CONDUCTED BY EMILY L. TAPLIN. 
WHY MAIDS WILL WED. 
A good wife rose from her Led one morn 
And thought with nervous dread 
Of the piles on piles of doilies to be washed 
And the dozens of mouths to be fed. 
“There's the meals to get for the tnen In the field, 
And the children to fix away to school, 
And all the mil k to be skimmed and churned— 
And all to he done this day." 
It had rained In the night and all the wood 
Was wet as It could he. 
There were puddings and pies to bake 
And a loaf of cake for tea; 
And the day was hot. and her aching head 
Throbbed wearily ns site said: 
“If maidens but knew what good wives know 
They'd not be In haste to wed." 
“Annie, wliat do you think t told Ned Brown!” 
Called the farmer from the well— 
And a flush crept up to his bronzed brow 
And tits eyes half bashfully fell. 
“It was this” and coming near he smiled, 
“It was this: That you are the best 
And dearest wife In town.” 
The farmer went buck to the field, 
And the wife, in a smiling, absent way, 
Sang snatches of tender Utile songs 
She'd not sung In many a day. 
And the pain in her head was gone and her clothes 
Were as white as the foam of the sea, 
And tier butter as sweet and golden as It could be. 
The night came down - 
The good wife smiled to herself as she said: 
“ 'Tis ho sweet to labor for those we love, 
ft is not strange that maidens will wed.” 
—Neva Age. 
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
Frocks for children are loose and short- 
waisted, with full skirts aud wide belts. Coats 
are made after the same model. Woolen 
gowns are the only thing for street wear ex¬ 
cept in the case of old ladies, who may wear 
gray or black silk. 
A pretty style for a little girl is a Gretchen 
frock with puffed yoke, aud puffs in the arm¬ 
hole to match. Much velvet, astrakan aud 
plush is used for pockets, vests, collars, etc., 
on little girls' frocks and jackets. 
The author of "John Halifax" says that 
every girl who is not entirely dependent, on 
her male relations—a position which, consid¬ 
ering all the ups and downs of life, the sooner 
she gets out of the better—ought by the time 
she is old enough to possess any money to 
know exactly how much she has, where it is 
invested, and what it ought yearly to bring 
in. By this time also she should have acquired 
some knowledge of business—bank business, 
referring to checks, dividends, and so on— 
and as much of ordinary business as she can. 
To her information of a practical kind never 
comes amiss, especially the three golden rates, 
which have very rare exceptions: No invest¬ 
ment of over five per cent, is really safe; 
trust no one with your money without securi¬ 
ty, which ought to be as strict lx?tween the 
nearest and dearest friends as between 
strangers; aud lastly, keep all your affairs 
from day to day in as accurate order as if 
you had to die to-morrow. The mention of 
dying suggests another necessity—as soon as 
you are 21 years of age make your will. You 
will not die a day the sooner; you can alter it 
whenever you like; while the ease of mind it 
will be to you, aud the trouble it may sa ve to 
those that come after you. are beyond telling. 
It cannot be too strongly impressed upon 
every girl who lias or expects that not unde¬ 
sirable thing, “a little income of her own,” 
what a fortunate responsibility this is, and 
how useful she may make it to others. Hap¬ 
pier than the lot of many married women is 
that of the “unappropriated blessiug,” as T 
have heard an old nuiid called, who has her 
money, less or more, in her own hands, and 
can use it as site chooses, generously and wise¬ 
ly, without asking anybody’s leave, aud I ty¬ 
ing accountable for it to no one. But then 
she must have learned from her youth up¬ 
ward how to use it, she must not spare any 
amount of trouble in the using of it, and she 
must console herself lor many a lonely regret 
—we are but human, all of us!—with the 
thought that she has been trusted to be a stew¬ 
ard of the Great Master. Such an old maid 
often does as much good in her generation as 
twenty married women. 
♦ » »- 
A PLEA FOR THE GIRLS. 
“What’s mine’s mine” is a selfish saying, 
perhaps, yet what a satisfactory feeliug it im¬ 
plies. To think that the veriest trifle belongs 
to us absolutely,—“a poor thing but mine own.” 
And here we encounter a very great trouble 
to ninny girls. So very many well-moaning 
parents, while supplying all the material 
necessities for their daughters omit, a greater 
need than all,—a little independence. We do 
not meau independence of pu rental duty, or 
freedom from the loving bondage of home 
life, butjthejiudependence of possessing some¬ 
thing—it may be the veriest trifle, for per¬ 
sonal use and expenditure. 
THE BUBAL NEW-YOBKEB. 
06T 48 
We often hear men complain that women 
have no idea of spending money aright, or of 
keeping any record of the way it has been 
spent. Now, if a girl, from babyhood until 
marriage, is supplied with all she requires, 
without, purchasing anything herself, except¬ 
ing stray confectionery, it is not at all prob¬ 
able that, her housekeeping expenditures will 
be marked by great prudence or economy. 
She may have some ideas of cost, and a vague 
idea of being economical, but she will be 
wanting in judgment. She would la 1 some¬ 
thing like Mrs. Oliphant’s Lady Jane, who 
studied authorities on domestic economy 
when thinking of marriage with a poor man, 
and decided to buy only solid silver dishes, as 
they would obviate the expense of breakage, 
and keep a competent French cook, who 
would be so much more economical than an 
ordinary one. 
The English plan of giving each girl an al¬ 
lowance of so much—or so little—on which 
she is to dress herself aud pay all ordinary ex¬ 
penses, is admirable, and worthy of being 
more extensively adopted in this country. 
Where it is unnecessary or impossible for a 
girl to earn her own living there is every rea¬ 
son why she should have her own allowance. 
It should begiu upon her leaving school, when 
she has, presumably a fair stock of clothes to 
begin with. The amount, of the allowance and 
the purposes for which it is expended must be 
the result of circumstances. But ouo thing 
must be unchangeable; all gifts or charitable 
expense® must come out of the allowance; it 
must be an early lesson that gifts otherwise 
purchased are not personal gifts at all. 
This matter of allowance or income is 
doubly an act. of justice when the daughter is 
an energetic worker in the house. It is her 
bounden duty and service to work for her 
parents. Granted; but the duty of children 
should not cause us to lose sight of the duty 
of parents. And if regular work, well per¬ 
formed. is part of the daughter’s service, some 
little compensation will show her that her 
parents appreciate it, without causing it to 
take a strictly commercial aspect. We repeat, 
a fixed allowance, that a girl may regard as 
her very own, will give her independence of 
character, and ground her in habits of pru¬ 
dence and economy that will be of infinite 
benefit to her in after life. 
HOW MANY HOURS FOR SLEEP. 
“Now blessings light on him that first in¬ 
vented sleep! It covers a man all over, 
thoughts and all, like a cloak: it is meat for 
the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the 
cold, and cold for the hot.”—Don Quixote. 
Adages are not always to be depended on 
for good advice. The old saying in regard to 
sleep “nine hours are enough for a fool” has 
frightened many people from taking a rest 
that was necessary to them, “Nature takes 
five, custom seven, laziness nine and wicked¬ 
ness eleven,” is wrong in at. least two of its 
assertions. There arc very few instances in 
which nature does not demand more than II ve 
hoars sleep. It is true that sleeping, like eat¬ 
ing is very much a matter of habit, aud you 
may train yourself to dispense with more than 
five hours sleep, as you may to omit the third 
meal of the day. How long you will flourish 
under such a regime will depend upon the 
strength of your constitution. You inay fare 
like the man’s horse, who, when it had become 
reduced to a diet of one straw a day, in the 
most ungrateful manner, died on his bauds. 
A person may need nine hours sleep out of 
the 24, without being either lazy or foolish. 
Indeed he is a wise man if feeling that, he re¬ 
quires them, he is sensible enough to take 
them. Goethe, when performing his greatest 
literary feats, took nine hours sleep. 
A full grown udulL in a healthy condition, 
will seldom require more than eight. If, how¬ 
ever, he discovers that he is not sufficiently 
refreshed by eight, hours, he should take more. 
It is a pretty safe rule to sleep as long as you 
are sleepy. “There are people,” says a writer, 
“who are wise enough to eat when they are 
hungry, but who have never attained that 
higher degree of wisdom to sleep w hen they are 
sleepy.” Unless you are a very lazy person 
indeed, you are not likely to take more than 
your constitution requires, for, of course, da wil¬ 
ling in bed is not sleeping. 
By shortening the necessary hours for sleep, 
you may bring upon yourself “insomnia.” 
There are scientific writers on the subject who 
claim that the best remedy for this is to learn 
to sleep in the daytime. This is very well 
where from some cause, work, watching or 
pleasure you may have failed to get your 
needed sleep for a night or two. There is un¬ 
doubtedly a great virtue in naps, even short 
ones, and the art of napping in the day-time, 
although I could never acquire it, is a desir¬ 
able one, and like most arts is a matter of 
practice. Still it xsa bail practice to get into the 
habit of turning night iuto day, aud if you 
are not kept awake by care or illness, but 
merely have lain awake because you could 
not sleep. I should recommend you to fight the 
consequent drowsiness of the next day, in 
order that you may, if possible, resume your 
natural rest at night. Sleeplessness is gener¬ 
ally the result of au unfortunate habit of 
“thinking.” generally on unpleasant subjects 
after one has retired for the night. Dr. Frank 
Hamilton, a great physician and a wise man, 
said: “Gloomy thoughts prevent, sleep. The 
poor and unfortunate magnify and increase 
their misfortune by too much thinking. 
‘Blessed be he who invented sleep!’ but thrice 
blessed be he who shall invent a cure for 
thinking.” Margaret newman. 
THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 
How much one’s ideas are awakened on en¬ 
tering a country fair ground. Here are ar¬ 
ticles of almost every description placed for 
inspection, some of them cannot be equaled 
in our estimation, aud such things create in us 
a desire for the improvements of modern ways. 
In one of the late Rurals wasa picture of the 
Exposition budding at Hnrnellsville. It. was 
at, this place I had the pleasure of attending a 
fair. On eutcriug the grounds from the east, 
on either side were displayed the agricultural 
implements. One, a self-binder, was run by 
steam on the gounds to show its merits. 
Among other things that attracted our atten¬ 
tion were the plows, harrows, drills, hay-ted¬ 
ders, potato diggers, reapers, mowing ma¬ 
chines, cultivators, and all the mechanical ap¬ 
pliances used on the farm. Passing uloug we 
entered the exposition building. About the 
first thing that met our gaze was the exhibit 
from North Carolina. I shall not attempt to 
name all the exhibits but some wore as fol¬ 
lows, flax, cotton, jute, sorghum cane, broom 
corn, sugar cane, crab grass. Hungarian, Red 
Top,Native clover,corn, chu fas, fruits and nuts 
of every kind and description. There were 
beans no larger than the smallest pea, that 
looked very nice indeed. It was interesting 
to view the productions of that far-off sister 
state. 
At each end of this building is a staircase 
leading to the second floor. At the east end 
on this floor is the picture gallery. In addi¬ 
tion to the pictures there was one collection 
of coins that contained 1700 pieces: another 
collection of foreign coins contained one that 
was over 1.000 years old. The display of arra- 
sene and crazy work was exceedingly fine. 
There were numbers of silk quilts mostly crazy 
work, but one that was not of this style con¬ 
tained 9,584 pieces. A novelty in curpets was 
a hit or miss worsted and silk rag carpet. 
Some of the quilts had hand-made lace around 
them, aud others had a border of dark maroon 
velvet pointed; on each point wasa ball of 
old gold and maroon alternately. A large 
octagon frame contained 92,259 pieces in 
feather flowers showing much skill. One more 
thing worth mentioning was the floral hall 
on the first floor situated in the central part 
of the building. The flowers wore arranged 
in pyramidal form; in the centre of this a 
fountain sent its mist and 'spray over all. 
Scattered among the flowers wore pampas 
grass which grows in California; in its natural 
state it is cream colored or white, but these 
were colored in every hue. 
"here was a fine display of poultry of all 
kinds. One interesting exhibit was an in¬ 
cubator batching young chicks; from 250 fer¬ 
tile eggs 21Hchinks were hatched in three days. 
The little motherless things acted us though 
they were perfectly contented, lnodditionto 
this there was a dog show in a side pavilion. 
On the second duy Governor Hill was intro¬ 
duced by the Hon. H. Bends, who gave us a 
very interesting address, lie said; “The 
farm is the (rue home: aud farmers should 
appreciate the good and blessed advantages 
Connected with farm life. By diligent aud 
careful study the farm homo can be made the 
most attractive to all classes of people. Often 
the people from large cities flock to the coun¬ 
try for more beautiful and attractive homes, 
even though they tarry but a while. True 
farming should not be confined merely to 
raising fine stock and horses, but the farmer 
should look well to the surroundings of his 
home.” In his address the governor said: “ I 
have known some men to be very particular 
in cutting every spear of grass in their fields, 
to have them look smooth and nice and at the 
same time the front yard where the lawn 
ought to lie would be filled with tall weeds 
and grass. It would pay farmers to invest a 
few dollars and a little time in making their 
homes more attractive by planting and setting 
out trees and flowers, annexing a piazza or 
two with trailing vines running here and 
there. Also have bright aud cheerful pic¬ 
tures arranged in your rooms together with 
other things that add to its attractiveness.” 
The helpful words of these addresses were 
among the many things calculated to instruct 
at this fair, and it was unanimously decided 
that these annual gatherings should do much 
for the social and material advancement of 
the class benefited by them. 
MARY D. THOMAS. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
Somebody has well said that a woman 
should never accept a lover without the, con¬ 
sent of her heart, nor a husband without the 
consent of her judgment. .— 
The Christian at Work says: “Every new 
church built is a fresh and emphatic announce¬ 
ment to every noisy infidel aud scientific ag¬ 
nostic that the people are not yet ready to 
throw aw ay their Bibles, their God, and their 
hope of immortality. Lot such notices be 
multiplied on every baud. The best reply to 
on infidel is to build a church, and thus prop¬ 
agate the pure spirit Of the Gospel.”. 
A pride of doing all work well, aud for the 
sake of doiug it well, can he taken in almost 
any department of household labor. Happy 
the woman who has learned the secret and the 
art of how to get, and getting the most recrea¬ 
tion possible out of her ordinary tasks. 
In the light of duty performed, no life can 
be wholly commonplace, and in the seekiug of 
what the highest is, many a truth will be 
stumbled upon which can never be found by 
any who work from lower motives. And in 
experience of every day life, the words of the 
German poet are verified, that 
“Rest Is not quitting tlte busy career— 
Rest is the fitting one’s self to one's sphere.”. 
A WITTY old deacon put it thus: “Now, 
brethern, let us get a supper and eat ourselves 
rich. Buy your food, then give it t<> the 
church; then go and buy it hack again; then 
eat it up, and your church debt is paid.”. 
A love of good books is one of the best safe¬ 
guards a man can have. 
A real gentleman is as polite to a little 
girl as to a woman. 
The right word is always a power, and 
communicates its definiteness to our action... 
Walk boldly and wisely in the light thou 
hast; there is a hand above which will help 
thee on. 
A SWEET THING IN CORN. 
The picture shown at Fig. 393, which we 
Fig. 393. • 
have re-engraved from a German paper, may 
give the ladies a new idea. We have no sug¬ 
gestions to make. It is rarely wise for 
members of the sterner sex to attempt to 
pry into the secrets of feminine loveliness. 
Wo make more of a success as critics, showing 
our approval in nil earnest manner whenever 
the ladies seem particularly attractive, with¬ 
out detailing the various combinations of col¬ 
ors and shapes that have produced the pleas¬ 
ing effect. We see no reason, however, why 
bright corn husks or even u corn cob will not 
look just as well on a lady’s hat as a collection 
of feathers or dead birds. The corn orna¬ 
ments would certainly show a kinder heart, at 
least. A brother. 
Domestic conomt) 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
“JUST HOW.” 
All branches of housework can be greatly 
lightened if we only know “just how” to go at 
the task. 
When the clothes are brought in from the 
line, do uot let your servant throw them into 
the basket helter-skelter in a crumpled heap. 
Foltl them smoothly piled one upon another on 
the ironing table and cover with the ironing 
blanket. In the morning they may be sprink¬ 
led in hall - the time; roll up lightly until ready 
to iron. 
A carpet can be brightened and cleaned by 
