OCT. « 
THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER. 
Jfor SHomen. 
THE BUTTERFLY. 
MBS. LAURA K. HAQNER. 
Sailing bo airily over tlie clover. 
Bending: bo lovingly over the rose— 
Who would not, euvy thee, beautiful rover ? 
What dost thou know of our life, oml its woes ? 
Thou hast forgotten Hiy former existence, 
Wingflosa and sad 'mid thy mutes of the clod— 
So shall our earthly life fade in the distance 
When we arise iu the likeness of Goo ! 
-+ * «- 
THE WOMAN’S CLUB. 
TO THE MOTHERS. 
Come, mothers, let us “reason together,” and by 
our friendly Intercourse and exchange of ideas, 
through the medium of this department of one of 
the best papers of Its kind, tend In some degree 
toward the elevation of the sisterhood who are so 
Interested In Its perusal. There are none of us 
who have had the care of little ones and watched 
their growing years, own In never so careless a 
manner, but may sometimes have had experiences 
that, If given to the world, would touch a respon¬ 
sive cord In some other hosom. Your position, 
dear mothers, is not the occupation of a day or a 
week, but day after day and year after year you 
have kept your vigilance unahated; ceasing not 
In your anxiety, but each hour, as it follows the 
one just gone before, finds you unfaltering at your 
trust. 
When I see a young mother as she fondles and 
caresses her first baby, In the full Joy of possession, 
a thrilling enthusiasm seeming to pervade her 
whole being which nothing else can ever give, I 
feel almost a pang of sadness, tor beyond I see 
long years of care and solicitude, weary nights of 
watching over sleepless lids. She waits, hopes, 
looking away off Into the future, when the little 
helpless creature, now so entirely dependent on 
her for the relieving of ev?ry want, shall have 
developed Into a good and high-sou led man or 
woman, with all the attributes which a gracious 
heavenly Father has given It, cultivated and im¬ 
proved, and on whoso loving support she may lean 
in her declining years. This la a sweet dream, 
and how sustaining! “ If It were not for hope, the 
heart would sink.” Yet too many full short of the 
coveted excellence; some children may Inherit 
tendencies, or “natural propensities,” that make 
it very difficult for the mother to train them 
aright, hut in the greater number of such in¬ 
stances the first and all-important fault Is in the 
parent not knowing how to govern herself. 
A little babe is given you whose mind is like the 
blank pages or a book; not. an Idea has been writ¬ 
ten there; it breathes and sleeps because 11 n.-i Is 
Its nature; It cries when uncomfortable, yet knows 
not whether It. Is sick or hungry; yet even in this 
untutored state it is soothed by the sound of the 
mother's voice, one of the first to reach its ear and 
quite the first to be comprehended; It has brought 
love with It. into this “world of woe,” and under 
the lnlluenoo of love and tender care It Is to be 
guided on Its peaceful way. 
Then how essential it Is that she to whom Is 
given this holy trust should have learned the con¬ 
trol of her own temper, keeping down every Im¬ 
pulse of harshness, all hasty words such as are 
often “spokou In a hurry, to be repented of at 
leisure.” Who has not seen the little lufaut, when 
a sharp word has been uttered, such os a command 
to “hush up” (It may be), sob and all Its features 
showing that It Is nearly heartbroken? 
You should begin your training in a steady, firm, 
but loving maimer, and always do the very thing 
you say you Will. If It Is a promise of reward or 
punishment, have your mind made up deliberately", 
and, If possible, never vary, l.et your clilldreu 
rely on your truthfulness; let them feel that "If 
mother says so, ltisso.lt It Isn’t so;” this will 
save you a vast, deal of trouble and that greatest 
annoyance, teasing. Ho not. say, “ I didn’t want 
you to go, but you bother me so.” Oh! how 
soon they learn tne weak point. I once knew 
a mother who was so easily diverted that all 
her child ron had to do was to make her laugh, 
and that put her In so good a humor that she 
could not punish them. 
Do not drive your little darlings from you by 
being too busy to be interested in their play and 
their petty grievances, seeming so small to you, 
but often to them as great trials for the time being 
as any they may have to endure In after life. A 
few moments’ attention, a word of sympathy or a 
kiss will go a long way toward healing a wounded 
or troubled spirit. Bring yourselves down to their 
level, and show them you can make companions 
of them; encourage them to confide in you with¬ 
out fear of ridicule, and they will never go away 
from you to find another on whom to bestow chclr 
confidence. It Is a lovely sight, where sons and 
daughters can thus repose their most perfect 
earthly trust in the loving heart that has yearned 
over them from Infancy; and this happiness you 
may enjoy if you only take the right course, llow 
many anxious hours U will save you to know 
where your children are, and In what company- 
feeling that they will not deceive their beloved 
and trusted mother. Bellow Beck. 
THE PROSE OF LOG-CABINS. 
Deah Mies Riplmv In order to give the ladles 
some Idea of the discomforts almost every new 
comer hies to put up with In making themselves a 
home, I will go back to our advent here, which 
was on Nov. soth, 18 TT. We bought what they 
call an improved place, but Floridians- have a very 
peculiar way of Improving their places. There 
were fifteen acres of cultivated land with all the 
dead pine trees standlug except those that had 
blown down. Every stump was left to mark tho 
spot whore the giant of the forest had stood, no 
matter how much In tho way it might be ; no one 
here woilld think of digging out a stump, for that 
would be a waste or labor, “ let them alone, they 
will rot out In the course of twenty years or so,” 
say they. We had several bearing orange trees 
and grape fruit, (Shaddock, I think. Is the proper 
name for them) plenty of peach and quince trees, 
with figs, pomegranltes. bananas, mulberry, sassa¬ 
fras, and l’ride of India trees, all mixed up together 
just as though they had been dropped and grew 
wherever they happened to fall. Scarcely any¬ 
thing standing where a person of any taste would 
want It, and not a vine, rosebush or flowering 
shrub of any kind about the yard, here too, where 
so many things of that kind grow almost sponta¬ 
neously. But the worst feature about It all was 
the miserable old log building which they called a 
house. If any one has any romantic ideas about 
log houses, let them come to Florida and the 
romance will soon disappear. Very few of the 
planters live in anything else and take them all 
In all, the surroundings and the Inside furnishings, 
they are the most comfortless abodes I ever saw. 
I dou’t Chink I can describe ours so as to give you 
half an Idea of what a doleful looking affair It was. 
It seemed to me I could never stay in It over night, 
but as It would very soon bo time to set out orange 
trees, roses, shrubs, <£c., and there was so much 
work to be done to get ready for that, we decided 
we must defer building for a few months. 
We were boarding in town, but found we could 
do but little unless we were on the spot to attend 
to it at all times, so we went to work to see what 
could be done towards making our cabin habitable. 
It was built after the tashlon, of this country 
long and narrow, not a window in It, with two 
w ide doors, one on each side, opposite each other; 
almost the whole of one end was taken up by the 
huge fireplace and chimney built of sticks and 
mud, there was no celling overhead and the rafters 
were covered with an accumulation of spider’s 
webs, which I do not tliluk had ever been disturbed 
In the whole eight years since the cabin was built. 
They were draped and festooned In the most fan¬ 
tastic way, some of the patterns so Intricate and 
beautiful, it really seemed a pity to ruthlessly 
destroy the effects of so much patient labor. I am 
fond of spiders and dearly love to watch them at 
their work, hut do not quite fancy their dropping 
down upon me at all times, so the first thing to he 
done was to have the roof thoroughly swept, the 
walls well washed with lime water and the punch¬ 
eon floor well scrubbed with soap and sand. 
The cabin was built of round logs, the spaces 
between having been originally battened with 
narrow hoards split- out by hand, many or these 
were gone, leaving huge crates which I called my 
"Bay Windows;" they gave ua a good circulation 
of air, too. I hung up sheets and blankets to hide 
the ugly walls, curtained off one end of the room 
for a bed room, spread some pieces of carpeting 
and some bright-colored rugs oil the floor, made a 
table of a largo packing-box, covered it with a 
spread, and put upon It the books, magazines and 
papers, 1 wanted ror dally use; put my writing 
table In a convenient corner, my sewing machine 
In tho middle of the floor, between the two doors, 
to get the light, lmng a few pictures, placed my 
husbaud’s easy chair on one side of the fireplace, 
my Victoria rocker on tho other, and when evening 
came it was cool enough to make a pitch-knot fire 
very comfortable and very pleasant. Indeed, that 
old fireplace alone was sufficient recompense for 
many deprivations. How beautifully It did light, up 
those old black rafters. It carried me back, too, to 
my childish days, when I used to dream over tho 
wood fire and see such wonderful pictures In the 
coate. if I found myself getting homesick or sigh¬ 
ing for the comforts and luxuries of my northern 
home., thoughts of my friends there, closely shut up 
within doors, trying to keep warm over their base 
burners, and looking at the outer world through 
frosted panes, would soon cure me. for here I was, 
in wld-wlnier with the doors wide open and the 
sunshine pouring In all day long, and living almost 
entirely In the open air. But this article Is already 
too long I fear; In my next I will tell you about 
our first winter’s work. l. b. s. 
Starke, Fla. 
-» ♦ » - 
ONE WOMAN’S AMBITION. 
Dear Club"ites.” Many topics have been dis¬ 
cussed In our meetings, and self-improvement has 
been not a little dwelt on. Perhaps a chapter on 
this subject from out of my own life may not be 
without interest. 1 ought, I suppose, to prerace It 
with an apology for thus thrusting myself and 
what concerns me, prominently before the mem¬ 
bers of the Woman’s Club, but as I write solely 
with the hope that possibly Borne one may bo en¬ 
couraged by my example 1 feel justified In waiving 
the apology. 
In my childhood like most girls I was put through 
a course ot piano tuition and was forced to spend 
many dreary hours practicing, l had In all about 
seven years of instruction. When my teacher was 
dismissed I had mastered a few gallops, and quad¬ 
rilles, some showy pieces of the Shower of Pearls, 
order, one or two overtures, and this comprised 
about the extent ot my musical knowledge. 
All the compositions of Beethoven, Meyerbeyer, 
and a host or brilliant composers were unknown to 
me. The rault or cc urse lay with my teacher. Ue, 
for It was a man with quite a metropolitan repu¬ 
tation as a good toucher—never insisted on my 
taking a thorough course in scales and exercises, 
hut as soou as I had tho least command over my 
fingers, lie gave me piece after piece, no one of 
which did 1 ever learn to play accurately. The 
result was when 1 came to a brilliant run, I had to 
stop then and there to learn it Instead of having 
acquired a thorough kuowledge of It and similar 
passages before l had a “ piece ” at all. Mothers, 
how many of your daughters are rushing Into 
pieces, and wasting their time on silly little polkas 
before they have mastered the alphabet of music? 
Alter the teacher was dismissed. I dropped play¬ 
ing and for months at a time the piano was un¬ 
opened. i decided 1 had no talent and concluded 
not to waste any more time over it. Y r ears passed 
and still the piano remained dumb. 
Something Miss Margaret B. Harvey wrote, made 
me question whether i had a right to allow all the 
time, effort and money expended in the endeavor 
to make an accomplished pianist of me to go to 
waste, and the result of my deliberations was that 
1—who have entered my fortieth year—determined 
to begin again. For my encouragement, there 
were the following facts; I am familiar with the 
notes,ftUetr situation, &e., my fingers had been 
broken In young and so are “ Umber,” ami Iain 
possessed of considerable knowledge which It would 
take a beginner a long time- to acquire, so that I 
had a little capital to start on. < m the other hand 
the dlshearummenta (if I may ho allowed ,to 
coin a word) of which the following are the chief 
made the prospect of success seem rather proble¬ 
matical. To start with I am thirty-nine, and en¬ 
thusiasm and hope are rather haid to Invoke at 
that age; I am eonfiued In a factory from s a. m. 
too p. m., for 6 days lu the week and then I am 
very poor. 
I bought a copy of Ulchardson’s Plano Method, 
and every night now finds me engaged tor two or 
three flours in a hand to key struggle with scales, 
arpoggios, five-finger exercises and octaves. 1 
lutend to study by myself for one year, and by 
wearing my old suit- this winter and economising 
In other ways, I hope to save enough to pay for 
Instruction next fall. It is my ambition to be a 
good pianist In three years, and after that I shall 
hope to run up the degrees until I reach superla¬ 
tive. 
And what advantage will result from It- 7 I do 
not Indulge In many day-dreams on the subject, 
but this much I know, a brilliant pianist Is wel¬ 
comed lu refined, cultivated circles; there are be¬ 
side many opportunities to earn something at 
fasUlonable “musleales.” I have now an object 
In Ufe. When the senseless chatter or the Ignoble 
conduct of the people with whom I am forced to 
associate Is more than ordinarily toying, I turn to 
my music for comfort and consolation. 
I have written thus at length, thinking, perhaps, 
I may by It encourage some good Rural sister to 
do and dare something outside of tho demoralizing 
routine of petty home cares, or ot tactory or store 
life, a something which will lift her above the 
common place. I sincerely hope that success may 
crown the efforts of every woman who honestly 
strives to become something more than a machine. 
Yours fraternally, Edn a Hocohton. 
♦ » »- 
THE SERVANT GIRL QUESTION. 
The experience of “Clare” has beeu mine for 
the last five weeks, and as misery loves company, 
her contribution was read with great Interest. 
A'oubave dear Clare, my sympathy, and I am 
y We In saying that of many others, who are sitf 
irking r.oiB ;.UJs-toi.y nuisance. It has been so 
»vears and there is no prospect of any change, on*/ 
serv ant out ot ten, by chance may be a good one. 
As long as we have Intelligence offices we will not 
have good servants. They get together there, 
and discuss every family far and near, and there 
Is always one leader and many weak minded ones, 
and they do more mischief In one day than can he 
undone in one year. I called at an Intelligence 
office to get a girl being In a great- st might for help. 
The person In charge, looked mo from head to foot 
and then without asking me to be seated, went on 
with some writing, directing circulars 1 took them 
to be, all the while leaving mo standing. A fter she 
had finished, she asked me my business, l in¬ 
formed her my object was to get a girl to go In 
the country tor general housework. She de¬ 
manded two dollars. 1 told her after I selected a 
girl 1 would pay her and not before, so she went- 
into a back room and returned with a very deli¬ 
cate young woman with a child In her arms. She 
would go a short distance In the country If the 
family was small and the work not heavy, for she 
and her child were sick and the doctor said they 
must have change of air and the child was teeth¬ 
ing and would die ir they stopped In the city, sle 
would go for fia a month If the work was not too 
hard. I Usiened until she had finished, then 
walked out of the office and will never enter one 
again. My next experience was hunting over 
the city. I cut out a number ot advertisements 
from the paper, and as it was raining 1 put on 
my rubber cloak and started at eight a. m. 
Called on seven, some were old and some were 
young all calling themselves yirls, hut I found 
most of them thought themselves very fine 
ladles; at last after five o’clock I found one willing 
to go in the country, who eaUcd herself a middle- 
aged woman, l engaged her and started for home. 
The next day when I set her to work l found she 
was at least seventy, almost blind and very 
lame, and knew nothing about cooking or any¬ 
thing else for that matter, so l shipped her. By 
that time 1 was sick in bed, caught cold in the 
rain, <jirl hunting. As soon as I could l had a 
horse harnessed aud scoured the country; at last 
I thought I was about to bo repaid tor all my 
trouble, l found one that could do every thing and 
would go for low wages, a good home being the 
greatest object, she did not care to run out nights, 
so 1 engaged the treasure, but she could not go 
home with mo then she would come next day. 
So l sent tor her the next day a distance ot six miles, 
she was not to be found anywhere. The man 
waited a while and then by t he directions given 
him wentto look tor her, finally after a great deal 
ot trouble he found her. l never was so glad to seo 
any one so 1 met her with a happy smile of wel¬ 
come, told her to go right up stairs and put. on Uer 
working dress aud hurry down as i had so much 
to do. She was a long time away so l thought I 
would go aud hurry her, I met her eonitng down, 
she said she had forgotten nor calico dress hut 
she wouldgu to ihe village and get one from her 
sister, aud would lx* hack In a half an hour, I felt 
like gtvlng up. or doing something to relieve myself 
of servants. Well after three days she came back 
all smiling with a good story, she found her bun¬ 
dle lu the wood-house, and an opportunity to look 
for another place. All of my neighbors and 
acquaintances are complaining of the. same 
trouble. Clare we are not alone. If that la any 
comfort. If every one could give ua their experi¬ 
ence we would hear of many laughable lliings as 
well as annoying ones. If any one can toll its of 
a way out or this dllc-mma I hope they will send 
It to the Woman’s Club, and oblige a 
HOUSEKEEPER. 
-- 
THE MUCH-MALIGNED MOTHER-IN-LAW. 
Alter reading “In behalf of Mothers-in-law ” 
In Rural Qf tilth of Sept, I felt inclined to cry out 
“Bully ror the Mother-la-law who dared to pro¬ 
test,” but considerations ot propriety restrained 
me, and I substituted a milder adjective of the 
“ approhatlve’’ degree. Bnt didn’t she polish the 
men off' nicely! 
It always did seem to me the acme, of Idiocy for 
men to go into convulsions ot laughter over bald, 
thread-baro jokes on this class ot women. A lec¬ 
turer or a knight of cork—otherwise a negro 
minstrel—will ask “ Why Adam wan a to he envied 
man?” and although the audience has heard the 
joke (?)somc score of times beforc.the answer, “Be¬ 
cause he had no mother-in-law ” Is invariably 
greeted with shouts ol'laughter. 1 don’t believe the 
men think It at all funny, they just applaud it on 
principle because it Is a slur on women. 
Men don't sneer at or make a Joke or their 
mothers, or their own children, they reserve this 
species of courtesy for their wives and their wives’ 
mothers. 
“ Mothers-ln-law are meddlesome.” Pity they 
were not more so.ltthey were "there would hefewer 
broken-down disheartened young wives. John rows 
to protect, shield and take care ot her generally, 
he can do It so much better than her mother, who 
being but a woman and having had only is or 20 
year’s experience cannot be expected to know so 
well as be.the subtile Instincts of whose love have 
taught Mm the needs ot her nature and how to 
minister to them. 
“ Subtile Instincts of love ” are quite delightful 
in books—makes the sentiment look so high-toned 
—but they a re very unsatisfactory for every day use. 
The mother very naturally has a most absorbing 
interest In the welfare of her child, and when she 
sees this girl Imposed on. slighted and brutally 
treated by her protector (?) is she to stand Idly by 
and let selfish John tyrannize as much as he will ? 
If ever f have a son-lu-law won't I lead him a 
life! All the wrong done to mothers-ln-law from 
the date man Invented the first joke against them 
down to the present, he will have to expiate. 
Avenger. 
CHAIRS AND PLANTS AND GRIDDLE 
CAKES. 
I worm like wPtell the writer of the “artistic 
room ” how to make a barrel chair. Take an apple 
or salt barrel and saw It half across. Just the bight 
she wishes to have the seat or the chair, and regu¬ 
late the width of the seat by the number of staves 
sawed off and tack the hoops on the part de¬ 
signed for thc-back. Now with a draw knife fash¬ 
ion the back with or without arms. To prevent 
the hack being loo hollow, take canvas or old bed 
quilt and tack on the inside of the hack, laylug an 
occasional vWwt and fasten over the outside pre¬ 
vious to attaching it. stuff well with straw so as 
to form a nice cushioned back, aud cover with any 
goods you please. Make a cushion to fit the seat, 
fill the bottom of the barrel with straw and fit on 
the cushion. Put four or live castors on the bot¬ 
tom, and your chair Is complete. Such chairs are 
handsome when upholstered. 
The first of September l bring all the plants and 
vines 1 w Ish to keep growing thm ugh tho winter In¬ 
to the Conservatory leaving the doors open day and 
night, for by so doing plants do not feel the change 
from out-doors to the house; after repotting such as 
need It, (l use slips of nearly all plants for winter 
blooming, especially geraniums, and start them In 
June.) I wash the. jars clean and paint them with a 
paint made of English vermilion, turpentine and 
a little furniture varnish mired, using a small 
brush, aud then T decorate with pic¬ 
tures. With slight expense, and a few horns labor, 
one can make home look very attractive and cheer¬ 
ful, after the coal fires are started In the fall. 
Ornaments oil coal stoves that have been dis¬ 
colored by hear can be made to look like new by 
scouring them with sifted coal ashes. 
1 make griddle cakes these eool mornings by 
mixing one-third corn meal, two-thirds wheat 
ilour, with buttermilk and saleratus, nice to be 
eaten with melted sugar and butter. 
Fulton, x. y. Mbs. c. f. ic. 
-- 
HER PLAN. 
Let iuc say in answer to “ Matilda ” that “ how 
to preserve my Riu.vls for future use ” was long a 
puzzling question to me. Now, I can exclaim 
*• Eureka ” for ray plan proves very satisfactory to 
tne. and 1 tliluk it cannot tail to be so to others, 
sew and cut the weekly numbers its soon as they 
arrive. At the end of eaeh month sew the four or 
five numbers together firmly in their order. Thus 
you have each-month by Itself and as easy for ref¬ 
erence as Scribner’s Magazine. At the end of the 
year you have the twelve ready to be bound, if you 
wish and 1 think It, advisable to have tt done. If 
the sewing Is attended to promptly, It Is easily 
done, but it takes hours of work If neglected. 
Marguerite. 
- — ♦- 
CORRESPONDENTS’ CORNER. 
Will some Ku kal reader please to furnish for 
publication the poem beginning: 
“Oho! The trumpet Bounds ; the din of war’s alarms. 
O’er Beas ami solid grounds, doth call us all to arms.” 
Reading to the niiddlo of the lines, downward, 
ns tt lu columns, gives an American's views on the 
Revolution; the regular reading, a British Tory’s. 
Reader. 
