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DETROIT, DEC. 17, 1892.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

IF I WERE FAIR.

 

(“Then she looked into her mirror.")

It I were fair!

1! I had little hands and slender feet;

It to my cheeks the color rich and sweet

Game at a word and faded at a frown;

If I had clinging curls of burnish‘d brown:

If I hal dreamy eyes aglow with smiles.

And graceful limbs and pretty girlish wiles—

If I were fair, Love would not turn aside;

Life's paths. so narrow. would be broad and wide,
If I were fair 1

If I were fair,
Perhaps like other maidens I might hold
A true heart's store of tried and tested gold.
Love waits on Beauty, though sweet Love alone,
It seems to me for aught might well atone.
But Beauty’s charm is strong and Love obeys
The mystic witchery of her shy ways.
If I were fair, my years would seem so to w.
Life would unfold sweet pictures to my view,
If I were fair !

If I were fair.
Perhaps the baby. with a scream of joy.
To clasp my neck would throw away its toy.
A at! hide its dimples in my shining hair.
Bewilder'd by the maze of glory there !
But now-oh! shadow of a young girl‘s face;
Unoolor'd lips that Pain's cold fingers trace.
Ion will not blame the child whose wee hands

close.

Not on the blighted bud. but on the rose

80 rich and fair.

If I were fair.
Oh! just a little fair, with some sol t touch
About my face to glorify it much 1
If no one shunn’d my presence or my kiss.
Hy heart would almost break beneath its bliss.
"Es said each pilgrim shall attain his goal,
And perfect light shall flood each bllnded soul.
When day’s flush merges into snnset’s bars,
And night is here. And then beyond the stars
I shall be fair!

W

BUYING CHRISTMAS THINGS.

 

It doesn’t seem abit like Christmas,
so everybody says. Too much mud and
mist; not enough frost and snow. But
the merchants, who are anxious to draw
our dollars from our pockets to theirs,
do not let us forget that Christmas is
close at hand, and display their wares so
temptingly that one needs the stoicism
of St. Anthony to enable her to resist
their mute appeal, “Come, buy me!”
Fortunate the woman who deliberately
plans her Christmas gifts week in ad-
vance,and is level-headed enough not to
get “rattled” by an attack of “pur-
chasing fever,” holding herself firmly
to her original plans and spending only
the money she has dec1ded she is able
to afford, and buying her things before
the rush begins. Only those who have
put off their Christmas shopping till

 

“the last day in the afternoon” know
how tiresome and exasperating a task it
is, with saleswomen too busy to show
you the goods you want to see until you

are quite out of patience; with some-‘

body whisking the article you had just
decided to take—but hadn’t said so—
right from under your very nose, and
like as not sending it off to be done up
before you can protest; with the weari-
some waits for change and the pushing,
jostling crowd fairly pulling your
clothes off you, and all making you vote
Christmas a nuisance and wish it only
came once in ten years.

A good way is to make a tour of the
stores, see what they have for sale and
learn prices, go home and think it all
over and decide what to buy for each
for whom you design a present. And in
deciding this, aim to gratify some de-
sire of the recipients. You might as
well give a telescope to a blind man as
a book to a- person who doesn’t read
more than one a year, a feather fan to a
girl who never goes to a party,or brace-
lets to one who doesn’t care for
jewelry. It isn’t the cost of a gift, nor
always the afiection that prompts it,
which renders it acceptable~there is a
good deal in its Suitability. its being
“just what you had wanted so long.”
And where it is possible it is a good idea
for each member of a. family to make
out a list of what he or she would like for
Christmas—a list which may contain
articles both cheap and costly and home-
made, and these lists, circulated among
the members, give each a chance to
select what suits the ability to give,
while the surprise is as great to the
receiver, and the pleasure doubled by
the gratification of a wish. Such a list
made out by a young girl of my ac-
quaintance ranged from a mink cape
and mud and an opal pin, down to a box
of candy and a button-hook, and she
would as soon expect lightning tostrike
her as expect to receive the first two; she
put them in “because she wanted them.”

In the stores this year, there is a be

 

wildering array of silver articles. Silver ,
set hand-mirrors, silver backed brushes :
‘ for hairpins, others for safety pins and

and combs, silver shaving mugs and
silver manicure sets.

l
These are expen- ,

sive—ten and twelve dollars and up-i

ward. Then we drop to the cheaper

things, the tiny cofiee spoons with eith- '

er polished or dull gold bowls and fil-

l
I
l
1

silver handles; sometimes the bowls are
fluted like shells; these sell at [rum 3
dollar for the plainest to three dollars-
for the enameled. Bon-bon spoons are:
shovels, scoops, or are shaped like class-
pans, and all have short handles, some
of them are marvels of enameling. E
saw one lovely little sugar spoon, goiti
plate on sterling silver, with a fleur de-
lis handle,for $2.90. Lettuce forks been
long handles and three prongs, and are
supposed to enable us to serve the let»
tuce much more stylishly than an ordi-
nary table fork; they are $2.75. Some-
thing new is a spoon with a long handle
and long narrow gold-lined bowl witha
decided scoop at the end, and designate
as a horse- radish spoon. It costs $2.25;
and when I saw a man get red in the
face the other day trying to help him-
self to that pungent relish from a deep,
small-necked bottle with the handle at
a teaspoon. I concluded it would reek
ly, as the salesman assured me, “fill a
long-felt want.” Souvenir teaspoons
you may buy from $1.75 up. Instead of
choosing a spoon with the name of. a
city upon it, or these “witch” or “Sauna
Claus” spoons, get a solid silver specs.
and have the recipie nt’s initial engraved-
in the bowl and your own in the place
left on the back of the spoon for magic
ing.

Silver is within half a cent an ounce-
of the lowest price ever reached, so i
saw in a paper the other day. I should
think so. You can buy sterling silver
hat pins for twenty-five cents each. and
dainty pins, in sterling silver too, fours
leaved clovers.daisies,leaves,bow knots,
crescents,etc. ,for fifty cents each. Toilet
and perfume bottles are in silver plated
filagree, very pretty and showy, and
range in price from thirty cents fix
small sizes up to sixty cents for lax-gen.
Little filagree match stands are twenty
five cents, sterling silver match safer;
for your smoking friend cost from $1.5
up, and every time he lights a cigar he

. should bless the thoughtul girl who gave

it bun—and had his initials engraved on
it. Trinket boxes—silvered boxes label.
led “A woman‘s friend” and intended

matches, are thirty-five cents; silvered
cases containing each a pack of cards
are twenty-five and thirty cents; little
silvered boots—a trifle down at the heel
——for matches,twenty cents; photograph

agree, twisted wire, enamel or oxydized frames, silvered filagree, twenty-five


 

The Household.

 

o

 

cents and upward, or little ovals set
with rhinestones, and costing $2 50.

In the book-stores holiday trade seems
to be dull. The cheap book counters
have sadly injured the legitimate trade,
for cheapness is more of a consideration
with many people than quality—a book
is a-book. I can appreciate the taste of
a friend who has all his magazines
bound in half calf, at a cost exceeding
the subscription price, and whose selec-
tion of a book is influenced as much by
the style of binding and quality of type
and paper as by its literary value, but
not all of us can afford so costly a fad.
When you can buyHawthorne’s “Scarlet
Letter" and ‘ ‘House of the Seven Gables”
in pretty red and white binding, fairly
good paper and type that will not quite
blind you, at twenty-four cents a volume,
only those whose tastes make them pre-
fer a little that is good to much that is
common will pay $2 50 for a handsome
edition in calf. Among the new books
that are soecially attractive and good
are Mary E. Wilkins’ “Jane Field,” and
“A New England Nun”; “A Window in
Thrums” and “The Little Minister,” by
J. M. Barrie; "The West from a Car
Window” by Richard Harding Davis,
and though not new, “Gallagher,” the
best newspaper story I ever read, and
“Van Bibber and Others," by the same
author; "F. Marion Crawford’s new
book,” Don Orsino;" Giovanni and the
Other,” Mrs. Burnett’s latest for the
children; T.W. Higginson’s essays,pub-
lished in the Bazar and now sent forth
on their own account in dainty white
and gray; and Whittier and Field and
Aldrich, and the benevolent Autocrat,
their literary merits enhanced by the
attractiveness of their array. And fol-
lowing these, the innumerable illustrat-
ed poems. “Snowbound,” “The Bells,”
"Curfew,” in imitation vellum and par-
chment,their whiteness bro ken by D res-
den designs in palest blue and pink,
lined with gilt.

And when you get beyond these small
things, and lose yourself in the great
jewelry, furniture, dry-goods and de-
partment stores, a woman can hardly
help wishing herself heir to a few of the
Gould millions,there are so many things
she is sure would give pleasure and
help to those she loves and would de-
light to enrich were she able. And then
she may think of the old philosopher
who. after his rich friend had shown
him over his elegantly appointed man-
sion,thanked him for showing him how
many things there were in the world
that he could do without. And coming
down to a later day,-we somehow sympa-
thize with the girl who despairingly

exclaimed: “Oh to be a child again,when
a stick of cmdy and a saucer pie ‘filled
the bill,’ and nothing was expected of

me i”
BEATRIX.

 

SILVER may be kept from turning
black by keeping that not in daily use
in canton flannel bags, with tiny bits of
camphor gum put in with it.

 

AN IDEAL MOTHER.

Deprived of a mother at an early age
still I have always had my ideal of one.
She is small, rather undersized. has a
sweet face; her hair always waved. I
once heard a mother remark that she
wore her hair crimped every day to
avoid any unnecessary questions of the
children as to whether she was going
out and where she was going.

This ideal mother of mine is becom-
ingly attired; has the gentlest voice; is
never loud, always refined and ladylike;
is ever ready to listen to the troubles
and trials of childhood and I believe
these childish woes are as bad as any
deeper troubles we have in after years.
I know that some of my childhood
troubles are as vivid in my memory as
any I have encountered in after life.
She has eyes that can see the faults of
her children, but yet has such a way of
pointing them out and advising them
that it causes no rebellious feeling.

She is as polite to her children as she
would be to the President, ever ready
to join in their sports with as much
zeal as the youngest, when they lack a
playfellow; and when the grown-up son
is in need of a partner for the social or
entertainment, he is proud to take his
mother. She is never so happy as
when her children are gathered
around her; never gets nervous at their
noise or questions, very benevolent of
her caresses, and the grown-up son or
daughter never get too old to kiss
mother. Is my ideal realized in this
world, or is this personage an illusion.

It is a‘l a mistake about the father
being the head of the family; it is the
mother and the mother’s influence that
make a home.

Talking about tramps, ifthere is any-
thing that makes me wilt down like a
ca‘obageleaf on a hot day it’s a tramp,
and I am a bony masculine-looking
woman too; with a sharp tongue, I am
so sorry to say, and quite apt to stick
up for my rights. B it just let me see a
tramp coming up the walk and my
heart gives one bound and lodges in my
throat, and I begin to tremble as if I
had an ague chill. I always drag my-
self to the door, after opening one in an
opposite direction so I can make a
hasty exit if necessary. I live in a
house with nine outside doors so there
is one almost always opposite. The
last tramp that came as soon as I open-
ed the door says "You sick, missus?”
I politely told him I was not very well,
though I think I was suffering more
mentally than any phy‘ical pain; after
he went away I looked in the glass to
see why he asked the question and I
was astonished, my face was so pale
and my eyes had such a wild scared
look. I looked a fit subject for the in-
sane asylum. Feed them! I should
think I did. I give them the best the
house affords, and would give them my
husband’s Sunday trousers if they
should happen to suggest it. RUTH.

 

USELESS FUSSINESS .

One would need more lives than a cat
to carry out all the directions given to
housekeepers through the papers that
make housekeeping a specialty. Then
the kindly household writer who
wants to lessen your lahors can only re-
commend skipping the ironing. Now
ironing is not unpleasant work, and if
the clothes without gathers are folded
as they are taken from the line, placed
on the ironing table, the other clothes
ironed on top of them, it is not a great
task. If we could only skip washing
the dishes! I suspect the wiping of
them might be omitted if theylare left
to drain after having boiling water
poured over them. But it seems better
to wipe and put them away than to have
them around while they are drying
themselves. The only real saving of
work Ican see would be to have two
meals a day instead of three.

Breakfast at nine. Most people are not
hungry at the usual breakfast hour any
way. Dinner at three or four. If we
crowd three meals into these short
winter days we get little done besides
cooking them, and washing the dishes
afterwards.

It must be careless editing that allows
some of the precious directions for can-
ning fruit to see the light of day. One
earlier in this year that I saw in seve-
ral papers said that in canning straw-
berries they would settle and leave an
empty place at the too of the can. They
should opened next morning and the
empty spot filled up. Of. course any one
used to canning would not follow such
a direction, but inexperienced house-
keepers might have lost- their fruit by
it. Another writer says the covers and
rubber rings must be kept in a small
kettle of boiling water as it is absolute-
ly necessary they should be very hot
when put on. I have never gone into
any such foolishness; I fill ahundred
cans a year and do not lose any—except
in the usual way. My temper is a trifle
uncertain and it is sometimes lost al-
together in reading the useless fussiness
in all kinds of directions for doing
homework from people whom I know
have no practical knowledge of it.

Having thus worked off the crossness
engendered by six straight weeks of
depressing weather On this HOUSEHOLD,
I am prepared to present a smiling face
to my own. HULDAH PERKINS.

PIONEER.

 

THOSE housekeepers who have win-
dows with unsightly outlook and are
tired of washing muslin sash curtains,
may adopt the following cheap substi-
tute for frosted glass: In a quart of
stale beer dissolve half a pound of
Glauber salts. Apply to the‘glass with
a paint or copying brush. The salts
are deposited on the glass in a coating
of fine crystals, which produce a very
pretty effect, not easily distinguished
from frosted glass.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

.4- m - -' ~

 

The Household. ' 8

 

MORE ABOUT THE KEELEY CURE.

 

Sister Gracious seems to be quite sar-
castic and somewhat doubtful in regard
to the Keeley cure. As to the price, it
would truly seem that it might be made
lower and still be ample compensation
to Dr. Keeley.

Of course he is not the only one inter-
ested. There are a number of salaries to
be paid and other expenses incidental
to the conducting of solarge a business.
Still, to those who have had a dear one
cured by that means, a hundred, or an
hundred and fifty dollars even, seems
slight in comparison to the good wrought
in the home life. Take it home to
yourself, Sister Gracious. Suppose
some one in your own family were af-
flicted with the disease—I think we may
so call it—would not you be willing to
give ten times the sum named to have
him cured ? Dr. Keeley may as well
reap the benefit pecuniarily as the sa~
loan-keepers.

Sister Gracious says it is only for the
rich. Can not the rich man’s wife or
mother’s heart ache as well as her poor-
er sister. She may not lack for the
comforts of life, but the sorrow and
shame are there just the same ; and if
every one cannot be helped surely we
should not begrudge it to those who can
afford it. Even now I think there are
few worthy men who may not have the
means placed within their reach to go
the Cure, for as I said in my previous
letter, clubs of the “graduates” or cured
men are being formed in many of our
cities, one of the objects being to raise
a fund to pay the expenses of those who
are not able to pay for tb emselves. Many
of the men who have been cured were
sent by friends interested in their wel-
fare who advanced the money.

I think before long steps will be tak-
en by the States—and one of the South-
ern States, I see. has already done so-
to pass laws relative to the license
law, to set aside a share of the liquor
tax revenue for the purpose of giving
treatment to persons who are willing to
be cured, but have not the means to
pay.

I think we will yet see this thing un-
der government control; and the vic-
tims whom the saloon-keepers have
heretofore held in an iron grasp will
be free from the curse, whetherthey are
rich or poor. Not that I expect the
millenium is coming just yet—but I do
expect that before five years have roll-
ed away no man in this broad land need
willingly be the slave of liquor.

The italicised words “if it is a cure,”
show that Sister Gracious has very lit-
tle faith in it. I do not think she is
the only one who is or has been skepti-
cal, and perhaps nothing that I can say
will strengthen her faith. In our city
and surrounding country there are
quite a number who have been cured by
the Keeley treatment. Many of them
are personally known to me, and this
is how I come to have such confidence

 

in it. When men who have drank to
excess for years, who acknowledge that
they wanted something to drink every
day of their lives, whether they gave
up to it or resisted—when these men
(and I can show you a dozen of them)
say that they have no more desire for a
drink of liquor than for a drink of rain
water, or any other distasteful thing,
when men, as some of them do, work
in drug stores and other places where
liquor is kept and never have the least
desire to taste it, it does not take long
to convince me that there is something
in it.

I can not explain it nor can they —but
as one of them said : “One thing I know
—like the blind man of old—“That
whereas I was blind, now I see,’ only,”
he added, “my disease was a good deal
worse than blindness."

The question is often asked “‘ Will
they stay cured ‘? Will the appetite
never come back ‘9"

If ‘a person has once been cured of
any disease it may possibly attack them
again. So with this. The man is placed
exactly in the position of one who has
never drank. ‘ It is possible he may
drink, but it will be because he acquires
the habit over again.

But suppose a man in ordinary cir-
cumstances was obliged to'be treated
onceayear. The cost would still be
less than his whiskey bill would have
been for the same length of time, to sav
nothing of the happiness of his family
during that period which if it were you
or I whose happiness were at stake, I
think it would not and could not be
measured by dollars and cents.

Let me give one word to doubting
ones in closing: If you have a loved
one who is in a condition to need the
Keeley Cure,don’t hesitate a single mo-
ment about having him go to Ypsilanti,
or Alma, or Benton Harbor (for our
State has three Keeley Institutes in-
stead of two as I stated before), and if
in four weeks you don’t say it was the
best investment he ever made, your ex-
perience will be different from any
I know of who have given the Keeley
Cure 3. fair trial.

FLINT. ELLA ROCKWOOD.

H.—
CHAT.

“BASHFUL JOE,” of Matteson, gives
some of her views on HOUSEHOLD
topics. saying:

“I made up a Thanksgiving dinner for
my chickens although it is two weeks
late; better late than never, I think. I
took the potato parings and other re-
fuse and boiled them until tender, then
poured over them a pan of ground feed,
put in a sprinkle of cayenne pepper,and
I presume I shall have to take the half
bushel basket tonight to gather the eggs
in and won’t it be fun to sell theml I
could not help smiling out loud when I
read Little Nan’s experience at frying
pork, but she is not the only one who
has had all these things to learn. I
think it quite a knack to cook meat pro-
perly. And new award for the mother-
in-law. I have one, and I can truly say

 

of her, she is one of the best Christian
ladies in this part of the country; I only
wish there were more just like her; she
has always been a mother to me and
more so since I buried my own mother,
one year ago. 1 have lots of sympathy
for the tired, overworked mothers, and
hope the husbands may be as good and
thoughtful of them as mine is. I have
had to keep help the most of the time
for the past ten years. I think a week’s
vacation and visit to some friend a great
help to any one. I would like to tell
my experience of a visit I made this fall
and how much benefit it was to me, but
am afraid i have tarried too long al-
ready, when I get started I hardly know
where to stop.”

“Dana’s WIFE” says she enjoys read.
ing the HOUSEHOLD so much that she
has often thought she would like tojoin
the coterie of writers. She adds:

“I think the exchange of ideas through
this little paper does us much good, ens
larges our views and we are made the
better thereby. How often some of the
letters describe our home life and sur-
roundings, and solve some problem for
us that helps us a great deal in this busy
life. How many days are made happy
by a pleasant smile or a kind word! Let
us sow them broadcast, as they cost us
so little yet mean so much to others. I
think “Diana’s” cure for discontent very
good and “Busy Bee’s" views on the
pocket-book question also. Those ques-
tions have been well discussed so I will
not revive them. As I have been married
only a little over a year I haven’t much
experience with two pocket-books and
don’t anticipate much trouble in that
direction.”

PHOEBE, of Clarendon,is a new comer
who inquires:

“Please may I come in and
become one of the members of the
HOUSEHOLD? I have been standing on
the threshold for a long time wonder-
ing ifI had better ‘knock at the door,
peck in, lift up the latch 3. Id walk in,’
and conscience said try it, and perhaps
if you are received once, they will let
you call again. I have been areader
of the HOUSEHOLD for nearly three
years, and the little paper c'omes like a
sunbeam into our home. The better
half takes two papers. the MICHIGAN
FARMER,the Voice of New York, while I
have the Uni/mSignalfioodform and the
HOUSEHOLD, which is read through be-
fore the others are taken up. or read. I
just wanted to tell a little of my ex-
perience with flatirons to the young
housekeeper. If she wishes them to
retain their heating qualities do not
leave them on the back of the range (or
dry oven) after using, where they will
be warm all the time; but hang them up
in a dry place and she will always find
them bright and clean ready for use
any time.”

WHAT'S the matter with Anti-Over
that he so pathetically pictures the woes
of “Benedict the married man?” He
inquires:

"Are married men’s duties and obli-
gations rightly appreciated by their
wives? About the first thing ‘he’ must
providea house and home. furnishings,
board and clothing for two. It has
generally cost him some of his time and
much hard work and some money; and
1fa young farmer, he gets up in the
morning, builds fire, puts on the kettle,
goes out in the wet. cold, snow or blow,
to do the chores, and doesnot always

 


 

The Household.

 
   

 

find things inst as he left them over
night. Well, breakfast; then to his
stock and team,plowing, dragging,culti-
vating over the rough hills. Tired and
weary at supper time, there are forty
chores to do and the wood to bring in.
Then he takes care- of the baby and is
always expected to be good natured and
keep both pocket-books well filled. I
ask has a decent man no thoughts or
cares,bnt just his own comfort. In your
disconsolate moments just think of
‘the lilies of the field, they toil not,
neither do they spin” for
ANTI—OVER.

[You shouldn’t be curious, Anti-Over,
for that is popularly (but erroneously)
suppose to be awoman‘s failing; but you
are “away off” and the hundred miles

exist in fact, not fancy.—ED ]

 

M. A.. of Orion, pays a tribute to an
oft underestimated individual, saying:

“Why shouldn’t my mother-in-law
care how I mend my husband’s stock-
ings ? Hasn’t she mended them care-
fully and smoothly ever since the little
feet first tegan to wear them? And
don’t we know what painful corns or
bunions are sometimes caused by a
thick, rough place in a stocking that
has been mended in a bungling manner?
And why should I leel badly because
my husband loves his mother 1* Should
not I rather feel badly if :he did not, for
if a man would cease to love his mother
how long before he would neglect
his wife? Dear heart, the grass of
many summers has been green above
her grave. May God forgive me if I
ever caused her pain, and help me to
care for her boy as tenderly as did she
vhvhennhe was not mine at all, but only

are.

______..._._.

MUSIC,

 

There is probably no art or science,
at the present day which has so univer-
sally obtained the voice of all mankind
as the art and science of music. It is
the most healthful of all arts. for it sat-
isfies and enlightens the mind, and
awakens exquisite emotions of happi-
ness in the soul.

"Truly there is power in music.” It
sweetens the cup of bitterness, softens
the hand of poverty, lightens the bur-
dens of life and encourages the soul in
despair.

There is no medicine so beneficial
or more pleasant to take, for a bad
humor, than music; it is healthful.
What a softening power is contained
in music, especially the music of the
human voice; who can be angry when
the voice speaks in song ! Sing to the
wicked man, sing to the discon-
solate, sing to the old and sing to the
young ; it inspires them all.

The human voice is the most perfect
musical instrument ever made, for it
had the most skillful Maker.

The first account of a chorus of voices
we have was at the laying of the founda-
tions of the earth, when the morning
stars sang together, and the sons of God
shouted for joy.

Every song uplifts, many a prayer is

‘ angry feelings; it should be in the farm-

means of uplifting some down-trodden
soul to a higher and better life.

There is music in every thing, it is
all around us. The rain drops sing as
they fall ; the air is filled with whisper~
ing melodies; the autumnal winds have
a mournful sound as they rush past us,
and the little brook ripples as it flows
on and On. Tell us where music is not.
Instead of the monotone of the spin-
ning wheel, and the click of the shuttle,
the only instrumental performances of
by-gone days, we have the piano.

No family can afford to be Without
music, it is a luxury and an economy,
Make home attractive, it will keep out

er’s home, as well as in the home of the
merchant or the professional man.
How heart-warming it is to hear the
whole family joining in a hymn or SOng,
or hear some poetic reverie executed!

How many of us would have loved to
listen to some of the old masters, as
they executed their own compositions,
their very souls entering into the very
depths of their work, and each chord a
prayer ! I have been reading of late
the biographies of some of the old mas-
ters, and under what discouragements
and disadvantages they sometimes
worked. but at the end came out vic-
torious.

When girls enter upon their duties
as housewives what a sad mistake they
oft-times make in carelessly laying aside
their music, in some cases entirely
forgetting it.

I beg of you to keep up your practice !
Keep vour piano in tune; don’t become
too stingy to invest a few dollars for the
good of an instrument that cost you
hundreds of dollars. If you expect your
clock to indicate correct time, you have
it cleaned and wound up regularly, so if
you wish your piano to play correct
music, have it kept in order.

I know of a great many house-wives
who do not touch their pianos from
one week’s end to another ; and when
they do, they can scarcely play a simple
piece in the natural key. They will
see the day they will regret such care-
lessness, if they have not already. Our
husbands love to hear us play (at least
mine idoes), and I should certainly
think married life a failure if household
cares interfered with that talent given
me, and in which so much domestic
pleasure centers.

Remember, music is to the ear and
intellect what strawberries, peaches
and other luscious fruit are to the taste.

MT. CLEMENS. LIFTLE NAN.

H...“

ABDUI‘ THE HAIR.

 

Hilda G., of Stromsburg, Neb.,writes:

“I take much pleasure in the HOUSE-
HOLD, and have come to regard it an
encyclopaelia of knowledge. I have a
valuable collection of recipes taken
from its columns, but come asking for
one that I have not yet found, viz.:

clipping the hair at the new of the
moon strengthen it, or is it only a
saying?’

LDI‘. Leonard, in his valuable treatise
on the hair, recommends cocoanut oil as
the best dressing for dry, harsh hair,
and names Burnett’s Cocoaine as a
good preparation. But unless the hair
is unusually dry. it may be made soft
and glossy by the persistent use of the
hair brush. Few have patience to give
the hundred strokes of the brush every
day, necessary to stimulate the natural
oiliness of the hair and produce a natu-
ral gloss and softness. Use but little of
the pomade; nothing is more disgust-
ing than hair reeking with oil. It is
best applied after the hair has been
cleaned with the yolk of an egg well
rubbed in, and rinsed and properly
dried.

The moon has nothing whatever to
do with the growth of the hair. Fre-
quent trimming of the hair is conducive
to its rapid growth. It is well to trim
the ends of the hair once a month or~so,
to keep the ends even, and it will grow
exactly as fast if the clipping is regular-
ly done on the first or any other day of
the month as if done in the “new of the
moon.” Split hairs should be cut off
above the cleft, as the hair will not
grow afterwards, and the tendency is for
the split to extend upward on the shaft.
If the hair is quite uneven, considera-
ble should be cut off, or the result may
be that it will come out badly.

 

In making up the list of papers and
magazines for next year’s reading it
would be well not to forget Good House
keeping, an excellent low-price domestic
monthly. Its household miscellany} is
of an excellent order. $2 per annum. C.
W. Bryan & 00., Springfield, Mass.

W

THE gum-chewing public may be
pleased to learn that but little of the
stuff which it industriously masticates
is really a gum, or in any way related
to that vegetable product. The basis
of the daintily-wrapped, nicely-flavor-
ed and flowery-named compounds which
are “rolled as a sweet morsel under the
tongue” (and carefully stuck on the bed-
post or under the table when not in ac-
tive use) is a residuum left in the refin-
ing of coal oil. Only about 2,500 pounds
of genuine spruce gum obtained from
the trees are secured each year, the
rest of the supply is the petroleum pro-
duct, which comes cheaper and is more
readily obtained, The gatherers of
spruce gum, who used to make from $1
to $5 per day, now do not average over
20 or 30 cents a pound, the little round
clear bits being worth $1 per pound, the
remainder ranging down to ten cents.
When the supply is large, the price
sometimes falls to three or f0ur cents,
at other times a scarcity makes it worth
50 or 60 cents. The gum can only be
secured in winter, and is not valuable

 

 

breathed through a song ; a simple bal-
lad may be full of music, it maybe the

  

something to render the hair soft with-
out making it damp and sticky. Does

until it is several years old.