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CONDUCTED BY MISS BAY CLARK. 
HOW WE INTERESTED OUR YOUNG 
PEOPLE. 
Our Ladies Sewing Circle belongs to a 
struggling church on the Western frontier. 
We have no church edifice yet, but use a hall 
instead. The society has furnished the hall 
with chairs, stoves, lamps and a good organ. 
We also have the foundation of a Sunday 
school library, A small room adjoining 
serves for a kitchen. We also have tables, 
and crockery enough to serve 50 people or 
more. 
Our circle consists of active, intelligent 
women, who meet for social intercourse, aud 
generally employ themselves with some light 
work. 
The sewing circle meets once in two weeks 
in this hall instead of at the houses of differ¬ 
ent members, gentlemen being invited to tea 
at six. I cannot refrain from telling you 
how it has become so dear and homelike. 
The hall is lighted by three w indows at one 
end and a sky light at the other, the platform 
and minister's desk being placed at the end 
with windows. This arrangement made it 
very tryiug to the eyes of the audience. One 
of the ladies conceived a plan to remedy this. 
She made a long curtain, reaching to the 
floor, of dark maroon canton flannel with a 
lambrequin edged with heavy fringe, for the 
middle window, directly behind the speaker. 
This curtain extended to the edge of the 
other windows, being 10 or 12 feet wide, com¬ 
pletely excluding the light from one. The 
light from the other two windows was soft¬ 
ened by movable screens. The upper part of 
these screens wore composed of light blue 
paper-cambric with a dado below of dark 
maroon, and when these screens and curtains 
were decorated at the harvest festival, with 
bright leaves and trailing vines and ferns, the 
effect was delightfully artistic aud restful. 
Another lady, skilled in drawing and cut¬ 
ting out letters, prepared mottoes for the 
walls from dark brown plush paper. In a 
semi-circle above the middle window was 
pasted this motto in capital letters directly 
upon the white wall: “The Kingdom of 
Heaven is within you." 
Near the entrance ami over the cabinet of 
Sunday-school books was placed this motto: 
“This commaudment I give unto you that ye 
love one another as I have loved you.” 
The ladies made it a study to furnish 
amusements and recreation of an unexcep¬ 
tionable character for the young people of the 
society in the way of games, entertainments 
of a social and literary nature. We have 
persistently kept out petty gambling institu 
tions known a-s grab bags and ring cakes. 
Soon after the summer vacation when every¬ 
body was fresh and iu good trim for work, 
the members of the Society were invited to 
the home of Mr, and Mrs, J. S., “for the 
pleasure of the society and the profit of the 
minister,” as the good man put it. 
A day or two before the time appointed 
a note was sent to a score or more of the 
people asking them each to write an answer 
in rhyme to the question enclosed, the 
rhyme to contain a certain word which was 
also sent in the note. These productions were 
to be read for the entertainment of the people, 
the game being called “Crambo.” The even¬ 
ing came and the house was filled with a glad 
company. There were humorous readings 
and quiet games. One of these games engaged 
both old aud young, and we call it, “What is 
it like aud why?” One person is sent out of 
the room and the others agree upon a subject 
to talk about. This time the word “Moon” 
was chosen. When the person was called in, 
she asked a little boy, 4 4 Wbat is it like f* He re¬ 
plied, “It is like the sun.” “Why“Because 
it is bright,.” Another said, “It is like a cow 
because it bad horns and a face.” She asked 
the third and received the answer. “It is like 
bread because it rises.” The one giving the 
most information by his answer, had to go 
out the next time. George Washington and 
other characters of history were talked about; 
and such things as the human hair, artesiau 
wells, etc. 
“Crambo” was then announced, aDd the 
crowd gathered about the reader, who stood 
by the center table aud was to read one by 
one the articles which had been prepared, the 
author’s names not being known generally, 
thus giving an opportunity for the company 
to guess the author of each piece. One paper 
was called “What did Katy do?" The word 
“sun' 1 to l»e inserted. Another, “Why is tbe 
darkest hour just before day,” and “darling,” 
to be inserted. Another. “Does the mewing 
of the cat, make music to your ears?” aud 
“dollar” was the word. “Where is the mother 
of vinegar?” with the word “charity.” This 
was written late the night before, by a tired 
tiller of the soil, and who is one of your sub¬ 
scribers, so I’ll quote it: 
Long time ago. when hut a child, 
Before we sought this “Desert wild,” 
I lived upon an orchard farm, 
And knew full well its storm and calm. 
I’ve seen the fruit trees bending low. 
In burnished red, or white, likesnow. 
I’ve seen the patient oxen come 
Drawing the elder apple home. 
I’ve seen the horse go round and round. 
And heart) the squeezing, crushing sound, 
As apples good and apples bad. 
like Charity, gave what they had. 
But I’m so certain. I could swear, 
Tlio' older turns to vlnegare, 
I did not see Its mother there. 
Well, time flow on. till hour by hour, 
The cider sweet was cider sour; 
Yet, e’er it turned to vtncgarc. 
We uever saw its mother there. 
Maternal sweetness keeps things sweet, 
Aud prof’table to drink or eat. 
Maternal presence hath no power 
To turn a tiling from sweet to sour; 
And hence, 1 urge, with lawyer’s care, 
There wasn’t any mother there. 
We strained the Cider in a butt, 
Sometimes ’t was. sweet and sometimes not; 
Atul all was done with so much care. 
I’m sure there was uo mother there. 
But time sped on; ’tis Sunday morn, 
The day on which linked beans are born. 
We haste away for vtuegarc, 
Aud lo! we see its mother there. 
She hides there all this time, It seems, 
With latent love, to bless our beans. 
Then solve the problem if you can, 
•’The boy’s the father to the man,” 
Or, take It tills way, If you’d rather, 
Vinegar’s parent to its mother. 
In a conspicuous place iu one of the rooms 
stood a man’s silk hat with a bunch of flowers 
on one side. This attracted so much attention 
Horn the gentlemen during the evening, that 
ten dollars were found within its depths when 
the company had gone home. 
And thus I give you a peep into one of our 
quiet country homes, at an .evening’s sociable 
or entertainment, and if 1 have helped to give 
any new ideas as to how the winter evenings 
can be spent, as well as how talents which lie 
dormant (and many times are unknown even 
to the persons themselves), can be used with 
profit and pleasure, I shall be well satisfied. 
MRS. O. HOWARD. 
TROUBLES AUD TRIALS. 
Mrs. Nason was busy with her sewing 
when her next-door neighbor sent her little 
son over to ask her to conic and see her. 
“Is your mother sick, Henry?” she asked. 
“I guess so; she is crying like everything, 
and she wants you to come right over as soon 
as you can.” 
“Tell her I will come directly,” she said, 
folding up her work aud putting a. stick of 
wood in the stove, “I cannot stop long as 
Mr. Nason will be at home in un hour for his 
tea.” 
Putting on her shawl she followed the little 
boy, and fouud his mother in a flood of teal’s, 
sitting before the sofa, which was piled with 
blankets and comfortables. 
“My dear Mrs. Langtry, what is the mat¬ 
ter?” she exclaimed, as she stepped to her 
side. 
«‘Oh deal’! what shall I do ? Just. look at my 
winter’s bedding! Everything is ruined! The 
mice and the moths have just destroyed all!’’ 
and she burst out afresh in a paroxysm of 
grief. 
“It is too bad!” said Mi’s. Nason, “I am 
sorry for you!” and she opened a pile of soft, 
white blaukete that were literally made into 
open-work by the insidious moths. “I 
should bung them out in the sun and frost as 
quick as possible,” she quietly said. 
“Then my nice comforts are all gnawed by 
the mice and full of nests! I never saw such 
work,” sobbed Mrs. Langtry. 
“Did you wash your blankets before you 
packet! them last Spring?” asked Mrs. Nason, 
“No, they were not soiled, aud so I laid them 
on the shelves in the closet. I thought they 
would be all safe, of course, and the comforts 
I packed on the floor. I do not believe the 
closet door has 1 icen opened since I put them 
there! Did you ever see such work?” 
“I never did, certainly! Did you put iu 
something to keep the moths out; and cover 
them up tight? Of course you did though.” 
“No, 1 never thought of it. I was in a 
hurry, and I supposed they would all be safe 
till FalL” 
“You packed your furs in camphor or to¬ 
bacco, I hope. It has been a hard Summer for 
moths,” said Mrs. Nason gently, as she shook 
out a mouse nest with half a dozen little mice, 
on the carpet. 
“I don’t believe I did. If my sot of furs are 
spoiled won’t Ed. Langtry give me fits! I 
will go ami look at them aud see,” she said, 
starting up. 
“1 would take care of these things first, wero 
I in your place, and get them out of the sitting- 
room. Time enough to-morrow to look after 
the furs. I am very sorry for you, but my 
deal- woman, an hour’s work aud care, last 
May, would have saved you a heap of work 
this Fall. I see no way but you will have to 
get some soft yarn and darn the blankets as 
well as you can, aud I reckon you will have 
to patch the comforts after you get the mousey 
odor from them.” 
“Did you ever see a woman have so many 
trials and troubles as I have ? You know that 
my sheets and pillow cases all mildewed last 
August, and my table napkins too,” anil she 
began to cry again. 
“My dear Mrs. Langtry, you have no one to 
blame but yourself; you are always iu such a 
hurry that yon do pot take time enough to 
properly care for things. If you hail dried 
your clothes they would not have mildewed. 
Troubles that we bring upon ourselves should 
be a warning against such haste in the future. 
‘Haste makes waste,’ is an old maxim and a 
tme one. 1 find.” 
“Oh, you careful, moderate people arc al¬ 
ways on the safe side, I suppose,” she said 
testily. “We generally avoid such troubles 
as these,” was the reply, “and I And it pays to 
take cai’e of what things 1 have. I am just as 
sorry for you as I can be, but I do not believe 
you will ever meet with such a disaster agaiu. 
Trials and troubles that the Lord sends us we 
have to accept as inevitable and try to be re¬ 
signed; but those which we bring upon our¬ 
selves through neglect, haste or carelessness, 
are not so easy to bear, for wo know they were 
brought upon us by our own oversight.” 
“Now, do not give me a lecture, for my hus¬ 
band can do that! but help me carry these de¬ 
testable things <m the back porch. I wish the 
whole lot was burned up and out of the way.” 
“Poor woman! You will never learn wis¬ 
dom,’' said Mrs. Nason, as she helped her neigh¬ 
bor clear the ddbris from the sitting-room. 
MRS. S. H. ROWELL. 
P0111 cstic 0€ 0110HU} 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
PITHS. 
Pansies are just now fashionable for dinner- 
table decoration. They are arranged iu 
circles of color upon flat dishes or baskets. 
A thoughtful, vise mother keeps pace with 
the development of her children. 
Raisins will stone easier if first covered for 
a few moments with boiling water. 
The tops of lamps require to be boiled every 
few weeks for half an hour iu strong soda 
water. Do this if you would avoid explosions. 
Garments worn at night should not be folded 
up and placed under the pillows. 
GASTRONOMIC GOSSIP. 
A DINNER FOR FEBRUARY. 
Spring Soup. 
Lobster Cutlets. 
Breast of Veal, Jardiniere. 
Curried Rice. 
Salad ... Watercress and Beets. 
Bavarian Cream. 
It 1s quite true that “civilized man cannot 
live without dining”; but it is also true that 
be will not show any enviable degree of civil¬ 
ization unless be has dined well. The cynic 
who said that the road to a man’s affections 
lay through his stomach, might have added 
that, like the “road to learning,” it is not a 
royal one. 
In view’ of the 805 breakfasts and dinners, 
not to speak of luncheons to be prepared for 
this Now Year of our Lord 1880, you will agree 
with me, geutle housekeeper, that it looks a 
very weary one. The Rural proposes to give 
from time to time a series of bills-of-fare aud 
culinary suggestions designed to relieve house¬ 
wives of some of the share of the burden of 
catering. 
In the early Spring, there Is no better soup 
than the one named above. Make a stock, by 
boiling slowly for five hours, three pounds of 
shin of bcof with three quarts of water: strain 
and let it get cold, in order to remove the 
cake of l’at from the top. The next day, set 
the soup over the tire and add the following 
vegetables all finely chopped:—Olio small 
carrot, one turnip, also small, one good-sized 
onion, three tablespoanfols of the t hick part of 
canned tomatoes, two stalks of celery, and if 
you can procure it, a few teaspoonfuls of 
minced lettuce and watercress, and a little 
parsley. Boil slowly for half an hour, season 
to taste, mid serve very hot. 
Lobster cutlets can be made from canned 
lobster,although the fresh is always preferable. 
Put two ounces of butter into a stew-pau, aud 
when it bubbles, stir in a heaping spoonful 
of flour; cook for a minute, and then pour in 
a small cup < >f boiling cream, and a half a 
pound of lobster cut iu dice. Stir until very 
hot, take from the fire and add the beaten 
yelks of two eggs, salt to taste, add the least 
bit of grated nutmeg, and a dash of Cayenne; 
return to the fire aud cook for a minute to set 
the eggs, Spread half un Inch deep on a 
buttered dish to cool, then shape like chops, 
clip in bread-crumbs, then in beaten eggs, and 
again in bread and fry a golden-brown in hot 
drippings. 
Have the butcher prepare a breast of veal 
for stuftiing by making an incision between 
the ribs and the ilesb, fill this with a force 
meat made of stale broad, a little stewed 
tomatoes, a boiled onion, and seasoning. 
Skewer the flap of meat into place, season 
well aud put into a baking-pan with a cup of 
boiling water. Bake for au hour and a half 
basting frequently. A slice or two of fat pork 
laid over the meat, adds to the richness of the 
gravy. Boil separately one carrot and oue 
turnip and six but ton onions,; the two former 
should be cut in dice; beat, in separate stew- 
pans half a can each of peas and string beans. 
Place the meat in tbe center of the dish, the 
vegetables in little mounds around it and pour 
the strained and the thickened gravy over the 
whole. 
Boil some rice; fry a minced onion iu a 
little butter until turning red. add a table- 
spoonl’ul of curry-powder dissolved in a little 
stock, boil up once, and pour over the rice, 
shaking it well so as to mix it thoroughly with 
the rice. For those fond of curry, (here is no 
more delightful accompaniment to baked veal. 
A simple French dressing made by mixing 
half a teaspoonful of made mustard, and as 
much salt, with three tablespoonfuls of vine¬ 
gar, aud oue of table-oil, and a salt spoonful 
of pepper, is the nicest for green salads. Sal¬ 
ads are so healthful aud refreshing that they 
should form a part of every dinner. 
Bavarian creams are as delicious as they are 
simple, and where oue has plenty of cream 
they are also cheap. Whip one piut. of cream 
to a stiff froth, laying it on a sieve. Soak 
half a box of gelatine in a small cup of water 
for an hour, keeping it in a warm place near 
the range; stir into this one pint of boiling 
milk that has been sweetened and flavored 
with vanilla: let it cool slightly and stir in 
the well-beaten yelks of four eggs,when it gets 
quite cold aud begins to thicken, stir itsteadiiy 
until smooth, then stir iu the whipped cream 
until well mixed; put in a mold and stand in 
a very cold place. elsie. 
HOME PHYSICIANS. 
An amateur doctress may be very useful, 
provided she has sufficient intelligence not to 
overstep certain bounds. Ladies who are 
fond of dabbling iu medicines, unless they 
know where to stop, may do much harm. 
There are many simple facts, however, that 
every mother should be acquainted with. 
The woman who when beef-tea was ordered, 
put the beef in the tea-pot and poured on boil- 
PijsreUancou.s 
The true cleanser 
is hot water, and only 
u n d e r the efficient 
action of hot water 
and a pure and effec¬ 
tive Soap like the 
Ivory, can soiled gar¬ 
ments be made to part 
with the oily refuse 
matter from the skin. 
Free of charge. A full size cake of Ivory Soap 
will be sent to any one who can not get it of their 
grocer, if six two-cent stamps, to pay postage, are 
sent to Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati. 1’leaso 
mention this paper. 
