A  “Club”  Already  Established. 
IN  looking  over  some  back  numbers  of  The  R.  N.-Y., 
I  found  Mary  McNeal’s  article  “Concerning 
Women’s  Clubs.”  It  was  suggestive  of  much  good; 
helping  us  to  think  of  others  as  well  as  to  obtain  the 
best  thoughts  of  the  best  authors ;  for,  of  course,  there 
was  a  course  of  reading,  not  exactly  a  la  Chautauqua, 
but  something  in  the  way  of  history  and  romance  com¬ 
bined,  that  would  interest  a  tired  woman  without  tax¬ 
ing  her  mind  with  too  close  attention.  Many  a  neigh¬ 
borhood  of  housekeepers  might  receive  large  benefits 
from  such  a  society. 
Rut  there  is  already  an  organization  for  women  that 
will  ofttimes  make  them  forget  their  own  weariness 
and  troublesome  cares  for  the  time  being,  at  least, 
while  their  hearts  go  out  in  sympathy  for  the  greater 
needs  of  humanity  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  every 
woman  who  is  interested  in  humanity  at  large  should 
be  a  member.  This,  also,  is  a  reading  class,  and  every 
woman  interested  will  find  herself  becoming  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  best  practical  thoughts  of  the  beat 
authors,  and  these  writers  are,  many  of  them,  our  sis¬ 
ter  women  who  are  still  with  us.  They  deal  with 
present  realities  just  as  much  as  Dickens  did  in  his  time. 
The  subjects  they  take  up  are  such  as  all  women  who 
care  for  “  Home  and  Native  Land  ”  should  feel  inter¬ 
ested  in  discussing  with  one  another.  It  is  a  self-help 
organization  in  every  sense  of  the  word  ;  but  many 
succeeding  generations  will  reap  a  benefit  from  its 
efforts.  There  is  work  to  be  done  in  good  faith  which 
may  be  done  at  home,  and  yet  the  fruits  of  that  work 
may  be  found  far  beyond  our  own  doors. 
This  “club”  or  organization  is  needed  in  every 
neighborhood,  and  it  reaches  around  the  world.  It  is 
bound  together  with  a  tiny  knot  of  white  ribbon. 
Many  a  reader  of  The  Rural  New-Yorker  is  a  staunch 
member  ;  and  I  hope  that  Mary  McNeal’s  historical 
club  will  join  this  throng,  even  though  they  have  to 
pay  dues.  This  organization,  known  as  the  VV.  C.  T. 
U.,  has  use  for  them.  may  maple. 
Some  Ways  of  Cooking  Chicken. 
THERE  are  few  products  of  the  farm  which  offer 
such  unlimited  possibilities  to  the  cook  as 
chickens.  From  the  dainty  broiler  to  the  adult  fowl 
there  is  a  whole  octave  of  good  things.  Shall  I  “  run 
the  scale  ?  ” 
Broiled  Chicken. — Split  the  chicken  down  the 
back,  remove  the  entrails,  and  if  large,  cut  through 
the  breast  also.  Wash  the  pieces  thoroughly,  dry 
them  with  a  cloth  and  broil  them  over  a  clear  fire, 
turning  them  frequently  and  saving  all  the  juices 
which  collect  in  the  broiler.  Just  before  removing 
from  the  fire  season  the  chicken  with  salt.  Have  a 
platter  ready  with  a  rim  of  potatoes  which  have  been 
pressed  through  a  ricer,  around  the  edge.  Dot  the 
chicken  with  bits  of  butter  and  send  to  the  table  with 
a  dish  of  gravy  made  from  the  drippings  from  the 
meat,  seasoned  with  butter  and  thickened  with,  a  little 
browned  flour. 
Fried  Chicken. — Divide  a  tender  young  chicken 
into  small  pieces,  rub  with  a  little  salt,  roll  each  piece 
n  flour  and  fry  to  a  golden  brown  in  deep  fat  which 
must  be  very  hot.  Serve  with  a  sauce  made  from 
cream  thickened  with  a  little  flour  and  seasoned  with 
salt  and  pepper  and  a  hint  of  mace  or  nutmeg. 
Smothered  Chicken. — The  following  recipes  are 
perhaps  better  when  young  chickens  are  used,  but 
they  are  very  good  when  made  from  adult  fowls. 
Cut  up  a  chicken,  wash  and  let  it  stand  in  cold  water 
for  an  hour.  Drain,  season  and  roll  in  flour,  then  put 
the  pieces  in  a  dripping  pan  and  nearly  cover  them 
with  water.  Dot  with  bits  of  butter,  cover  the  pan 
closely  and  bake  until  tender.  When  cooked  remove 
from  the  pan,  strain  the  gravy  and  thicken  it  with 
a  little  flour  if  needed. 
Roast  Chicken. — Draw  the  entrails  from  the  fowl 
without  disfiguring  it.  Wash  and  wipe  carefully.  Rub 
the  inside  with  salt,  tie  a  thin  slice  of  salt  pork  on  the 
legs  and  bake  in  a  covered  dipper  with  a  little  water 
in  the  bottom  of  the  pan.  Baste  frequently  with 
melted  butter.  The  chickens  may  be  stuffed  with  any 
simple  dressing  and  many  persons  like  them  best  in 
this  way. 
Chicken  Pudding. — A  variation  from  the  time-hon¬ 
ored  chicken  .pie  may  be  made  as  follows :  Joint  the 
fowls  and  stew  until  tender  with  three  or  four  slices 
of  salt  pork,  and  just  enough  water  to  cover  them. 
When  tender  remove  them  from  the  liquor  and  let  them 
cool.  Make  a  batter  from  six  eggs,  one  quart  of  milk, 
one  quart  of  flour,  through  which  three  teaspoonfuls 
of  baking  powder  have  been  sifted  and  a  teaspoonful  of 
salt.  Cover  the  bottom  of  a  large  pudding  dish  with  a 
thin  layer  of  batter,  then  put  in  a  layer  of  the  chicken 
dotted  with  bits  of  butter,  then  more  batter  and  con¬ 
tinue  until  all  is  used,  having  a  layer  of  batter  at  the 
top.  Bake,  and  serve  with  gravy  made  from  the 
stock  made  while  stewing  the  chicken,  thickened  with 
a  little  flour  and  seasoned  with  butter. 
Jellied  Chicken. — Boil  a  fowl  until  very  tender  in 
just  enough  water  to  cover.  Remove  the  meat  when 
done,  boil  the  water  down  to  one  quart  and  strain. 
Add  three  quarters  of  a  box  of  gelatine,  previously 
soaked  in  a  little  cold  water,  and  season  to  taste  with 
salt,  pepper  and  Worcester  sauce.  Cut  the  meat  from 
the  chicken  into  dice,  slice  two  hard-boiled  eggs  and 
arrange  with  the  meat  in  a  mold.  Pour  the  jelly  over 
it  and  set  in  a  cold  place  for  at  least  eight  hours. 
Pressed  Chicken  is  made  by  chopping  the  meat 
from  a  well-cooked  fowl  very  fine.  Season  with  salt, 
pepper  and  a  little  butter,  add  the  water  in  which  the 
fowl  was  cooked,  boiled  down  to  a  rich  stock.  Pack 
in  a  square  tin  and  press  until  cold. 
In  closing  let  me  urge  young  cooks  to  use  plenty  of 
nice  butter  in  cooking  chickens  as  it  is  the  great  secret 
in  having  them  truly  delicious.  s.  A.  little. 
Schooling  Alone  not  Education. 
WHEN  we  consider  the  thousands  of  children  who 
receive  the  rudiments  of  education,  and  the 
numbers  whose  whole  education  consists  in  that  ob¬ 
tained  in  the  district  school,  we  feel  the  crying  need 
that  these  schools  should  be  improved  to  the  utmost. 
True,  having  taken  a  retrospective  glance  and  con¬ 
sidered  what  were  once  the  general  ideas,  we  observe 
wonderful  progress  in  the  science  and  art  of  education 
itself,  and  a  consequent  improvement  of  the  public 
organ  of  education — the  school.  Still  I  believe  the 
work  is  in  its  incipiency  compared  with  the  standard 
it  will  one  day  attain. 
As  to  the  district  school;  I  firmly  believe  its  im¬ 
provement  depends  primarily  upon  the  parents,  or 
patrons.  True,  “as  is  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school.” 
But  I  say  “  primarily  ”  because  the  patrons  hold  it  in 
their  power  to  elevate  the  school  to  any  desired  stand¬ 
ard.  In  many  cases,  there  is  among  parents  a  want 
of  the  proper  conception  of  what  a  school  and  teacher 
should  be.  They  look  the  teacher  over  and  attempt 
to  measure  him  or  her;  but  they  have,  somewhere  and 
somehow,  got  before  the  mind’s  eye  only  the  picture 
of  one  who  keeps  children  still  and  makes  them  learn 
their  lessons.  And  what  a  conception  it  is  !  The 
teacher  does  not  want  this  low  rating;  it  prevents  his 
doing  the  work  he  would  like  to  do,  as  well  as  his  social 
recognition. 
Many  well-meaning  people  think  a  well-educated 
child  will  be  a  miniature  ’cyclopedia.  In  olden  days 
a  teacher’s  success  was  perhaps  measured  by  the  num¬ 
ber  of  pages  of  text-book  a  pupil  had  “  gone  over,” 
and  the  remembrance  of  a  certain  per  cent  of  what  he 
had  read  served  to  show  how  much  he  had  learned  ; 
now,  the  needs  of  the  school  are  seen  in  a  truer  light. 
Qualifications  must  be  something  higher  than  “  hear¬ 
ing  lessons  ”  and  “  keeping  order.”  Education  has 
come  to  be  considered  as  the  symmetrical  development 
of  the  whole  being.  A  child  possesses  a  heart  and 
soul  to  be  cultivated  as  well  as  an  intellect  to  be 
trained.  Character  building  is  the  end  and  aim  of  the 
ideal  teacher  to-day;  and  this  throws  its  influence 
over  all  the  routine  of  school-room  work. 
But  unconscious  teaching  penetrates  deepest  and 
lasts  longest;  the  cultivation  of  refinement  is  always  a 
matter  of  deeds,  not  words,  and  parents,  by  demand¬ 
ing  a  higher  degree  of  culture  and  teaching  ability, 
could  even  raise  the  teacher's  standard.  The  child 
should  be  encouraged  to  trust  and  love  his  teacher  ; 
for  if  he  trusts  him  he  will  improve,  while  if  there  be 
a  “  fault-finding  ”  spirit,  the  child  might  almost  as 
well  be  out  of  school.  Parents,  as  well  as  teachers, 
should  do  away  with  all  smallness  of  motive  and  in¬ 
dulgence  of  petty  jealousies  because  of  the  blemish 
they  leave  on  the  personal  character,  which  to  the 
children  will  feel  like  discord  in  music. 
“  Schooling  is  not  an  education,”  said  Archdeacon 
\Yilson  in  an  address  at  Rochdale,  England.  “The 
real  education  of  our  children  is  in  the  home  and  the 
street,  and,  so  long  as  public  opinion  permits  authori¬ 
ties  to  have  certain  neighborhoods  in  their  present 
condition,  so  long  will  the  home  education  of  the 
children  efface  all  impressions  that  can  be  made  on 
them  in  school.” 
The  district  schools  are  acknowledged  to  be  poor, 
but,  in  many  ways,  country  children  have  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  city  children.  They  begin  and  continue  with 
manual  training  usually  for  some  years ;  struggle  with 
and  impress  themselves  upon  Nature — just  what  the 
Creator  meant  they  should  do.  They  combine  the  in¬ 
fluences  of  history  and  literature  with  those  that  come 
from  their  daily  surroundings  ;  they  are  on  the  way  to 
real  development.  Were  the  district  schools  improved, 
there  would  be  far  more  successful  men  and  women 
emerging  from  the  country  than  at  present.  Parents, 
the  line  of  progress  is  infinite  ;  you  can  do  a  great 
deal  !  And  we,  the  teachers,  will  cheerfully  further 
your  plans  to  the  extent  of  our  ability  for  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  country  schools.  elsie  m’dowell. 
Broom  Straws. 
OW  here’s  a  queer  thing  !”  said  the  boy,  burst¬ 
ing  into  my  room  between  11  and  12  o’clock 
one  night. 
I  am  quite  used  to  his  energetic  entrance.  I  only 
turned  over  sleepily,  and  asked,  “What  have  you  got 
now  ?” 
“  We’ve  been  trying  some  daisy  experiments.  Now 
this  is  really  curious.  Get  up  and  see,”  he  cried. 
Thus  urged,  I  got  up  and  lit  the  gas. 
“What  is  it?  Two  broom  straws!  Dragging  me 
out  of  bed  for  such  nonsense  !  I  declare  !” 
“  It  isn’t  nonsense.  Just  see  here  !” 
He  stood  before  the  mantel-piece,  and  rested  his 
hands  lightly  upon  it.  Between  the  thumb  and  finger 
of  each  hand  he  held  the  end  of  a  smooth  broom  straw 
about  eight  inches  long. 
“  Now  hang  these  two  bits  of  straw  across  this  one, 
one  at  each  end,  by  my  fingers,”  he  said. 
I  picked  up  the  two  bits.  They  were  each  about 
two  inches  long,  doubled  in  the  middle,  making  in 
shape  the  letter  V.  I  hung  them  across  the  long  straw 
as  commanded,  their  ends  just  touching  the  mantel. 
“  Make  the  points  incline  toward  the  center — just  a 
little,”  ordered  the  boy.  Command  comes  natural 
to  him.  The  queer  thing  is  that  people  don't  often 
protest. 
I  turned  the  points  toward  the  center — just  the 
tiniest  bit.  Then  a  funny  thing  happened.  Slowly, 
slowly,  as  if  by  some  irresistible  impulse,  the  two 
little  pointed  bits  of  straw  began  to  move  along  their 
support.  They  went  at  about  at  the  same  rate,  their 
legs  moving  along  the  mantel,  their  heads  pointed 
toward  the  center  of  the  straw. 
“  Well — I — declare  !  ” 
“  Steady,  steady,”  said  the  boy,  flushed  and  laugh- 
ing. 
The  two  little  broom  straws  walked  along.  Walked  ! 
Yes,  they  seemed  to  do  just  that.  If  ever  things  in 
this  world  appear  to  know  their  purpose,  and  move 
steadily  toward  it,  those  two  broom  straws  did.  They 
walked  evenly  along,  met  in  the  center,  and  their 
points  touching,  stood  still,  forming  a  pyramid. 
“  There  !  ”  cried  the  boy,  triumphantly. 
He  lowered  his  long  straw,  drew  it  out,  and  the  little 
pyramid  stood  erect,  made  so  apparently  by  its  own 
volition. 
“  I  never  would  have  believed  it !  ”  I  said. 
“  Isn't  that  worth  getting  up  for?”  asked  the  boy. 
We  tried  it  on  the  polished  foot-board  of  the  bed¬ 
stead,  and  on  other  surfaces.  The  little  broom  straws 
didn’t  like  too  much  friction;  but  who  does? 
Then  we  experimented  a  little.  If  we  started  the 
straws  in  the  center,  the  points  slightly  inclined  out¬ 
ward,  they  walked  in  the  opposite  direction,  stopping 
only  at  the  fingers  holding  the  straw.  If  one  was 
bent  to  form  a  sharper  angle  than  the  other,  and  its 
“  legs  ”  cut  a  little  shorter,  the  longer,  broader  straw 
would  pass  completely  over  its  smaller  comrade,  the 
little  one  going  under  without  a  hitch,  and  each  pro¬ 
ceeding  on  the  even  tenor  of  its  way  until  it  reached 
the  opposite  end.  This  was  very  funny.  The  straws 
must  not  drag  too  much,  just  touch. 
“  Seems  just  as  if  they  had  sense,  doesn’t  it !  ”  mu¬ 
singly  asked  the  boy,  watching  them. 
“  If  I  hadn’t  seen  it,  I  never  would  have  believed 
it !  ”  I  repeated,  creeping,  shivering,  back  to  bed  at 
last. 
“I  wouldn’t  myself,  either,”  declared  the  boy, 
emphatically. 
But  that’s  nothing.  That  boy  never  believes  any¬ 
thing  until  it  is  proved  to  his  complete  satisfaction. — 
Harper’s  Young  People. 
*  *  * 
To  Hang  Wall  Paper. — Women  will  be  glad  to 
learn  of  the  report  that  a  woman,  Eliza  A.  Gra¬ 
ham,  of  Mobile,  Ala.,  has  invented  and  patented  a 
machine  for  hanging  wall  paper.  And  it  would  add 
much  to  their  pleasure  could  they  know  that  the 
machine  is  adapted  to  home  work,  and  that  it  can 
be  made  to  sell  at  a  rate  which  will  allow  of  its  use. 
These  points  are  not  yet  made  clear. 
