422 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
June 16 
f Woman and Home ] 
********.- 
From Day to Day 
I've seed the apes ’n’ the Poler bears, 
’N’ elaphints in the Zoo; 
I've seed nigh all the cur'ous things 
That I intentioned to; 
I’ve hed a master time ’n’ hain't 
No reason to complain, 
But somer ’r ruther my feelin’s turn 
T’wards Dorothy down in Maine. 
It’s circus day all days in York, 
’Ith Fort’ o' July atop; 
A feller’s dragged this way ’n’ that, 
’N’ don’t know where to stop; 
It’s one continual scoot ’n’ skip, 
’N’ one continual train, 
But Maine’s a nation long way off, 
’N’ Dorothy’s down in Maine. 
I know jes’ how the moonshine lays 
On every teentiest speck 
Of all the blossomed trees that ketch 
The wind from the Kennebec; 
I know jes’ how the swamp-frogs chirp 
To-night acrost the lane, 
’N’ know jes’ how ’n’ where I’d find 
My Dorothy down in Maine. 
She’s settin’ out on the front-door porch 
'Ith the moonshine in her hair, 
’N’ looks—good Lord! what a fool 1 am, 
Bein’ here when I might be there; 
I’ll take the speediest keers there is, 
( N’ I hope they’ll run like Cain!) 
’N’ never stop till I’m back beside 
Dear Dorothy down in Maine! 
—Lippincott’s Magazine. 
* 
An 86-year-old farmer in Ohio recently 
married a woman of 88, after a court¬ 
ship of 71 years. No one under the dis¬ 
creet age of 60 was invited to attend the 
wedding. Just why their courtship was 
so prolonged is not explained, since, ap¬ 
parently, neither married previously, 
but it is only reasonable to suppose that 
they now know their own minds. 
* 
One of the little economies taught by 
instructors in dressmaking is that of 
using ordinary thread to fill the shuttle, 
when doing machine stitching in silk. 
When a garment is profusely trimmed 
with machine stitching, in accordance 
with the style of the last few months, 
this makes a great saving in the amount 
of silk used, and the cotton thread does 
not show in the stitching. 
* 
One of our friends asks how to make 
a cold dish of cornstarch and strawber¬ 
ries. We imagine she refers to straw¬ 
berry flummery. One quart of berries 
will make sufficient for six people. Hull 
and cut each berry in half with a silver 
knife or spoon; cook to a sirup one pint 
of water, one cupful of sugar, and one 
tablespoonful of lemon juice; as soon as 
boiling add three level tablespoonfuls of 
cornstarch dissolved in one-half cupful 
of cold water, and stir until thick and 
smooth; add the berries, set over boiling 
water, and cook 10 minutes. Turn into 
a dish, and serve cold, with cream. 
* 
A oueat many fashionable frocks now 
show a Marie Antoinette fichu, which 
gives a charming finish to a plain gown. 
It is quite expensive to buy readymade, 
but may be made cheaply, the materials 
suitable being washing net (Brussels or 
point d’espiiit) or some fine muslin, such 
as Persian lawn or batiste. Cut a strip 
six inches wide, and about 1% yard long, 
hem very narrowly on each side, and 
fold into lengthwise pleats. Edge one 
side with two lace frills, one above the 
other. When wearing, pin to the back 
of the dress waist at the neck, in a 
slightly V shape, draw the two ends 
over the shoulders to the waist in front, 
and fasten with a brooch or buckle. 
Such a fichu, made of fine muslin, and 
trimmed with frills of the same instead 
of lace, is the very thing for some ven¬ 
erable grandmother, especially if she 
wears a white cap. Caps are out of 
vogue in this country, but we love to 
see an old lady wearing one, and we 
think many do not realize how becoming 
is such a frame for aged features. 
In the Middle West a stern parent re¬ 
cently took out an injunction to prevent 
his son—not, apparently, a particularly 
young man—from marrying a widow 
with four children. Another judicial 
authority however, dissolved the in¬ 
junction, and the marriage was per¬ 
formed without further interference. 
The idea of government by injunction 
seems distinctly odd, as applied to such 
cases. In another western State, an in¬ 
junction was obtained to prevent an un¬ 
popular suitor from calling upon a 
young woman, which suggests that the 
family harmony was more than a little 
out of joint. In spite of these cases, 
however, we have no fear that the aver¬ 
age American household will acquire the 
habit of calling for injunctions to main¬ 
tain parental authority. 
* 
One wise man says that there is no 
harm in saying what we think, so long 
as we are careful only to think what we 
ought to say. There is a great deal of 
wisdom in that. We all know candid 
people who pride themselves on speak¬ 
ing their minds, apparently, because 
they never give a kindly or charitable 
opinion. We don’t like the sugary-sweet 
woman who always prophecies smooth 
things, but she is less disagreeable than 
the over-candid friend who, apparently, 
on'ly meets us to tell us that our bonnet 
is ugly or our complexion the worse for 
wear. It is very easy for a young girl 
to get into the way of criticising every¬ 
one she meets, and expressing her criti¬ 
cism frankly, without, apparently, think¬ 
ing of the little slow-healing wounds 
left by her sharp tongue. We all re¬ 
quire kindly charity for our own mis¬ 
doings, and may well exercise the same 
virtue towards others. 
* 
Bicyci.ing in Africa is not without its 
disadvantages, as the following experi¬ 
ence of Mr. A. B. Lloyd, an English 
missionary, shows: 
One fine morning Mr. Lloyd started on 
his wheel for a village a few miles from 
the mission station. He took the main 
road to Uganda, which was a good 
thoroughfare about five feet wide. After 
climbing a long hill he came to the descent 
on the other side, a long, gentle slope, 
where he knew the road was smooth. Up 
went his feet to the coasters, and away he 
fiew down the hill, going faster every min¬ 
ute. Near the bottom of the hill was a 
turn. On approaching this, he again put 
his feet to the pedals. As he rounded the 
curve a terrible sight burst upon him. In 
the middle of the narrow path lay a full- 
grown lion, its head down upon its paws, 
facing up the hill. Mr Lloyd could not 
stop, or if he did stop, it would be in the 
very jaws of the king of the forest. To 
the left was a wall of rock twenty feet 
high, and to the right a steep embankment, 
with the river a hundred feet below. Es¬ 
cape seemed impossible. Suddenly he re¬ 
membered that the wild men he had met 
were always afraid of his bicycle. Per¬ 
haps a wild beast might be affected in the 
same way. Therefore he did the only thing 
he could do. Releasing his check on the 
wheel, ringing his bell, and shouting with 
all the power of his lungs, he forced the 
bicycle at its best speed directly toward 
the eoucliant lion. The beast raised its 
head. Then, seeing this unearthly crea¬ 
ture, with so strange a voice, rushing fear¬ 
lessly upon it, it gave a blood-curdling 
yelp, and sprang to one side just as the 
rider flew past. 
A Bull’s Head Breakfast. 
Recent mention in TriE R. N.-Y. of the 
monster stew called “burgoo,” used at 
western public feasts, reminds me of the 
peculiar treat given the members of the 
American Horticultural Society in Cali¬ 
fornia in 1888. There were about 100 of 
us from the East, whom the Califor¬ 
nians, in their characteristic generous 
style, were escorting about the State 
and entertaining in the most luxurious 
fashion. When in San Francisco for a 
day or so, we were invited to partake of 
a bull’s head breakfast at San Rafael, 
through th? generosity of Mr. Coleman, 
the great fruit canner. It is said to be a 
Mexican feast. It is prepared in this 
way: A large hole is dug in the earth 
and a fire built in it, stones being mixed 
with the wood, and a mass of coals, 
ashes and hot stones thus secured. The 
heads of cattle, having been first skin¬ 
ned, are wrapped in several folds of wet 
burlap and laid upon the embers in the 
bottom of the pit, and covered with 
earth. This is done the evening before 
the breakfast is to be eaten. When the 
heads have thus lain over night, they 
are taken out, unwrapped, and the meat, 
brains and tongue separated from the 
bones and put into a huge kettle hung 
on a pole, or tripoo, over a fire, and a 
little water added. Into this is put to¬ 
matoes, onions, salt and a large quan¬ 
tity of chopped cayenne peppers; and 
the whole cooked without much stirring. 
The breakfast Is then ready, and is to be 
eaten out-of-doors, without any table, 
dishes, or other conveniences than those 
most handily mafie from pieces of wood 
with pocket knives. Coffee, tamales and 
frijoles are also supplied. This is the 
true and characteristic bull’s head 
breakfast. Ours was considerably modi¬ 
fied for the occasion and the tenderfoot 
company. 
We left the Palace Hotel in San Fran¬ 
cisco at an early hour, took a steamer 
that had been chartered for the occa¬ 
sion, and had a delightful ride across 
the bay to where a special train was in 
waiting to carry us to San Rafael. There 
we were met by carriages and driven 
about the beautiful parks and village 
suburbs, and were to have eaten the 
steaming, peppery breakfast in a grove, 
but it rained. Yes, it rained —for it was 
Winter—and the outdoor treat was cut 
short. We had to go to a hotel, and 
there the breakfast was served on a 
table, with no cloth on it, however, but 
with dishes and a few other table ac¬ 
companiments. The pepper had been 
somewhat spared in the makeup of the 
main dish, and this tempered it materi¬ 
ally. But it was red enough and hot 
enough to have suited almost any rea¬ 
sonable Mexican, most of us thought. 
Although I can eat, and have eaten, al¬ 
most every edible dish, from sourkraut 
to fried prairie dogs, this was too pep¬ 
pery for my taste. Otherwise, it was 
well-flavored and satisfying. 
lr. E. VAN DEMAN. 
A Fireplace Cupboard. 
The days of usefulness of the mam¬ 
moth fireplaces in kitchen or dining 
room are supposed to be past, and in 
many old houses they have been bricked 
up, or rest in dust and ashes, practically 
buried from sight, excepting as the more 
or less dilapidated fireboard serves as a 
silent reminder of former brighter days. 
Right here, I fancy some aesthetic soul 
says, “Remove the ancient fireboard. 
kindle a fire in the old fireplace, and be 
in the fashion for once.” It is needless 
to remind such, that most of these old 
fireplaces are burnt out, so as to render 
them unsafe, and that they were often 
hopeless smokers, beyond reform, even 
in their best days. In fact, in the olden 
time, everything in the room was gen¬ 
erally cured, ceiling, walls, dried beef, 
apples, and hams, even to the grand¬ 
mother. The olden style fireplaces were 
useful, if not comfortable or ornamental, 
while the ornamental is the chief end of 
the modern fireplace. Modern ingenuity 
has discovered a better use for the old 
fireplace than to bury it, which does 
away with the ancient eyesore, the bat¬ 
tered fireboard to mark or conceal its 
resting place. Transfer that relic to the 
bonfire, then clean and scrape out the 
old fireplace, taking out the worn and 
broken bricks at the back and bottom. 
A piece ot zinc or sheet iron should be 
fitted into the top above the stove frame, 
making it as tight as possible, so that no 
soot or dirt from the chimney can rattle 
down. If such a thing should happen, 
the cover can be removed, cleaned and 
put back in its place. Fit a board floor 
into the bottom and whitewash the back 
and sides so that it will be clean and 
sweet. The face stones look nicer 
painted red or terra-cotta. 
By nailing cleats firmly to the sides, 
two or more shelves may be fitted in, 
and you have one of the handiest closets 
imaginable for kitchen utensils, china, 
hats, boots, or shoes, coal hods, or other 
useful and necessary articles. A small 
fireplace might be fitted up for geolog- 
dcal specimens, children’s toys, etc. The 
front may be finished with a rod and 
curtain arrangement, but it is more 
satisfactory to frame it on both sides, 
and hang a door in the middle. This 
closes it tighter than a curtain, and 
keeps out dust. The woodwork may be 
painted, but it will look much better 
papered like the room, leaving a margin 
as wide as a doorcasing on either side 
of the door. This fireplace closet will 
be found wonderfully convenient, and 
make the room look much nicer, than 
an ill-fitting fireboard, yawning at either 
top or bottom, as those old wooden fire- 
boards invariably will, as they shrink or 
swell according to the weather. 
ALICE E. PINNEY. 
So remarkably preverse is the nature 
of man that he despises those that court 
him, and admires whoever will not bend 
before him.—Thucydides. 
I would establish but one great gen¬ 
eral rule in conversation, which is this, 
that men should not talk to please them¬ 
selves, but those that hear them. This 
would make them consider whether 
what they speak be worth hearing; 
Whether there be either wit or sense in 
what they are about to say; and Whether 
it be adapted to the time when, the place 
where, and the person to whom, it is 
spoken.—'Steele. 
ARMSTRONG & McKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BEYMER-BAUMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS-CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR 
ECKSTEIN 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
Brooklyn! 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
SOUTHERN 
rOHN T. LEWIS A BROS CO 
Philadelphia. 
KORLEY 
Cleveland. 
SALEM 
Salem, Mass. 
CORNELL 
Buffalo. 
IENTUCKY 
Louisville. 
Cincinnati. 
New York. 
Chicago. 
\ St. Louis. 
T 
HE theorist and the advertising- expert 
may proclaim the merits of ready- 
mixed paints, but the practical testi¬ 
mony of the men behind the brush proves 
that the most durable and eco¬ 
nomical paint material is Pure 
White Lead. The brands named 
in margin can be depended upon 
for purity and carefulness in 
manufacture. 
For colors use National Lead Com- 
^ pany’s Pure White Lead Tinting Col¬ 
ors. Any shade desired is readily 
obtained. Pamphlet giving full information and 
showing samples of Colors, also pamphlet entitled 
“Uncle Sam’s Experience With Paints” for¬ 
warded upon application. 
National Lead Co., ioo William Street, New York. 
