WITHIN OUR REACH. 
ALICE BROWN. 
All around us are examples of the value of 
little things; our daily lives are full of 
incident and routine that prove it. And yet, 
like Naaman of old, we look for some great 
thing to make life nobler and better, some 
great change wrought without our aid to 
make life easier and happier. 
The old warrior covered with leprosy, 
turned in scorn from the command, “Go and 
wash in Jordan seven times and thy flesh 
shall come again to thee and thou shalt be 
clean,” and many modern men and women are 
not unlike him. The simple remedies for life’s 
ills are often scorned—probably oftener than 
we realize. 
Winter is only waiting until the autumn 
glory has burned to ashes, when it will send 
its frost, its ice, and snow to beautify, purify, 
protect and enrich the earth. For winter 
holds its blessings for the earth, as truly as do 
the spring, the summer and the fall. But how 
many there are dreading its approach, already 
shivering in the frosty mornings and robbing 
each day of its pleasure at the very outset. 
Not the miserably poor, either, but well-to-do 
people; “comfortably well off” we say, but, 
through lack of attention to some of the lesser 
comforts of life, often most uncomfortable. 
They lack some means of warmiog the sit¬ 
ting room for an hour or two in the morning, 
in tue evening, and during the days of cold, 
fall rains. The winter stove can’t go up yet, 
and so the family shivers. But even a lit tie 
stove, with odds audends of wood, boards and 
chips for fuel, would be sufficient to drive 
away many of the colds that are in some fam¬ 
ilies considered a necessary part of the pro¬ 
gramme for October and November. 
To fully enjoy an early autumn fire, the 
doors and windows must be well screened to 
shutout all the small winged insects. The fire 
and even the lamplight is robbed of its charm 
ami comfort if myriads of flies, mosquitoes, 
millers and beetles swarm in to enjoy the 
warmth with us. For often when a tire is really 
needed it will make the room so warm in a 
little while that the doors and windows must 
be opened for fresh, cool air. 
When winter is fairly here and there is 
nothing to be done in the yard or garden, 
many will neglect going out into the fresh air 
altogether, and be incredulous enough when 
told that out-door exercise is what they need 
to rid them of the dull,stupid headaches and 
miserable feelings they complain of. It may 
not work the miracle of perfect health within 
them. If their lives are all in opposition to 
the laws of health, it will take more than one 
of Nature'sgood physicians to effect a cure, but 
regular exercise in the open air will do a great 
deal for every one strong enough to take it. 
The plan of going in rain, snow, mud or cold 
with good wraps and perfect protection 
against moisture, is the only satisfactory plan 
for winter weather. 
Many families throw' away their chance for 
happiness when gathered around the table, 
not by excessive eating, and improper food 
always, but often by the most unkind and in¬ 
considerate fault-fiuding. Perhaps the pro¬ 
vider bears the brunt of these poisoned 
thoughts, perhaps the sister or the mother 
wno is cook. Every one seated around the 
table is stirred into his ugliest mood whether 
he takes part or not in giving or receiving the 
criticisms. 
“You do buy the toughest steaks in the 
market I believe,” says one ; another asks, 
“ Can’t you bake us some bullets next time 
we have biscuits?” “I don’t see why we 
can’t have something fit to eat once in awhile,” 
is the next unpleasant remark; and all this 
said in tones so intolerant that the guilty pro¬ 
vider or cook does not feel that the critic de¬ 
serves half as good tare as he receives, and a 
wish to please the fault-finder is the farthest 
thing from his or her mind. But it seems 
almost a waste of paper to write of such un¬ 
happy homes, when there are so many families 
in which each member has that law of kind¬ 
ness in his heart that prompts hearty praise 
of the genuine kind that is so acceptable to 
every one—even that coming from a child. 
There are othei things, homely trifles, that 
help to make or mar the days. Little con¬ 
veniences, a needed hook in a closet, a nail 
driven firmly with its head up instead of down 
in that annoying position that lets everything 
slip off and fall to the floor, a screw replaced 
in a loose hinge, a new broom before the old 
one is worn to a stub. If we remedy all the 
ills we cau, it will leave little time to wring 
0 ur hands in helpless despair over the evils wo 
cannot cure. 
We need to realize that we have a store of 
comfort and pleasure within reach, but we 
must reach out for it, and perhaps wait some 
t inus awhile belore receiving it, but there is 
no need to turn away empty-handed. Keep 
TKE RURAL HEW- 
717 
digging and climbing and hunting aud you 
may find potatoes and apples and eggs if you 
do not find gold and venison, and if you do 
fail to climb high enough to bring down the 
moon for a date to serve the venison on. 
Prize the common homely blessings. Use 
them to secure all the good they can give. 
--» ♦ ♦- 
Dr. George W. Winterburn calls Godfrey’s 
Cordial, paregoric and Mrs. Winslow’s Sooth¬ 
ing Syrup infant murderers. He says these 
mixtures are used in the vast majority of 
cases because they are supposed to be harmless. 
Mapy do not know that paregoric contains 
opium. For murderous efficiency the Dr. 
thinks Mrs. Winslow’s bears the palm. Many a 
little sufferer whose demise is chronicled in the 
Board of Health as from meningitis, maras¬ 
mus, dysentery, or fever he says was killed by 
the slow undermining ‘of the constitution by 
one of these opiated preparations. 
SOUND AS A DOLLAR. 
That hired help question seems to trouble 
the Rural readers in common with many 
others, I see the question discussed in the 
agricultural papers, and often in others, with 
more or less fairness, and nearly always with 
considerable spirit. Now let me give the 
opinion of one “ hired girl,” or “servant” or 
“ help”, whichever you choose to call me. No 
mere appellation can degrade any one, or lessen 
our true self-respect—that is in our own keep¬ 
ing. Being left in youth in circumstances 
where it seemed best to do something 
toward my own support, and the education of 
younger members of the family, I fitted my¬ 
self for a teacher, but the confinement of the 
school-room and the tax on my nerves proved 
too much. A severe fit ot sickness resulted. 
The Doctor said, “ No more school teaching if 
you expect any health m the future.” This in 
addition to the advice of a relative who had 
broken down her health in the same way, 
caused me to give up teaching and consider 
what next. Sewing was not to be thought of, 
as running a sewing machine tired me beyond 
endurance. Giving music lessons was but little 
better than teaching school. I could, and 
would do housework. A home in a good 
private family, shielded from the vexations 
and annoyances, to say nothing of exposure 
to publicity and the weather, incident to em¬ 
ployment in stores and shops, seemed to me far 
preferable, so I went out to service. 
I have since that time worked in many dif¬ 
ferent families and have lost none of my self- 
respect because of my employment, neither 
have I lost the respect of any one whose re¬ 
gard is worth the having on that account. 
My first place was in the family of a country 
physician and a good homo I had. No, I did 
not eat with the family. ’Twas not what I 
was there for. My place was to serve their 
meals when they ate. It needed one to wait 
upon the table and I was that one. Did I feel 
degraded? No. Why should I any more than 
the doctor did when he attended to the needs 
of a patient,’or the saleswoman in a store when 
she waits on a customer? Often in the after¬ 
noon when my work would permit, I was in¬ 
vited to bring my sewing or my book, and sit 
with my mistress, and if 1 wished, I accepted 
the invitation, but in no way felt that it was 
my due because I worked there. There was 
perfect understanding between “mistress and 
maid.” We respected ourselves and each other 
as we never could have done had I desired 
to obtrude myself on my employers. I 
had plenty of good food and time to eat 
it. What more could I reasonably ask 
in that line? 
It was my service not my society they paid 
for. In some places I have been lequested to 
sit at table with the family, but 1 honestly 
prefer not to do so. I have sometimes, when 
there is extra work, like house-cleaning, con¬ 
sented to save time in that way, but I cau wait 
on the table far better, by giving my whole 
time and attention to it, and I consider it my 
place to do so. 
Then what girl just out of the kitehen, 
where she has been preparing the dinner is 
iu a condition to go to the table, (where per¬ 
haps there may be guests also) until she has 
made some changes in dress aud toilet? For 
my part 1 catiuot see why so many who do 
house work for a living make that the stand¬ 
ard of a good place “whether they are treated 
as one of the family;” which means with most 
of them whether they are allowed to eat with 
the family. 1 confess that 1 fail to see that 
eating at a particular time, or place, cau make 
a servant, one of the family. I could name a 
score of considerations more important to me 
than where or when I eat, like a well ordered 
house, couvenieut kitchen, plenty o utensils to 
work with, and good cooking stove or range, a 
kind mistress, the children taught that even 
servants have some rights, the use of the lib¬ 
rary, a comfortable sleeping room which one 
will not be obliged to share with another per¬ 
son. Yet I have known a girl to leave all 
these and go to a very undesirable place, at 
least in my estimation) just for the privilege of 
eating with the family, because as she said “I 
am as good as they are.” Perhaps she was bet¬ 
ter. That does not change the fact that it was 
her services which they paid for. A faithful 
servant may make some true, lasting friends 
among employers, but if so, it is not done by 
demanding a place among them. No well- 
bred woman cau wish, to crowd herself where 
she is not sure of a welcome. If we do, that 
very act proves us unworthy the place we 
seek. 
If my services are in the market, my society 
is not. I prefer to choose my own friends, and 
my employers are at perfect liberty to choose 
theirs. I could understand and appreciate the 
feelings of a lady the other day, when I 
heard her say “ I prefer to hire a woman by 
the day, two or three days in the week, to 
keeping a girl. It breaks up the privacy of 
the home so, to have a girl all the time right 
in the family, and if they are not allowed tnat 
privilege, they will not stay.” I knew that in 
many cases it was true, especially in the 
country and smaller villages, and such a good 
home as a faithful girl might have in that 
lady’s house if she would only use reason! 
In many cases, about the only time the 
family can all be together during the day is at 
the table. No wonder the presence of the 
hired girl is not desired. It is passing strange 
to me that she can not see it in its true light, 
and not make herself a burden to the family 
she serves. hired girl. 
PICKl.ED ONIONS. 
In answer to D. R. C. I will give my recipe 
for pickling the above. Select small sized 
onions, put into a pan, pour boiling water over 
them, peel out of the water, put into jars, let 
them remain in salt water three or four days, 
then rinse and drain one hour. Use good vine¬ 
gar. For a three-gallon crock, take one cup of 
whole pepper, one cup of whole allspice, quar¬ 
ter of a pound of root ginger, bruised. Let the 
spices come to a boil in the vinegar and throw 
over the onions Let staud five or six weeks be¬ 
fore using, or until colored through. Will keep 
for years. I have some two years old that are 
as good as they were the first six mouths. 
MRS. M. L. C. KING. 
ORANGE CAKE. 
The following is a recipe that I have used 
with success and one that I have never seen 
given in your paper: One cup of butter, three 
cups of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, four 
cups and a half of flour, two teaspoonfuls of 
baking powder, and six eggs, leaving out the 
whiles of four. Bake in layers. Beat the four 
whites to a stiff froth and add one pound of 
powdered sugar. Pare three oraDges, and 
after the frosting is spread over the cakes 
slice the oranges very thin, pick out seeds, and 
lay them on the frosting of all the layers ex. 
cept the top. Grated cocoanut may be used 
instead of the orange. Makes two cakes. 
MRS. ECONOMY. 
THE VOICE, when hoarse and husky 
from overstrain or irritation of the vocal 
organs, is improved and strengthened by the 
use of Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral. Clergy¬ 
men, Singers, Actors, and Public Speakers 
find great relief in the use of this prep¬ 
aration. A specific for throat affections. It 
relieves Croup and Whooping Cough, and is 
indispensable in every household. 
Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, 
Prepared by Dr. ,T. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass. 
Sold by all Druggists. Price $1; six bottles, $5. 
BROWN’S FRENCH DRESSING 
The Original. Beware ul Imitations. 
AWARDED HIGHEST PRIZE AND ONLY 
MEDAL, PARIS EXPOSITION, 187fc, 
Highest A«urd Natv Orleans Exposition. 
Wells,Richardson & Co’s 
fSTRENGTH 
EXCELS IN J PURITY 
( BRIGHTNESS 
Always gives a bright natural color, never 
turns rancid. Will not color the Buttermilk. 
Used by thousands of the best Creameries and 
Dairies. Do not allow your dealer to convince you 
that some other kind is just as good. Tell him the 
BEST is what you want, and you must have Wells, 
Richardson & Co’s Improved Butter Color. 
Three sizes, 25 c. 50 c. $ 1 . 00 . For sale everywhere. 
WELLS, RICHA RDSON S CO. Burlington, lit. 
(33 Colors.) DIAMOND DYES 
— are the Purest, Cheap¬ 
ly est,Strongest, and most 
■7 Durable Dyes ever made. 
- One I Oc. package will color 
1 to 4 pounds of Dress Goods, Garments. Yarns, Rags, 
etc. Unequalled for Foal hr is, Uibhons, and all Fancy 
Dyeing. Also Diamond Paints, ior Gilding, Bronz¬ 
ing, etc. Any color Dye or Paint., with full instructions 
and sample card mailed for 10 cents. At all Druggists 
WELLS, RICHARDSON S CO., BURLINGTON, UT- 
EMBROIDERY SILK 
Factory Ends at half price; one ounce in a 
box—all good Silk and good colors. Sent by 
mail on receipt of 40 cents. 100 Crazy Stitches 
in each package. Send Postal note or Stamps 
to THE HKAINEKI) A ARMSTRONG SPOOL 
SILK CO., 6*21 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 
or 469 Broadway, New York. 
THIS 
PIANOS FROM 
8150 to $1500. 
unnun 
ORGANS from 
$35 to $500. 
Famous for Beauty, Sweetness, 
Durability. No Agents. Sent 
from factory direct to purchaser. 
You save the enormous expenses 
of agents. Guaranteed six 
i years, and sent for trial in your 
own home. VICTORIOUS for 
80 YEARS. Catalogue free. 
Marshal & Smith,235 E.21st St. IT. 7 
Every day is a little life, and our whole life 
is but a day repeated. ’Tis uot best to suffer 
pain for even one little day, when one appli¬ 
cation of Warner’s Log Cabin Extract will 
drive it quickly away. Nothing better for 
external or internal application. 
DR. 
ASTHMA 
Any one who wants to be 1 
address and we will maTT 
TAFT’S ASTHMA LINE 
filjncn never fails to Cure. 
uviiLU can send us their 
trial bottle pf 
Du. TAFT BROS., Rochester, N. Y. KtC. 
$75.00 to $250.00 
can be made 
_1 for us. Agents 
preferred who can furnish a horse and give their whole 
time io the business. Spare moments may be profitably 
employed also. A few vacancies In townsand cities. 
B. F. JOHNSON & CO.. 1009 Main St.. Richmond. Va. 
ROOKS! Farming with Green VI ami res 
'fjjg Fourth Edition now ready. Price 
bound in paper, 65 ctH; in cloth, 9$1, Will be sent 
for cash, free of postage. Address 
DR. HARI.AN. Wilmington, Delaware. 
to #8 a day. Samples worth $1.50. FREE Lines 
not under the horse’s feet. Write Brewster 
Safetv Rein Holder Co.. Holly. Slum. 
SOLD 
IT1C UK 
Live at home and make more money working for uathaa 
I at anything else in the world. Either sex. Costly outfit 
Terms FRICK. Address, TRUK A CO.. Augusta. Maine. 
AGENTS 
WANTED. Mon or Womon. Address 
SWEDISH MEG. CO., Pittsburg, Pa. 
DeaJerssell largeannntit.ies ClIICACO SCALE CO.. Chicago. 
General Advertising 1 Rates of 
THU RURAL NSW - YORKER. 
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M vw* w.fcJA m* 
