DETROIT, JAN. 3, 1.591.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD---Supplem Gent.

GONE B EFORE.

 

 

acquire a modest library, for the love of
books, like other of our appetites “grows
by what it feeds on.’ I do not counSel
much buying of paper covered books; they
are flimsy, soon defaced and soiled, and
the book-borrower seldom feels they are
worth returning, so they are soon lost.
Besides, a good book is a friend whose
scciety one can enjoy again and again; once
reading, like one squeeze of a lemon, does
not exhaust its contents. I have owned a
set- of Thackeray’s novels for fifteen years,
and though they have been read again and
again, when I have an idle hour I can spend
it with the prince of satirists with as much
delight as ever.

All the young people who have read
Miss Alcott’s books Will be dzrlighted with

he was eating pie or subsisting on philos-
ophy. Much of the life of the happy March
girls in Little Women was drawn from the
experiences of the Alcott family. They
had an ideally happy childhood, with their
father for a teacher, and with the most
loving yet judicious care directing their
development. Not always can children
of alarger growth say as did Louisa, in
one of her good days at Fruitlands, “I
had a pleasant time with my mind, for it
was happy;” we are more apt to be as she
wrote at another time: “ I am so cross I
wish I had never been born.” The family
burdens were early laid upon her shoul-
ders-in a letter toa sister she says “there’s
always so many things needed at home ”~—
and she tried teaching and sewing, and

There's a beautiful face in the silent air.
Which follows me ever and near.

With smiling eyes and amber hair.

With voiceless lips. yet with breath of prayer
That I feel but cannot hear.

’1 he dimplrd hand and ringlet of gold
Lie low in a marble sleep;
[stretch n y hand for a (‘1er of old,
But the tn pty air is strongt ly cold.
And my vigil alone they.

There‘s a rinltss trow with a radiant crown.
And a crors laid down in the dust:
There’s a turtle I here never a tbfdl crmesnow,
And tears no more from these dear eyes fltw.
So sweet in their innocent trust.

Ah. well! And summer is come again.
81 ng‘ing her tame old song:
But (-11.11 sounds like a sob of pair,

 

Asit floste in tht surthine and the rsin
O’er the hearts of the world's great throng.

There’s a beautiful region above the skies,
And I long to reach its shore,
For I know I shall find my treasure there.
The laughing eyes and amber hair
01 the loved one gone before.

AMONG THE BOOKS.

I have al ways believed that farmers’

families would possess more books if they
only knew what to buy. Bemrmbo ring
my own perplexities when I lived fourteen
miles firm a borkosttre where anything
but school books could be obtained, Ifully
appreciate the difficulty of making selec-
tions with no better guidethan a catalogue
and paid press notices—which are simply
advertisements. Often was_I disappointed
in some long coveted, much-praised
volume which I had patiently saved the
“ egg money ” to buy. and which came by
mail from some of the great publishing
houses. It was mine, but it was an as yet
untried friend. Would it realize my an-
ticipations when I came to know it? Oh
the delight of opening one of these pack-
ages! How would the book be bound,
and what its paper and letter-press? Would
it be a good “ fat ” one, or thin and stingy,
spread out to make as much as possible?
Only the genuine lover of books can
realize the pleasures of book-buying, and
let me whisper to you it is a pleasure that
never polls.

Hoping to aid some lover of good litera.
ture to a worthy choice among the books,
I purpose during the coming year to re-
view briefly from time to time such
volumeaasI have read and enjoyed. Prices
of books have decreased to such an extent

that dmoutovory family can aflord gto buy

l

her sze, Letters and Jam-mats, edited by
Edna D. Chem y, which has recently been
published. One’s only regret is that there
is not even more about this charming
woman. who is as bright and entertaining
in her letters and journals as in her books.
We have here laid before us the life of the
ambitious girl, the breadwinner of the
family, who at twenty resolved to “make
the family independent.” She did so,
and only those who read the story of her
life, laid bare in her journals, will know at
what a strain upon strength and courage.
Her father was a dreamy idealist, pure and
noble in nature, but unpractical and vis-
ionary in the extreme. without the first
qualification for making a living for his
wife and four girls. Theirs was a happy,
united family life, rich in the wealth of
love and “amily affection, but "poor as
poverty,” and obliged to practice the
plainest kind of living in connection with
their high thinking. Mr. Alcott was a
vegetarian and none of the children tasted
meat till they came to maturity; Louisa
notes in her journal that the idea that a
vegetarian diet tends to tranquillity and
peaceful traits in humanity is not realized
in her own case, her impulsive disposition
often getting the better of her. In fact.
the children wearied of the boiled rice and
graham mush which constituted their very
simple diet.

Miss Alcott’s favorite name for her
father was Plato; he dwelt on a lofty height
untroubled by such prosy details as flour
and coals, and Louisa’s definition of a
philosopher as “A man up in a balloon,
and his wife and family hold of the ropes
and trying to pull him down,” was born of
her own father’s peculiarities, and the ex-
periences of the family in trying to keep

 

bimmmughtoombtokmwwbother‘

bill for one.

ones.
tirne mi strength diminished withrut doubt;
thooxoallonoo of her "literary work. mThe

 

even went out to service, writing her little

stories and selling them whenever she

could, overjoyed if she got a five dollar
It is almost pitiful to think
of her struggles at this period, trying so
hard to earn alittle money for comforts
for her mother and the dear ones at home,
and making her own bonnets from the con-
tents of a triend’s rag bag, and her dresses
from old clothes given her by her cousins.
Her winter's earnings in 1855 amounted to
$120. Some. of Polly’s adventures in “The
Old-Fashioned Girl ” were her own when
she set out for Boston in 1856, with all her
worldly goods in her little trunk and $50,

her own earnings, in her pocket, bound to
succeed if perseverence and industry were
any good. The record of her life shows

how true were her ku words who she
said it had allthrough life been her mission
to “ till gaps." She was nurse and house-
keeper by turns: now makings ball dress
for the pretty May. and then writing a
story to pay for the parlor carpet. con-
cocting a pudding or talking philosophy
with her beloved “ Plato.” but alwavs
working for others, never for herself. At
forty. she had accomplished her purpose;
the family were made comfortable, the
artistic sister supplied with the means to
develop her talent, and a modest sum in
the bank for a. rainy day. But she worked
harder than ever. All depended upon her.
She 28W? then. ti i-tl‘tlltrt'il trd uurage
taro vitality 1t re ll e less literally than of
her earnings. Wants irritated with the
)(Vltl‘ to gratify thrr. ard tlttteh her
run taettsvcne wry [lam srrd sin pie. she
delighted in providing luxuries for those
sl e lrud srd was r-rtud of her independ-
The constant demands umu her

 


 

2 T‘HE HOUSEHOLD.

Lg

incessant demands from publishers, which
the requirements of the family compelled
her to attempt to satisfy, coupled with
the care of its members through long in-
tervals of illness, forced her to write
hurriedly and her stories were still dashed
off at a white heat.

Hers was a hard life, full of its vigorous
activities and the overwork that brought
the breakdown at fifty-six, while her
father’s tranquil philosophy sustained him
to the honors of an octogenarian. She was
atrue prophet when she said, after her
success was assured: “ When I had the
youth I had no money; now I have the
money I have no time; and when I get the
time, if I ever do, i shall have no health
to enjoy life.”

In reading this life record, the thought
occurs, how much of a son’s or daughter’s
life is due the family? How much of one’s
own career should be given up to the
claims of kindred? What is the limit of
the reciprocal duties of parents and chil-
dren? These are questions which are con-
stantly arising in real life, and being as
constantly settled all around us. What do
our Housnnonmrns think about them?

M. Imbert de Saint-Amend has written
a notable series of books upon the famous
women of the French court, which has
been translated into English by T. 8.
Perry. There are six volumes, which,
curiously, have not appeared in chronolog-
ical order. Taken in connection with de
Bourrienne's Memoirs of Napoleon Bona-
parte, they give a full and exact account of
Napoleon, Josephine and Marie Louise,
and the epoch of French history in which
these personages figured. The books of
M. de Saint-Amend should be read in the
following order: Marie Antoinette and
the end of the Old Regime; Citizeness
Bonaparte; The Wife'ot‘ the First Consul;
The Court of the Empress Josephine; The
Happy Days of the Empress Marie Louise;
Marie Louise and the Decadence of the
Empire. Thus arranged, we have a perfect
epitome of the lives of tnese Iamous
women, and new views of their characters
and ambitions. Napoleon, whom most of
us know only as to the hero of Austerlitz
and the victim of Waterloo, and the exile
of St. Helena, we see as husband and
father, as man, not demi-god, as some of
his chroniclers have made him.

Fate was unkind to the Empresses of
France. The beautiful Austrian, Marie
Antoinette, was martyred upon the scat-
fold, the illustrious victim ot the great
revolution. Marie Louise, her grand-niece,
in her "happy days” was at height of
unparalleled glory and renown. b‘he took
precedence 01 every queen and empress,
even of her step-mother, the Empress of
Austria; and her diamonds prov0ked the
jealousy of courts. She was mother or a
son who seemed destined to inherit his
father’s throne, and tenderly beloved by
the man before whose frown all Europe
trembled. Yet her glory endured but two
years; her son, the King or Home, whom
Napoleon never saw after he was foar
years old, died at twenty-one, not even as
Italian king or French prince, but as the
German Duke of Reichstadt. And Mari

l

figure.

 

Louise herself, who had worn the double
imperial and royal crown of France and
Italy, accepted gladly at the hands of the
Coalition the insignificant Duchy of
Parma, and in the same year in which the
husband who had raised her to such
glorious heights died in exile, contracted a
morganatic marriage with Count Neipperg,
to become, after his death, the morganatic
wife of M. de Bombelles, a French attache
of the Austrian court. All are familiar
with the life of the beautiful creole who
was Napoleon’s first love, the wife sacri-
ficed to an ambition which yet failed of
fruition; and there is no doubt that J ose-
phine loved her husband with ,an ardor
and passion he never inspired in the cold
blooded Austrian who felt and said, both
before her marriage and in her widow-
hood, that she had been " sacrificed ” for
reasons of state. And surely there is no
more pathetic picture in our own day than
that of the widowed, childless Eugenie,
who once ruled the world of fashion and
society, almost forgotten in her poverty
and exile, spending her time in prayer and
the decoration of the tombs of herhusband
and son.

I can commend M. de SaintsAmand’s
books as interesting and entertaining read-
ing for all. They furnish very pleasant
media for becoming conversant with that
exciting portion of the world’s history in
which Napoleon Bonaparte was the central
Burmx.

A CHRISTMAS BOUQUET .

 

This Christmas Eve while “ everybody”
with his wife and children are crowding
the several churches in this ambitious little
town (Fenton) to behold and receive the
fruit borne in abundance on the various
Christmas trees, or the miniature sleighs
and ships freighted in like manner, 1 re-
main with my friend, who is disabled by a
broken limb and just now quietly sleeping.
And 1 am not at all lonely, for on a table
at my side are the faces of a number of old
friends; not photographs, but flowers and
leaves, just as I have had them in past
days and hop; to have again. But these
came to me from the hand of a generous
and thoughtful friend this very day, and I
wonder it any of the many flowers I have
given so lavishly ever gave such exquisite
pleasure as do these to mel Have any I
ever gave called up sweet, sad memories
no words may express, of gardens with
glowing beds and banks and trellises of
fragrant bloom so delightful to friends
and family? This bouquet was gathered
from plants raised and tended by a loving
hand, for they are as fresh and fair as
pansies in early spring, although their
home is only a sitting-room window and
other nooks about the house where they
can be made comfortable. b‘till there are
few greenhouses that can furnish better
specimens of White Stock, Impatiens Sul-
tam', Primroses, Begonia Rubra, and a
pink variety. My bouquet has the leaves
of Marshal McMahon geranium for border,
and next a circle of rose geranium; those
are the principal flowers in this collection,
but to enhance the effect of delicacy, sprays

 

of linaria are trailing daintily in and out
among leaf and blossom. These flowers
and leaves are delightfully fresh and
healthy, or I could not enjoy them so
much; and a practiced, careful and tender
hand has evidently tended them. Were
they sickly or unclean only my pity would
be extended to them. Marshal McMahon
is better than many blooming plants when
in partial shade; the margin of the leaf is
then a golden yellow and next a zone of
red-brown against pale green. In summer,
in beds in a sunny situation, it is clothed
in deeper hues and altogether lovely; as the
florists say, “it should be in every collec-
tion.”

El. See. speaks well and sensibly of the
wrongs of children, let her or some other
member of this establishment solve the
problem of the ingratitude of so many
children to their aged and helpless parents
as we so frequently see notice of, for the too
freely giving or withholding of tender en-
dearments or indulgence will scarcely ac-
count for such unfllial and wicked acts as
we hear reported far too frequently.

FENTON. MRS. M. A. FULLER.

[A leaf of the Marshal McMahon ger-
anium Mrs. Fuller describes above was en-
closed with her letter. It is indeed “ gor-
geous,” the colors being brilliantly beauti-
ful. A plant of it would be as handsome
—almost-—as a bouquet—En]

—-—...——_

FRIENDSHIP, DUTY, AND LOVE.

 

“ Ne’er yet was spoke a noble thought,

But that some soul did treasure,

Ne’er yet a noble deed was wrought,
But to some heart brought pleasure.

No sacrificing heart, 1 hold,
E'er suffered for another,

But that ’twas writ in words of gold
By angels hOVering over.

For home things cannot be lost,
i‘hey are lelLiely given;

Methinks when Death’s sea we have crossed
We ll find them safe ill heaven."

The above beautiful words were copied
from a religious paper loaned me by a
dear friend. Sometimes on the spur of the
moment we do deeds which we consider
duties; for instance, speaking a few words
to set another thinking of the great world
beyond; a few kind words written con-
veying thoughts of love and tenderness for
our welfare, how much comfort they bring
some of us. 1 will never forget the kind
and friendly notes sent me by my nearest
neighbors in our old home. What a little
joy of its own each one brought me! I
know noble deeds cannot be lost; they are
treasured up in heaven. Many times we
think they are done in vain and are not ap-
preciated, yet our Saviour says “ Inas-
much as thou hast done it (a good deed)
unto one of the least of these thou has done
it unto Me.” So let us take up our bur-
dens with more cheerful hearts, knowing
whatever betide us “Jesus doeth all things
well.” Let us strive to do every duty as
it comes. At best we do many things we
ought not to do, and leave undone many
things that we ought to do, the mistakes of
our lives are many,even though we do our
best, but it is my earnest desire to do my
duty at all times, whatever comes.

I would love to welcome “ Hopefull”
back, she was such a good correspondent.
The dear little Housman) grows deare

 

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i
i


 

 

\.f.1!( mu m... s."

Lamas.» 4 . .... ..

 

THE HOUSEHOLD. 3

each year to me. I was sorry to see a con—
troversy with regard to the dress reform,
but cannot help but agree with our Editor,
as I would not like to see women arrayed
to be conspicuous or mannish. I cannot
like what was once worn in Ohio when I
was a little girl; it was the awkward look-
ing suit called Bloomers. Now I do not
wishto call down the ire of Belle M. Perry
or Ella R. Wood on my head, for I like
their writings very much, there is a great
deal of good in their articles, but let us all
work in unison and love, knowing life is
only a few short days compared to eternity.
Wonvsamir. MAYBELLE.
___._...____._
FARMERS’ WIVES AND DAUGHTERS
COMPARED WITH CITY LADIES.

 

[Paper read before the Union Farmers’ Club of
nion City Dec. 11th, by Mrs. Marion Wat-
kins, of Sherwood.)

By the word city in my essay, I have no
reference to Sherwood, Mudsock, Union
City, Hodunk, Burlington, Abscota, Tad-
more or Athens. So if there are any ladies
present from these different places, please
take no offense from my comparisons.

I think there is no class of women that
are harder workers, and work more hours
than farmers’ wives and daughters. And
yet I think they are the healthiest, the
happiest and the most contented class.
Some may think it is because they are
ignorant and simple-minded. But such is
not the fact. It is more particularly be-
cause they enter into their work with a
good spirit and cheerful manner, and find
they are well recompensed for their labor
in many ways. Take for instance the care
of milk and butter, the care of chickens,
helping in the garden; every day brings
pleasure in the fond anticipation of the
future profit and comfort from such labor.
The canning of fruit, quilting of quilts,
getting ready for winter in general pays
well in the comfort and pleasure the worker
realizes from her labor. Even the hard
work of cleaning house pays in the
pleasure and satisfaction she feels as she
sits down to read or rest. And as to baking
and cooking, if the way to a man’s heart is
through his stomach, certainly the farmers’
wives ought to have perfect control of
their husbands’ hearts, and I believe they
do as a class. I can think of no work they
have to do for which if they would go to
work at it in a cheerful manner they
would not be well recompensed in some
way, either in love, health, wealth, com-
fort, pleasure or satisfaction; and these in
return bring happiness and contentment.
Then why should people call our life lowly
when it brings to us the greatest blessings
of life, and accomplishes the greatest aims?
It is not lowly; we are proud of our work.

The only cause we have for complaint is
we have too much of it to do; it does not
aflford us the leisure we would like to have
to cultivate and improve our minds, and
again we do not think we are duly ap-
preciated. Farmers’ wives always seemed
to me like the busy bee _ gathering sweets
as she goes along. Somebodyis benefltted
by their having lived.

- l wonldJike to mention some marked
points of difierence between farmers’

 

wives and daughters and city ladies,
which I think are in favor of the former
class. While we are plain they are vain.
We work, they shirk. While they are the
best dressed, we are the most blessed.
While they are living in strife, we are en.
joying life. While they are gossiping
about their neighbors, we are happy in our
labors.

To discover that we are not an ignorant
and simple-minded class, you hav e but to
test us on the common topics of the day,
on things of interest to the country, and
the good of mankind, and you will find
we have read, and are as well and perhaps
better posted than most city ladies. Our
arguments may lack the elegance of speech
and grace of style which the city ladies
seek to cultivate. But I think our points
of good sense and real merit will more than
balance these. Then again you will find it
easier for farmers’ wives and daughters to
move into a city and learn city waysland
manners, than for city ladies to move out
on the farm and learn the useful work and
sensible ways of an economical farmer’s
wife. For it requires much wisdom and
skill to fill the place of afarmer’s wife,
and it takes time to learn it, too. Then
again you may take a farmer‘s daughter
and a city bred girl and place them in the
same school, in the same classes, with
equal chances, and at the end of three
years the farmer’s daughter will come
out ahead more often than otherwise. A
professor in one of the Ann Arbor schools
said to an uncle of mine: “ I don’t see why
it is, but I may coax, encourage and urge
my pupils along the best I know how, and
the girls will come in from the country
and be prepared for college sooner than I
can possibly get my classes ready.” I
think one reason is, those having such
grand opportunities for education scarcely
ever seem to appreciate them as do those
who have to make a great effort and some
sacrifices for such privileges. Then again,
those always living in the city have their
time and attention too much taken up with
amusements and surface education, such as
how to look, dress and appear well socially,
and how to draw, paint and dance by rule;
while country girls take up these last
branches as a sort of amusement and often
excel in them. Be the reasons what they
may, I think the professor gave the
country girls quite a compliment. So I
see no reason wny we ,- should feel inferior
to any other class of women. We have
equal talents with the rest, and why
should we not improve them; and to be
convinced they have been improved, you
have but to compare the farmers’ wives
and daughters of fifty years ago and today.
No class has progressed faster, and they
are still progressing. And I think the
time is coming, when instead of our being
looked down upon as an inferior class of
women, we shall be looked up to as a
superior class. And it rests with us if we
so desire it, to help bring about that state
of things. And as early teachings make
strong impressions in after life, let us com-
mence now and instruct our daughters
well in the ways of common sense, teach
them economy, and to bear the duties of

 

 

life uncomplainingly, and give them such
other chances for education as our means
will permit; they will make better and

more prudent wives, better mothers, and

be more ornamental to society. There is
no danger of too much education, it gives
greater power for good purposes and in-
creases our happiness. We know not
what places our daughters may be called
upon to fill. A farmer’s daughter has been

a president’s wife, a senator’s, general’s,.
governor’s, doctor’s, lawyer’s, minister's,
wife of the President of the Farmers’ Club,.
wife of the member of the State Legisla-~-
ture. But if they are never anything but;
honest farmers’ wives we may consider our
daughters well settled in life, for farmers"
wives are granted many privileges now;
they are allowed to join the farmers’ clubs,
institutes and other farmer organizations,
and hold oifices and take an active part in

the exercises, a great privilege not granted.
city, ladies.

I saw a farmer’s wife’s complaint in the":
MICHIGAN FARMER, saying that poets of
all ages had writteii of the farmer and his 2
occupation, but who had ever heard of one,-
who sang the praise of a farmer’s wife, L
looked for such a poem but could not find
one. I found one saying “ The Farmer

Feeds Us All.” It did not go on to men-
tion that the wives did the cooking; but
they do. I would like to drop a few
words of encouragement, but I am no
poetess.

Although my thoughts will many times

(10 driiting ofi'in Sllllple rhymes,

I wondered Why we nau been slighted,

Alla thought the matter should be righted.

1 think it Very strange indeed,

'l‘nttt we ShOllld meet so poor at meed.

We are but iarmers’ WiVes, that’s true,

And plenty work We find to do,

For it requires much tact and skill,

the place of farmer’s wtte to fill;

And many owe the farmer‘s Wife,

For ail the comforts of their life.

Then why need we from duty shirk,

’l‘is no disgrace for us to Work

An Object true, we have in View,

’ l‘is for love’s sake, and good to do;

And for this labor we are blest

In many ways of happiness.

The city belies you Will often find

Are of a discontented mind;

they want to have the prettiest hat,

The costii’est cloak, and all of that,

They want to outdress every one,

and unhappy are when they’re outdone.

1 know We lack the ease and grace,

That in the City bred you trace;

1 know we lack that wits-hing smile

'l‘hose many artful tricks of guiie;

l know we don't keep up in style,

Because We don’t think it w0itn While-

We can find better work to do,

Wi h much less strife, and nobler too.

What though our hands With labor sail,

We win a recompense for toll,

What though ourraces patio and tanned

We can respect and love command;

We boast of hearts as true and warm

As those that beat in fairer form;

We’ve Willing hands for others' needs,

can do as kind and lovmg deeds,
Can che.r the sick, and s00th the mind, ‘
As those with manners more refined. '
Then if adversity‘s firm clasp

Should seize on us, with iron grasp

And nearly crush us, We would find

The friends to whom We had been kind,

Would swarm around us, not afraid

To give us comfort. lend us aid,

To raise us from despair and grief,

'l‘o cheer our hearts, and give relief.

Warning Words are these to keep,

Just as you sow, so snail you reap,

A few more words 1 Would like to tend

Before 1 do my essay end.

Husbands, don’t be so stingy of your praise,

You never were in courting days,

Don’t be afraid to let us know,

When we do well just tell us so; T
Just keep on courting am your lives,
Don’t court the gnls, out court your wives. F
You’ll find you will the gainer be, *
We'll harder try to please. you see, "
Then we’ll not aSK ror minstiel’s lays,
0r poet’s many songs or praise,-

'i‘o encourage us in useful way 3,

For ’tis a good work and it pays.

Then we'll be contented With our task.
What more can any woman ask:


   

  

4.

THE HOUSEHOIJD~

  

 

 

RECONSTRUCTED BEDQUILTS.

When I read Huldah Perkins’ way of re-
pairing old bedquilts I thought I would

give mine. I use my old dress skirts;
those that are good after the waists are
worn out. Makealining. put onaihin
layer of batting. then the old quilt and an-
other thin layer of batting, then the out-
side. tie and you have as nice and soft a
comforter as need be asked for. New
cloth can be used if desired, but I think
the old can just as well he saved instead of
throwing it' away.

Have any of the readers of the House-
HOLD ever tried freezing pumpkin after
cooking it for winter use? It will keep
just splendid and can be prepared in a
short time.

Now that Chr'stmas is past all can settle
down to the daily routine of work. I sup~
pose all the readers of the HOUSEHOLD en-
joyed Christmas; I did for one. I attended
a wedding and saw a dear friend take upon
herself those sacred marriage vows. It
does seem as though it were all a lottery,
but we hope and trust that here may be a

lucky ticket. DOLLY.

Damon.

RAMBLINGB.

I am in a talkative mood just now but
without any particular tonic on which to
discourse. so if no one objects, I’ll just
ramble awhilein the gallery of “ talk made
easv.” In looking over the last HOUSE-
HOLD I came across a new member. She
showel her card with the name “ Ignora-
mus ” I listened to her pleasant chat. in
which content shone brightly under such
circumstances that only calm, courage
with help from the Master could have
made it possible. I donot alludeto the “log
cabin.” Home is what we make it. be it
in palace or cabin. But when one “ is an
invalid most of the time,” and yet can get
true content from ordinary or extraordin-
ary surroundings, it is a misnomer to bear
the name of “Ignoramus,” for only the
wise can be able to attain to that high
position. And our new friend shows that
she has set her mark high. She is most
welcome, and I, for one, will gladly try
the promised recipes.

Then Huldah Perkins wants a ghost,
and declares “ any kind of a spook wel-
come.” Perhaps if she pushes her investl.
gations far enough, she may find “dark
spirits and light, white spirits and grey,”
and become a veritable resident of Spook-
town. I fear that immense load of talk
she told of, that she has kept bottled up
so many years, has got soured. hursted its
bounds, and saturated that “ spirit board ”
with avitiated compound. shown by the
“ bad spell” she speaks of, and the want
of veracity displayed.

I hardly know whether I would like her
way of mending quilts. I am afraid they
might grow to be like the boy’s trowsers
that the mother mended in a similar style.
Whenever ahole came through she slapped
on a patch large enough to cover it, and in
process of time the pants became warmer,
certainly, but so heavy that the boy could
not carry them.

“ Which W learn hummus

 

good,” inquires A. H. J ., and Grandpa
answers: “ It is inherent in human
nature.” Ah! me! I suppose it must be
so since so many declare it, yet in the
nature of many little ones love shows be-
fore hate, or ugliness. Witness the smiles
on the baby face when mamma comes. and
the stretching of the tiny hands for her
embrace. Evil is a plant of natural
growth, certainly, but so is good. The
Divine Artificer never allowed the work
He pronounced “ good ” to be given over
entirely to the enemy. Good and evil are
often only relative terms; as the same thing
in diflerent degrees produces the opposite
qualities. To be firm is good, to be ob-
stinate, evil. To be economical is good, to
he miserly, evil. On the other hand to be
generous is good, to be wasteful is evil.

I will not urge the matter farther, as
some irate HOUSEHOLDER will very likely
rap my knuckles for being thus venture-

some. “ Aweel,” I’ll call again some 'day,
Good bye. 4. L. L.
Mannrnonrn.

~—-—-—--¢OO——

THE MAGAZINES.

In compliance with the request of M. E.
H. of Albion. as regards the peculiar
features of some of the leading magazines
of the day, would say I have been a reader
of The Arena since last April, and fear
the courtship will end in a wedding, for it
presents the live questions of the times by
scholars who do not fear to write the truth.
and every page gives food for thought
hOurs after reading it.

The Forum is good, just as good, but
presents its subjects in a little difierent
light. more in favor of the present system,
but deep and strong.

Harper‘s is a good "and popular magazine;
to me it seems but the echo of what I have
read since my earliest recollection.

CHARLOTTE. R. R. P.
.—--.O.---—

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

 

THE mica in coal stoves can be cleaned
by washing with vinegar and water,
though we have found diluted ammonia a
most excellent thing. Apply with a woolen
cloth. Let the fire get low_before you at-
tempt the cleaning.

 

To clean hair-brushes, put a tablespoon-
i’ul of ammonia into tepid water, dip them
up and down until clean, then dry with
the bristles down. In place of the am-

monia, they may be cleaned by using a,

teaspoonful of soda. Keep the backs of
the brushes out of the water.

HENRY STEWART tells an exchange how
to make a delicious cream cheese. “The
milk is set in shallow pans and at the end
of twelve hours is moved carefully, with
out disturbing the cream, on to a stove
where it is warmed until the surface
‘ crinkles ’ or moves in a shrinking-manner.
The pans are then set back again for the
cream to rise fully. The latter is then
quite thick and tough; and in the condi-
tion of ‘clcuted cream.’ The cream may
be rolled up and lifted oi! in a mass with a
Mm It h then put in molds.

usually oblong square. about four inches
long, three wide and two deep. They are
bottomless and are placed on a clean napkin
or cloth laid over a straw mat. A cloth is
laid upon the cream and a light cover of
wood is placed upon it, with a very light
weight to make it compact. In 24 hours
the cheese is firm enough to move. and is
fit to eat, having a very rich flavor with
enough cheesy taste to make it a cheese.
The heating coagulates the albumen in the
milk, and this rises with the rest of the
cream and gives it its larger bulk and
toughness. Probably the albumen adds
something to the flavor as well, and this is
exceedingly delicate and pleasan .”

W

AMONG the Editor's Christmas remem—
hrances was a branch of mistletoe. that
parasitic plant so famed in legend and
song and so inseparably associated with a
Merry English Christmas; and interesting
because of its manner of growth upon trees,
and its prominence in the religious cere-
monies of the Druids. In England it grows
chiefly upon apple trees: in the southern
part of this country establishes itself upon
various deciduous trees. Itis an evergreen,
with thick yellowish-green, obovate leaves,
and clusters of small one seeded berries
home in the forks of the branches. The
berries are a soft, milky white; they have
the opaleccent softness of the moonstone.
An old English custom, so ancient its
origin and significance have been forgots
ten, gives the gentleman who can discover
or decoy alady under a mistletoe bough
at Christmas the right to a kiss; and a
fraction of the branch bestowed upon the
Editor figured in the decorations of a De-
troit home on Chrictmas Eve, and sundry
lads and lasses of kissable age had a great
romp in consequence.

Hon——

Contributed Recipes.

 

Sausaon.~Ten pounds meat: one ounce
saltpOtre: one ounce pepper: three ounces
salt; one table-poonful sugar: one table-
rpooni‘ul summer saver-v: one tablespoonful
powdered sage; one teaspoonful ginger. Re-
liable.

Benn non Hans on Fur—One hundred
noum's meat; seven pounds salt: four-pounds
brown sugar: four ounces saltperve Dissolve
the salt. sugar and'saitnetre in sufficient rain-
water to cover the meat: skim thoroughly.
and when cold pour over the meat. Hams
will re thoroughly salted in six weeks.

CHICKEN SALADx—OUB chicken, weighing
'our pounds, boiled until the meat will drop
trom the bones. When cold pick on the meat,
carefully separating from the bones and skin:
chop moderately tine. Chap enough cabbage
to make the same quantity as the chicken.
Mix lightly with two forks. Celery can he
used if preferred. Make the dressing as fol-
lows: Rub the yolks of eight eggs into four
tablespoonfuis of soft butter: three table.
spoonfuls of made mustard: half teaspoonful
cayenne pepper. and a teaspoonful salt. Add
two- thirds of a teacupfri of thick sweet
cream and half pint sour vinegar. Mix very
thoroughly. set over the teahettle top and
stir constantly until it is as thick as wh'ppcd
cream. When it' is cold mix lightly through
the chicken. Pile it in asslad bowl. but do

 

,aoussu": More m . x
“m

   
  
    

 

 

 

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