
 

 

 

 

 

DETROIT, SEPT. 21.

1889.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

UNDI VIDED.

 

‘They sat in peace in the sunshine,
Till the day was almost done,

.And then at its close an angel
Stole over the threshold stone.

ﬁe folded their hands together,

He touched their eyelids with balm,
And their last breath ﬂoated outward
Like the close of a solemn psalm.

“Like a bridal pair they traversed,
The unseen mythical road;

That leads to the “ beautiful City”
Whose “builder and maker is God."

But the shapes that they left behind them,
The wrinkles and silver hair—
Made holy to us by the kisses,
The angel had printed there—
We will hide away ’neath the willows,
When the day is low in the west,
Where the sunbeams cannot ﬁnd them,
Nor the winds disturb their rest.
And we’ll suffer no tell -tale tombstone ,
With its age and date to rise,
«O’er the two who are old no longer
In the Father’s house in the skies.
___....__——

OUR ECONOMIES.

 

Sometime I mean to take‘afday'oif andZa
”trip out of town especially to make‘,’ the
personal acquaintance of Simon’s Wife,
and talk over the economical question
with her. Because I too agree with her
that “buying cheap " to-day does not al-
ways prove to be economy the day after
tomorrow. The transactions of nature and
business are alike based on the law of
equivalents—of value received. Out of
nothing _to make something implies the
superhuman power of creation; out of little
‘to make mere and better than the begin-
nings is quite as miraculous. It rouses
my ire to read in some “ ladies’ journa ”
(published for advertising purposes) how
some economical soul evolved such a
sweetly stylish bonnet, quite Parisian, you
know, out of a scrap of velvet ﬁshed out
of the rag-bag and “ carefully steamed,” a
bit of ribbon cleaned with benzine and
colored with Diamond dyes, and a “lovely
. little plume” out of the rooster’s tail. It
is not the bonnet that disgusts me, but the
pretense that it is elegant. I remember a
book on domestic topics sent to this oﬂice
for review, which told how one spring
chicken made a meal for four grown
persons, what was left was picked from
the bones and made chicken croquettes for
four again, while the bones made soup for
the next day’s dinner. That’s cheap living
——on paper; but I think those who ate the
soup may have felt it would have been well
to have let the chicken waded through it
once more. Only the other day I saw how

$50 was spent to furnish a room, yards
upon yards of yellow satteen. scrim and
dotted muslin being used. That it would
be pretty while fresh and dainty, no one
would deny; but after a year’s dust and
wear it would be faded, soiled, and need
renewing. The $50, put into substantial
furnishings, would not have given so
showy an effect at the time, but at the end
of the year there would have been some-
thing to show for it. Moreover, it is not
economy of time or money to embroider
“ poppies and morning-glories ” in silk on
so unsubstantial a material as cheesecloth.

I believe a great deal of the unhappiness
and hard feeling which often seems to exist
in families comes from the strain on the
wife and mother in trying to make herself
and her children look respectably dressed
on half the money needed for the purpose.
It is a constant planning and contriving,
twisting and turning, to get the most out of
the least, ruinous alike to nerves and tem-
per. The man who has tried to pay ten
dollars’ worth of debts with nine dollars’
in hard cash ought to have some sympathy
and understanding of the trial of the
woman who tries to make nine yards of
goods do the work of ten. There is a
difference on the man’s side, even then; he
can “stand off” his creditor for the odd
dollar, but the woman cannot thus manage
ahalf of a sleeve. As the children grow
up, especially if they are girls, many men
fail to realize that with growth comes
added necessities and expenses in the way
of dress, and expect wife and daughters to
dress on what once suﬂiced for the wife
alone—or less, if “ times are tight.”

I have seen life through a country school-
ma’am’s spectacles, and my observations
all through life have gone to show that
those homes are happiest and the most
prosperous where the wife’s right to a
share in the income was practically
acknowledged; and in the most wretched
family I ever knew the wife could not get
three cents for a postage stamp without
being asked “ What do you want it for? ” I
think that woman at last actually hated her
husband, and I believe the beginning was
his penuriousness. There is nothing more
destructive to love and conﬁdence than
a sense that one is unjustly treated and
subjected to unnecessary privations.

We ought all to be economical, and I
believe most farmers’ wives are adepts in
saving, and good at that kind of economy
which consists in going without what they

 

feel they would like. But the economy

which pinches and scrimps till its inﬂuence
reaches the soul and makes us hesitate over
every kind impulse till we see what it will
cost us, is wicked. Yes, wicked! It nar—
rows the mind and the heart; it makes us
selﬁsh; often it makes us mean and paltry
in our dealings with others; we even be-
come stingy of our kind and loving words,
and noble thoughts and generous prompt-
ings become strangers to us.

The mother, to dress her girls like their
mates and satisfy their thoughtless “ Why
can’t I haves” denies herself and goes
shabby. Then her husband begins to see
she is growing old and faded, and wishes
she would “ﬁx up,” but never thinks of
giving her ten dollars to do it with. Prob-
ably he remembers the

cheek like the wild red rose ”
and the “ fawn-like shyness,” and wonders
why ﬁve children and ﬁfteen years of
married life should have transformed his
wife in temper and appearance. Does he
ever compare the spruce young man “ who
did a wooing go” in gloves and with
Jockey Club on his handkerchief, with the
middle-aged man in check shirt and but-
ternut overalls, and a week’s stubble on
his chin? Oh dear no! It is not husbands
only who are “ disillusioned” by mar-
riage.

“Simon Simple” could not understand
how his wife “ wasn’t as trim as she used
to be” and grew inclined to “ﬁre him
out.” He could not even guess why bitter
thoughts took the place of loving ones, and
there came to be words that occasioned
silence and heat that brought about cool-
ness. Nor does he seem to consider he
had any responsibility in bringing about
this condition of things. I’ve seen many
such simple Simons, great, good-natured,
obtuse husbands, content if their wives
will “carry their share” of the work and
worry, but never thinking of giving their
share of loving, appreciative, encouraging
words. Pat, when he carries the bed,
often puts a bit of old carpet or the like
on his shoulder to ease the load; and loving
words are the cushion on which many a
hard-worked woman’s burden might rest,
relieved of half its weight.

And after all, was not Simon’s Wife, in
the view of his own case which Simon pre-
sents, the nobler of the two, the more for-
giving, the ﬁrst to seek to reestablish
old relations? When she cruelly wished
she “had stayed with Ma,” did he not as
cruelly reply “ Them's my sentiments

“* *

 

tew? ” Must all the affection, the patience

 


 
  
 

 

    
  
   
   
  
    
  
   
   
   
  
 
   
   
    
 
 
   
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
   
  
  
    
 
   
   
  
    
    
   
  
   
    
   
 
  
   
  
   
   
 
   
  
   
  
  
   
   
  
    
  
   
   
    
     

 

 

‘3 'FHE'.H.OUSEHOLD.

under irritation, the soft answers, be given
by the wife? Might not Simon have said,
tenderly, slipping up to this wife of his—
in whom I am woman enough to know
anger struggled with sorrow and strangled
a sob in her throat as she said it—“My
dear, you know you don’t mean it! What
would I do without you?” Suppose too
he had kissed her just as he used to when
she had that “ wild rose cheek!” That
unaccustomed caress would have been more
to her than all the kisses of courtship. Did
he respond, I wonder, to that mute appeal
for love and tenderness made when she
stole to his side in the twilight and slipped
her hand into his? Did he squeeze it, ever
so little?

I would have all married people read
“ The First Settler's Story,” and bear in
mind a part of its conclusion:

“Boys ﬂying kites haul in their white—winged

J S,
You can’t do that way when you‘re ﬂying
words.
Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall
back dead;
But Godgiimself can’t kill them when they’re
sax .

BE ATRIX.
-—-—-¢o¢-——

OUR LIVES.

 

“ Our lives are songs, Gad writes the words,

And we set them to music at pleasure;

And the song grows glad, or sweet or sad,
As we chance to fashion the measure

We must write the music, whatever the song,
Whatever the rhyme or meter;

And if it is sad, we can make it glad,
0r ii-sweet, we can make it sweeter.”

Two misses were preparing for an out-
ing of two weeks. “ What shall we take
along to read, Mignon?” “ I don‘t know,
what is good?” “ Have you ever read
‘ The Fatal Vow,’ ‘Donald the Bandit.’
‘,A Leap in the Dark,’ ‘Miss or Mrs.,’
‘ Witch’s Head,’ ‘She?”’ I turned away
musing. It could not be called a summer
idyl, though it might perhaps, be an idle
summer, and I thought there is no ac-
counting for tastes, they are as varied as
the people we meet—the landscape spread
out before us. Two boys were stretched
at full length under a big maple; school
was ended, vacation lay before them. “ I
can tell you what I shall do,” says master
Ned. “ I shall get all the fun Ican out of
this summer. I shall hunt and ﬁsh, go
boating, and uncle Hal promised me a
cruise in his steam yacht.” “Fool away

our time if you want to,” says sturdy

red; “ I’m going to work, pick berries
to sell, drive the horse for the hayfork, run
errands; I’ll work at anything that is
honest, and will turn me a penny, and
compare notes with you the last week in
August.” He did, too. One had had his
ﬁll of indolence and fun, and had con-
tracted a habit that would stay with him
each succeeding vacation. Fred’s hands
were stained and calloused, and his
cheeks browned, but he had ﬁfteen dol-
lars in the bank toward his winter clothes.

Two women in a town of some size were
talking about the hot weather and how it
could be made endurable. “ Well,”
says one, the wife of a bookkeeper on a
salary of twelve hundred, “ we, or rather
I shall go to the mountains, close the house
of course. Howard can take his meals at
the restaurant and lodge at home; and where

will you go?” “ I was intending to have a
trip to the seashore; but 1 have found this
season, in one of the wards I visit occasion-
ally, a poor consumptive, who would be
so much beneﬁtted by the trip that I have
made arrangements whereby she will go,
and I will remain at home. No, it is not
self denial, not a bit. I believe that I
can pass a pleasant and proﬁtable summer
with my books, light needlework, my
usual family cares and the babies. Oh!
my dear Mrs. I have learned that
life is what we make it.”

Two men past middle life met. One
exclaimed at the silver hair, bowed form
and furrowed face of the other. “Why
man, what you been doing to grow old so
fast?” Both were the same age, but there
was twenty years’ difference as far as looks
were concerned. “Oh, I have to tend so
close to business; the children require so
much money, and night after night I do
not leave the ofﬁce until long after mid-
night. What do gou do to keep so young?”
“I attend to business during business
hours, then I am achild with my children.”
And he grasped the little boy’s hand that
was clinging to him and both went off
laughing and talking. Let the years get
into us if they will, let us gain more wis-
dom, more judgment, let us be more
charitable, but take care that we do not get
into the years foolishly, unreasonably.

 

Two farmers’ wives were visiting over a
basket of mending. “How I dread the
summer that is coming so fast!” says one.
“ My sewing isn’t half done. I could hire
a girl cheap, but I won’t; they waste and
break more than their work is worth; I’m
going to pull through somehow and take
the money this fall and buy a black silk.
I’ve always wanted one, and at my age a
woman ought to have one, they’re handy
to lay a body out in when they die.”
“ Well,” says wife No. 2, “ I planned this
spring to do the work myself and then this
fall ﬁx the house all up nice. I want the
parlor and sitting-room decorated, new
lace curtains and an oak bedroom set. But
I read a piece in the paper a week or so
ago, and I have changed my mind. My
girl commenced work the week before
haying, and I shall pay her two dollars and
a half a week. She is capable, strong, re-
liable, she can bake, wash, iron and mend
just as well as I can. I will take care of
the milk and tend to the butter, that is do
the light part of it, and this fall I believe I
shall feel better satisﬁed with some ﬂesh
on my bones and strength in my body,
than if I had saved that money and ﬁxed
up the house. I missed it last year when I
did the work alone.” “Time will tell.
Folks will call you lazy if you keep a
high priced girl, and sit around all day.”
“ Time will tell," and it did! One worked
and saved. All through the htt summer
weather she stood at her post; she broiled
over the cook stove, she roasted over the
ironing table, and she ﬁlled in her time
during the fall drying apples. The black
silk was bought and made, and sure
enough it did come handy to lay her out
in. The kind neighbor with whom she

 

had visited robed the poor wasted body,

  

I

folded the hands so misshapen and harti
with toil, and as she brushed aside a team
said: “ Poor soul, she was always saving
since I knew her, and her last words be-
fore she died were that she had always
tried to be saving.” She was saving of
every thing but herself.

There is always some one just below us,
reaching for the round we stand on. Is it
best to keep the place when we can go one
round higher? “No, she isn’t what I
call a good woman; seldom attends meet-
ing, never goes to prayer meeting, she
never spoke a word for Jesus in her life;
she seems to enjoy life ﬁrst rate, I guess
she aims to be harmless, but her inﬂuence
isn’t what it would be if she was real
orthodox.” If all souls were saved churches
and ministers would not be needed. Just
as long as there are heathen we shall want
Bible societies, and missionaries will en-
dure hardships and face death in various»
forms. Humanity is a living sea, a crawl-
ing, seething human mass, with hopes and
aims and prospects beyond enumeration.
Some cry “My way is right,” another
says “I will go my way.” One man will
admit that every human being is morally
responsible to his Maker for his life. An-
other will say he is not beholden to his
neighbor for his actions. so long as he
keeps the ten commandments and is a law
abiding citizen. .

A German writer has said “ Keep true
to the dreams of thy youth.” It is good to
haveahappy life; better yet if it is the
happiness one has chosen. If we could be-
content to leave the thread in wiser hands.
than ours, the web perhaps would be-
brighter. But the universal law of change»
all should recognize. Each in his place is
fulﬁlling his day, and passing away giving-
room to some one else. And the way we-
know yesterday, to-day and forever.

Baum: CREEK. EVANGELINE.

 

ABOUT CANNED FRUIT.

 

I think the secret of Mrs. E.’s difﬁculty
in keeping canned fruit will be found in the-
bent can covers, caused by standing them
on the covers. When the cans are reversed
they admit air. This was my experience.
My method of canning, which to me is-
very satisfactory, is this: Look the fruit
over carefully, removing all that is too ripe,
as the germs of fermentation are already
forming, and not using fruit too green, as-
cooking does not ripen it nor make health-
ful'food of that which is green. Put into
the cans, ﬁlling and shaking down until
the can is full. Fill the boiler with the
cans, lay on the covers (not screwed on);
ﬁll the boiler with water within three
inches of the covers, placing strips of
boards under the cans. Let the fruit boil
from one to two hours, according to the
kind of fruit used, large fruit requiring
more heating than the smaller fruit. Dis~
solve sugar by melting and add as much as
required, ﬁlling the cans from other cans
or from fruit heated in astew pan. The
boiler can be removed to the dining room
to ﬁll the cans and the hot water keeps,
them always hot. Be careful that they do
not run over, and wipe the;top dry before
sealing. LILLA LEE.

 

Ioms.

  

 


 

THE HOUSEHOLD.

3

 

SILVER SPOONS AND TABLE CUT-
LERY.

 

Miss E. T., of Howell, recently asked in-
formation on styles in silver teaspoons, etc.,
whether plain or engraved handles were
preferred, and several other questions in
that line. So the other day I called at
Wright & Kay’s, one of our leading dealers
in such wares, and of a very obliging gen-
tleman obtained the information I desired.

Solid silver teaspoons, as nearly every
one is aware, are bought by weight, though
the engraving has something to do with
the price. Plain spoons can be bought all
the way from $7 50 up, according to
weight—this of course for the half dozen,
and for sterling silver. Although the
plain are kept in stock, many more are sold
of the engraved and fancy styles than of
the entirely plain. Wright 6; Kay carry
twenty-seven styles, at prices ranging from
$7 50 to $12 per half dozen. A set I ad-
mired very much was called the “Antique
Lily;” the handle was very prettily en-
graved, with a space left for the initial or
name; price, $8 50, weight, four ounces
seven pennyweights; this pattern runs up
to $18, according to weight. Other styles
are in relief, a ﬂoral or fruit pattern being
thrown up on the broad part of the handle.
The stems of the spoons are thicker than
they were formerly made, and the spoon is
correspondingly stronger; bowls are shal-
low rather than deep, with a blunt instead
of pointed curve at the end. Spoons with
oxydized silver handles begin at $7 50,
and like the others, increase in value with
weight. A handsome pattern at $9 had a
longer, narrow handle, beautifully de-
corated in a raised pattern, repausse, it is
called. Table and dessert spoons, after
dinner coffees, dinner forks, oyster and ﬁsh
forks, all are to be had in patterns to
match the teaspoons; and like them, values
depend on the weight. The styles are
named, thus there is the Lily, the Palm,
the Shell, the Pomona, and others.

Alady in this city has quite a unique set
of teaspoons, no two alike, which are
souvenirs of her visits to various cities.
Wherever she went on a journey she bought
a silver teaspoon as a memento of her trip,
and soon had quitea number. And it is
so fashionable to collect in this way that
our large stores keep broken lines to afford
opportunities for selection.

About the marking, it is largely a mat-
ter of taste, I am told. If the handles are
engraved, oxydized or repousse, the initial
or name is put on the back. The fancy is
again for plain script, though fancy and
Old English letters are still used. Mono-
grams are not so popular as formerly. An
unmarried lady, or a young lady about to
be married, has her silver marked with her
family name; and wedding gifts should al-
ways be marked with the family name of
the bride.

Rogers plated table knives range from
$3.25, $3.50, $4.50, to $5 per dozen, ac-
cording to quality. The Rogers plated
ware is standard and the best-or as good
asthe best—there is made. But you must
look out for imitations. Forks are from $3
upward, according to size, etc. The handles

 

of some of these goods are very ﬁnely
ﬁnished in frosted silver. Solid silver
knives are worth $60 per dozen.

And now E. T. asks me if steel knives
and forks are not used on a good many
well-spread tables. I think that to a very
large extent, the silver plated ware has
displaced them. It is so cheap, so durable,
so much better than steel in doing away
with the tri-daily scouring needful to keep
the latter ﬁt to use, that one seldom sees
the steel, especially steel forks, on a well
appointed table. To have something more
than my own impressions to guide me in
answering this question, I inquired of the
proprietor of our largest house-furnishing
store. Here is what he said: “ No,
madam, we sell very little steel table cut-
lery. Once in a while we sell a set to some
farmer or mechanic, but we sell a dozen
sets of plated ware to one of steel.” Then
he waxed conﬁdential as I turned to go.
“In fact, madam, we wholesale most goods
in that line to small dealers in country
towns. Ain’t no call for them in the city.”

BEATRIX.
___._.,._.______
THE BENEFITS OF AN ECONOMIC
TRAINING.

The enthusiasm of even the new con-
tributors was not all expended on the
“Weeks,” although the brightness of
Evangeline’s might have dazed us all but
for the “Cloudy Week” which soon fol-
lowed, and called forth so many responses,
proving anew that it is through sorrow that
the kinship of the race is established.

“ For we have common joys and common fears
But the tenderest tie is our common tears."

But the petty annoyances of housekeep-
ing are too trivial to be classed as sorrows,
even though it has been said that it re-
quires more courage and grace to patiently
endure the little irritations of every day
life than to face cannon on the battle ﬁeld
or the martyr’s stake. If that be true, the
discipline received from patiently bearing
the little ills of life must be corresponding-
ly great. Those who have criticised
“ Simon’s Wife” and “Bruno’s Sister”
have failed to read between the lines if
they have not seen that love only prompted
the exclamation, “It has always been a
grievance to me that Bruno will go to town
looking so.” Would she have cared how
Bruno looked, but that she wanted to be
proud of him! If he had been the hired
man or a neighbor, his appearance would
have given her no concern. Patient en-
durance of the trials of life is well, but to
seek a remedy where one can be found is
better; when this cannot be done the brave
heart bears on, comforting itself with the
thought that whatever is, in the providence
of God, is well.

Allow me to add a thought by way of
postscript to my former letter, which is
this: If both boys and girls were early
taught the art of earning and saving in
some practical way, such as having a plat
of ground to plant to vegetables or ﬂowers,
and were allowed the entire charge of it,
both in raising and selling the produce—
the parents aiding only by advice—and
when sold the money invested by the child,

 

who should be exclusive owner of the in~~
vestment, there would be fewer for tunes
wasted by heirs. The child is commonly
allowed to grow to manhood or woman‘
hood with almost no practical instruction
in money-making or saving. and then the
community is shocked to learn that he so
lightly prizes the accumulations of a. life—
time of toil which the father has bequeathed
to him. The child’s character would be
developed and strengthened by the mere
fact of proprietorship which the little plat
of ground would give him. How valuable
it would be in his estimation, since it is
all his: own! How much pleasure he
would experience in its cultivation; andi
how much proﬁt he would receive that is
above money values! It is just this self-
reliance which would thus be taught the
child that women lack when permitted to
remain dependent for life, and which

dwarfs character whether in. man or
woman. Self reliance is essential to self
respect. The time is drawing on when

women, through industrial schools, and.
changed social conditions, will have bet-
tor opportunity for the cultivation of those
traits of character indispensable in a well-
rounded life. LILLA LEE.

Ioma.
._ ._....___.

FOR DEFECTIVE FRUIT CANS.

 

I would like to say to Mrs. E., of Grand‘
Blanc, who is in such dire trouble about her
fruit cans, to try this way of treatment. I
have never tried it until this season, but a;
friend of mine has kept her fruit in this
way for years with perfect success. The
fruit should be thoroughly cooked in the
ﬁrst place, put into the cans and the covers
secured. Then with astiﬁ bladed knife,
scrape common bar soap, which makes it
pliable, and place a generous quantity
around the top of the cans where the covers
meet the rubbers, letting it cover the rub-
bers entirely. It can be easily removed
when the fruit is wanted and used in the
dishwashing, which if it has ﬁlled its
mission with the fruit, makes .it quite
valuable and worth being saved for a
second use.

A. H. J .’s little poem went straight to
my heart; it seems as though it must make
every true mother more tender and carefu
of the feelings of her little ones.

Mason. MRS. H. E. S.

._..._..._._

Mus. EMMA P. EWING, who teaches tfa
art of cooking at Purdue University, Ind.,
says the woman who uses a dripping-pan
and bakes two or three loaves in it, is
guilty of a serious offense against go of!
bread-making, and her bread is not at all
likely to be a success. Loaves should be
baked separately, in small pans. The
loaves should be oval in form. Mrs. Ewing
also says she who tightly covers a loaf of
bread with an old table cloth, or any other
thing, is guilty of a criminal offense
against good bread—making. Bread needs
oxygen as much as human beings, and
without pure air, speedin spoils. Any
covering thrown over it should be light,
and porous in character.

 


 

 

4 T_HE HOUSEHOLD.

 

THOSE H U SB ANDS .

 

“I read the HOUSEHOLD, every word, each
week, and often thinkI will write, but you
all know how it is; anything not done at
the moment is apt to be neglected entirely.

If I were inclined to parade my hus-
band's faults to the public gaze (he has
one or two). I have a neighbor who would
cure me of all such inclination. She is a
good-hearted woman, the very best of
neighbors, but she will tell what “ he ” has
said and done to us all. I do not think I
will ever fall into that habit, whatever
other faults I have or may acquire, I am so
thoroughly sick of hearing it.

I want to ask E. L. Nye what is the dif-
ference between a pieced quilt and a
patchwork quilt, according to the premium
list of fairs? I believe that is what she
warned us not to confound, a long time ago.

How many Of you are going to attend the
Exposition? I expect to be in Detroit-—my
old home—for a few days, and if I thought
she would be glad to see me I would call
on our Beatrix. I wish all of the HOUSE-
HOLD correspondents who attend could
meet. I believe it would be a pleasant
greeting we would give each other.

I have cooked corn in the cans several
:«years and it is splendid; it is an awful day’s
work to do a boiler full of cans, but in the
"winter I feel well repaid. I save dry shell
ibeans to cook, and sometimes I have
euccotash; we all like that. Well, the waste
basket looms before me, so I will say good
might and retire. MRS. ED.

Oxaow.
H.—

A LITERARY SALAD.

 

A pleasant entertainment by way of
amusement for a quiet evening party, a
fair or bazar, is called “ A Literary Salad.”

The “literary salad” is composed of a
number of green paper slips out in the
shape of lettuce leaves, and gracefully ar-
ranged in a salad bowl, to resemble as
much as possible the original Of that
name. These harmless looking green leaves
have each a stalk of white paper four

iinches long and one inch broad.

On each stalk is written a quotation from
some well known author, and the sport is
to guess where the sentence came from.
The occasion, let us say, is an evening
social gathering of young people, and each
person approaches the salad bowl and
takes outa stalk, makes his or her guess

., = and hands back the leaf and stalk to be re-
placed in the bowl. If the drawer:of the
)--leafshas guessed the source of the quota-
tion, he or she is rewarded by a dip in a
““lucky bag” which is ﬁlled with a num-
T'ba‘ of triﬂing presents. From ﬁfty to one
hunde quotations are prepared for the
:salad, and (at fair or bazar) every one who
\ draws ,a leaf pays ﬁve cents for each guess
’She makes. The person who draws and
makes the greatest number of correct
guesses wins the chief prize. Somepeople
add a booby prize for the one who guesses
the greatest number Of times and makes no
lucky bit.

If you want a pair of summer slippers,

geta pattern for the upper part and be-

 

ginning at the toe, crochet in treble stitch
and with black linen thread No. 30, a
piece like the pattern; sew this to a sole,
put a narrow black elastic around the top
of the slipper and a loop at the heel to go
around the ankle and keep the slipper on
the foot. These are the most comfortable
slippers imaginable for summer weather.
They are easily made, and cost, not count-
ing labor, about thirty'ﬁve cents.

I suppose Beatrix has bought her “a love
of afall hat,” by this time, to take the
place of the one she lost by that luckless
wager. Never mind, Beatrix, you will not
be bothered by the bonnet box lying
around in the way now. E. S. B.’s bread
recipe is well liked in our family.

Fonxs'r Lanes. MILL MINNIE.

 

CANNING- FRUIT.

In regard to Mrs. E.’s fruit I think per-
haps in the sentence, “I never took so
much pains as this year,” lies the secret,
not of success, but of failure. In ﬁlling
the cans with the fruit boiling hot, and
fastening the covers quick as possible, lies
the secret of success.

One of our neighbors was once com-
plaining that he could get no good cans,
and the fruit his wife put up nearly all
worked. I mentioned two or three kinds
that I liked; he said they had tried several,
but one seemed to be no better than an-
other. I found out afterwards that the
good housewife believed in loosening the
covers after the cans had stood ﬁve
minutes “ to let out the air!”

Another time a friend came here and
put up twelve two-quart cans of peaches.
When I saw her ﬁlling the cans and fussing
with a spoon handle to get out the air bub-
bles, with the can half full, then a few
more peaches and a little more spoon
handle. Ithought if I had never canned
any fruit before, I should say good bye to
my canned peaches. However, the peaches
were left for a time in my care, and ﬁve of
the twelve cans worked. I laid it to too
much delay in ﬁlling, taking too much
pains. My fruit sometimes moulds on the
top, but very seldom works. The mold I
th nk is caused by the cans being imper-
fectly sealed.

This is my idea of farm hospitality:
Where men are buying stock, or anything
else for their own use, I think it is all
right to ask them in to eat, or spend the
night, and treat them as visitors, but where
they are buying or selling for proﬁt, and
make that their legitimate business, let
them call for their meals and horse feed, and
expect to pay for it. The host cansuit
himself about making out a bill. The
merchant or the grocer do not invite us
to dinner, no indeed, not if we trade at
their store every day in the week. I say
let every one pay their own way, whether
they are buying sheep pelts or selling tin-
ware. Who will agree with BEss.

PLAI‘NWELL.

_.___...__

STAR, who ﬂashes upon us without
name or postoﬂice and hence more resem-
bles a meteor than a star, says some very
kind things of the HOUSEHOLD, and adds:

“ I have kept house only a short time and
ﬁnd my work does not always pass oﬁ as
smoothly as I would wish, but I am like
Polly, I “never cry over spilt milk.” I
almost always laugh and let it go at that.
I am a farmer's wife and there is no one in
the family but myself and husban .” Our
correspondents will please remember to
give name and address, for the Editor
only. The wish to be known only by
mm dc plume is always respected.

_-—”—_

Mas. E., of Grand Blanc, can surely re
alize that “in a multitude of counselors
there is safety,” so much advice on the
canning question has been oﬁered. Several
who have written on points covered by
previous letters will understand why their
letters are not published. Will not Clo. 8.
Pin write for us again? Her nom de plume
is so unique we feel sure she must be a
Clo. S. Pin with a head .

__—.OO——-——

IF Mrs. Ed., Of Oxbow, will offer her
patterns for exchange over her own name
and address, so, that those who may wish
to avail themselves of the offer can address
her directly, there will be no Objection to
publishing her wish to exchange. But we
cannot undertake to conduct an exchange
through this ofﬁce. And call on Beatrix,
by all means; she will be glad to see you.

 

A NEW use for vaseline has been dis-
covered. It is said to be one of the best
things in the world to soften shoes that
have been wet and made stiff and uncom-
fortable thereby. Apply a dressing of
vaseline, rubbing it in well with a cloth.
It is especially excellent for ﬁne shoes.

—-——90q——-—
U sefui Recipes.

 

MUSTARD Premise-Ono quart cucu tubers,
sliced—soak over night in salt water: one pint
of small onions, scalded in salt water; one
cauliﬂower. scalded as above; three pepp ers.
sliced; one quart green tomatoes, sealded.
Drain them and put in jars. Pour hot vinegar
over and let remain three days: then drain the
vinegar from them. Take one box ($4 lb.)
ground mustard. one pint vinegar, one and a
half eupfuls sugar, and half a eupt‘ul ﬂour:
mix the ﬂour and mustard smooth with cold
vinegar. Pour into the boiling vinegar and
then our the pickles.

 

CANNED GREEN Coax—Cut the corn from
ears selected as it for immediate use: till the
can with this corn, working it down repeatedly
with something like a pestle handle, so the
milk will cover the corn and just ﬁll the can .
Much care should be given to this part. as
when you are sure the jar is full. a little
manipulation will enable you to put in much
more. A dozen large ears will no more than
ﬁll a quart jar. When full, put on the rubber
and cover as tightly as possible: put the can
or cans in a kettle or boiler, being careful to
raise them slightly from the bottom of the
vessel: completely cover with cold water,
put on the ﬁre and boil four hours. Remove
and allow them to cool gradually; then wrap
in brown paper and keep in a dark. cool, dry
place. The time should be reckoned from the
moment when the water boils hard, not from

 

the time the cold water is put on them.

 

