The question of the unmarried sister’s 
home, is one which it is safe to say will 
not occur to any one 50 years from to-day. 
Woman’s dependence is getting to be a 
thing of the past, and when every woman 
is fitted for earning her living, it will 
entirely disappear. The father of a 
family of girls no longer considers him¬ 
self overburdened. The education which 
will make them self-supporting, costs no 
more than education for boys, and in 
most cases, the girl starts her business 
career without any expensive “ setting 
up.” 
* 
The question was hardly as definite as 
it should have been. As stated, it does 
not appear whether the matter of duty 
or expediency is under discussion. It 
seems, however, to imply that a sister 
has a right to support from a brother. 
Would not that assertion arouse much 
discussion ? To our mind, there is a dif¬ 
ferent line of duty for brother and 
sister. The brother should he so gen¬ 
erous as to be willing to provide for a 
sister ; hut the sister should be so inde¬ 
pendent that her brother’s hospitality 
need be only occasionally taxed. The 
law for all of the family is that it is 
more blessed to give than to receive. 
THE UNMARRIED SISTER. 
Should a sister live with her brother after he 
marries ? If not, why not ? 
Where There Is Love in the Home. 
N well-disciplined, loving homes where 
brothers and sisters are brought up 
with mutual love and respect for each 
other, 1 think such an arrangement, 
whether from necessity, convenience or 
choice, would be entirely satisfactory. 
To be sure, another's interests are to be 
considered, those of the brother’s wife. 
But I have known of several instances 
where the sister has proved an invalu¬ 
able help and comfort to the wife. One 
in particular comes to my mind where 
the gentle, forbearing sister smoothed 
over many early matrimonial misunder¬ 
standings, and from her thorough knowl¬ 
edge of brother’s “ peculiarities,” was a 
veritable peacemaker. 
W e must never lose sight of the thought, 
“ Bear and forbear.’ Indeed, this is 
the mainspring of happiness in all 
homes. We should not be afraid to speak 
of our love in the home. Some one has 
said, “ We should make the morning 
good byes as we part at the breakfast 
table, kindly enough for final farewells. 
Many go out in the morning who never 
return at night.” Tenderness is not a 
weakness, but something which should 
be cultivated. It will yield sweet re¬ 
turns. ELI.A F. FLANDERS. 
Her Most Natural Home. 
If it be selfish for the sister to wish to 
remain in her brother’s family, will you 
tell me where she ought to live ? Do you 
say that she should have a home of her 
own ? Admitting that to be the most 
desirable solution of the difficulty, a 
cursory glance at the situation will con¬ 
vince any one that wise considerations 
of necessity and choice must forever 
debar some women from such a haven 
of rest. Must she then, seek a boarding¬ 
house and miss the refining home influ¬ 
ences, exposed to needless temptations 
if she be young, or needless worries 
if the halcyon days of youth have 
passed ? Or, shall she seek a home in 
the family of some other girl’s brother? 
If her presence gave a heartache to her 
brother's wife, what will it give the 
woman in whose family she resides, and 
where she will probably be treated with 
more deference, since most men, and I 
am speakiDg only of good men, too, have 
a way of forgetting the little attentions 
to their own, which they accord freely 
to the guest and boarder. 
I do not think it a whim, neither do I 
in any way blame the brother’s wife, be¬ 
cause she prefers their home to them¬ 
selves ; but if it is right to share it, she 
ought to make the best of it; and prove 
to all that “ There’s beauty all around, 
when there’s love at home.” No true 
woman will find her happiness less be¬ 
cause she has made a sacrifice to make 
another happy. Neither the wife nor 
sister can afford to be selfish in the mat¬ 
ter. A loving sister may make up in 
many ways any loss she may have caused 
them. If she has means, she will spend 
freely for the adornment and comfort of 
the home. If she has time and strength, 
she will often find opportunities to help. 
Even if she be but a helpless dependent, 
she may yet be a “ means of grace” to 
the brother and his wife. There are 
trials in every lot, and wives, sisters, 
brothers, all should send out the sun¬ 
light of love, and so make the home, as 
is right, a true type of heaven. 
Give, give, be always giving; 
Who gives not is not living; 
The more we give, the more we live. 
WILL’S SISTER. 
Circumstances and Dispositions Should 
Decide. 
“Circumstances alter cases,” and there 
are many things to be considered before 
such a question is finally decided. It is 
best for both parties to consider the ad¬ 
vantages and disadvantages of such a 
connection before making a trial. It is 
generally believed that young married 
people stand a better chance of securing 
and retaining happiness when they com¬ 
mence their married life and housekeep¬ 
ing free from all incumbrances and fam¬ 
ily duties. If they are not happy under 
such favorable circumstances, neither 
can say that it is owing to outside inter¬ 
ference. But there are “ duties and 
duties” ; and oftentimes the performing 
of certain filial duties and doing for 
others, bring more blessings and pleas¬ 
ure to the young people than selfish self- 
seeking does. 
A great deal depends on whether the 
sister lives with her married brother 
from choice or necessity. We seldom 
hear of a sister who is possessed of an 
independent fortune, being a burden to 
a brother, or an unwelcome inmate of 
his home ; or of a brother with ample 
means being unwilling to provide a home 
for a less fortunate sister. But where 
both are able to earn their own living, 
and a brother is dependent on his own 
exertions for his daily bread and the 
comfort of his family, there seems no 
need of his supporting the sister in idle¬ 
ness ; and a young wife is not altogether 
to blame if she feels, in a certain sense, 
aggrieved, and that there is no need of 
her being installed as a permanent in¬ 
mate of their home ; although there is 
not much danger that, in case of need 
or illness, she will refuse her sister-in- 
law’s offer of help, which is often freely 
given, saving the young couple a great 
deal of expense and worry about secur¬ 
ing outside help. There are even times 
when a sister proves a blessing, and 
when a young wife makes no objection 
to her taking the helm of housekeeping 
cares, and guiding the household ship 
through troubled waters. Husband and 
wife may realize that a friend or sister 
who is a sure refuge in case of storm, is 
entitled to a share of their sunshine, 
unless she choose to live free and inde¬ 
pendent, and is content to give rather 
than to receive. 
In these days of womanly independ¬ 
ence, many sisters who are unmarried, 
prefer their freedom rather than to be 
dependent on a brother’s bounty, no 
matter how willingly it is offered. There 
are many cases where a brother’s love 
and duty make the answer very plain ; 
when a sister is young and alone in the 
world, or unable to earn her own sup¬ 
port from any cause, although she may 
be able to make herself useful in his 
home. In case of illness, she should find 
a home with a brother, rather than with 
strangers; just as many brothers expect 
sisters’ care in case of need ; and if she 
appreciate his love and care, she will 
not prove a disturbing element to the 
happiness of his home, and he will have 
the satisfaction of feeling that he has 
done his duty. A sister. 
A HANDY KITCHEN TABLE. 
F IG. 175 shows a handy table for 
kitchen use, as it may be wheeled 
in any direction with ease. It may be 
filled with dishes from the diningroom 
table, wheeled to the kitchen sink, and 
then to the china closet, saving many 
steps. Such a table would be especially 
convenient in large families, or where 
A IIANDY KITCHEN TABLE. Fig. 175. 
boarders are kept, as the removal of 
dishes by hand in such cases is very 
laborious. It can easily be made in the 
home workshop. The casters should be 
the large wheeled kind that screw on 
with a plate. a. h. d. 
IS IT FAIR ? 
OU can be an agitator ,” says the 
poet in The R. N.-Y., “ if you 
cannot be anything else.” Here I come, 
therefore, to put in a plea for more space. 
Here we have had scarcely a page and a 
half all along, for the “ Woman and 
Home ” department, and now a generous 
portion of this allowance is to be given 
to the children ! I do not object to giv¬ 
ing the children an allowance, not at 
all ; th’s is a move in the right direction. 
The children should find something of 
interest to them in every number of The 
R. N.-Y. Not only should they find 
something of interest, but something in¬ 
structive as well. In a children’s depart¬ 
ment, great good may be rendered, by 
pointing out interesting things about 
which children may learn in their very 
dooryards ; in the woods, so conveniently 
near them ; in the running streams ; in 
short, with eye-openers given frequently, 
children will learn to appreciate what a 
wonderfully interesting place a farm is. 
How rich in resources ! 
If they could be told of some of the 
interesting things in natural history— 
things which they themselves can verify, 
what a new phase farm life would have 
added to it. Even the bare trees, in 
winter, make interesting studies. Look 
at the buds ; how much lies enfolded in 
these insignificant little bodies ! How 
much care has been expended upon them! 
You have no idea how interesting it is 
to study them, “ with a word from the 
wise ” to direct the study. 
Now, without taking any more time 
to discuss the desirability of a children’s 
department, I would like to say that 
this is one way of “ making farmers’ 
sons feel that their position is equal to 
that of men of other occupations, and 
also of rendering them capable of appre¬ 
ciating the advantages of farm life.” 
Now comes in the agitation ! “ Women 
make the homes ; homes make the na¬ 
tion 1 ” There are a great many farm 
homes where The R. N.-Y. is the only 
paper taken, aside from the couutv news¬ 
paper. Is it fair, then, to limit the 
women’s department to the meager space 
now given, while some eight pages are 
devoted to topics of interest to farmers ? 
Certainly some of these pages may be of 
interest to women ; but it is the excep¬ 
tion rather than the rule. The poultry 
notes are generally read, but the stock 
feeding and barn arrangements, etc., are 
ignored, perhaps, entirely, and so the 
men have “ more than their share.” I 
HP 
' IOUSEKEEPERS who are 
wise will not be persuaded 
into purchasing the unreliable 
,_ baking powders which some 
dealers wish to sell for the sake of 
the additional profit derived therefrom. 
Crudely mixed from low-grade, impure 
ingredients, such powders cost but half 
as much to make as the highly refined, 
absolutely pure Royal Baking Powder, 
although retailed at the same price. 
They are unwholesome and lacking in 
leavening strength. 
Royal Baking Powder gives the 
greatest value for its cost, and there is 
no other baking powder or preparation 
that will give such satisfaction, or make 
such pure, wholesome and delicious 
food, or which in practical use will be 
found so economical. 
ROYAL BAKU 
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., 106 WALL ST., NEW-YORK. 
