248 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 28 
I Woman and Home j 
From Day to Day. 
THE END OP WINTER. 
Hark to the merry birds, hark how they 
sing! 
Although ’tis not yet Spring 
And keen the air; 
Hale Winter, half resigning ere he go. 
Doth to his heiress show 
His kingdom fair. 
In patient russet is his forest spread. 
All bright wuth bramble red. 
With beechen moss 
And holly sheen; the oak silver and stark 
Sunneth his aged bark 
And wrinkled boss. 
But ’neath the ruin of the withered brake 
Primroses now awake 
From nursing shades; 
The crumpled carpet of the dry leaves 
brown 
Avails not to keep down 
The hyacinth blades. 
The hazel hath imt forth his tassels ruffed; 
The willow’s flossy tuft 
Hath slipped Inm free; 
The rose amid her ransacked orange hips 
Braggeth the tender tips 
Of bowers to bo. 
A black rook stirs the branches here and 
there, 
]''oraging to repair 
His broken home; 
And hark, on the ash boughs! Never 
thrush did sing 
Louder in imaise of Spring, 
When Spring is come. 
—Robert Bridges. 
* 
A SQUARE of glass is often a conveni¬ 
ence placed under a flower pot standing 
on a centerpiece or on polished wood. 
The glass protects the material beneath 
it from the damp of the flower pot, and 
is hardly noticeable. 
* 
Never use soda in water with which 
oilcloth or linoleum is washed; it at¬ 
tacks the paint and injures it. Equal 
parts of cotton-seed oil and vinegar, 
rubbed on with a flannel rag, seem to 
brighten linoleum. Carpets are bright¬ 
ened by wiping with a cloth wrung out 
of warm water and ammonia. 
“Yep; brought his prayers, an’ they’re 
out in the wagon. Just help me, and 
we’ll get ’em in.” Investigation dis¬ 
closed the fact that “Pa’s prayers” con¬ 
sisted of potatoes, flour, bacon, corn- 
meal, turnips, apples, warm clothing, 
and a lot of jellies for the sick ones. 
The prayer-meeting adjourned in short 
order. 
« 
With the Spring housecleaning the 
question of laundering lace curtains 
usually comes to the front. City people 
ordinarily send them to a cleaner, be¬ 
cause there is nowhere to spread them 
when the family overflows every corner 
of a flat, but where there is room they 
are nicely done at home. Shake any dust 
thoroughly from the curtains and then 
soak them over night in plenty of cold 
water. In the morning rinse them out 
of several waters before putting them 
into suds. After doing this put them 
in hot suds and wash them by sopping 
and squeezing. Wash in a second tub 
of suds, then put them into a tub of 
boiling water. After an hour rinse 
thoroughly. If you wish to have them 
very white, slightly blue the last water, 
but if an old look is desired have the 
water slightly colored with black tea. 
Dry them in the open air, then put.them 
through thin starch and also through 
the wringer. If you have frames, put 
the curtains in them; but if you have 
not, tack some old sheets on. the floor 
and put the curtains on them, being 
careful to pull them straight and to have 
each point drawn out and pinned down. 
Two persons are almost necessary for 
this part of the work, as upon the care¬ 
ful stretching and pinning depend the 
perfect hanging and finished look of the 
curtains. Two or three curtains may be 
placed together. Two days’ time is re¬ 
quired to dry them when they are dou¬ 
bled in this manner. 
The Rural Patterns. 
* 
A FINE strong wire is the best thing 
we know to cut bars of soap, and the 
same improvised tool will cut a whole 
cheese in half very nicely, far better 
than a knife. The wire should be long 
enough to go around the cheese, and 
have each end twisted around a clothes 
pin, to serve as handles. The wire is 
looped around the cheese and firmly 
pulled, the two ends together; the 
cheese will be cut in half very cleanly. 
* 
A Ti'i/\OHEK in Missouri is trying to 
give a better understanding of the use 
of words. After e.xplaining the meaning 
of the word “dogma” to her pupils she 
wrote it on the blackboard, and asked 
her pupils to compose sentences con¬ 
taining the word. One little girl came 
in too late for the definition, but con¬ 
cluded to take her part in the exercises, 
nevertheless. Her sentence was as fol¬ 
lows: “Our dogma has three puppies.” 
* 
One’s faith is often wonderfully 
strengthened when some one unites it 
with works. We are told that one hard 
Winter, when sickness came to the 
poorly paid pastor of a certain New 
England church, his flock determined to 
meet at his house and oflier prayers for 
the speedy recovery of the sick ones and 
for the material blessings upon the pas¬ 
tor’s family. While one of the deacons 
was offering a fervent prayer for bless¬ 
ings upon the pastor’s household, there 
was a loud kuock at the door. When the 
door was opened, a stout farmer boy 
was seen. “What do you want, boy?” 
asked one of the elders. “I’ve brought 
Pa’s prayers,” replied the boy. “Brought 
your pa's prayers! What do you mean?” 
Such a skirt and coat as those shown 
will unite to form a nice jacket suit for 
a young girl. The skirt is cut in three 
pieces and is fitted at the upper edge by 
means of hip darts and laid in inverted 
pleats at the center back. To the lower 
edge is attached the circular flounce, the 
seam being covered by the stitched 
band. The upper edge can be finished 
with a belt or cut in dip outline and un¬ 
derfaced or bound. The quantity of ma¬ 
terial required for medium size (14 
4356 Misses’ Three Piece Skirt, 
12 to 16 yrs. 
years) is yards 27 inches wide, 314 
yards 44 inches wide or three yards 52 
inches wide. The pattern No. 4355 is cut 
in sizes for misses 12, 14 and 16 years 
of age; price 10 cents from this office. 
The jacket may be made without 
capes, if desired. The blouse consists 
of the fronts and back and is fitted by 
means of shoulder and under-arm seam. 
The fronts are deeply faced and rolled 
back to form the revers and are gathered 
at the lower edge to blouse slightly over 
the belt. The capes are arranged over 
the shoulders and the neck is finished 
with a turn-over collar. To the lower 
edge is attached a circular basque por¬ 
tion which can be omitted if a plain 
blouse is desired. The sleeves are in 
bishop style. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size (14 years) 
is 214 yards 44 inches wide or 1% yards 
52 inches wide. The pattern No. 4457 
4367 M1s.9os’ Blotispi Jacket, 
12 to 16 yre. 
is cut in sizes for misses 12, 14 and 16 
years of age; price 10 cents. 
A Tax on Spinsters. 
A member of the Kansas Legislature 
has introduced a bill into the House to 
tax all able-bodied bachelors between 
the ages of 40 and 65 years $50 a year, 
and all able-bodied spinsters between 
the ages of 35 and 50 years, who have no 
families to support, $25 a year. These 
taxes are to go into the school fund. A 
clause in the bill forfeits to the school 
fund the salaries of unmarried State of¬ 
ficers. This provision is aimed at Gov. 
Bailey and Lieut.-Gov. Hanna, bachelors, 
to w'horn .several thousand strange wo¬ 
men have lately proposed. We won’t 
say anything about the bachelors, be¬ 
cause some discontented Benedict might 
rise up to assure us that bachelorhood 
is really a luxury, and should be taxed 
upon such grounds, but we hail the pro¬ 
posal to tax spinsters as a further proof 
of the advancement of women, since it 
assumes that any Kansas woman who 
remains unmarried does so of her own 
choice. Heretofore any suggestion to 
tax single blessedness has exempted 
spinsters with the humiliating inference 
that their celibacy was a matter of 
necessity rather than choice. When, 
however, we begin to reckon up our 
spinster friends, we are likely to find 
that many of them have had more op¬ 
portunities to change their state than 
most of the matrons of their circle, their 
spinsterhood resulting either from 
claims made upon their energy and af¬ 
fection by relatives, or from a depth of 
feeling that prevented them from enter¬ 
ing into hasty or uncongenial marriage. 
How often we find an unmarried woman 
acting as social philanthropist for an 
entire neighborhood—shouldering all 
the burdens of charity and sympathy 
that her married friends cast aside! 
And how ready are the spinsters to an¬ 
swer the call for self-devotion in the 
great causes that uplift humanity? 
Why, the only statue of a woman not of 
royal birth erected in Great Britain 
commemorates a spinster, who devoted 
personal charm and magnetism, culture 
and social opportunities, to the care of 
the poor and suffering. On second 
thought that Kansas man ought not to 
tax spinsters; he ought to dedicate cost¬ 
ly and imposing monuments to them. 
The man who described them as “un¬ 
appropriated blessings” was no euphe- 
mist; he was stating a great truth that 
any fair-minded person should be ready 
to recognize. 
Why don’t you get a 
Horseshoe Brand Wringer ? 
It tighten your day's <work 
Every wringer is warr.sntcd from one fo five 
years. The rolls are made of Para Rubber. 
They wring dry, last long, and will not break 
buttons. Our name and trade-mark is on 
every wringer and roll. 
The American Wringer C 
99 CHAMBERS ST., NEW YORK CITY 
We manufacture the Wringers that wring 
the Clothes of the ’World 
HOnH'MUTH'EttMIESr 
TCU WIkW riM» 
WAT&RPROer 
Olli&P CWOTMINC 
The best moterieJs. Jkilled workmen and 
wity-jeven yeor.5 eAperience Kovemeyfe 
TOWER5 ,5lickcrj. Gktsond flab 
foinouj the world over They ore mode in 
block or yellow for oil kinds of wet work 
ond eveiT garment bearing the JIGN OF 
THE rl5li 15 guaranteed to give aat 
bfoction.AII reliable dealers aell them 
A.J.TOlWR C0..B05T0K.HA55..U.5.A. 
TOWER CAHAPIAN CO.,ljmite<i.T(»0lir0. (AM. 
Save Your 
Kitchen Grease 
Easy and quick is soap-making with 
Banner Lye 
With one can—10 cents—you can make 
10 pounds of pure hard soap or 20 gallons 
of soft soap in 10 minutes. 
No boiling, no large kettles required. 
Dissolve a can of Banner Lye in pints of cold 
water. Molt 514 pints of clean grca.sc. When cool, 
pour the Banner Lye water into the grease, and stir 
This will make bet¬ 
ter soap than you can 
buy. 
Send for our free 
book, 
“Uses of Banner Lye.” 
It is full of informa¬ 
tion of intere.st and 
value to f a r in e r s, 
dairymen and house¬ 
keepers. 
Any storekeeper can 
sell you Banner Lyc. 
If he hasn’t it he can 
get it quickly of his wholesaler. 
The Penn Chemical Works, Philadelphia,U.S. A. 
for a few minutes. 
Watch 
Accidents 
will happen! That’s why your watch 
works should be protected by a strong case. 
Gold alone is soft and bends easily. It’s 
use d for show only. The JAS. BOSS 
STIFFENED GOLD WATCH CASE 
resists jar and jolt. Keeps out the dust. 
Reduces the expense of repair. Adds 
many years to the life of your watch. 
Every JAS. BOSS CASE is guaranteed 
for 25 years by a Keystone Trade-mark 
stamped inside. You must 
look for this trade-mark. 
Coiisult the jeweler. 
Write us for booklet. 
THE KEYSTONE 
WATCH CASE COMPANY, 
Philadelphia. 
