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DETROIT, DEC.

20., 1590.

 

TH E HOUSEH OLD-“Supplement.

 

 

CHRISTMAS PENSEES.

 

"l‘is Christmas, merry Christmas,
With its holly-berries bright,
With its sweet and joyous carols

Chiming out into the night.

’l‘is Christmas, happy Christmas,
With its greetings, when we hear
Pleasant sounds of salutation
And good wishes for the year.

"l‘is Christmas, hallowed Christmas.
With its hidden sigh that tells

'Of the shadow that hath fallen
Since the ringing of the bells.

"l‘is Christmas, blessed Christmas,
With its memories untold,
.Bringing joy and pain commingled,
As in Christmas days of old.
—Gaod Housekeeping.

 

CHRISTMAS .

 

Before another HOUSEHOLD will be
abroad in the land, we shall have made an
end of wishing each other a Merry Christ-

mas for the year of grace 1890. All the
mysterious bundles will have been opened,
the depths of the Christmas stockings ex-
plored, all the Christmas secrets disclosed.
Santa Claus will have unstrapped his pack,
and the children of the rich will have re-
ceived their costly presents in gratiﬁcation
of fancied wants; and in humble homes the
poor man’s blessings will have been over-
joyed by receiving simpler gifts, not less
weighted with love and aﬁection than
their richer neighbor’s. At Christmas, if
ever, we know that it is more blessed to
give than to receive. As in most of the
events of life, our pleasure has been in
anticipation, in planning our little sur-
prises, in gratifying some cherished wish
'of those we love.

Christmas is emphatically the family
holiday; none other brings all its members
into such close and beautiful union. The
loving thought each for the other, the
mutual sacriﬁces—for there is no delight
in giving what has cost us nothing in self
denial—the jollity of the day, all belong to
the home and its inmates. Let it be a
merry day, full of delight for the children,
in whose happiness parents may renew
their own old time Christmas Days.

Not a little of the pleasure the recipient
of a gift obtains from it comes from the
manner of the presentation. Children de-
light in the mysterious, the unexpected.
The wonderful tree with its twinkling
tapers and its unwonted fruit is a never

ceasing delight. The commonest gift is
hallowed if borne upon its magic branches.
Or evestocking mysteriously in

 

the loneliness and darkness of the “ night
before Christmas” while visions of rein-
deer and a furry St. Nick are haunting
sleepy heads, is a source of delight and
marvel quite beyond the gifts produced
from the bureau drawer before their eyes.
The trouble of dressing the Christmas tree
is amply rewarded by the sight of the
beaming faces about it; the expense is
slight, since strings of popcorn and festoons
of tinsel paper cost next to nothing, and
the little wax candles are cheap. Or if
this be not possible, Santa Claus himself.
dressed in his furs, and carrying his pack,
may appear and distribute the gifts. Or,
cover the big dishpan with white paper,
border it with a wreath of evergreen, put
it on the table and set the whole family to
march around it, singing a Christmas carol.
Let the dimpled ﬁst of the youngest of
the circle break the paper cover, and then
distribute the bundles within, which make
it as wonderful as that in which four-and-
twenty blackbirds were baked for a name-
less king, and as composite a creation as
the hotel mince-pie.

And nowaword about the gifts. Charles
Dudley Warner says the class of wares
known as holiday goods seems to be manu-
factured on purpose that people may per-
form a duty that is expected of them in
the holidays. He evidently has not a high
opinion of this kind of gifts, for he adds
that at least the giver is blessed in that he
has not to live with the gifts. And indeed
the general run of goods manufactured for
the holiday trade is objectionable in that
they pretend to be what they are not.
Pasteboard masquerades asleather, painted
wood as ivory, gilded iron as bronze. The
idea seems to be to oﬁer something showy
and cheap, and an immense amount of
money is annually wasted in the purchase
of articles which are thrown away as rub-
bish or relegated to the attic in a state of
innocuous desuetude before another Christ-
mas. Turn away from all such “ nonsense
things” and buy sensible things. Don’t
go too far to the other extreme and give a
pair of coarse shoes or a ﬂannel petticoat to
the girl who is longing for an embroidered
handkerchief or a box of paints. Useful
things, which need not be ugly or practical,
always make the most acceptable gifts,
those longest prized. There’s no sense in
giving a book of poems to a person who
never reads, or a picture to one who
doesn’t know an etching from a photo-
gravure. A Spanish proverb says “ Heaven
sends almonds to those who have no teeth,”
and it is true of much of our “ periodic

 

generosity,” because we do not give the
careful thought which enables us to select
things which will be in harmony with the
tastes of the recipients.

Do not spend more than you can afford.
That is not right or just. Too many in
the excitement of their shopping and in the
midst of so many pretty things, and too in
the generous promptings of their hearts,
forget prudence and spend money which
should go for household needs, repeating
later, when the paroxysm of generosity is
over.

The giving of gifts should be free and
spontaneous, the only motive affection and
regard, a desire to give pleasure to others.
Therefore, do not make “ duty presents,"
by which is meant what are often called
“return gifts,” made because somebody else
gave you something and you feel you must
return an equivalent, perhaps against your
will. That is not gift-giving; it’s barter. It
robs the season of its chief charm to make
its symbolic custom a matter of trade. If
affection does not prompt a gift, do not
make one; let the matter end right there.

And having made what preparations
have seemed ﬁtting, let us not envy those
who are able to give more costly offerings,
but remember it is the sentiment and the
loving remembrance, not the value, which
consecrates the gift; let us make our Christ -
mas greetings an earnest of the good will
we bear each other, and banish from our
hearts all that would cloud a MERRY
CHRISTMAS, which the Editor wishes to
each and all her HOUSHOLD friends.

 

PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

 

“ If Cora would only love us always as
she does now! I can’t bear to think of her
growing up and caring more for some one
else than her parents. We are her whole
world now, but it will be diiferent in a few
years." 80 said a fond mother to me, in
speaking of her lovable six years old
daughter; and I asked myself where the
blame rested that sons and daughters do
not retain the same affection for their
parents as they- grow to young man and
womanhood. And the question received a
ready answer in my own mind that the
parents are most at fault. When the chil-
dren are young they are fondled, caressed
and amused, to the neglect of all else if
need be. A three years old child with a
hurt ﬁnger ﬁnds ready sympathy and
loving kisses for lips and cheeks and
aching hand until the pain is, in imaginao
tion, kissed away, but the twelve years old,

 


 

 
 
 

 

       

KE-rJ‘ivsv'tf .. I,“ ext-.33“. we

2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

e none the less a child, with a deeper
wound to her sensitive nature, is fretted
at, nagged and really driven to some other
source for sympathy, if‘she receives any at
all, while the mother only says: “ If you
never have any worse trouble than that I
guess you’ll get along,” when it is real

' heart trouble; so much greater than the

hurt ﬁnger of babyhood as to bear no
comparison; and it is no wonder that the
growing child turns to mates who can un-
derstand her sorrows, and gradually drifts
away from those who should be nearest
and dearest, until there is agreat gulf be-
tween. .

I shall never forget a little scene wit-
nessed many years ago, where two mothers
were in a room with their half grown
daughters; when one, in passing, slipped
an arm lovingly about the waist of her
child, giving her a tender, motherly kiss
which the other one noticed with the re-
mark: “ Why, I haven’t kissed one of my
girls in years. Not since they were little,
as I know of.” Oh! the power of a cares
for keeping parents and children united,
but how few hold their offspring with
these loving ties all along through the days
and years of their growing life! The ten-
der, budding love for the opposite sex
which the parents may notice even before
the child realizes its import, is laughed
about and made a subject of jest, when it
should be nourished like a delicate plant,
for the attachments of early life are often
of lasting effect, and many a mother
mourns in later years over the reticence
of son or daughter regarding their choice
of a life companion; and manya daughter’s
shame or son’s disgrace might be traced to
the lack of conﬁdential sympathy between
parents and children through those trying
years from eight to eighteen. A hurt then
makes awound that may never heal, and an
act or speech that in later life would be
unnoticed, is remembered with a feeling of
pain to the last.

Not long since I was turning over some
pﬂtern books of more than thirty years
ago, and by chance I opened to a little
braiding pattern, the sight of it giving me

' such pain, after all these years, as no slight

nowadays could cause. I was only a
young girl then, with little material and
less skill and experience, but the Christ-
mas time was coming and from my small
‘resourses I wanted to make something for
a gift—something to put on the Christmas
tree that was to be the ﬁrst for my childish
eyes to see. 81ny I worked and after
much painstaking the pattern was drawn
on paper and carefully basted to the cloth,
and following its tortuous windings the
braid was stitched on and the pincushlon
completed. Even now I can see it as
plainly as though lying before me, a
square of pale blue wool delaine with the
bright scarlet braid following the pattern,
and a pleating around the edge to hide the
seam. Times were different then and
colors were not shaded and harmonized as
now, but it was the best that I had, and
even now I know that it was a presentable
article for a child’s work. Christmas day
brought a terrible storm and the tree was
given up and the presents were distributed,

 

bu? later the storm cleared and there was
lively work at the church as each one car-
ried the presents already received for the
privilege of receiving them again in public.
The neighbor to whom I had given the
work of my hands and the good will that
accompanied it said to me: “I didn’t
think it would pay to carry that little
pincushion, and I’m awful glad I didn’t,
for there’s some nice embroidered ones
there and that wouldn’t look like much.”
I knew very well that it could not match
the work of skilled ﬁngers, but I also
knew that among the hundreds of presents
and in all that hurry and confusion my
poor little gift would not have been noticed.
And that unkind speech sank deep into
the childish heart and the knowledge that,
after its wholly thankless reception, the
gift was never thus used, but ripped apart
for other purposes, was a hurt that has
lasted through all these years.

Favoritism is a constant source of trouble,
and very few families are found where the
children receive equal interest and atten-
tion. Many parents claim that it is im—
possible, with the diiferent dispositions, to
feel the same affection for each child; but
alas for all the heartache and the longing
for love and sympathy that are endured by
these slighted children, while their tem-
pers are daily soured and hardened by the
treatment received. Since they cannot
ﬁnd cor geniality at home what wonder
that they turn to other sources, going up
or down in the social scale, often by no
choice of their own,‘, but from their sur-
roundings, the tide landing them safe in
some exalted position, or leaving them
wallowing in the slough of despondency.

The school-teacher who puts the bunch
of glaring dandelions, selected with loving
thoughtfulness by one pupil, beside the
choice bouquet of another, may not give
an object lesson in the artistic blending of
colors, but the love and adoration of that
happy child will follow her in later years,
and “ Inasmuch asye have done it unto one
of the least of these ye have done it unto
Me.” EL. SEE.

Boxno.

 

FROM “ SISTER GRACIO‘US.”

Most of us have heard the city clocks
strike off the hours until long past mid
night, and resorted to different ways to
coax or induce that greatest of all blessings,
sleep. To say the alphabet or multipli-
cation table backwards, or a rhyme from
Mother Goose, or to say over and over a
hymn, is familiar to all. One old gentle-
man could not sleep until after his game
of chess with a favorite daughter. An-
other would take a short walk just before
bedtime, even if it was raining in torrents.
One queer genius gave me his remedy for
sleeplessness: “ After a certain time,”
said he, “ and I am still wakeful, I get out
of bed and take off all the bed clothes one
after another and lay over a chair; I even
shake up the mattress and feather bed, and
then put the sheets and blankets back one
after another, smoothly. After my bed is
made I jump in, and generally done off,
though I have had nights when the opera-

tion had tobe repeated three times.” Some
keep a ﬂesh brush handy and give the
body a vigorous rubbing, while others

count sheep jumping through a fence one
at a time. Another counting way is to say'
slowly one—two—and a pause, and again

one—two. The point is, not to excite the"
mind, and produce more wakefulness by

thinking “ What comes next,” as is apt to-
be the case if one thinks out intricate
sums. One lady cannot get to sleep 'un-

less her favorite cat is curled up at the
foot of her bed, and many are unable to
doze oﬁ unless there is a light inthe room.

It’s a blessing when one can drop off into a
sweet sleep regardless of time, place or
circumstances.

Don is adog with considerable character,
and tells us his likes and dislikes in the
plainest manner. He sleeps by the kitchen
stove, and in winter we throw over him a
large shawl. But one bitterly cold night,
with the thermometer marking below zero,
I hastﬂy crawled into bed, and didn’t go-
down to replenish the kitchen ﬁre, or cover
up the dog. Don would not be passed
over in this manner. I was just getting
warm and oomfortable' when I felt a cold
nose in my hand, and afterwards heard
the most doleful, piteous whine that ever
came from a distressed dog. Thinking his
stomach must be out of order, and that to
go out doors would revive him, I jumped
out of bed, bundled up in a shawl, ran
down to the front door and opened it.
Then I looked around for Don, but he was
nowhere to be seen. I ran up stairs again,
and there cuddled down under the bed-
clothes, in the warm place I had just left,
was that rogue of a dog. His eyes were:
closed, he was apparently so sound asleep:
I could almost hear him snore. It was a»
clever trick, but didn’t quite succeed. I
took that dog by the collar and yanked
him out, and he gave such a hollow dole-
ful howl my heart relented, and I actually
went down stairs, made up the kitchen
ﬁre, and rolled him up in his blanket.

Dmorr. SISTER GRACIOUS.

 

A HORTICULTURAL MEETING.

I wonder if any of the readers of the.
HOUSEHOLD noticed that Beatrix was en-
tirely crowded out of the issue of Nov.
29th. Well, I did, and at once thought
that she would not complain, for only a
few weeks ago she had to make “ copy ”
for nearly the wnole of the little sheet, and
Nov. 22, only three articles were contri»
buted. N ow this should not be, for if the
HOUSEHOLD is as helpful and suggestive as
so many have publicly declared it to be, it
ought not to go begging for “copy,” and
so i will endeavor to add my mite by
giving an account of the meeting of our
Horticultural Society which was held Nov.
12th at the residence of E. P. Allis, father
of the president, Mr. Elliott Allis. two and
a half miles west of the city of Adrian.
Though the condition of the roads was not
good at that time, and a small attendance
was anticipated, the people gathered in
such numbers that a very interesting
session was held in the forenoon. the sub-

 

ject being the winter protection of fruit.

    
  
  
  
   
   
   
  
  
  
   
 
   
    
      
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
    
  
  
   
  
   
   
   
  
  
  
  
 
   
  
   
     
  
   
    
 
  
  
  
   
  
    
   
   
   
 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

trees and shrubs. Aﬁourned at twelve for
dinner, when two long tables were ﬁlled
with provisions brought by the members.
Thirty-two persons could be seated at one
time. Eighteen more were served at the
second table, making 50 in all who par-
took of as good a dinner as one could
desire. It is the custom of this society for
ﬁre hostess to furnish only tea, coﬂee,
cream and sugar, and the others take just
what they choow, also their own dishes,
napkins, etc. But at this meeting they
were treated to warm chicken pie and
mashed potatoes in addition to their own
eatables, and there were certainly several
baskets left after all hadbeen served. The
afternoon meeting was devoted to a paper
and discussion on plum and pear culture,
followed by singing, reoitations and two
papers which have been already published
in the HOUSEHOLD. About twenty guests
came after dinner, and all thought it was a
very proﬁtable and interesting meeting.
Iwill just add that I too, was one of
the disappointed ones at the Detroit Ex-
position in not seeing our Editor, as I
went several time during my two days’ stay,
to the little Swiss chalet, but she was
never “ at home.” Would it not be a good
plan, if there isanother fair next fall, to
have a certain hour stated for each day,
when she could receive visitors, as so
many of us are anxious to become ac-
quainted with her and know just how she
looks? Mas. B. I. L.

Lnxswnn JUNCTION.
H—
WOMEN IN POLITICS.

I think I will tell you of a little con-
versation which occurred soon after elec-
tion between a lady friend and myself.
She is astrong “ woman suﬁragist,” one of
those who ask: “ Don’t I know asmuch as
a negro, or a low, uneducated foreigner?”
and says “ I think I am just as capable of
voting as any one.” After a little talk I
said I was sorry my friend, naming a
gentleman, was not elected. She said:
“ I am not; he has no business in politics.
When a man of so much talent and so much
inﬂuence for good hasbeen calledtopreach
the gospel he has no business to go into
politics—for you know no one can dabble
in politics without their reputation be-
coming soiled and befouled.”

I said to myself, if a good man’s char-
acter or reputation is so much in danger,
what a risk would women also run by
mixing in the same business! Had we not
better make haste slowly in this matter,
and consider this aspect of the case before
we demand an Opportunity to mount a
pedestal as a target for the mud-slingers to
deﬁle?

At a meeting of the W. C. T. U. not
long since in a discussion of this subject,
one woman said “If I should be left alone
and had to pay taxes, I want to vote. I
think Iought to have a chance to help
make the laws by which I am governed
and which I pay taxes to support.”

Then my mind went wool-gathering to
discover if possible how much the voters
in general have to do with making the
laws. The most of them know but very

 

little, in fact nothing but what the party
leaders and newspapers tell them; and they
are pledged to stand by their candidate
just as ﬁrmly as the members of a brother-
hood are pledged to stand by each other
in all the ins and outs of life. The voters
know very little of the man the majority of
voters sends to the Legislature or to Con-
gress; they agree to stand by the platform
of their party, but how many of them are
impervious to a bribe for their vote or
their absence? If women sat in their seats,
would they be less susceptible if the bribe
came in the shape of a diamond ring or a
silk dress? Would not almost every
woman vote for any measure that “the
most delightful man she ever met,” urged
her to; and vice versa?

It looks to me as if the very few leaders
of the party in power are they who do all
the lawmaking and the governing of the
people. I think the moral sentiment of a
community has more to do with the govern-
ment of that community than any single
power of man. And isn’t this the right
work for women instead of the ballot? I
beg the readers of the HOUSEHOLD not to
think for one moment I will be opposed to
women’s voting as soon as I can see where
they themselves or any one else will be
beneﬁted thereby. Perhaps I have said
enough or more than enough on this sub-
ject for once.

There is another argument which has
been presented to me, and I think I had
better present it here than leave it for an.
other letter; it is “ Women should have the
privilege of voting if they wish, because it
is their right.”

I am not prepared with an answer for
this last argument; it has not got thor-
oughly simmered into my mind; if any
one can explain the deep mystery (to me) I
should like to have them. I am sorry to
be obliged to admit that I am not so keen
witted as many; but doubtless you have
discovered it long ago.

I wish some one who is familiar with
the leading magazines of the day to tell
me the best or peculiar feature of each;
the Arena, Fbrum, Century, Atlantic,
Scribner? and Harper's. M. E. H.

ALBION .
——“.——__-

WORK AND ITS NOBILITY.

[Paper read before the Jackson County Farm-
ers’ Club at the semi-annual meeting at J ack-
sent,1 JNov. 12th, by Mrs. L. B. Ray, of Con-
cor .

The subject, “ Work and its Nobility,”
is one which it must be a beneﬁt for us as
workers to consider. For while we from
choice or necessity (and I would have all
workers from choice, whether there is a
necessity or not) are laborers in some line
of business, it is well to consider the noble-
ness it may add to the mind and character
of each of us ifwe will butlet our thoughts
dwell upon that side of the subject, instead
of bemoaning our fate, and looking .upon
our work as degrading, and ourselves of
less account than those whom circum-
stances and a false education have placed
in a position, where through their inactive
lives no human being is beneﬁtted, and
they themselves never know the possibili-
ties there are in a life of usefulness en—

 

shrouded in their minds and bodies, which
are given them, not to remain idle, but to
enlarge and enlighten by the exercise of
all their mental and bodily powers.

This is an age in which work, and work-
men and women workers are constantly
being called for. Never was there a time
when an idle, indolent man or woman was
at such a discount. There seems really no
place for them, not even as ofﬁceholders.
Workers in every line of business are
called for, and honest, intelligent work"
men are valued according to their merits.
We seldom hear in these days the remark
accompanied by a sneer, “ He is only a
workingman,” or “She has to work for
her living.” It is an honor to be self-sup-
porting, able and willing to earn all the
comforts and as many of the luxuries of
this life ashard, earnest work of mind and
body can bring to us. And how we enjoy
comforts and luxuries thus brought to us
through our own efforts! How we enjoy
rest brought to us after weeks or months of
labor, I will say not incessant labor, for it is
a false idea that we as farmers or farmers'
wives must work every hour of the day-
light or far into the night. There ismany
a rest we may take if we will, that will go;
far to lighten the labor when resumed.
Work must be done as work, and the:
worker must not be ashamed to have it un-
derstood that it is work. No one can earn..-
an honest living on false pretenses. Un-
less one’s heart and mind are in his work.
it is not apt to be successfully performed,
nor will he grow strong and prosperous in‘
doing it. The man who believes in hard
work and is willing to be known as one
who earns his living, if he is intelligent,
honest, and economical, is the man who is
almost sure to earn it, and to get on in the
world, so that afteratime he can rest fromr
his labor, and enjoy the fruits of his in-
dustry. There are many examples of
what honest industry has accomplished.

If you have a duty to perform (and you-
always have), do it. Do not work hastily
or beyond strength of mind or body. Many

a valuable project has failed of completion. »
thereby. Many a needed reform has fallen;

into ruins, never reached a point of useful»
ness through the haste of its originators.

Young people should early learn the-
lesson of spending well, as well as saving '
well. It is quite as important to learn to

make a wise investment of money as to
learn to save it.

The social life of the great middle class
of Americans is sadly deﬁcient. Why
should girls be raised in idleness, and work
and service be deemed a disgrace to them
and an honor to their brothers? Why the
home be ﬁlled with ignorant and half
trained servants to waste and annoy, when
there are two or three daughters in the
household who would be healthier in mind
and body if each took her share of the
work, giving order and comfort to those
who too often are devoting themselves to
hard, earnest labor, that the wife and
daughters may sit in comparative idleness
at home? This false home training of our
girls is a great evil. Teach them that their
lives will be better, nobler, for good
honest work for themselves and others.

8 «ti

 


‘e‘

3‘

 

4 _ THE HOUSEHOLD.

n

 

Let them be trained from the beginning to
regard all household work as good and
honorable; and, to be skilled in every de-
partment of home economy is as much a
woman’s duty as it is a man’s duty to be
skilled in the trade or calling by which he
is to become the bread winner of his
family. Let duty and work be set before
them as the highest end in life, and idle‘
nees and self-indulgence as the lowest. It
is this false sentiment which is working
disaster in so many homes, homes built
upon the sands of pride and self indulgence
instead of the solid foundation of prudence,
industry, economy and a loving self-
sacriﬁce.

The man who has nothing to do is the
most miserable of beings. No matter how
much wealth a man has he can be neither
contented or happy without occupation.
We were born to labor, and wecan ﬁnd a
ﬁeld of usefulness almost anywhere. In
occupation we forget our cares, our worldly
trials and sorrows. It keeps us from
worrying over what is inevitable.

The man or woman who are above labor,

and despise the laborer, show a want of
common sense, and forget that every
article that is used is the product of more
or less labor, and that the air they breathe
and that the circulation of the blood in
their veins is the result of the labor of the
God of (Nature.

We talk of the necessity of intelligent,
skilled labor; how are we to obtain it if
we are not willing to take those unskilled
and teach them; and then when we have
taught them our way (which may or may
not be the best way) and after faithful ser-
vice for us, they go to some other_employer
whose mode of doing the same work is
entirely different, is it their fault if_they
have to be taught over again, if they give
entire satisfaction? Sister housewives,
think of this when after:six months’ labor
in the employ of some neighbor whose
method of performing her work you know
is entirely different from yours, you hire a
girl. Do not expect to leave her entirely
to manage your household aﬂairs, thinking
they will move along just as smoothly and
quickly, and in your way as though you
had given her months of your training.
Let us as housekeepers be more patient,
less fault-ﬁnding with those we employ,
and remember the disadvantages there are
on the side of the employed, whose service
extends only through a few weeks with
one, or a few months with another, having
to learn new methods of doing work, hav-
ing different conveniences to perform their
labor with, ﬁnding some of us very im-
perfect in our temper or way of controlling
it, the wonder is there are any girls capable
of giving entir‘ satisfaction in service on
the farm. The same is true but in a less
degree with workmen employed on the
farm, for there is less diversity of work in
the ﬁeld, and nearly all farms are supplied
with all the most improved tools, while
many housewives are still setting milk in
shallow pans and churning with the old
dash churn, roasting their meats in the
oven in the old way, which required con-
stant attention to baste and keep the oven
at the proper temperature. To be sure

 

those meats were delicious and very tooth-
some when served, cooked just right, but
oh, the anxiety and labor which it required,
which can now be lightened by using im-
proved roasting pans and steam cookers,
which we as housewives should endeavor
to obtain as fast as improved machinery
comes to lighten the outdoor life of the
farmer.

Farm life is varied, and the variety
makes it pleasing. Each season of the
year brings its work. Compare it with
other business. Think of the sameness in
the routine of the business man, called
upon day after day the year through to
perform the same monotonous duties, no
change, save in the short vacation he is
permitted to take, the same with many
employee in manufacturing. True there
is a nobility which enlarges mind and
thought in their labor if it is done intelli-
gently and conscientiously, but is there the
same chance for continued growth, con-
tinued enlargement in mind that there is in
agricultural pursuits?

Are we not a favored class, we tillers of
the soil? Is there not a wider, nobler
sphere open to us than is given to any other
occupation? Is there anything we cannot
have, any position we may not hold, if we
labor, plan, and properly ﬁt ourselves for
it? But there are many places we cannot
ﬁll wisely until we work patiently and
long to ﬁt ourselves, and when we are
ﬁtted for leaders, leaders to execute the
grand laws of our government, the world
at large will ﬁnd us out, and we shall slip
easily and naturally into our proper posi.
tions. But workers are always in demand
The supply is never too great, they are
needed everywhere. There is no demand
for sluggards. Idle men and women have
no place in this busy, active world of ours.
All need not work as we work, but some
kind of work, well done, is demanded of
each of us.

Small organizations like our Jackson
County Farmers’ Club will perish without
earnest, hard workers. If each member
will work as he or she is called upon, we

ma in the future see and receive great
an lasting beneﬁts to us as agriculturists
and also beneﬁt the world atLIarge by our
growth in intelligence and ability tolead
and govern, where now we are only be-
ginning to learn where we stand.
—-—-...——-—-

A DISCOVERY.

 

We are very ;fond of pumpkin pies at
our house, and the way the eggs disappear
in the manufacture of that toothsome pro-
duct of the pastry cook’s art, is, to use a
popular expression, “ a caution.”

In casting about for a substitute for the
hen fruit my eye fell upon a quantity of
cracker dust that had been sifted from the
remains of the last barrel of crackers. It
seemed as likely as anything to supply the
deﬁciency so it was given a trial. I used a
cupful of pumpkin stewed and mashed,
and nearly half as much of the cracker
dust to each pie, with the other usual in-

gredients, except eggs, and the result is

perfectly satisfactory. I use part molasses

to sweeten with, as it gives a darker color

than all sugar, and is no detriment to the

tals'te of the pie. ELLA R. Woon.
KANT.

 

 

CHILDREN’S MAGAZINES.

 

The D. Lothrop Publishing 00., of Be}
ton, have a series of publications designed
for the young people which seems to fur-
nish something for every age and taste.
There is the well known and popular
WidesAwake, suitable for lads and lassies
who have experienced a baker’s dozen of
birthdays, and who will be interested in
the tales of travel and adventure and
athletic sports, which makes twelve wel'
come calls in a year for $2 40. The make-
up of the magazine is ﬁne, its letterpress
admirable, its illustrations calculated to in-
still correct ideas of art and educate the
eye to what is good. Then comes The
Pansy, with its wreath of golden pansies on
the cover, ﬁlled with pleasant reading and
pictures for boys and girls of nine or ten
years, published monthly at $1. Mrs.
Alden, the “Pansy” whose books are so
universally known, is the editor. Our
Little Men and Women is next, for the lads
in knickerbockers and the girls in pina~
fores, who will admire its “ cute ” illustra—
tions and pore over its clearly printed
pages with satisfaction. This is only a
dollar a year, also. Then Babyland at 50
cents, for the very small inmates of the
nursery, affords pretty pictures and simple
stories, the coarse print of the latter being
an encouragement to “reading without
tears.” It is of the utmost importance, in
these days when the country is ﬂooded
with cheap trash which if not actually
pernicious, is neither elevating in tone or
instructive in purpose, that our children
should be furnished the best and purest
reading, that correct literary standards be
formed; they must know and appreciate
the best if we expect to guard them against
the inroads of the bad. No money is
wasted which is spent in good books,
magazines or papers; it is better‘invested
than if it were paying dividends of ﬁfty
per cent per annum. Consider this when
you are tempted to cut down your ex-
penses in this line, and a little thought will
convince the conscientious parent that it is
best to economize somewhere else. No
money spent for the comfort or mental im-
provement of the family is wasted.

__...._._

Centributed Recipes.

 

POOR Max's Occurs—Two cups sugar:
one cup butter or drippings; one cup cold
water; one small teaspoonful soda; ﬂavor to
taste. Mix soft, roll thin, and bake in a
quick oven. 1-)

Douensu'rs Wr'rnour EGGS.—Cup and a
half of sugar; one cup sour milk; butter the
size of a walnut, or quarter (not more) of a
small cup; spice to taste: one teaspoonful of
soda. These when rightly made take the
cake every time.

Bucannsr CAKES WlTHOUT Mum—Take
thr eo pints cold water, one teaspoonful salt.
mix the batter and let stand until it begins to
ferment: then put in a teaspoonful of soda.
and bake your cakes. keeping out one cup of
batter to raise the next. Use the same
amount every time. After you get started
you can have nice light cakes as long as you
wish by following these dSrectlons. I have
used this s'mpie recipe for twenty years with-
out failing. loxonauus.

WILLIAMETON.

    
 

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