April, 18*9. 
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Housekeeping; or Home jllakin;;. 
“To learn such a simple lesson. 
Need I go to Paris or Rome, 
That the many make the household. 
But only one the home?” 
Thus Lovell sings, as lie pays touching 
tribute to his dead wife: but how many wo- 
men keep the thought before them, as they 
administer the affairs of their households? 
At times this age seems to be running 
mad on the subject of housekeeping, for, 
not only must every paper have its “House- 
hold Department,” with recipes and direc- 
tions for all kinds of work, but a goodly 
number of papers and magazines are exclu- 
sively devoted to housekeeping matters, fan- 
cy work included. 
Any housekeeper who should follow the 
tithe of the directions given could scarcely 
fail to be like Martha of old “troubled about 
many things.” Have we not all seen “per- 
fect housekeepers” who seemed ignorant of 
even the firstprinciples of home-making? 
Such houses are scrupulously neat from 
cellar to attic, and three well-cooked appe- 
tising meals are served punctually in them 
every day, but they are houses, — nothing 
more. Better a few cob-v\ ebs in the attic, a 
little dust in unused rooms, — yes, even less 
elaborate meals, and a home. When chil- 
dren grow to be men and women, they will 
not look back with loving memory to the 
house, but to the home in which they were 
alway sure of a warm welcome, and a 
loving greeting, whenever or however they 
entered it. 
It must be granted that this old thought 
of the wife and mother as the center of the 
home cannot be taken too literally. 
A ship could not cross the ocean without 
a pilot: but let the pilot be ever so faithful 
and have no co operation from the crew, 
what chance would there be for safety? 
The corner-stone in home-building is the 
thought of partnership. The family, right- 
ly considered, is a joint stock concern in 
which each member is interested, does his 
share of the work and receives his share of 
the profit. If the father and the children 
shirk their share in the home-life, they 
cannot expect success. 
But, let each one do his best, working lov- 
ingly and harmoniously, yet if she, who is 
at once wife, mother, housekeeper, counsel- 
or and friend, be taken away, there will be 
left only a crippled home. Is not this thought 
an inspiration? 
Let us never forget it as we study the best 
methods of sweeping, dusting, cleaning 
house, cooking or entertaining company; 
for, important as these things are, it will 
not do to sj>end so much time upon them 
that our husbands lose the comfort and 
counsel that they need, our boys and girls 
go elsewhere for their enjoyment, and dare 
not interupt us with their little confidences, 
plans and ambitions. 
Let us be perfect housekeepers and home- 
makers too, if we can; but let us never spend 
all our time and thoughts on house-work. 
The perfect home-maker will be interest- 
ed in all that concerns every member of her 
household. She will provide a place for the 
children's toys and other possessions. There 
will be a room where the boys can whittle 
and use their carpenters’ tools to their heart’s 
Home-Made Book Shelf. Fig. 1581. 
content, and the girls can practice house- 
keeping and dress-making with their doll 
families. Nor will she forget a bright, sun- 
ny, comfortable spot for the granfather or 
grandmother, if the home be so fortumate 
as to include one in its number. 
Boys and girl will never think of such a 
house as a hotel, a place for eating and 
sleeping, but it will be the home, in which 
they are “part of the concern” and hence 
have a vital interest. 
Home-Made Book-Vhelf. 
It is surprising how many pretty, attrac- 
tive guest chambers are entirely destitute 
of books. Having been in more than one 
well-ordered household where this was the 
case, I have concluded that the reason must 
be found in the lack of an appropriate place 
Household Comfort. Fig. 1580. 
for them. Each article of bed-room furni- 
ture has its use, and books are more or less 
out of place on any of them. 
Very likely there is not room for a large 
book case, or it would be difficult to find 
books enough to fill it without robbing the 
rest of the house. 
A simple, convenient and economical 
book-shelf can be made in this way: Select, 
if possible, wood of the same kind as the 
furniture of the room. Have two thin 
boards thirty inches long and seven wide 
fitted at each end into thin pieces of wood 
which shall serve as sides, a pieces also 
running across the back. 
Screw it into the wall at a convenient 
height, or suspend it by wire from hooks in 
the picture cornice. Have a slender brass 
rod with rings to which a pretty curtain is 
adttached. Put bric-a-brac on the top, 
and fill the shelf with books if you can, but 
have half a dozen at any rate. The whole 
will add much to the beauty and attractive- 
ness of your room. 
Guests usually wish to spend some time 
in their rooms, and wall enjoy the literature 
they find there much better than if they 
had to carry it up from the library, at the 
risk of inconveniencing some one else; and 
in thinking over their visit, the pretty book- 
shelf, with its contents, will never be for- 
gotten. 
In one exceedingly attractive home, that 
of a college President, a book-shelf of this 
description is a part of the furniture of 
every bed-room, with a sufficient variety in 
each to suit the taste of widely different 
individuals. 
If necessary, the whole thing can be home- 
made, fashioned from a dry-goods’ box, 
appropriately stained, and need not cost 
anytliir g beyond the time expended upon 
it. 
Household Comfort. 
A great improvement on the old string- 
bag, which for years has done service in 
many households, is called a “Household 
Comfort,” and is made as follows. 
From strong brown linen cut a piece 
twenty four inches long and sixteen wide. 
Cut a second piece eleven inches long and 
eighteen wide; a smaller piece nine inches 
long and nine wide; and two pieces each 
four and a half inches long and nine wide. 
The large piece forms the back; the 
smaller ones are the pockets and should be 
bound with braid across the top. 
Baste the piece second in size to the bot- 
tom and sides of the large piece, pleating in 
the extra fullness near the lower corners. 
Leave a space of two inches, then baste 
the piece nine inches square, so that one 
edge will coincide with the edge of the 
large piece, the other oeing at its center, 
the top, three inches from the top of the 
large piece, and the bottom two inches 
from the top of the lower pocket, the 
extra fullness being arranged as in that. 
At the right of this, baste on the two 
small pieces, so that the top of one and the 
bottom of the other shall be on a line with 
the top and bottom of it. Turn down the 
top of the large piece one inch. Sew braid 
across this, also between the nine inch pocket 
and the two smaller ones and across the 
bottom of all three. Also bind the whole 
with braid. 
On the large pocket, etch with ink, the 
color of the braid, the words “Wrapping 
Papers;” on the next pocket, “Paper Bags;” 
on one small pocket, “Fine Strings;” on the 
other, “Coarse Strings.” 
