326 
seemed to live In right angles, rectangles and 
squares. If they had a national emblem, which, 
by the way, I forgot to Inquire Into when I was 
In the country, it was doubtless made up of these 
geometrical figures, lor they were as exact and 
clearly denned In their modes of thought and 
hahlts of life as though they were laid out like 
their cities and farms, with compass and square. 
There was so much sameness In the appearance 
of the country over which we were passing, that, 
despite Its wondrous beauty, and the complete, 
prosperous, and contented aspect, which It pre¬ 
sented. we, after a time, grew weary of looking 
down upon It, and turned our eyes ror relief to 
the broad river and the distant mountains, both 
of which presented over-varying scenes to claim 
our attention. 
The river especially presented an Interesting 
sight because of the many boats which were ply¬ 
ing upon its waters. I was surprised to see them 
move along so rapidly with neither steam nor sail 
and, upon asking from what source they derived 
their propelling power. I was told that It was 
from that very powerful factor In the marvelous 
time and labor saving appliances of the country, 
Phlllego. Not only did It propel the boats, but it 
buoyed them up and thus by causing them to 
draw less water contributed to their speed. 
Many other alr-shlps In the progress of our jour¬ 
ney, especially near the cities were met by ua, or 
crossed our path, or sailed for a time by our side. 
One of these last belonged to the trans-con vlnental 
line, and was an Immense tiling, carrying over a 
hundred and fifty persons, it was really a fright¬ 
ful sight to me, so many persons suspended in the 
air, and moving through It with terrible speed un¬ 
der the direction of a single individual, by whose 
Ignorance or carelessness they might all at any 
moment be hurled headlong to the earth below. 
And yet the sight was really grand, such an im¬ 
mense thing floating along In majestic silence, 
which was broken only by the merry Jokes and 
laughter of the apparently thoughtless people 
whom It bore along. 
For more than halt an hour It sailed by our side 
within speaking distance. When It was known by 
the passengers of the llalyrlc—that was the name 
which we read on the great air bag of our fellow 
voyager—that we were from the city of Good-wili- 
to-men, there was a shout or Inquiry about the cu¬ 
rious stranger who had lately appeared In that 
city. How did he look? IIow was he dressed? 
Was he really a fossil of an age long passed, who 
by some strange process had been put to sleep, 
and now, after the lapse of centuries, had been 
restored to lire? And what sort of a creature 
must he be to belch forth smoke from iris stomach! 
These and a dozen other questions and exclama¬ 
tions on the same subjeot entertained me not a 
little, and were answered at my urgent request by 
Mr. Glinden, who was loth to play the deceptive 
part of concealing from our passing companions 
the fact that the very person concerning whom 
they were inquiring with bo much freedom was 
within sound or their voices. 
I would have made myselt known to them after 
the eonversallon was over, hut Mr. Glinden dis¬ 
suaded me from It. ne said that they would feel 
very much mortified if they knew that I had 
heard the remarks which they had made so freely 
about me, and his kindly regard for their feelings 
kept me down In my seat, out or sight. 
The Captain of the llalyrlc had slackened bis 
speed to keep by our side while we passed the 
time of day wit h each other ; he now again set bis 
propeller in motion and soon left us far behind. 
Within an hour the Ualyrlc had entirely faded 
from our view. 
To be continued. 
Jfor SHomctt. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS RAY CLARK. 
DESCRIPTION OP CUTS. 
FIG. 249.—EDGING : OBOCHET AND WAVED BRAID. 
For the edge : One double treble into the right- 
hand side of a wave of braid, three chain, one 
treble into the side ol point, three chain, one treble 
Into next side of point, three chain, one double 
treble luro the side of wave, one double Into next 
point. Repeat from the heglnnlug of ihe row. 
PIS. 249. 
2d Row: Six trebles under three chain, one 
double, three halt trebles, five trebles, two half 
trebles, one double under next, three chain, six 
trebles under next, three chain. Repeat. 
For the heading—1st Row: One double Into two 
points of braid togei her (see design), fifteen chain. 
Repeat from the beginning. 
2d Row: One treble separated by one chain Into 
each alternate stitch of last row. 
FIG. 250.—LINEN COLLAR. 
The collar Is of linen, edged with pointed tabs, 
under which kilted lace la placed; blue silk cravat 
bow. 
(In issue of Feb. 19th will be found the remarks 
referred to below. This insertion has been una¬ 
voidably delayed.] 
INCREDULITY. 
I am sorry to have stirred up A nine Ray's unbe¬ 
lief In my "Female Farming Extraordinary,”! ' 
the extent of being called upon to “ explain imme¬ 
diately.” 
I will say, although 1 am not actually fishing 
for gudgeons, I should have felt somewhat disap¬ 
pointed without a nibble. Whoever the gentle¬ 
men (Ell Twain and Mark Perkins) may be, I claim 
THE 
l'3EW-Y0f?&ER. 
MAY 14 
no relationship with them whatever, hut am of an 
entirely different family. Having been in this 
State for thirty years, I am what may be called an 
original jayhawker, with none of the marvelous or 
romantic In my nature. 
1 now turn this matter, with Its many Inquiries, 
over to the author of the work, who can rise and 
explain. w. f., jr. 
FEMALE FARMING EXTRAORDINARY 
EXPLAINED. 
It pains me to find myself the object of ridicule 
FIG. 250. 
and derision in tbe columns of the highly prized 
and, with us, long loved Rurai.. 
My husband is somewhat given to a weakness 
with his pen. and last June, when he was taking 
the census In our district, he was a little surprised 
to find, even In our far western country, the fe¬ 
male portion of the population In the majority,and 
naturally thinking of a means of support for them 
—the office of teaching being already filled to 
overflowing-he at last bethought him of our 
broad, level prairies, and, presto! why not turn 
their attention to agriculture? With the im¬ 
proved farm machinery now In use, each imple¬ 
ment being provided with a nice spring-seat for 
riding, any lady can perform the work—that was 
once a dreary round of eDdlesstoll and drudgery— 
with both pleasure and profit, we, not being 
blessed (?) with a house full or boys to do the farm 
work. I have Improved my spare time during t he 
last few years assisting on the farm with very 
flattering success, and have not grown "gaunt 
and bony,” but wetgU t wenty-five pounds more 
than when 1 commenced. To prove the feast bill ty 
of his plan, and not through any spirit of bragga¬ 
docio, he Innocently cited our experience. AlUne 
Kay rays she "can’t believe It." Now, as this 
work which my husband speaks of was actually 
FIG. 251.—MONOGRAM IN CROSS AND STRAIT STITCH. 
and fairly done by myself and daughter. I feel It 
necessary In justice to ourselves to confirm my 
husband’s statement, 
" l have thought of that house, wondered how 
many beds there were to make, and If the extra- 
ordinary (what an ugly word Mrs. Alllne, it gives 
me the shivers just to look at it) female did them; 
If she got the breakfast,, what was cooked lor din¬ 
ner? etc, etc..” are the words of Alllne. 
As there are bur three In our family, and we are 
living together on the very best of terms. It fol¬ 
lows that there are hut two beds used, consequent¬ 
ly but two to make. The breakfast Is prepared 
and the house put In order by myself and little 
daughter, and by eight, or n»e o’clock at farthest 
everything la completed and we have untU half- 
past eleven for out door employment. We usually 
remain at the house two hours and a half at noon, 
and for dinner, as we are tea-dilnkers, we have 
tea. warm biscuit, either cold or warm meat, veg¬ 
etables and fruits In their season, butter, honey 
and generally some easily prepared dessert. So 
you see we don’t starve. For supper, we have 
only tea, toast, sauce and honey, or something 
that la easily prepared. 
Our faintly being small we wash and Iron on the 
same. day. The sewing la all done in the Winter 
or early spring—I have a horror of Bewlng In 
warm weather. 
Now, as l have explained explicitly how our 
housework Is done, I will do likewise with the 
out- door work. But first, tuat little girl was four¬ 
teen years old at the time the work was done, and 
was in rather delicate health, so much so that we 
seriously thought ol sending her to the mountains, 
but, thanks to her out-door exercise, she enters 
her fltteentn year rosy and blooming. Really, I 
don’t know how to explain about the farm work! 
11 Mrs. Alllne is of Borne far Eastern town, as Dr. 
A. E. S suggests in his reply to " Old Maids,” page 
90 ol the Rural, possibly the farming there Is 
carried on In so diminutive a way that a two-acre 
corn-field or a three-acre wheat-field—what we 
would call out here a mere " truck-patch ’’—la con¬ 
sidered a farm. 11 auoh Is really the fact, what 
must she think of our Kansas farming?—wheat- 
fields that run all the way from forty up into the 
thousands of acres, and corn In a like proportion. 
I will try to explain, as briefly as possible to her 
comprehension, how our work was done. 
The ground was broken with two 16-lnch riding 
plows, one follow lng the other, each plow drawn 
by three quick-stepping horses, managed by my 
little daughter and myself. The harrowing was 
done by the same three-horse teams; on the back 
of each "near ” horse a side-saddle was placed for 
our accommodation. 
Alllne says she has been over all those G5 acres 
or corn. Well, so have I, three times. It was 
“ ’tended ” with a ridlDg cultivator that has a wide 
spring seat and was drawn by two lively thorough¬ 
bred horses that never required speaking to. This 
part of the work I have always considered a real 
pleasure, and, Mrs. Ray, if you will pay otir part 
of the country a visit next June—we will say when 
the corn is about up to the girths of the horses—I 
should like to persuade you to share my 
seat for one " round ” behind the horses, 
and it you are not fascinated by the exhil¬ 
arating motion and the fragrant, perfume of 
the Bhtmmerlng green sea of corn, then I 
am mistaken. 
One more question—"that dirty work 
on the farm.” Well, it consisted In water¬ 
ing, feeding, grooming and harnessing all 
those horses, milking those lrt cows, chop¬ 
ping wood, and grubbing and breaking 25 
acres of sumac ground. 
On page 59 of the Rural I find an article 
that completely throws my farming in the 
shade and shows what an enterprising woman 
can do. A lady of New York inherited a 
large farmlDg property, heavily mortgaged, 
and had at the time five helpless people de¬ 
pendent on her. In fourteen years, that have 
since elapsed, she has taught school, man¬ 
aged the farm, going Into the field herself out of 
school hours, paid off the mortgage, and become 
an extensive stock raiser. I have done nothing 
of this kind—paid off do mortgage, nor had any 
helpless ones dependent upon me—but l have 
helped to pay for so acres of land that we added to 
our little farm last year. 
As the statement was doubted, 1 have been forced 
to enter Into a somewhat lengthy detail, but I rely 
upon the forbearance of editor and people. 
Mrs. L. F., Jb. 
-»—■ 4 - 
APRONS. 
A crons and aprons, big ones, little ones, light 
ones and dark ones; every woman and every child 
should possess a good supply of these. I will go 
farther and say, can possess them If they will. 
But, says Mrs. Poverty, 1 should like aprons, but 
we have so much to buy that Is necessary there Is 
never anything left for them. 
Yes, says Mrs. Showy, aprons are real nice, hut 
1 have so much to do that is necessary I cannot 
find time to make aprons even for the children. 
And so Mrs, Poverty goes on In her penny-wise 
way, wearing out her dresses with washing, or, 
worse yet, wearing them so d :ty that they are 
disgusting. Mrs. showy sits down to make lace 
bibs for her little girls, in a cambric wrapper that 
Is so soiled you can scarcely distinguish the fig¬ 
ures on It. These bibs are necessary, you know, 
and so are the ruffles and pipings and folds that 
adorn all the clothing of mother and children in 
the Showy household. You and I know plenty like 
Mrs. P. and Mrs. S Maybe some of them read the 
Rural; if so, n ay they repent of their ways and 
go to making aprons. 
Mrs. Poverty, when you get a new calico dress, 
omit the over-skirt and have two aprons; this will 
give you a start, then take the back breadths of 
your old dresses and make some more. You need 
not put much work on the making, and they will 
pay you. Why, before you know It you will have 
a good supply of these real necessary articles. 
Mrs. S. has only to have some of her clothing 
made up plainly and time will be found to enable 
her to Lave the means ol cleanliness tn the shape 
of aprons. 
What a comfort a drawer full of kitchen aprons 
is; with these at hand one la always ready for any 
unexpected call to work. 
Pretty white aprons for mother’s and the girls’s 
afternoon dress up, are both useful and ornamen¬ 
tal. They need not be expensive or fussy, but If 
clean will give an air of refinement to their wear¬ 
ers, no matter how plainly the dresses may be. 
Every one with common sense must see the neces- 
slty of aprons for children, and I woDt waste 
words on the subject, but will suggest that It 
might be well for every farmer (man) to have at 
least one big butcher apron to wear on occasions 
when extra dirty work Is to be done. I do It, how- 
FIG. 252.—BOUQUET FOR THE HAIR. 
ever, with fear and trembling, knowing men are 
not fond of “ apron strings.” Milly Bird. 
-- 
HOW TO MAKE A DOLL’S HOUSE. 
I would like to tell mothers, sisters, and other 
friends of the little girls how to make a doll’s 
house that will coBt only a little time and patience 
and give as much pleasure to all concerned as one 
that. Is much more costly. 
Perhaps I can tell better " how to do it ” by de- 
scribing how one was once made for a little fi lend. 
A large, strong pasteboard box wasthe empty, un¬ 
furnished house. It was opened at the side. A gay 
pattern for Berlin wool-work, cut out of a fashion 
magazine, was pasted on the bottom for a carpet. 
Some small pictures from papers, framed In strips 
of bright paper were hung, or, fnr safety, perhaps 
pasted on the walls. The furniture, a sofa, bed¬ 
stead and table, was made of stiff box-board; the 
different parts cut out with sharp shears, and 
securely joined with needle and thread, then cov¬ 
ered with paper of a light color, and finished at the 
edges with strips of blue paper. The back of the 
sofa and the headboard ot tbe bedstead were 
adorned with tiny, bright pictures. TO make 
the table, a round piece of box board was attached 
to each end of a spool, aud t he whole was covered 
with blue cloth, a piece ot ribbon lied just around 
. the middle or the spool gave It an hour-glass 
shape. The bed was furnished with matresses 
and sheets, a little quilt made of tiny patchwork 
pieces, asd pillows in little cases trimmed with 
edging. « 
A new doll to inhabit this small house was also 
manufactured, a real rag doll, with an attempt at 
shape that gave her a very round face and a sem¬ 
blance o’ neck and shoulders. Eyes, nose and 
mouth were added with a lead pencil. A " lock ” 
from and old mohair switch furnished her head 
with hair which was braided and tied with a 
narrow ribbon. Then a neat blue dress, trimmed 
with white made her very presentable. 
TIO. 253.—MONOGRAM IN SATIN STITCH. 
This Inexpensive doll’s house gave pleasure, 
though In different ways, both to the little own¬ 
ers and to tUe grown-up designer. 
The finishing and furnishing of such a doll's 
house may be plain or elaborate, or as the ma¬ 
terials at hand permit. A light wooden box may 
be used, If pasteboard Is not considered strong 
enough. Remnants of wall paper can be used to 
cover the floor and walla or a piece of cretonne 
would make a carpet. It a window Is wanted the 
outline may be drawn on paper with a lead pencil 
and pasted In Its place; curtain and cornice can be 
made out of a scrap of muslin and a bit, of gilt 
paper. The furniture may be designed after any 
easy pattern, and covered either with paper, or 
with remnants of a bright colored dress. In al¬ 
most every house in the land there are little 
chromo cards that will he “ Just the thing ” to 
hang on the walls, and tiny scrap pictures may be 
used to decorate tbe furniture, it will not be dif¬ 
ficult to design an ornamental roof, If such an 
addition Is desired. 
If any reader of the Rural determines to make 
a house on this plan, she will find pleasant recre¬ 
ation m the work and may give untold pleasure to 
some little girl whose dolls have no home to call 
their own. If you have any taste, real or fancied 
for artistic furnishing and decorating it may be 
exercised ad libitum. Marigold. 
-♦♦♦—-. 
AMERICAN CARPETS. 
If any one should be so much behind the times 
as to suppose that under the head of » American 
Carpets” something patronizing and eucouraglng 
Is to be said of a new American Industry, let him 
disabuse himself ot this prejudice. The manu- 
I’lG. 264.—DESIGN FOR BORDER EMBROIDERY. 
facture of American carpets has passed that 
stage where It stood in need of kind and conde¬ 
scending words. It now challenges rivalry, not 
merely in those simpler and less expensive carpet¬ 
ings that have been chiefly In demand in this 
country, but with all the finer products ol' the 
European looms. As we have said, the American 
manufacturers have now carried their products 
to so high a degree of perfection that they are 
willing to place them In open com petit ten and 
comparison with the best European work. This 
is especially true ot Messrs. J. & J. nob 3 ori, 40 and 
42 West Fourteenth street., the leading carpet 
manufacturers of this country. The extent of 
their business may be gathered from the ract that 
their works on the Sohuy kill River employed two 
years ago more than two thousand hands. Since 
that time the rapid Increase of the demand for 
their fabrics has compelled them to enlarge their 
works, add new looms, and engage a larger force 
of sk Hied weavers and dyers. 
Their house in this city, where the products of 
their looms are placed on sale, Is one of the places 
visited not only by throngs of buyers but by tbe 
inquisitive stranger who is interested in the pro¬ 
gress of American Industries. It Is well worth 
visiting. The fabrics here displayed are of a rich 
and substantial quality. Let tbe visitor compare 
the axrnlnstere and moquettes, the wiltons and 
bruss-ela and the tapeBtry carpets with the foreign 
carpets of the same kinds, in the quality of the 
material, the thoroughness of the texture, the 
beauty and richness of ihe dyes, and the artistic 
character of the designs he will find no Inferiority. 
But in one respect he will find an Inferiority, espe¬ 
cially this Bpring— an Inferiority of price. 
Mr. John Van Gaasbeek, the manager of 
