by the thought that she cannot earn anything, 
so as to have a little pocket money. We can’t 
defend such a feeling, when both necessities 
and a certain allowance of luxuries arc pro¬ 
vided, but. all the same it is very natural; wo 
all like the feeling of independence. It is 
rather hard, when a girl has to go to and ask 
father before she cau give a few cents to 
church or sewing circle, or charitable society. 
For this reason every girl should have a stat¬ 
ed allowance, no matter how small; and its 
expenditure should teach her thrift and self- 
reliance. 
One of the worst things in the world is to 
give a girl an order ou any store, so that 
when she wants anything she cau merely have 
it charged to her father. She is a great deal 
more likely to be extravagant than when her 
purchases must be paid for in hard money. 
Indeed, the system of booking things and pay¬ 
ing for them half-yearly or quarterly is 
always u mistake, and an extravagant one, 
too. When a girl has no allowance of pocket- 
money, if she happens to be industrious and 
energetic—we all are, of course—she is apt to 
look around for some means of obtaining a 
supply, and, in a rural neighborhood this is 
apt to A c a disheartening task. She may do a 
little sewing or she may take in a few pupils 
in music or the like, hut she will soon learn 
that the alluring advertisements of remuner¬ 
ated fancy work to be done at home are de¬ 
cided frauds. In fact, competition is so keen 
nowadays thut it is only in the rarest cases 
one may stay quietly at home and find means 
of earning anything. One cannot subsist on 
Micawber’s plan, of waiting for something to 
turn up. Hut a country girl does have the 
chance of turning to a sort of idealized farm¬ 
ing, in the way of small fruits and the like, 
and experience shows that women make most 
successful llorists. Ho there is the chauee of 
a few stray dollars earned in this way, and 
also t he possibility of a final menus for obtain 
ing a livelihood. 
RUMOR. 
E. A. C. 
According to common usage, it would bo 
necessary to personify this term and say 
Madam Humor, but it is inconceivable why 
the feminine portion of the human race should 
have to shoulder all the responsibility of this 
evil. No, it is an enemy that lurks iu the 
ranks of both genders; it has no sex. It is 
the abuse, not the use, of this qualification 
that is to be especially condemned. A report 
may be current that has for its foundation 
fact, but until the doubt is unmistakably re¬ 
moved, it should not be enlarged upon, and 
should be made with distiuct understanding 
that it may be recalled. 
It would be better to withhold everything 
that is conjecture, but as the world’s people 
are not all stoics it can not be expected but 
that imaginings will creep into brains. 
While harmleas indulgence can be tolerated, 
it should be well tempered with good sense 
and charity. 
If mere unnoyanee was the only result of 
rumor, that would be enough to silence the 
tongue, but when the knowledge that a char¬ 
acter is at stake, a business reputation in¬ 
volved, the thoughtlessness is unpardonable. 
How powerful it. is! It separates friends, 
darkens homes, ruins business, blights lives 
and creates a spirit of unrest throughout the 
land. 
If every one would constitute himself a vig¬ 
ilance committee, with power to quell; the 
remedy would be effectual 
There is a moral and u spiritual aide to all 
natures, and while the former one may not be 
suflicioutly strong to resist the strain of hubit, 
certainly the latter will avail if a higher Help 
is sought. 
CONCERNING WOMEN. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
I NOTICED the other day in a table of sta¬ 
tistics regarding labor iu this country that 
out of $ 100,000,000 paid in wages for certain 
kinds of work, $25,000,000 were earned by 
women. If women uro in fact earning wuges 
and salaries to this extent it should go a long 
way toward demolishing the popular fallacy 
of women being supported by men, as the 
women who earn the twenty-five millious rep¬ 
resent, more than oue-iour h the workers be¬ 
cause of the inferior pay women receive even 
for the sume kind or employment. The whirl 
igig ol' time winch adjusts so many difficulties 
will undoubtedly rectify the Inequalities in 
wages from which women now suffer. Al¬ 
ready m the city of Boston, some leading mer¬ 
chants are paying their women in the sume 
ratio as their men, and at least one editor in 
Philadelphia pays for the journalistic work 
done by women the same as he puys tor that 
done by meu. 
••Not by whom, but how,” should of course 
THE RURAL WEW-Y0RSCER. 
OCT 8 
lie the estimated value of all work. As women 
are so rapidly coming to the front as workers 
in a multitude of vocations it behooves them 
as a matter of prime importance to do business 
not only n.s men do but a great deal better. 
“If I were to liave my office work <lone by 
a man or woman equally well and at. the same 
wage,” said a lawyer to me one day, “I would 
hire the. man every time. Aud why? Be¬ 
cause if be didn’t do the work to suit me 1 
could ‘blow’him up. But if you have a woman 
around, hang it, you’ve got to be considerate 
ami polite and all that.” But when women 
work for money and not foi love, the only 
fair and just and self respecting thing to do, 
is to tit themselves properly for the work and 
then proceed on a purely business method. 
There will never be a lack of due considera¬ 
tion where there is merit. 
Of course the capital iu any lino of work is 
good health. Now that it is fashionable for 
women to be healthy, and large as well, it is 
surprising how rapidly they are developing 
physically. It is said that English women 
are actually surpassing the men in bight and 
New York girls are doing the same thing. 
Where women a few years ago were propor¬ 
tionately only up to mens eats, they now are 
about ou a level as to eyes and look at each 
other “ straight.” This is undoubtedly due 
to the fact that City girls in particular have 
had the advantage over boys in leading easier 
lives, aud giving their bodies a better chance 
for development. Out of door games, too, 
have developed girls—made them more mus¬ 
cular, fuller in the chest, and bred in them 
the fashion of carrying the head splendidly 
erect and the shoulders thrown well back. 
Marriage is not so much of a consideration 
with women now as it was a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury ago, for various reasons. And iu any 
event it is wiser for girls to proceed us boys 
do,and tit l liemsolves for self-support. Ho long 
as money is the “root of all good”—and its 
value when honestly acquired cannot well 
be over rated—money making itself must 
continue to bu an absorbing theme. Women 
generally succeed better in business than 
men, because they attend more to details. By 
success I mean that women rarely become 
bankrupt. That their accumulations are less, 
is owing undoubtedly to their timidity, 
but there is uo reason why' women should 
not be great money makers. I hoard of 
one u few days ago, whose career is 
worth mentlou, She was born on a farm 
near the shore of Lake Ontario aud 
had only a common school education. Hbe 
married a Frenchman but the only benefit she 
derived from that alliance was aslight knowl¬ 
edge of French—to speak it a little. 'The 
French man lacked the faculty of “getting 
ou” iu the world uud Madame had no hesita¬ 
tion in leaving him for the sake of bettering 
her condition. This was years ago when the 
Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine was be¬ 
ing introduced every w here. Madame, in some 
way, made the acquaintance of a United 
Htates Consul and his wife, stationed at some 
point in South America, and they advised her 
to take the agency of the sewing machine and 
go to Brazil, to Rio Janeiro, 1 think. She de¬ 
cided to do so and raising money enough to 
purchase five machines and pay for her pas¬ 
sage, she started. Thoship in which she sailed 
was wrecked and she barely escaped with her 
life, saving nothing but the night gown she 
had on and a back comb she had in her hair. 
Hh<- was brought back to New York, but as 
soon as she was able to replace her outfit of 
machines she started again and reached her 
destination in Shlety. She lived in South 
America for nineteen years, introducing into 
that country not only the sewing machines, 
but other labor saving inventions. She made 
a great, deal Of money, aud returned to her na¬ 
tive laud a woman of consequence. She had 
the accomplishments of travel, she had costly 
jewels, a line house, her horses and carriages, 
servants and the usual accoutrements of 
wealth, anil being a woman of intelligence she 
hud the entree ut once into the. “best” society 
and all because she had had the pluck to rnuku 
a place for herself. She died Worth $.'500,000 
—all her own money. 
Good Miss Peabody, 1 am told, is working 
with all her might and main to induce the 
Government to establish a school of horticul¬ 
ture for women. Miss Feu body undoubtedly 
means well enough, aud there is uo objection 
to the school—it would do no harm. But there 
is nothing equal to practice and where girls 
are superfluous ou a farm, they will show a 
turn for shrewdness by trying their hands at. 
raising small fruits. A lady iu New Jersey 
(a wealthy woman) told me that one summer 
she found thut they were going to have a 
great crop of fctrawherries iu the garden very 
fine varieties—and she determined to turn 
them to some profit. Arranging some very 
picturesquely iu a banket, she took them to 
a fancy fruit dealer in New York and asked 
him if he wanted to engage so many basKetsa 
day of such berries. He did, aud she cleared 
$12 per day during the season on their surplus 
strawberries. 
On the doors of the waiting rooms of the 
Old Colony Railroad, in Massachusetts, one 
sees merely “Men,” “'Women.” Speaking of 
this “direct sensibloness” to a professor in 
Brown University, he related to me this 
story: “Thirty years ago I was in Italy, and 
with a guide was visiting the Vatican. While 
there an Englishwoman said to me: ‘I wish 
you would ask your guide the meaning of this,’ 
alluding to something which 1 do not now re¬ 
call. I ><us very much preoccupied and said 
to the guide: ‘This woman would like you to 
give her some information—’ • Woman! ’she 
cried, turning upon me like a tiger. ‘ Woman!' 
I’m no woman! I can assure yon I was filled 
with terror for having had the presumption 
to call her a woman. True, 1 always thought 
it. the best name in the world, but she evi¬ 
dently thought differently, and felt insulted. 
I would know her this day if I were to meet 
her, she glowered at me so! Of course 1 only 
made matters worse by begging her pardon 
for having taken her for a woman!” Now that 
wo have salesladies and washladies, etc., the 
good old words woman and gentlewoman will 
be restored to their rightful uses. 
While riding with a friend iu Massachusetts 
last year, he pointed out to me a handsome 
country house in which lived one Mrs. Ward. 
It seemed that her husband, who all his life 
hail lived in a small, plain house, determined 
to build « very lino one; but he died before 
the building was finished. Ho directed in his 
will, however, that his widow should curry 
out his plans, and to bolster up her courage 
he further decreed that she should remain in 
full possession of everything so long as she 
remained Mrs. Ward. The completion of the 
house, however, swallowed up the balance of 
the estate. Meantime she made the acquain¬ 
tance of an estimable man—who was the 
father of Dr. Ward, the editor of the New 
York Independent—uud married him, Tbo 
heir-at-law, a nephew, did not contest the 
will. The lady, although she had remarried, 
was still Mrs. Ward. Had the will been con¬ 
tested it would have formed a “nice point” iu 
law, and the decision would probubly have 
rested entirely upon the whim of the judge. 
Mrs. Lieutenant Heim, if not a goose, at 
least lays the golden egg, for it is said that 
she owns the “Galatea,” aud is the financial 
partner of the concern. Hhe wears too much 
jewelry, but is intelligent and well-informed, 
aud gives beautiful dinners aboard the brave 
little yacht, aud like English women gener¬ 
ally, is a tip-top sailor. 
HALF AN HOUR.—III. 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR AT HOME. 
There is no doubt that u child will learn 
more bad grammar if he associates with un¬ 
grammatical people at home, or if he plays at 
school with the children of illiterate parents, 
thau he will be able to correct with many 
years’ study of uuy known text-book on the 
subject. This matter of association with low¬ 
born children at t he public schools, is really 
a serious one. I have a little boy of five, for 
whom 1 huvo never been able to provide any 
playmates of his own age, having been unable 
to have him with me much of the tune for the 
past year. I have left him with a very lovely 
and cultivated family, consisting of a mother 
aud three grown-up daughters, so that, his 
whole time is spent, with “ grown-ups.” I 
thiuk it very desirable that, u child should 
have playmates of his own age, and with me 
this has been a matter of necessity, not. choice. 
Being a boy, anil tbo family an exceptional 
one, he lias not. lost iu elasticity of spirits, 
while his language has certainly gained to a 
most remarkable degree; I um constantly as¬ 
tonished at his excellent grammar and well- 
chosen expressions. 
The work of acquiring a correct style of ex¬ 
pression, whether with pen or tongue, should 
begin early. As soou as a child has learned 
to form his letters with ease, his attention 
should lie called to the spelling, as well us to 
the punctuation aud grammar. He should be 
taught, the proper construction of simple sen¬ 
tences. It is not necessary to perplex the 
youthful mind with a uice distinction between 
semi-colons und colons, but see that, they thor¬ 
oughly understand the functions of the com¬ 
ma and period, and the difference betweeu 
them. 
Instructors of English in American colleges, 
have to spend much of their time and strength 
in teaching the A B Gof their mother tongue 
to youths of twenty, and 1 have it from high 
authority, that every year Harvard graduates 
a certain number of men—some of them high 
scholars —whose manuscript would disgrace a 
boy of twelve. 
If a young person has sjient his youth in 
unfortunate .surroundings, and with little 
opportunity for culture, he need not ou that 
account despair, A writer of note in this 
ountry, of whom I have heard it said, that 
there were few who wrote such correct and 
Addisonian English, not only left school nt 
twelve, and was never inside of a college, l.ut 
until ho was old enough lo choose his own as¬ 
sociates, never heard the king’s English spoken 
with any attempt at even a moderate degree 
of correctness. 
A writer says, “It is high time that eve ry 
vestige of Lir.dley Murray’s system—parsing, 
analysis of sentences, and the liki—as well as 
grammatical rules aud exceptions should be 
swept, out nf existence. The mum point is, 
not that a child should know that a given 
word ill a sentence is a noun, another a prep¬ 
osition, another a verb, etc., but that he should 
understand the mmni iny of I ho sentence as a 
whole. Several hours judiciously spent should 
suffice to tench an intelligent, young person the 
few points which it is most important, to know. 
To put pronouns in the proper cases, and t,o 
place them where the reference to antecedents 
is plain; to couple singulars with singulars and 
plurals with plurals; to omit every word that 
is not essential to the sense; to put verbs refer¬ 
ring to the same time in the same tense; not 
to destroy a negative by doubling it—when 
these and a few other things huve been under- 
standiugly learned he will be far ou the road 
toward correct oxpresssion. a. g. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
Whatever you would have your children 
become, strive to exhibit it in your own 
lives and conversation. . 
Jealousy and envy are the hidden rocks on 
which many stanch vessels are wrecked. 
Nothing is so strong a-s gentleness: nothing 
so gentle us real strength . 
Ik we practice goodness, not for the .sake of 
its own intrinsic excellence, but for the sake 
of gaining some advantage by it, we may be 
cunning, but we are nut good. 
It is good for ns to keep some account.of our 
prayers, that we may not unsay in our prac¬ 
tices anything that we. said in our prayers... 
The printing press is the motor that movi s 
the world. At its birth the nations began to 
emerge into a new light. The roseate hue of 
its dasvn was a blessing to all races from the 
first., and as its brightening rays have increas¬ 
ed, so has its influence, and yet it is far from t he 
zenith of its power. Like its giant co-worker, 
electricity, it has its positive and negative 
modes of acting. What one is in the natural 
world the other is in the intellectual and 
moral world. The two combiued will shape 
the destinies of the future. 
It is the spirit that, a man possesses,more than 
auytbingelse, that determines his real charac¬ 
ter, This is what governs nud controls him. 
Hence it is declared, “ If uuy man have not 
the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” A man 
may bo seeiniugly correct in his general out¬ 
ward deportment aud present the appearance 
of a Christian, hut if his heart is full of world¬ 
liness, deceit, and hatred, ho is nevertheless, a 
child of the devil, and his pretensions to 
Christian disciplcsbip are in vaiu. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
"I sought the Held tu the fulling night, 
The gold of the grain about my feet, 
The knot ted Apple treiM, in llio right 
Had dropped their shadows Into the wheat. 
Int the sower gather In 
Eluding thus a fuller meaning 
Even In the seatiered grain. 
Ready for nnniher gleaning. 
Have courage that tae harvest he not Ninull, 
For storm aud sunshine come alike to nil.” 
1 stood iu the apple orchard whore grows 
the wheat as this verse of Dora Goodale’s 
came to my mind. For it was evening and 
the apple trees had truly “dropped their shad¬ 
ows” into the golden grain. The work of 
harvesting had begun, and a happy group of 
young people—workers and on-lookers—were 
gathered about.. How small a thing can give 
rose color to life among young people, and 
yet how easily their sunshine is clouded. 
There is comfort iu the thought that “storm 
and sunshine come alike to all” I thought as I 
stood there, for by this means we bear each 
others’ burdens, and have help to bear ours, 
in words aud deeds of sympathy. 
How oue’s thoughts will wander even be- 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castorla 
Whou she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to CusUirla, 
When Hhe had Children, she gave them Casiorla. 
