Notes  and  Comments. 
The  Uses  of  Repitition. — The  managing'  ed'tor  of 
two  successful  periodicals  says  :  “I  believe  in  variety, 
and  I  would  not  allow  the  same  idea  to  appear  twice 
in  an  article,  even  though  it  were  in  entirely  different 
words.”  Under  his  hands,  the  writers  who  always 
“sum  up”  for  greater  effect,  would  fare  hard.  Their 
efforts  would  invariably  show  the  marks  of  the  blue 
pencil.  Yet  repetition  has  its  uses.  Every  year  we 
find  it  necessary  to  repeat  old  things,  for  the  teaching 
of  young  workers,  and  to  jog  the  memories  of  older 
ones.  Besides,  many  of  the  best  ways  are  habitually 
ignored,  and  it  is  only  by  the  line  upon  line  that  peo¬ 
ple  can  be  led  into  those  ways.  Good  old  ideas  are 
sometimes  neglected  so  long  that  they  become  prac¬ 
tically  new,  so  far  as  print  is  concerned,  and  some¬ 
times  an  old  thought  is  put  into  such  a  delightful  new 
dress  that  it  attracts  as  though  new  itself. 
Freshness  of  Expression. — An  article  on  the  ven¬ 
tilation  of  bedrooms,  lately  sent  us,  is  a  case  exactly 
in  point.  Probably  no  household  publication,  or  even 
small  department,  passes  a  year  without  reference  to 
this  important^— but,  oh  !  how  stale,  subject,  and  when 
we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  title  of  the  article  referred 
to,  the  editor’s  prejudice  against  the  old  arose  and 
she  said,  before  a  word  of  it  had  been  read:  “This  g<^js 
back.”  But  it  did  not.  For  though  it  had  not  many 
new  ideas  (where  could  they  be  found)  it  was  so  freshly 
written,  so  forcible,  that  it  carried  conviction,  and 
we  are  holding  it,  hoping  to  make  room  for  it  later. 
This  instance  may  help  to  explain  a  question  that  is 
sure  to  arise  in  the  mind  of  some  friend  ;  “  Why  was 
such  an  article  accepted,  and  mine  refused  ?  Mine 
was  no  more  stale  than  that.” 
Utilizing  a  Neglected  Corner. 
IN  most  houses  of  a  certain  period  there  is,  in  the 
upper  hall  over  the  front  door,  a  space  not  put  to 
any  particular  use  and  therefore  often  left  bare  and 
unattractive.  One  farmer’s  daughter  has  transformed 
such  a  space  into  a  cozy  retreat  very  useful  to  herself, 
and  very  attractive  to  look  upon.  Some  pretty  dra¬ 
peries  at  the  windows,  an  easy  chair,  a  writing  stand, 
a  shelf  for  books  and  a  waste  basket  were  the  imple¬ 
ments  of  her  magic  ;  and  lest  some  other  Miss  Clover- 
blossome  sigh  that,  much  as  she  would  like  to  make  for 
herself  such  a  nook  in  her  upper  hall,  the  necessary 
articles  of  furniture  are  not  at  her  disposal,  it  shall  be 
told  how  this  Miss  Cloverblossome  came  by  her  chair 
and  window  hangings. 
“That  rocker  you  think  is  so  easy,”  she  explained, 
“was  my  grandfather’s.  When  I  brought  it  down 
from  the  attic  the  men  declared  it  fit  only  for  kindling- 
wood,  telling  me  that  no  amount  of  screws  a  man  could 
put  in  would  make  it  hold  together.  I  said  nothing, 
but  bought  a  coil  of  annealed  wire  next  time  I  was  at 
a  hardware  store.  When  I  had  woven  it  back  and 
forth  and  in  and  out,  the  arms  could  not  be  pulled  off 
nor  the  back  made  to  part  company  from  the  posts. 
Next  an  old  comfortable  was  cut  up  and  the  whole 
chair  padded  over  before  covering.”  The  pretty 
cretonne  covering  was  brought  down  smoothly  all 
around  and  tacked  to  the  rockers  along  the  sides. 
There  was  a  soft  cushion  in  the  seat  also  covered  with 
cretonne. 
At  each  window  hung  sash  draperies  of  soft,  old  em¬ 
broidered  muslin,  evidently  culled  from  the  best  por¬ 
tions  of  a  set  that  had  once  graced  her  grandmother’s 
parlor.  They  were  now  hung  with  the  scalloped  edge 
at  the  bottom,  just  clearing  the  window  sill  so  that 
any  seams  were  hidden  in  their  folds.  Above  each 
was  a  straight  lambrequin  of  the  cretonne  deep  enough 
to  meet  the  white  curtains  and  conceal  the  wire  and 
rings  on  which  they  ran. 
The  stand  on  which  were  her  writing  tablets,  ink- 
stand  and  basket  of  pens,  pencils,  erasers,  etc.,  was 
covered  with  a  spread  of  plain,  green  felt,  and  a  wide 
shelf  screwed  to  the  nearest  window  sill  was  smoothly 
covered  with  the  same.  Under  this  shelf,  whose  cov¬ 
ering  hung  down  across  the  front  far  enough  to  con¬ 
ceal  them,  was  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  pigeon¬ 
holes  made  of  cigar  boxes  nailed  to  the  under  side  of 
the  shelf.  The  book  shelf  was  also  home-made,  with 
a  support  at  each  end  to  keep  books  from  falling  off, 
and  was  screwed  securely  to  the  wall  over  the  stand, 
and  within  easy  reach  from  the  chair. 
This  Miss  Cloverblossome  wras,  you  see,  a  scribbler  ; 
maybe  she  was  also  at  times  a  dabbler  in  paint,  for  a 
work  easel  and  paint  box  occupied  the  corner  behind 
her  chair,  and  various  studies  from  art  periodicals, 
with  some  of  her  own  attempts  in  charcoal  and  crayon, 
were  pinned  to  the  walls.  Had  hers  been  a  home  in 
which  there  was  much  going  to  and  fro  in  the  halls, 
she  must  have  added  a  pair  of  wide,  heavy  curtains  to 
shut  off  her  den  and  make  it  really  cozy. 
Such  a  nook  would  be  just  the  shrine  for  a  C.  L.  S.  C. 
student,  who  must  always  have  her  dictionary,  atlas 
and  notebooks  at  hand.  But  should  the  stand  hold 
only  a  work  basket  and  darning  implements  and  the 
shelf  a  few  favorite  authors,  the  greater,  maybe,  would 
be  the  gain  to  the  world,  and  the  more  real  the  satis¬ 
faction  of  the  worker.  Not  every  one  has  even  the 
well-cluttered  attic  to  draw  upon,  but  many  are  blessed 
with  a  great  deal  of  inventive  genius  and  taste,  and 
need  only  a  suggestion  to  set  them  about  accomplish¬ 
ing  very  charming  results.  prudence  primrose. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clever  Watch  the  Trend 
of  the  Times. 
LBEIT  Mrs.  Clever  is  really  one  of  the  most  do¬ 
mestic  of  women,  her  keen  eyes  are  constantly 
studying  “  The  Woman  Question.”  And  in  spite  of  his 
stout  words  against  reform  dresses,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  even  the  most  progressive  woman  of  the  day 
is  more  interested  in  the  real  progress  of  woman  than 
is  Mr.  Clever. 
At  the  close  of  one  of  those  hot  days  last  week,  Mrs. 
Clever  was  more  than  usually  anxious  for  her  “  breath 
of  fresh  air  from  outside.”  But  she  was  wise  enough 
not  to  recall  her  tired  spouse’s  attention  to  the  awful 
heat  at  the  office,  but  rather  to  something  pleasing. 
She  asked  :  “  What  was  the  most  interesting  thing  at 
the  office  to-day,  my  dear  ?  ” 
“Really,  I  ” — hesitantly  began  Mr.  Clever — “would 
it  be  safe,  Mathilde,  for  me  to  say  that  it  was  a  talk 
which  I  had  with  the  type-writer  ?  ” 
“  The  pretty  one  ?  ” — archly. 
“No,  the  sensible  one.  (How  quickly  men  recog¬ 
nize  the  justice  of  the  law  of  compensations,  and  cease 
to  look  for  both  beauty  and  sense  in  the  one  individual.) 
“  So  far  as  the  office  is  concerned,  she  is  worth  about 
four  of  the  other,  and  she  said  some  rather  shrewd 
things  to-day.  You  know  how  often  we  have  spoken 
of  possible  occupations  for  country  girls,  aside  from 
sewing  and  teaching  ?  ” 
“Yes;  but  I  don’t  see  how  Miss  Lane  could  have 
much  to  say  about  that ;  a  city  girl  doesn’t  usually — ” 
“  Wait  a  minute,  Mathilde.  You  are  on  the  wrong 
track.  Miss  Lane  had  the  advantage  of  several  years’ 
life  on  a  big  ranch  out  West,  just  as  she  was  in  her 
’teens,  and  it  has  broadened  her  wonderfully.” 
“Country  life  ‘  broadened  ’  her?  People  will  call 
you  a  crank,  Solomon.  How  could  anything  compen¬ 
sate  for  the  advantages  which  the  city-bred  girl  has 
from  the  first  minute  of  her  life  ?  Fine  schools,  lec¬ 
tures,  museums  of  art  and  of  curios — everything  to 
teach  and  to  uplift,  which  those  who  are  country-bred 
cannot  possibly  have,  no  matter  how  well-fitted  to  ap¬ 
preciate  them  !  ” 
“  It’s  right  here,  Mathilde.  The  class  which  fur¬ 
nishes  the  majority  of  our  office  girls,  does  not  use  the 
advantages  which  location  gives  it.  These  people  are 
poor,  but  they  overlook  in  great  degree  the  free  helps, 
and  the  spare  change  goes  for  cheap  dramas,  circuses 
and  the  like,  instead  of  for  lectures.  They  attend 
school  to  be  sure,  but  they  read  literally  nothing  but 
the  local  gossip  in  the  papers  and  cheap  novels.  They 
are  almost  utterly  devoid  of  general  knowledge.  After 
school,  they  go  to  a  school  of  stenography  and  type¬ 
writing,  perhaps,  and  when  they  come  to  us  they  know 
the  pen  and  the  machine  more  or  less  well,  and  that 
is  all.  An  inadvertent  mistake  in  dictating  is  copied 
instead  of  corrected  or  questioned.  These  girls  are 
of  no  more  use  to  their  employers  than  so  many  auto¬ 
matons.” 
“I  see!  there  is  no  business,  then,  that  they  can 
grasp  so  as  to  do  their  part  under&tandingly.  But  what 
has  that  to  do  with  our  country  lassies  ?” 
“Just  this:  You  know  well  that  from  the  very 
nature  of  her  surroundings,  the  country  girl  must  fill 
much  time  with  reading,  that  is  frittered  away  in  the 
cities  and  small  towns.  Unless  she  marries  soon  after 
leaving  school,  she  is  quite  likely  to  become  ‘  well 
read.’  ” 
“  True,  and  even  in  the  higher  schools  it  is  the  fact 
that  our  country  girls  are  immeasurably  ahead  in¬ 
tellectually  of  the  average  city  girl  there.  I  have 
seen  that  often  enough,”  said  Mrs.  Clever  thought¬ 
fully. 
“That  is  not  saying  that  the  average  intelligence 
among  country  people  is  above  that  in  the  villages 
and  cities,  you  know.  Nor  is  it  admitting  the  reverse. 
It  is  merely  saying  that  the  girls  who  want  to  make 
something  of  themselves  need  fear  no  competition  if 
they  do  their  best.” 
“  But  you  haven’t  yet  given  me  the  link  that  con 
nects  this  general  fact  with  Miss  Lane  and  the  office, 
Solomon.” 
“As  to  Miss  Lane,  she  is  an  object  lesson  right  in 
this  line  ;  for  as  I  said,  she  is  sensible,  intelligent, 
well-read  and  worth  to  us  four  times  as  much  as 
pretty  Miss  M.,  and  she  herself  says  that  her  few 
years  in  the  country  were  the  ‘making’  of  her. 
This  led  me  to  wonder  why  more  of  our  bright 
young  country  girls  did  not  turn  to  Ihis  as  a  means 
of  support.” 
“No  doubt  they  would  find  it  difficult  to  fit  them¬ 
selves  for  the  work.  Those  who  want  positions 
usually  want  them  for  immediate  support.” 
“I  know;  but  the  tuition  in  schools  where  both 
stenography  and  typewriting  are  taught  and  a  posi¬ 
tion  secured  is  but  .$100  or  thereabouts.  And  listen  to 
what  Miss  Lane  told  me.  You  have  seen  Miss  C.  of 
the  Bell  Telephone  office,  I  think  ?” 
“  That  bright,  stylish  looking  girl  who  was  with 
Miss  Lane  at  the  World  Building,  is  she  not  ?  ” 
“The  very  same.  She  was  country  bred,  with  a  good 
education  for  a  foundation — a  school  teacher.  For  a 
year  or  two  she  grubbed  away  at  short-hand  alone, 
while  teaching.  Then  she  packed  her  grip  and  started 
for  New  York.  She  took  six  weeks’  practice  lessons 
in  short-hand  and  type-writing,  went  into  the  Bell 
office  the  first  year  and  she  is  there  to  this  very  27th 
of  July,  1892.  That  was  five  years  ago.  The  position 
is  not  a  1  hard,’  although  it  is  responsible  one.  She  is 
in  one  of  the  most  luxurious  offices  in  the  city;  the 
company  has  voluntarily  advanced  her  salary  several 
times,  and  she  ranks  as  an  ‘expert,’  and  earns  three 
times  what  the  ordinary  teacher  or  stenographer  re¬ 
ceives.  So  much  for  grit  and  work.” 
“That  sounds  very  well,  Solomon.  Yet  you  wouldn't 
dare  advise  any  young  country  girl  to  come  to  New 
York  or  any  big  city  looking  for  a  place.  The  risks 
are  too  great.” 
“  As  you  say,  the  risks  are  great.  No  young  girl 
would  be  safe  to  come  alone  to  New  York.  The  very 
first  kind-hearted  (?)  person  who  offered  to  help  her 
might  lead  her  into  the  very  sink  of  iniquity.  But  a 
girl  with  sufficient  strength  of  mind  to  study  alone 
until  she  was  fitted  to  take  a  position,  would  probably 
not  be  so  very  young,  and  would  perhaps  have  suf¬ 
ficient  knowledge  of  the  world  to  take  care  of  herself. 
If  not,  friends  might  see  her  established,  and  after 
becoming  wonted  to  the  city  a  girl  who  conducts  her¬ 
self  carefully  is  as  safe  on  New  York  streets,  for  in¬ 
stance,  as  anywhere,  at  reasonable  hours.” 
“But  I  think,  Solomon,  that  there  might  be  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  finding  a  position.  Think  how 
long  Mrs.  G.’s  sister  was  in  obtaining  work.” 
“  To  tell  the  truth,  Mathilde,  I  fear  Mrs.  G.’s  sister 
was  not  very  well  qualified.  Still,  you  are  right  in 
thinking  that  to  secure  a  position  would  be  the  most 
difficult  part.  Those  not  from  schools  which  contract 
to  find  positions  for  their  pupils,  would  find  trouble 
here,  possibly,  for  the  city  denizen  used  to  city  ways 
will  snap  up  a  position  while  a  rival  from  the  country 
is  deciding  that  one  is  needed,  even  though  the  latter 
may  be  much  better  fitted  for  it.  And  a  lack  of  as¬ 
surance  is  a  great  hindrance  to  one  who  wants  work. 
This,  I  think,  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  those 
who  are  country-bred  find  it  so  difficult  to  get  places 
in  the  city,  aside  from  the  fact  that  those  already  ‘in,’ 
will  push  their  friends  into  every  possible  vacancy.” 
MYRA  V.  NORYS. 
*  *  # 
A  Man  to  the  Rescue. — As  my  wife  has  been  inca¬ 
pacitated  for  many  years  from  work  of  any  kind,  I 
will  relate  how  I  got  rid  of  the  persistent  and  villain¬ 
ous  bed  bugs.  I  oftentimes  got  a  neighboring  woman 
to  help  me.  We  used  coal  oil,  which  killed  every  one 
we  could  see,  and  filled  all  the  cracks  and  crevices. 
Yet  it  seemed  as  if  thousands  remained.  At  last  I 
went  to  the  city  and  bought  a  new  bedstead  and  mat¬ 
tress.  Then  wre  carried  the  old  bedstead  and  all  per¬ 
taining  to  it  immediately  to  the  second  story  of 
an  outhouse,  perhaps  150  feet  from  the  dwelling,  and 
there  we  left  them,  and  I  can  safely  assert  that  I  have 
never  since  had  a  bed  bug  in  the  house ;  nor  have  I 
found  even  the  trace  of  one.  One  extra  bedstead,  mat¬ 
tress,  etc.,  will  be  enough  to  change  around  with  sev¬ 
eral  others,  one  at  a  time  It  must  be  left  outside 
at  least  four  or  five  months  to  make  sure  that  the  bugs 
are  all  dead  ;  then  bring  it  in  and  exchange  for  an¬ 
other.  Once  before  we  found  the  pests  in  the  mat¬ 
tress,  and  I  had  a  case  made  of  light-weight  yellow 
cotton  and  put  it  around  the  mattress ;  and  while  it 
was  sewed  tightly,  not  one,  I  think,  ever  escaped  out 
of  it,  still,  I  believe  plenty  were  left  outside  for 
seed.  b.  f.  c. 
