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DETROIT, DEC. 29, less.

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

A MODERN ROMANCE.

 

She had studied all the “ologies,”
Knew all about Latin and Greek,
Italian and Spanish could read and write,
And French and German speak.

Could sing like a seruph or nightingale,
Was pretty well up in art!

She graduated from the Harvard Annex,
And then—she lost her heart.

There were moonlight walks, a sail or two,
A drive when the day was doner;
Ribbons, laces, a wedding march,
And then they twain were one.

A run to Europe, then home again,
Receptions and balls a score;

Then they settled down to life‘s routine,
And the honeymoon was o‘er.

Alas! for their life ship’s tossing now
’Hong the breakers of ‘- Something to Eat ;"
Alas! that the love of a man sh: u‘d depend
On a bit of bread and meat.

But a dinner of herbs, though seasoned with
love,
On the palate at last will pull,
And belonged for the flesh pots of Egypt,
And the felted ox in the sir-33!.

The cook grew “ uppish“ and " put on airs,”
When she didn’t know salmon from cod,

And she :i'ound, too late, she had married a man
lnsteadof a demigod.

Romance and poetry slipped away,
And Love—the gay little sinner-
‘Pouted, then out of the window flew

When she couldn’t cook a dinner.

What d'd she do? llad she been a man
I presume she‘d have “ taken to drink,"
But being a woman, she just sat down,
On the state of affairs to think.

The thing was done; it was no use now,
To say she had been a “fool;"

So she quickly donned her wraps and went
At once to an evening school.

Poetry never came back again,
And Romance was lost, or dead,
But Love came shyly flitting back:
As soon as she learned to make bread.

The moral of this is so plain I‘m sure,
You may read if you will but look—
Study as much as you please, but be sure
If you marry you know how to cook .
-— Good Housekeeping.
—-———§9>-——-———-

THE PROPOSED DRESS REFORM.

 

Mrs. Anna Jenness Miller, who gave an
address before the Association for the Ad-
vancement of Women at its meeting here in
November on the subject of reform in
dress, was persuaded to return to Detroit
and give a public lecture on “ Dress Re-
form” on the 17th inst.

Mrs. Miller appeared upon the platform
in a handsome street toilette of gray-green
plush which cleared the floor by a couple of
inches, was confined at the waist by a

 

girdle, and was straight and full in the
skirt. There was no noticeable difference
between her costume and any well-lilting,
stylishly made dress, yet it was innocent of
bustle, whalebones, or steels, and worn
without corset or petticoats. Mrs. Miller
has never worn a corset, except for one
week once as an experiment, when she
“thought. it would kill her,” and believes

_G3d gave women bones enough to hold her

up without borrowing those of the whale.
Her opinion of the bustle is that if nature
had thus disfigured a woman, she would go
to the world’s end to have the monstrosity
removed. She says she has no need of
corsets, steels or bustle because she stands
and holds herself correctly, and implies
that other women might gain as graceful
and erect a carriage as she possesses, by
the same means.

Mrs. Miller wears first a closefitting suit
of “union” underwear, in one piece; then
a “chemilette,” which takes the place of
four of the usual feminine garments—
chemise, corset, corset-cover and drawers;
and then the garment which she calls
”leglets,” a modification of Lady Hab-
berton’s divided skirt, which is made like
a skirt for each leg, gathered to a deep yoke.
Lifting the skirt of her dress, Mrs. Miller
showed that these “leglets,” in actual
wear, differed but little if any in appearance
and effect from askirt, while giving per-
fect freedom and ease of movement to the
legs. They are more modest than skirts,
because the wearer can stand on astreet
corner on a windy day and not a man will
turn his head to stare—there’s nothing to
see.

This method of dressing entirely does
away with heavy skirts, as the “ieglets”
give more warmth than two or three skirts
with much less weight and bulk. There
are no skirt suspenders, and no buttoning
on waists, and no weight dragging from
either hips or shoulders. The “ union”
undersuit Mrs. Miller wears is of woven
silk, except in winter, when the softest and
finest of woolen wear is substituted. The
“leglets” are of wash surab, of wool in
colors, or any material preferred. the
” chemilctte ” of china silk or wash surab.

To demonstrate how rapidly one can
dress when wearing this system, Mrs.
Miller disappeared and almost before the
little flutter and movement in the audience

ad subsided, returned wearing a beauti-
ful tea gown of green velvet with front of
pale green surab, agown which she said
was innocent of steels, hustle and bones,
yet which fitted her like a glove. A “rainy

day dress” was short, of brown wool goods,

 

which, worn over the “leglets,” obviated
all danger of draggled skirts and damp
ankles,~and wasa dress any woman com-
pelled to venture on the street on a rainy
day could appreciate.

Mrs. Miller does not approve of long
trains; her evening dresses had short ones
only, and were made with corsage V-shap-
ed in front and back and with elbow
sleeves; she had a word or two of. emphatic
denunciation for the decollete dress kept on
by a strap over the shoulder; and mentioned
an instance where a woman refused to
dine with her because she was “ immodest”
in showing herself to audiences of ladies
only, in her undergarments, yet this same
woman attended a party at Washington
wearing a dress which had not even a band
over the shoulder to keep what there was of
the corsage in place.

Mrs. Miller then disappeared again and
returned enveloped in along gray plush
wrap, which she dropped, disclosing her
comely person clad in the mysteriorisleglets.
This revelation of secrets of the toilette
produced a solemn hush throughout the
audience—there was no “Peeping Tom of
Coventry ” in hiding—broken by a round of
applause.

Enough has been said to show what re-
form Mrs. Miller would instituie. There
have been many reforms attempted hereto-
fore, which have failed because so distinc-
tively ugly and differing so greatly from
women’s ordinary wear that those who
adopted them were made ridiculous and
guyed by even the street Arab-5. This
killed them, for

“ There is no man alive who am live down
The inextinguishable laughter of mankind,"

and if amen cannot endure ridicule cer-
tainly a woman cannot.

The hope for Mrs. Miller’s “leglcts " and
accompaniments lies in the fact that; they
can be worn without making the wearer
differ in appearance from others who dress
by dressmakers’ standards, the prevailing
mode of fashions being externally preserved.
Iconfess those “legiets” strike mo as a
good thing. Bicarmx.
«909——

A FEW LITTLE FACTS.
LEvldently Bostinjnd the region round
about it constitutes the Robot the. universe:
To such pivotality they have long hid
claim, accepting all quips and jeers begot-
ten by the assumption in a serenely heroic
spirit, keeping their faith inviolate. It was
there that the rebellious sons and daughters
of Albion, for the sake of a noble principle,
inherent in the soul of every man and

 

    


     
   
   
 
  
 
  
 
   
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
   
  
 
    
 
   
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
   
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
   
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
   
 
  
  
  

 

3/ ‘ ' ._ . .
.. wag'xa ._ ».

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"Kiwi 4i "-?§”"'7‘2‘W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

woman “created in His image,” sung the
first glad hymn of Liberty in the bleak Dc-
cember weather, and then through years of
hardships, privations, toils, the rigors of
which we cznnot estimate, proceeded to lay
the enduring foundations of the grand
temple of Universal Freedom. “ But they
were fanatics, intolerant extremists.”
“Yes, they were cranks. The crankiest
kind of cranks. But. you know cranks
turn things when their leverage is a princi-
ple of human rights.” if we doubt this we
have only to remember that it took but 150
years for this principle, so sacred y cherish-
ed and nouri died bythe Pilgrim Fathers in
the wilds of a newly discovered land in-
habited by treacherous savages, to assume
such healthful, powerful proportions as
gave it courage to cope with the haughtiest
and strongest nation in the world, and to
drive then beaten bick to their sorely sur-
prised klng and ministry. Anal we must
not forget that it was Boston women—or
men who screwed their courage to the
sticking point by wearing Boston women’s
clothing, who tossed the hated taxed tea
into nature's big tea pot, so maddened the
Bull that be rushed headlong into the fight,
and soon found himself pawing dust at
Lexington in a way that made the Pdgrim
Fathers smile, and caused Boston to ban-
quet her her.) sons.

Here too the spirit of anti-slavry had
birth, from here it radiated, enlarged and
strengthened, despite revilings, persecutions
and scorn—tit prototypes of allthat had been
endured in establishing the verity of the
principle vouchsafing the white man’s
freedom, until it became embodied in the
politics ot_our nation, and—we all know the
rest of the story. The frat-ricidal war,
waged on a principle involving the in-
herent rights of man. The right victorious.
“But they were fanatics, those anti-slavery
people.” “Yes, they were cranks of the
crmkiest kind. But you know it takes
cranks to turn things.”

Here too have been located for years what
we may term the electric light works of
the woman suffrage movement, and of the
opening up to woman of all those avenues
of education, business, occupation and pro-
fession which from the fruit eating era of
Eve down to the nineteenth century A. D.,
had been hermetically sealed against God’s
improvement on his own patent. Now
when I say “here ” 1 do not mean simply
the corporation of Boston, but the land of
“Down East.” the land where Liberty’s
saplings are always strong and healthy and
herforest oaks have roots that run down
and embrace the fathers and mothers rest-
ing beneath the rocky soil, and tops that
catch the music of the spheres. Bravely, un-
falteringly, in the face of scorn, in the teeth
of calumny, the eye of jealousy, the beak
and talons of treason and revenge, and un-
der the foot of Opprobrium they have
steadily progressed, gaining ground inch
by inch, never retreating from a point of
- vantage won. Latterly it has become a
prophetic truism amongst woman suifragists
that " The time draws near when the ballot
in the hands of women will be indispensa.
hie in effecting the overthrow of certain
evils, both present and prospective.” This

the procession of the equinoxes. And as
the mighty harvest of wrongs ripens, ready
for the reaping, the keen, conscientious
blade of the ballot. cast by women’s hands,
defined by their heads and dictated by their
hearts, will be ready and resistiess as an
aid in laying it low.

It is a significant fact that to the women
of Boston has been relegated the first of this
harvest work that echoes round the world,
and round and round again, quickening
the dormant fires of patriotism. of loyalty to
liberly’s sacred law. Tuesday, 3c. 11,
1883, is a day destined to stand out in
brilliant lettering in the history, not of Bes-
ton only, but of the United Szates, aye, of
the world. That bleak December day filled
with-relentless storm, is destined to shine
brighter than the fairest day in June. The
day when 20,000 women in the interest of a
great educational question, cast their all
too willingly received and anxiously sought
for votes in the precints of B aston. Twice
as many in number as the entire popula-
tion of this little city, which has not yet
got so much as the topmost wrinkle in its
conservative old forehead, above the stale
rubbish that fogies pile up around the
woman suffrage question. “Oh. but these
suffragists are alot of strong-minded, un-
feminine cranks.” “ Yes, the crankiest
kind of cranks have been and perhaps are
the originators and leaders in this as in all
other great movements, but you know it
takes cranks to turn things. But the revo-
lution once revolved in the groove of agreat
social and political need, and the reform is
propelled by its own momentum, and the
whilom crank, no longer a jeer and a by-
word, becomes a heroic, deified emblem,
rehearsed in song and story and emulated
in the lives of those who, coming after, en-'
joy the rich fruits so dearly bought.”

One-fourth of. B ston’s taxpayers are
women. Seven-tent s of these are educat-
ed, intelligent, Christian women—women
who recognizing a duty unshrinkingly per-
form it; women who recogniz: duty through
the lens of an enlightened conscience. And
there are millions of just such women
thickly set throughout the border of our
nation. The womanliest of women. Strength
of mind, of will, of purpose, of affection
they possess, women who are indeed helps
meet for the work waiting in the world’s
broad fields of action, where the adherents
of the two great leaders, Right and Wrong,
are ever at war. E. L. NYE.

FLINT.

 

THE DUTIES OF A GUEST.

 

[Paper read by Mrs S. Consalus before the
Antwerp 2nd Paw Paw Farmers‘ Associdion,
Dec. 6, 1887.]

By guest we mean any one who is not a
member of the family, and whether their
stay be of a few hours or of weeks’ duration,
they should receive a warm welcome and
be made comfortable in every respect and
the best of the house he placed at their
command. They should make themselves
so agreeable that it will be a pleasure for all
to be with them; in no case should they
assert their tastes or habits. Beatrix thinks
they should not be expected to rise at six; I
think they should, as getting an extra

most housekeepers. If their health is such
that they cannot do so they should make
their visit a very short one. While we do
not expect our guests to do the work, yet
they should try not to be aburden. Ifa
lady, she should take the entire care of her
room, and be on the lookout for the little
things that she can do, that will be a relief
to her hostess and a benefit to herself.
Guests should to careful about misplacing
and throwing around anything, as that is
very annoying, and should so adapt them-
selves to the customs of the house as to
cause the least trouble. I had a friend come
to spend some time with ' me, and as I had
not seen her since she was a child, it was
with a little dread that I put things in
order for her, but she came and conquered
by her sweet, sympathetic ways. I learned
a lessen from her, and was sorry when she
had. to return to her home. If aguest has
been where things are nicer and more
elegant than her hostess can have, she
should be very careful how she speaks of
them, and also careful how she speaks of
the faults of others; how much harm has
been done by that one thing!

1 think as a. rule the gentlemen are
easier to entertain than the ladies; they
take the paper and seat themselves in a
corner. and so amuse themselves, while a
lady would think it necessary to he enter-
tained at least by conversation.

We sometimes have guests from the city,
and while we gladly welcome them, it is
amusing to have them rush to the barn and
fields, mount the wagon and ride back and
forth, ride the horses to pasture, drive the
cows and romp all over the country. They
are very much surprised when told that the
young ladies of the country do not do so;
they always thought they did, and say, " Is
that the cow that gives the butter-milk?”
and “ Does this one give the butter? and is
that wheat over there, and are they going
to dig it to-day?” Wh'le it seems strange
to us that any one can be so ignorant, we
show our own ignorance when we return
their visit. We wabble as we walk, we
must not look at the windows, be they ever
so beautifully decorated, nor admire any
building be it ever so elegantly constructed,
we must not gawp around, as any one will
know that we are “ from the country.” But
why should it be such a disgrace to be from
the country? Why such an unpardonuble
error to look around when everything is so
beautiful? If things are not to be looked at
why are they so conspicuously placed before
us? Each place, city'and country, has new
customs and different ways of doing; it is
not strange that we should show our
ignorance of un ccustomed ways, occa-
sionall y transgress a little.

It is a very nice thing to spend some
time with a friend and so conduct ourselves

as not to be a burden, and be so very
sympathetic and agreeable that all shall
love and respect us and regret our departure
How much we can learn and benefit each
other, by even a few hours’ intercourse?
How much pleasure we can give and re-
ceive if. we are governed by the, “What-
soever ye would that others should do, you
should do unto them.”

Beatrix has written a very able article
upon this subject; as you are most all
readers of the EARLIER I refer you to it, as
expressing my views in a much better way

 

breakfast world be very inconvenient for,

 

,b as much a fact in God’s providences as is

than I can.


   

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 
 

3

fl

 

A COOKING SCHOOL

 

Th ere is a movement on foot in this city
to organize and establish a cooking school,
modeled somewhat after the Kensington
Cooking College at London, Eng, which
within the past twelve years has graduated
thirty-five thousand cooks. There have
been a great many cooking clubs formed,
which have had their share of popularity
and undoubtedly accomplished a certain
amount of good; we have had several such
private clubs here, and some “cooking
classes” at which professional chefs have
dispensed instruction. But the projectors
of the new scheme propose something more
ambitious, wider in scope, and which they
design shall be permanent—that is if it
meets with the support and patronage they
expect for it. It is proposed to make it a
school where girls who know nothing
about cooking can go for practical instruc-
tions, instructions which will teach them
how to cook and lnw to buy provisions,
and save the costly experimenting with
materials incident to the early career of a
novice in housekeepin g. It will be a school
where young women who wish to fit them-
selves for the position of cooks can learn
their business so completely that they can
command high wages; and where a wealthy
lady can send her servant to obtain further
skill if she seems ambitions to excel in that
line. It will not be a charity, but be self—
snpporting through tuition fees and the
sale of the prepared food, to dispose of
which a restaurant annex is under con-
sideration; and it is thought $5,000 will
equip the school and maintain it for a year,
after which the expense will be less.

It it possible that three courses of in-
struction may be maintained. The first, of
ten weeks, will include kitchen work and
plain cooking; the second will teach the
higher, more artistic and elaborate cooking;
the third course will be for the benefit or‘
those intending to become housekeepers or
teachers. and will be supplemented by a
course of lectures on what to cook and how
to teach.

Asanum‘oer of the most wealthy and
influential society ladies of the city are in-
teresting themselves in the proposed school,
so. that it will have the backing of cash and
the aid of social prestige, it is expected that
it it “materialize” it will be a success.
It is hoped that with the opportunity to be-
come proficients in culinary art, and with
the added dignity conferred upon the work
through recognizing it as of sufficient im-
portance to be taught in a “ college,” with
real live professors of gastronomics as dean
and faculty, young women will be attracted
to housework and cooking as a profession
and fit themselves for the work.

That sucha school will “fillalong felt
want” goes without saying. At present,
we have a vast army of incompetent help,
with no opportunities of education in the
preparation of food. What they know has
been “picked up” at one place and an-
other, and combines the varying methods
of half a dozen women in whose houses
they have worked, many of whom do not
know more about the proper methods than
those whom they atte opt to instruct. A
girl with ambition toexcsl has no chance to

O

 

learn her work thoroughly. We teach our
girls to do everything on earth but prepare
the food which is necessary to sustain life,
and then wonder why they hate the kitchen
and don’t know how to cook. When the
cook in the kitchen of a Vanderbilt can
commmd a salary equal to that oi.‘ the
president of a college, surely the woman
who can get up warm meals to suit an or-
dinary “no ’eount” millionaire, ought to
get as gmd wages as a common “professor”
in a graded school.

It is to be hoped that the projeclted
college of cooking will become an actuality.
There is an open field for it.

BEATst.
..-..~ow____.
11's GOTHAM.

As Istepped on the. New York shere, I
felt like a needle in a hay mow, not in point
of sharpness but in insignificance. The
first thing is to find shelter from the “ wing
of night,” for “ the (layis done” Having
in mind numerous instances read of mis-
fortunes befalling the unwary in this city,
I resolved to be very cautious and sure of
being right before going ahead. I was cer-
tain of having found the town, could not
well miss it anyway, and with as little
trouble reached the Grand Union hotel.
The following day my trouble began. Had
I been exploring the catacombs, I think I
should have been as successful as in finding
my way through the labyrinth of halls
winding in all directions about that hotel.
In connection with numbers “316” will
“haunt my memory still” as it shone in
soft red light upon the door of my room,
truly a beacon light after each day’s sight-
seeing in the babel of our great metropolis.

It is easy to get around New York.
There is always a car near, either horse or
elevated, and plenty of carriages whose
drivers hope you may “long be able to
walk, but seldom willin’,” always some one
to answer inquiries, and always some place
to go. In recalling my peregrinations, I
shall speak briefly of what I saw rather
than of what I did not see. There is little
doubt that greater interest would attach to
what I did not see, as it comprised by far
the larger part of the ole y, but I feel in-
competent to do justice to this portion of
the subject. I was irreiigious enough to
spend a good share of the “ first day of the
week” in Central Park. Perhaps I was a
little disappointed in it; others have been
also, and it may have been because from a
child that park had been my ideal of nature
beautified and multiplied in charms. It was
beautiful even though disappointing; but
nature, like beauty, unadorned is adorned
the most, and the magic of her influence
lies in her naturalness, with all the rugged
unpolished appearances the creative touch
has left upon her. We like to stumble over
a moss-covered log, we like to push aside
the interwoven green of tho untrimmed
low-hanging branches and plunge into
unexpected paths for adaiuty blossom of
the wildwood, or a trailing fern clinging
to the damp, wet leaves of many an
autumn’s falling. We love the slippery
ways, the deep-hearted wood with its beau-
tiful surprises nature holds for our own
seeking in her sequestered aisles. I sat
under the shadow of the old obelisk and

 

   
    

wished it might tell me the story of its
grim old age. It is a prominent object in
the park, much sought by visitors evidently,
as nearly all paths lead “ To the Obelisk.”
I saw no designs in flowers so fine as some
at the Chicago South Park, still they may
have been there. One cannot “do” the
place in a few hours very thoroughly; al-
though Iwas considerably worse through
an attempt to accomplish this, I saw no
evidence of the park suffering. It is a
fine old place, and many worn and tired
feet on this the rest day of the weary week
seek its sonny paths. Fifth Avenue lies along
one side, with its aristocratic homes on the
opposite side of the ..treet. A stranger is
surprised to find this avenue. so narrow and
paved with cobble stones. There was a
motley crowd surging up and down;
evidently the “uncommon splendatious”
dwellers on the av 55118 were not to be seen
mingling with the pleheian throng. Pos-
sibly they may have all gone to church.
The churches in New York must he for the
rich. On this avenue one passes a number
of fine edifices. A new cathedral is being
erected whose massive towers of white
marble rise to a dizzy height, and farther
on a chime of sweet hells waited music to
the ear. 1 went in and sat down with the
waiting people. “Everything was lovely
and only man was vile” within those mar-
ble walls with their dim aisles, soft-lighted
and solemn, the mellow tints falling through
costly windows upon the elaborate altar.
My soul was lost in dreams, and upon that
altar there seemed inscribed these words,
“To the unknown God.”

LESLIE. “S. M. G."

“app—.—

A MATTER OF ECONOMY.

I would like to tell the readers of the
HOUSEHOLD, especially those with little
ones to knit for, how to economize in both
time and cost in knitting stockings for little
feet. Begin to knit the leg without a seam,
and instead of narrowing each side the
seam as in the old way, narrow occasionally
all around the leg so as to shape it perfectly.
Knit the leg the desired length and bind off,
then knit the foot separately; when finished
turn wrbng side out and sew them together,
using care to catch each stitch by sewing
over and over. Then, when the knee be-
gins to show signs of getting thin rip the
foot and leg apart, turn the leg half round.
and sew together the same as before, until
itis thin again, then turn the same as be-
fore. In this way you will get the wear
from all parts of the leg —or knee rather—
and avoids. patched or darned knee, which
to me is quite an eye-sore. I find it is the
knee that generally gives out first. I hope
I have made this plain enough for all to
fully understand; you will see that at last
the under part of the knee will be the ex‘
posed part.

When the lamp tops or the door-knobs
become loosened, you will find alum. used
in the place of plaster of parts will give bet—
ter results. Take an old dish, melt the
alum by placing it on the stove, let boil a
few seconds when it is ready for use. As
it sets very quick it is necessary to have the
articles to be mended in readiness before
the alum is removed from the fire.

a: OLD HUNDRED.

 

   


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.._..——-———m__.____._ __.- -
‘ WW7 M-~Z_:;::_:;,'::.;—,,—w:‘:_~‘j :: ,

4. THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

HINTS TO HOME DRESSHAKERB.

To make the plain skirt which serves as
a foundation on which to arrange the dra-
peries of a dress, out first a front breadth
out of English or ”shelf” cambric, gore
this slightly from bottom to top, and fit it
by two small darts, slightly curving it on
the upper edge. On each side of this is
sewed the side gore; the straight edge to
the gore of the front, shaping the side gore
on the front to fit smooth over the hip. The
back width is straight, and the side gores
are widened or narrowed to make the skirt
at the bottom measure from two and a quar-
ter to two and a half yards, according to
the size and height of the wearer. Begin
to sew the gores at the top and pare to a
slope round the bottom. From three to four
inches in length must be allowed, to be
taken up by the bustle and the steels. The
next step is to put a. plain, smooth-fitting
facing of the dress material on the right
side of. the skirt, make this six inches wide,
haste it evenly top and bottom, turning in
the upper edge, and stitch it round'with the
machine. Turn the skirt, and you are
ready for a ten-inch facing of canvas on the
wrong side; out the canvas bias and it will
go on without a wrinkle. Overcast the

edges of canvas, facing and foundation to-
gether and you are ready for the braid;
haste it on the right side, holding it loose,
and stitch on the lower edge; turn over on
the wrong side and fell to the canvas so
that on the right side it looks like a mere

cord. Run the casings for your steels;
three in number, one quite low down, the
top one about eight inches from the top,
hosts the shirt to a bend and try it on, over
the bustle you mean to wear with it, to see
if it is the right length. Let it be “the
least little bit” longer than you want it, for
it will take up a little in making. it it is
the right length you are ready to add the
deep, plain flounce over which your drapery
is to be arranged, and which must be length-
ened to reach the belt or may be shortened,
according to the arrangement of the drapery.
This licence is plainly hemmed and a three-
inch wide strip of crinoiine is sometimes
put on to stiffen the hem, the goods hemmed
to this and it secured to the material by
long blind stitches at the top edge. This
flounce is often perfectly plain across the
front and back and laid in shallow pleats
on the sides to give the appearance of full-
ness without weight.

I wonder how many amateur dressmakers
know how to‘finish off the bottom of a
basgue. First, measure by the seams to
see that both edges are trimmed alike and
to a proper slope: then turn up the edge
and basic evenly. Cut a bias facing and,
folding over one edge, haste it evenly along
on the inside, pulling it a little so the top
edge will be straight and without fullness;
then turn under and haste the upper edge.
Fell down these seams neatly, taking care
no stitches are taken through to the right
side. Press before taking out the hastings.
Open and press all the seams in the waist
except the. curving side back forms. The
high collars now worn require the neck of
the dress to he cut out more than did the
narrower ones. .. The canvas collar is,cut
bias. and slightly rounding on the lower

 

edge—that which is to be sewed to the
dress; cover it with the dress material—on.

-the bias, basting down the upper edge on

the canvas; haste to the dress, holding the
waist toward you, and try on. The
wrinkles, if any, will probably be due to
one of two things; either the dress is too
high, or the neck has been stretched too
much or too little in basting on. When
just right, face with silk, felling it down
neatly. A sleeve that will not fit may some-
times be made to fit by slipping it further to
the front, sometimes by cutting out the
armhole a little in the hollow of the front,
and occasionally the sleeve itself needsa
little snipping on the lower half. Remem-
ber however that every thread cut from arm-
hole or sleeves seems to diminish the length
of the sleeve by two threads.

The most stylish and convenient bustle
is the small square cushion stuffed with
curled hair, which is often attached to the
dress-skirt, but is more conveniently worn
when furnished with strings and tied about
the waist. Two steels only are used in the
skirt for ladies of medium height, but tall
ladies require three; they are arranged so
the lower one is quite low down, and are
not so large as formerly.

House dresses are made longer, so as to
touch the door, or drag three or four inches
upon it. Seen dresses are never, howchr,
worn outside the house. Street dresses
clear the ground fairly. it will be a long
time, we think, before the _inconvenient
length which is neither one thing or the
other, will be generally adopted.

A worn dress waist may be easily and
fashionably remodeled by making, new

‘sleevcs of silk or velvet, anal cutting ! if the

Worn fronts in jacket shape, straight down _
from the collar and square-cornered at the
waist line, then adding a soft vest of the
material used for the sleeves. If the dress
is not already too snug, worn seams can be
concealed by stitching again, just inside the
old seams. The back of a basque can be
stylishly remade by sewing the seams with-
out pleats, rounding the bottom to rest
smoothly on the shirt. The fronts of
dresses having soft silk vests simply meet
without lapping and are closed with books
and eyes. To prevent them from unhook—
ing, they are sewed on alternately, first a
hook, then an eye, down the length of one
front; on the other, first an eye, and then a
hook, and so on, to correspond.

.—.—“———-

BED COVERS.

The present fashion of dressing 9. bed
admits of a good deal of decoration in the
way of a couoerpeid or outside covering, to
be purely ornamental, thrown over the
usual white Marseilles counterpane, and
removed with reverent care when the bed
is to be used. For this decorative purpose
covers are made just large enough to Spread
over the square defined by the mattress,
the netted fringe or trill of lace with which
they are finished, not being intended to
tuck in or hang over very far. These
covers are made of Bolton sheeting, and
any amount of work expended in their
embellishment. A wide border done in
Kensington stitch with heavy silk, is often
placed just within the space defined by the

 

edges of the mattress and the centre ocw
cupied with a scroll or shield with the initials
of the owner worked in it, and the plain
space inside the shield darned with silk of
a contrasting color. But quite as pretty,

and much less work, is the spread over the-
surface of which is scattered detached

sprays, large and small interspersed, giving-
an apparently irregular effect. Or, a border
in some regular design may be worked,

and the centre powdered with scattered-
figures, not too thickly, however.

Anyone who has an old homespun linen
sheet, which is to be preserved as a relic of
the days when brides spun their own house--
keeping outfits and knitted a pillow-case
full of stockings as preparatory discipline-
for entrance upon matrimony, may use it in
this fashion and make something really-
beautiful as well as valuable. If the linen
is worn too much to be used entire, it is not
necessarily a misfortune. Tear the best of‘
it into strip:. a quarter or three-eighths of a
yard wide, outline a vine or some contin--
uous pat-tern on each, hem them, and join
with insertion of antique or torchon lace; or
if you have the time and the patience, with
knitted or crocheted insertion. Edge with
a wide lace to match, which should be
sewed on with fullness, so that it forms a
moderately scant ruffle.

One caution only should be observed, in
making the “allover” spreads—4hr: ma-
terial used should be wide enough so there
need be no seams in the centre. And when
your patient work is completed you will
have something of which your neighbors
will say, “Isn’t it too perfectly sweet for
anything? ”

___.__...____

Useful Recipes.

BAKED Omens—Cook in two waters, the
second salted. When tender, drain; put in
the baking pan with a little pepper, butter-
and salt; pour on a little soup stock or milk
thickened with flour. Brown in the oven.
These are excellent.

SQUASH Prn.——-To each cup of squash stew—»
ed and sifted, allow a cofleecup of milk, one
egg, nearly half a cup of sugar, and half a.
teaspoo nful each of salt, nutmeg and cinna-
mon. Mix thoroughly the squash, sugar,
salt and spices, add the beaten egg, then the
milk. Bake nearly or quite an hour, accord~
ing to the size of the pic.

Arena: Pnnssnvn.—Pare and core your-
apples and cut them into eight pieces, and to-
every pound of apples allow a half pound of
sugar, and one pound of raisins to every six
pounds of apples—and as many more as you-
can afford. Put all together with water en-I
ough to stew them. Cover and cook until
they are done and the sirup is quite thick.
This will keep in stone jars some time, it
kept in a cool place. -

SALLY Loss—0:10 quart flour, one pint»
milk, two tablespoonfuls sugar, two eggs,
three Itahlespoonfuls _butter, teaspoonful of
salt, half a cake of compressed yeast. Have
the milk warm, add the melted butter, the
beaten eggs, the yeast, dissolved in three-
tablespooni‘uls cold water, pour on the flour
and teat to a smooth batter, add the salt
and sugar last. Pour in baking pans to a
depth of two inches, let rise two hours in a.
warm place and bake half. an hour.