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Wmium’s XDork. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
SUMMER GOWNS. 
J ust now most women are exercised over 
the question of wardrobe; old gowns must bo 
renovated and new* ones selected. To those 
living in the country, pretty, washable gowns 
are an absolute necessity; one never tires of 
their dainty freshness during the warm 
months. Morning frocks of neat, dark cam¬ 
bric must, of course, have their place in the 
wardrobe. Here let us make a gentle but 
most emphatic protest against the pernicious 
habit of wearing slimpsy calico wrappers, in¬ 
dulged in by many otherwise neat women. A 
well-fitting wrapper is a pretty and useful 
garment, but it is not the proper dress for 
housework. It very soon gets a dragged-out 
and forlorn aspect, and without the greatest 
care it loses its shape in ironing. Dress Hebe 
herself in a much-washed calico wrapper, 
minus a collar, and she would be a fright in 
the strongest sense of the word. 
We always recommend making calico 
morning gowns in two pieces—a full, round 
skirt, with two tucks and a hem, and a loose, 
pleated waist, tucked under the skirt-band 
and belted. This is easily made, easily ironed 
and with a musliu tucker basted into the 
neck, is neatness itself, and may be donned 
quite as quickly as a wrapper. Pretty lawns, 
or the .-esthetic but inexpensive cheese-cloth, 
are very suitable for afternoon home wear, 
made after the same fashion. A ribbon belt, 
with a Jong bow at oue side, or a big sash of 
the dress material, is a good addition. Such 
frocks may be washed and ironed without ex¬ 
cessive trouble. 
More elaborate gowns of gingham, seer¬ 
sucker, sateen, or the like, should be worn the 
whole season without requiring washing. For 
this reason they may he made in the same 
style as a cloth suit. With all these materials 
velvet combines very prettily in the form of 
collar or lapels, cult's and vest. Some band- 
some gowns of bourette gingham have a panel 
of velvet at one side. The velvet should al¬ 
ways be a darker shade than material compos¬ 
ing the gown. The light, crinkled seersuckers 
striped pink and cream, blue and white, or 
pink and blue, are charming, with collar and 
cuffs of black velvet, or with an occasional 
bow of the same on the skirt. Such gowus 
are really very dressy, at a st ea l I cost. 
Summer is really the very best time for the 
ingenious maiden, for she can make charming 
costumes with a very moderate outlay. All 
one requires is good taste and a knowledge 
of the becoming. And if we are uncertain of 
our taste we must keep to simplicity of form 
and coloring; we are only likely to err when 
we attempt a very ambitious effect. 
WHAT SHALL THE CHILDREN READ ? 
RHODA LANDER. 
For the active ones who want bauds as well 
as brains busied their is “A Boy’s Workshop 
by a Boy and His Friends,” adapted to those 
who are just beginning to use tools; “Boys’ 
Useful Pastimes,” instructing the boys to 
make toys, household oruameuts, and many 
pretty and useful articles. “A Girl’s Room,” 
by Annie Ryder, is a practical instructor “in 
plans and designs for work upstairs aud down 
aud entertainment for herself and friends,”—a 
capital book to interest a young girl in making 
her owu special room an attractive spot, a 
book which is admirably adapted to a rainy 
day or a long vacation, when the restless girl 
wants to try soiuethiug new. As there comes 
a time in every girl's life when she “wants to 
learn to cook”and when she is intensify inter¬ 
ested in the kitchen department, place in her 
hands “Cookery for Begiuuers,” by Marion 
Harland, or “Auua Maria's Housekeeping,” 
by Mrs. S. 1). Power, Aud now for the stor¬ 
ies! And where is a there a boy or girl that 
doesn’t Jove stories? I well remember the iirst 
long story I was permitted to read. A 
lady who was to leave her home for the win¬ 
ter said: “1 will lend you the ‘Wide, Wide 
World,’ and you may have it until I get back 
in the spring if your mother is willing.” “Yes,’' 
my mother said, “I’ve read that book and I 
know it is a good one.” J. can’t tell you how 
I pored over that book during the entire win¬ 
ter months. I read it until I “knew it by 
heart," and I grew so fond of the author—Miss 
Warner—that I was anxious to read every¬ 
thing she w'rote and her books, I doubt not, 
have had a salutary and lasting influence over 
me. Let then your young people read the 
“Wide, Wide World;” old fashioned it may 
be, but full of sweet, helpful counsel. 
Miss Alcott’s “Little Women” is almost boo 
well-known to need recommendation. Mrs. 
Whitney’s “A Hummer in Leslie Goldthwaite’s 
Life”“Faith Gartney’s Girlhood,” “Wo Girls” 
and “Real Folks” never fail to interest and 
ennoble. Virginia F. Townsend has some 
bright, helpful books: “The Holland,” “Six in 
All,” “The Mills of Tuxbury,” and the 
“Deerings of Medbury,” The editor of St. 
Nicholas, Mrs. Dodge, has written several 
books for Young people; “Hans Blinker” and 
“Donald and Dorothy” are great favorites. 
“A Little Country Girl,” by Miss Coolidge, 
with the scone laid in Newport, gives many a 
needful hint aud many a line description to her 
readers. An Euglish writer whose name 
has not been announced, has furnished some 
charming aud touching stories: “Tip-Cat," 
“Laddie” “Miss Toosey’s Mission,” and “Our 
Little Ann.” 
“Little Gird Faimtleroy,” by Mrs. F. H. 
Burnett, which was first published serially in 
St. Nicholas, is oue of the most fascinating 
stories that has appeared for many a day. 
The child of seven will delight to listen to it, 
and the men aud matrons of 70 will be eager 
to follow the fortunes of the lad who wins his 
way by his loving and lovable qualities. 
While it is styled u juvenile, its literary 
qualities and artistic touches will be readily 
appreciated by older readers. 
Aud don’t forget the poetry! Have your 
children early learn some selections from the 
best authors, some of Whittier’s, Longfellow’s, 
Lowell's, Miss Proctor’s, Holland’s, Mrs. He- 
man’s, and Mrs. Whitney’s shorter poems. 
Is there a mother that hasn’t been puzzled 
to answer the question, “What .shall I speak 
next Friday?” There is a volume called “Il¬ 
lustrated Poems and Bongs for Young Peo¬ 
ple,” by Mrs. Johnson, which will furnish an 
answer to the demand. It is a carefully and 
well-chosen collection of poems—grave, glee¬ 
ful, sober, comic aud stirring—so that all may 
be suited. 
In preparing this list thoaim has still been to 
suggest safe aud wholesome books for the 
young, books whose conteuts may sink into 
their mmds without harmful influence, over 
which they may dream, muse, ponder and in¬ 
vestigate; so that they may be led to further 
reading in the same line of thought, aud have 
awakened a love for the better class of litera¬ 
ture so that trash aud worse than trash will 
disgust their pure and healthful minds. Aud 
we do not hesitate to aflirm that every book 
mentioned, is one that any mother may safely 
allow her son or daughter to read. 
AMUSING THE LITTLE ONES. 
SEL51A CLARE. 
Children who have a great many toys are 
not the happiest, and are certainly by no 
means the brightest. Mechanical toys that 
soon become broken and out of order are more 
often a source of frettuluess aud distress to 
childish minds than of pleasure. A child who 
is driven by want of playthings to invent 
something for his owu amusement will not 
only derive greater enjoyment from it than 
from something which he iiuds ready to his 
hand, but he will undoubtedly have learned 
something in the making, aud he will certain¬ 
ly take better care of what has cost him pains 
and labor. I remember that, when I was a 
child, there never were such checkers as we 
made by sawing off the ends of black and 
white spools, to be used on a checker-board 
of our own fashioning, on which tho squares 
were drawn with the most painstaking exacti¬ 
tude, the black ones neatly painted with ink. 
Our dominoes were perhaps somewhat clumsy; 
they were small blocks begged from a ear- 
peuter shop, with the dots burned in with a 
red-hot wire. The balls which we wound aud 
covered ourselves were tho best “bouncers’ 
in the school. To fashion it wo cut, an old rub¬ 
ber overshoe in fine strips, wound these until 
the ball was half the required size, covered 
this with yarn ravelled from an old knitted 
stocking, and over this the patient, tire i moth¬ 
er was never too tired to sew a bright cover¬ 
ing of red sheepskin, for bits of which we 
levied on the village shoemaker. 
A child who lives in the country generally 
lias a love for some object iu nature, and this 
youshould encourage aud foster. If liois foud 
of flowers, let him see that you are pleaRed 
with the wild blossoms lie brings to you. If 
he brings in bugs and crawling things, get, him 
works on natural history; don’t tell him to 
take the “horrid” things away. If he shows 
an aptitude for picking up curious stones, get 
un elementary work on geology,and even if it 
is an unlearned science with you, you will 
make him happy by studying it with him. 
THE “WHITE CROSS” MOVEMENT. 
A. G. 
This work, so lately begun by the good 
Bishop of Durham iu England, has spread to 
America, and societies are forming in many 
places. The motto is taken from the spotless 
knights of old: 
■‘My strength is as the strength of ten, 
Because my heart is pure.” 
The five simple obligations are: 
(1) To treat all women with respect, aud en 
deavor to protect them from wrong and de¬ 
gradation. 
(2) To endeavor to put down all indecent 
language aud coarse jokes. 
(8) To maintain the law of purity to be equal¬ 
ly binding upon meu and women. 
(4) To endeavor to spread these principles 
among my companions and to try aud help my 
younger brothers. 
(5) To use every possible means to fulfill the 
command, “Keep thyself pure.” 
Looking at the general license aud freedom 
of the times, who can help feeliug that this is 
a movement iu the right direction, aud a 
much-needed ono as well? The best aud pur¬ 
est of our sex are regarded ns lawful prey by 
too mauy men of the present day. That such 
men,wheu their characters are well and widely 
known, are not excluded from respectable so¬ 
ciety, is a stain upon women which they de¬ 
servedly carry, since they welcome such men 
as husbands for their daughters, and,provided 
the purse be a long one, question no further. 
Recently a well-kuown society youth, re¬ 
garded as a great catch on account of his fath¬ 
er’s immense wealth, came overland on the 
same train with a beautiful aud talented young 
lady, an orphan, Hud traveling alone. This 
young gentleman and his fellow-traveler of¬ 
fered her some kindly attentious which she 
gratefully aud modestly accepted. A bet was 
made by this youug blackguard that before he 
arrived in Sau Francisco he would have suc¬ 
ceeded iu persuading the lady to accept any 
position in the city which he might choose to 
offer her. Some tourists overheard the con¬ 
versation, and kindly put the young lady on 
her guard, thus protecting her from insult. 
How many society mothers, think you, kuow- 
iug this and far worse to bo trueof this youth, 
would refuse him the hand of their daughters? 
In view of the gignut,ic and frightful pro¬ 
portions to which the degradation of woman 
has risen, dragging into its vortex little girls 
of tender years, it is surprising that ehival- 
rous-miuded and largB-hearted men have not 
united long ago to defend women from dis¬ 
honor. 
Women must also recognize a duty here. 
They must not sit still and weakly wait to lie 
defended. They must, defend themselves, 
help their erring sisters, ami so train their 
sous that no woman will need to protect her¬ 
self against insult from them. 
Ellice Hopkins, who has been associated 
from the first with Bishop Durham in this 
grand work, speaking of the object of the 
White Cross Army, says “it is to teach young 
men from all history that if impurity iu 
the woman destroys the family, impurity in 
the man destroys the uation, and that the 
strength of our uation would bo as the 
strength of ten if her hearts of oak, her men, 
were pure; to teach them that it is to the pure 
in heart aloue that the vision of God, the All - 
pure is promised.” 
Surely such teaching as this is needed. Who 
will help by example as well as precept ? 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
Teach me to live! No Idler let. me be; 
But In Thy service hand and heart employ, 
Prepared to do Thy bidding cheerfully; 
Be this my hlghcstaiKt my holiest Joy. 
A man rusts out more by inactivity iu a 
year than he wears out by wholesome activity 
in a lifetime. A man’s sum of enjoyment de¬ 
pends upon what he has iu himself. 
If a man is thoroughly a Christian, the 
nerve that runs from his brain to his 
wallet will be just as much Christianized as 
the one that runs from his brain to his tongue. 
Take ail the sorrow out of life, aud you 
take away all richness aud depth aud tender¬ 
ness. Sorrow is the furnace that melts selfish 
hearts together in love.;.. 
Happiness is more likely to be found iu the 
heart of one whom the world deems sore tried 
than iu the heart of one who seems favored 
above others... 
Consume little time iu regret. The best re¬ 
pentance is reformation. What tears of con¬ 
trition are powerless to effect an altered life 
easily accompli shoe.... 
Take care of the present life and the future 
wilJ take care of itself. “Do the nexte 
thyuge,” and leave tho far-off to Him whose 
alone they are. All this would seem to be the 
better part and the better way. 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
Girls, think more than twice before you 
leave your country homes to seek employment 
in the city. 
Parents, study the temperament and char¬ 
acter of euch child. It is fatal to try to 
govern all by the same set of rules. 
Throw open the blinds, draw up the cur¬ 
tains aud let in the blessed sunshine. Dark¬ 
ened rooms are not promoters of cheerfulness 
and good health. 
Corduroy —brown or gray—is cheap, it 
washes and weal's well and makes excellent 
every-day pantaloons for the small boy. 
■ ■ - - »♦ * 
KITCHEN TALKS. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
The much-abused subject of house-clean¬ 
ing is occupying our attention just now, and 
the Amateur Cook remarked that we never 
were so late as we are this season. The reason 
of this is that the weather is cold and back¬ 
ward, and heaps of snow remaiu about tho 
doors (April 2d) to cool the air, aud give 
promise of future mud when melted—so much 
for our Quebec climate. How dingy every¬ 
thing looks, and how much in need of scour¬ 
ing or painting! But salt and viuegar will 
brighten brass; furniture varnish is cheap 
aud anyone can apply it; and starch is u good 
thing to clean all plaster ornaments if put on 
in liquid form, aud rubbed when dry. Am¬ 
monia for glass and paint is indispensable, 
and can be used to bettor advantage than 
soap in any way where soap is needed. Begin 
in the garret, according to the good old rule, 
and bring the dirt down. In living-room and 
parlor it is best bo remove everything but the 
heaviest articles of furniture, and to clean the 
parlor last. 1 think the kitchen is the hard¬ 
est part of the house to clean. For years I 
have bad the same old French-Cauadian 
womau to clean this department of the “do¬ 
mestic economy,” and always felt that the 
hardest day’s work she did during the season 
was that of cleaning walls and ceilings, tin¬ 
ware and windows there; for, in spite of 
weekly cleaning and general attempts at tidi¬ 
ness, a great deal of diet accumulates in a far¬ 
mer’s kitchen, where the winters areas long 
and fires have to be kept up so constantly, as 
iu this climate. 
Ammonia is so useful in every way iu clean¬ 
ing house that it is a great pity it is so bad for 
the hands when it is used to excess. Perhaps 
every one does not know that the disagreeable 
effect is counteracted by washing them iu salt 
and vinegar. ITnslaked lime will keep red 
ants at bay,and spirits of turpentine are useful 
iu cracks of wooden bedsteads. Kerosene oil 
will remove rust fx'om iron. When white¬ 
washing damp cellars, it pays to use freely 
flowers of sulphur iu the lime, as it tends to 
prevent mildew. 
As the days glide on, we must begin to 
strengthen our weak hands for another battle 
with the summer toil, and its seed time and 
harvest. Already we find some things to 
discourage us, that the loug dormant winter 
has wrought. Mice have destroyed some of 
out choicest trees; our patch of Marlboro 
Raspberries has suffered from their depreda¬ 
tions, and we almost dread the disap¬ 
pearance of snow from our cherished garden 
treasures, our roses and tender shrubs, for fear 
of the destruction its absence may reveal. 
But wo will take courage and begin anew the 
battle. There must lie some drawback to 
complete happiness. The roll-call finds us all 
here, with health and strength up to the aver¬ 
age. The “winter of our discontent” is over 
and the springtime returns to us. Let us opeu 
the windows of the soul to the sunshine, and 
may its penetrating rays clear away all evil 
aud uncliaritableuess. Let each feel so that 
he may be able to say: 
“No longer forwnrd or behind 
I look with hope and four. 
But grateful, lake the good I find 
The best of now, aud here.” 
OH! FOR A CARPET THAT WILL NOT 
SHOW DUST AND TRACKS! 
Will some of the lady readers of the 
Rural please advise me in regard to selecting 
for a rag carpet, a color that will not show 
dust and mud tracks easily. 1 uever saw a 
carpet with tho rags and chain all colored in 
the same dye, and it seems to me that it 
would be a ditlicult matter to find a color 
that would prove satisfactory. We nil know 
that n red woolen carpet is a constant source 
of annoyance, on account of every speck 
of lint and dust showing plainly, and red 
that will not fade is an expensive color,so, of 
course, we cannot t hink of using red for our car¬ 
pet. I wish to make a enrpetl'or n room lfi feet 
wide by 20 feet long, and I have thought to 
make the center all one color, though I sup¬ 
pose ull sorts of rags would make many differ¬ 
ent shades, even though they wore all colored 
IftimUaiuoaD 
When Baby was slek, we gave her Castorla 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorta, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
