In case of fire in a house, if the staircase be alight and retreat that way be impossible, the inhabitants should shut all the doors behind them and wait in a front room till help comes. A window that is over a doorway is preferable as there is then foothold for the firemen. If it is possible to escape otherwise, crawl on hands and knees on the floor rather than walk upright, for smoke rises and the nearer the floor the clearer the air. In any case doors and windows should be shut to prevent a draught.
If you do not want the smell of dinner all over the house, see that the slide over the kitchen range is open for the smell to go up the chimney. You will also save your coal bill largely if you keep this slide open except only when it is wanted closed for a short time to make a fire fiercer.
The seeds of the first blossoms on a plant or flowering shrub grow into the best plants.
[BREAD AND CAKES.]
Household Bread.
Ingredients.—Three pounds and a half of flour (household), about one pint and a quarter of warm water, one dessertspoonful and a half of salt, one ounce of dry yeast, one ounce of moist sugar.
Method.—Put the flour and salt in an earthenware pan, and mix well together; put the pan to warm; work the yeast to a cream with the sugar, and add to it a gill and a half of the warm water. Make a well in the flour and mix in the yeast and water, so that there is a soft batter in the middle of the flour; sprinkle flour over this, lay a cloth over the pan and put it in a warm place for fifteen minutes to set the sponge; then stir in the rest of the water; flour the board and knead the dough for about twenty minutes until very elastic; replace it in the pan with a deep cross scored on the top to help it to rise, cover up and put in a warm place to rise one hour and a half. Make into loaves and bake; the oven should be very hot at first and moderate for the rest of the time. A quartern loaf will take nearly two hours to cook. If the water used is hot instead of warm, the yeast will be killed and will not act.
