390 
AMERICAN AORICIJL. C UHIST 
[October 
afternoon or a clay, surely desire some quiet time to 
think their own thoughts and rest unobserved. 
Ji is very hard and wearisome to visit for a few 
days where you are constantly “entertained” by 
one person or another, however much beloved and 
interesting your friend may be. It is of no very 
great consequence what we talk about, if we are 
only honest and hospitable to one another’s 
thoughts and beliefs. Even to talk about what 
■we eat is redeemed from vulgarity if we have kind 
■motives—as to please our hostess by sincere praise, ! 
or to learn how to do our own cooking more per- I 
fectly. Pictures, stereoscopes, games, all these j 
things help in entertaining our friends, and it is ! 
the hostess’ part to do all she can to have her 
guests happy, each in his or her own way. 
Will our Children Support Themselves P 
This question comes to all parents of small or 
moderate means as they see their children growing 
up. Some have a clear idea as to what business 
they wish their children to pursue, and endeavor to 
give them a bent in that direction, or to lit them 
for the chosen occupation. Others watch anxiously 
for some hint as to the child’s natural bent, won¬ 
dering if he or she is good for anything in particu¬ 
lar in the way of practical work. But there are 
some things which all parents can attend to in the 
way of preparing their children to support them¬ 
selves. None are too poor and none too rich to 
give their children habits of industry and honesty. 
These will help in every sphere of life, and prepare 
the way for success in every vocation. Those who 
really mean to give their children a good practical 
education, should teach them, or have them taugiit, 
boys and girls both, how to build a lire, how to 
cook plain, wholesome food, how to take care of 
rooms, how to make and take care of plain clothing, 
how to make and care for a garden, and (if possible) 
how to milk and take care of a cow, and how to 
care for and harness a horse. Is it absurd to say 
that these things should be considered a necessary- 
part of a good education ? Children who learn to 
do these things well, and who have no false pride 
to make them more willing to live in idleness, de¬ 
pendent upon the labor of others rather than to 
engage in honest service, which is usually consid¬ 
ered “humble,” if not absolutely “degrading,” 
will never fall into vagabondage. [Some may sneer 
at teaching boys, as well as girls, to sew. The 
writer’s first school was an old-fashioned “Dame’s 
School,” where boys and girls were all taught alike, 
sewing included. In several years of exploration | 
in a wilderness, where one was thrown upon his ' 
own resources, we had frequent occasion to be 
thankful that we were taught the use of a needle. 
Even in travelling in civilized lands, it often saves 
much trouble to be able, at a moment’s notice, to put 
a few stitches where they will do the most good. Ed.] 
Some Tested Recipes. 
Puff Puddings— Beat three or four Eggs very 
light. It pays to beat the whites separately, and 
add them the last thing. To the yolks add three 
cups of Sweet Milk, a large tablespoonful of melted 
Butter, and three cups of sifted Flour. Butter ten 
tea-cups, and bake the batter in these. Eat warm 
with pudding sauce or sweetened cream, maple 
molasses, or stewed fruit. 
Veky Light White Gems can be used for a 
dessert of this kind: Two cups of Sour Milk aud 
two-thirds of a cup of Sweet Milk, a tablespoonful 
of melted Butter, one Egg. Mix one level teaspoon¬ 
ful of Soda (mashed free from lumps) into a quart 
of Flour. I am not sure about the quantity of 
hour—“use judgment.” Stir all together well, 
and bake immediately in gem pans. 
Fruit Pudding Puffs. —Make a batter as above, 
or use Baking Powder aud Sweet Milk, with Egg 
and shortening (or without), and bake it in tea-cups, 
with fruit of some kind in the middle ; that is, 
partly fill each cup with the hatter (which should 
be pretty stiff), put in a spoonful of berries, or 
jam, or marmalade, or other preserve, not too 
juicy, and cover with more batter, leaving room 
for it to rise. Bake immediately. All puddings 
of this kind arc best eaten warm. 
Cream Pudding Sauce (as given by Marion 
Harland).—One pint of Cream, four tablespooufuls 
powdered Sugar, whites of two Eggs beaten stiff, 
extract of Vanilla one teaspoonful, or one tea¬ 
spoonful (or less) of Nutmeg. Heat the cream 
slowly (you can use creamy milk aud a little butter) 
in a vessel set in a saucepan cf boiling water, stir¬ 
ring often. When scalding, but not boiling hot, 
remove from the fire, put in the sugar and nutmeg, 
stir three or four minutes ; and add the whites. 
Mix thoroughly, and flavor, setting the bowl con¬ 
taining it into a pan of liqt water to keep it hot. 
A Hanging Card-Basket. 
So long as invitation, wedding, calling, aud other 
cards are used, card-receivers of some kind will be 
employed, and new designs will be appreciated! 
A card-basket is expected to be not only useful, 
but ornamental as well, and in most eases they are 
made more to fulfil the latter than the former 
purpose. The basket presented in the engraving 
is an imitation of a balloon, and is intended to be 
suspended from a 
side hook, like those 
used for hanging- 
bird-cages, and may 
be hung from a gas- 
fixture. It is largely 
ornamental, and al¬ 
lows of a great va¬ 
riety in its construc¬ 
tion, and a display of 
taste in its ornamen¬ 
tation. The basket 
shown in the engrav¬ 
ing is 18 inches long 
from the attachment j 
to the bottom of the 
basket, the “bal¬ 
loon” being 8 inches 
across. It is con¬ 
structed of white 
Bristol - board and 
heavy woollen yarn. 
The balloon is six- 
sided, the parts being 
fastened together by 
narrow ribbon, which 
is glued to the joined 
edges. The basket 
is made of the same material, and in the same 
manner. The basket is suspended from the 
balloon by six portions of the woollen yarn, the 
bails being of the same material. The sides of the 
balloon, and those or the basket, are decorated 
with pictures or flowers, to suit the taste of the 
maker. When neatly done, this basket is very 
pleasing, and well serves its purpose. 
Impure Syrups. 
--<4>- 
Syrup, or “ Sugar-house Syrup,” as it was for¬ 
merly called, is the liquid which drains from sugar 
in the process of refining, though the word has now 
a wider meaning, and includes sweet liquids of 
various kinds. A large share of the syrups now 
sold are not obtained in the refining process, but 
are made up for sale, and may consist more or less 
of starch sugar, which is very much cheapei and 
less valuable, than the genuine. Starch sugar, or 
glucose—formed in nature in the grape (raisiu) and 
some other fruits, and often called grape sugar— 
has but a fraction of the sweetening property of 
cane sugar. Its method of manufacture consists 
in converting the starch mixed with water into 
sugar by means of Sulphuric Acid. The whole mix¬ 
ture is heated to boiling for some time by means of 
6team. Chalk is then added to neutralize the acid 
—the Sulphate of Lime falls to the bottom, and the 
liquid above it is drawn ofl' and boiled to the de¬ 
sired thickness, and is the syrup—or much of the 
syrup found in the trade. The method of manu¬ 
facture shows that there are several ways in which 
this syrup can obtain impurities. If iron vessels 
and pipes to conduct the steam are used, the Sul¬ 
phuric Acid attacks them and produces Sulphate of 
Iron or Copperas, which remains in the syrup. Salts 
of lime are also formed with the sugar; aud it is 
easy to see that an excess of either the Sulphuric 
Acid or the lime is to be expected iu such a crude 
method of manufacture. From the nature of the 
whole process, and the substances used, a pure 
product is not to be expected, though it may be 
made with care. Dr. R. 
C. Kedzie, President of 
the Michigan State 
Board of Health, has 
given much attention to 
the subject of impure 
syrups. Of the many 
specimens examined by 
him, we will quote his 
results with but a siugle 
one. “ No. 11—A starch 
sugar syrup, contains in 
the gallon 141.9 grains 
of free Sulphuric Acid, 
25 grains of Sulphate 
of Iron (copperas), and 
724.8o grains of lime. 
....The thought of 
using such mixtures as 
a relish for our food is 
not very appetizing.” 
Tlie blame rests largely with the manufacturers, 
who must know the character of the product and 
the fraudulent nature of their work. We do not 
doubt but what pure grape sugar can be, and is, 
artificially made, but not generally. The sugar 
itself, even if it were pure, is very inferior to the 
cane sugar iu sweetening properties—for which 
all sugars are used. Salts of iron, lime, etc., in¬ 
dicate gross carelessness iu the manufacture. 
A Clothes Line Holder. 
An improved clothes post, by which the line when 
filled can be raised, and the use of props or clothes 
poles rendered unneces¬ 
sary, may be made as 
shown in the accom¬ 
panying engravings. 
Posts are set in the 
usual manner and an 
arm, 0, is fastened to the 
top by a strong bolt. 
The arm should be four 
or five feet long, with 
the out part longer than 
the inner part. The line, 
I), is fastened to the in¬ 
ner part of the arm,loose 
enough to allow for 
tightening. A cord, B, 
is fixed to tlie outer end 
of the arm and a hole 
or hook is placed at 
the post. By drawing 
down the outer end of 
the arm the line is 
raised and kept raised Fi S- 3 -~ TnE BAE KAIBED ‘ 
by drawing tlie cord tightly and passing it a few 
times around the cleat A, as in the engraving. 
Autumn Leaves for Home Decoration. 
-- 
It is again the time of year to begin collecting a 
supply of autumn leaves for decorative purposes. 
Those who are in tlie habit of making their rooms 
bright and cheerful by the use of colored foliage 
need not be told that a large supply is needed, and 
the greater the variety to select from, the more 
successful will be the work. Some spend a great 
deal of time in collecting gorgeously-colored speci¬ 
mens of only a single kind, and find at last a monot¬ 
ony that is not pleasing. If the same time and 
pains had been spent iu gathering many different 
sorts, very tasteful designs could have been con¬ 
structed, with sufficient variety to make each sepa¬ 
rate kind pleasingly prominent. Collect all sizes 
and shapes, as well as leaves with various tints. 
There is but little trouble in drying autumn 
leaves, as they are already partly dried. When 
placed between tlie leaves of a “ Pub. Doc.,” that 
is rarely useful for anything else, they dry readily, 
and, if thick, become rigid. Besides leaves, collect 
and dry the more delicate ferns, and small vines. 
