MARCH 4 
Jfor ©lontra, 
0OND70TED BY MISS FAITH RIPLEY 
CORN IS KING, 
or rather will be, of the Rural domain next week, 
a nd so Jealous Is he of his royal prerogatives that It 
is doubtful whether he will permit any purely 
literary matter to be published In the Rural of 
eth of March. lie may be Induced to allow space 
for a short Installment of “Weaker than a Woman,” 
but the prospects are he will “spread” himself 
over the entire paper. For that one occasion then, 
we ask our readers' Indulgence for omitting the 
customary literary departments.— [Literary Eds. 
• • ♦ 
DESCRIPTION OF CUTS. 
No. 1.—This table-cover can be easily made and 
It Is extremely fashionable. It Is made of Java 
canvas, embroidered In cross-stitch, lu red and blue 
ingrain cotton. The corner for this Is shown at 
No. 2, and the design which Is worked In the cen¬ 
ter of the squares formed by the narrow line Is 
shown at, No 3, The border is at No. 4. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
No 3. 
No. 5.—Cover for Toilet-Table.— The founda¬ 
tion la of oat-cake cloth, embroidered with cross- 
stitch border and cornet's, worked with crewels. 
The fringe Is made of the threads of the material 
drawn out and knotted together with lengths of 
crewels. No. o is a pretty border design for this 
cover. No. 7 is monogram In cross-st itch, 
THE WOMAN’S CLUB. 
INTELLECT vs. FASHION PLATES. 
As a sprightly writer, tu a late number of the 
Rural, considers the Woman’s Club by far too 
pacifically Inclined, and as she forthwith proceeds 
to stir up matters, I vole that others follow her ex¬ 
ample. Concerning the last, rural letter written 
hy Free Lance, I differ wil b her decidedly; in fact, 
I am ho much pleased with, that same letter, that 
I want to put him on the head. I think the mat¬ 
ters of dress, “table Usings,” and ornamental work 
occupy too much space in the papers, and (because 
they are kept, so persistently before them) too much 
place in the minds of women. The plan of study 
referred to by F. L. must be an excellent one. and 
1 should think such an opportunity to partially 
atone for the wasted hours of a lost youth, or to 
supply the deficiencies caused hy early years of 
poverty or toll, would be eagerly embraced by 
thousands ; but, as there are men who, although 
surrounded by every moral and Intellectual advan¬ 
tage, never have an ldenabove neck-ties and lialr oil, 
so there are women whose highest thought Is the 
No. tt. 
arrangement of their head-gear and whose fondest 
affections twlno about their new dresses. Now, this 
being the case, we must accept the fact, and not 
try vainly l<> change the unchangeable, hut how 
unfair It is—there being as many or These pigmies 
in male as In female form -to allow tire female 
member of that class to monopolize so much news¬ 
paper space: We do not see a half-dozen columns 
filled with pictures of the latest style of dress-coat. 
And again—In “ Mop-handle Papers” No, 12, I 
find some remarks I would like to criticise. Some 
people may he “ more nice than wise” about doing 
perfectly unnecessary work, hut there are hun¬ 
dreds of women, I’m sure, (not idle or lazy ones, 
either) who would be glad to help In “ sewing So¬ 
cieties,” etc.. If they oould get their own necessary 
work done, “Charity begius at home,” and I 
think that Is very poor charity which leaves un¬ 
done family duties to help In outside matters. 
What might he the test, of one house-keeper’s 
neatness, does not apply to all. My bed-room floor 
could not be “ rubbed with a cambric handker¬ 
chief” and not soli the handkerchief My bed room 
is also my sewing-room and the children’s play¬ 
room. I don't think “ Louise Upton” can be blessed 
with children. Tf she Is, 1 would like to know 
what she does with them. “ Aunt Mary's” box 
was a good arrangement Tor very small children, 
hut the older they grow, the more active and rest¬ 
less they become. It Is impossible to let children 
of three and four years play out of doors during 
cold weather, at least, In this locality as we are 
very much exposed to the wind. If left to them¬ 
selves, children will get Into mischief and often 
cause a great deal of extra work, notlnlentloaally 
hut because of their healthful activity. 
Mrs. e. e. o. 
If 1 may be allowed T wish to express an utter 
want of sympathy with the lady whose “ tobacco 
grievance” induces her to air It through your 
columns. It Is dlilicult to conceive of a wile whose 
Influence for good Is so slight, that the practice of 
the “ small vices” of her husband go on unchecked 
to the detriment of her child (even supposing him 
callous to their effect); and it Is more difficult to 
conceive of a mother whose Influence for good is 
so slight that she should fear to have It overcome 
by the effect of habits which, to the uninitiated, 
are conceded to he revolting and disgusting. Few 
sinners are so hardened that they cannot be re¬ 
the newest thing in neck-ties, and smoking caps 
“ too sweet for anything.” with other such trump¬ 
ery. This Is Intended to convey the Idea that men 
are sublimely Indifferent to such matters, whereas 
all the faslfionable Ignorance, all the petty vani¬ 
ties, all the fuss and Teathers and frivolities of the 
race are made up Into a bundle, and labeled— 
Woman! And so, for the sake or a few empty- 
A LAUNDRY HINT. 
1 relieve it was only against, cooking recipes 
and fashion articles that Free Lance fulminated in 
a recent article, and I may hope that my poor ef¬ 
fort to make collar and snirt Ironing a more satis¬ 
factory and easier process for my sister Ruralists 
will not be censured by his august self. (By the 
No. 1 . 
headed nonentities, the whole sex Is, figuratively, 
fed with milk Instead ol meat. I am glad Free 
Lance wrote that letter; go on. my son—you are 
developing beautifully, and will he a credit to us 
yet. By your leave we ll hereby bury the hatchet. 
Concerning cooking recipes, they are well 
enough, provided a woman doesn’t convert herself 
into a walking rookery book, or sacrifice all that 
Is best of herseir at the shrine ol her kitchen stove, 
of course, as a newspaper must cater to the tastes 
of different sorts of people, these minor matters 
should have a place, but they should he limited 
to a much smaller space than they now occupy. 
I heartily sympathize with the lady who Is so 
troubled upon the subject or tobacco. The most 
you can do, my friend, Is to use every means of 
prejudicing the mind of the hoy against this filthy 
way Washtenaw, 1 don’t think he Is so Immature 
and foppish; I’ve an Idea he Is an old fossil. Won¬ 
der if he couldn’t he Induced to allow a portrait of 
himself to he published In the Rural, and thus set 
at rest these perplexing questions as to the loca¬ 
tion of his hair-parting, his age, <£c) 
Now for the collar talk. Damp linen Is very pli¬ 
able, and a good pull will alter a fourteen-inch 
Into a nftoen-locn collar in the twinkle or an 
eye. Collars ought to be stretched crosswise, 
and uot, lengthwise. Then In straightening out 
shirt-bosoms they ought also to he pulled cross¬ 
wise Instead of lengthwise, particularly In the 
neighborhood of tue neck. A lengthwise pull 
draws the front or the neck-band somewhat di¬ 
rectly under the chin, where It was never meant 
to go, and of course that spoils the set of a collar. 
No. s. 
me will be the case ere long—you shall see what 1 
legislation can do. With an exception or two, 
I liked Jlcks’ article on women’s dress, of which, 
perhaps, more anon. Ermenuardk. 
- 4 —*--♦- 
It Is proposed to raise $40,000, with which to en¬ 
dow a professorship In the Syracuse University, 
to he filled by a woman. 
lady buy a nice silk dress (paying as much as two 
woolen dresses would have cost), then wear it on 
all occasions, for traveling, to parties, church, 
cliolr-meeilng, <Sco., and In a short time it was so 
Bhabby as to he scarcely' lit to wear. For people In 
moderate circumstances, I think It looks more 
suitable, If In traveling, they wear linen In sum¬ 
mer and some tasteful, woolen suit in winter, In¬ 
stead or their one silk dress. 
NO. 2. 
claimed. Let this lady continue to use her Influ¬ 
ence and to try, by’ all arts to strengthen It, and 
persevere In her endeavor to conquer, or at least 
lessen, the force of this • confirmed” habit. Let 
her, above all, retain and Increase her Influence 
over her child—of him • to do so she must be the 
judge—let it grow with his growth, and she will 
find no fascination for him In the influences she 
dreads that can at all compare In strength with 
the safeguard her Influence gives. Cornelia. 
Women Inventors.— The question Is often asked 
us: Do the Inventions of women ever amount to 
anything 7 From our long experience with Inven¬ 
tors of both sexes, we conclude that a larger pro¬ 
portion of Inventions patented by women prove 
more useful and profitable than those of the 
sterner sex. We see hy the New York Sun that the 
Metropolitan Elevated Railway Company has se¬ 
No. 7. 
lected a device, from the many that have been 
under consideration, for lessening the noise of the 
trains, and that It Is the invention of a Mrs. Wal¬ 
ton. of tills city, she gets, according to the Sun. 
$ 10 . wo for the use of the invention on the Metropoli¬ 
tan line, and the company Is to control its adop¬ 
tion on otter roads, paying her a royalty.— scien - 
((Tfr Americtitt . 
CANCER CURE. 
The proper formula for this “cure” is: Two 
ouncesof Sulphur; ,'4 ounce of Quicksilver; 1 ounce 
of Cream-of-Tartar; v. ounce of saltpeter. Put 
Into a pint of molasses, stir; take a tablespoonful 
before going to bed. As published originally, 
ounce of Quicksilver was given tnsteaa of Q ounce, 
as It should he. 
-♦ ♦ ♦- 
Query.— Can any of the Rural readers give us 
the words of “ The Sexton” a short poem, the 
opening clause of which is, “Nigh to a grove?” 
Address answer to Literary Editor Rural New- 
Yorksr. 
habit; make your own Influence over him as strong 
as possible, pray dally for the success of your 
efforts, and leave the result with God. The 
probabllty Is that his lather will continue to use 
it to the end of the chapter, us only about one In 
five hundred over does succeed la overcoming the 
habit after It Is once firmly fixed. I disagree with 
the lady who. docs uot believe In the expediency of 
trying to put down Intemperance hy political 
means. Moral suasion is all very well, friend, as far 
as It goes, hut. os the great majority of mmsellers, 
would, probably he about as much moved by It 
as graven Images, or as their friend and patron, 
his Satanic majesty. I go In decidedly for legal 
suasion; and when the right of suffrage is 110 
longer withheld from half the intelligent citizens 
of the United states—as my prophetic soul tells 
With the front of his neckband an inch too high 
and his collar an Inch too long, it ts hardly to he 
wondered ut that the unhappy victim is betrayed 
Into using expressions not sanctioned hy sabbath- 
school teachers. Try crosswise instead of length¬ 
wise and report progress. Dame Durden. 
- » « - »- 
A PROTEST OR TWO. 
Dear ulub-ites:— Because no protests or objec¬ 
tions are made to the opinions of the “Club," it 
does uot prove that we agree wit h all of them. I 
differ with Margaret B. Harvey about the economy 
of a silk dress. It you can afford two or three 
dresses for second and third best , and have a silk 
dress besides ror extra occasions, then, by all 
means, have the silk dress. But I have seen a 
No. 4. 
