3io 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 28 
»T TTT T ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼ T« 
[ Woman and Home j 
From Day to Day. 
NATURE’S SECRET. 
Nature, smiling to herself, 
A secret safe is keeping; 
She knows her children are not dead, 
But only softly sleeping. 
She knows the thrilling flood of life 
Within the forest welling, 
And sees the branches blushing red 
With longing to be telling. 
She feels the Mayflowers lift their heads 
From off their mossy pillows; 
And now—the smallest tree has told; 
For here are pussy-willows! 
You dear, wee, furry, silvery things, 
We touch you with caressing, 
And pluck your sprays with eager hands 
And many a whispered blessing. 
A robin chirrups on the hill, 
A bluebird in the hollow; 
For these are pussy-willow days, 
And Spring is sure to follow. 
—Philadelphia Record. 
* 
Before wearing a lace tie or barbe, 
line the part passed around the neck and 
tied with silk muslin or gauze of exactly 
the same tint. This will be almost in¬ 
visible, but, in spite of its diaphanous 
texture, it will prevent the lace from 
tearing. Without such reinforcement, 
the barbe is very soon ragged from 
tying. 
A Cleveland woman who went to 
vote for school officials April 2 was not 
allowed to wield the ballot, because she 
had given her age wrong when register¬ 
ing. Her age was given as 21, whereas 
her appearance indicated 45. She ad¬ 
mitted that her age on ihe register was 
incorrect, but was highly indignant 
when not allowed to vote. Surely the 
New Woman, who desires to vote, should 
be too progressive to imitate the old in 
sensitiveness as to her age—especially 
if she doesn’t look it. 
* 
Growing old—how often we hear that 
spoken of with sadness and regret. 
Many good women fight back every sug¬ 
gestion of ripe maturity, and look for¬ 
ward to what should be venerable age 
with dread. They wish, in nomely 
simile, to eat their cake and nave it too 
—to have the knowledge, experience and 
privileges of maturity, with the ingenu¬ 
ous freshness of youth. Such a com¬ 
bination is impossible, but it is quite 
possible to be young in heart and soul, 
and better able to enjoy the abiding joys 
of life in middle age than in youth. If 
we feel sorrow then more keenly than in 
youth, we should at least possess more 
fortitude and endurance. And when real 
old age comes, too often with loneliness 
and mental isolation, we may remember 
a saying credited to the late Bishop 
Brooks. Some one referred to a clergy¬ 
man as being on the shady side of 65. 
“The shady side,” said the Bishop, 
quickly. “You mean the sunny side! 
It’s 'the side nearest to glory!” 
* 
A friend in Nova Scotia sends us 
some dulse, a seaweed which forms an 
article of diet in Scotland, Ireland, and 
other countries. He says: 
It is eaten quite extensively in New 
Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A St. John 
minister sent me some, and I tasted it and 
picked at until it has become one of the 
most appetizing things I ever got into my 
mouth. Still, I don’t regard it as a very 
digestible substance. I think it must be 
related to the Irish moss which we find 
cast up in a bleached condition on our own 
;oast. 
The dulse is a branching seaweed, dull 
reddish-purple in color. When dried it 
is thin and brittle, melting in the 
mouth with a flavor of sea saltness. 
One of the friends who tasted it said 
that it was certainly more appetizing 
than pretzels. We do not know how 
dulse is prepared for food, beyond the 
drying, and shall be glad to learn, if 
any of our salt-water friends can tell us 
how to cook it. Irish moss, or carra¬ 
geen, is another seaweed of very gela¬ 
tinous character, which is first soaked in 
fresh water, when home-prepared, to re¬ 
move something of its salty bitterness, 
or bleached, for commercial use. It is 
made into jelly, and also into demulcent 
drinks for persons suffering from pul¬ 
monary troubles. It is a substitute for 
Iceland moss, which is a lichen, not a 
seaweed. A substance said to be pre¬ 
pared from carrageen is sea-moss farine, 
which makes very nice puddings, but 
we have not seen this for many years, 
and it may now be out of the market. 
♦ 
Complaint has been made of the lack 
of army chaplains, both among the vol¬ 
unteers and in the regular army in the 
Philippines. We hear reports of drunk¬ 
enness and immorality among the far- 
off soldiers, many of ithem, no doubt, 
greatly exaggerated, without realizing 
the need for incentives to moral re¬ 
straint among these thousands of young 
men, so far from family and social in¬ 
fluences. It is said that Miss Helen 
Gould, of New York, now supports nine 
or 10 chaplains in the Philippines, en¬ 
tirely at her own expense. These men 
are not officially recognized as chaplains, 
but as ministers and Y. M. C. A. work¬ 
ers, doing voluntarily the same work as 
the regular official chaplains. The ex¬ 
pense to Miss Gould of maintaining 
these workers, paying salaries and ex¬ 
penses, is said to amount to about $2,000 
a month. She has done this since last 
Fall, when the lack of Christian work¬ 
ers among the soldiers was brought to 
her notice, but, like many another good 
and kindly deed on Miss Gould’s part, it 
has been carried out without publicity or 
ostentation. 
* 
We have been told for some time 
that full undersleeves, such as our 
mothers and grandmothers wore about 
the time of the Civil War, were coming 
into vogue, and we have seen several 
waists with such sleeves among the 
Spring displays. The upper sleeve is 
tight, coming to the elbow, and it is con¬ 
tinued by a full muslin or lace under¬ 
sleeve. We saw one shirt waist of Delft 
blue madras, having tight sleeves to the 
elbow, with undersleeves of unbleached 
crash or khaki. The waist was trimmed 
with shoulder straps and cross bands of 
Egyptian embroidery, which is fine 
cross-stitch in positive colors, worked 
upon the coarse linen or khaki. The 
sleeves were capped with similar bands 
of embroidery, the colors in which it 
was worked being dark blue, dark green, 
and red in several shades. We did not 
admire the waist, which was rather bi¬ 
zarre, though expensive, but we were 
told that the Egyptian embroidery, 
which is much used in England, will be 
quite fashionable here, and it is sug¬ 
gestive. This cross-stitch is quite easy, 
and a woman with any leisure for fancy 
work could work collars and other trim¬ 
mings for little girls’ linen frocks, using 
linen floss in bright colors. The effect 
is very pretty and, wffien readymade, is 
only seen on expensive garments. 
Pioneer Housekeeping. 
Many pleasant memories are recalled 
when I think of pioneer days in Wiscon¬ 
sin. During my early days of house¬ 
keeping I tried cheese making, and as 
I had no press, my husband put a rail 
under the shed at the back of the house, 
put a curd in a hoop under that, and 
hung a weight on the end, and the flavor 
of the cheese was not injured by it. I 
had seen my mother go through the pro¬ 
cess, and knew something of the art. 
Afterwards I suggested to my husband 
that if he would get a cheese press I 
would keep on, and he said he was afraid 
I would lose my skill if he did. Many of 
the old settlers have passed away. We 
had a distant neighbor who, with her 
husband and family moved here from 
Vermont. She told me once that when 
they first talked of coming west, a neigh¬ 
bor said to her that they were too old 
to move so far. “But,” said he, “wait 
until your boys get old enough, and you 
can help them off to a new country.” 
“Yes,” said she, in reply, “that settles 
it; where my children are going is the 
place for me.” That was what supplied 
the courage to many a settler. 
Necessity brought out the talent to get 
along with scanty conveniences and 
make the best of everything. One 
sturdy housewife, whose family of grow¬ 
ing boys made it necessary for her to 
make bread almost daily, was troubled 
to keep the materials warm enough to 
rise properly in her poorly-built house. 
She procured a piece of wire of suitable 
size and length, and had it made fast in 
the ceiling over the stove, so that it 
would reach within a foot or so of the 
fire. The lower end was bent into a 
hook, and on t-iis she hung her pail of 
sponge, and found the 'heat thus utilized 
to be just what was needed for success 
in good bread making. 
The saying that Americans are addict¬ 
ed to pie making was true with regard 
to the early settlers of the West. In the 
absence of the familiar and cherished 
apple, anything that could be utilized 
for pie making was promptly brought 
into service. Currant bushes were 
quickly grown in the rich prairie soil, 
and pie plant proved a blessing; but 
meanwhile, green tomatoes sliced found 
favor, and another original variety was 
vinegar pie, made by using one-half cup¬ 
ful of vinegar, one cupful of sugar, a 
tablespoonful of butter, and enough 
powdered crackers to thicken it while 
baking. In the absence of crackers, flour 
was used. It was baked with two crusts, 
and flavored with anything on hand. 
The strength of the vinegar was always 
taken into account; if too strong, it was 
diluted with a little water. 
AUNT RACHEL. 
Women in Armenia. 
“The conduct demanded of a newly- 
married Armenian woman will strike 
Americans as very singular indeed,” re¬ 
marked Artanig Azhderian, the young 
Armenian writer. “She utters never a 
word except when alone with her hus¬ 
band, until after the birth of her first 
child. Then she is allowed to talk to 
her child. A little later she is permitted 
to converse with her mother-in-law; 
Cabot’s Creosote Shingle Stains 
are 50 per cent cheaper than paint, and 100 per cent 
better for all rough woodwork. Made in all colors, 
and durability guaranteed. Samples on wood and 
Illustrated catalogue sent on request. 
SAMUEL CABOT, 81 Kilby St., Bostou, Mass. 
still later her own mother may again 
hear her voice, and before a great while 
she will speak in whispers to the young 
girls of her household. She must not 
leave the house during the first year of 
her married life, except to attend 
church. Her discipline as a bride ter¬ 
minates after six years, but she will 
never again open her lips to a man un¬ 
less he be her kinsman. Young girls 
are allowed a liberty of conduct that is 
in striking contrast. They chatter free¬ 
ly and cheerfully with whom they 
please. The Armenian woman differs 
radically from her Turkish sisters. 
Neither seclusion, polygamy nor divorce 
darkens her present nor threatens her 
future. She is not educated with her 
brothers, however, as American girls 
are, for I remember how puzzled I was 
when I entered an American college and 
saw girls seated among the boys In the 
classroom. 
“ ‘John,’ I said to my neighbor, ‘what 
are the girls here for—to make the room 
look pretty?’ 
“It seemed incredible that anyone 
could think a girl capable of learning 
along with her brother. It is consid¬ 
ered a disgrace likewise for a man to 
walk publicly with a woman, even 
though she be his sister. She may en¬ 
tertain men callers, and, of course, her 
face is never covered, like a Turkish 
woman, but her mother or some older 
female relative is always present. They 
attend the same entertainments and 
church, but may not sit together. The 
women’s seats in church are partitioned 
off, and are in the rear.” 
“It would be hard, indeed, if only the 
beautiful among girls and women should 
win admiration and affection. But it is 
by no means the case. A pleasant ex¬ 
pression, a bright countenance, a grace¬ 
ful figure, a charming mannex*, and at¬ 
tention to details in dress and toilet may 
transform a plain girl into one who at¬ 
tracts wherever she goes. ‘What men 
can see in her, I cannot think,’ murmurs 
the neglected beauty, finding herself un¬ 
accountably deserted. It is not always 
that beauty is associated with charm of 
manner and a winning voice; when it 
is, the union is a strong one. But there 
are better things than beauty, and if 
these are honestly pursued, the plainest 
face will shine with a radiance from 
within. Too often this brightness of 
look is obscured by want of care in ex¬ 
ternals. Why should a sweet smile suf¬ 
fer from a display of neglected teeth, 
or a lovely look be spoiled by a blotched 
and coarsened skin? Yet these trifles 
tell, even against the highest beauty— 
that of expression.”—Mrs. Humphreys. 
The World’s Standard. 
All jewelers sell Elgin Watches In cases to suit 
every taste. An Elgin watch always has the word 
“Elgin” engraved on the works—fully guaranteed. 
Our new booklet about watches Is ready to send 
everyone who desires it—free 
Elgin National Watch Co , Elgin, III. 
ARMSTRONG & McKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BETMER-BAUMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS-CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR ) 
> Cincinnati. 
ECKSTEIN 1 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
BROOKLYN [ 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
SOUTHERN 
New York. 
Chicago. 
>St. Louis. 
JOHN T. LEWIS & BROS CO 
Philadelphia. 
MORLEY 
Cleveland. 
8ALEM 
Salem, Mass. 
CORNELL 
Buffalo. 
KENTUCKY 
Louisville. 
HAT is the value of a guarantee 
that a paint will last if at the end 
of the time it must be burned or 
scraped off before you can repaint. 
The only paint that presents a perfect 
surface after long exposure, without special 
preparation, is Pure White Lead. Employ 
a practical painter to apply it and the re¬ 
sult will please you. 
FREE 
For colors use National Lead Company’s Pure White 
Lead Tinting Colors. Any shade desired is readily 
obtained. Pamphlet giving full information and show¬ 
ing samples of Colors, also .pamphlet entitled “ Uncle Sam’s Ex¬ 
perience With Paints ” forwarded upon application. 
National Lead Co ., ioo William Street, New York. 
“ Wood treat ed with Creosote is not subject to dry- 
rot or other decay.”—Century Dictionary. 
