333 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MAY 24 
Jlomcstir tgronoutu. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
LOO-CABIN SKETCHES; OB, JESSIE SEA 
BRIGHT'S DIARY.—No. 6. 
MAY MAPLE. 
A Home-made “ What-not.” 
May 16th—18th. A house without orna¬ 
mentation is scarcely a borne, but adornments 
must not be too uuraerous in a small log cab¬ 
in, lest they become a nuisance. Our books, 
which kind f rieuds sent us, and papers, of which 
we had no lack, were getting, not too plentiful 
for our enjoyment, but too abundant for our 
small table, as they had to be moved from 
that to a chair, or perchance the floor, when¬ 
ever the table was Deeded for breakfast, din¬ 
ner or tea. So I determined to have a corner 
“ what-not” that should bo ornamental as well 
as useful. But the next thing was to find 
the materials, at least the lumber. After 
searching house and barn, and finding nothing 
that would possibly answer my purpose, I came 
to the conclusion that I should be obliged to 
do without the much-desired piece of furni¬ 
ture. 
My old motto, “where there’s a will there’s 
a way,” seemed to be at fault this time. I sat 
down by the south window, which commanded 
a view of my flower garden, which had been 
only recently laid out and, as yet, was merely 
a promise of future pleasure, to get over my 
disappointment; when suddenly 1 heard the 
thud of horses’ feet and the rumbling, rattling 
sound of wagon wheels, approaching the house ) 
and looking up I saw the pleasant faces of 
Mr. and Mrs. White. Instantly my vexation 
vanished, for these friends were always wel¬ 
come guests. 
After atsisting his wife out of the wagon, 
Mr. White took out a square wooden box, and 
brought it to the door saying: 
“ Here's a box o’traps Louise has packed in 
for you; I don’t know what it all may be, but 
I hope you won’t fiud any of the young ones, 
for we haven’t any to spare.” And away he 
went to meet John, who had just come from 
the field. As soon as we were alone, and the 
usual compliments of the day were passed, 
Mrs While said : 
“Our folks, have just sent us a barrel of 
dried fruit, from Ohio, and I thought probably 
your supplies might be getting low. and so I 
brought you a little package of each kind. 
And in the bottom of the box are some old 
clothes that I thought would do for carpet 
rags—but if you haven’t got your carpet all 
made and down! Well, well 1 you deserve to 
prosper; and surely your iugenuity and in¬ 
dustry will bring you a fortune.” 
After looking over all the packages and 
nearly emptying the box, I very demurely in¬ 
quired if she wanted to take it back. 
“Oh, no! I selected a good-sized box, on 
purpose for you, because I knew you had a 
perfect mania for old boxes. But won’t you 
tell me what vision of convenience is haunt¬ 
ing your dreams ? ” 
After thanking my generous friend for her 
favors, I told her of my morning’s vexation. 
“ Well,” said she, “ this afternoon the men 
are going to the Corners, to attend a business 
meeting, and if you will make your stand 
so thas I can see what it is like; perhaps I 
can have one too.” 
How we visited while we cleaned sauce and 
set the table for diuner. I say we. for Mrs. 
White and I work together, no matter which 
chauces to be the guest, and that is the way 
with most pioneer frieuds. There is but very 
little folding of the hands or putting on osten¬ 
tatious airs. Iu most cases there is no “ best 
room,” in which to shut up one's friends while 
the matron prepares the fruiral meal; so they 
come into closer communion with one another, 
better understand the necessities of their 
friends, and thus learn to be more charitable. 
After our dinner service was cleared away, 
I told Bertie he might huut np all his long 
strings of spools, that had been given him to 
play with, and we would 6ee how pretty we 
could make them look in something useful. 
Then some coarse wire that had corne around 
bales, was brought and measured off in three 
pieces of suitable lengtb, uud what was to be 
the lower end of each wire was given a square 
bend, making a little foot about half an inch 
long. Six three-cornered shelves of graded 
sizes were sawed out, and holes bored iu each 
corner with a good-sized gimlet—and the hard¬ 
est part of the work was done. Three large 
spools of the same size were strung upon each 
wire, and then the largest shelf. Then fol¬ 
lowed eight spools for each wire, and another 
shelf ; and soon, graduating shelves and spools 
until the last shelf was placed, which was ouly 
large enough to hold a small vase of flowers, 
and three tiny spools finished the top of each 
wire. After slightly bendiug the front wires 
toward the back, leaving the latter straight, 
the “machine” stood up boldly and in fair 
proportions. Some gum-shellac dissolved in 
alcohol made a very good varnish, with which 
we soon had it shining. To hide the edges, I 
tacked on around each shelf some brown 
fringe, that had done.duty for dress-trimming, 
and the really pretty piece of furniture was 
ready to be placed in its appointed corner. 
The work had occupied a good part of two 
hours, and yet uot one bit of our visit had 
been spoiled. Very soon books and papers 
found a convenient and appropriate place, as 
also did many curious “6pccimeus" that Ber¬ 
tie and I had gathered in our woodlaud ram¬ 
bles, and a few holiday gifts added much to 
the beauty of our “ what-not.” 
When wc had it all arranged satisfactorily, 
Mrs. White said: “I’ll bunt up all the ma¬ 
terials, and the next time j’ou come to our 
place we’ll have anothe.r such a visit, for I 
have enjoyed this immensely. 
-- 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Plain Pudding* and r a kes—Tapioca Pudding with¬ 
out Eggs or Milk. 
Put one teacup of tapioca and half a tea¬ 
spoon of salt into a pint and a half of warm 
water. Keep them ou the back of (be stove 
for four hours, where they will be warm, but 
do uot cook. Pare and core six apples and 
place iu a deep puddiug dish. Sprinkle sugar 
and grated nutmeg over the apples; add one 
teacup of water; bake until the fruit is soft, 
but uot broken. When the tapioca is suffi¬ 
ciently soaked, turn it over the apples and 
bake oue hour. To be eaten with a sauce made 
according to the following: One-lialf teacup of 
butter aud one-half teacup of sugar stirred 
uutil smooth; set the dish in a pan of hot 
water; add a large spoonful of hot water to 
the butter aud sugar, and stir uutil the sauce 
is like foam. 
Rice Pudding without Eggs. 
A little less than one teacup of rice in one 
quart of rich milk. Add one teacup of sugar; 
one-half teaspoon of salt and a little grated 
nutmeg. Bake two hours, or until the rice is 
soft. The puddiug should be stirred frequent¬ 
ly while boiling to prevent the top from burn¬ 
ing. More milk can be added if the pudding 
seems too dry while baking. Best eaten cold. 
No sauce required. 
Bread Pudding. 
Place slices of buttered bread in a deep pud¬ 
ding dish. Cover tbe bread with thin slices of 
tart apples; then put on another layer of bread 
and apples, aud continue thus until the diBh is 
full. The top layer must be bread and butter, 
with the buttered side down. Pour milk over 
the whole until thoroughly moistened. Cover 
the puddiug dish with a plate aud bake two 
hours. Take off the plate, sprinkle the pud¬ 
diug with any spice liked, and bake another 
hour, or until brown on top and the apples 
soft. ^ 
Sauce— Make. »> paste with two spoon¬ 
fuls of flour, a itinto a half pint of boil¬ 
ing water. Sti.TLi.ii the flour is well cooked, 
make the sauce very sweet and let it boil up 
ouee. Take it off the stove and add a table- 
spoonful of strong vinegar or lemon juice and 
a piece of butts i the size of an egg. If too 
thick, more wa * may be added. 
bite Cake. 
Two cups of sugar ; one-half cup of butter ; 
the whiteB of four eggs ; a little less tliau one 
cup of sweet milk; three cups of flour; three tea¬ 
spoons of baking powder, sifted with the flour. 
To make: Stir the butter and sugar together 
until light, then stir iu the milk, then the flour, 
mix thoroughly and add the beaten whites 
just as the cake is to be put into the oven. 
Flavor, if liked. 
Colder* Layer Cake. 
One and one-half cups of sugar; one-half 
cup butter; one-half cup sweet milk; one egg 
and yelks of four. Two cups flour in which 
two teaspoons of baking powder have been stir¬ 
red. Bake in five cakes, and spread with jelly 
to which the juice and grated rind of a lemon 
have been added. Keep the cake closely cov¬ 
ered with a tin pan or several folds of cloth 
until wanted. Either of these cakes is fine, 
with canned fruits, for dessert. 
Lyons, Iowa. mks. m. g. r. 
Best Cake. 
Oue pound of sugar; six eggs; one cup of 
butter; one cup of milk ; four cups of flour; 
one large teaspoouful of soda and two of 
cream-of-tartar. 
Black Cake. 
Twelve eggs; oue pound of butter ; one 
pound of sugar; three pounds of currants, 
two pounds of raisins; one tablespoonful of 
cloves, and flour to make quite stiff. Put the 
fruit in last. 
Small Sponge Cakes. 
Beat two eggs well, then stir in one teacup 
powdered sugar, beat five minutes and add one 
cup of flour. Bake in small cakes. 
Crullers. 
One and one-half cup of sugar; two eggs; 
one spoonful of butter; one cup of sweet 
milk; one teaspoonful of cream-of-tartar; one- 
half teaspoonful of soda. 
A Tea Dish. 
A nice dish for tea is made by putting six or 
eight butter crackers in a dish, pour boiling 
water over them and grate loaf sugar and nut¬ 
meg or lemon over, and lay on slices of jelly. 
Pour enough sweet cream over them to make 
a nice sauce. 
Mock Mince Pie. 
ODe cup chopped raisins; one nutmeg; one 
cup of water ; one tablespoouful of cinnamon; 
two cups of sugar; ouc-half cup of vinegar; 
one cup of sweet boiled cider ; butter the size 
of an egg and eight crackers rolled fine. Cook 
well together. 
Jumbles. 
One-half pound of butter; three-fourths of 
a pound of flour; three-fourths of a cup of white 
sugar and two eggs well beaten. Add a little 
nutmeg, make into a soft dough. Break off 
in small pieces, roll iu sugar and bake in rings. 
Ginger Snaps. 
One pint of molasses; one cup of butter; 
one teaspoonful of ginger; one teaspoonful of 
cloves and one of soda. Put all together on 
the stove, let it come to a boil, and when 
scarcely cool add flour sufficient to roll out. 
Loretta E. Knapp Turner. 
--- 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
Vinegar Pie. 
C. T. Gaylord wishes a recipe for old-fashioned 
vinegar pie. 
Ans —We append two recipes trusting that 
one or the other upou trial will prove to be the 
one you are in search of: No. 1. Oue large¬ 
sized cup of sugar; one cup of vinegar not too 
strong; a heaping tablespoonful of flour and a 
little lemon peel. Bake with two crusts. 
No. 2. One teacupful of sugar, one egg and 
one heaping tablespoonful of flour beaten well 
together ; then add two tablespoonfuls of sharp 
viuegar and a scant teacupful of cold water. 
Flavor with nutmeg, it liked, and bake with 
two crusts. 
Black and Violet Ink. 
C. T., MillersviUe, Ohio, asks for a recipe for 
making black and violet ink that will last a 
good while. 
Ans. — For Black: To one quart of clean soft 
water add four ounces of Aleppo galls well 
bruised; bottle, cork tight aud lei macerate 
for ten days, shaking the liquid each day. 
Then add one aud one-fourth ounce of gum- 
arabic dissolved iu a wine-glassful of water; 
one-half ounce of lump sugar; mix well and 
further add one and one-half ounce of sulphate 
of iron (green copperas) crushed fine. Agitate 
occasionally for two or three days, when the 
ink may be used; but it will be much better if 
left to digest from one to two weeks be¬ 
fore it is decanted. This makes one quart of 
good ink, writing pale at first but soon turning 
very black. The addition of a few bruised 
cloves or a little oil of cloves will prevent any 
tendency to moldiness in the ink. 
For Violet: We gave in the Rural of Nov. 9, 
1878, the best recipe we know of for this ink 
and will again publish it; Mix one drachm of 
the desired aniline color with one and a half 
ounce of alcohol in a glass bottle; let it stand 
three or four hours and then add thirteen 
ounces of distilled or filtered water. Subject 
to a gentle heat until no odor of alcohol is per¬ 
ceptible, after which add four drachms of 
gum-arabic dissolved in three ounces of water. 
Mix aud strain. 
Barley Ccffee. 
Mrs. M. G. L., asks for a recipe for barley 
coffee. 
Ans. —Wash the barley, dry it and brown 
carefully without burning. Grind, mix with 
an egg and pour over boiling water. Boil 
gently for a few minutes and strain. Drink 
with milk and sugar or as best liked. 
8. B. Fhilson: the recipe for coloring blue 
on cotton was given in Rural of Feb. 8, page 
97. 
Ildus of tjjc Mltclt. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Monday, May 19,18T9. 
The prevalence of pleuropneumonia among the 
cattle of Greenwich, Conn., reported by Prof. Crea¬ 
sy and two Connecticut experts, while not very 
alarming, should lead to a careful watch over the 
health of ueat animals and every precaution 
against the spread of the disease, secretary Sher¬ 
man transmitted to the House Tuesday recommen¬ 
dations submitted by the commissioner of Internal 
revenue and a detailed report ot the operations of 
his bureau In the suppression of Illicit distillation 
of llquois. Since July, ism, 2638 stills have been 
seized, 6422 persons arrested, $109,135 expended tor 
special deputies, 19 persons killed and 35 wounded. 
The operations have been principally lu Georgia, 
Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, 
North Carolina and Virginia, In which seven States 
the seizures numbered 2283 and the arrests 4915. 
The. nine Northwestern states cast l,soo,ooo votes 
In 1874, 2,400,000 lu 18T6, and they will probably 
cast 3 , 1 x 10,000 In laao; If population grows In the 
same proportion, these nine States, whose terri¬ 
tory came Into the Union with Virginia and Louisi¬ 
ana, will have at tbe next apportionment more 
votes In the House than all the South put togeth¬ 
er, solid or not. A purse trotted for Is gambling, 
under the laws of Pennsylvania. The winner can¬ 
not recover the premium, purse, stakes or prize 
unless the company chooses to pay him. The 
horse of each contestant Is forfeited, the whole 
arrangement being a palpable evasion of the law. 
Eleven cheese factories have been built at 8hel- 
boygati, Wisconsin, during the past winter. It Is 
estimated that six million pounds of cheese will be 
made during the present season. A corrcf pondent 
In Walterborough. a. O., describing tbe recent, 
cyclone there, cited as a remarkable occurrence, 
that “ a sheep was found lying in the road with 
every' particle of wool taken from It as cleanly as 
a razor could have done It.” 
Gen. Sherman has received advices from Gen. 
Sheridan to the effect that everything In the West. 
Is m good order, and that there Is no danger of any 
troubles. The Indian Territory Is well In hand, 
and the Indians of the North-west, who are the 
most turbulent, show no signs ot restlessness. 
There are reports of some stealing by Indians on 
the Yellowstone, but the thieves are thought to be 
reservation Indians. Gen. Sherman says military 
affairs were never so well arranged In the West as 
now. Gen. Sheridan has reduced everything to 
an admirable and effective system. There Is great 
anxiety among cattle owners In Brldgehampton, 
I.. I., In consequence of the discovery’, through 
official Investigation, that pleuro-pneumonia pre¬ 
vails there to a much greater extent than had been 
supposed. Prof. Law and L*r. McLean have exam¬ 
ined several herds, aud found the disease in Its 
worst type, as proved by the condition of the lungs 
of a number of cattle after they had been slaught¬ 
ered. Tne disease Is supposed to have been propa¬ 
gated by a drove of cattle driven Into the Hamp¬ 
ton by Isaac Ilellard last December, a hundred or 
more of them having been sold by him. During 
April vessels arrived at. New York from foreign 
ports almost at the rate of one every hour, the 
whole number being 714. Of these there were 259 
American. 227 British, 68 Julian, 66 Norwegian, 34 
German, and 21 Austrian. Of the whole number 
182 were steamships, and over 85 of these the Bri¬ 
tish flag floated. The American steamers num¬ 
bered ouly 20 The arrivals of coastwise vessels 
numbered 1.245, giving a grand total of 1,959—a 
goodly number of ships to sail Into one port In the 
space of 30 days. 
Both branches ot the New York Legislature have 
passed a tenement bouse act Intended to prevent 
overcrowding and Insure ventilation. The bill 
forbids any tenement house which may hereafter 
be built from occupying more than 65 per cent of 
the lot oa which It stands, and a clear space be¬ 
tween It and the building next to It must be 
left, varying with the bight of the tenement-house. 
The windows In every room must equal in size 
one-tenth of It superficial area, and each room 
must communicate by a window, air-shaft or ven¬ 
tilator with the open air. Overcrowding is pre¬ 
vented by requiring an allowance of 600 cubic feet 
of air to each occupant. \ society already or¬ 
ganized In this city stands ready to see to the en¬ 
forcement of these provisions, whose violation by 
any owner or agent is made a misdemeanor. The 
spring drought extending throughout the Eastern 
States has been the occasion of many forest fires 
and much consequent damage. About. 7000 acres 
have been burned on The Catalan Mountains near 
Itondout. Pike. Schuylkill aud Berks counties, 
Pennsylvania, have also suffered. About 1000 
acres have been burned over on “the Dome,” 
a mountain north of Wllllamstown, Mass, while 
Pelham and Dedham also lose by forest fires. 
The report of the Department of Agriculture on 
the morning of the 17th Inst., contains the follow¬ 
ing: “ The acreage of winter wheat now growing 
Is about l>i per cent, greater than last year. In 
the Southwest the area has been reduced since 
sowing. The Atlantic coast States from Maine to 
Georgia as a whole show a declining area. Of the 
Southern States ouly Mississippi reports a dimin¬ 
ished area. Of the Northern and Western States, 
Michigan, Minnesota and Kansas fall off from last 
year. The other gTeat wheat-growing states show 
an Increase. California Is not Included In the es¬ 
timates of winter wheat area. The crop of the 
country taken as a whole presents a promise of at 
leust two per cent, below the average. The New 
England Suites reach a full average. The rye crop, 
taken as a whole, Is four per cent, below the aver¬ 
age. It Is about tbe average In New’ England and 
In nearly all the West and Northwest. The con¬ 
dition of sheep throughout the country la very 
good.” 
The endowment fund of $260,ooo for the Drew 
Theological Seminary, which was swept away by 
Daniel Drew's failure, has been replaced by new 
subscriptions aggregating $248,000. It is proposed 
to raise In all $300,000. 
Five steamships, lour British and one German, 
carrying freight, which sailed from the United 
States last winter, and one which sailed from Eng¬ 
land, are missing; also, ten sailing vessels, grain 
laden. 
FOREIGN. 
Several conflagrations, attributed to Nihilists, 
have lately occurred in east Russia towns, causing 
great distress. Seventy arrests have been made In 
Orenburg on the charge ot Incendiarism. Four 
male and six female prisoners are now undergoing 
court martial at Kleff, Including three Russian 
noblemen, a Prussian subject, and the daughter of 
a privy counoellor. Ainoug the other arrests are a 
titled lady and a leading Nihilist. The streets of 
Kleff, near the court house, are to be closed during 
the trial. Another incendiary fire occurred at 
Irblt on the 13th lust., by which four of the poorer 
quarters were destroyed. 
The governor of Orenburg, has telegraphed 
that another fire occurred In that city on the 
8th Inst., which was quickly extinguished. An¬ 
other fire also broke out In the Cossack quarter, 
which was about halt consumed thereby. 'Ihe 
governor of Uralsk, lu the same government of 
Orenburg, telegraphs on the lith lust, as follows: 
“ A fire here has destroyed a considerable portion 
of the town and la still raging.” 
Queen Victoria of England, who has returned 
home from her continental trip, Is a great-grand¬ 
mother. A daughter was born Monday to Princess 
