stipulated sum, but decided that he had under 
charged on the start to secure the trip, trust¬ 
ing to the weakness of “ gullable ” women for 
getting the rest at the journey’s end. So we 
compromised and said farewell. 
The next morning we took the stage at an 
early hour, and rode through Stony Clove— 
well named, for it was the roughest of roads. 
Through the Clove it was quite chilly, and ice 
lay in the crevices of the rocks. I braced my¬ 
self at first, trying to keep somewhere, but 
finally lot go, and went through a series of 
gymnastics that exercised every mus le in my 
body. We arrived in Phcenecia just in time 
for the train to Rondout, where our ways sep¬ 
arated. 
It was our first Sunday in the Catskills that 
we heard of the assassination of the President. 
The news did not reach us out there on the 
farm till the Sunday morning, and then we 
heard that he was dead. Wo went to church 
in the little school-house in the afternoon, and 
the itinerant preacher spoke of the terrible 
event, giving us our first reliable news. 
I have looked in on several friends on my 
roundabout way back, have enjoyed the re¬ 
newal of former acquaintances, and met 
many now friends that 1 shall not soon forgot. 
Everywhere, too, I have found the national 
soitow, and heard the new burden of prayer 
from the family altar. And to-day, as I write, 
there is still only a hope left. 
The Summer is ended, and beautiful Sep¬ 
tember is here. When we went away, the 
fields were white with daisies, and the moun¬ 
tain sides were flushed with the delicate waxy 
flowers of the laurel, and sweet wild roses 
blossomed everywhere. Fresh for the year's 
work, with a grateful remembrance of a lovely 
Summer, I came back last week through wil¬ 
dernesses of golden rod, purple asters, and the 
dark, rich, crimson sumach. 
Sept. 19, 1881. 
SPLENDID GIRLS. 
If young ladies who indulge in handkerchief 
flirtation, or any other flirtations, could know 
how lightly their names are bandied about 
among the very young men who laugh and 
flirt with them, their cheeks would be dyed 
with crimson. 
I have yet to see an older brother, who was 
not serene in his reproval of such deportment 
in the sister he loved, and whose fair name 
he wished to have held in high esteem. 
Modesty is the only current coin of our sex. 
No matter how much the customs of the age 
may seem to condone the opposite style. 
In averting one extreme it is not necessary 
to be dull and stupid and prudent, and gener¬ 
ally uninteresting. I know girls who are 
very queens in society, standing as high in 
the esteem of the young men, above the flirta¬ 
tion girls, os Mont Blanc is above the vale 
of Chamouni. ‘ ‘ Splendid girls ” is the univer¬ 
sal verdict, but they would as soon think of 
flirting with a star. It is a grand thing to 
stand star-high in the estimation of society, 
and not be counted as a marsh will-o-the-wisp 
These fine girls are generally well dressed 
even to daintiness, though their dresses may 
not be costly. Their gloves are as fresh as 
new laid eggs if only four buttoned thread 
ones, and their shoes always look new, al¬ 
though they may have been a year iu service. 
They have the little tricks of elegance w hich 
so enhance any toilet; the sprig of geranium 
leaves and blossoms nestling in the lace at 
throat, the dash of crimson ribbon on the quiet 
colored dress, the pretty wave or curl or friz 
in the hair, all giving a u light of hand ” look 
to the appearance. 
But the “ splendid girl” knows something. 
She can talk sense with the boys, and give 
them confidentially, good advice on topics 
about w r hieh they consult her. She can take 
up the conversation when it turns on politics 
even, and is thoroughly posted on the events 
of the day. She is likely to have her pre¬ 
judices and preferences in opinion, but she is 
a lady, and never brings them forward offen¬ 
sively. The flirtation girl looks on with 
sheer envy, and some bitterness, when she 
sees how she is sought after by the finest 
men in the room and how easy it is for her 
to carry on a spirited conversation. 
But after all it is the thorough goodness 
of her heart that is the chief charm of the 
girl. She is ever ready to do a kind act to 
any one, and she has calls enough on her 
time and talent, and she likes it, and never 
complains. It is worth some effort to attain 
to such a standing in any community. 
J. E. MCC. 
-- 
FASHIONS. 
It will certainly bo hailed with satisfaction 
by ladies who have been bewailing the extrav¬ 
agance of fashion, that dresses appear likely 
to be made up a great deal more plainly than 
/ they have been for many seasons past during 
the coming Autumn and Winter. 
The reason of this is, obviously, the return 
to handsome fabrics, such as brocades, satins, 
and more especially the particular kind of 
watered silk known as French nioird. This last 
has been given up so long that it is almost un¬ 
known by the present generation of young la¬ 
dies, and now comes to them quite fresh and 
new. It is the same with all materials, and in 
general with all things appertaining to fashion. 
But it is seldom things thus taken up again 
appear or are used in exactly the same way as 
before; thus, moire is employed this Autumn 
chiefly in combination with other fabrics, such 
as cashmere veiling, and other fancy woolen 
materials. It forms the flounces, revere, plas¬ 
trons, scarfs, and such like accessories of these 
fancy woolen dresses. 
Young ladies who are debarred from wear¬ 
ing complete dresses of French moird are al¬ 
lowed the use of this haudsouie material in the 
way of trimmings and accessories of the toilet. 
Skirts are less scant and clinging than hereto¬ 
fore, and trimmings are beginning to be put 
on plain rather than gathered or fluted. Lace 
is still a great favorite in the way of trim¬ 
mings, but the choice just now is for embroid¬ 
ery. 
The embroidery patterns are worked in silk 
or fine wool, instead of cotton, for the Autumn 
and Winter. Flounces, put on almost plain, 
plastrons, revere, facings, cuffs, collars, and 
plain panels are embroidered in this way with 
silk or wool, either of another shade or of a 
contrasting color. 
Ladies possessing dresses of French ruoird, 
long put away on account of the inconstancy 
of fashion, will do well to cut them up and use 
them in combination with cashmere, making 
up a pretty and fashionable toilet. They need 
not grieve at the cuttiug-up business, for, as 
before said, though fashion takes up things 
that have long been laid aside, it is never 
quite in the same way; and it would be an 
error to suppose the moire dress of twenty 
years ago would ever be fashionable again ex¬ 
actly as it is. 
Checked and striped woolen fabrics, checked 
serges—notably with striped borders for trim¬ 
mings—light flannels, French and American 
bunting, cheviot cloth, and limousine are fa¬ 
vorite materials for Autumn costumes, which 
are invariably made with the short round 
skirt. The skirt, is either pleated all the way 
up to the waist, or trimmed with flounces 
put on in wide flat pleats or hollow pleats di¬ 
vided by plain spaces. In the latter case, some 
semblance of a scarf-drapery is generally ar¬ 
ranged over the upper part of the skirt and 
loosely tied behind. 
Bodices are made up in a variety of ways. 
There is the basque-bodice, with rounded 
basque in front, and either a plain or plaited 
postilion behind; and there is also the peaked 
bodice, with flat paniere at the sides, and the 
round waist bodice, worn with a belt and 
shirred at the shoulders and at the waist. 
Most sleeves are now made with small revere 
at the top matching the rest of the trimming. 
Sometimes the cuff is omitted, and the sleeve 
is made semi-short, and so tight that the long 
glove can be slipped over it. 
Elegant cloth jackets for the Autumn are 
made tight-fitting and double-breasted. Dark 
green is the favorite color, and bids fair to 
supersede the long popular seal-brown, for the 
Autumn mid Winter. 
A mantle of mixed style, very convenient 
for traveling, is a sort of semi-fitting paletot, 
fastened all the way down with buttons, fin¬ 
ished with a long pointed hood, edged with 
silk cord, and falling down over the puff at 
the edge of the back. This serves as a man¬ 
tle, mid if worn over a short plain skirt with 
a fluting round the bottom, it forms a very 
useful costume for the morning, for axcur- 
sions, or simply for bomb. 
Mantles of a dressy style are made either 
in the sacquo shape or in the Mother Hubbard 
fashion, shirred across the shoulders and in 
the back. These shapes seem likely to prevail 
through the Autumn for mantles of heavy 
silk and satin, while the redingote shape is 
preferred for cloth garments. The black 
satin pelisse, lined with bright-colored satin 
and trimmed with black Spanish lace, forms 
a nice transition between the light Summer 
mantle mid the heavy fur cloak of the win¬ 
ter. 
TABLE MATS. 
Mrs. Sweet’s reference to table-mats, re¬ 
minds me of a cheap, serviceable set I once 
saw. 
A lady who was living far from the city j 
wanted a new mat or stand for her coffee-pot 
mid being unable to procure one, she took a 
straw-bonnet (stone color) and ripping the 
braids apart, sewed them together again, in a 
flat, round shape, lining it with a piece of 
thick cloth, and a piece of stiff wigging. 
This was so neat and serviceable that she 
bethought herself of a number of discarded, 
white, straw hats and bonnets in the attic, 
which she soon transformed into a nice set of 
table-mats. Mrs. W. V. A. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ CORNER. 
A request for a recipe for bleaching ferns 
received a few weeks ago was delayed for 
satisfactory information we now publish a 
reply clipped from the Art Interchange which 
answers it. satisfactorily: “ Ferns must not 
be bleached In the ordinary chloride of lime 
or soda; it is too powerful. Use Tilton’s 
bleaching fluid. Lift them carefully by hand 
from the liquid immediately on becoming 
white and press very carefully between folds 
of a soft towel; then place betweeu the leaves 
of a book until ready for mounting.” 
Domestic Cconomi) 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
HOUSEHOLD NOTES. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
“Our best quinces come from New York 
State,” said a Philadelphia market-man to me 
the other day, anil they’re worth 60 cents the 
half peck. Most years they’re about 40 cents* 
“ But I want half a bushel.” 
“ ’Twill be all the same ma’am, at the rate 
of 00 cents the half peck,” so I paid £-.40 for 
my half bushel of quinces, thinking that New 
Yorkers could go into no more profitable busi¬ 
ness than quince raising. And why are quinces 
aot more generally produced ? Does it require 
more vigilance to keep the borers out of the 
stock, than to produce potatoes, bugs and all ? 
And it would take nine bushels of potatoes at 
rather more than 50 cents a bushel to equal the 
value of one bushel of quinces. My neighbor 
says that stewed pears flavored with quince 
are delicious. But I like the flavor of the pear. 
Here, in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, the 
quince is so precious that its parings are 
cooked in order to extract the last drop of fla¬ 
vor, and quince jelly is considered the ne-plus- 
ultra of jellies. 
A calico wrapper large enough in the sleeves 
to slip on over a dress, is one of the most con¬ 
venient garments a housekeeper can have. 
There are many times when one wishes to be 
“ dressed up,” and still is obliged to put the 
finishing touches to a meal, to go into the cel¬ 
lar, to work about the stove, or to wash dishes, 
in the doing of which a wrapper slipped on 
over the frock will keep it from all soil. 
It is a good time now to buy ready-made 
Summer garments, as most dealers are willing 
to sell measureable garments at a low figure. 
It is a common belief that the coffee grain 
improves by age, but unless tho coffee is kept 
in a dry place, the berry loses in strength and 
flavor. This, at least has been my own ex¬ 
perience. A quantity of “Old Government 
Java Coffee” In its green state, became at the 
end of six or eight months entirely without 
flavor, although at the outset it was of first 
quality. It had been kept in a sack in a close 
closet, into which the sun never shown and 
which was consequently uot fully dry. I men¬ 
tioned the fact to various dealers as I had op¬ 
portunity, and their unanimous reply was, “It 
was the dampness that produced the mischief." 
Have not all housekeepers of much exper¬ 
ience learned that the cheapest sugar for all 
culinary purposes, is granulated sugar ?—the 
cheapest for the table of the “ hired help” as 
well as for cooking purposes. If not, try 
equal amounts in weight and observe the re¬ 
sult. It will almost invariably be found that 
the granulated sugar lasts enough longer than 
the “ coffee sugar ” to compensate for the dif¬ 
ference in price, while the convenience of the 
one over the other is not to be overlooked. 
I now and then hear from house-keepers 
such pleasant reports of kerosene stoves—their 
convenience and economy, that it is rather sur¬ 
prising that they do not more generally come 
into use, especially in localities whore the fuel 
of the farm has to be bought. For small fam¬ 
ilies, or for use in hot weather, they seem to 
be particularly convenient and economical. 
It might lead to good results if such readers of 
the Ru ral as have them in use, would give 
their experiences, not omitting the cost of oil 
per hour. 
I am sorry to see girls learning to operate 
the sewing machine, before having learned to 
use the ueedle dexterously. There is no art 
more necessary for a girl to be conversant 
with than that of being accomplished iu tho 
[ use of the ueedle—not only to sew well, but to 
repair garments neatly, to make a handsome 
button-hole, to sew on buttons, and to mend 
gloves. To bo able to sew neatly by hand, is 
almost indispensable, aud is an art only ac- 
| quimi by diligent practice, while to operate a 
I machine, fail ly, is a mechanical operation in- 
I stead of an accomplishment. Mothers should 
see to it, that the fine art of needlework is not 
sacrificed to the fascination of the sewing ma¬ 
chine. ' 
In washing dishes supply yourself immedi¬ 
ately after the meal is finished with a pitcher, 
or large-mouthed mug partly filled with hot 
water. In this, stand up all the silver spoons, 
forks and knives. The water should not be 
deep enough to reach the k^ife handles. Wipe, 
with a soft towel, after five or ten minutes. 
In this way, the silver escapes many a scratch, 
especially if left for tbe kitchen-maid to clean. 
It is a very small task for the mistress of the 
house to do, aud saves her much vexation. A 
great annoyance in many households is the 
frequent breaking of the handles of coffee and 
teacups. Indeed the breakage became so 
alarmiug in my own, that I no longer allow 
those pieces to be passed to the kitchen, ordi¬ 
narily, but have them wiped iu the dining¬ 
room, and there is no more breakage. Half 
the breakage iu dish-washing and in handling 
dishes, comes from the slovenly way in which 
they are gathered up. Everything is to be 
gained by placing tho pieces that are alike to¬ 
gether, and when this is done, ami the silver, 
or steel-ware is disposed of as above suggested, 
half tho work of putting tho table service in 
order, is over. Wiping towels for glass-ware, 
is a specialty—a soft linen usually woven with 
cross-bars of color, and costing 1:2;.j cents a 
yard. Tho soft Russia crash at the same 
price, is nice for dishes. Home housekeepers 
prefer wiping towels partly cotton. Worn- 
out bed-spreads, from their soft, close texture, 
make excellent dish towels. If you are so 
situated that the care of your dishes devolves 
upon hired help—not over- tidy are they some¬ 
times—you can command a tolerable degree 
of cleanliness in dish cloths and towels, by 
having a full supply, so that the soiled may be 
taken daily from the kitchen and fresh ones 
put in their place. Such a method increases 
the size of the weekly wash, but I know of no 
better method by which to compass the sloven¬ 
liness of the “ hired girl ” in regard to dish 
towels. Both cloths aud towels should be well 
dried after use, as they rapidly rot from being 
continually wet or damp. 
-- 
The Other Side. 
Apropos of another side to the thrice-told 
story of A. E. S., p. 675, I will tell you of one 
reason why young men hesitate to wed. Mrs. 
A. was an old maid of 47; then she married A., 
68, and a thrice- told widower. He was a hard¬ 
working plasterer, and adored his wife. I 
boarded with them. One night something 
was said about the kitchen floor. Mrs. A. re¬ 
marked that she would get Mr. A. to scrub it 
when he should come home. And so she did; 
poor old manl Much other work his wife 
might do he also did at her command. We 
boarders thanked our stars that we were bach¬ 
elors. Jack. 
Eating Radislies. 
To those who are deprived of the satisfac¬ 
tion of eating radishes on account of poor 
teeth, I would say, grate them. If you have 
no grater you can easily make one out of any 
old piece of tin. Lay it on a soft board, 
punch holes in it with a sharp nail, and tack 
it, rough side up, on a shingle or small board. 
Maggie Wooljian Thomas. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Frothed Chocolate. 
Put on to boil three pints of nesv milk. Wet 
three large tablepoonfuls of Baker’s chocolate 
in a cup of hot water and pour iuto the boil¬ 
ing milk. Simmer 10 minutes stirring fre¬ 
quently. Then take from the fire sweeten and 
stir in the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff 
froth. Put into a pitcher two or three whites 
of eggs beaten stiff and sweetened and pour 
over the top of each cup of chocolate before 
serving. 
Excellent Rusk. 
Make a thick batter of a quart of new milk, 
a half cup of good yeast and flour to thicken. 
When very light add a cup of butter rubbed 
to a cream, two cups of white sugar and three 
eggs well beaten, add flour to make a soft 
dough. Knead and set to rise for three or 
four hum’s, then make into biscuit and let 
stand until light and puffy. You may glaze 
just before you take from the oven with a lit¬ 
tle cream and sugar or the whiteof r.n egg, or 
make thin icing; flavor with lemon and brush 
over the rusk when cool. Long Island. 
Stewed Kidneys. 
Three kidneys cut lengthwise each mto 
three pieces, wash and wipe dry. Put into a 
frying-pan three tablespoonfuls of butter, a 
t a p jourul of minced onion, pepper and salt 
und a cup of good gravy. When this is hot 
put in the kidneys and cook slowly ‘20 niinut.s. 
Add the juice of a small lemon and a pinch of 
the grated rind. Take up the kidneys an lay 
upon a hot dish with toast underneath, t .cken 
the gravy with browned flour, boil up and 
pour over alL Mary B. 
