If the room contains a marble mantel, it can be cleaned with sapolio or almost any good scouring powder, and tiles washed with soap and water.  The fireplace should be cleaned out before the sweeping is done, and the hearth brushed, with a bath afterwards.  Brass trimmings and utensils in use about the grate can be easily kept clean by rubbing first with kerosene and then with red pomade; but if neglected and allowed to become tarnished, it is somewhat of an undertaking to restore them to their pristine brightness.  In an extreme case rub with vinegar and salt, wash off quickly, and follow with some good polish.  Results obtained in this way are not lasting, and the vinegar and salt should be resorted to only after other well-tried means have failed.  Another home cure for tarnished brass and other metals is a mixture of whiting, four pounds; cream of tartar, one quarter pound; and calcinated magnesia, three ounces.  Apply with a damp cloth.

The dust will settle while the brasses are being cleaned, and then the carpet or rug should be brushed over a second time, lightly, and may be brightened once a month or so by rubbing, a small space at a time, with a stiff scrubbing brush dipped in ammonia water—­two tablespoons of ammonia to a gallon of water—­and then quickly wiping over with a dry cloth.  The chandeliers and gas fixtures should be wiped with a cloth wrung from weak suds, the globes dusted or washed as required, and a doubled coarse thread drawn back and forth through the gas tips, if gas is in use.  Registers should be wiped out and dusted every sweeping day to prevent the accumulation of dust.  All woodwork, if painted, is dusted and then wiped down with a damp cloth; if hardwood, use the crude oil and turpentine, going into grooves and corners with a skewer, and rub hard with a second clean flannel.  Hardwood floors receive the same treatment after being swept, and it is a good plan to go over all the furniture in the same way to preserve the life and fine finish of the wood, but it is imperative that the wood be rubbed absolutely dry.

When the windows have been washed, furniture replaced, and everything is in apple-pie order in the drawing-room, each of the remaining rooms is cleaned in like manner, ending with the hall, where each stair is brushed with a whisk broom into the dust pan, and carpet, walls, ceiling, and woodwork attended to as in the other rooms.  The dusting cloths and broom bags should go regularly into the weekly wash.  It is far better to do one room complete at a time than to have a whole floor torn up at once.  Just because it is sweeping day is no reason for turning the family into a whole flock of Noah’s doves, with no place for the soles of their feet.  It is very easy to transform black Friday into good Friday by a little judicious manipulation of the household helm.  The cleaning, in addition to the routine work, is about all Friday can hold, without crowding.  A few anxious thoughts for the morrow’s baking will provide all things necessary to it, so there will be no delay about commencing it; for—­