ture, full of what are called “ovens,” into 
which coffins are slid and the end sealed up. 
After a certain length of time, or when an 
“oven” is required for a fresh occupant, the 
old coffin is withdrawn, but I did not learu 
what disposition was made of the body longest 
dead. One would think that in a city like 
New Orleans cremation would be general— 
such a cleau, wholesome, decent disposition 
of the dead iu comparison with the one in 
vogue. In another cemetery, quite a promi¬ 
nent tomb is that built by a Swedish sea cap¬ 
tain for himself and family. He built it of 
granite—ballast that was used iu his own ship 
—put together with cement, colored black. It 
has au arched top, is lined with brick, and 
rests on a granite base. The old man was, at 
the time of our visit, still living, but very 
feeble—and from the inscription on the tomb, 
he was the last of his family. The tomb 
was erected “to the everlasting memory 
of his true wife, his love and hope in 
life.” Another widowed man had written 
on an exquisite tomb for Ins young wife 
the touching inscription, “How beautiful 
was the yesterday! It stood over me like 
a rainbow! 1 am alone!” But I always have 
very naughty thoughts in graveyards, and I 
say to Anaximander that I want all the 
flowers and the money that might be put into 
a flue monument lavished upon me while I am 
alive—and nothing wasted upon me when 1 
have passed into the land of the Unknowable. 
I suppose there are men who never spent so 
much as tive cents for flowers for a living 
wife, who actually paid out live dollars—will¬ 
ingly (?)—for a wreath to lay on her coffin 1 
We spent four days in New Orleans—hot, 
fatiguing days—and the pluce so fllthy! The 
evenings were always pleasant, the streets and 
parks gay with people, electric lights every¬ 
where superseding gas, the people very social 
and kind, but beyond the novelty of its pecu¬ 
liar features, I was not charmed with New 
Orleans. Its drinking water is abominable. 
I saw there no beautiful women or handsome 
men, but remarkably flue specimens of both 
among the “niggers,” which here grow to 
perfection. 
AN EXPLANATION. 
In my article on “Horse Power of 8team 
Engines” in the Rural of May 7th, I used the 
term “nominal horse power,” in the general 
sense as referring to the name under which 
the engine was sold. The English Admiralty 
have a rule for the nominal horse power very 
different from the one 1 gave, and applicable 
only to marine engines. R. c. carpenter. 
Secretary Garfield at Cornell.— Chas. 
W. Garfield, Secretary, of Michigan Horticul¬ 
tural Society and of the American iTomolog- 
ical Society, has consented to give, some time 
iu May, six lectures to the students iu agricul¬ 
ture iu Cornell University, on the following 
topics. 1. Some measurements iu t he Field of 
Horticulture. 3. Methods of Tuition and 
Ways of Securing the Most Available Infor¬ 
mation. 2. Problems in Pomology. 4. Tree 
Lessons. 5 Commercial Methods. G. Rela¬ 
tions of Horticulture to an Advanced System 
of Agriculture. 
Unmans librk. 
CONDUCTED EY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
OF INTEREST. TO WOMEN. 
Some of the season’s millinery is more re¬ 
markable than beautiful. A large, flaring bat 
of soft wood-color was trimmed with pea- 
green, and bore iu the front a largo bunch of 
peas with their foliage. The vegetables were 
extremely natural, but they could hardly be 
admired from a millinery standpoint. 
The two colors most worn this spring are 
heliotrope and light green. The word helio¬ 
trope has such a half-Quaketish suggestiveness 
that it is rather a shock to find it now means 
a peculiarly trying reddish purple, not a 
pretty shade by any means. And it is worn 
indiscriminately by women of all complexions; 
the effect, sometimes, is positively ghastly. 
All purples, lilacs and lavenders are worn. 
We recently saw the beauteous Mis. Langtry 
attired iu a gown of rich, dark, imperial pur¬ 
ple. It was a combination ol silk and velvet. 
The bodice was of silk with velvet leg-of- 
nnittou sleeves. 
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, writing iu the Phil¬ 
adelphia Press, says: “There is a strong move¬ 
ment to-day that uims at the crushing of the 
aspirations of women to the full rights of 
citizenship. It is only that, and nothing 
more. Wouieu who ask lor votes are met by 
the hue aud cry, ‘Voting by ignorant women 
will overthrow society,’ Voting by ignorant 
men has almost done that already.” 
A writer in Harper’s Magazine, writing on 
the womau’s voting question, says: “Go where 
you will, there is a woman, lovely or plaiu, 
ready to cure, to chide, to guide, to aid, to in¬ 
struct, to amuse, to rule, to lead aud to point 
the way for halting man. Aud she lias done 
and become all this while a few of her sex 
have been passing resolutions about her ina¬ 
bility without the ballot. Perhaps it is a per¬ 
ception of this fact that has lately modified 
these resolutions; it is not so much now for 
the sake of women as for the sake of uieu, that 
women need the ballot. Men have made a 
bad mess of governing the world; they have 
filled it with drinking saloons and standing 
armies.” 
How we should enjoy our butter-making if 
we could do it iu such u dainty way as the 
royal dairymaid, Alexandra, Princess of 
Wales. A writer iu the Philadelphia Press 
describes the dainty Swiss chalet that forms 
her dairy. It contains four rooms, one of 
them being a tea-room, where the Princess 
entertains her friends. The walls are decor¬ 
ated with tiles, the gifts of mau3' friends, and 
there are many charming bits of china. Iu 
the dairy-room, the walls are covered with 
tiles made iu Bombay. Round the room is a 
white marble counter, on wfiieli are silver, 
poroelaiu-liuedtnilkpaus. Here Her Highness 
often makes the butter, using it daiuty silver 
churn. Apparently the spring-house is au un¬ 
known dairy institution among our English 
cousins. This is one of the objects Of interest 
at Mr. G. W. Chihls’ famous country seat, 
W cotton's. It is a quaint little stone build¬ 
ing, standing iu a little dell. Within, the 
spring flows into a huge pink scallop shell, 
brought from Japan by General Grant, and 
presented to Mr. Childs. Falling from this, 
the water describes a circuit around the room 
iu a tiled channel; the shining milk pans stand 
in this. 
Another distinguished dairymaid is the 
Duchess of Sutherland, who has a beautiful 
model dairy at her famous country home, 
Trenthum, in Staffordshire. Iu fact, the 
model dairy is a favorite toy with English 
women of rank, like poor Marie Antoinette at 
the Petit Trianon. 
FRECKLES AND WRINKLES. 
M. E. B. 
A lady subscriber asks bow she can remove 
freckles, aud also how she can keep the skiu 
free from wrinkles. The latter is the easier, 
but you must begin before the wrinkles come. 
First, you must let cosmetics alone. You 
must learn to smile, though the heart be 
breaking. Did you never notice how univer¬ 
sally free from wrinkles are the faces of even 
the elderly ladies among the Quakers? This 
is because from earliest childhood they are 
taught to suppress all violent emotions whether 
of pleasure, auger, or grief. If a person has 
auy trait of meanness, and does not rigorously 
curb it, be or she will have wrinkles and Jiaes 
indicating that trait, and they will be beyond 
the help of all the science of chemistry or 
magic. 
In regard to freckles, persons who are so 
afflicted will do well to avoid following every 
newspaper remedy, lest they inflict some more 
serious injury on themselves. The following, 
credited to the American Practitioner aud 
News, is goiug the rounds of the press; 
“Wash and dry the skiu, aud with two fingers 
of the left Land, stretch the part where the 
freckle is, applying a drop of carbolic ucid 
exactly over the spot. When it dries, tbe 
operation is completed. The skin becomes 
white, and the slight sensation of burning 
ceases in a lew minutes. The thin crust which 
forms after the cauterization should not lie 
disturbed. It detaches itself in eight or ten 
days, leaving a rosy coloration which is soon 
replaced by the normal color of the skin. 
“Another lotion is made of muriate of 
amuiouia, one ‘dram; cologne water, two 
drams; distilled water, seven ounces; mix and 
use as a wash.” 
Feeling somewhat doubtful about the safety 
of applying undiluted carbolic acid to the 
face, 1 asked the advice of a reliable chemist 
on the subject. He said that after having 
suffered the pain and disfigurement of the 
cauterization, the freckles, even if removed, 
would return again, aud as for the muriute of 
ammonia, it would not have the least effect. 
People freckle easily under a California sun, 
and very pretty ladies are seldom without 
them, while children who expose themselves 
recklessly are often one immense freckJo, so 
tiiut chemists here huve made their removal a 
study, without, however, ever having been 
able to find a sovereign remedy. 1 am assured 
that this is one of the cases where the ounce 
of prevention is the best cure, and if before 
exposing the face to an especially aggravating 
sunlight, or to tin* action of sun aud sea-air 
combined, a lotion of rose- water and glycerine, 
to be followed by very harmless infants’ 
powder, be applied, it will prevent freckling. 
A lad of 15 who was badly freckled spent 
the summer on a ranch, and claims that he 
lost his freckles through excessive perspira¬ 
tion. They certainly disappeared in the 
course of the summer, from what cause I am 
unable to say. 
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT SHORTHAND. 
A. G. 
We have received a number of inquiries 
from some of the young readers of the 
Rural, in regard to the subject of short¬ 
hand, asking for information ns to how they 
can best acquire a knowledge of it, aud other 
questions which wo will endeavor to answer 
in this article. 
Of course Shorthand teachers cau be found 
iu every city, aud probably iu almost every 
village, but among the huudreds of thousands 
who read the Rural, there arc* a great many 
young people who do nob live near any city 
or village, aud who would find this a pleasant 
study for wiuter evenings, and who being un¬ 
able to pay for a teacher would be glad to 
knowhow they cau study it to the best ad¬ 
vantage by themselves. 
In tbe first place I am asked how long it 
takes to become a proficient writer of short¬ 
hand. This will depend first upon the quick¬ 
ness und natural ability of the learner, and 
also upon the amoiipt of time spent iu study, 
us well as upon the system. You may talk 
with writers who will tell you that it takes 
two or three years to become so expert as to 
take a place iu an ordinary business office. 
Do not let ■ this discourage you, but try for 
yourself. For your encouragement I will tell 
you what a few “other folks have done,” aud 
the lesson to be drawn from this is, “why 
with patience may not you.” 
A lad of 18 became the head of his family 
through the death of his father, and by the 
failure of a mining speculation they were re¬ 
duced from affluence to poverty. Having a 
mother and sister dependent upon him, it was 
absolutely necessary for him to find some em¬ 
ployment by which he could earn an imme¬ 
diate income. As he had been destined for 
the bar, there seemed nothing at which he 
could turn his head aud bands unless he could 
enter a law* office. For this he found that 
shorthand w r as necessary. He purchased a 
text-book, studied hard and earnestly for two 
months, and entered a law’ firm as steno¬ 
grapher, with the privilege of reading law 
during his spare hours, at a salary of 875. He 
was, however, an exceptionally bright lad, 
and there is no slave-driver equal to stern 
necessity. 
It is just oue year ago since two lady friends 
of the writer became interested in shorthand, 
with a view to its practical usesiu aiding them 
to acquire a living. They were strangers i . a 
strange land. A thorough musical education 
availed nothing without friends and influence, 
and they were unable to make as much money 
as the servants they had formerly employed. 
The usual price of a four months’ course iu 
shorthand is $00, aud of course this was not to 
be thought of, so, like the brave girls they 
were, they purchased a work on the subject, 
aud went at it alone and unaided. In less 
than four months from the time of begiuuiug 
they were filling places iu law aud insurance 
offices at $40 end 850 a month, and to-day, by 
increased salary and type-writing work done 
ut home, they have nearly doubled the salaries 
at which they began. These are uot excep¬ 
tional cases. Another young lady, who em¬ 
broidered exquisitely, earned at that work 
enough to pay for two mouths’ instruction, 
Studied four hours a day, aud at the end of 
that time wrote at a speed of 130 words a 
minute, und after auother two months of 
practice went to Denver on a salary of 875 a 
month. 
Want of space will not allow me to do more 
than allude to the various systems of modern 
shorthand writers. The world-renowned sys¬ 
tem of phonography was published by its 
founder, Isaac Pitman, iu 18:17. Its chief ob¬ 
jections arc tlie necessity of shading for the 
sake <>r distinction, aud the fact that nearly 
all the stems are both halved and lengthened 
to represent certain sounds, thus requiring ex¬ 
treme accuracy iu the execution of the out¬ 
line to insure a fair degree of legibility, for it 
is hardly worth while to state that oue must 
be able to read as well as to write shorthand. 
Auother system, published by Andrew J. 
Graham, has such an iu terminable list of eon 
tractions, that unless the student has a re¬ 
markable memory lie is likely to be discourag¬ 
ed in the outset. "Practical Phonography,” 
published iu 180G by Mr. James K. Munson, is 
easily learned, but Mr. Munson’s rigorous ad¬ 
herence to the hobby of “no exception to 
rules,” has resulted iu many awkward forms 
which are clumsy and difficult of execution. 
There are numerous other methods, each 
claiming certaiu advantages. 
The “Light-Line Shorthand,” by Fames, is 
a comparatively recent work, and being free 
from shading which so often results iu illegi¬ 
bility iu reading and seems to have met the 
wants of students and is deservedly becoming 
popular. The text-book is small—no larger 
than a child’s first reader, and cau easily be 
carried in the pocket, which is an advantage 
where the most must be made of odd minutes. 
I know one lady, the mother of several 
children, who took up shorthand for a sort of 
pastime, but soon became so interested in it, 
that as she said c he took it to bed with her, 
and washed her dishes with the book ojieu be 
fore her. When a year afterwards she found 
herself a widow with her little ones dependent 
upon her care, sbe turned to her former pas¬ 
time, and being a woman of great executive 
ability, she opened au office for shorthand and 
type-writing, and as it was the first of its kind 
in her city, she soon established a thriving 
business. 
Now, as to how you shall study: First, buy 
a text book, a reporter’s note book and a No. 
3 Faber pencil. If you are thoroughly iu 
earnest buy a half a dozen of each of the lat¬ 
ter, ns they come cheaper in that way. Practice 
the alphabet until it is as familiar as the A, B, 
U’s of your childhood, aud until you can write 
it rapidly and accurately, eudenvoriug to 
make each character us nearly as possible the 
size of those given in the book. 
Study each lesson until you have mastered 
it thvrnwjhlu, If anything seems dark and 
incomprehensible, try the plan of a young 
lady friend of mine who studied it without a 
teacher—begin at. the first lesson and review 
the book, aud your ultimate knowledge of the 
first lessous will soon make the succeed!agones 
clear. It is better to haye some oue to dic¬ 
tate the exercises even from the start, and es¬ 
pecially is this necessary when the student 
becomes somewhat familiar with ordinary 
connected writing. Read from your uotes 
everything that you write. This is a most ini- 
P*tant point. Never try to write fast. The 
speed will come with thorough familiarity 
with short Laud outlines aud principles. 
If there are several young people iu n neigh¬ 
borhood or family who can begin the study at 
the same time, they can be of great mutual 
advantage to each other, and each can dictate 
iu turn to the rest of the class. I cannot im¬ 
agine a more pleasaut or profitable way in 
which young people cau spend several even¬ 
ings a week. 
WHAT WOMEN SHOULD WEAR. 
SELMA CLARE. 
There is nothing so cheap at the present 
day as advice. If American women do not 
know how to dress (anil one writer declares 
that they are the worst dressed women on the 
face of the globe) it is uot for want of advice. 
The fashion articles of Jenny June and Clara 
Bell can be found iu every newspaper, al¬ 
though the latter having died some time since 
iu Cincinnati, can only be au authority on 
angels’ robes aud the proper pose of wings. 
It is claimed that we dress neither sensibly 
nor artistically, and it must be confessed that 
a walk on any crowded thoroughfare will fur¬ 
nish a good many proofs of the truth of this 
assertion. Short fat women will lie found 
wearing light colored garments that aggra¬ 
vate their shortness and intensify their stout¬ 
ness, while tali, thin women are seen in gar¬ 
ments of funereal black. Fair faced gilds, of 
noticeable avoirdupois, wear l >a rred goods, and 
hats or bonnets small as to brim aud fitting 
close to the face, while their tall aud ethereal 
sisters have as great a penchant for wide- 
brimmed hats, and long, clinging draperies. 
Perhaps we do uot offend so much in any 
particular as in that of color. A woman with 
black hair, a pale skiu, and blue eyes cau 
wear almost any color except yellow and 
green, but she will bo especially pleasing in 
blues, mid reds. Withasallow complexion and 
black eyes, she will do well to confine herself 
almost exclusively to black. Iu black lace, 
relieved with w hite at the throat, the effect is 
very like that of au etching. 
The privileged woman is the rosy, blue-oyed 
blonde, with hair of pale gold, what is known 
us a “coolblonde,” She cau wear with perfect 
safety ail those cold colors so trying to her 
less fortunate sisters. 
She may be a Naiad iu pale green, or a 
quokeress iu cool gray, she may wear helio¬ 
trope purples, and steely blues, but she should 
Hot Wear red or brown, yellow or cream- 
white. 
A brilliant aud rosy complexion, with dark 
browu hair and gray eyes has great scupo iu 
the matter of color. A woman so blessed may 
make her costume a study iu reds or browns, 
fawns or grays, and may wear blue and green 
tfUmUaueouh 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
