas the handle or treadle of a thermantidote acquires an impetus of its own, and asserts its intention of going round, will-he nill-he. Finally, owing to the thermantidote being built into the wall or door, there is less temptation to burst out on the offender and slay him on the spot, since to do this you must go round deliberately by another door. Even if this homicidal mania does not seize on you, a thermantidote prevents the possibility of spoiling )'our boots and shoes by throwing them at the coolie’s head. It must be admitted that many people consider thermantidotes unwholesome, and provocative of climatic disease. The writer’s experience, however, is that they virtually stopped Housekeeper and Cook the intermittent fever which year after year attacked one of her household. After adopting them he never had a bad attack, though the current of damp air in which he sat by day and slept by night ought, in the opinion of most doctors, to have aggravated his complaint. Care must, of course, be taken to avoid chills ; but the increase of comfort and the refreshing sleep enjoyed are well worth some trouble. Punkahs are generally put up in Northern India about the beginning of April. The cloth-covered frames supplied by the landlord of the house are usually whitewashed, and after several coats the lime is sure to come off in flakes and get into your eyes. This is an evil only to beto be mitigated by having the frames well scraped.he Bombay and Bengal punkahs consist often of a bar of polished wood, from which the fringe hangs. This is prettier and cleaner, but it hardly gives so much wind as the broad, flat frame. Sometimes you meet with wooden panelled frames. These are best ; but failing this, and if the whitewash nuisance be great, it will be found wiser to re-cover the frames with cotton dyed to match your room. The frill can be made pretty in a thousand ways. It will not cost much. There is nothing more difficult than to judge the height at which a punkah should be hung. Strictly speaking, it is always too high or too low ; in other words, it either scrapes your head or leaves you perspiring. In fact, at its best it is an instrument of torture. On the other hand, it appears to please the coolie who pulls it. The squeaking of a punkah at night is very distracting, but can generally be cured by black lead or oil. The latter, however, is apt to smell. Leather thongs for pulling are dearer to begin with, but more satisfactory than ropes; nothing is more maddening than to have to get up and splice the latter in the middle of the night. A towel pinned on at night to the punkah fringe makes its sweep greater. After punkahs and thermantidotes, the next luxury is an ice-box. In this, again, stinting is no economy.

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