Women Make the 
Woman And The 
S OME curt genius years ago showed the valuation 
which he put upon the race thus: 
Man’s a fool : 
When Its hot. he wants It cool, 
When Its cool, he wants It hoi. 
Ne’er contented with his lot. 
During the summer’s sweltering heat, many of us are 
inclined to feel a longing for the delightfully cool winter 
season or vice versa; when it’s cool we want it a great deal 
warmer, at least. But our supposed desire, If granted, 
might not make us as blissfully content as we seem to 
imagine. During one of last week’s “scorchers” a young 
girl in a New York office who was so unfortunate as to have 
had a heavy chill on the previous day, from the effects of 
which she was not then able to rally, declared that the 
most annoying part of the whole proceeding to her were 
the envious remarks of her companions, " How cool you 
look 1” “ How can you keep so cool and fresh-looking this 
dreadful day ?” etc. Our friend found that she could not 
enjoy that blessing of our often wishful thought, feeling 
cold on a hot summer day. 
* * * 
THE NEW YORK FRUIT AND FLOWER MISSION. 
NE day during the second week of the month of roses 
the Chief Cook found herself at noonday, before the 
door of No. 104 E. 20th Street, New York City. Descending 
the half dozen steps that led to the basement, she passed 
from the blistering heat into an atmosphere of coolness 
and perfume, and good-will; for here are the headquarters 
of the famed New York Fruit and Flower Mission, which 
the Chief Cook was looking up for the benefit of the read¬ 
ers of The R. N.-Y., and with the hope that some of those 
living within reach of the city might be spurred up to aid 
this gracious charity if once in possession of definite infor¬ 
mation concerning it. 
The bare basement room was furnished with perhaps a 
dozen tables, flanked with chairs, and surmounted by 
large wash-basins, and at work were a dozen ladies young 
and old, one keeping the books, the others unpacking, sort¬ 
ing and tying the flowers into little hand bouquets. Most 
of them wore aprons, gingham or otherwise, and they had 
a work a-day look that meant business. There was little 
chatter, but much busy, deft work. 
The Chief Cook had had a vision of beautifully arranged 
aesthetic looking nosegays, and had always feared that her 
own efforts at bouquet making might not be appreciated ; 
she had therefore always sent flowers loose, when having 
them to spare. A few days previous to the one in ques¬ 
tion some dear young girls who love to help along every 
good work said to her: “There are so many wild flowers 
now, and such quant ties of daisies, don’t you think we 
might gather some of them for the flower mission ?” “But 
wood flowers are so fleeting” was the reply “ and I do not 
know about daisies; every one can get them, and they 
might be overwhelmed with them.” These, then, were 
some of the questions embraced in the inquiries. 
Our readers may be surprised to learn that the majority - 
of bouquets on this particular Monday were composed of 
one peony and a bunch of daisies with a little greenery. 
Imagine tbe effort necessary to combine one huge peony 
with a handful of daisies in a hand bouquet 1 In bold 
masses they combine well for decoration, but this was a 
quite different matter. Yet these formed the great mass 
of flowers on hand, and as it seemed a very desirable thing 
In these bouquets that the daisies should be combined with 
a bit of color, it must needs be a bunch of daisies with a 
peony. Some roses there were, but most of them were 
full-blown or already falling, and not so satisfactory as 
they might otherwise have been. Many of the flowers 
came in bad condition, owing to ignorance of correct ways 
of packing; but, as it is seldom so hot, they are no doubt 
not quite so bad on ordinary days. Mondays and Thurs¬ 
days are set apirt for this work, but the great rush of 
flowers comes on Thursdays, so that sometimes not enough 
helpers can be secured to tie them in bunches for distri¬ 
bution. 
The matter of sending flowers for this purpose is almost 
wholly one of common sense. If we could imagine our¬ 
selves at the receiving end of the line, we should see that 
flowers that must be shipped, re-handled and not distri¬ 
buted until nearly night of hot summer days, must be of 
good substance, not overblown, and of lasting character, 
in order to be worth the work of sender and distributer, as 
well as worth the thanks of the receiver. To have the 
flowers firmly tied In bouquets in which are none that will 
fall and necessitate the remaking, is a great help to the 
workers, but if bunches are too heavy they will crush one 
another, and thus be spoiled. 
Fragrant flowers are in great demand, and the sweetest 
of these are given to the blind to eDjoy. Buds and half 
blown roses, sweet peas, sweet William, small marigolds, 
pinks, gladioli are all good, and may be combined with 
daisies If desired. A few good flowers such as these, are 
preferred to a large quantity of coarse or fleeting blossoms. 
Baskets may be used for packing, and will be returned 
if the sender’s name and address is painted on them in 
plain letters. Pasteboard boxes are much used, however, 
but these need first a heavy dry newspaper over which the 
usual wet one is placed. The flowers, well sprinkled (im¬ 
portant) are then packed with the heaviest, firmest ones at 
the bottom. They are then covered with several thick¬ 
nesses of damp paper, and finished with a dry one. Thus 
packed, they arrive in fine condition. If sent on an early 
train, or started the previous evening, they may be sent 
from 200 miles distant or farther. So many hours on the 
cars; two allowed for delivering; after that, tying and 
distribution. Any one can figure whether it is feasible for 
her to try to send anything. The great difficulty in the 
country is that packages cannot be sent to the early trains 
without extra trouble. They are carried free by the ex¬ 
press companies, being given directly to the agents on the 
trains, and if one is found who objects, the package may 
be sent C. O. D.; it will not have to be paid for at either 
end. 
Although originally started as a flower mission only, the 
work now embraces the general distribution of light arti¬ 
cles (express companies do not like heavy weight packages) 
to the sick and poor. Coarse underclothing, outgrown 
shirt-waists for boys, mittens and hoods at Christmas, and 
especially jams, jellies, fresh fruit, and above all, fresh 
eggs for the sick are thankfully received. One missionary 
alone had 70 sick poor in her charge at the last holiday 
season. Inmates of hospitals and of industrial schools, 
and the blind receive much cheer and substantial aid, and 
the distribution is done by judicious people, who know 
where the most good can be done. A stamp sent to the 
Mission will bring any one a full printed report of the 
work. 
The following, which is a city boy’s composition on 
“ Flowers,” gives a pathetic glimpse of what the ministry 
of flowers might mean to these poor waifs, and of the 
beauty and value of the “ Fresh Air Funds: ” 
“Now, in the country the flowers grow wild in the 
field, though not so close together, and not in skwares and 
rounds. And nobody believes it till they go in the train; 
but certainly boys and girls can run amongst them, and 
pull up as many as they like, and fill their arms and bas¬ 
kets, and bring them home to their fathers and mothers. 
And the teacher said that if we could only go the next day 
there would be just as many flowers again. Some boys 
would net believe what the teacher said, but I believe that 
it is true, for I believe God can easily do miracles, because 
I believe that the flowers are not stuck in by men or police¬ 
men after it is dark, else wtat about taking so much pull¬ 
ing out ? When I am a man I shall go the next day. I 
should so like to live in a house in the middle of the fields, 
so that I could always see them flowers all around me, 
and the trains going by on them green banks.” 
HOW SHALL WE CAN VEGETABLES ? 
ILL The R. N.-Y. let me know how to can green 
peas, beans and corn, so that they will keep ? We 
have tried various recipes, but thus far have been unsuc¬ 
cessful. Could glass jars be used as well as tin cans ? 
J. M. G. 
This subscriber is a representative of a large class who, 
year by year, send this inquiry to the periodical in which 
they have most confidence. For whether it be an especially 
difficult matter to can vegetables successfully or not, it is 
most certain that scores of people fail in the attempt. 
Every year the same infallible (?) recipes, with variations, 
are published in all the household papers, yet still the cry 
of failure comes to our ears. 
Theoretically, the secret of success in canning vegetables 
is in long cooking; so say the professional canners. The 
Chief Cook has never tried tin cans, but understands the 
usual process to be as follows: The corn is first partially 
cooked, and the cans are filled closely, then soldered ; they 
are then placed in a steam bath, or in boiling water for 
four to six hours, when they are removed, punched to 
allow the escape of steam and immediately resoldered. 
With much confusion of face, however, the head of this 
department must confess herself a blind leader, if success 
be a requisite to leadership; for she has tried, as have 
others of her friends, the supposed best recipes, but with¬ 
out certain success. One season, two out of five, perhaps, 
or something near one half the quantity put up, kept 
perfectly ; the rest, treated in precisely the same manner, 
spoiled. This was with the use of Mason’s glass jars. 
Last fall a friend complained of having lost a half dozen 
jars by breakage, during the attempt to can some corn, 
and that without success. This may have resulted from 
not carefully following directions as to lining the bottom 
of the boiler and placing something between the cans. 
The following method is well vouched for as being thor¬ 
oughly reliable, indeed as being the only one to be de¬ 
pended on for canning corn: “ With a very sharp knife, cut 
off a thin slice of the kernels, then scrape the cob. Add a 
little salt, then put the corn into glass jars, pressing it 
down till as full as possible. Then put on the rubbers and 
screw down the tops. Put the cans in a wash-boiler, with 
cloths between them and the metal bottom and also 
among the cans. Nearly cover them with cold water and 
let it come slowly to a boil. Boil hard four hours, adding 
boiling water as it boils away. Every hour, take out the 
jars and tighten the tops; do this also when the corn is 
done. If the cans are perfectly tight, the corn will keep 
without fail. When opened in the winter, simply season 
and heat.” 
The one point wherein this method differs from others, 
is in directing that the tops be screwed more tightly as the 
process goes on. 
Some housekeepers, who have not been successful in the 
attempt to can vegetables, are quite enthusiastic over the 
plan of preserving them by packing in alternate layers 
with salt, as one would preserve cucumbers for pickles, 
Homes Make the 
Home. 
salting heavily. But neither has this proved satisfactory 
to the Chief Cook. Corn treated in this manner was taste¬ 
less when soaked sufficiently to remove the surplus salt, 
while beans refused to be preserved. The recipe used was 
Marion Harland’s, vouched for by her as delightful in 
results. It is barely possible that a damp cellar may have 
been responsible for some of these failures; no other solu¬ 
tion of the difficulty presents Itself. But dampness should 
not affect sealed goods, and it certainly could not explain 
the lack of flavor in the corn. 
Successful home canners may speak next, provided they 
have something new to offer, or can tell us just why they 
succeed. 
MOLLY WIGGINS, OR ARAMINTA ? 
AVE you thought how it would seem, girls, for you 
to do the real work, to bear the real burden, and 
let mother help ? And if she “ helped ” as some of you do, 
in such thoughtless wise, do you think you could heartily 
commend her work ? * * * 
Molly Wiggins’s pleasant recital of the “Commence¬ 
ment” which she and her mother enjoyed has the genuine 
ring, but it carried our thoughts to a lecture recently lis¬ 
tened to, on the subject of the potent influence of “ Mrs. 
Grundy ” over all of us. Years ago, the lecturer said, Mrs. 
Grundy did not require the farmers’ daughters to be highly 
educated ; but now she Insisted that they shall be sent 
away to school, whether they show special talent for study 
or not, because “the other girls” are all going, and why 
should the man on one side of the street do better for his 
daughter than the one on the other side, even though the 
former be better able to afford the expense, or though his 
daughter may have shown far more aptitude in various 
ways. 
The speaker stated that he had lately called on one of 
these “ finished ” young ladles, and proceeded to describe 
her. She had but a surface veneer of an education, having 
“paid most attention to French, music and painting.” 
Yet she could neither play nor paint endurably ; her music 
was of the kind that made one hope she would soon finish 
the “ execution,” while her French appeared as a garnish 
to her speech on every occasion, especially among those 
who could not understand it. In addition to this, she was 
ashamed to acknowledge her hard-working and ungram¬ 
matical father, and her ill-dressed mother and awkward 
younger sisters. 
The contrast between this “ Araminta ” and the helpful 
young daughter taking the hard place that mother may 
rest, is striking, and we sincerely hope that there are no 
Aramintas among our bright country lassies. Yet just 
here is the danger in the attempt to gain a “ higher ” edu¬ 
cation (which may be higher, or not, according to the class 
of school selected) and we fear that far the larger num¬ 
ber of our educated girls would rank somewhere between 
the two—and possibly with a leaning toward “ Araminta- 
ism.” * * * 
Unless she is possessed of an unusually good heart and 
well-balanced mind, the educated daughter of unlearned 
parents can hardly fail to feel the difference between her¬ 
self and the rest of the family who have not had the ad¬ 
vantages accorded to her. Nay, let us say, rather, she 
cannot fail to feel it; she can hardly fail to show that she 
feels it. It is in human nature, and in the very nature of 
things. The younger generation is too apt, in all ages, to 
believe itself better, or at least smarter, than the older. 
* * * 
There are three things, and so far as we can see, only 
three, that may help to counteract this deplorable ten¬ 
dency of the “finished” product to feel ashamed of be¬ 
longing to the “ unfinished.” The first to be applied is 
that the parents never efface themselves for the sake of 
the children, and never make it the rule for the children 
to absorb the best of everything while they, the parents, 
take the poor fragments that remain—a hard thing to 
learn, for the mother, especially. But since the tree must 
bend as the twig Is inclined, why not see to inclining 
the twig aright ? * * * 
The second corrective Is for the parents to study for 
themselves, in order that they may keep even with, or at 
least within sight of their progressive offspring. The 
third is to put the children on their mettle, and let them 
get through the higher schools, at least very largely, by 
their own efforts. * * * 
The chief blame for the unpleasant relations in the 
family lies, as we have said, in the nature of people and 
things; the next degree must attach to the parents who 
unwisely train their children to have, and to expect, the 
best of everything; and we cannot so much blame the 
children, under the circumstances, even though we must 
look with disapproval and dislike upon the Aramintas 
which they have become. 
But, oh I for more young daughters like Molly Wiggins ! 
Petticoats of every variety commandingly arrest the at¬ 
tention and might well furnish inspiration for a petticoat 
poet, like the versifier who has candidly confessed himself 
ready to write a sonnet on a skirt as “ laureate of frills.” 
Lawn trimmed with lace is the fabric of several new 
models, while one of pink silk shot with heliotrope is bor¬ 
dered with flounces tied with pink ribbon, 
