
 

 

 

 

DETROIT, OCT.

6, 1888.

THE HOUSEHOL’---Supplement.

 

 

A SIRIKE.

 

Once upon an evening dreary,
As I pondered, sad and weary.
O'er the basket with the mending from the wash
the day before;
As I thought of count ess stitches
To be placed in little breeches,
Rose my heart rebellious in me, as it oft had
done before,
At the fate that did condemn me, when my daily
task was o’er,
To that basket evermore.

John, w th not a sign or motion,
Sat and read the Farmer: o‘er,
With no thought of the commotion
Which within me rankled sore.
“ He.” thought I, “ when day is ended,
Has no 5120!. kings to he mended,
Has no babies to be tended,
He can sit and read and snore;
He can sit and read and rest him;
Must I work thus evermore 1’”
And my heart rebellious answered,
“ Nevermore; no, nevermore.”

For though I am but a woman,
Every nerve within is human,
Aching, throbbing, overworked,
Mind and body sick and sore.
I will str ke. When day is ended.
Though the stockings arecnot mended,
Though my course can‘t be defended,
Safe behind the closet door
Goes the basket with the mending, and I’ll
haunted be no more.
In the daylight shall be crowded all the work
that I will do;
When the eve ning lamps are lighted, I will read
the paper s too. ‘

_____§...___

THE CHINA CLOSET.

 

I would ’not give the proverbial “two
straws” for a housekeeper who does not
take pride in the appointments of her table,
in her damask, her dishes, her silver and
glassware. A beautifully arranged table is
the artistic setting of a (meal; it makes the
difference between a dinner and a “feed,”
by which latter term I: mean to express the
mere satisfaction of Lhunger which is all
many gross naturestcan get: out of dining.
Animals feed, humanity cats, but some-
times, alas, it too merely feeds. As we
become more reﬁned; and cultivated, we
pay more attentionﬁtOKthe accessories of
our tables; and I ask no better test of the
actual reﬁnement of;a family than to see its
members at their every day meals.

It seems to me that the young lady who
is to marry and go into her own home in
the role of. housekeeper, may well give up
one dress of her trousseau, be content with
a plainer wedding robe and less of ostenta-
tious “spread” on the eventful day, and
spend the sum thus saved in the purchase
of a nice dinner set, instead of a dozen

 

each of the most necessary dishes. I am
sure she will get more satisfaction out of
it than from a delicate lace—trimmed bridal
dress that she will not wear three times in
her life after the occasion for which it was
made. I was in one of our large crockery
stores the other day, intent upon getting
prices and noting the new styles in dishes
“for the beneﬁt of my constituents.” I
found that a decorated dinner set of 120
pieces could be bought as low as $8.50 and
$9.50. But I would by no means advise
the purchase of so cheap at set. The ware
is coarse and heavy, the shapes undesirable,
the decorations common and inartistic.
Fifteen dollars will buy a better grade of
ware, 133 pieces, what the very much
fatigued young woman who languidly an-
swered my queries called “alabastine” or
some such name—I was afraid the exertion
might be too much for her so did not re-
quest her to repeat it. But this was only a
common stoneware in a better quality and
style of decoration. For $25 there was a
very pretty set of 150 pieces, decorated
with a ﬂoral pattern in monotone, good
shapes and good ware. For $33, you can
buy a still better set, same number of pieces,
handsomely decorated; with a narrow gilt

band surrounding each piece, two covered
vegetable dishes and four platters, and both
tea and coffee cups. And for $43, there were
two sets of beautifully decorated Haviland
china, of 117 pieces. One had a convolvu-
lus pattern, the blossoms in pale blue, the
vine in tints of green and brown, with
bronze gold handles lined with bright gold;
in the other set the blossoms were of palest
pink, and the handles of the china lined
with bright gold. Of the two, I preferred
the latter, principally because the handles
Were handsomer. Now don’t fancy a
morning glory vine, life size, sprawling
over these plates and platters. The largest
blossom could be covered by a No. 7 thith-
ble, the tints were delicate and the tracery
of the vines ﬁnely drawn.‘ There were ﬁve
platters, including the ﬁsh-platter, two cov-
ered vegetable dishes, oblong in shape,
and two “bakers” or uncovered dishes,
for relishes, also oblong, with fancy ears.
The butter-dish and butter-plates were
square, sauce plates square, and the cups,
of which there was but one size, designed
for either tea or ofﬁce, were ﬂaring in
shape, with handles. All the pieces were
bordered with a narrow band of gold. These
sets were very beautiful indeed. It would
have been hard to choose between these and
one of stone china, 150 pieces at the same
price, with the ornamentation all in gilt.
The shapes of the cups, tea plates, and

 

butter-dish were prettier, and there were»
three covered vegetable dishes; but the.
platters were not nearly so handsome in
shape as in the other sets, neither were the:
vegetable dishes and the gravy-boat. The»
ware was less fine than the Haviland, yet;
was not thick and heavy as in the ordinary ’
stone china. Oval shapes seem to have‘
quite gone out of favor; platters are oblong:
with square or somewhat rounded corners:
(in these pretty Haviland sets the corners-
were shallow scallops), vegetable dishes.
square or oblong, butter-dishes square.

There was an effort, not long since, to»
revive the plain white dinner sets, but it
proved abortive. One of these, in not very
ﬁne ware, was $16.50. It will be a long:
time yet before the decorated sets will go~
out of fashion; there is too much room for-
beautiful decoration, they add too much to
the beauty of the table. But the style of:
the decoration has changed very much, andi
for the better. The dark, heavy modes of‘
ornamentation are quite out of favor; the,
fancy is now for the light. dainty and grace--
ful. At ﬁrst there was a heavy design all'
round the edges of the pieces, covering the.
rim of the plates and platters, and another-
heavy pattern in the centre, and these were:
often in dark brown or blue, making the:
effect very sombre and dull. Now one side-1
of the plate has a spray of ﬁne foliage on
tangle of vines, which covers rather less.
than one-third its circumference, and. a.
much smaller spray balances it on the other
side; this is all the decoration, unless it be
the plain narrow rim of gilt which borders-
oertain sets.

In buying a set of dishes, especially.
where the family is large and the hired girl‘
does the dishwashing, it is prudent to
choose what is known as a “stock set,”
and take the number; then in case of
breakage, duplicate pieces may be ordered
through the merchant from the factory.
Some very cautious housekeepers object to
buying cups with handles because they
break so easily, but a cup without a handle
is minus the better part of itself; 1 would
prefer to gather up the cups after each meal
and wash them myself rather than buy cups
without handles; indeed. I never yet saw
handle-less cups in a regular set of dishes.

And then, the set bought, there are so
many beautiful “odd pieces” which break
the uniformity of a table set with the same
patterned china. There is a bread-plate,
for instance, like a large dinner-plate with
"ears,” the design wheat ears and blue
corn-ﬂowers, and another patterned with
sprays of wild grasses; these were seventy-
ﬁve cents each. Then a set of round saucers

 


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area.

2‘ THE HOUSEI-IOLD.

 

which could be used for berries or ice-

cream. 32 per dozen, with six styles to .

choose from so one could have a set with
but two alike; small leaf-shaped dishes for
olives and mixed pickles, cute little pitch-
ers, from 25 to 75 cents, square or round,
with pert noses and inclined to apoplexy;
a little china house is for mustard, you put
the tiny olive wood mustard spoon down
the chimney and scoop up a ﬁery mouthful;
salt cellars are richest in cut glass, with sil-
ver plated tops -—nobody uses the “indi-
vidual” salts now-days—and the ﬁgure of
an old woman has holes in the top of her
Mother G)ose cap, whence you shake a
generous sprinkle of pepper; fruit-plates.
each having a different design of fruit, one
a peach, another a yellow pear, a third a
trio of purple plums, and so on; dishes for
raw oysters, some the shape of the oyster,
and subdivided into places for six good fat
Saddle Rocks; others shell—shaped and shad-
ed in greens, hearing a suggestion of sea
depths about them. One set I particularly
admired was in size between a dinner and
tea plate, with six spaces for the toothsome
bivalve, the ridges between these spaces a
dark brown lined with gold, and the whole
plate shading from rim to centre in a faint
reddish yellow. Salad bowls of glass are
tinted pale amber or green, but these are
not so desirable as the clear pressed glass,
which is a fair imitation of the sparkling
but expensive cut glass. In berry dishes, a
great shell with ﬂuted curves of milk-white
glass is the very thing one would fancy for
a fragrant heap of strawberries, and a rose

petal in tinted glass on a silver standard
for sliced pineapple and bananas. Cracker
bowls range in price from 31 50 to $5; you
can get a pretty square one, with tray, for
as; some are quaint jars with open-mouthed
dragons trying to swallow each other. Bot-
tles for vinegar are ﬂagon-shabed, and are
tinted from pale amber at the bottom to
ruby red at the cut-glass stopper, these are
a dollar each, others in the same shape can
be bought as low as 45 cents. There are
dainty glass bowls with ﬂower patterns in
white enamel for powdered sugar to pass
with saucers of berries, and glass baskets
with handles for the same purpose, at from
40 cents to $1.25. Tumblers (for goblets
are quite out of favor now) of tinted glass
are worth 31.50 to $2 per dozen, and you
need have no two alike unless you prefer,
but the ruby and amber, and those shading
from one color to the other are the hand-
somest; water pitchers are of ruby and
amber and more shapes and colors and de-
signs than I have time to tell about; you
can buy a good sized pitcher, a dozen tum-
blers,and a square brass tray for from $3.50 to
$6. There are trays for celery, but I greatly
prefer one of the square, upright receptacles
for this delicious vegetable, it looks nicer on
the table.

So great is the variety of china and glass
designed for the modern table that I will
frankly confess that I was more than once
perplexed to assign a use to the quaint little
jugs and pitchers and dishes which are
piled up in a crockery store of the period.
They are all pretty, and subject to a variety
of uses, and all terrible temptations to
break the tenth commandment.

BEATRIX.

“-5—-.. -,

AIDS AND HINDRANCES IN THE
HOUSEHOLD.

 

This was the question the ladies of the
Webster Farmers’ Club discussed in the
wee sma’ hours of the afternoon session of
the September meeting at the residence
of Mr. Charles Rigers.

Mrs. lra Backus thought that one of the
many aids which might be suggested was a
tank of cold water in the kitchen, supplied
by the wind-mill, an aid not usually appre-
ciated by the gentlemen in the construction
and planning of a new or the remodeling
of an old dwelling; certainly the multitude
of steps taken during the heat of the day
for a fresh supply of cold water and the
muscular power to force it from deep wells
was a hindrance. Again, if she could by
taking thought decrease the size of her
kitchen and make it less roomy, she be-
lieved it would he an advantage. Large
kitchens involve an immense amount of
labor to keep them neat and tidy, and are
liable to become a catch-all for men‘s dis-
carded coats, hats and old brogans, which,
hanging here and there, were a hindrance.
Have a small, compact, well arranged cook-
room, with a suitably planned pantry ad-
joining, and you have the U ltima Thule of
a good housewife’s desires.

Mrs. Elwin Ball had found in the gaso-
line stove a helper that materially decreased
the vexatious labor of mid-summer’s sultry
days; this was a labor-saving invention that
one must use to fully appreciate.

Mrs. Wm. Latson regarded a good cistern,
of a capacity to hold a supply of well-ﬁlter-
ed rain water through the periodic drouth,
together with sink and pump at hand, a
great aid. In the dairy a creamery, butter-
worker and barrel-churn are helps that
lighten woman’s labors.

Mrs. Wm. Ball, while not discarding all
these truly helpful aids, regarded good
health, willing hands and united efforts the
ﬁrst great power for easy accomplishment
of necessary labors.

Mrs. Chas. Rogers said she was meeting
her daily duties without many of these val-
uable helps; and whether time should
bring them or not she was going on trying
to perfect her work, seizing on all aids
within her reach and wasting no thought
over what might have been. Nor would she
cry “Kismet” with tie Arab, but steadily
take the little chips of help in hand as they
were found, blessing the Good Father for
all the relief in labor each day brought her,
leaving to-morrow’s care for tomorrow, so
that to—day shall be burdened only with
today’s cares.

Mrs. Polly Bill—“Aunt Polly,” as she
is called by most of us under ﬁfty—being
called upon for her views, said her child-
hood’s days and her happiest had been
spent here in Webster. That life had all
been sunshine and no shade she was not
going to assert, but taking the years togeth-
er there had been less night than day. She
could recall very vividly the picture of life
in the now long ago—the old log cabin with
its shake-shingled roof, stick chimney, the
huge opening at its base, with its crane and
hooks upon which pots and kettles were
swung to and fro over the blazing logs, the

 

andirons and the monster tongs, the cinder-

laden bake-kettle and the buckskin latch-
string that always hung out in those days.
Parlor, pantry, kitchen and bedroom often
were embraced in eighteen feet square of
unhewn logs, and yet, crowded into these
four walls could have been found a little
world of happiness. Looking at some of
the attractive bay-windows crowded with
exotics, she could in her imagination go
back to the sheet hung before an opening
in the logs as the opposite, while blue-bells
and violets and wild lilies bloomed half the
year in the open beyond. Of duties. the
girl or woman, when the shadows began to
deepen, often threaded her way, bare-foot—
ed, through the forest, now and then stop-
ping to listen for the distant bell, following
up, the sound through swamps and marshes,
ﬁnally ﬁnding and bringing home the cows,
milking, straining, churning without one
thought of creamers, butter workers or
revolving churns. Photographed in her
brain were the pictures of those girls and
women, and they were pictures of healthful,
vigorous womanhood. She did not wish to
bring back those days, GJd forbid: but our
girls and our mothers may perhaps gather
the lesson that too little sunlight, too little
exercise in the open air is enfeebling our
sex to-day. We need more outdoor exer:
cise, more bodily labor. Walking is almost
a lost art, and fashion and custom are fast
creating enfeebled'physiques that caricature
humanity. Her advice was, to look out for
helps and aids to help yourselves, and for
hindrances, why remove them and we
shall at least hold our own and not retro-
grade.

Mrs. J. T. Snnderland, wife of the pastor
of the Unitarian church at Ann Arbor,
who with her husband were guests of the
Club, on invitation. said that if she were to
express her views on this question she
should say a handy, willing man around the
house was the best aid; and her idea might
be best understood by that word co-opera-
tion. It was well for the woman to have
practical knowledge of the farm beyond the
door-yard; it was also right that she should
have the physical training, so if need be
her strength should be auxiliary to trained

hands when the emergency shall arise for
their use. Believing as she did in recipro-
cal interchange of work, a man should also
learn to do woman’s duties, and through
Monday’s washing, Tuesday’s ironing, and
through the week, give that aid that shall
relieve the drudgery of house-keeping. As
a practical illustration of her plan, she
told of her summer outing on the borders of
Silver Lake, where her husband divided
the work with her. She thought it a very
pleasing picture to see the form of her lord
silhouetted against the tent walls in her big
work-apron, wiping dishes and setting to
rights the breakfast things, and afterwards
beneath those grand old forest trees pursue
their literary labors together. Her earlier
years were spent on the farm and she knew
full well the cares of the house, but by this
pleasant system of co-operation both man’s
woman’s toil could be lightened and made
pleasant.

Rev. J. T. Sunderland, in reSponse to the
call, said it was a nice thing to have a
handy woman around. He was a ﬁrm be-

 

liever in a more thorough training of our

 


 

'girls in what is generally regarded as men’s
work. The lady pupils of the practical
training schools for the young in the useful
arts in Toledo, showed some very ﬁnely ﬁn-
ished work at the Tri State Fair, in which
the saw, hammer and plane were used in
construction. A three years’ course of
training was the order; one year in cooking
and housework; one year cutting, ﬁtting
and making garments; and one year in
mechanics. Tnis training was developing
those girls amazingly in health, self-reliance
and knowledge; and he would just here
make this point: train the hands and you

train the mind.
C. M. STARKs, Cor. Sec.

—_...—_

IMPROPER USE OF FOOD.

 

‘ “Know‘edge comes but wisdom lingers, and he
bea s a laden breast,

Full of sad experience, moving toward the
stillness of his rest."

Alas! how true are the words of the
poet! Knowledge comes and bears a laden
breast, full of sad experience. Valuable
lessons may be learned by example and pre-
cept, but are more liable to be forgotten
than when experience has been the teacher.

A sensible mother, who has experienced
the horrors of dyspepsia and has managed
to exist on graham bread, rolled oats, rice,
and the doctor’s nostrnmi, watches closely
the condition of her children, gives them
plain food and denies them luxuries, pas-
tries, pickles and much fruit, well knowing
she is giving them a far more lasting lux-
ury—a taste to be relied upon and a healthy
stomach. As she saw the little casket car-
‘ried into the house across the street, not
long ago, wherein a once bright and prom-
ising little boy‘was to rest, having suc-
cumbed to that dread disease cholera
infautum, she said: “I thank God for my
own past bitter suffering. It gave me a
knowledge of what a diet should be, and
ﬁrmness to insist upon my children’s fol-

:lowing it with me.” Icould but think of
.the following quotation:
“Life is full of holy uses.
It" but rightly und :rstood,

And its uses and abuses
May be stepping-stones to good."

I have known of children eating, at
school during recess time and when the
teacher was not looking, as much fruit in
one day as they should have had in one
week. This practice was kept up, during
the autumn months, by children from the
ﬁrst families in the district, whose parents
knew nature’s laws and her penalties better
than the average parent does. A teacher
who knew it was her duty to do all in her
power to promote perfect physical develop-
ment in her pupils as well as mental and
moral, after much deliberation delivered a
.kind and affectionate plea for the stomach’s
sake. The interested, anxious, upturned
faces made her quite hopeful that she had
said something that might bring forth fruit.
Circumstances allowed me to see something
of its results in one home. In the evening,
when the apples were passed around, the
pale-faced maid of fourteen said: “Not
, any to-night. Teacher says fruit is gold in
the morning, silver at noon and lead at
night.” The father grumbled at the notions
people are getting into their heads. The
mother said: “They always told me fruit

THE HOUSEHOLD.

I’ve known your Uncle John to eat twenty-
seven apples after we got home from school
at night, and it never hurt him either.”
(Same uncle I knew was under the doctor’s
care.) The boy in the corner tossed his
sister an apple, telling her not to be afraid,
“Teacher looks as if she never had enough
apples, anyhow.” I hoped her plea for the
stomach was more kindly received in manv
homes than in that one, but I doubt if i
was followed in one.

The mother in the city watches her frail
children and longs for country air and fresh
fruits for them, while she gives them pen-
nies to buy confectionery, not thinking she
is the means of perverting their tastes by so
doing. The farmer’s wife and daughters
partake of the fat pork and rich pastries
which the systems of the father and boys
can dispose of, and in a measure require,
working as they do in the open air, but
which the wife and daughters do not need,
and sooner or later the stomach revolts;
and nearly half the ills the human family
are heir to are liable to follow. And still
people wonder why our farmers’ wives and
daughters are not healthier. Doctors are
numerous, and their bills more so. But
what can they do, if people will continue
to make a curse of what might be a bless-
ing by improper foods taken at all hours,
hasti‘y eaten, half chewed and washed
down by Various drinks?

When the question of sociabies arises, I
think, Is our Heavenly Father pleased to
see His children partaking of ice-cream and
cake, or peaches and cream, or fried cakes
and coffee, as the case may be. at an hour
when the stomach should be at rest? Na-
ture’s laws and His are said to be the same;
therefore if we transgress one, do we not
the other?

Mothers, this rests much with you. 1f
your family is in good health, thank God
and strive to keep them so. If not, do all
in your power to make them so; and in no
way can you better accomplish this than by
studying more earnestly about the simple,
wholesome, nutritious dishes and less about
the fashionable, luxurious bills of fare

Then we will be a happier people.
TOPsY.
W

BREAD AND PUMPKIN PIES.

 

There has been a good deal of advice
given in these columns on how to make
good bread; so we will take it for granted
that we are all good bread-makers and have
a talk on how to care for it after it is baked.
I presume two out of every three keep their
bread in the wash boiler, which is all right
if certain conditions are observed. A thor-
ough washing and sunning once a week is
necessary, and a clean paper in the bottom
every baking—never use a cloth, as the best
of bread is often spoiled by so doing; it
will make it taste old and almost musty
unless the cloth is clean every time, which
makes a good deal of unnecessary work, as
the paper is just as clean and can be burned
up. The bread certainly needs nothing
over the top, if the boiler has a cover. For
myself I greatly prefer a large jar with a
stone cover, as being much easier kept
sweet and clean than the boiler.

Bread should never be put away under

 

was healthy, and as to eating it at night,

  

twelve hours after taking from the oven,

 
   

3

ﬂ

and is still better if left until the next
marniug, when it will be cold and solid.
When taken from the even it should imme-
diately be placed right side up on a fresh
towel and covered thick enough to retain
the steam to moisten the crust.

Pumpkin pies are good or bad, according
to the way they are made. Some think
when they get a pumpkin stewed soft
enough to mash with a spoon it is ready
for pies, and accordingly mash it up a little,
stir in some sugar and eggs and a little
milk, for it will take but little, there is
nearly enough water left in the pumpkin
for wetting, put it in a crust and bake it,
and have a lumpy and tilt-tasting yellow
pie. To be good, pumpkin should be put
ste wing in the morning and stewed, closely
covered, until perfectly soft. then the cover
removed and set on the top of the stove
and stirred freq‘lently until all the water,
has evaporated, which will be pretty nearly
night; then put through a colander and set
away until wanted for use. Take one egg
and a good half cup of sugar to a pie, and
season to taste. llike ginger and cinna-
mon equal parts ~and don’t forget to salt
it; bake slowly, and you will have a gold-
en-b‘rown, delicious pie, ﬁt for any one——
even J Jhn and his mother.

1 am sorry that raga. fur dish 31mm have
been Voted out by Beatrix and Evangeline,
furl do like old knit underwear for them ,
it is so soft and pliable, and I think it is
more in the way the cloths are kept than
what the material is; bit if these ladies will
make me a visit I will wash their dishes
with a cloth crocheted from carpet warp
especially for the purpose.

BATTLE CREEK. X. Y. Z.

W

FARM HOMES.

 

[Paper read by Mrs Burr Tuthill at the §ep-
tembe: meeing of the Liberty Farm :rs‘ Club.]

Home, in its true sense, bllongs only to
civiliz ition. There is probably no other test
of human condition so accurate and appar-
ent as this. Homemaking is the one
grand business of well-meaning people,
everywhere. It is evervbody’s place of all
places for what the heart most craves. It is
the sacred place to which all our labors and
forces are directed, therefore we should
make it as pleasant and attractive as our
means will allow. It need not necessarily
be a mansion, for we all know however
humble “ there is no place like home.”

M rising and keeping a home is the great
labor of men; and as we meet occasionally
to exchange thoughts and ideas about plant-
ing and sowing, the kind of seed to use,
and the right time to sow it, would it not
be well to give some thoughts to the seed 5
sown in the home. Our farm homes are
more out of the currents of literature, and
away from the breeze of public thought,
yet they are the great head-springs of
population, and give the world the best
brains and strongest characters. From our
farm homes go every year our young men
and woman to enter the trades and profes-
sions, to build new cities, and make new
States. And this is right. 1 would not have
them held to the farm if they have no taste
for it, and have a gift for something else.

 

But 1 would have them go forth with the
best light, q‘tickeued by the sprit of hom

 


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f or character.

4: THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

improvement, that they should have knowl-
edge of the best thoughts of the time con-
cerning the inner life that makes true men
an d true women.

How shall we best acccmplish this? First,
I would have our children educated in
habits of order, industry and economy by
living in an orderly, industrious and eco-
nomical home. I would have their minds
educated and thoughts quickened by read-
in g and conversing on the topics of the day
and the improvements in art and science.
I would have the strong thoughts of our
b est writers go into our farm homes, and not
left to be read by the children only, but by
every member of the family. As an emi-
nent writer has well said: “Good books in
farm houses are seed wheat in autumn.”

Remember we are planting and sewing
Character is made at home.
Every Sunday is sowing time for the seed
of moral and religious truth; every day is
sowing time for the seed of good and right-
eous principles; and we surely cannot ex-
pect to reap what we have not sown. Just
in proportion as farmers and their families
become imbued with the best thoughts of
the age will their farms and stocks, and
ﬁnances and homes and themselves improve.
So may the farmer be felt as a power in the
land and his rights and position be honored
and respected.

—_....———

PLEASANT CHAT.

 

Thanks to the members of the HOUSE-
HOLD who have taken up their pens in
defense of woman. I hold myself, with
the late John B. Gough, bound to believe
every woman innocent until I know all the
circumstances, and even then to treat her
with all manner of charity, knowing that
if I will but seek for them I shall surely
ﬁnd extenuating circumstances, but brand
the man who leads her astray. Never will
I hold out my hand to a man, nor meet him
socially if I can avoid it, when I know he
has wronged a woman.

So far as politics are concerned, 1 for one
have no desire to vote, but it is an insult
to woman in general to say she would not
vote intelligently. I think that every
woman who pays taxes should have a right
to vote, provided she chooses to exercise
that right; and this was the view held by
Abraham Lincoln. For myself, I am a
Prohibitionist now and forever, and I won-
der that more women do not become so,
and thus use their inﬂuence both with their
own children and others to suppress this
liquor trafﬁc, this blot upon our civilization,
this abomination which renders it almost
doubtful whether we had better not leave
heathen nations unchristianized, since,
using the faithful missionary as a pioneer
to insure personal safety, the liquor dealer
is sure to follow.

Beatrix was disappointed at not meeting
a larger number of members at the State
fair. 1 plead guilty to being in Detroit that
day, and the gentleman where I was visit-
ing insisted upon taking me to the “ Butch-
ers’ Barbecue,” saying very truly that I
should never see the like again, and just as
truly I never want to. Just fancy ﬁve great
oxen roasting whole, besides sheep and
calves, with numberless butchers in long

white frocks slicing up meat, others slicing
bread (much of the meat was decidedly rare
done); a slice of meat was quickly inserted
between two slices of bread and handed to
all applicants, making a sandwich beyond
the average month’s capacity. No, thank
you, none for me, even when offered by a
very good-looking butcher. I don’t want to
see roast beef again this year.

I also visited the new Museu n of Art, a
most beautiful building, which I trust is but
the ﬁrst step towards an art school. There
is much to repay a visit. I was charmed
with a “Veiled Cupid,” showing red lips and
blue eyes through a delicate veil of white
marble, and confess myself at a loss to know
how that was accomplished. A very large
painting called “ The Court of Death ” at-
tracted my attention several times, per-
haps because of my ignorance; 1 could not
understand it. Perhaps Beatrix would
kindly explain it for the general beneﬁt of
those who may visit the Museum.

TO turn from poetry to prose, have any of
the members tried the self-wringing mop?
l have just got one, and vote that my most
valued kitchen utensil. Having commenced
writing I might keep on indeﬁnitely, but
we are old-fasnioned enough to tolerate a
baby in the house—not a spoiled baby—and
he demands attention.

HOWELL. MRS. W. J. G.

[Unless I am greatly mistaken, Rem-
brandt Peale‘s great allegorical painting,
“ The Court of Death," is now the property
of the Detroit Art Museum. It was, if I
recollect aright, a prominent feature of the
exhibition subsequent to the ﬁrst and fa-
mous “ Art Loan.” The shadowy ﬁgure in
the central background of the picture is
Death. The prostrate ﬁgure of the youth
in the foreground represents Life, with
head and feet bathed in the waters of Obliv-
ion. About this ﬁgure and forming Death’s
court, are representations of the agencies
by which men meet Death. The helmeted
ﬁgure is War; that hearing the torch is In-
cendiarism; gaunt Famine, shadowy Pesti-
lence. Murder, Debauchery, and others, are
re presented. Old Age is a ﬁgure of venerable
aspect to whom Hope offers Immortality.
It is some time since I have seen the
picture, but I hope this brief description
may aid Mrs. W. J. G. and others who have
seen this great painting, to a better under-
standing of its meaning—Baarmx]

._____....———

A WELCOME NEW-COMER.

 

Many times I have thought I would knock
for admittance at the door of the HOUSE-
HOLD but for various reasons have postpon-
ed my call; principal among those reasons
was the consciousness that I had nothing
worth your opening the door to listen to.
But now the decision has been reached as
far as I am concerned: I knock.

I am a school teacher, and would like to
hear further suggestions from “ Old School
Teacher” concerning common school mat-
ters, classiﬁcation of pupils, teachers, and
their work, etc.

As for woman in politics, I think it
must be that Jannette, thinking there was
“ too much agreement ” in the HOUSE-
HOLD, intended her statements concern-

 

ing the ﬁckleness, etc., of woman merely

 

as a challenge to discussion: or she lives
in some semi-civilized portion of the United»
States where there are few representative
specimens of American womanhood. It.
has Men my happy lot to come in contract
with a very different class of women. They-
seem to me fullyas capable of knowing.

and judging of political questions as the

men. I do not claim that they do in-

form themselves as fully as men, and the

reason for this is very simple. They have
not been brought up to it. It is not ex- ’
pected of them and they have not the

incentive to acquire such knowledge that

their brothers have. True, the lords of
creation have granted woman the ballot at
school meetings, but why? I venture to
suggest that it is more because they consider-
such work too insigniﬁcant to deserve their
attention and would like to get rid of it,
than because they desire to grant to woman

her rights. This I believe, however, that.
when a majority of the women of this
country desire to vote, the majority of the:
men will be willing they should.

I have a book which I value quite highly:
It is merely a large blank book in which I
keep a record of the books I read. When
I have ﬁnished a book I record at least the
title, name of author, and date of reading;
then I add as much more as I have time or
inclination for, as a brief outline of the-
plot, and description of the principal char»
acters, my opinion of the book, and many
times I copy any especially ﬁne sentiments
or thoughts.

LIVONIA. YOUNG SCHOOL TEACHER.

_.____..._——-—

In any of the readers of the HOUSEHOLD
have had experience in preserving fruits, as
apples, pears or peaches. in honey, they will
confer a great favor upon a “ Constant
Reader” by reporting their process to the
HOUSEHOLD recipe column.

I”.
Useful Recipes.

 

FRIED CAKES.—-TWO eggs, bearenthoroughr
ly; one cup granulated sugar; seven table-
spoonfuls melted shortening; one cup milk;
a level tablespoonful salt; a very little nut-
meg; two heaping teaspoonfuls baking pow-
der stirred into the ﬂour. Mix in just ﬂour
enough to handle; roll out an inch or 'a little
more in thickness, cut with a small round
cutter, if nothing better is at hand a teacan—
ister top will do. Have the fat for frying the
cakes hot; when the cakes rise from the bot—
tom of the kettle, if the underside is a little
brown the heat is right; if white, not hot en-
ough, and the cakes will flatten out and crack
and soak fat; if much brown. it is too hot.
When done take the balls from the fat one at
a time and roll in ﬁne grained sugar. I use
the same rule for common breakfast cakes,
by adding two- thirds of a cup more of milk or
water, one is just as good as the other, I
think; turn the cakes often. M. E. H.

ALBION.

 

GREEN TOMATO Praline—Slice green to-
matoes and let them lie over night in weak
brine. Drain thoroughly in the ,morning.
To one pint of vinegar add one teaspoonful of
whole cloves, one tablespoonful of stick cin-
namon, broken ﬁne, one teaspoonful each of
allspice and pepper, one coffeecupful of sugar.
Tie the spices in muslin bags, boil with vine-
gar, turn over the tomatoes and cook gently
on the back of the stove for a few moments,
until the tomato is tender.

 

