422 THE RUSAL NEW-YORKER. JUNE 21 
mend this pamphlet to our readers. It is 
worthy their careful study. 
Sec. Lazenby, of the Ohio Experiment 
Station, writts that the last Ohio Legislature 
appropriated only $1,500 for the Station’s 
work. It was thought that this small sum 
would carry the work along until the appro¬ 
priation under the Hatch bill could lie made 
available. As matters now staud, several de¬ 
partments of station work have been discon¬ 
tinued, and all work must be stopped unless 
the Board of Control make provision for its 
coutimiance. 
Aomen, Ton a l M ach i n ery. —Catalogue 
from Heebner & Sons, Lonsdale, Pa. In this 
excellent pamphlet level tread horse powers, 
lover powers, “Little (liaut” thrashing ma¬ 
chines, thrashers and shakers are described, as 
well ns drag and circular saw machines, 
Union feed cutters, corn shellei's, etc., etc. 
Those in want of such machinery should read 
this pamphlet over before buying. 
Cider and Wine Machinery.— Catalogue 
from Boomer <& Bosebert Press Co., Syracuse, 
N. Y.—All who have use for such machinery 
should by all means send for this catalogue. 
The list is very complete, and the various im¬ 
plements are all so well described and illus¬ 
trated that they' are easily understood. The 
presses for cider aud wine made by this house 
are famous. Every implement needed in the 
business can be furnished. Those of our 
friends who do business with this house will 
be satisfied. 
New England Conservatory of Music. 
—The catalogue of this institution will be read 
with interest by all who desire a course in 
music. It appears that 2,300 pupils have at¬ 
tended the various schools connected with the 
conservatory. These pupils came from all 
parts of our country aud also from foreign 
countries. It is claimed that the ablest art. 
ists and teachers in the world are to be found 
in its faculty. 
Woman's Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TALLIN. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
Lamartine says that there is a woman at 
the beginning of all great things. 
In Dakota 10 per cent, of the county super¬ 
intendents of schools are women, and they are 
said to exceed the men in both ability and 
faithfulness. 
New York City shows increasing apprecia¬ 
tion of women’s services. Two members of 
the Board of Education arc women, there is 
a feminine Commissioner of DeJds, and wo¬ 
men occupy the position of stenographer aud 
typewriter in the Mayor’s office and the office 
of the Civil Service Supervisory and Examin¬ 
ing Boards. 
A woman is secretary and treasurer of one 
of the largest street car lines in Pittsburg. 
Tier father formerly held the position; during 
his illness site took temporary charge of his 
business, aud (lid so well that on her fathers 
death she wus elected to fill his position. His¬ 
tory does not say whether she receives the 
same salary. 
A pretty and easy fancy work—a novelty, 
too— consists of outlining in colors t,ho pat- 
torn of damask doyleys or beaufet covers. 
Charming effects are produced when a good 
conventional or oriental pattern is selected. 
The industrious makers of fancy work de¬ 
vote a good deal of attention to pillows and 
cushions. Yacht cushions are among the 
newer ideas, A very pretty one described in 
the Art Interchange, is of white linen duck. 
On this are two diagonal panels, one embroid¬ 
ered in a design of blue waves, the other 
covered wfth stars, shells and star fish. Be¬ 
tween the two is a band embroidered with this 
legcud: 
"Lulled hy (lie motion nnd the iiiurmurlnKs, 
And long, glassy heave of the rooking sea .' 1 
The .San Francisco Chronicle says frankly 
that it likes old maids. There’s a great deal 
of needless abuse thrown at old maids. A 
woman never grows too old t,o do some good, 
but it is questionable if a man ever grows old 
enough lo do any good. An old man who has 
never married, who lias lived a selfish bache¬ 
lor life all his days, grows surely into a 
perfect nuisance, a crabbed, self-satisfied, dis- 
contented curmudgeon. Now, if there is one 
thing more beautiful in life than another, it is 
the admiration and devotion maiden aunts 
show toward good-luokiug nephews. Even a 
mother never has as much profound admira¬ 
tion and love for her sou as her unmarried 
sister of mature years, who has pretty well 
given up the idea of marrying. Of course, in 
the oldest old maid’s breast there is a faint 
hope that sonic man ruay come along yet, and 
she always attributes the fault that he does 
not come to her own austere conduct, bless 
her. 
According to Secretary Dickinson’s re¬ 
port, 50 years ago two-fifths of the public 
school teachers in Massachusetts were men; 
now about one-tonth are men. The average 
wages of men then wore $25.44 per mouth, 
and of women, $11.28; now men average 
$111.22, and women 942.07. 
Why a woman should always receive less 
money than a man for doing just the same 
work is one of the things “No fellow'can find 
out,” to quote our friend Dundreary. 
A WORD ABOUT FAIRS. 
Fanny is one of the busy workers in a lit¬ 
tle country church, where demands are many, 
and menus are few. Every year they seek to 
augment the pastor’s meagre salary by means 
of entertainments, festivals aud the like, for 
one may often coax mouey out of jieople’s 
pockets, when a direct appeal would fail. 
They have had basket sociables, oyster sup¬ 
pers, and fruit festivals, and now the ever- 
aetive Fanny wants to know what they are to 
do for a novelty. They have, had little par¬ 
lor sales, gotten up ou the spur of the mo¬ 
ment, and resulting in but a small profit. 
It is w'ell to remember that a successful ba¬ 
zaar is the result of patient labor for months 
previous. One cannot prepare articles of sale, 
or details of arrangement without thorough 
and painstaking effort. The promoters must 
alHo consider what articles arc likely to sell 
best. A great deal of elaborate fancy-work is 
unlikely to sell. We have found that dusters 
and kitchen towels, neatly hemmed and tied 
with ribbon into half-dozens, will sell well. 
One can afford to sell half-a-dozen cheese 
cloth dusters for 50 cents. Aprons of every 
degree are also very salable, aud the same 
may be said of toilet soaps and perfumery. 
For the supper in connection with n fair it 
is a good plan to have small tables, each seat¬ 
ing about half a dozen persons, aud there 
should ho one waitress to each table. There 
should lie one larger table, or booth, with seats 
around it, devoted entirely to the children, 
where the little ones may purchase cake, sand¬ 
wiches, lemonade, and fruit for a few pennies. 
When a church or society expects to hold 
annual or seini-aunual entertainments qf this 
class, they should make a point of providing 
some permanent appurtenances in the way of 
crockery, linen, etc. A much better effect is 
produced by the fancy booths if they have 
nice curtains or hangings, which may be per¬ 
manent too. A booth with valance across the 
top, and handsome curtains at the sides, has 
an air of solid respectability. The curtains 
may be of a rich-colored Canton flannel, with 
bands of striking cretonne at top and bottom. 
The childrens’ booth should be light and 
airy in style. We have seen a very pretty 
one in the form of a pagoda thatched with 
straw, and the same shape, in winter time, 
was covered with cotton batting and sprinkled 
with diamond dust to represent suow. A very 
pretty tlower booth in the summer time was in 
the form of a pagoda, thatched with green 
leaves, and hung with daisy ropes, the pillars 
being mussed with daisies and buttercups. 
Nothing can be done without a little time 
and patience, in fairs as in everything else; 
add to these qualities taste aud ingenuity, 
and the result will be a success in the highest 
degree. _ 
OVER-DRESSED CHILDREN. 
M. E. B. 
There is nothing more painful to my mind 
(unless it be the sight of a caged wild bird) 
than to witness the discomfort of an over¬ 
dressed child. 1 refer to those children who 
are not to the munucr born. To tbo little 
street arabs, who play all week untrammeled 
by fashion and muke mud pies to their hearts’ 
content, who on a Sunday or holiday are decked 
out in unaccustomed finery, taken for a walk 
or ride, on car or boat, with their parents. 
What visible discontent and rebellion are dis¬ 
played on every one of their childish features. 
How impatiently tbcycarry their line feathers! 
What a mutinous frown clouds the little face 
when a fond and admiring mother smooths 
the fine plush coat, or re-ties the gaudy sash 
aud admonishes it for the fiftieth time not to 
run for fear of falling, or not to sit down lest 
something be crumpled, und not to lean back¬ 
ward or forward, on account of nbbons or 
feathers! 
Wbeu 1 see a child over-loaded with finery 
that a. poor, hard-working mother can ill af¬ 
ford, 1 do not. ascribe it so much to the moth¬ 
er’s affection as to the pleasure she takes in 
gratifying her own vanity. 
As for the child, either she in unhappy from 
the restraint imposed on her, or she has 
learned to take a pride in her gay clothes, in 
which ease she minces, eyes the passers-by to 
see w’hat impression she makes, und is so fool¬ 
ishly self-conscious that she is a ttiousand 
times more unlovely than (she would have 
been in the plainest garb. 
Habits, good and bad, are almost always 
formed in childhood, and many an unwise 
mother thus fosters in her child a love of dress 
that in after years may lead to her ruin. 
MISTRESS AND MAID. 
SELMA CLARE. 
Every question has two sides. Just now it 
seems to be the fashion to seo only t,he servant 
girl side of the question, its thankless slavery, 
her work that is never done, the fault-finding 
of her mistress, likewise never-ending: all this 
and much more is written up in the most 
heart-rendiug manner by social reformists 
The trials that vex the soul of the mistress 
should also have a hearing. A plain state¬ 
ment of a few of these will show you that the 
mistress’s “lot is not a happy one.” 
I will nor. draw ou my imaginat ion, I shall 
merely give the. actual experience of one lady, 
but it will find its echo in thousands of house¬ 
holds. She wasn charming little woman, easy¬ 
going and indulgent to her servants, who all 
adored her, which did not in the least pre¬ 
vent them from imposing upon her. She 
had a theory that, it was easier to teach an ig¬ 
norant girl, freshly landed, than to get one 
from an intelligence office, who had already 
lived out, and had her habits of work formed. 
Now every mistress naturally likes to have 
her work done her own way, and the obstiu- 
acy with which a servant will do her own 
way, or that of her last mistress, is certainly 
worthy of a better cause. So this little house¬ 
keeper chose for her help some newly arrived 
immigrant, whose only idea of cooking was to 
boil “praties” in their skins, and “ate thim 
with salt.” For weeks she would patiently 
work by the side of this “raw material,” 
teachiug her the most primitive details of 
housework, bearing with her clumsiness, and 
eucouraging by a kindly word of praise when¬ 
ever there was the slightest ground for it, 
often when there was none. 1 have often 
heard her declare that the tax on her strength 
and nerves and temper was much greater than 
if she had performed the work unaided. 
The mistress of a house is responsible for 
the comfort and happiness of its inmates, and 
no matter wlmt the shortcomings of Bridget 
or Nellie, the shirts must be nicely lauudried, 
the bread must be baked, and breakfast, 
luncheon and dinner hour come around with 
never-failing regularity. She must keep nil 
things decently and in order, or incur the 
ever-ready censure of Madam Grundy. The 
health of her family must not be sacrificed to 
the laziness or ignorance of her servant. It 
generally took from three to six months to 
train these daughters of Erin to such a degree 
that, their services, were really valuable, when 
this conscientious lady would raise their 
wages. By this time, too, they had found 
some “cousin” from the old couutry to toll 
them just what days and evenings out they 
should demand, and here was where my friend 
assured me lay one of her greatest trials. 
Naturally she could not help feeling a certain 
anxiety and responsibility, concerning the 
young girl alone in a strange and great city, 
whom she had taken under her roof, but if 
she attempted to impose such restraints ou her 
goings out as she would have done ou her 
own daughter, her well-meant efforts were 
always met with resentment. No oue except 
those who have been through just such trials 
can estimate their wear and bear on the nerv¬ 
ous system. 
1 have seen this lady sit perfectly calm, 
without the quiver of an eyelid, through the 
sound of crashing china in the kitchen, and 
when Maggie .appeared bearing some frag¬ 
ments of plates and cups of what I know to bo 
a cherished set, her only reproof to the tearful 
maid would be, “ 1 am sure you will be more 
careful another time,” and Maggie probably 
was, but only a housekeeper knows the vexa¬ 
tion of finding every cup nicked and her pret¬ 
tiest articles of bric-a-brac broken or cracked. 
When one considers the daily and hourly 
trials of a neat housekeeper in finding her 
windows at reuked and blurred, sinks ill smell¬ 
ing and greasy, to say nothing of dull china 
and glass, dirty silver, and pots and pans with 
suspicious remnants of yesterday’s viands 
lurking in their depths, I am sure you will 
bear me out in my assertion that this much- 
mooted question has two sides. 
./ESTHETIC ART vs. DOMESTIC IN¬ 
DUSTRY. 
The lack of appreciation und consequent 
limited compensation of artists and profes¬ 
sional men or women—except, the isolated 
cases of those who are far above the uvorago— 
are bringing about a reaction against the arts 
and professions as a means of guiuing a liveli¬ 
hood, It is evident that, the growth of fine or 
rather superficial art has been iu most sections 
of the United States altogether too rapid. It 
has been like a luxuriant plant transplanted 
iu poor soil. It has outgrown that upon which 
It is dependent for its development aud sup¬ 
port. Fine art requires years of patient labor, 
independent of the ordinary earea of life for 
its development; it is, therefore, very expen¬ 
sive. Unless art is firmly rooted iu wealth— 
not necessarily in the individual but in the 
community—its growth cannot be healthy. 
Wealth rewards superiority extravagantly; 
but it, as a rule, ignores mediocrity alto¬ 
gether. 
Ttie general development of the arts has 
raised the ideal standard so high that only 
original geniuses can, by the devotion of a life¬ 
time, achieve any considerable fame or reward. 
Superiority in painting, in oratory, in music, 
iu fact iu all the arts, is what is wanted. 
Mediocrity abounds und is valueless, except 
in isolated places: and then its products are 
only valued as substitutes, aud are usually 
unjustly compared with the products of the 
few who are famous. 
Fine art is like the Juggernaut; it destroys 
its devotees, while it, and the few who are 
able to ride upon it, are elevated by their 
bodies. It. is the great masses of poor and 
medium artists who educate the people up to 
an appreciation of the few who excel; and yet 
these same are underpaid, or not paid at all, 
while the few are rewarded extravagantly. 
The majority of persons in ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances seek to excel in some one of a 
half dozen arts or professions and these are 
naturally theartsand professions requiring the 
greatest skill and most exhaustive study. A 
few excel, are rewarded abundantly aud be¬ 
come a living example of the possibilities of 
that particular art—a bait, as it were, to at¬ 
tract and lead to the destruction of others. 
The others—and they are the majority—go 
through life iu a dissatisfied, aimless sort of a 
way, unappreciated and unrewarded. Among 
these arts and sciences may be mentioned 
music, the dramn (including elocution aud 
reading, so-called), literature (that form of 
education which simply fits one for school 
teaching or ordinary essay writing), painters, 
lawyers, and a certain form of education 
which fits one for the average clerical posi¬ 
tion, bookkeepers, accountants, etc. It is safe 
to say that success—either financial or ethical 
—is far more probable in almost any other 
form of industry than in the half dozen 
named. It is evident that a reaction is setting 
in against the acquirement of a smattering of 
these arts, or of the things which are aesthetic 
and superficial, while the commonplace essen¬ 
tials are neglected. 
On every hand we find partially educated 
men and women who do not excel in anything, 
aud who are usually unsuccessful at every¬ 
thing they undertake—the “anxious and aim¬ 
less” and, comparatively speaking, useless. All 
over the country, but chiefly in the suburban 
districts, are young Indies who can play ou 
the piano, sing fairly well, make crazy quilts, 
sufficiently educated to teach school, whose 
talents are comparatively useless and valueless, 
and who are dependent in too many cases up¬ 
on over-burdened parents for support. They 
are educated to a life of useless drudgery. 
The burden of their support may be trans¬ 
ferred from their parents to a husband, but 
their “anxiousness aud aimlessness” will re¬ 
main. 
In 1847 a French writer said: “The United 
States is a gigantic aud infantine country. 
Proud of its material development, adnormal 
and almost monstrous, t his new-comer into his¬ 
tory has a naive faith in the all powerfulness 
of industry. * * * Time and money are held 
in such extraordinary esteem; material acti¬ 
vity, exaggerated almost to the proportions 
of a national mania, leaves room in the mind 
for little that is not of the earth.” 
This statement is still true of the far West, 
but in the Bust the growth of the fine arks has 
been simply marvellous. Is it a permanent 
growth? Iu so far us the production of emi¬ 
nent painters, flue musicians, great actors, and 
powerful orators goes, it is a permanent de¬ 
velopment., but as fur the masses, the common 
people, I very much fear we have advanced 
too rapidly. Thu common people, especially 
the women, have acquired the task-sand wants 
of the wealthy without the necessary skill or 
strength to obtain the mouey required to 
satisfy them. The laboring classes, the 
dressmakers, and the servants, the iee deal- 
era and the plumbers are making the 
money and going up, while the semi-educated 
classes aro living from hand to mouth and iu 
most cases are going down. 
We need to discriminate more wisely be¬ 
tween genius aud art; if a young person has no 
especial taste for music, in this age of musical 
Whan Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla 
Wbeu she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she cluug to Castorla, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castorla. 
