To wash white feathers, use tepid water and white soap, with a little bluing in the water. Make a good lather in a dish which is quite long enough to admit of laying the feather straight out. After laying the feather to soak a few moments, gently draw it through the hand until it is quite clean. Now rinse in clear water, to which, besides the bluing, add a few drops of spirits of salt (to be had at any chemist's). When it is rinsed enough, draw the feather through the hand to get rid of as much water as possible. Shake, taking care not to break the stem, and laying on a table or board, brush it each side of the rib with a clean brush. When dry, hold it over the stove and curl. CURLING, CLEANING AND DYEING 291 For cream-color, omit the blue and add coffee in the rinse water. First color the white feather with coffee, then take an old red rose- leaf and moisten it, and this will tint the edges of the feather very prettily. By the use of prepared dyes the dirtiness and difficulty of home dye- ing are dispensed with. The work may be done with a certainty of success, and without as much as soiling the fingers. These prepared dyes give a considerable variety of color, most of them of great delicacy and brilliancy. The different colors are magenta, mauve, violet, puce, purple, canary, cerise, scarlet, orange, blue, pink, green, crimson, brown, black, lavender, slate and gray, and different shades of these colors may be formed by using a greater or lesser proportion of water. The method of using the dyes is as follows : For ordinary small articles, such as ribbons, feathers, etc., into an earthen basin pour four or eight quarts of boiling water, into this throw the articles to soak for a minute or two, then lift them out with a piece of clean stick, and pour in a little of the dye. The quantity of dye must depend upon the shade required. The novice will do well rather to put too little than too much, as more can be added afterward, if needed. The articles must never be allowed to remain in the basin while the fluid is poured in. As soon as the dye is mixed with the water, the goods must be put in, and stirred briskly with a piece of stick in each hand, that the color may be equally distributed ; for most goods, from five to fifteen minutes' immersion will be sufficient ; if a deep shade is required, or if it be desired to utilize the whole of the coloring matter, they may be allowed to remain longer. Aniline, which comes in five-cent packages, put up for coloring Easter eggs, also dyes feathers beautifully. They come in six colors. By blending them one can make nearly all the fashionable colors. The tints can be regulated by the amount of water used and the length of time the feather is left in the bath, which should be hot. Gray feathers with white dashes can be made of old white plumes by first covering the parts to be left white with thick paper, and then spattering either with India ink or brown aniline. Feathers for evening bonnets are beau- tiful with Roman pearls attached to the ends of every third or fourth filament near the point. Feathers that have been quite broken off can be made pretty by adding a sort of tassel made of the chenille now used in fringe. The fluffy feathers of a goose cut in tiny bits and gummed on ostrich tips are pretty. 292 PAINTING. OYSTER CANS. HOW THEY MAY BE MADE USEFUL.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To wash white feathers, use tepid water and white soap, with a little bluing in the water. Make a good lather in a dish which is quite long enough to admit of laying the feather straight out. After laying the feather to soak a few moments, gently draw it through the hand until it is quite clean. Now rinse in clear water, to which, besides the bluing, add a few drops of spirits of salt (to be had at any chemist's). When it is rinsed enough, draw the feather through the hand to get rid of as much water as possible. Shake, taking care not to break the stem, and laying on a table or board, brush it each side of the rib with a clean brush. When dry, hold it over the stove and curl. [illustration: CURLING, CLEANING AND DYEING 291] For cream-color, omit the blue and add coffee in the rinse water. First color the white feather with coffee, then take an old red roseleaf and moisten it, and this will tint the edges of the feather very prettily. By the use of prepared dyes the dirtiness and difficulty of home dyeing are dispensed with. The work may be done with a certainty of success, and without as much as soiling the fingers. These prepared dyes give a considerable variety of color, most of them of great delicacy and brilliancy. The different colors are magenta, mauve, violet, puce, purple, canary, cerise, scarlet, orange, blue, pink, green, crimson, brown, black, lavender, slate and gray, and different shades of these colors may be formed by using a greater or lesser proportion of water. The method of using the dyes is as follows : For ordinary small articles, such as ribbons, feathers, etc., into an earthen basin pour four or eight quarts of boiling water, into this throw the articles to soak for a minute or two, then lift them out with a piece of clean stick, and pour in a little of the dye. The quantity of dye must depend upon the shade required. The novice will do well rather to put too little than too much, as more can be added afterward, if needed. The articles must never be allowed to remain in the basin while the fluid is poured in. As soon as the dye is mixed with the water, the goods must be put in, and stirred briskly with a piece of stick in each hand, that the color may be equally distributed ; for most goods, from five to fifteen minutes' immersion will be sufficient ; if a deep shade is required, or if it be desired to utilize the whole of the coloring matter, they may be allowed to remain longer. Aniline, which comes in five-cent packages, put up for coloring Easter eggs, also dyes feathers beautifully. They come in six colors. By blending them one can make nearly all the fashionable colors. The tints can be regulated by the amount of water used and the length of time the feather is left in the bath, which should be hot. Gray feathers with white dashes can be made of old white plumes by first covering the parts to be left white with thick paper, and then spattering either with India ink or brown aniline. Feathers for evening bonnets are beautiful with Roman pearls attached to the ends of every third or fourth filament near the point. Feathers that have been quite broken off can be made pretty by adding a sort of tassel made of the chenille now used in fringe. The fluffy feathers of a goose cut in tiny bits and gummed on ostrich tips are pretty. OYSTER CANS. HOW THEY MAY BE MADE USEFUL.

The household (of the Detroit free press)