Last  Tuesday  the  death  of  the  estimable  wife  of 
President  Harrison  caused  sincere  regret  among  all 
parties  and  classes  in  every  part  of  the  country.  An 
excellent  wife,  an  admirable  mother,  an  amiable  and 
progressive  member  of  society,  she  filled  every  station 
in  which  Providence  placed  her  in  life  with  tact,  talent 
and  discretion,  making  friends  and  admirers  every¬ 
where  and  enemies  and  detractors  nowhere.  In  the 
high  public  position  to  which  she  was  called  as  the 
helpmate  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation,  she 
retained  the  same  womanly,  home-loving  characteris¬ 
tics,  the  same  sweetness  of  disposition  and  feminine 
dignity  that  had  distinguished  her  in  private  life. 
Very  appropriately,  therefore,  her  death  evokes  hearty 
sympathy  everywhere  for  the  bereaved  mourners. 
Concerning  Some  of  Us. 
THERE  is  helpfulness  in  the  following  letter,  es¬ 
pecially  for  those  who  write,  and  who  may  not 
realize  what  shrewd  opinions  are  being  formed  as  to 
their  work  from  week  to  week.  There  are  many  women 
among  the  readers  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  no  less  keen  than 
those  who  write,  though  their  talents  may  not  lie  in 
the  line  of  expression  through  the  press.  Yet  that 
they  do  express  themselves  is  certain,  and  writers  do 
well  to  remember  the  clever  critics  among  their  “audi¬ 
ence.”  If  there  is  a  bit  of  sting  in  the  comment  given, 
for  any,  there  is  also  the  oil  of  healing,  for  there  is 
more  of  commendation  than  of  adverse  criticism. 
This  is  the  note: 
Please  do  encourage  Myra  V.  Norys  to  keep  on  writing  for  The 
Bubal.  She  seems  to  me  one  of  the  best  writers  we  have.  If  not  the 
best.  She  won  my  regard  a  year  ago  In  her  answer  to  “  E.  B.  M.” 
Some  of  her  Mrs.  Clever  papers  l  have  liked,  but  now  and  then  she 
has  not  done  so  well,  I  thought.  We  all  have  our  ups  and  downs. 
Alice  Plnney  usually  shows  such  a  fund  of  sound  common  sense 
that  I  love  to  read  eveivthing  from  her  pen.  That  half  column  on 
the  farmer’s  failure  to  turn  his  small  truck  Into  cash  deserved  to  be 
printed  In  red  Ink.  But  this  tirade  on  corsets!  What  Is  the  use  In 
being  so  rabid!  I  wear  waists  myself,  but  — 
And  that  dear,  sensible  8.  A.  Little  with  her  endless  knowledge  of 
culinary  processes.  Who  is  she  and  how  can  she  keep  on!  He  it  might 
be  for  all  the  hold  we  get  of  her  personality.  Mrs.  Kellerman  does 
pretty  well,  I  think,  though  at  first— to  quote  Samantha— she  was  not 
mejum  enough  to  suit  me.  It  is  a  pretty  good  woman’s  department 
isn’t  it,  if  I  do  write  for  it  ? 
We  might  say,  in  this  connection,  that  as  to  person¬ 
ality,  S.  A.  Little  is  one  of  the  loveliest,  and  most  cul¬ 
tured  home-makers  that  ever  graced  a  farmhouse. 
And  she  writes  that  she  took  first  premiums  on  all 
the  canned  fruits  she  exhibited  at  the  county  fair  :  un¬ 
questionable  proof  that  her  household  lore  is  to  be 
relied  on.  Moreover,  the  Chief  Cook  having  been, 
her  guest,  can  testify  that  such  preserves,  such  pickles, 
such  desserts,  and,  above  all,  such  delightful  hospi¬ 
tality  are  seldom  met. 
Mental  Refreshment. 
S  it  possible  to  break  up  the  dead  level  of  monotony 
which  seems  to  be  the  lot  of  so  many  farmers’1 
wives  and  daughters  ?  I  have  been  thinking  that  in 
many  instances  it  is.  Nearly  every  woman  has  a 
strong  leaning  towards  some  particular  pursuit 
outside  of  her  regular  work ;  now  it  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  given  for  a  purpose,  and  should  be  culti¬ 
vated  instead  of  being  stifled,  as  is  too  often  the  case. 
For  instance,  a  woman  may  be  extremely  fond  of  flow¬ 
ers,  but  feel  it  almost  a  sin  to  spend  money  or  time  on 
them  ;  while  if  she  took  some  good  magazine  devoted 
to  floriculture,  attended  a  flower  show  or  visited  a 
greenhouse  once  in  a  while,  indulged  occasionally  in  a 
new  plant  or  new  variety  of  seed,  and  were  perhaps 
to  buy  and  study  some  simple  work  on  botany,  she 
would  have  something  pleasant  to  look  forward  to, 
the  mind  would  be  rested  and  refreshed  and  the  cost 
in  money  per  year  would  be — well — as  much  as  half  a 
dozen  visits  from  the  doctor,  or  a  fortnight’s  board  in 
an  insane  asylum.  As  with  the  liking  for  flower  cul¬ 
ture,  so  with  a  hundred  other  likings. 
I  am  personally  acquainted  with  a  farmer’s  daughter 
who,  having  a  love  for  music,  obtained  a  second-hand, 
guitar,  and  without  any  other  aid  than  that  of  a  cheap 
instruction  book,  learned  to  finger  and  play  the  in¬ 
strument,  and  read  music,  in  moments  spared  from 
housework.  It  refreshed  her  mind,  and  helped  recon¬ 
cile  her  to  her  lot,  which  was  not  a  very  agreeable 
one.  Another  farmer’s  daughter  took  up  the  study  of 
shorthand  and  found  it  absorbingly  interesting.  An¬ 
other  case  is  of  a  woman  who  made  quite  a  beginning 
in  the  knowledge  of  French  by  reading  a  French  New 
Testament,  with  the  help  of  the  English  version,  in 
hard  places,  and  a  small  French  dictionary.  She 
might  have  done  the  same  with  Italian  or  Spanish,  and 
perhaps  other  languages.  A  taste  for  letter  writing' 
or  writing  for  the  papers  can  be  gratified  at  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  a  few  dollars  a  year  for  stamps  and  paper. 
A  farmer’s  wife  I  know,  an  invalid  confined  to  her’ 
room  months  at  a  time,  whiles  away  many  weary 
hours  of  pain,  watching  and  studying  the  habits  of  the 
birds  she  sees  from  her  window.  Painting,  drawing, 
fancy  work,  all  have  their  special  magazines,  while  if 
one  has  a  taste  for  natural  science,  there  are  text 
books  galore. 
I  do  not  advocate  going  to  extremes  or  making  a 
business  of  any  of  these  things,  nut  simply  the  use  of 
them  as  a  means  of  mental  refreshment  and  a  recrea¬ 
tion;  for  the  mind  needs  rest,  recreation,  change,  as 
well  as  the  body.  l.  bobbins. 
Enlargement  of  the  Chautauqua  Idea. 
THE  growth  of  the  Chautauqua  idea  has  led  to  the 
institution  of  special  reading  courses,  usually 
we  believe,  taken  as  supplementary  to  the  regular 
course.  These  special  courses  include  one  on  Ameri¬ 
can  History  (nine  books)  ;  one  on  Greek  History  and 
Literature  (six  books)  ;  one  on  Art  (two  courses — 
seven  books)  ;  one  on  the  House  and  the  Home  (six 
books)  ;  one  on  Health  in  the  Care  of  the  House  (six 
books. 
In  addition,  also,  to  these  special  courses,  there  is 
now  what  is  called  the  Chautauqua  College,  and  the 
claim  is  that  the  courses  taught  are  equivalent  to 
those  offered  in  the  best  regular  college  institutions. 
These  include  a  preparatory  training  for  entrance. 
There  is  a  School  of  English,  a  School  of  Mathematics, 
a  Department  of  Theology,  and  a  Department  of  Uni¬ 
versity  Extension. 
It  must  be  well  understood  that  these  advantages 
are  arranged  primarily  for  adults,  and  that  no  one 
can  hope  to  gain  the  good  that  is  in  them  for  the 
worker,  without  systematic,  energetic,  and  in  some 
degree  self-reliant  work.  Dawdling  or  inattentive 
half-hearted  study  will  fully  frustrate  the  real  objects 
of  the  institution.  It  is  for  those  who  have  a  hunger 
and  thirst  after  education,  without  means  or  time  for 
the  regular  educational  institutions  that  these  helps 
are  designed. 
The  Pure  Food  Exposition. 
“  /-'VH;  mamma,  I  haven’t  had  so  much  fun  since  I 
had  the  measles,”  laughed  a  young  girl  at  the 
Food  Exhibition.  The  bright,  answering  smile  from 
the  mother  showed  her  appreciation  of  some  dittle 
private  joke  between  the  two.  And  truly  it  was  fun. 
What  woman  wouldn’t  enjoy  tasting  a  little  of  this 
dainty  and  that,  pickles  and  preserves,  beef  extracts 
and  boullions,  clam  juice  and  chocolate,  ad  infinitum  ? 
What  woman  wouldn’t  enjoy  admiring  the  prettily 
trimmed  booths,  the  artistic  taste  shown  in  the 
arrangement  of  all  the  wares  and  the  constant  appeals 
to  her  judgment  as  to  this  and  that  ?  Above  all,  what 
woman  wouldn’t  enjoy  the  delights  of  acquiring 
samples  innumerable,  all  costing  nothing,  to  be  tested 
at  leisure  in  the  judicious  privacy  of  her  own  kitchen? 
These  were  the  pleasures  that  lay  seductively  in  the 
path  of  every  woman  who  surrendered  50  cents  to  the 
ticket  agent  and  entered  the  curtained  doorway. 
This  is  a  manufacturer’s  exhibition,  professing  to  be 
strictly  in  the  interests  of  pure  foods.  Whereas  last 
year  special  hardwares,  stove  polishes,  renovators  and 
various  side  issues  found  place,  the  present  exhibit 
was  confined  strictly  to  food  products.  There  was 
great  competition  in  the  line  of  soups  and  meat  ex¬ 
tracts,  also  in  cooking  fats  and  salad  oils ;  greater  in 
the  line  of  breakfast  foods ;  greatest  of  all  perhaps,  in 
chocolates.  No  less  than  nine  firms  were  offering 
tiny  cups  of  hot  cocoa  and  chocolate  to  all  visitors,  at 
the  hands  of  the  prettiest  girls  to  be  obtained.  Every 
variety  of  fanciful  costume  was  worn  by  these  belles 
chocolatieres,  the  most  gorgeous  being  those  supplied 
by  a  French  firm,  consisting  of  filmy  gauze  dresses, 
gold  tinsel  jackets  and  caps  studded  with  colored 
jewel  work.  To  say  which  was  the  best,  would  be  to 
assume  one’s  own  taste  to  be  the  only  correct  criterion. 
Several  firms  now  offer  instantaneous  cocoas,  to  be 
prepared  by  simply  dissolving  in  boiling  water  or 
milk.  A  new  brand  of  this  is  Rockwood’s  “Lion” 
brand  of  “Pure  Soluble  Cocoa.”  Some  are  vanilla  or 
almond  flavored,  others  lay  great  stress  on  the  purity 
of  the  cocoa  flavor,  nothing  being  added.  Maillard 
very  popular  with  New  York  people,  advertises  a 
“chocolate  school,”  whose  mission  is  to  teach  the 
“art  of  making  a  proper  cup  of  chocolate.” 
Our  space  manifestly  forbids  mention  of  everything; 
we  are  compelled  to  limit  ourselves  to  the  mention  of 
things  new  or  little  known  or  especially  helpful  or 
interesting. 
In  competition  with  pure  beef  fats,  pure  leaf  lard , 
cottolene,  etc.,  the  most  unique  product  was  “  corn- 
lene.”  This  claims  to  be  an  oil  extracted  from  corn, 
converted  by  a  special  process  into  a  fat  of  the  consis¬ 
tency  of  lard.  It  is  of  the  color  of  corn,  and  professes 
to  answer  all  purposes  of  shortening  and  cookery 
better  than  butter.  We  were  unable,  however,  to 
obtain  samples  for  trial.  Cottolene,  noted  last  year, 
was  again  pressing  its  claims,  one  of  which  is  that  it 
does  not  deteriorate  and  turn  rancid  with  age.  Against 
this  claim,  a  portion  of  the  sample  pailful  obtained 
last  year  now  strongly  testifies. 
Among  breakfast  foods,  “  Roasted  Oats  ”  was  found 
to  bear  out  the  claims  that  it  was  especially  fine  in 
flavor.  It  requires  but  20  minutes’  cooking,  and  in 
this  time  entirely  loses  the  pasty  taste  so  characteristic 
of  the  hastily  cooked  products  of  oats.  The  “  Califor¬ 
nia  Breakfast  Food”  is  just  being  introduced.  Its  chief 
effort  is  to  show  that  wheat  is  better  for  the  human 
system  than  oats,  inasmuch  as  it  contains  the  exact 
requirements  of  the  system  as  to  the  proportion  of 
nitrogenous  and  carbonaceous  elements.  The  claim 
for  this  preparation  is  that  the  California  wheat  from 
which  it  is  made,  (a  variety  so  light  as  to  be  useless  for 
flour)  makes  an  especially  light  and  digestible  break¬ 
fast  food.  This  is  in  flakes,  requires  but  five  minutes’ 
cooking,  and  is  very  palatable.  Most  of  the  firms 
offering  breakfast  foods  were  shrewd  enough  to  serve 
them  with  real  cream.  “  Wheatlet  ”  is  by  no  means 
new,  yet  its  manufacturer  felt  that  he  had  a  manifest 
advantage  over  all  other  firms  in  that  he  could  present 
a  testimonial  from  Mr.  Hazard,  the  president  of  the 
association  giving  this  very  exhibition.  This  testi¬ 
monial  states  that  Mr.  Hazard  believes  Wheatlet  to  be 
the  best  breakfast  food  in  the  world,  and  that  he  feeds 
his  five  children  upon  it.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  how¬ 
ever,  that  this  testimonial  was  obtained  five  years 
since. 
“  Beardsley’s  Shredded  Codfish,”  a  product  much 
resembling  a  mat  of  discarded  basting  threads,  at¬ 
tracted  considerable  attention.  It  claims  to  require 
neither  boiling  nor  soaking,  to  go  farther  by  100  per 
cent  than  any  other  codfish,  and  to  be  entirely  free 
from  odor. 
An  old  firm  of  clam  packers,  J.  H.  Doxsee  &  Son,  is 
introducing  pure  clam  juice  ;  hitherto,  perhaps,  a  waste 
product.  This  juice  is  claimed  to  be  a  tonic,  freely 
prescribed  by  physicians  for  a  disordered  stomach,  it 
being  closely  allied  to  the  gastric  juices,  easily  digesti¬ 
ble  and  very  nourishing.  “  It  is  an  excellent  substi¬ 
tute  for  nauseous  castor  oil.”  Burnham’s  Clam  Bouil¬ 
lon  was  one  of  the  most  delicious  things  offered  for 
testing.  The  latter  was  decidedly  high-priced,  how¬ 
ever,  and  possibly  its  counterpart  could  be  made  at 
home  of  the  much  cheaper  clam  juice.  Both  of  these 
are  claimed  to  be  specifics  against  sea-sickness.  The 
manufacturers  of  the  bouillon  go  so  far  as  to  assert 
that  there  is  no  case  of  stomach  difficulty,  no  matter 
how  far  advanced,  in  which  the  bouillon  cannot  be  re¬ 
tained  in  the  stomach. 
From  the  fact  that  the  use  of  macaroni  has  as  yet 
made  so  little  headway  among  the  people  at  large,  we 
are  glad  to  note  it  among  the  competing  products. 
Those  noted  were  both  of  American  manufacture,  the 
rivalry  being  between  New  York  and  Minneapolis. 
The  “  Columbia,”  claims  to  be  better,  cleaner  and  safer 
than  the  imported  ;  “  made  from  American  wheat,  by 
Americans,  and  with  American  macninery.”  The  Min¬ 
neapolis  product,  “  Royal  Egg  Macaroni,”  makes  much 
of  the  factors  of  fresh  eggs  and  selected  spring  wheat, 
in  the  preparation  of  a  “  perfectly  pure  food  product, 
untouched  by  hand  ”  in  the  process  of  manufacture. 
At  present  writing,  the  exhibition  has  been  in  progress 
two  weeks,  and  will  continue  for  two  weeks  longer. 
Further  notes  must  await  another  issue. 
Taking  butter  from  milk  was  known  in 
the  earliest  times.  It  was  left  for  our 
time  to  make  a  milk  cod-liver  oil. 
Milk,  the  emulsion  of  butter,  is  an 
easier  food  than  butter.  Scott’s  Emulsion 
of  cod-liver  oil  is  an  easier  food  than 
cod-liver  oil.  It  is  rest  for  digestion.  It 
stimulates,  helps,  restores  digestion  ;  and 
at  the  same  time,  supplies  the  body  a 
kind  of  nourishment  it  can  get  in  no 
other  way. 
Scott  &  Bownb,  Chemists,  132  South  5th  Avenue,  New  York. 
Your  druggist  keeps  Scott’s  Emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil — all  druggists 
everywhere  do  $1 
