THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
JUNE 7 
30cmrstxr (5 amount. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
THE “RURAL” HOUSEKEEPER’S TABLE. 
I might al&o call it “The Woman's Friend” 
Or “ Treasure.” or “ Labor-saver,” etc. etc., for 
I expect to receive the thanks of every Ameri¬ 
can house-wife whose aching back and weary 
feet it shall rest. 
It is designed for a “ sitting-down ” or 
“standing-up” work-table combined. A, 
6hows the top of the table which may be made 
with a drop leaf in the ordinary way, which 
would be desirable in small rooms, to 6ave 
space when not in use; but where the room is 
large I should prefer to have the top made 
solid aud substantial for ironing and kneading, 
supporting the front part with strong brackets 
as shown in the cut. Under the back part of 
the table and made solid therewith, is a rec¬ 
tangular box B, which rests upon the floor 
when using the table in a sitting position. Its 
hight should then be 24 or 26 iuehes. This box 
is to be divided into drawers and compart¬ 
ments for holding flour, spices and other ar¬ 
ticles. including the utensils usually required 
in household work. 
Fastened securely against the wall are a 
couple of strong uprights, C, C. These are 
rabbeted on their inner edges. Fastened to the 
back of the box B, are corresponding pieces 
which slide up and down in the uprights, C, C. 
Therefore, when it is desired to use the table 
while the person is in a standing position, the 
whole by means of the lever D. and connecting 
rod E (fastened to the back of the table), may 
be raised to any desired bight, and held there 
by pins in the uprights, or by placing a block 
of the proper thickness under the box. Any 
handy carpenter could construct such an ar¬ 
rangement as this at slight expense, and many 
a handy farmer could do it likewise. The in¬ 
vention is not patented, and, like my other de¬ 
vices and plans, 1 present it as a free gift to 
the “ Rural ” readers. Wm. Robt. Brooks. 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
-»»» ■ 
WASTE OF TIME IN COOKERY. 
for the oven. The cake that is beaten so long, 
has nothing substantial about it, and will dis¬ 
appear from the table in a fourth of the time 
required to make it. For some occasions, one 
may feel justified in giving extra time and 
work to ornamental cookery. For ordinary 
use. dishes that are prepared to please the 
fancy, amount to very little, but involve a 
great deal of trouble, aud a great waste of 
time. 
Lyons, Iowa. 
STAINING WOOD. 
Mahogany. 
To give pine the appearance of mahogany, 
brush over two or three times, allowing the 
wood to dry between each application, with a 
boiling decoction of logwood chips. When 
thoroughly dry give two coats of shellac var¬ 
nish, after which carefully sandpaper, polish, 
and give a final coat of varnish. 
*n half and a small piece of isinglass. It wil 
answer to bottle in six months. 
Mrs. Clayton. 
Potato Cakes. 
Work cold mashed potatoes soft with a lit¬ 
tle melted butter and milk ; add enough pre¬ 
pared flour to roll it out half an inch thick, 
cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter and bake 
in a quick oven to a nice brown. Rub a little 
butter over each just before they are done. 
Beet Creens. 
Pull when young, wash aud look over very 
carefully but do not separate the tops from the 
roots. Put into a kettle which is half full of 
boiling salted water and boil from half to 
three-quarters of an hour; take out and drain 
in a colander, pressing down with a spoon so 
as to get out all of the water. Disb and pour 
over a dressing of vinegar, butter, pepper, and 
salt. Mrs. E. J. G. 
Livingston Co. 
MRS. MARY G. RAND. 
The housekeeper who devotes a portion of her 
time each day to the preparation of healthful 
food for her family—or to seeing that, it is done, 
i6 not wasting time, neither is she doing any¬ 
thing beneath her dignity. Many ladies have 
the false idea that domestic labor in any form 
is incompatible with refinement and intellectual 
culture. It is far from being discreditable to 
a lady to act in accordance with her responsi¬ 
bility for the health of the household, by fur¬ 
nishing the table with palatable, well-cooked 
food. To do so may oblige her to attend per¬ 
sonally to the cookery if the domestic cuunot 
be trusted in that lino, but the work that adds 
to the comfort of the family, ought not to be 
regarded as drudgery. The family that lives, 
as too many do, on sour, heavy bread, fried 
meats, badly cooked vegetables, and pastry, 
can hardly expect to keep in health. The man 
who eats such food day after day, cannot have 
physical strength equal to the requirements of 
his business. The children may, on aeeouut 
of youthful vigor, escape for a time the bad 
results of habitually eating unwholesome food. 
All housekeepers do not realize the importance 
of having good yeast bread for every meal. 
It is indeed. “The Stall of Life,” as would be 
proved to any one who might he deprived of it 
for a single week. 
Many who have large families to work for, 
imagine that they cannot spare the time to 
make bread as it ought to be made. It is true 
that even with the best of flour and yeast, con¬ 
siderable management aud work too. are ne¬ 
cessary to insure good home-made bread. 
Whether the family be large or small, the 
housekeeper should try to have bread of the 
besL quality always upon the table. She can 
get the time for bread making, if she will make 
fewer cakes and pics. 
Fie making, as it is carried on in most fami¬ 
lies, leads to a great, waste of time, and as even 
the plainest pies are uohealthfui, nothing can 
be said in their favor. An excellent writer on 
Domestic Economy says: "If the laws of 
health were obeyed, pastry would be banished 
from every table, for iteombtnes the three evils 
of animal fat, cooked animal fat, aud heavy 
bread.” Comparatively few persons are in¬ 
clined to believe that fresh, ripe fruits as a 
dessert, are superior to fruits cooked between 
layers of paste, in the form of pie. If pie be 
eaten at all, it .should lie as the exception —not 
as the rule. By the excercise of a little in¬ 
genuity. the housewife can prepare a variety 
of simple dishes for dessert, so excellent that 
pie will scarcely be missed from the "bill-of- 
fare.” Mauy puddings are not unheallhful, 
unless eaten with sauceB that are highly sea¬ 
soned with spices and wine. 
A great deal of time is wasted in cake mak¬ 
ing ; for example: sponge cake, some of the 
recipes for which, call for an hour to prepare 
Ebony. 
Any compact wood coated three or four 
times with the boiling decoction, as above, and 
then washed with a solution of acetate of iron, 
made by dissolving iron filings in vinegar, will 
be stained in very good imitation of ebony, 
the wash penetrating so deep that ordinary 
scratching and chipping do not show the origi¬ 
nal color. 
Black Walnut. 
Put pulverized asphaltum into a bowl with 
about twice its bulk of turpentine aud set 
where it is warm, shaking from time to time 
until dissolved; then strain aud apply with 
either a cloth or still blush. Try a little first 
and if the stain be too dark thin it with tur¬ 
pentine. If desirable to bring out Die grain 
still more, give a coat of boiled oil aud turpen¬ 
tine. When the wood is thoroughly dry, polish 
with a mixture of two parts shellac varnish 
and one part boiled oil. Apply by putting a 
few drops at a time on a cloth aud rubbing 
briskly over the wood. 
Maple. 
Grayish maple may be whitened by washing 
it with a solution of oxalic acid, to whicli a 
few drops of nitric acid have been added. 
Cralning. 
Beautiful artificial graining may be given to 
many kinds of wood by tastefully tracing with 
a camel-hair pencil in l aw oil, so as to resem¬ 
ble the rich varying veius of the more rare and 
expensive woods. The veining should he gone 
over two or three times, while the rest of the 
wood need be coated but once with oil thin¬ 
ned with turpentine. Mary B. 
-♦--»->- 
NOTES. 
Drink cayenne pepper tea for a cold. 
May-weed blossoms put into alcohol make a 
superior liniment. 
In cases of ivy poisoning, bathe the parts 
with sweet spirits of niter. 
For burns, bind on moistened baking soda. 
It will give prompt and permanent relief. 
Rub sprains, bruises or lameness with a 
paste made of salt and the white of an egg. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
Pineapple Wine. 
When making pineapple preserves, or can¬ 
ning them, save the outside which has been 
cut off, aud to every two quarts of peelings 
allow four quarts of water and three pounds 
of white sugar. Bring the sugar and water to 
the boiling point aud pour over the peelings. 
When cold, add to the above quantity the juice 
of a good-sized leiuon and a tablespoonful of 
yeast. Let stand three or four days in a small 
tub or crock, covered with a cloth, to ferment. 
Then strain, put into a cask, and to each gal¬ 
lon of the wine put in a pound of raisins cut 
Broiled Ham. 
Cut in thin slices and place in cold water to 
soak over night. In the morning turn off the 
water, put into a sauce-pan and pour over 
boiling water. Sot on the back of the stove 
where it will keep hot without boiling. Wheu 
all other preparations for the meal are made, 
take out the slices, wipe dry and broil on a 
wire broiler over a clear fire. Turn and tend 
as carefully as you would toast bread, e. m. 
Short-Cakes. 
In answer to an inquiry I will give my 
mother’s recipe for short - cakes, knowing 
it to be very good: One pound of sifted 
flour, one-fourth pound of butter and half as 
much lard; a little salt; soda as large as a pea, 
dissolved in half a teaspoonful of vinegar. 
Mix well together with ice-cold water to a stiff 
dough. Roll half an inch thick, cut into 
round cakes, prick with u fork and bake in a 
quiek oveu. Mrs. Kate Brady. 
-- 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
Aquarium Cement. 
Mrs. A. L. Price asks for a cement that will 
securely fasten the glass of an aquarium into 
its frame. 
Ans. —Take of Plaster-of-Paris, fine, white, 
dry sand and litharge each one gill, and pow¬ 
dered resin one-third gill; mix thoroughly 
and make into a paste with boiled linseed oil 
to which dryer ha& boon added. Beat well to¬ 
gether and apply after it has stood four or five 
hours—no longer, for it will lose its strength. 
Repairing Cracks in Ironware. 
L. W.S., Chenango Go., JV. Y., asks whether 
there is anything that will stop a crack in a 
chaldron kettle, so as to prevent it from leak¬ 
ing when in use. 
Ans. —Take of sal-ammoniac two ounces; 
of sublimed sulphur one ounce; cast-iron 
filings, one pound. Mix in a mortar and keep 
the powder dry. When it is to be used, mix 
with it twenty times its weight of iron-filings, 
grind in a mortar aud wet it with water until 
it becomes of convenient consistency to apply. 
It will become in time as hard and strong as 
any part of the metal. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Monday, dune 2, ihto. 
President Hayes sent In his veto or the legislo- 
lives appropriation bill on Thursday, reproving 
Congress for continuing In the habit of tacking 
political riders to appropriation bills, and joining 
Issue on the policy of weakening In any way the 
federal safeguards of the ballot, lie explains 
how much the democratic proposition would re¬ 
peal and goes on to demonstrate that the general 
government Is under clear constitutional obliga¬ 
tions to secure the Integrity and freedom of elec¬ 
tions, where members of Congress are chosen. 
This veto Is the most Important, of all so far, 
touching, as It does, the real question at Issue, to 
which those on the army bill were merely pre¬ 
liminary. The Ohio republicans nominated Charles 
Foster, Wednesday, for governor on the first, ballot 
and Gen. Andrew Hlckenlooper of Cincinnati for 
lieutenant-governor. W. 1 ’. Healy and Thomas 
Harland, the lawyers who ran away with the 
books of the New York mining company from 
Marquette, Mich., while the dllden Income case 
was on trial, have each been fined $200 at De¬ 
troit. 
The will ot .Judge Packer the famous coal baron 
of Pennsylvania, bequeaths for the permanent 
enflowmedt of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., 
*1,500,000; for a library for the University, $500,000; 
to St. Luke’s hospital, Bethlehem. $ 300 , 000 ; and 
8t. Mark’s Episcopal church, Mauch Chunk, Pa., 
$30.ooo, There arc several bequests which are 
kept private for the. present. More than eooo peo¬ 
ple have left the province of Ontario In the past, 
two months for Manitoba, and there have passed 
through Hamilton, Ont., 1300 emigrants from 
Europe, looo from the province of Quebec, and 
500 from other Canadian provinces, making a 
total or over stoo persons who have entered Man¬ 
itoba within the last 60 days. A Boston emigra¬ 
tion company, beaded by a number ot leading 
citizens, has purchased 00,000 acres of land In Ten¬ 
nessee, on the Cincinnati Southern railroad, 40 miles 
from the Kentucky line, and will lay out a city 
and populate It. and Its surroundings with Massa¬ 
chusetts colonization. The New York produce ex¬ 
change has adopted the “cental” system, and 
the board of managers wUl now ask the different 
trades to adopt the system for genera! use. The 
fact is admitted all around that immigration to 
Texas, if not coming to an abrupt close. Is greatly 
on the wane. Immigration agents of the railroads 
are all discouraged. Real estate In Texas has de¬ 
preciated In value the last two years fully 8 per 
cent. 
Congress Is apparently getting ready to adjourn, 
but the democrats have been w aiting for the veto 
of the legislative bill, which the president sent 
to the House Wednesday, before reaching a final 
decision. The House committee on ways and 
means have already agreed on June 11 as the date 
ot adjournment, and the probabilities seem to be 
that the appropriations for the army and the ex¬ 
ecutive departments will be extended to Jan 1, 
with the proviso that none of the money shall be 
used to pay marshalls and supervisors nor to 
transport troops to the polls. The inhuman treat- 
mene to which animals are subjected by railroad 
companies transporting them from the West to 
the sea-hoard was the theme ot a very able speech 
by W. M. McPherson of New Jersey in the Senate 
on Monday. As he has had long experience as a 
cattle-dealer he was able to speak from personal 
observation of the cruel and barbarous treatment 
of animals, the details of which were extremely 
revolting. The Senate was aroused over the ques¬ 
tion, but has postponed Its further considera¬ 
tion until next December. 
The House finally passed the Warner silver bill 
on Saturday morning, after an all-night, session, 
the republicans filibustering to secure a vote on a 
substitute for the bill proposed by Mr. Ryan of 
Kansas. The democrats finally gave In, voted 
down the substitute and adopted the bill Itself, 114 
yeas to 97 nays; 15 republicans and greenbackers 
voted yes, and nine democrats and greenbackers, 
no. It Is charged that the democrats merely 
passed the bill for political effect, hoping that It 
would give them the greenback vote in the coming 
Ohio election, for If the bill should pass the Senate 
the President would veto It. The bill toes the 
weight of the standard silver dollar at 412# grains; 
authorizes tho owner of silver bullion to deposit 
the same at. any mint to be formed Into bars or 
standard dollars; makes the charges for coining 
suoh bullion the difference between Its market 
value In New York and the legal-tender value of 
the coin; makes subsidiary silver coin exchangea¬ 
ble at the treasury for legal-tender money to the 
amount of $20 ; makes the standard sliver dollar 
legal-tender In aU payments at their nominal 
value; requires the treasury to pay out silver coin 
without discrimination, the same as gold coin, In 
liquidation of aU kinds of coin obligations against 
the government; authorizes the Issue of certifi¬ 
cates to depositors of gold or Rllver coin or bullion; 
also authorizes the issue of certificates (represent¬ 
ing coin in the treasury) In payment of Interest on 
the public debt, both classes of certificates to be 
receivable In payment of duties on Imports. The 
certificates lor bullion deposited are to be for Its 
average market value In coin of like metal, during 
the proceeding week in New York arid San Fran¬ 
cisco. The gold and silver bullion deposited Is to 
be coined to the full capacity of the mints (in con¬ 
nection with other coinage) and If the bullion de¬ 
posited for coinage does not amount to $ 2 , 000,000 
per month, the treasury is to purchase sufficient 
sliver bullion to coin that amount. 
FOREIGN- 
The most Interesting piece, of recent news from 
France is the programme of the extreme Radicals 
as produced by Dr. Clemenceau, who Is universally 
looked on now as the ablest man of that faction, 
and the man most rapidly’ rising into power and 
prominence, and the one most likely to take Gam- 
betta's place, in case the latter os he grows older 
should become too conservative. In a speech to a 
large meeting of his constituents of the eighteenth 
arrondlssemeht. In Paris, he denounced the Senate 
as a fifth wheel to the coach; demanded more lib¬ 
erty for the press; advocated the conscription of 
theological students for sendee In the army; direct 
instead or Indirect taxation; free-trade; a change 
In the officials of the Ministries of Justice, Finance, 
and Foreign Affairs; complete amnesty; the par¬ 
don of Blanqul. He further reprobated the Ferry 
bills about education on the ground that the exist¬ 
ing laws, if properly enforced, would do the work 
more efficaciously. He also demanded fair play 
