Woman's Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
Tire Boston Athenaeum says that “when a 
man and woman undertake to live together a 
life of plain living aud high thinking, the 
brunt of the. straggle most always falls upon 
the woman.'” 
Our friend the Philadelphia Press seems a 
little worried by Good Cheer's opinion that 
women ought to know their own minds, and 
cultivate decisions. There seems a sort of 
misgiving lest decisions of character should 
make a woman masculine. This would be 
truly sad. 
The Associated Artists have just brought 
out a new fabric, cotton canvas, for portieres 
and curtains. It has a good body, aud is 
fifty inches wide. The colors are ingrain, the 
threads being dyed before weaving; aud the 
stuff hangs in beautiful folds. It comes in 
three colors, old red, rich Indian blue, aud 
Indian blue shot with old red, and with red 
cross stripes. 
Another novel curtain stulf is called Egyp- 
tienne; it is cotton, but so soft and diaphanous 
that it looks like a fine wool. It has a creamy 
white ground, with fine cross-stripes iu old 
gold, ecru and dark bine, or similar combina¬ 
tions. It is moderate in price, and is said to 
be in fast colors. The Madras curtain stuff is 
in very pretty designs, but it cannot be 
washed with any security. These curtain 
stuffs are now surprisingly cheap for the most 
part, and the same may be said of most up¬ 
holster}' goods. 
CAUSE OR EFFECT. 
A paragraph now going the rounds states 
that Frank R.. Stockton writes all his funniest 
stories white suffering from neuralgia, and the 
question arises whether the effort to be funny 
causes the neuralgia, or whether the neuralgia 
causes the tun. 
This paragraph calls to mind a domestic 
parallel or analogy, whether worry causes ill- 
health, or ill health causes worry. Perhaps 
this works both ways. Certainly the house¬ 
wife who, in addition to her constant duties, 
keeps her mind on the stretch for future work, 
thus burning the candle at both ends, is pretty 
sure to suffer in body as well as mind. And 
the delicate woman w bo overtasks her strength 
is very apt to feel the effects in mind aud 
temper. 
We have heard of a wise mother, who, 
w'henever her little ones showed fretfulness, 
dieted them or put them to sleep after a sooth¬ 
ing bath, and her plan was very satisfactory. 
Few children are naturally ill-tempered, and 
a slice of over-rich cake, or a quantity of un¬ 
ripe fruit, is often responsible for what we ig¬ 
norantly consider naugbtiuess. 
If we only ate wholesome food, aud never 
tried to do twenty-seven hours’ work iu a 
twenty-four hour day, and allow the morrow 
to take care of itself—wbata happy world this 
would be. "We might confidently expect to see 
the millennium about the middle of next week. 
But remembering that it is worry, not work, 
that kills, we might take the advice of some 
forgotten philosopher, who advises us, if we 
can’t take things easy, to take them as easy as 
we can. And we shall feel the effects physi¬ 
cally just as surely as a sickly body produces 
an irritable mind. 
REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD HOUSE¬ 
KEEPER.—NO. III. 
MRS. S. H, ROWELL. 
Oh, that wonderful first baby! What joy 
and anxiety it brought to the pleasant home! 
There was no eud to the admiration and love 
that were garnered up in that little eight 
pounds of humanity! There never was an¬ 
other such bright baby! It was perfectly 
marvelous! It was so cuuning, so smart, aud 
altogether so lovely that it seemed as if au 
angel had been sent from God s throne to give 
us a shadow of the brightness of the kingdom 
come. Well do I remember the exquisite 
ecstaey that welcomed our first bora baby. 
We felt, most probably, as all parents feel 
when the first baby is greeted. He was ft 
fine, healthy child, and developed about as all 
babies do, but our treasure was a wonder to 
us every day. (Such an amount of coddling 
and nursing as that child received! It is a 
wonder we did not quite spoil him. How I 
When Baby was sick, we savo her Castorla 
Wlieu she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
Wiieu sha had Children, she fcaVd 'It-lP pfistorta 
hemstitched and baekstitched aud ruffled all 
the little, dainty robes! I could not work 
enough for that baby. But Will’s mother 
gave me some good common sense advice that 
did me good. She was like a mother to me. 
“Baby’s clothes are just as well without all 
this extra work. They are pretty, but the 
■work of washing and ironing all these scallops 
and raffles had better be saved against a time 
of need. Baby will thrive just as well in a 
plain dress as in an embroidered one, and a 
pretty print is better than white for everyday 
wear. Keep him comfortable and you have 
done your duty.” 
“Babies look so pure and sweet in white. I 
have none but white robes made up for him,” 
I replied. 
“Yes.” she nuswered, “but baby’s father 
will want to catch him up, and alas for the 
pure, white dresses when they come iu contact 
with a farmer’s soiled sleeves and hands, you 
will learn.” And I did learn; and the little 
heir before he was four months old was ar¬ 
rayed in calico dresses aud colored skirts, and 
just enjoyed a frolic iu his father’s strong 
arms as much as I did in having him take 
him. Ami those pretty white dresses were 
laid away for the next one. and were handed 
down through the baker’s dozen that followed 
after, for visiting robes and company. The 
next perplexity that came was baby’s cutting 
teeth. I expect every mother knows the full 
amount of worry that follows on that era. 
“Take it easy, my dear, rub the little fellow’s 
gums and give him things to bite, and don’t 
dose him with medicines. Nature will do the 
work.?’ Whatever 1 should have done with¬ 
out that land neighbor’s advice and assistance 
I do not know, but by following her wise 
counsels, I brought my little one through the 
trying epoch of teething all safe, and let him 
take his time to learn to walk, so that he was 
neither weak in the back or had bandy legs, 
but a wiila-awake, active, little rogue as ever 
mother had to be proud of There is no use in 
lathering too much over raising babies. Com¬ 
mon sense iu following the laws of Nature is 
all that is necessary. 
BABY’S WARDROBE. 
A mother. 
I had always supposed that every woman 
knew how to dross even her first baby, or that 
if she did not, she possessed some relative who 
could instruct her, until the other day when 
it was a work of necessity and mercy for me 
to dress an infant for a young mother, aud I 
found that its wardrobe displayed a lamenta¬ 
ble ignorance on the part of that mother, 
both as to the make of the articles comprised 
iu the wardrobe, aud also as to its deficiencies. 
It occurred to me then that a few suggestions 
micht be acceptable, not for those mothers 
who can afford to purchase their infants out 
fits, but for such as not only have to make 
them, but have to do sofrom the scantiest ma¬ 
terials. 
When our grandmothers dressed their ba¬ 
bies, it was a common thing for the teuderest 
infants to have their necks aud arms bare. I 
cannot understand how such an ignorant and 
prejudiced idea as that a child could be ren¬ 
dered “hardy” by exposure to cold and au in¬ 
sufficiency of clothing, could have been enter¬ 
tained by intelligent people. Even iu .ny own 
childhood l can recall seeing babies dressed in 
that pitiful fashion, aud their little mottled 
blue aud red arms filled my childish heart 
with compassion. Undoubtedly many a moth¬ 
er owed the Joss of her babe to her having 
followed this popular fallaey. Leading phy¬ 
sicians say that fiaunels should be worn over 
the bowels winter and summer, until the pe- 
riod of teething is past at least, and that the 
neglect of this, and the error of lea ving the 
neck and arms bare, as some do even at the 
present day, are next to improper diet, the 
most fruitful source of disease among infants. 
When you have set aside the sum that you 
can afford to spend on your baby’s wardrobe, 
buy the flannels first, as they are most import¬ 
ant. Never mind if you do not have a yard 
of embroidery or luce, which after all is only 
a gratification of your own vanity, so long as 
you insure baby’s health and comfort. The 
flannel band which supports the spine is the 
first thing to be put on. Three-quarters of a 
yard of flannel, which should be fine all-wool, 
will cut four of these. Most people cut them 
the selvage way of the material, but they are 
more elastic cut the horizontal way. 
They should be twenty-two inches long aud 
seven wide, a nd beyond a broad hem or facing 
on each end will need no sewing as the edges are 
usually left raw. These are sometimes loosely 
buttonhole stitched with floss, and sometimes 
bound with flannel binding, but it is unne¬ 
cessary. The heiu on the ends should be an 
inch wide, aud not turned under, but simply 
the raw edge herring-bone stitched flat, as a 
seam might hurt tfie tender body. Knitted 
bands to be slipped on over the feet or head 
nice instead of flannel Use Saxony wool, 
cast on 130 stitches and knit with four needles 
all round like a stocking in the old-fashioned 
rib-stitch, about seven inches deep. Two of 
these will be enough. They are very elastic 
and yet strong enough to support the tender 
back. Unless Iu ease of a very active, strong 
child they should be worn at least four mouths, 
and when the band shows a tendency to work 
into a string around the body, as it will when 
the child gets more active, attach broad bands 
nn inch wide for shoulder straps, aud fasten a 
piece of the same strap at the lower edge front 
aud back to lie pinned firmly to the diaper. 
These bauds are best made of soft muslin, 
doubled and stitched, as tape soon gets into a 
string ai)d is apt to cause discomfort to the 
little shoulder. For the first six months 
knitted shirts of soft Saxony wool should be 
w'orn. If you can make these (directions have 
been given in the Rural) they will cost you 
but 35 cents apiece. If you cannot, aud can¬ 
not afford to buy them, make them of flannel, 
binding the seams with flannel binding or “cat- 
stitch” them open and leave the shirts open 
down the front, buttoned all the way so as not 
to subject yourself or baby to the worrying 
process of putting the shirt on over its head. 
After baby is six mouths old these may be re- 
plaeed by woven flannel—high-necked and 
long-sleeved in winter, and low-necked and 
short-sleeved in summer. Cartwright & War¬ 
ner’s are the best, but they are expensive, and 
I have made very nice flannels for my own 
little ones for wear during the warmer months 
of the year, from the best parts of my own 
worn flannels. You will save much vexation 
by washing baby’s flannels yourself, as if put. 
with the family wash aud trusted to ignorant 
hands they are sure to be spoiled aud shrunken. 
The harrow or pinning-skirt is a very neces¬ 
sary article of an infaut’s dress, and should 
be worn day and night for the first month and 
at night only for the next two or three. It 
is made of a straight piece of flannel three- 
quarters of a yard long, and a breadth and a 
half (of twenty-seven inch wide flannell in 
width. Gather this into a straight band of 
muslin twenty-two inches wide and five deep. 
This will be too wide at first and must be 
lapped and pinned. Tho skirt is left ojien all 
the way, and must be furnished with buttons 
and button-holes so close together that the 
little feet will not work through. An inferior 
tlannel, part cotton, is best for this, and two 
will be sufficient, if you wash one as soon as it 
is soiled. There should be half a dozen night¬ 
gowns of muslin or Lonsdale cambric, and for 
cold nights a flannel wrapper, or one of the 
little wadded cheese-cloth siesta wrappers 
lately described iu the Rural. After baby is 
threo or four months old, it may wear night¬ 
gowns of cotton or canton flannel iu winter, 
but at first these are too clumsy. There is a 
German flannel, nearly fifty per cent cotton, 
which washes beautifully aud comes in little 
checks aud stripes, that makes admirable 
night-wrappers for a very young infant. 
Cotton diaper will do very well, aud in winter 
is preferable to the linen diaper. You should 
have from one aud a half to two dozen. Cot¬ 
ton flannel diapers unless of the thinnest vari¬ 
ety are rather clumsy, and unless put ou very 
neatly are apt to make the child uncomforta¬ 
ble. If you take care of your owu babv you 
may safely use the rubber diaper outside as it 
keeps both its own clothing aud your dress 
dry, aud is only harmful where a careless 
nurse may make it an excuse for not attend¬ 
ing to the child as often as is necessary. 
Rubber cloth is one dollar a yard, and half 
a yard will cut four triangles of the proper 
size. Take a little plait in the longest side 
of the triangle to make it fit the back; sew 
tapes on the two ends to tie, and a loop ou the 
point through which to ran one of the tapes 
before tieing. This number will not be too 
many, as they must be aired frequently, and 
occasionally washed off with a sponge dipped 
iu cold water, wiped with a towel aud hung 
m a cool place to dry. 
The flannel petticoats for day wear should 
be two breadths wide and three is the small¬ 
est number with which you can neatly get 
along. The cambric skirts should be slightly 
gored, and if you are forced to dispense with 
these except perhai>s one or two for dress oc¬ 
casions, baby will lie just as happy and just, 
as healthy. Tf you have only a little money 
to spend, put it into the quantity aud quality 
of the little dresses, not into cheap embroi¬ 
dery and tawdry lace, 1 would rather have 
a dozen little slips of perfectly plain make 
than six with a useless strip of edging at the 
bottom. 
Tradition demands a little shawl or cape to 
throw over the child's shoulders in passing 
from one room to the other, but the only use 
I could find for two given me by friends for 
my owu first cherub, was to make them into 
little petticoats when he went into short 
clothes. They are not warm enough to be of 
any real service, and there is always some lit¬ 
tle shoulder shawl iu tho family that will an¬ 
swer the purpose much better TlKTC should 
be three pairs of socks, which are easily cro¬ 
cheted, and as I have perhaps taken up too 
much space already, will some kind reader of 
the Rural send directions for making them. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
What the age needs is time for reflection. 
We are. in the main, in too splendid a hurry. 
“Solitude is, at times, the best society,” wrote 
Milton ...... 
In all the superior people I have met, I 
notice directness, truth spoken more truly, as 
if everything of obstruction, of malformation, 
had been trained away... 
Christian faith is a grand cathedral with 
dimly pictured windows. Standing without, 
you see no glory nor can possibly imagine 
any; standing within, every ray of light re¬ 
veals a harmony of unspeakable splendors_ 
An idle man is like stagnant water; he cor¬ 
rupts himself. 
It Ib the soul's prerogative. Its fate. 
To shape the outward to lts own estate. 
If right Itself, then nil around Is well; 
If wrong. It makoB of all without a hell. 
“Syllables govern the world,” said John 
Selden, in 1584: and they do so still. The 
pow r er of words fitly spoken, or well-writ, is 
beyond computation. A kind word never 
dies. 
Domestic (Jjcononnj 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
WOOD BOX. 
The wood box shown at Fig. 60 we find 
handy iu a Western “dug-out,” where “room 
at the ton” is about the ouly spare room to be 
found. It is made of an old dry goods box, 
Fig. 160. 
the top being separate, so that it can be re¬ 
moved and the lower part emptied of the dirt 
aud rubbish that will accumulate in it. The 
back is made of half-inch stuff aud the upper 
part is held in place by a cleat at each end on 
the inside. The box can be made of any size 
one may wish. The one illustrated is 82x18x10 
inches at the bottom aud 24x10 inches at the 
top. e. k. m. 
A PRETTY CROCHET EDGING. 
Make a chain of seven stitches, turn. 1st 
row: In the fourth stitch of thechaiu make a 
shell, by working three double crochet stitches, 
two chain, three double crochet in the same 
stitch, four chain, turn. 
2d row; Shell on shell; that is, in the hole 
formed by the two chain make 3 d c, 2 ch, 3 
d c, 3 chain, turn. 
3d: Shell in shell, 1 d c in the 4 chain of 
last row; 2 ch, 1 d c in same, repeat until 
there are 6 d c’s and 5 2chs between, iu the 
4th eh fasten to first chain of foundation, 1 ch 
turn. 
4th row: One single crochet 3 d c, 1 s c in 
each of the five spaces; 2 eh shell ou shell, 
turn. This finishes one scallop. 
First row of 2d and all other scallops, shell 
on shell, 4 ch turn, now repeat the 2d row, etc. 
When you have finished the tt of the d c’s, iu 
the 8d row fasten with a slip stitch into the 
2 ch, before the shell, iu 4th row of last scal¬ 
lop. This is quickly worked and trims 
prettily. 
The busy season is near and we may now do 
many odd jobs which will relieve us much 
then. Overhaul the spring and summer gar¬ 
ments, put on all the needed repairs and alter¬ 
ations, and if there are any you cannot use, 
but which still have some wear iu them, find 
some one who needs them, aud if you can 
spare the time, mend them up before giving 
them away. 
Old undergarments if repaired will be glad¬ 
ly received by any hospital, as they are so 
much pleasanter than new ones for sick per¬ 
sons. 
Save all tho old linen aud muslin pieces 
and after reserving a good supply for your¬ 
self send the rest with the imdcrgannents. 
1 always hate to see auy old material 
wasted,^knowing by wul experience how use* 
