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DETROIT, NOV. 24:, 1.888.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

THE REAL}! 0F WOMAN.
ram.
a woman's rights: Whatdo those word convey‘.
What depths of old world wisdom do they
reach!
”What is their real intent? 0. sisters say:
And striveiu daily life the truth to teach.

The right to minister to those ti at need:
With quiet song the weary to bc guile;

With words of peace the hungry hearts to teeth
And cheer the sad and lonely with a smile.

The right in others‘ joys a joy to find;

The right divine to weep when others weep;
The right to be to all unccasing kind;

The right to wake and pray while others sleep-

Right to be noble, right to be true.

Right to think rightly-and rightly to do:
Right to be tender, right to be just,

Right to be worthy o' infinite trust.

To be the little children’s truest friend,

To know them in their evervchangiug mood ;
Forgetting self. to labor to the end;

To be a gracious influence for go 3d.

To be the ladies of creitions‘ lords.

As mothers, daughters, sisters, or as Wives;
To be the best tha‘ earth to them affords,

To be to them the music of their lives.

The right in strength and honor to be free;
In daily Work accomplished, dud ng rest;
’Dhe right in “ trivial round " a sphere to see:

The right, in blessing, to be fully biest.

Right to be perfect, right to be pure.
Right to be patient and strong to endure;
Right to be loving—right to be good—
Those are the rights of the true womanhood.
——-Temple Bar.
o—M 5%.,

THE WOMEN‘S CONGRESS.

 

The Association for the Advancement of
"Women, of which Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
is president, held its sixteenth annual
congrfss in this city on Wednesday, Thurs-
day and Friday of last week. Members
from fifteen states and several foreign
countries were present, and the local at-
tendance throughout the sessions was large
and interested. As the president herself
said, it was “an assemblage of remarkable
women.” nearly all being known in the
world of literature or women’s work. it
was an assemblage of women “ not ac-
customed to travel on foot,” said an ob-
server who took note of the long lines of
carriages awaiting the close of the sessions;
it was also an assemblage of women ac-
customed to public life, to speaking from
platforms, to meeting the upturned faces of
great audiences, to having their utterances
received as t'pao jun. There was an air
of great dignity and correct department
about the whole affair, which silenced dep-
recation and criticism, were any indeed
inclined to be censorious; and the male
contingent, so unhappily inclined to be

 

sarcastic over women’s work in public
[dutmv was in a hOpeless minority, and

hence chaste‘ned and subdued to a beech:
ing humility.

Mrs. Howe presided at the opening ses-
sion on Wednesday afternoon—the public
not being admitted to the executive meet-
ing in the morning. and Senator T. W.
Palmer read an address of welcome. Miss
Alice lves, of this city, gave an original
poem, “Toward the D.twn:” after which
Mrs. Bowser’s paper on “The Functions of
Society” was read by Mrs. H. L. T. Wol-
cott, of Massachusetts, Mrs. Bowser not
being present. Mrs. Bowser says the re-
quirements of admission to the best society,
and the limits of the best society, are alike
hard to define. Neitherbirth, or wealth, or
intellect alone is sufficient. There are
many false standards in society. one of
which is education. This has been looked
upon as a panacea for social ills, and all
ills which threaten national existence,
whereas educition really often increases the
power for evil. Those who are leaders in
society should see to it that only good in—
fluences are exerted} they should not allow
“unseemly merriment” in their parlors,
nor put the wine cup to young men’s lips.
Society is wanting in many particulars,
but the law of evolution, at work in it,
may inspire the hope of purer and higher
standards to be general at some future time,

At the Wednesday evening session Mrs.
Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic ”
was sung with vigor, at the opening. Mrs.
Jennie E. Froiseth then gave nine reasons
why Utah should not be admitted as a
state at present; one of the chief objections
being that the Mormon church is a foe to
every woman in America, and a dishonor
to American homes. Li‘tle or no provision
is made for the education of Mormon chil-
dren, which is another objection. Unfor-
tunately, the speaker was not audible in
th 1* more remote portions of the church, and
hence failed to awaken as much interest as
was possible. Miss Willard’s clear, pene-
trating voice, which without stress or exer~
tion yet seemed to fill every portion of the
auditorium, added not a little to the force
of her arguments in favor of Social Purity,
her theme. Miss Willard said the ruling
questions of the hour and the land are
home questions. The temperance, the
labor and the woman questions are the
great trinity of issues, all having their
fountain head in the home. She thinks
man loves home more than woman, because
with all the world to choose from, he
chooses home loyally for woman’s sake.
Young America gets an undue sense of his

 

own importance from seeing the nicest and
fairest girls devoted to him, no matter what
he évgf. and “ his for the asking,” so that
he grows ridiculously conceited. She would.
not have one code of morals for man and
woman, for boy and girl. not one “bring-
ing up ” for the girl in perfect innocence
and ignorance, and another for the young
man, who is expected to sow his wild
oats and gather the crop of his excesses.
-She would have manhood built up by an
elevation of public sentiment, which should
not condone in man what it condemns in
woman. A man respects and expects
purity in woman. but there is no man whom
a woman so thoroughly respects as a pure
man. Miss Willard also said that formerly
the legal phrase was that a man and his
wife are one and the man was the one. In
the future, it will he that the man and wife
are one. and that one is the mm and his
wife. in the marriage of the future the
woman will surrender no right that the
man does 113$, not even the right to her
name. Miss Willard’s paper was received
with hearty applause, and many of her
points cordially endorsed, if one uny judge
from the demonstrations of a carefully kid-
gloved audience.

Rev. Antoinette Blackwell, who enjoys
the distinction of being the first woman
ordained to the ministry in this country,
spoke very briefly, confessing that it made
her very dissatisfied whenever, in a mar-
riage ceremony, she heard the bride com-
pelled to promise to obey her husband.
Some of the old-fashioned women present
looked significantly into their husbands’
faces, who pretended not to hear Rev.
Blackwell’s remark. The lady herself is
*very quiet in demeanor, dresses simply in
black, but is one of the foremost among the
advanced thinkers on women’s work and
position, taking very broad views on all re-
forms. Whether there is a Mr. Antoinette
Blackwell or not, did not appear; but the
inference is plain that when Mrs. Black-
well unites acouple in marriage the “obey”
clause of the agreement is left out.

Dr. Ella V .Mark, of Baltimore, who is
so successful a physician that she has
more practice than she can attend to, read a
paper Thursday afternoon on “ Women as
Guardians of Public Health." which was
full of excellent thoughts. She said the re-
sults of bodily indiscretions of individuals
upon future generations were as far-reach-
ing as the results of personal crime upon
existing generations. All breaches of laws
of health are physical sins. The high death
rate among children is due to the ignorance

 

of mothers in r gard to the laws of life and

  
  
   
  
 
    
   
   
   
   
   
 
    
   
    
    
   
   
  
    
   
  
    
  
  
   
    
  
    
   
   
 
 
  
  
    
  
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
  
   
  
   
   
  
  
   
 

 

 

 

 

 

      


 

THE HOUSEHOLD. -

 

health. Every child is governed by hered-
ity and environment. It is for a woman
to say whether by a proper or improper
marriage her children shall be of the salt
of the earth or of the refuse of the streets.
Women should set their ideals so high that
they will not marry into the families of
drunkards, or wed men of immoral habits.
Women can do much for public health by
protesting against unsanitary conditions,
which they are more prone to notice than
men.

Mrs. Anna Jenness Miller, noted for her
attempted revolution in women’s attire, and
editor of Brass, a magazine devoted to the
introduction of Mrs. Miller’s particular fad,
was of course the focus of a great many
pairs of eyes. There was quite as much
curiosity to see what she were and how She

- looked in it, as to hear what she had to say.
She was not particularly unlike any one
else in her Directorie carriage costume of
black and white brocaded velvet, worn over
a black velvet petticoat, and topped by a
high, white plumed bonnet. The costume
s at least remarkably becoming to Mrs.
Miller, who has a perfect figure, and plenty
of money to spend on its embellishment.
The lady explained that her attire was not,
externally, greatly different from other fash-
ionably cut garments, the changes being
chiefly in the matter of undergarments. No
skirts—except the outside or dress skirt—
are worn. She claims that by her system
women’s dress is as easy and comfortable as
men’s dress. The weight is evenly dis-
tributed over the body, being neither all
upon the waist nor the shoulders. She con-
fessed that were it not possible to combine
both grace and comfort in her plan she
would not have adopted it. Those over-
refined women who talk so deprecatingly
about “ limbs,” are hereby informed that
Mrs. Miller said “legs,” boldly and un-
blushingly, as a matter of course, and no
one in the audience, so far as was observ-
able without an opera glass, saw reason to
blush. No corsets are included in the new
gOSpei of dress; and the influence is inevit-
able that the innocent looking black velvet
skirt must conceal bifurcated garments of
unusually light and gossamer-like material.
Mrs. Miller, besides her advanced ideas
relative to feminine dress, holds progressive
views about women’s sphere, a just idea of
which, she said, would not obtain until all
the barriers “lit hedge in women ‘are
abolished and she is told to do just what
she wants to, without stopping to inquire
whether it comes within her sphere or
not. Everybody, man or woman, ought to
have some one thing he or she can do W14“;
it was of slight import what the work was;
and Rev. Antoinette Blackwell clinched the
argument by asserting that good work is
neither masculine or feminine. Good work
must bring good wages, if we wait long
enough to receive the recompense.

it is quite impossible to mention, even,
all the interesting papers that were read
or repeat a fraction of the good things said,
and this article is already too long, but we
do not have the A. A. W. in Detroit every
week.

The closing session, that of. Friday even-
ing, was f0pened by an address by Mrs.
Mary F._ Eastman, of Massachusetts. on

 

the “ Legal Aspects of the Temperance
Question.” Mrs. Eastman does not be-
lieve the true solution of the temperance
question is the prohibitory solution. Short
cuts are not G )d’S ways. Nor does she be-
lieve in liceusr; but she believes strongly in
temperance. The right of self-direction
must be kept sacred; it is the lever to be
used in appealing to the higher principles
of conduct. She deprecated emotional
treatment of the temperance question, and
regretted that prohibition and temperance
had become synonymous terms, saying
there were many who were strongly in favor
of temperance who could not conscientious.
ly ally themselves with the prohibitory
movement. She said a law in advance of
public sentiment was a dead letter on the
statute books, since law is the crystalliza-
ti n of public opinion. The traffic in liquor
should be restrained by demanding purity
of the article sold, since the great stimulus
to the saloon keeper is the nine cent profit
on a ten cent drink, a profit which would
be wiped out if he were compelled to sell
only pure liquor. Miss Minnie Phelps, of
Ont, followed, in a glib little speech on the
old lines. rattled eff with a great deal of
animation and a poetical extract. A little
verbal passage at arms between the pre-
vious speaker and Miss Phelps followed,
in which Rev. Antoinette Blackwell joined,
giving Miss Phelps an opportunity to take. _a
chair, while the new combatant and Mrs.
E.stman fought it out on the line of the
latter’s previous argument. Mrs. Blackwell
won the honor of the last word, and after
the little ripple had subsided, Mrs. Julia
Ward Howe read the closing paper of the
congress, on “High Life and High Living.”
I dare not attempt even a summary of this
long, able, and interesting production,
whi~h held the audience intent upon every
word until the last leaf of manuscript flutter-
ed from the author’s fingers. Ican only
say it was good. And then, after thanks
for courtesics extended from many sources,
the white haired president declared the six~
teenth congress closed.

HOW THEY LOOK.

How did they loot? what did they wear?
I fancy i hear some one asking about these
“ representative women” as they are styled.
Some of them 1 did not see, not being able
to atend all. the sessions. Mrs. Julia Ward
Howe, President, and just re-elected for
another term, has a fine presence, gray hair
worn smooth anvi put away plainly under a
little white lace cap bedecked with pale
pink bows, brown eyes, an expressive face,
and the bearing of a woman accustomed to
eXercise authority, though perfectly unas-
suming and womanly. She wore a black
satin dress with white thread lace at the
threat and wrists, and diamond pin and
earrings. Miss Willard’s is a sweet, gen-
tle, refined face, her brown hair is streaked
with gray, and the color of- her eyes could
not be distinguished behind her spectacles,
which reflected the light in a very exasper-
ating manner. A lady, speaking of her ap-
pearance, said: “ What a pity she never
married! She looks as if she would have
made such a lovely mother.” Now was
not that a high compliment to her womanly,
lovable character, as expressed by exter-

 

Dale? Mrs. Wolcott has prematurely gray"
hair worn a la pompadour, a youthful com-
plexion. and wore a rich dress of black
velvet. Mrs. Blackwell has a nice face,
thoughtful and serious, and dresses very
plainly in black; Miss Phelps is not re—
markable in appearance. was dressed
plainly in black silk and wore the signi-
ficant knot of white ribbon in her button-
hole. Mrs. Eastman is large, inclined to
embonpoint, quite gray, wore black, and
looks likea woman of decided views: she
is bright and quick, and her face is ex-
pressive and mobile, her manner both per-
suasive and decisive. Nearly all the ladies
were past their youth; many of them had"
arrived at the dignity of grey hairs and
spectacles, and all were handsomely dressed
in silks or satins; it was not a meeting of
impecunious laboring women in shawls and
last year’s bonnets, by any means; there
was all the moral dignity that can be given
by good clothes and social aplomb, and
that, dear readers, in this age of “high
life” backs up a good cause wonderfully.
BEATRIX.

M—

A “ STRANGE CASE.”

 

As among the ancients philosophy and
religion were concealed by the mystic
Kabala, so do some of our modern novelists
employ recondite and enigmaticsl forms of
expression, and we puzzle over the “She’
conditions of Haggard as well as the riddle
of the “Dynamiters,” and the “Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The
latter, a curious emenation of the human
mind, is an attempt at a solution of the
problem of the dual nature of man. The
story reminds one somewhat of the
“Strange Story” of Bulwer Lytton, which
is deeply “occult” and displays, while it
conceals, a knowledge of eastern meta-
physics unknown to Mr. Stevenson. The
latter says his production, the “ Strange
Case,” was the result of the flashing in-
spiration of a dream, but worked out in
patient toil. An idea conceived through in-
spiration requires inspiration to work out
its fine, subtle lines. The sketch is strongly
written and full of suggestiveness and in-
terest. At the same time, there is some-
thing repugnant alike to reason and
spirituality in the separation of the forces
called “good and evil” which compound
man’s dual nature, and in the mate'risiiza-
tion of the evil. The idea of a soul pro-
jecting out of itself a thing having being
and that “wholly evil,” existing as an
entity, is unphilnsophicai rand unreal.
While we are all acquainted with the sore
struggle between these “polar twins" in
the ”agonized womb of consciousness,”
struggle in which we are often billed, and
go “down as into entire wreck,” yet were
these forces disassociated the soul would
be left stranded and helpless in its present
sphere.

Icould well believe, as did some of the
ancient Hindoo philosophers, that the fall
of man lay in the imprisonment of the spirit
inmatter; but since nature has planted our
feet in the dust, we must take genuine root
there and send the fibres of the spirit up
through the soil into its native air, there to
bring forth the fruits of the spirit. People
are too generally dispose-1 to believe in evil,


THE HOUSEHOLD.

 
   

8

fl

 

when the very nature of wrong is weak.
Many regard those foundation forces of
physical being termed the “animal pro-
pensities” as low and base in their very
nature, worthy only to be crushed out. I
have profound respect for the animal pro-
pensities: a person deficient in this part of
his nature may as well be an angel as not;
he is good for nothing else. There is no
fineness or strength in his soul. “Know
thyself” is the profoundest utterance of
human lips. From the harmony and per-
fection of the animal life proceeds the fer-
tility of the mind and the sympathy of the
heart. After all the dissensions within,
there is a grand oneness in life, a unity of
soul which bring; forth harmony from the
multifarious factors of our human being.
The soul is philosophic in the deepest sense.
It is fine in stoicism, regarding alike all ex-
periences with a penetration calm and clear
as light. It is the triumphant ofi‘ice of this
arbiter of life to gather up the sufferings and
failures and struggles, all the experiences
of the lower powers of our natures, and in
its inner calm weave of their varied strands
a part of the eternal garment of truth.
Thus, in reality, only the truth of human
life exists.

One cannot but wish in reading this book
that the author had conceived the idea of
projecting the “good” alone of man’s
nature, the larger, better part known as Dr.
Jekyll, instead of the deformed lethal side
of the man known as Edward Hyde, a
thing which “alone in the ranks of man-
kind was pure evil.” There is the charm
of mystery and a glimmering of reality in
his deepgperception of the “trembling im-
materiality, the mist-like transience of this
seemingly solid body in which we walk
attired.” One is carried away into the
mystery of being. wondering at the inner
facts of things, and feeling as Carlyle says,
that, “To know, to get into the truth of a
thing, is ever a mystic act.” 5. M G.

Ll sun.
-—-QOO-—-——-

OUR LIBRARY.

A little more than three years ago the
ladies of our neighborhood who are farmers’
wives and daughters, began agitating the
subject of forming a society of some kind.
But what should it be? One favored a
literary society in which papers were read
by different members upon subjects pre-
viously assigned; another proposed meetings
at which the ladies should bring work of
some kind, each according to her taste, and
onelady be chosen to read aloud from the
works of some noted author, with a sketch
of his life. Still another advanced the idea
of a Bookioan, each memberto furnish one
or more books to be exchanged and read by
the others. This plan was finally adopt ed,
and with less than a dozen volumes, our
Ladies’ LibraryIAssoclation was organized.
We elected officers, consisting of president,
vice-president, secretary, treasurer and
librarian, also a book committee of three.
Each member was to pay dues to the
amount of one dollar per year, payable
quarterly in advance. We met once in two
weeks from house to house, and the
library (i) was carried in a market basket.
Our secretary drew up a constitution and

 

by-laws which was adopted by the Society,
and an initiation fee of twenty-five cents

was agreed upon. Then we held socials of
different kinds, and soon had money enough
in the treasury to buy a number of books.
By this time our library had increased in
size, so it could no longer be c irried about
for the exchanging of books, and one of our
members offered the use of a vacant room
in her house where the books could be kept.

This offer was gladly accepted, and from
that time our library has been a success.
Persons other than members availed them-
selves of the privilege of obtaining good
reading at a very light expense (twenty -five
cents per quarter) and again we were
enabled to add to our list of books. About
this time we had an opportunity of buying
a large number of books owned by a society
which had disbanded, and at a very low
figure added them to our stock. We still
continued the socials, and found we were
getting money ahead. When it amounted
to fifty dollars it was put out at interest.
At the end of another year we decided to
erect a building for our library, having on
hand nearly enough money to pay for it.
Several sites were offered us and various in-
ducements made. A site was finally chosen.
contributions solicited, plans drawn and the
jib of building let, and now we are in a
fair way of having a building of our own
before Christmas. The site and stone for
the foundation were donated. and also
quite a number of valuable books. We
now have over nine hundred volumes of
choice literature, consisting of history,
biography, travel, religious works, poetry
and fiction. Our subscribers come for
miles to get their books, and we are con-
stantly adding new names to our list, and
all express entire satisfaction. This goes
to show what a few determined women can
accomplish. And there is no reason why
similar libraries should not spring up in all
parts of our land, encouraging ataste for
literature, and giving an opportunity to all
to obtain plenty of the best of reading, at a
very low cost. Wnen our building is
finished 1 may give a more minute descrip-
tion of it to the readers of the HOUSEHOLD,
also some of the ways in which we raise
money to buy books, etc. I hope this ac-
count of our success may encourage others
to go and do likewise.

FLINT. ELL A R. WOOD.

..__.--.w__..____

THANKSGIVING DAY.

It is coming, it is :oming—bc the weather

dark or fair,

See the joy upon the face‘, feel the blessings
in the airl

Get the dining room all ready, let the kitchen
stove be filled,

Into gold dust pound the pum; kin, have the
failed turkey killed;

Tie the chickens in a . bundle by their downy
yellow legs,

hunt the barn with hay upholstered for the
ivory prisoned eggs,

Tie the next of a procession, thro‘ the cen-
turies on its way,

Get a thorougu welcome ready for the grand
old day."

This is just the idea that the majority of
people have of Thanksgiving, and there are
no thoughts of how or why there is such a
time set apart. The first Thanksgiving
Day was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621.
The year before had been an unusually bad
one, many of the people almost dying of

    

 

 

starvation; but the crops were bountiful in
162 l, and Gov. Bradford ordered a feast of
thanksgiving. Massasoit and a hundred of
his braves were invited to this feast, to show
them that the Great Spirit watched over his
white children as well as the red. Since that
time howevter it h {3 become a formal. public
day fixed by the President of the United
S ates, and the heads of the divisions
which compose it. History also records a
joyous Thanksgiving in May, 1778, when the
news came that France had concluded a
treaty with the thirteen states of the Ameri-
can Union. This followed the winter of
suc‘. suffering to Gen. Washington and his
army at Valley Forge. twenty miles above
Philadelphia. They flail . iJSL‘IVt‘d Thanks-
giving D:c. 151b, five months before. While
the British were living in luxury, our men
were literally starving; in January there
were reported 3,014 men on the sick list, out
of 11,000. But at last came food, clothing
and good news, and Washington ordered
the 7th of May to be observed as a Thanks—
giving day. There were guns fired. flags
floated on the breeze. and a banquet, to
which it is said the I. fficers marched tiiirieen
abreast.

We plan a month or more ahead for this
occasion. The best of everything is held in
reserve. The biggest turkey—may be. two—-
is shut up and fed on hot mush, spiced so
as to fiivor the meat, chickens €110“ng for a
pie are his companions in distress; there
may be a pair of ducks quacking in a
secluded corner of the barn. or a big gander.
And the last two or three days before
Thanksgiving, such an appetizing, delicious
odor.as issues from the kitchen! Only
mother knows how to fix up a regular old-
fashioned dinner. But the day finally
dawns, it may be fair or sort of 50-30, or
downright stormy—no matter. It is gen-
erally snow if stormy, who’s afraid of snow!
First and foremost the house must be
represented at meeting, the most expe‘
rienced must remain at home to tend the
oven; the minister stows away in a few
finely worded phrases all the blessings that
have accumulated in the year just closing;
the sermon is necessarily short, for don’t
we all know that ministers are human
beings. and their stomachs get empty, on!
woefully empty by the time they have
reached the ninthly part.

What a variety of thoughts fill the minds
of the congregation! The older ones are re-
viewing all those Thanksgivings that have
fled. tiers sits a lonely widow who since
the last Thanksgiving mom has seen the
grave close over her loved companion; the
day has nought of pleasure for her, she can-
not see a bleSsing in his words; in a Corner
of the seat is a man who also fails to see
blessing, for he is alone. the wife of his
youth is buried from sight, with the chili
winds raving over her grave. There may
be a mother mourning for her babe, the little
child wondering why it is motherless on
this glad day; every heart knoweth its own
sorrow. Who can count our blessings for
us? Alas, no one. Then there are the
young people, those who have never met
adversity, who have never had a first so:-
row; they are thinking of all the Thanks—
giving Days ahead, passing over the ground
that we have trod before them; they will


 

    

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THE HOUSEHOLD. -

 

learn the same lessons we have—~that our
greatest pleasure lies in anticipation.

But it is over, we pass out and go home:
there are family reunions, there is good
cheer, plenty, every body is happy. the, as a
general thing it is a day for the rich, those
in comfortable circumstances; those are the
ones who get up dinners, who invite all
their rich relations to eat them, who go to
church and hear about their blessings, their
granaries are stored full of wheat and oats
and corn. their barns stuffed with, hay,
plenty in the cellar and storermm. But the
poor and needy and sick and sorrowful,
G d says " these are with ya always,” they
are in our care. Does He give us those
blessings to beclenched tight, held alone
for our individual, selfish use only? Is not
this day set apart for thanksgiving and
praise. and feasting and enjoyment, to be
shared with those who have nothing, those
wno if asked what their blessings had been
the past year could not tell. for they have
been hungry. half clothed and friendless?
1:: is just as it always h'tS been; just as it
always will be. There will be those who
never know want. for they are industrious
and provident; and others who if given a
fortune every Monday morning would not
have a cent Saturday night; those who are
lazy. worthless, shiftless. but get a living
somehow, but whose families must suffer
through them, and those who never have a
chance to get anything, the paupers, the
very scum Of humanity, who came from
nowhere, live in the same place, and when
they die go tO—I was going to say nowhere
-—but evolution m- u. 9 them out. From
the fullness of my heart I wish everybody
could pick a turkey bone Thanksgiving.

BATTLE Cnanx. EVA‘SGELINE.

~—-———..

MATTERS OF ETIQUETTE-

 

 

ldo not quite agree with Diana in her
opinion that husband and wife should be
one in name as in all other respects. Why
should a woman merge her identity into
her husband’s so completely that it almost
needs the aid of a detective to enable the
friends of Mary Jones to identify her as
Mrs. John Smith. if they have not been
properly notified Of the transformation and
borne it in mind? Who but intimate per-
sonal friends will recognize Elizabeth
Stuart Phelps as Mrs. Herbert D. Ward?
The custom is obtaining more and more
for a woman to take her surname as a mid-
dle name, and subscribe herself as Mary
Jones Smith; and it is a sensible and cor-
rect idea, in my opinion, especially, as an
elderly friend said in discussing this point,
" it she has a name she has reason to be
proud of.” And ‘ wherever this is done,
there is no danger of mail going astray. or
of people not knowing who is meant in
conversation. And if Diana should wish
to write to Evangeline, and should know
that the reply, unless addressed to her
under her husband’s initials, would be
destinedto the dead letter also, it would
be entirelyproper to sign her own name and
. add below, “Please address me as”—»—-
._ giving the address which would reach
~user. Of course this seems much more
trouble than to just sign the husband’s
name with the “Mrs.” and let it go at

 

that, but one is correct according to
etiquette, and the other is not. Why social
etiquette demands a certain form it is not
my buSlnBSe to define, “ Ours not to reason
why. Ours but to do ”~though the penalty
will not be to “die.” It would not be
right for me, when asked for information
by our correspondents, to tell what is
erroneously but commonly done, as if it
were a correct practice. I think all will
agree with me that the right way, the way
of society, the rule. of etiquette, should be
given, and those who asked the way, be
allowed to modify the practice to their con-
ditions and surroundings. It is the know-
ing just what is proper to do, and the good
sense to know where to modify the strict
rule, which alone can fit as for any place we
may be called upon to fill.

For instance, a young married lady who
has recently moved into a large village. has
had the little HOUSEHOLD follow her to
her new home, and asks instructions is
this dilemma: “ My husband’s employer
lives quite near us, and seems disposed to
be very friendly. He has invited both my
husband and myself to come over tohis
house, several times, asking us recently for
a particular evening. But his wife has
never called, though we have lived here
several months, and I have been introduced
by a mutual acquaintance. My husband
wants me to go over with him to call, but I
do not think it would be quite the right
thing till Mrs. --—— has called on me. Now
what do you say ?" That you should by all
means wait until the lady in question has
manifested her desire to make your so-
quaintance by calling upon you, before going
to her house with or without your husband.
Her husband’s informal invitation “don’t
count:” it is the lady of the house who
makes the social advances; it is women
who are the conductors of social etiquette.
But should this lady send you an invitation
to an entertainment at her house, the in-
vitation is the equivalent of a call, should
be accepted or declined at once, and it is
proper—indeed obligatory—upon you to
call afterward, whether you accept or de-
cline her invitation. The only case in

which this rule as to priority of visits does

not obtain, is where a lady is an invalid, or
quite elderly, or for other cause is com-
pelled to forego social privileges; then an in-
vitation, from her, by note or through her
husband, should by all means be regarded

as a compliment. Bna'rnrx.
-————«.——

STEAM COOKERS.

“ Young Grok" desires to know how
those having steam cookers like them. I
have used one a year and a half and think
it the best way Of cooking nearly every-
thing that I have ever found; and than one
can cook a whole dinner while ironing, and
use the oven all at the same time.

There is no taste or smell Of onevegetable
from another, and as for roasting meat it is
perfect. My family always enjoy a good
beef roast for dinner, and the ordinary
method of cooking made it either hard or
tough, but with the cooker we have nice
tender, juicy meat. We wash, season, and
place the meat in the cooker as early as pos-
sible in the morning, where it cooks until
within half an hour of dinner time: then it

5 ..___—-

ls taken out, placed in adripping pan and
dredged nicely with flour. Pour the liquid
around it, baste a few times, bake one half
hour, and you will have a roast fit fora
farmer or a king. 0. E. n.

Tncunsnn.
W

IN REPLY TO BESS.

The duties of the president are to
the meeting to order at the proper time, to
preside during the session and tor-call each
exercise in its proper order; to put all
nations properly made and imparted to
vote and to announce whether carried 91?
lost. All persons who wish to speak must
rise and address the president: she calls the
name of the person thus addressing her,
which is equivalent to giving her the right
to address the meeting, or as they say in
ledslative halls. “gives her the floor.” If
anything more definite is wanted, B'ess,
just write me, asking any questions you
wish light upon. and I will answer accord-
ing to the best Of my ability. You can
purchase a copy of “Robert’s Rules of
Order " for sixty cents; these are the
standard parliamentary rules now, 1 think.

ALBION. M. E. B.

THE many friends Of Mrs. M. A. Fuller,
of Benton, will regret to hear that her
pleasant little home near that village was
recently destroyed by fire. Very little of
the contents was saved, only a few pieces
of furniture on the lower floor. The insur-
ance was light, and the loss falls with
crushing weight upon Mrs. Fuller, as it
seems the culminating disaster of a series
of misfortunes. In face of such irreparable
loss, a loss which money cannot make
good, since always many articles consumed
are endeared by associations and memories,
one must be a philosopher to remember that

“ There‘s never a night without a day,
Nor an evening without a morning."

Mrs. Fuller will have the sympathy of.
her many HOUSEHOLD friends in her

trouble.
.- -——-—+oo-——-

U sot‘ul Recipes.

 

APP“ Plexus—Make a syrup of one cup
of vinegar and two cups of sugar, adding
cinnamon and cloves in quantities to suit the
taste. Pare and core the sweet apples. drop
them into the syrup and boil until they 100):
clear but do not allow them to become soft
and broken. This pickle is ready to eat when
cold, but will keep‘ a long time like any other
pickle.

 

Arpnl Bum PUDDING.—Fflla deep bak-
ing dish one-third full of apples which have
been pared and sliced, season with a small
quantity Of sugar, some bits of butter, and
any spice you prefer, or omit the spice alto-
gether if you wish, pour over them a very
little water. For the batter take two cups
either Of sweet milk or water, and stir into
this flour enough to make a thick batter,
having previously rubbed into the flour two
heaping teaspoonfula of baking powder, a lit-
tle salt and two tablespoonfuls of shortening.
Pour the batter over the apples and bake
about half an hour. The’ batter should to
nearly as thick as you can stir it with a spoon,
and it the apples are hard it is better to set
them on the stove and let them partially
cook before pouring the batter over them

 

lat warm with sugar and cream.