82 
THE BUBAL MEW-TOBKEB. 
iron, holders, etc. B B are also drawers, 
5x6 inches. In one of these are kept spice- 
boxes, baking-powder, etc.; in the other 
knives, forks, spoons, etc., used in coooking. 
0 is a drawer 5x26 inches for moulding-board 
and rolling-pin. About two inches from the 
floor, cleats are nailed to the legs across each 
end, and the shelf D is laid thereon. This shelf 
is used for drippers and any tin-ware that 
can be stored there. The entire table is 
stained with burnt-umber and linseed oil, ap¬ 
plied with a. brush and thoroughly rubbed in 
with a cloth. Hot dishes from the oven may 
be placed on this table without marring it in 
the least, and grease leaves no mark after be¬ 
ing washed off with warm water. A curtain 
of print, the color of the table, tacked around 
below the lower drawer's, completes this work 
of art. L. w. 
cian, and it was almost dark before he could 
sit up. We thought to telegraph to the frieud 
in the city, who would be expecting them that 
night, that one of them was sick and they 
could not come that day. Just as he was en¬ 
tering the hotel, he heard of a terrible railroad 
accident that had just happened to the train, 
about fifty miles from the city; the very train 
they were coming down on. He said his head 
whirled as the news was enlarged upon. Over 
twenty passengers killed, and many more 
dangerously hurt. Just then a telegram 
was handed to him. He asked a gentleman 
near by to open it and read it for him. Oh! 
how thankful he was to hear it : “Will is 
sick; they will not come to-day.” He said it 
was the most blessed telegram he ever 
received; for he expected it would be a sum¬ 
mons to see them dead or terribly mangled. 
The next day but one. they started all right, 
and had their good time. Now, cannot you 
see the Guiding Hand took those boys in His 
charge and kept them safe from harm? This 
is only one of many cases that T myself have 
experienced, and I am ready and willing to 
trust to His care and guidance. If you could 
only feel so! Why, yon have got to believe 
it, sooner or later; and you will find iu due 
time that “whatever is, is right.” Disappoint¬ 
ments hurt no one in the long ran; you will 
meet them all the way through life. And the 
way to meet them, is to he brave, and take 
them as they come, and feel that it is all for 
the best, aud will prove so in the end. There, 
I have given you quite a sermon: and I shall 
be well paid for it, if you will only accept of 
the Guiding Hand to lead you through life. 
Insufficient bathing aud insufficient ventila¬ 
tion are the greatest dangers of the winter 
season, aud, when combined with too much 
salt meat and too many fried cakes, they pro¬ 
duce many an illness that seems a spriug epi¬ 
demic in a country neighborhood. 
TATTY GARTON. 
can be put up ny anyone, we can ouy wmu 
for 50 or 00 cents always. I cannot imagine 
where they could cost $1.40 each. The cur¬ 
tain poles also are only 20 cents or at most 40 
cents. Those at 29 cents are solid wood, quite 
handsome enough. As for lambrequins I 
should eschew them entirely. Full length cur¬ 
tains are infinitely more graceful and pleasing 
to the eye and need cost no more. Curtain 
materials are so cheap: miue are scrim with 
edge of real antique lace, which I bought for 
eight cents a yard in New York. A piece 
should be turned down at the top or a straight 
piece arranged across to break the scanty look 
where the curtains join the rings. Such cur¬ 
tains cost s 1 a window. I prefer them to very 
cheap lace curtains; they are as durable and 
unpretentious. Scrim can now bo bought with 
pretty colored designs stamped on it, and the 
cotton madras makes cheap and pretty curtains 
My mantel is slate and I consider it suffi¬ 
ciently ornamented with plenty of bric-a- 
brac and a large picture over it. I prefer a 
warm pretty portiere at the double doors, or, 
if 1 had not them, at the one door into the 
parlor, to au elaborate mantel drapery. 
I would suggest that the cretonne which by 
considerable work is made to “ look like some 
quaint oriental stuff ” be replaced by the ori¬ 
ental stuff' itself which would hardly cost 
more than the cretonne, tinsel aud silk. There 
is danger of doing too much fancy work. By 
all incans when it is done let it he something 
which cannot be as well and cheaply bought 
all ready. A pretty piece of crazy work is a 
bright spot iu a parlor if one can spare time 
to do it. I made a sofa pillow of it. A pret¬ 
ty scarf tidy is of scrim with threads drawn at 
iutervnlsaiid ribbon wovenin thedrawn places. 
[The tinsel embroidery to which our corres¬ 
pondent. takes exception is much more quick¬ 
ly done than “crazy work,” which is now 
rather out of date.—E ds.] 
NEATNESS, 
You owe it to your children to care for 
their teeth. Examine them to see if they are 
coining in straight; if not, consult a reliable 
deutist. Compel them, if necessary, to clean 
their teeth regularly, n nd have the second teeth 
filled at the first indications of decay. 
A good home study for winter evenings— 
grammar. It is, however, one thing to study 
grammar and another to understand it aud to 
apply its teachings. 
When paying a visit of more than a day, 
tell your hostess upon your arrival how long 
you intend to remain, and when that time has 
come, take your departure. There are occa¬ 
sions when it would be au unkindnoss not to 
yield to tho earnest wishes of a friend to re- 
maiu longer, but you will find that the rule is 
one that works well in most cases. A long- 
drawn-out visit is often inconvenient and 
tiresome to your friends and we think it shows 
selfishness aud thoughtlessness on the part of 
the guest. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
True glory takes root, aud then spreads; 
all false pretences, like flowers fall to the 
ground; nor can auy counterfeit last long. 
If thou draw out thy soul to tho hungry, 
and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy 
light arise in obscurity, and thy darkness be 
as the noonday.,. 
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any 
doeth, the same shall be received of the 
WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH RAGS, 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
Ordinarily the rag carpet is not an artis¬ 
tic affair, but plebeian to its last shred. This 
need not necessarily be so, and as rag carpet 
weavers are, as a rule, utterly devoid of ideas 
of taste and harmony, it behooves the wouhl- 
bo possessor of the carpet to superintend the 
making of it to the uttermost detail. The 
weaver,if left to hisown devices, will probably 
use parti-colored warp, weave iu the rags so 
as to form stripes in the carpet, producing a 
striped, plaided, incongruous tiling that to the 
cultivated eye is altogether detestable. Of 
course, for mere service where no regard is had 
for furnishing beyond utility it; matters less 
as to color or arrangement. 
A very handsome rag carpet can be made 
by dyeing all the rags a deep warm red, having 
the breudths woven extra wide, aud the warp 
of red woolen yarn. Of course, all the rags 
will nob take on the same depth of color, but 
the varying shades of red drawn from oue uni¬ 
form color of dye, will prove in effect on the 
floor very plea-sing, and such a carpet, if well 
made, will wear for “ages.” It can be fur¬ 
ther beautified by the addition of a border 
ray, and probably a 
man 
Lord, whether he be bound or free. 
Give strength, give thought, give deeds, give pelf, 
Give love, give tears, and give thyself; 
Who gives not Is not living. 
The more we give, 
The more we live. 
He that does good to another man does also 
good to himself: not only iu the consequences, 
but the very act of doing it; for the con¬ 
science of well-doing is an ample reward. 
Life consists not of a series of illustrious ac¬ 
tions or elegant enjoyments; the greater part 
of our time passes in compliance with neces¬ 
sities, iu the performance of daily duties, in 
the removal of small inconveniences,in the pro¬ 
curement of petty pleasures, and we are well 
or ill at ease as the main stream of life glides 
on smoothly or is ruffled by small obstacles 
and frequent observations. 
Things look dim to old folks; they need 
have some young eyes about ’em to let ’em 
know the world’s the same as it us“d to be... 
THE GUIDING HAND 
GRANDMOTHER. 
There is no use in wondering, or in rea¬ 
soning! Poor mortals are swayed by a power 
that is mightier than human strength. We 
cannot tell what is for us, everybody is liable 
to accidents aud casualitios that no fore¬ 
thought could prevent. I have not lived all 
these years without learniug that there is a 
power that sways our destinies! yes; “Mau 
proposes, God disposes.” No matter how wise¬ 
ly and carefully we may lay our plans, oue 
wave of the Guiding Hand can prostrate all 
our calculations, and disappoint us. No, it is 
not fatality! I do not. believe iu that! I thiuk 
all these tilings are ordered for the best, 
and that it will come right in the end,, if we 
will only he patient aud wait, There is no use 
in lamenting or fretting about things that we 
cannot possibly help. Wheu we do the best 
we know how, and then meet with failures, 
we must just accept the inevitable, and try 
agaiu. It never will do to give up in despair. 
That is no way to meet disappointments. Oh! 
I have seen so many strange things happen all 
the way through life; so many trials and af¬ 
flictions, coming unexpectedly upon fam¬ 
ilies, that I have learned to believe that 
these autoward events are governed by 
a Hand that guides us at will, whether 
we recognize it or not. The time will 
come when we shall know why it was. 
No! we none of us ever like to wait. We do 
not want our well-laid schemes to be frustrated! 
When I see a dear little babe sicken and die, I 
think, God knows best; perhaps had the child 
lived, he might have been anything but a 
blessing to the world, to his friends, or to 
himself; but now he is safe and pure; no siu 
has ever stained his soul or hands, and he is 
safe in the Kingdom where siu or sorrow can 
never enter. Then 1 have seen so many thiugs 
running all around, of 
border woven of black rags, with black or red 
wool wurp, would look nearly us well. 
Another design that looks exceedingly well is 
a carpet all of gray rags, with a border of 
dark red. In any event, a wool warp of the 
same color as the body of the woof, adds im- 
measureably to the beauty of the carpet, and 
iu localities where wool is abundant and cheap 
the expense is not very much greater than 
cotton. Of course whatever hue is choseu for 
the body of the carpet—red, brown, gray or 
green—the rags should all go into the dye. 
In order to secure a good effect in having a 
carpet or rug woven of old ingrain carpet cut 
into rags, a Woolen warp harmonizing in color 
with the prevaling color in the carpet, must 
be used. Any attempt at design or pattern in 
the weaving, usually, if not invariably, results 
in ugliness. 
Very serviceable, aud oven pleasing rugs 
oau bo made of rags, by knitting them on 
large wooden or bone needles. The oblong 
strip for the center should be of one color, 
while tho border may be of parti-colored rags 
sewed iu “hit-and-miss” fashion. Women 
always have scraps of bright., soft woolen 
go,*!*—Merinos aud flannels—which can bo 
distributed with “joyous” effects—to use one 
of Oscar Wilde’s terms—in tho border. For a 
finish at each end of the rug, knit, tie iu, or 
sew on, a woolen fringe to match the center 
piece in color. If the noodles are made by the 
wood carver of the family, he should bear in 
mind that a knob left at one end will prevent 
the stitches or loops from falling off the 
needles. The knitting should he close. Rags 
cut of silk and the quantity and variety that 
nlay be aggregated by utilizing every scrap 
of cast-off silk in a family; neck-ties, scarfs, 
ribbons, old gowns, fringes, etc., is quite sur- 
nrisintr—aud sewed together “hit-and-miss’ 
CONDUCTED HY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN 
A HOUSE WITHOUT A PANTRY. 
It does seem that auy man who would per¬ 
mit a woman to do her work iu a house minus 
a pantry, should be compelled to cat his food 
minus cooking. 
We had moved into a little house that had 
evidently boon built by a man of small means 
and still smaller brain. There wus not a room 
that could lie spared for a pantry, as all the 
rooms, except the living-room and kitchen, 
must be used for bedrooms in order to sleep 
according to the demands of health aud pro¬ 
priety. 
Thoflrst thing after planning and ordering 
the building of a cupboard was to make some 
improvement in a table we had brought with 
us. Fig. 67 shows the table wheu completed. 
that grieved us sore, but were really blessings 
iu disguise, that I have firm faith in tho 
Guiding Hand. Name one? Yes; the first that 
I think of. Years ago, two young boys were 
going to New York on a pleasure trip. One of 
then? was your father. They were to stay a 
week, see all the sights, and have a good time 
generally. They had boon invited by a gentle¬ 
man who was stopping at the Fifth Avenue 
Hotel. Of course they were just delighted at 
the prospect, aud could think of nothing else 
for days beforehand. Monday morning they 
got up early, as they had to ride some distance 
to take tho care. Everything was in readi¬ 
ness, when your father was taken fearfully 
sick; he was as white as a sheet. 1 gave him 
medicines to take, but they did him no good, 
He never had such an attack before. They 
could not go, of course. We called a pbysi- 
ABOUT FURNISHING A PARLOR 
CHEAPLY. 
In the article on furnishing a parlor for $75, 
I notice some items to which I would like to 
offer amendments. I have just been fur¬ 
nishing a house at smull cost and as each one’s 
experience is a little different, mine may be of 
some value to those about to do the same. 
I had a double parlor to deal with having a 
bay window and two plain windows. With 
so much floor space to cover over, rugs would 
not take, the place of all covering and as our 
climate is warm through more than half the 
the year we bought a roll of pretty straw mat¬ 
ting, 40 yards, one yard wide, for about $7. 
Two or three pretty rugs add to the effect of 
Its dimensions are 44x24 inches. Hight, 20 
inches. Drop leaf at the back 44x12 
inches. A >4 are two drawers, each 
5x18 inches. One is used for dish* 
towels, the other for iron-stand, flutiug 
