Francois Coppee - "Ten Tales"

W.C.C. Weetman - "The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War 1914 1919"

Edith Nesbit - "All Round the Year"

E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell - "Form and Function"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing

J >> Joseph Triemens >> The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing




The highest mountain in North America is Mt. McKinley, at the headwaters
of the Suswhitna and Kuskokwim rivers, Alaska. Its height is 20,464
feet.

The largest viaduct in the world was designed and built by American
engineers for the English railway in Burma. It crosses the Gokteik
gorge, eighty miles from Mandalay. It is 2,260 feet long and 325 feet
high, and was constructed in 1900.

The degrees of alcohol in wines and liquors are: Beer, 4.0; porter, 4.5;
ale, 7.4; cider, 8.6; Moselle, 9.6; Tokay, 10.2; Rhine, 11.0; orange,
11.2; Bordeaux, 11.5; hock, 11.6; gooseberry, 11.8; Champagne, 12.2;
claret, 13.3; Burgundy, 13.6; Malaga, 17.3; Lisbon, 18.5; Canary, 18.8;
sherry, 19.0; vermouth, 19.0; Cape, 19.2; Malmsey, 19.7; Marsala, 20.2;
Madeira, 21.0; Port, 23.2; Curacoa, 27.0; aniseed, 33.0; Maraschino,
34.0; Chartreuse, 43.0; gin, 51.6; brandy, 53.4; rum, 53.7; Irish
whisky, 53.9; Scotch, 54.3. Spirits are said to be "proof" when they
contain 57 per cent. The maximum amount of alcohol, says Parkes, that a
man can take daily without injury to his health is that contained in 2
oz. Brandy, 1/4 pt. of sherry, 1/2 pt. of claret, or 1 pt. of beer.

The measurement of that part of the skull which holds the brain is
stated in cubic inches thus: Anglo-Saxon, 105; German, 105; negro, 96;
ancient Egyptian, 93; Hottentot, 58; Australian native, 58. In all races
the male brain is about ten per cent heavier than the female. The
highest class of apes has only 16 oz. of brain. A man's brain, it is
estimated, consists of 300,000,000 nerve cells, of which over 3,000 are
disintegrated and destroyed every minute. Everyone, therefore, has a new
brain once in sixty days. But excessive labor, or lack of sleep,
prevents the repair of the tissues, and the brain gradually wastes away.
Diversity of occupation, by calling upon different portions of the mind
or body successively, affords, in some measure, the requisite repose to
each. But in this age of overwork there is no safety except in that
perfect rest which is the only natural restorative of exhausted power.

The King James version of the Bible contains 3,566,480 letters, 773,746
words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 chapters, and 66 books. The word and occurs
46,277 times. The word Lord occurs 1,855 times. The word Reverend occurs
but once, which is in the 9th verse of the 111th Psalm. The middle verse
is the 8th verse of the 118th Psalm. The 21st verse of the 7th chapter
of Ezra contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter J.
The 19th chapter of II Kings and the 37th chapter of Isaiah are alike.
The longest verse is the 9th verse of the 8th chapter of Esther. The
shortest verse is the 35th verse of the 11th chapter of St. John. There
are no words or names of more than six syllables.



SOME OF NATURE'S WONDERS.

The human body has 240 bones.

Man's heart beats 92,160 times in a day.

A salmon has been known to produce 10,000,000 eggs. Some female spiders
produce 2,000 eggs. A queen bee produces 100,000 eggs in a season.

There are 9,000 cells in a square foot of honeycomb.

It requires 2,300 silkworms to produce one pound of silk.

It would take 27,600 spiders to produce one pound of web.



THE RULE OF THE ROAD.

The "rule of the road" in the United States is "turn to the right"; in
England it is the reverse. The rule holds in this country in the case
where two vehicles going in opposite directions meet. When one vehicle
overtakes another the foremost gives way to the left and the other
passes by on the "off side"; and when a vehicle is crossing the
direction of another it keeps to the left and crosses in its rear. These
two rules are the same in this country as in England, and why the rule
concerning meeting vehicles should have been changed it is impossible to
say.



CANARY BIRDS.

How to Keep Them Healthy and in Good Song.

Place the cage so that no draught of air can strike the bird.

Give nothing to healthy birds but rape, hemp, canary seed, water,
cuttle-fish bone, and gravel, paper or sand on floor of cage.

A bath three times a week;

The room should not be overheated.

When moulting keep warm and avoid all draughts of air.

Give plenty of German summer rape seed. A little hard-boiled egg mixed
with cracker, grated fine, once or twice a week, is excellent.

Feed at a certain hour in the morning.


Diseases and Cures.

Husk or Asthma.--The curatives are aperients, such as endive, water
cresses, bread and milk, and red pepper.

Pip.--Mix red pepper, butter and garlic and swab out the throat.

Sweating.--Wash the hen in salt and water, and dry rapidly.

Costiveness.--Plenty of green food and fruit.

Obstruction of the Rump Gland--Pierce with a needle. Press the inflamed
matter out, and drop fine sugar over the wound.

Lice.--Keep a saucer of fresh water in the cage and the bird will free
itself.

Overgrown Claws or Beak.--Pare carefully with a sharp knife.

Moulting.--Give plenty of good food and keep warm. Saffron and a rusty
nail put in the drinking water is excellent.

Loss of Voice.--Feed with paste of bread, lettuce and rape seed with
yoke of egg. Whisky and sugar is an excellent remedy.



RECIPES, TRADE SECRETS ETC.

Toothache Cure.--Compound tinct. benzoin is said to be one of the most
certain and speedy cures for toothache; pour a few drops on cotton, and
press at once into the diseased cavity, when the pain will almost
instantly cease.

Toothache Tincture.--Mix tannin, 1 scruple; mastic, 3 grains; ether, 2
drams. Apply on cotton wool, to the tooth, previously dried.

Charcoal Tooth Paste.--Chlorate of potash, 1/2 dram; mint water, 1
ounce. Dissolve and add powdered charcoal, 2 ounces; honey, 1 ounce.

Excellent Mouth Wash.--Powdered white Castile soap, 2 drams; alcohol, 3
ounces; honey, 1 ounce; essence or extract jasmine, 2 drams. Dissolve
the soap in alcohol and add honey and extract.

Removing Tartar from the Teeth.--This preparation is used by dentists.
Pure muriatic acid, one ounce; water, one ounce; honey, two ounces; mix
thoroughly. Take a toothbrush, and wet it freely with this preparation,
and briskly rub the black teeth, and in a moment's time they will be
perfectly white; then immediately wash out the mouth well with water,
that the acid may not act on the enamel of the teeth. This should be
done only occasionally.

Test for Glue.--The following simple and easy test for glue is given: A
weighed piece of glue (say one-third of an ounce) is suspended in water
for twenty-four hours, the temperature of which is not above fifty
degrees Fahrenheit. The coloring material sinks, and the glue swells
from the absorption of the water. The glue is then taken out and
weighed; the greater the increase in weight the better the glue. If it
then be dried perfectly and weighed again, the weight of the coloring
matter can be learned from the difference between this and the original
weight.

Bad Breath.--Bad breath from catarrh, foul stomach or bad teeth may be
temporarily relieved by diluting a little bromo chloralum with eight or
ten parts of water, and using it as a gargle, and swallowing a few drops
before going out. A pint of bromo chloralum costs fifty cents, but a
small vial will last a long time.

Good Tooth Powder.--Procure, at a druggist's, half an ounce of powdered
orris root, half an ounce of prepared chalk finely pulverized, and two
or three small lumps of Dutch pink. Let them all be mixed in a mortar,
and pounded together. The Dutch pink is to impart a pale reddish color.
Keep it in a close box.

Another Tooth Powder.--Mix together, in a mortar, half an ounce of red
Peruvian bark, finely powdered, a quarter of an ounce of powdered myrrh,
and a quarter of an ounce of prepared chalk.

A Safe Depilatory.--Take a strong solution of sulphuret of barium, and
add enough finely powdered starch to make a paste. Apply to the roots of
the hair and allow it to remain on a few minutes, then scrape off with
the back edge of a knife blade, and rub with sweet oil.

Quick Depilatory for Removing Hair.--Best slaked lime, 6 ounces;
orpiment, fine powder, 1 ounce. Mix with a covered sieve and preserve in
a dry place in closely stoppered bottles. In using mix the powder with
enough water to form a paste, and apply to the hair to be removed. In
about five minutes, or as soon as its caustic action is felt on the
skin, remove, as in shaving, with an ivory or bone paper knife, wash
with cold water freely, and apply cold cream.

Tricopherus for the Hair.--Castor oil, alcohol, each 1 pint; tinct.
cantharides, 1 ounce; oil bergamot, 1/2 ounce; alkanet coloring, to
color as wished. Mix and let it stand forty-eight hours, with occasional
shaking, and then filter.

Liquid Shampoo.--Take bay rum. 2-1/2 pints; water, 1/2 pint; glycerine,
1 ounce; tinct. cantharides, 2 drams; carbonate of ammonia, 2 drams;
borax, 1/2 ounce; or take of New England rum, 1-1/2 pints; bay rum, 1
pint; water, 1/2 pint; glycerine, 1 ounce; tinct. cantharides, 2 drams,
ammon. carbonate, 2 drams; borax, 1/2 ounce; the salts to be dissolved
in water and the other ingredients to be added gradually.

Cleaning Hair Brushes.--Put a teaspoonful or dessertspoonful of aqua
ammonia into a basin half full of water, comb the loose hairs out of the
brush, then agitate the water briskly with the brush, and rinse it well
with clear water.

Hair Invigorator.--Bay rum, two pints; alcohol, one pint; castor oil,
one ounce; carb. ammonia, half an ounce; tincture of cantharides, one
ounce. Mix them well. This compound will promote the growth of the hair
and prevent it from falling out.

For Dandruff.--Take glycerine, four ounces; tincture of cantharides,
five ounces; bay rum, four ounces; water, two ounces. Mix and apply once
a day, and rub well into the scalp.

Mustache Grower.--Simple cerate, 1 ounce; oil bergamot, 10 minims;
saturated tinct. of cantharides, 15 minims. Rub them together
thoroughly, or melt the cerate and stir in the tincture while hot, and
the oil as soon as it is nearly cold, then run into molds or rolls. To
be applied as a pomade, rubbing in at the roots of the hair. Care must
be used not to inflame the skin by too frequent application.

Razor-strop Paste.--Wet the strop with a little sweet oil, and apply a
little flour of emery evenly over the surface.

Shaving Compound.--Half a pound of plain white soap, dissolved in a
small quantity of alcohol, as little as can be used; add a tablespoonful
of pulverized borax. Shave the soap and put it in a small tin basin or
cup; place it on the fire in a dish of boiling water; when melted, add
the alcohol, and remove from the fire; stir in oil of bergamot
sufficient to perfume it.

Cure for Prickly Heat.--Mix a large portion of wheat bran with either
cold or lukewarm water, and use it as a bath twice or thrice a day.
Children who are covered with prickly heat in warm weather will be thus
effectually relieved from that tormenting eruption. As soon as it begins
to appear on the neck, face or arms, commence using the bran water on
these parts repeatedly through the day, and it may probably spread no
farther. If it does, the bran water bath will certainly cure it, if
persisted in.

To Remove Corns from Between the Toes.--These corns are generally more
painful than any others, and are frequently situated as to be almost
inaccessible to the usual remedies. Wetting them several times a day
with hartshorn will in most cases cure them. Try it.

Superior Cologne Water.--Oil of lavender, two drams; oil of rosemary,
one dram and a half; orange, lemon and bergamot, one dram each of the
oil; also two drams of the essence of musk, attar of rose, ten drops,
and a pint of proof spirit. Shake all together thoroughly three times a
day for a week.

Inexhaustible Smelling Salts.--Sal tartar, three drams; muriate ammonia,
granulated, 6 drams; oil neroli. 5 minims; oil lavender flowers, 5
minims; oil rose, 3 minims; spirits ammonia, 15 minims. Put into the
pungent a small piece of sponge filling about one-fourth the space, and
pour on it a due proportion of the oils, then put in the mixed salts
until the bottle is three-fourths full, and pour on the spirits of
ammonia in proper proportion and close the bottle.

Volatile Salts for Pungents.--Liquor ammon., 1 pint; oil lavender
flowers, 1 dram; oil rosemary, fine, 1 dram; oil bergamot, 1/2 dram; oil
peppermint, 10 minims. Mix thoroughly and fill pungents or keep in well
stoppered bottle. Another formula is, sesqui-carbonate of ammonia,
small pieces, 10 ounces; concentrated liq. ammonia, 5 ounces. Put the
sesqui-carb. in a wide-mouthed jar with air-tight stopper, perfume the
liquor ammonia to suit and pour over the carbonate; close tightly the
lid and place in a cool place; stir with a stiff spatula every other day
for a week, and then keep it closed for two weeks, or until it becomes
hard, when it is ready for use.

Paste for Papering Boxes.--Boil water and stir in batter of wheat or rye
flour. Let it boil one minute, take off and strain through a colander.
Add, while boiling, a little glue or powdered alum. Do plenty of
stirring while the paste is cooking, and make of consistency that will
spread nicely.

Aromatic Spirit of Vinegar.--Acetic acid, No. 8. pure, 8 ounces;
camphor, 1/2 ounce. Dissolve and add oil lemon, oil lavender flowers,
each two drams; oil cassia, oil cloves, 1/2 dram each. Thoroughly mix
and keep in well stoppered bottle.

Rose-Water.--Preferable to the distilled for a perfume, or for ordinary
purposes. Attar of rose, twelve drops; rub it up with half an ounce of
white sugar and two drams carbonate magnesia, then add gradually one
quart of water and two ounces of proof spirit, and filter through paper.


Bay Rum.--French proof spirit, one gallon; extract bay, six ounces. Mix
and color with caramel; needs no filtering.

Fine Lavender Water.--Mix together, in a clean bottle, a pint of
inodorous spirit of wine, an ounce of oil of lavender, a teaspoonful of
oil of bergamot, and a tablespoonful of oil of ambergris.

The Virtues of Turpentine.--After a housekeeper fully realizes the worth
of turpentine in the household, she is never willing to be without a
supply of it. It gives quick relief to burns, it is an excellent
application for corns, it is good for rheumatism and sore throat, and it
is the quickest remedy for convulsions or fits. Then it is a sure
preventive against moths: by just dropping a trifle in the bottom of
drawers, chests and cupboards, it will render the garments secure from
injury during the summer. It will keep ants and bugs from closets and
store-rooms by putting a few drops in the corners and upon the shelves;
it is sure destruction to bedbugs, and will effectually drive them away
from their haunts if thoroughly applied to all the joints of the
bedstead in the spring cleaning time, and injures neither furniture nor
clothing. A spoonful of it added to a pail of warm water is excellent
for cleaning paint. A little in suds washing days lightens laundry
labor.

A Perpetual Paste is a paste that may be made by dissolving an ounce of
alum in a quart of warm water. When cold, add as much flour as will make
it the consistency of cream, then stir into it half a teaspoonful of
powdered resin, and two or three cloves. Boil it to a consistency of
mush, stirring all the time. It will keep for twelve months, and when
dry may be softened with warm water.

Paste for Scrap Books.--Take half a teaspoonful of starch, same of
flour, pour on a little boiling water, let it stand a minute, add more
water, stir and cook it until it is thick enough to starch a shirt
bosom. It spreads smooth, sticks well and will not mold or discolor
paper. Starch alone will make a very good paste.

A Strong Paste.--A paste that will neither decay nor become moldy. Mix
good clean flour with cold water into a thick paste well blended
together; then add boiling water, stirring well up until it is of a
consistency that can be easily and smoothly spread with a brush; add to
this a spoonful or two of brown sugar, a little corrosive sublimate and
about half a dozen drops of oil of lavender, and you will have a paste
that will hold with wonderful tenacity.

A Brilliant Paste.--A brilliant and adhesive paste, adapted to fancy
articles, may be made by dissolving caseine precipitated from milk by
acetic acid and washed with pure water in a saturated solution of borax.

A Sugar Paste.--In order to prevent the gum from cracking, to ten parts
by weight of gum arabic and three parts of sugar add water until the
desired consistency is obtained. If a very strong paste is required, add
a quantity of flour equal in weight to the gum, without boiling the
mixture. The paste improves in strength when it begins to ferment.

Tin Box Cement.--To fix labels to tin boxes either of the following will
answer: 1. Soften good glue in water, then boil it in strong vinegar,
and thicken the liquid while boiling with fine wheat flour, so that a
paste results. 2. Starch paste, with which a little Venice turpentine
has been incorporated while warm.

Paper and Leather Paste.--Cover four parts, by weight, of glue, with
fifteen parts of cold water, and allow it to soak for several hours,
then warm moderately till the solution is perfectly clear, and dilute
with sixty parts of boiling water, intimately stirred in. Next prepare a
solution of thirty parts of starch in two hundred parts of cold water,
so as to form a thin homogeneous liquid, free from lumps, and pour the
boiling glue solution into it with thorough stirring, and at the same
time keep the mass boiling.

Commercial Mucilage.--The best quality of mucilage in the market is made
by dissolving clear glue in equal volumes of water and strong vinegar,
and adding one-fourth of an equal volume of alcohol, and a small
quantity of a solution of alum in water. Some of the cheaper
preparations offered for sale are merely boiled starch or flour, mixed
with nitric acid to prevent their gelatinizing.

Acid-Proof Paste.--A paste formed by mixing powdered glass with a
concentrated solution of silicate of soda makes an excellent acid-proof
cement.

Paste to Fasten Cloth to Wood.--Take a plump pound of wheat flour, one
tablespoonful of powdered resin, one tablespoonful of finely powdered
alum, and rub the mixture in a suitable vessel, with water, to a
uniform, smooth paste; transfer this to a small kettle over a fire, and
stir until the paste is perfectly homogeneous without lumps. As soon as
the mass has become so stiff that the stirrer remains upright in it,
transfer it to another vessel and cover it up so that no skin may form
on its surface. This paste is applied in a very thin layer to the
surface of the table; the cloth, or leather, is then laid and pressed
upon it, and smoothed with a roller. The ends are cut off after drying.
If leather is to be fastened on, this must first be moistened with
water. The paste is then applied, and the leather rubbed smooth with a
cloth.

Paste for Printing Office.--Take two gallons of cold water and one quart
wheat flour, rub out all the lumps, then add one-fourth pound of finely
pulverized alum and boil the mixture for ten minutes, or until a thick
consistency is reached. Now add one quart of hot water and, boil again,
until the paste becomes a pale brown color, and thick. The paste should
be well stirred during both processes of cooking. Paste thus made will
keep sweet for two weeks and prove very adhesive.

To Take Smoke Stains from Walls.--An easy and sure way to remove smoke
stains from common plain ceilings is to mix wood ashes with the
whitewash just before applying. A pint of ashes to a small pail of
whitewash is sufficient, but a little more or less will do no harm.

To Remove Stains from Broadcloth.--Take an ounce of pipe clay, which has
been ground fine, mix it with twelve drops of alcohol and the same
quantity of spirits of turpentine. Whenever you wish to remove any
stains from cloth, moisten a little of this mixture with alcohol and rub
it on the spots. Let it remain till dry, then rub it off with a woolen
cloth, and the spots will disappear.

To Remove Red Stains of Fruit from Linen.--Moisten the cloth and hold it
over a piece of burning sulphur; then wash thoroughly, or else the spots
may reappear.

To Remove Oil Stains.--Take three ounces of spirits of turpentine and
one ounce of essence of lemon, mix well, and apply it as you would any
other scouring drops. It will take out all the grease.

Iron Stains may be removed by the salt of lemons. Many stains may be
removed by dipping the linen in some buttermilk, and then drying it in a
hot sun; wash it in cold water; repeat this three or four times.

To Remove Oil Stains from Wood.--Mix together fuller's earth and soap
lees, and rub it into the boards. Let it dry and then scour it off with
some strong soft soap and sand, or use lees to scour it with. It should
be put on hot, which may easily be done by heating the lees.

To Remove Tea Stains.--Mix thoroughly soft soap and salt--say a
tablespoonful of salt to a teacupful of soap, rub on the spots, and
spread the cloth on the grass where the sun will shine on it. Let it lie
two or three days, then wash. If the spots are wet occasionally while
lying on the grass, it will hasten the bleaching.

To Remove Stains from Muslin.--If you have stained your muslin or
gingham dress, or similar articles, with berries, before wetting with
anything else, pour boiling water through the stains and they will
disappear. Before fruit juice dries it can often be removed by cold
water, using a sponge and towel if necessary.

To Remove Acid Stains.--Stains caused by acids may be removed by tying
some pearlash up in the stained part; scrape some soap in cold, soft
water, and boil the linen until the stain is gone.

To Disinfect Sinks and Drains.--Copperas dissolved in water, one-fourth
of a pound to a gallon, and poured into a sink and water drain
occasionally, will keep such places sweet and wholesome. A little
chloride of lime, say half a pound to a gallon of water, will have the
same effect, and either of these costs but a trifle.

A preparation may be made at home which will answer about as well as the
chloride of lime. Dissolve a bushel of salt in a barrel of water, and
with the salt water slake a barrel of lime, which should be made wet
enough to form a thin paste or wash.

To Disinfect a Cellar.--A damp, musty cellar may be sweetened by
sprinkling upon the floor pulverized copperas, chloride of lime, or even
common lime. The most effective means I have ever used to disinfect
decaying vegetable matter is chloride of lime in solution. One pound may
be dissolved in two gallons of water. Plaster of Paris has also been
found an excellent absorbent of noxious odors. If used one part with
three parts of charcoal, it will be found still better.

How to Thaw Out a Water Pipe.--Water pipes usually freeze up when
exposed, for inside the walls, where they cannot be reached, they are or
should be packed to prevent freezing. To thaw out a frozen pipe, bundle
a newspaper into a torch, light it, and pass it along the pipe slowly.
The ice will yield to this much quicker than to hot water or wrappings
or hot cloths, as is the common practice.

To Prevent Mold.--A small quantity of carbolic acid added to paste,
mucilage and ink, will prevent mold. An ounce of the acid to a gallon of
whitewash will keep cellars and dairies from the disagreeable odor which
often taints milk and meat kept in such places.

Thawing Frozen Gas Pipe.--Mr. F. H. Shelton says: "I took off from over
the pipe, some four or five inches, just a crust of earth, and then put
a couple of bushels of lime in the space, poured water over it, and
slaked it, and then put canvas over that, and rocks on the canvas, so as
to keep the wind from getting underneath. Next morning, on returning
there, I found that the frost had been drawn out from the ground for
nearly three feet. You can appreciate what an advantage that was, for
picking through frozen ground, with the thermometer below zero, is no
joke. Since then we have tried it several times. It is an excellent plan
if you have time enough to let the time work. In the daytime you cannot
afford to waste the time, but if you have a spare night in which to
work, it is worth while to try it."

How to Test a Thermometer.--The common thermometer in a japanned iron
case is usually inaccurate. To test the thermometer, bring water into
the condition of active boiling, warm the thermometer gradually in the
steam and then plunge it into the water. If it indicates a fixed
temperature of two hundred and twelve degrees, the instrument is a good
one.

Indelible Ink.--An indelible ink that cannot be erased, even with acids,
can be obtained from the following recipe: To good gall ink add a strong
solution of Prussian blue dissolved in distilled water. This will form a
writing fluid which cannot be erased without destruction of the paper.
The ink will write greenish blue, but afterward will turn black.

To Get a Broken Cork Out of a Bottle.--If, in drawing a cork, it breaks,
and the lower part falls down into the liquid, tie a long loop in a bit
of twine, or small cord, and put it in, holding the bottle so as to
bring the piece of cork near to the lower part of the neck. Catch it in
the loop, so as to hold it stationary. You can then easily extract it
with a corkscrew.

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