The  Difficulties  of  the  Season. 
HOUSE  CLEANING  is  both  a  necessary  and — when 
thoroughly  done — a  satisfactory  thing.  Indeed, 
there  are  few  things  perhaps,  that  give  the  housewife 
more  pleasure  than  the  charming  freshness  which, 
indoors,  vies  with  the  newness  of  things  in  Nature’s 
own  domain.  Yet  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  good 
women  of  our  land  may  learn  not  to  make  a  fetich  of 
house  cleaning.  Some  are  fain  to  worship  an  idol  in 
the  form  of  early  house  cleaning ;  others,  one  of  dif¬ 
ferent  mien  called  systematic  house  cleaning  ;  both  are 
good — as  helpers,  not  as  tyrants. 
*  *  * 
Veky  suggestive  is  the  sigh  of  the  friend  who  writes 
about  system.  “  The  men  folks  will  not  be  so  much 
at  a  loss.”  “  0,  how  much  annoyance  will  be  saved  !” 
the  one,  it  would  seem,  hinging  upon  the  other.  Are 
the  men  of  the  family  the  first  to  be  considered  at  this 
difficult  time?  “There  are  feeble  signs,  in  some 
quarters,  of  a  revolt  against  the  cast-iron  one-room-at- 
a-time  rule.  One  worker  says  even  that  the  masculine 
portion  of  her  family  relish  so  little  an  upheaval 
which,  though  mild,  is  constant  from  two  or  three 
weeks,  that  they  are  willing  to  lend  a  hand — several 
of  them — and  do  the  whole  work  in  as  many  days  as 
there  are  floors.  *  *  * 
This  is  not  to  be  taken  by  our  correspondent  as 
antagonizing  her  article  in  a  serious  way.  She  feels, 
and  we  shall  all  admit,  that  her  ways  are  good — 
especially  for  her  own  circumstances.  Others,  any  of 
us  may  always  find,  whose  surroundings  so  nearly 
duplicate  our  own  that  our  experience  may  help  them. 
Neither  do  we  mean  to  insinuate  that  the  farmer  shall 
leave  his  plowing  and  sowing  to  assist  in  the  house 
cleaning.  These  are  but  suggestions  to  aid  our 
friends  in  looking  at  both  sides  of  the  question  at 
once.  As  for  extra  early  general  cleaning,  its  sole 
excuse,  in  most  cases,  should  be  that  thus  the  men 
may  assist  in  this  heavy  work  while  their  own  awaits 
Nature’s  awakening. 
Some  Spring  Sewing. 
AT  no  other  season  is  a  fresh  gown  so  welcome  as 
in  the  spring  time,  when  Mother  Nature  is  don¬ 
ning  fresh  garments  and  making  all  things  new.  A 
description  of  a  general-purpose  gown  upon  which 
I  am  at  work  may  interest  some  Miss  or  Mrs.  Clover- 
blossom,  who  is  wondering  what  she  will  have  and 
how  it  shall  be  made.  Though  it  should  decide  her 
only  in  what  she  will  not  have,  that  will  be  one  step 
out  of  her  quandary. 
Readers  of  the  Century  Magazine  last  year  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  charming  individual,  Colonel  Carter, 
of  Cartersville.  My  new  gown  is  to  be  like  the  Colo¬ 
nel’s  one  coat — which  was  wont,  by  his  manner  of 
buttoning  it,  to  become  suitable  for  every  sort  of  social 
occasion  and  mood — in  that  my  dress  is  going  to  be 
adaptable  to  any  temperature  our  freakish  climate 
may  overtake  me  with.  It  is  a  dark  old  blue,  storm 
serge  and  will  be  heavy  enough  for  early  spring  wear 
with  a  small,  black  straw  hat  trimmed  with  ribbon  to 
match  the  dress.  The  skirt  is  cut  in  the  popular  bell 
shape  and  has  a  thin  lining  directly  on  the  serge  in¬ 
stead  of  having  a  sham  skirt  to  support  it.  No  train, 
you  may  be  sure,  since  this  is  not  preeminently  a  house 
dress.  The  upper  part  is  in  coat  or  jacket  style,  rather 
long,  with  revel's  falling  straight  from  the  shoulders 
and  sleeves  high  and  full  above,  but  quite  close  below 
the  elbow.  The  rolling  collar  and  revers  are  faced  with 
the  serge,  and  on  the  revers  are  braid  decorations, 
something  on  the  style  of  coat  fastenings.  The  vest  is 
full  above,  and  plaited  below  the  bust.  I  call  it  a  vest, 
for  so  it  appears,  but  if  I  chance  to  be  calling  upon 
you  and  warm  with  walking,  you  will  see  me  lay  aside 
the  coat  (which  has  a  neat  farmers’  satin  lining),  when 
the  vest  will  be  found  a  complete  waist,  with  mutton- 
leg  sleeves  of  black  surah.  This  waist  being  lined 
with  percaline  throughout,  is  suited  to  house  and 
warm  weather  wear.  It  is  slightly  pointed  back  and 
finished  about  the  bottom  with  a  bias  puff  of  the 
surah.  A  tiny  puff  edges  the  standing  collar,  and 
braid  arrangements  like  those  on  the  coat  decorate 
both  the  plain  vest  and  the  back,  running  straight 
down  from  the  collar,  three  in  front,  three  in  the  back, 
with  the  middle  ones  longest.  If  I  spend  the  night, 
you  may  see  me  come  down  to  breakfast,  wearing  the 
coat  over  a  white  lawn  vest  like  those  shown  in  Fig.  22, 
page  42  of  The  Rural.  And  if  you  meet  me  at  a  pic¬ 
nic  in  the  summer,  I  shall  probabty  have  on  the  skirt 
with  a  cambric  shirt  and  the  jacket  over  my  arm. 
This  shirt  will  be  white  with  blue  lines,  and  will  have 
a  stiff  bosom  like  a  man’s  shirt,  fastened  with  tiny 
gold  buttons  ;  and  with  linked  sleevebuttons  in  the 
cuffs.  But  when  days  are  decidedly  hot,  a  checked 
silk  blouse  will  replace  the  shirt ;  for  a  silk  blouse 
made  without  linings,  except  narrow  strips  on  the 
seams  and  about  the  neck  and  arm  holes,  is  the  cool¬ 
est  garment  a  woman  can  wear  and  yet  be  abroad. 
You  see  I  am  going  to  wear  my  serge  gown  every¬ 
where  I  go,  and  so  wear  it  out  and  escape  the  trouble 
of  making  over.  Sun,  rain,  dust,  crushing,  none  of 
these  affect  a  storm  serge  much.  I  have  seen  two  that 
have  stood  a  year's  hard  wear  and  are  still  present¬ 
able. 
Would  not  this  be  a  good  dress  to  wear  to  Chicago 
next  year!  but  “  I  fear  me  sair,”  I’ll  never  wear  mine 
there.  The  general  preference  would  probably  be  for 
a  reefer  jacket  in  place  of  the  one  described ;  that  is 
an  outside  coat  having  loose,  double-breasted  fronts. 
I  find  it  a  great  help  to  home  dressmaking  to  have  a 
new  pattern  drafted  every  few  years.  The  patterns 
fitted  by  charts  are  well-nigh  perfect,  but  the  position 
of  the  seams  in  a  waist  changes  every  year;  so  first-class 
fitters  say.  A  silesia  or  percaline  lining  is  best  cut 
crosswise  of  the  cloth,  because  these  linings  stretch 
considerably  from  selvage  to  selvage,  but  none  with 
the  warp. 
The  stores  show  windows  full  of  pretty  china  prints 
costing  no  more  than  cambric  or  ginghams,  and  yet  in 
as  dainty  designs  and  artistic  colorings  as  an  India 
silk  or  French  challie  can  show.  Why  not  buy  one  for 
mother,  girls,  and  make  it  for  her  too?  Buy  a  pattern, 
if  necessary,  and  see  how  well  you  can  make  it  fit  and 
how  genteel  she  will  look  when  she  dons  it  in  the 
afternoon.  Suppose  you  fashion  it  in  a  bell  skirt  and 
basque,  and  don’t  make  it  too  short  whatever  she  says. 
It  should  just  clear  the  floor,  but  not  touch  anywhere. 
If  she  is  inclined  to  be  stout,  the  bell  skirt  will  prove 
becoming  provided  you  choose  a  style  that  has  pleats 
going  to  the  belt  in  the  back.  You  will  probably  select 
a  black  ground  showing  a  pretty  flowered  design  and 
there  will  be  no  need  of  its  going  to  the  laundry  the 
first  season.  When  buying  a  gown  for  a  stout  person 
always  select  small  designs  in  figured  stuffs  and  see  that 
they  cover  the  ground  well,  or  at  least  are  not  scattered 
wide  apart.  Have  the  basque  rather  short  on  the 
hips,  pointed  in  front  and  maybe  with  slender  coat  tails 
in  the  back.  Lay  the  lining  upon  the  outside,  in  cutting 
the  fronts,  seven  inches  back  from  the  selvage  and  do 
not  cut  out  the  circular  shape  for  the  neck,  until  after 
you  have  arranged  this  extra  fulness  in  three  tucks  or 
folds  on  each  side  the  opening,  and  forward  of  the  two 
front  darts  which  should  be  sewed  as  usual;  fasten 
these  folds  in  place  up  as  far  as  the  top  of  the  darts 
and  either  pleat  or  gather  the  extra  fullness  into  the 
shoulder  seam  or  neck  or  a  part  in  each  of  those  places. 
This  front  is  very  easily  arranged  and  suitable  for  cal¬ 
ico  or  the  plainest  gowns. 
I  am  convinced  that  the  people  who  say  they  cannot 
do  dressmaking  are  often  those  who  will  never  try. 
Better  let  girls  spoil  two  or  three  calicos  in  the  learn¬ 
ing  than  never  know  how  to  make  their  own  dresses. 
Until  real  proficiency  is  arrived  at  it  is  always  best  to 
hand  our  best  dresses  over  to  the  dressmaker  (provided 
she  is  not  a  bungler  and  you  can  afford  the  expense); 
but  when  the  girls  begin  to  show  any  inclination  for 
the  work,  give  them  the  scissors  and  as  much  calico  and 
encouragement  as  are  needed,  prudence  primrose. 
A  Word  About  Wall  Papers. 
AMONG  what  may  be  called  the  side  issues  of  busi¬ 
ness  is  the  growth  in  the  real  helpfulness  of 
catalogues.  Issued  primarily  merely  to  announce  and 
to  advertise  the  goods  of  the  firms  sending  them  forth, 
they  have  grown  to  comprise  the  giving  of  helpful 
information  often  in  all  leading  lines  pertaining  to 
their  several  topics. 
Especially  to  be  desired  at  this  season,  in  those 
places  remote  from  the  great  centers,  is  a  catalogue  of 
wall  papers.  Even  if  one  is  unable,  because  of  the 
expense  of  transportation,  to  send  directly  to  the  adver¬ 
tising  firm,  it  is  well  to  know  how  the  world  is  moving. 
Customers  who  know  what  is  coming  into  use,  and 
who  call  for  it,  are  pretty  certain  of  service  reasonably 
up  to  the  times. 
A  catalogue  of  wall  papers,  with  samples,  such  as 
will  be  sent  by  mail  to  inquirers,  lies  before  us.  It  is 
issued  by  a  Philadelphia  firm,  A.  L.  Diament  &  Co. 
It  talks  about  designs  and  styles,  mentions  range  of 
prices,  notes  the  fact  that  the  "stock  of  the  firm  is  now 
largely  in  combinations  to  match,  for  side  walls,  ceil¬ 
ings,  and  borders,  etc.  Twenty  different  surface 
effects  are  mentioned,  as  embossed,  iridescent,  tapes¬ 
try,  chenille,  ingrain  and  lustres.  The  cartridge,  or 
ingrain  papers  are  15  cents  a  single  roll.  They  re¬ 
semble  to  some  extent  a  plain,  plastered  surface,  with 
some  hair  visible  ;  this  is  wool  fiber.  The  surface  has 
a  soft  effect,  and  the  tints  range  through  many  pale 
shades  of  yellow,  blue,  red  and  brown.  The  new  plain 
surface  papers,  called  pulp  papers,  are  20  cents  a  roll. 
The  surface  is  smoother,  more  like  a  very  fine  blotting- 
paper  ;  the  colors  are  ground  in  the  pulp,  and  are  soft 
and  delicate,  but  clearer  and  brighter  than  in  the 
ingrains.  Robin’s  egg  blue,  buttercup-yellow,  salmon- 
pink  and  sea  green  are  among  the  bright  shades. 
“Successful  wall-paper  furnishing  no  longer  depends 
upon  what  you  pay,”  but  upon  artistic  selection  ;  this 
seems  to  be  the  key-note  of  the  little  pamphlet. 
Systematic  House  Cleaning. 
FORMERLY  it  was  my  belief  that  house  cleaning 
must  all  be  done  in,  at  the  most,  one  week  ;  but 
in  later  years  I  have  found  that  the  work  can  be  done 
much  more  satisfactorily  by  taking  two  or  even  three 
weeks  to  do  it. 
We  begin  either  below  or  above  stairs,  as  occasion 
requires,  and  we  make  it  a  point  to  clean  one  room 
only  at  a  time.  Nothing  is  gained  by  turning  the 
whole  house  upside  down  at  one  time,  and  when  only 
one  room  is  out  of  order  the  male  portion  of  the  house¬ 
hold  is  not  so  much  at  a  loss,  and,  oh,  how  much  annoy¬ 
ance  is  saved  !  Not  being  very  strong  myself  I  never 
try  to  clean  a  room  each  successive  day,  but  work  one 
day  then  rest  the  next  and  work  again  the  third. 
Again,  before  beginning  I  try  to  have  a  quantity  of 
cooking  and  baking  done  so  that  I  need  not  be  annoyed 
very  much  with  the  cooking  while  the  house  cleaning 
is  going  on.  Shades,  curtains  and  pictures  can  be 
taken  down,  dusted,  and  removed  to  another  room  ; 
then  they  are  ready  to  be  put  up  again  when  the  room 
is  cleaned.  Renovate  the  furniture  before  taking  it 
from  the  room,  then  take  up  the  carpet,  clean  it,  but 
do  not  put  it  down  again  until  the  wood- work  and 
windows  .have  been  cleaned  ;  if  papering  or  kalsomin- 
ing  is  to  be  done  do  this  also  while  the  carpet  is  up. 
When  the  floor  is  thoroughly  dry  put  down  the  carpet; 
and,  if  possible,  have  buildiug  paper  to  be  put  under 
it  as  it  is  so  much  easier  to  remove  than  anything  else 
and  one  set  of  paper  will  last  for  years.  After  the 
carpet  and  paper  have  been  carried  out,  spread  a  peck 
of  damp  sawdust  on  the  floor  before  sweeping  ; 
thus  there  will  be  but  little  dust  to  contend  with. 
And  I  find  this  the  nicest  way  to  keep  the  living 
rooms  free  from  dust.  Two  or  three  times  a  week 
I  remove  the  lighter  furniture  from  the  room  and 
spread  the  slightly  dampened  sawdust  on  the  car¬ 
pet ;  then  with  a  stiff  broom  scrub  the  sawdust  into 
the  carpet,  and  when  swept,  the  carpet  looks  as  fresh 
as  it  would  after  a  thorough  cleansing.  The  sawdust 
can  be  had  at  any  butcher’s  shop,  if  one  is  not  near  a 
saw-mill.  In  cleaning  closets  or  pantries,  begin  at  the 
top  and  clean  downward,  and  if  you  haven’t  practised 
it  before,  cover  each  shelf  with  paper;  if  this  gets 
soiled  a  fresh  one  can  be  substituted  which  causes  much 
less  work  than  the  frequent  scouring  otherwise  neces¬ 
sary.  Let  the  floors  of  kitchen,  dining-room  and 
pantries  be  either  covered  with  oilcloth  or  painted,  as 
they  can  then  be  kept  clean  with  very  little  work.  In 
cleaning  woodwork  use  a  little  sapolio  in  the  water 
and  wipe  with  a  cloth  wrung  out  of  sweet  milk;  it  will 
look  almost  as  nice  as  if  it  were  freshly  painted.  To 
clean  the  windows,  wipe  first  with  a  sponge  or  cloth 
wrung  from  water  in  which  a  few  drops  of  ammonia 
have  previously  been  put;  then  wipe  again  with  soft 
paper,  and,  my  word  for  it,  you  will  always  clean  your 
windows  in  that  way.  mrs.  l.  e.  w. 
You  would  not  suspect  it  from  the 
taste ;  there  is  cod-liver  oil  in  Scott’s 
Emulsion. 
It  looks  like  cream  ;  it  is  like  cream. 
Cream  is  bits  of  butter  covered  with 
something  else — you  do  not  taste  the 
butter.  Scott’s  Emulsion  is  drops  of  cod- 
liver  oil  covered  with  glycerine. 
Cream  is  an  easier  food  than  butter, 
because  it  is  in  bits.  Scott’s  Emulsion  is 
cod-liver  oil  made  easy  ;  the  drops  are  in¬ 
visibly  fine  ;  they  do  not  resist  digestion. 
Will  you  read  a  book  on  it?  Free. 
Scott  &  Bownb,  Chemists,  132  South  5th  Avenue,  New  York. 
Your  druggist  keeps  Scott’s  Emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil— all  druggists 
everywhere  do  $1 
