89o 
THE RURAL NEW-VORKER 
December 26 
1 ^/\ 
-*■ _ 
lotnan i 
and 
Ho 
From Day to Day. 
A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT. 
Go sit beside the hearth again 
Whose circle once was glad and gay; 
And if from out the precious chain 
Some shining links have dropped away, 
Then guard with tender heart and hand 
The remnant of thy household band. 
Draw near the board with plenty spread. 
And if in the accustomed place 
You see the father’s reverend head. 
Or mother’s patient, loving face, 
Whate’er your life may have of ill. 
Thank God that these are left you still. 
And though where home has been you 
stand 
To-day in alien loneliness; 
Though you may clasp no brother’s hand. 
And claim no sister’s tender kiss; 
Though with no friend nor l.ver nigh, 
The past is all your company; 
Thank God for friends your life has known. 
For every dear, departed day; 
I'he blessed past is safe alone— 
God gives, but does not take away; 
He only safely keeps above 
For us the treasures that w’e love. 
—Phoebe Carey. 
* 
Pecan or walnut meats, chopped and 
added to pumpkin pies, give a rich and 
agreeable flavor. 
Some of the newest bedroom slippers 
seen this Winter are moccasins of moose 
hide, trimmed w'ith otter fur; they are 
very warm and pretty, costing $2 a pair. 
P^elt slippers cost from 35 cents to $1.25; 
tlie cheapest have flexible felt soles, and 
will be useful to wear in the bedroom 
when attending the sick, or in the sleep¬ 
ing car. The fur-bound felt Juliets at 
$1 and $1.25, with leather sole and low 
heel, are comfortable for house wear in 
cold weather. Black kid Juliet slippers, 
lined with felt and bound with fur, cost 
$1.50; this style is a favorite with elder¬ 
ly women. 
* 
Here is a recipe for a very nice 
Christmas cake: After bread dough has 
raised the second time, take twm cupfuls 
and add to it three cupfuls of brown 
sugar creamed with one cupful of but¬ 
ter, one level teaspoonful soda dissolved 
in a little hot water, two tablespoonfuls 
of milk, and three unbeaten eggs; mix 
all together well, then add one teaspoon¬ 
ful of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful 
cloves, quarter nutmeg grated, one cup¬ 
ful of seeded raisins, one-quarter pound 
currants; pour into a greased pan and 
bake. When cool cover with a yellow 
icing and decorate with candied fruit. 
* 
The little oijossum, whose pelt is 
quoted at 40 to 60 cents, ought to feel 
proud when he reflects that a small muff 
of his undyed natural fur costs $7.50, to 
say nothing of those dyed and offered at 
a higher price under various names. 
Furs seem more expensive this year 
than ever before; both muffs and neck¬ 
pieces are larger, and consequently more 
costly, but a great deal of really cheap¬ 
looking and obviously imitation fur is 
much higher in price than two or three 
Winters ago. Muffs this Winter are 
very large and flat, purse-shaped; they 
take more fur, but the increase in price 
seems much out of proportion. 
* 
The next three months should see a 
good deal of the Summer sewing done. 
Children’s ordinary cotton frocks are 
usually made from staple materials, 
which can be purchased at any time of 
the year; domestic ginghams, percales 
and cambrics of standard colors rarely 
appear in bargain sales, and they are, in 
the long run, the most satisfactory ma¬ 
terials for such wear. Last year fine 
check ginghams of black and white or 
blue and white were very popular for 
children’s frocks as well as for women’s 
shirt-waist dresses, and they will prove 
a satisfactory investment tor this sea¬ 
son. The children’s frocks of black and 
white were often piped or strapped with 
bright red. Good cambrics and percales 
are always serviceable, but the flimsier 
cottons so soon fade that they cannot be 
relied on for regular wear. We used to 
think pink gingham one of the reliable 
standbys, but of late years the color 
does not seem so certain to launder 
well. In percale and chambray it seems 
more permanent. Green is rather un¬ 
certain; it has a way of fading to an 
ugly yellowish cast in many wash goods, 
though fairly stable in good quality of 
madras. 
The following “Decalogue of Health” 
is translated from a French medical 
journal. It is worth remembering: 
1. Rise early, retire early, and fill your 
day with work. 
2. Water and bread maintain life; pure 
air and sunshin.e are indispensable to 
health. 
3. Frugality and sobriety form the best 
elixir of longevity. 
4 . Cleanliness iirevents rust: the best 
cared-for machines last the longest. 
5. Enough sleep repairs waste and 
strengthens: too much sleep softens and 
enfeebles. 
6. To be sensibly dressed is to giv'e free¬ 
dom to one’s movements and enough 
warmth to be protected from sudden 
changes of temperature. 
7. A clean and cheerful home makes a 
happy home. 
8. The mind is refreshed and invigorated 
by distractions and amusements, but abu.se 
of them leads to di.ssipation, and dissipa¬ 
tion to vice. 
S. Cheerfulness makes love of life, and 
love of life is half of health. On the con¬ 
trary, sadness and discouragement hasten 
old age. 
10. Do you gain your living by your in¬ 
tellect? Then do not allow your arms and 
legs to grow stiff. Do you earn your bread 
by your pickax? Do not forget to cultivate 
your mind and to enlarge your thought. 
♦ 
A WRITE.R in a current periodical tells 
bow she simplifies her Christmas giving 
by keeping an account book, in which 
she lists the presents given and the 
presents received; thus she does not du¬ 
plicate her gifts, and knows just what 
she has received. She does not take us 
further into her confidence, and tell us 
whether her ledger is carefully balanced, 
and her thanks for what she has re¬ 
ceived expressed the next Christmas, 
but her business-like attitude suggests 
this. We still hold to the old-fashioned 
idea, however, that a Christmas gift, 
above all others, should only come from 
one possessing the right of a relative or 
close personal friend, and In such cases 
this elaborate bookkeeping seem.s in- 
necessary. Commercial giving for value 
received may be smiled at at other sea¬ 
sons; at Christmas it becomes an af¬ 
front. If Christmas is nothing m.ore to 
us than the heathen Saturnalia from 
which some of its customs were drawn, 
we may talk of it chiefly as a time for 
the giving and receiving of perfunctory 
gifts, but to every right-thinking person, 
whatever his creed, it is first of all a re¬ 
ligious festival, and its best expression 
is found not in gifts to the well-to-do 
friend who will return in kind, but to 
those whose fast days are plenty and 
feast days few. If our giving is done 
upon that plan, we have no need of 
elaborate bookkeeping to straighten out 
our Christmas shopping. 
Salpicon of Liver.—Wash one and 
one-half pound of calf’s liver, cover with 
boiling water, add one-half of a tea¬ 
spoonful of salt and simmer until ten¬ 
der. Let stand in the liquor until cold, 
then free from gristle and chop very 
fine. Put into a saucepan, moisten with 
a cupful of beef stock, season highly 
with half a teaspoonful of salt, generous 
dusting of black pepper, two teaspoon¬ 
fuls of Worcestershire sauce, two table¬ 
spoonfuls of tomato catsup and four 
drops of tabasco. The mixture should 
be moist but not swimming in liquor. 
Make smoking hot and serve at once. 
The Kieffer Pear, 
I have learned this year how to use 
the Kieffer pear so that it is appetizing. 
To eat raw it is rather less palatable 
than a nice flat turnip, and here is a 
hint as to its preparation: Cook it 
somewhat as you would a turnip, only 
longer, and it is delicious. I quarter and 
pare a saucepan full, then cover them 
with hot water and boil for two hours 
or more, adding water if necessary. 
When done the water is somewhat re¬ 
duced and looks thick and syrupy. 
Sweeten quite sweet and let boil up once. 
I keep the pears in a cool place and se¬ 
lect those that are turning yellow'. In 
this way they last quite a long time, and 
I do not go to the trouble of canning 
them unless I w'ant some to use in the 
late Winter. Another nice w^ay to cook 
these pears is to bake in an earthen pot 
and sw'eeten with molasses. I have also 
made pies, using the sauce for filling. 
SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS. 
A Fortunate Misfortune. 
Miss Sparhawk was nearly 75, says the 
Youth’s Companion, but she had seemed 
so w'ell and strong until wdthin a few 
months that it was a great shock to Ce- 
darville to hear that she had been sud¬ 
denly taken ill and might die. Within a 
week, however, she rallied, and before 
long was entirely herself again. Her 
brother explained the situation to one 
of the Summer residents. 
“You see,” he said thoughtfully, “Lu- 
cindy is one o’ those that thrive on trou¬ 
ble, and all her life, till about four 
months ago, she’s had a stock in hand. 
Left wdth five younger children at the 
ago o’ thutteen, an’ a crippled father, 
mortgaged farm, epidemics o’ measles, 
scarlet fever and smallpox; and one fitty 
boj'—lived to be most 60, and had ’em 
frequent. 
“When the girls married that started 
more calamities. One husband got 
caught in a mow'ing machine, and the 
other had spells wdien he’d wander off; | 
both girls lived at home. So the years 
went on, everybody falling right on to 
Lucindy, and she h’isting the whole lot 
over hard places, and keeping a stiddy 
head on her shoulders the enduring 
time. But last Spring everything got 
straightened out; the mortgage was all 
paid off 10 years back, the folks that 
haven’t died were all well, and there 
wasn’t a cloud anyw'here. Then ’twas 
that Lucindy begun to fade. I see just 
how ’tw'as, but I couldn’t do a thing— 
even my rheumatics held off. It went on , 
from bad to worse; got so she lost all 
her stren’th and took to her bed. 
“But when the doctor’d begun to 
shake his head and thought the end was 
near, help came from Sister Jane over 
in Starboro. Her youngest has got a 
slight plumanory affection of one lung, 
and they thou.ght a Summer at the farm 
with Lucindy’s nursing would cure her 
up. Soon as the letter was read out Lu- 
cindy asked for her shoes and stockings 
and when the_ doctor came next morning 
he said she’d taken a new lease o’ life.” 
Bad grocer 
confesses his 
badness by sell¬ 
ing bad lamp- 
chimneys. 
Macbeth. 
You need to know how to manage your 
lamps to have comfort with them at small cost. 
Better read my Index; I send it free. 
Macbeth, Pittsburgh. 
^rite for names of 
gents who make 
ra $200 
to $300 a 
.month. 
, The 
J best 
lights In the 
world:costU__ 
than poor lights. , 
loo candle power 
, for less than J^c. 
I hour. No smoke, no 
I grease, no smell. Sent..u 
I trial; satisfaction guaranteed. 
I Special offer to first from eac.. 
postoffice. Write today for full 
information. SUPERIOR MFG. CO., 
218 •«cowo«T.. ANN Anaon. n 
s 
A Household 
Necessi-ty 
is a good lantern. A 
poor one—the smok- 
mg, flickering, faintly 
gleaming kind which 
blows out easily—is an 
abomination. You’ve 
seen them, perhaps 
ou own one. The re- 
iable kind is the 
DIETZ 
Cold Blast 
LANTERN. 
They are the lanterns of 
bright, clear, strong, 
k white llght.thothorough- 
I ly convenient and safe 
lanterns. No other ap¬ 
proaches them for satis¬ 
factory service. Local 
dealersevery where carry 
them. We send you Ian- 
tern book on request to 
make selection. Writeua. 
R. E. DIETZ COMPANY, 
87 LalghtSU, New York. 
EstablisktdiS40. 
SAVE your fuel 
or get all the 
heat YOU pay 
for.When you 
use a Rochester 
Radiator you do, 
Rnrhpsfpr RaiHnfnr Tn 
Fully Guaran* 
teed. 
A RURAL MAIL BOX 
Should be 
simple, neat, 
s t r 0 n'g , and 
durable. 
A box may be 
approved by 
the P, M. Uen- 
eral and still 
not be satisfac¬ 
tory to the pur¬ 
chaser. 
Our “Uncle 
Sam’s Favor¬ 
ite ’’ has official 
approval and 
also the ap¬ 
proval of thou¬ 
sands who are 
using it and 
know It’s all right 
BOND STEEL POST CO, 
Adrian, Mich. 
The Mimites that 
make the Days, 
that make the 
Years, arc 
truthfully told 
hy the 
ELGIN 
Every Elgin Watch is fully guaranteed. 
All jewelers have Elgin Watches. ••Time- 
makers and Timekeepers.” an Illus¬ 
trated history of the watch, sent free 
upon request to 
Elgin national Watch Co. 
Elgin, III. 
