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.)