The Chicago Inter-Ocean, in condemn¬ 
ing the action of an equal suffrage asso¬ 
ciation, says : “ The right to vote is the 
highest right conferred upon humanity. 
It is conferred by reason of fitness—at 
any rate, this is the theory of politics.” 
The writer goes ahead with his argu¬ 
ment, basing it on the “ theory of poli¬ 
tics.” What is the use of trying to con¬ 
vince any one endowed with common 
sense, by an argument based on a theory 
which facts disprove ? Ordinary intelli¬ 
gence comprehends facts before it does 
theories. The clamor for suffrage comes 
because women object to the facts and 
conditions of life as they exist, rather 
than to woman’s sphere, as finely 
worded phrases delineate it. They are 
in vestigating the actual conditions of 
life, and do not find them at all like the 
picture that has been painted for their 
eyes. Are they bent on destroying the 
pretty theories of life ? By no means ; 
but they are determined that conditions 
shall be brought up to the standard of 
theories. 
* 
One of the New York papers chronicles 
the fact (?) that a young and stylishly 
dressed woman entered the smoking car 
of one of the surburban trains, and 
coolly asked one of the smokers for a 
light ! The paper calls her a “progress¬ 
ive female,” and a “new woman” and 
pictures the masculine occupants of the 
car as overcome at the awful sight of a 
woman smoking a cigai’ette. Women 
have been preachingandteachingagainst 
the use of tobacco for years, with but 
little success. Perhaps a little “holding 
the mirror up to Nature” will be more 
effective than any amount of scientific 
argument in proving that the tobacco 
habit is a bad one 
KITCHEN COMFORTS. 
THINGS WORTH MORE THAN THEY COST. 
ISHWASHING is about as irksome 
as any part of housekeeping to the 
most of womankind. Occasionally one 
may meet an intrepid soul who declares 
that she really likes to wash dishes ; 
and how we wish then that she lived 
“ at our house !” But much as most of 
us dislike the wrestle with dishpan and 
towel, it may be so materially lightened 
and brightened, that even we shall 
almost like it. Plenty of water and 
plenty of room, are the two grand things 
to have around just after dinner, and 
both may be had without serious trouble 
or expense. 
The liot-water difficulty which, in 
itself, is a powerful item for comfort or 
for discomfort, may be settled once for 
all at the cost of—well, $4.50, we will 
say. It cost just that sum to put upon 
my kitchen stove the nickel-plated cop¬ 
per tank that has since been my glory 
and delight, and bids fair to be a veri¬ 
table “joy forever.” It holds five or six 
gallons of water, and occupies but a 
modest little corner of the range. Think 
of it—six gallons of hot water! We have 
so often heard people and ourselves, too, 
say, when the dinner dishes were stacked 
up in disheartening piles, “Oh, dear ! I 
forgot to fill the kettle ; now there’s no 
water hot.” It’s a refrain as old as 
houses and housekeepers, 1 imagine, 
though our wise great-grandmothers 
may have had more foresight than we 
have. But the big, tall tank with its 
pretty, shining sides, and its blessed 
“insides,” will be our invaluable standby 
and friend, and the money put into it 
will bear regular, high-rate interest. 
We cannot afford not to have it, it seems 
to me. The question of plenty of dish¬ 
water being settled, then we need, also, 
room enough, and a good-sized shelf on 
either hand will settle that. The soiled 
dishes on one side and the clean ones on 
the other, with a draining rack between 
that will very nearly, if not quite, do 
away with the need for dish-towels—and 
we are ready for work. 
An Ideal Kitchen Sink. 
Another of my own comforts that vies 
with the water-tank for first honors, is 
a beautiful white, porcelain-lined sink. 
It is as ornamental as it is comfortable, 
and one of the most disagreeable of all 
duties—that of wiping out the sink and 
trying to keep it dry and rustless—is 
never necessary. And, then, there’s the 
pleasure of getting a drink of water at 
a glistening, white sink, that looks good 
enough to drink out of itself ! When it 
gets occasionally soiled, a drop or two 
of ammonia or a few pinches of common 
soda, will work easy wonders, with a 
small scrub-brush kept especially to as¬ 
sist them. Perhaps somebody is think¬ 
ing a porcelain sink an expensive com¬ 
fort, but it can hardly be so called, as 
the dollars that will buy it, can be 
counted off on one’s fingers—without 
using them all, either. 
In place of the usual dark, spidery, 
musty closet under the sink, that will be 
dark and damp in spite of us, I would 
suggest that there be no closet at all, 
but just an open space as easily swept as 
the rest of the floor, and as easily access¬ 
ible to the sunshine and air. [No re¬ 
cently built city houses have sink closets, 
“exposed plumbing” being one of the 
changes demanded by a proper regard 
for health.— Eds.] The pots and kettles 
can surely find a shelf in the pantry or, 
better still, in the wood-shed, if one can 
only fill their places with the agate-ware 
so common nowadays and so exceedingly 
satisfactory. Under one of the shelves 
by the sink, a row of drawers may be 
arranged that will delight housewifely 
eyes with their places for everything— 
the towels and soap and dish-cloths and 
all the other needfuls. So much for the 
sink and its accessories, and then comes 
the china closet. 
A Convenient China Closet. 
I have in mind a very efficient, perfect 
housekeeper who lives a few houses away 
from me, who, three times a day, travels 
through three rooms to put away her 
armfuls of dishes. Back and forth, 
through doors and over thresholds—a 
“ Sabbath day’s journey” morning, noon 
and night. It makes one tired to think 
of it, and of the years it has been going- 
on. If the china closet were close by the 
sink—its right-hand neighbor—with a 
door into it from the kitchen side as 
well as the diningroom one, then the 
dishes, drenched with hot water and 
thoroughly drained, would only have to 
be set upon the closet shelves, with 
scarcely a step taken at all. The shelves 
of such a closet extend through it, from 
side to side, as do also the wide, capacious 
drawers under them, which, having dou¬ 
ble “pulls,” draw out into either dining¬ 
room or kitchen. The clean dishes, set 
in at the kitchen door, are taken out on 
the diningroom side, when required to 
set the table for tea. If this desirable 
arrangement be quite out of the ques¬ 
tion, there might be, anyway, a little 
door or “slide” cut through between 
kitchen and diningroom, through which 
the dishes could be set, and by means of 
which many a jogging- trip roundabout 
and in and out, would be saved the bu.-y 
housekeeper. Do all these things “count”? 
Try and see whether they do not count 
by tens and hundreds instead of ones, 
twos, threes. 
A kitchen table is another essential 
feature of a kitchen, and its usefulness 
may be greatly enhanced by making the 
lower part of it into a real little cabinet 
with cupboards and drawers, and shelves 
galore. Get the family tool-owner to 
spend some rainy-day minutes in this 
good missionary work. It will require 
no great amount of real skill, and you 
yourself can furnish the plans, and give 
the advice, and hold the nails ! Spice- 
box, rolling-pin, soda, salt, mixing 
spoons and kitchen knives, and even a 
certain supply of flour, sugar and meal 
may be stowed away in this cabinet- 
table, and protected by a door or curtain. 
Under the kitchen stove, is a special 
dust-trap that must be swept very often 
at the expense of tired backs and arms. 
It is a space absolutely good for nothing 
but dust and scraps, unless we except 
the cat. A platform about nine or ten 
inches high, on which the stove, without 
its legs, can be squarely set, will not 
only obviate the sweeping out difficulty, 
but will raise the top of the stove to a 
height that will save much stooping and 
discomfort. The platform is built of 
hard wood, in the form of a hollow 
square. The corner posts do not quite 
reach the top of the sides, and upon 
them rests a sheet or platform of zinc. 
Four corner bricks rest in tui-n upon the 
zinc, projecting a bit above the wooden 
sides, and the stove sits directly upon 
the bricks. In this way, no possible 
risk of fire is incurred. One can hardly 
believe the comfort such an arrangement 
affords until one sees it, as I do, in her 
own kitchen, annie Hamilton donnell. 
THE SAME TRAINING FOR ROTH. 
HERE is a great deal of talk about 
the bringing up of boys and girls, 
says the New York Ledger. Some opin¬ 
ions seem to be in favor of an identical 
training for both; others appear to think 
that a boy is an absolutely distinct crea¬ 
tion, and must be trained on lines of his 
own. 
It is an indisputable fact and one 
perfectly demonstrated by thorough ex¬ 
periment, that boys and girls would be 
very much the same if they were brought 
up in the same way; but from the earliest 
moment of her understanding, the girl- 
baby is taught that she must be so quiet 
and “ such a little lady,” and must under 
no circumstances, indulge in the rude 
and boisterous sports that are permitted 
—indeed, encouraged—in her brother. 
Mothers of families who have given this 
thought serious attention, declare that 
girls are just as fond of romping, playing 
horse, turning somersaults and indulg¬ 
ing in rollicking sports, as their brothers, 
and that if left to grow unchecked, they 
will not only equal the boys in agility 
and feats of strength, but in their earlier 
years, frequently surpass them. They 
are almost always quicker, more deft 
with their hands, and are quite certain 
to come out equal, if not far ahead in 
their encounters. 
It is only when the boy begins to 
develop his manly strength, that the 
girl finds herself at a disadvantage, and 
even then, the balance in his favor is 
likely to be overcome by her superior 
quickness and dexterity. People who 
are always prating about the difference 
in the dispositions of boys and girls, 
make a great mistake, and one that has 
its unpleasant effect on the after-life of 
the youth and the man. 
It is said by many people, to be im¬ 
possible to keep a boy quiet. This is 
not at all remarkable when he hears 
from his infancy this sort of talk, and 
has it impressed upon him among his 
very first lessons that boys are naturally 
rollicking and rough, and that quiet and 
demureuess are not to be expected of 
them. There is no reason why a boy 
should not have just as good manners 
and be just as manageable as a girl, 
provided his early disposition has not 
been warped by such misleading con¬ 
versations. There are boys—not many, 
to be sure, but enough to make the 
statement good—who are as well-bred, 
quiet, orderly and gentlemanly as the 
most fastidious and partial friend of the 
family could desire. They are thus 
when it is necessary, and yet on occa¬ 
sions can be the embodiment of fun, 
mischief and boisterousness; but they 
have been taught that there is a time 
and place for everything. They have, 
in fact, been taught just what girls are 
taught; for no one who knows girls 
thoroughly, will deny that a number of 
these youngsters are capable of getting 
up a good-sized Indian war-dance on 
very short notice and with most telling 
effect; but they know when to do this 
and when to conduct themselves with 
propriety, and this is precisely what our 
boys should learn. It is so much easier 
to let a boy go his own pace than to 
train his irrepressible nature, that he is 
allowed to run wild. 
NOTES ON RECENT RURALS. 
HE Chief Cook may be sure of many 
supporters among farmhouse 
women, as to her views on Dr. Park- 
hurst, page 92, though Mollie Wiggins 
does not agree with her. Why is it not 
as important a matter for a “ house¬ 
mother” to understand the laws of the 
country by which she and her children 
are governed, and the fitness or unfitness 
of candidates for office, as for her “ to 
be up in all the ‘ fads,’ take her place in 
society, and entertain well ”? May not 
all her careful “ home training of her 
children in manners and morals” be 
counteracted by vicious laws, or by the 
non-enforcement of good laws by care¬ 
less or malicious office holders ? James 
Freeman Clarke said : “I leave it to 
others to speak of suffrage as a right or 
a privilege ; I speak of it as a duty. What 
right have you women to leave all this 
work of caring for the country with men? 
Is it not your country as well as theirs f 
Are not your children to live in it after 
you are gone ? And are you not bound 
to contribute whatever faculty God has 
given you, to make it, and keep it a pure, 
safe, and happy land ?” 
In a recent R. N.-Y., Carrie May Ash¬ 
ton, at the close of an excellent article 
on Health Preservers, asks : “Why not 
organize mothers’ clubs, and take up a 
course of reading, with lectures by some 
prominent woman physician or nurse ?” 
She may be glad to know that that 
bright idea is being carried out by the 
Heredity and Health Department of the 
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, 
and that it is proving very helpful, in¬ 
deed. The physicians employed as 
lecturers, however, are not confined to 
one sex. 
That list of “ Baby’s Rights,” given in 
The R. N.-Y. for June 29, ought to be 
posted up in the homes of all prospect¬ 
ive parents in the land. 
That chapter on “ Pockets for the 
pocketless sex” has more matter in it 
than the careless reader discerns. Be¬ 
sides the system acquired, the placid as¬ 
surance gained by the possessor of 
pockets, that he is ready for most daily 
emergencies, does much to obviate the 
nervousness and consequent irritability 
of which the weaker sex is accused. 
JANET MCKERWIN. 
MY BEST TEACHER. 
NE teacher stands out clearly and 
distinctly from among the others; 
one who did more to help me form help¬ 
ful habits than any other. Loving her 
work, she put her whole soul into it, 
and, while giving us a thorough knowl¬ 
edge of all' in the text books, she taught 
from the world around us. She taught us 
to think steadily, quickly, in a direct 
line, and to speak and write our thoughts. 
She made each lesson so interesting by 
showing just how it applied to every-day 
life, that she had no trouble in govern¬ 
ing her pupils. In arithmetic, she gave 
