1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
25 
THE H©HJ§EH©ILID). 
(For other Household Items, see “ Basket ” pages.) 
What is a Warrener? 
BY AN OLD FOGY. 
“ Was this cooked in the Warrener ?” asked the 
Colonel, as he was carving a piece of meat that 
looked neither roasted nor boiled, but thoroughly 
well done and juicy. The good lady replied that 
it was, and I was “ stumped.” I thought I knew 
every cook-in-able thing from the old-fashioned 
bake-kettle to the latest patent Yankee broiler. 
“ Warrener” was too much to keep silence under, 
and the matter had to be investigated. I have since 
seen it described in an English work as “ Captain 
Fig. 1.— A WARRENER. 
Warren’s Everybody’s Cooking Pot,” and I don’t 
wonder that the nannf has been shortened into 
Warrener. The invention seems to be a capital one, 
as it allows of cooking by steam, and without either 
steam or water coming in contact with the meat. 
The general appearance is shown in figure 1. It is 
much like a large glue-pot, Avith the modification 
shOAvn in figure 2, which' gives a section; A, is the 
outer vessel Avhich contains water; B, the inner 
vessel, in Avhich the meat is put; this vessel 
does not touch the bottom of the outer one, but 
fits closely enough to it at the rim to prevent the 
escape of steam. The cover C, is double; a tube, 
D, passes from the outside of the inner vessel and 
projects upwards to meet a tube in the cover; 
these tubes fit together closely. The cover is also 
shown, separately, in figure 3. Water is put into 
Fig. 2.— SECTION OF WARRENER. 
th» outer pot, A, until it reaches the bottom of the 
inner one, B ; the meat is placed in B, Avithout any 
water. The coA T er, C, is then put on with its tube 
connecting with B, and the apparatus placed on 
the fire. The water in the outer vessel soon boils, 
Md steam is formed which completely envelops 
the one containing the meat, passes through the 
tube into the cover, Avhere it condenses and trickles 
back again into the boiler. The meat is thorough¬ 
ly cooked in its own juices, Avithout danger of 
scorching, and is so acceptable that in the family 
above referred to the Warrener is in frequent use. 
When the water once reaches the boiling point it re¬ 
quires very little heat to keep it there continuously, 
as none is lost by evaporation. It would seem al¬ 
Fig. 3.— COVER OF WARRENER. 
most impossible that a dinner placed in this could 
be spoiled by the most stupid “ help.” An inter¬ 
mediate vessel is provided, which may be placed 
between B and the cover, in which vegetables may 
be cooked at the same time Avitli the meat. I do 
not know if the Warrener is for sale in this eoun- 
| try, but if not it ought to be, as it appears to be 
an economical and excellent household contrivance. 
Bridal Gifts. 
[There is much to be said on both sides of the 
custom of giving wedding presents. One of our 
clerical friends puts his side of the case in strong 
language in the following article. Still, to our 
vieAV, he does not touch the point of the fashiona¬ 
ble wedding where “tickets” are sent to those 
avIio are supposed to give liberally on such occasions, 
and where, after marriage, friends are estimated 
by the articles they presented to the bride.—E d.] 
Shall Ave bestow them ? They are quite the fash¬ 
ion ; and it is almost as much the fashion to decry 
the usage as a bad thing in itself. Hear one, a 
Avoman, on this topic. “ The modem fashion of dis¬ 
playing at weddings the bridal gifts, has caused 
more evils, in divers Avays, than its ostentatious 
originator ever dreamed of; indeed, ostentation is 
the least of these. Could that wide-spread table, 
groaning under its costly burden, speak and tell 
the private history of its precious things, the ad¬ 
miring crowd around it would soon be hushed by 
its humiliating confessions. It might even tell of 
sleepless nights ; of days passed in contriving hoAV 
to bring a fit offering there ; of screwing and pinch¬ 
ing; of cheating some creditor of his due, or pov¬ 
erty out of the contents of the household poor- 
box, and what is Avorse, the soul of that blessing 
which the God of the poor had ready ‘for the cheer¬ 
ful giver,’ uoav turned into a purloiner of God’s 
money ! Or, of selfish ambition to excel in giving, 
and be foremost in the praises of spectators ; of 
pride, envy, jealousy, petty strife, extravagance, 
penuriousness in secret, for hard-earned public 
commendation.”—All this is very eloquent, but not 
very just. The custom is no doubt liable to abuse, 
as is every good thing that God has given us. We 
have attended many Aveddings among the rich and 
the poor, where the gifts were very numerous and 
costly, and where there were none at all: and have 
had an intimate personal acquaintance Avith many 
of the circles that brought their offerings on these 
occasions. We have yet to learn of the first one 
that gave beyond his means, or of one that Avas se¬ 
riously inconvenienced, or of one Avhose bad blood 
was stirred by the sympathy and love of friends 
and kindred, shown to the bride. There is proba¬ 
bly as little danger of giving from Avrong notions 
on these occasions as there is in bestOAving our re¬ 
ligious charities in church. If we were in the in¬ 
surance business we would take risks on this kind 
of peril at very low rates. But shall Ave abolish 
missi^ps, ragged schools, and soup houses, because 
some ostentatious Pharisee gives a thousand dol¬ 
lars for these objects, to see his name in print, and 
to help his chances at the next election ? Shall Ave 
tighten our purse strings because Bullion, sitting 
in the next slip, puts a big roll of greenbacks on 
to the plate, to astonish the natives ? We ap¬ 
prove of soup houses, and missions, and shall keep 
giving, and leave Bullion and other ostentatious 
people to square their own accounts Avith their 
Maker. We approve the custom of making bridal 
gifts, and shall continue to make them, where per¬ 
sonal friends need them. There is a good dotil of 
tAvaddle and more hypocrisy in the criticism made 
upon this custom. The real points in the indict¬ 
ment against the usage, are not those named in the 
communication Ave have quoted. These are only 
the apology for stinginess, Avhich, in most cases, is 
the only objection to remembering the bride. The 
men and women who make the strongest objec¬ 
tions to the custom, are those Avho have abundant 
means, and do not love to give to any thing. They 
love accumulation, and give Avith as much reluct¬ 
ance to the poor as they do to brides. They have 
the same opinion of soup houses that they have of 
weddings; they are conspiracies to rob them of 
their hard-earned money. We do not expect any 
thing but croaking and criticism, from such people. 
Their professed regard for the evils Avrought by 
this custom is a convenient cloak for their own 
meanness, and should be estimated accordingly. 
Giving to the bride ! When can there be a fitter 
occasion for giving? She is going out from the 
home of her youth to a neAV home, to make new 
friends and acquaintances. Should not the old 
ones show their tender regard, and give their keep¬ 
sakes with their blessing? Should they not crown 
her queen of the festive hour, and bring offerings 
that will abide, when the orange blossoms have 
faded? Those gifts Avill be prized from their asso¬ 
ciations, rather than from their intrinsic value. 
So they be fitting and worthy of the giver, they 
Avill be* cherished,—not as trophies, but as the 
tokens of affection, carrying along the precious 
memories of girlhood into the cares and trials of 
her new life. A little sentiment still, if you please, 
0 close-fisted critics, on Avedding occasions ! Let 
a bride differ a little from a heifer that is sold for 
the shambles! 
System in Housekeeping. 
It is easy to see that considerable daily planning 
may be saved by systematizing the regular work of 
the week. For instance, devote Monday to Avashing, 
Tuesday to baking,Wednesday to ironing, Thursday 
to odd jobs that require considerable time, Friday 
to a general brushing and cleansing of the house, 
Saturday to baking again. Then if you can system¬ 
atize the daily meals so much the better. I once 
heard a man laugh because a lady friend of ours 
had dismissed her boarders, giving as a reason that 
it “tired her to death” to plan three meals a day 
for fastidious people. If she had only the planning 
to do, he thought she had an easy time. But this 
endless planning and contriving are really pretty 
hard for a Avoman of delicate health, Avhose tastes 
lie mainly in another direction. The Avoman I 
speak of was an excellent housekeeper, but a better 
teacher or Avriter. Some people seem to think it 
unnatural and rather disgraceful for a Avoman to 
feel a distaste for housekeeping. Why is it more 
so than fora man to feel no relish for farming? 
Women Avho do all their oavu AVOrk are unable to 
carry out a weekly system as strictly as those Avho 
employ domestics, they have so many interruptions 
from company, sickness, and other causes. When 
you have once arranged a good system for the week, 
be determined to let no small causes break in upon 
it. Your “help” Avill soon learn to depend upon 
it greatly, and will be considerably put out by any 
great deviation. In the arrangement of a system 
for meals, it is well to leave considerable margin 
for extra dishes, but some of the main items may 
be definitely decided. Some housekeepers alvvays 
bake beans for a part of the dinner on Monday Avhen 
the Avash-boiler occupies the stove. R. 
The Use of Apples. 
BY A WESTCHESTER CO., N. Y., HOUSEKEEPER. 
When the apple first becomes fit for use, it is not 
quite so easy to spoil it, for its juiciness, tender¬ 
ness and acidity, triumph over bad cooking. Even 
then, however, it can be made much better by j*> 
