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DETROIT, OCTOBER 24:, 1887.

 

 

THE. HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

THE H0 USEKEEPER‘S IF.

It would all be very well,
If your jelly'd always jell,
If your cake was always nice and white,
If your bread would only be
“ Just like mother’s (which you see
With the eye of memory), always light.

If each bit of glass and delf
Had its place upon the shelf,

And was always clean, in order standing there.
If no particle of dust, '
Blot of ink or speck of rust.

Ever marred your household goods and chattels

anywhere.

If when you feel inclincd
To cultivate your mind,
And sit down with a paper or a book,
Your husband wouldn’t come
Tired and hungry to his home,
And say “ [s supper ready?” with a most aston-
ished look.

If when you‘ve learned a stitch
In artistic beauty rich.
And are crazy just to try it on the quilt you have
begun.
Dirty-Face would not come in,
With a most cherubic grin,
And with holes in his smalltrousers—more than
n .e.
Or if it seems to you
The pro;- er thing to do,
To go and paint a pansy, or perhaps a four-leaved
clover,
Or a stork and clump of reeds,
Where your room adornment needs,
The soup would simmer gently, and not think of
boiling over.

If the city cousins wouldn’t
Visit you just when they shouldn‘t,
Nor the minister come calling washing—day.
Ii vacation ever camo,
And your life held not the same
Weary, ceaseless, round of labor, till your hair
turns gray.

But since these things are so,
And the household wheels won't go
If they miss but for an hour your guiding hand;
If a work that you must do,
In the great world waits for you.
You must choose between the two—home and
Work—you understand.

Give me back my books again,
And my ruler and my pen;

Open wide for me the school-room door,
Call the children round me there;
And despite its toil and care,

Let a teacher's life be mine for evermore.

—.l[argaret H usted
—-—OW-—-—

Tis the old, old story; one man will read
His lesson of toil in the sky,
While another is blind to the present need,
But sees with the spirits eye.
You may grind their souls in the self-same mill,
You may bind them, heart and brow;
But the poet will follow the rainbow still,
And his brother will follow the plow.

—Jonn Boyle O’Reilly.

 

SEVEN BREAKFASTS.

 

It was Dr. Wm. Hammond, I think, who
his novel of “ Lal,” tells us the standard of
health is the ability to eat a hearty break-
fast. I am not prepared to take issue with
the doctor on this point; perhaps he is
right, so far as one man may average the
various conditions of humanity and for-
mulate an axiom on that average. Break-
fast is not, I frankly admit, my best meal;
in the summer months particularly I could
omit it altogether with little or no incen-
venience; and at all times and seasons, 1
ﬁnd myself with clearer faculties and better
able to perform my work when my ﬁrst
meal is fruit, oatmeal, eggs, rolls or muf-
ﬁns, with a cup of good coffee, than when I
eat more hearty food, as meats or potatoes.
Were I employed in a business requiring
greater muscular exertion, more might be
necessary to supply the waste of tissue; yet
I venture the assertion that so far as exer-
cise in the open air is concerned, I get more
of it than nine—tenths of our housekeepers,
for home and business are nearly a. mile
asunder, and the street-car is a democratic
conveyance I am not fond of patronizing.
It is in the hope of aiding some one on
whom the thought of “the next meal”
presses with undue weight, that I give a
synopsis of our boarding-house breakfasts
for a week, beginning with

Simona—Catawba grapes; oatmeal and
cream;calfs’ liver and bacon; fried pota-
toes, fried mush, with maple syrup: apples
and quinces, stewed.

Fruit has come to be an almost indispen-
sable adjunct to the breakfast table. As
we whet the edge of our appetite for dinner
with a dainty dish of soup, so we stimalate
the nerves of taste, or coax a capricious ap-
petite with delicious fruits. Oranges till
strawberries come, then raspberries and
currants and blackberries bridge over the
space till the cantaloupe or nutmeg melons
are in market, and these are succeeded by
grapes, which last well along toward No-
vember, when we fall back on stewed and
baked apples. There are few city tables,
among the middle and more wealthy
classes especially, where fruit is not regu-
larly provided at the opening meal. “ Fruit
is gold in the morning, silver at noon and
lead at night,” says the old proverb, yet if
ripe and not over-ripe, we may venture to
eat it at any meal.

Norman—Grapes; oatmeal; broiled ham;
fried potatoes; graham gems.

TUESDAY.—Oatmeal; pork chops; cream-
ed potatoes; cerealine pancakes; fried cakes.

WEDNESDAY.—Rolled oats, baked ap-

 

ples; baked mackerel; potato putts; wheat
pancakes.

Rolled oats do not seem to (litter much
from the ordinary oatmed except in being
perhaps more coarsely ground. Nearly
every one has a little different method of
cooking these preparations of oats, some of
which are eminently adapted to digust one
with that article of food. For instance, I
have tried to eat that whieh'had b 3en soaked
over night and b: iled in the morning; thus
treated oatmeal becomes a glutinous paste,
soggy and it seems to me indigestible; at
least I don’t like i‘: atall. The best way to
make oatmeal palatable, is to buy good
fresh meal, stir it gradually into salted
boiling water, and cook twenty minutes, or
half an hour. 'I'heu eat with cream and
sugar—no milk; no skimmed milk, but nice
sweet cream. Doctors have advocated oat-
meal as an eXCellent, easily digested food
foralong time; now however, one of the
fraternity has discovered it has no particu-
lar value in that line, and is not even more
digestible than other foods. Probably he
has no individual liking for an oatmeal diet
and so concludes it cannot be good for
others. But the preponderance of testi-
mony goes to show that it is healthful,
strengthening and digestible, and we shall
not banish it from our tables until we find
something better.

THU1zsr).u'.——Grapes; oatmeal: beefsteak;
ham omelet; fried potatoes; fried cakes.

The potatoes were cut in slices one—
quarter of an inch thick and each slice fried
brown in butter. ' he hath omelet was
simply an ordinary omelet with the addition
of chopped ham; it came to the table smok-
ing hot, light and spongy, and brown as a
ripe hazelnut.

FRIDA‘L—OIEHBRI; stewed quinees; cod-
ﬁsh; baked potatoes; wheat pancakes with
maple syrup.

The codtish, prepared in the customary
manner, was poured over pieces of toasted
baker’s bread; these were cut in two-inch
squares and toasted dark brown. I wonder
how many readers of the HOUSEHOLD ever
cooked codﬁsh in this manner: Take the
thick part of the ﬁsh, breaking it as little as
possible, soak over night, changing the
water twice at least; wrap a piece of cheese-
cloth or a napkin around it to prevent it
from boiling to pieces and cook half an hour;
arrange on a platter and turn drawn butter
over it; serve with mashed potatoes. 1 used
to relish codﬁsh thus cooked more than that
prepared with cream and eggs in the days
when I got up warm meals.

SATURDAY.—-Grapes and apples; cerea-


    

2

THE HOUSEHOLD.

    

 

line; mutton chops; creamed potatoes;
baked hash; muﬁins.

I desire to bear witness that baked hash
is much better than the “demmed moist, un-
pleasant body” of ChOpped meat and pota-
toes digniﬁed by the name of "hash,” which,
with mince pie, Inever eat unless I feel that
1am justiﬁed in reposinga great deal of con-
ﬁdence in my landlady. The usual in-
gredients of hash are seasmied as usual,
and baked instead of being warmed in the
frying~pan or spider.

1 contrast these breakfasts—which are
about a fair sample of our ordinary city
morning meals—with some that I have
eaten in my experience as school-ma’am.
Summoned at 5:30 to a breakfast of fried
pork, boiled potatoes, bread and butter, and
pie, what wonder “ the teacher” won a rep-
utation for being a light eater? It seemed a
sign of a poor housekeeper to have warm
bread of any kind for the morning meal. I
used to think some lethargic intellects at
school were due to the heavy character of
the food which went to nourish the body
and brain. Somebody will rise up to say
that a woman who has little children to
dress, milk to skim and strain, and a hus~
band to hurry her, cannot take time to pre-
pare an elaborate breakfast. Perhaps not;
but if one plans and prepares over night, it
is not so difﬁcult. The potatoes can be
sliced, or washed ready for the oven; the
bread cut ready for toast and folded in a
napkin; the baking-powder sifted into the
ﬂour in anticipation of mufﬁns, and the gem-
pans buttered, and, if practicable, the table
partly set. The woman who does her work
with her brains as well as her hands can
attend to these things, while her sister who
has less executive ability, gets up in the
morning and decides what she’ll get for
breakfast as she surveys the empty pantry.-

I think there is nothing, unless it be
bread, so often spoiled in the making as
cotfee. Yet every one acknowledges his
dependence upon a good cup of coffee at
breakfast, for a good start on a day’s work.
With men this is especially true. I think a
man often gets in the habit of drinking beer
because the coffee at breakfast was poor, or
perhaps not ready for him in time. He

isses the gentle stimulative “toning up”
inﬂuence of the coffee, feels what he would
call “a goneness,” and takes the beer to
supply the vacuum. Such a possibility
ought to be a caution to those women who
think it no great matter if the breakfast is
not eatable. The man who is not made
comfortable at home is very apt to go else-
where for what he wants. Don’t grind the
coffee over night; let the music of the merry
mill salute the rising mom, for 1 am fully
of the opinion that to buy the raw berry
and roast and grind it at home, gives a good
housekeeper the best results. She knows
chicory does net cost her much then. Put
the quantity needed into a clean coffee pot,
drop in the white of an egg, shake well,
have the water fresh and boiling, turn on a
sufﬁcient quantity, set the coffee pot on the
back of the stove, carefully closed to pre-
vent the escape of the aroma, and whatever
you do don’t let it boil. Quite good coffee
can be made by the above formula, omitting

the egg, and clearing it by turning into the
\coffee pot a gill of cold water just before

 

wanted. It pays to learn how to make
things good; one can live on very plain fare
quite satisfactorily if it is only well-cooked;
it pays in the satisfaction which always
comes with the consciousness of tasks per-
formed to the best of our ability, and it cer-
tainly pays in a pecuniary sense. '

BE ATRIX.
————¢oo——-

HOME TALKS.

NO. I I".

Iwas just going to call you, Hetty, but
I see you are on time; your bread sponge is
as light as a cork. Don’t forget to salt it.
Mix it a little stiﬁ, so when you have
kneaded it on the board it will cleave away
in a kind of springy way, and not need any
flour; leave it in the pantry. I never set
the bread by the ﬁre to rise unless the
weather is very cold. Good yeast will not
allow the bread to stay down, it will rise
no matter what the temperature of the room
is. As you are up you can make the coffee;
take one and a half tablespoonfuls of coffee
——heap the spoon—you will ﬁnd some beaten
egg in a cup in the refrigerator, one teas-
poonful will be sufﬁcient; stir it well so the
coffee will all be moist, scald the coffee pot,
now add two cups boiling water and set to
the side of the range. There are four of us
to drink coffee, when breakfast is ready
add ﬁve cups of water; that is enough. I
don’tlike warmed-over coffee and I never
want to throw away any; enough is all we
want. Now that breakfast is over your
bread is ready for you. Grease the tins,
make two loaves of bread-yes, double
ones, they are easily broken apart and cut
into small slices, set these back of the door
on the shelf and cover them up. We want
a few buns. Cut off one-third of that dough
and leave it on the board; put the rest in a
small pan and put in two-thirds of a cup of.
sugar, a lump of lard size of an egg, and
two well beaten eggs, this is for rusks.
Your father took off a section of honey

yesterday and honey and rusks are
not very bad for tea; this is
messy mixing but it will be smooth

presently. Now mould it alittle, even it
up and set that by the bread; it has to rise
twice to give it such a feathery lightness;
they are just like a ﬂike. Now for the
buns: Add half a cap of sugar, a. lump of
lard and half a spoonful of cinnamon and a
handful of currants; mix that thoroughly,
now roll it out about an inch thick, cutout
with the cookie-cutter. These large round
tins will hold eight without crowding. Mix
some sugar and cinnamon in a saucer and
powder the tops thi0kly, set these to rise.
Well, you have done amazingly well for the
ﬁrst time, I don’t believe I could have done
any better.

Now we‘ll both goat the dishes and get
them out of the way. How the majority of
girls dislike to wash dishes! It isn’t very
disagreeable work if one has plenty of hot
water'and soap and dish towels. What is
more slack than dirty dish towels! Some
will just pass the dishes through the water
and wipe the dirt and grease on the towel.
I knew an old lady once who had a rack
that ﬁlled one half of the sink; all her
dishes were thoroughly washed and turned

 

on the sides in the rack, then boiling water

poured over them and they were then left

to dry, they were real glossy and shiny.

Old pillow slips make nice cloths to wipe

glasses on, they never lint; and soft pieces
of old tablecloth hemmed neatly are nice to
wipe silver on. I have used the checkered
red and white crash at ten cents a yard for
dish towels, it keeps white and never lints.

Dish washing as well as everything else
wants system and order to make it success-
ful. I always go through the cupboards
and pantry and set them in order, getting
all the dirty dishes together. I have seen
so many tuck them behind the door, es-
pecially if they were hurrying to go away
somewhere, putting the dripping pans and
ironware out of sight. I tell you it does not
pay, and another thing it is cultivating
slack, careless habits that are seldom out-
grown. And then too the old saying,
“What’s bred in the bone will come out in
ﬂesh” is true as the gospel. While we
think that it is an easy thing to uproot a
habit, I have known instances where the
most faithful perseverance and help could
not. Wash the glasses ﬁrst, then the silver,
then the cups and saucers, cup-plates, but-
ter plates. the vegetable dishes and plates,
and platters. Yes, I knOW, some pile them
in the dishpan in a pyramid, but it is not a
good plan, take each class as they come
along; then the tin ware. I think the kettles
and frying-pans want a clean water and
rinsing as much as dishes; then wash the
dishpan out clean and hang the cloth up to
dry, not leave it in a wet wad to sour; there
is nothing more disgusting than sour, greasy
dishes, and they will surely be so unless the
cloths and towels used about them are kept
sweet and clean. Now look to the bread,
the oven will be just right. Yes, that is
light enough, it begins to round up out of
the tins, the rusks will do now to mould
into the tins. Cut the dough off in little
pieces, roll them under your hand so, they
want to be long, put ten in these brick
shaped tins, you will not getthem so smooth
the ﬁrst time; practice makes perfect.

How much our work is lightened this
summer, having an ice-house with milk-
room, no cellar work or running up and
down stairs, and a refrigerator. We can
keep the cream cold and not churn but once
a week, and the butter is so hard and nice.
I tell your father I do not see how we ever
got along without ice. So many people get
along year after year without these little
conveniences, because they think they are
too expensive, and will make a little extra
work. No, there is no particular time to
leave the bread in; some say forty minutes,
it will take as long as that; rap on the top a
little, ifit feels ﬁrm, shakes loose in the tins,
is browned all around it is done; do not wet
the crust, it is not necessary. Cover it
over witha cloth and put the bans in to
bake; ﬁfteen minutes will bake these. The
rusks will not be ready yet. You need not
bake any cake; in strawberry time one
wants to eat all they can, for they do not
last long. You can try one of those straw-
berry p‘uddings, steamedin cups, for dinner,
you will ﬁnd the recipe in the cookbook.
Next week we will can berries and make
jam and jelly; fruit is coming along now,
but there will be no cherries this year. You
don’t see such cherries nowadays as you

    

 

 

 


  

 

 

 

» cleaner.

THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

grandfather used to have; the white Ox-
hearts were perfectly delicious. Mother
pickled them then, tied them in bunches
of ten, left the stem on and poured
hot spiced vinegar over them, they were
sweet pickles for tea. Men are not paying
enough attention to small fruits. Fruit and
vegetables are two-thirds of our living. We
eat too much meat and pastry; you cannot
improve fruit in its natural state, .niue-
tenths of the people never think of eating it
unless it is put between two crusts, or
baked or stewed in puddings. I sometimes
wonder how the stomach can digest so
much grease; no wonder it rebels at times
and gives one a bilious attack. If we con-
formed more closely to the laws of nature
there would be less sickness. Sick head-
aches, chills, etc., are caused by over-eating.
We should not expect the stomach to do
more than its apportioned work. We feel
hungry and sit down to a good meal; instead
of interlarding the meal with pleasant con—
versation we cram down our food in
silence and when our hunger is appeased,
ﬁnd we are awfully uncomfortable in the
vicinity of the waistband. It won’t do at
all. Those buns are lovely, handle them
carefully, they are delicious with coffee.
Hetty, your baking is complete, 110w pleased
father will be! Keep the ﬁre up, and you
may broil the steak to-day, try the new
broiler that ﬁts over the top of the stove.
Foreigners coming here laugh so much
about the Americans frying their meats.
We are the only nation, you know, that does
fry meat altogether; have lots of coals and
it is easily accomplished.

BATTLE CREEK. EVANGELINE.

“aw——
BUSTLES AND BANGS.

So Mildred Ione thinks I’m too hard on
the bustles? Well, I expected some one
would think so. I admit Mildred is righ
in one respect, it is best and proper to fol-
low the fashion enough so as not to appear

odd; in other words “to strike the happy

medium”—O! but wait; don’t crow yet,
I haven’t ﬁnished that sentence—strike the
happy medium of a fashion that has some
sense and reason to it or in it. She says I
probably follow some equally foolish fashion,
such as bangs, frizzes, or shingled hair.
Perhaps I do; I conside; those as fashions
having sense and reason. I’ll explain, be-
ginning at shingled hair. In the ﬁrst
place, it is healthier than long hair, in sum-
mer cooler, and always far less work to
take care of it, consequently is apt to be
As for bangs and frizzes, it is
well known, though not admitted by all,
that there are a great many women and
girls who look better and prettier—in the
true sense of the word, and not because

;“it’s the fashion,” but are really prettier

with their hair ﬁxed in that way than if it
were combed back from their faces. And I
believe it to be the duty of all to dress in a
becoming manner, and where the personal

appearance is battered by a bustle of course

they’re “in the fashion” but aside from
that do they look better?

Now it is possible that some of you, like
myself, have heard more said against friz-
zles than bustles, but I think the reason is
this: The greater majority of girls, I believe

 

I dare say ninety—nine out of a hundred, do
their hair up in papers, or as I have seen it,
in rags—I’m not civilized enough to call
them pieces of cloth—and when they have
it done up they leave it there sometimes
two or three days, though most of them
take it down when they dress up after
dinner. Now isn’tit enough to make any
body dislike frizzes, to eat their breakfast
and dinner with their eyes resting on those
“things of beauty?” his can very easily
be avoided; take your hair do .vn before you
leave your room in the morning. Of course
it will not look quite as well in the evening
as it would if it had been done up all day,
but there would be less said against frizzes.
A word still further, don’t do it up and
have it looking splendidly when you go
abroad, and keep it dangling in your eyes
or ﬂying everywhere when you are at home.
I guess I had better say no more or I will
have a mob down here to tar and feather me,
or something worse. But if you think the
above plan is atheory on paper and not
practical, I will say that I practice what I
preach in the matter, and know it can be
followed. MARY B.

YPSlLANTt.
—————¢oo-——

KEEPING WARM.

If Aunt Prudence will help me empty my
mending basket, I will write a whole page
for the Ho rsn HOLD, but can only stop now
to partly answer Azalia’s question about
keeping warm. Buy one suit of red knit
ﬂannel underwear and two of gauze. Wear
the gauze next to the person and the red
ﬂannel over. If a long ri ie or unusual ex-
posure to cold must be undertaken, put on a
third pair of drawers of cotton, or canton
ﬂannel.

Wash the gauze every week, and if the
ﬂannel is not slept in, it will not require
washing all winter.

Several farmers wear gauze, flannel, and
colored cotton shirts in winter, and ﬁnd
they need less coats and are more comfort-
able. The gauze and cotton are washed
every week easily, and the heavy, hard-
washing ﬂmnels may be worn a long time
without changing.

By the way, all our wee babies are ﬁrst
dressed in long sleeved shirts, made. from
our worn out gauze underwear, with as few
seams and hems as possible. Linen is so
harsh I wonder that the custom ever pre-
vailed of putting it next to the skin of
babies. I believe that very few babies can
wear ﬂannel or knit skirts, even of Saxony,
next to the tender ﬂ’esh without irritation.
To keep a bady sweating and broken out
with the heat because some paper has said
that ﬂannel is the proper thing for it to
wear, is very thoughtless indeed. In cold
weather our babies wear ﬂannel with gauze
under it.

But Azalia is neither man or baby, and I
want to advise her to wear woolen stock-
ings and felt shoes. I have worn the low
ones with felt soles three winters, and like
them so well that I want every housekeeper
to try them. They are light, easy for the
feet and noiseless. Many nervous women
find the noise of their own shoes very tire-
some. If troubled with cold 'anklcs buy
higher shoes. Three years ago Mrs. J. was
recovering from a long illness as the weather

 

grew cold. She found that

 

.—

in walking
about the house, the bottom of her skirts be-
came cold and made her lower limbs so cold
that she was likely to be kept in her room
all winter by rheumatism. Putting 011 at
pair of men’s felt boots one day for fun, she
decided that they were just what she neede d,
bought a pair and wore them all winter and
kept well. One needs rubbers handy to slip
on if it is necessary to step out in the wet
with felt shoes. . I‘NT Bessie.
__...___
SHEEP PELT MATS.

 

Azalia asks how to prepare and color
sheep pelts for ﬂoor mats. If the pelt is a
dry one, wash clean, and when nearly dry
place the wool side down on a ﬂat surface.
Then make a tan of one-fourth pound alum
and one-fourth pound salt (common table
salt); pulverize the alum, then mix thor-
oughly with the salt, and spread evenly over
the damp pelt, let lie a week, then wash in
soap suds and rinse in clear water several
times. When nearly dry rub in the hands
(as if rubbing starch out of calico); when
this is done the pelt is tanned and ready
for coloring.

If designs are desired, place the pattern
on the ﬂesh side and trace with a lead pencil,
then with a sharp knife cut out the pieces
you wish to color. Have the dye quite
strong, but the dye should not be very hot,
for a hot dye will Spoil the pelt. While
coloring be very careful not to get the pieces
out of shape; when dry place back and
sew them in with ball stitch, then line.
Now take the coarse part of acomb and
comb the wool; this gives it a ﬁnished look.
Diamond dyes can be used with good re-
sults.

I have a mat made this way, that I have
used about thirteen years, when it gets dirty
I take a c)mb and combit and clip the ends;
this makes it look like new.

1 have been greatly benefited by the
many good things printed in the HOUSE-

HOLD. A. L. \\'.
JAsPEn.
———-¢o¢-———

YVARMTH FOR \VINTER.

Azalia wants to know how to keep warm
without so many clothes, a question that
used to puzzle my small wits. After wear-
ing heavy skirts until I was simply exhaust-
ed carrying them around, I came to the con-
clusion that warmth and weight were not
synonymous, and adopted the following
method: First a union suit of ﬂannel un-
derwear, which consists of drawers and vest
together; wool or ﬂeece-lined stockings long
enough to come up over the knee outside of
the drawers, which are fastened up by elas-
tic bands, buttoned to straps which pass
over the shoulders; or, if you prefer it, face
a piece of muslin around the waistband of
the union suit and sew on buttons; you will
need them for the next garment which is a.
second pair of drawers,to come to the knees.
They are best made of silk, as it is a. poor
conducter of heat and will permit the dust
to drop off, but you can use a cheaper ma'
terial of smooth texture. Line these with
red ﬂannel and putbuttonholes in the band
to button them upon the union suit. This
will bring the weight upon the shoulders,
and the outer drawers do not need washing
more than a ﬂannel skirt, as they should be

  

  


4:

THE HOUSEHOLD.

  

 

made so as not to touch the person any-
where. A cotton skirt, which is made in one
with your corset-cover, is worn over the
corset, and is all you need beside your dress
skirt. Suspend that by straps from your
shoulders. If you do not think one skirt
sufﬁcient to throw out the outside one
around the bottom, have a skirt made of
cambric faced across the front and sides
With haircloth, up the back put two or three
broad box plaited ﬂounces of the same stiff
light material. Dressed in the manner de-
scribed none can tell the difference from
the usual style of woman’s apparel, while
you will be warm and able to walk with
freedom and lightness. I claim no original-
ity in this reform. It was suggested a few
years ago by Emily Bouton. Since adopting
it I think the change a desirable one.

HOWELL. E. B.

___-...—-—-——

CHAT.

 

I feel like entering the HOUSEHOLD circle
again, for my interest deepens in the little
paper, there is so much of every day life in
it. I enjoyed reading the boarding-house
menu, and was glad to ﬁnd some of the
dishes with high—sounding names were with-
in the reach of farmers’ wives.

I think Hetty will have plenty of bedding,
though there is little danger of getting too
much. It does not pay to quilt much, for
tied comfortables, some heavy, some light,
are just as good for warmth and spreads are
cheaper and prettier for outside use. Some-
where I have read the idea of tacking with
fancy stitch a strip of cheese-cloth over the
end of comfortables, which can be easily
washed and replaced.

I was interested in Beatrix’s remarks on
the story in the FABMER of the 10th inst.,
but it seems to me she is asking the vine
not only to stand the storm bravely itself,
but keep the oak from tumbling over. I
guess she thinks that in spite of theory

woman’s nature will endure the most.

Does Plymouth Rock keep thoroughbred
stock? if so, how would she like to exchange
a blooded calf for a grade? It would be just
as good to eat, you know. Is she sure that
neighbor used those high-priced eggs for
cooking?

The fashion notes are a help to country
women, for we see so little variety of style
that we are sometimes puzzled how to make
the children’s dresses; but if I am sent to
the waste-basket I want room left for com—
pany so will stop. A VINE.

NonanL.
_————OOO—-——"

THE FASHIONS.

 

Whether our merchants are trying to
work off last winter’s stock of cloaks and
wrappings upon a conﬁding public, or
whether there are really only slight changes
in the season’s styles inocloaks, jackets and
Newmarkets, I am not learned enough to
say. Certain it is that there are as yet no
distinctively new styles in fall or winter
outer garments. The difference is more in
the arrangement of the trimming than in
shapes. Jackets and wraps are short,

cloaks are long, so long. that they conceal
the dress entirely, save a very little at the
bottom. These long cloaks are of cloth; in-

cloth, trimmedlwith fur and passementerie.
They are cut to give the effect of a tailor-
made dress and trimmed to simulate ashort
cape or wrap. They ﬁt the ﬁgure closely at
the back, with ample fullness in the skirt,
and are partially ﬁtted to the ﬁgure in front.
The fur border extends down the fronts,
but not across the bottom. The sleeves are
in three styles; the most stylish being a
coat sleeve widening from the elbow to the
hand, though the dolman sleeves set in at
the back forms are quite popular.

Wraps of velvet, plush, and brocade are
to be reserved for reception and theatre
wear, the cloth garments being best liked
for street and church wear. These are
lined with gay quilted satins and many are
almost covered with passementerie. The
new Newmarkets have capes, and are un-
trimmed, unless by cords. Fur is the most
popular trimming, and black is used upon
brown and other colors, a combination now
called stylish, though a few years ago it
was thought in wretched taste. The long-
haired furs are most sought for, and the
plebeian skunk, known as “ martin,” is one
of the most popular; fox fur, in many shades,
is more fashionable than ever, but in the
better grades is expensive; black fox is one
of. the most beautiful furs we have.

Muifs are to be small, and boas or stole
caps comprise the sets.

In bonnets, the greatest variety prevails
though there is little alteration in shapes,

net. Ties are made bows of piece velvet,
small and tightly strapped. Jet, iridescent

brim of beads.

winter, and are not so narrow.

picot edge.

tons; coat sleeves.

cuffs and collar of the blue.

to suit the hues of the plaid.
_...__..._._._

PARLOR GAMES for the Wise and Other
wise, is a little volume by “H. E. H.’

pose.

 

deed the most elegant street garment this
season is made of ﬁne, smooth-faced habit

 

the changes being in trimmings; the mil-
liner makes two bonnets of most dissimilar
appearance on frames exactly alike. Soft
plushes, shot with color, are much used
with velvet for trimmings; and half a
dozen tiny ostrich tips often adorn one bon-

beads, crystals, are extensively used for
crowns of bonnets which have velvet or
plush brims, or conversely, the embroidered
velvet of the crown is ﬁnished by a fancy
Trimmings are massed
high, but not quite so altitudinous as last
tibbons
are combined with velvet and plumes, but
must be of watered silk or have a fancy

A very bright and pretty dress for a ten
year old girl has a kilted skirt of gay Scotch
plaid, with a dark blue waist made double
breasted and buttoned with cut steel but-
A folded breadth of the
plaid is worn as a sash, being tied in loops
and ends which form the only drapery. A
prettier way would be to put on the waist
revers of the blue, crossing over a pleated
vest of the plaid, or of silk of the brightest
color of the plaid, which should also be used
for narrow cuffs and folded band inside
The color and
trimming worn with the kilt can be varied

whoever that may be, containing instruc
tions for various games to help amuse the
young people and pass away the long even-
ings, which.seem well adapted to the pur—
The boys and girls will get consider-
able amusement out of it. Fifty cents. O. M.
Hubbard & 00., Box 697, Rochester, N. Y.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

 

To THOROUGHLY clean articles of brass,
make a mixture of one part common nitric
acid and one half part sulphuric acid in a.
stone jar, having also a pail of fresh water
and a box of sawdust. The articles to be
treated are dipped into the acid then, re-
moved into the water and ﬁnally rubbed
with sawdust. This immediately changes
them so a brilliant color. If the brass has
beCome greasy it is ﬁrst dipped in a strong
solution of potash and Soda in warm water;
this cuts the grease so that the acid has free
power to act.

 

IF you cannot send your white tlmnel or
white cashmere dress to a professional
scourer to be cleaned, you can make it
presentable by the following method, if you
are painstaking and careful: Make a very
weak cold suds of nice white soap; let the
garment soak in it about three hours, then
squeeze and dip it through the water, but
do not rub it at all. If spots remain, dip
them in a very strong suds and squeeze out.
Press the water out of the garment as much
as possible with the hands, but do not
wring it. Rinse in cold water, shake thor-
oughly and hang up to dry. Do not allow
it to become quite dry before it is pressed.
Use an iron only moderately hot and press
on the wrong side. Open or close the
seams as when the garment was new, and
be sure that every portion is thoroughly dry
before completing the ironing.

 

A connnsroxnnxr of the Horticultural
Times says: I wonder if housewives gen-
erally use fresh, green grape leaves to put
on top of their pickles to keep them sharp
and free from mould. 1 used to cover them
with a ﬂannel cloth, and rinse it out every
other day. Two years ago a friend of mine
told me that grape leaves were much nicer,
so I tried them, and 1 shall never try cloth
again. Grape leaves keep pickles the best
of anything I have ever found. I change
them once a week, and the vinegar keeps
sharp and clear, and it imparts a nice

ﬂavor to the pickles. I rinse the leaves in
pure water, and let them drain quite dry,
then lay them over every place in the jar.
They exclude the air perfectly, and are
better, and cause less work than anything

else.
______.Q-———-—

Contributed Recipes.

 

SPONGE Carts—Three eggs, beaten one
minute; one and a half cups sugar, beat
ﬁve minutes; one cup sifted ﬂour, beat one
minute; half cup water; another cup ﬂour,
with two teaspoonfuls baking powder sifted
in, heat one minute; one ,teaspoouful lemon
or vanilla; a pinch of salt. This is excellent.
If you do not use baking powder, take soda
and cream of tartar, using about twice as
much cream of tartar as soda.

BUTTERMILK CAKE—Three cups sugar; .
three cups buttermilk; one cup butter; two
teaspoonfuls soda; 9. pinch of salt, and spices
to taste. This makes three cakes, and the
longer it is kept the betterit is,’_so “they” say.
I don’t know, forI can‘t keep it for some
reason or other; too many boys here, I guess.

JOHNNY CAKE—Four cups sour milk; two
tcaspoonfuls soda; half cup shortening; two
cups ﬂour; a little salt; stir not too stiﬂ? with
corn meal; steam three hours. To be eaten
with syrup or molasses; good with butter.

YPSILANTI. MARY B.

7

 

 

 

 

 

  

