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DETROIT, MARCH 9, 1886.

 

 

THE HOUSEHGLanwgupplement.

 

 

A MA GIUIAN.

 

We thought he would be unwelcome,
For our crowded heart and hands
Were 10th to take the burden
or another child’s demands.
The world seemed so full of shadow,
And life so full of pain,
That we grieved to give another
Its bitter cup to drain.

He came like a Prince most royal,
And bore in his tiny ﬁst

The wand of Love’s great magic,
A power we could not resist.

It made the sunlight brighter,
The toil and the shadow less,

And the child we thought unwelcome,
Brought nothing but happiness.

A. H. J.
Thomas.
——ooo—-—-—

THE RELATION OF THE STOCK-
MAN’S WIFE TO HER HUS-
BAND’S BUSINESS.

 

[Paper read by “ Beatrix ” at the Institute of the
Webster Farmers‘ Club, Jan. 20; at the Ingham
County Grange lr stitute at Okemos, Feb. 24th,
and at the Institute of the Oceola Breeders’ As-
sociation at Howell. Feb. 27th.]

There is an old Italian proverb which
says: “ He that loses his wife and a
farthing, hath great loss of the farthing.”
The swarthy dwellers among Italian vine.
yards may estimate woman’s worth at less
than a farthing; we can forgive them,
since to. this low valuation We may op—
pose the tributes of a higher civilization.
Hear Dryden:

“ As for; the women, though we scorn and ﬂout

em
We may. live with, but cannot live without
’em.”

And Victor Hugo: “ Man without
woman is like a pistol without hammer;"
while Otway says:

“ Oh woman! lovely woman! nature made thee
To temper man; we had been brutes without
you.
Angels are painted fair, to look like you;
There’s in you all that we believe of heaven;
Amazing brightness, purity and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love.”

And there are few men who have
gained what the world calls success who
do not acknowledge their obligation to
their wives, who have ‘stood by them
through storm and sunshine, conﬂict and
victory; giving good counsel and impart-
ing fresh courage and inspiration. And
there are few, too, who have descended
into the valley of Failure, who have not
alleged, in at least partial excuse “the
woman whom Thou gayest me.” Thus
the wife may win the highest meed of
praise; or be compelled to bear not alone
her own shortcomings, but those of
others also, while all admit she is more
or less a factor in her husband’s material
prosperity.

 

The true marriage brings man and
woman together in a companionship of
sympathy and affection, in which there is
also a most perfect union of interests;
which I may say in passing, should not
be a selﬁsh absorption in one’s immediate
sphere of activities; but a far-looking,
out-reaching exrstence, which takes us
beyond our 'personal concerns, since
each individual life comes to its fullest
fruition when rooted in the great heart of
humanity.

The relation of the wife to her husband’s
business must differ in degree and kind,
according to its nature and her ability
to be a companion and helper. Some
men marry a doll—to dress elegantly and
represent them in society; others marry
a housekeeper—to make them comfort-
able; while others ﬁnd in the chosen one
a higher idea of living, a treasury of help
and courage, which makes the real com-
panion. The husband has his tastes and
sympathies, his plans and aspirations; it
is the wife’s business—and should be her
pleasure—to discover them, to enter into
them, and make them her own. The
measure of her aid depends upon her tact,
her devotion and selfssacriﬁce; for it is a
pecuiiarity of the marriage relation that
the husband rises by self-assertion, while
the wife wins her place at his side by
self at rrender.

In the comparative isolation of farm
life, husband and wife are more de-
pendent upon each other than in town,
where the home is often merely “ general
headquarters”- to a man immersed in
business and a woman whose one ambi-
tion is social success. The stockman
cannot carry on his business totally in—
dependent of his wife, since to her he
must look for the carrying out of cer-
tain very essential details. The mer-
chant’s customers, the lawyer’s clients,
the doctor’s patients, have nothing what-
ever to do with the private life of the
man whom they meet in a business way.
The lawyer dismisses his clients at his
ofﬁce door; if the merchant or manufac-
turer desires to show courtesy to the men
from a distance who come to buy his
goods, he makes them his guests at club
or hotel, or “dines and wines” them at a
restaurant. They neither expect, nor
except in rare cases receive, an introduc~
tion to the family of their entertainer.
Not so at the stockman’s home. His cus-
tomers come from a distance, time is
valuable, there are neither hotels nor res-
taurants at hand, they must perforce be
entertained at his house; and with the

 

impressions borne away concerning his '
stock, are mingled, necessarily, impres-
sions of his domestic manage, which more
or less inﬂuence action upon his invita-
tion to “come again.”

Next to the stock and the stockman’s
personality, of which indeed it often
forms a part, comes his hospitality,
which, unless cordially seconded by his
wife, falls short in purpose. Given two
men with equal grades of stock, and
themselves equal in the art of convincing
a customer that the animal he is looking
at is the very one he long has sought,
which, think you, will count most sales
at the end of the year; he whose wife
greets these transient guests cordially, by
her gracious manner putting them at ease
and making them welcome to even a
“ picked-up dinner ;” or he Whose wife is
literally a “silent partner,” perhaps
absenting herself from the table, and
making the strangers feel their presence
an intrusion?

It is very probable some of you may
believe that, having good stock anda
ready tongue to extol it, no woman’s in—
terference or assistance is necessary in
disposing“ of it. Not directly, indeed.
Yet one' of our best known and most suc-
cessful breeders frankly admits he never
decides an important question, nor em-
barks in a new venture without consult-
ing his Wife; adding that her quickness
of perception and keen intuition has
often decided the question, and her
counsel saved him from disaster. He
made special mention, too, of her patience
and sweetness of temper under an en~
forced hospitality, no light burden added
to the care of alarge family. And he
paid this tribute to her gratefully, gen-
erously, as a man ought when thus
blessed.

There is in Michigan—mud Michigan is
a great State, and the story I am about to
tell may be but one of many—a man who
by taste and education is ﬁtted to rank
as one of our leading stockmen. Son of
an enthusiastic breeder, he grew up
among stock, conversant with lines of
breeding and pedigree, and at his ma-
jority looked forward to winning a place
“at the front.” But some certain unap—
propriated portion of his anatomy was
captured by a fair maiden, whom he mar-
ried; and they established themselves
upon a small but pretty farm, and with a
fair start, beganadual existence. But
the wife soon discovered she hated the
farm, and hated stock; and hated, above
all, to have the quiet of the home and

 


   

2

THE H 0 US EH OLD.

  

 

the routine of her house-keeping disar—
ranged by the coming of customers, who,
as the farm was several miles from town,
must often eat at her table and sleep in
the sacred best bed. Instead of realizing
that since her husband’s tastes and
knowledge lay in this one direction, in it
alone could he succeed, that the path led
to the wealth she coveted, and so
making her personal dislikes subservient
to her husband’s interests, she cried, and
grumbled and fretted over every - unex-
pected arrival and delayed meal, till her
husband, losing heart, gave up in des-
pair; snd is now hardly known outside a
little circle of surrounding territory.

ﬂow it goes without saying that the
stockman’s wife has before her a greater
task than the wife of the ordinary farmer.
If her husband does alarge business, itis
very like running a free hotel, and
doing the work herself. She must be a
woman of resources, ready to meet and
vanquish emergencies. She never knows
at what mement a small army of hungry
men may descend upon her and sweep
her cupboard clean. There is a law,
which some one has wittily called “the
total depravity of inanimate things,”
which decrees such visits when the
housekeeper is most unprepared for them.
Then it is that the true wife and help
mate can assert herself. Instead of
fretting over her unprepared condition,
or favoring her husband with a Candle
lecture, audible perhaps to the strangers
in the next room, she possesses her soul
in patience for the time being, does the
very best she can; and remembering it
is not those who have accepted the in—
vitation but he who gave it, who is
responsible for her discomﬁture, she
makes these possible buyers cordially

welcome to the best she has, with no,

show of discomposure, and gives her hus-
band a blessing in private. But if she
remembers that it is “business,” that
every friend her husband makes, every
man who shares his hospitality, is ameans
of increasing that husband’s pepularity
and fame, and consequently sales and
proﬁts, she Omits the scolding, feeling
she has only performed her part in the
marital partnership. And there is this
comfortable thing about it: If the wel-
come is cordial. the hostess at her case,
and the table clean, the plainness of the
fare is entirely lost sight of in the social
enjoyment. At dinner one day Madame
de Steel’s servant begged: “One more
anecdote, Madame; the cook forgot the
roast to-day!” Few have the great con-
versationalist’s brilliant wit, yet tact and
address can cover many culinary short~
comings.

Under any circumstances, if the guests
are hidden by the master, the mistress
should never repudiate the invitation.
She should never commit that fault which
Victor Hugo says wives so often commit,
which is called in parliamentary language
“exposing the crown,” or in other words.
putting him in the wrong, or making
him appear at a disadvantage before
others. Some wives forget this, in their
anxiety to justify themselves, though no
true woman would mortify her husband

 

 

in the presence of strangers, by showing
displeasure, however justiﬁable.

Many of our stockmen are providing
ofﬁces _in connection with their stables,
where customers are entertained; thus
putting the business more upon a com-
mercial basis, and greatly relieving the
wife. Whenever a man’s business war-
rants the outlay, he should certainly pro-
vide such an ofﬁce. Invitations should
be judicious; remembering old Sir Hugo’s
advice to Daniel Deronda: “Be court—
eous; but don’t give yourself to be melted
down for the beneﬁt of the tallow trade !”
A man can greatly lessen his wife’s labors
by a little forethought. He can send
her timely warning of an inﬂux of guests
at meal-time, before he marches In at the
head of the phalanx. He can offer an
apology when some unusual task has
upset the domestic programme, or excuse
himself entirely from hospitality in the
case of sickness. By such thoughtful—
ness he can earn his wife’s gratitude, and
greatly increase her willingness to bear
the discomforts of the business which
fall to her share.

The life of the stockman’s wife, if it
holds disadvantages and trials not com-
mon to the lot of the ordinary farmer’s
wife, has yet its compensations. Her
husband, by virtue of his business, which
leads him into the world and among men
of thought and action, becomes himself
a man of enterprise; and if he have any
adaptiveness, steps beyond his specialty
into the deeper current of life, with its
broader aims and views, whither she may
follow him to her own great advantage.
She meets men of many _moods and
minds, of whom, if they have not “Bates”
or “ Atwood” on the brain, and can talk
of something besides “pedigrees,” she
can gain much general information. 'As
travel is a great educator, so, next it,
come opportunities to meet those who
have looked upon matters of life and
public import from other standpoints
than ours; the attrition of mind upon
mind beats down prejudices and modiﬁes
peculiarities. She should take pride in
her husband’s standing among breeders,
and in his ﬁne animals. I have little
patience with those Wives and daughters
who pique themselves upon knowing
nothing of out-door affairs; I do not be-
lieve in being “above one’s bread-and-
butter.” When a wife or daughter is
interested in such things, she makes
the very nicest kind of a secretary or
amenuensis, giving a loving, interested
service which money cannot buy, as
many of you very well know. It is worth
the husband’s effort to conﬁde his plans
and aspirations to his wife, and consult
herjudgment; it is well, too, to let the
price of a ﬁne calf or lamb ﬁnd the way
to her private purse, that there may be a
community of proﬁts as well as of in-
terests.

[ have heard it said, more than once,
by good judges of humanity, that the
nature of a man’s business necessarily
and inevitably inﬂuences his character.
Thus, if he is engaged in work which
embraces large interests, ample expendi—
ture, and calls for a wide 'outlook, he be

 

     

comes liberal in his views, generous,
public-spirited. But if he deals in small
matters, if petty details absorb him. his
vision is bounded by trivialities, and he
grows narrow, dogmatic. very positive,
and ill-liberal. This is on the principle .
that a man’s career becomes to him an
interpretation of other men’s careers.
My individual experience of humanity in
its varying phases does not warrant me
in afﬁrmlng or denying this; but, if it be
true, our stockmen, who deal with one of
our most important industries, who are
doing so much to advance our bonnie
Michigan’s prosperity, surely bebng
among our generous-hearted, liberal-
minded citizens. “ As the husband is, the
wife is,” sings England’s poet-laureate;
then the wives of our stockmen should
be progressive in thought, charitable to
the frailties of others, seeing and grasp—
ing Life’s best possibilities, standing
shoulder to shoulder with their husbands.

It is frequently said that a man uplifts
his wife to his own rank; it often hap-
pens that the wife uplifts her husband to
the dignity of her 'own character. The
wife in whom integrity governs all
actions, whose calm uprightness pervades
all thought for self and others, is a moral
force uplifting her husband to her own
plane; keeping him from the equivoca—
tions-the falsehoods which are half the
truth—which come as temptations to per-
suade a hesitating buyer. It may be
written as an axiom of the business that
no stockman ever made anything, in the
long run. by misrepresentation, or by
taking advantage of the youth or inex-
perience of a customer. The wife who
would be a factor in her husband’s suc-
cess shall not exult with him because he
has “come it” over a greenhorn and
sold off inferior stock at a big price;—
rather shall she, with Nemesis-like
ﬁnger, point out that wherever the story
of that transaction shall be told his repu-
tation shall be injured and his sales
diminished. Her clear eyes shall look
past present gain to future consequences,
and all the weight of her uprightness go
to help him withstand the temptation to
which so many men in all avocations
yield, the temptation to make good bar-—
gains at the expense of strict honesty.
Thus her relations to her husband’s busi-
ness shall be of the highest and purest
nature, and toward his truest welfare,
both ﬁnancially and morally.

-————-ow——
“DO YOU THINK OF ME AS I
THINK OF YOU?”

 

Love is a vital current of life, and there
is no question springing up from the
heart so full of prayer and pleading as
this: “ Do you think of me as I think of
you?” Love is a need, an hungering, an
awakening; and there is no spur like
strong need, no stimulus like hunger, no
kindling like awakened feeling. Yet,
because of the blights, the crushing
agonies of lives coming through decep-
tion, misguidance, through the pitiless
scourge of the affections, well may we ask.
What shall we do?

These things are not triﬂes, nor can

 

 


 

 

THE :I—IOUSEHQLD.

3

 

they be met single—handed. They are
rivers of wrong whose sources lie back in
a thousand rills springing from the moun-
tains of error. -

We have many branches of education,
and science is continually opening to us
new sources of knowledge, yet the most
important science and the most useful of
all, the study of the human affections, is
scarcely known. Here lies the source of
all motives and energies, the fountain of
blessing and woe. In this study we may
ﬁnd manifestations sublime as the star-
strewn heavens furnish, glowing as the
furnace of our sun with its blazing sur-
face of ﬂame. Science gives us an insight
into the inﬁnitesimal. 'We watch the ac-
tivities of life, forms ﬁnding their world
in a drop of water. Yet there is nothing
here so small, so near to nothingness, as
some human hearts and loves display.
Again we are shown the molecules of
matter, with their energies, antipathies,
attractions and conﬂicts; but deeper than
the science of chemistry must we delve
or a knowledge of the vital energies of
love, the source of heart—attraction and
repulsion, the cause of disunicn and mn-
ﬂict.

It is said a chemist has analyzed “ a
woman’s tear.” We want more to know
the causes of the tear, its “sentiment.”
We are ready for a‘grander stratum in the
formation of human knowledge, and this
is to come through an apprehension of
the principles of love, through the study
‘ of the aﬁections of life.

Reader, did you ever try to delineate
the character of aperson or friend well
known to you? Test your ignorance in
this grand study by an attempt to delin—
eate accurately, doing justice to the per
son’s good points and virtues and show
his deﬁciencies, letting neither his virtues
hide deﬁciencies, nor deﬁciencies mar his
virtues. Experience the dimculty of
gaining a true conception even of this
familiar character. Judge if you can ap-
prehend the’ various standpoints from
which this life looks out over the ﬁeld of
action and sees the bearings from many
positions leading in diverse directions.
Do you not ﬁnd yourself lost in the im-
mensity and maze of this great energy,
love? This one lesson I have learned—
to expect many blemishes even in the
rarest characters. I do not well under—
stand it yet, and wonder about it. With
this puzzling lesson before me, I re-read
that perplexing question a member of the
HOUSEHOLD asks, “Is there true love in
man, not subject to the slightest change
through circumstances?” Well, “ I dun-
no,” I mean to ﬁnd out! There’s good ad-
vice in the proverb, “ Prove all things,
hold fast that which is good.” I’m sure
there’s perseverance in man; I have it on
“ good authority,” and it is not “ gossip.”
I’ll give a case in point:

I met a Southern lady here in New Or-
leans who assured me she was a “ woman
of culture,” and also “ fascinating,” and I
did not doubt it. Her attractions may be
judged frbm the fact that she’d had twen-
ty-seven offers of marriage; she said so,
and no one doubted it, except one “ old
maid," and a cynical old gentleman, who

 

afterward repented having doubted and
acknowledged he was willing to be for—
given.

Strange conceit of woman! Woman
with her tender spiritual nature, her faith
which clings to love which agonizes,
hopes through uncertainties which para—
lyze, and who cherishes memories which
are like ringing beils of pain,—woman
believing, trusting, idealizing man too
much, be content if “ you think of me as
I think of you.” Well may she some—
times question why the soul must be fed
by the torture of the heart, but has she a
right to doubt that man may love truly?
Nay, she cannot afford to burden her
heart by thus suffering doubt.

Belief is a vital factor in happiness, and
progress as well. There’s comfort in the
thought that I do not believe in that sor-
rowful, beautiful illustration given, “As
the babe’s ﬁngers try to grasp the sun—
beams ﬂitting across the room, so we
reach out cxpectantly for. lore, only to
ﬁnd our hearts as empty as the little
hand.”

Is this conception not imperfect? The
sunbeams, those “blessing-bringing
daughters of the'sun,” are light, life and
joy. All these the child may realize in
them; innocently and ignorantly the little
hand loses them only through the closed
ﬁngers.

Do we not err in trying to grasp love?
What is the love of man and womanhood
but a beautiful development, an unfold—
ment? We cannot hold it, purchase or
beg it. It comes, warms, thrills, it glori-
ﬁes. Through the creature power of un—
ion, it is allied to the Divine. It is not a
mystery, more than is the pulse, when the
life-blood throbs out from the heart. It
is a reality, warm as sunlight, calm as
rest, and pure as a child’s heart. We
have this testimony the world over; now
we question how to secure and maintain
it. It must be established upon the bed-
rock of worth, and up-built by knowledge
and sympathy. Entering man and wo—
manhood, the eager hands of youth are
out-stretched to pluck of the “tree of
knowledge,” and will not be denied. Are
the feelings educated for this testing
period? Are these youths students of the
science of human affections? These are
the powers we have to deal with, forces
destructive as ﬂame if ungoverned, and
how are they to be governed, much less
understood and directed to happy results,
with no knowledge of their workings?

When I see young people drawn to-
gether like children for pastime, marry-
ing, but like the children soon weary of
play, howI wish they could, like the tired,
disappointed children they are, go back
to their mothers and their duties. The
work of reform here must begin in the
home. If mothers, with the full experi-
ences of maternity, cannot aid the young,
how shall we who know so little of the
development of womanhood direct? If
other words of counsel come, through
great ignorance must thrilled, suffering,
hungering hearts speak; for a touch of
agony may send one a long way on the
line of development.

There seems strange ignorance among

those older and wiser in experience—ig-
norance of the inﬂuence of attraction,
cruelty designed as tenderness. When a
strong life touches our own, inviting the
current of being, awakening that vital
energy, love, how easily the channels are
formed which blend these forces! Then
when the weaker—no, I will not say
weaker, the more intense and suffering
life, must ﬁnd its way back to the old
channel of aloneness,l what heroism is
there need for in that struggle! Oh,‘ wo—
man, for your silent heart~cravings, your
prayers, your endurance,your grandeur in
sufferings entailed 'upon you for the sake
of Love, accept the reverent homage'and
admiration of a woman’s heart!

Let us enlarge, enrich and satisfy life
more fully by seeking all those means of
study, occupation and amusement which
will give grander, clearer apprehension
in solving these problems of the aﬁec—
tions. Then I would offer this as a sug-
gestion (which I wish I had thought of
before, it seems so to simplify the per-
plexities before us,) let woman think and
care less for and about man. Somehow I
have not much hope that this suggestion
will be acted upon, for we are a little too
anxious to get experience ﬁrst-hand. It

“is rich, of course, but often costs dear.

Then there are some things which will
not consent to die. Among these are
promises illuminated by hopes, and im-
pulses from loved lives which entered
our own as sacred verities. There are
moments of to-day wed with the past,
when a familiar touch, a tone, or a look
with life in it, come back from what they
tell us is the “vanished past,” and live
for atime seeming strangely real. T0a-
kens of the eternal somehow these seem,
with all the under-current of suffering
experience has associated with them.

After all that may be said, must not
social wrongs and sufferings be amelior-
ated and subdued by the clearne'ss of
knowledge and the power of self-control?
I cannot but feel that the greatest
amount of wrong and woe lies in the
great ignorance of the principles and
laws governing the affections. If the
links of attraction be strong, and close
relationship natural, these will strengthen
with “years of life together,” and through
mutual helpfulness shine as the stars.

S. M..G.
NEW ORLEANS, La.
‘-————.OO——-—
TRICO'I‘ STITCH, AND OTHER

MATTERS.

 

Tricot, Afghan or Tunis stitch is worked
as follows: Make a chain the required
length, then put the hook through the
second chain (from the hook) and pull
the thread through; there will be two
stitches on the needle. Treat all the
chain stitches in the same manner. When
all are picked up, take thread on crochet
hook and pull through two of the stitches;
take thread again and pull through two
more, and so on till but one stitch is left
on the hook. Third row: Put hook under
the stitches that are “ standing up,” and
pull thread through; repeat to end of
row; then repeat second row.

 

The two “P.’s”have had the ﬁeld t

4?}

 


 

4:

THE HOUSEr-r'OLD.

Ar~ \. .«r-n:

 

themselves on the religious lottery ques-
tion, but I think it depends altogether on
the self-control a person has, whether
such lotteries will lead to gambling or
not. It also depends much on the train-
ing received in childhood. For it is the
parents’ privilege to mould their children’s

.minds, and lead their footsteps toward

the paths of happiness or misery, virtue .
or vice. But how many use this power

rightly? Parents, remember that you

hold your children’s future in your hands,

and do all you can to inﬂuence them for

their good hereafter. Teach them the

habit of self-control, so that when tempt-

ed, they will know just how far to go, and

have enough control over themselves to

stop.

If L. R., of Wacousta, will wash
her walls with liquid glue (carpenter’s)
just as she puts each strip down, I think
she will have no trouble to make her pa—

per stick. PEARL.
Gnsnxrrsnn .
——ooo———-

THE CARPET-SVVEEPER.

 

With all due respect for the advice and
suggestions of our esteemed cditress,
after a second perusal of her article upon
sweeping and dusting", we are led to
the conclusion, either that she is not fa-
miliar with, or does not appreciate the
beneﬁts arising from the use of' the mod-
ern carpet-sweeper.

A friend of ours, whom we consider a
thoroughly capable housekeeper, in
sweeping her carpets, never makes use of
the broom except for the edges of the car-
pet, and never a dustpan, the sweeper
supplying the double purpose of broom
and dustpan. Her rooms, (including par-
lor) are in constant use, and her carpets
are clean and free from dust, though
never a damp cloth wipes them off, ex—
cept to cleanse spots from the dining-
room carpet. Even the kitchen carpet is
swept with a sweeper.

The sweeper is largely a labor-saving
machine, and the dust, the greater part
of it at least, instead of lodging upon the
furniture, is held within the sweeper-
When using the sweeper. do not make
haste, but taking one breadth at a time,
repeat the process until your carpet ap-
pears fresh as though rubbed with a
damp cloth.

Our mothers and grandmothers were
compelled to do everything by the hard—
est, and would it not seem best that we
should avail ourselves of these modern
inventions, so that “ sweeping day” shall
not be the dread of our lives?

The carpet-sweeper in all its appliances
has not yet reached perfection, but we
trust the day is not far in the future,
when the broom which scatters more dust
than it accumulates shall be honored as
a thing of the past. H. E. KEDer.

Lansme.

Mns. A. C., of Bellevue, .asks where she
can get ﬂoss that will not fade to work a
bedspread with. The red, blue and green
ﬁoss will almost always keep its color
even under repeated washings in soap-
suds; and if A. 0. cannot ﬁnd it of good
quality in her home town she can send

twenty-ﬁve cents to Newcomb & Endi—
cott, Taylor & Woolfenden, or Mme.
Rabaut, of this city, and have a supply
forwarded her.

___...___

PEARL asks what style of cloaks will be
worn by babies of a year old the coming
summer. Double-breasted coats, with
short waist in the back and box pleats,
will be made of white pique and basket
cloth, with no trimming but the large
buttons in front and on the back at the
waist line. In lighter materials, such as
cashmere, and in soft wash goods, the
Mother Hubbard retains popularity,
though the little coats with double or sin-
gle-breasted fronts and full kilt at the
back, with sash from the under arm
seams, are popular. Trimmings are em-
broidery and lace. Since Pearl lives an
near the city, why not inspect the little
garments for sale at Madame Hnde‘s,
Madame Rabaut’s. or Newcomb 8; Eadie
cott’s‘? One can get a good many valua—
ble hints by so doing.

 

A RUSTIC SUMMER House—As I think
they are nice, I will try and describe one
for this little paper. Get eight or ten
posts nine or ten feet tall; set them in a
circle two or two and ahalf feet apart;
the posts ought to be three inches in di—
ameter. N all on hoops made out of hoop
poles cut in two, so as to make one side
ﬂat, put them about twenty inches apart,
leave a space between two of the posts
fora door. Built a roof of any descrip-
tion you desire; have a seat built all a
round the inside. It makes a delightful
place to sit in the long summer after—
noons. . Train any vines you desire over
the sides and top; Trumpet vine and Vir-
ginia creeper are good ones; I prefer the

Trumpet vine as it blossoms so prettily.
MINNE HAHA.

Oxnmos.
——.¢.———

' M., whose troubles with her cake were
mentioned in a late HOUSEHOLD, thinks

the fault cannot have been the
baking powder, as she uses the
Royal, which is acknowledged to

be one of the best and purest.
She mentions further experiences as fol-
lows: “ I have found (since writing to
the HOUSEHOLD) if Iuse three-quarters cup
of sugar in place of one cup, as I usually
do for a cake, it will be light and nice, so
I think there must be a difference in gran-
ulated sugar. Last summer several of
my friends lost their strawberries, and
thought it was owing to the sugar they
used (granulated). Mine kept well, but
the sugar was purchased the year before,
and it was that bought last fall I have
had trouble with in making cake. I
should like to hear if others have ex-
perienced like difﬁculties.” .
_———-+..——-—

THE HOUSEHOLD Editor takes all sorts
of liberties with her private letters, on
the principle that it is wrong to be selﬁsh
and refuse to share good things with our
friends. So the writer of the following
must forgive its publication, for it, as
the endeavor of a wise and loving mother,
is too good to be lost: “I try to keep

 

young that I may be a companion for

 

my girls, and do not forget that I once en-

joyed the things that now look foolish. I
think it very wrong for parents to repri‘

mand and forbid their children the inno-

cent enj oyments which they once enjoyed
with keen zest. I sympathize with “ One
of the Girls,” and lean say as one mother
I shall not regard her with disfavor. I
would not like ayoung gentleman to call
or visit at our home who would be- afraid,

in my presence, to invite one of my
daughters to ride or go to a party; and I
think if mothers are genial and not over—
watchful, but teach their daughters self—
respect. and show young gentlemen that
they respect and trust them, they have
conﬁdence in the mother and are glad to
have her know they are not afraid of

her.”
——¢o¢———
RELATION OF THI EMPLOYER
TO THE EMPLOYE.

 

[Read by Frank Seeley. at the Farmers’ Institute
held at Mason, Feb. 18 and 19. 1886.]

In this country, where land is so cheap
and where our homestead laws give an
energetic young man a farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres, by a ﬁve years’ resi—
den'ce and a small sum for expenses, the
best qualiﬁed men fon farm labor are apt
to take Greeley’s advice, “Go west, young
man." The fact that so many do go west,
increases the importance of the labor
question every year. It is the ambition
of almost every American to some day be
at the head of some business. If he is
the son of a rich man it is a very easy
matter to achieve this ambition. - To the
poor boy, it is a question of long years
of hard work and closest economy; but,
in the end, he is often the more successful
of the two. ‘

It is frequently the case that country
boys would rather be poor clerks in a
store than good laborers on a farm. They
think that the apparent ease, the chance
to wear “ soft clothes,” the shelter from
summer’s heat and winter’s cold, will
make up for the healthful exercise, the
freedom and independence of farm life.
There is no occupation on the footstool
that offers so many advantages in the way
of home pleasures, social restraints, prac-
tical education, and hard work, and is so
free from the petty annoyances of bap—
tering, fault-ﬁnding, of dead beats, of
speculation, (barring Bohemian oats). as
farming. The reputation of being a good
farmer is quite as desirable as success in
any other business; and this success de—
pends not only on his own eternal vigi-
lance but also on the prudence, economy
and industry of his employes.

In speaking of farm employes, we re-
fer more particularly to that class of men
who work by the month for a term of
months. The month hand the employer
considers a live machine, that does so
much work for so many dollars; and, like
all good machines, the better he is taken
care of the more proﬁtable he will be.
There are few men who will not appreciate
good treatment, or who will not for some
extra accommodation repay it with in-
terest. There are, of course, some men
who are entirely selﬁsh both in precept
and practice, and the more you do for

 

them the less they will do for you. Such

 


 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

5

 

men, however, are rare, and when found
out should be let severely alone.

The employer should be very careful in
selecting a man who is to be taken into
the house as one of the family. One of
the most important considerations is the
eﬁect on the boys; for we all know how
apt children are to pick up the profane
and vulgar expressions that so many men
thoughtlessly utter. Another point to
consider is neatness about the house and
willingness to do chores, such as bringing
wood and water, and perhaps tending
baby (provided always that the baby is
good-natured.) Another quality to look
for is the ability to handle the stock quiet-
ly and carefully, to understand the feed
and care of teams, and last, but not least,
to milk the cows. Probably more cows
are spoiled for milk by careless employes
than in any other way. The best help a
farmer can get undoubtedly is the grown
up sons of neighboring farmers, whose
services are not required at home. You
have a better chance to know of their
ability, their habits, and their business
training. .

A man who can not manage for himself
is not usually proﬁtable for any one else.
It is not always the man who can do the
most work in a day who is the most pro
ﬁtable; for it is often the case that he will
work two days and “ go ﬁshing” the next
three. He who accomplishes the most
is generally the one who goes slower and
keeps at it. Don’t hire a man who is
roving about the country, of whom you
know nothing; if he is worth hiring he
would not be tramping, seeking employ-
ment. How often we read of one of that
class decamping with what valuables he
can lay hold of! And what intelligent
farmer wants such a man in his family?
Mr. Barnum, in his lecture on the art of
money getting, says, “ An important ele—
ment in an employe is the brain. You
can see bills up, ‘ Hands wanted,’ but
hands are not worth much without heads.”
He illustrates it in this way: “ An em-
ploye offers his services by saying, ‘ I
have a ﬁnger that thinks.’ ‘ That is very
good,’ says the employer. Another calls:
‘ I have two ﬁngers that think.’ ‘ That
is better.’ But a third steps in and says,
‘ All of my ﬁngers and thumbs think.
‘ That is better still.’ Finally a fourth
comes and says, ‘ I have a brain that
thinks; I think all over; -I am a thinking
as well as a working man.’ ‘ You are the
man I want,’ says the delighted employ-
er.”

Those men who have brains and ex—
perience are the most valuable, and are
not to be readily parted with. It is bet— ‘
ter for them, as well as yourself, to keep
them at a reasonable increase of wages
from time to time. If you get a good man
it is better to keep him than to change;
he learns something every day and you
proﬁt by the experience he acquires. He
is worth more to you this year than last,
provided he remains faithful, and his
habits are good. If, as he gets more
valuable, he demands an exorbitant in-
crease of wages, discharge him at once;
ﬁrst, to show him that you can do with-
out him; and second, because he is good

 

for nothing if he considers his services
invaluable. If you get a really good man
pay him fair wages, for he is cheap at al~
most any price. A man of brains will
generally understand the value of his
labor. He ought to know that his invest-
ment is the same as the farmer's, minus
the farm, stock, and tools; and he ought
not to expect a larger interest on his capi—
tal than the farmer.

It is said that “ The gloomiest day of a
man’s career, is that wherein he fancies
there is some easier way of getting a
dollar than by squarely earning it." That
is just as true in regard to farm help as
anybody else.

You will occasionally ﬁnd a farmer who
fancies he can hire, at a low rate, a man
who is a little weak in the upper story,
and make up in poor fare, drudgery, and
late hours, what he lacks in judgment.
The following illustration shows how
such men are liable to get left: A Low—
land farmer went to a fair to hire a farm
servant. In looking about him he saw a
tall, well built lad, with a vacant expres-
sion of contenance. He accosted him and
found that Jock was an “ innocent.”
Thinking here was a chance to secure a
strong lad that would take low wages and
not quarrel with the very plain fare of
the kitchen, he questioned him, and ﬁnd-
ing he was used to farm work, engaged
him. “ But I maun hae your character,
Jock, can ye bring me a good one from
your minister?” “ Oh, ay!” says Jock,
and it was agreed that Jock was to bring
the document to the Sun inn at one
o’clock. At the appointed time Jock ap-
peared. “ Weel, ma lad, hae ye got your
character?” “ No. but I got yours, and
I’m na coming," cried Jock, as he bolted
from the room.

When you have your help engaged you‘

naturally expect them to be members of
your family; and it is better to furnish
good reading for their leisure hours than
to have them out every night till late bed-
time. Encourage them to read some-
thing useful-to read the papers, the farm
journals, and good magazines and books,
in place of the trashy yellow-covered lit-
erature that contaminates so many minds.
Stimulate them to talk of business mat—
ters, of the affairs of the State and Na-
tion, and of foreign aﬁairs, rather than
neighborhood gossip. It is better to dis-
cuss the price and prospect of the wheat
crop than the latest scandal or murder.
It is a good plan to talk with them of
farm matters, to plan their work with
them for a day or two in advance, so they
will better understand how to change
from one kind to another with as little
friction as possible;and, at the same time,
lead them to express their ideas on the
best methods of doing the work. Be care-
ful to keep their minds occupied with
good, healthful subjects, that will educate
their intelligence and prepare them to suc-
cessfully resist the arguments of the wily
labor agitator. If, after a few years of
this training, they are fortunate enough
to live near 001. Ives, they will undoubt-
edly have an opportunity to contribute
something for the Farmers’ Club. Keep

them interested in the farm work and
chores; awaken their pride in the neat—

 

ness of their work, the care of the tools

they use, and of the little things that keep

up the good appearance of the farm. As

they become more competent don’t be

afraid of spoiling them by praise; one

word of commendation will often go

further toward improving a young man

than a dozen words of fault-ﬁnding. Fol-

lowing this course, you will gradually

approach your ideal of good farm help.

At the same time, try to do by him as you

would have him do by you. Treat him *
as an equal, not as an inferior. It is some-

times the case that the “ golden rule” is

forgotten, and men can not get or keep

good help, because of abusive treatment

or failure to pay except under compul—

sion. The reputation of being a bad

master or a poor pay-master will travel

faster and farther than the “ good name"

which is said to be “ above riches. ” It

would be well to keep this fact in mind,

and take counsel of self-interest if not of
conscience. With due respect to the judg-

ment and reasoning powers of the laborer,

you must remember that 'he is, in one

sense, largely what you make him. A

horseman will tell you that the good
qualities of a horse are formed by his

training while he is young. This is even

more true of a man; you must remember
that the education you are giving him is
not for the present alone, but will last
always, either for good or evil. You will
hear it said that “blood will tell;"
but, you can stick a pin right here. blood
without training, either in man or beast,

is of comparatively little value.

Now, if you please,we will speak of the
duties of the employe to the employer.
We all expect when we hire a man that
he will give not only his time, but his ex-
perience in§whatever line it may be re~
quired. Everybody knows that a man’s
labor is not worth full price if he is in.
experienced in that which he is called up-
on to perform. An employe is expected
to keep not only his hands busy, but also
his head—not with such things as cards,
gossip, or scandal—not with dime novels,
the Police Gazette or New York Ledger-
but with the business of his employer.
You, as employee, should remember that
you are simply exchanging your capital,
which 1s your labor—the whole work of
your hands and your brain—for an equiv-
alent in cash. You must expect that, if
your employer buys your time, he will
want to know how your leisure hours are
spent, whether in a way that is injurious
to his interests, (that is, by keeping late
hours, so that you will be but half awake
the best part of the next day, to the detri-
ment of the work you are performing), or
whether in a way that will help along, as
can be done by intelligent and useful
reading and thinking. Too much can not
be said on either side on this subject of
good reading. Of course it makes a dif-
ference if your head is full of some non-
sense picked up at a saloon or some place
of that character, or if your mind is on
your work. It will make a diﬂerence to
your employer and also to yourself, as
you will learn if you are obliged to work
by the month for a term of years; for.

during all this time, you will be making a
reputation that will follow you through

 


é

    

THH HOUSEHOLID.
I

 

life, and' you will ﬁnd that bad habits
formed while in the capacity of a laborer,
will stick just as tight when you go into
business for yourself, as good ones—and
sometimes a good deal tighter. You will
understand that your employer’s interest
is yours, and that his rules are for you to
follow. There may be a better way, but
it doesn’t concern you in the least. Your
employer don’t hire you to see that he
does his work proper] , but to do what—
ever you are set at, with neatness and
despatch. Of course you can form your
own opinion of the best way of doing this
or that piece of work, but it will be time
enough for you to express it when it is
called for. Don’t think that because this
is a free country your employer has no
restraint over your person or language. If
you do you will be apt to feel as the
Paddy did when he ﬁrst landed in this
country. He was attacked by dogs on the
street, and tried to pick up a stone from
the pavement to drive them off with.
when he excl timed, “ A purty free coun-
try is this, with dogs turned loose 'and the
stones tied fast l” Your freedom consists
in the right to vote as you please and
think as you please on social, political,
and religious matters; but not the right to
dictate to your employer the terms of set-
tlement of any dispute, or to regulate
your conduct in any way contrary to the
rules of good citizenship.

It is not right, or just to your employer
or yourself, to quit work in the midst of
a season because of a real or fancied
slight, the true reason being that, for a
few days, you can get more money by
working by the day. A man’s ideas of
justice and right ought to make him see
that if his time is bought for nine
months, the hire is equalized so that it
will cover all the time alike. You must
know that ybu are paid almost double the
amount you earn the ﬁrst two and the
last two months that you work, in order
to make up to you what is right the other
ﬁve months. What would you think, if
you werea farmer, of a man who would
leave you just before harvest because of a
just criticism, and go to work for a
neighbor the next day at double the
wages? Would you feel like trusting him
again? Would you not think that he car-
ried off money which did not belong to
him? There are comparatively few farm-
ers who have not had such an experience.
One ortwo such deals will ruin a man’s
chance of steady employment, and it is
by steady employment that , one wins.
What man wants to know that his life is
to be one of a laborer for all time? What
man in his youth plans to live “from
hand to mouth,” with the chance of end-
ing his days as a county charge? It is by
branding himself “not to be trusted,”
thata young man gets a start on this
road; and if he follows it a few years he
will be a curse to himself and the world.

He who wants to get a home in this set-
tled country, and who has his hands alone
to begin with, can do so only by honesty,
industry, and the closest attention to
business. He must establish a character
for trustworthiness that men with

is no better chance to establish such a
character, than by proving yourself trusty
when working for another. If your em—
ployer speaks well of you it will contrib-
ute materially to your success; but if
your record has been such that he can not
conscientiously do so, you may as well
emigrate to the frontier.

In speaking of ability to gain the con-
ﬁdence of the capitalist, it is not supposed
that you will need to borrow while an
employe, but when you begin for your-
self—when you buy a farm, if you please.
If your reputation for accumulating is
good, you can get a larger amount on a
smaller security, than if you are consider-
ed improvident. Mr. Beecher advises
young men to get in debt, if they can, to
a small amount, for land in the country
district. “ If a man,” he says, “ will only
get in debt for some land and then get
married, these two things will keep him
straight or nothing will!” That may do
for Mr. Beecher, but most young men
would better not be in a hurry to mix the
two.

The employer and the employe should
make their relations mutual, as nearly as
possible, each working for the interest of
the other when he can. It is not expected
that a man will see an opportunity to save
for another as quickly as for himself; but
when he does see one he should improve
it to the best of his ability. It will not be
lost labor, for each will see and appreci-
ate the assistance of the other. Most em-
ployers will give a man credit for what he
knows and does, and you need not fear
but that his generosity will assert itself if
you are deserving.

If a young farmer has a few odd min—
utes to spare, he should not fear that he
will degrade himself by helping his col—
league in the kitchen, (especially if she is
handsome). In this country the man
makes the business, not the business the
man; and as long as this business is hon-
orable, you may be just as much of agen-
tleman as an employe as you can as an
employer. It is too often the case that
this fact is overlooked, and the farm
laborer becomes too sensitive about his
position, falling into the habit of compar-
ing his condition with the serfdom or
slavery of past generations; or of reason

ing falsely that the world owes him a liv-
ing—which means in his estimation, that
he ought to be able to waste all the money
he earns as he goes along, and when he
gets ready to start for himself, still have
enough to supply his wants. If he falls
short of his calculations, he naturally
concludes that this country is run by a set
of bloated bondholders and aristocrats,
because some man will not advance
money for him to squander. You have
probably heard of the man who saw an
advertisement in a paper, “How to get
rich—send ten cents for rules,” and get
as a reply “Work like the devil and don’t
spend a cent.” This is undoubtedly the
quickest way on record.

It seems but a question of time when
unskilled labor will be organized against
capital, the same as skilled labor is in

 

capital will have conﬁdence in; and there

who control these organizations, and of
the millions of dollars lost every year, not
only to the capitalist but also to the
working classes, money that they sorely
need for the necessaries of life, would it
not be better for employers to try to pre-
vent such a complication by removing
the causes of complaint as far as possible,
and at the same time protect their own
interests? Every thinking man knows
that such an organization can only be
the ruin of every honest man that goes
into it,--for the simple reason that he has
got to contribute to the support of the
unfortunate ones who have nothing to fall
back upon in times of enforced idleness;
and it would not be long before they
would be crying with the starving Irish—
man, “ I axed ye for a tater, and ye gave
me an agitator.”
-———Qw___
FRAUDS, GENERAL;
PARTICULAR.

FRAUDS,

 

[Paper read b 0. H. Starks before the Farmers'
Institute he d by the Webster Farmers' Club,
January 19—20, 1886.]

While I have a mental reservation as to
the doctrine of total depravity, willing to
believe there is some good incorporated
in the character of the unregenerate hu-
man, still I must admit after a careful
canvass of the motives that actuate men
in their intercourse with each other, that
possibly the unﬂattering view has some
pretty strong foundations in fact. Theo-

 

 

cities now; and as we read almost every
day of the strikes ordered by the rasca

 

logians tell us and many good people be-
lieve that the crookedness in life is a
windfall, a doubtful kind of heirloom or
grewsome legacy handed down from fath-
er to son, mother to daughter, since the
days of the driving out- and closing up
of the bars of Paradise to mortal occupa~
tion. If this theory be correct, and I am
not prepared to dispute it, we have not
far to go for a solution of why the
very old Adam and persuasive but
naughty Eve cling so persistently to us.
It would seem, however, that some of us,
either through natural modesty or a more
regenerate state of being, have been left
out in the scramble for the goods and
chattels left over after raising Cain

seized upon by more eager heirs, who,
not content with the grab, would buy out
our small patrimony with a mess of pot-
tage as did Jacob that C-i Eaau, and in
their greed would perpetm: 9 upon us the
same fraud as Rcbeckah dial when she stole
the blessing for her son Isaac. Presup-
posing ourselves to be of that number who
have but a moiety of undeveloped Gain
in our natures, the very natural question
arises, what are the iniquities practiced
and how should they be met? As a gen-
eral rule, when your wife’s forty—ﬁfth
cousin arrives at your house late Saturday
afternoon with a big stay—over—Sunday
satchel in one hand and a double back-
action catch-’em-all-alive rat-trap in the
other, warranted to corral all the rodent
tribe on your premises in the muscular
motions of a sheep’s narrative, and will
make you an agent for the township for
a very small consideration, you had bet-
ter look your faithful old Thomas cat
square in the face and say to your cousin-
in-law “Scat!” Again if some stranger,

  

 


was,

. ‘ lgwgge ;

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD. ’7.

 

 

of pleasing manner and polished address,
drops in upon you some of these cold
mornings and offers to sell you at a ridic-
ulously low price a patented milk persuad
er that will yank the lacteal ﬂuid from old
Brindle, churn it into gilt edge butter and
put it on the market in two turns of the
crank,—-—well, you had better not invest.
Lightning is an awful thing sometimes,
especially when it gets to zigvzaging
around promiscuous-like. It does a heap
of mischief occasionally, but you had bet-
ter trust Providence than be interviewed
by a lightening- rod man after yourneigh-
bor’s barn has been struck by a thunder-
bolt. ,

It is advisable to do your trading where
you ﬁnd by long experience you get the
most for your money, in quantity and
quality, and there is little made in chang-
ing from one merchant to another for the
sake of change; but when your dealer be-
gins to trot out the cigars and invite you
over to the corner grocery to take a nip,
make your wife presents of calico dresses,
the girls invisible hairpins and the boys
celluloid throat exterminators, it is just as
well to look around and see if there are
not some 'white mice straying around
loose. If a grocer offers to sell you eight
bars of the anti-washbeard, dirtoerasing
soap that will do a whole family washing
while you are getting up steam in your
boiler, for only a quarter of a dollar, and
in addition, present you with a ticket in
the great “ Bamboozle Gift Distribution”
that may draw a prize, you strike out for
home and set up that leach your wife has
pleaded for so long, and you will be sur-
prised at how large a prize you have
drawn in the smiles of the housewife.
Sometimes a jockey will try to make you
rich on a horse trade. Answer him as did
my neighbor: “ Stranger, you promise
too much; all I ask of you is to put me in
comfortable circumstances.” Possibly,
before the winter closes you will be wait-
ed upon by some representative agent of
certain Ohio capitalists who propose to
form a joint stock association for the pur-
pose of introducing and selling a new
kind of ruta bags that will grow without
tops, turn bottom side up at maturity and
thus save digging; or a unique variety of
potato that produces tubers on top and
bottom of the vines and warranted not to
sunburn, enabling the planter to secure a
double crop, and ask you, as one of the
leading citizens of the town, to give the
enterprise the beneﬁt of your name as one
of the incorporators and make an honest
penny besides, as there is a small fortune
in it. The oﬁ‘icers will be somewhat as
follows: First a president, and he must
be from Ohio; then a secretary, and it is
best, too, all things considered. that he
be a Buckeye; next a treasurer, well, as
this is a scheme from below Toledo, why,
you might as well take one from south of
the Maumee; directors and agents from
Ypsilanti, J ackson, or anywhere. Modus
operandi: Sell to a limited number of
greenies in each township 100 seeds or
tubers'at $1 each, binding the directors
to take oﬂthe hands of the buyer 200 at
the same price, after raising a crop, the
company to have 25 per cent for trans-

 

acting the deal, and in all cases the com-
pany’s bonus is to be cash. Down goes
your name and the company goes to work.
The thing goes swimmingly for a year or
two, when, the innocents having all
been slaughtered, there is a little irregu-
larity in the ﬁnancial department and the
managers skip out for Chicago or Canada,
and our board of directors and growers
hold a love feast, whereinsome lively
cuss words are shoved around, when
judge and jury and lawyers step in and
hold a wake over the assets.

Instead of depending every spring up—
on some local dealer for your seed you
make a great mistake if you don’t grow a
large share of your own. Flaming posters
announcing a new and wonderful variety
of the pea family that will produce a pod
as long as a rake handle and cluster like
bees at swarming time, and turn out eight
or ten whopping peas as big as a door mat
to the pod, when put to test, very often
introduce to us some old acquaintance in
a new dress, long ago discarded as worth
less, but coming back to us under some
high-sounding title. Undoubtedly the
German barley is all very well for lager
over in Dutchland, but I apprehend that
when soil and other conditions are right,
the sorts we now have will yield full as
satisfactory returns as the imported arti—
cle, even though you pay $10 per bushel
for the privilege of raising it, and if you
don’t become a connoisseur in lager beer
perhaps you have not lost information
that is valuable. This idea that many
have, that to get a thing that is good it
must come from away off—smacking of
the antipodes or anywhere but home—is

\a humbug. How often do you see a man

‘reject a good ﬁrst class mechanic he has
known all his life, and go to some neigh-
boring town, pick up some charletan, and
have thrown together a pile of lumber that
it would be a misnomer to call a house;
the lath, lumber and shingles being ac.
tually worth more before they were put
into the coop than the whole pile after
leaving his hands. Offer a lady a trim,
well made shoe of home manufacture, and
her nose will takea sudden angle heaven-
ward that is surprising. Take another of
the same kind, call it pebble goat of for-
eign make and down it will come to earth,
and smiles of satisfaction will radiate
from every lineament of her visage.

Eat pork fried, eat it boiled, take a
luncheon 011' it raw, and when outraged
nature enter's her protest by giving your
grease-saturated system areminder, hunt
up the patent medicine man’s advertise—
ment, where you see it announced in the
biggest kind of type how Dr. Genuﬁec-
tion’s great speciﬁc for human ills will
knock out tooth‘ache in two minutes,
take the grapevine twist out of colic in a
quarter of an hour, wrestle a collar-and-
elbow, square hold, catch-as-cateh-can
bout with rheumatics, giving the two best
falls in three while you can send after
your family physician, then buy half a
dozen dollar bottles for $5. thus getting
the usual discount, and proceed to make
a wholesale drug store of yourself; and if
the nauseous compound takes away your
hog-loving appetite for a few days and

 

the system thereby become relieved of
melted pig, say as did the Ephesians of
old, “Great is Genuﬂection of the Dr.
Buchanan School of Medicine." The old
family doctor would tell you perhaps to
change diet, keep away from the cider-
barrel in the cellar, throw away that
short clay pipe, (that means me in this
particular) and you will come out all right.

There are men sometimes who after
some poor crops and low prices, begin to‘
feel that manual labor is drudgery and
that farm-life is hum drum, that they
possess an order of abilities more suited
to public life and would be shining or-
naments if they had the chance. They
begin to harangue their neighbors at the
blacksmith shop about the country going
to the dogs, and the need of true worth
in this or that fat oﬂice to stand as a rock
of adamant against ahorde ofcorruption;
they are then having the premonitory
symptoms of oﬁice itch, which soon pass-
es into (if not checked) the conﬂuent
stage, and then they are goners, sure, if
not vaccinated right away with the stay—
at—home and tend-to-your-business Virus,
which would save a heap of scratching of
a slippery subject. The man who sells his
old rubber boots to the peddler in the
spring is apt to buy them or somebody
else’s cast-off footwear back in the fall as
bran new stock. Millers are some on the
toll; but before consigning them to Tophet
be sure your grist has not a large percent-
age of cookie, chess and dirt; and you
wool-growers, who breed ~wrinkles a foot
deep, and get together once a year and
resolve in conventions that the present
tariff is an outrage on the producer, that
British gold is being used lavishly to cor-
rupt our lamest Congressman, and in your
enthusiasm give the eagle’s tail a twist
which makes that mighty bird scream, take
an inventory of the raiment on your patri-
otic backs and see that it is not imported
Scotch tweed or the more plebeian goods
made up of cheap foreign wool and
ground rags, called shoddy. Before send-
ing the wool buyer to sheol for docking
your heavy weights, be morally certain
you washed your sheep, and did not run
them through stagnant waters and turn
them loose on a summer fallow,nor chuck-
ed into the middle of the ﬂeece the sweep-
ings and tags. While you are busy get——
ting the furnace hot in Hades for Prince
Bismarck for crying out “little vorms mit
your pork,” don’t let your in- bred, razor.
back swine, cooped up in a seven by nine
pen, wallowing in ﬁlth, turn State's evi- .
dence and convict you. Keep old Kate at ‘
the plow until she is of legal age and
then expect her to produce strong and
healthy oﬁspring. Grain your team heav.
ily when spring work commences, after
an all winter’s fast, and expect wonderful
performances in the ﬁeld. Turn out stock
with the disappearance of the snow-banks
and complain of mid-summer drouth.
Plant corn out of the crib and cuss the
cut-worms. Use the smallest potatoes for
seed and condemn the quantity atdigging.
Break three year old colts by hitching
them along side of an old stager on a 40
tooth drag, and wonder at their want of
staying qualities. Draw out your manure

 


 

~

8

THE HOUSEHOLD.

  

 

 

when it is too wet to plow, plant in the
dark of the moon if you lose a webk’s
growing in the waiting. Do all other
necessary chores when the signs are right.
Commence teaching a heifer to handle
at the time of her ﬁrst calf.
Halter—break the steer when the butcher
wants him and you are selling at so much
per pound live weight. Permit the drover
to cull out your ﬂoc‘k. Make your garden
when all other spring crops are in. Have
a wood pile back of the house for abreak-
fast spell for the hired man. Get up at
four o’clock in summer, and do as near as
possible a half-day’s ' work on an
empty stomach. Save money by never
buying what your obliging neighbor will
lend, and save time by letting him come
after it and then blow up the boys in his
presence for not taking it home before.
Have your pork stolen in August, not later
than September. Keep a dog on the prem-
ises, he will be company. Let that
weather eye of yours rest on the local
politics of your township; run for the
county legislator as often as you can get
a nomination, and kick like a steer when
you don’t. Give the boys the steer calves
but replevin them about the time
they are oxen. Locate your barn—
yard well on the down hillside.
Use fence boards for eave trougsh, go
whortleberrying on Sunday—while your
more conscientious neighbor is at church
and berries are plenty. When he asks
you to give for the support of the minis-
try, call the clergy all the hard names you
can think of, rake up all the naughty
things they have ever done, from Beecher
to Moﬁatt, and tell him that those who go
to hear him better pay; but if the dread
messenger summons one of your family
to the silent city of the dead. expect as
a matter of course this representative of
everything that is bad to come at your
beck, and pray and preach the lost one in-
to Abraham’s bosom, and if you are not a
ﬁrst class fraud, call me that animal with
curviline horns that the Scripture saith
shall set on the left in the Kingdom.

A newspaper, which in order to secure
an introduction to the reading public, has
need to go into the hardware business in
a wholesale way, and oﬁers to present to
each of its subscribers a bushel basket of
rings, chains, luminous match safes, top-
ping the pile with a Waterbury watch
and a chromo, reaches the acme of fraud;
and you had better fallback on the old
reliable FABMER, that sets its pin-hook
down at $1.50 per year, HOUSEHOLD
with Beatrix at the head thrown in.

The idea of an agricultural fair each
year for the exhibits of the farm, garden,
dairy and ﬁne arts, is commendable. But
when a society under this heading can
only offer a premium of $25 for the best
representative Shorthorn and $500 for the
speediest bob-tailed trotter; or $15 for a
mild-eyed Jersey, and $200 for trapeze
performers in mid air in a balloon, or $100
for a couple who will stand before a jeer-
ing crowd and make a circus of them-
selves, and hear faintly through the din
those solemn words spoken that should
bind
'l'wo souls with but a single thought.
Twohearts thstbeat as one;

 

then ﬂing down two trade dollars to that
good housewife who has made the best
roll of butter, it begins to look to the sen-
sible breeders and farmers as though the
association was run in the interest of
sports; and the agricultural part was but
a dime annex to the tail of the jockey
kite. Have by all means good stock, but
don’t put a dozen scrubs into the pedigree
of an animal unless his appearance backs
up the records. On the other hand, don’t
go to our friends Ball, Boyden, Phelps, or
our Stanton guest with so many dollars
and tell them to give you something that
will just size your pile, having your ears
pinned back,ready to play Jonah 2d. While
1 have no doubt these honorable gentle-

men would object to masticate so verdant

a subject, you might ﬁnd one not so par-
ticular as to his diet.

In conclusion, let me say that to avoid
becoming victims of frauds let us strive
to eradicate the leaven of dishonesty from
our own natures, setting up the strictest
standard of commercial honesty for our
guide in our dealings with others and in-
sisting that they shall be governed by the
same rigid morals in their transactions
with us, remembering that honesty and
simplicity need not necessarily be syn—
onymous terms, and while eschewing all
tricks ourselves, a knowledge of the
world’s prevarication helps us to meet
them and defeat their aims. Frauds in
this life of ours grow and fatten on that
under-st’ratumof dishonesty buried in the
hearts of every living soul, and the tempt-
er does but appeal to this dormant ele-
ment of our nature when he leads us
astray. The purchaser of the lottery
ticket shares in a minor degree the guilt
of the vender, for does he not dream of
fabulous riches unearned! The conﬁdence
man’s victim when he nibbles at some
tempting bait ﬁnds it a delusion and a
snare. The man who bets his money on
a seemingly sure thing and loses, forgets
the law of compensation, is looking out
for something for nothing and cries out
“ knave! knavel” when the little rogue of
greed started in his own breast. No pro~
fession or calling is free from dishonest
men. The world is full of emperics, from
the minister in the desk, ignoring this
or that canonical law of his church, do an
to the dullest clod who shirks his plainest
business obligations on the turning of
his employer’s back. Yet I am not one
of the number who believe this life of
ours is all a sham and a delusion, but
rather believe that notwithstanding the
various arts and deceits practiced by the
few there is a universal brotherhood of
comity and good-fellowship ﬁghting for
the mastery, and that the golden age is
at its dawning. .

Blest as we are with a generous soil,
equable climate, a noble government of
consolidated liberty, I can see nothing
discouraging in the outlook. We as
farmers create for ourselves a delusion
when we entertain the idea that our life is
welded to monotonous drudgery, and
that there is no compensation for a life
of toil but the miserable one of pelf; that

the dull pace should go on as our fat ers
marked out the path in the long ago.
Good old souls as they were, they

 

lived and died and are gone to the
beyond for happiness, not even dream-
ing of the innumerable blessings
that are in store for the man
who has pitched. his tent away from
the smoke-begrimed city, and is in a posi-
tion to read and interpret the magniﬁcent
workings of Nature. as displayed by the
Supreme Architect of the universe. Di—
vesting his mind of the routine duties of
every day life, what a vast ﬁeld for the
expanse of the ﬁnite, away and into the
mysterious and wonderful,ever charming
world, spread out before him by the In~
ﬁnite.

It is not only the glad song of the Mas-
ter’s tiniest winged subjects that ﬂoat in
air that awakes him from labor’s peaceful
slumbers, but the sweet Eolian harps of
a thousand whispering leaves, sending up
to Heaven the morning anthem of God’s
praise. Ah! who is so dull and passionless
as not to feel the inspiration so often
forced upon us by a commune with His
work, and for the time become translated
from gross care and vexations to a veiled
world beyond, where

Truth shall blossom in everlasting youth,
While Time itself endures.

_—_“.————

The Latest Electrical Invention.

Edison, the electric inventor, has come
to the front again with another astonish-
ing idea which has had a satisfactory
test. It is that of telegraphing from
trains in motion by induction, without
any mechanical connection with the wires
that skirt the track. The practical work-
ing of the invention was tested the other
day on a running train with complete
success. The apparatus used consists of
an ordinary Morse key, a phonetic re-
ceiver, an electro magnet and a battery.
N 0 special or extra wire is used running
between or near the rails, but the mes—
sages jump through the air between the
tin roof of the cars and the ordinary wire
strung along by the side of the railway, a
distance of from 25 to 400 feet. The
farthest distance traversed without a wire
was seme 40 or 50 feet. The metallic
roofs of the cars were connected together
by wires, which communicated with a
Morse telegraphic instrument placed in
one of the cars. An operator sat in front
of the instrument, and though the noise
of the train rendered the ticks indistinct,
he read them easily by means of a tele-
phone and wrote out the messages as they
were delivered. The messages sent went
to the root of the car on a short wire, and
jumped thence to the distance wire, se-
lecting the right one out of 24. Mr. Edi-
son stated that another train coming be-
hind, equipped with a similar apparatus.
could pick the same messages off the wire.

 

 

FLOWER SEEDS FOR 1&86

 

FRESH SEEDS TRUE To NAME

ready for the Spring Trade. Mixed packets of
Annual, Perennial. Everlasting or Herb needs.
10 cents, three for 25 cents. Order from list in
HOUSEHOLD of February 23rd. Six packets, ex-
cept where rice is named, 250; 13 for 50¢, and30
for $1. Col ections for beginners, 15 varieties for
50 cents. Send one cent stamp for rice list.
MRS. M. A. F LLER,
Box 297. Fenton. Mich.

  
   

 

 

