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DETROIT, OCT. 8, 1892.

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

NEXT WEEK.

 

“The work will be easier next week.” she said:

"The extra baking is done and the bread

Is the most 1 shall do in that line; Master Ned
Has a brand—new suit ; no patches he‘ll need.
I shall get quite a rest—1 need one. indeed!

"I will read my new cookbook—at Christmas it
came—
Charles said it would give me a ‘pointer’ on game,
In the cooking of which I‘m decidedly ‘lame.’
Alas, I confess my shortcomings are many—
Ah, me, that I might only live without any!

“and if I find time. I’ll try over that song
That Isabel lent me——l've kept it so long

I’m really ashamed to return it! It’s wrong
To neglect social duties-but then I've no time
To spare for society. arts nor for rhyme.
But I’ll ‘catch up’ next week with some of
these matters.
And garnish both inside and out of the plat—
ters!"

These high hopes had possessed this poor house

wife before.
And as often been dashed upon fate’s sieny floor.
But the storm overpast—grew courageous once

more.

And, as “hope springs eternal.” she gathered
them up,

Thinking some day to quaff from a high, brim—
ming cup!

But those dainty air-castles came down with a
smash.
As Jimmy came in “broken out” with a rash,
And she heard a wild yell and a horrible crash!
From the pantry it came—Johnny lay ’inidst
the wreck,
And had broken his arm instead of his neck!

But time healed the wounds and hope came again.
To dwell a brief space With this mother of men;
But the rainbow wings pale in the strife that
came then.
For a new trial rose in the Buffalo bugs
That got into the carpet and nire parlor rugs.

" l‘he work will be easier next week." she said,
“The west wind is warm. the clever is red.
I’ll try a brisk walk. ’twill help my bad head;
Through bright country lanes I'm pining to
roam.
There's nothing whatever to keep me at home."

But when next week came she rode out instead.
With coaches and horses; her poor. aching head
At rest on a little square pillow. They said
'l‘was a “ beautiful funeral” the flowers “im-
mouse.”
"Poor Charles did his duty, he spared no ex-
pause.”
—G’ood Housekeeping.

 

A BEAUTIFUL LIFE.

 

Of all our American men of letters,
none have been so universally beloved
as the poet Whittier, recently deceased
in the eighty-fifth year of his life.
Many to whom Homer and Shakespeare
were but names, knew and loved the
gentle Quaker poet, whose poetry found

sympathy and sincerity. No man ever
lived and wrote whose writings were
more an epitome of himself, or a better

probably none have ever exerted a
more direct or more powerful moral
influence or breathed a more beautiful
spirituality.

It is well known that his youth was
trammeled by poverty, that he had no
“advantages,” either social or educa-
tional; his was no college culture, nor
yet the range of vision gained by travel
and wide intercourse with humanity;
he never crossed the ocean or strayed
far from New England’s hills, and he
missed all the influences that radiate
from domestic ties and affections for
he never married. Yet he has spoken
more words of comfort to the sad and
sorrowful, and held before the tempted
and struggling a higher pattern of
living than those with ten times his
sources of culture. He was outside the
world, far, far above it, beyond its
narrowness, its littleness, its meanness;
his isolation made him broad and
liberal whereas a less noble soul would
have become bigoted and narrow. He
drew his strength from the spiritual
world in which he dwelt, 3. Sir Galahad
in purity of life and soul. His interest
in the world was as wide as the world
itself, yet he dwelt unspotted within it.
A Quaker in creed, he held to the
slmplicty and directness of his people,
to their peaceful ways and their " thee”
and “ thou ” in speech. Yet he dared
violence and stemmed opposition in be-
half of his convictions. His was no
weak, meek spirit, mildly negative.
He might not assert himself, but he
feared nothing in behalf of his princi—
ples. In the Quaker city, “the City of
Brotherly Love,” a mob sacked his
newspaper office and burned it while
the mayor and officials looked on with-
out a protest; he suffered personal in-
jury through his denunciations of
slavery, and saw his hopes of a literary
career ruined by his advocacy of un-
popular doctrines, for magazines would
not publish his verses while he was
arrayed With the anti-slavery party.
Yet he never falter-ed, there was
neither “ variableness nor shadow of
turning ” about him. His pen was

silent and his heart sad during our
civil war. His soul and creed alike

 

its way to the heart by reason of its

mirror of his own Spiritual life; and

him to see brother arrayed against
brother, even in behalf of the cause so
near his heart, he never said.

After peace was established he gave
us those charming poems of nature
and religion—reflections from within-—
which have so endeared him to us.
Critics may dispute his title to be called
a great poet. Yet, if the poet’s defini-»
tion be true, “A poem is a beautiful
thought put into musical words,”
Whittier was a true and a great poet.
Not all of us can furnish the music or
the rhyme, but we can feel thoughts of
another thus clad, and is not he the
greatest poet who most deeply moves
us to his mood, whose own spirituality
wakens ours, who stirs in us a longing
for nobler living and higher thinking-73'
The very simplicity and directness of
his muse appeals to us, he speaks of
themes dear to us. He has given us
no grand lyrics, nothing Homeric, but,
it is written that

“ Beside the mystic asphodels
Shall bloom the home—born flowers.“

It is not always the grandest or the
greatest that we love the best.

Stedman, himself a poet of no mean
order says: “The imagination of the
poet is shown by his instinct for words-
—those keys which all may clatter
and which yield their music to so few.
7" * * The imagination begets origi
nal diction, suggestive epithets, verbs,
implying extended scenes and events,
phrases which are a delight and which,
as we say, speak volumes, single notes
which established the dominant tone.”
Lowell possessed this gift in higher de-
gree than Whittier, he was a master
of the art of words. yet his poetry is
not loved as is Whittier’s. And the
secret Ithink is in the personality of
the Quaker, and his nearness to and
sympathy with the great human heart,
whose depths he knew, intuitively it
would seem, since critical study would
have dulled his keen sympathy.

I should name the good Quaker poet
as an example of what is most truly a.
beautiful old age. So calm, so peace-
ful, so beloved his closing years, so free
from jealousies' and strifes and envy-
ings, the sunset of his life was in itself
a poem. Possessed of all his mental
faculties to the last, though the temple
in which they dwelt grew weak and

 

abhorred strife. how bitter it was to

  

frail under the weight of more than the
fourscore years allotted to man, yet.

   
    
    
  
  
 
    
    
   
     
    
  
  
   
    
   
 
 
 
   
 
  
 
   

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2 The Household.

 

“ whose strength is labor and sorrow,”
his Christian hope and faith burned
brighter and clearer, and the poems of
a religious character which were
characteristic of his later years were
grand psalms, mighty musical chords
on which were upborne the confidence
and faith of one of the purest and
cleanest spirits of our age, our dear
dead Whittier. BEATRIX.

—_—_...———-—

“MAN THE LIFE BOAT.”

 

When I wrote the HOUSEHOLD of a
visit to Grindstone City Life Saving
Station, I closed my description of a
pleasant outing by promising a report
of another day’s pleasure at the same
place. I wrote to Captain Gill for
some information I wished, but the
locked for reply never reached me, and
Ihave delayed fulfilling my promise
for that reason.

When we reached the Station on our
second visit we found a company of
about ten or twelve, all bent on the
same errand of curiosity and pleasure.
All of us were made comfortable in the
large boat, and with rowers and visi-
tors made a company of about twenty-
three evenly distributed over the boat,
with the Captain at the tiller and in
command. .

This summer I have been reading
and studying Grecian history, and in
“Pausanius,” a very interesting novel
by L‘ord Lytton, I read a very fine
descriptions of the Athenian boats; on
this lovely day on Lake Hurou, when
our boat was running so rapidly and
smoothly over the water, propelled by
the measured dip Of eight or ten oars,
every move made under the direction
and careful training of the commander,
I thought of the story of ancient
Greece, when every motion of the cars-
men of her galleys was in perfect time,
and their greater advantage was being
entertained by a special musician who
furnished music to which the dip of
the car was timed.

But We must come back to the
nineteenth century and our life boat.
Captain Gill regards his boat with the
same confidence as the owner of a
speedy horse, and as we all stood around
while he explained its good points, he
said with pride “Oh, she’s a dandy.”
The life boat is a great conveyance,
particularly for storms on the lakes.
It is the result of acentury of study, and
built of double diagonals of mahogany,
with both bow and stern of cork air
chambers as also the sides. Six holes
in the bottom about six inches in
diameter provide for self bailing, and
whatever the load the deck is above
the water line. The boat will ride any
storm, but if once upset will immediate-
ly right itself and empty through self
bailers. These boats cost about one
thousand dollars each, and while they
look large and unwieldly are very
easily handled by those in the service.

While we were learning of the good

, r” ‘m::---—---e-—~————~_ .

 

.memw-mww-v’av-muw w.» ,

Qualities of this boat, the men were
making ready for their dip in the
water, and when they returned we
again got into the boat in which we
were taken out to the house in which
was kept the life boat. The crew then
launched the boat and we were taken in
tow by the crew rowing. The water is
very shallow for along distance, pos-
sibly for two miles out it is not over
fifteen feet deep at the greatest depth,
and the roll of the water was quite as
much as our land party cared for. We
were anchored out about a mile and a
half from shore, our anchor being cast
on the ribs of an old wreck, of which
there were many, for we could look in
any direction and see either a boiler
from some unfortunate steamer, or the
ribs of some vessel. In this location,
with rock bottom, the exercise Of up-
setting the boat and have clear water
below, was more uncertain than it
would have been farther out in Lake
Huron, but the captain gave the com-
mand and once they went with the
heat over their heads upside down; but
they all clung to the life line and came
up smiling on the opposite side. Again
and again they tipped and turned, and
were like fish, perfectly at home in the
water. From our location we could
see something was not all right and
they called to the captain; an oarlock
and pin had dropped into the water.
He told them to find it at once and dive
for it. It would seem about as reason-
able to us to command a hunt for the
proverbial “ needle in the hay stack;”
but they knew no such word as fail, and
after those in the life boat floated
around a few minutes, and others in
the water swam around, the articles
were located, and one of the brightest
of the crew, Winn Adamson, made a
dive, like a fish, and after afew seconds
came up with the lost pieces of iron.

There was Angus, a tall Scotchman,
whom any one would recognize as one
of the faithful, even before his name
Angus was called. They were all very
attentive and gave much interesting in-
formation which would require too
much space to repeat.

We turned toward the shore again,
and while on our way heard the shrill
whistle ofatug calling for the crew
from the life saving station to come out
on the lake and. help them in getting
together the scattered logs of an un-
fortunate raft.

The captain told us of a storm on the
lake and a vessel in distress, which
they had been called to rescue. All the
people on the boat had to be taken into
the life-boat, and among them was a
woman. Here he told us of something
in the roll of the waves I never knew.
In a storm the waves roll in companies
of three, and then a lull will follow.
In removing those from aboat he takes
advantage of the lull when the stern
drOps lower. The woman in the stern
of the boat had to jump fifteen feet
when the boat was up on the crest, or

 

take advantage of the drop. At the
right moment the captain called her to
jump, but woman-like she waited, and
when she took the leap came down
fifteen feet, but struck the centre of the
life boat all right.

A medicine chest is provided each
station, and a part of the regular drill
is resuscitation of those who have been
in the water and may have been nearly
drowned.

During the Exposition in Detroit
several years ago there was a life-boat
and crew in service, but their boat was
turned in such shallow water there was
hardly room enough to dip under, and a
very poor idea could be had from the
exhibitions.

The service is a great benefit to
many on the ocean and more particu-
larly on the lakes, and it is to be hoped
the government will give the captain
and crew the added pay to which they

are entitled.
DETROIT. MRS. M. C. BUYEPTE.

——-...——————

EASY TO MAKE.

 

In response to Honey Bee’s request
in a recent HOUSEHOLD I will mention
afew things easily made and not ex-
pensive:

Get three large harness hooks at a
harness shop, screw them to a round
board; then make a thin cushion to fit
the top, and over this draw tightly a
circular piece of plush, or any up-
holstering material, and tack with
small tacks; now tack with brass headed
nails a piece of the narrow gimp used
on furniture, so that it will cover the
edge of the plush, and you have a pretty
foot rest.

If Honey Bee does not object to cow’s
horns, she can sand paper and varnish
one; screw a'brass hook near each end
and three mOre in one side; fasten one
and one-fourth yards of ribbon to the
end hooks by tying bow knots to each
book; hang on the wall and you can al-
ways find scissors, keys, etc.

A pretty paper basket is made by
drawing two shades of ribbon through
the wires of one of the largest size
bread toasters, or wire broilers: fasten
abow of ribbon to the handle by which
you hand it, and the wires may be
gilded if desired.

Perhaps Mrs. Germain refers to the
Hiscox Patent Ear Drum which is ad-
vertised in so many papers? We wrote
Dr. Hiscox to learn price, etc,. of the
above, and received in reply a very

sensible letter, in which he stated that
the silver drums were three dollars
and the gold ones four dollars, (and I
have forgotten the cents over that).
Thinking “the best is always the
cheapest,” we sent amount for the gold
ones. But, alas! received a box con«
taining a pair of brass wires about an
inch long with a circular piece of oil
silk attached to one end. They were
tried however, but only diminished in-
stead of aiding the hearing.

We, too. hope Frank’s Wife will come
again. I also am a “Frank’s wife,”
but will be known to the HOUSEHOLD as

CASSANDRA.

 

 


 

 

The Household. 8

 

TAXES.

 

[Paper read by Mrs. E. N. Ball before the
Webster Farmers' Club May 18th. 1892.]
That the present system of obtaining
funds for the maintenance of the
general government by taxation is not

Only just but necessary, it seems to me

no thinking person can deny, and yet
they say there is no bill the farmer
dislikes so much to pay as the one
which cancels this obligation to the
government, which protects his pro-
perty and makes his arm and his
family’s lives safe and valuable.

The inevitable visit of the collector
has associated him with the most un-
welcome of callers, and yet so certain are
we of his annual appearance and its
misssion that “As sure as death and
taxes” has passed into a proverb.
What mean things men will do to con-
ceal their property from the assessor,
eluding questions, prevaricating, lying
even, to diminish if but by a few dol-

lars and cents the amount of their as-

sessment, and as it is only cheating the
great and mighty Uncle Sam a little
they consider it rather a good joke.

Who ever heard of a man overesti-
mating his belongings before the
assessor, even though at other times
he may be full of pride and boast loudly
of his possessions! Neither are men
usually troubled lest their neighbors
pay too great a tax, but are much con-
cerned lest they get off too easily. “ If
rich it is easy enough to conceal our
wealth; but if poor. it is not quite so
easy to hide our poverty.” “We shall
find that it is less difficult to hide a
thousand guineas than one hole in our
coat.” For the poor man to dissemble
as to his taxable property is not easy,
hence is the disgrace more patent
“Through tattered clothes small vices
do appear; robes and fur red gowns
hide all.”

All taxation for educational pur-
poses must be conceded to be good.
Our State University, Normal and
many high schools are institutious of
which we are justly proud, and without
which now we would scarcely know
know how to do. Beneficent too are
the taxes for the maintenance of de-
sertecl children, and for the care and
training of the unfortunate who might
become the criminal. If these were
the only taxes we had to pay we might
easily discharge them, but there are
others from which the commissioners
cannot ease or deliver us by allowing
an abatement; some of these are just
and many more unjust.

While fashion is a severe tax-master
to him who follows her too closely, still
when not carried too far the ambition
to have things “ like other people” is
laudable. We are told to “avoid
singularity,” for “there may be less
vanity in following the new modes
than in adhering to the old ones.”
Many people pride themselves on being

 

conspicuously out of style, and accom-
plish little but to make themselves
subjects for criticism and ridicule.
Chamfort says: “ Change of fashions is
the tax which industry imposes on the
vanity of the rich.” So be it, if the
love of dress and change indulged in
by the wealthy causing large expendi-
ture of money, gives labor to the poor
man and thereby bread to his family, it
is in a good cause, hence a just tax.

Farmers who drink and use tobacco
are numerous. Some wear ancient gar-
ments that would subject them to
suspicion as tramps in a strange neigh-
borhood, and chew up the money that
woull provide better; while many
spend freely in the saloon what if
prudently used would buy comforts,
and often luxuries for the wife and
children, who now have hard shift to
to keep body and soul together.

Improvident, three-handed husbands
--right hand, left hand and a little be-
hind hand men-are great taxes on
their wives’ good nature and afiection.
While the wife is working hard and
looking forward to the time when they
may have, at least acompetence, the
husband is wasting time and money in
one enterprise and another till hope
ends in blank despair. This kind of
men wouldn’t for the world be known
to consult their wives opinions before
going into a venture, they don’t take
much stock in a woman’s judgment
anyway. Then this being always a
little behind-had, while not one of the
great sins is often a cause of great in-
convenience. “"[‘is the little foxes
that spnil the vines,” the petty worries
that make wrinkles come. Milton
wrote very prettily when he said,
“They also serve who only stand and
wait;” but he probably never got up a
good meal, then waited around for a
half an hour for the man of the house.
or he might have changed his mind.

“Ignorance of how to prepare food
well and palatably is a great tax on a
woman‘s strength, as she will work
harder for poor results than another
who cooks intelligentally and weLl.
On her husband this tax falls grievous-
ly, as half cooked and unpalatable food
must finally be wasted to be replaced
by more, thus drawing heavilv upon
his resources; then too the tax upon
the family‘s digestive organs is severe.
as much ill health is attributed to this
one cause.

The reading of trashy and sensa-
tional literature is a great tax upon
the mind as well as morals, for if in-
dulged in to any great extent it leaves
the mind incapable of concentration
upon anything good or useful. I have
known girls who had the fascination of
this kind of reading so fastened upon
them, that when they came to have
homes of their own they could sit down
in the morning, with work piled moun-
tain high, to follow the romantic for-
tunes of an impossible hero and heroine.
I believe it unfits a girl for an every

 

day. commonplace life to be fed on such
trash. and there is no excuse for it;
there are plenty of novels that are
healty and helpful, if one wants ro-
mance.

The lazy man or woman pay heavy
taxes by letting the golden hours slip
away without improving, them and
find too late that “Time, like life. can
never be recalled.” Laziness begins
with the gossamer-like threads of idle
moments, but ends in the iron bands of
confirmed habit. Procrastination, so
near akin to laziness. imposes its tax
upon all who fall into its meshes and
is well defined by Shakespere “To-
morrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
creeps in this petty pace, from day to
day, to the last syllable of recorded
time; and all our yesterdays have
lighted fools the way to dusty death.”
Ill-natured gossip imposes a triple tax,
first upon the reputation of the one at-
tacked; we can tear down with tongue,
and look and gesture in a short time,
what may have cost another years’ to
build up. Next, upon our time, for
we may count all time as lost which
could have been put to better use: but
last and not least is the tax upon our
moral natures. While we may ruin
another’s reputation we are making
great inroads on our characters, which
is far worse: for while “reputation is
what men think us to be, character is
what we are; the one is mortal, the
other immortal." Jealousy taxes not
only our moral natures but often ruins
other lives and breaks up homes and
happiness. Malice and envy, twin
sisters, do more harm to the one who
indulges in them than to any one else,
for they “ suck up the greatest part of
their own venom and poison them-
selves."

Overtaxing strength of mind and
body is unjust to ourselves and our
families: overlapping on to-day what in
its natural order should be done to-
morrow is only doing now what we
shall have to pay for at some future
time. We can not cheat nature out of
her just dues; she will be revenged.

We are all familiar with the agita-
tion of the unjustness of taxation with-
out representation: What our great
grandfathers fought for in that terrible
war over a hundred years ago, their
granddaughters are asking for today;
but mark the difference. While it was
a glorious cause then and made a
Washington who has come down to us
as an example to all youth. what has
it brought to the brightest and best of
our women today but ridicule and such
titles as “crank,” strong minded
woman," etc., etc.

Farmer’s Clubs are taxes on our
wits, especially when we are invited to
furnish a paper at the time devoted by
the household gods to the festival of
housecleaning, and as I plead guilty to
having just passed through this old
time custom, I leave it to answer for
the deficiencies of this attempt.

 

 


   
   
  
   
  
   
   
    
  
   
   
    
   
    
 
   
  
    
  
   
  
   
  
 
 
  
  
  
    
    
   
  
    
   
  
   
    
   
  
   
    
   

«.

 

 

 

2

 

The Household.

 

W...— . ,m A. . “I.

 

“ whose strength is labor and sorrow,”
his Christian hope and faith burned
brighter and clearer, and the poems of
a religious character which were
characteristic of his later years were
grand psalms, mighty musical chords
on which were upborne the confidence
and faith of one of the purest and
cleanest spirits of our age, our dear
dead Whittier. BEATRIX.

—_...____.

"MAN THE LIFE BOAT.”

 

When I wrote the HOUSEHOLD of a
visit to Grinustone City Life Saving
Station, I closed my description of a
pleasant outing by promising a report
of another day’s pleasure at the same
place. I wrote to Captain Gill for
some information I wished, but the
looked for reply never reached me, and
Ihave delayed fulfilling my promise
for that reason.

When we reached the Station on our
second .visit we found a company of
about ten or twelve, all bent on the
same errand of curiosity and pleasure.
All of us were made comfortable in the
large boat, and with rowers and visi-
tors made a company of about twenty-
three evenly distributed over the boat,
with the Captain at the tiller and in
command. _

This summer I have been reading
and studying Grecian history, and in
"Pausanius,” a very interesting novel
by L‘ord Lytton, I read a very fine
descriptions of the Athenian boats; on
this lovely day on Lake Huron, when
our boat was running so rapidly and
smoothly over the water, propelled by
the measured dip of eight or ten oars,
every move made under the direction
and careful training of the commander,
I thought of the story of ancient
Greece, when every motion of the oars-
men of her galleys was in perfect time,
and their greater advantage was being
entertained by a special musician who
furnished music to which the dip of
the oar was timed.

But We must come back to the
nineteenth century and our life boat.
Captain Gill regards his boat with the
same confidence as the owner of a
speedy horse, and as we all stood around
while he explained its good points, he
said with pride “Oh, she’s a dandy.”
The life boat is a great conveyance,
particularly for storms on the lakes.
It is the result of acentury of study, and
built of double diagonals of mahogany,
with both how and stern of cork air
chambers as also the sides, Six holes
in the bottom about six inches in
diameter provide for self bailing, and
whatever the load the deck is above
the water line. The boat will ride any
storm, but if once upset will immediate-
ly right itself and empty through self
bailers. These boats cost about one
thousand dollars each, and while they
look large and Unwieldly are very
easily handled by those in the service.
While we were learning of the good

Qualities of this boat, the men were
making ready for their dip in the
water, and when they returned we
again got into the boat in which we
were taken out to the house in which
was kept the life boat. The crew then
launched the boat and we were taken in
tow by the crew rowing. The water is
very shallow for along distance, pos-
sibly for two miles out it is not over
fifteen feet deep at the greatest depth,
and the roll of the water was quite as
much as our land party cared for. We
were anchored out about a mile and a
half from shore, our anchor being cast
on the ribs of an old wreck, of which
there were many, for we could look in
any direction and see either a boiler
from some unfortunate steamer, or the
ribs of some vessel. In this location,
with rock bottom, the exercise of up-
setting the boat and have clear water
below, was more uncertain than it
would have been farther out in Lake
Huron, but the captain gave the com-
mand and once they went with the
boat over their heads upside down; but
they all clung to the life line and came
up smiling on the opposite side. Again
and again they tipped and turned, and
were like fish, perfectly at home in the
water. From our location we could
see something was not all right and
they called to the captain; an oarlock
and pin had dropped into the water.
He told them to find it at once and dive
for it. It would seem about as reason-
able to us to command a hunt for the
proverbial “ needle in the hay stackg”
but they knew no such word as fail, and
after those in the life boat floated
around a few minutes, and others in
the water swam around, the articles
were located, and one of the brightest
of the crew, Winn Adamson, made a
dive, like a fish, and after afew seconds
came up with the lost pieces of iron.

There was Angus, a tall Scotchman,
whom any one would recognize as one
of the faithful, even before his name
Angus was called. They were all very
attentive and gave much interesting in-
formation which would require too
much space to repeat.

We turned toward the shore again,
and while on our way heard the shrill
whistle of atug calling for the crew
from the life saving station to come out
on the lake and help them in getting
together the scattered logs of an un-
fortunate ralt. .

The captain told us of a storm on the
lake and a vessel in distress, which
they had been called to rescue. All the
people on the boat had to be taken into
the life-boat, and among them was a
woman. Here he told us of something
in the roll of the waves I never knew.
In a storm the waves roll in companies
of three, and then a lull will follow.
In removing those from aboat he takes
advantage of the lull when the stern
drops lower. The woman in the stern

 

of the boat had to jump fifteen feet
when the boat was up on the crest, or

take advantage of the drOp. At the
right moment the captain called her to
jump, but woman-like she waited, and
when she took the leap came down
fifteen feet, but struck the centre of the
life boat all right.

A medicine chest is provided each
station, and a part of the regular drill
is resuscitation of those who have been
in the water and may have been nearly
drowned.

During the Exposition in Detroit
several years ago there was a life-boat
and crew in service, but their boat was
turned in such shallow water there was
hardly room enough to dip under, and a
very poor idea could be had from the
exhibitions.

The service is a great benefit to
many on the ocean and more particu-
larly on the lakes, and it is to be hoped
the government will give the captain
and crew the added pay to which they

are entitled.

DETROIT. MRS. M. C. HUYEI‘I‘E.

 

EASY TO RAKE.

 

In response to Honey Bee’s request
in a recent HOUSEHOLD I will mention
afew things easily made and not ex-
pensive:

Get three large harness hooks at a
harness shop, screw them to a round
board; then make a thin cushion to fit
the top, and over this draw tightly a
circular piece of plush, or any up-
holstering material, and tack with
small tacks; now tack with brass headed
nails a piece of the narrow gimp used
on furniture, so that it will cover the
edge of the plush, and you have a pretty
foot rest.

If Honey Bee does not object to cow’s
horns, she can sand paper and varnish
one; screw a-brass hook near each end
and three more in one side; fasten one
and one-fourth yards of ribbon to the
end hooks by tying bow knots to each
hook; hang on the wall and you can al-
ways find scissors, keys, etc.

A pretty paper basket is made by
drawing two shades of ribbon through
the wires of one of the largest size
bread toasters, or wire broilers; fasten
abow of ribbon to the handle by which
you hand it, and the wires may be
gilded if desired.

Perhaps Mrs. Germain refers to the
Hiscox Patent Ear Drum which is ad-
vertised in so many papers? We wrote
Dr. Hiscox to learn price, etc., of the
above. and received in reply 3 very

sensible letter, in which he stated that
the silver drums were three dollars
and the gold ones four dollars, (and I
have forgotten the cents over that).
Thinking “ the best is always the
cheapest,” we sent amount for the gold
ones. But, alas! received a box con-
taining a pair of brass wires about an
inch long with a circular piece of oil
silk attached to one end. They were
tried however, but only diminished in-
stead of aiding the hearing.

We, too. hope Frank’s Wife will come
again. I also am a “Frank’s wife,”
but will be known to the HOUSEHOLD as

 

CASSANDRA.

  

 


 

The Household.

    

8

 

TAXES.

 

[Paper read by Mrs. E. N. Ball before the
Webster Farmers' Club May 18th, 1892.]
That the present system of obtaining
funds for the maintenance of the
general government by taxation is not
only just but necessary, it seems to me
no thinking person can deny, and yet
they say there is no bill the farmer
dislikes so much to pay as the one
which cancels this obligation to the
government, which protects his pro-
perty and makes his own and his
family’s lives safe and valuable.

The inevitable visit of the collector
has associated him with the most un-
welcome of callers, and yet so certain are
we of his annual appearance and its
misssion that “As sure as death and
taxes” has passed into a proverb.
What mean things men will do to con~
ceal their property from the assessor,
eluding questions, prevaricating, lying
even, to diminish if but by a few dol-
lars and cents the amount of their as-
sessment, and as it is only cheating the
great and mighty Uncle Sam a little
they consider it rather a good joke.

Who ever heard of a man overesti-
mating his belongings before the
assessor, even though at other times
he may be full of pride and boast loudly
of his possessions! Neither are men
usually troubled lest their neighbors
pay too great a tax, but are much cou-
cerned lest they get off too easily. “ If
rich it is easy enough to conceal our
wealth; but if poor, it is not quite so
easy to hide our poverty.” “ We shall
find that it is less difficult to hide a
thousand guineas than one hole in our
coat.” For the poor man to dissemble
as to his taxable property is not easy,
hence is the disgrace more patent
“Through tattered clothes small vices
do appear; robes and fur red gowns
hide all.”

All taxation for educational pur-
poses must be conceded to be good.
Our State University, Normal and
many high schools are institutions of
which we are justly proud, and without
which now we would scarcely know
know how to do. Beneficent too are
the taxes for the maintenance of de—
serted children, and for the care and
training of the unfortunate who might
become the criminal. If these were
the only taxes we had to pay we might
easily discharge them, but there are
others from which the commissioners
cannot ease or deliver us by allowing
an abatement: some of these are just
and many more unjust.

While fashion is a severe tax-master
to him who follows her too closely, still
when not carried too far the ambition
to have things “ like other people ” is
laudable. We are told to “avoid
singularity,” for “there may be less
vanity in following the new modes
than in adhering to the old Ones.”
Many people pride themselves on being

conspicuously out of style, and accom-
plish little but to make themselves
subjects for criticism and ridicule.
Chamfort says: “ Change of fashions is
the tax which industry imposes on the
vanity of the rich.” So be it, if the
love of dress and change indulged in
by the wealthy causing large expendi-
ture of money, gives labor to the poor
man and thereby bread to his family, it
is in a good cause, hence a just tax.

Farmers who drink and use tobacco
are numerous. Some wear ancient gar-
ments that would subject them to
suspicion as tramps in a strange neigh-
borhood, and chew up the money that
woull provide better; while many
spend freely in the saloon what if
prudently used would buy comforts,
and often luxuries for the wife and
children, who now have hard shift to
to keep body and soul together.

Improvident, three-handed husbands
--right hand, left hand and a little be-
hind hand men—are great taxes on
their wives’ good nature and affection.
While the wife is working hard and
looking forward to the time when they
may have, at least acompetence, the
husband is wasting time and money in
one enterprise and another till hope
ends in blank despair. This kind of
men wouldn’t for the world be known
to consult their wives opinions before
going into a venture, they don’t take
much stock in a woman’s judgment
anyway. Then this being always a
little behind-had, while not one of the
great sins is often a cause of great in-
convenience. “ ’Tis the little foxes
that spell the vines,” the petty worries
that make wrinkles come. Milton
wrote very prettily when he said,
“ They also serve who only stand and
wait,” but he probably never got up a
good meal, then waited around for a
half an hour for the man of the house.
or he might have changed his mind.

“ Ignorance of how to prepare food
well and palatably is a great tax on a
woman's strength, as she will work
harder for poor results than another
who cooks intelligentally and well.
On her husband this tax falls grievous-
ly, as half cooked and unpalatable food
must finally be wasted to be replaced
by more, thus drawing heavily upou
his resources; then too the tax upon
the family‘s digestive organs is severe.
as much ill health is attributed to this
one cause.

The reading of trashy and sensa-
tional literature is a great tax upon
the mind as well as morals, for if in-
dulged in to any great extent it leaves
the mind incapable of concentration
upon anything good or useful. I have
known girls who had the fascination of
this kind of reading so fastened upon
them, that when they came to have
homes of their own they could sit down
in the morning, with work piled moun-
tain high, to follow the romantic for-
tunes of an impossible hero and heroine.
I believe it unfits a girl for an every

 

 

 

day, commonplace life to be fed on such
trash. and there is no excuse for it;
there are plenty of novels that are
healty and helpful, if one wants ro-
mance.

The lazy man or woman pay heavy
taxes by letting the golden hours slip
away without improving, them and
find too late that “Time, like life, can
never be recalled.” Laziness begins
with the gossamer-like threads of idle
moments, but ends in the iron bands of
confirmed habit. Procrastination, so
near akin to laziness. imposes its tax
upon all who fall into its meshes and
is well defined by Shakespere “T0-
morrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
creeps in this petty pace, from day to
day, to the last syllable of recorded
time; and all our yesterdays have
lighted fools the way to dusty death.”
Ill-natured gossip imposes a triple tax,
first upon the reputation of the one at-
tacked; we can tear down with tongue,
and look and gesture in a short time,
what may have cost another years’ to
build up. Next, upon our time, for
we may count all time as lost which
could have been put to better use: but
last and not least is the tax upon our
moral natures. While we may ruin
another’s reputation we are making
great inroads on our characters, which
is far worse: for while “reputation is
what men think us to be, character is
what we are: the one is mortal, the
other immortal.” Jealousy taxes not
only our moral natures but often ruins
other lives and breaks up homes and
happiness. Malice and envy, twin
sisters, do more harm to the one who
indulges in them than to any one else,
for they “' suck up the greatest part of
their own venom and poison them-
selves."

Overtaxing strength of mind and
body is unjust to ourselves and our
families: overlapping on today what in
its natural order should be done to-
morrow is only doing now what we
shall have to pay for at some future
time. We can not cheat nature out of
her just dues; she will be revenged.

TVs are all familiar with the agita-
tion of the unjustness of taxation with-
out representation: What our great
grandfathers fought for in that terrible
war over a hundred years ago, their
granddaughters are asking for today;
but mark the difference. While it was
a glorious cause then and made a
W’ashington who has come down to us
as an example to all youth. what has
it brought to the brightest and best of
our women today but ridicule and such

titles as “crank," strong minded
woman," etc., etc.
Farmer’s Clubs are taxes on our

wits, especially when we are invited to
furnish a paper at the time devoted by
the household gods to the festival of
house-cleaning, and as I plead guilty to
having just passed through this old
time custom, I leave it to answer for
the deficiencies of this attempt.

  

 


  

 

. W‘s“...

 

...._..._——_..—~-- .. w-

 

4

   

The Household.

 

HUGE ADO ABDUI‘ NOTHING.

 

I too, have been interested in "Dead
Man‘s ” letters, ani join L. A. in look-
ing‘on what is chosen to be called the
gloomy side. It seems in the last letter
written by “Dead Man” that he has
fallen from his high abode among the
clouds and is again upon this terrestrial
sphere with us common mortals. Such
being the case it would indicate that
he is in a much better position to ex-
ercise that charity and love that is so
beautifully taught in the “Life of
Christ ” and the “Life of Paul.”

From where I sit in my pleasant south
window, overlooking fields from which
the grain has been garnered, and the
zephyrs are playing with the autumn
leaves, my thoughts go out to my
neighbors, and I see how easy it would
be for me to find fault with them. In
the house over yonder, I too can see
the girl who married when so young.
and is the happy wife of the young
man, poor though he is. She is all
patience, all kindness and charity, and
though she may have secret thoughts
that her girlhood was all too short, it
is not for me to say that it was not for
the best. I have no sight into the
future and cannot sav that it would
have been better had she continued her
course through college.

I have in my mind’s eye now a family
of college bred girls, and ch, as their
behavior, and acts and deeds come up
before me I could not, I can not say but
what it would have been better, yes
much better, had they all married at
the age of fifteen. One Of them is now
the wife of a farmer living on a cross
road, sour, morose, jealous uncharit-
able and mean; the husband a hard
working, close-fisted, penurious man.
No children play around their door,
No papers come into their house to
bring any sunshine, except those bor-
rowed from some kind neighbor.

Another one of the family, at the age
of thirty-five, married a minister with
a salary Of three hundred and fifty
dollars a year, All I can say is God
bless her, for the husband can never do
it on that yearly stipend. .

I will draw the veil of charity around
the others. They are not married. I
cannot help but think with the poet,

“ 0 wad some power the giftie gie us.
To see oursels as ithers see 119..

Methinks could such be the case we
would not be so prone to find fault with
our neighbors. We would not be so
anxious to hold them up to the scorn
of others it they did not walk in the
patch we laid out for them. What right
have we to say what this one or that
one shall do? What right have we to
say where this one or that one shall go?
What right have we to say that this
one shall have bric-a-brac in the house,
or that one shall read 1 he Century,
Frank Leslie’s or the Review of Reviews?
Who knows what incidents and causes

 

have been interwoven into our lives to
make them what they are.

" As the twig is bent the tree’s in-
clined ” is applicable to men’s and
women’s lives, for it is the little things
along the pathway of life that makes us
what we are. Therefore I for one
think we should not find fault w1th our
neighbors, but accept them as they are.

ALBION. FARMER.

CHAT.

MRS. D. H. F., of Springport, says:

“ It is really refreshing to find there
are some women who are not suflering
martyrdom; some who, knowing they
are their husbands’ equals, take their
position as such and keep it. The
sensible woman does not clamor for her
rights to the pocketbook. That right
was given her when she became a
partner and companion. If you are
your husband’s equal don’t deny it by
your actions.”

 

A. E. J ., of Grand Rapids, writes:

“I couldn’t help smiling when I
read Sister Gracious’ letter, for it is
true, every word. I too am hard of
hearing, and had a pair of those patent
ear drums. They did not do me any
good. They were about the size and
length of a pin; one end was tured over,
the other end had a very thin round
rubber that was pressed in the ear. I
couldn’t wear them. I have something
I think is a good deal better. It is a
coiled wire covered with black; one
end is a speaking tube, the other end
is for the ear. The speaking and ear
tube are rubber, all black, and about
two yards long. I wear it around my
neck and can hear quite well on the
street when any one is walking with
me. It is only for conversation. You
can get them at Jackson or Grand
Rapids.”

W.

GREEN TOMATO PICKLES.

 

The New York Tribune says: “ Very
few housekeepers realize the possi-
bilities in green tomato pickles. A
sweet picle of this kind when properly
made, more nearly approaches the
flavor of some of the East Indian sweet
pickles than anything else we have;
while a sour pickle of green tomatoes
and white onions makes one of the best
pickles to serve with fish or meat. It
is well to buy the green ,tomatoes just
after a frost, as they are then cheaper,
and a slight frost, such as may kill the
vines, will not affect the fruit. Select
firm, light green tomatoes, which are
just ready to turn, not the dark green,
immature ones. Cut the tomatoes into
thin slices, without peeling them. Lay
them in a weak brine, made by mixing
a cup of salt with a gallon of water.
When they have stood in this brine for
twenty-four hours, take them out, rinse
them ofi‘ in clear, cold water, and put
them into a porcelain-lined boiler. The
slices of green tomatoes should be firm
in texture. Green tomatoes that are
soft do not make good pickles. Cover
the tomatoes in the kettle with vinegar,
measuring the vinegar as you do so,
and add two pounds of sugar to every
quart of vinegar. Add also to every
quart of vinegar an ounce of green

 

ginger root, scraped and cut in thin
slices. Cook the tomatoes till they are
clear and transparent and perfectly
tender, but not till they break. It will
take from ten to fifteen minutes after
they begin to boil. As soon as they are
cooked, add an ounce of cassia buds, an
ounce of stick' cinnamon, an ounce of
whole cloves, and an ounce of whole
mace to every quart of vinegar in the
pickle. Pour the pickle into stone
pickle-jars, set it away, well covered
up, with a heavy cloth tied over it. It
can be used at once, but will be better
in two weeks, and Will keep an inde-
finite time.”

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

GOOD Housekeeping says that whoever
would have at hand an unfailing rem-
edy for ordinary bowel complaints,
and one, indeed, for even severe cases
of dysentery, needs only to gather
plenty of yarrow. A strong decoction.
sweetened with loaf sugar and drank
freely, will cure the most obstinate
case, if water is abstained from and
proper diet observed.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Rural New
Yorker who makes very nice grape
jelly, says: “ I prepare the juice in
the ordinary way; when it is ready for
the sugar and while it is boiling I pour
it into the cans and seal it. I open a
can ata time and make it into ielly iust
as I need it. By leaving all the sedi-
ment in the can the jelly will be en-
tirely free from crystallized sugar, and
will be far better than if made up be
fore it is canned.”

THE Christian Union says, relative to
the exhausting task of kneading bread:
“ Make the sponge just after dinner,
stirring it with a spoon. At night out
it down with a knife, dredging on more
flour if needed. The operation demands
no more than a child’s strength. Next
morning use the knife again, and the
air bubbles will as completely disappear
as if kneaded a half hour. Then mold,
and let rise for baking."

Contributed Recipes.

 

TAPIOCA CBEAM.——Two-thirds cup of
tapioca 1503de over night; in the morning
stir into it four cups of scalding hot milk.
When it has cooled a little, stir in the
beaten yolks of three eggs and a cup of
sugar; stir until it becomes creamlike in
thickness; flavor with vanilla or lemon.
Then stir in the beaten whites of the eggs;
pour into the dish from which you mean

to serve it, and set away to get entirely cold.
B.

 

TOMATO Soon—Peel and out up a pint of
tomatoes, more if the family is large, put
on to cook with a level teaspoonful of salt, a
little pepper and a lump of butter the size of
a small egg. In another dish heat the same
quantity of milk as of tomatoes. After the
tomatoes have cooked ten minutes stir in a

lump of soda the size Of a bean. After
stirring a minute, pour in the hot milk, and
when it boils take up immediately and
serve. Most people like this.