. grief.

[I

\\\\\\\%

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DETROIT, MAY 2, 1887. .

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-“Supplement.

 

 

LITTLE 30 Y BL 015’.
Under the haystack Little Boy Blue
Sleeps with his head on his arm,
While voices of men and voices of maids
Are calling him over the farm.

'Sheep in the meadow are running wild
Where poisonous herbage grows,

Leaving white tufts of downy fleece
0n the thorns of the sweet wild rose.

Out in the field where the tasseled corn
Its plumed head bends and bows

Where golden pumpkins ripen below,
Wander the snow-white cows.

,But no loud blast on the silver horn
Calls back the truant sheep,

And cows may wander wherever they will,
While their master is fast asleep.

Bis roguish eyes are tightly shut,
His dimples are all at rest,

‘The little hand tucked under the head
By one rosy cheek is pressed.

Waken him? No! Let down the bars
And drive in the truant sheep,

Open the barnyard and drive in the cows,
But let the little boy sleep.

For year after year we can shear the fleece,
And corn can always be sown,

But the sleep that'comes to Little Boy Blue
Will not come when the years are flown.

, poor creatures feel defrauded if they are

——-—«O——_
HAPPINESS.

 

How many definitions of this word would
we elicit, if we were to ask the question of
each of our friends? Its general character
seems to be of so intangible, illusory and
‘elusory a nature, that few find words to
describe it. Pursued, it tantalizingly
keeps just beyond our reach; sought for, it
eludes our quest;' called, it comes not;
coveted, it flies, yet ever hovers near,
tempting with bright promise of halcyon
days to come, that yet flit on before us.
Anticipation beckons us onward, now we
are sure. of perfect enjoyment; but alas,
possession oft brings disappointment and
One seeks happiness in fame, an-
other in ambition, still another in great
deeds or glorious feats of. arms, another-
thinks to win her in the calm delights of
domestic life, or in literary pursuits. Each
‘riinds roses, but all find thorns, sorne so
many that the sting fills the mind to the ex-
clusion of all the beauty of the flower.
Much of this failure results from looking
amiss. Happiness is a coy but kind per-
sonage. Take her now, she will sit at your
side content. But do not try to dress her
430 your taste. Welcome her in whatever
guise she appears. The present moment is
all we can use, but we may if we will, find
.in the present sweet enjoyment.

Too many are perpetually looking for-

  

.ward to a distant point, where perfected

achievement or fulfilled plans are, at the
supreme moment of assured success, to
bring the cup of happiness full to the brim.
Everything is held in abeyance for this con-
clusion; it would be almost a sin to antici-
pate by a fraction, the expected bliss of
that joyful moment. Negation sits en-
throned: “ Then, and not until then will I
accept this great pleasure; but then, how
happy I will belf’ How frequently is bitter,
poignant disappointment the result of such
joyous anticipation. Either our cherished
plans fail to materialize, or in their growth
or unfolding, they develop qualities unsus-
pected, that dwarf or destroy the expected
pleasure.

Repeated experiences-of this kind some-
times poison a sanguine temperament. They
sourly assert that for them Providence
never smiles; they will never again hope for
happiness, and settle down to a doubting,
morose, morbid state of existence, as un-
happy as it is detrimental to its unfortunate
possessor. There is happiness for every
one, but the power to embrace and hold it
must come from the individual alone. Some

cheated into forgetfulness of their unhap-
piness for a little time. Like the little boy,
who under some excitement forgot to cry
and at the first conscious moment inquired of
his mother, “ What was I crying about, ma?
Oh yes, I know, boo, ho'o,” they hug their
trouble to their hearts and recommence
their plaints. They “enjoy poor health,”
or their pains and penalties are marks of
distinction that raise them above the com-
mon level. They take amelancholy pleasure
in being spoken of as “ those sufferers.”

I think there are many who covet hap-
piness, and are capable of intelligent en~
joyment, who miss or come short of it from
a mistaken idea as to the proper form of
seeking. We have essay, sermon and
volume on the folly of “borrowing trouble,”
that, reversed in title, would apply to the
pursuit of happiness. ’Let the sun shine or
storm prevail; look to the proper use and
enjoyment. If it contain one element of
enjoyment, make the most of it. Do not
wait for to-morrow. Have you a flower just
opening. Do not wait for-its perfect bloom
to admire it. Watch each unfolding leaf;
you will admire the perfect flower no less.
Are you building a new house, or patiently
working to pay for a little home? Do not
wait for either to be accomplished before
you taste the happiness of possession. Put
in the little touches as you go along; these
add so much to the feeling of happy owner-

Plant a tree, a vine or a flower, and watch
them grow. What if your forebodings
rather than your hopes be realized, and you
must part with your treasures. These
pleasant experiences will bring happy
memories ,and will bless other lives. Don’t
wait until your children are grown up to be
happy with them. Take time to study their
natures, to sympathize with their little joys
and sorrows, to enjoy their caresses and
kisses. You will gain even in a business
view, for a child held in love’s hands is
more helpful, and more easily guided and
corrected.

Be happy now; look closely for all and
each avenue of. enjoyment, holding all the
senses of mind and body ready to accept
and assimilate her beauty. Be not anxious,
simply alert and quiescent. Look on the
bright side of happenings, have faith,
earnest faith, that the sun shines when
clouds obscure the vision. Then while
taking all the pleasure possible from every
step of preparation for some grand cul-
mination of enjoyment, moderate your
transports With the thought of the pos-
sibility of failure, that disappointment to
not overwhelming. Success will not be
less pleasurable if it come. The person
who has health, a fair share of prosperity, a
love of God and humanity, has the elements
of happiness inherent, and many with a
wreck of health and a mountain of adversity
overwhelming them, but a healthful pos-
session of the two last, have attained to a
high degree of true happiness.

Ardently desire, willingly accept, grate-
fully enjoy the companionship of Happi-
ness, and she will be a frequent if not con-
stant guest. May the elements of happiness
be handily arranged, and properly combined
to be appropriated by each and every one
of us. .

Happiness is a boon to mortals given,

A foretaste of the holy joys of Heaven;

To thine own self be true, and act Life‘s part

Wit h faithful effort and an honest heart;

Battling for truth, daring to do the right,

Opposing error, though upheld by might,

Helping the weak, tho’ lowly, and the poor;

Condemning sin, tho” pitying evil doer;

Be such thy life; tho’ all must suffer pain,

Sweet happiness and peace with thee remain.

INGLESIDE. A. L. L.
—-——--‘..—-——

THE secret of succes'sful frying is to have
the fat at the right temperature. If fish,
crullers, etc., are put into fat not hot

enough, they take up the fat and become
“ fat-soaked,” and unfit for food. The fat
should be still, and a light-blue vapor arise
from it; then it is at the proper temperature.
Always roll fish in flour or meal before

 

 

ship, at a cost many times of effort only.

you put it in the fat.


2

THE HOUSEHOLD.

  

 

 

OUR BOYS AND GIRLS.

 

[Paper read by Mrs. Elliott T. Sprague at the
Farmers’ Institute at Battle Creek, Feb. 18th.]

( Concluded.)

Every mother should find time to give
her children an hour in the day for little con-
fidences, asking and answering questions,
telling stories, reading, imparting delight
to the little souls, “with their wonder so
intense, and their small experience,” and
there is no hour so convenient and pleasant
as the one ‘“ atween the lights.” They
will know when the hour comes, and learn
to anticipate it; and the confidence thus
gained will never be withdrawn. They
will tell you all their little disappointments,
their hopes and ambitions, and right here
we should try and keep them, never foran
instant relinquishing that hold. A child
should have unbounded faith in his parents.
Never make apromise that you know you
cannot fulfill; for from that moment he has
lost confidence in you.» The little child has
a busy brain and inquiring mind; there is
a constant wonderment over all he sees,
and the only way he can find out about it is
to ask questions; often the answer is “ Oh!
get away child, you will know when you
grow up.” This is not satisfactory, he wants
to know now.

When a. child needs punishment, he
should receive it. It is no kindness to a
child to allow him to glide along without
any opposition, knowing nothing but his
“own sweet will.” You will never know
What sort of metal he is made of. Many a
boy is started on the downward path, be-
cause this was neglected. The mother, in
sympathy with the child, expects the father
to punish him, he is in too great a hurry then
to attend to it, he comes from his place of
business, the cares have been unusually per-
plexing and wearisome, he turns toward his
home with a heart burning with love and
tenderness, he hears the joyous cry and
bounding step of his darling, and as the
door closes behind him he feels that “a
world of care is shut out, a world of love
within.” It is a gross injustice to ask him
to punish his child; the time for that is
when it is merited, and punishment should
never be administered in anger. Never ex-
pect to conquer a child until you have
first conquered yourself. The fiercest wars
that have ever been waged, and the greatest
victories that have ever been gained, have
been over self. Just as the block of marble
assumes lines of beauty and form in the
hands of the sculptor, so is the mind of the
infant molded into perfect outline in our
hands, but it should not be done in
ignorance; there should be judgment, and
firmness tempered with great love. The
child knows When he has gained a point;he
knows when he has yielded and owned a
wrong. To oblige a child to yield always,
because you say so, is not fair; a child has
rights as well as a grown person, and they
should be respected. Often a little ex-
planation will be found to accomplish more
than the red. But it is better to grieve over
childish tears and a moment’s pain, than to
feel the heart slowly breaking over a wreck-
ed and blighted manhood.

We follow the child along, until there be-
gins to come a self-reliant feeling, and the

hands to fill it out. Now the home in-
fluence-home education-the quiet talks in
the evening, will begin to bear fruit. He
will now determine upon some life calling,
prepare for it, and pursue it with vigor.
Every energy should be directed to it, en-
listed in it, and harmonized with it. For
if he have ever so much genius,'unless he

. have energy, and exert it, it is no more

genius “ thanea bushel of acorns is a forest

of oaks.” It is a good idea to allow a boy

to make a trade, buy stock or something

of the kind, to see what he has a natural

faculty for. Grant toldan amusing anecdote
of himself, which may be new to some.

When a boy of eight years his father called
him to his side, and handing him twenty-

five dollars said, “My son, neighbor G. has
a young colt that he wants to sell, he asks
twenty-five dollars for him. Now you go

over there and buy him. First offer him
twenty dollars, if he says no, ofier twenty-
two and one-half, and if he still refuses
give him twenty-five, for the colt is well
worth it, and I want him, but remember,
buy as cheap as you can, always.” Young
Grant went’to the neighbor’s, where he made
his errand in this wise: “ Father sent me
over to buy that brown colt of yours; he
said I must offer you twenty dollars first, if
you would not take it, offer twenty-two
and a half, and if that didn’t fetch him
give twenty-five, for the colt was well worth
it.” It is needless to say the boy left his
twenty-five dollars, and led the colt home
in triumph. Every boy and girl should be
educated and trained for some branch of
business; if they have no specialty, cultivate
one, they want a fixed aimin life, a oneness
of purpose, this alone will fit them to be,
what every one finds, sooner or later, that
they have to be, “bread winners.” Give
them a good liberal education; all that your

would advise mortgaging the farm or
denying one’s self comforts, still it has been
done with success. There are better
legacies that can be left them than piles of
bank stock, or broad acres, money expended
for their improvement and benefit, under a
judicious supervision, the example of “ a
life 'well spent, 'a character uprightly sus-
tained,” a brave and manly character to en-
counter adversity, and perseverence to con-
quer. Burns says

“ Though losses and crosses
Be lessons right severe,
There’s wit there, you’ll get there,
You’ll find no other where."

Napoleon said there was no such word as
“impossible.” Whatever he wished to ac-
complish, he threw the whole force of mind
and body upon his work, but possessing
such resolute determination, selfishness was
his ruin. From the following facts it
would seem that education is ‘what the
masses need most.

Taking the “Bulletin of Illiteracy” in
the United States, as returned at the tenth
census, of the 36,761,607 persons of ten
years of age and upwards, one-seventh
were unable t9 write, and one-sixth unable
to read. Our population in 1880 numbered
50,155,783. There were, equally propor-

tioned between the/white and colored races,
4,204,363 of both sexes, over twenty-one
years of age, unable to write, or 2,000,000
illiterates, out of the 10,000,000 persons at

 

youth takes his character into his own

that time entitled to vote; or in other

means will allow. I do not know that I.

words, one of every five voters unable to
read the ballot he places in the box. It is
this illiterate voter in every five or six who
holds the balance of power at our elections.
These are the men who may at any time
subject the country to their control.

Give the boys and girls plenty of educa-
tion, plenty of good books to read, plenty
of good wholesome amusements. I feel
that our homes are not what they should be
in amusements. So many have peculiar;
ideas about them, thinking they will have
a bad influence. There is nothing but what.
becomes a vice, if. carried to excess. If we
do not allow our youth to indulge in dif-
ferent amusements, how will they know to
discriminate between the good and bad?
I would not advise the keeping of all:‘
temptations from them until they are grown
men and women; how will they ever'have
moral courage to resist? We should regard
amusements as part of our education, a.
part of the moral training which we must
receive, to perfect our natures and refine our-
sympathies. Instead of being entirely
separate from everything else, and set apart
by themselves, at some chosen place and
time, they should mingle with, and color
with a ray of brightness, the whole web of
life. They should stand side by side with:
the institutions of morality and religion, as.
aids and not enemies. Every home should.
be a little world, furnishing at least a little
of all that its inmates want to make them-
happy. If parents will consider this they
will never see their children weary of home,
never see them “sowing wild oats” which.
will bring a harvest of tears. We should be:
mutual helpers. It was never intended
that we should be stumbling blocks for
others’ feet. “If there is anything that
opens the mind to angel visits, and repels
the ministry of ill, ’tis human love.” We
all learned the Golden Rule at our mothers"
knee, but so many forget it in later. years.
Many a young girl might have turned out,
oh! so differently, if there had been the
memory of a mother’s gentle councils, a
mother’s good example, or if some kind-
friend had warned her of evil associates, of‘
the “wolf lurking outside of the fold.” I
am classing the boys and girls together, for
the time has gone by when it was “ man to:
the front and woman to the rear.” Their
paths will never diverge as widely again;
every day shows the increasing similarity
in the occupations, pleasures and ambitions
of the two. We find them in telegraph
offices, as bookkeepers, as clerks in stores,
in the Treasury Department, filling pro-
fessors’ chairs, as lawyers, as ministers. I
have read of one lady who successfully runs
a large Corliss engine in a manufacturing
establishment, another had made an appli-
cation for the position of engineer on a '
train. In fact there is scarcely anything
but has “a woman in it.” Side by side
will they walk, she gaining strength and
selfreliance and independence from him ;:
lie-finding a safeguard in her presence, as
his feet enter the labyrinths of the world’s
temptations. Oh! our brave, beautiful
boys and girls! I have no fears for their
future. The thread that drops from our
hands will be taken up by them; the words
that leave our lips will re-echo from theirs,

 

the mantle that will fall from our shoulders

  

 


   

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THE HOUSEHOLD. 3

 

will be most worthily received, long after
our heads lie low, we shall live in them.

“ The good begun by us shall onward flow,
In many a branching stream, and wider grow.
‘ The seed, that in these few and fleeting hours,
Our hands unsparing and unwearied, sow,
Shall deck our grave with amaranthine flow-

ers, .
And yield us fruit divme m Heaven’s bowers.”
-———.”——-———

KITCHEN TALK.

 

If women only knew how much more
easily they could work over the stove, if it
only stOod high enough not to require them
to stoop, I am sure many a cook stove
would get a lift in the world this spring.

toves and tables ought to be adapted to
,the height of the woman who is to work
over them, instead of being of an unvarying
pattern; and I hope the time may come
when in buying either, the purchaser will
look to this point as one of the most es-
sential to be considered. No wonder
women have back-aches and get round-
shouldered bending over so much to stir
something on the stove, and to knead the
bread and roll out the pie-crust, and it is
the stooping that tires. It is imperative
that women study to lighten their work by
every means in their power, not alone by
judicious planning, but by savingof strength
in execution. Whatever saves an ache or a
pain is worth attention. It seems some-
times as if everything was economized on a
farm but the labor and strength of the wife.
She too often does her work after the
hardest fashion, for want of thought on her
own part. sometimes; and sometimes for
want of practical help on the husband’s part.

I believe I have made a discovery. I do
not claim it as original, by any means, but
it is new to me and I think will prove so to
many of our readers. It is that alarge
coarse sponge is the best thing to use as a
“ dustergl’ for certain purposes it discounts

the accustomed rag considerably. Wrung'

out of tepid water, dry, so that it can leave
but a trace of moisture, it licks up the dust
as if it were greedy for it. It is excellent
to wipe the dust from the carpet after a
thorough sweeping; it captures the flying
atoms under the stove, and goes over the
baseboards in a commendably “ slick”
fashion, and holds fast all it catches. No
more shaking a dust-laden cloth out the
window, for the wind to blow its contents
back into the room again. It cannot, of
course, be used on books, etc., but for
many purposes it is invaluable.

Mrs. Emma Ewing, at the head of the de-
partment of Domestic Economy at the Iowa
Agricultural College, has published an
article on cooking beef, which is very good,
except in one of its provisos. She says a
roast of beef should never be washed before
being cooked. I think if Mrs. Ewing should
chance to see a butcher’s wagon laden with
dressed meat on its way from the slaughter
house to the market, she would arrive at a
diiferent conclusion. I often see such
loads, the meat crowded into a dirty wagon,
perhaps the butcher’s boy sitting upon it
and smoking as he goes, the mud from
passing vehicles spattered upon it, and once
I saw a side of beef thrown on so carelessly
that it was wiping the Wheel. It is bad
enough to eatmeat that has been washed,
when we know of the carelessness and
often positive filth of the handling it re-

 

..ceives. No, indeed, pure water, quickly

applied, and the meat well wiped after-
ward, will not hurt the cooking qualities of
a juicy roast. BEATRIX.
————-——‘”————
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

 

“Ignorance” desires a description of a
quiet home wedding, where no guests are
expected except a very few relatives. Well,
the prettiest home wedding the House-
HOLD Editor ever attended, was the quiet-
est and simplest; and managed on the prin-
ciple that people are getting married every
day, and what’s the use of making such a
fuss about it. The bride and groom were
in the parlors, with the guests, and when
the hour arrived the groom offered his arm
to the bride, and standing before the clergy-
man, the beautiful marriage service of' the
Episcopal church was read, the guests
offered their congratulations, and the newly
wedded pair led the way to the dining-
room, where a nice breakfast was laid.
The bride wore a neat traveling suit, the
groom the conventional Prince Albert,
suitable for a day wedding; neither wore
gloves. The house had been prettily de-
corated; it was summer, and flowers were
everywhere. Everybody said “ What a
pretty wedding!” yet there was not a bit of
“fuss and feathers” about it. In more
formal ceremonies, which are still not the
“grand weddings ” at which the etiquette
is always the same, the clergyman enters
the room in advance of the bridal pair, faces
the company and the pair follow and face
him. The groom wears gloves or not, as he
pleases; if worn, they should be a light tan.
The bride’s gloves may match her suit if it
is medium light, but light shades of tan or
gray are also worn; white gloves are out of
favor. At a small wedding, it is more
desirable to seat the guests at the table;
where there is a crowd refreshments may
be passed. For refreshments, if you have
the dainty cups for bouillon, you will of
course desire to serve this first; chicken
salad, cold ham, pressed chicken, jellies,
ice cream and cake—not over three sorts,
which must be the nicest of the genus cake.
Last, if there is a bride’s cake, it is placed
before her and she cuts it. Coffee and tea
are dispensed with if bouillon is served.
If wedding cake is distributed, it is neatly
packed in paper boxes, which come for the
purpose, and each guest takes one. For the
benefit of these fastidious persons who
object to being promiscuously kissed, it is
proper to say that nowadays no one kisses
the bride except her very nearest relatives;
even the clergyman is excused.

E. J. C. asks the value of a fifty-cent
gold coin of the date of 1664, which is light,
square in shape, and which she thinks
would be valuable to a collector. Without
a more minute description of the coin it
would be impossible to even approximate
its worth. There were no fifty cent pieces
of American currency coined as early as
the date named, the earliest Colonial cur-
rency being made at Boston, 1652, consist-
ing of silver in English shillings and six-
pences, and all the coins bearing date 1653
and 1662. Large amdunts of gold coins,
made by private parties, have been made
and circulated in the country, the law only
providing that each coin “be not in re-

 

semblance or similitude like those issued
from the government mints;” and from the
shape of the piece E. J .4 C. mentions possi—
bly, if it is an American coin, it is one of
these. Square coinage is not common; a
Netherland ducat and the rupee of the

”Mogul empire are square. If E. J. C. will-

give inscription and design, we would be
better able to give an idea of the value of
the coin.

Mill Mimic—We cannot give the address
you ask, as we know no one who teaches
the work. A letter addressed to Madam
Rabaut, this city, might secure further in.-
formation.

S. A. C. asks how a letter to a lady prac~
ticing medicine ought to be addressed. and
inquires if “Mrs. Dr. Blank” would be
correct. No, it would not. If it is necessary
to indicate the sex of the person addressed,
write out the first name, as “Dr. Mary
Blank, orwrite “ Mrs. Mary Blank, M. D.”
The first form is preferable. All forms
like “Mrs. Judge A—,” “ Mrs. Dr.
D—,” “ Rev. Mrs. M——,” “Mrs. Gen-
eral G——,” are improper and incorrect,
though they are often seen in print. If a.
lady takes rank among professionals, she
assumes. her title of Dr., Rem, etc., but
drops Miss or Mrs. and indicates femininity,
if she feels she must, by giving Christian.
name, as above.

————-—..¢-—___
SCRAPS.

 

-I MUST “beg leave to differ” from a late
essayist in the HOUSEHOLD who calls the
“newspaper idea” of ahome filled with
flowers, sunshine, pictures, and plenty of
books and papers, “ mere twaddle.” Strip
a house of these accessories and you rob the
home of its attractiveness to any but those
sordid souls who see beauty in nothing
which does not give a return in dollars and
cents. Take away these things and you
remove the external evidences of refinement
and culture; they are exponents of these
qualities in the family. Tourgees say even
the exterior of a house, its architectural
character, is indicative of the character of
those who reside in it; and he has a very
pleasant paragraph about the man who some-
how, by the subtle afflnity which moulds
us into harmonywith surroundings, came to
resemble, spiritually, a certain recessed
window of his house which overlooked the
street and dominated it. If the news—
paper’s teachings relative to the needs of
home are “mere twaddle,” then, since
these teachings are only the voices of wise
men and women, the noblest and best of
our land, those who by observation of life
are entitled to speak understandingly,
speaking to us from the printed page in-
stead of personally, their ideas must be
“mere twaddle” also. Such are the
thoughts of Emerson, Ruskin, Talmage
and Beecher, who pleaded most eloquently
for attractive homes as means to keep the
young people from manifold dangers. The
aborer’s home lacks wealth, often com--
forts, yet it is happy in proportionate de-
gree, not alone to the unselfish devotion of
its members, but to the expression of that
devotion manifested in its adornments and.
attractiveness.

 

WHAT a mistake girls make when they


 

4: THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

put away their school-books after they have
“finished their education,” and think no
more about their studies! As I pick up my
old botany sometimes for reference, and
look it over, 1 find “lots” of new things in
it; I see new relevance to its teachings, new
fitness to its terms; a new meaning in it all.
Things that seemed so hard when as a pupil
I was studying them, are so simple now
that I wonder they ever perplexed me. I
have often thought what a grave error we
make that these studies, which we enter
upon in our school-days, are “not pursued
when we leave school, or taken up again
and reviewed in the light of more matured
experience and mental expansion. If we
spent less time in gossip, and over this
fancy work which seems the womanly craze
.of the era, and more in making ourselves
women of cultured minds and broader
knowledge, how much better it would be
for us and our little world! How few wo-
men in farm homes are observant of the
wonderful natural processes going on about
them in every recurring season ! With
every opportunity for observation, country
people are usually very ignorant of all such
things, and it ought not so to be.

 

THE interesting little stories publisl e1 in
certain of our exchanges, about girls who
go into fruit-farming, market gardening,
cake—making, etc., to support themselves
and a small but interesting family accus-
tomed to every luxury, and reach the maxi-
mum of success with the minimum of dis-
couragement, “make me tired.” They are
very pleasant fiction to read, but I am sorry
for the woman who hopes to realize them in
fact. They may do some good, in arousing
an interest in such ways of making money
for- women, but she who expects to make
the bright visions her own will have ob-
stacles to encounter and difficulties to sur-
mount not “down in the books.” And
these stories, like all other fictitious yarns,
invariably lead to marriage. The minute
success is obtained, we hear the peal of
wedding bells. Cannot we ever have any-
thing for women without a man in it? Why
should a woman who sees that she has laid
the foundations of an independent, self-
supporting existence, abandon the fruit of
her toil as it hangs ready to her hand, to
marry and “ settle down?” I want to read
one of these pleasing tales in which the
heroine goes calmly on, a nice, quiet, pleas-
ant maiden lady, minus the “cat and cup
0’ tea” which are her usual accessories,
finding happiness, health and profit in her
business, and not taking a husband for
either protection or revenue. 1 shall have
to write the story myself, I fear, since the
ending I want is so unconventional, but per-
haps I have not a a sufficiently vivid imagin-
ation. BEATRIX.

HP—

WHAT A PEST-HOUSE IS LIKE.

 

Easter Mbnday, the weather being very
fine, I started out with some friends to visit
the new pest-house, which is just finished.
It is a very odd-looking building; the center
is two large octagons, with a square room
between, standing one east and one west
of the square room; then on each side, north
and south, there are three more octagons
with a small square room between each;

 

these small rooms are for private bedrooms,
for those who are able to pay for having a
room to themselves. The four corner
octagons are bedrooms also;.the beds are
all single iron bedsteads, with springs and
mattresses, a pillow, blanket, and counter-
pane white as snow. There are two bath
rooms, two sitting-rooms and a dining-room.
The building is of plank, laid one above
the other and nailed, all planed smooth
and painted inside and out. There are
windows on four sides of each of the six
outside octagons. The center ones are
taller than the outside ones, and have eight
windows on each side. The house is one
story high with a basement, the latter is
divided the same as the upper story, but the
rooms are used for different purposes. There
is a kitchen, washroom, two drying-rooms,
a coal-room, storerooms, pantries, a room

for the furnace, and a room where they .
make the gas that lights the building. They .

have brought the water and sewer up from
the city. There are three small cottages
on the grounds, occupied by the family who
has charge of the place. The building is
situated on Crawford St., about one mile
north of the Boulevard and about twenty
rods back from the street. -

WOODern. TEMPERANCE.

———-—«O—_

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

 

LOOK out for the carpet beetle this spring.
This insect was quite fully described in the
HOUSEHOLD last spring.

To CLEAN paint, dip a flannel cloth in
whiting and rub the paint, wash off with
clear water and wipe with a soft dry cloth.
Paint—evenof the most delicate color—will
not be injured in the least, will look equal
to new, and the work is more easily done
than if soap is used.

 

AUNT ADDIE, in the Country Gentleman,.

gives these directions for preparing rubber
cement: “ Procure a piece of native rubber
at any large store where rubber goods are
sold, and cut it into very thin slices with a
wet knife, and then with a shears divide
these into strips as fine as can be. Fill a
wide-mouthed bottle about one-tenth full of
these strips and fill it three-quarters full of
benzine, which must be pure. The rubber
will swell up almost immediately, and in a
few days, if often shaken, get to be of the
consistency of honey. If it does not dis-
solve, add more benzine, but if too watery
add more rubber. The cement dries in a
few minutes, and by using three coats, it
will unite the broken places on shoes and
the backs of books, etc, very firmly.

 

BRAZIL wood is said to be one of the few
dyes that will color linen and cotton suc-
cessfully. The chips are boiled for several
hours, and the decoction kept till it begins
to ferment, as°it gives more permanent
colors than when fresh. To dye cotton or
linen, an exchange recommends the follow-
ing method: “ Boil them first in a bath of
sumac, next work them through a weak
mordant of‘solution of tin, and then put
them through the Brazil dye while it is
lukewarm. This gives a bright Turkey red.
To have a soft rose color, dip the goods

 

first in a solution of alum, rinse them well,
pass them through the tin mordant, rinse
again, and then put into the Brazil bath.
Silk and wool are even more easily dyed,
these goods needing no tin mordant, as the
alum bath is sufficient to fix the color. The
Brazil bath should be lukewarm for silk and
boiling hot for wool goods. The shades of
color may be modified on these materials by
varying the strength of the bath, the
mordant, etc. The addition of more alum
gives a purplish tinge. A little alkali added
to the bath gives a magenta shade. A rich
dark crimson is obtained by adding a little
logwood tothe Brazil wood solution.”

DID Bess, of Plainwell, receive an en-
closure from the HOUSEHOLD Editor, in
response to a wish expressed some time ago
in a private note?

-——-—OO.———

A. C. G. notifies us that the paper
“How to be a Good Husband,” in the
HOUSEHOLD of April 18th, was written by
Mrs. C. B. Whitcomb, of. Hartford, Van
Buren Co.

 

Do NOT forget the HOUSEHOLD this
spring, in the midst of all the home duties.
For its interest and benefit it depends
largely upon its contributors. There. are
many who have not written for some time,
but are remembered by the HOUSEHOLD
Editor, who would be glad to hear from
them again.

Contributed Recipes.

 

SPICE Cunt—Three pounds seeded raisins
one and a half pounds cltron; one pound of
butter; two and a half cofleecups sugar; two
cups sweet milk; four of flour; six eggs; two
large teaspoonfuls baking powder; ‘_three of
cinnamon; two of mace.

TILDEN Carin—One cup butter; two cups
powdered sugar; one of sweet milk: three
cups flour; half a cup corn-starch; four
eggs; two teaspoonfuls baking powder .
Flavor with lemon extract.

PHIL. SHERIDAN Carin—Four cups powder
ed sugar; one of butter; five of flour; one
and a half cups sweet milk; whites of sixteen
eggs: three teaspoonfuls baking powder.
Rose flavoring.

Cr'mon POUND Case—One pound of sugar:
one of flour; three-fourths pound butter; ten
eggs; one and a quarter pounds citron, sliced
fine. Bake one and a half hours. A nice
rich cake.

PYRAMID POUND CAKE.——One pound sugar;
one pound of flour; one pound of butter:
ten eggs; flavor with rose; pour batter
in pans, one inch in depth. When
done out in slices—after it is cold—three and
a half inches long and two inches wide; frost
top, sides and ends; before the icing is quite
dry pile On a cake stand, five pieces in a
circle, with spaces between, over the spaces
five pieces more, and so on: draw in the top
and put on a bouquet of flowers.

EVANGALINE.
BATTLE CREEK.

 

 

SEND FOR THE

PERFECTION FORCE PUMP,

and spray your Qrchards, Gardens, Grapevines‘
etc., with insecticides, and clear your poultry
houses of mites._ Cheap but reliable. Only $2.
Sent by express if desired. Address

MRS. M. A. FULLER (DILL),

m2-8t Boa; 297, Fenian, Mich.