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DETROIT, AUGUST 11, 1885.

 

 

TIE-IKE EKGUSEHOleflanuguppfiement.

 

 

MAKE THE BEST 017' IT.

 

What’s the use of always fretting

Over evils that can’t be cured?
‘ What’s the use of finding fault with

What we know must be endured?

Dc es it make our burdens lighter
If we grumble ’neath their load?

Does it make life’s pathway smoother
If we fret about the road?

Better use our time than fill it
Full of sighs and vain regrets

Over some imagined blunder—
As does he who always frets.

We cannot expect life’s pathway
To be always strewn with flowerst
Nor the time that God has given
All he made of happy hours.
Storms will follow every sunshine,
Grief be mixed with every joy;
and ’tis best that it should be so—
Gold’s too soft without alloy.

“ Half our trouble‘s our invention ;”
We’re t3 blame for half our strife;

Then, if life is what we make it,
Why not make the best of life?

_____§..—___

FAVORITE CHILDREN.

I presume most parents, if accused of
having a favorite among their children,
would resent the charge and assert that
they loved each one alike, showing par-
tiality to none. Yet my observation
teaches me that in almost every family
there is one child who is favored and
petted more than the others, perhaps un-
consciously, without doubt unintention
ally, but nevertheless surely. Often it is
the delicate one of the flock, whose weak-
ness and lack 'of vitality appeal to par-
en tal tenderness andlove through fear the
tenure of hfe may be short. The other
children are taught to give up their indi-
vidual rights to playthings, and their own
wishes,to this weaker one, and the anxiety
of love in the parental heart is often ex-
pressed by indulgences, liberties and privi-
leges denied the others. Sometimes pride
centres on the “smart ”child, the preco-
ciously developed youth whose sayings are
quoted to visitors and listened to with at-
tention because of their “cuteness;"
sometimes beauty marks the favorite, and
since “’tis well that beauty should go
beautifully,” all the pretty clothes and
choicest toys and keepsakes are showered
upon the “flower of the family,” while
the plainer~faced and less bright and at—
tractive children are neglected. I never
like to-hear the admission that one child
is “ f ather’s pet ” or “ mother’s favorite,”
especially if made in the presence of either
the child or its brothers or sisters, be—

 

cause I am quite sure that the acknowl-
edgement is harmful to all of them.

The injustice of favoritism is so appan
ent, and too so ofte. unintentional and
unthinking, that I am sure a mere allusion
to the results to the other children, and
possible consequences to the favorite,
will serve to make every thoughtful par-
ent mentally review the home flock to see
if conscience accuses in this respect.
Children are keen observers; their little
eyes are so sharp, their little hearts so
sensitive that they often see and compre—
hend a partiality which is hardly ac-
knowledged by the parent’s heart. Who
cannot call to mind some child standing
by to hear the praises of its pretty or for-
ward brother or sister, itself unnoticed
by word or look, and turning away, quiet,
but not unthoughtful or unobservant. In
some temperaments a seed of jealousy has
been planted; in others. too noble and
loving for jealous thoughts, asorrow has
been felt by the sensitive soul, a sorrow
the child cannot convey in words, but
which teaches its lesson of reserve and
self repression. No child can see another
constantly preferred before itself Without
questioning why in its heart, and what
the readiest answer but that preference is
the token of greater love? How often the
child shows its knowledge by saying,
“ You ask her: she’ll let you,” when some
dubious request is to be made, and every
means must be brought to bear to gain a
favorable answer! It is a sad thing when
this feelingis thus manifested: it shows
it is rooted, deep in the child‘s heart, and
betokens a corresponding distrust of par-
ental love, and hence a weakening of
parental influence and control. The
father or mother who through ignorance
or carelessness allows one child to believe
itself less loved than another, has lost a
power over it only to be regained by in—
finite tact and pains, if indeed the old
trust ever comes back.

What shall we say of the mother who
extols one child and depreciates another
while both are present? “ Mary is such a
lrdy-like child, I am never afraid to take
her any where with me; but Jennie is al-
ways mortifying me; I never know What
she will say or do in company.” Mary,
from her safe perch on her mother’s knee,
surveyed the delinquent sister with an air
of conscious superiority. Jennie, abashed
at the mother’s reproof in the presence
of visitors, studied the hem of her pina—
fore and then removed herself from the
scene with dignity. She was by far the
most interesting child of the two, but her

    

 

quaint remarks were often unconventional
though always original. If she grows up
headstrong and stubborn, the above ma-
ternal remark will furnish the “key to
the situation.” Would It not be a good
rule for family government never to
praise one child at the expense of another;
and also, never to either praise or blame
in the presence of strangers? I do not
think it right or prudent to discuss a
child’s peculiarities or disposition with
any person in the child’s presence. It is
unjust in the first instance, mortifying
and hardening to the child in the second.

The effect of partiality upon the favor—
ite and the other children is also to be
considered. The family pet is apt to
grow up selfish, wilful, arrogant and un-
just to its brothers and sisters, and to be
known as a “disagreeable child ” to older
people. Its wishes must be gratified at
the expense of the rights of others, or the
whole family is made uncomfortable by
its ill-temper, and one ugly temper in a
family can efl'ectually destroy the peace
and comfort of the rest. The other child-
ren are jealous as they grow older, and
resent the claims of the favored one; (113-
sensions and strife inevitably follow
J )seph’s brethren plotted his death be:
cause of their jealousy, for “Israel loved
Joseph more than all his children,” and
s‘his brethren hated him and could not
speak peaceably unto him.” And it is
rarely indeed that harmony and love
bless the family that numbersa Joseph,
beloved above his brethren, among its
members. A certain year old baby never
sees a plavthing in its threa—year-old sis-
ter’s hands without teasing for it. Miss
Three'Years-Old says reflectively: “ Mine
sis’er is yittle; me mus’ be dood to mine
yittle sis’er,” and surrenders the toy.
Whata sweet, self-denying, loving dis-
position this little one shows! But it is
not good discipline, for the baby grows
selfish and greedy, and Miss Brown Eyes
is evidently pondering why she must give
up to Miss Blue Eyes, when Miss Blue Eyes
is never made to give up to her. If the
beautiful spirit of self-abnegation and
unselfishness is to be kept alive in the
elder’s heart, it must not be tried too of—
ten or too severely now.

There is another danger to be thought
of by parents and relatives, the danger
of discouragement to the other children,
by constantly, by word or deed, impress-
ing upon them the superiority of another,
whom they feel instinctively they cannot
equal in certain respects, or their own
strong individuality forbids them to imi~


2

'1

THE HOUSEHOLD.

     

 

tate. Backward children need encour—
agement, not to always have another’s
proficiency pointed (tut; that is not en-
couraging, but depressing, if indeed it
does not arouse an ugly feeling which
prevents them frtm trying to conquer
their faults. A young lady said to me
recently, while inquiring after a former
acquaintance who was a young lady
when she was a little girl: “L—-— was
the first person who ever seemed to like
me bet'er than they did ———- (mentioning
her sister). I thought it all right every*
body should like best»; I was not jeal-
ous; I knew that she was prettier and
Smarter than I, but itwas a new idea that
Icould be liked best, and the attention
L—-— paid me that summer did me lots of
good.” It would have been a surprise to
any member of the family to have been
told one sister was so much preferred be—
fore the other, when they were children,
yet this stranger quickly discovered it,
and was the first to recognize the latent
possibilities of the younger’s nature, and
we have the confession of what that
recognition meant and accomplished.

Those things mcst familiar to us are
often “viewed with unseeing eye;” that
is, they do not affect us or draw our at-
tention as they should. This matter of
favoritism among children is so an out.
growth of life, “ grows up with the child-
ren,” so to speak, that not till we pause
to critically examine our attitude are we
convinced of the injustice and harm we

 

are doing. BEATRIX.
-—-———«o————
COMPOSITION AND EFFECTS OF
TEA.

Waller, an English poet, writes:
“Tea doth our fat cy aid,

Repress those vapors which the head invade,
And keep the palace of the soul.”

I am unable to find very much relating
to the effect of tea upon the system. The
best authorities agree that it is good for
healthy. grown people, but not suitable
for children until growth is attained.
“The chemical composition of a fair
sample of tea is: Theine 1 to 3 per cent;
caseine, 15; gum, 18; sugar, 3; tannin 26;
aromatic oil, 75; fat, 4; vegetable fibre, 20;
mineral substances, 5; and water, 5 per
cent. The tannin is an astringent, while
the theine acts as a gentle excitant upon
the nervous system. This is probably en-
hanced by the warmth of the infusion:
Most people buy the 50-cent tea. No
doubt you often findithat the cups are filled
with rose colored liquid. “Few cooks have
any idea of the extreme delicacy of a tea
leaf, or how scientifically, even artistically
they must be treated. The constituents
in the leaf which you must look after are

the theine, the aromatic oil, and the tan-
nin. Your tea must be treated in such a
way that the first two, which give to the
tea its flavor and aroma, will be extracted,
but that the bitter tannin will be left un-
developed. The theine and oil are both
volatile substances, so if your tea is steep-
ed too long, or if it is boiled, they will
literally fly away, while the tannin ex-
tracted will turn your cup into a bitter,
herby drink.” When I am very tired, I

fact, I have done a big day’s work on tea
alone, so I know it is very stimulating. I
know also that it can he drank to such an
extent that the nervous system is under-
mined, and a person be but a wreck of

himself or herself. EVANGALINE.
BATTLE CREEK.

“flfi—
HEALTH 0F FARMERS’
AND DAUGHTERS.

I read with exceeding interest the com-
ments on the above topic in the House-
hold of July 14th. I endorse the article
myself, yet not quite all of it. Perhaps
it is presumption in me to set up my
opinion against that of Beatrix, and yet I
wish to take off the sharp edge of the too
popular opinion which we hear so often
discussed that “ farmers’ wives as a class
are the most ever worked and ill—used of
any class of women.” The statement
that a larger per cent of insane women are
from the country is time, and again re-
iterated in our ears whenever a strong
point is to be made concerning over-
worked women.

The Eastern Asylum is located in our
city. I very often go there with friends,
who desire to know more about the home
of this class of unfortunates, and of the
perfect system and comfort there. I have
inquired of the attendant, and closely ob-
served myself, concerning the class we
are permitted to see, and I find no such
class in the ascendancy. I am personally
acquainted with very many who have
gone there from this locality, and they
are mostly from the town, not country.
If the statement given to us in official re-
ports would read. wives and mothers,
teachers and brain-workers of our sex,
formed a larger per cent of the inmates,
then it would come nearer the truth.
There are women there who would become
insane whether they are farmers’ wives
or not. It is those who ride a certain
“hobby” unmercifully, who get a certain
opinion and adhere to it too tenaciously;
or those have some great sorrow, the loss
of dear friends, or home or property, and
instead of rising above it, because they
have not strength, mental or physicial,
let it wear them out. -

I have always lived on the farm, and
hardly think we women of a farm-life
have a much {harder time than those of
the town. I frequently attend meetings
of different organizations composed of
ladies of the town, and the minister’s
wife is one of an over-worked class; the
merchants’ and lawyers’ wives think they
work hard because of the scarcity and in-
efllciency of hired help; the mechanic’s
wife must needs work both brains and
hands to keep up with her neighbors, and
not go beyond the income. The drinking
of such great quantities of strong tea and
coffee to keep up one's strength to do a
great amount of work, is damaging to
health and strength of nerves. The con-

“'IVES

stant worrying and fretting which some
women indulge in. is worse than double
the amount of work. The present “high
pressure ” way of living, which we find
in so many homes in town and country,

 

 

flzd tea builds me up considerably: in

causes nervousness and ill health, and

 

when once we get to that state where ill-
health is the rule, not the exception, it is
no easy matter to regain the comfort and
strength and cheerfulness attendant on
; ood health.

I think you will all accede to these sen-
timents, that when we hear or read prac-
tical thoughts upon what will benefit us
socially, morally and intellectually, we
spasmodically resolve we will fall in with
them and practice them. Beatrix says:
“One cause of so much poor health is the
want of out door exercise.” How many
of us, after we have worked hard all the
morning, stay indoors, sewing or reading,
nstead of going out to enjoy the fresh
air. After reading that article, I took my
rocking chair and sewing and went out
in the front yard, and all was quiet, noth-
ing to worry me, but much to please the
eye and quiet the nerves, and now every
afternoon finds me sitting under the shade
of the maple, whether my employment be
mending, making, or letter~writing, and
a decided change for the better has come
over me; less headache, quieter nerves,
unwonted cheerfulness, no “ mountains ”
of work looming up before me to worry
about because I cannot accomplish it—all
in a short time. It seems quite like going
from the city to the country to enjoy
fresh air, as our “city cousins "’ would
fain do had they the opportunity. Farm~
ers’ wives do not need to go to “summer
resorts and “mineral springs,” if they
would only make the most out of what
they have at home. It is want of thought
and an oversight that we do not have
berries, fruits, flowers, vegetables, pleas-
ent surroundings, and good sanitary ar-

rangements, and good health. MYRA.

PONTIAC.

THE PEACE OF CONTENT.
Glancing over the back numbers of my
Sabbath school papers I find in one the
following paragraph:

“ God for his service needeth not

Proud work of human skill;

They please him best who labor most,
To do in peace his wrll.

So let us strive to do his will,
And to our spirits will be given

Such wings as, when the Savior calls,
Shall bear us up to heaven.”

As I read these. lines I thought how
true they are; yet how few of us are con.
tent with simply doing our plain every
day tasks, which because of their very
plainness and monotony makes us to al— ’
most hate them. The same round of
work from day to day, with nothing to
show more than the clean pantry full of
dishes, the well swept rooms, and the
well filled cupboard of daintles that have
cost us many a weary hour over the hot
stove, wrestling with rolling-pin and pie
plates, until we are nearly ready to say as
L. B. P. thought when the basket of
strawberries came, “ Blessed be nothing."
How often we long for the power to be
able to tear ourselves away from the
suffocating heat of the kitchen, the plain
common every day work that it seems
our lot to perform, and be able to engage
in some elevating labor, some work that
will amount to something. Oh! you all
know just what I mean; I cannot tell you

 

 

just what it is, but anything except th

  

 


THE HOUSEHOLD

3

 

. same old round of work. But as I read
those words they seemed to rest me, to
encourage and help me to be more content
to do in peace whatsoever my hands find
to do without complaining. Let us try to
make our Household a contented one,
speaking words of comfort to the many
hundreds of tired women who eagerly
read, though they may never contribute
to it. Ioften find a letter that I think
worth the whole price of the paper, on
the account of the spirit of content it
brings in the homes where many children
claim the patience and care of the mother.
Routine and work are more trying to
them, especially this warm weather, but
desolate indeed is the home without a
child. When Ihear people say “I do not
love children, I never want any to bother
me,” I am convinced of a selfish and un-
loving heart, and feel thankful that my
home is blessed with the care, the noise
and dirt and confusion of our dear little
one. Let us try to be more patient with
them; their brightest days are now, and
oh how short is childhood!

M AYBE LL E.
anonwsrnn.

———OOO-——

HOME ADORNMENTS.

 

When we were cleaning house last
spring we found a pair of fine black
broadcloth pants, which were soiled but
not much worn, which the “ good man”
had thrown aside, not wishing to wear
any more. We ripped them carefully
apart and cleaned the cloth nicely, and
found it was not faded, but would make
capital material to embroider on. This
was what we used for the lambrequins
mentioned in “Household Economies.”
We have a small stamping outfit, and my
daughter cut one of the pieces in points,
and did her stamping, then embroidered
them, putting a bunch of wild roses on
the front points, daisies. on the ones on
either side, and fuschias on the end ones.
Another piece she embroidered in gold
colored silk, using a pattern suitable for
the color.

We also ripped an old velveteen dress
skirt, and found some parts that were
not soiled, which were utilized for small
shelf lambrequins for the girls’ room.
The pattern used on this was wild roses,
poppies and wheat. Some of the patterns
were stamped, others were drawn from
magazines on tissue paper and worked
over the paper. In this way we have a
number of handsome ornaments, with no
money outlay except the embroidery silk,
which is only a penny a skein. We get
the men to make the shelves if they have
time; if not, the girls use the saw and
hammer, and make them, perhaps not in
a workmanlike manner, but when they
are covered they answer every purpose.

We had an old-fashioned towel-rack
given us, which as soon as M— saw,
she said could be converted into a music
stand. She took it to the barn and had a
top wired on, as there was no way to nail
it on. For a spread we bought two colors
of felt, using the darker for the body, and
the lighter for the border, cutting them
in deep points and pinking them.

OLD SCHOOL TEACHER.
'In 1 Jun!

 

EMPLOYMENT FOR THE GIRLS.

After so long a delay lam half ashamed
to meet the constant little Household,
which has come to me week after week,
during these busy, heared days. I always
read the whole paper through, then send
it to a good Shaker sister in Union
Village, Ohio, who hands it about in the
community, and there is no telling the
good it has accomplished. “A little
leaven leaveneth a whole lump."

I have been thinking; perhaps some one
might be interested in my particular kind
of work. or be aided in deciding the
choice of a pursuit in life by hearing
something of the duties of aprofession
now generally conceded to be especially
suited to women, namely, that of a stenog-
rapher.

Whatever we do we should always hear
in mind the motto, “There is plenty of
room at the top.” Like other employ-
ment that seems to promise light work,
white hands and good clothes, there are
hundreds of aspirants who have neither
talent or energy to become even moder-
ately successful. As few persons are
ever able to be reporters I shall write only
of that branch of stenographers who fill
the position of correspondents for busi‘
ness houses.

To fill such a position in a manner that
will command a good sal»..ry, a woman
must learn to be business-like, and count
nothing on the fact that she 'is a woman .
Above all things never obtrude that fact.
She must be punctual, methodical, will-
ing to assist in other departments if it
seems necessary, or stay an hour late in
the busy season.

One may be able to take dictation
rapidly, transcribe correctly, but if lack-
ing in these attributes there is nothing
more certain than that some clever young
man will eventually crowd you out.

As to learning the art of short-hand, I
cannot say that any one can master it in
less than six months’ diligent application,
of several hours a day, and then perhaps
be able to use it only for deliberate dicta-
tion. .

Nowadays writing machines are used
in nearly every ofiiee. This work is
mechanical, but requires time. Perhaps
in two months’ steady practice consider-
able skill may be acquired. Then, after
all this is learned, do not imagine it is the
easiest thing in the world to find a vacant
place into which you may step and make
a fortune. Let me counsel you to be con-
tent with being received at a small salary
the first few months, and be glad of the
opportunity to learn the routine of office
work, and a thousand points of which
you are utterly ignorant, if you have
never done such work. If you make
yourself a necessity, your employers will
increase your salary, or if they cannot
there will be other places turn up if you
make the effort to find them. But finding
them is one of the arts you will learn with
your other experiences. Skill in any
kind of work will command money
ultimately.

A friend sent me a little machine
calied the stenograph for writing short—

 

hand, which seems to me very much
easier learned than the pencil system,
and which I would recommend young
persons to inquire about, as it seems so
simple, andl think will answer for (r—
dinary correspondence. and save a great
deal of perplexity of mind in learning,
although the pencil system is excellent
discipline for the mind. I would suggest
to girls in the country or small towns,
that they study some system of short-
hand if they have leisure, and perhaps
there will be. an opportunity" for them to
use it if they do not like to keep house or
sew. But let me say that I know many
girls in this city who would be jewels in
housekeeping, who barely make a: living
as clerks Let us not be too proud.
DAEFthLLX.

L'tvr'txsstz.

T H E

 

$$.—-————--

PARLOR.

 

L. B. P. misunderstands me. ldo not.
deprecate the parlor for which she sighs.
The room I have reference to is a “holy
of holies; a room which one enters with a
ghostly “where's the corpse' feeling, a
room where the children come only upon
great occasions, and then with the air
of a cat in a stranse garret, a m cm like
that c‘ escribed by Oliver Wendell Holmes:

“ There was a parlor in the house. a room
To make you shudder with its prudish gloom.

The furniture stood round at itii such an air,
Thtre seemed an old niaid's ghost in every
chair:

Each looked a: 1‘, had scuttled to its place

And pulled extcmpore a Sunday face

Too smugly proper fut“ a world of sin,

Likc boys on whom the minister comes in.”

Florists would have us think that
raising dahlias frt in seed is an experi—
ment hardly worth trying. I don’t find it
so. They will not only bloom the first
year, but if they are kept growing vig-
orously from the first, they will bloom
earlier than those raised from bulbs. I
found mine budded July 14th. The last
time I tried I had thirteen varieties
from one paper of seed, which is certain-
ly an advantage if one happens to have a

short purse.
MRS. W. J. G.

————§...__._._
TRUE MOURNING.

I am very partial to patriotism, and love
to see a display of public spirit in any
good cause, but it does seem to me that
the good people of our land go a little too
far in this matter of mourning over the
death of General Grant. The ostenta
tious display of hundreds of yards of
rusty black hunting and cambric upon
the exterior of our public buildings does
not, in my estimation, show the grief of
sincere hearts over the untimely death of
a public benefactor. It seems, rather,
like an absurd fancy, and, moreover, the
enormous expense connected with such a
display, leads me to induire whether the
memory of the illustrious dead would not
have been as highly honored, and as great
r: spect have been shown had the money
thus expended been used for charitable
purposes, and not for mere show? Is not
too much of “ Uncle Sam’s ” money used
in this manner, while thousands all over
our “Land of the free, and home of the
brave,” are dying for the want of a few

HOWELL.

 


4:

    

THE HOUSEI-I‘OLD.

 

of the necessaries of life, which but a lit
tle of this same money would provide for
them? Others, toiling hard early and
late, eke out but a miserable existence for
themselves and their families, while in
a measure, they daily assist in filling the
cofiers of the already rich. Ah, yes!
“All men were created equal,” and all
will surely stand upon an equal footing
at last.

I think the people of these United
States could pay no greater tribute, nor
raise a higher monument to the memory
of the greatest man of the age, than to
help the poor, and not to spend for mere
outward show that which might do so
much good in the world; but use it, in the
name of Grant if they will, to relieve the
sufferings of the multitude.

My sisters, what say you in regard to
this prevailing evil? 2'. e., spending for
worse than needless show that which
‘might feed the hungry?

MOLLIE MOOXSHINE.

Manners.

SCRAPS.

A LADY friend recently confessed to me
her exceeding terror during thunder-
storms. It was a matter of education,
she said; her mother had been very timid,
and had brought her up in the same fear.
While frankly admitting she knew it to
be against reason, and due to early train-
ing, she was yet, through her own uncon-
querable (is it uneonquerable?) terror,
bringing up her own children in the same
Way. With the first gust of wind and
rain and distant muttering of thunder,
she began to pale. and called her chil-
dren, who with awed faces clustered
around her. I was sorry to see this
education in timidity continued to an-
other generation. Timidity is some-
thing to be overcome, not encouraged.
Not that I would teach children to be
foolhardy, or venturesome, or to fear no
danger, but rather point out the danger
and how to shun it, and educate them to
be courageous. Childhood’s fears are very
real; I would never ridicule orignore
them. Rather explain, and reason away
the cowardice. The phenomena of nature
are constantly recurring ;one cannot afford
to go into nervous spasms over every
thunder shower. Scores of storms must
be encountered in a lifetime, whereas if
lightning strikes us it will strike but
once. The chances are one to ten thou-
sand we will not stop a thunderbolt; if the
one chance is ours, we will never know
what hurt us. Accidents are occuring
everywhere, all around us, yet we never
pause to consider their possibility, why
save all our fears to let them loose when
a storm is brewrng! No. Teach the
danger of seeking shelter under a tree in
an open field, or of walking in an open
field with scythe or pitchfork on the
shoulder, of standing in an open door or
looking out an open window, of working
about the stove when electricity is play—
ing freely, but not the absurd idea going
to bed on feathers, or taking off crinoline
or corsets when a shower comes up. Yet
if a child is nervously apprehensive of a

plain until the terror is outgrown or
conquered. It is dreadful to be so timid;
it is something to be fought against and
subdued. rather than encouraged and in-
creased.

 

As I was going home to dinner the
other day I was much amused by the
attire and enjoyment of a group of chil-
dren from five to eight years of age who
were “playing soldier ” on the sidewalk.
They had furnished themselves with
paper uniforms, paper caps and epau~
lettes, and with wooden sticks for guns
were having “a real good time.” A
newspaper had been cut into narrow
strips two-thirds its length, leaving the
other third uncut; this plain part was
fastened around the body under the
arms, while the cut portion waved about
the legs and permitted that freedom of
motion so coveted by childhood. The
cocked bats had an air a la militaire,
albeit only of newspaper pinned into
shape, and a cut paper plume fluttered
gayly from the captain’s chapeau. The
epaulettes were of folded strips of news-
paper, cut into fringe on one end and
pinned to each stout shoulder. Boys and
girls fared alike, and the parade was a
gay one. Mothers who have many chil-
dren to look after may perhaps keep them
out of mischief by providing paper. pins
and scissors, and allowing them to make
military turnouts for themselves. Playing
soldier is a stock amusement with the
children, and to have “uniforms just like

real soldiers ” adds a new zest. B.
—_—..*—_-.

THROUGH some unaccountable over-
sight, the letter entitled “ Sympathy and
How to Express It,” in the Household of
August 4th, is credited to “ Subscriber.”
Yet our readers will recognize Evanga-
line’s thoughtful pen, and it is her name
which should appear as its author.

L. A. B. wants to know how she shall
prepare cucumber pickles for market.
They are usually sold from the brine—
Small cucumbers bring the best prices,
the best being not over three inches long.
We believe they are always sold byzthe
hundred, not by quarts or gallons. Make
a brine strong enough to bear up an egg,
and after you have packed the cucumbers,
pour it over them boiling hot. The brine
must cover them, and a weighted board
he laid over to keep them down. Keep the
scum skimmed off. Unless you have a
large crop, kegs are better than a barrel.
This is an old pickle-grower’s method

which he says he has always found reli-
able.

—_——.”—___
MAYBELLE wishes to know what will
take the mildew out of her new muslin.
Unless the muslin is printed, a weak
chlorine water, made be dissolving chlo—
ride of lime in water, and then dipping
off the clear liquid, will do it nicely, as
we know by experience. No danger of»
rotting the goods, unless the water is too
strong, or the rinsing is neglected But
if the muslin is printed, what takes out
the mildew will be apt to take the pattern
too. Possibly by patience in wetting the

 

storm, humor its fears and soothe and ex-

mildewed spots—if on the white part—-

with chlorine water. and not allowing it
to touch the pattern. the worst might be
taken out. If pur readers know of a sure
. way they will oblige Maybelle by “letting
their light shine.”
_.__...___
Contributed Recipes.

 

BRINE non CUCUMBERs.-—An excellent brine
for keeping cucumbers consists of one pint of
salt, one quart of cider vinegar, and three
quarts of rainwater; cover with a thick white
cloth, washing the scum from the cloth occas-
ionally. A crock or firkin may be used. When
wanted for the table, wash in cold water, pack
in jar, pour over them hot spiced vinegar, with
a lump of alum the size of a walnut for a gallon
jar full. They are ready for the table as soon

as cold. Joniv’s WIFE.
HADLEY.

 

SWEET CUCUMBER Picnics—Pare cucum-
bers of table size, cut them lengthwise into
quarters or eighths. according to size. Pour
over them boiling brine and let stand 24hours-
Take out, drain, and pour on boiling water.
Drain again. Prepare a spiced vinegar by
adding one cup sugar, one teaspoonful white
mustard seed, a stick of cinnamon and a few
cloves to one pint of vinegar. Let boil a few
minutes and turn over the cucumbers. They
are good the following day. The Household
Editor “eats pickles with avidity” prep ired in
this way. Mas. J. B.
Dnrnor’r.

 

ROCK CUCUMBER Prensa—Wash and pack
cucumbers in a crock in any desired quantity.
Make a weak brine of Ashton salt (or pure
salt) ; boil, skim and pour over the cucumbers
boiling hot. For three successive mornings
boil, skim, and return the same brine, pouring
on each time boiling hot. Then pour off brine,
drain thoroughly. Take one-third best cider
vinegar, two-thirds water, and lump of alum;
boil, skim and pour over cucumbers boiling
hot. The next morning drain off the above,
and pour on cold vinegar (best cider); put in
some horseradish. Put horseradish leaves over
them, and keep the pickles well under vinegar.
If this rule is strictly followed your pickles
will keep a year.

DRIED SWEET Coax—After the corn is
boiled, take a sharp knife and cut through each
row of kernels from end to end of cob. Then

take the back of a caseknife, and press down

on the kernels (holding the large end of the

ear up) ; and you will have the inside of the

kernel to dry, and the hull will be on the cob.

This dried corn will cook in one hour; and

after you have tried it you will never resort to

the old method. I can recommend Mrs. Bangs
method of canning corn.
CHEMICAL SOAP (EXTRA)
bar soap in small pieces
of rainwater; let boil. Then aid two pounds
sal-soda, and when cool stir in four tablespoon-
fuls of tu'pentine, and also four tablespoonfuls.
of ammonia. PERSIS.
Mason.

11‘ YOU WANT
Profitable Employment

SEND AT ONCE TO

THE NEW lAMB KNITTER 00.,

For 1"qu Information.

An ordinary operator can earn from one to three
dollars per da 111 any community in the Northern
States on our ew Lamb Knitter.

100 Varwties of Fabric on Santa Machine.

You can wholly finish twelve pairs ladies’ full-
shaped stockings or twenty pairs socks or mitten:
in a day! Skil ed operators can double this ro—
dnction. Capacity and range of work double first

1' 00.,

-—Cut four pounds
, add it to .' six gallons

 

 

w Lamb Knitte

 

 

of the old Lamb knitting machine. Address
t., west, Jacxsox, Iran,

The Ne
117 and 119 Main S