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To Manage Kerosene Lamps

These are SO much used that a few hints on their management will no doubt be acceptable. There are very few common illuminating substancss that produce a light as brilliant and steady as kerosene oil, but its full brilliancy is rarely attained, through want of attention to certain requisite points in its management. By following the directions here given, the greatest amount of light will be obtained, combined with economy in the consumption of the oil. The wick, oil, lamp, and all its appurtenances, must be perfectly clean.

The chimney must be not only clean, but clear and bright. The wick must be trimmed exactly square, across the wick-tube, and not over the curved top of the cupola used to spread the flame; after trimming, raise the wick, and cut off the extreme corners or points. A wick cannot be trimmed well with dull scissors; the sharper the scissors, the better the shape of the flame. These hints, simple as they appear, are greatly disregarded, and the consequence is a flame dull, yellow, and apt to smoke. The burners made with an immovable cupola, and straight, cylindrical chimneys, require especial care in trimming; the wick has to be raised above the cupola, and has therefore no support when being trimmed. A kerosene lamp, with the wick turned down, so as to make a small flame, should not be placed in a sleeping room at night. A wick made of felt is greatly superior in every way to the common cotton wicks.