DETROIT, SEPT.

15, 1888.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

HER DOLE.
She had many tasks to do that day.
And brief were the hours from sun to sun:
But she met them all in a cheery way.
And while she finished them one by one.
Hope touched her heart and whispered light,
“ Perhaps he will praise you to—night, to-night."
But as they sat through the evening long,
Both were tired, and dull, and sad;
And she felt that Hope had told her wrong,
No word or caress made her poor heart glad:
But he spoke instead (though his love was true),
Of some slight thing she ha ' failed to do.
By and bye, to the tune of the husband‘s snore.
That woman wept—as women will ;
While out of the silence, o‘er and o‘er.
Despair kept wailing a nd wailing still:
" It will be the same when life is past,
“ They will blame, not praise you at last, at last."
THOMAS. A. H. J.
-———oeo——-———

THE TALKATIVE WOMAN.

It seems to me that talk should be,

Like water. sprinkled sparingly.

Then ground that late lay dull and dried
Smiles up at you revivified,

And flowers—of speech—touched by the dew
Put forth fresh root, and bud anew.

But I‘m not sure that any flower

Would thrive beneath Niagara’s shower!
So when a friend tun s full on me

His verbal hose, may I not flee?

I know that I am arid ground,

But I’m not watered—Gad! I‘m drowned

There is one type of femininity I am al-
ways willing to avoid. it is the woman
who talks. I mean that frequently en-
countered individual who resembles a
watch, in that once wound up she will go
till she “ runs down,” in spite of any effort
to stop her. It is said Providence had a
beneficent purpose in view in the creation
of flies and mosquitoes; undoubtedly He
did; but His ob ject in creating the talkative
woman—and making so many of her—is far
more recondite and obscure, and really, in
my desperate moments, I have fancied that
she ought to be ranked with them as one of
the pests and annoyances of the race.

I meet her in many forms. Sometimes
she occupies a chair at the dinner table and
monopolizes the conversation by drowning
out all others with her strident treble. A
chance phrase “ starts her off,” and one
learns to be as guarded as travelers on
Alpine heights, who speak in whispers lest
the vibrations of their voices may precipi~
tate the awful avalanche. To flee is to
sacrifice adinner; the only resource is to
become spiritually deaf and let the coast-arr
dropping of wordsxfall upon the auditory
nerves without being received into the con-
sciousness.

Then there is the woman whose theme
is “our family.” Whatever subject is
broached, “ my brother,” “my sister,”
“our family” are quoted; their preferences

 

WWW-WWW ma ,

 

given, their opinions cited, till you long to
quote the Irishman’s answer to the aristo-
cratic scion of an ancient house who was
bragging about his ancestors: “ Sure, yer
fam’ly’s like a hill of petaties; the best part
of ’em’s underground.” 1s politics the
topic, “my brother’s” opinions are quoted
as final; in religion, “ my brother’s ” doxy
is orthodox, all dissenting opinions are
heterodox.

There is the woman whose theme is her.
self. As “all roads lead to Rome” so
whatever is said reminds her of something
that has happened to her; and her likes
and dislikes are all important. You are ex-
pected to take an interest in her hay fever,
and to wear black when she has neuralgia,
but how dreadfully tiresome she becomes,
in her selfish absorption in her immediate
personal corcerns. And there is, unhap-
pily, also the woman whose conversation,
no matter from what point you start it,
always lands you on a neighbor’s territory.
From the safe vantage ground of some
magrzine article, some topic of public in-
terest, you are led to somebody’s stinginess,
his wife’s extravagance, or that dullest of
all narratives which gives in detail all the
trivials incidents of an uninteresting career;
and there are no switches on the talkative
track she has chosen, you cannot divert her
attention nor stem the current of her words.
Heaven defend us from the well meaning
individual who in her painful accuracy
wearies us unto death with her minute de-
scriptions, leaving nothing for our imagina—
tion or perception.

The woman who hails you on the street
and holds you a reluctant auditor while
she tries to carry on a confidential conver-
sation from her station on her doorstep,
her prattle running “on and on forever”
like Lord Tennyson’s famous brook, can
be more easily disposed of, since under
cover of the rattle of a coal cart or a pass-
ing truck one can smile feebly, gasp “ Yes,
yes, just so,” and unite her parting bow
with the first steps of her retreat. A merci-
tul providence has ordained that no human
tongue can out-rattle a coal wagon.

Worst of all is the woman who “ runs in
to sit a minute ” and stays half a day. She
finds you with the last new magazine, or a
book you have been trying to find time to
read, in your hand, and says: “ Oh, you’re
not msy; I’m so glad; now we’ll have a
nice talk,” and you sit with what grace you
may while she prattles on about her per-
sonal concerns, tells you long stories of past
conversations in which she bore a heroine’s
part, with that awful, awful iteration which
comes to be perfectly maddening at last,

 

“Isez, srz I.” You do not wish to offend
her by intimating a distaste for her con-
versation, having no desire to be impaled
upon her merciless tongue and dissected for
the benefit of her next audience. And so
you strive to guard your lips from giving
assent to that treacherous “Don’t you
think so?” which commits you to her
opinion of a neighbor’s conduct, and long
for meal-time as Napoleon prayed for
“night or Blucher.” The hour you meant
to have spent so pleasantly, that you earned
perhaps by rising early and working hard,
is gone, you have been neither aroused or
instructed, and you shut the door upon
your caller when at last your martyrdom is
accomplished, wit-ha mute gesture of ex-
asperated impatience, and set about the
tasks now to be resumed. You can only
hope her parting words, “I’ve had a
lovely visit 1” (words so characteristic of a
woman who has had the felicity of a
monologue of an hour’s duration) are sut-
ficiently sincere that what proved severe
discipline to you may have been a pleasure
to her. -

The longer 1 live the more reapect I have
for the individual, man or woman, who,
having nothing‘to say can say just that and
nothing more. “Things said for con-
versation are chalk eggs,” says Emerson.
Much of our talk is as valueless as “ chalk
eggs” and far more harmful. The idle
tattle that ripples from us as a centre
spreads its widening circle through society,
lowering its tone, causing hearts to ache
through its unkindness or injustice. per-
haps breaking down some good resolve,
some nobler impulse toward better things,
putting us all on a dead level of gossiping
familiarity we misname friendship.

When will we learn that talk is not con-
versation! Talk is like the arms of a wind-
mill, always in motion whether the mill is
grinding or not, veering this way and that
by accidental currents; nurposeless. But
conversation doubles our mental power;
the act of expressing a thought, clothing it
in language for a friend’s acceptance,
makes it clearer and more worthy to us.
The activity is contagious, it is developed
by sympathy and appreciation; it is exhil-
arating; it piques one to emulation; it is a
delight to catch the purport of the half-
uttered thought— may we have the good
manners not to interrupt and catch it, half
chiseled into shape, from our friend’s lips!—
and find it suggestive and helpful.

But the talkative individual, alas, never
thinks, and hence offers us only “chalk
eggs,” nay, insists on our accepting them,
forces them upon us at the point of our

 


'1
r.
<

2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

politeness; and how time is wasted and our

mental tone degraded by that never-ceas-

ing flow of “ I St z,” “he sez,” “they sez!”
BEATRIX.

_._...——

WHY GIRLS DISLIKE HOUSEWORK.

Without doubt one reason why girls dis-
like to go into a stranger’s kitchen is be-
cause of the unreasonableness and petty,
annoying exactions of the mistress. Some
women seem to think if they hire a girl she
belongs to them, body and soul almost.
The girl’s work is never done. Her task-
mistress exercises her ingenuity to find
something more for her to do, no matter
how faithfully she may have labored and
how tired she is. And a great many more,
who allow a girl a little leisure, will not
permit her to plan her work and carry it on
in her own way, though it may be as good
as their own. They break up her routine——
for every girl worth hiring does system-
atize her duties and mentally schedule
them—and then complain she “ never gets
round.” Still more expect the girl to do
their work exactly as they themselves have
been accustomed to pf rform it; and exercise
an espionage to see that their instructions
are obeyed to the letter that raises the tern-
per of any girl, no matter how naturally
patient and amiable, and which they them-
selves would not submit to for one moment.
A capable girl resents being instructed as if
she were a novice, and it is in the endeavor
to follow out the varying methods of so
many different “missuses” that so many
good girls are spoiled—they get so accus-
tomed to dictation that they can do nothing
independently. What does it matter, if the
bread is light and white and sweet, whether
the girl’s process is the duplicate of
madam’s or not?

I like the method of a friend of mine here
in town, who pays her cook good wages,
installs her in the kitchen, and expects her
to prepare good meals without instructions
or comment. The marketing is sent in, but
no orders are given relative to how any-
thing shall be cooked, unless some special
dish is includeJ. The cook attends to her
business, and the mistress to hers; there is
a family of eleven persons and the cook is
the only help kept. But this lady does not
give over the kitchen to the domination of
the help without knowing what goes on in
it. Cupboards, refrigerator, storeroom, pass
in review every day, and she is not afraid to
speak of whatever is amiss. She knows to
a cent what the week’s expenses amount to,
and can tell you whether her present
kitchen auxiliary is as economical and rela-
tively as excellent in getting up meals as
her predecessor. And the help question
does not bother her.

Now, if other women would turn over to
their help certain specified duties which
they are expected to perform promptly and
faithfully, hold them responsible for such
performance, criticise results rather than
methods, and not expect in a young girl of
seventeen or eighteen the steadiness,
strength, and knowledge of a woman twice
her age, the domestic problem might be
somewhat simplified. The woman who is
always nagging, fretting, and making the
waste and breakage of her girl topics of
conversation with her visitors, don’t deserve

 

to have help, and generally gets her re-
ward in reluctant service, perhaps desertion
in the hour of her greatest need.

I’ve known some funny things, illustra-
tive of this tyranny of one woman over
another, as exemplified in small matters.
I was once ushered into the dining-room of
a farm home where a new assistant had
just been engaged. The table was very
neatly set, and looked very orderly and
attractive, more so than I had ever seen it
under my hostess’ management. I was
just ready to congratulate her upon an
auspicious beginning, when “My good-
ness!” and she began re—arranging the
dishes, changing the food about, till in two
minutes the table had quite resumed its
wonted higgledy-piggledy appearance. I
pitied the poor girl when she came in with a
plate of steaming, snow-white biscuits, and
saw her handiwork so upset. Her face
turned scarlet and her eyes sparkled when
her mistress exclaimed sharply: “Mary,
you didn’t have a single thing on this table
in the right place.” How was the stranger
to know the peculiar style in which mad m
set her table, a mode entirely her own?
And I knew once of a lady who discharged
her girl because her son took from the girl’s
hand a pail of milk she had started to carry
down cellar and, later, rose and gave her
his chair in a crowded room. “She was
getting quite too attentive to the boys,”
was the cause assigned. Not a word of
praise for the gentlemanly instinct which
pitied and relieved the embarrassed girl, or
the manly courtesy which eased a woman’s
burden because of her womanhood, only a
jealous fear the servant might find favor in
her son’s eyes.

There are a great many sides to this hired
help question, which one must consider.
We are accustomed to exclaim at the in-
competence and int fficiency of the girls,
but in a great many instances they are
made so by the incompetence and inef-
ficiency of their mistresses, and the petty
tyranny and nagging which some of them
become so accustomed to that they really
cannot appreciate its absence, and think
their mistresses must be weak and easily
bullied because they are considerate and
amiable. BRUNEFILLE.

_..___...-————-

WAYSIDE J OTTINGS.

 

It was one of the unexpected events that
come about sometimes that I should find
myself, after a warm, rainy day’s travel, at
this “ Point,” though why it is called Salt
Point nobody knows. There is no salt here,
neither is it near the sea; but this is a
pleasant country. with its hills and valleys,
and rocks out of which flow such fine
springs of pure water. The fair, silver
Hudson rolls along its deep bed about eight
miles to the northwest, and beyond, the
Catskill mountains stretch their serrated
outline against the distant sky. As we
rode along the Hudson, we could see the
low-lying clouds glide along the mountain
sides, and when they dipped down into the
valleys, they seemed to me like nothing but
a great calm sea resting there.

The small towns through this part of
Duchess county lie along a one-horse kind
of a railway, where the trains wait for the
passengers instead of the passengers for the

 

trains. The stations are so small that were
it not for their projecting roots, I think one
might venture to carry them away without
being detected. But the country roads are
very fine, the friends have good horses, and
together with the prospect from the hills, I
have seen the country to my heart’s con-
tent. Looking ( if from some of these bills
one can see, not~quite “all the kingdoms
of the earth,” but the blue mountains with
the lights and shadows playing along their
rough sides, and the White Mountain houses
sitting among the rounded tops are plainly

visible; while mile after mile of fair, sum- ,

mer country lies all around, beautiful in

deed to the eye; but in taking a practical
and near view of it, I imagine our Michi-
gan farmers would say something about its
being a “God-forsaken country.” It is a
fine country for the imagination to work
upon, but it must be hard for the horses and
men. I saw them plowing a side bill so
steep that a horse falling down could not
get up, but rolled over till he reached the
bottom. That is a steep story, but quite in
harmony with the character of the country.
There are such “ heaps of land ” here, it is
said the county can be bought at four dol-
lars an acre, not including buildings. Yet
notwithstanding this, the farmers are at-
tached to the land with all its “idiotsyn-
crasies,” and toiling over its stony heights,
call it “Home, sweet Home.” And there
are homes here in which a guest fails to find
any hint of a “skeleton,” homes almost
ideal in the beauty and tenderness of life

within them, the love grown full of grace-

and strength as the years glide by and
leave the hair silvered, but hearts as pure as
the grandchildren who cling about their
knees. It seems there are so few in the
world of humanity who touch us more than
on the surface. We meet a thousand faces,
we clasp as many hands, yet only here and
there find one who stirs the deep within us;
only here and there one whose influence
makes the heart glow, and at parting there
is felt the mutual heart declaration, “ Then
you’ ll remember rue.”

Last Sunday 1 attended a Quaker meeting
at an ancient stone church, with its little
yard adjoining where the low modest
stones mark the burial place of the gentle
“ Friends.” The meeting was for the most
parts silent one. The members came in
quietly and sat with peaceful, meditative
faces. Silence reigned supreme; one could
hear his own breath come and go. yet no
one dozed. Only one old gentleman sat
with his hat on. It seemed very pleasant
to me, as 1 saw those calm kind faces, the
soft blended colors of their garments, and
felt the peace that seemed to rest over all,
while the sunlight crept through the open
door and the sweet summer air filled the
quiet room.

“The spirit moved ” one member to read
an article written by some “ Friend,” and
when we had sat about an hour there
seemed to be a general movement, each
Friend turning to some one near and
shaking hands with a morning greeting.
One came to me and h eld my hand in such

a sincere graSp while she asked, “Thee is
a stranger, where is thee from?” Friend is
a fine word, full of expression and nobility,
and it seems well thus to term the gentle

Quakers. s. M. G.
SALT POINT, N. Y.

 

 

 

' idw mam

 


 
  

 
 

   

 

4 «was. —<.. >- 1;.

     
  

 

iTI-IE HOUSEHOLD. 3

 

fi

 

REFORMING THE BABY.

 

In the portrait Beatrix drew of a spoiled
baby I instantly recognized the very child
who sat for the picture, or at least every
one would say it was the same, so perfect
was the picture.

N w what can be done with such a child
toward reducing him to subjection? Noth‘
ing whatever so long as he remains under
the control and authority of his present
guardians; but if he could be placed in
proper hands there will be great hope of
reform. Reformation and warfare might
be called synonymous words. There is al-
ways a hard struggle before there is any
permanent reform. This is particularly
true of a spoiled child; it is one long sharp
bit-tie, the outcome of which no one can be
certain of. But I started, not to give my
opinion or my theory, but an instance that
came under my observation. The boy was
about a year older than .Master Claude, and
as much worse as an additional year of in-
dulgence would make him, when his weak
and indulgent nurse was dismissed and he
was placed under the care of a wise and
quiet, but not harshly firm person, one who
resolutely and steadily set about the task.
The very first and perhaps most important
change made was in his (the child’s) diet.
Instead of sweets continually he was re-
quired to eat wholesome food; this was the
beginning of a struggle that was anything
but pleasant to the entire neighborhood,
who would have been glad had they been
deaf for the time being. Not a blow was
struck the child, but he was given to un-
derstand that he must eat such food as was
given him or, if he chose, do without it, thus
making fasting his own act, and a healthy
child can stand quite a fast without injury.
One of the methods employed was to pay no
attention by word or look to any outburst
of anger; if it became too unpleasant for
others the child was removed if possible be-
yond hearing; it soon became monotonous,
too much like beating the air witha feather,
and the child becoming exhausted by his
own exertions, was conquered. and at last
learned to obey all in authority over him;
and furthermore discovered that others,
even children, had rights that he must re-
spect. JANNETTE.

___...___

BED CLOTHING.

 

A correspondent of the American Culti-
vator says: “In good bed making, one of
the first requisites is a perfect adaptation of
mattress and springs to the bedstead. Next,
a well- made mattress, whether it be hair,
wool, moss or excelsior, and over this a
‘ puff ’ or mattress cover made of thin un-
bleached cotton cloth that can be bought
for five cents a yard, containing three bats
of cotton, tied with tidy cotton. Have the
‘ puff ’ large enough to tuck under the sides
of the mattress, to avoid curling up under
the sheet.

“ To young housekeepers I should like to
make some suggestions regarding bed
clothing. Buy good heavy double sheeting,
bleached or unbleached as preferred, and if
for an ordinary sized bed, nine-quarters
wide. Cut your sheets two and a half
yards long and this will allow for a hem
three inches at the top and an inch and a

 

half at the bottom. If you can afford it,
buy a pair of California blankets, for when
soiled they on be washed and be made to
100K nearly as well as new, but if they are
too expensive a luxury, cheese cloth com
forts will answer nicely, as they are warm,
soft and light, and these qualities are by no
means to be despised in bed clothing. It
pays to buy the best quality of cheese cloth
either in white or colored, which can be
bought for eight cents a yard. Twelve
yards and a quarter is the right quantity to
get for a large comfort, or ten yards for an
ordinary s'zed one. I think, however, the
large ones are much more desirable for a
double bed.

“For a real winter comfort, large size,
use four or five bats of good cotton, which
costs fifteen to eighteen cents a pound.
Cut a pastcboard four inches square, for a
marker, and at each point of the square dot
with a lead pencil indicating where to tie.
This will insure exactness. Tie at these
places with tidy cotton and tuft with Ger-
mantown yarn or zephyr. For a large com-
fort four ounces of zephyr will be the
amount rEquired. A pretty finish is a
crocheted edge or a large scallop drawn (ff
with a small teacup at d buttonholed with
the same with which it has been tufted.
Pink and blue make up prettily, but scarlet
is more durable than any other. Before
ma .ing up your red goods, dip it in hot salt
water, dry and iron, and it will look as new
as before the wetting. Unless this precau-
tion is taken it rubs off, making no end of
trouble, for it is like unto ‘ Aunt Jemima’s
Plastei,’ ‘ the more you try to rub it off, the
more it sticks the faster.”

“ White comforts are apt to soil at the top
where they come in contact with the face,
particularly if the spread is taken off at
night, and this should always be done. To
remedy this, take a width of cheese cloth,
making it as long as the comfort is wide,
sew up the ends, and slip over your com-
fort or blanket, making it secure by basting
it on, or by means of a little shield pin,
which will come so far from the face as not
to inconvenience the sleeper. Have two
for each bed, so that they may be washed as
often as desired.”

 

A PROBLEM IN LIFE.

 

I suppose we must all answer to roll call;
in our literary society we answer “Pres-
ent,” or by quotations; mostly the latter;
so I will follow the habit formed. H. C.
Farrar says: “For one to sense his own
deficiencies is great gain, and to address
one’s self resolutely to supply them is a
greater gain.” “ It is not creditable to go
through life ignorant of everything. There
are many things we should know and may
know, because we have the abilii y and time
and means.”

Ruskin said: “ We cannot always know
whom we would; the friends we love we
may not at all times have beside us; but how
different it is in the realm of books. Here
we may choose what friend we like; their
sweet companionship we may er, joy when-
ever we will.”

Sir John Herschel called books the best
society in every period of history.

Our pastor said to me one day last week
while visiting here: “It seems to me that

farmers’ wives and daughters have much
more time for reading and improving them-
selves than town women, on account of the
many interruptions of the latter,” and I
am inclined to think this is true of the
average. There are some in all stations
and circumstances who can never find time
for books or writing, because they are not
over anxious to; how many spend their
whole life cooking, eating, and battling
with dirt!

Sisters. do not be too hard on dirt; we
shall lie down at last and be coverei with
dirt; we may first be wrapped in fine linen,
with a sheet of zinc and polished wood be-
tween, but these will become as offensive
as clean dirt; so why starve the mind and
heart in such a useless warfare! I do not
mean to sit down and cultivate the mind
at the expense of the body, for a healthy
mind depends on a healthy body, and too
much dirt isn’t conducive to a healthy bod y;
but there is a happy medium. Let us strive
to find that place where we are neat
enough and not too neat; then we will be
able in a greater or less degree to begin the
supply of the deficiencies which we feel;
and at the same time enjoy the most cul-
tivated society, and the friends Ruskin
tells of. We cannot at all time; find as
much leisure as we could wish for literary
pursuits, but we can find a little time each
week, and a large part of the year more than
a little. As the mind is the soul which
will never die, which will leave this “ house
of clay,” this “only of the eirth earthy,”
to be no more troubled with dirt, isn’t it
quite as necessary to give this part which is
to live eternally a share of our time and
culture? We cannot ignore the body or the
needs of the body, we must care for the

hysicahand how to do it properly with the
least drain upon the strength and time, that
we mav have some time to give to the cul-
ture of the spiritual and intellectual, is the
problem to be solved. I suppose this is
why Beatrix is so often asking the readers
of the HOUSEHOLD to tell their methods of
doing any of the many things which
women are constantly doing.

ALBION. M. E. H.

”000—.—

A HOMEMADE PORTFOLIO .

 

The illustrations in our magazines and"
best illustrated papers are so beautiful and
artistic that the desire to preserve them fol-
lows as a natural consequence. We of
course prefer to keep the volumes of Haw per
or The Century, or whatever magazine we
subscribe for, unmutilated; but there are al-
ways odd numbers of other periodicals.
pictorial papers, and the like, coming in our
way. which perhaps contain portraits of
famous men, charming hits of landscape,
quaint initial letters or tailpieces, speci-
mens of art we would like to keep if we
only knew how to manage them so as to
make them ornamental, or at least, not a
litter-ary r uisance.

Many ladies have made very attractive
scrap-books, by the exercise of CLUSiC erable
thought and care, and a good deal of time.
The portrait of an author, an engraving
of his home, or scenes concerning which he
wrote, reproductions in black-and-w hite if
his pictures, if an artist, are grouped with

 

paragraphs relative to his history, and (x-

    


 

 

4: THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

tracts from his writings, making a valuable
work of that usual melange of miscellany—-
the scrap-book.

But this fails to provide for the flotsam
aLd jetsom which drifts to us, and for strr- y
pictures there is nothing letter than a port-
folio. TO prepare this, in the first place
order at a job printing office a number of
pieces of heavy cardboard cut in various
sizes. Select the pictures you wish to pre-
serve, choosirg the best work, and those
having enough artistic merit to do credit to
your taste and knowledge of art, cut off the
margins and paste them on suitablesized
pieces of pasteboard. The name of the
artist, title of work, or any other apposite
matter, may be written on the reverse. DO
not use too much paste; the work should be
done with the greatest care and daintlness:
edges trimmed tvenly. and pasted in place
without sme al‘il‘ g.

The portfolio to hold these sketches is
prepared as fol’ow:: Cover 3. large piece of
pasteboard with silk or plush. preferably
the latter. Cover two Dice-es of cardboard
pointed at one end, Widening to two inches
at the other, and on either side sew pieces
of silk elastic at me pointed end, and have
afold for a running string at the other.
Join one side of the silk to the large covered
cardboard, and the other to a full piece of
silk to be gatht red in at the top with a silk
running string, forming a bag portfolio
which can be hung to the wall with ribbons
or cord and tassel.

If you find a picture you wish to frame,
cut it out and mount it upon a suitable-sized
piece of cardboard, then frame with a nar-
row moulding of oak or cherry. It is quite
an art to suit the frame to the picture; a
a worthless chromo in a handsome frame, a
simple sketch in an elaborate Setting, lose
their effect by the sense of incongruity
awakened. Do not hang cheap pictures
near fine ones, for the same reason, nor
mingle engravings and etchings with Oil or
water color paintings. A cluster of grasses,
a bit of bitter sweet, a little sheaf of oats
and barley, are effective among black-and-
white work, but detract from the effect of
paintings.

—_«‘_——

WINTER MORNING GLORIES .

 

I hope our readers who are preparing
other winter plants will not forget the
morning glories. Plant them late in Octo-
ber and they will begin to bloom about New
Year’s and last a. couple of months. They
only run a little more than a yard, but bear
lots of bright flowers and are a great de-
light.

I also learned from a hired girl to loosen
the top of a fruit can by running a knife
around it, but have learned from exper-
ience (that solitary school for a certain
class) that doing so turns up the edge of
the top and renders a great deal of tapping
necessary when they are used again. A
better way is to plunge the top of the can
into warm water for a few moments, when
it will open easily. A. H. J.

Tnonas.
_.__——+..——-—

A NEW TOPIC.
1 for one come in answer to Beatrix’s
call for more letters, although for my part I
highly appreciate hers. As the ladies have

 

carried the politic 11 question about as far as
they can, I will bring up a new subject.
Is it wrong to have socials for the bent- fit of
the church; church socials I mean, not kiss-
ing parties, but a place where every age
can go and have a good social time. a dish
of ice cream, or something of that sort, and
give their money? There are some in our
neighborhood who think it a terrible thing.
Now I think if they never do any thing
worse than that they will not have many
very bad sins to confess. I would like to
hear the Opinions of others.

Can any one give a good recipe for
“ stick tight” fly paper? NAOMI.

Oxronn.
--——Qo.—-—-——-

SCRAPS.

MISS MARY BOOTH, in the Bazar, takes
a. very sensible stand on the propriefy and
expediency of following the fashions,
however silly they may be. She says: " To
defy the fashion is to declare dress of even
more importance than Obedience to fashion
declares it, it is to maintain, moreover, a
personality that is unlovely as arrayed in
opposition to the rest of the world; and is
to betray a vanity that is really quite as bad
as that contrary kind of vanity which grati-
fies itself with the wildest profusion of
gauds and gewgaws. The first constituent
of good dressing is the element of in-
conspicuousness; a lady when faultiessly
dressed is so clothed as not to attract atten-
tion, but should she chance to attract it,
then to be found with her toilette exactly
right and all as it should be. The person
who dresses out of the fashion, because not
liking it or not approving of this or that
feature of it, makes herself prominent by
her dissimilarity to others, wears a quality
of notoriety, and is, so far, in worse taste
than the worst fashion could make her.”

 

I CAN recommend the Rochester burner
as giving excellent satisfaction. It is bet-
ter than any other lamp-burner I know of.
There is nothing that goes to make a home
cheerful and attractive in the evening so
much as plenty of light, and kerosene is
cheap enough so one need not be economi-
cal in its consumption. Keep the wicks
well trimmed, and the chimneys clean, and
don’t think you are going to the poorhouse
if you have two or even three lamps burning
in a room at the same time. A bracket
lamp is good to light the room all over, and
acouple of lamps on tables, with shades,
give light enough for those who wish to
read or sew. You can buy lamps provided
with the Rochester burner at prices ranging
from $3 5) to $15. Very handsome nickel
or brass ones, with pretty decorated shades,
cost $5, nice enough for any one. And a
nice lamp is a suitable present for any
housekeeper, for one can hardly have too
many. Many city people who have gas in
their houses buy lamps because of the softer
illumination they give, and also becauSe by
night or day they are ornamental, with their
pretty, delicately painted or tinted globes,
over which are thrown semi-transparent
shades of china silk or silk muslin. In
caring for the lamps, it is better to pinch off
the charred part Of the wick with the fingers
than to cut it with the scissors, and if the
lamp has a glass reservoir for oil, it should

 

be occasionally washed out with soda dis
solved in water. being careful not to let the
solution tt-u'ih any bronze or gilt on the
lamp. A large teaspoonful of soda to a
quart of water is about the right proportion.
The oil for such a lamp ought to be strained.

 

I woxbnn how many HOUSEHOLD read-
ers know how appetizing an ice-cooled
canteloupe or nutmeg melon is as a break-
fast dish “about these days?” They are
almost as requisite to a well-ordered break-
fast table at this season of the year as is the
matutinal cup of coffee. Do not send one
to the table till you have tried its quality.
Sometimes a very good-looking one will be
as flavorless as a green pumpkin. A well
flavored meion just from the ice-box, its
green crescent shading almost impercepti-
bly into a golden orange on the inner edge,
is a delicious introduction to the oatmeal
and cream, the crisp toast, poached egg
and baked potato to follow it. And by the
way, the Colonel said the other morning as
he gingerly broke open a steaming, mealy
Early Rose: “ The true way to eat a baked
potato is to have it steaming hot—like this,
drop a lump of butter into one-half of it
(suiting the action to the word), sprinkle
with salt and eat it right from the skin, as
you do a boiled egg from the shell, without
putting it upon the plate at all.” Try the
Colonel’s method. B.

___...___.
Useful Recipes.

CltABAPPLE Carson—Three pounds of crab
apples boiled until soft enough to rub through
a colander, then add one and three-quarters
pounds of. sugar, one quart of vinegar, one
tablespoonful each of cloves, pepper and
cinnamon and one teaspoonful of salt. Boil
until thick.

 

Srrcnn Plateaus—Pare the peaches, but
do not remove the pits. To five pounds of
fruit allow three pounds of granulated sugar,
three-fourths quart good vinegar, one-half
ounce stick cinnamon and one fourth ounce
cloves. Tie the spices in muslin bags. Cook
the fruit until done, which will be in from
half? to three-quarters of an hour.

 

APPLE BUTTER.—Take older as it runs from
the press, before fomentation has commenc-
ed in the least, and boil it down one-half.
While it is boiling keep it well skimmed.
Pare and core sweet apples and put them
into the reduced cider until the boiler is
nearly full; keep a steady fire and stir the
mass often enough to keep it from burning
at the sides. When it has settled down fill
in more apples and cook all until of the right
consistency. When done put in stone jars or
a. sweet oaken tub. It can be seasoned with
spices if liked. This is the old-time sauce
without molasses and has that peculiar and
appetizing “twang ” that makes it so suit-
able for eating with meat.

Mnsmnn Plexus—Take equal quantities
of very small cucumbers or larger ones sliced,
green tomatoes sl'ced, cauliflower broken up
and small button onions. Cover with strong
salt water for twenty-four hours, then scald
the brine, skim and dissolve in it a bit of
alum the rim of a nutmeg. Pour it over the
pickles, let them stand until cold and drain.
Then prepare vinegar to cover them by add-
ing to each quart, one cup of brown sugar,
one-half cup of flour, and one-fourth pound
of ground mustard. Boil the sugar and vin-
egar; mix the flour and musrard; stir the
boiling vinegar into it and pour over the
pickles.

 

ha: My: ,‘W‘VHW':

any"