1015 
C/jc  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
thin  Summer  dresses,  and  are  very  pret¬ 
ty,  suggesting  an  old-time  pelerine. 
These  scarfs  are  shown  in  a  variety  of 
colors,  both  light,  and  dark.  Silk  gloves 
embroidered  to  match  colored  gowns  are 
introduced  as  a  new  fancy;  white  gloves 
stitched  in  pink,  different  shades  of  blue, 
orchid,  mode,  gray  or  brown.  These  in 
tricot  silk  are  50  cents.  Blouses  of 
black  lace  are  seen  among  new  styles. 
Seaside  parasols  are  made  of  sateen, 
copying  colors  and  patterns  of  the  more 
expensive  styles;  they  cost  $1,  and  are 
a  saving,  for  sea  breezes  are  very  hard 
on  a  good  parasol.  Surf  cloth  is  a  heavy 
lustrous  satin-like  cotton  material  made 
for  bathing  suits:  we  have  only  seen  it 
in  black  so  far,  Jt  is  32  inches  wide, 
44  cents  a  yard.  Venetian  satin  is  an¬ 
other  material  for  bathing  suits. 
For  Tott-xo  Wearers.-  -Coats  of  nat¬ 
ural  linen  with  white  linen  collar  and 
cuffs  are  offered  for  children’s  wear;  they 
are  perfectly  plain,  but  out  so  that  they 
flare  out  from  the  waist.  These  are 
much  smarter  than  white  pique,  and  will 
reproduced  here  shows  any  particular 
art.  It  is  from  the  Evening  Telegram ■  of 
New  York  and  shows  that  even  in  this 
crude  and  flippant  way  the  city  people 
are  interested  in  spelling  contests-  Most 
of  our  readers  now  know  that  during  the 
State  Fair  at  Syracuse  there  will  be  a 
prize  contest  between  county  champions. 
There  will  first  be  local  contests  to  select 
the  host  speller  in  the  county — then  these 
champions  will  have  it.  out.  at  Syracuse. 
This  is  one  of  the  best  features  yet 
started  at  the  fair,  and  country  people 
should  do  their  best  to  help  make  it  a 
full  success.  Let  us  all  crowd  the  build¬ 
ing  where  this  contest  is  held,  and  thus 
show  that  we  stand  for  this  useful  fea¬ 
ture.  Some  of  the  counties  have  al¬ 
ready  selected  their  champions.  Thus 
Miss  Irene  Lucid  will  represent  Onou- 
daga  County,  while  Charles  Stearns  will 
spell  for  Madison  County.  These  county 
spelling  contests  have  been  going  ou  for 
five  years  now,  and  have  started  a  great 
local  interest  in  spelling.  Prof.  Daniel 
Keating,  Superintendent  of  Schools  at 
Oneida,  sends  us  a  list  of  words  used  in 
the  preparatory  contests.  They  are  se¬ 
lected  by  a  competent  committee  from 
any  available  source.  Scientific,  techni¬ 
cal,  or  purely  test  words  or  proper  names 
are  barred.  There  will  be  no  such  trouble 
as  befell  the  boy  Lincoln  tells  about,  who 
had  to  spell  the  names  of  the  three  men 
who  went  through  the  fiery  furnace!  The 
words  will  he  such  as  a  man  or  woman 
of  fair  thought  and  reading  will  have  to 
use  in  study  and  correspondence.  In  the 
contest  between  Madison  and  Onondaga 
Counties  such  words  us  censored,  corre¬ 
lation,  maritime  and  belligerent  shot 
down  muny  of  the  spellers.  That  con¬ 
test  was  Avon  by  Madison  County,  but 
the  “spell  down”  was  wpn  by  Miss  Arline 
O’Brien  of  Onondaga.  In  this  contest 
each  speller  had  100  Avritten  words  and 
10  ordl  words.  This  is  a  good  division, 
for  the  chief  use  of  correct  spelling  comes 
when  we  “take  pen  in  hand.”  You  will 
remember  the  description  of  the  spelling 
school  in  “The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster.” 
The  prize  speller  of  “Wolf  Crick  Dee- 
he  found  very  desirable  to  slip  over  the 
thin  little  white  frocks  worn  by  children 
of  two  to  six  years.  The  white  lineu 
collar^  and  cuffs  are  hemstitched,  and  the 
coat  is  usually  fastened  by  about  three 
large  pearl  buttons.  Any  plain  pattern 
for  a  child's  coat  may  be  used  to  make 
one ;  readymade  they  were  seen  for 
$7.50.  Middy  blouses  for  young  girls 
are  made  of  tub  silk,  with  silk  lacings 
and  embroidered  stars  in  the  corner  of 
the  collars.  Girls’  pajamas  are  offered 
especially  for  camping  wear  or  sleeping 
outdoors;  they  are  made  of  crinkled  cot¬ 
ton  crape  or  soisette.  Among  ready¬ 
made  garments  for  camping  girls  are  full 
blue  serge  pleated  bloomers  at  $3.95, 
sizes  10  to  IS  years;  white  sateen  blnom- 
ers  $1.75;  white  cotton  crape  bloomers 
50  cents.  Sports  sashes  of  faille  or  satin 
in  awning  stripes  are  gathered  at  the 
ends  and  finished  with  a  long  tassel ;  they 
are  folded  twice  around  the  wai.st.  anil 
then  knotted  at  one  side,  being  intended 
for  wear  with  sports  blouses  of  thin 
material. 
strict”  seemed  to  spell  mechanically — 
Avith  his  nose — with  a  pen  or  pencil  he 
would  fail.  Yet  it  is  when  avc  put  the 
letters  on  paper  that  Ave  gain  our  repu¬ 
tation.  By  all  means  let  us  boom  the 
spelling  contest. 
School  Teachers;  Cooking;  Grange 
Many  months  have  elapsed  since  I  last 
visited  the  “Woman  and  Home"  depart¬ 
ment,  though  I  eagerly  look  for  it  each 
time.  The  Avriter  is  the  New  England 
farmer’s  wife  who  asked  for  suggestions 
about  meat,  for  Summer  boarders,  and  the 
same  person  is  “the  bookAvorm  in  the 
kitchen.”  I  would  like  to  thank  those 
who  sent:  such  useful  suggestions,  and  if  I 
had  more  fully  stated  my  situation,  they 
would  have  been  even  more  useful  to  me, 
for,  unlike  most  Ngav  England  farmers, 
we  do  not  butcher  either  beef  or  pork,  as 
our  family  is  small,  and  not  great  meat- 
consumers,  so  we  have  to  buy  all  meat, 
even  salt  pork,  except  our  farm  poultry. 
Some  of  our  boarders  came  the  last  of 
.Tune,  and  the  last  departed  the  first  week 
in  November,  so  the  “Heart  of  the  Green 
Mountains”  seems  to  be  attractive,  to 
some,  at  least.  This  is  not  a  “high-toned" 
Summer  resort;  hut  an  ideal  resting- 
place  lor  tired  people  who  appreciate  the 
quiet  beauty  of  Vermont’s  green  hills. 
Iteally  our  worst  disadvantage  is  the  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  large  cities;  as,  of  course, 
(he  really  wealthy  never  come  to  this 
modest  place,  so  carfare  is  an  “item”  to 
those  Avhose  purses  '“fit”  us.  There  are 
several  families  in  town  who  cater  to  the 
Summer  people,  all  farmhouses- — the  high¬ 
est  price,  I  think,  being  $10  per  week. 
Something  on  page  293  causes  me  to 
suggest  that  if  a  group  of  friends,  wish¬ 
ing  Un  outing,  like  those  mentioned, 
should  wish  to  occupy  one  room,  it  might 
be  possible  to  arrange  with  some  of  those 
keeping  boarders,  to  do  light  work  for 
part  payment  of  board,  somewhat  reduc¬ 
ing  expenses,  but  I  do  not  know  of  any¬ 
one  who  would  want  the  bother  of  any 
one  doing  cooking,  etc.,  for  themselves. 
If  they  enjoy  camping,  they  could  get  a 
cheap  or  free  site  for  tent,  in  many 
places,  if  they  furnished  their  own  tent, 
cot  and  oil  stove. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  of  interest  to  some 
to  know  what  my  hoarders  like,  as  they 
show  by  actions,  and  by  their  return,  year 
after  year.  For  Sunday  we  practically 
always  have  “chicken  dinner,"  in  some 
1’orin,  which  is  really  Spring  chicken  os 
soon  as  mature  enough.  Most  often  I 
have  fricassee,  but  vary  it  with  stuffed, 
roasted  chicken,  split  baked  Spring  chick¬ 
en,  and  chicken-pie. 
A  favorite  supper  dish  is  fried  bread — 
called  by  one  lady  “Baptist  toast”  (be¬ 
cause  it  is  dipped),  which  is  stale  bread 
dipped  in  beaten' egg,  milk  and  salt,  and 
browned.  Vermont  maple  syrup  or  new 
apple  sauce  “goes”  well  Avith  this.  Two 
other  supper  dishes  in  high  favor  are,  on 
cool  nights,  especially,  tomato  bisque  and 
sweet  corn  chowder.  Salt  codfish  chow- 
der,  according  to  my  boarders,  seems  to 
he  a  dish  peculiar  to  Vermont,  and  they 
like  it. — yes,  they  do-,  with  half  cream,  in¬ 
stead  of  blue  milk. 
Once,  in  our  Grange,  there  Avas  a  dis¬ 
cussion  on  former  teachers  being  good 
cooks.  What  do  you  think  about  it,  sis¬ 
ters?  I  maintain  that  if  not  good  cooks 
it  Avas  not  their  superior  education  which 
spoiled  their  cooking,  because  factory- 
workers,  etc.,  are  notoriously  poor  house¬ 
wives,  but  not  because  superior  education 
spoiled  the  cook  in  the  making.  I  think 
an  “A  No.  1”  cook,  is  born,  not  made, 
lv.it  experience  and  care  will  produce  a 
fair  substitute. 
I  lmve  sometimes  seen  mentioned  the 
subject  of  vulgarity  in  schools.  In  which 
is  it  worse,  rural  or  city  schools?  My 
experience,  as  teacher  and  pupil,  has 
mostly  been  in  the  rural  schools,  bnt  a 
short  time  spent  as  pupil  in  city  school 
rather  confirms  me  in  the  belief  that  an 
immoral  boy  or  girl  has  a  greater  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  country,  as  there  are  not  so 
many  offsetting  al  tractions  as  in  the  city. 
I  do  not  suppose  ho  remembers  me,  but 
I  am  especially  interested  in  the  articles 
by  the  “Pastoral  Parson,”  as  lie  is  a  for¬ 
mer  teacher  of  mine.  Tie  certainly  had  a 
tough  proposition  in  the  upper  of  the  two- 
room  village  school,  which  I  attended. 
He  greatly  influenced  me  to  attend  the 
normal  school,  of  which  he  Avas  a  gradu¬ 
ate,  and  whose  principles  he  faithfully 
tried  to  carry  out,  but  was  opposed  in 
nearly  every  innovation  by  a  large  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  well-grown  boys  and  girls. 
I  looked  eagerly  for  his  picture,  published 
not  long  since,  but  could  see  scarcely  a 
familiar  feature,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 
Some  time  ago  some  one  Avrote  of  trouble 
with  mantle  lamps.  All  troubles  I  ever 
had  with  my  mantle  lamp,  owned  for 
more  than  two  years,  I  have  found  re¬ 
sulted  from  lack  of  care.  It  must  be  kept 
especially  clean.  Generator  must  be 
boiled  in  soapy  soda  water  every  week  or 
two,  besides  being  cleaned  every  day.  Rim 
around  Aviek  scraped  bright  and  Aviclc 
Aviped  off  evenly  every  day.  Then  every¬ 
thing  will  be  satisfactory,  if  always  re¬ 
membering  it  must  he  watched  a  few  min¬ 
utes  after  lighting,  as  it  “crawls”  too  high 
after  a  little.  , 
Now  I  would  like  some  help  on  these 
questions,  practical,  not  theoretical  : 
TIow  to  keep  polished  top  of  range  from 
rusting?  Best,  results  so  far  from  top  of 
greasy  dish-water — do  not  Avish  to  black 
it. 
Another  problem.  Last  Fall  a  skunk 
took  up  his  abode  under  part  of  our  house 
— no  cellar — not  troublesome  now,  but 
want  it  to  remove  later.  "  ITow  can 
it  best  be  done  with  least  offense?  Do 
not  want  it  to  die  under  there,  nor  in¬ 
jure  lions  nor  cats.  a. 
Vermont. 
A  Cooky  Drawer 
Having  hit  upon  such  au  excellent 
place  for  keeping  drop  cookies  (or  any 
others)  I  thought  perhaps  someone  else 
might  welcome  the  idea.  It  is  a  shallow 
box,  three  inches  deep,  throe  feet  long, 
and  as  wide  as  the  pantry  shelves.  It  is 
hung  so  as  to  pull  out  like  a  drawer, 
close  up  under  the  lowest  pantry  shelf.  I 
made  it  from  a  smooth,  wooden  grocery 
box  and  painted  it  inside  and  out  with 
Avhite  enamel  paint.  The  cookies  can 
all  be  laid  flat  on  sheets  of  waxed  paper 
in  the  bottom.  As  the  drawer  is  entirely 
concealed  by  the  shelf  paper  it  would  be 
a  good  idea  Avherc  it  is  thought  neces¬ 
sary  to  conceal  cookies  from  the  small 
members  of  the  household.  w.  e.  k. 
Spelling  Contests  at  the  State  Fair 
No  one  will  pretend  that  the  picture 
Reproduced  from  N.  Y.  Evening  Telegram 
Kitchen  Comfort! 
fires  to  build,  no  ashes  to  empty. 
Dinner  in  a  jiffy  the  New  Perfection  is 
as  quick  and  convenient  as  a  gas  stove. 
glass  reservoir— easily  lifted  out 
filled  without  soiling  the  hands. 
and 
SAFEST 
&  BEST 
Look  for  the  long  blue  chimney 
and  the  triangle  trademark. 
It’s  the  long  blue  chimney  burner 
that  makes  the  New  Perfection 
so  durable  and  dependable,  it 
cuts  half  the  drudgery  out  of  hot 
weather  housekeeping. 
1916  model  New  Perfections 
have  the  patented  reversible 
glass  reservoir,  and  many  other 
improvements.  Some  with  built- 
in  heat-retaining  ovens. 
Write  for  booklet.  Also  tells  all 
about  the  New  Perfection  Kero¬ 
sene  Water  Heater — hot  water 
whenever  you  want  it  (for  dish 
washing,  laundry  and  bath.) 
STANDARD  OIL  CO.  of  N.  Y. 
Principal  Offices 
New  York,  Buffalo,  Albany,  Boston 
of  six -less  than  the  cost  of  keeping 
coal  range. 
PER 
BOOKS  WORTH  READING 
Landscape  Gardening,  Parsons . 2.00 
Larva  Mating,  Marrou .  1.10 
Eertiliiors  and  Props,  Van  Slyfce.  . . .  2,50 
Weeds  of  l  arm  ami  Garden.  Pummel  1.50 
Look  of  Wheat.  Douilllnger .  2,00 
Kiu'cessful  Fruit  Culture,  MayUard.,  1,00 
Irrigation  and  Drainage,  King...,  1,50 
Study  of  Corn,  SUoesmlth . 50 
5’be  Soil.  King..,., .  150 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
833  W.  30th  St.,  New  York  City 
