566 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 18 
l Woman and Home j 
From Day to Day. 
Out in the Philippines (can’t tell where, 
Jes’ exactly, tho’ Pa has read 
All it gives in the atlas there) 
Ollie—but, mebbe, you’ve heard?—is dead. 
Pa, he says that it may n’t be so; 
Things in the papers ain’t always right, 
'Specially names;—but I know, I know! 
(Killed, in action, Oliver White.) 
Mus' be Ollie—for it’s the same 
Regiment—company, even, too. 
Pa insists: “It’s a common name; 
We’ll jes’ hope that the news ain’t true.” 
Yet why, when the paper come to-day, 
Was I of a sudden took with fright 
Ere ever I saw what it had to say? 
(Killed, in action, Oliver White.) 
Few, I reckon, will think it’s him; 
“Oliver” sounds so stiff and queer! 
To all the people he’s “Spike” and “Slim,” 
No one spoke of him different, here. 
Was n’t the steadiest kind of lad; 
Loafed—a little; and drank—a mite; 
But, then, he was n’t percisely bad. 
(Killed, in action, Oliver White.) 
And p’r’aps we ought to be glad he went. 
1 was willin’—I cried a bit, 
But thought if soldierin’ was his bent 
’Twas wrong to keep him away from it. 
And now the people who called him wild 
And good-for-nothing, will see they might 
Hev all misjudged him—my child! my child! 
(Killed, in action, Oliver White.) 
—Edwin L. Sabin in Puck. 
* 
Laud or grease of some kind is usual¬ 
ly advised to remove tar from clothing, 
but a friend tells us that benzine is 
thoroughly effectual, and it is much 
cleaner. When used on woolen or other 
washable material, the article may be 
thoroughly washed in warm soapsuds 
afterwards. 
* 
We heard recently of a small city 
boy who Avas making his first visit to 
the country. He was turned loose in 
the roomy, tree-shaded yard, but was 
soon afterwards found playing in the 
house. “Why don’t you play outside?” 
asked his mother. “ ’Cause,” said he, 
“outside’s so big it scares me.” 
* 
A pinch of salt added to mustard 
when mixing will keep it of a better 
color. We like to wet the mustard first 
with a little vinegar, then mix it with 
warm water; it can be made thinner 
than when cold water is used, and is 
thus more convenient to put into the 
mustard pot, while it stiffens sufficiently 
as it cools. Watery mustard is an 
abomination. 
* 
Small boys in the cities have discov¬ 
ered a new source of joy in the auto¬ 
mobiles. They wear roller skates, and 
hitch on the auto, to be palled up and 
down the streets; the driver is power¬ 
less to catch them, for a horseless car¬ 
riage is naturally whipless too. As one 
boy joyously observed: “The drivers 
can’t do nothin’, for where they ain’t no 
horses they ain’t no whips. See?” 
* 
Reference has been made, from time 
to time, to the diversified amount of 
work one woman Avill do in a day. The 
Lewiston (Me.) Journal tells of a farm¬ 
er’s wife in that vicinity who occupied 
herself as follows during one afternoon 
and evening: She and two of her chil¬ 
dren rode to Choate’s hill, picked 15 
quarts of blueberries, walked home, a 
distance of two miles, arriving there 
about 4.30. She then canned four quarts 
of the berries, made a lot of pies, went 
out and raked hay for an hour, back to 
the house and sprinkled her week’s 
washing ready for ironing, made biscuit 
for the family (comprising herself, hus¬ 
band and five children), washed the 
dishes, made the beds, washed the fam¬ 
ily’s colored clothes, attended to several 
minor chores, put the children to bed, 
all who were not old enough to go it 
alone, and turned in herself at 10 
o’clock. As a finisher she was obliged 
to be up a good part of the night with 
a sick child, and the following night 
went to a dance in a neighboring vil¬ 
lage. 
• 
A Toronto clergyman recently per¬ 
formed a marriage ceremony with a 
unique substitute for a wedding ring. 
The bridegroom, who came from the 
American side of the St. Lawrence, had 
forgotten tne customary circlet, and the 
only a\ r ailable ring was furnished by 
the finger clasp of a pair of buttonhole 
scissors. We have heard of a door-key 
being used in a similar emergency, and 
in the last century, the beautiful Miss 
Gunning was married to the Duke of 
Hamilton with a brass curtain ring cut 
from a set of bed hangings. 
* 
August and September are months 
when dampness and mold give trouble 
to the housekeeper. In June the dry 
days and nights seem to keep every¬ 
thing sweet and fresh, but we notice a 
change in July, and in August we need 
a liberal use of fresh air, sunshine and 
hot water. Bread and cake boxes must 
be scalded and sunned, and also the 
linen cloths in which edibles are wrap¬ 
ped. Very little carelessness in this 
particular will result in quickly-molded 
bread. It is well to examine clothes 
closets too; shoes quickly mildew where 
there is any dampness, and sunning is 
the best remedy. 
* 
We referred, when the style first ap¬ 
peared, to the mode of wearing a nar¬ 
row velvet ribbon brought twice around 
the collar or stock, crossing it in the 
back and fastening the ends in front 
with a small ornamental pin. This style 
has continued in favor all Summer, the 
usual mode of arranging being with one 
band at tne top and the other at the 
bottom in front, crossing like a wide X 
at the back. To the masculine mind it 
looks rather unreasonable at first sight, 
and one critic told us that it always 
made him feel cross-eyed. Like most 
neck dressings, its look of style depends 
chiefly on the care with which it is ar¬ 
ranged. 
* 
All the authorities tell us that the 
short walking skirt is now here for 
good, and will be the most prominent 
feature of the Autumn styles. It must 
not be imagined by this that the really 
short bicycle skirt worn by some mis¬ 
guided women is meant; the new walk¬ 
ing skirt clears the ground all round 
from tAvo to four inches, but the pref¬ 
erable style is just full ankle length. It 
is made of heavy double-faced cloth, 
without lining. It is just the skirt that 
most women have longed for during 
many years; outdoor exercise has made 
it fashionable, and everyone is adopting 
it. Why wasn’t it adopted before? Well, 
life is full of mysteries; perhaps this is 
one of them. 
* 
A friend asks how to prepare black¬ 
berry pickle. We have never made this, 
but the following is recommended as a 
standard recipe: Place a pint of the 
best cider vinegar in a granite kettle, to¬ 
gether with four cupfuls of granulated 
sugar, one teaspoonful of ground cloves, 
and two teaspoonfuls of ground cinna¬ 
mon; when it boils add three quarts of 
dewberries or blackberries that have 
been carefully cleaned; let the fruit 
cook 10 minutes in the syrup, then skim 
the berries into a gallon jar; pour over 
the syrup and turn a plate over them to 
keep the berries below the surface; tie a 
double fold of cloth and thick paper 
over the jar when the fruit is cold and 
the pickle will keep perfectly. 
Alum Baking Powders in 
Congress. 
The Committee on Manufactures ot 
the Senate were some time ago directed 
to investigate food adulterations, and 
accumulated a volume of testimony 
upon the subject from the best informed 
parties and highest scientific authorities 
in the country. 
One of the greatest sources of danger 
to our foods, the Committee state in 
their report, exists in alum baking 
powders. The Committee found the 
testimony, they say overwhelmingly 
condemnatory of the use of alum in 
baking powders, and recommended that 
such use be prohibited by law. 
Senator Mason, discussing in the Sen¬ 
ate the report of the Committee and the 
several bills introduced to carry the 
recommendations of the Committee into 
effect, said: — 
When we made this report we made 
it based on the evidence before us, and 
the evidence is simply overwhelming. 
I do not care how big a lobby there may 
be here for the alum baking powder, I 
do not care how many memorials they 
publish, there is no place in the human 
economy of human food for this thing 
called alum. The overwhelming evi¬ 
dence of the leading physicians and 
scientists of this country is that it is 
absolutely unfit to go into the human 
food, and that in many cases—if the 
gentleman will read the evidence, some 
of the physicians say they can trace 
cases in their own practice—there are 
diseases of the kidney due to the perpet¬ 
ual use of alum in their daily bread. 
When you mix a mineral poison, as 
they all say that alum is, it is impos¬ 
sible to mix it always to such a degree 
that there will not be a residuum left of 
alum, which produces alumina, and 
which contributes largely to the dis¬ 
eases of the people in this country. 
I want to give the Senate an idea of 
the class of men we have called. They 
are me leading scientists from every col¬ 
lege of the United States that we could 
get hold of. 
Senator Mason from a long list of 
scientists who had testified as to the 
hurtfulness of alum baking powders, 
and as to the healthfulness of cream of 
tartar powders, mentioned the follow¬ 
ing: 
Appleton, John Howard, professor of 
chemistry. Brown University, Provi¬ 
dence, R. I. 
•Arnold, J. W. S., professor, University 
of New York. 
Atwater, W. 0., professor and direc¬ 
tor, Government experimental station, 
Washington, D. C. 
Barker, George F., professor, Univer¬ 
sity of Pennsylvania. 
Caldwell, G. C., professor, Cornell 
University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
Chandler, C. F., professor Columbia 
University, New York. 
Chittenden, Russel H., professor, Yale 
UniA r ersity, New Haven, Conn. 
Cornwall, H. B., professor, University 
of Princeton, New Jersey. 
Crampton, C. A., professor. Division 
of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. 
Fairhurst, Alfred, professor, chemist. 
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. 
Frear, William, professor. State Col¬ 
lege, Pennsylvania. 
Jenkins, Edward H., professor, de¬ 
partment of agriculture, State of Con¬ 
necticut. 
Johnson, S. W., professor, Yale Col¬ 
lege, New Haven, Conn. 
Mallet, John William, professor, Uni¬ 
versity of Virginia. 
Mew, W. M., professor. Army and 
Medical Department, United States 
Government. 
Morton, Henry, president of Stevens 
Institute, Hoboken, N. J. 
Munroe, Charles Edward, professor of 
chemistry, Columbian University, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. 
Prescott, Albert B., professor, Univer¬ 
sity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Price, A. F., medical director, United 
States Naval Hospital, Washington, D. 
C. 
Smart, Charles, lieutenant-colonel, as¬ 
sistant surgeon-general. United States 
Army. 
Sternberg, George M., Surgeon-Gen¬ 
eral United States Army, Washington, 
D. C. 
Tucker, Willis G., professor of chemis¬ 
try and chemist of State Board of 
Health, State of New York. 
Vaughan, Victor C., professor, Univer¬ 
sity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Van Reypen, W. K., Surgeon-General, 
United States Navy, Washington, D. C. 
Wiley, Prof. H. W., Chief Chemist, De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, United States, 
Washington, D. C. 
Wyman, Walter, Surgeon-General, 
United States Marine Hospital, Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. 
Mr. Pettigreav. Was there any tes¬ 
timony which showed that there were 
cases of injury to health as a result of 
constant use of alum? 
Mr. Mason. Yes; I can turn you to 
the testimony. 
Mr. Pettigrew. I do not care to have 
the Senator turn to it. I simply want 
to emphasize the point. I agree with 
the Senator. It has always been my 
own impression that alum baking 
powder is injurious, but I wanted to 
bring it out and make it emphatic, if the 
proof sustains that position. 
Mr. Mason. I quite agree with the 
Senator. It is claimed that there is not 
a country in Europe that does not pro¬ 
hibit the use of alum. Certainly three 
or four of the leading countries of Eu¬ 
rope to Avhich I have had my attention 
called prohibit the use of alum in baking 
powder. 
Mr. Pettigreav. Did the chemists 
who came before the Committee, these 
professors, generally testify—was it the 
result of their evidence—that the cream 
of tartar baking powder is healthy and 
does not leave a residuum which is in¬ 
jurious to health? 
Mr. Mason. Yes; I say emphatically, 
yes; that the weight of the evidence is, 
whenever any of these distinguished 
men, who have a national reputation, 
the leading chemists of the colleges, 
were interrogated upon the point, they 
stated that fact every one of them, to my 
recollection. 
tvxx- 
i-y jv.-'cV**.*r c, 
m 
Don’t tie the top of your 
jelly and preserve jars in 
the old fashioned Avay. Seal 
them by the new, quick, 
absolutely sure way— by 
a thin coating of pure, 
refined Parattine Wax. 
Has no taste or odor. 
Is air tight and acid 
proof. Easily applied. 
Useful in a dozen other 
ways about the house. 
Full directions with 
each pound cake. 
Soli! everywhere. 
Made by STANDARD OIL CO- 
At Shelburne Farms, Vt., 
Dr. W. Seward Webb has used thousands of gallons of 
Cabot’s Creosote Shingle Stains 
on buildings and fences, instead of paint. Not merely 
because they are cheaper, but because they are also 
better. Samples of all colors and illustrated cata¬ 
logue sent free on request. 
SAMUEL CABOT, 81 Kilby St., Boston, Mass. 
T 
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