THE LEADING ESSAYISTS. 
No. 1. Annah K. Gregory, Welcome, Otsejco County, N. Y 
No. ‘A. Hattie K. DEAN. Shrewsbury, Mass. 
No. 3. Helen Riehl, Alton, Ill. 
No. 4. Mable Parks, Lawrence, Mich , (winner of the 15 prize.) 
No. 5. Helen M. Grow, Grantsdaie, Montana. 
The Voting: On “ The Eldest Daughter.” 
The number of votes sent in has not been large, but 
of these No. 4. receives more than all the others to¬ 
gether. Several of the voters apologize for their choice, 
saying that it is not the best as to literary style merely, 
but they vote for No. 4. It is the vote that counts. 
We think that the fact that the votes go to No. 4, may 
give an excellent pointer to writers everywhere as to 
the value of brightness and sunniness. 
With the wisdom born of experience, the Chief Cook 
said to a coadjutor, before any votes came in: “No. 4 
is not the best, considered merely as an essay, but it will 
capture the popular vote.” Its charm is well pointed 
out by one voter, who says: 
As between sunshine and shadow I generally choose the sunshine ; 
therefore I vote for so. 4. in “ The Eldest Daughter ” contest against 
No. 2. 
These two may be taken as typical of the light and 
shadows of life, as both profess to be from real life. 
One of the younger vanquished ones gives in her 
pleasant testimony in saying, “ I think No. 4. is the 
best because it is written the prettiest.” 
Concerning No. 3, one says : 
In my opinion, the essay No. 8 Is the best because the writer seems 
to be In sympathy with the subject, and It Is to the point; enough Is 
said and not too much. I wonder, though, how many of the writers are 
the eldest daughters themselves. 
No. 1 is decla ed to be the most perfect description 
of the true, faithful and industrious eldest daughter ; 
also the be ; .t from a literary point of view. 
But a just view of No. 4’s is given in the following : 
I have been several days deciding that I like “No. 4” the be t. The 
others are very good, treat the subject more fully, and are well fin¬ 
ished, but “No. 4” stays with me. I “hold It true" that appreciation 
Is one of the greatest rewards we can receive, and "Queenie’s” family 
all understand how much she Is to them. 1 find that “No. 4 ” Is help¬ 
ing me to see the “bright side," and the simple little sketch Is a real 
cheery, pleasant and profitable companion. 1 am with respect, 
ONE OK THE ELDEST DAUGHTERS. 
The leader of this department consider s the voting 
one of the most valuable points of the contest, as it 
shows just how the work given strikes our readers. 
Miss Parks will receive the $5, as per the conditions; 
the other four competitors whose work has appeared 
$2 each. _ 
FROM CITY TO CITY. 
E are annexing ourselves, moving from north¬ 
east Ontario, Canada, to southern California ; 
leaving the land of icicles, snow storms, dog days and 
“good times ” for the land of sunshine, dust and other 
“good times.” We leave-sorry to part from old 
friends, familiar scenes, and many other goodly things, 
but still with our eyes fixed on the land of promise. 
We go—prepared to be pleased with everything, but are 
old enough to know that no place is perfect. Oh, that 
packing ! In what condition will our household goods 
arrive? “There’s the rub!” The carpets, bedding 
and clothing (with the exception of that wanted on 
the journey) have been baled ; first covered with felt 
paper, and then the canvass sewn over all. Packing 
cases and barrels have been used only where abso¬ 
lutely necessary ; they have been numbered, the num¬ 
bers entered in a note book, and with every number 
there is a description of the contents. Arriving at our 
destination, we refer to our note books and make a 
bee line for the case whose number we have found to 
contain the article we are in quest of. I think it will 
lessen the confusion of unpacking—don’t you ? 
From my slow progress westward, one would im¬ 
agine that I was occupying one of the packing cases 
myself, a piece of bric-a-brac included amongst our 
other “ Lares and Penates.” I started from home over 
three weeks ago, and have only reached Detroit. The 
time has been profitably spent in making good-bye 
visits to friends and relatives on the way. As they say 
the big Exposition is not quite ready for us, I am in 
no hurry to get to Chicago, where, of course, we shall 
halt for a while. 
How much alike all cities are ! Long stretches of 
burning sidewalks, sometimes shade trees, sometimes 
not, and with the houses so very much alike. It is only 
when the train shoots out into country fields, over 
country bridges, and through country scenes that one 
has splendid variety. Nature, that old, old Nature, is 
ever new and changing. The city stores, this “ merrie 
month of May,” have bloomed into something mag¬ 
nificent. Articles of luxury and use dazzle rural 
eyes accustomed only to the village store. But, in¬ 
stead of having only to reach out one’s hand, as our 
rural friend has to do, to obtain Nature’s wealth of 
bloom, the city person has to look down into a scanty 
little purse, and conclude she is “ not in it,” or the 
money isn’t. 
I have been puzzled, this springtime, over the ques¬ 
tion, why is every woman so ugly? Different local ties 
seem to agree on one point, and that is to produce no 
pretty females. Skins look sallow and wrinkled, 
cheeks hollow, and eyes lusterless. The solution 
is in the colors they are wearing and the hideous 
shapes of the gowns. How can even the fairest and 
most youthful connexion hold its own, much less be 
enhanced by the purples and greens now in vogue ? 
Sbot goods, too, are very trying. And the poor matrons! 
Even the less antique ones look like animated mum¬ 
mies under the weight of unbecoming colors. How 
these same matrons envy that youthful bloom they 
have left behind them. Between 30 and 40 a woman 
has to get accustomed to all her wrinkles, accumulating 
gray hairs, and to the idea that any attention she re¬ 
ceives springs from the source called “ respect,” and 
not “ admiration.” If we are the happy possessor of 
a Roman nose, we can sink into age as a handsome 
old lady, but good noses are sadly wanting amongst 
Canadian and American women. Our good looks are 
founded on other qualities. As we are on the woman 
question, I will say I received a pleasant surprise last 
Sunday. I really heard an American clergyman in¬ 
vite “ all the women of the parish to a certain meet¬ 
ing.” It was refreshing to find out that there were 
some women in the United States as well as “ ladies.” 
Talking about well-bred forms of speech reminds me 
that I did not notice one ill-bred child on any of my 
trains. I saw no child whose pants I wanted to fan 
Perhaps it was the temperate weather that kept them 
so well behaved, but not even the babies cried long 
enough to make one wish to have them drowned. 
G. A HOLLAND. 
POT-POURRI OF ROSES. 
IMPROVED the leisure of convalescence by making 
a “Rose .Jar” last June. I gathered a panful of 
the glorious blossoms in the dewy morning, and 
sprinkled the bottom of a small cut-glass jar a quarter 
of an inch deep with kitchen salt; then shredded in 
the rose petals, crimson, gold, white, pink and daintiest 
blush. I used two-thirds of a cup of salt to a pint jar 
of rose leaves, packed them down and put the cover 
on. This should fit tightly to keep in the perfume. 
Where roses are not plentiful, one can begin by put¬ 
ting in just a few at first and add more petals and more 
salt as they come to hand. At Christmas time I pro¬ 
pose to uncover the jar, fill my room with its fragrance, 
and, dining on canned strawberries and green peas, 
with lettuce from the cold-frame, bid the storms out¬ 
side roar as it likes. k. s. Lincoln. 
Decidedly different as to proportionate amount of 
petals and salt is the formula for perfect pot-pourri 
given by a writer in the New York Recorder. He tells 
of the manner in which a recipe for the most exquisite 
pot-pourri came into the possession of his family. 
Briefly, it was given to his father, a British naval 
officer, during the Crimean war, by a Mrs. Black, who 
was no other than the “Maid of Athens,” of whom 
Byron sang so sweetly. 
Here are the ingredients : From six to ten pounds of 
rose leaves; gum of benzoin, gum of storax, powdered 
allspice, and powdered mixed spices, two ounces each; 
powdered orris root, eight ounces, or 12 if you wish an 
odor of violets to predominate ; oil of bergamot, oil of 
cassia, and oil of lavender, two drams each ; dry salt, 
one pound. Stir all these ingredients except the rose 
leaves in a mortar, add the leaves and mix them well 
by hand. 
To cure the leaves, strew them with salt and keep 
them in a closely covered crock or jar of some kind. 
A considerable quantity of liquor will form and the 
leaves will shrink greatly. They may be allowed to 
remain in this way for weeks, or all through the sum¬ 
mer while you are making additions to them. When 
you are ready to mix with the other ingredients, 
squeeze the leaves as dry as possible, and then shake 
them out so that they will separate and mix with the 
powders. 
To fill the room with the perfume, close all the 
doors and windows, place the jar close to the stove, 
register, steam heater or whatever your room is 
warmed by, and leave it uncovered for 10 minutes; 
then close the jar and let in the outside air, and you 
will know something of the “spices of Araby the 
Blest.” 
But think, all you whose front yards and every out- 
of-the-way corner are redolent with the odor of ten 
thousand roses! What would you do if your only 
possession in this line were a tiny bush of Papa Gon- 
tier, less than a foot high ? One woman thus limited 
to roses has a scheme: She will save all the petals 
from the rose bouquets which come to her, and from 
them will fill a tiny but precious jar, which shall be 
overflowing—not overflowing with the cherished pet¬ 
als, to be sure, but with the combined perfume of en- 
timent and blush-hued beauty, and this shall satisfy 
as none other could. 
SHE WOULD HAVE CREEPERS. 
GOOD many years ago, when Creepers were fa¬ 
vorites among fowls, a family in Connecticut 
made a pet of a pretty speckled Creeper hen that had 
been presented to the children. They carried the 
creature about in their arms, and she was so tame that 
her song was not interrupted when they came near. 
“ What a nice little mother hen she will make,” the 
children said, and great was their delight when in 
the spring a barrel was fitted out as a sitting place 
and the children’s mother gave the young Creeper hen 
a dozen “Creeper” eggs to sit on. “ Because,” as she 
said, “ I want nothing but Creepers, they are so tame 
and pretty.” 
It must be admitted that while the Creeper hen was 
waiting for her eggs to hatch she was not so amiable 
as before, but the children watched and waited im¬ 
patiently for the chickens to make their appearance, 
and their mother was only a little less impatient. 
At last the peep of chickens was heard, and the 
mother was given a sunny coop and fresh straw, and 
the chickens were carefully lifted from the barrel and 
put in the coop with their mother. But what strange- 
looking little downy balls! Not one of them could 
stand on its altogether too short legs, for they were 
double Creeptrs, and when they tumbled on their 
backs the poor little legs only kicked about in the air. 
In vain the children’s mother set the helpless creat¬ 
ures on their feet; and the Creeper-mother, as though 
out of patience with her chicks, pecked them unmer¬ 
cifully and scratched them up against the sides of the 
coop. Never was an uglier hen-mother, and as ner 
chicks could not stand, they soon died, although much 
pains were taken to raise them. 
Never again did that woman undertake to set a hen 
on her own eggs, and when the Creeper hen died, that 
was the last of the breed for this particular family, 
for they had learned that there are better breeds t v an 
the extremely short-legged sort. anna p. paynf. 
FAVORITISM IN FAMILIES. 
I T is very common to see in families some one child, 
who, by reason of some grace of disposition or 
look, seems to be singled out by one parent or the 
other, or both, as an object of especial affection—a 
so-called favorite. This apparently natural warping 
of the parental disposition is nearly always the source 
of evil. * 
Children are quick to see and feel when partiality 
is shown to one of themselves, and it usually creates 
in them a feeling of jealousy and ill-will towards the 
one who receives an undue share of favor. But it has 
the worst effect on the favorite, making him or her 
selfish and conceited. Parents ought to guard them¬ 
selves carefully against manifesting in any marked 
manner a preference among their children; very bit¬ 
ter fruit is often the result of open favoritism in fami¬ 
lies. It ripens often when children come to mature 
years, and look back on their early life with sadness 
as they remember the slights, perhaps given uninten¬ 
tionally at the time, but nevertheless leaving a last¬ 
ing hurt. 
Ch-ldren may be exacting towards their parents, 
but they can always appreciate justice. Parents may 
not always be able to feel the same towards all their 
children, but it is in their power to act fairly by 
them. AUNT RACHEL. 
A cream of tartar baking powder. 
Highest of all in leavening strength. 
—Latest United States Government 
Report. 
Royal Baking Powder Co., 
106 Wall Street, New York. 
