1902 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
775 
Sensible Christmas Gifts. 
She always commenced making Christ¬ 
mas gifts during the long Summer after¬ 
noons, and several weeks before the 
eventful day she gathered air the pretty 
things into her spare chamber, making 
it a veritable Santa Claus shop that was 
the envy of her busy women friends who 
waited till the last moment, and were 
worn out in the jam at holiday counters. 
Having no children she found abundant 
time to fashion the exquisite fancy work 
her friends had learned to expect, and 
besides she enjoyed doing it. Her drawn 
work and Battenburg called forth in¬ 
numerable compliments, and she was 
clever also witn brush and pen. What 
more could mortal woman want except 
a long list of people to bestow the love¬ 
ly gifts upon? And this woman had 
that too. 
But one day as she made up her list 
of friends with the gifts designed for 
each, she made an important discovery. 
There were fine lines making havoc with 
her face from too close application to 
cobweb thread and intricate lace pat¬ 
terns and she,suddenly remembered that 
the family physician had been consulted 
twice lately on the subject of indiges¬ 
tion. The tell-tale mirror had no trou¬ 
ble in pointing out shoulders that had 
begun to stoop a little and an unmistak¬ 
able squint from overworked eyes. It 
was as though she had suddenly 
awakened out of a deep sleep, and, un¬ 
like most women, she profited by the 
unpleasant revelations. From that very 
hour till Christmas, except on the storm¬ 
iest days, she took long walks into the 
country and though she still made holi¬ 
day preparations, fancy work formed no 
part of her craft. Sometimes in her 
walks her husband or a friend accom¬ 
panied her, but whether alone or with a 
companion she always returned with a 
basket of treasures according to the sea¬ 
son. Late in December a few friends 
were asked to inspect the array in the 
spare chamber, and they climbed the 
stairs expecting to see the annual dis¬ 
play of pillows, Battenburg, hand-paint¬ 
ed china and embroidered trifles that 
made their own hastily-selected gifts 
seem commonplace and cheap. An in¬ 
voluntary cry of pleasure escaped one 
woman’s lips as they entered the room 
fragrant with evergreen and flowers and 
glowing with Autumn leaves and ber¬ 
ries. There were tulips and hyacinths 
and lilies almost ready to burst into 
bloom in the windows, and the dresser 
glowed with a mass of scarlet bitter¬ 
sweet. Every available bit of space was 
filled with the woodland beauties and 
the guests could hardly be persuaded to 
give their attention to the real gifts. 
“This basket is for Mabel Croft,” ex¬ 
plained the hostess, indicating a fair¬ 
sized hamper filled with fruit cake, ap¬ 
ples, nuts and homemade candies. “She 
is at school, and cannot afford to come 
home for Christmas. I had intended to 
send a silk pillow in her class colors, 
but I think this will please her more.” 
Instead of the embroidered tobacco 
pouch for her father there were two 
books he had wished for, and a curious 
paper-weight that was a rare Indian 
hammer picked up for a trifle from a 
country boy. A beautiful old-fashioned 
blue and white coverlet had been se¬ 
cured from a woman who “thought it 
too homely for anything,” and each 
guest secretly hoped it might rest on her 
couch after Christmas. A tiny bag filled 
with old coins for a favorite nephew 
caused one lady to remember that her 
son had a mania for collecting old pieces 
of money, but it was too late then to 
profit by the suggestion. Perhaps the 
most interesting present was a box of 
treasures designed for the children’s 
ward of a city hospital. There were 
shells, and peachstone baskets and 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs.Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
birds’ nests with small candies for eggs, 
and cocoons that would later delight the 
small sufferers when brilliant butter¬ 
flies would burst the ugly shell, and 
every sort of interesting thing a person 
with sharp eyes can bring to little ones 
deprived of a life in God’s beautiful 
country. There were apples and nuts 
and a big grinning jack-o’-lantern, and 
plenty of sweets, while over all were 
packed holly, bright leaves and bitter¬ 
sweet. 
“I think it is a shame you always 
think of the most beautiful things to do, 
and the rest of us must take what we 
can find at the last minute,” said one of 
her friends. “I don’t envy you all your 
nice things, but I wish I could think of 
them, too.” 
“My husband says this is the sensible 
way to give presents,” said the hostess. 
“Everything was bought or made with 
special reference to the owner’s taste, 
and I hope all my friends will be pleas¬ 
ed. He says my improved health and 
spirits are his best Christmas present.” 
The sensible gifts were completely 
successful and a bright-eyed woman 
with the glow of perfect health on her 
face received enough appreciative 
“Thank you” letters to turn even her 
well-poised head. When I was invited 
to inspect the dainty array of gifts I 
wondered why it is that town people al¬ 
ways appreciate the lovely things Nature 
scatters with such bountiful hands, while 
the women who live in the midst of 
them never count the pretty ferns, 
leaves and fruits worth very much. Can¬ 
not some country woman with many 
friends and little money for Christmas 
gifts take a hint from her town sister 
with the “sensible gifts?” 
HILDA RICHMOND. 
His Knittin’.Work. 
Aunt Alvira Fifer was what her 
neighbors called a “regular driver.” 
Possessed of untiring energy and un¬ 
failing strength herself, she made little 
allowance for idleness on the part of 
anyone, and she declared that she could 
“put up with a mean man easier than 
with a lazy one.” Aunt Alvira’s hus¬ 
band, Uncle Ethan, was a small, wizen¬ 
ed, weak-looking man, whom Aunt Al¬ 
vira declared to be “mighty wiry if he 
did look so spindlin’.” 
One day a Summer boarder who 
chanced to be sojourning in a farmhouse 
near the Fifer farm wandered over to 
the little brown farmhouse and engaged 
Aunt Alvira in conversation. The visi¬ 
tor sat on the kitchen doorstep and took 
note of the enormous quantity of stove- 
wood piled up in the back yard and 
overflowing from the great woodshed. 
The whole backyard was strewn with 
stovewood, and the caller estimated that 
there were not less than 25 cords of it. 
“What an enormous quantity of stove- 
wood you have,” he said to Aunt Fifer. 
“Yes, there is considdable of it,” she 
replied. “I cal’late on sellin’ most of it 
in the Fall.” 
“Who cut all of u?” 
“Oh, Ethan did it as sort o’ knittin’- 
work. I think it a good thing for a man 
to have some sort o’ knittin’-work to do 
when he’s sort o’ restin’, an’ that wood- 
pile has been Ethan’s knittin’-work.”— 
Lippincott’s Magazine. 
Rural Recipes. 
Chicken Corn Pie.—Clean, joint and 
stew a good-sized chicken in a quart of 
water until tender. Add while cooking a 
small onion, a few sprigs of parsley, a 
stalk of celery, a very small bay leaf, a 
teaspoonful of salt and a piece of red 
pepper pod. When the chicken is ten¬ 
der, remove and thicken the broth with a 
tablespoonful of flour and a tablespoon- 
tul of butter, rubbed smooth. Have 
ready a pint of corn pulp, mix with it a 
cupful of very fine cracker or bread 
crumbs, a teaspoonful of salt, half a tea¬ 
spoonful of pepper, one cupful of cream 
or milk and a tablespoonful of butter. 
Grease a two-quart baking dish, put in it 
half of the corn mixture, on this place 
the chicken and the gravy, spread the re¬ 
mainder of the corn on top. Cover and 
bake half an hour in a moderate oven; 
uncover for 15 minutes to brown. This 
will be found very delicious. 
Chopped Pickle.—One-half peck green 
tomatoes, two stalks of celery, one green 
pepper, one-half a cabbage, three large 
onions, all chopped, to which add one- 
half a cupful of mustard seed, two table¬ 
spoonfuls of celery seed, one-half a cup¬ 
ful of brown sugar, one-quarter cupful 
of salt, one teaspoonful of black pepper, 
the same of cinnamon, one saltspoonful 
each of cloves and allspice and one quart 
of vinegar. Mix all well together and 
seal in Mason jars. Will keep perfectly. 
Scallop of Tomatoes and Potatoes.— 
Season a pint of peeled and chopped to¬ 
matoes with salt, pepper and onion juice 
to suit the taste, and add enough pota¬ 
toes to make a cupful when chopped 
fine. Butter a baking dish and sprinkle 
with bread crumbs and put in half of the 
tomatoes; then a layer of soft crackers, 
buttered and broken in coarse bits. Cover 
the crackers with two heaping table¬ 
spoonfuls of grated American cheese. 
Then add the remainder of the tomatoes, 
more cracker crumbs and bits of butter 
and place in a hot oven. Bake 20 min¬ 
utes. Serve at once. 
Games 
In each pound package of 
Lion Coffee 
from now until Christmas will 
be found a free game, amusing 
and instructive—50 different 
kinds. 
Get Lion Coffee and a Free Game 
at Your Grocers. 
ONE-HALF YOUR 
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NEW 
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■ " 1 . •" 
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„ „ I>01 Hi F. A ZU ILL 
53V»S. Clinton St. Syracuse. N.Y. 
THE ESQUIMO 
The Esquimo eats blubber. 
The lumbermen eat pork. 
These people are constantly- 
exposed to cold and physical 
strain. Experience has taught 
them that fatty foods give 
warmth and nourishment. 
For those who have cold 
and thin bodies, or are threat¬ 
ened with consumption or any 
wasting disease, there is no fat 
in so digestible and palatable a 
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Physicians prescribe it. 
We’ll send you a little to try, if you like. 
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r~-- 
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CommorclalCorreapondcnee Schools 
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Baby’s Christmas. 
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Christmas gift that keeps baby 
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Box 53 MUNCIE, IND. 
WATER CLOSET COMBINATIONS, 
Porcelain Howl. Hardwood Seat and Tank, 
Nickel Plated flush and supply pipes, com¬ 
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’ Cast Iron Roll Rim Bath Tubs. 
length 5 ft. Complete 
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They are new goods, 
ask for free catalogue 
No. F»7 on plumbing 
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