What  Open  Eyes  See. 
That  column  for  the  District  School.  How  It  May  Help 
Parents.  One  Example  of  the  Work  of  Our  Schools. 
T.  W.  Hlggi/nson  on  the  Brains  of  Women.  Will 
Higher  Education  Cut  the  Race  Short? 
LTHOUGH  some  letters  have  come  to  us  eagerly 
welcoming  the  proposed  column  in  the  Home 
Department,  to  be  devoted  to  school  interests,  the 
response  has  not  as  yet  been  general  enough  to  war¬ 
rant  giving  a  portion  of  our  space  to  this  as  a  per¬ 
manent  thing. 
One  teacher  who  has  written  us  promises  freely  to 
do  everything  in  her  power  to  further  the  plan,  hut 
says  that  she  does  not  fully  understand  what  is  meant 
by  “sustaining  ”  such  a  column. 
We  mean  simply  this:  that  when  you  learn  anything 
new,  anything  that  is  a  help  to  you  in  your  work,  you 
should  write  it  out  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  other  teach¬ 
ers  who  want  to  know  it,  and  send  it  to  us.  No  one 
of  good  common  sense,  no  one  who  is  fitted  to  be  a 
teacher,  can  queen  it  over  50  (more  or  less)  hoys  and 
girls,  in  each  of  whom  human  nature  or  the  teaching 
of  parents  (conscious  or  unconscious)  has  firmly  im¬ 
planted  the  idea  that  the  teacher  is  her  natural  enemy, 
without  learning  perhaps  as  much  as  she  can  teach. 
We  want  the  benefit  of  her  experience;  we  want  in¬ 
cidents  that  may  suggest  new  methods,  or  new  ideas  ; 
we  want  to  know  what  is  the  grade  of  the  common 
school  teacher  of  the  present  day  as  compared  with 
two  or  three  decades  ago;  we  want  facts  regarding  the 
interest  of  patrons,  and  the  results  of  teaching  physi¬ 
ology,  and  the  effects  of  alcohol  upon  the  system;  we 
want  to  know  about  the  modern  use  of  grammar, 
and  the  methods  of  teaching  it;  we  want  facts  regard¬ 
ing  the  word -method  as  it  is,  in  its  results;  we  do  not 
want  theories,  unless  proved  or  disproved  by  practice, 
If  older  pupils  have  a  real  grievance,  we  would  even 
like  to  hear  of  that. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  many  parents  who  never 
enter  the  school-room,  who  never  dream  of  this  as  a 
duty  laid  upon  them,  may  find  out  more  of  the  work¬ 
ings  of  the  schools  through  such  a  column  as  this  of 
which  we  speak,  than  they  would  ever  learn  by  living 
within  hearing  of  the  school  bell. 
•Some  weeks  ago  a  nine-year-old  girl  spent  a  few  days 
with  us ;  she  was  pretty,  sweet  and  well-mannered,  yet 
her  every  sentence  grated  on  ears  polite  ;  her  grammer 
was  so  absolutely  bad!  “  Me  and  Ella  ;  ”  “  They  hain't 
no  use  ’tall,”  are  but  samples.  Yet  the  mother  is  a 
lady  belonging  to  a  good  family,  and  herself  speaks 
usually  with  correctness.  If  she  were  approached 
upon  the  subject,  doubtless  she  would  say  that  she  was 
obliged  to  use  such  earnest  effort  to  keep  her  nestlings 
from  actual  profanity  that  she  felt  mere  grammar  to  be 
a  light  thing  to  exercise  surveillance  over.  But  this 
little  maid  has  several  chances  out  of  10  of  being 
trained  for  a  teacher,  and  when  shall  that  training  be¬ 
gin  ?  All  her  speech ,  her  ingrained  habits  of  expres- 
sion,  must  be  reconstructed  ;  but  when  ? 
And  what  is  the  cause  of  such  a  state  of  affairs?  Has 
the  teacher  no  influence,  or  is  the  influence  of  daily 
association  with  children  from  tenant  houses  more 
potent  than  that  of  mother  and  teacher  combined  ?  If 
this  last  is  the  case,  just  how  far  can  the  public  school 
be  regarded  as  a  blessing  ?  But  questions  multiply. 
Who  can  answer  them  out  of  the  wisdom  gained  from 
experience  ? 
If  there  are  others  who  want,  and  will  sustain  this 
column  for  school  news,  notes,  etc.,  let  us  hear  from 
them. 
One  of  the  live  metropolitan  papers  has  the  habit  of 
printing  a  few  notes  in  each  issue  on  “  Some  Funny 
Things  We  See.”  One  of  the  satisfying  things  we  see, 
is  Mr.  T.  W.  Higginson  in  Harper’s  Bazar  taking  up 
the  cudgel  in  defense  of  women.  After  a  light  touch 
upon  the  article  heretofore  reviewed  in  these  columns, 
written  by  Mrs.  E.  Lyn  Linton  (who,  he  says,  is  the 
acknowledged  queen  and  head  of  the  disputants  who 
argue  against  the  brains  of  their  own  sex  ;  and  who 
has  for  20  years  held  a  contract  for  reducing  her  own 
sex  to  Lilliputian  dimensions),  he  gives  arguments  from 
history  bearing  on  the  question  as  to  whether  woman 
has,  on  the  whole,  given  as  much  evidence  of  genius  as 
could  reasonably  be  expected.  He  cites  Sappho,  whose 
“  Ode  to  Aphrodite”  is  the  one  poem  in  all  literature 
most  frequently  translated  and  whose  fame  has  endur¬ 
ed  for  25  centuries  as  against  the  immortal  (!)  Shake¬ 
speare’s  three  centuries,  as  proof  of  reasonable  genius. 
Referring  to  the  admitted  test  of  genius  being  the 
ability  to  create  a  character  of  universal,  world-wide 
acceptance,  it  is  affirmed  that  the  last  half  century 
has  created  just  one  such  character,  and  that  one  the 
creation  of  a  woman  ! 
“  The  one  book  that  has  been  circulated  by  millions; 
the  one  book  whose  translations  the  British  Museum 
has  especially  collected  because  they  exceed  in  number 
and  variety  the  versions  of  any  other  book  save  the 
Bible  only  ;  the  book  whose  hero  impressed  profoundly 
by  his  personal  qualities  not  merely  the  pious  and  the 
sentimental,  but  George  Sand  and  Henry  Heine — this 
book  is  “  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin.’  ” 
Yet  even  this  is  not  the  poisoned  arrow  in  Mr.  Hig- 
ginson’s  apparently  harmless  quiver,  for  he  goes  on  to 
say  :  “  Mile,  de  Scud6ry  wrote  half  the  novels  that 
bore  her  brother’s  name,  and  he  used  to  lock  her  up  in 
her  room  to  keep  her  at  it ;  yet  he  drew  his  sword  on 
a  friend  who  had  doubted  his  claim  to  have  written 
them  all.  Nobody  now  doubts  that  Fanny  Mendelssohn 
wrote  many  of  the  “  Songs  without  Words”  under  her 
brother’s  name,  but  she  was  suppressed  by  the  whole 
family  the  moment  she  proposed  to  publish  any  music 
as  her  own.  Lord  Houghton  learned  in  Germany  that 
a  great  part  of  Neander’s  “  Church  History”  was  writ¬ 
ten  by  his  sister,  but  the  cyclopaedias  do  not  mention 
her  name.  On  the  whole,  it  is  better  to  wait  a  few 
centuries  before  denying  lyric  genius  to  the  successors 
of  Sappho  and  music  to  the  sisters  of  Fanny  Mendels¬ 
sohn.” 
An  increasing  hue  and  cry  has  been  noticeable  of 
late  regarding  an  assertion  made  by  some  one  and 
copied  by  scores  of  others,  that  college  girls  are  becom¬ 
ing  quite  too  independent  to  marry,  and  that  the  future 
of  the  race  is  in  danger.  Even  should  it  be  the  fact — 
and  we  hope  it  is — that  the  increasing  independence  of 
woman  prevents  the  consummation  of  many  marriages 
that  would  otherwise  be  contracted,  we  do  not  believe 
that  the  result  so  much  deplored  would  follow. 
On  the  contrary,  is  it  not  far  more  probable  that 
women,  not  being  obliged  to  marry  for  a  support,  will 
demand  a  higher  standard  of  intellectual  development 
and  of  morality  in  the  men  whom  they  would  marry  ? 
This  being  the  case,  men  would  of  necessity  raise 
themselves  to  meet  that  standard,  and  thus  it  would 
come  about  that  there  would  be  fewer  ill-assorted  and 
unhappy  marriages.  The  age  at  which  girls  marry 
would  undoubtedly  be  advanced  a  few  years  from  the 
present  average,  but  the  marriages  themselves  need 
not  be  appreciably  lessened  in  number. 
Subscribers’  Suggestions. 
I  HAVE  lately  learned  one  or  two  useful  trifles  which 
may  be  new  to  some  of  The  Rural  readers.  One 
is  about  preparing  fowls  for  cooking.  After  the  bird 
has  been  nicely  picked  and  singed,  before  you  cut  it, 
wash  it  in  warm  water  with  a  cloth  and  some  soap  ; 
then  wash  it  thoroughly  again  in  clean  water.  You 
will  be  astonished  at  the  dirt  left  in  both  waters,  and 
agreeably  surprised  at  the  improvement  in  the  taste 
of  the  cooked  chicken. 
My  hands  get  badly  chapped  at  the  beginning  of  cold 
weather  ;  sometimes  the  blood  oozes  through  the  skin. 
I  have  lately  taken  to  keeping  some  vinegar  near  the 
wash-dish  and  dipping  my  hands  in  it  before  wiping 
them.  By  this  simple  practice  they  are  kept  entirely 
well. 
Perhaps  you  have  all  tried  frying  sausage  in  the  oven. 
I  have,  and  this  winter  I  am  also  frying  slices  of  fresh, 
lean  pork  in  it,  with  decidedly  good  results. 
Doughnuts  are  much  improved  by  using  part  butter 
to  cook  them  in.  Heat  it  hot  and  skim  off  the  froth 
which  rises.  When  only  clear  fat  remains,  add  the 
same  amount  of  lard. 
To  improve  the  looks  of  the  fowl  intended  for  a  pres¬ 
ent  to  a  friend,  scald  the  feet  and  remove  the  outer 
skin  and  toe-nails.  MRS.  levi  niles. 
Fretting  does  nothing  but  harm,  adds  wrinkles  and 
gray  hairs  by  the  score,  and  makes  other  people  miser¬ 
able  as  well  as  yourself.  Cultivate  a  pleasant  dispo¬ 
sition  ;  be  happy  in  spite  of  everything. 
In  my  own  experience,  the  most  disagreeable  feature 
of  housekeeping  at  first,  was  scrubbing,  and  the 
kitchen  floor  was  my  greatest  dread.  It  has  since  been 
oiled,  and  with  a  good  mop  I  easily  wipe  off  mud  tracks, 
etc.,  while  at  long  intervals,  I  humble  myself  enough 
to  get  down  on  my  knees  and  scrub  it  in  the  good  old- 
fashioned  way. 
Can  we  not  use  agate  ware  about  the  stove  in  place 
of  heavy  pots  and  kettles  ?  With  good  care  such  vessels 
last  a  long  time  and  are  quite  easily  cleaned.  I  might 
also  suggest  that  instead  of  saving  the  silver  knives 
and  forks  for  our  great-grand-children,  we  use  them 
ourselves  and  rest  the  five  or  ten  minutes  usually  occu¬ 
pied  in  scouring  knives.  MRS.  R.  8.  C. 
The  nicest  way  to  cook  oatmeal  is  to  put  it  in  a  tin 
pan,  pour  on  plenty  of  boiling  water,  and  set  it  in  the 
steamer,  over  a  kettle  of  boiling  water. 
Rice  is  nice  cooked  in  the  same  way.  Common  bread 
pudding  is  nicer  steamed  than  baked.  These  three 
dishes  can  be  prepared  while  vegetables  are  cooking, 
without  extra  trouble. 
Turnips  and  cabbages  are  made  more  palatable  by 
the  addition  of  a  little  sugar  while  cooking,  mrs.  x. 
I  will  here  describe  my  work  basket  for  the  possi¬ 
ble  benefit  of  some  other  housewife.  It  is  a  common 
grape  basket,  covered  inside  and  out  with  a  pretty 
shade  of  cashmere  ;  the  piece  for  the  bottom  inside  is 
wadded  and  quilted  ;  a  straight  piece  is  gathered  on  at 
the  edge,  for  the  side  of  the  basket,  and  also  gathered 
around  the  top,  forming  a  ruche.  The  handle  is  cov¬ 
ered  by  wrapping  a  strip  around  it.  A  crocheted  strip 
about  three  inches  wide  (out  of  tidy  yarn)  is  put 
around  the  outside  as  a  frill.  emma  l. 
Those  New  Year  Resolutions. 
THE  new  year  came  with  its  crowd  of  good  resolu¬ 
tions,  and  has  gone  speeding  on  its  way,  a  part 
of  our  lives  no  longer,  interesting  merely  because 
novel.  It  is  a  good  thing,  this  pause  and  beginning 
over  again  with  each  new  year,  even  if  every  good  re¬ 
solve  we  then  made  has  been  broken.  Many  a  grand 
success  has  risen  from  the  dead  ashes  of  failure. 
So  let  us  gather  up  the  broken  threads  of  our  resolu¬ 
tions  for  the  new  year  and  bind  them  together  more 
firmly  by  another  earnest  effort. 
That  resolution  about  gossip — we  have  broken  it  a 
dozen  times.  Well,  since  we  must  talk  a  little  about 
other  folks,  let  us  try  to  get  something  of  the  spirit  of 
Mrs.  Whitney’s  Golden  Gossip  who  went  about  in  a 
very  talkative  neighborhood  gossiping  about  the  good 
and  pleasant  things  other  people  did  and  said. 
The  Bible  reading  that  advanced  so  rapidly  during 
the  long  evenings  of  January  through  the  beautiful 
pages  of  Genesis  and  Exodus,  has  probably  ended 
abruptly  in  Leviticus.  I  wonder  how  many  Bible 
book-marks  find  a  resting  plaee  each  February  in 
Leviticus  or  Numbers.  Well,  if  we  have  failed  in  this, 
let  us  content  ourselves  with  the  thought  that  we  will 
not  make  the  Bible  something  to  be  taken  in  doses  of 
so  much  per  day,  but  read  more  leisurely  through  the 
historical  parts,  and  turn  meanwhile  with  eager  listen¬ 
ing  hearts  each  day  to  a  few  verses  of  the  parts  we  love 
best,  and  which  satisfy  our  daily  needs. 
And  the  quick  temper  and  hasty  words  that  we 
never  meant  to  allow  again  !  Oh  yes,  they  have  broken 
out  unawares  and  left  us  sorry — very  sorry.  But  we 
must  make  this  year  better  than  last. 
New  Year’s  Day  was,  with  us,  rainy,  dark  and  dreary, 
but  late  in  the  afternoon  a  lovely  rainbow  spanned 
the  heavens.  It  seemed  a  bow  of  promise  for  the  new 
year,  giving  hope  and  courage.  So,  if  our  beginning  of 
the  year  has  been  cloudy  and  doubtful,  let  us  grasp  the 
rainbow  of  hope  and  try  for  better  things. 
It  is  so  much  easier  to  do  right  when  we  are  not  tired 
and  cross.  Oh,  all  ye  fellow  country  women  !  let  us 
have  a  little  less  of  looking  down  at  work,  work, 
work,  this  year,  and  a  little  more  of  looking  up  at  this 
bright  world  God  has  placed  around  us.  Let  us  not 
grieve  Him  by  seeing  in  it  only  meat,  and  drink  and 
apparel.  The  cry  of  the  busy  woman  is  always,  “No 
time  !  No  time  !”  Some  one  has  said  that  she  has  all 
the  time  there  is.  And  so  she  has  ;  and  with  it 
myriads  of  duties. 
It  is  easier  to  preach  than  to  practice,  and  none  of 
us  likes  “slackness;”  but  it  seems  to  me  that  every 
woman  does  a  good  many  little  things  that  are  really 
of  not  much  importance,  and  yet  the  omission  of  them 
would  leave  a  little  time  for  pleasant  walks  and  rides 
and  reading.  In  our  reading  we  need  not  keep  our¬ 
selves  at  the  high  pressure  of  Browning ;  and  a  great 
multitude  of  us  will  not  bother  our  brains  about  the 
Scott’s  Emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil  is  an 
easy  food — it  is  more  than  food,  if  you 
please  ;  but  it  is  a  food — to  bring  back 
plumpness  to  those  who  have  lost  it. 
Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  be  plump  ? 
Thinness  is  poverty,  living  from  hand 
to  mouth.  To  be  plump  is  to  have  a 
little  more  than  enough,  a  reserve. 
Do  you  want  a  reserve  of  health  ? 
Let  us  send  you  a  book  on  careful 
living — free 
Scott  &  Bowse,  Chemists,  132  South  5th  Avenue,  New  York. 
Your  druggist  keeps  Scott’s  Emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil— all  druggists 
everywhere  do.  $1. 
