influenced considerably thereby. The exhibi¬ 
tion of road horses was very large and the 
tests of speed seemed to be the chief attraction. 
One good feature of the fair grounds is the lo¬ 
cation of the race track—no one need go to the 
track unless attracted by the races. The ex¬ 
hibition buildings arc all between the track 
and the entrance to the grounds. 
The cattle display was a disappointment. 
Only a few really good specimens of Jerseys 
were shown. A few good Holsteius were ex¬ 
hibited, but only one herd of especial merit. 
The cattle pens are miserably arranged; better 
facilities for showing fine cattle would doubt¬ 
less bring out better specimens and add large¬ 
ly to the value of the exhibit. The show of 
sheep was very limited, as might be expected. 
Queens County is not adapted for sheep rais¬ 
ing. It is rather remarkable that a county so 
near the Metropolis should make so poor au 
exhibit of poultry. The poultry raising in¬ 
dustry is becoming an important one every- 
where, but especially near the large cities, and 
the association would do well to cut down 
some of the premiums for trotting horaes, and 
increase the premiums for poultry. Seudder 
& Townsend made a fine exhibit of Plymouth 
Rocks, and R. M. Seaman aud other breeders 
were represented, but the display was not 
what might be expected, 
The display of carriages was remarkably 
fine. James Downey, of Brooklyn, completely 
filled a large tent with his exhibit, which in¬ 
cluded every style of carriage from a road 
cart to the finest coach. 
The implement department was well filled. 
Mr. H. M. Willis, of East Williston, who is 
local ageut for uearly all the leading farm im¬ 
plements, led Hie display. 
A novel grindstone treadle attracted much 
attention, and is a valuable implement. The 
R. H. Allen & Co., H. B. Griffin and others, of 
New York City, the Riverbead Agricultural 
Works, aud local agents for a great variety 
of implements, added to the attractiveness of 
this department. 
The fruit aud vegetable show was not up to 
the standard. The fertilizer dealers made by 
far the finest exhibit of vegetables grown in 
the county. The fruits were excellent, so far 
as they went, but by far the best were grown 
out of the county. “G.” 
(For other Fair reports see page 6S2.) 
XUtmum’sWork. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY L. TAPLIN. 
IN THE OLD BARN. 
OMVK K. DANA. 
Its doors wide open the farmer throws, 
Aud in and out the sweet wind blows. 
One wide old door looks cast, one west; 
Oue long might ponder which view was best; 
For fresh and strong the west winds are. 
O’er the river near, from the hills afar. 
And pleasant odora the south winds bring 
From the woods and fields 'there the wild birds slug; 
Fair In the dawning the mea ows Be. 
Dark are the hills 'ueath tli sunset sky. 
Many a scent of the woods u d fields, 
And the pasture-slopes, the old barn yields; 
For field, and meadow and pasture hill, 
Eaeh gives Its treasure, Its space to fill. 
High Oil the mow, aud low In t he hay. 
Have willing hands heaped the fragrant hay; 
Green awl fresh from the swathe new-mown, 
Rank and Juicy and breaBt-htgh grown. 
And the slow staid cows from the uplands bring 
The scent of the woods and their nourishing; 
Where the best and sweetest wild herbs grow. 
And which are harmful fidl well they know. 
Patient and placid aud kind they wait 
Their turns, If the milker's task is late, 
And the creeping shadows dark aud still, 
With strange wlerd shapes, the old barn fill. 
And the gray old barn Is sheltering 
Other than these ’ueath Its ample wing. 
The calves and the yearlings frolic and play, 
From the stalls near by the horses neigh. 
And among the rafters, cobweb hung 
Where spiders unnumbered have spun and swung, 
Where none may venture and none molest. 
The cooing, fluttering swallows nest. 
In the gray old barns are hidden away, 
Memories sweet as the rragranf hay; 
Of dewy morning and starry night. 
Of summer beauty aud autumn blight. 
Of the tasks recurring at morn and eve, 
That the web of the farmer’s life-work weave, 
Of forethought wise and of anxious cure, 
Of falling crops aud of harvests fair. 
A second hearth, to the farmer, is 
The barn with Its clustering memories; 
Store house and castle, Its old walls hold 
Weapons of strength 'gainst the winter’s cold, 
Tonic and bracing its work and its cheer, 
Wlie.li frosts are tell , and the days are drear, 
And when Summer wanes, the pleasant farms 
Their treasures hide, In the old gray barns. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
The mannish cravats now worn by women 
are very bright colored, while men content 
themselves with soberer hues. The dry goods 
openings display so far few novelties in color. 
Red is again to be|popular; the newest shade 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBKEB. 
being coquelicot. The gowns made for this 
season are of soft neutral tints, gray and 
brown being preferred. English women have 
adopted a very useful fashion for autumn 
cotintry wear, viz.: a loose Garibaldi bodice— 
they call them shirts now—with simple skirts 
of contrasting tone. A dark moss-green skirt 
with a chintz bodice Is a favorite and artistic 
combination. The waistcoat is an invariable 
adjunct of English cloth gowus, and is seen in 
every variety of form that the dressmaker 
can devise. The Princess of Wales weal’s a 
frill of white muslin on the front of the open 
jacket. The fashion of white shirts and white 
waistcoats under small tailor jackets is very 
popular among English women. It is very 
becoming to the figure. 
French dressmakers are using watered rib¬ 
bon largely in trimming. Gray camel’s hair 
is very popular with this decoration. A 
single costume may be judiciously varied by 
movable vests, both contrasting and harmon¬ 
izing. A 1 icked vest of white linen has a very 
good effe with a dark gown. 
A BRIC-A-BRAC GOSSIP. 
Since high art aud aestheticism came into 
vogue a home of any pretensions without bric- 
a-brac is Hamlet with the royal Dane left out. 
But a good many people dignify with the 
name of bric-a-brac a collection of popular 
miscellanies we scarce can recognize under the 
title. True, we cau’t all possess Royal Worces¬ 
ter aud Crown Derby, but we need not deco¬ 
rate ( !) our parlor with cheap crockery and 
cheaper cbroutes until it looks like a tea store • 
arranged by an earthquake. Over-decora¬ 
tion, and that of a tawdry character, is a glar¬ 
ing fault in many househohls. We have all 
been iu houses where the rooms seemed afflict¬ 
ed with a chrome eruption of crocheted mats 
and tidies, breaking out. on every piece of fur¬ 
niture, and, though a stage higher in culture, 
the wontau who smothers everything iu art 
needle-work is equally reprehensible, since 
her unlucky visitors are in constant fear of 
causing her displeasure by injuring her deli¬ 
cate fabric or work. 
Still, every woman has a leaning towards 
faucy work, a fact borne out by the experi¬ 
ence of some energetic young women who 
started au Exchange for women’s work, in a 
small country town. They were inundated 
with art needle-work which they could not dis¬ 
pose of. because everyone gave her leisure to 
such work. But the culinary part of the Ex¬ 
change was a success, because the women who 
made their own art decorations could not—or 
would not—make their own pies. 
A bit of good china Is, iu our eyes, the most 
satisfactory of all bric-a-brac. It may not be 
“real,” but if selected with taste it is always 
charming. Without taste—well, we see so 
many porcelain atrocities fondly regarded by 
their misguided owners that it seems rather a 
delicate subject to discuss. 
' Nowadays there are few wares, either iu 
glass or china that are not perfectly imitated, 
the imitation while equally beautiful, natur¬ 
ally selling for much less than the real article. 
Both Staffordshire and Greenpoint offer some 
good examples, in imitations of Moorish por¬ 
celain aud Limoges faience ,, the latter is most 
beautiful and very moderate in price. Japan¬ 
ese ware is extremely cheap, aud pretty too, 
if purchased with taste. Then there is odd 
dark blue Flemish ware, with quaint pictures 
and Flemish mottoes—all manufactured in the 
United States. A little well-chosen bric-a-brac 
of this class, with a plaster cast or two, will 
give a room more character than an ava¬ 
lanche of art needlework. We do not mean to 
utterly condemn the latter, but wo see too 
many girLs neglecting the solid graces of good 
housewifery and the less tangible graces of 
mental culture for such work, until art em¬ 
broidery becomes a delusion and a snare to all 
such foolish virgins. 
CHEERFULNESS AND AMIABILITY. 
“A merry heart makes a cheerful counten¬ 
ance,” but there Is little virtue in the latter, 
when one has so good and sufficient cause for 
it as a merry heart. To hide an aching heart 
under a cheerful face is indeed heroic. A sort 
of heroism, too, that of which women have 
almost a monopoly, as, indeed, they need 
have. A man can still his heartache by a 
closer attention to business; by contact with 
the busy, bustling world; a woman must suf¬ 
fer and be silent. 
“Power,” says the Concord philosopher, 
“dwells with cheerfulness.” This, like all the 
gems from the pen of Emerson, is full of deep¬ 
est thought anil meaning. It is especially ap¬ 
plicable to the indoor life and work of women. 
Ernest Renan, in his “Recollections of youth,” 
speaks of his mother as one always very ready 
to laugh. What mother has not found out 
that seeming folly is often the truest wisdomf 
It is not enough to laugh with our children 
when they are babies. Send them to school 
bright and happy, with a smile and ajeheerful 
kiss. Children of all ages have a troublesome 
fasltion of gettiug out of the wrong side of the 
bed, as my graudmotber used to say when I 
was particularly cross and fretful. It is at 
such times that a mother must cultivate the 
calm. |tower of which Emerson speaks and 
pour oil on the troubled waters. 
Cheerfulness and amiability are greater 
conducive® to beauty than all the rouge and 
cosmetics that were ever invented. They can 
be cultivated just as well as any art or accom¬ 
plishment. Even under ordinarily adverse 
circumstances, sunny looks aud smiles and 
kind words cost only a slight effort, that with 
habit will cease to be effort. This power once 
acquired keeps the heart young and makes 
the oldest and plainest faces beautiful. Like 
beauty, it is very ofteu a heaven-sent gift, 
but unlike beauty, even though not to the 
manner born, you may still become the poss¬ 
essor of it. Think of it, wives and mothers 
before habitual peevishness and fretfulness 
have irrevocably left their lines upon your 
faces. E. s. 
. -- 
SELF-SUPPORTING GIRLS. 
An exchange asks, “Does it pay to be a wo¬ 
man ?” and proceeds to point out that it decid¬ 
edly does not pay, iu view of the fact that 
there are so many more women than men that 
it is quite impossible for every woman to find 
a husband, and that they are paid so much less 
for their labor than men. Still one’s sex is 
something outside of one’s own volition, and 
perhaps our contemporary would agree with 
us that the next best thiug to being a man is 
to be a self-supporting woman. 
A boy is educated from his babyhood to be 
self-reliant, and -with the idea always in view 
that, he must carve his own way in the world, 
while our girls are thrown helpless upon the 
world without any preparation to enable them 
to fight its battles. We have frequently heard 
young ladies deplore the fact that if they 
were left dependent there was nothing they 
could do to enable them to earn the price of a 
single meaL Somewhere our schools arc at 
fault for this state of things. There is too 
much learning of a little hit of everything 
and not much of anything. Master one thing 
thoroughly, and I do not care what it is, let it 
be only the ability to darn beautifully, aud if 
worst comes to worst, so that you can but do 
one thing better than most other people can, 
you will find exercise for your talents that 
will at least keep you from misery and want. 
Clerical work of all sorts, business of many 
kinds and nearly all the professions are now 
opened to women. Tweuty years ago the 
range was much more limited; there were few 
women clerks comparatively speaking, and 
few if any women employed as book-kee[ters 
and office clerks. A girl had small choice be¬ 
tween teaching, dressmaking or house service. 
To-day women are proving that they make 
equally as good clerks as men, are quite as ac¬ 
curate in figures, aud in many cases are gain¬ 
ing the reputation of being more obliging and 
faithful. Their services are beginning to bo 
recognized, and paid accordingly too. Tt is 
no uncommon thing for a feminine steno¬ 
grapher to receive from £1011 to $150 a month. 
To do this, however, she needs not only to Vie 
a very rapid writer, but to have great powers 
of endurance. There are few women who at¬ 
tain a high rank in this profession for want of 
the latter, but a limited knowledge of it such as 
any ambitious girl muy acquire in six months 
will enable her to command from $80 to $75 a 
month according to the demand. What girls 
require, whether in the household department 
or iu any employment, is thorough practical 
drill. Nothing can displace a technical ed¬ 
ucation aud a well-served apprenticeship in 
any business. 
Tt is contended by some that this unfits 
women for a domestic life. There are some 
women who never under any circumstances 
would be fit for it; to such it opens an avenue of 
escape from it, but a woman who has the true 
iustinct of womanhood will turn to love and 
maternity should these come within her reach 
as surely as the sunflower turns to the sun, 
while should these delights not be given to her, 
she will be saved from that worst of slavery, 
marrying for the sake of a home. 
A WORKER. 
-- 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
The more believers love God, the more they 
love one another; as the lines of a circle, the 
nearer they come to the centre, the nearer they 
come to each other ,—Gharnocb . 
There is no knowledge for which so great 
a price is paid as a knowledge of the world; 
and no one ever became au adopt iu it except 
at the expense of u hardened and a wounded 
heart.—Countess of Blesxington . 
Christian faith is a grand cathedral with 
dimly pictured windows. Standing without, 
you see no glory nor can possibly imagine any; 
standing withiu every ray of light reveals a 
harmony of unspeakable splendors. 
©6T 8 
It is no small or trivial matter when'the 
day Is ended to put the head upon the pillow 
with the consciousness that during the day no 
wrong deed has been done; and when life is 
closing iu, and the last days are rapidly run¬ 
ning out, the thought must be inexpressibly 
sweet that uo dishonor taints the name that is 
held so dear. 
Never get discouraged because things get 
on so slowly here, and never fail to do daily 
that good which lies next to your hand. 
A judicious observer has said: “ The longer 
I live the more T am certain that the great 
difference between men—betweeu the feeble 
and the powerful, the great and the insignifi¬ 
cant—is energy, invincible determination, a 
purpose once fixed, and then Heath or victory. 
The quality will do anything that, can be done 
in this world, and no talents, no circumstances, 
no opportunities will make any one successful 
without it,”...... 
Self-denia l is the most exalted pleasure, 
and the conquest of evil habits the most glori¬ 
ous triumph... 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNF.S E. M. CARMAN. 
A HANDY BOX. 
Fig. 386 shows a box that is very conven¬ 
ient to have iu a kitchen. It is 13 inches 
long, nine inches broad and eight inches high. 
Fig 386. 
The upper part forms a salt box of which A is 
the litl. The drawer, B, in the lower part, is 
divided into a number of apartments in which 
arc kept, spices aud other articles of household 
use. s. P. SHULL. 
-*♦«- 
THE POSSIBILITIES OF A MUTTON 
CHOP. 
“mutton is the most nutritious and di¬ 
gestible OF MEATS.” 
While mutton Is emphatically the poor 
man’s meat, it is not scorned by royalty itself, 
Queen Victoria’s favorite dish being boiled 
mutton and caper sauce, as it was that of her 
royal progenitor, George III. Charles II, af¬ 
ter the fatal day of Worcester, was glad to get 
it, and in a manner as unscrupulous as that by 
which kings frequently obtain what they de¬ 
sire. Oue of his followers, as we read, enters 
the sheep cote of a farmer, “chooses of the 
best sheep, strikes him with his dagger and 
sends a servant for it, who brings it to the 
king on his back.” Without waitiug until the 
meat gains sweetness by “hanging,” the king 
the next morning calls for a knife, and cut¬ 
ting some collops from the leg, fries them in 
a pan over the fire for his own break fast. It 
is probable that in Charles a good cook was 
spoiled to make a poor king. Lord Boling- 
broke had a fondness for mutton broth, while 
Ben Johnson was a noted lover of mutton as 
well as of tea. Dean Swi ft was partial to mut¬ 
ton pie, and eulogized roast mutton in verse. 
T do not. know if poets are especially subject to 
indigestion, but one would suppose so from 
Goldsmith's liues: 
"To poets who venison selilont can onl. 
Your very Rood muttou’s n very good trout,” 
As indeed it is when cooked by au artist. 
But let us return as to the cooking of our 
mutton chops. They are delicious grilled and 
need no other accompaniment than tv mealy, 
baked potato. They should be cut from the 
best end of the nock or, letter still, from the 
loin, fully three-quarters of an inch thick, if 
loin chops; shorten the bona* and trim off 
most of the fat. Make a mixture of one 
beaten egg, bread-crumbs sifted, parsley 
chopped uutil it is almost powder, a little 
powdered thyme, salt., pepper and nutmeg. 
Brush the chops over with melted butter aud 
cover thickly with this mixture. W rap them 
carefully in white paper, place them on a 
Clean, hot gridiron, and broil over a clear fire, 
turning frequently. They will require from 
eight to ten minutes. Remove the paper and 
arrange them on a hot dish with a bit. of but¬ 
ter under each. Have mushroom catsup ou 
the table. Use a double broiler, or turn the 
chop by seizing the trimmed end of the bone 
deftly aud giving it a quick turn, but. do not 
stick a fork into it, or the juices will escape. 
Stewed chops* should first be broiled for two 
