1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
4o3 
For  six  years  I  supported  myself,  my 
child  and  my  father  in  this  way.  I  hired 
a  nurse  for  the  child,  who  earned  her 
hoard  by  helping  with  the  house  work 
when  I  did  not  need  her  elsewhere.  I 
paid  a  large  doctor's  bill,  hired  a  seat  in 
church  and  had  all  the  money  I  wanted 
to  spend,  but  was  careful  not  to  spend 
quite  as  much  as  I  earned.  scripse. 
Shopping  by  Mail. 
THE  following,  lacking  the  heading, 
is  given  by  the  New  York  Recorder 
as  a  bona  fide  letter  received  by  a  woman 
who  makes  a  business  of  “  shopping  by 
mail  ”  for  out  of  town  customers. 
“Money  is  so  scarce  a  thing  here  in 
Texas,  and  I  need  so  many  things,  but  I 
will  only  send  for  a  few  dress  goods  this 
time. 
“For  myself  I  want  two  dresses,  one  a 
black  Bedford  cord,  38-inches  wide,  8 
yards,  about  44  cents  per  yard.  Then 
some  kind  of  plaid;  two  sliades  of  brown, 
or  black  and  white,  or  just  plain  gray, 
10  yards  at  about  20  cents  per  yard;  8 
yards  of  Bedford  cord  38-inches  wide, 
“  cinnamon  brown,”  40  cents  per  yard 
for  our  pastor’s  wife.  (No  trimming  with 
this. ) 
“For  my  little  daughter  Mary  (12  years 
old),  a  sacque,  or  goods  to  make  one  of, 
not  heavy,  but  one  she  can  wear  this 
spring  and  when  it  is  cool  in  summer; 
about  seven  or  eight  yards  (if  single 
width),  of  goods  that  will  make  Mary  a 
spring  dress  with  lining  (if  needed),  and 
buttons;  a  pair  of  black  or  brown  kid 
gloves — 1% — not  over  five  button  or 
lace.  I  have  often  bought  good  ones  in 
Cincinnati  for  25  cents.  Now  in  the  line 
of  trimming,  if  the  money  holds  out,  I 
would  like  silesia  lining,  two  or  three 
cents  per  yard,  for  my  two  dresses;  also 
buttons  for  the  basques,  a  spool  or  two 
of  black  sewing  silk,  and  if  there  is  still 
any  left,  handkerchiefs,  black  cotton 
hose,  9%.  Lace  curtains  or  anything. 
“I  don’t  know  what  your  commission 
will  be,  but  presume  you  have  a  per  cent. 
You  will  have  to  pay  yourself  and  you 
may  have  to  change  some  of  these  prices 
and  goods.  Do  the  best  you  can  and 
I  shall  be  thankful.  I  send  you  $13.50. 
Send  the  goods  by  express.  Hope  there 
will  be  enough  to  prepay  charges.  Re¬ 
spectfully  yours,  - 
The  Onion  as  a  Health  Giver. 
COMBATTING  the  foolish  prejudice 
which  exists  against  onions,  the 
New  York  Tribune  says  there  are  many 
other  things  which  produce  a  similar 
effect  on  the  breath,  against  which  no 
such  prejudice  exists.  It  does  not  name 
these,  however,  but  goes  on  to  affirm  that 
there  is  no  herb  in  the  vegetable  garden 
which  gives  such  delicate  and  delicious 
flavor  to  dainty  meat  dishes  as  the  onion, 
and  it  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  we 
should  adopt  French  taste  in  the  matter 
and  use  more  onions  in  flavor  and  in 
cookery.  As  a  nervine,  there  is  no  better 
vegetable  than  the  onion  and  celery.  The 
onion  is  also  credited  with  being  one  of 
the  best  blood  purifiers  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  In  order  to  possess  these  good 
qualities  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  onion 
should  be  rank  and  coarse.  Mild  varie¬ 
ties  possess  all  the  medicinal  values.  A 
red  Bermuda  or  a  yellow  Spanish  onion 
is,  however,  more  delicate  in  flavor 
than  any  of  the  natives,  because  grown 
in  the  hot  tropics,  and  the  climate  mod¬ 
erates  the  flavor.  The  onion  in  the  colder 
latitudes  becomes  as  rank  as  garlic. 
There  are  many  ways  of  cooking  this 
vegetable  which  do  away  with  the  rank 
flavor.  To  boil  onions  for  the  table,  peel 
When  Baby  was  sick,  we  gave  her  Castorla, 
When  she  was  a  Child,  she  cried  for  Castorla, 
When  she  became  Miss,  she  clung  to  Castorla, 
When  she  had  Children,  she  gave  them  Castorla 
them.  If  they  seem  strong,  you  may 
hold  them  tinder  water  during  this  pro¬ 
cess,  or  use  a  bit  of  bread  on  the  tip  of 
your  knife  to  absorb  the  flavor.  Put  them 
in  abundance  of  water,  using  at  least  two 
or  three  quarts  to  a  quart  of  onions.  Let 
them  cook  at  least  45  minutes.  Then 
drain  them,  shake  them  to  get  rid  of  the 
moisture,  and  then  cover  them  in  a  pint 
of  boiling  milk  in  which  a  tablespoonful 
of  butter  and  one  of  flour  have  been 
mixed.  Add  a  teaspoonful  of  salt  and  a 
little  white  pepper,  and  let  the  onions 
boil  up  in  this  very  gently  for  10  or  15 
minutes.  A  delicious  way  to  serve  onions 
is  scalloped.  Boil  them  as  directed,  then 
drain  them,  put  them  in  an  earthen  pud¬ 
ding  dish,  cover  them  with  cream  sauce, 
sprinkle  them  lightly  with  bread  crumbs 
and  bits  of  butter,  and  bake  them  for  20 
minutes  in  a  hot  oven.  A  simple  method 
of  frying  onions,  which  makes  them  crisp 
and  delicate,  is  to  soak  them  for  10  min¬ 
utes  in  milk  after  cutting  them  in  slices. 
Then  dip  them  lightly  in  flour,  and  fry 
them  in  deep  fat  hot  enough  to  fry  po¬ 
tatoes. 
Little  Helps. 
EVER  since  coal  oil  came  into  general 
use  for  lighting  purposes,  canton 
flannel  has  been  more  or  less  used  for 
lamp  wicks;  yet  every  little  while  some 
ingenious  woman  comes  to  the  front  with 
the  original  discovery  that  canton  flan¬ 
nel  cut  into  strips  and  folded  so  as  to  be 
about  three-ply,  stitched  together  two, 
three,  four  or  five  times  and  then  trimmed 
to  fit  the  burner  in  width,  is  just  as  good 
as  the  “store  wick;”  and  so  it  is,  and 
very  thick  woolen  cloth,  or  thick  cotton- 
ade  of  one  thickness,  often  answers  the 
same  purpose. 
Ammonia  for  baking  purposes  comes  in 
ounce  cakes,  and  costs  from  5  to  10  cents 
per  cake,  according  to  locality. 
A  tablespoonful  of  turpentine  put  into 
the  boiling  suds  will  do  wonders  towards 
bleaching  the  clothes. 
Soda  well  dampened  will  help  to  re¬ 
move  paint  from  window  glass.  A  cop¬ 
per  coin  is  also  useful  for  scraping  paint 
or  putty  from  glass,  as  it  does  not 
scratch. 
Wood  ashes,  dampened,  will  remove  tea 
stains  from  the  chinaware;  and  nothing 
is  better  to  sweeten  stone  jars  than  to 
fill  them  with  ashes  and  water  and  let 
them  stand  a  few  hours. 
If  there  is  no  tinsmith  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood,  get  three  cents’  worth  of  putty  and 
patch  up  all  the  leaky  cups,  pails,  and 
pans,  and  then  put  the  articles  away  for 
a  few  days  till  the  putty  has  time  to 
dry  out  and  become  hard;  this  is  a  much 
better  way  than  to  use  rags  to  stop  the 
leaks.  MAY  MAPLE. 
Some  of  Miss  Corson’s 
Wisdom. 
“  A  GOOD  cook  will  always  taste  as 
ax  she  cooks,”  said  Miss  Corson,  but 
added,  with  a  smile  :  “I  always  smell, 
as  I  dislike  tasting.”  Miss  Corson  is  by 
no  means  the  only  cook  who  dislikes 
tasting  the  dishes,  and  the  above  may  be 
a  hint  to  some  one  of  these.  A  few  of 
Miss  Corson’s  recipes  appear  below  : 
Delicious  Orange  Extract. — Cut  a 
few  pieces  of  the  yellow  rind  of  the 
orange  ;  put  in  a  bottle  and  cover  either 
with  good  brandy  or  alcohol,  and  cork 
tightly  until  ready  for  use. 
Brown  Gravy  Thickening. — To  make 
a  brown  gravy  thickening,  brown  the 
flour  and  butter  together ;  pack  the  mix¬ 
ture  away  in  a  glass  jar,  not  necessarily 
air-tight,  and  it  will  keep  indefinitely. 
The  same  with  the  white  sauce  thicken¬ 
ing  which  the  French  call  roux. 
Jellied  Cherries  and  Mandarins. — 
Take  half  a  pound  of  cherries  and  six 
mandarins,  which  will  be  sufficient  to 
make  three  pints  of  jelly.  Having  ready 
your  cherries  and  mandarins,  dissolve 
gelatine  in  hot  water,  mix  with  a  little 
orange  juice  and  sugar  or  cherry  juice. 
Both  being  ready,  fill  a  mold  about  one 
inch  in  depth  and  let  it  harden.  As  soon 
as  it  is  hard  enough,  arrange  a  layer  of 
cherries  and  mandarins  on  it,  then  an 
inch  more  of  gelatine  which  has  been 
kept  in  a  liquid  state  in  a  pan  of  hot 
water,  and  so  on  until  the  mold  is  full ; 
then  let  it  harden,  and  serve  either  with 
whipped  cream,  cake  or  ice  cream. 
In  Defense  of  Ivanlioe. 
IF  the  correspondent  who  condemns 
Ivanlioe,  will  give  me  credit  for  being 
as  sincere  in  my  opinion  of  the  book,  as 
I  give  her,  there  will  be  no  ill  feeling, 
although  we  differ. 
I  do  not  think  the  influence  of  the 
book  is  bad.  It  is  a  part  of  the  home 
reading  for  the  English  Literature 
classes  in  the  public  schools.  That  it 
has  the  sanction  of  educators  is  some¬ 
thing  in  its  favor.  Then,  as  is  admitted, 
for  a  work  of  fiction,  it  is  a  faithful  por¬ 
trayal  of  the  times  it  describes.  Granted 
that  the  vices  it  shows  are  terrible  ;  the 
virtues  put  in  contrast  are  noble  and 
horoic.  We  could  not  realize  Rebecca 
without  a  De  Boniset ;  King  Richard 
could  not  have  shown  himself  the  chiv¬ 
alrous  and  daring  knight  he  really  was 
without  the  Knights  Templars  ;  neither 
the  forgiving,  generous  brother  without 
the  usurper  John.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  this  19tli  century  civilization 
would  have  punished  the  traitors,  and 
not  have  been  generous  enough  to  say  : 
“  Get  thee  to  our  mother,  John,  before  I 
forget  thon  art  my  brother.” 
Virtue  never  seems  so  desirable  as  when 
contrasted  with  vice,  and  vice  is  never 
more  repulsive  when  seen  in  its  deform¬ 
ity  than  when  wrapped  in  the  cloak  of 
virtue  ;  and  by  this  same  law  of  contrast 
are  all  things  made  more  apparent. 
While  I  would  object  to  placing  light 
and  trashy  literature  in  the  hands  of 
children  and  youths,  I  would  have  no 
fears  of  Ivanhoe,  and  feel  that  it  would 
improve  any  boy  or  girl  of  an  age  to  read 
and  understand  it.  piiilena  m.  burdick. 
In  writing  to  advertisers  please  always  mention 
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DO  YOU  LIKE  ICE  CREAM  ? 
Wull  Br<*cW 
OF  COURSE  YOU  DO. 
Well,  then,  if  you  have  no  Ice-Cream 
Freezer,  or  a  poor  one,  read  this. 
Ice  cream  well  made  is  a  wholesome 
refreshment.  Almost  every  farmer  now¬ 
adays  has  his  own  ice,  and  can  spare 
a  little  milk  and  cream  now  and  then 
In  fact  the  farmer 
who  does  not  pro¬ 
vide  ice  cream  for 
his  family  at  least 
once  a  week,  does 
not  live  up  to  his 
privileges.  We  have 
arranged  to  offer 
this  wonderfully 
effective,  yet  very 
low-priced  freezer. 
The  stirring  motion 
is  applied  by  means 
of  the  Keystone 
Whip  Beater,  which 
may  also  be  used  in 
whipping  cream, 
heating  eggs,  fruit,  etc.  A  cook  book, 
giving  many  recipes  for  ice  creams,  water 
ices,  and  many  new  dishes  for  the  table 
by  aid  of  the  freezer  and  the  beater  which 
accompanies  it.  Price,  $1.50.  Given  to 
any  present  subscriber  sending  two  new 
subscriptions  to  The  R.  N.-Y.  fi’om  date 
to  January,  1893,  and  $2. 
L  ON  a  MA  Y  IT  WA  VE ! 
Every  man  and  boy,  and  woman,  too, 
who  is  a  true  American,  loves  that  good 
old  flag  as  the  emblem  of  what  is  best  in 
government.  The  principles  for  which 
it  stands  can  not  he  too  early  instilled 
into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  newcomers 
on  the  field  of  action,  he  they  youths  of 
our  own  blood,  or  men  of  other  lands 
come  newly  to  these  shores.  That  flag 
should  ever  wave  in  sight  of  Americans. 
Every  School  House, 
Every  Town  Hall, 
Every  Grange  Hall 
should  have  its  flag-staff,  and  every  flag 
staff  should,  of  course,  hear  its  flag. 
BUT  a  flag  of  cheap  and  poor  stuff 
is  a  disgrace  to  the  flag  itself,  and  the 
regular  hunting  is  very  expensi  7e.  What 
is  known  as  “  cotton  bunting  ”  makes  a 
flag  that  is  creditable  to  any  man  who 
owns  it,  and  which  cannot  he  distin¬ 
guished  from  the  .expensive  bunting 
flags  except  on  close  examination.  The 
colors  are  guaranteed  absolutely  fast. 
We  will  furnish  these  flags,  not  mounted, 
to  our  subscribers  as  follows  : 
SIX  feet  long,  for  one  new  subscrip¬ 
tion  from  date  to  January,  1893,  and  $1.50; 
the  flag  alone  for  $1.25,  prepaid. 
NINE  feet  long,  for  two  new  subscrip¬ 
tions  to  January,  1893,  and  $3.50.  Or 
for  sale  at  $2.75,  prepaid. 
THE  RURAL  PUBLISHING  CO., 
Times  Building,  New  York. 
