342 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 12 
l Woman and Home j 
From Day to Day. 
You may read it “May” on the calendar, 
You may fix your heart on Spring, 
But until you hear the robin’s song 
You will find it’s no such thing! 
For he’s sure just when the snow flies, 
And he knows Spring’s secrets all. 
You may be quite sure ’tis May-time 
When you hear the robin call! 
They’ll tell you the Winter’s ended— 
You will hear it everywhere 
Just for a little sunshine 
And for a breath of April air, 
But you may be sure of one thing, 
As sure as that rain will fall, 
It is really, truly Springtime 
When you hear the robin call! 
—St. Nicholas. 
* 
A -pessimistic Kansas editor observes: 
“We would bate to be a cook, and have 
pie crust on our conscience.” He should 
bear in mind, however, that conscience 
is not the usual sufferer, even from the 
most pernicious form of pie crust. 
* 
Thin wash dresses have the fullness 
at the back of the skirt shirred on cords. 
Three cords are used, placed one inch 
apart. They keep the shirring firm, have 
a pretty effect at the back, and there is 
no fear of the gathers giving way. 
* 
An unknown friend of The R. N.-Y. 
sends the following directions for easily- 
made rugs. 
Cut odds and ends of silk and wool goods 
into carpet rags from two to three inches 
long. When enough are prepared select 
any firm foundation—coffee sacks are good 
—and bind the euges. The rest of the 
work is easily done on the sewing ma¬ 
chine. Fold six or eight of the three-inch 
rags in place against the foundation, and 
stitch through the middle, allowing the 
ends to stand up on either side. Stitch 
round and round the foundation, adding 
bunches of the short rags, until the soft, 
fluffy-looking rug is completed. 
* 
The woman who cannot visit the large 
city department stores at the change of 
seasons will find much that is instructive 
in the catalogues issued by firms en¬ 
gaged largely in the mail-order trade. 
Fashion papers will show her the pre¬ 
vailing modes, but she must look at such 
a catalogue as this to get a correct idea 
of trimmings, embroideries, collars, and 
all the small gear that means so much 
in tne completed costume. We have re¬ 
ferred several times to the all-over laces 
and embroideries which are used so 
much this year in making elaborate 
white waists. A large selection is pic¬ 
tured in the new Spring catalogue is¬ 
sued by Boggs & Buhl, Allegheny, Pa., 
which will be sent to anyone on request 
The stocks and collars pictured in the 
same catalogue will be found highly sug¬ 
gestive, as they are all of the newest 
styles, and no matter how well-made a 
shirt waist may be, its appearance is 
spoiled by an ugly or old-fashioned col¬ 
lar. In the stiff linen collars, we always 
advise those of distinctly masculine 
shape; fancy shapes in stiff linen soon 
go out of style, and are usually awkward 
to iron. All classes of ready-to-wear 
garments have been wonderfully im¬ 
proved of late years, and it is now quite 
possible for any woman of normal figure 
to make her selection, send measure¬ 
ments, and receive garments, without 
leaving her own home. It is true that 
these mail orders do away with the de¬ 
lights of shopping, but they prove a 
solid blessing in every way. The home 
dressmaker who buys a readymade gar¬ 
ment but rarely, often obtains from it 
very useful ideas in finishing her work. 
This is especially true in shirt waists; it 
is really worth while to study the way 
they are put together, the setting on of 
cuffs and collar, and all the small items 
of construction. Many things puzzling 
in the pattern are made plain in the fin¬ 
ished model, and it is these little items 
of style that give character to the gar¬ 
ment. We often see shirt waists that 
look homemade, in spite of neat sewing, 
good pattern, and pretty material, mere¬ 
ly because the home dressmaker has not 
studied the construction properly, or has 
chosen material pretty in itself, but of a 
class out of fashion for this special pur¬ 
pose. A very inexpensive remedy for 
such mistakes is found in the study of a 
good mail-order catalogue. 
* 
One of our friends asks us what is the 
real meaning of khaki; she hears of 
khaki dresses, khaki trimmings, and 
khaki writing “paper. This reminds us 
of the small girl pictured in an English 
paper, studying her atlas; she says that 
she hears the soldiers are in khaki, but 
she can’t find it on the map! According 
to the scholars, khaki is derived from a 
Persian word which means dust; its 
present-day meaning is a coarse, yellow¬ 
ish-brown canvas, used for soldiers’ uni¬ 
forms in tropical climates. Both Ameri¬ 
can and British soldiers are fighting in 
khaki now, and fashion calls the brown¬ 
ish linen or crash made into women’s 
gowns khaki also. Much of it is simply 
the deep twine-colored linen or crash 
that we have been wearing m outing 
skirts and suits for several seasons, and 
this is really prettier than the genuine 
article, which is strongly suggestive in 
hue of too-long-mixed mustard. Alone, 
we consider the color frankly hideous, 
but it combines nicely with white, pale 
blue or scarlet. We saw one khaki Eton 
suit that was really very pretty; both 
skirt and jacket were strapped with 
white pique, and a fancy waist of white 
lawn and lace, with belt and collar of 
pale blue silk, went with it. Small gilt 
buttons were used on the jacket. An¬ 
other article of dress derived from the 
“gentleman in khaki ordered south” is 
the puttee. It will be noticed, in pic¬ 
tures of British soldiers in campaign 
dress, that they wear peculiar leggings, 
formed of a strip folded spirally around 
the leg from ankle to knee, buckled at 
the top, instead of the ordinary shape 
worn by American soldiers. These are 
puttees, the name being of Asiatic de¬ 
rivation, and they are now made in vari¬ 
ous waterproof materials for both men 
and women, though rarely seen in this 
country. 
Some California Cooking. 
SUGAR SUBSTITUTES AND SUGGESTIONS. 
Many mothers are anxious to learn 
how to prepare good wholesome food for 
their little ones, as well as for the older 
members of the household, and as I have 
been one of these anxious mothers for a 
number of years, I have learned a few 
things that have proven a great bless¬ 
ing to me and '.to my family. I believe 
that the general health of a person de¬ 
pends upon what he eats and drinks; 
therefore, I think that the mother is in 
a great measure responsible for the 
health of the individual members of her 
family; for if she does not prepare the 
food herself, she generally oversees it. 
When other mothers learn by experi¬ 
ence, as I have learned, that if only such 
foods are taken as will nourish and build 
up the system, instead of that which 
weakens and impairs it, they will be glad 
to do the duty that rests upon them just 
as soon as they realize the great im¬ 
portance of it. 
We have learned that by entirely dis¬ 
carding the use of pork and lard, and tea 
and coffee, and almost the same with 
sugar, it is seldom that any member of 
our family (six in number) is sick, or 
has a cold. When we ate these things, 
colds and other ailments were of very, 
very frequent occurrence. My youngest 
boy of 4% years does not know the taste 
of candy, or ice cream, or cake. 
A good substitute for sugar, in cook¬ 
ing, is a syrup made by boiling down the 
juice of sweet fruits. The juice of sweet 
apples, as pressed for cider, boiled down 
one-half, is very nice to cook quinces in 
for canning, and any juice left from can¬ 
ning may be sealed up, to be eaten on 
hot cakes later on. The apple juice boil¬ 
ed down more than one-half, perhaps to 
one-third, makes a very nice syrup for 
hot cakes, and to sweeten some pud¬ 
dings, and apple and squash pies. If it 
is boiled down still more, it makes a 
very rich jelly, that may be used in the 
place of the half-sugar jelly. Syrup 
made from ripe juicy pears is delicious 
also, and may be used in place of the 
apple syrup. Pear syrup may be made 
by cutting up the pears (not coring nor 
paring them), covering with water as for 
canning; cook for a few hours, then 
strain and return the juice to the fire, 
and boil slowly until as thick and 
syrupy as desired. Some like this in¬ 
stead of sugar on boiled rice. 
To make a steamed graham pudding 
without sugar use two eggs, three-quar¬ 
ters large cupful o 1 sour cream, three- 
quarters large cupful buttermilk, 1 y 2 
level teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda, 
one teaspoonful salt, one large cupful or 
more of seeded or seedless raisins, two 
or three large spoonfuls of apple or pear 
syrup, and graham flour to make quite a 
stiff batter. Beat the eggs, add cream 
and sour milk, salt and soda dissolved 
in a very little hot water, then add the 
flour; last, stir in tne raisins that have 
been cooking in the fruit juice on top of 
the stove, until they are juicy and ten¬ 
der, and the moisture seems to be about 
out of them. Pour into a buttered pud- 
ding-pan, and place in a kettle of boiling 
water to steam, with something under 
the pudding to keep it from scorching on 
the bottom (a zinc jar cover is good), 
cover with a newspaper, then with the 
cover of the kettle; steam two hours, 
then set in the oven for 15 minutes. For 
a change, some like cornmeal with two 
or three spoonfuls of white flour, in 
place of the graham flour. 
For the past eight years this pudding 
has substituted in our family for fruit 
cake, in fact, it is the only cake we have 
had in our house during this time. The 
children like a slice of it in their lunch 
basket at school, and it is also relished 
at a basket picnic. It will keep good for 
a week, perhaps longer—if kept out of 
sight—and may be made as fresh as at 
first, by steaming again for a few min¬ 
utes. As pudding it is very nice warm or 
cold, eaten with pudding-sauce or with 
cream, or the juice of sweet fruit. 
There are several ways to blanch al¬ 
monds; some brown them in butter,some 
in olive oil, and some use no grease at 
all. I think this last named way is much 
more wholesome, and I find that they 
are very nice and brittle, and may be 
kept for weeks without becoming rancid. 
If kept until they lose their crispness, it 
may be restored by placing in a mod¬ 
erate oven for a few minutes. After re¬ 
moving the shell, pour boiling water 
over the kernels and let stand for a few 
minutes until the brown hull slips off 
easily by pressing between the thumb 
and fingers. Then pour off the water, 
slip off the hulls, putting the kernels, 
not heaped over each other at all, in a 
baking-pan, and while they are still 
moist, sprinkle well with salt, and set in 
a moderate oven. If the oven is very 
hot, leave the door open part of the time. 
Shake and stir them often, lest they 
burn or get too brown. They should be 
well dried through, and a very light 
brown when done. 
MBS. II. G. KEESLING. 
Answering Letters. 
I suppose that is what they call it, but, 
although certain people write very 
charming letters, they most certainly are 
not answers. I have one correspondent 
whose letters would be perfect, if only 
she would answer my questions. As 
there is seldom a reference made to any¬ 
thing I have written, however, I have a 
feeling that perhaps as soon as they are 
read, my letters go into the fire. It is 
impossible to carry on any kind of dis¬ 
cussion with a correspondent who has 
this habit. You ask your friend’s opin¬ 
ion of some book—no reply; you inquire 
for some mutual friend—no reply; you 
ask about your friend’s health—no re¬ 
ply. You begin to feel snubbed, and to 
wonder whether your questions could 
have been impertinent. How different it 
is when a correspondent answers all 
your questions and comments on the 
things you wrote about, so that you 
know your letter was before him as he 
wrote. I believe men are more likely to 
answer letters 'than are women. 
For my own part, when I sit down to 
write a letter, the one I am answering 
seems as necessary as do pen and paper. 
The whole letter is carefully read, and 
as things are suggested by it they are 
put down in the answer. It is so much 
easier to do this than to try to remem¬ 
ber what was said in a letter that may 
have oeen received months ago. Letter 
writing is something that may give 
pleasure to many people, and the ability 
to write a good one is not to be despised, 
but when we answer letters, whatever 
else we do, let us by all means answer 
them. s. n. r. 
As vulgarity and ignorance betoken a 
neglected mind, so unhappiness and mis¬ 
ery proclaim the neglected heart. The 
normal nature will keep strong and fresh 
the chords that vibrate joy.—Dr. Hillis. 
Excess is not the only thing that 
breaks up both health and enjoyment; 
many are brought into a very ill and 
languishing habit of body by mere sloth, 
which is both a great sin and the cause 
of many more.—South. 
ARMSTRONG & McKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BEYMER-BAUMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS -CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR 1 
> Cincinnati. 
ECKSTEIN ) 
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. 
SALEM 
Salem, Mass. 
CORNELL 
Buffalo. 
KENTUCKY 
Louisville. 
VEN though you want but a pound 
of White Lead, you do not want 
to have some cheap mixture of 
Zinc, Barytes, etc., labeled “White 
Lead,” foisted upon you simply because the 
dealer makes a greater profit on it. 
Insist on getting Pure White Lead. 
It will be pure if the package bears one of 
the brands named in the margin. You 
can buy them in one, two, three or five- 
pound cans. 
For colors use National Lead Company’s Pure White 
I" |l tC 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. 
