Harding Davis’s short story “ Walhalla.” The 
poetry la by Clarence Cook, Celia Thaxter and 
Juliet C. Marsh. The departments include papers 
by Dr. Holland on “ Pettiness In Art,” “ interna¬ 
tional Copyright,” and '•Common Sense and Rum;” 
'• Hints lor the Yoseinlte Trip,” with estimates 
of cost of i ten days trip ; " Nerves in the House¬ 
hold,” The Rook Reviews, some “Rrlc-a-Brac,” and 
and a very fresh department of •• World's WorK,” 
including Western Utver Improvement,” “ Cen¬ 
trifugal Milk-iesier,” "Transposing Plano,” etc,, 
etc. 
-♦♦ - 
B ilC-A-BRAC. 
AS UiamENI GIBL. 
“ Come out into the garden, love, 
Where perfume fills the air; 
I’ll gather the fragrant blossoms, love. 
To deck your suuny hair.” 
“ Oh no, dear George,” she sadly sighed, 
“ 1 can’t enjoy such blisses; 
Ma says I must stay in the house 
Aud wash the supper dishes.” 
Two ragged urchins stood one day 
Beside the great church door, 
Aud watched the folks in rich array 
From out the temple pour. 
“ My eyes ! but ain’t they tony, though ! 
And don't they sport the dress ! 
What be they, Joel” “ Oh, I duuno - 
They’re Ohristain folks, 1 guess.” 
“ They he ! Then, if we had the cash. 
And nutliiug else to do, 
And washed, and dressed, and cut a dash— 
Should we be Christians, too 1 
t Boston Tra mvrir>t. 
TUK NEW I’ENOIt. 
He drew in his breath w ith a gaspiug sob. 
With a quavei’iug voice ho sang; 
But his voice leaked out and could not drown 
The aecompanyiHt’b clamorous hang. 
He lost his pitch on a middle A; 
He faltered on lower D; 
And foundered at length, like a battered wreck 
Adrift on the wild high C. 
REASONS. 
She never will crown with her earnest love 
The life of some honest, loving man, 
For she kilulled the. tin- in the kitchou stove, 
With the lightsome tiit of the kerosene can. 
And he—bis work had been laid away 
Almost before it was well begun ; 
For lie didn’t know, they heard him say, 
There was any load in the empty gun. 
[Burlington Bav'keye. 
“ Yes, my love, it was fresh and glowing, 
Blooming and beautiful—yesterday ! 
Now its odor is sickly, its petals are going, 
Its beauty is vanished, throw it away! 
Pray don’t thrust it under my nose! 
Who can endure a yesterday’s rose ?” 
A RHYME ON 'IHE TIME. 
Miss Pallas Eudora von Blurky, 
She didn't know chicken from turkey. 
High Spanish aud Greek she could fluently speak. 
But her knowledge of poultry was murky. 
She could tell the great uncle of Moses, 
And the dates of the War of the Roses, 
And the reasons of things,—why the Indians wore 
rings 
In their red, aboriginal uoses ! 
Why Shakspeare was wrong in his grammar, 
And the moaning of Emerson’s “ Brahma 
And she went chipping rocks, with a black little box 
And a small geological hammer. 
She had views upon co-education, 
And the priuei pal needs of the nation; 
Aud her glasses were blue, and the number she knew 
Of the stars in each high constellation. 
And she wrote in a handwriting clerky, 
Aud she talked with au emphasis jerky, 
Aud she painted on tiles iu the sweetest of styles; 
But she didn’t kuow chicken lroin turkey ! 
Last year, young D—waited upon the daugh¬ 
ter of a rich pharmacist, hoping to marry her. 
At, that time, whenever he spoke of his expected 
Li.bey in Vr,.. he always suld, “That great sa¬ 
vant,” “ in famous chemist,” etc. Much to his 
disgust, young I) —was refused by the pharma¬ 
cist’s daughter. And *ow, whenever any one 
speaks to him or his unatlalued lather In-law, he 
says disdaluiully, "Ah, yes, that old herb-gath¬ 
erer,” 
A TOUGH QUESTION. 
Children are oi?en puzzled by questions which 
are not understood by their elders. During the 
late Franco Prussian war a Sunday-School scholar 
read about the prayers With which ibe Germans 
and French were petitioning Heaven for success 
to their arms. " Mother, asked a little girl of her 
parent, " I don't sec what the Lord can do under 
the circumstances, do you? He can’t give the 
victory to both of them, and it seems to me like a 
terrible dilemma to be placed In.” Her mother, 
who was not entirely satisfied wlih the role which 
Great Britain played in the affair, remarked, 
« Well, my dear child, perhaps he will do as the 
English do, and remain neutral.” 
PATRICK S EXPERIENCE WITH THE ELEVATOR. 
Sez I, •• IzMisthcr shmlth In, surr ?” Sez the 
man wld the soger cap, “ Will yez slip la?” So I 
stipe lutii the closet, and all of a suddlnt he pulls 
at a rope, and It’s trooth I z teelln’yez, the walls 
of the building begun runntn’ down cellar as 
though the dlvll was afthcr them. “Ilouly 
murther!” sez I, “ what *11 become of Bridget and 
the chtlder which was lift below there ?” Sez the 
soger cap man, “ Be alsy, surr; they ’ll be all 
right when yez come down.” " Come down, Is it?” 
sez 1 ; " and is It no closet at all, hut a haythen- 
lsh balloon that yez got me In ?” And with that 
the walls stopped stock still, and he opened the 
door, and there 1 was wld the roof jlsl over me 
head 1 And that wasphat saved me from goln’ up 
till the hlvius enlalriy .—Moslem T< ansertpt. 
THE EyRAL I5EW-YQRKS13 
Jot (Women. 
CONDUCTED BY MISS KAY CLARK. 
SEED CASKETS. 
BY ADELAIDE BTOIJT. 
Here are rosewood caskets shut 
Down with secret spring; 
In them little pearls are hid, 
Strung on finest string. 
Here’s a coll'er filled with coin 
Round and polished fair. 
Yellow as our finest gold; 
Miuted with more care. 
Yet they wear no stain, as oft 
Doth our current gold: 
Palms ne’er held them us a bribe 
In their secret hold. 
Here are jewels cut iu jet. 
Polished, and then hid 
In the till that lies beneath 
This quaint, carvou lid. 
The rich brown of this small boll 
Cut in outlines sharp. 
Seems as carved with vine and leaf, 
Iu this pericarp. 
There are white pearls that divers bring 
From tho cruel sea. 
Spring the lock, and sec how clear 
The hidden pearlB may be. 
Like a softly tinted shell, 
On finest cameo 
Is this capsule, traced in lines 
Softer far 1 tro, 
Thau are those the artist cuts 
In the shell we prize. 
Vet these gems are scarcely seen 
By our careless eyes. 
--- 
RECREATION FOE WOMEN. 
BY MRS. ST. L. SAYERS. 
Rockeries. 
Rockeries too frequently show the studied sym- 
etry characterizing art. A pertect hemisphere or 
pyramid, resembling a farmer’s rock-pile Is usual¬ 
ly heaped up with a handiul of earth high and dry 
on top, In which a fern transplanted from the 
mossy banka of a stream Is expecled to become a 
thing of beauty—a joy forever. 
Rockeries belong to landscape gardening, and an 
Imitation of nature only Is appropriate In their 
construction. For a farm-yard where lowls run at 
large, let this be a permanent arrangement, plant¬ 
ing perennials which will each year Increase, and 
unrestrained, assume more natural positions 
among the rooks. Let the situation be upon tne 
north side of any ivy-covered wall. This makes a 
flue back-ground. 
Set a cross (or if desiring to adhere more closely 
to the natural, a cedar trunk lopped of its trien¬ 
nial branches) firmly In the ground, roll up around 
this huge stones (gray limestones taking on angu¬ 
lar, massive shapes are the most striking), leaving 
a space which Is wider around the cross, gradually 
terminating lu an Irregular point towards the 
front. 
During yard-cleaning, throw Into this space the 
trash; old shoes, bones, leaves and dead grass; 
fill up with ashes, hen-house sweepings and sandy 
loam. At the foot of the cross plant a woodbine 
or other hardy vine; behind It, tall-growing, per¬ 
ennial larkspur; In front, a lern; front-left, co¬ 
lumbine ; light, perennial phlox, chrysanthemum, 
lychnis, cowslip, daisies and pansies, the low- 
growing filling the point. 
The evergreen creeping myrtle Is pretty, hut 
soon encroaches upon other less vigorous plants. 
The dlclytra spectabllls, or bleeding-heart, Is ap¬ 
propriate for this style of rockery, both on ac¬ 
count of Its habit and appearance. Here whole 
chains of bleeding-hearts lift themselves from this 
“ rifted rock of ages to the cross crowned with 
life eternal. Here perpetual verdure crowns this 
otherwise unsightly heap. It creeps through, fills, 
the crevices, and grows up outside til) nothing Is 
seen save a few Jagged polntsof gray-stone, which 
only tend to the picturesque. 
For a summer or temporary rockery of like ap¬ 
pearance, a root of Madeira vine wilt soon cover 
the frame with lls thick, succulent leaves, sending 
graceful feelers out Into the air to fill It with deli¬ 
cate perfume. Nasturllon will creep up and thrust 
its orange trumpets through this overlapping fo¬ 
liage, like so many gold-crested chicks peeping 
through the maternal feathers. 
Asters and candy-tua, so difficult to be grown In 
open borders on account of Insects, nourish here 
unharmed beneath the shadow of tho cross, while 
snap-dragon and ten-weeks’ stock are nowhere 
else so much at home. 
Some readers will say this article cannot benefit 
me, as I have no north corner to he ornamented. 
For such as are denied this more natural situation 
comes the next and last resort; while stones are 
not usually associated with tropical growth, they 
may be used as a nucleus lor curious shells, fossils 
and other such collections. Fill the space with 
sand; at the foot of tho cross plant running cy¬ 
press or yellow jessamine; in the rear, a stately 
canna or rlclnus; In Iront, a banana, palm, or 
yucca filamentosa, on the right, cockscomb; on 
the left, cactus, portulaca and tradescantla. 
UPHOLSTERING. 
PANSY KAY. 
I do not mean to treat of the word In the full ac¬ 
ceptation of the term, but only to give a few 
"hints” in upholstering as practiced by a neo¬ 
phyte, and that neophyte a woman. 
The " parlor set ” consisted of a gentleman's and 
lady’s chair, four smaller ones and sofa, lu the 
unique Eastlako style, neatly upholstered with 
brown repp. Not a single rocking-chair among 
them. To be sure there was a cane-seated one t 
which had formerly occupied a place In the room 
very much after the same pattern as the set, hut 
then It hadn’t exactly the “ air,” so the only alter¬ 
native was to get a new one or upholster the old 
one. The latter plan was chosen and carried out 
In this way. 
Two stripes were worked on Penelope canvas, 
one for the seat and the [other lor t he oval cano- 
work piece la the back. The pattern selected was 
oak leaves and a branch of coral, the leaves being 
worked In shaded greou zephyrs and the coral lu 
red, the ground work was then filled out with 
zephyr a little deeper shade than ecru. 
Repp was procured for seventy-five cents which 
matched the set m color, and almost In quality ; 
the gimp and gimp tacks tho upholst erer was k Ind 
enough to throw In. 
The repp was cut the required size, the stripes 
wore basted on to R, with gimp on each side, and 
then stitched wt'h the machine. The bottom of 
the chair was cushioned with nineteen or twenty 
layers of sheei wadding, held firm by being sewed 
through tho cane, and the cane also served for 
springs. 
The top was then put on and neatly tacked 
around the edge with tacks and gimp. 
The back was treated lu the same manner, ex¬ 
cept there was only half the amount of wadding 
used. A piece of brown cloth was tacked on the 
hack part or the chair. And behold the result! 
A neat, almost elegant, chair, that aDy woman 
would be proud to point to as a specimen of her 
achievements in the art. of upholstering. 
Ot course, you are to regulate your materials ac¬ 
cording to your purse, for instance, one of cheap 
cretonne or woven stripes ca n he procured for less 
than It would cost you to work one, and be almost 
as handsome. 
Or If your pocket-book Is quite plethoric you can 
procure more, elegant stripes and material to 
match. Some ot the latter chiss have been known 
to buy split-bottomed rockers and upholster them 
In a very elegaat style, finishing them around the 
bottom with heavy fringe, costing ,lrom three to 
four dollars a yard. 
Their chairs cost them from eight to nine dol¬ 
lars, but they wore equally as handsome as those 
sold for eighteen or nineteen dollars. 
If persona would forage among the rubbish and 
bring to light, the chairs In which, when children, 
they were rocked to sleep to the accompa nlment 
of some wonderful story, they would find them 
much resembling the chair of the period, and by 
using a little Ingenuity, with perhaps, a piece 
nailed on here and there, to serve as strengthening 
plasters, upholster them in such a manner that 
they themselves would be surprised, after the re¬ 
juvenating process, at their youthful appearance. 
But I will give you another leaf from the up¬ 
holstery experience of" the novice.” There was 
a square of repp left over from the chair, and 
this she utilized la upholstering an ottoman. 
The ottoman frame was somewhat hexagonal In 
form, hut the corners were not cut off enough to 
make It entirely so. A cushion was made of a 
number of layers of an old quilt with several lay¬ 
ers of wadding on top. which were all sewed firmly 
together. This made a soft cushion, aud one that 
would not flatten. 
But an unforeseen obstacle arose; the piece of 
repp was too small when the cushion was made— 
but trust a woman not to be outwitted—so Instead 
of stitching the cretonne stripe on after the nian- 
nerof the chaff, the repp was out diagonally across 
the square and the stripe set In, but as It was not 
as heavy as the rep It was lined with burlap. 
The gimp having all been used on " that ohalr,” 
another means was devised tor lastenlng the strip 
on, the rep was laid over on each side of the cre¬ 
tonne, alter the manner known lu dress-maklug as 
piping, and then stitched. The ground work of 
the stripe was black, and black and brown never 
look well when in too close proximity. 
One must, however, get used to obstacles and 
learn to surmouut them. This evil was remedied 
by a row ot herring-bone stitches worked in gold 
silk floss over the machine stitching between the 
stripe and the rep piping. This finish was equally 
as pretty as the gimp. Tho top being now com¬ 
pleted, it was Lacked on the irame, after which 
brown fringe four inches deep was tacked around 
the edge, the heading of the Hinge having first 
had the gold boss worked on lu larger herring¬ 
bone stitch. You would scarcely imagine what a 
pretty ottoman It Is. And such a marvel of cheap¬ 
ness too. 
-- 
GRANDMOTHER’S OPINION ABOUT SEW¬ 
ING MACHINES. 
“ Do I thluk sewing machines are a great Inven¬ 
tion?” 
" Yes, one way you look at it, they are great In¬ 
stitutions, but l do not tbinlc they have done any 
good In the world. I really believe womankind 
would have been happier, if the Inventor had 
never been born. 
They might have done good but like a great 
many other things, they have been perverted, and 
Instead ot a blessing, are a curse. 
Now, suppose, a case for example, and there 
are thousands of just such cases, aU over the 
country. Mrs. Gilson has half a dozen little 
children, her husband Is not lourhanded, It Is all 
they can do to make both ends meet; they cannot 
afford to hir e sewing done, they are not able to 
keep a hired girl and the poor woman has her 
hands full, of course. 
It is no light job, to cook victuals enough, to fill 
all those hungry mouths, not to speak of washing, 
Ironing and general house work; then, there Is 
the mending and making to keep them comfort¬ 
ably clad; every spare moment is employed in 
sewing. 
The little ones are all dressed neat and plain. 
She works all lUe time to keep things up, but she 
does it somehow ; where there is a will i here Is a 
way. After a while, she gets ft sewing machine; 
and It is a good help. 
MAY < 
She turns off the garments quickly. It is splen¬ 
did, to get on with one’s sewing so fast. So far it Is 
well; It Is really a help to her. But she Is not con¬ 
tent with plain dresses for the little girls, every¬ 
thing must be trimmed. It is so easy to make 
nice trimmings with a machine, and children look 
so pretty with ruffles and puffings, flounces and 
tucks. If It does take more cloth and I lme, and 
thread. She can do It herself—and so she stitches 
without any rest, every spare moment Is spent at 
the machine. 
The little girls arc set about the housework, so 
mother can get more time to make their pretty 
dresses By and by. she gels a back-acha, a slde- 
acbe, and her head gets confused wit h the hum¬ 
drum click ot the machine and the poor woman 
breaks down, her nerves arc all unstrung and after 
a while the machine stops, for Mrs. Gilson Is sick; 
worn out with hard work. 
Hired help has to be employed. 
Doctor's bills come In, and the children are neg¬ 
lected, and everything goes to ruin generally. You 
all know how it is—that sewing machine was the 
cause of the mischief. Had the poor woman just 
done her necessary sewing, It would have been 
well enough to have had a machine; but you see 
that could not content, her; and half of the ex¬ 
travagance In dress and lashton Is the result of 
the advent of sewing machines. 
Girls are not Instructed In the use of the needle 
as they used to be; good hand sewing Is gone by, 
everything Is stitched by machine; and hems 
stitched do not look neat, after a little while the 
dirt and dust will gather, and a gray streak bor¬ 
ders every hem. 1 cannot say, that I admire un¬ 
dergarments trimmed with mourning, they do not 
look tidy; give me a neat hem, sewed by hand, 
that gives no chance for a gathering of dirt. The 
machine work rips, and ten to one If It is noticed 
till It gets to be a great rent. 
I suppose It. Is because I am old-fashioned, that 
I like the old style of work the best. 
No, I do not think the world is any better off, 
for the invention of sewing machines. 
Many a nice healthy girl, has stitched herself to 
death, many mothers have gone to the grave, just 
In consequence of overworking themselves on a 
machine. 
It is not a good exercise. It Is hard: just as had 
as spinning linen used to be for girls; a little of It, 
wont hurt any one, but to follow It up Is death in 
the end. s. h. r. 
-- 
LAMBREQUINS AGAIN AND WINDOW 
SHADES. 
MRS. E. K. B. 
“ Effib” asks for directions for making pretty 
and Inexpensive lambrequins. We have Just fin¬ 
ished some which I think are as pretty us any that 
I have seen, and although the work of making 
them is considerable, they cost but little money. 
The foundation Is of slat e colored cambric which 
Is faced all around with a strip three inches wide 
of Turkey red calico. The lower edge, Instead of 
being cut la the deep points whlcn, from being 
seen la too many windows are becoming almost 
monotonous, is curved upward in one deep con¬ 
cave scollop. The depth of the lambrequin oil the 
sides is twenty-eight inches and In the middle, 
eighteen inches. Tne lower edge Is also deco¬ 
rated with a pointed netting leur Inches wide, 
made of scarlet yarn aud hanging from each point 
Is a little scarlet ball. 
Netting la an old fashioned trimming that 
adorned the bed-curtains and stand-covers of our 
grandmothers, and It Is such pleasant, pretty 
work and can be made useful In so many different 
ways that I am very glad to see that It Is being 
revived. 
The lambrequin should stand out slightly from 
tne window aud ours Is tacked in a curved strip 
of board that Is fastened horizontally to the top 
of the window casing. 
Where there are blinds to the windows' these 
lambrequins can he used without other curtains, 
or there may be full flowing curtains of the same 
material. 
WINDOW SHADES. 
1 have in mind some new window shades for a 
bedroom, that are to he made ot nice, smooth, 
unbleached muslin with a border of red set two or 
throe Inches from the edge, and on each edge of 
tho red a row of feather-stitching done with white 
knitting cotton. If there Is time, there will also 
be a monogram worked with scarlet In tne center 
and surrounded by an oval border cut from the 
red calico. 
They will do very well without the centerpiece, 
although one need not hesitate to spend a little 
extra work on shades like these, for they will 
bear washing. I shall fasten them to the win¬ 
dows with the fixtures of some worn-out oil shades. 
Of course, in making either lambrequins or cur¬ 
tains, one must have some regard for the prevail¬ 
ing colors in the carpet, and furniture, and use 
colors that will harmonize. 
-- 
A PLEA FOR “GOSSIP.” 
E. L. T. 
I do not wish to say anything iu favor of slan¬ 
derous back-biting; or for the encouragements of 
the-“They Say Club,” those social vampires 
that flourish In every community. I wish to speak 
In favor of wholesome, though much abused gos¬ 
sip; little local happenings—which does no one 
harm, and yet Is often abused as frivolous and un¬ 
meaning. 
Granted, that the farmer’s wife would be better 
engaged It she talked of every-day science and 
household hygiene, of literature, art, "snake- 
speare aud the musical glasses,” hut what time 
has the busy housewife to learn of such things? 
It may be said that she could make time for It, It 
she determined to do so; but how can she escape 
from her multifarious duties—from the bondage of 
the household ? 
Held down by the trammels of unavoidable, un- 
