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DETROIT, AUGUST 6, 1892.

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THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

ALAS, HE CANNOT FIND A WIFE!
Oh. the pretty girl is a Winsome pearl
And her face is fair to see. .
But a homely girl is nearer far
What a nice girl ought to be;
For a pretty girl is proud and vein.
And she frets the heart of man.
And she does just what she wants to do,
Because she knows she can:
Ah, yes!
Because she knows she can.

Oh. I would wed could I ﬁnd a girl
Who quite combines the grace
Of a homely maiden‘s honest heart
With a pretty woman’s face.
To win this prize I Would search for are
But. alas. I fear I shan’t:
Though l explore the whole world o’er.
, I know full well I can’t;
Alas.
And slack! I know I can’t.
—-.S't. Louis Republic.

«m-«ovooo-

A FORTUNATE WIFE.

 

I have not come to narrate my griev-
ances, yet it seems that most of our far-
mers’ wives take a morbid pleasure in
relating the shortcomings of their
husbands, or more properly speaking,
those little things which a woman in
her round of duties is more apt- to see
than her "better half.” I for one think
these very women {are of a nervous,
irritable temperment, expecting to
derive a great deal of sympathy from
others; and in their daily life make
mountains out of mole-hills and wish
“Mohammad to come to the mountain.”
Now I do not fret and stew and make
myself miserable generally if my bus-
band does not set out a strawberry bed,
thin out the raspberry bushes, or does
not have a hankering to handle a Inc,
or even to look after chicken lice—it
will do no good and you might as well
think it is “out of his sphere” and let it
pass. We live on a large farm, which
makes lots of work for the “wimmeu
folks,” but we have the best of hired
help out of doors and husband concedes
a woman should have competent help to
perform her household duties. I have
a No. 1 girl whom we pay $2.50 a week
the year round. I do not begrudge her
what she earns, nor do I twit her every
now and then of “a dollar not growing
on every bush” either. I always treat
her well and she does the same by me,
and we never think of the “great gulf”
which is commonly supposed to lie be-
tween mistress and maid. If a girl
knows you place conﬁdence in her, she
will respect it and do all the better for

 

it. When they know what is expected
of them leave them alone and do not
stand around telling them what to do
next, when they have not accomp-
lished What they are doing. Well, well!
dear readers, you will all think I am
sermonizing, and indeed you would
think so, if you could step in and see
me trying to write with three little
ones about me asking all sorts of ques-
tions and the baby joining in on the
chorus with agood lusty voice. By the
way, husband says “he had rather chop
wood all day than take care of baby.”
You see I am appreciated? And he
thinks I have enough to do taking care
of the children, even though I am not
trotting about the kitchen all day. It
is a good deal to keep things going,
even if one takes no active part. If
you would only come over our way,
“01d Bach!” We have one of the
sweetest, most lovable girls, who
would make home truly a haven
of rest for weary man “when evening
brings him home.”

"And the night shall_be ﬁlled with music
And the cares that infest the day.

Shall told their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.”

Fmaaavau FARM. ELMA.

WORK AMONG THE UNFORTUNATE.

 

 

One of my neighbors, who is super-
intendent of the ﬂower mission of the
W. C. T. U., has kindly given me some
extracts from her report of their visit
to the Allegan County poor-house. I
will let her tell the story in her own
words: “ I had been wondering where
so many ﬂowers were to come from,
but by help of kind friends plenty were
supplied. At the depot we met the
president with her hands full of ﬂow-
ers; at Otsego others joined us and we
went our way, ‘Over, the hills to the
poor house.’ When we arrived we
found a goodly number already there.
Greetings were exchanged, arrange-
ments made, lunch baskets opened, and
an hour passed quickly in social con-
verse, discussing :3ways and means
whereby -we could advance our work.

“ Mr. T. Blain, the keeper, called the
inmates together, forty-one in number,
and devotional exercises were held in
the chapel; then the President of the
Allegan Union addressed the inmates
in such kind, sympathetic words, com-
ing from the heart, saying ‘We come
today to bring a little sunshine into your

lives and to tell you that Jesus careth
for you.’ Some of them wished we
would come oftener. After Scripture
reading followed by singing ‘ Wonder-
ful Words of Life,’ three Bibles were
given by request. They have Bible
reading, every Wednesday evening, and
regular prayer meeting once a month.
There was a blind man and woman, and
eight sick in their rooms, one a young
lady with consumption. If you could
have seen the grateful look she gave as
I passed the fruit, you would have felt
paid for your trouble. Another was
sick with -malarial fever. A sad case
was a boy of seven or eight who is said
to hays no backbone; he reclined in an
invalid chair and would twist himself
around and sometimes fall to the ﬂ00r,
when he must be replaced in the chair.
We had not time to speak to each one
separately, but we gave all fruit,
ﬂowers, cake and candies, with Scrip-
ture texts. Jesus said while here that
‘the poor shall have the gospel preach-
ed to them,’ we are sure it was done
that day, through the ministry of
ﬂowers. On our way home we visited
the jail in which there were three
prisoners. We had prayer and Scrip-
ture reading and gave them ﬂowers
and texts; promises were made that
they would try and do better. We gave
literature to and talked with a goodly
number who did not understand our
work, and returned home very weary,
but not discouraged, believing there
was seed sown that day that will bring
forth fruit unto life eternal.”

Dear HOUSEHOLD readers, do not
think farm life the only hard work in
the world. You will be surprised when
I tell you I have seen larger days’
work done here than ever on the farm.
One man cultivated his garden after
dark while his wife carried the lantern.
You ask “ Were his days spent in idle-
ness? ” N o indeed; he is up and away
often before sunrise, but all do not
work so hard; some are away today
enjoying themselves on the 0001 waters
of the lake.

Sister Gracious asks is it ever right
to deceive or tell a lie. In my opinion

this would be a sad old world were the
truth always spoken on every and all
occasions. In my next I will tell you
how a family of seven may live on $500
ayear. In talking about books, how
many have read Sweet Cicely, by

 

Josiah Allen’s Wife? Try it, and re~
port. BESS.

  
 

  


    

2

    

The Household.

 

 

ABOVE TROUBLES.

 

Members of the HOUSEHOLD, when
you arrive at the state of bliss in which
I am now, it will be a matter of very
little moment whether women wear
masculine attire; who strains her jellies
through the greatest number of bags,
or who plays a harmless game of cards
to resta weary brain. Not all mortals
can catch that soothing draught from
forest, sea and sky. and music—the
nerve ionic—no longer charms. No
person can tell another what he needs,
and when you begin to realize this, and
3ry liberty, then you are going in the
right direction. When you can be
noted mainly for acute common sense,
its germ is in the heart. Let it grow.
Allow me to tell you, for I am situated
where I can see and know. Upon the
edge ofa billowy cloud am I, gazing
down at you all. You worry and fret
too much about the petty affairs of life.
Once I was like you; saw “through a
glass darkly”; but happily for me I met
with a change—learned when not too
late to let my neighbors’-business alone,
and found out I had as good neighbors
as anyone. And then I began to look
above and beyond the world’s veil. for
promised happiness. If I had crosses
to bear, they were borne the easier by
remembering some of them were of my
own making, because sometimes I
hadn’t used common sense.

From here I can see all sorts of
women. Just now there is one who is
at best a package of nerves. To her
husband this morning she was all
smiles, but he returns at noon and she
is cross, says she is ill; there is no
dinner ready; she is not ill—only
hysterical. one who is either away up
or way down, and can only be cured by
her own will power.

Out this way, in that beautiful house
with lovely furnishings .lives Mrs. A.,
who makes herself miserable because
her nearest .neighbor, Mrs. B., does
not envy her more on account of them.
Happy Mrs. B. considers lace curtains
and briea-brac, etc. dust gatherers
and more work than they are worth;
she cares nothing for such encumbrances
and ﬁnds her enjoyment in books, and
with a genial class of people who gather
about her. If Mrs. B. notices the
tlights Mrs. A. gives her,-she feels deep
in her heart a pity born of charity.
And here is another type of woman,
Mrs. (3., who, if she knows. a single sin
committed by a person, will repeat it,
and never let it die, no matter how
much that person may have atoned and
is doubtless forgiven. And yet Mrs.
C. has taken letters not belonging to
herself from the post ofﬁce, opened
them and made the contents known,
and then carefully rescaled and remail-
ed them. She thinks no one but her.
self is cognizant of the sin, but that is
enough. There is One who knows.
Everyone has failings and those who
complain of others’ shortcomings have

the most. Good common sense, linked
with kindness and that charity which
“thinketh no evil,” will make the work-
a-dav path broader and smoother.

PleaSe now glance from your window
above the cornﬁeld and rail fence, Maker,
to the trees with rustling leaves and
ﬁlled with bird music, higher, to the blue
sky, and now let your thoughts go to
Him who has left a guide for you, to
tell you the way to live here, that you
may live again.

Peruse the Good Book; earnestly
strive to understand and practice its
teachings. “Love thy neighbor.”
“Love your enemies.” Then He bids
that man who is himself without sin
cast the ﬁrst stone. M. E. H. must
write you more of Buddhism. I sup
pose I shall learn about it as I get far-
ther on, for I am a DEAD MAN.

 

RATHER SENSIBLE, AFTER ALL.

And now Almlra steps forth and calls
me a foolish, wicked woman because I
have done what I was obliged to do. 3

Now Almira, “ be sensible.” :1 :3

I judge that you were one of those
fortunate girls who married well; that
is, married one who had something to
start on, and you have been rather
privileged. Certain it is that you
have had life easier than the majority
of farmers’ wives if you could use your
own sweet will about keeping a girl.
What would you have done if your
husband had refused you the money
with which to pay a girl9

Now if you will read my first letter
to the HOUSEHOLD again, you will see
I wrote that -I had a kind husband in
most respects, but he seems blind to
the fact that woman’s work is some-
times too hard, and because I tried to
get along alone when he was really
quite poor, and when we had but two
or three children, he seems to think I
can still do so and forgets that the add-
ed little ones increase my work, and
also decrease my strength and endur-
ance in about the same ratio.

As to my doing so much work, why I
have just this to say: The work has to
be done, and as to doing it in a differ-
erent style, well-«I’ve tried style after
style, but it amounts to about the same
in the end. I’ve tried every labor sav-
ing washing soap, ﬂuid, etc., I’ve read
or heard of, but ﬁnd that withal my
washings tire me out. I have made a
practice of folding my sheets, red table
cloths, dish towels and baby napkins
and laying them away without ironing,
and still there would be enough to keep
me busy one day. Would you care to
use your white table linen without irou-
ing? Would you like to wear your
calico and gingham dresses without
ﬁrst smoothing them~just a little—or
send your little ones to school in un-
ironed clothes?

Could you coax your husband to wear

 

his shirts without ﬁrst being “done

 

"Yen can iead acow to water,

up?"
but you cannot make him drink;” so I
might set mush and milk, graham
bread, etc.. on the table before my bus
band but it would not be eaten.

I’ve tried letting my husband get his
own breakfast, when I have been so ill
that I could hardly dress myself, and
what was the result? Why, he would
try, but ohl don’t mention it! The
work of straightening up things after
him and the crying of the children who
could not dress themselves made me
worse instead of better, and I would
crawl around and do the work the best
I could, lying down occasionally, till
medicine had time to revive and brace
me up again.

Thank you, Almira, for your sugges-
tions and sympathy. I rather prefer
the sympathy given by Ella Rockwood,
Maybelle and that other fellow sufferer
who gave her experience for my bene-
ﬁt.

I assure you I have had no thought
of “ posing for a martyr" nor of work-
ing myself to death for the sake of be
ing pitied. I simply do what I see
must be done that my family may be
properly fed, clothed and healthy; and
I hold it as a duty to them that they be
kept comparatively clean for their
health’s sake; and I can say that. while
many of my less vigilant neighbors'
children are constantly ailing, mine are
rugged and suite free from sicknesses
of every kind, and the only reason I can
give is that I allow no ﬁlth or unneces-
sary dirt in or around our dwelling.

Work?—yes. Of course it requires
work; constant labor for me because I
have not the strength to rush through
it and get it done as quickly as some
might.

" Be sensible," Almira.

In regard to the raising of turkeys,
my little boys can feed them, and my
husband made a coop for them, and as
that constitutes the care they have re-
ceived you can readily underStand that
I have expended but little energy in
their behalf.

In regard to my non. dc plunw I will
say that I gave it no thought. WhenI
wrote my ﬁrst letter I signed the ﬁrst
name that came to my mind. Perhaps
I had better change it to Busy Bee; for
though I feel shiftless when I am so
weary, I still am obliged to keep busy
that the honey of our productive farm
may be garnered for winter use.

If those who have had difficulty fresh—
ening salt pork will soak it in sweet
milk over night, rinse off the milk and
parboil in the usual way, they will ﬁnd
it much more palatable. If convenient
drop a few bits of charcoal into the
milk.

The word "guimpe” is a French word,
pronounced gamp.

I should like to visit Sally Waters.
What aplucky little woman she must
be?

 

I love to work in the garden and

 

 


   
   
   
   
    
  
   
   
    
  
    
  
   
 
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
     
  
   
   
  
  
    
  
  
   
  
  
    
  
   
   
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
    
  
  
   
  
  
 

 

 

The Household.

 

  

8

 

 

among the ﬂowers, but could not be
coaxed into the ﬁelds to plow or drag.
SHIFTLESS.

 

{No one will deny that “Busy Bee” is
much more appropriate to the writer
of the above than “Shiftiess,” which
she certainly isn’t, but we have one
“Busy Bee” who has written us letters
from another part of the State, and who
has a prior right to the name. Will
“Shiftless” please select some other. if
she wishes to change?——ED.1

 

INQUIRIES ANSWERED.

A correSpondent inquired last week
what could be done to exterminate the
oarpef-bugs—those little fuzzy beetles
with such voracious appetites that they
are much more to be dreaded than the
moth we all know how to ﬁght. So
far, at least, there seems no certain
way of preventing their ravages, after
they once appear. Prof. Cook advises
the profuse use of insect powder. The
Flint Citizen says the surest way to
deal with them is to hunt them out, and
place each one, when detected, upon a
smooth surface and step on it. This is
laborious but effectual; and calls to
mind the genius who advertised a sure
remedy for potato bugs. The confiding
individuals who sent the stipulated
ﬁfty cents received a couple of small
pieces of wood, with printed instruc-
tions to catch the bug, place it be-
tween the blocks and apply sufﬁcient
pressure to cause death. If the house is
infested ﬁll the cracks in the ﬂoor with
putty or plaster of Paris. Carpets and
rugs in which they harbor must be
drenched with benzine, then thoroughly
aired. Have no ﬁre of any kind in a
room where you use benzine.

"Shadow,” who says the only fault
she ﬁnds with the HOUSEHOLD is that
it is not large enough. asks what will
remove moth patches and superﬂuous
hair from the face. After those hate-
ful brown discoloratious appear upon
the face the case is, except in very
rare instances, hopeless. They are
caused usually by diseases of the liver,
indigestion, biliousness, and kindred
ailments. N 0 external applications are
of beneﬁt; the only hope is better health
and purer blood. to be obtained by
more complete digestion and assimila-
tion of food. Superﬁuous hair is ef-
fectly removed only in one way, by
what is called electrolysis, which con-
sists of killing the root or bulb of each
individual hair by means of an electric
current. It is a delicate and somewhat
painful process, requiring time and a
skillful operator, but the hair thus
killed is dead forever, whereas after
the use of other depilatories it invari-
ably grows again, stronger. stiﬂ'er and
coarser than at ﬁrst.

Another reader asks about Dresden
embroidery, of which she has heard
others speak, and for which she notes
there is a special class in the premium

 

list of the Detroit Exposition. The
patterns of Dresden embroidery, like
those of the famous and beautiful Dres-
den china, consist of tiny detached
sprays not more than an inch or an inch
and a half long, worked in solid satin
stitch. The work is so ﬁne and dainty
that only an expert and careful needle-
woman can produce satisfactory results.
A single flower with two or three leaves,
a rose or rosebud, forge‘wme-nots, a
pansy, any delicate flower is usually
selected for Dresden patterns, and the
work is much used on doyleys, tops for
pincushions, etc.

Allene, of Dexter, inquires what will
remove mildew from cotton, saying she
has tried chloride of lime, buttermilk,
etc., without effect. These are the
standard means employed, and we
know of none better. Perhaps some one
can give a method that will prove
more effectual. Allene also wants to
know what will prevent the hair from
turning gray and restore it to its natural
color, without injury to the hair. Ah!
Allene, “when Youth, the Dream, de-
parts,” no art, no magic of the apothe-
caries’, no treatment however faithful,
will give the lustre and color to the
hair, the brightness to the eye, the
texture and color to the skin, that the
years have stolen in their ﬂight. The
appearance of gray hair, when it may
reasonably be attributed to the advance
of years, is due to the fatty degenera~
tion of tissue and phosphatic deposit,
by which the strength of the blood-ves-
sels is lessened and the growth of
coloring or formative matter in the
hair-cells is prevented. The result is a
gradual blanching of the hair. For
such conditions, there is rarely a
remedy. If Allene’s hair is whitening
prematurely we would recommend her
to obtain a copy of “Hair, Its Care,
Diseases and Treatment," by Dr.
Leonard, from which she may study the
cause in her case and possibly ﬁnd a
remedy. The falling out of the hair is
more frequently due to general de-
rangement of the physical system, to
neuralgic headaches, nervous troubles
and kindred disorders than to any real
disease of the hair itself. The remedy
of course lies ﬁrst in building up the
system by tonics, in which iron is of
value. 'and then in stimulating the
scalp by friction, and a lotion which
will stimulate the growth of the hair
cells. Dr. Leonard recommends the
following as a local application: Tr.
cantharidis, two drachms; tr. nux
vomica, half ounce; tr. capsicum, one
drachm; castor oil, one and a half
ounces; cologne water, two ounces.
Apply night and morning. with sponge,
after brushing the hair.

Back numbers of the HOUSEHOLD

can usually be obtained if sent for within
a few weeks after date; sometimes the
HOUSEHOLD Editor can supply the
missing numbers from the tile she
keeps for reference. Write for the
copies you have missed and we will fur-
nish them if possible.

 

BUTTER-MAKING.

Butter-making was the topic dis-
cussed by the feminine contingent of
the South Jackson Farmers' Club at
the June meeting. Mrs. W. M. Dodge
opened the subject, giving her practice
and experience as follows:

“ My experience teaches me that the
best results are obtained by the
creamery process, as a much better and
more uniform article of cream and
butter can be produced than in any
other way I know of.

"' First. The creamer-y with its venti~
lation and deep setting of cans in cold
water (with ice if preferred) keeps milk
sweet and cool.

“Second. The tOp of the creamery
can is never decorated with spiders nor
ﬁles, nor will you ﬁnd anv foreign sub-
stance in the cream.

“Third. The thunderstorm, the one
thing so much dreaded by those using
pans, never has any bad effect. The
cream raised in this way never be
comes hard or has any white specks or
false cream in it. I use the Wilson
Cabinet creamery with satisfactOry re-
sults. There is no lifting out of cans, or
skimming from the top, the milk and
cream being removed by the opening of
a faucet at the bottom of the can. The
milk from ten cows can be cared for in
amuch better way in the same time
that it takes to care for the milk of two
cows with pans.

“Now in making butter I think that
ordinarily there is a great loss from
not properly mixing and making the
different skimmings of cream uniformly
ripe before churning. I would advise
the use of the dairy thermometer so as
to be sure you are right before begin-
ning to churn. If you wish butter made
from sweet cream churn the cream
while sweet. it should ﬁrst be brought
to the proper temperature for churning
as follows: Sixty deg. to 62 deg. in
summer and 62 to 66 deg. in winter. If
you prefer it made from sour cream let
the cream stand until it thickens and
becomes slightly acid. The cream
should have ventilation and be stirred
occasionally. Sweet cream and sour
should never be mixed just before
churning, as the sweet cream churns
harder, therefore is likely to be lost in
the buttermilk. I use the Batchelor
barrel churn and think it preserves the
grain of the butter, and for that reason
makes a finer quality than any churn I
ever seen with paddles or ladles inside.
I think it better to rinse the butter-
milk from the butter, and ﬁnd the
churn the most convenient place for so
doing after the buttermilk has been re-
moved. In salting the butter I use the
best ﬁne dairy salt, scattering it evenly
through the butter as soon as it is taken
from the churn, working it but little.
I then set it away until the salt is dis-
solved. In preparing it for market or
packing for winter use great care
should be taken to remove all the but-

  

r...x t.;’:1. a :,,3““. a: ~ .- 5. L' .g: .: .1 .

sq... {cringe}

   
 

     


2 The Household.

 

ABOVE TROUBLES.

 

Members of the HOUSEHOLD, when
you arrive at the state of bliss in which
I am now, it will be a matter of very
little moment whether women wear
masculine attire; who strains her jellies
through the greatest number of bags,
or who plays a harmless game of cards
to resta weary brain. Not all mortals
can catch that soothing draught from
forest, sea and sky. and music—the
nerve tonic—no longer charms. No
person can tell another what he needs,
and when you begin to realize this, and
3ry liberty, then you are going in the
right direction. When you can be
noted mainly for acute common sense,
its germ is in the heart. Let it grow.
Allow me to tell you, for I am situated
where I can see and know. Upon the
edge ofabillowy cloud am I, gazing
down at you all. You worry and fret
too much about the pettv affairs of life.
Once I was like you; saw “through a
glass darkly”; but happily for me I met
with a change—learned when not too
late to let my neighbors’-business alone,
and found out I had as good neighbors
as anyone. And then I began to look
above and beyond the world’s veil, for
promised happiness. If I had crosses
to bear, they were borne the easier by
remembering some of them were of my
own making, because sometimes I
hadn’t used common sense.

From here I can see all sorts of
women. Just now there is one who is
at best a package of nerves. To her
husband this morning she was all
smiles, but he returns at noon and she
is cross, says she is ill; there is no
dinner ready; she is not ill~only
hysterical. one who is either away up
or way down, and can only be cured by
her own will power.

Out this way. in that beautiful house
with lovely furnishings dives Mrs. A.,
who makes herself miserable because
her nearest .neighbor, Mrs. B., does
not envy her more On account of them.
Happy Mrs. B. considers lace curtains
and bric-a-brac, etc. dust gatherers
and more work than they are worth;
she cares nothing for such encumbrances
and ﬁnds her enjoyment in books, and
with a genial class of people who gather
about her. If Mrs. B. notices the
liights Mrs. A. gives her,-she feels deep
in her heart a pity born of charity.
And here is another type of woman.
Mrs. C., who, if she knows. a single sin
committed by a person, will repeat it,
and never let it die, no matter how
much that person .may have atoned and
is doubtless forgiven. And yet Mrs.
C. has taken letters not belonging to
herself from the post ofﬁce, opened
them and made the contents known,
and then carefully rescaled and remail—
ed them. She thinks no one but her-
self is cognizant of the sin, but that is
enough. There is One who knows.
Everyone has failings and those who
complain of others’ shortcomings have

 

the most. Good common sense, linked
with kindness and that charity which
“thinketh no evil," will make the work-
a-day path broader and smoother.

Please now glance from your window
above the cornﬁeld and rail fence, hiahe'r,
to the trees with rustling leaves and
ﬁlled with bird music, higher, to the blue
sky, and now let your thoughts go to
Him who has left a guide for you, to
tell you the way to live here, that you
may live again.

Peruse the Good B)ok; earnestly
strive to understand and practice its
teachings. "Love thy neighbor.”
“Love your enemies.” Then He bids
that man who is himself without sin
cast the ﬁrst stone. M. E. H. must
write you more of Buddhism. I sup-
pose I shall learn about it as I get far-
ther on, for I am a DEAD MAN.

 

RATHER SENSIBLE, AFTER ALL.

And now Almira steps forth and calls
me a foolish, wicked woman because I
have done what I was obliged to do. C]

Now Almira, “ be sensible.” r1 3

I judge that yen were one of those
fortunate girls who married well; that
is, married one who had something to
start on, and you have been rather
privileged. Certain it is that you
have had life easier than the majority
of farmers’ wives if you could use your
own sweet will about keeping a girl.
What would you have done if your
husband had refused you the money
with which to pay a girl9

Now if you will read my ﬁrst letter
to the HOUSEHOLD again, you will see
I wrote that I had a kind husband in
most respects, but he seems blind to
the fact that woman’s work is some-
times too hard, and because I tried to
get along alone when he was really
quite poor, and when we had but two
or three children, he seems to think I
can still do so and forgets that the add-
ed little ones increase my work, and
also decrease my strength and endur-
ance in about the same ratio.

As to my doing so much work, why I
have just this to say: The work has to
be done, and as to doing it in a differ-
erent style, well—~I’ve tried style after
style, but it amounts to about the same
in the end. I’ve tried every labor sav-
ing washing soap, fluid, etc., I’ve read
or heard of, but ﬁnd that withal my
washings tire me out. I have made a
practice of folding my sheets, red table
cloths, dish towels and baby napkins
and laying them away without ironing,
and still there would be enough to keep
me busy one day. Would you care to
use your white table linen without iron-
ing? Would you like to wear your
calico and gingham dresses without
ﬁrst smoothing them—just a little—or
send your little ones to school in un-
ironed clothes?

Could you coax your husband to wear
his shirts without ﬁrst being “done

 

110?” "Yen can lead a cow to water,
but you cannot make him drink;” so I
might set mush and milk, graham
bread, etc.. on the table before my bus
band but it would not be eaten.

I’ve tried letting my husband get his
own breakfast, when I have been so ill
that I could hardly dress myself, and
what was the result? Why, he would
try, but oh! ~don’t mention it! The
work of straightening up things after
him and the crying of the children who
could not dress themselves made me
worse instead of better, and I would
crawl around and do the work the best
I could, lying down occasionally, till
medicine had time to revive and brace
me up again.

Thank you, Almira, for your sugges-
tions and sympathy. I rather prefer
the sympathy given by Ella Rockwood,
Maybelle and that other fellow sufferer
who gave her experience for my bene-
ﬁt.

I assure you I have had no thought
of "‘ posing for a martyr “ nor of work
ing myself to death for the sake of be“
ing pitied. I simply do what I see
must be done that my family may be
properly fed, clothed and healthy: and
I hold it as a duty to them that they be
kept comparatively clean for their
health’s sake; and I can say that. while
many of my less vigilant neighbors’
children are constantly ailing, mine are
rugged and quite free from sicknesses
of every kind, and the only reason I can
give is that I allow no ﬁlth or unneces-
sary dirt in or around our dwelling.

Work?-—-yes. Of course it requires
work; constant labor for me because I
have not the strength to rush through
it and get it done as quickly as some
might.

“Be sensible,” Almira.

In regard to the raising of turkeys,
mv little boys can feed them, and my
husband made 21 000p for them, and as
that constitutes the care they have re-
ceived you can readily understand that
I have expended but little energy in
their behalf.

In regard to my mm do plunw I will
say that I gave it no thought. Whenl
wrote my ﬁrst letter I signed the ﬁrst
name that came to my mind. Perhaps
I had better change it to Busy Bee; for
though I feel shiftless when I am so
weary, I still am obliged to keep busy
that the honey of our productive farm
may be garnered for winter use.

If those who have had difﬁculty fresh-
ening salt pork will soak it in sweet
milk over night, rinse off the milk and
parboil in the usual way, they will ﬁnd
it much more palatable. If couvenient
drop a few bits of charcoal into the
milk.

The word "guimpe” is a French word,
pronounced gamp.

I should like to visit Sally Waters.
What a plucky little woman she must
be?

I love to work in the garden and

t
. x'
-\

 
     

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The Household. 8

  

  

 

 

 

among the flowers, but could not be

coaxed into the ﬁelds to plow or drag.

SH [FTLESS.

 

{No one will deny that “Busy Bee” is
much more appropriate to the writer
of the above than “Shiftless,” which
she certainly isn’t, but we have one
“Busy Bee” who has written us letters
from another part of the State, and who
has a prior right to the name. Will
"‘Shiftless" please select some other, if
she wishes to change?—ED.]

iNQUIRIES ANSWERED.

A correspondent inquired last week
what could be done to exterminate the
oarpet-bugs—those little fuzzy beetles
with such voracious appetites that they
are much more to be dreaded than the
moth we all know how to ﬁght. So
far, at least, there seems no certain
way of preventing their ravages, after
they once appear. Prof. Cook advises
the profuse use of insect powder. The
Flint Citizen says the surest way to
deal with them is to hunt them out, and
place each one, when detected, upon a
smooth surface and step on it. This is
laborious but effectual; and calls to
mind the genius who advertised a sure
remedy for potato bugs. The conﬁding
individuals who sent the stipulated
ﬁfty cents received a couple of small
pieces of wood, with printed instruc-
tions to catch the bug, place it be-
:ween the blocks and apply sufﬁcient
pressure to cause death. If the house is
infested ﬁll the cracks in the ﬂoor with
nutty or plaster of Paris. Carpets and
rugs in which they harbor must be
drenched with benzine, then thoroughly
aired. Have no ﬁre of any kind in a
room where you use benzine.

"Shadow,” who says the only fault
she ﬁnds with the HOUSEHOLD is that
it is not large enough. asks what will
remove moth patches and superﬂuous
hair from the face. After those hate-
ful brown discolorations appear upon
the face the case is, except in very
rare instances, hopeless. They are
caused usually by diseases of the liver.
indigestion, biliousness, and kindred
ailments. No external applications are
of beneﬁt; the only hope is better health
and purer blood. to be obtained by
more complete digestion and assimila-
tion of food. Superﬁuous hair is ef-
fectly removed only in one way, by
what is called electrolysis, which con-
sists of killing the root or bulb of each
individual hair by means of an electric
current. It is a delicate and somewhat
painful process, requiringr time and a
skillful operator, but the hair thus
killed is dead forever. whereas after
the use of other depilatories it invari-
ably grows again, stronger. stiffer and
coarser than at ﬁrst.

Another reader asks about Dresden
embroidery, of which she has heard
others speak, and for which she notes
there is a special class in the premium

 

list of the Detroit Exposition. The
patterns of Dresden embroidery, like
those of the famous and beautiful Dres-
den china, consist of tiny detached
sprays not more than an inch or an inch
and a half long, worked in solid satin
stitch. The work is so ﬁne and dainty
that only an expert and careful needle-
woman can produce satisfactory results.
A single ﬂower with two or three leaves,
a rose or rosebud, fm'gct-me-nots, a
pansy, any delicate flower is usually
selected for Dresden patterns, and the
work is much used on doyleys, tops for
pincushions, etc.

Allene, of Dexter, inquires what will
remove mildew from cotton, saying she
has tried chloride of lime, buttermilk,
etc, without effect. These are the
standard means employed, and we
know of none better. Perhaps some one

can give a method that will prove

more effectual. Allene also wants to
know what will prevent the hair from
turning gray and restore it to its natural
color, without injury to the hair. Ah!
Allene, “when Youth, the Dream, de-
parts,” no art, no magic of the apothe-
caries’, no treatment however faithful,
will give the lustre and color to the
hair, the brightness to the eye, the
texture and color to the skin, that the
years have stolen in their ﬂight. The
appearance of gray hair, when it may
reasonably be attributed to the advance
of years, is due to the fatty degenera-
tion of tissue and phosphatic deposit,
by which the strength of the blood-ves-
sels is lessened and the growth of
coloring or formative matter in the
haircells is prevented. The result is a
gradual blanching of the hair. For
such conditions, there is rarely a
remedy. If Allene’s hair is whitening
prematurely we would recommend her
to obtain a copy of “Hair, Its Care,
Diseases and Treatment,” by Dr.
Leonard, frdm which she may study the
cause in her case and possibly ﬁnd a
remedy. The falling out of the hair is
more frequently due to general de-
rangement of the physical system, to
neuralgic headaches, nervous troubles
and kindred disorders than to any real
disease of the hair itself. The remedy
of course lies ﬁrst in building up the
system by tonics, in which iron is of
value. and then in stimulating the
scalp by friction, and a lotion which
will stimulate the growth of the hair
cells. Dr. Leonard recommends the
following as a local application: Tr.
cantharidis, two drachms; tr. nux
vomica, half ounce; tr. capsicum, one
drachm; castor oil, one and a half
ounces; cologne water. two ounces.
Apply night and morning, with sponge,
after brushing the hair.

Back numbers of the HOUSEHOLD

can usually be obtained if sent for within
a few weeks after date; sometimes the
HOUSEHOLD Editor can supply the
missing numbers from the ﬁle she
keeps for reference. Write for the
copies you have missed and we will fur-
nish them if possible.

 

BUTTER-MAKING.

 

Butter-making was the topic dis-
cussed by the feminine contingent of
the South Jackson Farmers’ Club at
the June meeting. Mrs. W. M. Dodge
Opened the subject, giving her practice
and experience as follows:

“ My experience teaches me that the
best results are obtained by the
creamery process, as a much better and
more uniform article of cream and
butter can be produced than in any
other way I know of.

"‘ First. The creamery with its venti-
lation and deep setting of cans in cold
water (with ice if preferred) keeps milk
sweet and cool.

“Second. The top of the creamery
can is never decorated with spiders nor
ﬁles, nor will you ﬁnd any foreign sub-
stance in the cream.

“Third. The thunderstorm. the one
thing so much dreaded by those using
pans, never has any bad eﬁect. The
cream raised in this way never be-
comes hard or has any white specks or
false cream in it. I use the Wilson
Cabinet creamery with satisfactory re-
sults. There is no lifting out of cans, or
skimming from the top, the milk and
cream being removed by the opening of
a faucet at the bottom of the can. The
milk from ten cows can be cared for in
amuch better way in the same time
that it takes to care for the milk of two ,
cows with pans. _,

“ Now in making butterl think that 7 '
ordinarily there is a great loss from
not properly mixing and making the
different skimmings of cream uniformly
ripe before churning. I would advise
the use of the dairy thermometer so as
to be sure you are right before begin-
ning to churn. If you wish butter made I
from sweet cream churn the cream
while sweet. It should ﬁrst be brought
to the proper temperature for churning
as follows: Sixty deg. to 62 deg. in
summer and 62 to 66 deg. in winter. If
you prefer it made from sour cream let
the cream stand until it thickens and
becomes slightly acid. The cream
should have ventilation and be stirred
occasionally. Sweet cream and sour
should never be mixed just before
churning, as the sweet cream churns
harder, therefore is likely to be lost in
the buttermilk. I use the Batchelor
barrel churn and think it preserves the
grain of the butter, and for that reason
makes a finer quality than any churn I
ever seen with paddles or ladles inside.
I think it better to rinse the butter-
milk from the butter, and ﬁnd the
churn the most convenient place for so
doing after the buttermilk has been re-
moved. In salting the butter I use the
best ﬁne dairy salt, scattering it evenly
through the butter as soon as it is taken
from the churn, working it but little.
I then set it away until the salt is dis-
solved. In preparing it for market or
packing for winter use great care
should be taken to remove all the but-

 

     
        
     


 

The Household.

    

 

termilk, so the butter will keep sweet
and not be streaked. Creamery butter
brings from three to ten cents per
pound more than ordinary dairy butter
and will weigh more to the gallon,
being much more solid than when
made by the old process. i am glad to
say‘ that at present the price of butter
depends largely on the quality and is
not sold by weight alone. I use the
following recipe for brine for packing
butter: For a three gallon crock, take
one and one-half quarts of boiling water,
add tothis one tablespoonful of granu-
lated sugar, one teaspoonful of salt-
petre and salt until it will dissolve no
more. Cool, strain and pour over the
butter, allowing it to remain in the
crock while using the butter.”

In the animated discussion which
followed, the question arose as to the
cause of white specks in butter, and was
attributed to the cream being exposed
to the air, as they do not form in cream
raised in a creamery. Mrs. Richard
Crouch said they were caused from hot
air and from not skimming at the
proper time. Mrs. Strong said they
were caused by dry air. Mrs. Edwards
said itwas not that, they were caused by
dampness, so now, and streaks in butter
were caused by washing it. A wet
cloth over butter will bleach it. Mrs.
Dodge insisted that streaks in butter
were caused by buttermilk not being
removed. Mrs. Crouch said butter was
streaked by being salted unevenly.

Mrs. Hutchins thought the condition
of the atmosphere caused ﬂakes. A
milk room or cellar needed to be thor-
oughly ventilated and if butter is
streaked—whatever may be the cause
—it can be dispelled by thoroughly
working.

Mrs. Neely asked: "How are you
always going to have butter come hard
in hot weather if you have no ice?”

Mrs. Edwards said soft butter was
caused by allowing men and boys to
do the churning; as they churn too fast.

Mrs. Dodge said the thing to do is to

stop the churning when the butter
comes, and Mr. Goldsmith said he never
saw any one who wasn’t willing to.

A. NEW CALLER.

 

 

As I am a reader of the HOUSEHOLD
I would like to say that I agree with L.
E. W. I do not think that people
should play cards to keep up with “the
style,” as a great many do (but not I).
There isn’t anything in this world that
could induce me to learn to play, and
there is nothing that would hurt my
mother’s feelings a bit worse than to
hear of my playing cards. But her
feelings will never be hurt in that way
by her girls, as I am the only one liv-
ing. Besides, what an evil card playing
is! A few weeks agol went riding with
my brother, and we called at the house
of a friend. The young man of the
house met us at the door, and as he led
the way to the sitting room (he knew
what I thought of card playing) said:

 

  

"They are playing cards in here.” I
exclaimed, “Oh my!” and the lady of
the house asked if I never played. I
told her I did not, and after I laid off
my wraps, they invited me to learn to
play. But horrors, do you suppose I
did? No! it fairly made my blood run
cold to sit there and, see them play. I
think it terrible for young men to play,
but when it comes to young ladies!
Why! Why! Can’t they ﬁnd some-
thing better to do? As for me I should
think both sexes might.

Well, perhaps I had better close, not
knowing where this will land. for there
is that great, great big basket called
the waste basket. If this should escape
that, perhaps I will call again.

ALGAN SEE’S OLD MAID.

 

The above was sent us with the fol-
lowing explanatory note. which it
seems proper should be published. The
young lady in question was but tWenty
years of age, and her many friends
deeply mourn her death, which we, in
our ignorance of God’s purposes, call
premature. The following is the. let-
ter:

DEAR HOUSEHOLD EDITOR—I know
you have cried "Enough” on the card
question. but the enclosed was written
by a yeast? lady neighbor when the dis-
cussion was at its height, but before it
was sent you, death suddenly closed her
eyes, and since it was her ﬁrst and only
attempt at writing her friends would

like to see it in print.
JOHN’S WIFE.

TWO RULES FOR SALT RISING
BREAD.

 

 

The day before you wish to bake, at
noon when you cook potatoes for dinner
put into a bowl apinch of soda and half a
teaspoonful of salt. Take from the ket.
tle one good sized potato and mash in
the bowl with a fork; in this put a small
tablespoonful of flour and pour upon
this a teacupful of the boiling potato
water, and beat with fork. This (the
emptyings) should be kept warm, but
afternoons when I don’t want to keep a
ﬁre, I arrange to keep them moderate-
ly warm. In the morning pour into
them a third of a cup of boiling water;
beat up with a fork for three or four
minutes and keep warm (not hot) and
they ought to be light _by 10
o’clock and by noon any way. Then in-
to your bread-pan put about three
quarts of ﬂour and make a well in the
middle; put into the ﬂour a small hand-
ful of salt and a pinch of soda large as
two kernels of corn; pour into this a
pint of boiling water and stir, then add
two pints of cold water, when you have
stirred in enough ﬂour to make a good
batter stir in the emptyings. Set in a
warm place to rise. A warm soap stone
is a good thing to set your bread pan
on. When foamy light mix into loaves,
let rise and bake. If your bread tins
are very shallow ﬁll them about two-
thlrds full and let rise to a little above
the top of the tins before putting in the

 

       

oven. Now if your utensils are all
sweet and clean, and you follow direc»
tions, you ought to have good sweet
bread. I have tried to make it plain.
The new potatoes are not as good for
the emptyings as when riper. Please
try and report. ARN’S WIFE.

 

The day before you wish to bake take
at noon, or at night if you can keep
it warm over night, a tablespoonful of
fresh meal; scald a gill of sweet milk

(and when it boils turn into the meal in

a teacup. Stir well; set it where it will
keep warm, and it will be light in the
morning. Then take a bowl about half
full of water, one-half teaspoonful of
salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of soda,
thicken with ﬂour, stir in the meal, set
it where it will be warm. I usually set
it in a basin of warm water on the
reservoir of the stove, if I have a ﬁre,
or in the sun if it is shining very hot:
it will rise quickly. Have ready about
three quarts of ﬂour. Use one pint of
hot water, and scald a part of the ﬂour;
cool with water or sweet milk until
luke-warm; turn in the emptyings,
leave in a warm place until light. Mold
into loaves and when they have risen to
about twice the original size, bake.
Salt rising bread is more difﬁcult to
make than yeast bread, as it- must be
kept at an even, warm temperature.
using care not toscald it during the
process of rising, but when well made is
very nice. FIDUS ACHATUS.

 

FOR THE HAIR.

 

I want to tell Crawford while the
FARMER is before me (we send them to
South Dakota this year) that last sum-
mer after having had a siege of la
grippe, my hair came out so badly
no simple thing I could try would stop
it. But after trying the following
prescription one week it checked its
falling out. In four weeks new hair
came in all over my head. It does not
change the color, it is cool and refresh-
ing and for a dressing is very nice:

Bay rum, two pints; alcohol, one
pint; castor oil, one ounce; carbonate
of ammonia, one»ha1f ounce. Shake
thoroughly betore using: rub well into
the roots of the hair. Half the above
ingredients will cost 60 or 65 cents.

I want to tell some young house-
keeper our way of cooking string beans:
they are delicious. After they are cut
up and ready to cook put into a kettle
a piece of butter half as large as an
egg; when hot put in the beans, stirring
constantly until they change color—-
perhaps ﬁve minutes—cover with b011-
ing water and cook two hours, season
and add cream or rich milk to moisten.

We have tried taking city boarders—
Chicago boys, for two vacations. If any
one feels anxious to know how it goes
write me——there is nothing “mean
about me,” I will tell you all I know
about it.

Some day I hope I can ﬁnd time to
write the different ways my mother
taught me to cook pork. We do not
have it for a general meat; think few
farmers do these times, but when we
do have it the men of our family pro-
nounce it the very best meat we cook.

HOME. JOHN.

  

