73o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV 2 
barn-yard manure can be had, and this has 
very little bad odor, and when previously 
composted with loam no perceptible smell. 
Besides, after the first rain or snow-storm 
any ill odor it might before have had is 
washed out of it. I top-dress acres upon 
acres of our lawns with short manure 
every year and I am positively convinced 
that these dressings are of immense im¬ 
mediate and lasting benefit to the lawns. 
Woman’s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
M arion harland says : “i 
would guard one point jealously. 
Rightly filled, there is enough in the sphere 
of wife, housekeeper and mother to satisfy 
any woman, whatever may be her aspir¬ 
ations. Of all forms of whining senti¬ 
mentality I have least patience with the 
cry for a higher mission than that of home¬ 
making and child-rearing. As the sum of 
over 30 years’ observation of this form of 
intellectual unrest and the perusal of hun¬ 
dreds of letters from malcontents, I assert, 
without fear of contradiction, that the un¬ 
fortunates who raise the lamentations are 
in the proportion of a thousand to one, and 
they are those who are the least fit to take 
the lowest seat in. the woman’s kingdom.” 
Brave, sensible words are these; we com¬ 
mend them to the many girls who, troubled 
with vague aspirations, think “the triv¬ 
ial round, the daily task” too mean and 
paltry for their hopes and desires. Home 
life, with its loving sacrifices and simple 
virtues, is the sphere every really womanly 
woman should hope for. But, alas! there 
are plenty of lonely women to whom real 
home life is an impossibility, though they 
may contrive some resemblance to it. Let 
the women who have homes be doubly 
grateful for their good fortune. 
•fe 
• * * 
Demorest’s Monthly has something to 
say about the care of the feet, which will 
give comfort to a good many sufferers. The 
writer remarks that women whose feet 
have become misshapen from excessively 
narrow boots can do much to remedy the 
difficulty by care and pains. Select easy, 
roomy shoes, and stockings of soft fabrics. 
Bathe the feet thoroughly in water com¬ 
fortably warm, never allowing it to grow 
cold enough to feel chilly, and wipe them 
thoroughly dry with a soft towel—coarse 
crash is almost poison to sensitive skins, 
and often causes irritation and a small 
eruption like rash. Then rub into them 
thoroughly about the joints or injured 
parts, either cold cream, or, what is better, 
glycerine, perfectly pure and mixed with 
double the quantity of water. Especially 
should it be diligently applied to the joints 
of the great toes if they are enlarged or 
painful. Wipe off with a damp cloth and 
dry carefully, after which powder the feet 
thoroughly with rice-flour powder. Brush 
off all that comes away easily and put on 
the stocking, being careful that no sem¬ 
blance of a seam comes over the sensitive 
joints. Adjust the shoe carefully—never 
“jump into” any article of wearing ap¬ 
parel—smooth the boot over the foot and 
ankle if it is a high top, and be certain that 
it is comfortable. 
These cautions may seem trifles, but the 
feet are ill, and all conditions of recovery 
must be observed. Take care that they 
do not become very cold or in the least 
damp. The ankle should also be protected 
by gaiters or leggins, if there is any neces¬ 
sity for going out in wet weather. The 
difficulty is an inflammation of the joint 
membranes, and has had many serious re¬ 
sults. At night the feet may be wiped off 
with a damp cloth, and the glycerine and 
powder repeated. Ladies who adopt this 
plan, will never find soft corns coming be¬ 
tween the toes. 
For hard corns there is nothing better 
than a little judiciously applied caustic, 
which should just touch the hardened part 
of the corn, never the surrounding flesh. 
Repeat every other day, first soaking the 
feet in warm water, and gently scraping 
the surface of the corn until it will finally 
come out altogether. Great care must be 
taken to keep the caustic from the whole 
flesh, and the foot should never be damp, 
as the application will spread rapidly. 
Such a course of treatment, persisted in, 
has in several cases restored to quite passa¬ 
ble shape and comfort, feet that were con¬ 
sidered hopelessly .deformed. 
The foregoing suggests a kindred subject, 
the care of the feet. The New York Sun 
says that of course every lady keeps her hands 
clean, and it is hardly necessary to mention 
that perfect cleanliness is the first requisite 
to a soft and white hand. This cleanliness 
is only brought about by two or three daily 
scrubbings with a brush and with the vigor 
usually applied to remove the grime from 
the little fist of the proverbially dirty 
small boy. No matter how dainty may be 
your occupation, the water used should be 
warm, not hot, and the soap be generous in 
quantity and purest of the pure in quality. 
There are several efficacious remedies for 
whitening the hands used by their advocates 
and inventors. One is the use of lemon 
juice and glycerine : another which is very 
highly recommended, is Indian meal and 
glycerine ; and still another is the country 
girl’s lotion, sour buttermilk, whose acid 
removes stain and sunburn, and whose oil 
is peculiarly beneficial in making the skin 
soft and smooth. Any preparation used at 
night is more efficacious if kid gloves are 
worn, and perhaps no wiser and less harm¬ 
ful process can be suggested than the care¬ 
ful cleansing through the day with warm 
water and Castile soap and the application 
at night of rosewater and glycerine covered 
with kid or rubber gloves. 
Handsome nails, which display a crescent 
of white at the base and a delicate pink 
tint throughout, are as much a gift as the 
poet’s genius or the artist’s skill, but one 
visit to the manicure will enable you to see 
how even the most ugly ones may be at¬ 
tractive and pleasing if nice care is taken 
to trim away the rough skin at the base, 
which should never be done without first 
soaking them in warm water, to file the 
edges in a smooth curve, following the out¬ 
lines of the finger tip, and to polish the 
surface every day. Probably an hour each 
week devoted to the care of the nails, with 
a little time spent each day in polishing 
and cleaning them carefully, will keep 
them in nice order, and they should never 
be cleaned with any kind of a sharp instru¬ 
ment, as that roughens the surface so that 
they retain the dust which drifts under 
them. 
It is said by “ salesladies ” in glove stores 
that a lady who can wear a No. 5 glove is 
as unusual as one who wears a No. 12 shoe, 
and that a large hand looks better, smaller 
gloved in a mousquetaire of undressed kid, 
because of the loose folds about the wrist, 
and that tight sleeves are as unbecoming to 
a large hand, whether gloved or ungloved, 
as low heels to a long foot. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
I T seems to me, says George Eliot, we can 
never give up longing and wishing 
while we are thoroughly alive. There are 
certain things we feel to be beautiful and 
good, and we must hunger after them. 
Our times of greatest pleasure are when 
we have won some higher peak of difficulty, 
trodden under foot some evil, and felt day 
by day so sure a growth of moral strength 
within us that we cannot conceive of an end 
of growth... 
Ruskin says that all true science begins 
in the love, not the dissection of your fel¬ 
low-creatures; and it ends in the love, not 
in the analysis of God... 
Brooding over real sorrows and imagin¬ 
ary miseries says the Christian at Work, 
will make the best of us moody and 
wretched. Nursing grief and affronts and 
telling the sad stories of our woes have as de¬ 
pressing an effect as narcotic drugs. Sleep¬ 
ing in unventilated rooms often produces 
chronic wretchedness, even if these rooms 
are furnished with the appliances of wealth 
and refinement. Association with grim 
persons is depressing and dispiriting. Good 
health, mental, spiritual, and bodily, is 
worth working for. It casts out the mala¬ 
ria of moodiness and lifts us into the sun¬ 
light of joy... 
Have you never stood by some arm of the 
sea which penetrates far inland, and seen its 
emptiness and ugliness ? asks George Har¬ 
ris. There is only the oozy, miry bed of the 
creek; the blue line of ocean is far away on 
the horizon. There is no human power by 
which it can be filled with water. The lit¬ 
tle streams from the hillsides could never 
fill the thousand empty indentations in our 
coast. But the great unquiet ocean begins 
to creep in. It spreads slowly over the flat 
bottom, and winds into every bend of the 
shore, and fills every crevice of the rocks; 
it covers the long grasses, it drives you 
back step by step ; it surges in. lifting itself 
with quiet strength, until the little gulf 
is filled to the brim, and the bowing billows 
come over the surface, and the ships are 
lifted from their beds and sail away to their 
appointed havens The inlet is full; it is 
filled with all the fullness of the ocean, and 
with its mighty power. So we are empty 
till we are filled with the power of God. 
The toils and sacrifices and duties of life 
seem too heavy for us ; but when inspira¬ 
tions from God begin to come in upon us, 
when His love rises in our hearts, with His 
grace and inexhaustible power behind it, 
we can carry all burdens buoyant upon 
such a strength, and can feel an undercur¬ 
rent of Divine Power filling our hearts. 
I SEE the course of my life, said Thoreau, 
like some retired road, wind on without 
obstruction into a country maze. I am at¬ 
tired for the future so, as the sun setting 
presumes all men at leisure and in contem¬ 
plative mood, and am thankful that it is 
thus presented blank and indistinct. 
IF rivers come out of their prison thus 
bright and immortal, shall not I, too, re¬ 
new my spring life with joy and hope? 
Have I no hopes to sparkle on the surface 
of life’s current ? It is worth while to have 
our faith revived by seeing where a river 
swells and eddies about a half-buried rock. 
Measure your health by your sympathy 
with morning and spring. If there is no 
response in you to the awakening of na¬ 
ture, if the prospect of an early morning 
walk does not banish sleep ; if the warble 
of the first bluebird does not thrill you, 
know that the morning and spring of your 
life are past. Thus you may feel your 
pulse. 
Domestic 0 ccmotmj 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
“ Unless we act in the living present, 
There is naught that we can save; 
'The future is not ours for labor, 
Though our hearts be e’er so brave." 
EXTRACTS FROM SUNDAY EVEN¬ 
ING TALKS AT THE RURAL 
GROUNDS. 
THE DIFFICULTY OF BEING ABSOLUTELY 
SINCERE. 
D ownright sincerity, candor, 
strict integrity are rarely met with. 
Every one of us, every day, has occasion to 
feel that he was not quite true to himself. 
“I am glad to have met you”—“I am 
happy to make your acquaintance ”—“ I 
hope to have the pleasure of seeing you 
again,” are usually uttered without any 
of the feeling which the words imply. 
We listen to a shockingly stale or pointless 
anecdote and laugh heartily “ when the 
laugh comes in.” Is that candor ? I have 
on a hundred occasions laughed at jokes 
which I didn’t see through at all, rather 
than display my ignorance of the points in¬ 
volved. Yes, my dears, I have had frequent 
occasion to blush over this insincerity. 
“ Favor us with a song, Miss De Jingle.” 
“ Oh, I sing wretchedly and am not at all 
in practice.” 
“ Oh, you sing enchantingly, Miss De 
Jingle.” “ Oh, dear, no. I only squeak a 
little for my own entertainment.” Both 
were uncandid. Both uttered baby false¬ 
hoods. 
“ Now, how old would you take me to be, 
Mr. Bosh ? ” “Let me see—80 ? What is 
your age ? ” “I am 48.” “ You don’t say 
so ? You certainly do not look to be one 
day over 30.” On his way home Mr. Bosh 
remarks to his friend : “ Did you notice 
how I tickled the old maid ?” 
“ Come and see us again and stay 
longer,” often means: “Delay your next 
visit and don’t stay so long.” 
“We have enjoyed your visit exceeding¬ 
ly,” means, oftentimes: “ We are glad it 
has come to a close.” The financial world 
is alive with these petty deceits. Sincerity 
is rarely known in the diplomatic circles of 
governments, while in the court circles of 
European society it is a matter of constant 
study which shall most glibly rattle off 
these evidences of a courteous and man¬ 
nerly insincerity. As the world becomes 
enlightened, think you we are drawing 
any closer to the simple manners of the 
lowly Christ ? 
* 
* * * 
You may’as well have a diamond set in 
your nose.as to have it fixed in your pierced 
ears. There is no difference except it may 
interfere with the use of your handkerchief. 
Ask youi-self this question and answer it 
too : Why do you desire to wear diamonds ? 
Do they make you handsomer ? Fix your¬ 
self upas nicely as you can, will a diamond 
on your finger make you handsomer ? Why 
do you place it there ? Why do you 
wear diamond finger rings, diamond 
ear-rings, diamond pins ? Do others love 
you more for doing so ? Do they respect 
you more ? Why do you wear them ? Are 
you happier for thus exhibiting your 
wealth ? Is it as a mark of wealth that you 
feel gratified to wear diamonds ? Does it 
soothe you to be able to say: “ I have dia¬ 
monds, you have none.” “ I am wealthier 
than you?” Do wealthy people who have lots 
of diamonds respect you or love you more 
because you, too, have lots of diamonds ? 
Does it please the one or the other to learn 
that his diamonds are the less or the more 
valuable ? Do poor, worthy people honor 
and love you more when they see you in 
your glittering jewels ? 
Who is benefited by diamonds? They 
represent just so much capital that is lying 
idle, which might be put to noble uses. 
When I was young, diamonds charmed 
me. I felt a degree of importance with my 
diamonds, that I did wot feel without them. 
I felt that strangers judged me in a meas¬ 
ure by my diamonds. “He must have 
money ; ” “ He must be a young fellow of 
some importance,” I fancied they said. 
And, pray, what good did that do? Tf after¬ 
wards they discovered I was worth at the 
outset but two or three thousand dollars 
they might well have said: “That young 
man has more diamonds than brains.” 
Wealthy people who are purse-proud are 
the most unlovable, repulsive class of peo¬ 
ple in the world. It is just they who delight 
in diamonds. From this point of view and 
coming back to my text, it may be asked if 
the wearing of diamonds is not an act of 
wickedness, inasmuch as they are not worn 
from any high or commendable motive; 
while they hold millions of capital that 
might be invested to do great good. 
* * 
A hero or heroine is one who explores the 
darkest places; who imperils his life in the 
attempt to rescue others or to accomplish 
some noble purpose, and the nobility of 
the act is measured by the degree of danger 
or exposure. There are too many who de¬ 
sire to know how to swim without ever go¬ 
ing near the water. There are too many of 
us who wear our virtue as the Irishman 
paraded the mutilation of his ear which 
was pierced by a bullet as he was running 
away, panic-stricken, from the enemy. 
“Yes, sur, I larst that ear in sarvin’ me 
counthry.” 
* 
* * 
One thing which should make all people, 
who live to do good, grieve, is the social 
relations which generally exist a few years 
after marriage as compared with those 
which existed during the wooing and hmicy- 
moon. There are many exceptions. We 
are considering the rule. There is no more 
lovely, enchanting sight than the love and 
respect which we occasionally see between 
man and wife in old age. They tell of pur¬ 
ity, chastity, patience, frugality—in short, 
they tell of all that God loves in his chil¬ 
dren. “Well done thou good servants” 
may fittingly be said of them. 
* 
* * 
THERE need be little doubt, Mends, that 
when we meet in that other world there 
will be intense surprise to find that many 
of us who deem ourselves entitled to the 
orchestra chairs or private boxes will find 
that obscure seats are reserved for us in 
the ])it —for that great drama of “ Eternal 
Life” where each shall be judged by the ex¬ 
quisitely impartial wisdom of the Divine 
heart and mind. 
THINK OVER. 
NJOY your children. 
Girls and boys, cultivate stick-to-it- 
iveness. 
P i$ c ell an t o u.o' ^ tl vrvti.sin n . 
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, 
When she hod Children, she gave them Castoria 
