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DETROIT, JUNE 14:, 1890.

 

 

TH E HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

In the Household.
ZHE DIS It’ICT SOIIOOL-MA'AJI.
The life of a school-ma‘am is freightcd with woe,
Pxom the moment her task she begins:
For she's grumbled at, talked about, destined to
know
Of everyone's fancies and whims.

For. of course, everybody knows how to teach
:chuol!

Knowsjust what the. teacher should do.

But opinions will diti‘er. and so as a rule.

She seldom can please any two. .

The school district trustees will be her ﬁrst foe:
And they'll beat her down on her pay,

“ For all we can save on the teacher. you know,
is just so much clear gain," they ll say.

" The school teachers have such an easy time,
That their wages ought to be small,
And the district wants us to sac every dime,
Teaching school is no Work at all."

And if duringtheterm she should venture-to say
That a new chart was needed, or maps,

She'll most likely be told, “ get along as you may,
For we can't afford any such traps."

(it seems strange to think how men can afford
Nice homes, new barns and new tools,
Tobacco, lveer, whiskey. and money to hoard,
But never a cent for the schools.)

She is sure to be partial to somebody"s child,
Or, she doesn‘t explain as she migh',

She is either too strict, or else she‘s too mild,
For she Couldn‘t. of Course, be just right.

Then Some doting mother fondly suspects

That her little Sally or Beecher,

(They told her themselves, and their word she
respects)

Know: a little bit more than the teacher.

Or, we‘ll hear that in Tommie‘s head knowledge
don't sink

Quite as fast as his ma thinks it should;

“ But the teacher's to blame,“ for some folks
seem to think

She might even make brains if she would.

Yes, her mission is thankless, she‘s used to the
'- sch0ol

Of afﬂiction" and faultﬁnding‘s spur;

An exception she seems to 'he charity rule.

For its mantle will not cover her.

But methinks we shall see in that heavenly home.
By a bright crown her brow will be pressed
And with those who through great tribulation
have come.
She‘ll at last find peace, kindness and rest.
Psnrnuo. BECKY.

W

WOMEN IN BUSINESS.

 

It has often been mentioned as indicative
of the advancement of the age and the
business and political progress of women
and as a cause for congratulating the sex,
that all occupations are now open to
women and she can turn her hand to any
work she likes or for which she is ﬁtted by
taste, education or inclination. I have be
C( me a triﬂe tired of hearing Queen Vic~

tiria’s success in governing $0,000,000 of
subjects, and Mrs. Frank Leslie's business
capacity in rescuing from extinction
sevcral periodicals of mediocre merit,
quoted as examples of what a woman can
do when she has a fair show. Queen Vic~
tu'ia is a good mother and was a faithful
wife; she is the richest woman in the world
and has a thrifty disposition which tries to
the utmost the generosi‘y of an overtaxed,
tithe-burdened psople, but Parliament
and the prime minister really rule Eng
land, as is very well known; and many a
little uncrowned queen who manages her
little realm forayear on less than Victoria’s
daily dinner costs, and governs her child»
subjects wisely and well, dOLS better service
in her humble way to the worfd and
humanity than the Queen of England and
Empress of India.

But, leaving out of the question all the
“bright and shining examplts " of fem
inine strength and ability, such as Queen
H'ti:‘:Sll, the Assyrian Semiramis, )irs
Frank Leslie and Susan B. Anthony, let
us look tc see what women in humblcr
walks of life are doing to earn bread and-
butter and a little sugar on it.

It is truly said that all occupations are
now open to woman. She avails herself 01
her privileges so freely that her doing so has
ceased to be a matter of comment. Time
was, not so long ago either, when the only
work in which a woman could engage was
aewin g and teaching; she could teach
school without loss of social caste, but the
line was drawn jiht there. Today, she
can choose from a wide range of avoca-
tions, and. although “ society" may not
recognize her, she has developed a noble

her invulne'able to the slights and snubs of
those who live like the lilies: she can ﬁnd
pleasure and happiness in the absorbing in-
terests of her work, and be useful and
' contented though she doesn't understand
what is “ the cosmic sphere of woman."
We have had wom.n physicians, law-
yers, ministers, editors, lecturers, almost
beyond computation. There is hardly a
newspaper in the country which has not a
woman connected with it in some capacity.
She is accepted as “ the inevitable.” We
? have had women hutiiculiurisis and farm-
ers, and women stock-breeders. Recently
a woman from Montana came to this city,
visited Savage & Farnum’s stables at
Grosse Isle, selected two ﬁne Percherons,
and took theni back'ﬁith Her to her ranche,
where she has 1,000 horses, and which she

 

 

. has managed herself since the death of her .

independence of character which mak s -

 

husband. Mrs. H. C. Meredeth, of In-
diana, manages her herd of Shorthorns
with a skill which provokes the admiration
of other breeders; Mrs. E. M, Jones, of
Ontario, is equally skillful in the manage-
ment of her herd of fancy Jerseys; while
here in Michigan Mrs. James Moore, of
Milford, upon the death of her husband
Several years ago, took charge of his finely
bred Shorthorns and has managed the herd

wisely and successfully during the
minority of her son. And all these are
modest, quiet, unassuming, well bred

women, whose occupation has in no degree
made them coarse in manner or mind.

A woman is the business manager of the
ling/2'27emf/2;; um! -l/[m'ng/ .lor/rnuc’; Miss
Minna Williams manages the engraving
and plate printing (it partment of the
Methodist Book Concern at Cincinnati; and
Miss H. it. Grascr is a customs broker at
Cincinnati, receiving and forwarding
through the custom house the goods of her
patrons. Mrs. Anna Williams, whose hus-
band had the contract for grading six miles
of the Evansville & Richmond railroad at
Elizabethton, ind, at his death assumed
the obligations of his contract and put 30'
teams at work breaking ground. Mary
Walton, of New York City, discovered and
patented a remedy for the intolerable noise
of the elevated railroad, in three days’
time, after Edison, the great electrician,
had failed after two weeks’ endeavor. She
reCeived $10,000 and a perpetual royalty.
Nelly Patterson is the only woman ma-
chinist in Connecticut, but she can turn
out as good a piece of work as any man in
her trade, and earn as good wages. A.
Chicago lady, lcft destitute by the death
of an invalid husband, gained a livelihood
by ﬁtting up houses for the rich people
who had not t me or taste to choose wall
papers, draperies, ctc., earned a few spare
hundreds which she invested in land in the
South, selling and investing again until she
hag now $40,000 to her credit. It was a
woman who started the ﬁrst daily news-
paper, which she made yield her a corn-
petcnce. The woman rcstauranteur is the
legitimate outgrowth of the female board‘-
ing-house “ missus," but not many have
passed '71 years in the business and amassed
u. fortune, as did Mary Franc-Ls Augustin,
of Philadelphia. Miss Middy Morgan for
many years reported live-stock markets
for the New York Daily Tribune, and
though it was a most unconventional busi-
ness for a. woman, was treated with perfect
respect by the rough drovers with whom-
her business brought her in contact. The

 


 

2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

captain Of a Mississippi river steamer is a
woman, who holds a regular license to
navigate the vessel and who had accom-
panied her husband on his trips until she
{knew the shifting channel Of the Father of
Waters as well as he; and at his death
simply assumed his place. Among the
‘few skilled enamellers in New York City
is a woman—the most expert of all—~who
commands a salary of $100 per week for
her work. In the fashioning Of the delicate
ﬂower jewelry now so popular she has no
equal, and names her own price for her
work. _

Yes; truly all occupations are open to
women. Down in Milledgeville, Gan,
Jane Simmons practically illustrates the
fact. She can and does kill cattle and
sheep‘and dress them, for market with the
rapidity and skill Of a practiced butcher.
'Let us hope however she will have few
imitators, for the credit of the sex. We
had a female “pedestrian contest ”—a
walking match, if you prefer that term——
‘in this city recently, in which the equality
of the sexes was fully recognized by the
newspapers, which gave daily reports Of
the condition of the contestants in the
same terse and idiomatic phraseology ap-
mlied to men; the same impartial use of
sawdust was observed, and the police mani-
fested no more no less alacrity in ejecting
the drunken loafersthose ribald jests dis-
tracted the attention Of_‘the audience. One
of the twelve contestants wasa professional
pugilist. I have heretofore been opposed
tothe use Of the word female as applied to
women. I have changed my mind; there
are occasions on which it is the only proper
term to use. There are a number of
women in this city who have taken out
iioenses to run saloons; I dare say the
same is true in otherZCities. I don’t know
but I would as soon see awoman kill a
steer as sell liquor over a'_'bar.

All this illustrates the ability Of woman
to ﬁll any place in the world’s economy.
Surely the scope is wide enough—from the
pulpit to the bar and the shamblesl These
things will make curious reading when
Bellamy’s utopian visions are realized and
the world is run like clockwork. The
lessons and deductions to,be drawn from
these statements 1 leave: in_‘ your hands.
Things have changed. The relative posi-
tion of the sexes is shifting gradually but
none the less surely. What is to be the
outcome? BEATRIX.

..A WEDDING IN THE FAMILY.

Bruno is going to be married. I’ve
been suspecting something for some time,
owing to his regular Sunday evening en
\gagements, the care with which he waxed
his moustache and his unprecedented ex-
penditures for fancy soaps and perfumes.
These are certain premonitory symptoms,
:as infallible as the scarlet rash which pre-
Cedes the measles. SO I wasn't surprised
when he. stammered out the announce-
ment, with some pdnful blushes but a
fearless look in hishonest brown eyes, as if
happiness overpowered his constitutional
.diﬂidence. But though I was not exactly
arprlsed, somehow I felt as the boy did

 

when he sat down on the atmosphere to
study the law of gravitation. What he
expected happened, yet he had not exactly
calculated on it.

Well, I know my future sister-in-law,

and could very sincerely extend my sisterly'

congratulations and good wishes. And
though Bruno made haste to escape as soon
as possible-which was rather cowardly,
as if he had t" rown a bomb and wouldn’t
wait to see the result—yet I know he was
glad I did not “make a row over it” as he
would say. But I never did see the sense
Of pulling out the trt mulo stop in one's
voice and doing the handkerchief act, be-
cause somebody wants tO get married and
you selﬁshly would rather they stayed
single. In a day or two I put on my best
dress and went over to call on my new
sister to be, and I hope and trust I didn’t
make myself obnoxious by implying doubts
as to her ﬁtness to marry into “our family”
or her ability to manage the house and
make Bruno happy. Bruno’s a good
brother. A wife who takes the trouble to
study his nature—which has no more quips
and quirks than that of the ordinary son of
Adam—and will humor his peculiarities
instead Of nagging at him trying to make
him over, will ﬁnd she’s got a good hus-
band—'-as good as they average, anyhow.
I sometimes think men appreciate their
wives for the same reason “ Bob J akin ”
did his dog “ Mumps:” “Because she’ll
stick to you and make no jaw.” I wish
Bruno had more liberal ideas about a wife’s
right to a purse of her own, but perhaps a
wife will prove a better educator on that
point than a sister.

People act so funny when some member
of the family is going to get married.
When Will Blank was married I really
thought his mother would put on black.
She cried day and night for two weeks be-
fore the wedding day., she almost had
hysterics during the ceremony, and the
house was so damp when they came back
from their trip that the bride got a dreadful
cold. As a matter of fact, she alienated
her son’s love, and eﬁectually quenched in
her copious tears any lingering aﬁection
his newmade wife. might have felt for the
mother Of her husband. And out of tears
came bitterness, the bitterness of a selﬁsh
jealousy which would have kept the
mother between husband and wife, pre-
ferred before the wife. When Jim Jones
really made up his mind he wanted to
marry, and ﬁnally asked for the plum
everybody knew was ready to drop at the
slightest shake, Mary made it a point to
call on all the girls Jim had ever paid any
attention to, and show off her engagement
ring with a few giggles about what f‘Jim
said last night,” while the whole family
were willing to make door-mats Of them-
selves in their delight at Jim’s condescen-
sion. On the other hand, Jim’s sisters
wouldn’t even do the polite, let alone the
sisterly welcome, and poor Mary dressed
up regularly every day for two months in
expectation of the call that never was
made. Now I don’t believe in that sort of
thing. Many a marriage is “Mmedicine”
over which relatives on one side or the

 

other pull a wry face. It’s a good deal
better to swallow the pill, if it must go
down, with a good grace, for the sake of
appearances in the present and harmony in
the future. If mothers and married
sisters and brothers would just think back
to their OWn courtship, and recall how one
face, one form, one person, was more to
them then than all the world beside, they'd
have more sympathy and less sarcasm to
bestow on those who have what J ames Of
Scotland called “ the pleasing madness."
Bruno is tO be married in three months,
he said. The coming of a third party into
our life necessitates changes in many ways.
I don’t suppose I could hunt up a husband
myself in so short a time, though it would
vastly simplify matters if I could. I've
heard of marriages made on a month’s, a.
week's, even three days’ acquaintance; but
somehow I never fancied I‘d care to marry
as boys trade jack-knives, “on sight and
unseen.” The question very naturally
occurs, what becomes of me? I don‘t fancy
remaining as a member Of a three cornered
household. I remember what Daifodilly
said about the superﬂuous individual who
always made trouble in the home. However
willing to etface myself Imay be, there
seem to be obstacles in the way of being
entirely blotted out at present. I’m dis-
tressingly healthy, with no aspirations to be
an angel. To put it brieﬂy, I am not anxious
to remain at home under the new condi-
tions. but I don’t quite know what to do
with myself. We—Bruno and I—have
held interests in common so long, I have
been out of the world of work, content
with woman’s sphere as I found it ready
made, that I am ﬁt for no bread-winning
employment I can think Of. Of course
part of our little property belongs to me,
but how withdraw it without damage to
both? Yet, how can I avoid being what
our bright Daffodilly calls “a source of
marital misery?" Guess I’ll have to talk
with Bruno. but I’d like to have sugges—
tions from readers of the HOUSEHOLD in
the meantime, if any one can help.
BRUNO‘S SISTER.

-——-——-OOO-—-——-

MY IDEAS. OF “M’ HUSBAND."

It is Saturday evening and the FARMER
and enclosed HOUSEHOLD have just been
brought from the postoﬁicc. As usual, I
turn ﬁrst to the little paper that contains
so much of interest to us housekeepers. As
usual too, I commence at the ﬁrst page to
read it through. At the bottom of the
last column the leaf was turned and upon
glancing at the various headings upon the
inside pages, my eye was riveted upon
those words of unrivalled interest to every
married woman, “M’ Husband,” at the
head Of one of Beatrix’s articles. After
reading a little Way down the column I
was undecided whether it was sarcasm or
“really and truly " her “sentiments,” as
to what sacriﬁces of inclination and com-
fort a woman should make in order to
keep her husband’s love and companion-
ship. Why should woman be obliged to
put forth such an eﬁort to retain the love
and companionship of her husband? That
is, why should it be any more macaw,


THE HOUSEHOLD. 3

 

 

than for the husband to make the same
eﬁort to keep the love and companionship
-of his wife? And yet nine women out
of ten do make that some effort. If Tom
or Joe express the lightest wish it is quick-
ly carried out if willing hands and loving
hearts can accomplish it; and the same as
in the instance noted in the article under
discussion, “ Husband’s" wishes, likes and
dislikes, rule the bill of fare, the goings
and comings of the fam'ly and often the
clothing worn by the entire household.
if a new spring hat be purchased madam
is in misery if “ M‘ Husband” expresses a
dislike as to its shape or embellishment.
while should he have belonged to that ter-
rible class denominated “the boys,” in
days gone by, he must be continually
humored and kept in good temper or he
may go tearing off down town to Spend
the evening, leaving a tearful as well as
fearful little woman behind. I tell you
this is all wrong! A man ought to have
.self respect and manliness enough to do
right whether his wife makes herself a
slave to make him comfortable or not.

Continued treatment of the kind Beatrix
mentions and recommends would turn our
sterner sex into tyrants, whose only
thought of womankind is that she is capa-
ble of making them comfortable. No one
would reCOmmend such a course of treat-
ment fora child. It would certainly make
him tyranical and overbearing. The more
you do the more you may do, and that’s all
the thanks you get for it. Then note the
selﬁshness as she leaves the room while he
is engrossed with his reading. He “likes
to have her with him even though he is
reading.”

Neglected tasks, anxiously prepared
meals lest “ m’ husband ” should not like
it, staying at home to “greet him with a
smile,” in short a litetime devoted to the
one thought of “ making home so comfort-
able and cosy that he will have no disposi-
tion to leave it!”

Now I have no desire to blame the lady
in the case. I’m sure that is far preferable
to having “'m’ husband ” _go back to “ the
boys’ ” society. Yet it does not seem
right or fair to me that such a state of
affairs should exist. If a man thinks
enough of a woman to prefer her society to
all others before marriage, and chooses her
for a lifelong companion as his wife, ought
he not to be under equal obligations with
her to make their home a home in the full
sense of that beautiful word? Ought not
he to be willing to give his wife the
pleasure of his society without being cod-
dled and coaxed by ever}r means in her
power to put forth? Ought not a man be
a man without his wife’s untiring and un-
remitting eﬁorts, as well as a woman he a
woman without that same exertion on the
part of her husband? And yet, strangest
part of it all, lives there a woman who
truly loves her husband, who is not con-
stantly trying to make life as smooth and
comfortable as possible for him. It is she
who keeps the children quiet so “ m’ hus-
band ” can read; it is she who hushes the
crying babe that“ m’ husban ” may not
be disturbed at night; it is she who says

nothing of her dislike of tobacco smoke,
that “ m’ husband” may smoke his “pipe
of peace,” it is she who must needs keep
her face wreathed in smiles that “ m’ hus-
band may not be vexed with complaints
and so driven from his cosy, comfortable
home.

Ah, “ Frailty, thy name is woman! " but
what shall we call man‘.’ "

FLINT. ELLA R. WOOD.

__._._....__._._

PERSONAL LIBER I‘Y.

 

[Paper read at the meeting of Farmers' Clubs
held at -* Fa'rview.” by ‘vliss Annie Palmer. of
Norvell. slay 31am,

The ringing words of Patrick Henry,

“ Give me liberty, or give me death," have

lost none of the force and vigor of their ﬁrst

utterance, and still touch responsive chords
in the heart of every American citizen.

Liberty is our inherent right. and for it

men have left home, friends and country

and dared even d(ath itself, that they
might be free from some restraining power.

The spirit that animated the Pilgrim

Fathers when they faced the perils of the

sea and the dangers of an unknown

country, was one of rebellion against a

tyrannical oppression, and a desire for tl e

freedom which they felt was theirs by in-

heritance. When England laid her hand on
the AmeriCan colonies, and tried to assert

her authority. the brave “spirit of 76”

ﬂashed out in open deﬁance of an unjust

oppression, and a country and a nation

were bought with the lifeblood of many a

fearless soldier. The ‘dearest and most

stirring hymn in America has these for its
opening words:
“ My country, ‘tis of thee,

Sw et land of liberty,
0f t ee I sing.“

And the famous Declaration of Independ-
ence voiced the sentiment of the people,
“The inalienable rights of man are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Slavery has cast its shadow over many
a land, and sympathetic hearts have been
aroused, when they heard the pitiful cries
of slave mothers as the most sacred ties of
humanity were severed and their children
taken from them. The shadow has lifted
from our country, and God hasten the time
when the sun shall rise on a world of
freemen. We applaud when nations secure
freedom, and rejoice when captive slaves
are liberated, but there is a slavery that
calls for action on the part of each and
every individual. Man is capable of a
high state of development, but habits and
natural traits of a wrong tendency if
allowed to grow unrestrained, enclose their
victim in a network of bonds which pre-
vents, if it does not destroy, the otherwise
beautiful proportions of the being. We
have bodies whose mechanism surpasses
the most intricate and delicate works of
art, but to reach its highest stage of per
fection, it must be treated with an uno
derstanding of its requirements, or the
wonderful structure becomes diseased;
decay and ruin hasten to do their work,
and we became subject to a weakened and
impaired constitution. Broken laws bring
'retrlbution, and yet with our knowledge

 

of this truth we deliberately disobey the

 

rules of health by taking unwholesome
and indigestible food, by compressing and
distorting the naturally beautiful form,
and then bemoan our hard lot, which we
have brought upon ourselves by becom-
ing slaves to an unwholesome appetite and
an absurd fashion.

We all realize keenly, the importance of
observing laws which impose bodily suf~
fering as a penalty for trangression, but
there are invisible chains which hold us as
ﬁrmly and as surely as the iron chains
held the unwilling captive. Annng the
strongest, with most of us at least, is the
chain of selﬁshness. We can never hope
to break its power entirely, only to prevent
its obtaining complete control. It shows
itself in various forms, but one of the
most deplorable is our withdrawal into
ourselves and our interests while we dis-
regard the higher claims of a common
brotherhood. “No one liveth unto him‘
self," and we should realize the fact that
we are only individual parts of a vast or-
ganiz-ition. As the country grows older
and we become less and less dependent for
entertainment upon personal intercourse
with our neighbors, this spirit of looking
out for self seems to be on the increase.
Those who remember the kindly interest
among neighbors and friends in the
“pioneer days," and the spirit of de-
votion which characterized the people
often speak with a kind of longing regret
of the god old times when they went
visiting in the afternoon, staying to supper,
when the hostess, out of simple fare, gave
the best she had without any apofogies; of
the evenings when they went to the paring
and husking bees; of the long rides to
church on horseback or in oxvsleds. when
they listened to two long sermons, with
only a short intermission for luncheon.
The temptation to drawa contrast between
the past and the present is irresistible.
Now we put on our best apparel, make
eight or ten calls in an afternoon, consider-
ing ourselves exceedingly fortunate if our
friends are out, so we can leave a card as
an expression of our deep interest in their
welfare, and then return home feeling that
we have faithfully performed a disagree-
able duty. '

If the weather is favorable, our clotlEs
in style, and we can, go to church without
any great inconvenience, we manage to
stay through an hour‘s service; and then,
after the most elaborate dinner of the
week, sit quietly down by our own hearth,
wrap ourselves in a mantle of self satis-
faction and ask “Am I my brother’s
keeper?"

Perhaps next to selﬁshness, pride has the
most power. Pride is indispensable to
true living, but there is a false pride which
tries to keep up appearances without a suf-
ﬁcient foundation. The busy housewife
with no domestic help sees her richer
neighbor, with her servants, keep her ﬁne
house in perfect order, entertain her visitors
in an elegant manner, dress her children
in costly garments, and she tries to keep
up with her and sacriﬁces in the effort her
health, her intellect, the comfort of her
family and the hard earned money of the

 


 

4 THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

 

husband and father. Better keep agood
temper and a happy home, if the children’s
Harments have less embroidery and fewer
tucks, if the table has fewer fancy dishes,
and the small rooms have not quite
such elegant appointments as the larger
house. This is only an illustration, for
this evil is not conﬁned to any station,
place or class of persons, but has been the
means of mining countless lives, some for
the next world as well as this. Avarice,
too, is a fetter, though it may be a golden
one, for the bird in his gilded cage is not
less a prisoner than the captive in his
grated cell. I would not underrate the
value of money, of true economy nor the
duty of diligence, but the excessive love of
gain which crushes out the noble aspira-
tions of the soul, deadens its moral sensi-
bilities, and subjects the love of the beauti-
ful in nature and art to the desire for gold.
This bond strengthens imperceptibly, un-
til we almost forget that life has any higher
aim than money-getting. Many other
things will suggest themselves to your
mind, which are repressing the better part
of our natures, but lack of time forbids
enumeration.

I speak only of the abuse of these habits
and traits, for we can rise above them, but
if we drift along and make no effort to re-
strain them, they will bind us closer and
closer until we become slaves to the sower
of tares who has spread these snares ft r
our feet. There is One who is our rightful
master and with His help we can break the
chains asunder, and “stand forth in the
liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free.”

M—

'WOMEN AT HOME AND ABROAD.

 

” Aunt Bessie," in a private letter, says:
“Have you read Edgar S. Wakeman’s
letters of travel in foreign countries? I
have read them with pleasure for some
time, and have often thought the ladies of
the HOUSEHOLD would be interested in his
description of the appearance, dress and
manner of life of the women in the
countries he visits. Perhaps after reading
a few of them we will stOp grumbling
about pin money, muddy boots and no
napkins long enough to breathe one breath
of thankfulness that we live in the United
States of America, and to appreciate some-
thing of the liberties and pleasures we now
enjoy. I enclose a clipping descriptive of
the Arab women of Algiers, as they are
found at the present time.

“I enjoy the HOUSEHOLD very much.
Quite often Some lady gives my experience
or one very like mine, as E. L. Nye does
in the issue for April 5th, on napkins. A
dainty napkin and soiled gingham apron
do not harmonize somway; still it seems to
me that the napkin is to wipe the mouth
and ﬁngers more than to protect the cloth-
ing, and we need it with overalls and
aprOns.”

The clipping to which Aunt Bessie al-
ludes is as follows:

The Arab woman, save in rare and
pleasant exceptions, is hardly wh t the
get and painter have shown us. If she

graceful or beautiful it is extremely

 

 

difﬁcult to discover it; and she possesses
neither of these attractions after she is 25,
for she is a “ wife ” at from 12 to 14 years
of age, whatever that station or condition
means among the Arabs. All there is
about this being to become ecstatic over is
that subtle prompting of the poetic fancy
which ever, to the male mind peculiarly,
blooms like the rose in any soil of apparent
coyishness and mystery in the gentler sex.
The Arab woman is simply a vacuous, in-
sensate, voiceless and dreamlrss human
animal. sheeted like the dead, in the streets,
and dead to the world within the four win-
dowless walls where the majestic being
who owns her keeps her penned. The dress
of this Arab woman is all concealing upon
the street, and all revealing in her home.
The outer garment is the haik. white,
usually of wool, sometimes of silk, often
of cotton. It is frequently 26 feet in
length and nearly two yards wide. Beneath
this are precisely four articles of apparel, a
gauze chemise, an unstiffened corset or
bodice, frequently massively embroidered
and bejeweled pantaloons reaching to the
feet and comprising countless yards of
material, and the tantalizing adjar tied
tightly around the face and falling about
12 inches below. Most women not satisﬁed
with this retirement, or perhaps, more
strictly speaking, most women whose hus-
bands are not satisﬁed with this obscura-
tion, further hide the face by bringing the
haik down over one side of the forehead so
that but one eye, a dark eyebrow and a
tiny patch of the forehead are v1s1ble.
Their feet are usually encased in brown rr
yellow slippers; danglets and banglets of
indescribable jewelry tinkle and chime
from wrists, ankles and concealed portions
of the ﬁgure; and in this swathing of
ghostly haik, with humped bodies and
mincing steps, those who are allowed upon
the streets at all, wriggle, glide and scurry
along, like a bevy of escaped wraith:
from among the as silent graves upon the
hights. But this privilege of waddling
about like a lot of sheeted spooks is by no
means an universal one. The young and
fair see the sunlight only through the
open court of their dwellings, or from the
white terraces for a brief hour toward sun-
set. Only the aged and safe are ever per-
mitted to visit the mosques, with the ex-
ception that on Fridays, in company with
servants or elders, little excursions are
allowed to the suburban marabouts, or
sacred temples, and the khoubas at the
cemeteries, as at Belcour, where they are
allowed the cheering diversion of ﬁlling
with water the little cups resting at‘the
heads of tombs; for the little birds drink
from these and ﬂy to heaven with greetings
from the souls at rest beneath.

In-doors the dress of these women is
ethereal enough for the most fervid artist's
fancy. They never see in their own homes
any male but their husbands and children.
The climate, like that of Cuba in winter,
and excessively hot from May until Octo~
ber, has also much to do with this. There
are really but two garments for every-day
home wear. One is a gauze chemise
through which the olive-hued form is
wholly revealed in outline and detail.
The other is the wide, ample trousers, ter-
minating just below the knees, and almost
as ﬂeecy and gauzy in effect. The lowlier
women are bare legged, bare footed and
bareheaded, at home. Wives of the
wealthier Arabs will don pink, yellow or
blue gauze silk hose and dainty, yellow
babouches, or slippers. Their hair will be
coiled in a simple Grecian knot and fasten—
ed with some huge jeweled ornament, and
perhaps a tiny skull cap, richly embroider-
ed, will rest coquettishly on one side of the
head. But all are bedeeked with jeWelry.
The poorer are fond of burnished copper
bands about the arms, wrists and ankles,
or brilliant quartz and glass cubes and
crystals, strun on pack thread, encircle
their necks. he rich are ablaze with
jewels, principally pearls, emeralds and

 

sapphires, badly set, but always genuine
and of great value. There isalegend in
Algiers that the hidden riches of the
wealthier Arabs, principally comprising
jewels, exceed the sum total in value of'
all coin, plate and jewels otherw.se pos-
sessed by all nationalities in the “white-
City."

w...—

A CORRESPONDENT who enquires where-
rubber gloves can be purchased, and their
price, is informed they may be obtained of
the Goodyear Rubber House, 204 Wood-

ward Avenue, this city. Price, $1 and .

$1 ‘25; sizes, six to nine.

 

WHAT has become of all our HOUSEHOLD
correspondents? The HOUSEHOLD com—
partment of the Editor’s desk has been a
yawning chasm of emptiness for the past
two weeks; her dreams haunted by visions
of imps calling for copy and ﬁnally send-
ing the little paper to press with all its
pages blank. Surely somebody has ﬁnished
cleaning house, boiling soap, making
garden, and has a breathing-spell in these
rare June days. Somebody please take up
several pens and write quickly, before the
Editor forgets what a letter looks like.

-—-—~—OOO————-

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

JEWELRY can be nicely and easily
cleaned by-washing in soap suds in which
afew drops of ammonia are stirred, and
then laying, without wiping in a box of
dry sawdust.

THE use of alum, ammonia, vinegar,
pepper, etc., to brighten the colors of'
wash goods is hardly to be commended.
Their effect is but temporary at best, and
the garment soon grows dingy under re-
peated use. The best thing to use for
dresses of delicate colors is bran. The
way to use it is to pour half a gallon of
boiling water upon half a pound of bran,
let it stand for some hours, then strain it,
and use it lukewarm without soap, remem-
bering to turn the dress inside out before
washing, and to dab it up and down and
squeeze it'to get out the dirt, and to avoid
rubbing. Was't goods should never be
put into water or suds in which lye, soda,
pearlash or anything of the kind has been
put, as it ruins the color. Nor should
they lie wet in the basket, but be washed
as quickly as possible, turned wrong side
out and hung up at once.

__....._.___.

Contributed Recipes.

AUNT Emma‘s Cooxms.» Two eggs; one c; p
sugar; half cup butter; t“ o t a=pocnfu 3-
sweet milk; two teaspcont‘uls bt king p1wder;
mix soft and ﬂ .vor with vanilia

FRUIT CAKE.— 0 ;e cup rug r; one cup bat-
termilk; spice to smt (ate; one cup chopped
seefed raisins (other iruit may be added if
desired); four t. blespoonfuls butter; one tear
spoonful rods; ﬂour to make it quite stifh
Dried apples 0' OppLd ﬁne aLd s‘ewul in mo-
lasses until dor e, adds to any fruit cake and
h lps to keep it moist.

CHEAP Cama— One egg; One cup buttermilk;
one cup sugar; one teasp:o:.ful soda; ﬁve
tablespoonfuls butter; one teaspoonful each
of cinnamon and cloves; two cups ﬂour. _

Oaxwoon. Box All.

 
 

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