AUG. 28 
559 
THE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
over twenty-five years and nearly all I knew tliere 
are dead or nave removed to otner places, but I 
love the old familiar names even, and should miss 
the paper as I should the face of a friend, If I did 
not have Its weekly visits! It seems to bring' back 
to my memory the solemn, old and beautiful maple 
woods, and the early Spring beauties; the adder- 
tongues and other tlowera that grew In their shade. 
I fancy myselt a child again hunting for ground 
nuts, gold thread or beech nuts, or assisting In 
keeping up fires to help my rather and brothers 
make maple sugar. It seems like a dream of 
heaven when such recollections crowd on my 
mind, and they do, when In an hour of leisure I 
sit down to scan the columns of the same old 
paper that was so familiar to my eyes In my 
father’s house. 
I hope that, when my children leave their homo 
they will be able to take wltb them such pleasant 
recollections, for It Is pleasant and profitable to 
have the storehouse of memory tilled with such 
images, they go with us to the end of life and help 
to keep us from becoming too wordly and selfish." 
As 1 looked at the sweet and placid face of my 
friend I thought that such had been the power of 
association with her u. c, n. 
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT HUSBANDS. 
M..I. T.rather espouses the cause of the bus 
band. Blie Is a true woman, I’m sure, a cheerful, 
earnest, Intelligent Christian woman, and she has 
been observant in this work-a-day world and seen 
how, In our day and generation, men are more sel¬ 
fish and thoughtless than ever beiore, women 
weaker, mere harassed, and she need not be 
amazed If a sweeter old maid than myself feels 
uncharitably. 
The truth Is that the majority of men, us hus¬ 
bands, are failures. What an angel a man Is 
before marriage, how crabbed and censorious 
alter 1 
This carelessness Is more perceptible among 
laboring men than others. Is there anything In 
tilling of mother earth that makes a man rough ? 
There is something In It that gives him good health, 
and this very constant good health seems some¬ 
times to make him unfeeling. How sad I It Is the 
principle reason I did not marry some twen—some 
years ago. The world will doubtless lose other 
shining examples of what the married state should. 
he unless these men can be brought to a realizing 
sense ol tlielr sins of omission. 
If there are any discontented spinsters among 
the “ Rural ” readers, let them look about and see 
how many husbands can sew on a button when 
the baby is crying ; how few “ knots " will bear 
the stress and strain of all matrimonial weathers, 
and a few other items, and they will he contented 
enough to be a perfect aggravation to ordinary 
people. 
And the vexations of housekeeping! 
Children with a thousand wants 1 
Sleepless nights and anxious days! 
Husband cross as sin I 
Whole life a struggle with dirt l 
And one nervous little woman to wrestle with It 
all. 
Ah! some of these husbands deserve- —de¬ 
serve to be In hearlug of an old maid’s voice, at Its 
crucifying pitch, once a week! Mrss Irene 
THE “DON’T” SUBJECT. 
l tuvK just, been reading Miss Harvey’s 
“Don’ts," and while! heartily endorse them all, 
I wish she had added one. or two more. One sug¬ 
gested by a conversation overheard at au Im¬ 
promptu •• farmers’plc-nlc,” 1 cannot refrain from 
sending you. “There comes Mrs. Maun, dressed 
up lu black cashmere!” " You don’t say -cash- 
mere—to wear lu the woods? Pretty extravagant, 
1 think.” Extravagant 1 I smiled to myself, for 
Mrs. Mann had told me she couldn’t aUord to 
wear any other than t.hl3 three-year-old cash- 
mere to “ rough it ” in, lor, wlrb delicate health 
and all the work of her household to do, prints 
“exquisitely done up," were altogether too choice 
for her, unless for the afternoon visit, or too home 
dreBs-up, where they would not be apt to get 
mussed quickly. But to come buck to the plc-nlc; 
nine ot toe fifteen women in sight fiuu on cne&p (?) 
dresses of cotton and wool in fancy goods, more 
or less mussed, and all made and trimmed elabo¬ 
rately; toe wearers thereof priding themselves on 
their economy; why, that cashmere cost as much 
as three like theirs.—Did it ? Count, the cost, and 
see. llow much were the trimmings and the 
making, and how loug will yours last? Think It 
all over, and you will flud the cashmere is the 
cheapest. Here comes In my Don't, don’t buy 
Imitations In dress goods, looklug just “ like silk” 
and so cheap, for their beauty will have departed 
by the time they leave the dressmaker’s hands, 
and one or two rides to church and a few drops of 
dew will make them just fit for plc-nlcs. 
millv Bird. 
FASHIONS. 
Polonaise continue m favor. This style of 
wearing apparel undergoes slight alterations In 
the cut and trimming Dom time to time, but there 
Is no prospect, at present of Its abandonment, and 
ladles who arc obliged to economize will find It to 
their advantage to utilize material tn this form; a 
change of looping or other slight alteration wUl 
remodel It,. Skirts ot different material are worn, 
so a pretty and useful stilt may be constructed of 
two partly-worn dresses, if wished. The taste or 
the persons will dictate the combination. If pos¬ 
sible, the contrasting colors should be such as 
will blend weU. 
Short skirts still hold away, thereby revealing 
the sense of the ladles In their adoption and con¬ 
tinuance. 
Large hats or bla 'k straw are to be one of the 
leading styles for Fall. 
The navy blue fiauuel suits which have been so 
popular during the Summer will continue to be 
worn. The material is Inexpensive, some of It 
costing but fifty cents a yard for one and one-half 
yard width. It can be utilized for almost any tone 
of the year. 
Lace around the neck Is generally arranged to 
rail downward over the dress. It is often pleated 
or gathered in the form ot a deep collar, several 
rows being made. 
In colors, oid gold and cardinal retain their 
prominence. They are worn by those or advanced 
age, as well as the youthful. 
Some of the celluloid bracelets in red and black 
are very pretty. The tortoise-shell are handsome, 
and the wearer of any of these displays better 
taste than those who adorn themselves with the 
cheap gilt. If gota can be afforded It Is well to 
wear It, but better something else than the Imi¬ 
tation. 
FORFEITS FOR FUN 
A MOT of amusing forfeits, which will make the 
company laugh aud not offend the person called 
upon to pay them, are herewith given : 
1. Put a newspaper upon the door In such a 
way that two peraouscan stand on It and not be 
able to touch each other with their hands. By 
putting the paper lu the door-way, one-half Inside 
and the other half outside the room, and closing 
the door over It the two persona can easily stand 
upon It and still be beyond each other’s reach. 
'i. To go out ot the room with two legs and 
come in with six. Not difficult If one thinks to 
bring a chair along on the return. 
3. To act toe dumb servant. The person who 
has forfeit to pay must act out the answers to tbe 
questions put by the master of ceremonies. “How 
do you make bread?” “How do you eat soup 7 ” 
&o. This forfeit will cause much merriment If 
proper questions are put. 
4. Put one hand where the other can not touch 
it, One can get out of this difficulty by putting 
one hand on the elbow of the other arm. 
5. Place a pencil on too floor so that one can 
not jump over It. May be done by putting It close 
to the wall of the room. 
a. Put a question that no one can answer with 
a “no." This Is not hard If one thinks to ask 
“ What does y-e-s spell?” 
T. Push a chair through a finger-ring. This 
forfeit is made by putting the ring on the finger 
and pushing the chatr—any other object will do as 
well—with the finger. 
s. Put yourself through a keyhole. This was a 
great puzzle to us for awhile, but when the word 
“yourself” was written upon paper and pushed 
through the hole It was all clear.—Cincinnati 
Weekly. 
ABUNDANT HAIR. 
Japanese women are very proud ot their hair, 
which is black and luxuriant. They cult ivate and 
arrange It with great care by brushing their 
tresses back from the forehead and gathering 
them In a plaited topknot, covered with flowers, 
spangles, and hairpins of gold, sliver, and tortolse- 
sheU. Rich and poor are alike proud of their 
eoiffnrv, and the trull-woman la mgs devotes the 
same attention to her hair as any great lady. To 
preserve toe elaborate structure from being dis¬ 
turbed, women during sleep rest their necks on a 
padded rork. There is no difference between 
single and married women lu wearing their hair, 
as in China; and the!r respective social status la 
Indicated by the position of the bow in which the 
waist-scarf Is tied, girls wearing it at the back, 
matrons In front. The latter likewise shave their 
eyebrows, and dye their teeth black. GUIs use 
rouge freely, and sometimes gild their lips. They 
are all iond of smoking, and wear their embroid¬ 
ered tobacco pouches as belt ornaments. 
ABOUT WOMEN. 
“ It Is not nice,” says a correspondent, “ to see 
a lady take the cup from the water-cooler in a 
railroad car and let her dog drink out of it.” The 
correspondent is right; it is not nice, except tor 
the dog. 
A young American lady (Miss Perkins, of New 
York) has taken the black veil In the Dominican 
Conventon the Rue Laugter, Paris. The ceremony 
took place, according to established usages, behind 
a double grating. 
Ladies will be gratified to hear that there la a 
vast improvement in the style or bath-houses this 
Summer at Cape May and Atlantic City. 
A r toe commencement of the L’nlveralty of Cali¬ 
fornia, where both sexes are educated, the highest 
honors were borne off by two young ladles. 
Frances E. Burnett, -author of “That Lasso’ 
Lowrle’s” and “Louisiana,” Is described as a 
sweet fascinating woman and a most delightful 
companion. She speaks or her stories In a way 
that Is very refreshing. 
Mrs. N. K. Allen, of Iowa, a lady of leisure and 
means, has received the appointment as notary 
public and pension agent, In order to give her ser¬ 
vices to poor women who cannot afford to pay tor 
such work. She has written bills, collected claims, 
and aided her sister women la many ways. 
Miss Mary E. Mason, daughter of lion alias 
Mason, and granddaughter or Rev. llosea Ballou, 
died at Readsborough, Vt„ recently. She was a 
lovely girl of twenty. She had but a short time 
prior to her death returned from Boston, where she 
had been taking violin lessons. She was one of 
the most accomplished players on the violin in 
that state. 
Following are the official rules for the mourn¬ 
ing for the Imperial family ot Russia tor the Em¬ 
press: The Czar and all the Grand Dukes will 
appear In full mourning for sLv months, according 
to military law. The Grand Duchesses will wear 
during the first quarter a robe. montUfUe of flannel, 
with long cuffs buttoned to the wrist, collar and 
weepers of batiste. Trains ot black flannel; crape 
bonnet, with head band lined in black taffetas 
two veils, one short, the other long, and covering 
the whole robe; gloves, fan and black cfuwssures. 
Not until the fourth quarter Is silk permissible, 
and coiffures will then be white, with colored rib¬ 
bons and colored gloves. 
Adelaide Nbilbon died In Paris on Sunday, 
Aug. 16. Her decease was sudden and Is generally 
attributed to heart disease, but by some this is 
doubted. The death of this favorite actress will 
be universally regretted. 
The Troy Times has heard of a judge ot much 
experience who says “he has never had a breach 
of prom fie case lie fore him In which the mother 
of the girl did not know more about it than her 
daughter.’’ 
Mrs. Julian Hawthorne, uow residing m Lon¬ 
don, mentions the Increased attention given to the 
decoration of the outside of London bouses. They 
are now painted chocolate, and Indian red, and 
this must greatly relieve the dlnglness of the 
streets in the English metropolis. 
Mrs. Sarah Thompson and her two daughters 
who have created so much talk by their peculiar 
actions In Albany, upon their return to New York 
proceeded to the St. Nicholas Hotel, and were as¬ 
signed a room on the second floor. When the at¬ 
tendant appeared In the ladles’ parlor to show 
them ro the room the women broke into piercing 
screams and refused to leave the apartment. 
They were quieted after a while, but with much 
difficulty were removed to Bellevue Hospital for 
treatment, as they are evidently insane. Later 
Intelligence Is, that the mother and ODe daugh¬ 
ter are lmprovlng-but, little hope Is entertained 
for the other’s recovery. 
OUR VISITOR. 
We have been favored with a visit from our con¬ 
tributor, Margaret, B. Harvey. 
As personal descriptions often convey errone¬ 
ous Impressions, It will not be attempted In this 
case. Her Interest In the “Rural” ladles, Is un¬ 
abated, so our readers may expect still to be pro¬ 
fited and entertained by her productions, r. c. 
You will not be sorry for hearlug before Judging, 
for thinking before speaking ; for holding an an¬ 
gry tongue; for stopping the ear to a tale-bearer ; 
for disbelieving most of the lU-reports ; for being 
kind to the distressed ; tor being patient towards 
everybody ; tor doing good to all me*; tor asking 
pardon tor all wrongs; tor speaking evil of no 
one ; for being courteous to all. 
tlomcstir (groiwing. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
ABOUT HOME DECORATIONS. 
MAY MAPLE. 
As a nation, we are noted for extremes, aud 
the present generation—the feminine part of 
It at least—are seeing to wlial. an extreme they 
can carry the art of decora! ion in their homes. 
Something more than a quarter of a century 
ago somebody made the discovery that it was 
the bare walls and poorly furnished rooms 
that caused so much dissatisfaction among the 
half-grown children, aud made them so de¬ 
sirous of leaving the hearthstone for a life in 
some far-away city, and so for the last decade 
the great, cry has been, “Make your homes 
attractive, and thus keep your children with 
you." Of course, those who had abuncluul 
means could adorn their homes with many 
luxuries. But still discontent lurks in every 
corner. Those who have limited pnrses are 
just as anxious to make their homes attractive; 
so they toil day and night to add a few shil¬ 
lings to the parse, or else work at unseasonable 
hours to make ornaments for parlor aud sit¬ 
ting-room, till they become so nervous and 
irritable that a loud laugh or merry chatter 
among the younger fry brings down the 
severest reprimand from lips that mighL have 
been wreathed in smiJes had It not been for 
the hurried embroidery of some faucy motto, 
the forming of some ** air castle," or the 
painting of some bit of pottery. The more 
humble the home the harder mnst the mother 
toil to make it as attractive as her neighbor’s; 
and yet with all tbia extra labor and self- 
sacrifice, the children turn with longing eyes 
to other places for amusement. And why is 
it? Are the children ungrateful and ao un¬ 
reasonable in their demands that neither luxu¬ 
ries, artistic displays nor aelf-sacrifice can 
satisfy them ? I trow not. in fact, I believe 
it takes but very few of the “cultured” wants 
to satisfy the growing mind. 
I have in happy remembrance a home of 
the long ago that was always full of happy, 
contented children. In additon to the original 
family of eight or ten young scions, there were 
always two or three nieces or nephew's, chil¬ 
dren of some dead brother or sister, to be 
cared for by Uncle Alec or Aunt Ruth. Now, 
the old homestead was very plainly furnished ; 
there were no hours spent in painful decora¬ 
tions. To be sure, the walls of the best room, 
which was aiso the family sitting-room, were 
hung with the portraits of a few of the promi¬ 
nent men of our country, and a home-made 
yarn carpet covered the Boor. But iu this 
home, where there was a houseful of boys 
and girls, no anxiety was ever expressed about 
leaving the old roof-tree, where father and 
mother, not papa and mamma, presided. In 
all the world there was no place so dear to 
those sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, 
as where they knew they would always be 
greeted with a smile, a kind word or a caress 
from that indulgent father and loving, sympa¬ 
thizing mother. 
Even when the older ones married, there 
was no desire to go far away to “settle 
down ’’ “We must live where we can run in 
and sit by the old fire-place,” was the expres¬ 
sion of each member of that affectiouate group. 
The recipe in that family for “making home 
attractive ” was, to love one another, and make 
the life an everv-day demonstration of that 
love. The girls had no secrets from mother, 
and the boys were always sure of a father’s 
sympathy and wise counsel; the household was 
ruled by love. 
Love made home attractive ; not elegant 
furnishings or beautiful paintings, or yet 
expensive musical instruments: not fancy 
mottoes that had taken weeks of almost stolen 
time to emtnoider. not scoured floors nor 
polished walls, but simply loving sympathy 
with each child’s natural development, de¬ 
sires or ambition*, directing as much as pos¬ 
sible the forces into tbe right channel, that 
there might bo some assurances of success iu 
whatever was undertaken when the child 
reached maturity. Make home attractive, 
your surroundings handsome, without becom¬ 
ing cross; hut remember, if the father and 
mother are as attractive as they may be, the 
expense of keeping the children at home con¬ 
tented aud happy, will Dot be burdensome. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Accepted. 
If auy of your subscribers want a reliable 
recipe for coloring butter and for preserving 
eggs I will give it in the columns of the Rural 
New-Yorker, if it is asked for. Having re¬ 
tired from the butter and egg business I have 
no further use for secrets in that line. j. b. 
Yes, we shall be pleased to have it. 
Pickling Berrien. 
Heat the amount of vinegar required, sweet¬ 
en, then turn in the berries, let heat through, 
then turn into a jar aud set in a cool place. 
Simple, but. I llrink they are much better than 
to spoil the berry flavor with spices. One 
lady of my acquaintance, in canning berries, 
never heats her cans. Setting them on a 
marble, she pours the scalding fruit into them, 
and says she never breaks a can that way, as 
the cans heat gradually trom the bottom. 
Lemon Pie. 
There are many good ways of making the 
above, but I know of none that quite comes up 
to the following: Two eggs, juice and grated 
outside of one lemon, one cup sugar, one 
cup boiling' water. Save the white of 
one egg for frosting. Beat eggs, lemon, sugar, 
and a tablespoonful of flour together, turn 
on this mixture the hot water, boil iu dish of 
water; bake crust separate. 
Fruit Pie. 
A simple tiling to speak of, but if ail ladies 
have their pies “ run out” as I have, they will 
not think a remedy so simple after all. For 
raspberry, blackberry, juicy green apple, etc. 
Spread the under crust with butter, then 
sprinkle thickly with sugar, then flour; put 
the flour under the berries, theu sprinkle with 
sugar again, and bake slowly. By this means 
one can have the goodness of the pie in the 
pie, instead ot the oven. Aunt Em. 
-t-*-*- 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. , 
Picon) illy. 
Aunt Km asks for a recipe for the above. 
Ans. —Fifty small cucumbers, one large 
white cabbage, halt a peek of green tomatoes, 
two quarts of small string beaus, one dozen 
pieces of celery, three green peppers, four red 
peppers—seed taken out—two heads of cauli¬ 
flower. Chop all quite fine and soak over 
night in strong salt aud water. In the morn¬ 
ing wash well, draiu thoroughly and pour over 
hot vinegar, Bpiced with cloves, cinnamon and 
allspice. A teacupful of grated horseradish 
may be added to the mixture if liked. Ia 24 
hours turn off the vinegar, seald. skim and re¬ 
turn to the pickles. Repeat three or four 
timcB if left like common pickles, or seal air¬ 
tight while hot at the second scalding. Pure 
cider vinegar should be used aud the vegeta¬ 
bles must be fresh. 
Martynln Pickles. 
E. A. Douglass asks how and what variety 
of martyniaa to use for pickles. 
Ans.— The variety proboscides is used. Treat 
in the same manner as you would cucumbers. 
The young pods should be gathered when 
about half grown, while tender and succulent. 
If left until the flesh has hardened they are 
worthless. 
Glass or Stone for Pickles. 
Mrs. G. McF. asks the ladies to give their 
experience iu keeping pickles in glass or stone. 
Which is best ? 
No Costlvenoss, Dlarrhcea or any Bowel com¬ 
plaints where Hop Bitters are used. 
