
 

IQ}

 

 

 

\
\\\§ \-

\ V .. . ~
‘ .\\\\\\\\\\ ‘95 .\\\ \

 
  
 

 

 

DETROIT, JANUARY 10, 1887.

 

v

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

BROWN HANDS.

 

Full many a page has been written
And the gifted have sung in the praise
0f lily-white hands and ﬁngers,
In a score of poetical ways;
This is all very well for a lady
Who lives among diamonds and silk,
But sometimes in life a farmer's wife
Is obliged to do housework, and milk;
And woman’s best mission throughout our dear
land,
Is fulﬁlled in the strength of the little brown
hand.

When the roses are blushing the sweetest
And the vines climb up to the eaves,
When the robins are rocking their birdies
To sleep ’mong the maple leaves.
The sunshine smiles down, cross the threshold.
When the labor of love seems but rest,
Whether rocking the household birdies
Or keeping the dear home nest;
Oh! I pity you all who can’t understand
The wealth and the worth of a little brown hand

If I were a man with a fortune
A million laid by on the shelf
If I were a youth—if I wasn’t in truth—
If I wasn‘t a woman myself—
I know what I’d do in a minute
(White ﬁngers have often misled)
I’d seek after those whose rich tinting shows
Aequaintance with puddings and bread;
I‘d use all the eloquence words could command,
And be proud might I win a little brown hand.

_____...._.__.

THE HABIT OF CRITICISM.

 

There are some things we note in life
which are not exactly wicked, but are in
very bad taste. A friend who looks over
my shoulder as I write, says that to be “in
bad form” is worse than to be wicked. She
is good at argument, and I am not; I there.
fore allow her the privilege of her opinions,
while I remark the especial matter I have in
mind at the moment is the habit of fault-
ﬁnding in the family, especially the habit
some husbands have of criticising their wives
in the presence of others.

I know of no greater foeto domestic peace
in a family then a conﬁrmed fault-ﬁnder.
One person who is in a chronic state of diS'
satisfaction with everything done by others,
can make everyone else in the house as mis-
erable as he is discontented. But if the

husband falls into a way of commenting

upon the cooking, housekeeping or personal
appearance of his wife, in a jestingly-sar—
eastic or criticising tone, he has chosen a
way in which he can make the little woman
who bears his name very uncomfortable, if
not downright unhappy, and sets, at the
same time, a very bad example to the child-
ren or other members of the family. Often
no unkindness is intended; the remarks are
meant to be “cute,” to amuse others; but
-s not he doubly unkind who ridicules his

~> -:':~r«w.--— -:_

wife to provoke smiles at her expense?
“Heavy bread again! We could supply Fort
Wayne with cannon balls at low rates:”
“This pie would do for a specimen of Old
Silurian;” are samples of would-be witti-
cisms, which, however unthinkingly uttered,
wound and hurt the woman’s heart, ever
sensitive to praise or blame from those she
loves. Now the woman who prepares 'a
meal usually does it to the best of her abil-

-ity; if any dish is an absolute failure, we

need not add to her chagrin by calling atten-
tion to it; if the fault is but slight, surely
we ought to be grateful enough for the labor
which was expended for us to overlook it.
It is irritating to the best-tempered woman
to ﬁnd herself constantly subjected to such
fault-ﬁnding; I think it might make one
with capabilities in the opposite direction
positively ugly. Who would blame the cook
if she inaugurated a “strike,” and invited
the critics to show their own culinary skill?

Did you ever sit at table and hear the

comments go round in this fashion: Head‘
of-the-House, loguitur: “Mary, this beef is
evidently a choice cut from a Texas steer;
strange we never can have any decent
meat.” Eldest son, solus: “ What’s the
matter with these peas, Mamma? They’re
not ﬁt to eat.” Second son, ditto: “ Wish
we could ever have bread baked brown, not
this raw-looking stutf;” while the occupant
of the high chair chimes in, “ Mamma, dis
pie so sour it makes my teef ache !” And
so it goes, all round the table, every meal:
somebody ﬁnding fault with some little
thing not quite to their liking, and unmind—
ful of the care and thought and time neces-
sary to prepare each meal, and also of the
further fact that in a large family it is im-
possible to season each dish exactly to the
varying tastes of the different members.
Do you not suppose it needs a good deal of
“saving grace” to enable the target of these
remarks to remain as calmly tranquil and
immovable as a target ought? When such
criticisms are made in the presence of
guests, they are rude and ill-mannered, as
well as doubly unkind; they are more hu—
miliating and mortifying to the victim than
the speakers can possibly understand, except
through experience. It is especially unkind
because the wife and mother of a family is
a servant who is debarred the privilege of
“giving notice;” her wages are paid in love
and appreciation, and if these are withheld,
pray what reward has she?

There is another habit, more inconsiderate
still, which arises from thoughtlessnessand
a desire to “ say something smart.” Most
of us have heard some husband say, in pres-

 

ence of his wife, “When I get my second

 

wife, I’ll do”—this, that or the other thing,
or tell what Number Two shall be able to
do or be like, etc. Now, 1 consider such
remarks unmanly, ill-mannered and most
unkind. They are cruelly thoughtless; they
grate on the wife’s cars “like sweet bells
jangled out of tune;” they are out of tune
with happiness. The wife feels—though
she will stoutly deny that she “cares,”—as
if her husband was not quite suited with
her; there is an implied dissatisfaction and
reproach, as if she was not all to him that
she should be, and he would, if free, look
for other qualities in a possible successor.
I do not say he means this, but that to her
more sensitive nature it so appears. And
suppose death should chance to take her
ﬁrst, would not the memory of these words
come back, like ghostly echoes, bringing
new and sad meaning, a sting of remorse?

The man who will censure his wife in

public, the woman who can blame her hus-
band to others, are greatly in error. Neither
should be made to stand the test of public
criticism: if criticism there must be, let it
be in private, and between the two. To
blame in public is taking an unfair.advan-
tage, for a defense, though founded on
right reason, often provokes recrimination,
and leaves a wound that rankles, all the
more because of the knowledge that out-
siders have heard the caustic words.‘
Don’t do your “family spankin’s” in pub-
lic, either. If the children need reproof, do
not choose the moment when strangers are
present to give them “ a real old going
over,” or to discuss their faults and peculi-
arities. If you do, you may expect to have
sullen, taciturn boys and girls, who will
leave you for more pleasant homes at the
earliest opportunity. A habit of fault-find-
ing or unjust criticism will alienate them
quite as effectually as it will a husband or a
wife.

And, mind this: If you wish to be happy,
to retain love, to make friends and keep
them, do not criticise, either in public or-
private. Spare your wit, if it is to pierce
another’s heart. We like those people best
whom we perceive we can please; so the
home atmosphere, to be full of content and

peace, must be redolent of a desire to please
others, and to be pleased with the attempts
of others to be pleasing to us.

BEATRIX.

._.___...__

IN answer to an inquiry, we would say
we cannot furnish the HOUSEHOLD without
the FABMER. To do so would necessitate-
a third mail list, and as the HOUSEHOLD is
furnished at about the cost of the paper it is-
printed on, it would not pay us for the extra
trouble and expense.

 


 

THE HOUSEHOLD._ '

 

HELPFU L HINTS.

 

I agree with L. S. that girls should be
proud of being able to do housework. My
mother has been sick since last June, and I,
being the oldest of the family, have done
the work. which is not a little, there being
nine in the family. I think if those who
make so many pies, would make more pud-
dings, they will ﬁnd the family will be just
as well satisfied, apd the sick headaches
less frequent. If you do ‘not happen to
have either fresh or dried berries or cherries,
get some Zante or English currants; I think
they make better puddings than raspberries.
Take two teacupfuls of sour milk, one tea-
spoonful of soda, a little salt, stir quite stiff
with ﬂour and put in about two-thirds of
a cup of whatever kind of fruit you may
happen to have; bake about an hour, Or bet-
ter still, steam two hours and serve hot,
with sweet sauce or cream and sugar.

If Evangaline will pour some vinegar
over her dish of souse and shanks while it
is still hot, I think when she comes to eat
it she will ﬁnd it an improvement, though I
would not clear the shanks of the skin, for

I consider that the best part. Also boil.

the heart and liver and put it in the vinegar
with the tongue, but remember and do not
boil the liver in the same kettle with the
heart and tongue. Did .you ever fry the
liver and set it away till cold, and then
serve? Our family much prefer it cold,
though we sometimes eat it warm. Some
day when you want something good, make
a crust as for short cake, and spread some
of your canned berries between the layers;
better than fresh strawberries.

Girls, learn to sew, but don’t sew on
crazy quilts and such things. I have never
made a quilt, but I have bragged about the
ten dresses I made before I was ﬁfteen; and
I have for two years done the sewing for
our family of nine. I get the Butterick
patterns, and with those it is not very hard
to cut and ﬁt garments. What do you
ladies on the farm wear to do your work in?
It does not pay to make up calico. We
have made our dresses of shirting but have
made up our minds that it will be cheaper
and better to make them of cheap alpaca,
which is twenty-ﬁve cents a_yard. By the
way, how many of the girls go to the store
and buy their own things? My mother
never bought a thing until after she was
married, and then she was so afraid she
would pay more than a thing was worth,
and being poor could not afford to lose any-
thing, so she hardly dared buy a thing, but
said her girls should learn to trade. So as
she was not well enough to go to town and
father too busy, I have done the buying this
year, dry goods, groceries and all, and think
it is a thing all girls should learn to do.

When you get the children a scrap book
would it not be better to let them put the
pictures in? Of course they cannot arrange
them quite as nicely as you can, but it will
afford a great deal of amusement to them,
and you can offer some suggestions about
arranging them. I think it is better to get
children something to play with rather than
something merely to look at. For the little
two or three years old get a slate and pencil;
for my sisters, aged seven and nine, I got
some colored pencils, such as are used in
map drawings; of course they cannot draw

much,'but they take old papers and paint
the pictures in the advertisements and such
things: The lady who asked for ways of
amusing children may try this, which we
play a great deal: We all sit around the
room and see how many objects we can see
in the room beginning with “a,” such as
apple, keeping count on our ﬁngers how
many we each have; when they have
thought till they begin to be a little restless,
ask each one how many she has, the one
who has the least tells ﬁrst, then the next
least and so on. Then take “ b,” and in
that way go through the alphabet. Have I
made it plain to you?

If I’m not too badly scared wt en I see
how this looks in print, should it escape the
waste basket, I may come again.

YPSILANTI. MARY B.

THE HOUSEWORK QU ESTION
AGAIN.

 

In answer to Honor Glint, I would say
that I for one am doing housework as a
regular business, not the light work as a
pastime, but the whole routine, except
washing and ironing, and the fact that I do
it in my own kitchen does not alter the mat-
ter at all, so long as my doing so contri-
butes to the general welfare and prosperity
of the family. Moreover, I have never felt
degraded by so doing. All “ labor is honor-
able,” and when I rise these dark mornings
I recall these words written by a great and
wise king: “ She riseth also while it is yet
night, and giveth meat to her household.
She looketh well to the ways of her house-
hold, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
1 have also the example of an eminent
scholar in this wise: “ Ye yourselves know
that these hands have ministered unto my
necessities.”

1 am glad to ﬁnd upon taking a retro-
spective view of the year just past, that I
have not degenerated, but have made some
progress mentally. I always do my best
thinking when busy with my work. My
experience is that when I have unlimited
time for reading I allow my authors to do
my thinking, while if I have but a few
minutes I make the most of them and digest
what I have accumulated afterwards, while
my hands are employed mechanically.

I positively deny that housework is a
“ treadmill deprived of culture, health and
enjoyment.” We laugh at the poor whites
of the South who prefer to sit in poverty
and chew snuff, and be in their own estima-
tion “’spectable,” but I can point to a
dozen girls in our own.town who pinch
themselves and pinch the others in the
family that they may make a fair show on
the outside, and perhaps succeed in marry-
ing some youth as silly as themselves, when
their lives become a treadmill in reality.
Could these girls but rise above this foolish
prejudice, they might many, of them make
noble, self-reliant women, and marry men
equally worthy of them.

I have seen many instances of labor de-
graded, but have yet to see the individual
degraded by it.

Honor Glint is not to infer from what I
have written that I think housework the
only outlet for her surplus energies, but we
all exert an inﬂuence upon those about us

 

and her words may mark the turning point

in the life of some young girl less happily

situated than herself. Now I would not

create a poem under anycircumstances, but

these thoughts whether good or bad came
to me while blacking my big Round Oak. I
think I cannot do better than quote that
noble apostrophe to labor with which
Hugh Miller adorns the pages of his
“ Schools and Schoolmasters.” “ Upright,
self-relying toil! Who that knows thy
solid worth and value would be ashamed of
thy hard hands and thy soiled vestments,
and thy obscure tasks-thy humble cottage,
and hard couch, and homely fare! Save for
thee and thy lessons, man in society would
everywhere sink into asad compound of the
ﬁend and the wild beast, and this fallen
world would be as certainly a moral as a

natural wilderness.”
HOWELL. MRS. W. J. G.

A CU LINARY CON VERSAZIONE.

 

NOV

 

While hot cakes are not healthy they are
eaten very generally. Those who do not
like to use buckwheat can make nice ﬂour
cakes. To one quart ofthick milk add a
heaping tablespoonful of sour cream, one
egg, teaspoonful soda, salt, and thicken
with either white or graham ﬂour. Rice
cakes are splendid. It happens quite often
that a little rice is left in the cupboard or
thrown away; it can be used nicely as fol-
lows: One cup boiled rice, one quart sweet
milk, yolks of four eggs and ﬂour for a still
batter; beat the whites to a froth, stir in
three tablespoonfuls of baking powder, a
little salt, add to the batter; bake on a hot
griddle; these are nice, spread with butter
and sifted sugar; or jam and jelly. Com-
meal cakes are excellent for a change. One
pint of Indian meal, teaspoonful soda, one
of salt, pour on boiling water until thinner
than mush; when cool add the yolks of four
eggs, half a cup of flour in which two tea-
Spoonfuls of cream-of-tarter have been well
mixed, add sweet milk sufﬁcient to make the
batter suitable to bake, add the well beaten
whites just before baking.

Stale bread can be made into griddle
cakes. Crumb enough into a quart of thick
milk, in the morning rub through a sieve
or colander; add four well beaten eggs, one
teaspoonful soda; one of salt, two table-
spoonfuls melted butter; beat the eggs
separately and add the whites last makes
them a little nicer, thicken with either ﬂour
or corn meal. Flannel cakes: To a pint
of hot sweet milk add two tablespoonfuls
butter, let it melt, then add a pint of cold
milk, the yolks of four eggs, a teaspoonful
salt, one-half cup yeast, and sufficient ﬂour
to make a stiff batter, set in a warm place
to rise over night, or three hours ought to
be time enough to become light, just before
baking add the beaten whites, do not add
any more ﬂour, as it will destroy ,the
feathery lightness. Wafﬂes are not used
very much now-a—days, but they are simply
delicious. I can remember when I was
young they were the crowning glory of the
tea-table. One must have wafﬂe irons to
make them complete, still I suppose they
are just as good baked on a common griddle,
you know a rose by any other name would

 

smell just as sweet; imagination has cen_

 

 

 


and.

 

 

.~ 'E‘n

 

TEIE HOUSEHOLD. 3

 

siderable to do with these things. Two
pints sweet milk, one teacupful melted
butter, yolks of six eggs, sifted ﬂour to
make a stiff batter, salt, add the beaten
whites, lastly four teaspoons Royal baking
powder, beat thoroughly, as fast as baked
pile on a platter, butter and sift powdered
sugar over each one, keep hot. Very
delicious pop-overs are easily made; two
teacups sweet milk, butter the size of a wal-
nut, two eggs, tablespoonful sugar, salt,
two teacups sifted ﬂour, bake in gem pans;
do not ﬁll them over half full. Mennoni:e
toast: Three eggs well beaten, one pint of
milk, salt, dip slices of bread cut an inch
thick into this and fry in hot lard or drip-
pings, like doughnuts, until a delicate
brown, butter and sift powdered sugar
over. Serve hot.

All of these recipes I know to be most
excellent, and they will vary the bill of
fare wonderfully. If the “gude inon”
does smile at them the ﬁrst time they ap-
pear, be assured he will ask for them the
second time.

Cake making is quite an item in the
week’s baking, but there are so many kinds
that will keep well, that much labor is
saved. Fruit cake will keep the year round
if there are not too many Johns around
with a tooth for sweet things. I do not
frost it, only the loaf I am cutting from, as
it turns yellow and soft. Nearly all nice
large cakes will keep three or four weeks in
a cool place and if covered close; while a
pan loaf cake will be as nice six weeks
after baking. So many young housekeep-
ers dread having company when they
think eggs are scarce and they cannot keep
several kinds of cake on hand. It is not
necessary to Spread out ﬁve or six kinds of
cake, I do not think it is in good taste
either—a fruit cake, 'white cake or a layer
cake is plenty, or one alone, we need not be
ashamed of with good fresh bread, rusks or
biscuit; we can ﬁll up the deﬁciencies with
cold meat, pickles, cheese, jelly, canned
fruit or preserves. I have made a ham
omelet, or a dish of scrambled eggs to ﬁll
up with.

A housekeeper must have a very fertile
brain. There are times when the heart of
the most composed will stand still and the
query arise, What shall I do, but the willing
hand and sweet temper can accomplish
much. Do not make excuses, especially
When you know you have served a really
good meal. A very eccentric old gentle-
man once sent word to a lady who was a
noted cook, that on such a day he would
dine with her; this lady was always making
excuses, indeed it had become second
nature with her, and he determined to give
hera severe lesson. Fish, ﬂesh and fowl
had been slaughtered, and a right royal
meal gotten ready, the soup was everything
that could be desired, the ﬁsh done to

a turn, and she commenced her excuses,

“ Really, I am ashamed of my dinner, the
soup was miserable, the ﬁsh underdone, and
now the poultry is not ﬁt to eat,” and so on.
The old gentleman rose in righteous in-
dignation, “ Well, madam,” he said, “ I
wont eat such a dinner. I thought if I sent
you word a week in advance you would
have something decent to eat, but upon my
honor I see it is impossible for you to have

 

a well cooked meal,” and he walked out in
high dudgeon. It was an effectual lesson,
as it ought to have been.

I think sometimes these excuses are
made simply to receive a compliment. I be-
lieve “the proof of the pudding is in the
eating.” Any one with common sense
knows when a meal is well served, and the
best compliment the guests can pay the
hostess is in seeming enjoyment of the
meal. Better ﬁll up the discrepancies with
pleasant conversation, not in excuses or
discussing the character of some neighbor;
the more entertaining you are, be assured
the better the meal will taste. It is full
as much in the arrangement of the table,
the company assembled, in having them all
congenial. EVANGALINE.

BATTLE CREEK.

_.____..*__

FURNACE-HEATED HOUSES.

 

1 have just been reading the HOUSEHOLD
and seeing the inquiry of L. M. It, I hasten
to reply. We have our house heated by a
furnace, this is the fourth winter we have
lived in it, and we like it very much. I
would not go back to stoves for anything.
There are no stoves to be put up or taken
down by the men, or to be blacked by the
women. The furnace saves any amount of
sweeping and dusting, and the walls are not
blackened by smoke. I do not see any rea-
son why they are not as suitable for a farm-
house as a city home. To the question pro—
pounded by her husband in regard to build-
ing the ﬁre, I well remember my husband
asked the same question; but he ﬁnds it is
no colder to go into the cellar than into a
sitting-room to build the ﬁre; when the ﬁre
is built it is ready for all the rooms except
the kitchen, and in my own case that ﬁre
would have to be started. In regard to
warming the rooms before breakfast, if you
expect to warm all of them you will fail, but
close the registers except in the dining and
sitting room until after breakfast, and you
are all right. We made our cook room so
small that there is no room for the family or
guests to cluster around the cook stove. I
object to having people in my way when
cooking, and we planned accordingly.

My husband thinks furnaces are expen-
sive, and so they are, but not so expensive
as it would be to put up stoves in all the
rooms warmed and keep them as warm as
we do with the furnace. We use about
twenty cords of wood in a year, exclusive of
that burned in the cook stove.

Another thing in favor of them is, if the
cold air is taken from the outside,——I mean
out-doors,—-we consider it very healthy, as
we are having fresh air all the time, and the
old foul air is forced out in the cold-air
register leading up the chimney. The ﬂoors
are kept warm, thus removing the necessity
of spending so much time warming the feet.
I used to be troubled very much with cold
feet, which caused cramping of the limbs to
such an extent that I used to dread to retire
for the night. I am not troubled with cold

feet any more, and very rarely have cramps.

In regard to keeping the milk in the cel-
lar, you could, but do not do it; do not make
a milk room at all below, but persuade your
husband to get you a cabinet creamery, and
make your milk room. above ground; you

 

will never regret the investment, or he
either, as it will save you both much work
and make a superior quality of butter.

Now for the drawbacks: Furnace heat is
very drying to woodwork and furniture. in
Spite of all you can do to prevent it, and
heating by steam is preferred by many.
Another drawback is, your friends who are
not used toa furnace will insist that the
house is cold, and they “know they will
catch their death of cold.” You can make
the rooms uncommonly warm, but no ﬁre is
to be seen and they will say, “Haven’t you
got any ﬁre?” Thanksgiving we kept our
rooms at 98 deg., hoping they would be
warm, but the friends complained that they
were cold, and many of them complained of
catching cold. We keep plants up stairs
and down, and in the hall in the upper ﬂoor
—and they do splendidly.

We have a pantry that we think a “daisy.”
It has closed cupboards reaching from ﬂoor
nearly to ceiling, opening from dining room
and pantry. These are at the end. Then
on the south side are closed shelves reaching
to the window, where is a broad shelf at the
end of which is a nest of drawers for dish
towels, hand towels, spices, soda and bak-
ing powder, extra ironing sheets and hold-
ers, and one a catchall for holding hooks,
screws, nails, tacks, corks. etc. Under the
broad shelf and closed shelves are the ﬂour
bins. one large single one for wheat ﬂour,
another with two compartments for meal
and graham or buckwheat ﬂour; at the end
of the bins is another small closed cupboard
where I keep sugar, coffee and salt; at the
east end are open shelves, but at the north
side is the real “jewel;” this is a large
dummy which reaches to the ﬂoor of the
cellar when pushed down. This is enclosed
and looks quite like a wardrobe in the pan-
try, and like a large cupboard in the cellar.
I could tell of my kitchen, but my article is
already long, and quite likely L. M. R. has
her own ideas of a convenient kitchen.

OLD SCHOOL TE ACHER.
TECUMSEH.
—-%———-

FURNACES.

 

I for one will inform L. M. R. that a fur-
nace is just as convenient and comfortable
in afarmhouse as in a house in town. 1
would advise those contemplating building
a new house to put in a furnace by all
means, even if it is necessary to live in the
old one another year to accumulate money
for the extra expense, which only ranges
from $100 to $150. In regard to the length
of time required to heat the rooms, it cer—
tainly does not take as long as it does to '
beat them with stoves. In twenty minutes
after the ﬁre is built the rooms are comfort-
able (we turn on ﬁve registers when ﬁrst
arising); if we desire to keep them warm
all night, we ﬁll the ﬁre-box at bed-time,
and shut the dampers; then the rooms do
not cool off entirely until morning, and
there will be a bed of coals to start ﬁre with
in the morning.

In answer to the question “Who will go
down cellar in the cold to build ﬁre?” I
will answer, The same one who has to split
kindlings and run into three or four cold
rooms and shiver around building ﬁres in
stoves, that, perchance, will smoke or burn,
just as they choose. Of all inventions to

 


 

4

THE HOUSEHOLD.

  

 

 

 

 

save women work, the furnace is beyond
anything that I have tried, and I wish every
farmer’s wife could have one. Of course
the men should attend to feeding them, as
the wood is large for women to handle. Still
I know a family consisting entirely of ladies
who would not know how to get along with-
out their furnace. It saves all litter from
wood except in the cookroom, and even there
it may be done away with by using gasoline.
There is no occasion to cling around the
stove at breakfast time, as the registers are
more inviting.

By having your cellar divided into three
rooms, one for wood, into which the furnace
opens, one for vegetables, and one for milk
and butter, you may keep the temperature
such that it will not be too warm or cold for
any of them. In regard to the wood used it
certainly does not take as much as the stoves
that would be required to heat a house up
stairs and down. Some say furnaces are
dangerous on account of the hot-air pipes
mnning through the walls, but if built pro-
perly there need be no possible danger that
I can see, unless perhaps in case of leaving
wood too close to the ﬁre-box in the cellar,
and sparks ﬂying out when the damper is
open; but the danger then is very small
when compared with the many ways of
taking ﬁre from the stoves and stove-pipes.
In building, be sure and have the air used
in heating the rooms come from out—doors in
place of the cellar, then you will breathe
pure air; and if the ventilating pipes are
arranged properly, there need not be so
many headaches and weak feelings as arise
from close, unventilated houses. C. B. R.

VICKSBURG.

.___——...—————

EXPERIENCE WITH FURNACES.

 

L. M. R. wishes information from those
having experience with furnace-heated
‘ houses, and as this is the third winter we
are using a wood furnace, I would say that
we are highly pleased with it. We beat ten
rooms, and halls below and above. The
ﬁrst winter we used it our ﬁre was never out
from November till April, and we never had
to get up in the night to put in wood. A
good large stick put in the furnace at 9 p.
m., and drafts put up, would be a good ﬁre
at 6 am; the house would be warm all
night. and the temperature would generally
be about 50 deg. or 60 deg. in the morning,
so that only a few minutes would be re-
quired, after the draft was opened and wood
put in, to have the house as warm as neces-
sary; and consequently, there was no neces-
sity for “clustering around the cook stove to
get warm.” We had ﬁues in the partitionsto
warm the up-stairs rooms, also register in
the hall below. The proper time to have the
furnace set is when the house is being built.
and the portion of cellar occupied by the
furnace ought to be partitioned oil? from the
rest of it, and no hot-air pipes should go
through the other part of the cellar where
vegetables, etc., are kept. No one who has
ever used a good working furnace would
want to heat with stoves.
A person contemplating putting a furnace

in a house, ought to have his doors and
ﬁnishing lumber thoroughly kiln-dried, or
they will shrink badlv. There are many

‘ but would occupy too much space to describe

here; but if L. M. R. would like further
particulars, from our experience, we will
furnish them cheerfully. Our address can
be had by addressing the Editor of the
HOUSEHOLD. A. B. & Co.

MONTEITH.
———”———-

CU RING SIDE PORK.

 

In a recent HOUSEHOLD I noticed Sun-
ﬂower’s question about curing hams or pork.
As we always cure our side-meat the same
as the hams, I will send our method, which
we have used for twenty years, and it has
never failed yet. Do not be afraid of the ‘-
potash, as that Will keep the lean of the
meat tender clear to the bone. We sent the
recipe to a friend of ours, and he was afraid
it would turn his meat to soap. When you
pack your meat, rub the meat on the ﬂesh
side with ﬁne salt lightly, and leave it in
the barrel two days before putting on the
brine. Make a brine as follows: To every
100 pounds of meat take of best coarse salt
eight pounds; saltpeter, two ounces; brown
sugar, two pounds; potash, one and one-
quarter ounces. Let the hams remain in the
brine six weeks, and then dry several days
before smoking. KATE.
SANILAC.

._—..._
“ A CONSCIENTIOUS Member of the
HOUSEHOLD Band” says that since reading
Beatrix’s pathetic complaint about “ no
good apples to eat,” she cannot sit down to
enjoy one without feeling as though she were
eating forbidden fruit. So she very gener-
ously and thoughtfully forwards to the af-
ﬂicted Beatrix a box of very ﬁne large
apples, which she may imagine the latter
enjoying as she “ toasts her toes ’7 these
cold evenings. As the old lady said when
she extorted an invitation, Beatrix “wasn’t
a hintin’ ” where she wrote her acticle; it was
a spontaneous outburst over a great griev-
ance; but she thanks her thoughtful friend
very sincerely, and would do so more at
length by letter had she but the name of the
generous donor.

_._.__...__..

WE received a letter from a lady who de—
sired the author of the article on toboggan
caps would give directions for the regular
toboggan stitch mentioned. The HOUSE-
HOLD Editor furnished the article in ques-
tion, and knows but one person who can
“do” the correct stitch. She will endeavor
to obtain the required directions as soon as
she can see the lady in question, who lives
in the city, but a long way out.

—-—ooo———

A VALUED contributor to the HOUSEHOLD
tells the following in a private note to the
Editorz—“Our little Ruth amuses us all by
her quaint conversation. She will march up
to me with her picture book. and order me
to ‘talk that,_’ which means, read about the
picture. I promised her a linen picture
book, telling her it could not be torn; she
said, ‘I wa’nt some “talk” in it.’ ”

—__...._—

INTERESTED READER says: “In my let-
ter in the issue of December 19 I was made
to say that my daughters became ‘ teachers
in town,’ instead of ‘in turn,’ as I wrote it.
It sounds so badly I wish to have the error

corrected. I intended to have said that my
daughters did all their own sewing as well
as mine, but forgot it.”
.—_—..._—.

MRS. W. J. G. wishes some one would
kindly give directions for a fancy mitten in
crochet, suitable for Saxony yarn.

-—.————...————-
Contributed Recipes.

 

PACKING Essa—One pint fresh slaked lime.
like thick cream; half pint salt; threegallons
water. Keep from freezing and you can have
fresh eggs months after they have been
packed.

To DRIVE AWAY Ans—Sprinkle powdered
borax under the paper on your shelves and
they will soon leave. SUNFLOWER.
KANSAS.

 

Scanners—Take a hog's head, clean thor-
oughly, chop oil? the snout, take out the eyes
and throw away the ears, cut it up and put it
in soak over night. and with it all the skins
and ﬂitch pieces that are left from the lard
and sausage; in fact all bony pieces. After
soaking all night put on to boil. cover with
water and boil steadily for three hours, or
until the meat falls from the bones; then take
out the meat and strain the liquor through a
colander, pour back in the boiler and’thicken
it with meal and about one-third middlings or
ﬂour, until nearly as thick as mush. The
ﬂour makes the scrapple stick together and
fry better. Cook this well about three~quar~
ters of an hour, stirring constantly to keep
from burning. Pick all the bones out of the
meat and chop ﬁne while warm and when the
mush is cooked put the meat in and stir con-
stantly ﬁfteen minutes; season with salt.
pepper and sage to taste. When the season-
ing is thoroughly cooked through, take it out
and put in pans. The fat that rises on top
will help to keep it. When cold slice off
and fry as sausage. The liver and heart may
be boiled and added, also the shanks and
feet. MRS. R. D. P.
MINCE MEAL—Six pounds lean beef, cook
until tender, free from gristle or fat. When
perfectly cold chOp very ﬁne; add three
pounds of beef suet, out ﬁne: four pounds
raisins; four pounds currants: one pound of
citron: four quarts chopped tart apples; two
ounces each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg.
ginger, allspice; juice and rind of two lemons:
two pounds dark brown sugar; one quart mo-
lasses; tablespoonful salt; one of pepper;
quart of cider; lump of butter; let this all
cook thoroughly. adding more cider if requir-
ed, until considered done. Pack in jars and
pour molasses over the top; this will keep
any length of time. taking out as you require.
heating and adding more wetting. A good
rule is one-third meat. two-thirds apples,
using the heart and any pieces of roast meat.

WHITE MOUNTAIN CAKE—TWO cups pulver-
ized sugar; one-half cup butter; one-half cup
sweet milk; two and a half cups ﬂour; whites
of eight eggs: two and a half teaspoonfuls
baking powder. Bake in three layers; put
frosting between and on top. Flavor with
rose.

VANITY CAKE—One and a half cups sugar;
half cup butter; half cup sweet milk; one and
ahalf cups ﬂour: half cup cornstarch; one
teaspoonful baking powder; whites six eggs:
Bake in two cakes; put frosting between and
over top; ﬂavor with vanilla.

SNOW Cause-One cup sugar; half cup but.
ter; half cup sweet milk; one and a half cups
ﬂour; whites four eggs: teaspoonful baking
powder. EVANGALINI.

BATTLE CRInK.

 

 

details which a person ought to understand,

  

      

