THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JAN. M 
ftftos of f|i aolfcli 
Monday, Jan. 6,18T9. 
POLITICAL. 
Owing to the recess of Congress there Is little 
political news of Interest, again, this week. The 
Potter Committee has been on a visit to New Or¬ 
leans, mainly, 'tts said, to investigate a package of 
papers dropped In a store by the Irrepressible Mrs. 
Jenks; but It was found that that astute lady had 
dropped the same package In streets and stores 
four times previously, on each of which occasions 
It. bad been returned to her unopened. It Is sup¬ 
posed. therefore, that she wanted It picked up and 
Investigated tor some purpose of her own. The 
Teller committee Is about to start to the Crescent 
city, also, so that Louisiana matters are likely to 
be thoroughly ventilated. There is a great deal of 
interest taken In the nominations for Governor 
next year In Ohio, as the next Presidential election, 
11. Is supposed, will depend mainly on the condition 
of parties In that state. Gov. Talbot of Massa¬ 
chusetts has Just sent to the Legislature the most 
energetic message delivered by any Governor in 
late years. He emphatically urges retrenchment 
In every department of the State Government, and 
as a first step In cutting down the extravagant sal¬ 
aries of officials, he advises a reduction In his own. 
miscellaneous. 
During the past week a cold wave of excep¬ 
tional severity has swept from the northwest over 
the whole country irom the Kooky Mountains 
to the Atlantic and from Canada to Mexico. News 
of consequent suffering and disaster load down the 
malls and .keep the telegraphs busy In every di¬ 
rection. Trains have been blocked up In out-of- 
the way places, and their passengers half starved, 
and half frozen ; cattle have perished by hundreds 
In exposed situations, and people by scores, not 
only In country places, but even In cities, up¬ 
wards of half-a-dozen having been frozen to 
death during the week In this city and Its en¬ 
virons; wlille tales of great suffering and 
many deaths are constantly coming from the 
prairies of the West, Numerous destructive and 
several fatal fires are also reported, Willie the 
weather prophets are loud In their predictions 
that this is only a foretaste ol the intense cold we 
must, endure in the next couple of mouths. 
The number of deaths In New York In 1878 was 
27,oos, against 26,208 in 1,877, and lum ol them were 
caused by violence. There were 7‘629 marriages 
and 25,729 births. The 9uth anniversary of the 
founding of clnelonaU was celebrated last week 
under the auspices of the pioneer association. 
During the last eight years there has been an addi¬ 
tion of 400,000 to the population of Texas. During 
that time the assessed valuation of property in the 
State has been Increased $250, 000 , 000 . The oldest 
cow, probably, in New England was fatted and 
sold at Franklin recently, she was a Jersey, us 
years old, owned by K. L. Metcalf, had given birth 
to but one bull call, and gave milk constantly with¬ 
out breeding during the last five years. 
Lightning rod swindlers have been operating 
extensively during the iall and early winter in 
many parts of the country. They generally traveled 
in two gangs. The first induced many to have 
their houses rodded, payments to be made annually 
for ten years, during which the residences were 
Insured against loss by lightning. Their rollowcx-s 
always found that the sums agreed upon were too 
small, and In numerous eases the simple-minded 
farmers were bulldozed iuto signing notes tor larger 
compensation, over $i3ou worth of these notes 
have now been sent to one bank In a small New 
England town for collodion, while neighboring 
banks have received large amounts. This is only 
one of their forms of swindling; but they all ha ve 
a close resemblance. 
The Northern Pacific railroad which was the 
main cause ot the collapse of Jay Cooke <fc Co., up¬ 
wards of four years ago—an event which Inaugu¬ 
rated the hard times that are uow passing away— 
Is to be at once pushed farther west, a contract 
having been closed for its completion too miles 
more before the 1st of March, the price ($Tiou a 
mile) Is said to be the lowest at winch any road 
has been built In this country or abroad, but the 
contractors are to be furnished with free transpor¬ 
tation lor their men and supplies over the com¬ 
pleted part of the Northern Pacific line. 
There will be a vigorous attack In Congress on 
the patent system after the recess, the farming 
enemies of the present system having secured many 
influential filends. The clilel point which will be 
assailed Is the right claimed by patentees, of col¬ 
lecting a royalty from the users or pateuted articles 
bought in good faith and once honestly paid for by 
pnvate parties. The amount of shaiueiul extortion 
and barefaced swindling practiced on the. people, 
and especially on farmers, under cloak of this pro¬ 
vision of the patent laws, has been so grievous as 
to imperatively demand some alteration in the 
laws for the protection of the community. Green s 
outrageous demands of royalty on Drive Wells are 
the immediate cause of the present congressional 
movement in the matter, and every farmer should 
at once bring all the pressure he can to bear on the 
member of congress tor his district, to Induce him 
to give his support to some measure doing away 
with the present iniquitous proviso In this connec¬ 
tion. 
Cleveland summoned all uothern Ohio, and all 
the great men she could get hold ol anywhere, 
to attend the dedication of her great Mad uct last 
week—the biggest event lu local history for years, 
The viaduct Is Indeed worthy w rank among the 
country’s great public works, spanning the Cuy¬ 
ahoga river and valley, as it does, with lu stone 
arches and an iron drawbridge, nearly two- 
thirds of a mile In united length, « feet wide and 
To feet above the river’s low-water mark. It has 
been four j eans In building, at a cost of 2 , 170 , 000 , 
Including the right of way, and enables the East 
and West sides to see and meet eye to eye, across 
the vale where the rival cities of ublo and Cleve- 
and fought tooth and nail before their consolida- 
tlons some 25 years ago. Texas expects to gain 15 
representatives In Congress after the next census, 
hut Senator Maxey says that 99 voters out of every 
hundred are opposed to a ell vision of t he State, t heir 
aspirations being to make of Texas a great com¬ 
monwealth, bearing the same relation to the South 
that New York does to the East. New York In¬ 
fluences are at work to Induce members ot the 
yellow fever commission against establishing a 
national quarantine. The commission uow at the 
South And strong support for a system wholly un¬ 
der the control of the general government and 
which can he enforced In spite of the States. There 
are only eight states In the Union where the pos¬ 
tal service pays Its way, and half ot them are In 
New Englfind—New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jer¬ 
sey, Pennsylvania and Mlehlgan-the net surplus 
of revenue from these states being over fa, 530 , 000 . 
If the remaining states did as well, the depart¬ 
ment would have a surplus of 10, 000,MM to turn Into 
the treasury annually, Instead of lacking about 
$5,000,000 of being self-sustaining. 
The. receipts or wheat tit the chief western cen¬ 
ters are Gils year unprecedenUy large. The latest 
statistics show that at Milwaukee there Is a very 
considerable Increase over the two preceding 
years, while the receipts and manufactiu-e of 
Horn* aggregate a larger amount bis year than 
ever before. The live stock tables show an un¬ 
precedented Increase In the business done, the re¬ 
ceipts of live hogs being nearly double and those 
of cattle a third larger than Last year. The re¬ 
ceipts of cheese reached the enormous aggregate 
ot 13,233,000 pounds., an Increase of nearly 5 , 000 ,- 
000 pounds over 1877. The receipts of wheat were 
21 , 900,000 bushels. Flour, 2 . 203,000 barrels. The 
shipments of llom- were 2 , 020,000 barrels. Chicago, 
tft. Louis and Cleveland can show a proportionately 
large increase. 
FOREIGN, 
Across the Atlantic, the distress In Great Brit¬ 
ain Is still growing, and Is reaching up from the 
laboring orders to the petty shop-keepers and the 
lower strata ot what is called the middle class of 
society. Meanwhile all over the country wages are 
being reduced to starvation rates, producing grum¬ 
bling and bitter discontent everywhere and strikes 
here and there. Another bank with several 
brunches—that of 'IVeedle and Mlillams-hus 
failed for $o,imw,0Uu down In Cornwall, and though, 
as usual, it Is said that It will be able to pay up in 
full, more than the customary amount ot distrust 
and suffering has been produced by the failure. 
Out In Afghanistan tilings are not altogether so 
bright as previously reported, shore Ali Ison Ills 
way to st. Petersburg, to lay his case before Eu¬ 
rope ; his son Yakoob Khan has not surrendered to 
the British army, as stated In last week's tele¬ 
grams. Of course, now that the Ameer s cause Is 
not supported by Russia, Its ruin Is certain, but it 
may take several more months and many more 
lives to effect that ruin completely. 
The people are dying of famine in northern Brazil 
so fast that coffins cannot be made tor them, and 
they are thrown Into ditches eight or ten at a time, 
and small-pox is still raging fearfully, Uie-tifeatlis 
In the province of cerea alone numbering 600 or 
«oo a day. The government Is doing much by send¬ 
ing the people Into the country, etc. A thousand 
have been employed by the Collins brothers on the 
Mamore railroad. 
A dispatch from Barcelona reports that the first 
cargo ol American wheat ever received in that city 
arrived the middle of November, and great interest 
was excited. Samples were freely handled on Ex¬ 
change, and it was Immediately recognized as 
equal to Black Sea and Hungarian wheat. The 
cargo consisted of 72,000 bushels, aud was sold for 
about $3.70 per 120 pounds. The cargo was brought 
In an English steamer. The freight amounted to 
$is,it!>u, aud the same steamer was again chartered 
to bring another cargo of wheat from New York. 
The American consul knows or a firm which has 
engaged three English steamers to bring three car¬ 
goes of American wheat to Barcelona, and It was 
thought about 20 cargoes w'oufd arrive during the 
season, all iu English steamers. The consul reiter¬ 
ated Ills former opinions upon the great necessity 
of dir ect American communication w till Spain, and 
other countries bordering on the Mediterranean. 
With such communication, a new' and Important 
murket could be opened. As it Is now, we ar e in¬ 
debted to the fact that British steamers find It 
profitable to take .American wheat to Barcelona 
lor this development of our trade. Fifteen eaigoes 
of wheat from the Black Sea were afloat for Barce¬ 
lona on the day on which this first cargo of Ameri¬ 
can wheat arrived. The “ Unicorn” line of steamers 
just Inaugurated in connection with Vanderbilt’s 
railroads, Is intended to supply this deficiency. 
Some of tfie vessels will run between tills city and 
all the chief European ports with which trade can 
be opened. 
statistics Just given by Mr. Richard Hall, secre¬ 
tary to the meeting of cattle importers at Liver¬ 
pool, show that there has been a very substantial 
growth In the cattle trade, especially In regard to 
Importations from tills country. The Increase has 
been something enormous, and lias occurred within 
a few months, Instead of by slow accumulations. 
In 1875 only 7U2 cattle ivere imported, while in 
1878, up to the commencement of December, the 
number was 50,(Wit. The total for the year would 
probably reach r>5,0(>(t, or, including sheep aud pigs, 
not far shor t of 130,410 animals. 
In France elections for the senate were held yes¬ 
terday, and have pr oved even more favorable to the 
republicans than their most sanguine hopes antici¬ 
pated. A short time ago Gambetta predicted that 
yesterday would give the republicans twenty-live 
majority In the senate where tney have hitherto 
been In a minority of at least twenty; but accord¬ 
ing to this morning’s dispatches, their majority 
will be about fifty-seven. This will most likely in¬ 
sure the establishment of the Republic as the form 
of Government In that country alter 1880 . its ad¬ 
herents already have a majority In the House of 
Representatives; McMahon has ceased his oppo¬ 
sition to them; all the civic functionaries are of 
their party, or soon will be; the higher officers of 
he army have been mostly converted to their side, 
so that on the expiration of McMahon’s term of 
office In 1880, they will be in an excellent position 
to defeat the hopes of the Imperialists and Mon¬ 
archists. In Germany Bismarck’s attack on free 
trade engrosses public Interest; socialist leaders 
are leaving the country, and another effort is being 
made to patch up a peace with the Vatican. In 
Spain Moncasl, the would-be regicide, was garotted, 
repentant, on New Year’s Day. 
lUmcstit (fooiioinji. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
MEN, AND A CLEAN KITCHEN. 
MARY WAGER-FISHER. 
A writer in a late number of “ Sunday Af¬ 
ternoon,” an excellent Magazine, by the wuy— 
discovers a truth when she says, “ Give a man 
a good dinner, and he will never know wheth¬ 
er the windows and wood-work are clean or 
not—neither will he care two straws if they are 
not ”—or something to that effect. She might 
have added that moBt men would rather live in 
dirt “up to their ears,” tbau to have house-clean¬ 
ing time come. I believe that men, as a class, 
love personal cleanliness as well as do women; 
that they like and appreciate a tidy table and 
well served meals; but that they are indifferent 
to a certain amount of dirt in and about a 
house, which is in fact not prejudicial to the 
health of the household. In this respect, they 
are superior to women in common sense, for 
no woman can keep her house in “spink- 
spank ” order without making either a menial 
of herself, or paying for work douc in which 
there is no positive profit. There is something 
truly delightful in entering a house where ev¬ 
erything fairly bristles with cleanliness. But 
the charm is spoilt when one finds the mistress 
worn and weary from work and care, with a 
mind vapid and aimless so far as intellectual 
life is concerned, and too fatigued when even¬ 
ing comes to keep her eyes open as she reads, 
or listen to reading. 
Fortr-fifths of the women who are house¬ 
keepers care more for what people may say 
about their housekeeping and the clothes they 
and their children wear, than they do aoout the 
world's opinion of the growth of grace in their 
hearts, or the culture of their minds. I heard 
a lady say not long ago, “ Oh, I hate house¬ 
keeping ! it consumes all my time in the ever- 
asting question of what shall we have for din¬ 
ner. Life is so short that I want to get all out 
of it I can. I am jealous of every moment 
spent in looking after the vulgar needs of the 
body.” Sh# is a charming woman, a good wife 
aud mother, an excellent housekeeper, but she 
has the vision to see that life holds thiugs infi¬ 
nitely beyond polished windows, and stoves, 
that from their very blackness gleam like mir¬ 
rors in the sun. 
With all due respect for St. Paul in pronoun¬ 
cing cleanliness next to godliness, I believe 
extreme cleanliness, which requires the life-ser¬ 
vice of any human being, to be not merely next 
to sinfulness, but actually it. What I do in¬ 
dorse. is a sense of general wholesome 11 ess in 
and about a house, clean cookery, clean dish 
clotli6, a clean table-cloth and bright china and 
silver as essentials. That there arc mud tracks 
on the floor, fly-specks on the window pauos, 
dust 011 the top of picture frames, finger marks 
on the doors, or a carpet that has not hud a 
thorough sweeping for a month—such thiugs 
are of minor importance and ought to disturb 
the happiness of no woman who desires to use 
her lime for better work. It is plain that a 
housekeeper must put a limit somewhere to her 
labors, or else give herself up to hopeless 
drudgery. What health and absolute coinfort 
demand, should he carefully attended to; but 
beyond that, the work becomes, in a large part, 
unprofitable drudgery, it makes nobody bet¬ 
ter or happier—often the reverse—while the 
best that can be said of it is, that it gratifies in 
a way the small vanity of the w oman who does 
it. She likes to see things look clean ! So do 
all of us ! Aud she is spurred on by some secret 
impulse to clean and polish, and sweep and 
brush, aud scrub and scour, as if by such work 
eternal life were to be won. The force of habit 
finally becomes such that she can’t lie clow n 
for a nap, and get a wink of sleep, if she knows 
that the mantcl-picec has not been dusted, or 
that there is a bit of thread or a scrap of paper 
lying on the carpet. I doubt if any woman so 
hampered with a care for small things, can rise 
to a large and just conception of life, and un¬ 
derstand in its true sense that life is more than 
meat, ancl body more than raiment. I believe 
in giving some good food to tlic mind every 
day of one’s life, though the kitchen floor has 
not been scrubbed for a fortnight, or the parlor 
wiudows rubbed for a month. 
Bryn Mawer, near Phila. 
- 4 - 
PEN THOUGHTS FROM EVERY-DAY HOUSE. 
BY ANNIE L. JACK. 
INTO ALL LIVES DARK SHADOWS FALL. 
“ I am so glad you wrote about your dull 
days,” 6aid a reader of the Rural to me the 
other day, and when I asked why, she an¬ 
swered : 
“ Because it is very gratifying to find you 
have little trials; smoke and grumbling and 
nerves." 
“Bless your heart, child!" I said—I like 
to be patronizing to people older and wiser 
than myself—“ did you suppose because ‘ Pen 
Thoughts ’ show only the bright or the practi¬ 
cal side of • Every-Day House ’ there is no No¬ 
vember in our lives ? But then, like the article 
in question, we generally' finish by going on 
with the cooking, or the mending, or sonic of 
the varied duties and lessons that are the re¬ 
gular work of every day. Yes! there are 
hours bo sunless that we find fault with our 
dinner, even if we cook it ourselves, aud if the 
baby indulges in like temper, a consequence of 
the lack of sunshine, we give the chubby 
fingers a smart tap sometimes, to recall him to 
a sense of the duty owdng to society. Aud 
generally, in like manner, some little trial or 
deprivaiton, with its sharp tap, brings us back 
to a recollection of our duty aud our bless¬ 
ings.” 
But I think there is no time of the year bo 
dreary and so far upon what one may call the 
dark side of nature, as the mouth of November. 
“ November,” say the French, “ is the month 
in which Englishmen hang themselves,” and 
even in our fair, clear, Canadian skies, it was 
a month of remarkable gloom, and fog and 
rain. Yet, amid all the drizzle and mud, the 
Canadian heart was stirred to its lowest depth 
by the advent of Royalty itself. I have only 
read the papers afar off, hut it seems to me the 
children of to-day may well believe that fairy 
stories are true after their knowledge of the 
brave young I-Iighlandmati who has brought 
among them the daughter of a Queen. Some¬ 
how one feels inclined to pity her. so far away 
from home, breaking off old friendships, and 
parting from such a mother. I feel as if amid 
all the applause there must he a sad heart beat¬ 
ing beneath the velvet boddice of the Royal Em¬ 
igrant. I noticed that the Horticultural Soci¬ 
ety abstained from an address, which doutless 
was wisely done. The new Governor General 
Mill, I am sure, have the interest of the agricul¬ 
ture and horticulture of the Dominion at heart, 
without being utterly bored, as he must have 
been by the sometimes needless aud fulsome 
addresses. 
The Educational Association (an exclusive 
society, that has much need to imbibe fresh 
ideas from the Boston Study-at-Home Society), 
presented to the Princess Louise an address, 
aud petitioned her to become its patroness. 
The latter part of her reply, which I here copy, 
is the reason why, iu this department, I have 
alluded at all to the visit of Canada’s new Gov¬ 
ernor General. This is the conclusion : “ For 
it is from the meeting aud mastering of diffi¬ 
culties that intelieetual strength grows and in¬ 
creases, just as physical exercise develops 
physical strength. May I venture to suggest 
the importance of giving special attention to 
the subject of Domestic Economy , which prop¬ 
erly lies at the root of the highest life of every 
true womati." 
-- 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Soft Hop Yeast and Bread. 
Tie a handful of hops in a cloth and boil with 
six good-sized pared potatoes uutil the potatoes 
are well cooked; then drain off the water on to a 
pint of flour; take out the hops, mash the po¬ 
tatoes and mix them with the scalded flour. 
When tliis is cool stir in two good yeast cakes 
previously dissolved iu warm water. When 
very light set away in the cellar or some cool 
place where it will not freeze, and it will keep 
good two weeks iu the Summer and two months 
iu Winter, when double this quantity might be 
made. 
For the bread: Take one cup of yeast for 
three or four loaves, the usual quantity of 
warm water (or if convenient take half new 
milk) aud as much water as can be easily 
stirred in; when it rises, salt, udd more flour, 
knead well and make into loaves. 
We use Clawson wheat and think the bread 
is better if kneaded but once. 
If one has a warm place for the sponge it 
may be set over night; if not, it is best to set 
it iu the morning as it will rise iu half the usual 
time if this soft yeast is used. Mrs. S. C. 
Savannah, N. Y. 
Potato Croquets. 
In these days when in some localities the po¬ 
tatoes are not of good quality it is a very nice 
change to prepare them as follows: Boil, and 
mash while hot; add a piece of butter the size 
of an egg ; a small teaspoon fill of white pow¬ 
dered sugar, two well beaten eggs and the 
necessary salt. Beat well together and make 
into small egg or cone-shaped pieces. When 
cold, dip them into a mixture of raw egg and 
bread crumbs and drop for a minute or two in¬ 
to boiling lard. 
Impure Rain-Water. 
It is worthy of notice that two ounces of bo¬ 
rax will clear a twenty-barrel cistern of rain¬ 
water that has become impure. In a few hours 
the sediment will settle aud the water be quite 
clear for washing purposes. Annie L. Jack. 
