DETROIT, NOV. 22, 1590:

 

 

THE HOTJSEH OLD-"Supplement.

 

 

THE TWILIGHT 0F THANKSGIVING.

\

 

The day has lengthened into eve,
And over all the meadows

The twilight‘s silent shuttles weave
Their sombre web of shadows;

With northern lights the cloudless skies
Are faintly phosphorescent,

And just above you wooded rise
The new moon shows her crescent.

Before the evening lamps are lit.
While day and night commingle,

The sire and matron come and sit
Beside the cozy ingle:

And softly speak of the delight
Within their bosoms swelling,

Because beneath their roof tonight
Their dear ones all are dwelling.

And when around the cheerful blaze
The young folks take their places,

What blissful dreams or other days
Light up their aged faces!

The past returns with all its joys,
And they again are living

The years in which, as girls and boys,
Their children kept Thanksgiving.

The stalwart son recalls the time.
When. urged to the endeavor,

He tried the well-greased pole to climb,
And failed of fame forever.

The daughter tells of her em prise
When as a new beginner,

She helped her mother make the pies
For the Thanksgiving dinner.

And thus with laugh and jest and song
And tender recollections,
Love speeds the happy hours along,
And fosters fond aifections; ’
While Fancy. listening to the mirth.
And dreaming pleasant fictions,
imagines through the winds on earth
That Heaven breathes benedictions.
-Ladtes‘ Home Journal.

 

TEE THANKSGIVING TURKEY.

The turkey is purely an American bird,
indigenous to our native soil. Among the
pictures in an old history, now long since
displaced by more modern works, I re—
member one of Columbus displaying the
products of the New World to King Fer-
dinand and Queen Isabella; and that
among the specimens was a turkey gob-
bler which dared to strut in the very
presence of royalty, being depleted in full
feather and about half as high as Christo-
pher himself. Some one has basely in-
sinuated that the turkey ought to have
been our national emblem instead of the
eagle, on account of the similarity of traits
of character between the blustering, boast-
ing American and the strutting bird, but
we scorn the insinuation as unjust and
calumnlous.

A Thanksgiving dinner without turkey
‘would be “ Hamlet without the Prince of

 

Denmark.” The proud bird, in his glossy
bronze coat, with legs and wings extended,
has ingloriously capitulated and seems
supplicating the mercy he will not get.
“ The department of the interior " is
crowded with the savory forccxneat
flavored with oysters. the “ trimmin’ ”
which is to be served with a generous slice
of the “ white meat.“ We had quite a dis-
cussion at the table one day as to the
proper use of the terms dressing and stuf-
fing, as applied to gravy and the prepara-
tion of bread crumbs and butter, etc. One
positive young man insisted the gravy
was the dressing and the latter the stuf-
fing. But the gravy is the gravy, and the
stuffing is the dressing, and if you do not
believe me, consult a culinary dictionary.

The cranberry is a peculiarly American
berry and is an appropriate adjunct to roast
iurkey—gastronomically and patriotically
appropriate. The oyster, too, is an Ameri-
can institution; that is, as Americans know
it. Don’t you remember how Thackeray
praised the American oyster and how “the
boys ” “put up ajob” on him when he
visited this country? They invited him to
dine; and having procured some of the
largest oysters to be found anywhere, per-
fect monsters specially selected for the
occasion, set them before him. apologizing
for their small size, and saying had he
come a few weeks’ earlier they could have
given him some nice ones, etc. The great
novelist was appalled, but managed to get
one down. Then he paused. Some one
asked him how he felt. “ How do I feel?
Why, as if I had swallowed a baby 3" was
the rejoinder that set the party in a roar.

Having selected the turkey, and it is pre-
sumed that those having epicurean tasfes
will have fed the bird appointed for the
sacrifice with corn meal, chopped cabbage,
boiled rice and celery tops, with a taste
of parsley, to impart a gamey flavor, the
next thing is to cook him. I say “him,”
but many persons prefer a hen-turkey, as
having whiter, sweeter and more tender
meat. For directions relative to cooking,
those given by Anna Cameron in the
Ladies’ Home Journal. are sufficiently ex-
plicit to serve the most inexperienced. I
will only say that to use butter enough to
moisten the breadcrumbs sufficiently with-
out any water whatever makes a lighter
and nicer dressing than as directed:

“ Select a large, fat, tender turkey, and
have it nicely dressed, drawn, washed,
wiped dry and well singed. Rub it all
over, inside and outside. with pepper and
salt. Make a stuffing of the following in-

 

gredients: One pound of light bread«
crumbs, half a pound of butter, a heaping.
tablespoonful of finely minced onion, salt
and pepper. one raw egg and enough
water to mix rather soft. Stuflf the breast
first, and sew it up‘, then siufl.’ the body.
Rub the turkey all over with melted butter,
and dredge well with sifted flour. Lay it
in the pan on its breast, and pour in a
quart of cold water. Have the oven well
heated but not too hot, as the turkey must
cook slowly to be done. Allow a quarter
of an hour to each pound. Have some but-
ter in a plate with a larding mop. From
time to time baste the turkey with the
gravy in the pan, rub over with the larding
mop and dredge again with flour. As it
browns turn from side to side, and last of
all brown the breast. Frequent basting,
dredging and turning, will insure perfect
cooking. When done it should be a rich,
dark brown all over, and when a fork is
stuck deep into it no red juice should run.
Remove it to a hot dish and. ifthe gravy is
not quite thick enough, add a teaspoonful
of flour creamed smooth with some of the
grease skimmed from the gravy. If while
cooking the gravy in the pan boils away
too much, more water should be added.
When the turkey is done there should be
about a pint of gravy."

And so, having the turkey prepared for
the assault, and flanked by all the good
things enumerated in Mrs. Laing’s menu in
this issue, the HOUSEHOLD Editor wishes
all the readers of the little paper keen ap-
petites and good digestions; and suggests
that the profusion of good things which
bless our homes, be allowed to overflow and
reach some humbler, poorer homes, giving
their inmates also a “ Thank You Day.”

._.__.__..._____

ART AND NATURE.

 

There has been on exhibition at the Art
Museum in this city, for a couple of months
past, a collection of paintings by Michigan
artists. To tell the truth, it might have
been named an exhibit by Detroit artists,
for of the 37 exhibitors, all but six are
residents of this city. I spent one of my
“ afternoons off ” very pleasantly in view-
ing the collection, which though it con-
tained no astonishing evidence of heaven
born genius, was I thought above the
average, considering the grouping of pro«
fessional and amateur work. It was by no
means as bad as the Exposition “art gal-
lery "‘ which the public were invited to pay
a quarter apiece to see.

Lewis '1‘. Ives exhibited two portraits,

 


   

 

  

THE HOUSEHOLD.

     

 

one of which was a fine picture of abeauti-
ful face, with well managed drapery and a
fine effect in flesh tints.

Percy Ives’ most ambitious entry was
“ Mending,” an old lady in cap and spec-
tacles darning what was presumably a
stocking. The accessories were a green
paroquet, a little table, a basket, etc., but
the general efiect was unpleasantly patchy.
The old lady’s dress did not sympathize
with her complexion, but the lace on her
cap was skillfully treated and the little
crocheted shawl she were very realistic.
The thin hair, smoothly combed away from
the temples, and the intent expression of
the face were well portrayed.

W. H. Machen’s “ Senorita Mexicans”
was a charming study of a sweet brunette
face, daringly draped in red, which
brought out the delicate yet warm glow of
the complexion and the beautiful dreamy
eyes.

Rev. M. C. Hawks, who expounds the
law and the prophets at Simpson M. E.
church in this city, and paints pretty pas-
toral scenes as relaxation from the more
severe duty of plucking brands from the
burning, showed an oil painting, “ The
Old Mill oBarn,” which recalled certain
views along the St. Clair river; and had
also a water color study of a scene near
Grande Pointe.

Mrs. Fanny B. Jupp chooses plain and
homely themes and paintsthem with faith-
ful accuracy. A “ Study ” was a little
earthen teapot, a champagne bottle, and a
scraggy geranium in its accustomed red
clay pot. But when the world is so full of
beautiful things, where’s the sense of re.
producing its ugly ones?

Miss Coppens does better work, appar-
ently, in the animal kingdom than in land-
scape. Her dog’s head was good, whereas
the Minnehaha Falls had too much of a
drapery effect.

I liked Miss Crapo-Smith’s study of a
head better than her more ambitious effort,
“ A Cup of Tea.” The first was the head
of an old man with an abundance of faded
gray hair thrown back from a strong, well
drawn face, each line and wrinkle ac¥
centuating character. The model had neg-
lected his toilette, and the silvery stubble on
his chin, like the “ elderly morning dew ”
on Thackeray’s “ Major Pen dennis’s” face
after the famous ball, was a well-handled
tribute to nature. The “ Cup of Tea ”
defied the critics by the clause in paren-
thesis in the catalogue-“ Exhibited at the
Salon of 189.0”—but I never like tobe told
what I ought to admire. A little maid in
cap and apron is apparently treating herself
to a surreptitious cup of tea. The sponge
“lady fingers” and the cut sugar in the
bowl attracted my attention, while Fidus
Achates was praising the drawing and the
damask of napkins and table-cloth.

The Duchess of Oldenburg apple in 0.
B. Walkley’s fruit piece was readily re-
cognizable; the composition might per-
haps be criticised as too smoothly and
carefuuy done.

I confess I don’t like Frans Bischofi’s
flower pieces. I don’t like to have to con-
sult the catalogue to see what flower is rep-
resented; the reflection upon the polished

 

surface on which the blossoms are dis
played may be a sample of the artist’s
skill, but is bewildering and unreal. Miss
Higham’s “ Carnations,” just two or three
in atiny class, one of them bending af-
fectionately toward a blue- figured cup and
saucer, pleased me much better; they were
unpretending, but they looked real.

Hilda Lodeman, of Ypsilanti, had a
study of an old colored woman, “ Aunt
Posy,” which was excellent; the market
basket, the blue denim apron, and es-
pecially “ de brack face” looking out
under the sunbonnet, were well done.
Miss Lodeman is an amateur, but displays
evidence of talent.

Joseph Gies, whose pictures in water-
colors seemed better than his work in oil,
showed two genre paintings in the former,
” Artist and Critic ” and “ Flirtation.”
The critic, keen of vision and probably
scathing in tongue, is looking over the
artist’s shoulder as he works; the costumes
are of the courtly fashion of bygone days.

In pastel, A. W. Currier had apicture
which struck me as being pretty well
brought out. It was that of a man about
to light a cigar, the hat pushed back a
little, the light of the ignited match shining
through the hands which sheltered it from
the wind, as light does seem to shine
through flesh in the dark, making it almost
transparent, while the sulphurous blue of
the flame gave the face a somewhat ghostly
but very realistic appearance.

The gathering dusk began to make the
samples of modern art resemble the “ old
masters” in the adjoining room, and the
last numbers of the catalogue were merely
glanced at. And then, from this artistic
atmosphere, down the avenue where hand.
some carriages and high stepping horses
were conveying the aristocratic residents
home from their receptions and calls, to
the Rink, where a wealth of magnificent
Chrysanthemums displaced the rant of the
political orators who there harangued the
mnm’um gathemm during the late cam-
paign. The central floor-space had been
inclosed, and the centre laid off in twelve
large beds or plats, filled with the choicest
specimen plants of this imperial flower,
250 being required, while in each corner
were booths, banked in palms and foliage
plants, where cut flowers and plants were
sold. The Detroit Floral Company’s
booth was framed in green and white
cheesecloth; Breitmeyer’s in gold and white,
Schroeter's in blue and white, and Holtz-
nagel & Noel’s in pink and white. The
galleries were hung with flags and banners,
and trails of smilax. The cut specimens,
numbering over 5,000, were ranged on
tables round the sides of the rink. The
size of some of the flowers was phenom-
enal. Holtznagel & Noel showed one
justly named “ Goliah;” its petals, extend-
ed, gave it a diameter of eight inches. To
grow these iminense flowers, florists use all
the art of their profession. One blossom

alone is allowed to perfect it selt, the whole
strength and vigor of the plant, assisted by
judiciously liberal doses of liquid fertilizer,
being directed to its development; and the
result is astonishing. Breitmeyer took all

 

and Smith & Sons, of Adrian, alarge share
of the seconds and thirds; while Holtznagel
& Noel took all but four of the first pre-
miums for potted plants. Thh firm showed
an immense plant bearing 2,000 blossoms
--a hugh bouquet fit for a giantess.

Every variety known to fame and some
new aspirants for glory were on exhibition.
There was the “ Shasta,” with petals like
needles; the “ Mrs. Irving Clark,” a beauti-
ful pink; “ Comte (1’ Germany,“ with in-
curved petals making the flower like a
ball; the “ We We,” with incurved petals
rich red on the inside and a silvery pinkish
white outside; a unique blossom, dark
ruby red spotted with yellow—a floral
novelty which awakened suspicions of art»
ful handling; and most beautiful perhaps
of all, the “Mrs. Alpheus Hardy,” a pure
white varietywith incurving petals having
fine hairy appendages upon their surface,
giving the blossom an indescribable
feathery, glistening appearance. A floral
piece representing a painting was exhibited
by B. Schroeter; its frame of bronze
Chrysanthemums, the background of
white, the theme a vase of golden bronze
chrysanthemu ms filled with sprays of difr
ferent varieties.

The scene, viewed from the gallery, was
very pretty, the masses of rich coloring,
the picturesque groupings, the booths and-
musicians’ stand relieved by the dark
green of palms, made a charming picture
in itself. Our florists are doing not a little
to “ boom” their business by educating
people to know and admire their wares,
the most dainty and beautiful of Nature’s

work. Basrnrx.
-—--—-—oo+——-—

THE A. A.

To the countrywoman who feels dissat-
isfied with a record which, year after year,
holds nothing but the routine of house-
work, and who yet has very little time or
thought- to spare to anything else, a small
volume entitled “The Three Kingdoms,”
will seem like a kind and suggestive friend.
It will tell her about “ The Agassiz Asso-
ciation,” one better known in the east than
here, but claiming over ten thousand mem-
bers scattered over our and other lands,
“ everywhere learning to detect the beauti-
ful in the common and the wonderful in
the before despised.” Its object is to teach
us to “ study nature from her own book,”
to “learn about the stones by the road-
side and in the quarry; to become familiar
with the plants we pass on our way to
school, and with the insects that feed upon
and fertilize them; to get on speaking
terms with, and out of all cruel relations—
to, each warbler of the orchard and the
wildwood; to discover what fishes swim in
our brooks, what shells sing on our beaches-
and hide in our groves, what invisible ani-
malcules live in our ponds and ditches,
what stars shine in our sky.” This little
book tells her how to start a museum;
how to collect, study and preserve minerals,
plants, insects, birds and eggs; where to
obtain the best pamphlets and books upon
the different subjects, and how, if she

 

the first premiums but one on cut blooms, I

wishes, to start a chapter of the A. A.
Four is the smallest number of persons.

 


'K'A'm

«5,10,,»

5. Ax

. .. .,...v:Sm-r'm.:=y,s

 

THE HOUSEHOLD. 8

 

recognized as a chapter. Its laws, fees
and regulations are left entirely to the
decision of its members. Fifty cents is
the fee of admission to the National Asso-
ciation, and The Swiss Gross, its official
organ, costs one dollar a year. The ad-
vantage of becoming a member of the “ A.
A.” is that it gives her the aid of the best
of teachers. More than fifty gentlemen
representing all departments of science
hold themselves ready to answer the ques-
tions that puzzle us. Thanks to their
benevolence (they are unpaid), the boy or
woman who lives in the remotest village
can send his bit of stone or curious beetle
to one of these and learn its name and
history. One of its best features is that a
child of eight may become an interested
member, and the most successful and per-
manent chapters are those formed in
families where parents and children collect
and study together. We all know how
natural it is for most children to love to
pick up stones, to admire plants and
flowers, and to a few is given the taste for
insects and birds. The little book I quote
so freely also tells how to collect and
arrange specimens of wood, but an exhibit
at the Detroit Exposition suited me better
than any I have seen or read of. The blocks
were out like books, with bark in the place
of binding, a place for the title was cut
out, or rather down into the smooth part of
the bark. One side of the “book ” was
polished, the other left rough, and I am
only waiting for our “ man ” to grow up
to the ability of saw and plane to begin to
fill a shelf in the library with that sort of
“ books.”

The pursuit of these studies requires no
set time, but one afternoon each week is
said to accomplish a great deal. I am
sure it must in the way of health and
cheer to the monotony-worn pupil. Think
of four or five hours every week out in the
fresh air and sunshine—quite dropping all
the worries of the house in our anxiety to
learn Nature’s ways and means!

I hope that some of our readers having a
fondness for one or all of the “Three
Kingdoms” and wishing to make a collec-
tion or a museum may make the acquaint-
ance of the book and form a chapter of the
Agassiz Association. A. H. .1.

Tnonss.

.-—.—_—...._._.—-

GAMES FOR WINTER EVENINGS.

 

The game called the ‘ ‘ Sm" gamer-2's portrait”
collects us often around the table these
cold evenings. All are provided with pen
or pencil; one person commences the por-
trait by drawing at the top of a paper a
head; it may be of a man, horse, elephant,
or anything the fancy suggests; the paper
is then folded in such a manner as to com
ceal the head, but showing the neck, so the
next person who is to make the trunk or
body will know where it should be joined.
Fold as before, and the next of the com-
pany makes the lower limbs, and after
folding the fourth person completes the
sm' germ-is portrait by making the feet.
As each player does not know what the
one before him has portrayed, it often
causes much merriment upon unfolding

 

 

the paper. An amusing one consisted of
the head of a fierce looking lion, the body
and arms symbolized a dude, the limbs
those of a horse, and were completed with
chickens’ feet.

Another game in which any number
may join is to provide each player with
pencil and slips of paper, upon which is
made a representation of some proper
name, which the others are requested to
solve. For instance, the name Washing-
ton would be represented by a “ washing ”
hanging on a line, followed by two thou-
sand pounds, which would be the “ ton.”
Another name, Rose Houseman, would be
pictured as a rose, a house and a man.

As charades are generally in good de-
mand I will mention a few. “Beautiful
sunset on the sea” may be arranged by
cutting out a large letter C from paper or
cardboard, placing it upon a chair, and
instructing one of the “ beautiful sons” of
the company to “set” upon it. “Fore-
fathers” may be represented by four
gentlemen appearing with rag dollies in
their arms. “Nothing new under the
sun,” 3. “ son ” standing upon some worn
out garments. MAYBEE.

MIDDLEV’ILLE.

 

A THANKSGIVING DINNER.
[Read at meeting of Lenawee Co. Horticultural
Society, Nov. 12. 189.), by Mrs. B I. Laing, of
Lenawee J unction.l

“ It is coming, it is coming, be the weather dark
or air,
See the joy upon the faces, feel the blessings
in the air,
Get the dining chamber ready, let the kitchen
stove be filled,

Into gold-dust pound the pumpkins, have the
fatted turkeys killed.

“ Tie the chickens in a bundle by their downy

yellow legs,

Hunt the barn with hay upholstered, for the
ivory-prisoned eggs,

Tis the next of a procession through the cen-
turies on Its way,

Get a thorough welcome ready for the Grand
Old Day.

"- But we first will go to meeting, where the

person we shall hear,

Pack in gilded words the blessings that have
gathered through the vear.

And the choir will yield an anthem full of
unencumbered might.

That their stomachs would not hear of, if
they waited until night.

’-‘ Older people will sit musing of Thanksgiving

mornings fled,

Younger people will sit hoping for Thanks-
giving days ahead;

But they‘ll join in silent chorus when the
preacher comes to pray,

For we alleust be religious on the Grand

ay,

Yes, Thanksgiving Day will soon be
here, and perhaps no day in all the year is
so completely given up to feasting, coming
as it does after all the fruits and vegetables
are safely garnered and every thing seems
ready for the approach of winter. It is a
day fraught with golden memories for
children,parents and grand parents, meeting
at the old homestead; a day of unboumbd
hospitality and good cheer; a day set apart
by the President of the United States and
sanctioned by every governor, to be ob’
served as a day of thankfulness and re-
joicing for the manifold blessings of the
year. Now for such a day as this, I am to
give you a bill of fare for the dinner, butI
think it will not be a very difficult task,
for, in this grand old county of Lenawee
(this county, if I remember aright, that
stood higher in its agricultural products
than any county in the United States in the

 

census of 1880, and also the county that
was awarded the first premium at the De-
troit Exposition one year ago, for the
largest and finest collection of fruits),douht-
less every larder and cellar of our horticul-
turists are filled to overflowing with all
manner of good things to tempt the appe-
tite. The greatest trouble I fear will be
that your tables will be so loaded down
with provisions, as not to make the tables
groan, as the saying erroneously goes, but
the people will do the groaning after clear-
ing them. But the bill of fare—Which.
may be modified to suit the convenience of
each household—is this:

Raw oysters; roast turkey with dressing;
chicken pie; mashed potatoes; gravy;
squash; turnip; cabbage salad; celery;
peach pickles; cranberry sauce; light bis-
cuit; coffee; pumpkin pie; mince pie;
cheese; doughnuts; fruit cake; apples;
pears; grapes.

“ Come to dinner, we are (coming, fat and spare,

Smell the sweet and savory music of the

odors in the air,

Hear the dishes pet each, other, with a soft

and gentle clash,

Feel the snow of loaflets broken. see the
table-sabers flash.

“ Let our palates climb the gamut of delight
producing taste,
Our interiors feel the pressure of provisions
snugly placed,
Full of thanks and full of praises, full of corn
versation gay.
Full of evefiything congenial on the Grand
ay.

“ Let all pleasures be more pleasant, let all

griefs with help he nerved,

Let all blessings praise their sources, with
the thanks that are deserved,

Every spirit should look heavenward, every
heart should tribute my,

To the Soul of souls that treats us to the
Grand Old Day.“

——-—...‘__.__.

HELPS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

One of the most serviceable styles of
tablespreads is made of felt, which, 72
inches wide, can be bought in any desired
color and decorated with applique
work. Cut leaves out of crimson, green,
gold and brown plush and apply them as a
border on the spread, working round the
edge with buttonhole stitch on the felt,
and putting in the principal veins with
floss. Place a small piece of cotton bat»
ting under each leaf to give it a slightly
raised effect. The same thing may be
made in blue denim, such asis used for
overalls, with leaves cut from unbleached
linen twill and veined with brown linen
floss.

Nothing will please the small boy so
much as a bag filled with marbles. Make
the bag five inches long and three inches
wide, of bright pieces, and make it strong
and stout. Furnish with a stout cord to
draw it up and carry it by, and fill it with
“taws” and “alleys.”

A nice present to a housekeeping friend
is a half dozen or a dozen hemstitched
towels. Buy the broad fine huckaback by
the yard; and cut your towels, remember-
ing each should be a yard and a quarter
long when finished. Make a broad hem,
draw threads and hemstitch it, and mark
with the initial in cross stitch or outline
work. Some ladies trim the ends of towels
designed for their own use with knit or
crocheted lace, but this is really “ painting
the lily.”

Make a stocking-bag for the mother of

 


4.

    

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

many children by cutting two circles of
pasteboard the size of a saucer and cover
ing each on one side with the material of
the bag. Cutastrip—say of cretonne—
long enough to gather slightly to one of
the circles, then fit the other in over the
seam to serve for the bottom of the bag,
inside. Put pockets on the outside of the
bag to hold darning cotton and the darner,
and a few leaves of flannel for the darninar
needles. Turn the top and run a shir for
drawstrings. A pair of scissors attached
to aribbon and it stoutly stitched to the
bag isa convenience, for then the tired
woman who does her mending while “ rest-
ing” finds all her implements at hand.

A very dainty cushion for the couch is
filled with down and its linen tick covered
with soft China silk. A doubled rufiie of
the silk, three and a hall inches wide when
finished, is sewed in all round in the seam
which joins the upper and under sides of
the case. Three or four such pillows,
variously covered, are now seen on every
well-regulated lounge. Patient labor will
supply the down from hens' feathers, if
the quill part be clipped with scissors
from the small feathers.

A case for postal cards is a. convenient
adjunct to a writir- g desk. Cut two pieces
of cardboard, (ne seven inches long and
five inches wide; the other five inches long
and three incheswide, curving the upper
and of each piece. Cover the larger piece
with velvet, blue, gold or scarlet, and the
smaller with white satin. On the latter
paint a sprig of holly, or embroider an
initial, consulting your artistic ability.
Join the two pieces at the bottom with
hows of narrow white ribbon, in such a
way that there is space to slip in a package
of postal cards.

M“

SCRAPS.

 

One of our exchanges says that “ when
a grocer makes up a package of sugar,
crackers, nails, coffee, etc. he puts the
paper in the scales and weighs it with the
goods. This paper item, in the aggregate,
is not sosmall a thing after all. A grocer
who has been in the business 40 years says
he has averaged 300 pounds of wrapping
paper per annum, or 12,000 pounds of
paper, which at the price of sugar, amounts
to quite a sum.” Then the journal in
question adds sententiously: “ Small
things are not to be despised." The value
of the grocer’s wrapping paper, distributed
among the thousands of customers who
have done business with him through a
period of forty years, would not financially
afiect any one individual—not even the
most persistent economist or stickler for
” small things," And for my own part, I
greatly ymgfer to have whatever I buy at a
grocery weighed out into the paper in
“which it is wrapped rather than into the
scale~pan without the paper. When one
considers the variety of commodities which
go into and out of a grocer's scales during
a day, the reason is plain enough to be
seen. I have remembered all my life a
sentence concerning economy which I read
in an old, old book when I was less than
nine years old: “Save the little things.

    

A thread a day is a penny a year.” I
questioned its wisdom then; I question it
more seriously to-day. Even to my childish
apprehension the penny did not seem com-
mensurate to the amount of vital energy
expended in stooping 365 times to pick up
the value of one-three hundred and sixty-
fifth part of a cent. Save? yes, by all
means; but it is not good economy to make
the labor of the saving over-value the re-
sult.

Isn’t it amazing what a flow of eloquence
a person who was tongue-tied in the parlor
can develop when he or she gets to the
front door in the act 'of taking leave? With
an avenue of escape open conveniently
close at hand all those things she ought to
have said in the parlor come crowding the
portals of speech, and she keeps her com-
plaisant hostess standing in the draft
while dust and flies in summer and chill
air in winter pour through the open door.
She has more “ last words" than the
” finally and to conclude, beloved breth-
ren ” of the prolix sermons to which we
impatiently listened in our youth. Now
there is no necessity of taking leave with
unseemly haste, as if one were fired out of
a cannon, so to speak, but it is well to re-
member the front door is not the place for
prolonged adieux. BEATRIX.

___..__...————-

LITERARY NOTES.

IN this notice of the New York Ledger we
wish it distinctly understood that the
Ledger of today is kin only in name to the
Ledger of twenty-five years ago. It is now
an acceptable family paper, its serials of
good order—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps fur-
nished one during the current year—its
miscellany of merit. It promises yet better
things for 1891.

Goon Housekeeping, now issued fort-
nightly, is to be published in magazine
form and monthly after Jan. lst, and fills
the closing months of the year with interest-
ing, valuable matter. Nearly every de-
partment of the household receives atten-
tion in every number. Something es-
pecially good is promised for the Thanks-
giving and Christmas issues, and Miss
Parloa prepares the menu for the Christ-
mas dinner. $2.40 per year. Clark W.
Bryan, Springfield, Mass.

 

THE November number of The Home-
Maker sustains the reputation already won
by that periodical. For its subscription
price, which is only two dollars per annum,
it gives exceptional value in the way of
pure and instructive reading, and we can
cheerfully recommend it as a magazine
which the women of the family will find
helpful and entertaining. “Marion Har-
land” (Mrs. Terhune) has retired from the
editorial chair and is succeeded by M rs.
Croly (“Jenny June”) whose ability to
fill the post of editor no one will question.
Home-Maker Co., 44 East 14 St._. New
York City.

 

THE Youth’s Companion, which several

 

of our correspondents have recently men-

tioned favorably in these columns, is worth
their words of approbation and praise. It
visits the family every week, and its con-
tents will interest and please both the
young people and the “ old folks,” who
are after all only children of a larger
growth. We acknowledge the receipt of a
handsome calendar for 1891, which is a
gem in its way. New subscribers to the
Youth‘s Companion can obtain it and the
FARMER for $2.25; these rates however are
not allowed by the Companion to old sub-
scribers, who must make their renewals
direct to that ofl‘ice.

THE Ladies‘ Home Journal is a conun-
drum, but we will never “give it up.”
The wonder is how its publishers can
afford to give so much and such good
matter as is found in its pages every
month, for only a dollar a year. The
magazine has improved during the past
two or three years, and its owners evident-
ly mean to leave nothing undone which
can help establish it in the favor of its
readers. Will Carleton furnishes a poem
for the November number; Campanini, the
famous tenor, a paper on vocal culture;
and Susan Coolidge, Mary C. Hungerford,
Mrs. Holmes, Margaret Bottome, who
founded the society known as “ The King’s
Daughters;” E. E.Rexford, Dr. Talmage,
and many other well lnown writers con-
tribute interesting articles. Curtis Pub-
lishing 00., Philadelphia.

—__...———

U sefui Recipes.

 

OYSTER Tonya—From the Boston Cooking
School comes this recipe for a toothsome
delicacy, reported by the N. E. Fa/rmer:
Wash one pint of oysters by pouring on one-
hai: cup of cold water; season with salt and
pepper, then roll in line cracker crumbs that
have been slightly seasoned. Grease a broiler
with "a piece of salt pork. as this is as good if
not better than butter. Broil over a clear
tire until thejuice flaws. Place on toast and
pour a white sauce over and sprinkle with
chopped celery. Toast bread slowly by turn-
ing it frequently over the fire and drying it
thoroughly or put it in the oven to dry. Toast
which is browned rapidly on the outside leav-
ing the inner portion moist, is indigestible for
all but strong stomachs. The sauce should
have been prepared before the oysters are
broiled. Heat a pint of milk in a double
boiler. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter
and when it is boiling hot stir in two table-
spoontuls oi‘ cornstarch or flour: beat every
limp out and turn the milk on slowly, stirring
all the time. The boiling hot butter breaks
the starch grains and the sauce is made much
more qu‘ckly than any other way and does
not have a raw taste. If cornstarch or flour
is mixed with cold water or milk it should be
cooked a longer time.

 

Gaannuornna's ano APPLE PIES --Soak
dried apples over night, stew, sweeten and
flavor with lemon peel. Make a crust of one
cup milk, half cup sugar, one egg, pinch of
salt, butter large as walnut. teaspoonful soda,
two teaspooni‘uls cream tartar. flour to roll.
Roll an eighth of an inch thick, cut with s.
saucer, put a spoonful of apple on one half,
turn the other half over, wet the edges and

 

press together. Fry in hot lard.