NOTE AND COMMENT. 
O the young people, especially, in isolated farm 
homes, the question of the best use of the long 
winter evenings is an extrem3ly important one. 
The nature of farm work, particularly in the North, 
is such that the working season is a busy one, with 
little opportunity for recreation. In too many 
rural neighborhoods amusement seems to be the 
principal object of the young people during the sea¬ 
son of relaxation. This is well enough in its way, 
but wouldn’t it be well to give some thought to im¬ 
provement as well? In a recent R. N.-Y. a contrib¬ 
utor gave some suggestions as to methods of spend¬ 
ing the evenings pleasantly and profitably. In an¬ 
other column a young Michigan farm daughter gives 
some methods by means of which a small family de¬ 
pendent upon its own resources gains both pleasure 
and profit du'ing the winter. Think, too, of the 
isolation when mail is received but once a week. 
That must, indeed, be a red-letter day. The methods 
outlined by our young friend certainly are commended 
by the article she wiites concerning them. The 
Chief Cook has known of many blessed with school 
and other privileges, who couldn’t do so well. 
t t t 
What do our friends think about the assertion that 
women do not make as good cooks as men ? How 
about the fried chicken and roast turkey, duck and 
goose , the savory sparerib, the ham and eggs, not to 
mention the flaky biscuits, bread and cakes, and the 
toothsome mince, pumpkin, apple and other pies, 
all these and the hundred and one other dishes con¬ 
cocted from the farm larder by our mothers and 
grandmothers ? Perhaps they didn’t know so much 
about science and chemistry, and the thousand other 
things that the men cooks are supposed to know ; but 
did any other cookery ever taste so good ? Are we 
changing, or are the men really better fitted for the 
business than women ? From the very nature of 
things, under present conditions, the cooking on the 
farm must be done by women. But perhaps we shall 
discover some branch of out-door work that can bet¬ 
ter be done by women, and then the men will be at 
liberty to try their hands at the cooking. 
t t t 
Thk crying need of the times among employers is 
for employees who are accurate, exact, and can be de¬ 
pended upon, those who make their employers’ busi¬ 
ness their own, and are not mere time servers. It is 
the testimony of business men that women fail in 
these respects oftener than men. The reasons there¬ 
for, we do not propose to discuss. One point we wish 
to make now, because it is brought to our attention 
by an article received in competition for prizes recently 
offered. One of the conditions of that competition 
was that the “ name of the writer must be placed at 
the head of the first page.” The first article received 
was from a writer whose name is familiar, and has 
been for years, to the readers of several household 
publications. Yet this plainly stated condition is not 
complied with, and nowhere on the article does the 
name appear. To be sure it is in the accompanying 
letter, but that doesn’t fulfill the conditions. If th’s 
is what we get from one supposed to be a trained 
writer, what may we not expect from others. But so 
long as women are so careless, they have no right to 
complain. Business is business, and there is precious 
little senti ment mixed with it. 
PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR MIL¬ 
LINER. 
N these days of financial stringency, all economical 
ideas are thrice welcome. The woman endowed 
with the knack of fashioning her own hats and bon¬ 
nets saves many a dollar each season. Not only this, 
but for half the expense she has a much finer hat, for 
the profits of the milliner are by no means insignifi¬ 
cant. Guided by a keen observance of the requisite 
Parisian models and fetching creations displayed in 
the show windows, it is really a simple matter to make 
a “love of a bonnet” or trim a stylish hat, at less than 
half the usual cost. 
Note closely the general effect of trimmings, 
whether flaring, stiff, or soft and drooping ; tall or 
low; whether the front or back of a hat is most 
heavily trimmed ; whether ribbons, velvets or flowers 
predominate. The striking characteristics are mas¬ 
tered at a glance. Velvets, silks, satins, laces and rib¬ 
bons are purchased to better advantage of the dry goods 
merchant, and at a much lower figure. In using vel¬ 
vets or plush, never baste with thread, as it leaves lines 
that are almost impossible to remove. A liberal use of 
pins supplies the use of thread. Trimmings of last sea¬ 
son’s hat, if not faded, are made to look like new, when 
washed and rinsed in gasoline. The most delicate 
flowers after repeated dippings in gasoline resume 
their former freshness. As a rule, only the expensive 
French flowers come with rubber stems. The beauty 
and gracefulness of cheaper flowers is greatly enhanced 
by removing the linen twisted about the stem, and 
inserting the latter into rubber tubing. This tubing 
is kept in stock by all dealers in tissue paper for 
decorative purposes, and costs but three and five cents 
per yard, according to thickness. A cheap flower sup¬ 
plied with a long, soft stem, is improved greatly. 
A Homemade Aigrette. 
A pretty finish for either hat or bonnet is the aigrette 
shown in Fig. 27. Often an aigrette is an impossible 
beauty, because of its expense; but when fashioned 
at home by ingenious fingers, it costs but a trifle. It 
is made either of all black, black with gold, all white, 
or in colors. The aigrette consists of 30 to 40 linear 
leaves or segments. Each of these is made of a piece 
of very flne wire, four inches long, doubled in the 
middle, making the finished segments two inches 
deep. Before doubling and twisting the wire, slip on 
a tiny gold spangle in the middle, give the wire a 
single twist, then slip on two glass beads, snd twist 
the wire its entire length. At a short distance below 
the beads, fasten a piece of embroidery silk, and en¬ 
tirely cover the wire by wrapping the silk round and 
round. After each segment has likewise been finished, 
securely bind them to a heavily twisted wire, which 
serves as stem. The stem is also covered with silk. A 
larger bead forms the center around which the seg¬ 
ments are fastened. Black and gold is an effective com¬ 
bination for evening. In this case use gold wire for the 
aigrette, and either black or yellow beads. In trim¬ 
ming with black lace, outline the design in gold 
thread. This gives it a striking resemblance to its costly 
A Homemade Aigbettk. Fig. 27. 
original. White and gold is equally beautiful though 
more youthful. In making the aigrette in colors, use 
beads and silk of the desired tint. Wire, by the spool, 
in varied color and thickness is found in any hardware 
store. ANNA HiNKicns. 
THOSE LONG WINTER EVENINGS. 
HOW A MICHIGAN FAMILY SPENDS THEM. 
E are more isolated than the usual farmer’s 
family, as we are surrounded by Germans who 
do not speak our language very fluently, and have 
their own churches and schools. As the roads are 
nearly always bad in winter, we have very little social 
intercourse with the outside world. Our family con¬ 
sists of four. Father is an invalid and says very little, 
but mother, though middle-aged, often declares that 
in spirit she is as young as we are, and takes part in 
all our amusements. Through stern necessity, brother 
and I are deprived of the advantages of school, but 
when books and papers are so cheap as they are now, 
we think it a sin for any one to remain wholly ignor¬ 
ant or illiterate. So we have devised numerous 
methods of study which make it seem almost like play 
—in fict quite a source of amusement as well as im¬ 
provement. 
One way we have of studying geography is this: one 
names a city, some one else names another commenc¬ 
ing with the last letter of that, and so on. Sometimes 
we name something for which each city is noted. This 
same plan is used for rivers and countries. In history, 
one reads a chapter and each in turn tells what seems 
the most prominent fact; when we have finished, we 
have learned pretty nearly all there is in that chapter. 
Sometimes mother I reads words from the dictionary 
and we define them; then she reads the definition 
given in the book. It is strange how few words one 
can define properly. 
We have another game which we think great sport. 
We take some familiar poem. Curfew Shall Not Ring 
To-night, or something of that sort, a stanza at a time. 
and change each word to another, which, in one sense 
at least, is synonymous. When we have finished, we 
have prose, and the meaning is almost entirely 
changed and is sometimes really ludicrous when com¬ 
pared with the original. Sometimes we write com¬ 
positions, limiting the time to half an hour, then 
change them around and read ; then we edit them for 
an imaginary paper, using the blue pencil freely. 
When we write an article on the silver question, gov¬ 
ernment ownership of railroads, etc , one reads it 
aloud, stopping every little while to let the others give 
their reasons, so far, for agreeing or disagreeing with 
the author. We sometimes argue questions pro and 
con, discussion getting quite animated, even though 
there are but three to carry it on. 
At least once a week we go to the post office ; then 
with a dish of apples on the table, a roaring fire in 
the stove, and the wind whistling outside, we sit down 
to spend the most pleasant evening of the week. These 
are only a few of the ways by which we amuse our¬ 
selves evenings. It seems to me strange that people 
think country life dull, just because there isn’t some¬ 
thing new every day. If the whole family are agreed 
in wishing to have a good time, there are many things 
that a large family, especially, can do that are pleas¬ 
ant and improving. lucy taylob. 
MEN vs. WOMEN COOKS. 
EN are, as a rule, better cooks than women.” 
This sentence from a recent Rubal prompts 
me to write what I heard one day last October in the 
Assembly Room of the Woman’s Building on the 
World’s Fair Grounds. There had been a symposium 
on “ Foods ” by various speakers, including Mrs. Rorer, 
and the famous vegetarian, Mrs. LaFavre. Just as 
the chairman was about dismissing the audience, a 
tall, dark Dane, came to the platform and begged the 
privilege of saying a few words. Permission granted, 
he began by saying that he was probably the best in¬ 
formed man on the subject of foods in the world, as he 
had made the foods of all nations, and the conditions 
under which they were eaten, his life study—he was 
perhaps 45 years old—and that his library on Foods 
was the most complete in existence on the subject. 
Later, Mrs. Rorer vouched for the truth of these two 
statements. But the point I aimed at in beginning, 
was that he said: “ The Lord never intended women 
to be cooks.” (You can imagine the applause of the 
housekeepers present). “ A woman,” he said, “does 
not like to cook, or does she care to eat save to pre¬ 
serve life—she does not a^joy eating as a man does; 
and if there is no man around her home for whom she 
must cook, she does not cook for herself, but just eats 
whatever comes handy from the bake-shop or pastry 
cook.” He said further that he had never met a good 
cook of our sex—and he had seen c')oks of both sexes 
in many countries—and that though woman might fill 
most other positions taken by men, she could not fill 
the place of a good cook. That was all he had to say 
and he bowed himself out. 
One thing surprised me—amused me, too—not a 
woman present seemed to resent being called a poor 
cook in her delight at thinking that the duty of cook¬ 
ing might possibly some day devolve on the stronger 
sex—an unconscious indorsement of the truth of at 
least part of the Danish gentleman’s statement, e b. 
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. 
