484 
MAR 43 
pay her regular wages, saying to himself 
gravely, “ What can she want with money ? I 
give her her board and clothes; any girl 
with a spark of gratitude or common sense 
would be satisfied.” Heaving a resigned sigh, 
he adds “ But that’s just the way with my 
women folks; they cannot be made to see lam 
managiug for their interest; they are working 
for themselves and what is saved by their 
labor will come to them in future years.” 
Now I would ask what man would content¬ 
edly work year after year, his clothing bought 
for him without consulting his wishes, never 
allowed to use his own judgment in selecting 
implements to work with, not a cent in his 
pocket to gratify a wish, but buoyed up bv 
the knowledge that when he was too old to 
enjoy it, he would then reap the benefits. 
Men would consider that tyrannical, but they 
can look upon a daughter taking that part 
with conscientious fortitude little realizing to 
what wells of humiliation they consign her. 
It reminds me of an adopted daughter—a 
faithful and reliable worker—being magnani¬ 
mously presented with §5 at Christmas time, 
for the purchase of gifts, accompanied by a 
list of what things to give and to whom to give 
them, leaving out a dearly beloved aunt, and 
giving presents to those where they would 
make the most show. And those people felt 
that they had been gloriously generous! 
Give your daughter an interest in her work; 
sluw confidence in her ability to exercise 
common-sense, and you will be surprised at 
the rapid development of self-reliance and 
judgment. Never hesitate to trust your 
daughter with household expeuses: if you put 
confidence in her she will reward you with 
faithful service. 
How is a girl to have judgment if you do 
not trust her ? How is she to fill the place of 
wife and mother if she is entirely ignorant of 
the personal distribution of money ? 
A girl who has a dollar in her own pocket 
is far happier than the one who earns two 
dollars kindly kept for her future use by a 
philosophic parent. In security there is 
rest, and I know of no feeling that is more 
restful than the security of having a few dol¬ 
lars of your own in your purse to do with as 
you please. A settled sum, small though it may 
have to be, that will enable her to make cal¬ 
culations as to its distribution, will engender 
great tranquility of spirit, and do away with 
that uncomfortable balancing upon that point 
between hope and despair. It is a question 
of right and wrong, and may all fathers keep 
to the right! 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
C HAPIN offers consolation in the truth 
that out of suffering have emerged the 
strongest souls; the most massive characters 
are seamed with scars ; martyrs have put on 
their coronation robes glittering with fire, 
and through their tears have the sorrowful 
first seen the gates of heaven. 
Sometimes, says Spurgeon, a fog will settle 
over a vessel's deck, yet leave the topmast 
clear. Then a sailor goes up aloft and gets a 
lookout which the helmsman on the deck can¬ 
not get. So prayer sends the soul aloft ; lifts 
it above the clouds in which our selfishness 
and egotism befog us, and gives a chance to 
see which way to steer... 
The Congregationalist gives pertinent ad¬ 
vice when ft says that there is hardly a person 
who cannot be drawn into church, sooner or 
later, by being studied attentively, approached 
in a friendly way, and followed up as oppor¬ 
tunities occur. 
The woman who has found a man to whom 
she can be an inspiration, making him toil 
easily and happily for her sake, has found the 
widest possible sphere. The instincts of every 
woman lead her to seek this; whatever else 
women seek is probably sought because they 
have been denied or disappointed in finding 
this. 
Be sure, no earnest work 
Of any honest creature, howbeit weak, 
Imperfect, 111 adapted, falls so much; 
It Is not gathered as a grain of sand 
To enlarge the sum of human action used 
For carrying out God’s end. 
I count that heaven itself Is only work 
To a surer Issue- 
Let us be content in work 
To do the thing we can, and not presume 
To fret because it’s little. 
—Mrs. E. B. Browning. 
The little dwarfed flower that springs into 
life in the crevice of some rock, shut in from 
sun and rain, grows struggling toward the 
light, and as it withers gives forth a perfect 
seed, which the winds bear to more favorable 
soil. So it is that the influence of a word 
may not be felt by the nature on which it 
falls, nut its spell may be borne to a more 
yielding heart, and there blossom in gladness. 
What greater compensation can be asked 
for a life of devoted well doing, thuu the 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
glory that it imparts to the dying hour, as 
the traveler looks back upon the way he has 
come?... 
A little girl died here a few years ago, 
and, as her mother held her wrist and noted 
the faint and flickering pulse, a smile came to 
the wan face and the child whispered: 
“ There is no more desert here, mamma, but 
all the world is full of flowers.” A moment 
later the smile became transfixed. 
In an Eastern city, not long ago, a Sister 
of Charity was dying, and at last from a 
stupor she opened her eyes and said: “It is 
strange; every kind word that I have spoken 
in life; every tear that I have shed, has be¬ 
come a living flower around me, and they 
bring to my senses an incense ineffable.”. 
Pure words in unclean surroundings are 
like the beautiful lilies that grow up straight 
and tall beside a stagnant pond, with their 
beauty reflected in its sluggish depths . 
One of the happiest faculties a human be¬ 
ing can possess is that of looking upon the 
bright side of everything, and when Tom 
Moore wrote 
Tills world Is all a fleeting show. 
For man’s Illusion given: 
The smiles of Joy, the tears of woe, 
Deceitful shine, deceitful flow— 
There’s nothing true but heaven! 
he certainly was looking upon the dark side 
of everything; he had a decided “fit of the 
blues,” which tinged all things with the same 
sombre hue, and, the worst of all, made a sad 
mistake; for this world is as true as Heaven, 
if we but make it so. 
Domestic <£cononnj 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
EXTRACTS FROM SUNDAY EVENING 
TALKS. 
THE MAN WITH THE UMBRELLA. 
(By a young lady of eighteen.) 
S TANDING on the wharf of a commercial 
city of the Connecticut, one afternoon, 
watching the steamers pass up and down the 
river, and looking across the meadows, dotted 
with farm houses, we became almost uncon¬ 
scious listeners to a conversation going on 
near us. A sea captain who had given over 
the dangerous calling he had loved, for a 
quiet life among the luxuries of his home, and 
his family, was recalling, for a friend, many 
a reminiscence of his earlier years. And 
among other things, he told how be had learn¬ 
ed to carry his ship successfully to and fro, 
along the southern Atlantic coast, even in the 
most stormy and foggy weather. 
“ I never made a trip,” said he, “ in which 
during all the clear weather, I was not 
studying every rock, and headland, and island 
and sand-bar on the coast, and from each I 
drew angles with my eyes, until by gain¬ 
ing the slightest glimpse of a light or a bit of 
land, I could tell precisely in what direction 
and how far from it I was, and therefore, 
precisely what point I was opposite. I soon 
grew so familiar with my own angles and mv 
mental chart of that coast, that 1 felt as sure 
of my course in the darkest night and the 
foggiest weather as on a sunny day.” 
“In short”, laughed bis friend, “you al¬ 
ways carried your umbrella with you when 
the sun shone, and so you were always pre¬ 
pared for a storm.” 
And there is an immense amount of practical 
truth in that last remark, if one only stops to 
consider it. The man who carries his um¬ 
brella when the sun shines, is indeed always 
prepared for the storm. The incident related 
by the sea captain recalls to my remembrance, 
a dear, good man, a city missionary of that 
same city, who never left his home on his 
round of daily visits without taking with him 
his umbrella. When the sun shono down up¬ 
on the paved street with a sultry glare, he 
sheltered himself beneath the brown canopy 
of that trusty friend, and when sudden show¬ 
ers came plashing down, he calmly pursued 
his way, protected by his unfailing com¬ 
panion. 
We girls,—that means the irreverent speak¬ 
er and as irreverent a friend—used to make 
all manuer of fun of the dear parson; we 
dubbed him Paul Pry and familiarly spoke of 
him as the man with the umbrella. But, ah! 
how many a dying bed has been cheered, how 
many an outcast gathered into a sheltering 
fold, how many a hungry family fed and 
clothed, how many a Sunday-school founded, 
how many a chapel built by that man with 
the umbrella, or through his tireless effort; 
and for all our nonsensical jesting, I doubt if 
he could have accomplished half the immense 
amount of good lie did, were it not that he 
was always-prepared for the storms. 
And, metaphorically, how“many of us go 
through life carrying umbrellas while the sun 
shines? Youth and health and prosperity all 
represent sunshine; but do we carry an um¬ 
brella while we are young and healthy and 
prosperous, that we may be prepared to meet 
the ills of life, however suddenly they may 
overtake us? While we are young, are we 
fitting ourselves to resist temptation, to sup¬ 
port ourselves under all circumstances? 
While we are well, are we strengthening our 
muscles, developing our constitutions to their 
best extent, laying by stores of health, good 
habits, and temperance principles for coming 
seasons? While we are prosperous, are we 
saving up for rainy days; are we doing good, 
and helping others and cultivating self-denial 
and thrift? Many a young man, had he car¬ 
ried an umbrella when the sun shone, when 
the storms of temptatiou came would have 
been saved from their fury—would have been 
saved from ruin and death. Many a young 
woman, had she cared about her health when 
she was healthy, would have been saved years 
of invalidism. Many a family, had they 
practiced thrift and economy when they 
were prosperous, would have remained un¬ 
harmed during the hard times instead of be¬ 
ing reduced to penury. 
After all, the man with the umbrella, either 
in a metaphorical or literal sense, is not to be 
despised. When we are caught in a drench¬ 
ing shower, we do not despise any proffered 
share of it. Indeed, we wish we had been 
Paul Prys ourselves, to the extent of carrying 
a protection against the rain, even before the 
rain set in. But if our pride results in oc¬ 
casional damage to our dry goods, pray do 
not let our inclinations run away with our 
common sense, and prevent any young man 
or young woman from giving serious thought 
to the fact that he or she who strives in youth 
to be strong, healthy, learned, virtuous and 
independent, honest and honorable, is the one 
who will not make shipwreck of life in com¬ 
ing years, but by having carried an umbrella 
in the sunshine, will have been provided for 
and protected in every storm of temptation 
and under all circumstances. 
A SHINGLE SOCIAL. 
T HE president of the Ladies’Church Social 
Society and the vice-president were 
consulting together to decide who should give 
the next social. The church used its pleasant 
chapel for its social gatherings. At one end 
of it were three small rooms, one of them fit¬ 
ted up as a kitchen and the other two with 
sliding doors that could be opened so as to 
make the two rooms parts of the main room. 
The Social Society owned a cooking stove 
and a closetful of dishes, and giving a social 
was not so great a drain upon the resources 
of those who gave it, as it had been before 
the chapel was built and its kitchen stocked 
and furnished. 
So when the consultation of the heads of 
the society resulted in the choice of ten young 
ladies to give the social, they could not re¬ 
fuse, though, in truth, more than one at first 
wanted very much to be excused. A bright, 
new carpet was to be laid in the chapel and 
the social would be the occasion of its 
first public appearance. This made the 
event a special one and the committee 
soon became interested in making the social 
the best of the season. They met and 
discussed meats, bread, sugar, cream, 
coffee and fruits, their prices and their 
fitness, and, after much talking, settled that 
the meats should be roasted ham, sliced cold, 
and chicken salad; that there should be white 
and brown bread and bakiDg-powder biscuits, 
canned pears and jelly for the fruit, and cu¬ 
cumber pickles. Coffee, cream, sugar and tea 
must be furnished besides. No cakes or rich 
sauces would be furnished, for the refresh¬ 
ments were to be served from six to seven as 
a plain supper, and as the admittance would 
be only 10 cents it was thought that many 
would come to the social without their sup¬ 
pers, knowing a light, wholesome meal await¬ 
ed them there When it had been settled who 
would fumi e h the eatables, one of the commit¬ 
tee suggested that a wide shingle given each 
one who came to supper, would be very con¬ 
venient, as it would lie long enough to hold a 
plate, a coffee-cup and a sauce dish. The plan 
was decided upon, and the shingles were en¬ 
gaged from a lumber merchant in the town. 
The girls on the committee then told their 
friends that the entertainment was to be a 
shingle social, but they would give no expla¬ 
nation of the name, and much funny surmis¬ 
ing went on outside the committee circle. The 
brothers of the girls on the committee had 
been invited to become working members of 
it, ana one and all responded with hearty 
good will and practical help. 
The morning of the day set for the social 
they all met to bring together the provisions 
and to get a table ready in the little room 
next to the kitchen where everything was to 
be arranged, so that the waiters need not go to 
the kitchen for supplies when their time for 
action came. A little window between the 
kitchen and this room made it a very con¬ 
venient place to set the table. Great dismay 
fell upon the committee when the ham was 
cut into, for it was found to be spoiled at the 
bone, and entirely unfit for use, and a chorus 
of cries arose, from the first exclamation “It’s 
spoiled!” through all shades of dismay and 
disgust, to a vigorous order to take it out of 
doors, “It is scenting the whole place!” And 
the offending meat was carried into theyard, 
covered with a basket and a stone was laid on 
the basket to prevent any stray dog from ap¬ 
propriating the dainty morsel. Then the 
question was discussed, “ What shall we have 
instead?” Salmon, sardines, boiled tongue, 
beef loaf, dried beef, and scalloped oysters 
were discussed in turn, and at last hot 
scalloped oysters were decided on. Three of 
the committee were each to do a share of the 
preparing and baking, and bring them as 
soon after five o’clock as possible, when they 
would be kept hot in the oven of the chapel 
cooking-stove. 
The youDg lady who suggested having the 
shingles, prepared badges for the committee 
and for all who were to help them to wait on 
the—not tables—shall I say wait on the 
shingles? These badges were miniature 
shingles with the word lettered on them, 
which indicated the duty of the wearer. The 
girls who took the fee at the door had 
“dimes” on their badges; “ plates,” “ bread,” 
“ salad,” etc., were lettered on others and the 
wearers had only to fulfill the one duty speci¬ 
fied by their badges. Two young ladies wore 
badges of welcome, and they received every 
one with a cordial greeting and directed all 
to the third little room where wraps and hats 
could be laid aside 
A little after six the pile of shingles and 
Japanese paper napkins were distributed and 
the merriment the former caused drove away 
any vestige of stiffness that may have lurked 
among the company. The room filled very 
fast and by seven o’clock a busy hum from 
more than 100 animated voices assured the 
committee that the social was proving a suc¬ 
cess. The bread, the coffee, the oysters— 
everything held out “ just beautifully,” as one 
ot tne providers expressed it, and the tear 
that something would be used up while it 
was still in demand, vanished. To be sure, 
there was no chicken salad left for the com¬ 
mittee when they ate around the big table 
after every one else had been served; but there 
was plenty of everything else and more than 
enough of the scalloped oysters. 
Nearly 150 had been served and there were 
still some things in the chapel kitchen. 
Seven loaves of white bread had been 
provided and eight of brown, 100 biscuits, 
about six quarts of chicken salad, six quarts 
of pears, four glasses of jelly, three pounds 
of coffee, four quarts of cream, four pounds 
of sugar and about four of butter; and six 
quarts of oysters were used for the scalloped 
oysters. 
When the supper was over, the sexton’s 
wife, who had been an able helper all the 
afternoon and evening, took charge of the 
dishes and returned them clean and shining 
to their cupboard. 
The committee were free to enjoy the social 
features of the evening and as they moved 
about among their friends they stopped oc¬ 
casionally to give each other little congratu¬ 
latory smiles and nods, or to say in a happy 
under-tone, It is a success; isn’t it?” 
ALICE BROWN. 
WHY FRET. 
W HAT’S the use in fretting? Some 
people go around with a perpetual 
pucker betweeu their eyebrows—a constant, 
frown on their brows; and what good does 
it do? Did fretting ever cure any evil? No, 
never in this world. I don’t say, What’s the 
use in caring? One must care; one must have 
life’s work at heart enough to think about 
what is the best to do—but to fret, fret, fret, 
from morn till eve, just because things don’t 
suit you, won’t make them suit you a bit better 
than if you didn’t fret. Wueu things are un¬ 
satisfactory, first find out the cause. If you 
can remedy’ it in anyway, go to work mau- 
ffhen Baby was sick, we gave her Castom. 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castoria, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castuit* 
