To prevent silverware from tarnishing, the articles should be warmed, and then painted over with a solution of collodion in alcohol, using a wide, soft brush for the purpose. To prevent iron from rusting, warm it, then rub white wax on it. Put it again to the fire, until the wax has pervaded the entire surface. If STOVE-POLISH is mixed with very strong soap-suds, the lustre appears immediately, and the dust of the polish does not fly around as it usually does. To Perfume Note-paper, etc. — Get a few quires of blotting-paper, sprinkle the sheets with the perfume desired ; then put the blotting under a weight until it becomes dry. When dry, put note-paper, envelopes, etc., between the sheets, and place them under a weight for a (cw hours ; remove them, and they will be found perfumed. The blotting sheets may be utilized again, and can be made to retain their perfume for a long time, by keeping them free from exposure to air. How TO Drive Nails. — It seems a simple and easy enough matter to drive a nail, but not one person in a thousand can drive one with the greatest possible effect where considerable skill and judgment are needed to this end. Most mechanics whose peculiar trade requires the frequent exercise of this operation, neglect to study the subject properly, and drive a considerable percentage of their nails in an in- efficient and useless manner. And amateurs, whose operations are usually upon subjects of the most difficult kind, almost invariably fail, usually doing more harm than good, by splitting the wood and ren- dering it more difficult for the most skilful to insert a reliable nail. Examine any article of domestic use that has been repaired with nails by amateurs, and you will probably find that a large majority of them do more harm than good. Yet a little judgment and thought upon the subject would direct us where and how to insert a nail in any 573 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. difficult case, so as to have the desired effect. In nailing boards upon timbers, the simplest and plainest of all the various phases of nail- driving, at least one in ten is usually lost by carelessness on the part of the operator, or defect in the nails themselves. And in the more difficult operations, as of box-maker's or joiner's work, a much larger percentage of waste is suffered. In an average lot of window frames, at least one nail in five, or twenty per cent, of all, will be found to be so driven as to be useless. Nails ought to and will ultimately be made chisel-pointed. They penetrate easier, drive straighter, and hold firmer than square-pointed ones. But the pointing must be done perfectly ; otherwise it induces deflection and misdirection in driving. Nails pointed in cutting are quite certain to get enough ruggedness or irregularity at the extreme point to effect deflection, like the rudder of a ship. The pointing, to have the requisite accuracy, must be done upon the filing principle, which involves, however, too great a complication of machinery. Take coach varnish and renew all your oil-cloths. Wash them clean, wipe dry, and apply a coat of varnish. Be careful not to step on them until they are dry. If this is done once a year, the oil-cloths will last twice as long as they will without it.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To prevent silverware from tarnishing, the articles should be warmed, and then painted over with a solution of collodion in alcohol, using a wide, soft brush for the purpose. To prevent iron from rusting, warm it, then rub white wax on it. Put it again to the fire, until the wax has pervaded the entire surface. If STOVE-POLISH is mixed with very strong soap-suds, the lustre appears immediately, and the dust of the polish does not fly around as it usually does. To Perfume Note-paper, etc. — Get a few quires of blotting-paper, sprinkle the sheets with the perfume desired ; then put the blotting under a weight until it becomes dry. When dry, put note-paper, envelopes, etc., between the sheets, and place them under a weight for a few hours ; remove them, and they will be found perfumed. The blotting sheets may be utilized again, and can be made to retain their perfume for a long time, by keeping them free from exposure to air. How TO Drive Nails. — It seems a simple and easy enough matter to drive a nail, but not one person in a thousand can drive one with the greatest possible effect where considerable skill and judgment are needed to this end. Most mechanics whose peculiar trade requires the frequent exercise of this operation, neglect to study the subject properly, and drive a considerable percentage of their nails in an inefficient and useless manner. And amateurs, whose operations are usually upon subjects of the most difficult kind, almost invariably fail, usually doing more harm than good, by splitting the wood and rendering it more difficult for the most skilful to insert a reliable nail. Examine any article of domestic use that has been repaired with nails by amateurs, and you will probably find that a large majority of them do more harm than good. Yet a little judgment and thought upon the subject would direct us where and how to insert a nail in any 573 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. difficult case, so as to have the desired effect. In nailing boards upon timbers, the simplest and plainest of all the various phases of naildriving, at least one in ten is usually lost by carelessness on the part of the operator, or defect in the nails themselves. And in the more difficult operations, as of box-maker's or joiner's work, a much larger percentage of waste is suffered. In an average lot of window frames, at least one nail in five, or twenty per cent, of all, will be found to be so driven as to be useless. Nails ought to and will ultimately be made chisel-pointed. They penetrate easier, drive straighter, and hold firmer than square-pointed ones. But the pointing must be done perfectly ; otherwise it induces deflection and misdirection in driving. Nails pointed in cutting are quite certain to get enough ruggedness or irregularity at the extreme point to effect deflection, like the rudder of a ship. The pointing, to have the requisite accuracy, must be done upon the filing principle, which involves, however, too great a complication of machinery. Take coach varnish and renew all your oil-cloths. Wash them clean, wipe dry, and apply a coat of varnish. Be careful not to step on them until they are dry. If this is done once a year, the oil-cloths will last twice as long as they will without it.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home