“ Which is the happiest moment in a woman’s life ? 
Is it when she is first eng'aged.; when she receives her 
husband’s first kiss ? When she smoothes her first 
baby’s tiny hand with her own, so weak and tremb¬ 
ling ; or is it when she sits, her work finished, her 
hands folded, her patient soul waiting and listening 
for the good angel. Death says a writer in Woman¬ 
kind. While we are young we believe our greatest 
happiness will be the realization of some pet hope of 
the future. After we have passed through life we 
look back, not to the fulfillment of this hope, but far 
back to childhood, and say we were happiest then. It 
is still a question, notwithstanding the essays and 
debates of our schooldays, whether there is more 
happiness in anticipation or realization. Many of us 
will agree that the most pleasant moments we have 
spent were the visits to the castles in Spain. 
? 2 i 
A WOMAN was arrested while smoking a cigarette on 
Droadway one night not long ago. That was her sole 
offense and she was put in a cell and kept all night. The 
judge said in disposing of her case that the unusual 
sight of a woman smoking in the street was Eufiieient 
to cause a crowd to congregate, and warned her that 
a repetition of her offense would lead to her punish¬ 
ment. Verily, our laws need amending. The author¬ 
ities should arrest the men smokers or allow the 
women to indulge. Which course would be the bet¬ 
ter ? We are inclined toward greater restriction, 
having times unnumbered, had to take our walk in the 
wake of the cigar, very unwillingly. 
s § § 
A POUND of ordinary Oolong tea makes about 110 
half pint cupfuls of tea. That is, it should make that 
many and will if used in the right proportions. A 
cup of tea is a common thing ; but there are possibili¬ 
ties in a cup of tea, the best of which are not usually 
realized. “ The cup that cheers, but not inebriates” 
should be served in its perfection. Most of the black 
teas require to be made rather weak to be at their 
best. The delightful fiavor should be diluted until it 
is only a suggestion to the palate. The delicacy is 
lost if the tea is made strong. If tea is used strong as 
a beverage, it has such an effect on the system that 
the cup of slrong tea is not so effective in curing a 
headache. Let us use, and not abuse so good a thing 
as tea. 
A WOMAN’S LIFE. 
WHICH IS THE HAPPIER, HOME DIKE OR A PROFESSIONAL 
CAREER ? 
WOMAN can never feel that she is at her best 
outside of her home,” is a very broad asser¬ 
tion ; but where there is one so perfectly adapted to 
provide for herself as the friend Mary Wager-Fisher 
aptly describes on page 558, there are scores who are 
not as ready to face the world. 
The woman who keeps a beautiful home, hospitable 
and helpful to those who come within its borders; a 
home which gives loving ministry and a renewal of 
energies to all who are reached by its influence, is 
doing more for the world than “ she who warms the 
public pottage, or criticises the public morals.” One 
does not necessarily exclude the other ; but the vast 
majority of women are of necessity home-keepers; 
probably an ideal life would be that in which public 
and home life were combined ; but of the two, there 
can be no question as to which is the higher and the 
finer. It may be "too common” to marry, but we fancy 
it will go on as long as the world lasts. Napoleon, at 
the height of his power was asked, "What is the great¬ 
est need of France ? ” He answered, " Mothers ! ” Life 
may seem commonplace to many a weary wife and 
mother, but Susan Coolidge beautifully tells us that 
"God who sees each separate soul, out of commonplace 
lives, makes his beautiful whole.” 
A young woman who, unaided, has risen to a high 
position; whose wonderful talents are envied by many, 
and whose printed words are eagerly read by thou¬ 
sands, said to me, " Home is the place for a woman.” 
I gave her a look of surprise, and she said, "Yes, I ad¬ 
mit it! Many in the quiet of their homes envy me my 
position, but it grows commonplace after a time. I 
grow tired and long for a rest at home.” I recently 
listened to a discussion between some women, most of 
them college educated, in which matrimony, pro and 
con, was the theme. One ventured the remark that 
her idea was like that of a friend of hers, who was at 
the head of a sanitarium for women, and who almost 
invariably won the confidence of her patients; she said, 
"I never saw a married life mentally, morally and 
physically perfect.” 
A little woman at once said : “My friend, did you 
ever see a single life ‘ mentally, morally and physic¬ 
ally perfect?”’ " No I I don’t know that I ever did,” 
she replied, slowly. "No, I think not,” responded 
the little woman. " We do not get perfection in this 
life. We look for that in another, where we shall all 
be satisfied.” 
No one rejoices more than I that woman’s talents 
are receiving recognition ; that many of our best col¬ 
leges and institutions are standing with their doors 
open to receive her ; and that in the race for learning 
she competes fairly with her brothers, and often out¬ 
strips them in the race. But marriage, in a general 
sense, is not to be ignored. That it has proved a 
failure in some cases is very evident; but all over our 
land are many, very many, talented, brilliant women 
who are the keepers of happy homes, the wives of 
loving husbands, and the mothers of those to whom 
the nation looks to bear the responsibilities of the 
future. ELLA F. FLANDERS. 
From a Man’s Standpoint. 
On reading The Rural, page 558, headed " Women, 
Homes and Husbands,” my senses were shocked by the 
writer calling all those sentiments of home, family 
and dear loved ones, only found in a true and honored 
home composed of man and wife and children, "bosh.” 
How can a woman try to substitute art and its fickle 
fortunes for never-dying love for children, home and 
husband, God’s sacred institutions ? The writer cites 
the case of a beautiful young lady who had great tal¬ 
ent and desire for study, loving and interested in the 
whole world around her, with youth, wealth and 
health, who formed the acquaintance of a young man 
whom she acknowledged she liked better than any 
other man ; and with all her brightness and smartness 
she no doubt was able to make a good selection, and 
he was likely her equal. Now, for the sake of com¬ 
parison, let us suppose she had accepted his offer in 
place of hastily ("quick as flash”) choosing art as her 
companion in the vain hope of satisfying her own self¬ 
ish ambitions. She would have been a blessing to the 
man, established a happy home, reared loving chil¬ 
dren, taken a hand in all the many benevolent institu¬ 
tions organized to make the world better ; her mind 
would have been developed and broadened far beyond 
all that art could do. Sne would have filled the place 
God desired her to fill when He made the first woman. 
She would likely have lived to a ripe old age, sur¬ 
rounded and loved by her own blood, and by all who 
knew her; and her posterity would have gone out to 
bless and made the world better for all time. This is 
one side; Mrs. Wager-Fisher gives the other. She says, 
the young girl pursued her art and in years afterward 
is able to make what is called an excellent marriage. 
But she says, "Why should I marry ’ It’s too common. 
Only women who can’t manage to live any other way 
should marry, keep house, tend babies, patch, darn, 
etc.” This shows conclusively that art, and her bright¬ 
ness had blinded her intellect just as another para¬ 
graph in The R N.-Y. states. "It’s a truth, and one of 
the most difficult for brains to admit, that the devotees 
of intellect are often blinded by brains.” This young 
lady at first acknowledges her liking for the young 
man, but after years of art she says, " I would not 
endure a man as a husband.” If art has this effect, 
might not the ballot in woman’s hands tend to wreck 
our homes, sever those ties dear to all true and noble 
hearts, and bring us as a people and nation into such a 
situation as art has brought this beautiful girl? s. 
THOROUGH TRAINING IN HOMEKEEPING. 
HE most noted scientists, and the good house¬ 
keeper who knows and thinks for herself, agree 
that food not only sustains the physical life, but greatly 
affects the mental and moral development. It has been 
said, "The prosperity of a nation depends on the health 
and morals of its citizens, and the health and morals 
of a people depend mainly upon the food they eat and 
the homes they live in.” Great advancement in our 
knowledge of food has been made during the last cen¬ 
tury. Practical improve¬ 
ments in the methods of 
preparation and preserva¬ 
tion of food, also its nu¬ 
tritive value, were never 
before so well understood 
as to-day. Yet, how many 
homes there are in which 
poor, unwholesome meals 
are provided that utterly 
fail in supplying sufficient 
nourishment to make one 
equal to the day’s work. 
This is due partly to the 
fact that most of our housekeepers lack the knowledge 
of what constitutes healthful, nutritious food, and the 
intimate relation it bears to health and happiness. 
In our ordinary farm homes, the mother has so many 
duties requiring her thought and care that it is not 
possible for her to give the necessary attention to the 
preparation of meals. She must attend to the children, 
the sewing, the house cleaning, the washing and 
ironing, often the milk and butter, and, with very few 
exceptions, the vegetable garden ; for the housewife 
realizes more than her husband, how difficult it is to 
keep the table supplied with healthful, economical food 
without vegetables. How much better it would be if 
the garden were cultivated and cared for in connection 
with the farm work ; for, besides relieving the house¬ 
keeper of much work, the results would be more cer¬ 
tain and uniform. 
When the farmer needs a new hoe or plow in order 
successfully to carry on his work, he gets it—he must 
have it. When the farmer’s wife needs a new tool to 
lighten her work and better her results, she gets along 
without it. The cooking untensils and kitchen con¬ 
veniences that she should have cost comparatively lit¬ 
tle, yet she works along year after year without them, 
and in many cases never learns to know what inter¬ 
est, zeal and success are added to the ordinary routine 
duties of the kitchen when they are performed with 
proper surroundings. Look into our farm houses, and 
if you find the kitchen airy and convenient, the pantry 
provided with necessary cooking utensils and good, 
neat china (none of these need be expensive); if you 
find that the mother has not more work than one 
woman can do, that she has at least a short time every 
day to rest, to read and have some thoughts outside of 
her immediate tasks, you will find, with very few ex¬ 
ceptions, a thorough interest in the housework, which 
alone assures systematic, careful results. A poor, in¬ 
competent housekeeper is fretful, dissatisfidd, and in¬ 
fluences the household in that direction; while the 
good housewife does her work with cou p^rative ease 
and because she has success feels contented and happy, 
thus creating a mental atmosphere that blesses the 
family and friends. 
We all know that the mother through her example, 
influence and teaching proves to be the strongest ele¬ 
ment in the formation of the daughter’s chdiracter. 
In nothing is this more apparent, in no way is it more 
certainly shown than in the interest the girl takes in 
the work of the home and the ability she has to do 
that work well. It is a v ry serious mistake to be¬ 
lieve that in order to train the child to become an 
ideal housekeeper she must be put to the work as soon 
as she is old enough to wipe a plate or hold a broom. 
Certainly the child should have a few regular duties 
to perform ; but if she is expected every day to help 
with the work until it is finished, when she has 
reached her twelfth year and is old enough to begin 
the study of domestic science in her home she will 
have formed such a dislike for houseworii., that to her 
it seems utterly devoid of pleasure, and is pursued 
only through necessity. In my experience I find that 
the principal reason for the strong dislike to house¬ 
work felt by most girls is due to the fact that they 
consider the work drudgery. It is true there are 
some mothers who, realizing the importance that lies 
in the duties of housekeeping, succeed in arousing in 
their daughters that interest and ambition with which 
the meanest work may be made pleasant, and without 
which any work may become drudgery. 
It is very necessary that girls be taught the impor- 
ance of understanding the nutritive value of food, 
that they should consider its quality and cost, and he 
able to prepare cheaper material so that it will be 
better than the best material, poorly prepared. It 
is understood, however, that good housekeeping in¬ 
cludes much more than wholesome cooking. It is just 
as important that there be thorough knowledge of 
the hygiene of the home ; that the living rooms, bed¬ 
rooms, closets and cellar be kept perfectly clean and 
well ventilated; for these places often contain un- 
Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U. S. Gov’t Report 
Ab^lutecv pure 
