chapter xlii

of the book of Genesis, we are told that Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in vestures of fine linen. Do you know of any other Bible references which tell of the use of linen in ancient times? Have you ever heard of the Swiss lake dwellers? Perhaps your teacher will tell you about them, or you can look it up in the encyclopedia. They too used linen long ago, for pieces have been found and are in the museums in Switzerland.

Next lesson we shall make a large chart for the schoolroom, which will tell the story of flax. You may bring anything which you think will help to illustrate that story. We shall also mount on the chart the most common linen materials which we use in our homes.

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. Examine a flax fiber with a microscope or a magnifying glass. What do you see?

2. Look up references which prove the age of flax culture.

3. Perhaps some one near your school has been in the linen business in Ireland. Perhaps he will come to the school and tell the boys and girls about it. Try to find some one.

LESSON 6

COMMON LINEN MATERIALS ARE IDENTIFIED

Can we learn to identify at least eight of the common linen materials?

To-day we shall study about the different linen materials, and then see what we have to mount on our school chart. If you prefer, you may make a book of linen materials like the cotton and silk.

=Let us divide the pieces which have been brought to school into two piles: the thin, and the thicker ones.= We have more of the thick ones. Yes, we all know the heavy coarse linen is called _Russian crash_. We used it for our porch cushions or covers. It comes from 18 to 36 inches in width and costs from 15 cents a yard up to 75 cents sometimes. We know it is used for dresses, and sometimes for toweling and upholstery uses. It is unbleached in color.

This wide sample is _linen sheeting_. Our great-grandmothers always had linen sheets of flax which they grew, spun, and wove, because long ago cotton was not grown. Some of the Pleasant Valley girls saw these sheets which Grandmother Allen made. Sheeting comes in several widths, and costs about $1 per yard up. Cotton sheeting is cheaper.

The one thin one is _handkerchief linen_. It costs from 60 cents to $2.00 per yard. What kind of a weave is it? What is it used for? The other thin piece is called _batiste_. It, too, is used for waists and dress linens, and it is fine and sheer. It can be used for handkerchiefs too. It costs about $1.00 per yard up, according to the fineness, and is 1 yard or more wide. Batiste is made of cotton, also, and is then cheaper.

The weave of this piece is different. You have a cotton sample of the same weave. Yes, it is called _bird's-eye_ pattern. It is used for toweling and costs about 30 cents per yard, 24 inches wide.

Here is another piece used also for toweling. You all know its name. _Huckaback_ is correct. We have also cotton huckaback, and some huckaback made of half linen and half cotton. It is woven in a pattern which absorbs easily. The filling thread shows more on the surface than the warp threads. It is woven 18 inches and wider, and costs 15 cents up.

Every one knows this one. Our tablecloths and napkins are of _damask_. It is a lovely material made in beautiful patterns. Sometimes it is all linen and sometimes a mixture. There is also cotton damask for table napkins and cloths. It is much cheaper. The cloths are woven 1 yard wide or wider, and for damask towels from 16 to 36 inches. One can spend a great deal for beautiful damask towels and napkins.

This plain coarse linen is called _butchers' linen_, because it wears very well and butchers sometimes have their aprons made of it. It is used, too, for dress skirts, and is very satisfactory. It is woven from 27 to 44 inches in width and costs from 40 cents to $1.50 per yard.

The heavy stiff piece is a _linen canvas_ and is used by tailors for the interlining of cuffs and collars of coats. It costs 25 cents per yard and is 27 to 36 inches wide.

Suppose our chart is 24 × 20 inches. Perhaps a cardboard or cover of an old box will do if your teacher has nothing else. Put two holes near the top in the middle of the 20 inches side and run a cord through for hanging. At one edge down one side place the common linen materials with their names and uses, etc.

=Let us see what the girls have brought.= Here is a bottle of linseed oil. Yes, and some flax seeds. Jane has brought a linen collar. Here is a small china doll wrapped as a mummy. Marjorie's grandmother has sent some flax which she grew and prepared herself, and a piece of an old hand-woven towel which she made when a girl. And here is some hand-spun flax! Notice how rough it looks. We have, also, some cord and twine and some linen thread. Do you know that Paterson, New Jersey, where Marjorie's Cousin Ann works in the silk mill, is also a great center for linen thread manufacture? Thread is made by twisting fine yarns together. The twisting makes them strong. They are then dyed or bleached white. Much of our linen thread is unbleached in color. Why?

Suppose we draw a picture of the flax stalk and flower on our chart and fasten some of the school-grown flax to it. All the other things can be arranged and fastened too, by punching holes in the cardboard and tying them on with cord.

What an interesting story it makes. Perhaps the children of the lower classes would like to hear the story told by one of the seventh grade girls some morning.

Next lesson you may bring any table linen or towels which are stained; and we shall learn how to remove the stains.

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. Draw a picture of the flax plant, and color the flowers with your crayons.

2. Prepare the chart telling the story of flax.

3. Look up the story of how linen thread is prepared.

4. See how many linen materials you can find at home.

LESSON 7

REMOVING COMMON STAINS FROM TABLE LINEN

Some of the common stains one finds on table linen are coffee, tea, fruit, rust, or grass stains. Do you know how to remove them?

=When should stains be removed?= A good housekeeper always looks over the clothing and household linens before putting them to soak. Mrs. Allen says she usually does this on Monday. Do you know why? She spends this day getting ready for wash day. She bakes and prepares certain foods for her family for two days; and so the work is easier on Tuesday and Wednesday, when she washes and irons. Fruit, coffee, or tea stains on linen should be removed as soon after the stain appears as possible. If this is not done, then certainly the stains must be removed before putting the linen into the tub. White clothes are boiled. What will this do to the stains if they are not removed?

=How can stains be removed?= Let us try to remove these spots one at a time. I think we have six or seven different kinds on the articles which have been brought to school to-day. Your teacher will show you how to follow the directions.

_Coffee and tea stains_ are the most common on table linen. To remove, wash in lukewarm water, and then dip in a solution of washing soda, and rinse very carefully until all soda is removed. (Washing soda solution is made of one pound of washing soda to one gallon of water. This can be kept in glass jars and used when occasion demands.) Tea stains are easily removed by brushing the spot with glycerine and then washing carefully in warm water to remove the grease. Rubbing the spot with the bowl of a spoon is a good way to put on the glycerine.

_Fruit stains_ are also common. An easy way to remove them is to stretch the fabric, if it is white, over a bowl and pour boiling water from a height, through the spot. On white wool or silk, lukewarm water is sometimes all that is necessary; or lukewarm water and a little borax. If the fruit stains are on colored garments, they are difficult to remove on account of removing the color also. If the article is of much value, consult a professional dyer if possible. It is wise to experiment on the material on another part of the garment, as the inside of a hem or facing. Make a similar spot and try to remove with different methods. Often one can discover a way, through experimenting.

_Rust stains_ often appear on table linen or white clothing. To remove, wet the spot and apply a few drops of oxalic acid or salts of lemon or cream of tartar solution, and wash thoroughly. On colored or wool goods of good quality, one must decide whether one prefers the stain or the color removed. Water and lemon juice will generally remove the spot, but may take the color too. Care is necessary for colors.

_Grass stains_ are also common. If the stains are fresh, cold water will usually remove them. When on white goods or material which cannot be washed, alcohol may be used. When color will stand it, dyed fabrics which are grass-stained can be washed with water and a little ammonia, followed by warm soap solution and careful rinsing.

Here is a garment which has both _ink_ and _blood stains_ on it. Marjorie must have cut her finger. Blood stains when fresh are easily removed with lukewarm, not hot water, and a little ammonia. When on colored silk, wash carefully with lukewarm water only. The ink stains are more difficult, because the composition of inks varies. Wash at once in cold water; this often removes some spots. Sour milk or several rinsings in sweet milk may cause the spot to disappear. Then wash in warm water and soap to remove the grease. If this does not remove it, try a paste made of starch, salt, and lemon juice except for colors. If this will not, try Javelle water. This can be obtained at a drug store. Wash the spot in the Javelle water, but rinse very quickly and carefully. Repeat until the spot disappears. These directions are for white materials only.

How many would like to try to remove some spots at home, before next lesson? You may report your successes or failures, and we shall try to learn the reasons for them. Next lesson we shall learn to wash and iron this table linen. It will be well to keep it at school until next lesson.

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. How many spots have you been able to remove? Tell of your successes or failures.

2. See if mother or grandmother has any better recipes than you have learned for spots.

LESSON 8

LEARNING TO WASH AND IRON TABLE LINEN OR BED LINEN

We have studied many things about cleanliness, and we all know how much cleanliness of clothing and household linen adds to our comfort. We have learned that sometimes we can wear our underclothes without ironing and that towels can be washed and dried and will smell sweet and clean even if not ironed. Table linen, though, must be washed and boiled and ironed to look well. Our lesson to-day is about how to do this.

The linen, as well as the cotton, are, as you know, vegetable fibers. They are strong and able to resist heat and the friction from rubbing. They have resistance for chemicals also. So cotton and linen may be boiled, starched, and ironed with hot irons because the fibers are strong. They may also be treated with acids of a dilute nature when necessary to remove spots, as we have learned. For the usual grease spots on the family tablecloths, soak the cloth in soda water to remove grease (one cup of soda--the dissolved solution--to a pail of water, see page 186).

[Illustration: FIG. 110.--Mrs. Stark washing out of doors on a warm day. This is the old way. She has just bought a washing machine.]

=The processes for washing and ironing.= If the stains have been removed from the table linen, it can then be soaked. Soaking helps to loosen the dirt when soap is added before the soaking. It is then unnecessary to rub them as much, and so materials are saved from wear. These are the processes for washing and ironing: soaking, washing, rinsing, boiling, rinsing, bluing, starching, hanging, drying, sprinkling, pulling, folding, ironing.

1. _Soaking._ Soak the table or bed linens about 1½-hours in cold or lukewarm water. Soap is really not necessary as the linen is not very dirty. All stains should have been previously removed.

2. _Washing._ Wash with soap on both sides, rubbing on clothes board or in washing machine. Use hot water.

3. _Rinsing._ Rinse and soap again to be placed in the boiler. The dirt is carried away by this rinsing.

4. _Boiling._ Put the soaped articles in clear cold water. Boil briskly for five minutes. Add enough soap to keep a suds while boiling; save small pieces for this purpose. Stir clothes and press with a stick. Remove from boiler, after boiling actively for five minutes. Put in clean hot water, then in cold. Rinse once or twice again thoroughly before bluing.

5. _Bluing._ Make the blue water from some good blue. Do not make it too deep. Test on a small doily. Stir the blue before each article is dipped, so it may not appear streaked on the clothes. If articles are very yellow it may be necessary to let them stand in the blue for a little while. If not yellow, dip two or three times.

The next process is starching; but it is not as a rule necessary to starch napkins, tablecloths, or bed linens.

6. _Hanging._ Hang very straight after stretching. Do not pin at corners. Hang ⅓ of the napkin or tablecloth over the line.

7. _Sprinkling._ Table linen must be sprinkled evenly. Sometimes it can be taken from the line when half dry, and the process of sprinkling omitted.

8. _Ironing._ Linen should be ironed damp and until dry. This makes the pattern stand out and gives a shine and gloss to the linen. This takes the place of starch.

9. _Folding._ Iron napkins partly dry on wrong side; then turn to right side, and iron dry. Fold edges evenly. In the lengthwise fold do not fold quite to end, as in the final fold the napkin, handkerchief, tablecloth, or sheets will appear uneven at the edges. Fold the tablecloth, or napkins with selvedges together. Tablecloths may be folded with three, or four, long creases.

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. Try to wash and iron the napkins for mother.

2. Try to wash and iron some towels or pillowcases. Is the process different?

3. Why is it unnecessary to iron some clothes if one is very busy. Can you give a good reason why it is hygienic not to iron them.

LESSON 9

THE STORY OF THE MANUFACTURE OF LINEN YARN INTO CLOTH

To-day we are going to study again about our linen tablecloths and napkins, and learn how the flax fiber is made into cloth after it has been cleaned at the scutching mill.

[Illustration: FIG. 111.--The flax wheel.]

=Combing and spinning flax.= Uncle John divided his story in two parts, and told the Pleasant Valley Girls' League about the manufacture of flax as well as about its growth. The scutched flax is delivered to the manufacturer. He must first spin the flax into yarn before it can be woven into cloth. The flax fibers measure from 20 to 35 inches in length. How are they to be made into one continuous piece for spinning? The pictures (Figs. 112 and 113) will give a very good idea. Long ago grandmother or great-grandmother spun the yarn for the linen sheets on the flax wheel. Marjorie's grandmother sent her old flax wheel to school for the girls to see. The flax is here on the distaff. If you haven't a wheel at your school, look at the picture (Fig. 111). The woman is holding the flax fibers which come from the distaff; and, as her foot turns the wheel and the flax in her fingers is fed to the spindle, it is twisted. Spinning of flax is a very old invention. It was once done with just a spindle like the woman has in the picture on page 71 (Fig. 44). This is the secret of how flax spinning is done to-day. The flax is opened at the mill and graded according to color and quality. It is then combed. This process is called hackling (Fig. 112). It is sometimes done by hand, and the worker draws the flax over the iron teeth of a comb. The straightened fibers are left and are called line; and the combed-out fibers are called tow. This first combing process is sometimes called roughing instead of hackling. The line is then combed again in a big machine which removes any loose tow. Tow is often put in a carding machine and made into yarn for coarser purposes; but the long straight line is used for the better materials. The line, after it is hackled, is placed on a spread board; and the process is called spreading. You can see in the picture (Fig. 113) that the bundles of flax yarn are spread and overlapped as they enter the machine. Now you know how the yarn begins to be made of continuous length. The flax comes from this machine in a rope and is something like the cotton rope or roving as it leaves the carding machine; but flax is brown and stiff, not so soft as cotton. Can you find in the picture (Fig. 113) the cans ready to receive the flax rovings as they come from the spreading machine? They are at the back of the machine. The rovings are then ready to be wound on spools and to be twisted to make them strong. This is done in the same way as the cotton. The spools are put in at the top of the machine; they hold the rovings. The rovings pass over rollers which draw out and twist and wind the yarn on the spools below. This is called spinning. (Fig. 46 shows the cotton spinning machines.) Flax spinning is somewhat like this. Perhaps some day you may be able to visit a flax mill and see the spinning frames, as the machines are called, at work. Uncle John says that yarns are made of coarse or of very fine grade, according to the fineness of cloth desired. Linen thread is made by twisting together two or three of the linen yarns. Look at the linen thread and see if you can discover two or three.

[Illustration: _Courtesy of York St. Mills, Belfast._

FIG. 112.--Flax hackling done by machine.]

[Illustration: _Courtesy of York St. Mills, Belfast._

FIG. 113.--Spreading flax to make it a continuous line.]

=Weaving linen.= After the threads of flax have been spun, they are wound on spools; and the spools are put in the big spool holder or skarn in order to prepare the roll of warp threads for the loom. Do you remember how the cotton warp was prepared and how the weaving was done? Uncle John says that in Scotland to-day much of the very fine linen is woven by hand; but we know that linen weaving by machinery has been perfected there and that very beautiful materials are produced on the modern looms with the Jacquard harness as it is called, to produce the wonderful designs. Fine table damask is as beautiful as fine silk. The French, perhaps, make the most beautiful designs for table linen, and the Scotch and Irish come next. (See page 124 for Jacquard loom.)

=Bleaching linen cloth.= Uncle John says there are many things to be done to the linen cloth after it is woven. If we were to go to Ireland, we might ride for miles and see the woven linen cloth spread on the grass in great lengths. This is called crofting or grass bleaching. Do you remember how we said grandmother used to bleach her linen? Did she use a chemical? What did the sour milk which she used do to her linen? What did the oxygen do? Chemicals are sometimes used to-day in the early stages before the linen is spread on the grass. Uncle John says that from 20-25 per cent, or about ¼, of the weight of the linen is lost in bleaching. Linen is sometimes bleached in the thread, but more often after it is woven.

=Finishing linen cloth for shipping.= After linen cloth has been bleached, Uncle John says it is ready to be finished for shipping to the merchants. It is washed by passing the cloth through a machine called a rub-board. Then it is dried and passed through a beetling machine. This makes the fibers stand out. Then it is pressed between rollers to give it a smooth surface. Cotton is sometimes finished by means of these processes to look like linen and be sold for linen. When this cotton material is washed, the finishing wears off and it does not look like linen. Is such material cheaper or more expensive? Is it honest to sell cotton for linen, and to cheat the buyer? It is all right if the goods are labeled. Next lesson we shall talk about the buying of household linens. One must know many things in order to purchase wisely. Do you see how a knowledge of how things are made will help you, too?

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. Write a story of two hundred words telling how flax is made into cloth.

2. Have an exhibit of articles brought from home, showing different patterns of linen cloth.

3. Perhaps there may be a cord factory near for you to visit. Tow is sometimes used in making twine. Study how cord is made.

LESSON 10

A TALK ABOUT BUYING LINENS

Have you ever gone shopping with mother? There are some important things to remember when buying table linen or other household materials. What are they?

Marjorie goes with her mother once a year to buy household linens. This is usually in January, when the big shop in town has a sale. Last January, when Marjorie's mother was ill, they had to order by mail. The catalogue from the shop described fully, and Mrs. Allen knew exactly what to ask for; so they managed without going to town. This can be done if one knows how and if the store is a reliable one. These are some of the things Mrs. Allen is teaching Marjorie. Some day she will wish to buy for her own home; or, if her mother is ill again, she can go alone. It is always more satisfactory to see what one is buying.

=Here are some of the points to be noticed in buying=:

1. The first important thing to remember is to buy only what one needs. Know the shops one patronizes, if possible, and go or send to only reliable firms. The reliable places are the cheapest in the end. One learns, too, that some things are better at one shop and some at another. Reliable stores often have sales, but as a rule bargains are not cheap. Remember nothing is ever given away.

2. It is wise and cheaper to purchase some new household linen once each year than to wait and have it all wear out at once.

3. Cost is a good guide. Linen is expensive. If too cheap, beware.

4. Linen is sometimes cheapened or adulterated with cotton. If the store keeper sells it for union, it is honest; if he calls it linen, and you pay linen price, it is dishonest. Ravel and untwist the ends of the warp and filling thread. Cotton will be fuzzy, linen should be long and lustrous. Round threads of linen are best. The linen threads appear pointed at the ends when separated. The all linens made from the tow (you have learned what that is) are cheaper than those made from the line. Why? They will not last quite so well.

Wet the linen. Water spreads more rapidly on linen than on cotton. An old-fashioned test was to moisten with the finger. If you have a sample of linen at home for testing, use a drop of olive oil. The oil makes the linen fibers more translucent than the cotton. Why?

5. Another way to know. Linen feels colder than cotton; also it feels heavier when crushed in the hand.

6. Notice the finish. Is it full of starch which can be picked off? If so, after the washing you will have a loosely woven material without starch. It is better to buy a softer linen than one filled stiff with starch which will crack.

7. Damask by the yard is slightly cheaper than by the cloth. One dollar a yard is a fair price. Table cloths from 2½ to 3 yards are a good size for a family of six. A cloth wears about as long as 1½ or 2 dozen napkins. The price of one dozen napkins about equals the cost of a cloth. Napkins come in three sizes: ⅝, 17-22 inches; ¾, 23-27 inches; ⅞, 29-31 inches.

8. Scotch, French, and Irish linens are the best for quality, beauty, and variety of patterns. German damask is good; but German patterns are perhaps the least attractive. Unbleached linen will wear much longer, is less expensive, and is bought by many housewives and bleached as used.

9. For family towels huckaback is the most serviceable, although damask is used a great deal. Linen towels vary in price from $3.00 a dozen up, according to size and quality. Dish towels of linen crash are very serviceable.

10. The microscope is the only sure test for distinguishing cotton and linen fibers.

EXERCISES AND PROBLEMS

1. Ask mother if she knows any other methods of judging good linen.

2. When you go to town, price some tablecloths and napkins. How much will a good cloth and napkins cost?

REVIEW PROBLEMS

I. Plan a systematic way of looking over your clothing and keeping it in repair.

II. How do you store your winter clothing for protection during summer? Your summer clothes during winter?

III. How does your knowledge of buying linens help you in going shopping with mother?

[Illustration]

##