384 
JUNE 45 
THE RURAL MEW-YORKER. 
Domestic (Eroitomti. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE 
HOY/ 10 LAUNDRY BLUE LINEN SUITS. 
“DOING UP” STRAW HATS. 
MABY wagee- fishee. 
My laundress, last summer, used gum*arabio 
entirely in starching colored linen suits, making 
blue linen, which, when starched in the usual 
manner looks “ horrid,” have the appearance of 
being quite fresh and new. Aud this is the way 
she did it: Put a tablespoon even full of gum- 
arabic in a saucer or bowl; pour on warm water, 
adding more water as the gum dissolves. With 
her fingers or with a cloth, Bhe dampened the 
fabric in places not over half a yard square at a 
time, as she proceeded with the ironing, as the 
gum starch quickly dries; iron on either side of 
the goods as is found to be most convenient. 
A little practice will teach one more “ how to do 
it ” than a yard of directions. Of course, the 
quantity of the gum-arabic required depouds 
upon the amount of surface to be starched. A 
tablespoonfnl will stiffen a very great deal. 
I also use gum-arabio for stiffening straw 
hats, which only need to be “ pressed over ” and 
not re-shaped. It is economical bo to do, and 
oftentimes a decided convenience. As often as 
otherwise I use my mucilage-bottle for this pur¬ 
pose, pouring in hot w'ater to thin the mucilage 
to tho required consistency (a few grains of gum 
added afterwards will make it all right again for 
other purposes); and with tho brush I give the 
hat a ooat of mucilage on the outside. I then 
lay a pasteboard along tho edge of a table, and 
iron the brim of the hat on the wrong side, 
the right side being on the paBtoboard. Of 
course, the hat must be turned around as the 
ironing proceeds. To press the crown I devise 
various expedients; but as I usually do things 
in a " jiffy,” as the boys say, and without much 
circumlocution, I often make a large towel or 
piece of cloth into a bunch, and holding it in the 
crown with my hand, press it over that. The 
hat, when done, looks fully as well as if it had 
been sent to the milliner’s; while the cost is 
about two cents worth of gum-arabic and fifteen 
minutes of time. This, for black straws; I 
never tried “ my hand ” on a white one. 
--- 
PRESERVATION OF CLOTHES-LINES AND 
PINS. 
We have found that our clothes-pins were 
rendered more flexible and durable by boiling in 
clean water from five to ten minutes every two 
weeks. They should be dried quickly, and kept 
in strong bags, free from dust. The lines are 
likewise boiled every month. 
When tho clothes are dry, the lines are at 
once taken down, tied up and placed in the 
pantry. By this treatment the clothes we never 
soiled nr stained by the pins, and tho liues are 
less liable to snap asunder, letting the clothes 
down upon the grass or earth, necessitating re- 
rinsing and starching. 
New Jersey, a. e. m. c. 
■-- 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Strawberry Sherbet. 
Crush one pound of ripe strawberries, add one 
pint of cold water, the juice of one lemon, and 
a tablespoonful of orange-flower water if you 
have it. Let this mixture stand four hours; 
then strain through a cloth, pressing out all the 
juice, and add about one-halt pound of powdered 
sugar; pour into small tumblers, and set into the 
ce-box for an hour or so before serving. 
. Currant Jelly. 
The currants should be picked before dead- 
ripe. If they hang long upon the bushes, they 
lose most of their jelly-making property. Pick 
from the stems, wash, and place in a porcelain 
kettle on the back of the stove; stir often, and 
lot remain until thoroughly scalded; Btrain 
through a jelly-bag, aud make not more than 
three pints at one time. Allow equal quantities 
of sugar and juice—a pint for a pint. Boil 
the juioe ten minutes, add the sugar and boil 
ten minutes longer, skimming as necessary. Put 
into glasses and set in the sun for a few hours. 
Mes. L. M. W. 
Iced Currants. 
Take large bunches of currants, wash and 
drain dry ; beat the whites of one or two eggs 
to a froth ; dip in the bunches of currants and 
place them upon an inverted sieve, so that they 
do not touch each other; sift powdered sugar 
thickly over them and place where it is warm 
until dry. 
Graham Gems. 
Three teacupfula of sour milk with a little 
cream; one and a-half teaspoonful—scant—of 
soda; one well-beaten egg and a teaspoonful of 
salt; a tablespoonful ol molasses or sugar; a 
tablespoonful of melted butter aud Graham flour 
to mix. To the egg add the milk, then the sugar 
and salt, then the Hour with the soda mixed in, 
the butter last; beat the mixture well; have 
the gem-pans very hot, grease, fill with the bat¬ 
ter, which should be stiff enough to drop, not 
pour from the spoon, and bake from fifteen to 
twenty minutes in a hot oven. 
Mes. E. L. L. 
Buns. 
One cup of sweet milk ; one beaten egg : one- 
half cup of butter ; one cup of sugar; one-half 
cup of yeast; a little Balt and flour enough to 
make a soft dough. Let rise until very light 
and mold into long biscuit with a few currants; 
let rise again in the pan ; then bake and when 
almost done glaze with a little molasses and 
milk. Mbs. Maey Willson. 
Cuba. 
--- 
QUERIES ANSWERED. 
Please tell me the easiest method of clean¬ 
ing and polishing brass stair rods ? 
Mes. W. B. P. 
Ans.—T ake equal parts of soft soap and 
rotten-stone; beat to a paste and apply witb a 
woolen cloth ; or use rotten-stone made into a 
paste with sweet oil; polishing in either case 
with whitening and soft leather. 
Acids are sometimes employed tho use of 
which however, causes the brass to soon tarnish, 
and consequently the rods require more frequeut 
cleaning. 
Wanted.— Something to remove stains from 
mourning dresses and urape ? 
Mes. P. Bakeb. 
Ass.—We have been advised to boil a handful 
of fig leaves in three pints of water until re¬ 
duced to one pint; squeeze out the leaves strain 
the water, bottle and keep for use ; apply with 
a sponge. 
Q. H.—Ink stains may be removed from 
marble by washing first with clear water and 
then with a weak solution of oxalic acid. 
Huttos of tljf »£k. 
May loth, 1878. 
POLITICAL. 
The Congressional Investigation Into alleged 
electoral frauds In Loulsana still remains the 
chief political subject of Interest. Anderson’s 
testimony Is for the present concluded, though he 
will be recalled to the witness’ stand later on and 
examined by Gen. Butler. Ills story, lu brief, Is 
substantially that the election in East Feliciana' 
was fair; that no Democratic Intimidation was 
practiced there, despite the fact that not a single 
vote was cost foi any Republican candidate In a 
parish which had given a Republican majority of 
1,020 In the Presidential election of 1872, and one 
of 841 In the State election of 1874, aud which had 
on its books 2,12T registered Republican votes In 
1876. For this strange fact he accounts by saying 
that the Republicans had formed a conspiracy to 
prevent the casting of any Republican votes as a 
basis for the rejection of the entire vote of the 
parish hy the State Returning Board. On his visit 
to New Orleans after the election he was urged by 
the Republican leaders, as the supervisor of 
registration In the parish, to enter a protest 
against the returns. This he did, leaving here 
and there blanks, which were afterwards filled up 
by ot hers with such figures as were thought neces¬ 
sary to Insure the rejection ot the vote of the 
parish. After this had been done, he had an in¬ 
terview with Messrs. John Sherman and Stanley 
Matthews, who urged him to stick to the fraud, 
promised that he and a fellow conspirator named 
Weber, supervisor of registration In West Felici¬ 
ana, who has since been murdered there, would 
be well provided for by Hayca after the 4th of 
March. In order to get a hold on Sherman, he 
adroitly drew from him a short letter telling 
him to stand firm In the position he had taken, 
and that neither Mr. Hayes nor himself would 
ever forget the obligations under which he had 
placed them. 
A copy of the letter was produced, and Sher¬ 
man, having been summoned, said that he believed 
he never wrote such a letter; that he had no 
recollection of having done so. yet that It con¬ 
tained some things which be would have written 
on his understanding of the case at the time. This 
qualified denial has Injured Sherman consider¬ 
ably, owing to his previous bold assertion that no 
such letter was ever written, although the Repub¬ 
licans say that the document, If genuine, would 
not be criminating, as Sherman was at the time 
under the Impression that Anderson’s protest of 
democratic violence was well founded, that his life 
would be endangered by hts courageous conduct 
In making It, and that it would be only Just there¬ 
fore that he should be well treated by the party 
In whose behalf he had risked so much. Ander¬ 
son says that afterwards Sherman never tried In 
any way to conciliate him, and peremptorily re¬ 
fused to push his claim for office In any depart¬ 
ment of tfie Government. Sherman has written 
a letter to Potter saying that he is able to show 
that Republican voters were Intimidated In East 
Feliciana, and demanding that Bubpoenas should 
be sent to from do to 100 specified witnesses who 
can prove his assertion, 
In order, as he confesses, to get Nash, Congress^ 
man far his district and candidate for re-election, 
8 o implicated that he could not “go back" 
on Uim, Anderson, before entering his protest, 
induced the guileless legislator to sign an agree¬ 
ment that bo would secure the trickster the 
position of naval offleer at New Orleans, in con¬ 
sideration of a promise that, the latter would sup¬ 
press evidence showing that East Feliciana was 
fairly carried by the democratic party. Original 
letters and copies of others put in evidence show 
that Senator Stan! ey Mathews has been persistent^ 
ly working hard to get Anderson a goverrnental 
appointment acceptable to him, yet. a note of his 
tells the Importunate and often impudent office- 
seeker that, he can tell Nash that he, the Senator, 
is In possession of this disgraceful agreement. The 
general opinion seems to be that the correspon¬ 
dence has ruined Mathews. He has earnestly 
protested bis innocence, however, In the Senate, 
aucl at his request, a committee of that body has 
been appointed to Investigate his connection with 
the Louisiana complication, lie has declined to 
appear to test ify before the House committee, on 
the ground that the Senate had taken the matter 
in hand; but on the motion of Gen. Butler a sub¬ 
poena has been issued to compel him to do so. 
Auderson freely owns that, though under oath, 
he deliberately deceived the Senate committee 
sent to New Orleans for investigating purposes 
shortly after the election; that he was in treaty 
with Burke and other Louisiana democrats, with 
a view to favor their party ror money; that he 
has been persistently toying to blackmail ubo ad¬ 
ministration; that Hayes bruskly declined to hear 
hts complaints, and that his present evidence Is 
the result ot his failure to receive a sufficiently 
satisfactory reward for his acknowledged ras¬ 
cality. 
The next witness examined was Judge Levlssee 
of New Orleans, Republican Elector during the 
Presidential contest. Ho created a sensation by 
testifying that his signature had been forged to 
one sec of Louisiana electoral certificates. On 
the receipt In Washington of tho electoral returns 
from that. State, the package did not have on the 
outside the signatures of the electors, a formality 
considered constitutionally necessary. To reme¬ 
dy this defect, the envelope was sent back to New 
Orleans by the ha nds ot t he authorized messenger 
who had brought It—“ Returning Board" Ander¬ 
son. On its arrival there Levlssee was absent from 
the city. The package, however, was opened, a 
new set of certificates made out, to which the 
other Electors put their names, while that of the 
absent member of the Electoral Ccdlegc was 
forged by somebody, on the original certificate 
the votes for President and Vice-President ap¬ 
peared together by mistake, contrary to the con¬ 
stitutional requirement. In the new returns the 
error was corrected, necessitating tho signature 
ot each Elector in nine places, and Levtssee’s 
name was forged In each place; yet It was on 
this certificate that Hayes was declared elected. 
Errors more or less similar were made with re¬ 
gard to the returns from several otUerStates; 
but In making the necessary corrections, the 
only forgery committed was In Louisiana. There 
Is no doubt but that the Republican Electors cast 
the vote of the State for Hayes and Wheeler; the 
rault in this case was the forgery of the name of a 
man who would have signed the documents 
readily had ho been prescat, but who could not be 
reached in time enough bo that the papers, 
properly authenticated, would arrive In Wash¬ 
ington by the date required by the law. LovLsee 
also testified that he had been offered a bribe of 
id0,000 to cast hts vote tor Tllden by a man whom 
he afterwards discovered to be the agent of some 
gamblers who had heavy bets on the election. 
Isn’t It about time that some law should be 
passed changing the present Presidential elec¬ 
toral system, so as to avoid the possibility ot 
rascals la office defeating the will of the people 
by dlshouest manipulation of the votes, or of ras¬ 
cals out of office tempting frail officials to effect 
the same object hy betraying the trust confided 
to their honor ? 
on Friday Senator Spencer of Alabama intro¬ 
duced a resolution for the appointment of a com¬ 
mittee of eight Senators to Inquire Into all mat¬ 
ters connected with the Presidential election of 
1876 In the States of Louisiana, Florida, South 
Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Oregon and any 
other state tt may deem proper; also to Inquire 
Into any bargain which may have led to the over¬ 
throw of the Packard and Chamberlain govern¬ 
ments in Louisiana aud South Carolina, respect¬ 
ively. Spencer and Cockling are fast friends, and 
this move Is said to be a joint affair that may 
hurt admlnlstratlonlsts and democrats, while 
tho latter claim that. It Is made to divert atten¬ 
tion from the action or the House Investigating 
committee. The Senate has refused to cut down 
the army to 20,000, as proposed In the House bill; 
but It has agreed that soldiers shall not be used 
as a posse camttatus for the purpose or executing 
the laws, except In such cases as the employment 
ot the force may be authorized hy the Constitu¬ 
tion or by act of Congress. This will prevent the 
use or the army In election troubles, as formerly 
In Louisiana and other Southern States. As an¬ 
ticipated here 1 stweek, tho President has signed 
the bill prohibiting the further retirement of 
greenbacks, and directing tho reissue of redeem¬ 
ed notes by the Treasury. There la some talk 
East here of testing the legality of this measure 
before the Supreme Court. 
The House Investigating sub-commItteo are 
taking evidence at Jacksonville, Fla., with regard 
to alleged electoral frauds In that State. Baker 
County is said to have been thrown out to secure 
a Republican majority. Democrats say the reve¬ 
lations are ldgniy important; an assertion Re¬ 
publicans stoutly deny. 
The Senate has refused to agree with tho House 
In Its desire lo transfer the Indian Bureau rrom 
the Interior to the War Department. Ex-Gover¬ 
nor Noyes of Ohio Is on his way homo to testify 
as a “visiting statesman." Oregon is said to 
have elected a democratic Legislature which will, 
In turn, elect a democrat, to the Senate. Hamlin 
of Maine tried lo re-establish the franking privi¬ 
lege by a bill introduced In the Senate—vote oven, 
measure therefore lost. In an Interview with a 
newspaper correspondent, on the field of Gettys¬ 
burg, on Decoration Day, President Hayes de¬ 
clared that, he considered any attempt to remove 
him from the Presidency revolutionary and would 
feel in duty bound to resist It. The general opin¬ 
ion of the country, however, seems to be that his 
title to the Presidency must not be called in ques¬ 
tion whatever may be the result of tills Investiga¬ 
tion, and in this opinion even Mr. Hendricks, 
while favoring the Investigation, concurs. 
miscellaneous. 
Gen. Spinner, he of the eccentric signature, Is 
in Florida, raising all kinds ot vegetables, fruits 
and trees that will thrive there, and is especially 
Jubilant at tbe prospect of being able to drink 
and perhaps sell tea of hts own cultivation. 
Those unpleasant stories about the costly jetties 
Just built, by Eads at the mouth of the Mississippi, 
are, It. is to he hoped, unfounded. James Gordon 
Bennett, lately of Bemiett-May duel celebrity, 
who has been In Europe since the occurrence, 
writes that he will come home to take the legal 
consequences, by the middle ot July. The latest 
Invention of Edison, the marvelous Inventive 
genius of tho nineteenth century and Menlo 
Park, N. J.. Is the Megaphone, a sort, of sound 
opera-glass or telephone, which Indefinitely In¬ 
creases the volume of sound and Is therefore a 
handy boon to folks partially deaf, as well as to 
eavesdroppers. By It the footfall of a fly, tt Is 
said, can be hoard as plainly as t he gallop of a 
horse on a hard road. The emigration of treed- 
men from the Carolines to Liberia la still gaining 
headway, chiefly under the direction of a phllan- 
throplco- speculative colonization company with 
headquarters in Philadelphia. 
There is a strong probability of another Indian 
war this summer: the Bannock Indians are out In 
tbe Lava Beds rendered notorious by Capt. Jack 
aud his Mo docs, some years ago. Spotted Tail’s 
5,000 followers are also discontented at broken 
government promises, and the “ braves " theaten 
to go on the war-path, sitting Bull Is urging 
tho Sioux and kindred tribes to arms, and breath¬ 
ing vengeance against his present hosts In Cana¬ 
da ; our troops are concentrating on the strongest 
points, and on those from which offensive move¬ 
ments would be most effective; border farmers 
and settlers are growing uneasy; and border 
speculators and desperadoes becoming Jubilant- 
These Indian troubles have grown slightly chron¬ 
ic, and apprehensions of them severely so. The 
Silver Mountain Mining Company is the latest ex¬ 
tensive fraud for swindling the unwary. The 
affair levies assessments on shares which are re¬ 
ported to be on the books credited to the proposed 
victim, promises enormous profits, and when the 
payment of assessments Is refused, no more is 
heard of the Company. Miners fn West Virginia 
are becoming riotous rather early this year. On 
Tuesday a party of them captured a steamboat 
near Charleston, went on it to Blacksburg, where 
they forcibly stopped the miners, then captured a 
railroad train, on which they returned home, 
forcing It to stop wherever they wished, and 
scouting the notion of paying fare. 
Mr. Tilden’s Income tax suit has been deferred 
until another term ot tho Court. Ou motion of 
Senator Thurman, an auditor has been appointed 
to look alter the accounts of the Pacific railroads. 
As the Government has millions Invested In 
these roads, It’s only right that It should know 
just how they stand. The filibustering Lerdlst 
movement In Mexico Is reported to have proved 
a failure; the Invaders have taken to the moun¬ 
tains; and are hotly pursued. Great alterations 
are being made at Camp’s great shtp-bulldtDg 
yard, at Chester, near Philadelphia, In three 
fast steamers purchased for war purposes by 
Russia. There are labor strikes and violence 
In Quebec, and Orange riots In Montreal. Crops 
In various parts ol Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire were damaged by heavy Hosts on 
Friday night. The Board of Alderman of this 
c • has been Indicted for misdemeanor In grant- 
1. g penults to hucksters allowing them to erect 
stalls on the side-walks. So has tbe Board of 
Health for not abating the nuisances created by 
fat-rendering factories and similar malodorous es¬ 
tablishments. Both trials come off this week. Gen. 
Fremont has been nominated by the President, for 
governor of Arizona to take the place of Jno. P. 
llyot, who has been transferred to the governor¬ 
ship of Idaho, on the removal of Musou Brayman, 
who Is bitterly charged by tho settlers with hav¬ 
ing given, to the Indians now on the war-path, 
permits to purchase the arms and ammunition 
with wbloh they are said to be liberally supplied. 
Several other very respectable men, in different 
parts of the country, some curled and perfumed 
young pets of soctety, and others gray-halred 
specimens of venerated sanctimony, have yielded 
to satanlc Influence and been by discovery trans¬ 
formed Into hypocritical scoundrels who have 
embezzled funds confided to their charge. 
FOREIGN. 
The Emperor of Germany Is reported to be out 
of danger from the effects of the late attempt to 
assassinate film. So precarious was fils condition 
towards the middle of the week, that after some 
hesitation tt was deemed beat that the Crown 
Prince should be appointed regent to discharge 
the duties of tho head of tho State, and by Bis¬ 
marck’s advice the appointment has been made. 
It Is not improbable that the Emperor will either 
resign or retrain In future irom taking any per¬ 
sonal part In thu Government. Nobellng, the 
would-be assassin, Is still in a duugorous condi¬ 
tion from fils self-inflicted Injuries, despite the 
best efforts of the doctors to save him for the 
hangman. It seems that In the socialistic con¬ 
spiracy he w r as selected by lot to do the murder; 
and It Is said that the Crown Prince aud Bismarck 
were also In danger. 
As predicted here last week, the liberal par¬ 
ty in the Reichstag has already declared they 
will no longer oppose tho enactment of prompt 
measures lor suppressing socialism. The 
Pope also has written to Teutonic Roman 
Catholics urging a vigorous opposition to these 
revolutionists. A number of them w ho expressed 
joy at the dastardly outrage ou the Emperor 
have been arrested and promptly condemned to 
imprisonment for from one to five years. The 
Nihilists in Russia are also again becoming trou- 
