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DETROIT, JUNE: 1, 1889.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

“ TO STAY AT HOME IS BEST.”

 

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest.
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;

To stay at home is best.

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are bafﬂed and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt,
To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that ﬂutter their wings and ﬂy
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.
-Longfellow.

——....___—

HOUSE FURNISHINGS.

 

The modern house, where money and
taste unite to beautify it, is a poem; it is as
much a work of art as a ﬁne painting; it is
in fact a picture where draperies and car-
pets and woods are the pigments, the sheen
of satins and silks, and the reﬂections of
velvet and brocade the lights and shades,
the room itself the canvas on which the de-
corator works out his design. He studies
the apartment, its size. its uses, its outlook,
and then he furnishes it magniﬁcently Or
simply, makes it cosy or grand, according to
its place in the harmony of the house. House
furnishing at this period is much different
from what it was even a quarter of a cen-
tury ago, When after a gay carpet was
stretched over the ﬂoor, a table set between
the windows, and a “ parlor set ” arranged
with mathematical regularity against the
wall, the room was “ furnished ” too ﬁne for
every day use and consecrated to funerals
and weddings.

There is not one person in one hundred—
no, not in ﬁve hundred, who, even with un-
limited money at command, can furnish a
house tastefully and harmoniously, up to
the Nineteenth Century idea of the ﬁtness of
things. So the work has passed into the
hands of professionals. whose business it is,
whose eyes have become so accustomed to
harmonies of tint and material that they
never make mistakes in combination, whose
perceptions of unity and contrast are in-
stinctive, and whose invention fertile in
providing that “ something new” for which
their fashionable clientele is ever eager.

But alas, most of us have our “ unfulﬁlled
aspirations.” We would have beautiful and
artistic homes had we but the money and
the taste. Many will buy the skill, but
what will bring us the money? So we fol-

low the fashions in furnishings afar off,

appy if we can get our humble belongings

 

together in such a fashion that they don’t
swear at each other, or sin by grouping our
plush patent rocker with the haircloth sofa
of a past era.

One of those chilly mornings of the
present week I set out to get some ideas of
new styles and prices in furniture, and in-
troducing myself to Mr. Keenan, of the ﬁrm
of Keenan & Jahn, was kindly given “the
liberty of the house,” with privilege to in-
spect and admire at leisure. Every article
being marked in plain ﬁgures, my task was
made easy. Mr. Keenan took me ﬁrst to the
“dark room,” where some of their more
delicate furniture and draperies are shown
by gaslight, to enable Madame to judge the
effect under artiﬁcial light. Here were some
exquisite chairs and divans, upholstered in
the most dainty hues, tables and screens and
all that goes to make the modern boudoir
beautiful.

Turning to plainer furnishings, there were
many styles of the popular Persian lounge,
the “ fad ” of the time. These are covered
with goods in Persian patterns and coloring,
and have rolls at the head, over which the
cover is drawn to form graceful folds at the
ends, these are $22 and 8525; upon them you
seek your “forty winks” after dinner, in
your bedroom. A lounge with cherry frame
and covered with brown crushed plush was
marked S29; it was very soft and luxurious;
another style, with upright pillows forming
a divan back, and head rest, was upholstered
in ﬁgured rep and marked $29.

Extension tables are square at the ends,
of solid oak, plain or carved, and it is a case
of “ you pays your money and takes your
choice.” Some very pretty low priced ones
were eighty and ninety cents a foot, from
this upward. If you have a fancy for dining
chairs in stamped leather, with carved oak
frames, here is a beauty at $24, plain leather
and less carving at $12; and $6 and $7 for
plainer frame, leather seat and spindle-
back. Sideboards in oak, at $48; if you are
inclined to be lavish, there are some at
$118 which might suit, with French plate
beveled mirrors and beautiful carvings.
These styles are new and elegant. and oak
is “the thing” for dining room furniture.
Mr. Keenan said that into the dining room
of a Woodward Avenue mansion the ﬁrm is
now furnishing, he had put a sideboard at
$300, a buffet at $250, a table at $5 per foot,
and two styles of dining chairs, one at $29,
the other at $36 each. These were made
from original designs by Mr. J ahn, and were
not to be duplicated.

I think Mr. Keenan stated they had 69
patterns in bedroom sets. These include
oak, cherry and mahogany. Styles differ

    

 

materially from those of a decade ago. The
high, narrow mirror is replaced by the
beveled plate as long as the dressing case,
the towering headboard by the square carven
one, much lower. Perhaps the handsomest
sets are of the massive oak, the higher
priced ones having colored marble tops to
dressing case and washstand, its polished
surface shining like glass. White marble is
a thing of the past—it went with the hair-
cloth sofa. Prices? Well, there was a very
desirable three piece set for 369; some
plainer patterns at $42 and 352, while the
marble topped, more massive sets were $110
and above. I’ve always thought, however,
that in the house I am going to furnish
“when my ship comes home from Spain,”
I should have a full length cheval glass and
a chiffonier instead of dressing bureau.
However, I am becoming more and more
grateful for the gifts of the gods as the years
go by, and if that mythical ship lingers by
the way much longer I may come to be
thankful for a comb case and a pocket
mirror.

There is an inﬁnite variety of fancy chairs
and rockers, to suit all tastes and the dimen-
sions of all pocket-books. Chairs and di-
vans and sofas do not “ match” now-days.
they harmonize. And their shapes are quaint
and graceful, and their hues are softer
and more varied than the rainbow’s. Here’s
a divan for instance, just large enough for
two, in crushed raspberry colored plush,
with the back fashioned like the ﬂutings of
a shell, and chairs, with and without arms,
after the same style. There are rockers in
oak, cherry and imitation mahogany, with
seats upholstered in plush, and arms, as low
as $4.50 and $5.50. Other chairs, with cush-
ions for back and seat, are from $5 to $7.
The marble-topped centre table is a drug at
$13; the massive carved oak tables begin at
$25 and run down to $9. If the man of the
house wants a desk and bookcase combined,
here is one, cylinder top, at $34, but if he is
less ambitious, here is a library table at $28,
or one with four drawers down the side for
$11. A three-cornered bookcase to ﬁt an
angle in the wall was novel and quite orna-
mental, $34: the usual model with double
doors, same price. Seems as if the great
want of the time, in these days of cheap
furniture, is some new and inexpensive
models for bookcases. The bookcase is way
behind the times, for the reason, I dare say,
that the rich man has his cases built into his
library and the poor man has no books.

Among the curtains and draperies are
many rich and beautiful novelties. Ecru
tints in laces outrank pure white. Notting-
ham laces are the cheapest in stock. their


 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

range from $1 to $5; then comes the imita-
tion Brussels, at $5 to $10; these are very
delicate and pretty, combining strength with
ﬁneness: then French velour at $6 to $10;
Irish point. heavy and handsome, always in
ecru, from $7 to $50, and the real Brussels,
from $18 to 3100. There is arevived de-
mand tor the old-fashioned embroidered
muslin curtains. which were always suitable
for modest parlors, at $3 to $18. Phrygian
curtains are imported irom Scotland ex-
pressly for this ﬁrm; they are com, with a
design wrought out in tints with silk, and
are sold at $16 to $50. The silk curtains,
in delicate colors, with a ground powdered
with conventional designs, and a border,
are very graceful and dainty.

For portieres, we can choose a real Tur-
coman at $10 to 3-20, or an imitation at $4;
achenille at $20, or one of the new Derby
satins in blue and gold, or red and gold, the
curtain being reversible, that is, where the
pattern is blue.- on one side, it is wrought
out in gold on the other, at $24. A very
elegant portiere, suitable for hanging where
there must be no “ wrong side,” is a double-
faced velour, a different color and pattern
on each side. The latest style of portirre
has no dado; it is either perfectly plain
with a fringe top and bottom, or a bordered
curtain with its centre plain or broken by
set ﬁgures. In yard goods for portieres and
drapings there is an endless variety of color-
ings, 17 shades being shown in one material;
these are trimmed in such a variety of ways,
and with such a diversity of fringes, cords,
etc., that no style need ever be duplicated.
And last, from out a drawer came some
of the rich goods used for upholstering the
ﬁnest work sent out by the ﬁrm, beautiful
designs with every leaf and petal wrought
out in perfection, and heavy brocades, the
pattern thrown up in rich relief against the
paler background.

It is worth while, occasionally, to visit a
furniture store, if for no other purpose than
to learn what improvements are being made,
how modern furniture keeps pace with mod-
ern art and culture, and what are the stand-
ards of beauty and utility. Fashions in
furnishings change almost as rapidly as
styles in dress, and the woman of to-day,
who worships at Fashion’s shrine, has a
double care in that herself and her house
must keep pace with “the latest” from
modiste and designer. BEATBIX.

”‘00——

EVANGELINE'S WEEK.

 

Evangeline’s week’s work stirred up quite
a sensation among the housekeepers of “our
set.” One bright little woman declared it
gave her a back-ache to think of washing,
upholstering two chairs and cleaning door-
yard all the same day, and wanted to know
of what metal this our matronly Evangeline
was made. The very neat sewer of our
coterie would like to examine the seventeen
buttonholes made in an afternoon after
cutting out three nightdresses; and the lady
who “hates to cook” exclaims over those
elaborate bills of fare, as she calls them,
“Evangeline must be—ah, a woman of
remarkable executive ability,” says the
Deliberate One, whose slow-spoken senten-
ces always fall with axiomatic weight.

But 1 ﬁnd nearly every one unites in

““"‘-‘l—-—w——~ ~ . .- t...~,-..__...._.._._._

 

 

considering the menus too elaborate and
extravagant for a farmer’s family. Now let
us look at .them a moment. I confess I
should not care for so great a Variety for
breakfast, as that meal in our family seldom
includes meat; we have oatmeal, toast and
eggs or gems and eggs, with coffee, except
during the fruit season, when fruit takes
the place of eggs. But men at work in the
open air at hard labor, which causes a mate
of muscular tissue which must be replaced
by food, would undoubtedly rebel at the
light breakfast we all enjoy. 1 do not ﬁnd
Evangeliue’s menus too elaborate or ex-
travagant. There is a variety, it is true; al-
ways one vegetable besides potatbes, oc-
casionally a soup. But, reduce her list to
practice and what do you ﬁnd? Just one
kind of meat, two kinds of vegetables, the
bread and butter, the relishes in the way of
pickles or spiced fruits. the one kind of
dessert, which you ﬁnd common to all din-
ner tables but which, written out, seems
more on paper than on the table: the one
thing unusual is the extra vegetable. and
this is actually an economy, as it saves the
consumption of meat and bread, the two
great staples, the former being the most ex-
pensive item of table expenditures. Variety,
'you see, is not extravagance, it is economy
often. Given a certain amount of hunger
to satisfy, what difference whether the hun-
gry man makes an entire meal on one dish
or kind of food, or whether he partakes of
several? Yet there is a difference. He can
eat half a pound of beefsteak, at twelve and
a halt cents a pound. or be better satisﬁed
on one quarter of half a pound, supplement-
ed by two eggs at twelve cents a dozen, or
the equivalent of one turnip or one beet or
two onions, at twenty-ﬁve to ﬁfty cents a
bushel. And do you not see the economy?
I have long been satisﬁed that variety is an
essential requisite to both health and
economy. But some one says it makes
more work for the cook. I do not see
it so. What difference does it make in
my toil whether I cook a peck of potatoes
for a tablefull of hungry men, or a half-peck
of potatoes and a half peck of onions?
While I am preparing the onions to boil, I
would be paring more potatoes; while I am
seasoning and manipulating the one, I
would be handling an extra quantity of the
other. The added labor comes principally in
the addition to the number of dishes to wash,
but this is, to my apprehension, amply com-
pensated by the variety and greater pa1a~
tability of the meal. It is habit, more than
any thing else, which makes us think the
extra vegetable an extra task. I ﬁnd it in the
interests of economy to reduce my meat bills
as much as possible; and in no way can I do
this so easily, so cheaply and in so satis-
factory a manner to my family as by the
free use of fruits and vegetables.

In regard to the manner of preparing
food there is a vast difference in the labor
expended. Some women cannot get a meal
on the table without using half the dishes in
the pantry and misplacing the other half;
they make countless journeys down cellar
and to pantry and storeroom, travel which
might be avoided by forethought and cal-
culation. One trip down cellar should
bring out of it every article needed for the
preparation of a meal. A basket or a tray

is a requisite for the purpose. and once
accustomed to the use of either, you will
never do without it.

Large iron spoons, tin cups, potato
masher, colander, funnel, and any other
utensrls used daily should be kept hanging
close to the cook stove within arm’s reach.
Salt and pepper should be on a shelf behind
the stove, also in easy reach. The gem
pans, baking tins, rolling pin, cake tins and
cutters, grater, ﬂavoring extracts and dishes
and spoons for baking, should be kept in a
cupboard or on shelves within a foot of the
table or shelf where the baking is prepared
for the even, so one has to make the fewest
possible moves to reach them. You have no
idea—until you have tried and become ac-
customed to it—how many, many steps this
will save in the course of a day, and how
much more easily you will do your work. By
taking thought about such things, we too
may be able to gain a reputation for being
“ women of great executive ability.”

DETROIT. L. C.

W—

BROKEN SILENCE.

I have been a silent reader of the HOUSE-
HOLD for about two years; but my silence
has come to an end and I must speak.

Of course we have all been deeply in-
terested in Evangeline’s “Week.” Well,
that awful “ Week ” is ended, and I draw a
sigh of relief when I think of it, for I know
she must be nearly exhausted. Just think
for one minute of the cream puffs, orange
cake, jelly rolls, French pickles! It is no
wonder that Philander had the colic, it is a
great wonder that he did not have some-
thing worse.

Well, Evangeline, cook on! you must be a
happy woman—three dutiful children and
one dutiful husband. The Bible says: Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, but if I
remember right it doesn’t say anything
about the husband, and I for one have taken
quite a fancy to Philander. Now if a man
“takes a little notice of another man’s
wife,” is it any of our affairs? And if you
hear of my having a little ﬂirtation with
Philander will you please keep quiet?

Now it would be very different with me if
I were to give a description of my home and
its surroundings. I would want to get pretty
well out of the neighborhood before saying
much, for fear some one would give me
away. How often we hear it remarked that
every heart knows its own sorrow; then
sometimes I think, does Evangeline’s heart
know any sorrow? Or is it all peace and
joy? If so she is indeed blest. But know-
ing as 1 do that Evangeline is blessed with
a beautiful home (beside that husband) I
will conclude by wishing her continued hap-
piness.

Perhaps in the future I will speak again,
but if I do, I hope that instead of telling
about my nice chairs and how scientiﬁcally
I do my work, 1 may say a kind word to
encourage some poor fallen sister.

PINE CREEK.

W

TRIXY.

MRS. J. T. PHILLIPS, of Quanicassee,
Tuscola 00., wants a woman to assist her
in her house work; one accustomed to chil-
dren. Her work is light, and kitchen con-

 

venient. Address as above.

 

 

 


 

rv.a....»v.-. my: 1...,“

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD. 8

 

HOW WAS IT DONE?

 

Now that wonderful serial, “ One Week,”
is done, I can wait no longer but must as].

for further information right away. There

are several points I can not clearly under-
stand. Evangeline says in the beginning
that there are three who share the labors of
the household, but after that does not men-
tion the other two, only in the most inci-
dental way two or three times; therefore,
one must imagine that hers is not only the
head that plans, but in by far the greater
part, the hands that execute the wonderful
amount of work that she enumerates. And
when I think of the vast amount that is not
mentioned but must have been done by
somebody to produce the given results, my
back will ache and feet feel sore in sym-
pathy. I am quite discouraged when I think
how far below such a standard my best ef-
forts would fall could they be compared.
Now I would like to ask who are those
“other two?” Are they daughters of this
phenomenal housekeeper? If so, they must
inherit their mother’s proﬁciency to a re-
markable degree. Or are they hired assist—
ants selected for their ability to,do and en-
dure. a vast amount of labor? If the latter
guess is correct, allow me to suggest that it
is not a typical farmer’s household by any
means; as that hardly ever has but one help-
er under any circumstances and quite as often
none at all, especially if there are daughters
old enough to assist.

And those elaborate menus which seem to
be tri-daily affairs! I really question whether
it is a good plan to allow the men-folks to
read our little paper now-a-days lest they be
quite dissatisﬁed with our efforts in that di-
rection. - The query will arise, “How can
she do it all, day after day?” How prepare
and cook and serve all the various dishes of
which she speaks? .Who washes all the
dishes that would be necessary? Who does
all the sweeping and dusting, the bed-mak-
ing and general “ setting to rights ” that has
to be done in every house, and which will
use up a good deal of strength as well as
time. And then comes “ washday” which
is always the hardest and busiest day of.
the week with us, although we try to be as
labor-saving as we can consistent with neat-
ness, but we fail to ﬁnd time, after the other
necessary work of the house is done, to up-
holster two or three chairs in the most beau-
tiful and careful manner, or strength to clean

up the door-yard of its winter accumulations

afterward.

Then after supper and two or three of the
best papers in the United States have been
read and discussed, she is not yet satisﬁed
with the labors and pleasures of the day,
but makes a lot of most excellent candy in
various styles and ﬂavors for the further de-
lectation and amusement of the family. I
don’t wonder “Philander” had dyspepsia,
but I do wonder if the days are really so
much longer in that vicinity that she can
get it all in.

And then the sewing. aye, there’s .the
rub! Taking those “ fourteen night-dresses
and eight nice comforts ” as units of. meas-
ure, and adding in the same ratio the many
and various articles needed in every family
of that size and we have a sum that would

make even a sewing-machine tired to think

 

of. Evangeline must have nerves of steel
and a constitution more faultless than that
of the United States if she can continue
week after week in the same line.

Now if there is any magic by which com-
mon people can accomplish any such amount
of work, I should like to know it, and I wait
anxiously an explanation of what seems to
me the greatest of puzzles—how to put all
that work into seven days and not stretch
the days or the truth. E. W. .

PAW PAW.

—_*.._——

ECONOMY BREVITIES.

 

A good housekeeper is one who looks well
to the ways of her house, seeing that there is
no waste or drainage, economizing in small
as well as large things. Small leaks often
amount to more than large ones, because
unobserved. No matter how cheap one
buys, unless the full value in use is ob-
tained, you are cheated. The dollar made
in a bargain loses its value if the articles
purchased are wasted.

1n the manner of stocking the pantry and
storeroom with the groceries necessary,
there are two ways, buying in large quanti-
ties once or twice a year, and the ex-
change of butter, eggs and poultry from
week to week. We should take into
consideration the fact that in Small
quantities quite an amount of cord and
paper is purchased. All kinds of spices, if
kept in'close boxes or cans, can be bought
in large quantities.r In order to secure
strictly pure spice and pepper, coffee also, it
is best to buy the berry and grind it your-
self. Still it can be found all ready for use,
that is pure. Soap will go much farther it
bought in quantities and allowed to cure.
Corn starch, rice, sago, tapioca. molasses,
sugar, bluing, stovepolish, and everything
else in daily use, if properly taken care of,
can be bought six months or a year ahead.

Cupboards and storerooms that are in-
fested with mice, ants, etc., will not help
economy.

Table linen and bedding need looking to
often. Pinning sheets and tablecloths on
the line always in the same place, and leav-
ing them to whip in the wind and storm
will ruin them very soon. Knives with rub-
ber handles should never be washed in soap
suds, as it takes the gloss off the rubber and
causes them to ﬂake up. Ivory, bone or
wood handles should not be put in hot
water. Tinware of all kinds should be
thoroughly dried before putting in the cup'
board; it soon gives out if allowed to rust.
Burning kettles, frying-pans and tins while
cooking shortens their usefulness.

Scraping the butter plates clean, saving
odd hits of butter for a day or two, will
amount to quite a little, and is just as good
for frying purposes or seasoning vegetables.
Save the odd bits of meat, bones, for soup;
what accumulates in a week will make one
good soup. Dry bread can be steamed,
toasted, soaked for cakes, made in a bread
pudding once a week; dried in the oven and
rolled into ﬂour, it is nice to roll meat in to
fry—thicken soup, etc. Never throw away
a piece of bread.

Save the cord that comes around packages;
wind it in a ball, and it is always ready for
use. When meat is fried aim to cook just

 

about enough, as warmed over it is not very
good. When potatoes are scarce and high
in price, sort them as you go along; the very
small ones are good boiled with the skin on,
then peeled; try them whole in hot lard, or
slice thin and fry in a little butter; or chop
ﬁne and stew in cream. All bakers testify
to the gelld qualities and superiority of the
small potato for yeast. The medium sized
are best for baking, while the large ones
will be left for boiling.

Hams and shoulders can be kept from
ﬂies and vermin by packing in a good tight
barrel and ﬁlling in with dry oats.

Keep the clothespins in a calico bag made
for that purpose. When putting away the
winter clothing for the summer, brush and
clean it thoroughly, mend all the torn or
worn places and they will be all ready next
fall.

Save the paper-rags, many a tin and basin
can be bought with them.

Do not throw refuse articles, waste water,
etc., around the back door, it is unhealthy
and uncleanly. If you have an attic or tuck
room, keep it orderly, don’t stand at the
foot of the stairs and sling things up; it is' a
good place to rummage in rainy days.
Musquito net that has done service for a
season in windows or doors can be utilized;
fold it four or ﬁve thicknesses and stitch
criscross with the machine into convenient
sizes for dish cloths. Five cent muslin or
lawn makes nice soft dish cloths. Have
enough dish cloths so they can be kept clean;
a dirty dishcloth is not ﬁt to use. Clean the
coffee pot, tea pot and tea steeper once a
a week by boiling out with strong soap suds;
wipe out. with a dry cloth and see what a
deposit there has been. It cold coffee is left
keep it in a bowl or pitcher, and keep the
coffee pot empty, only when using. Hot
alum water will rout ants, black and red,

and all vermin. EVANGELINE.
BATTLE CREEK.

—..._

THANKS RET URNED.

 

I believe the custom of saying “I thank
you” for every favor received is falling oﬂf,
if it has not already fallen into disuse;
nevertheless permit me to say to those who
answered my inquiries, thank you, for they
have enlightened me upon hitherto dark-
ened subjects.

In regard to the hemmers, I knew the
fault was with myself and not the machine.
I still am obliged to haste all hems, other-
wise they would come from the machine
wider in some places than others and
skewed, looking more like a rufﬂe than a
hem, but do not think any one can give me
instructions without guiding the work and
running the machine. To people who are
dull nothing but an object lesson will an-
swer. JANNE'I‘TE.

_——..._—._.

INFORMATION WANTED .

I have read of crocheted couch covers, but
never saw one. Will some of the HOUSE-
HOLD readers kindly send directions for
making, also instruct me as to what material
is used. I want something cheap and
durable. c. C.

J onnsrowx.

 


 

4: THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

GRADUATING DRESSES.

Bases and the sweet girl graduates belong
to June; and in all the thirty days sacred to
Juno, or in ‘all the school life, the day of
days, before which all others hide their di-
minished selves, is Commencement Day.
No girl ever again experiences the sensa-
tions which rush upon her on that occasion.
Joy and regret, grief at separating from
teachers and her “ dearest friends on earth,”
delight at her emancipation, and the culmi-

' nation of the pride of the Senior in the cli-

max of the day when she is a main feature,
the cynosure of all eyes, ﬁll her with gratiﬁ-
cation and proud pleasure.

Second only to the importance of “ pass-
ing those awful examinations” is the ques-
tion of graduating gowns. And oh, girls!
if you would only be content to be girlish,
and not try to be grown up, simple, instead
of ﬁne, how sweet you would be!

White. is the regulation hue; white woois
instead of the muslius which were so stiff
and sheer. But there are an inﬁnite number
of shades of white, as you would soon dis-
cover if you had to match a bit. There’s
magnolia white and shell white, and pearl
white, blue white and grey white, and ever
so many tints of cream white, pinky cream,
and ecru cream, and every one to be chosen
with careful reference to its becomingness
to the individual. 0f materials, there’s
cashmere, best of the inexpensive woois,
camel’s hair, challi, Henrietta and clairette;
India silk. and richest and most costly of
all, China crape, so exquisitely soft that one
might pull her dress through her bracelet.

And how should it be made? With the
utmost simplicity. Much depends upon the
style and ﬁgure of the wearer. For a slight,
slender ﬁgure, nothing is so pretty as the
full straight skirt, hemmed, with a narrow
pattern of silk embroidery above the hem,
and gathered to a belt; the waist should be
Shirred to form a short yoke, and gauged at
the waist line. A wide sash of soft silk,
exactly matching the color of the dress,
should pass twice around the waist and tie
at the left, the ends reaching the bottom of
the dress. The sleeves should be full, and
wrinkled upon the arm, and instead of a
standing collar there should be a frill of
pleated lace falling away to reveal the white
throat. Bronze slippers, and suede gloves
in very light tan or cream shades are worn
with white dresses. No pink or blue or
red ribbons are to be worn with white;
sashes match the dress, and ornamentation
stops there.

A stout girl may have the front of her
dress laid in kilt or single b;x pleats, the
back full, straight except for a couple of soft
loops put in from the top and not breaking
the straight line on the bottom, a waist cut
jacket front, with the space ﬁlled in with
loose box pleats of the material or of surah,
and crossed by Empire folds shaped to make
a round pointed girdle; silk revers, or four
large buttons, silk covered, on each side,
accent the jacket fronts. The back of the
waist is plain, terminates in a round point,
and may have a soft silk sash arranged on
the point.

Still another way is to tuck the straight
skirt, and wrth. heavy silk featherstitch or
herringbone each tuck. Three inch and a

 

half tucks above the hem are enough. The
waist has a yoke of tucks, the fullness thus
made being gathered into the waist under
the silken sash. The top of the skirt is
gauged fer an eighth or three-sixteenths of
a yard below the belt. White embroidered
muslins are made up after the ﬁrst style de-
scribed, but are less popular than wool
goods. BEATBIX.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Are shoulder-ca pee to be worn this season,
asks a young lady. Not the round capes of
several years ago. The little wraps which
are not much larger than shoulder-capes,
which reach the bottom of the waist at the
back and have longer tabs or points in front,
are seen in great numbers this spring. They
are covered with jet. lace and passementerie,
conﬁned by a ribbon belt, and cost from
$4.75 up to $15 or above, according to qual-
ity of material. A young lady attracted
considerable attention on the avenue by ap-
pearing in a suit of striped gray and white
ﬂannel, skirt laid in pleats to show only the
gray, and a cape of the same made by at-
taching a deep frill of the pleated goods to a
collar cut with a little cape. But it was not
pretty nor yet stylish. I have seen capes in
the same style made in black lace at-
tached to a jetted collar, which were pretty
and dressy. The lace is simply pleated very
full and pressed; then the shoulders shape

it.
—————..*——_-

A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.

 

As 1 have been a diligent reader of the
HOUSEHOLD for the past two years. I am
beginning to feel like a “deadbeat ” who
receives all he can get and contributes noth-
ing.’ After the many useful hints and help-
ful suggestions I have met with, I hope that
my mite will in its turn assist some weary
housewife. First, I wish to shower blessings
on the head of Beatrix for the confession
recently made that the top drawer of her
bureau is not always in a state of immacu-
late neatness. She never will know how
much good it did at least one reader. I do
try to have all things decent and in order,
but my bureau drawers are not always open
to inspection; now, however, since I feel
that I am not alone in this respect, I shall
take courage and will never “say die till
I’m dead.”

My favorite strawberry Shortcake requires
one quart of ﬂour; two teaspoonfuls of Royal
baking powder sifted with the ﬂour; a coffee
cuptul of lard; ice cold water. Mix soft,
very soft, cut the dough before rolling in as
many pieces as you wish layers (to lessen
times of rolling), bake in layer cake tins
(deep ones), putting in two layers of dough,
spreading butter between before baking,
which will enable you to lift oﬁ the top
crust and is much nicer than splitting. Have
the crust thin and put plenty of strawberries
mashed with sugar between. In my opinion
the strawberries are better with good bread
and butter; but when people will have short-
cake they will, and I have found this the
best way of many. For further information
about the strawberry read “Alice Lorraine,”
by R. D. Blackmore, a perfect picture of the
Kentish grower and the county of Kent.

I suppose you all use the wire dishcloths

 

and clean the zines of stoves with kerosene;
but I mention them as I have only recently
found how good they were and now would:
not try to do without.

A quotation from Hawthorne’s “ Mosses
from an Old Manse” may not be amiss:
“ It is a marvel whence this perfect ﬂower
(the water lily) derives its loveliness and
perfume, springing as it does from the black
mud over which the river sleeps, where
lurk the slimy eel and speckled frog and
the mud turtle whom continued washing
cannot cleanse. It is the very same black
mud out of which the yellow lily sucks its-
obscene life and noisome odor. ~ Thus we
see, too, in the world that some persons as-
similate only what is ugly and evil from the
same moral circumstances which supply
good and beautiful results, the fragrance of
celestial ﬂowers, to the daily life of others.”

WHEATFIELD. CHISELHL‘RST-

—-—«.—-—

LEMON EXTRACT.

 

If Dill A. Tory will get one pint of
alcohol, one-half ounce of oil of lemon, and
the peel of two lemons, she will have mate--
rials for a home made extract better than the
grocery article at about half its price. Put
one-half of the alcohol into a bottle con-
taining the oil of lemon and shake occasion»
ally until they mix; put the other half upon
the peel. in a pitcher, and let stand a few
days, then pour into the bottle of alcohol
and oil, and shake. She will ﬁnd it good.

1am told pieplant will keep a year by
simply cutting up as for pies, packing tightly
in cans, ﬁlling up with cold water and
sealing.

When making pieplant or other very juicy
pies. twist a little piece of white paper—not
newspaper, on account of the ink—into a
funnel, break off the point, and insert it into
the centre of the pie. It will help keep the
juice from boiling over and wasting the best
part of the pie. A. B. 0.

ANN ARBOR.

“ow——

TRY the lemon cure for biliousness. It
is better and cheaper than patent medicine
at a dollar a bottle. More agreeable to taste
and palate, too.

—..~_
Contributed Recipes.

 

BAKING POWDER Commas—One cup white
sugar; half cup butter; one egg; half cup of
sweet milk: two teaspoonfuls baking powder;
sufﬁcient ﬂour to roll thin. Bake in a quick
oven. C. C.

JOHNSTOWN.

Conner: 0N Toasr.—-—Pick the fish into ﬁne
ﬂakes or shreds, put a bowl-ful, thus prepar-
ed, into a skillet, cover with cold water. let
come to a boil, turn into a colander to drain.
Return to the skillet, pour in half a pint of
rich milk or cream, season with salt and pep-
per and a generous piece of butter, cook ﬁve
minutes and pour over slices of dry, buttered
toast.

CORNMEAL Murmur-One pint sour cream;
two eggs; two tablespoonfuls sugar; one cup
cornmeal; half cup ﬂour; teaspoonful soda;
saltspoonful of salt. Bake in muﬂin rings, in
a quick oven. L. C.

Dnrrtorr.

 

.—~.-...._.,. ..-....._.

 

 

 

