1894 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
335 
THE THRIFT OF LONG AGO. 
FEW months ago, I had a visitor ; 
not a young woman, nor yet one 
in middle life, but one to whom had 
come the joys and sorrows of three score 
years and ten. Despite the weight of 
years, she came with light step and 
cheery voice, and by telling me recollec¬ 
tions of her early home, gave me food 
for thought for many days. We spoke of 
low prices for farm produce, and the 
manifold duties of a farmer’s wife, when 
she said : “ Deary me I Could the women 
of to day live through what I have, 
prices would seem high, in comparison. 
When we first came to this country, 
prices for produce were much lower 
than now. We lived in a log house for 
years. I dried bushels and bushels of 
apples and plums besides doing my own 
housework.” 
“ How did you get the time ? ” I asked. 
“ Oh, deary me ! ” she exclaimed ; “the 
time that women spend nowadays in 
brushing out flies and doing fancy work, 
we of other days spent in drying fruit 
for which we received a fair compensa¬ 
tion, which was added to the general in¬ 
come. Every year we made a payment 
on our farm; after that, if any money 
was left, we purchased some little lux¬ 
ury, but the payment came flrst. We 
rode in lumber wagons ; now even the 
owners of mortgaged farms must have a 
carriage. Oh ! if people would economize 
as we did, farms would be paid for.” 
“You doubtless took as much comfort 
then as we women of to-day,” I sug¬ 
gested. 
There was a far-away look in the dim 
eyes as in memory she lived over again 
the halcyon days of the past, as she said: 
“Comfort? Yes, it was comfort truly. 
We visited each other often, we were 
not held to conventional rules of society 
in merely exchanging calls. How we 
did enjoy our evenings! We were much 
more social than the women of to-day. 
To be sure women in these times cannot 
do as we did, but those were happy, 
happy days.” 
I watched the little figure with its 
quaint quilted silk hood as she walked 
away homeward and said : “ Thank God 
there are a few of them left.” Precious 
reminders of an age past and gone! The 
children for whom they cared so tenderly, 
have now become in turn their comfort 
and support. We cannot believe that 
the old days were really better than the 
days we now live in, but a glimpse of the 
home-life of earlier days always rests us 
and we return to our duties refreshed. 
KI.I.A F. FI.ANDKKS 
CALLING THINGS BY THEIR NAMES. 
“T CANNOT remember when I did not 
J. take anunterest in these things. 
There are stones in the house now which 
I picked up 40 years ago, simply because 
they were pretty, not knowing they had 
any name but stones.” These remarks 
were made by an elderly lady while ad¬ 
miring my collection of minerals. “But 
I shall not try to learn about them now,” 
she added with a little sigh. 
This lady was a close observer, a pa¬ 
tient investigator—in short, a natural 
student, but receiving no encouragement 
in youth, the time for study had slipped 
by, and possibly a valuable investigator 
was lost to the world of science. IIow 
When Baby was sick, we gave lier Ca.storia, 
Wlien siie was a Ciiild, she cried for Ca.storia, 
When she became Miss, siie clung to C'astoria, 
Wlien she had Children, she gave tliem Castoria, 
Thk women readers of Thk R. N.-Y. , 
as well as the men, know a good thing 
when they see it. They are sending in 
new subscriptions and getting that stove 
polishing mitten as a premium. One 
hour spent earning this mitten, will save 
weeks of labor before the end of the year. 
little help would have been necessary at 
the right time to start this mind in the 
right road ! .lust enough knowledge on 
the part pf the parents to have called a 
piece of quartz by its name, or the parts 
of a flower by their distinctive appella¬ 
tions. This lady often speaks of the 
petals of a flower as its leaves. No five- 
year-old would do this, who had been in 
the habit of hear'ng things called by 
their right names. 
In this age of general and accurate 
knowledge, there seems to be little ex¬ 
cuse for the parent who neglects to ob¬ 
tain, at least, a passing knowledge of 
these matters. Some have no desire for 
scientific knowledge, and would not care 
to know whether a stamen is a part of a 
flower or the chemical property of some 
mineral. Would it not pay even them to 
learn, for the sake of the little people 
with inquiring minds which cluster 
around their knees, if for no other reason 
than that they may, with their first 
speech, call things by their right names? 
Flow much easier would all after study 
become to one thus trained 1 There is a 
certain advantage in being “to the man¬ 
ner born,” however little one may care 
to acknowledge it. To be sure a stone 
is a stone, but there is a real pleasure in 
being able to speak of it as quartz, feld¬ 
spar or hornblende, as the case may be. 
To the initiated, no plant is a weed, sim¬ 
ply. Each occupies its own place in the 
vegetable world, each is doing its work 
in the way which the Creator designed. 
The person who has been properly 
trained realizes that he possesses the 
key to real enjoyment when he finds 
himself capable of reading Nature's 
laws. If he knows by what name to 
call the insects that float in the summer 
sunshine, they are not “ ugly bugs,” but 
beautiful creatures endowed with life 
and energy, each filling its place in the 
wonderful world, of which it is as much 
a part as the person himself. Does not 
such knowledge broaden life ? Will not 
a mind to which such knowledge comes 
as by instinct, have less taste for the 
flimsy nothings which so thoroughly oc¬ 
cupy the minds of many young people ? 
The old commandment, “overcome evil 
with good,” is applicable in this case. 
For in a mind which is filled with good 
there can be no room for evil. 
MK8. 8. E. KENNEDY. 
CULLED FROM OTHER COLUMNS. 
... .Epictetus : “ Difficulties are things 
that show what men are.” 
....CoR. OF GoodThinos: “It is my ex¬ 
perience that a man’s contempt of wealth 
does not extend beyond the hour when 
he gets possession of it.” 
... .Cou. Nebraska Farmer : “ There is 
no law, moral or spiritual, that requires 
less purity of life, or less parental re¬ 
sponsibility in a father than in a mother.” 
_A. M. Holmes IN THE Arena : “Man 
cannot say, as did Alexander, that 
‘ There are no more worlds to conquer,’ 
for as long as the human race has malig¬ 
nant influences to combat, there will be 
battles to fight and victories to win.” 
_C. Hanford Henderson : “Itiscom- 
paratively easy to refute a sophistry 
with a new face. It is tremendously dif¬ 
ficult to escape the power of a sophistry 
to which you have been born, and in 
the presence of whose illogic you have 
always lived. It takes genius to escape.” 
....Sarah Grand: “Everyday has its 
pleasures; and how a woman can care 
to be a day younger than she is—can 
crave the admiration paid to 20 when 
she should be enjoying the homage due 
to 40, I cannot conceive. The buds are 
beautiful in the spring, and there is a 
beauty also in the full-blown foliage of 
summer ; but are either more admirable 
Mothers. —Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.—yidu. 
in their day than is the exquisite autumn 
leaf ? ” 
... .The Housekeeper : “ The desire for 
what is not, and the undervaluing of 
what is, robs all around, While reach 
ing for what is beyond reach, that which 
is within the grasp escapes it. The 
country boy, who by firelight masters 
the primer, distances the city boy who by 
gaslight sulks over his book. The girl 
who willingly helps her mother at house¬ 
work has thus far the making of a 
woman, while she who is ashamed of 
such work promises to be a burden to 
herself and to the world.” 
-New York Herald : “ That physical 
daring which under excitement and the 
impulse of a love of glory stands amid 
shot and shell and hears the flag aloft 
through a shower of bullets, may be 
altogether admirable, and is certainly 
worthy of the rewards of honor which it 
receives. But there is a nobler daring, 
and it deserves a far higher meed of 
praise, as when the young man catches 
a glimpse, by a flash of lightning through 
the darkness, of the inevitable results of 
his evil life, and with a mighty effort 
breaks from the entanglement of vicious 
habits, and in spite of cajoleries and 
gibes and jeers claims possession of him¬ 
self and maintains the claim with a will 
that no circumstances can break.” 
PiiaiceUttttC0U^i 
In writing to adverllaerH pleiise always mention 
Thk Ruhai. New Youkkh, 
Ayer’s 
PILLS 
Received 
Highest Awards 
Comfort 
with boots and shoes, harness, 
and all kinds of black leathe) 
comes from the use of 
Vacuum 
Leather Oil. 
25 c. worth is a fair trial—and your money hark 
you want it—a swob with eacli can. 
For pamplilct, free, ‘‘How to TAKK.CARii 
OF Licathick,” send to 
VACUUM OIL CO., Rochester, N. Y 
Bcccham’s j)i!ls arc for 
biliousnc.s.s, bilious headache, 
dyspepsia, heartburn, torpid 
liver, dizziness, sick head¬ 
ache, bad taste in the mouth, 
coated tongue, loss of appe¬ 
tite, sallow skin, when caused 
by constipation; and Cf)nsti- 
pation is the most frecpicnt 
cause of all of them. 
lk:)ok free; pills 25c. At 
drugstores,or write Ikl'.Allen 
Co.,365 Canal St., New York 
The sfronjjoMt and piir4‘iit I,ye 
made. Unllko other Lye, It t>elii(it 
a lino powder and narked In a can 
with reinovahle lid, the contents 
aro always retuly for use. VVIIJ 
make the perfumed Hard Heap 
in ‘,20 iidiintes witlioiit. IxtlliiiK. 
It Ik llie l>oHt for cleansing waste 
jillMis, disinfecting Mnks, cleseta^ 
washing bottles, paints, trees, etc. 
PENNA. SALT M’F’Q CO- 
deu. Agts., I'hlla., Fa. 
AT THE 
World’s Fair 
PHYSIC 
WALL PAPER 
•W TIItFH. .1. MVKItH T;'nK 
AtWholesnle I’rlccH 
100 Ha III pies 
seat for Sc. postage, 
TI108. J. MYERS, 120B Market 8l., I'hlla , I'a 
AGENTS $75 yw'iry 
UHinK or MulhllK PRACTICAL 
PLATING DYNAM0.Thumo.i 
urn tiKMhotl, tiHnl in uM factorioii 
n> plai« iiijw KootlH. gold, 
Bllver, iilckfl, etc , on waicheH, 
I jewelry, table-ware, bicyclrnaml 
I all meial goodB ; fine ouiMlfi for 
ageiitB; diirereut Bigen; always 
r<!ady; no battery; no toy; no 
experience; no limit to plating 
-Jrieedrd; a gruat nmiMw tnak*'r. 
W. P, HARRISON & CO., Clerk No. 15, Columbus. Ohio, 
POSITIVELY FPEE. 
Our New OKUAN and PIANO BOOK. 
Colored Portraits, Hiiecial Offers, aud 
full Particulars of all our famous 
ORQ/VI^S AND PiMOS. 
Sold to anyone at wholesale price, for 
C'oHh or on Terms to Niilt. 
Organs 927.50. Pianos 9175.00. 
If rite t'l-uay for this VALUABLE BOOK.“<ift 
rnRNIQU £ rn Washington,new jersey. 
GUnll Idn « uU. Eatabll.hed 27 Yaara. 
MYft^WIFF CANNOT SEE HOW YOU DO 
IT AND PAY FREIGHT. 
iXlABuys our 2 drawer walnut or oak Ira> 
T I iprovod High Arm SingerBewingmuebina 
I finely tinlahedi niukel platetl,adapted to light 
and heavy work; guaranteed for 10 xearB; with 
I AiitomntleltobbiD Wliuler, 8elf>TbrcadIng Clylin- 
i dor Shuttle, Hfllf*SeUIng Needle and a coniplete 
\s< t of Steel At tuchment«;Bhipped any where on 
•to Day’s Trial. No money re^iuired In advance. 
75,000 now fnuse* World’s Fair Medal awarded machine and attach¬ 
ments. Buy from factory and save dealer’s and agent’s protits, 
rnrr This Out and send to-day for machine or large free 
I II11L catalogue, testimonials and Olimnses of the World’s Fair. 
OXFORD MFG. CO. 342 Wabash Ave. CHICAGO,ILL, 
THEMARYJANEOISHWASHER 
Saves two-tblrds the time, labor and 
trouble. No wetting the hands. No dis¬ 
agreeable work Pleases everj body. Only 
93. Every family should bave Mary 
•lane. Circulars free. Agents wanted. 
J K. Piirliitoii & C<>., Des Moines, Is. 
Stove-Polishing Mitten. 
This is really one of the best things 
for a small article that we have seen in 
a long time. It is simply a mitten with 
lamb’s wool front. The blacking is ap¬ 
plied with swab, and the stove then pol¬ 
ished by rubbing with the mitten. You 
can get in all the corners and angles, 
and nothing else pol¬ 
ishes BO well. Never 
soils the hand. Price, 
by mail, with renewal 
subscription $1.25; or 
given to any old sub¬ 
scriber for one new 
subscription If the men had to polish 
the stoves, there would be one of these 
in every house. There are poor imita¬ 
tions of this mitten made, but this is the 
only genuine lamb’s wool. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Oor. Pearl and Chambers Sts. New York. 
FREE! 
Our large Zl-page catalogue of Or- 
gaii.s, al.so our new and elegant cat¬ 
alogue of Pianos, containing 16 pi). 
We bave the largest manufactory 
In tbe worbl, from wbicb wo sell 
direct to tbe consumer at wliole- 
sale prices, thus saving tlio prodts 
of the dealer and tbe commissions 
of tbe agents. We furnlsli a llrst- 
class Organ, war- 
ranted 20 years, KC) 
with stool and ^ yT 7 
book, for only 94 / m. 
Ko money required until Instru¬ 
ment has been thoroughly testeil In 
your own bouse. Sold on instal¬ 
ments. Kusy payment. 
" o positively guarantee every 
Organ and Piano twenty years. 
Send for catalogue at once If you want to obtain the greatest bargain ever 
offeri'd on tiarth. Write your name and address plainly, and we will send 
by mail same day letter Is received. 
As an advertisement, tpL M C\C\ Stool, Book and Cover 
will sell the Ilrst Plano of ^ | 7 ^ .r Free, 
our make in a place for only 1 4 \_) Regular price, $350.00. 
Beethoven Piano 0!*gan Co., 
P.O.Box 626 Washington, N. J. 4 
