lO 
January 3 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
[ Woman and Home 
From Day to Day. 
“THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN.” 
He’s a foe to honest farmers, 
Though a farmer be himself; 
And his gun and ammunition 
Should be laid upon the shelf: 
If he’d use a grain of judgment 
He’d be apt to do less harm 
When he wanders forth a sportsman, 
With a gun beneath his arm. 
Tender-hearted is the woman; 
There’s a dead bird on her hat; 
She, by eating birds and squirrels 
Emulates a homeless cat. 
Farmer, wife, and all their children 
Feel the wounds from sportsman’s gun; 
They must pay a high percentage; 
Yes, they’re getting more than fun. 
Witness then the devastation 
Wrought by mighty insect throng; 
You would miss the vegetation. 
If you wouldn’t miss the song. 
When the shotgun kills our guard birds— 
When the slaughter’s just for fun. 
We shall never blame the firearm— 
But “the man behind the gun.” 
Take your gun and kill the birds off; 
Let your aim be straight and true; 
There’ll be other days to follow; 
They’ll be busy days for you: 
You may shoot the weed-seed eaters, 
Then your troubles have begun; 
Hot the sun—but on to battle! 
You’re “the man behind the gun!” 
—Lucy E. Horton. 
A ROOMY bag, its mouth kept open by 
a ring of wire, is a convenience to hang 
on the frame of the sewing machine. All 
snips and scraps may be dropped into 
it while at work, and a quantity of pick¬ 
ing up saved. 
« 
Grooved rolling pins for rolling out 
cookies and other small cakes are seen 
among kitchen conveniences. Iron-hold¬ 
ers lined with asbestos are offered; they 
prevent any burning of the hand, though 
the most convenient flatiron is the one 
with a detached handle which does not 
become hot. 
« 
A COMBINATION of Quinces and cran¬ 
berries is recommended for a very nice 
jelly. Stew cores and skins of quinces 
in very little water, and strain the juice 
as for quince jelly; stew tart cranberries 
separately in very little water, strain, 
and combine with an equal proportion 
of quince juice. Add to the combined 
juices one cupful of sugar to each cup¬ 
ful of juice, and boil briskly until it 
jellies. 
• 
When the cane seat of a chair wears 
out it may either be recaned or fitted 
with a veneer seat, but if the chair 
seems hardly worth this expense it may 
be fitted with a cheap homemade sub¬ 
stitute. Paste firmly together six thick¬ 
nesses of firm brown paper, trim to the 
shape of the seat, and fasten it to the 
frame with brassheaded tacks. Allow it 
to get perfectly dry, and then varnish it. 
Such a seat has very good wearing qual¬ 
ity, and is neat in appearance. 
« 
A PATTERN case is a very useful ac¬ 
cessory for the home seamstress; we 
all know the inconvenience of an over¬ 
flowing box, with the needed pattern in¬ 
variably at the very bottom. The case 
requires a strip of some heavy material, 
such as cretonne or denim, one yard 
long and 12 inches wide. Three strips 
of tape are put lengthwise of this ma¬ 
terial, equal distances apart; the tapes 
are fastened down firmly at spaces four 
inches apart, and also at the ends. Two 
long tapes are fastened at one end, to 
tie the case when rolled up. The case is 
bound with tape, and the patterns are 
inserted by slipping them under the 
lengthwise tapes. Roll up and tie with 
the strings. Any pattern needed is 
easily seen when the case is unrolled. 
The writer of the little poem printed 
above adds this to her plea for our 
feathered friends: 
Doubting my version of this matter you 
will do well to send a postal card to U. 
S. Department of Agriculture for farm¬ 
er’s bulletin No. 54, “Some Common Birds 
in their Relation to Agriculture,” by F. E. 
L. Beal, B. S., Assistant Ornithologist, 
Biological Survey (issued in 1897). You 
may not be especially versed In “ologies” 
of any sort, but It is all well if you study 
this bulletin and then learn to use com- 
mon-sense-ology; or even "enlightened sel¬ 
fishness.” Stand out of your own light, 
brother farmers! 
* 
The Indianapolis Sentinel says that 
the real value of rural telephones has 
been exemplified strongly in the case of 
a farmer who has installed a telephone 
in his house. His wife was talking to 
another woman along the line, and dur¬ 
ing the conversation incidentally re¬ 
marked that her only cat had lately died 
and asked the friend if she had a cat 
that she could spare. Instantly there 
was a chorus of answers: “We have 
one we will give you!” “You can get 
one at our house!” “We have a few 
fresh ones and will be glad to give you 
one!” etc., and the next morning the 
yard was full of cats. Moral: Be care¬ 
ful what you say over the telephone. 
• 
A READER asks for a simple recipe for 
coffee cake. The following will be found 
very satisfactory: Take a pint of bread 
sponge, add one egg well beaten, half a 
cupful of granulated sugar, two ounces 
of butter, and a half pint of lukewarm 
water. Mix these well together and add 
sufficient flour to make a thin dough. 
Let it rise until it has doubled its orig¬ 
inal bulk. Then turn it out on a floured 
board and roll out an inch in thickness. 
Butter a baking tin large enough to hold 
the rolled-out dough and fit it in the tin. 
Cover and let rise until it doubles its 
size, and when ready to place in the oven 
brush the top with an egg beaten up 
with a teaspoonful of sugar. Sprinkle 
this thickly with granulated sugar, add¬ 
ing a few blanched and coarsely chopped 
almonds. Bake in a moderately hot 
oven. If preferred, the dough may be 
made into little twists or braids instead 
of the large cake. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The simple little girl’s frock shown 
has a waist made over a fitted body lin¬ 
ing that is faced to form the yoke. On 
4286 Giri’s Costume, 2 to 8 yrs. 
this lining are arranged the full portions 
of the waist and the becoming bertha, 
that is shaped to give the fashionable 
bishop effect and which matches the 
standing collar. The sleeves are full and 
are gathered into pointed cuffs. The 
skirt is simply full and is finished with 
tucks and a hem that are stitched with 
silk. The quantity of material required 
for the medium size (four years) is 4% 
yards 21 inches wide, 3% yards 27 inches 
wide, or 2^/^ yards 44 inches wide, with 
yard of velvet for yoke. The pattern 
No. 4286 is cut in sizes for girls of 2, 4, 
6 and 8 years of age; price 10 cents. 
The waist figured gives a novel pleat¬ 
ed effect. The foundation lining fits 
snugly and is closed at the center front. 
On to it is faced the back portion of the 
yoke and over it are arranged the box 
pleated back, fronts of the waist proper 
and the front portion of the yoke, the 
closing of the waist being effected invis¬ 
ibly beneath the central box pleat and 
the corresponding tuck in the yoke. The 
back is smooth and without fullness, 
but the fronts blouse slightly. The 
sleeves are box pleated at their upper 
4292 Box Plaited Waist, 
32 to 40 bust. 
portions, form full soft puffs below the 
elbows and are gathered into pointed 
cuffs at the wrists. At the neck is a 
novei stock in the fashionable clerical 
cut. The belt is pointed at the front and 
is finished with postillion tabs at the 
back. The quantity of material required 
for the medium size is five yards 21 
inches wide, 4% yards 27 inches wide or 
2% yards 44 inches wide, with one-half 
yard of tucking or lace 18 inches wide 
for yoke. The pattern No. 4292 is cut 
in sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40-inch 
bust measure; price 10 cents. 
Steamed Fruit Cake; Scalloped 
Salmon. 
Page 726 has a note about fruit cake, 
whether to bake or steam it. Here is a 
recipe given me by a lady who has the 
name of being the best cook in a city of 
15,000 people. Ten ounces brown sugar, 
six ounces butter, 14 ounces fiour, two 
eggs, one-half pint sour cream, one tea¬ 
spoonful soda, three pounds raisins, 1^ 
pound citron, two wineglasses of cold 
water, one nutmeg, one-half teaspoon¬ 
ful each of all spices. Steam three 
hours and bake one hour in a slow oven. 
It is not very often that I am without 
such a fruit cake as this in the house, 
and it has received many compliments. 
I never was able to make a good fruit 
cake until I tried making it this way. 
Here is a way to prepare canned sal¬ 
mon that makes it very delicious. It is 
a great improvement over anything I 
have ever tried before. Put one pint of 
milk to heat with a tablespoonful of 
butter. Moisten a tablespoonful of fiour 
and stir in; when thick like cream re¬ 
move from fire. Drain the liquid from 
the salmon and remove bone, pick it all 
up into fine pieces with a fork. Butter 
a baking dish, put in a layer of fine 
cracker crumbs, then half the salmon, 
another layer of cracker crumbs, and 
half the thickened milk. Then add the 
remaining salmon, a layer of crumbs 
and the remaining milk. Bake half an 
hour. H. A. N. 
Chenille Rugs. 
Chenille rugs combine beauty and 
durability, and are so economical that 
they commend themselves to every 
thrifty housewife. Select soft woolen 
material from the pile of cast-off gar¬ 
ments, and cut in bias strips one inch 
wide. Gather the strips lengthwise 
through the middle, using a coarse 
needle and No. 8 thread. It will not be 
necessary to sew the strips together, 
simply lap the edges and gather through 
them, twisting the roll as you go. When 
one thread is full tie on another, and 
proceed until you have all you need. 
Much of the beauty of this rug depends 
upon the colors used, and if the goods is 
faded, as it is likely to be, dye it the 
colors you wish. Roll these gathered 
strips into balls and send them to a car¬ 
pet weaver, whose charges for weaving 
and chain will be from 20 to 30 cents 
per square yard. It does not resemble 
ordinary carpet weaving, as the chain 
sinks into the rags and does not show. 
Use some dull color for the middle and 
bright colors for the border. If you pre¬ 
fer a hit or miss center, collect all the 
small pieces you have, cut into strip.s 
and lay in a pile by themselves. 'I'be 
small rolls of pieces that have encum¬ 
bered the bag or boxes for a long time 
can be utilized to advantage. When you 
have plenty, mix them well and sew 
them. The shorter the strips and the 
greater the variety of colors, the prettier 
it will be. Have the ends finished with 
a plain border. Heavy crocheted fringe 
made of carpet chain or coarse yarn 
should be placed across the ends. 
E. j. c. 
I SUPPOSE one comes to like plain lit¬ 
erature as he comes to like plain clothes, 
plain manners, simple living. What 
grows with us is the taste for the genu¬ 
ine, the real. The less a writer's style 
takes thought of itself, the better we 
like it. The less his dress, his equipage, 
his house, concern themselves about ap¬ 
pearances, the more we are pleased with 
them. Let the purpose be entirely seri¬ 
ous, and let the seriousness be pushed 
till it suggests the heroic; that is what 
we crave as we grow older and tire of 
the vanities and shams of the world.— 
John Burroughs. 
Every pound of LION COFFEE 
has just the same strength and 
flavor. You can’t rely on coffee 
sold in bulk. The air-tight, sealed 
package keeps LION COFFEE 
fresh apd pure. 
|iAS.B0SSl 
CASE, 
M 
WATrii 
PROTECTION 
The Jas. Boss Stiffened Gold Watch Cases 
are an improvement on solid gold cases. 
They are stronger and won’t bend or dent. 
Made of two layers of gold, with a layer of 
stiffening metal between, welded together 
into one soWd sheet. The outside layer 
contains more gold than can bo worn off 
a case in 25 years, the time for which a 
Jas. Boss Case Is guaranteed. 
las. Boss TJia" 
Watch Cases 
are recogalied as the standard by all jewelers. 
They are Identical with solid gold cases in 
appearance and size, but much lower in price. 
W Don't accept any case said to be “just as 
good "as the Boss. Look for the Keystone 
trade-mark. Send for booklet. 
The Keystone Watch Case Company, Philadelphia. 
^SOLID 
COLD 
vCASE. 
WILL 
BEND 
AND 
V. DENT 
m 
