. 2 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
703 
CONDUCTED BY MISS FAITH BIFEEY. 
THE WOMAN’S CLUB. 
A POOR ECONOMY. 
There seems to fee a current opinion among 
our friends of the " Club " that If a woman hires 
help to wash bor " greasy dishes ” she should in 
some way supplement the family Income so as to 
make up the “loss." Now, I think It would be 
just as reasonable to say that If she used flour in 
her housekeeping, she ought to sit up nights and 
do sewing work to pay for it. The "help 1 ' In a 
household where there Isa baby to care for ought 
to be set down as one of the regular expenses as 
much as the family flour. And It. can be even on 
a very small income. I know thts from twenty 
years’ experience. During the war, on as small 
an Income as a professional man often gets, I 
kept both a nurse and a kitchen girl, and paw 
them, too. It takes self-denial in other things, 
but if that cannot he compassed In any other 
way, It. becomes a moral duty to make these self- 
denials for the sake of securing the help. A 
young mother’s health both of body and mind 
(which latter Is so little thought of), Is worth 
more than flue clothing, or rich table fare or 
more acres, or more stock or high-priced farm 
Implements. I would ring it in the ears of every 
young householder, with a family of little ones 
growing up about him, “ Keep help it you would 
keep your young wife from turning Into a broken- 
down, snarling old woman In her early prime, 
or save her from the stony walls of a retreat Tor 
the Insane." Man’s Inhumanity fn this lino calls 
loudly for another Mr. Bergh. 
sometimes It Is a woman’s fault. She can’t 
“ put up " with such holp as sho can get, and 
would rather slave along alone. Dear, working 
sister, it Is a poor, short-sighted policy. Save 
yourself, now, while your children are small, 
train them to be helpful, and by and by you can 
enjoy the luxury of doing your own work In your 
own way, and having your whole house to your¬ 
self, with no cross Bridget to mar Its harmony. 
I have “ put up ’’ with help for twenty years, and 
have enjoyed for one year the luxury of doing 
without, when I found that it could be done 
with the children, and I felt a little as “a man 
and a brother" might after the Emancipation 
Proclamation went Into effect. The children, too, 
felt as If they had moved Into new quarters, now 
tnat tney had the freedom of the kitchen, a lux¬ 
ury the older one3 had nover known. “ Don’t 
ever keep a girl again,’, 13 the universal senti¬ 
ment, though “Horatio ’ still looks upon It as an 
experiment.” 
Keep help of some sort when [your health or 
labor require It, even If you can get only a hired 
boy to clean your step3 and draw the baby out 
in his wagon. Whenever you economize do not 
save out of your life blood, or that saving will In 
the end gnaw like a viper at your heart. 
RECREATIVE HOUSEKEEPING. 
Miss Ripley:— With your permission, I have a 
few ideas to offer In response to some of the 
ladles who have joined the Club with matters of 
importance ror discussion. 
Naturally, the acme of my ambition would oe 
above the very ordinary piece of labor termed 
dlsh-washlng, but since such woik always has 
been done, and always will have to be done by 
some one, and as “Sufferer” enters complaint, l 
wish to offer a crumb of comfort. She does not 
state whether “Horatio ” has only the book and 
cigar to be entertained with, or whether there are 
any children to wash dishes for, or whether 
very often a goodly number of uncles and aunts, 
Interspersed with troops of little cousins—not to 
mention other friends—come to dine as well as 
visit, thereby subjecting at. least one member or 
the family to the care of dlsh-washlng. But in 
any case sho Is not like my humble self if she is 
able or inclined to "rush” and “grapple” the 
soiled pile, with the soiled cloth. Immediately 
after earing a satisfactory meal. At least, I for 
one, do not And such a proceeding agreeable, and 
tne laws of health prohibit any exercise within a 
given time after eating. 
A few moments. It not a whole half hour, for 
the strong and weak, can be profitably employed 
by matters of interest in book or paper, or in 
the Inspection of house plants; or a stroll in 
the flower garden might prove beneficial. Allow 
yourself pencil and paper, and make a copy of any 
object or of auy landscape before you which may 
please your fancy, though you are not an 
adept In the art. of penciling. Choose a re¬ 
tired corner for fear of intruders upon your pas¬ 
time ; tax well your memory with tUe rules, and 
when complete, lay awayon some out-of-the-way 
lop shelf, and when you have forgotten your own 
perplexlt Iks, and have looked to some one for 
entertainment and help, perhaps they may pos* 
Blblybo aa well amused by your productions of 
of pen and pencil, and wonder Who has brought 
out so fine a picture or the old brick smoke-house, 
or of Urn oldest pear tree In the homo place, with 
its dead branches represented so faithfully. Then 
when you’ve thus diverted your mind from the 
dreaded task, jou’ve fresh ambition to "grapple’* 
the cloth without a “rush”’ and forget the task, 
apparently, by allowing a more absorbing and 
agreeable subject to color your thoughts. 
You can, It you choose, tie a cloth to a slick to 
save tho. : e pretty hands of yours, aud then to he 
sure to have a supply of that, valuable article, 
“ Glycerineand tho only eptvjlc known, is 
offered you null) there's a mncbtne invented, or a 
substitute in your place takes tho burd n from 
you. You cannot have a natural lovo tor the 
womanly ways which all married women should 
possess, if you do not really like to see the pretty 
things which are so Important In the partaking 
of “ a satisfactory dinner,” It Is true, too much 
time can be spout tn the cooking department, hut 
there are circumstances which tender the “ dish¬ 
washing ” an absolute luxury. 
But your circumstances, Individually, may be 
truly trying, so I will close by 6aylng that Mar¬ 
garet narvey.ln another department;ot theRuRAL, 
has said all In her article, “ Small Courtesies at 
Home,” and her letter has tempted me to make 
my particular grievances known; but as I have 
been a sufferer many years, I cannot very well 
enter complaint to A youDg housekeeper, nor ask 
advice of her; but truly It la cue’s privilege to 
make one’a-self nobly happy, even In an humble 
way, and with little expenditure. Perhaps there’s 
policy In being patient In well doing, because If, 
like children, we tire of the loyB given us, we can 
easily shut the door on such stern realities as 
“dlsh-washlng," and have a picnic tn the woods 
and partake of some berries from bass-wood leaves, 
fish from a piece of bireh bark, and nuts from off 
a clean piece of rock after the sandwiches from 
a dinner-basket brought, from home; and of course 
“ a sufferer " would not enjoy such cheap pleasure 
without " Horatio’s " book and cigar. 
Respectfully, “A Tiked Housekeeper." 
-- 
OUGHT WE TO BE GLOOMY AT FORTY 1 
Dear -, what shall Isay? To “dear" a 
whole club of women Is rather too comprehen¬ 
sive, There’s the editor. I might have lavished 
my tenderness on her, but I forgot. For the nonce 
I’ll let my “ dear ” stand solus. I suppose I 
ought to start out by stating how charmed I am 
with the idea ol us women being permitted an 
opportunity to appear on tho Rural Btage; how 
delightful I have always found the editor, and 
how from my youth up I’ve doted on the Rural,— 
1 believe that’s the regulation way of Introducing 
one’s-self; but I want to do a bit of growling, and, 
like the deacon who complained that the only 
trouble he had about praying was his Inability to 
to “switch off," I’m afraid If once I started on the 
amiability tack I’d never get to the growl. 
My grievance is the following poem, which I 
clipped from a paper the other day. I think the 
last two lines deserve special condemnation: 
AT FORTY YEARS. 
Flying, flying fusi— 
Ah, whither have they fled? 
Velvet cheek, amt dewoy lip, 
And golden head, 
Rose, and bloom, and blnsh, 
Star-eyes, ami bird-song's gush— 
A cloud on airs Elysian 
Flying, flying past; 
Ah, lovely, fleeting vision, 
Too lovely to last! 
Droarily the waves 
Of the Dark River flow. 
Sad their under-tone on all 
The winds that blow, 
Hose, and bloom and blush. 
Star-eyes, and bird-song's gush— 
When lids are full of tears 
The heart no longer crave6: 
For. after forty years. 
Wo only tread through graves! 
What a preposterous Idea to doom those of us 
who aro forty and over to perpetual graveyard 
pedestiianism, AH the joy of life. It would ap¬ 
pear, Is In youth’s morning and after the “ rose, 
and bloom and blush " hnve fled, there Is no fu¬ 
ture In this world for us! After that, all Is to he 
suggestive of burled hopes, dead loves, lost 
friends and charnel houses generally—both men¬ 
tal and material. Certainly, a most cheering and 
wlnscmo prospect Mr middle life and old age. 
It’s absolutely wicked to write such stuff. 
Think of all there 13 that is beautiful and grand 
In Ute, ot all the enjoyable experiences onu can 
have wltu friends, books, art., science aud nature. 
Is the delight these afford us dependent on our 
being under forty? Does not every bird, flower, 
and fruit, every bit of lovely scenery, every ray 
of sunlight, and each and all ot the thousand de¬ 
lights which crowd into tho humblest life, bid 
us “rejoice and be exceeding glad ” that It Is our 
privilege to imjoy such blessings? And what 
right have we to indulge In never-ending grief 
and to keep our “ lids ” in a chronic state ot tear¬ 
fulness? It’s an insult to the good God who 
made us. 
The heart should know no growing old, for to 
the last moment or the longest life one can be 
happy, uegatlvely so at least. If he but will it. 
Out upon the doctrine which would condemn 
us after tho brief season of youth to sit on the 
banks of the Dark River and listen to Its dreary 
moanlngs, and by way of variety, permit us the 
luxury of graveyard tneauderlngs. 
Linda Brown. 
CANCER CURE. 
I heartily approve ot the “ Woman’s Club.” 
Anything which has for Its object the educa¬ 
tion, or advancement of the mothers, and sisters 
of our country should find a full Indorsement, 
from every patriotic citizen, whether man or 
woman. There Is such pressing need to arouse 
In woman a desire for higher dt'velopment physi¬ 
cally, morally and intellectually, that whoever 
engages In the good work, should receive the 
gratitude of womankind. There Is scarcely a 
woman In the laud, but what Is possessed of some 
invaluable knowledge, which might prove of 
great benefit to others if she would but make It 
known. It, is trequently more lack or confidence 
In herself llisn lack of ability to put It in proper 
sUape, that prevents many from writing. 
And now as a first contribution to the Club: 
Four years ago, I learned a remedy for cancer, 
which I have never known to fall in effecting a 
cure. It came to my knowledge In this manner. 
A lady, at whose house 1 waa stopping, had a Bis 
ter whose face waa terribly disfigured, the nose 
being almost entirely gone, and the throat so 
much eaten away that the girl could not speak 
In a way Intelligible to any but, those accustomed 
to her. The sores were all healed, and had been 
for years, and there was now no appearance of 
eruptions or any other impurities of the blood. 
She was so disfigured that It would almost have 
seemed a mercy not to have saved her life, but 
she waa an example of what the medicine could 
efTect. While I was at this lady’s house, I met ft 
gentleman who, I happened to know, had been 
afflicted with a cancer, which had caused him 
much anxiety. Ho had recently spent some time 
In New York under the treatment of a celebrated 
cancer doctor, but without obtaining relief. I 
informed the lady of these facts, and she gave 
him this recipe. This was four years ago. I saw 
the gentleman a few months since and inquired 
about hl3. The reply was, “Oh, It gives me no 
trouble; If I have any fear abont It, I take a little 
of 31 rs. S.’s medicine, and It Is all rights’ 
I have an aunt between 50 and 60 years old, who 
has had an Internal cancerous tumor, causing her 
much suffering, and rendering her tor much of 
the time, unable to work. She has been treated 
by many eminent physicians, and has spent hun¬ 
dreds of dollars, hut all to little purpose. For the 
last few months she has been taking this medi¬ 
cine, and says she has not been so well Mr years 
I might mention other cases, but perhaps these 
will be sufficient. I have never known It to fall 
In a single Instance to cure Impurities of the 
blood, whether cancerous or otherwise. I wish I 
could Inspire In others the same confidence which 
I feel, for I am certain it would mitigate a vast 
amount of suffering. 
Cancer Cure* 
Two ounces of Sulphur; jounce ofQulcksllver; 1 
ounce of Cream-of-Tartar; jtf ounce of Saltpeter. 
! Put into a pint of molasses, stir, take a table- 
I spoonful before going to bed. 
For outside application; 1 bottle of British oil; 
l ounce ot Red precipitate. 
The sulphur and quicksilver must be thorough¬ 
ly mixed for a long time In a druggist’s mortar, 
and then the other Ingredients added. 
I wish this could be published In every paper In 
the land, and that In after years I could have the 
satisfaction of knowing that many had been 
saved from horrible suffering and death by its 
use. Faithfully yours, 
Mrs. W, C. Q. 
---- 
THOSE DISHES. 
I have been reading the “ Woman’s Club ” for 
October with great interest. I am sure I sympa¬ 
thize with “A Sufferer” over her dlsh-washlng, 
buc I am afraid society has not progressed suf¬ 
ficiently far, as yet, to allow of our dispensing 
with that needful ceremony, however handy a 
nice, crisp leaf might he as a substitute for a din¬ 
ner-plate. 
But If we cannot abolish dlsh-washlng, the 
next best thing is to put science law it and expe¬ 
dite It all we can. “ Sufferer ” does not want 
energy, we feel sure, or Horatio would never 
have been disturbed by the clatter of the plates. 
Now let her add to tbl9 energy the best system 
she can possibly Invent for putting the work 
along rapidly and successfully, and she will feel 
that she has achieved something worth dotog. 
Let her have an eye to the finished result, as she 
goes along, and It will be quite a help. Wax-fruit 
making is a very dirty, sticky business, but the 
beautiful results more than pay one. A shelf 
tilled with shining china and sparkling glass¬ 
ware, Is a pleasant sight in t he eyes of any house¬ 
keeper, and it will not detract from their beauty 
to feel that they owe their shine to your industry. 
Of course, everybody knows her own business 
best, but If f have dishes to wash I like to get the 
worst over first. The baking pans and kettles 
I take first tn nice, clean suds, and dry them 
about the stove. Then I pour out the water and 
take a fresh panful ror the glass, the silver; then 
the cups, plates and vegetable dishes. Two good 
dish-pans, plenty of nice, soft water, soap and 
clean tea-towels are the mala essentials of good 
dish-washing. It can be dooe very quickly, with 
proper dispatch and a good, stout determination. 
Without the latter all work will drag. I often 
think, la view of disagreeable duties, of the re¬ 
mark of the old Indian who was asked about a 
dry crust he was eating, “Do you like that?” 
He answered, stolidly, “ He’s ray victuals, and I 
win like him.” We have need of a little of this 
spirit if we would get along smoothly with life’s 
trials. We can cultivate our ltbea and dislikes to 
any extent, if a man can learn to like the teste 
of tobacco. So, dear “Sufferer," even you may 
learn to like dlsh-washlng. It seems Incredible, 
does It not? but people have. Time yourself by 
the clock and see ho w quickly you can finish the 
unpleasant work. That will serve as a stimulus 
aud keep the work from draggtug on your hands. 
“ Dragging" la what makes work particularly 
“hateful." Still, the main Ingredient to make 
the cup palatable Is a willing mind. Nothing Is 
a task which we do willingly. Tlnsu and custom 
also make many things easy and even pleasant 
that once were very distasteful. 
Your loving Aunt Fanny. 
-» ♦ » ■ 
! THE “BRIGHT SIDE” VIEW RECOM¬ 
MENDED. 
Eds. Rural la looking over the Rural of a 
I few weeks ago, l noticed several excellent sug¬ 
gestions in the columns devote! to wom^n, espe¬ 
cially “ Talks with Children,’’ but was sorry to 
■ see so much discontent In regard to housekeep¬ 
ing. 
Wherever our lot may he cast, we should try 
to make the best of It and, if possible, look at 
the bright stde of the picture. If we are obliged 
to be "housemaid, nurse, dressmaker, mother 
' and hostess,"—cook and dishwasher, I may add- 
why not try and arrange our work In such a way 
that It will be as little as possible distasteful 
to us? 
There are other enemies to conquer besides the 
weed3that grow up among our fruits ami flow¬ 
ers. If ODe has a time and place for everything 
and everything In Its place, It, sometimes seems 
remarkable In how short a time one can prepare 
a meal or wash a set of dishes, as to the dish¬ 
cloth being “slimy,” that teed not of necessity 
be so, for If It Is well washed with soft water and 
good soap, and dried In the sun after every dlsh- 
washlng, It will not become slimy. 
It Is a pleasure to me to serve a well-prepared 
meal, to see that the remains are not wasted, 
and to wash the dishes after It Is ever, with a 
clean cloth. I would much prefer cooking or 
dlsh-washlng In a nice, clean kitchen, to pulling 
weeds In the garden on a warm summer day. 
Let us be content with whatever we have to d i, 
and do all In the best possible way, and It will 
lighten our burdens considerably. 
When I began to write I only intended to write 
a few words, bat my epistle has lengtbed consid¬ 
erably. 1 hope the Editor will give me a place in 
the Women’s Column, and if acceptable, I will 
occasionally contribute “ one thing and another.” 
Sarah E. R. Shepherd. 
“ THE WAIL AND THE PROTEST.” 
In striking contrast are the letters published 
In the Rural of October 5th. 
First. There la the happy mortal who has no 
dishes to wash, and also has no milk, no chick¬ 
ens, no fruit, no eggs to feast upon, if we except 
the feasting with the eyes, which it must be ac¬ 
knowledged, 13 not altogether unsatisfactory. 
Then, added to all this, the unsatisfied cravings 
of the Inner man—there Is that culminating 
misery of beholding a duplicate of one’s love of 
a hat upon the head of the village Amaryllis 
(It’s an 111 wind that blows nobody good; the 
rustic beauty Is, doubtless, happy) 
Mrs. Price pays twenty dollars per week for 
that peculiar nectar and ambrosia which only 
the country yield3, but alas! the gods f. e. the 
landladies are unpropltlons and brew neither 
nectar nor ambrosia for her delectation. So 
much for the “ Wall,” now for the “ Protest,” 
which comes from the happy mortal who break¬ 
fasts on aromatic coffee, sweet, light rolls, ten¬ 
der juicy steak, or at least I suppose she does, for 
she is mistress of her kitchen, but all these ad¬ 
vantages she counts as nothing compared with 
that “unmltagated horror,” dlsh-washlng. 
The question seems to resolve Itself into a con- 
nundrum—“ which Is better, to starve—(board) 
and have no dishes to wash, or to have feasting 
and dlsh-washlng?” If we believe as our ancestois 
taught, that there Is do rose without a thorn, 
J would prefer the dlsh-washlng thorn to the 
starvation thorn. 
I have no remedy to propose, as 1 wish I had, 
except the one—patient endurance. I heard a 
lady say last summer, that it need not follow be¬ 
cause we wash dishes, our thoughts must be 
concentrated upon them. 3Iy poetry-loving 
sisters might learn an Indefinite amount or poems 
by having them fastened on tho wall before their 
eyes while their hands were grappling with the 
“slimy dish-cloth.” Poor Horatio, with the pots 
and kettles to wash! the next protest wlH come 
from him. Sans Souci. 
*-- 
THE HEAD TO THE NORTH. 
In order to have more convenient access to a 
case that has been opened frequently of late 
while pursuing certain investigations, the writer 
moved his bed with the head to the West. It 
continued to have this direetlau for two weeks, 
and during that time he had not a night of his 
usually unbroken sleep. A vague uneasiness 
tormented blm, and half of his customary eight 
hours ot repose was wretchedly spent in restless 
attempts to slumber. No particular ailment 
could be detected that might account for It; the 
day ’s experience was much as usual, only for the 
morningH soreness and heaviness, resulting from 
broken and Insufficient sleep. A newspaper par¬ 
agraph on the advantages of lying in the line of 
the magnetic meridian or near it, so that the 
body may be favorably enveloped by the currents 
that are excited by changes ot temperature, re¬ 
minded me that I had met with a similar direc¬ 
tion fifty years ago, only that the advantages of 
lying tu a north and south direction were not at¬ 
tributed to electric currents, about which little 
or nothing was then known. I had generally 
acted on this advice from an indoctrinated sense 
ot its value, but losing sight of the reason, I al¬ 
lowed a different reason to turn me east and 
west, with the effect above related. At any rate, 
I turned back to north, a little west (tor I live 
where the magnetic needle points about lour de¬ 
gree* west of north) and my usual soundness of 
sleep immediately returned and baa continued. 
One swallow does not make a summer, nor does 16 
do to generalize irom & single occurrence, but I 
give my experience In the belief that it may add 
to the ease of some others who, in the decline of 
life, find slight straws sufficient to rob them ot 
rest. w. 
Dear Sisters.— It looks very much to me as 
though the “ Club” was going to be given up to 
housework t can’t those ot us who are Interested 
In art and in literature have a chance to air our 
hobbles betore the club ? Will some of the sis¬ 
ters tell nu|what is the best and newest text bxk 
of the Russian language? A ho what Is the best 
authority on Harmony and Thorough Bass. 
Jessie Cameron. 
Several club letters orrived too late for pub¬ 
lication* They will appear in “ December Club.” 
F. R 
