SOME R. N.-Y. ENDEAVORS FOR ’94. 
A FAVORITE word of the times is “ Endeavor.” 
“ Woman and the Home” has several endeavors 
in view for 1894, which might all be included in the 
great endeavor to be as helpful as in it lies to all the 
women who shall come within the sphere of its influ¬ 
ence, either directly or indirectly. 
But, to be a little more deflnite, among the first 
things in prospect are some symposia, which shall ^ 
gather together the views of thoughtful women upon 
some topics of the day and of womankind, which re- ' 
quire the best thought of the times. “ Open Eyes, ’so 
favorably regarded by many readers, is dropped. Not 
few have been the words of thanks given Thb R. N.-Y. 
for the helpful hints found in this department. But it 
has served its turn and makes way for advanced work, 
work of a better literary grade, and, we trust, none 
the less helpful. The work of women in the world at 
large will receive more attention, and it is hoped that 
we may be able to give more editorial note and com¬ 
ment upon live topics. 
The First Symposium. 
Our first symposium will give itself, in a way, to 
picking up a dropped thread, a matter which women 
fully understand. Some months ago, we had a few 
papers from women who, left dependent on their own 
efforts, had been successful in the struggle for sup¬ 
port for themselves and families. Readers of this 
department have expressed themselves as disappointed 
that so few papers on this topic were forthcoming, 
and we might confess to the same feeling. Others— 
and here perhaps is a key to the above facts—said that 
they would have been glud to write, but felt them¬ 
selves debarred by the conditions, which seemed to 
require that the writer should have been herself the 
successful worker. This limitation will now be re¬ 
moved, and as Thk R. N.-Y. has now a family several 
times larger than at the period in question, there is 
prospect of more variety of thought and of deductions 
from experience, and also of a multiplication of the 
interested many who form our “audience.” 
The Untrained Girl: What Can She Do P 
It will be seen that the form of the question has 
been changed; we do not now say, and reiterate as 
many do, that the untrained girl can do nothing] but 
we wish to find out whether theory or experience will 
show us ways in which the untrained girl or woman, 
made of necessity a bread-winner for herself or for 
others, may win that bread. 
Nor is this all that our present plan contemplates. 
The matter is not yet fully settled, but we hope to 
give, following the discussion on “The Untrained Girl” 
some articles by a favorite R. N.-Y writer on various 
methods of training. These will round out the dis¬ 
cussion to full helpfulness. 
Articles and Rewards. 
The articles on this topic may run in length from 
400 to 800 words, and may take any form or style of 
expression which the writers thereof prefer. In ex¬ 
change for every article used we will give a copy of 
“Chrysanthemum Culture in America,” or “American 
Grape Training.” Inasmuch as chrysanthemum cul¬ 
ture and giape culture are two forms of successful 
work in which women may, if untrained, train them¬ 
selves, we consider that these books are eminently 
suitable as prizes in the present instance. The books 
are cloth-bound, and will be sent prepaid. Each is a 
full and practical exposition of the work expressed by 
its title; the work on chrysanthemums, including not 
only the plodding side of the business, but chapters on 
“Exhibition Blooms,” “Chrysanthemum Shows,” 
“Chrysanthemums as House Plants,” etc. 
Or, if any one prefer, she may have, instead of 
either of these cloth-bound volumes, the four pam¬ 
phlets, “The New Botany,” “Canning and Preserv¬ 
ing,” “Accidents and Emergencies” and “How to 
Plant a Place.” Choice should be stated when arti¬ 
cles are sent in. 
Name of writer must be placed at the head of the 
first page, and writing must be in ink and on one side 
only of the paper. Articles must reach us on or be¬ 
fore February 17. 
Must the Boys Knit and Sew ?—I hope not. Teach 
them to be all attention to mother and sisters and all 
womankind; to see that mother has a supply of wood 
and water; to churn for her and to do many other 
such chores as boys can do; teach them to read and 
converse with ease; to dance with grace, and they 
will be more graceful in their carriage. In short, to 
be thorough men, and to be polite and ready to give a 
helping hand when needed; to be smart enough to 
make money to hire the sewing and knitting done by 
poor women who need the work. Thus will our boys 
grow up into men of whom we may be proud. w.^ 
WOMEN IN LIFE AND LITERATURE. J 
An amusing collection of rag dolls numbering sev¬ 
eral hundred has been made by a New York lady and ^ 
presented to the little invalid children of Randall s ^ 
Island. t t + ^ 
Miss Kate Field is a member of the “ White City ^ 
Preservation Association,” and believes that, after ^ 
the hard times are over, a suffijient sum might be 
raised by popular subscription to keep things in repair 
and preserve Chicago’s South Park in all the glory of 
its present condition. 
f t + ^ 
It IS SAID that Mrs. George Gould, President of the j 
Kindergarten Potted Plant Association (the cumber- , 
some name of a very laudable enterprise, as some one 
remarks), has already invested $4,000 in her pet be- , 
nevolence. ^ ^ j. 
By THE recent marriage of Miss Adele Grant, of 
New York, to the Earl of Essex another of our coun¬ 
try’s beautiful daughters has been added to the coterie 
of American women of title in England, Another 
proof that this young nation is sufficiently advanced 
in culture and refinement to produce, under favoring 
fortunes, young women fitted to rank with any the 
sun shines on. .|. j | • 
It is expected that next April will see the marriage 
of two more of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren. The 
Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of the Duke of 
Edinburgh, is to marry her cousin. Grand Duke 
Ernest, of Hesse, who is the son of the Princess Alice, 
of Great Britain. | | | 
And now fashionable young women are questioning 
family traditions, searching old records and writing 
to the Pension Bureau at Washington seeking to verify 
their rights to be admitted to some local chapter of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution. Dr. E. 
E. Hale, lecturing before such an association, remarks 
that he has watched with great interest the formation 
of these societies, sure tliat by their organization the 
study of the history of Revolutionary times is receiv¬ 
ing new impetus and life. 
t t t 
How WOULD it do for the teacher forced to groan in 
spirit while her pupils blunder over names and dates, 
to invent a hypothetical grandfather for each little 
man and maid and let him fight in every battle, serve 
under or help defeat every famous general and endure 
all the hardships and privations of those stirring old 
days ? The reader will please notice that this idea is 
offered merely as a suggestion. Too little attention 
cannot be paid to unasked advice, unless it strike one 
as practical and smacking of good sense. 
t + t 
English woman suffragists of all shades of opinion 
have united, with Mrs. Millicent Garrett Fawcett for 
president, and have sent a petition to their govern¬ 
ment, the first clause of which reads : “ Gentlemen : 
Many of the women who sign this appeal differ in 
opinion on other political questions, but all are of one 
mind that the continual denial of the franchise to 
women, while it is at the same time being gradually 
extended amongst men, is at once unjust and inexpe¬ 
dient.” Ill 
Life may sometimes seem hard to the woman who 
has to make hats, or teach school, or keep a store for 
a living, year after year, especially when she consid¬ 
ers the annoyances, uncertainties and general wear 
and tear and disgust of human nature accruing thereto, 
but to succeed in the chosen business or calling is a 
compensation. Think of Mrs. Cyrus W. Field having 
to lose the money with which she sought to retrieve 
the family fortunes, acknowledge her venture in the 
' millinery business a failure, and apply to the courts 
for a dissolution of the partnership to which she 
could bring no business experience, but merely the 
' prestige of her name and a few hundred dollars. It 
* is to be regretted that with her admirable theories of 
the kindness and courtesy that should exist between 
employers and employed and in the mercantile world 
Mrs. Field did not also possess the business instinct 
[ necessary to the success of her enterprise. Are we, 
L then, so many years short of Altruria ? 
; fit 
r If history were to exactly repeat itself, from what 
> two families now occupying neighboring farms or town 
^ lots might the year 2144 see descendants united as 
^ master and ma'lam of the then Presidential mansion ? 
3 Some citizens of Sprinfleld, Mass., who have been 
searching old records, announce that in 1640 one 
Henry Burt, from whom President Cleveland is in the 
eijhth generation of descent, lived next door to a Mr. 
John Harmon, one of Mrs. Cleveland’s ancestors. Lit¬ 
tle did Dame Burt and Dame Harmon dream in those 
days of the fate that, after an interval of 250 years, 
was to bring the two families together, one to furnish 
the first lady in the land and .the other the chosen 
head of 60,000,000 people. prudence primrose. 
“THE MANIFESTO.” 
I was very glad to read the “ manifesto” on page 870 
of The R. N.-Y., and glad, indeed, to see so many 
prominent names on the list. The tyranny of fashion 
is so strong that it is encouraging to find that so many 
noted women have signified their willingness to “ give 
their influence in favor of an improvement in woman’s 
dress, which will allow her free and healthful use of 
the organs of her body when working or taking exer¬ 
cise.” It is to be regretted, however, that the gener¬ 
ous, helpful influence is restricted in the least. If it 
were written “ which will allow her free and health¬ 
ful use of the organs of her body at all times, instead 
of “ when working or taking exercise,” it would have 
been better. Women do not work all the time, and 
their hours of exercise, as a general thing, are not 
many. Hence, unless the word work is used in a very 
broad sense, and is meant to include everything 
which may occupy a woman’s time except “exercise,” 
there is still room for a wider influence in favor of 
“ freedom and common sense in dress.” 
It is BO very wrong, so wicked, in fact, to encourage 
the senseless, harmful fashions by adopting them re¬ 
gardless of their injurious effects upon the health. 
The small, tapering waist is not beautiful. No artist, 
no lover of harmony and the fitness of things, will 
claim that the smaller the waist the greater the 
beauty ! However much self-inflicted martyrdom 
womankind has suffered in order to have a small 
waist, it is a fashion which must give way before the 
intelligence of American women. The steel stays 
and the whale bones interfere with the free and 
healthful use of the bodily organs, no matter how 
loosely the corset may be worn. 
Women alone are not to blame for their devotion to 
fashion. Young men admire the small waist. [(?)Ed J 
Young ladies wish to be admired. Physicians insist 
that we must eradicate the cause of the disease, if a 
cure is to be effected. And so I suggest a cure for 
the small waist mania. It is heroic medicine, cer¬ 
tainly, but there is enough at stake to warrant a 
“ good dose !” Let every mother corset her growing 
sons, perhaps when they first don “ long pants,” and 
already feel that the freedom of their legs has been 
lestricted. Add the corset at this time, and do not 
fail to make it snug I Require it to be worn a week 
only a week—and I venture to say that ever after 
those boys would feel an intense aversion to the small 
waist. They could not endure such constant remind¬ 
ers of their own suffering, mrs. w. a. kellerman. 
Stuffed Beef Steak.— Cut a large thick slice free from 
bone, pound well, spread out, and cover with two 
gills of bread crumbs; season with salt, pepper, and 
one-half of a chopped onion; tie up to keep in shape, and 
brown on all sides by frying in pork fat or butter; put 
in a skillet and stew slowly, keeping closely covered, 
and seasoning the water with salt and pepper. Serve 
cold, cut in slices. h. 
/Ihsotai<^1y 
Baking, 
^Powaet* 
A crt3am of tartar baking powder. 
Highest of all in leavening strength. 
—Latest United States Government 
Report. 
Royal Baking Powder Co., 
106 Wall Street, New York. 
