104- 
[Makch, 
AMERICAN AGEICULTURIST. 
A Bin for Coal. 
strength to crawl about, and so they think they 
must “ take something.” There Is a good deal in 
a name, and when people are in much pain, of 
course they want a “pain-killer”! Outside or in¬ 
side, no matter!—kill the pain at once. So they 
seem to think, and in ignorance take anything 
which recommends itself as able to relieve their 
suffering. Wh eu our little girl pulled a heavy piece 
of iron from the table upon her foot, crushing it so 
that we thought she would be unable to use it for a 
long time, her suffering was extreme. 
“We ought to have some ‘pain-killer’ in the 
house!” exclaimed a member of the family who 
Was as ignorant of the component parts, and es¬ 
pecial powers, of that medicine as I am myself. 
“What for?” I asked, and he replied, “the 
child never can hear such pain long. It is horrible.” 
But we set to work with cold water, pouring it 
constantly upon the bruised part for about an hour. 
Relief began immediately, and the child was unwil¬ 
ling to have any cessation of the hath until the pain 
was all gone. It seemed almost a miracle to see 
that little girl running about on both feet in less 
than two hours after the accident, and never after¬ 
ward to hear another word of complaint about the 
badly bruised foot. Nor was there ever afterward 
any hint in our house of the need of a “ pain-kil¬ 
ler” or other patent medicines. Vigorous rub¬ 
bing is often better than water to relieve pain. 
When the body is suffering on account of any ob¬ 
struction, or injury, it is unfair to burden the stom¬ 
ach with unnecessary labor. Food easy of diges¬ 
tion should be selected, like well-cooked gruel, 
graham mush, or nice toast, dressed with sweet 
cream. Often an entire fast for one or two meals, 
with rest from labor, is the best thing for restora¬ 
tion to health. Most of us are too ignorant to at¬ 
tempt to treat a very sick person without the advice 
of a physician. Our neighbors thought us very 
presumptious when I was taken quite ill last win¬ 
ter, because wc did not call a doctor. Indeed we 
were just on the point of doing so, in order to learn 
what was the matter with me, when we became 
sure that it was pneumonia, or lung-fever. We had 
no difficulty then in treating the case by simple 
nursing, using hot flannels or cool compresses, as 
instinct called for either to relieve pain. Medicines 
were advised by kind-hearted neighbors, but none 
were taken, nor even food, until the fever had 
abated and appetite returned. This little sickness of 
two or three weeks cost us not less than forty dollars 
in loss of time to my husband and myself, though 
there was no outlay for extra help or physician’s 
attendance. So I am more sure than ever that sick¬ 
ness does not pay, and that it is a mother’s duty to 
take care of herself as well as of her children. 
Sunday Dinners Quickly Prepared. 
A kind sister, helpfully inclined, writes me as fol¬ 
lows : “ I’ve had it on my mind for several weeks 
to write you something about Sunday dinners. 
Yon know when there is a family of five or six per¬ 
sons, more or less, and all want to go to the morn¬ 
ing service, and stay to Suuday School, their appe¬ 
tites are pretty well sharpened by the time they get 
home, especially if there is a ride of two or three 
miles. I have experimented in various ways that 
we may have our dinner as soon as possible after 
getting home, or each one begins to help himself, 
which causes much confusion and spoils the meal. 
I find that by leaving the tea-kettle on the stove, 
and filled, with a little fire, the water is in a condi¬ 
tion to boil quickly, and mush is soon prepared. In 
cold weather nothing is better than oyster soup, 
which requires but a few minutes cooking. A good 
meal is quickly prepared by having a chicken made 
ready overnight by dressing and stuffing, and then 
it is ready to put into the oven when the family sit 
down to breakfast. It requires little care, and is 
nicely browned by church time, and keeps warm in 
the oven until wanted for dinner. I find it a great 
help to have potatoes ready to warm over. Often 
meat is boiled or roasted on Saturday, which relish¬ 
es well cold. A rice pudding, made without eggs, 
and left in the oven is nice with sugar and cream.” 
It is easy, by taking thought, especially a day or 
two before, to so provide that Sunday shall be, not 
only to the family, but to the help a “day of rest.” 
An unfortunately too common manner of keep¬ 
ing fuel, whether coal or wood, by those who live 
in the country, is to have it in a pile out of doors, 
and unsheltered. In snowy weather the fuel is dug- 
out from beneath a snow-drift, and in rainy weather 
it is brought in saturated with water, in cither case 
making it very disagreeable and uutidy in a well 
ordered kitchen. Indeed, to see a pile of fuel in 
this condition in the back yard, rather forcibly in¬ 
dicates that there is an untidy kitchen within doors. 
Fuel should always be under cover. Coal may be 
very well kept in a neat bin, which will still he 
neat* although made of rough materials. A pack¬ 
ing-box of sufficient size, cut sloping at the top, 
and furnished with a lid, will make an excellent 
coal-bin; or it may be made of rough or dressed 
hoards, and painted. It should he raised a few 
inches from the ground, by being placed upon stout 
posts, or a few bricks, and the top should be of 
such a bight that coal may he shoveled directly in¬ 
to it from a wagon-box. A sliding-door should be 
made in the front, with a small, sloping platform, 
from which to shovel up the coal which escapes 
when the door is lifted. The door should be kept 
closed when not iu use, in order that coal may uot 
be scattered about. If shed-room is scarce, the 
bin may he kept near the back door, but it would 
always be better to keep it, when possible, under 
cover. The engraving shows the shape and pro¬ 
portions of a very convenient coal-bin. If wood or 
coal can not be readied without going out of doors, 
then the kitchen should be provided with a coal 
or wood box, as the ease may be, and it should be 
made the especial business of some one, to see 
every morning that it contains a full day’s supply. 
A Convenient Match-Holder. 
There is nothing in a house for which it is more 
desirable to have a proper place than matches. 
When one wants a match in the dark and has to 
hunt around for it, upsetting and breaking several 
things in the attempt, and then finally finds it, it is 
apt to be rubbed upon the first object that comes 
in the way, whether it be the hard finished or the 
papered wall, or the door or the window frame, 
and when an ugly scratch has been made, the burn¬ 
ed stump of the match is very likely to he thrown 
upon the carpet. As a remedy for the annoyances 
attendant upon having matches “lying around 
loose,” we suggest that a neat match-holder he 
made and hung- in every room wherever matches 
may he needed in a hurry. They may be hung up 
in the kitchen, the dining-room, the parlors, halls, 
and every other room in the house, not forgetting 
even the cellar, and the^ should be regularly re¬ 
plenished and emptied of the stumps every sweep¬ 
ing day. We give here an illustration of a method 
of making a neat holder for matches. It may be 
made of stout card-board, cut into proper shape 
and bound with narrow ribbon. The pocket for 
the matches is made of a piece of the board curved 
and sewn on the frame with colored silk. A piece 
of sand-paper is glued below the pocket, and 
bordered around with ribbon, and this serves to 
rub the match upon. Beneath the sand-paper is a 
tray to hold the stumps. 
This is fastened to the 
frame by two hinges of 
narrow ribbon, and to 
the ends by pieces of 
ribbon which are tied 
in small how-knots. By 
loosening these knots, 
the front of the tray 
falls down, and the 
burned ends are caught 
iu the hand and remov¬ 
ed. These holders may 
he made very ornament¬ 
al, and for those who 
use gas, if made double 
or cylindrical, they may 
be hung beneath a 
chandelier, and the 
matches needed to light 
the gas will always he 
at baud. A dozen of 
match-holders would match-holder. 
not be too much for 
comfort in almost auy house.—[The above sugges¬ 
tion comes from a friend, to whom we are often 
indebted for household items ; we would add that 
the furnishing stores have cast-iron boxes, that are 
better suited to the kitchen and such places.—E d.] 
Making the Best cf It. 
BY AN OLD TRAVELER 
The extension lounge in the February, together 
with other articles of home-made furniture publish¬ 
ed from time to time iu former numbers of the 
Ainerican Agriculturist , bring to mind an experience 
of many years ago, when this was almost the only 
furniture that I saw, for some three years. 
Some years “ before the war ” it came in the way 
of my duties to visit a great many of the military 
posts on the far western frontier, where civilization 
was left far to the rear, and iu front were the sav¬ 
age tribes of Indians, or the scarcely less savage 
half-breed Mexicans. These “posts” were in 
some cases mud, (adobe), barracks; in others, rude 
structures of poles set upright and chinked in with 
mud, and quite rarely log or rude frame houses, 
hut in all cases exceedingly rude quarters. In 
spite of the rough life to he encountered, it was 
often the case that officers’ wives, (bless their de¬ 
voted hearts), accompanied their husbands, and 
when there were two or three wives at a post, it 
was spoken of as “society.” In going from post 
to post, and stopping at some a few days, and at 
others for weeks, I had a fair chance to observe 
this kind of life, and notice how even one woman 
exercised an influence not only over the officers, 
but the men, and how different the whole tone at a 
post where there lived but one woman, was from, 
other posts whore, as was often the case, there 
was none. The younger officers were less rude 
where there was a woman, and the common soldiers 
would fairly worship her, and try in every way to 
do something for the captain’s or “ iuftennaut’s ” 
wife, and be amply repaid by a pleasant word. I 
also noticed the different dispositions of these 
wives, and the ways in which they accepted their 
rude lot and adapted themselves to their changed 
style of living. In an evening call upon some, I 
would be first treated to a long apology for the 
miserable quarters ; how differently they lived at 
Fortress Monroe, Newport Barracks, Washington, 
or some other post. Did I know so and so iu 
Washington ?—the whole conversation showing 
discontent. A visit to another officer’s quarters 
showed the room fitted up with great neatness and 
comfort; the wife was so glad I had come, as I 
might tell her about some curious stones she had 
picked up near the post, and she had collected 
some globular forms of cactus for mantle orna¬ 
ments ; I must taste some preserves she had 
made from the wild currants that grow near the 
