tMowmi’sWflrk. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
OP INTEREST TO WOMEN. 
A little kindly courtesy goes a good way 
in a busy household, aud if in our homo we 
use the same politeness as we offer our guests, 
we shall see no ill-flttihg “company manners.” 
The. new winter wraps soeu so far differ lit* 
tie from those of last season, excepting that 
the majority display a tight capo coming to 
the waist-line. Some very shapely Newmark¬ 
ets with these capes are seen, made of smooth 
checks. The rough homespuns so popular last 
W inter seem to have disappeared entirely from 
the counters of large stores; it is impossible to 
purchase! them. What becomes of these out 
of date goods is a profound mystery to the un¬ 
initiated. 
At this Season the perennial church fair and 
its allies appear before the public, and the pro¬ 
moters of such enterprises are usually anxious 
to provide some novelty. A good idea for 
such an entertainment is a loau exhibition 
with some novel supper in addition. Articles 
of “bigotry and virtue,” as Mrs. Malaprop 
says, may be borrowed from every oue pos¬ 
sessing such: tastefully arranged they make a 
pretty show. Such au affair in a New Jei’sey 
town had in addition a Dutch kitchen, ar¬ 
ranged with real old Dutch furniture, where 
meals a In Holland alar wove served by wait¬ 
resses in gowns of gemline Dutch antiquity. It 
looked like a Washington Irving interior aud 
was a great success on the ground of its nov¬ 
elty. _ _ _ 
NOVELTIES IN DECORATIVE ART. 
Since decorative art became chief idol of all 
feminine souls the dealers in bric-a-brac and 
like vanities have been making constant ef¬ 
forts to propitiate that exacting deity, until 
earth aud sea and sky are ransacked for nov¬ 
elties in decoration. We may congratulate 
ourselves that the reign of aesthetic gloom is 
past—wo are no longer required to sit on im¬ 
practicable chairs in the dim shadows of im¬ 
possible windows, all in the name of art. 
This season wo seem to have entered au era of 
gilding and metallic effects, since everything 
is thus adorned, from gdded wash-boards to 
gilded Chianti wine- flasks, the latter, by the 
way, making a very quant and pretty orna¬ 
ment when tied with a big bow of vari-col- 
ored ribbon. 
A decided, novelty this season was a genu¬ 
ine Hindoo punkah, made from the great 
leaves of the stately Chinan palm, a near rel¬ 
ative of our own palmetto. They are gilded 
or bronzed, then decorated with garlands of 
natural flowers and foliage, preserved by some 
secret process similar to electro-plating, keep¬ 
ing the delicate natural form under its coat¬ 
ing of metal. But if the gorgeous Hindoo 
fans suggest Schorezade and her train, some 
dainty little French china candlesticks must 
have been designed for Queen Titan in herself. 
Imagine a full-bloom La France rose, with its 
curving, silvery-pink petals, bearing iu its cen¬ 
tre a dainty rose-pink spiral that it seems pos¬ 
itive profanation to call a candle. They are, 
without doubt, the daintiest trifles imagina¬ 
ble, quite irresistable to any feminine heart. 
Who would imagine that a decorative 
future lay before the pith of everyday, un¬ 
roman tie coru-stalks ; yet we are shown 
charming hanging cabinets covered with a 
tressellated design iu this material. It. is pre¬ 
pared with fish-glue, according to a process 
known only to the iuventoi, aud has a soft 
whiteness very pleasing to the eye. These 
cabinets are mounted with stuffed birds; their 
natural treatment affords a great relief after 
the stained-glass attitudes aud conventional 
designs affected by the average taxidermist. 
The same artist, we believe, is designer of 
some exquisite bird screens ; one specially 
worthy of note was of peacock blue plush, 
mounted in brass, bearing a single snowy 
egret; it is bordered with soft white and 
Quaker-tinted teathers, with one tiny bird iu 
an upper corner. 
We are all familiar with the use of straw¬ 
matting as a dado, but we saw it put to a new 
purpose; it was made into a screen or panel, 
handsomely painted iu oils, a work of infinite 
difficulty ou such a rough and porous surface. 
A screen of this material, mounted iu gilded 
bamboo, depicted a Cardinal’s reception. 
We may stop to listen to the chimes of a 
tall, ancestral-looking clock, though the case 
is a reproduction, the works are old English, 
striking the bourn with a clever imitation of 
old Westminster chimes. It is too saddening, 
however, with it ceaseless 
Never, forever 
Forever, never; ” 
We pass on to a quaint chiffonier in Dutch 
marquetry, similar iu style to Sheraton furni¬ 
ture, and containing enough secret drawers to 
hide away the wills of a regiment, )]ere is a 
carved Flemish cabinet, too, which would 
have gladdened the heart of Edwin Forrest, 
whose taste in that direction was above re¬ 
proach. The deep-toned carving of the cabinet 
brings out in fine relief some of Webb's Eug- 
lish glassware that suggests in form aud color 
some of the old semi-opaque Venetian, Of old 
Venetian there is a choice display, perfect in 
form and matchless in coloring, while Crown 
Derby aud Royal Worcester, Modern Bretby 
and quaint Satsuma make a background 
suggestive of Keramos itself. Truly, of makmg 
of hric-a-bric there Is no end, and we shall 
coutinue to worship the Protean fetich we call 
decorative art indefinitely, unless Dame 
Fashion steps forward, aud orders us, in the 
language of Mrs. Gradgrind, to go and be 
somethingologieal immediately. 
♦ ♦ 
LETTING THINGS SLIDE. 
ALICE BROWN. 
Housekeepers who are mothers and have 
care aud work in unlimited quantities often 
let all that is worth living for slide out of their 
lives, ami themselves slide early into the grave 
or worse iuto hopeless, disappointed drudges. 
They have seen a long procession of valued 
things slide away. Leisure and strength, the 
approbation and praise of husband aud child¬ 
ren, time to give to the society of friends and 
the enjoyment of books aud papers, or for at¬ 
tention to the details of neat and becoming 
dress. Perhaps good temper and loving kind¬ 
ness have joined the procession aud beautiful 
hope sorrowfully and reluctantly followed as 
the lust of the departing train. 
It is unselfish women who do this, but they 
make an idol of thisvirtue aud sacrifice them¬ 
selves to it. They give to their households all 
that they thoughtlessly demand and find their 
gifts exhausted long before their families cease 
to need their wealth of hand and heart. 
The home should come before the bouse, 
the heart, before the body, the mind be¬ 
fore the appetite, t he woman before the drudge, 
aud she who aims and strives for the higher 
things will not become a cipher in her own 
household. 
It may take more moral courage to refuse to 
do all the drudgery of the house than to ac¬ 
cept it. But if by any managing or contriv¬ 
ing the heaviest work can be done by some 
other than the mother, the home will gain 
more than the house will lose. It is often im¬ 
possible to hire a girl by the week or month, 
but there may be a boy or girl iu the neighbor¬ 
hood who could come for half of each day, to 
bring iu wood and water, gather and prepare 
vegetables, do the churning, if not too heavy 
for the size of the child, and save countless 
steps iu many ways. If treated with kindness 
and justice the boy or girl would be glad for 
the chance to earn something. If no boy or 
girl is available, some wash-woman iu the 
neighborhood may be glad to do the churning 
in exchange for a share of the buttermilk each 
time or to help during house-cleaning time, in 
return for old carpeting that she could use 
in her smaller rooms. 
When any variety of good fruit has become 
a drug on the market, the same woman may 
be glad to give a few days’ work and receive 
her pay in the fruit. The pay in such a case 
ought to be at the market price of the fruit be 
that as low as it may. When a man Is em¬ 
ployed for the year, on the farm, his duties 
should include during the Winter, buildiug 
fires, carrying wood, and any heavy work 
that comes within his skill. Any such work 
ought, to be specified when he is hired aud ac¬ 
cepted with appreciation if done cheerfully. 
If the children are old enough to assume 
some responsibility, they can lighten the 
mother’s load and ought to take delight in 
their work. Rewards given with judgment, 
aud a regular allowance of money for regu¬ 
lar work done by the oldest ones, will bright¬ 
en the work very much for all. 
Having divided the labor relieving the head 
of the household department of as much as is 
possible, the time thus gained ought to be giv¬ 
en to something recreating and uplifting; 
something enjoyable. At least once a week 
the mother should have some evening set 
apart to entertain husband and children, that 
they may' become her warm friends as well as 
her nearest relatives. 
Giving and receiving the same courtesy 
from each other that is thought due other 
friends will beautify home wonderfully, and 
it will be as attractive as the home is hateful, 
where drudgery, cross words aud selfish 
strifes dwarf and distort the furnily life. 
HINTS FOR ACCIDENTS AND EMER¬ 
GENCIES. 
Tjiere are comparatively few mothers who 
know just how to act in case of a sudden ill¬ 
ness or accident. At such times, all the reme¬ 
dies one has ever read or heard of, seem to 
escape one as if by magic. Such of our read¬ 
ers as have a family of young children with 
ever present bumps and bruises and illnesses 
may find it worth their while to cut out this 
article, which lias been carefully compiled, 
and paste it where they can have ready ac¬ 
cess to it iu case of need. 
In case of a cut or wound, decide first 
whether the blood comes from an artery or a vein 
If it is of a dark color, oozes slowly aud even¬ 
ly, it is from a vein, while if from an artery, 
it will be bright red, and spurt in jets. In the 
former case you can generally check the bleed¬ 
ing by T binding on a hard pad. In the latter 
case tie the limb with a twisted handkerchief 
or clotb between the wound and the body. 
Then apply cold cloths, ice, or in severe cases 
cloths dipped in a solution of alum or tannin. 
As soon as the bleeding is checked, bring the 
edges of the cut closely together with adhesive 
plaster. If any mutter forms, wash the cut 
frequently with a solution of carbolic acid, 
one part of the acid to 100 parts of the water. 
If a sprained ankle occurs, remove as quiek- 
ly as possible the shoe aud stocking. Wash 
frequently with cold salt water, aud if there 
is much heat in the joint, apply cloths wet with 
witch hazel, which is generally on hand iu the 
family medicine chest. A mixture of seven 
ounces of water, one of opium, aud oue dram 
of sugar of lead is also excellent. Keep the 
foot elevated, and cool, do not stand on it, 
nml move it as little as possible. For the sting 
of a bee or the bite of any insect, apply a 
bruised onion, ammonia, diluted, witch hazel 
or bi-carbonate of soda to the part affected. 
Chidreu frequently suffer greatly with ear¬ 
ache; a drop of warm olive oil mixed with an 
equal amount of laudanum will often relieve 
this if dropped in the ear. Place a little cot¬ 
ton well saturated with chloroform iu the 
bowl of a clay pipe; insert the stem into the 
ear of the sufferer and plow gently. The 
evaporating chloroform will relieve the pain 
immediately. If there is any foreign sub¬ 
stance in the eye, take hold of the lashes of 
the upper lid with the loft hand aud pressing 
the dull point of a pencil against the middle 
of the lid, turn it upwards, then remove the 
substances with a camel’s hair brush or the 
corner of a soft handkerchief. Particles of 
lime often cause great pain if they get into 
eye. Apply weak vinegar to neutralize the 
alkali and remove the particles as directed. 
Many a fond mother has been so frightened 
at being awakened by the peculiar ringing 
rattling cough that heralds croup, as to be un¬ 
able to apply or think of a remedy. This 
disease always attacks its victims in the night, 
and is to be greatly dreaded on account of the 
extreme rapidity with which it developes. If 
possible, in this as iu all cases where you dis¬ 
trust your own ability to act, send for a 
physician, but meantime, until his arrival, 
much may be done to cheek its ravages and 
relieve the patient. Give an emetic, ipecac in 
teaspoonful doses every live miuutes until 
vomiting ensues, is the easiest to give a child ; 
put. hot, moist poultices of flaxseed or hops on 
the throat, aud upper part of t he chest. A hot 
bath if practicable will often give relief. 
Diptueria is another malignant disease 
where a little prompt action will sometimes 
avert the most serious consequences. The 
symptoms are soreness of the throat, paiu in 
swallowing, and the formation of a grayish 
membrane in the bi :k of the throat. There is 
always a low fever, depression of spirits and a 
rapid decrease of strength. An eminent 
physician toll me that, one of the best 
remedies to be applied in the early stage, is to 
paint the thruat inside with iodine, if this is 
not at hand, use lemon or lime juice until it 
can be obtained. If the patient is old ouough 
to use a gargle, pure lemon or lime juice, a 
solution of chlorate of potash, sulphur and 
water, or alcohol and water are very affective. 
Powdered sulphur blown iuto the the throat is 
also good. 
Hiccough is disagreeable and sometimes 
dangerous. A few drops of ether on a little 
sugar will frequently give relief when all 
other remedies fail. 
Selma Clare. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
The Holstor Methodist says: Seek to be use¬ 
ful aud let greatness take care of itself. 
The nerve-force invested in fretting aud 
complaining is the poorest investment iu the 
world .*.... . 
Do not trouble yourself so much about 
whether your church is a regular gospel 
church, us whether you are a regular gospel 
Christian. 
You laugh at the quaintness of the country 
preacher, and fail to profit by his words of 
truth. It is the old “Go up bald-head” spirit. 
May the Lord give uio such an insight into 
what is really good, that 1 npiy not rest con¬ 
tented with making Christianity a mere 
addendum to my pursuits, or with tackuig it 
as a fringe to my garments!— Georye HU at.,.. 
Hon. P, T B arium says that the argument 
to which he surrendered when he became a 
total abstaiuer from intoxicating beverages 
was presented by the late Rev. E. H. Chapin. 
It was this; “Either you can stop drinking 
without difficulty, or you cannot. If you can 
stop without difficulty, then you ought to do 
so for the sake of your example. If you can¬ 
not stop, without difficulty, you are already 
in great danger and you cannot escape it a 
moment too soon.”. . 
Domestic Cc0ttomi| 
CONDUCTED by MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
What can be more hopelest 1y, helplessly un- 
hoinelike than a parlor full of sjtan-neiv 
furniture? 
IRONING BOARD. 
A very handy' board for ironing dresses, 
shirts and in fact garments of all descriptions, 
can be made by anyone who can handle a saw, 
plane and square. The illustration shows 
how the board is notched near the ends to al¬ 
low of the tips of the chairs passing through. 
Place the clothes’ basket on one of the chairs, 
GEORGE BELTON. 
ONE WINTER.—No. 1. 
ANNE THRIFTY. 
We were poor that Winter and we 
faced the fact cheerfully; if the elders of the 
family, my uncle and myself, were not always 
happy, the growing twin boys seemed to be, 
and that we felt was a great deal to say of the 
little city homo that had lost the presence of 
wife and mother in the early Autumn. 
Economy was absolutely necessary and was 
practised in the kitchen and pantry as care¬ 
fully as elsewhere in the house. We had a 
cow and two hens, and from an eighth of an 
acre of ground we lmd saved for winter use a 
dozen tine Hubbard squashes and a few dry 
Lima beans, and had canned two dozen quarts 
of •tomatoes. Our food was plain and fru¬ 
gal. For breakfast we often had a loaf of 
corn-bread made by pouriug boiling water 
over two cups of corn meal first salted (we al¬ 
ways used white meal iu Indiumf) and the hat¬ 
ter being right to pour readily it was poured 
into a hot greased pan aud baked to a nice 
brown in a brisk oven. 
Heat was the secret of success in this bread, 
and when rightly made and baked we thought 
it very toothsome. Wo often ate it broken 
into new milk nud said, as wo enjoyed our 
simple breakfast, that a king might envy us. 
Our cow and tho two hens gave us good food 
for the growing boys, aud we felt that with 
good milk wo dared economize iu meats with¬ 
out danger to health. 
The hens faithfully provided oue egg every 
day and all of us being fond of beau soup, I 
often made it for dinner with egg dumplings 
in it. Sou[i beans were six cents a quart, and 
after the Limas from our garden were gene I 
bought those for our soup. When boiliug the 
beaus for tho soup t he water was poured off 
twice aud fresh added, otherwise the soup 
would have had u strong, unpleasant flavor. 
Tho dumplings were made of two eggs 
beaten light, into which was stirred about 
a half-cup of flour and a half-toaspoouful of 
baking powder aud a pinch of salt, making a 
baiter which, dropped in spoonfuls into tho 
soup, puffed into light yellow balls; and they 
were ready to serve with the soup after live 
minutes’ boiling. 
For several days I would save the daily egg 
and then use the four or six, as it might be, 
for a dish of scrambled eggs, made by break¬ 
ing the eggs into a pint of milk and stirring 
when they began to harden. We liked it bet- 
so than to beat up the eggs before mixing 
them with the milk, Sometimes when the 
