FES 
may be guided in procuring a respectable 
home that may save her from a life of misery. 
One of the oldest and most successful at¬ 
tempts of the kind, is the Home of the Ladies 
Christian Union, at Nos. 27 and 28 North 
Washington Square. There is a branch at 308 
Second Avenue, and another at 79 Seventh 
Avenue. 
During the past ten years more than seven 
thousand women have^come under the shelter 
of these three Homes, some of whom have re¬ 
mained for years. The prices for board vary 
from $3 to $0 per week, 
Miss Sarah H. Leggetts’ boarding house for 
business women is at No. 60 Clinton Place. 
The'Society to Befriend Working Girls has 
a home at 356 West 33d St., known as the Prim¬ 
rose Home, and organized by the head of a 
well-known dry-goods house. No young girl 
applying for shelter over-night is ever turned 
away. At 59 Morton St. is another, where 
the terms for board vary from $4, to §6 includ¬ 
ing washing. This has unfortunately been fill¬ 
ed up by a class above the average shop girl, 
such as artists, stenographers and the heads 
of departments in large shops. 
The enterprise of some of the students at 
Vassar will commend itself to impecunious 
girls with a turn for education. Many of the 
students are the daughters of millionaires, who 
have been used to the attentions of a maid and 
consequently cannot sew on a button or 
brush their own hair. The poorer girls earn 
pocket money by performing these little duties 
for their more fortunate sisters. One pretty 
little girl, whose tuition and board were paid 
for by a relative, made $150 last year in this 
way. She put up a sign on her door: 
‘•Gloves and shoes neatly mended for 10 cents 
each; breakfast brought up, hair brushed each 
night, or beds made daily for 10 cents a week.” 
Some ambitious young lady may profit by 
this suggestion. > 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
F. W. Robertson says: It is a strange de¬ 
sire to seek power and to lose liberty, or to 
seek power over others and lose power over a 
man’s self. 
The one who will be found in trial capable 
of great acts of love, is ever the one who is al¬ 
ways doing considerate small ones. 
In some strange way the power to accumu¬ 
late money seems to dwarf the power to ele¬ 
vate the soul. .. 
Mrs. Whitney said: ‘‘There is never a 
‘Might-have-been’ that touches with a sting, 
but reveals also to us an inner glimpse of the 
wide and beautiful ‘May-be.’ It is all there; 
somebody else has it now, while we wait.”.... 
Fox says: “True humanity consists not in 
a squeamish ear; it consists not in starting or 
shrinking at tales of misery, but in a disposi¬ 
tion of heart to relieve it. True humanity ap¬ 
pertains rather to the mind than to the nerves, 
and prompts men to use real and active en¬ 
deavors to execute the actions which it sug¬ 
gests”. 
Baxter says: “The more perfect the sight 
is the more delightful the beautiful object. 
The more perfect the appetite the sweeter the 
food. The more musical the ear the more 
pleasant the melody. The more perfect the 
soul the more joyous the joy;s of heaven and 
the more glorious to us that glory.”. 
The Rev. Dr. Fairbairn, of Oxford, Eng¬ 
land, makes the following sensible remarks on 
Evolution: “I do not reject evolution. I 
accept it—First, because it compels us to a 
worthier conception of God. It does not al¬ 
low us to think of Him as standing apart 
from the world and seeing it go, touching it 
where it needs repair or where it calls for im¬ 
provement. But we are forced to think of 
Him as living and working within it, the en¬ 
ergy that moves all things, Second, it sup¬ 
plies us with invincible evidence of His ex¬ 
istence and government. If evolution be the 
process of creation, then what emerges in the 
result must have been contained in the cause. 
Since mind is in the fruit, it must have been 
in the root. The process which unfolds rea¬ 
son must have had reason as it unfolded, yet 
efficient and sufficient cause.”. 
Come, let our country feel the lift 
Of a great Instinct shouting forwards, 
And know that Freedom’s not a gift, 
That tarries long in hands of cowards. 
—Lowell. 
Spurgeon says: “Any bird can sing in fine 
weather. Praising God when all goes well is 
commonplace work. Everybody marks the 
nightingale above all other birds, because she 
When Baby was sick, we gave her Castoria. 
When she was a Child, she 'cried for Castoria, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castoria, 
WJieu she had Children, she gave them Castoria. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
singeth when the other minstrels of the wood 
are silent and asleep; and thus doth faith 
praise God under the cloud. Songs in the 
day are from man, but God Himself giveth 
songs in the night”. 
Among the qualities likely to contribute to 
a successful earthly career, Thomas De Quincy 
mentions a thick skin—not in the literal sense, 
but figuratively. It is a bad thing to be too 
easily hurt, either in body or what we call 
feelings. This is a very briary world, and he 
that is stung and turned aside by every 
scratch must forever be pained and halting. 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
RANDOM PAGES FROM A HOUSEKEEP¬ 
ER’S DIARY. 
Three dear little ones, all mine, and all 
babies! Who but a mother can know, can 
even guess at the multitude of perplexities 
and duties pressing upon a mother when her 
children are small? Talk about duties never 
conflicting! They do conflict. I’ve seen 
them do so. I often have 19 or 20 at once, 
every one of which ought imperatively to be 
performed first, and since in the nature of 
things not more than nine or ten of them can 
be done at one and the same time, the others 
must necessarily be neglected. It stands to 
reason £hat I cannot, in the same moment, eet 
dressed, mold the bread, cook the breakfast, 
set the table, keep Nellie from getting bumped, 
from pulling Claude’s hair, or both from quar¬ 
reling over their rocking-horse chair, while 
the baby is crying mightily, and all three 
need to be warmed, washed, dressed and fed 
at once. *To be sure one might have servants 
to belp, but that isn’t a vast, deal of solace to 
me, even if girls were not either careless, dis¬ 
honest, deceitful, crazy after beaux or slow 
and dawdling. Where, oh where, on the face 
of the earth is one to be found who will be 
half neat aud tidy about her work without 
being watched and directed every step of her 
way? And if one can’t always watch and di¬ 
rect, even ignorance fails to be bliss, for one 
can never be sure that the potatoes weren’t 
cleaned (?) in the wash basin or that the dish¬ 
cloth hadn’t washed the stove, or that the fry¬ 
ing-pan was washed at all. Deliver me! 
But if my hands seem full to overflowing, 
how do the mothers manage with duties like 
mine, who also wash, iron, make soap, candles, 
butter and cheese and attend to poultry, pigs, 
calves and gardens? When I behold a woman 
who has done all that and brought up five or 
six sons and daughters to be good and useful 
men and women, I gaze upon her with awe¬ 
stricken admiration, with wonder and rever¬ 
ence. She is a miracle—she is heroic. Alex¬ 
ander, Napoleon, Grant are simply nowhere 
by comparison. She deserves to be canon¬ 
ized, celebrated and sung to the end of time. 
But she isn’t; she lives her quiet, unselfish 
life, bravely, nobly, to the end, unnoticed 
except by a few, and then goes to her long 
rest. 
Ah, me! how is it that girls and boys who 
ever had a mother to love and care for them 
in their helpless years, to labor, comfort and 
sacrifice for them—all through childhood and 
youth; how is it that these same girls and 
boys can ever bear to grieve her heart by 
unkindness or break it by vicious conduct? 
My precious babes! I do want to be a good, 
true mother to them in the very highest 
sense, and help them to become all that is 
noblest and worthiest; but I get so tired, so 
impatient, worried and distracted sometimes, 
that I almost forget how necessary to my 
happiness these same troublesome babies are. 
I speedily remember, though, when the dear 
little faces are all aglow with kisses for mam¬ 
ma and the chubby arms are lovingly clasped 
around my neck. And at night—when the 
frolics are over and the dear old prayer has 
been said by the childish lips: 
“Now I yay me—down to seep; 
I pay Yord—my soul to keep’’— 
When papa and mamma and each rosy 
cherub have all been duly hugged, kissed, and 
loved; when the precious little white-robed 
forms have been snugly tucked in with the 
dollies, and sleep closes the bright eyes, then 
—oh, then!—my heart is penitent, indeed. A 
tide of uuspeakable love flows over my soul, 
and I wonder how it was possible ever to hav-e 
been other than patient, forbearing, and ten¬ 
der. I try to think what life would be with¬ 
out our children; I think of the sorrowing 
mothers whose little ones have slipped out of 
their arms forever, leaving their homes deso¬ 
late, tbejr hearts aching for the absent dar¬ 
lings, and I thank God that mine are still 
spared. What does it matter that my life is 
so shut in, that I seldom hear a sermon, or 
that I get hungry for a prayer meeting? What 
does it matter that the last fijag,azines and 
papers must often go unread or some cherish¬ 
ed bit of work remains unfinished; that even 
the blessed sunshine, the seasons change, the 
stars, the sunset tints must come and go al¬ 
most unnoticed? My babies are left, and I 
can forego all the rest. I can humbly ask 
forgiveness for all my impatience, pray for 
grace and strength to begin over again, and 
thus gain courage for a new day. 
RENA ROSS. 
Have you a garret? If so be thankful that 
you possess such a^luxury—for luxury it sure¬ 
ly is, and one that few of the present genera¬ 
tion can enjoy. 
CAN’T AFFORD. 
Having seated my guest in a comfortable 
chair, I said: “Now will you excuse me while 
I attend to my kitchen duties?” 
“Certainly,” was the reply, “I can amuse 
myself nicely for I am longing to get hold of 
those magazines, they will be a treat to me 
for we don’t take any.” 
“Not any?” 
“No,” said she, “Lynn says we can’t afford 
them, the good ones are so dear.” (Lynn’s 
dollars were more plentiful than oursl. 
“Well,” said I “that depends upon the point 
of view. We think we cannot afford to do 
without them, aud we take four, besides nu¬ 
merous other periodicals. The four cost, at 
club rates, $11 a year. The two $4 monthlies 
furnish us with a great deal of instruction 
and amusement as they come; then at the end 
of the year we have them bound aud ihey 
form a good reference library. The art mag¬ 
azine has given me so many hints and studies 
that my Christmas gifts were never before so 
beautiful or inexpensive, so that it has paid 
for itself in money—to say nothing of my own 
pleasure and improvement. As for the fash¬ 
ion monthly—well, that saves me dollars, for 
with its aid and a few patterns, I do all my 
own dressmaking, and you know that is a sav¬ 
ing.” 
“By-the-way” said my caller, “My new 
dress is made just like yours. I paid $6 for 
the making, and made two trips to town and 
now am not satisfied, for it is not comfort¬ 
able.” 
“Well,” said I, “It doesn’t always pay to 
make one’s own dresses, but as I have time 
enough in the winter and can really suit my¬ 
self better than the average dressmaker can 
suit me, I do my own sewing: but I couldn’t 
were it not for the' help of this little dollar 
magazine. Now I have proven to you that 
we cannot afford to do without our monthlies, 
but I have one more argument. We cannot 
buy many books, and borrowing is against 
my principles. I wish my friends all felt as 
I do about that; for I have suffered so severe¬ 
ly because I lacked courage to refuse to lend, 
though I knew in some cases that if the books 
were ever returned, they would be in a dilap¬ 
idated condition. Yet it seemed so selfish to 
refuse. But I am almost at the point of 
making a vow that I will neither borrow nor 
lend—selfish as it may seem to my friends.” 
MARY MANN. 
FURNISHING FANCIES. 
Old miniature cases, even the oval-shaped 
ones with plain gold rims, intended to hold a 
lock of hair, are being revived. They are 
fastened to velvet, and placed on the mantel 
shelf with a silhouette inside. 
There is a strong tendency in favor of white 
and gold furniture of the Marie Antoinette 
style for drawing-rooms. A friend of mine 
made a very elegant little music stand from 
an old pine washstand. It was painted white 
with gold stripes, and a yellow Japanese silk 
curtain on a tiny brass rod, hung all around 
the front, and two sides, and fell to the floor, 
concealing two shelves filled with music. 
The top was used for china and bric-a brae. 
Tone down the irritating gaslight with 
shades or globes of salmon pink. 
An old willow rocker, dark and discolored, 
was recently transformed into the “sweetest 
thing ” in white and gold by the deft fingers 
of a tasteful lady. It was painted white, 
gilded wherever effective with gold paint, 
and finally treated with a coat of white var¬ 
nish. A cushton of dark green plush was 
made for the seat, and a head-rest of the same 
^XxmlUntam 
The Makers of a Well Known Churn write? 
“We have been often asked by dairymen: ‘What is the very 
best soap to use to properly cleanse dairy utensils ? ’ We have 
invariably replied, the ‘Ivory,’ but as for giving specific directions 
for washing dairy utensils, it is really summed up in making them 
thoroughly clean. Boiling water must be used, and that, in con¬ 
nection with Ivory Soap, will thoroughly cleanse and deodorize 
the wood, leaving it clean and sweet for further use. Any dairy 
utensils half cleaned will spoil the delicate aroma of ‘ gilt edge 
butter,’ which may be perfect in other respects.” 
A WORD OF WARNING. 
There are many white soaps, each represented to be ‘ just as good as the‘Ivory’;” 
they ARE NOT. but like all counterfeits, lack the peculiar and remarkable qualities 
of the genuine. Ask for “Ivory” Soap and insist upon getting it, 
Copyright, 18S0, by Procter <U GftP-ble. 
