87o 
December 27 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
From |Day to Day. 
ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR. 
Now is the time when it’s well to be heed¬ 
ful, 
To have all your clothing sufficiently 
warm, 
Not to imagine it cannot be needful 
To carry umbrellas except in a storm. 
Now Is the season to wear mackintoshes— 
A good one should keep you as dry as a 
chip— 
Shoes with cork soles, at the least, or 
galoches; 
Now is the time to look out for the grip. 
Once you are seized in its clutch unrelent¬ 
ing. 
Torn by its talons and pierced by its 
fang, 
Inquisitorial talent tormenting 
Never could add to its terrors a pang; 
Racked till your bones ache right into the 
marrow, 
Pinchers red heated no sharper could nip. 
Stabbed by keen daggers, rolled under a 
harrow— 
That’s what you get when you’re down 
with the grip. 
Then, not the least of the ills that beset 
you. 
Calomel, quinine, such nauseous stuff. 
Bags of hot water and things that won’t 
let you 
Rest for a moment—it’s rougher than 
rough! 
Therefore be careful, the germ that is lying 
In wait never lets opportunity slip; 
There are far pleasanter methods of dying 
We may all choose than to die of the 
grip. —Chicago Dally News. 
* 
There is often one spot in an oven 
where, for some reason, bread, cake or 
pies burn on the bottom. This trouble 
can be obviated by placing an asbestos 
mat over the hot spot. 
* 
Cranberry shortcake will give a 
variation in Winter desserts. Make the 
cake after the customary manner, and 
spread cranberries cooked and seasoned 
between the layers. It is wiser to serve 
this shortcake without cream; in many 
cases it causes digestive discomfort with 
the acid fruit. Cranberry jelly as a fill¬ 
ing for layer cake makes a pleasant 
change. 
* 
If you have any old brass and copper 
vessels, now is the time to bring them 
forward; they are in fashion, and bric- 
a-brac fanciers hunt through the second¬ 
hand shops for utensils of these metals. 
They are used for decoration in halls 
and dining rooms, especially about the 
fireplace. Russian immigrants often 
bring copper bowls of various sizes, 
which they sell quite cheerfully to ob¬ 
tain American utensils, and these are 
used as flower holders or card receivers. 
There is no question about the lasting 
qualities of a copper teakettle; one 
housekeeper we know has been using 
such a kettle for 48 years, and it seems 
ready to do good service for a century 
at least. 
• 
A friend asks how to cook kale 
greens or borecole. This plant, with its 
finely cut or closely curled leaves, does 
not look like our familiar cabbage, yet 
it is really a non-heading cabbage, and 
is served like other members of its fam¬ 
ily. It is at its best in midwinter when 
its thick succulent stems are crisp and 
tender. Wash very carefully to remove 
all grit; drain, and boil for half an hour. 
It is nice boiled with salt pork or corn¬ 
ed beef. When cooked drain well, chop 
fine and serve in a hot dish, either with 
or without a garnish of hard-boiled 
eggs. Or put some butter to heat in a 
frying pan, and when the kale is cooked 
and drained, turn it into the frying pan 
and stir it about in the butter for a few 
minutes, adding pepper and salt. It is 
also nice boiled like cauliflower and 
served with cream sauce, or chopped and 
reheated in a little milk. An immense 
quantity of kale comes to New York 
from southern truck farms during the 
Winter. 
* 
There are some things about this 
Winter’s millinery that we are unable 
to reconcile to our sense of fitness, and 
one of these is yards of artificial grape¬ 
vines and pounds of artificial grapes 
wound around a beaver hat. We see 
many examples of such headgear every 
day, a favorite style being white beaver 
trimmed with purple and green grapes 
having silvery-white leaves. White hats 
of all kinds are extremely fashionable 
this Winter, but the prettiest are those 
trimmed with black velvet and black 
feathers, and this style is often becom¬ 
ing to women who could not wear a 
white hat of any other style. Black 
beaver hats are often seen trimmed with 
white grapes, and also with sprays of 
artificial holly, and this latter has a 
pretty effect. 
* 
A convenience for house plants is a 
rolling stand to hold heavy specimens. 
It is like a large fiber saucer on casters, 
is unbreakable and proof against damp, 
and big plants placed upon it may be 
pushed about without any trouble. Fiber 
plant saucers are another inexpensive 
convenience; they are waterproof and 
non-porous, consequently do not mark 
woodwork or furniture with a damp 
spot, as the terra cotta saucers do. One 
of the oddities in plant holders that, 
during the Winter season, attracts at¬ 
tention in the seedsmen’s windows is 
the vernal hyacinth vase. This is made 
of porous terra cotta. It is immersed in 
water for a day, and filled, the bulb, 
which has been started in another ves¬ 
sel, put in as in an ordinary hyacinth 
glass. The outside of the moist vase is 
sprinkled with Timothy seed, and with¬ 
in a few days it will be covered with a 
bright green growth. 
* 
If we were furnishing our ideal coun¬ 
try home we should have either bare or 
matted floors with a few rugs; walls of 
a plain color with lighter ceilings; very 
little upholstered furniture, and that of 
the simplest form; all bedsteads of 
metal. What is called “mission furni¬ 
ture,” simple, solid, yet artistic, is spe¬ 
cially designed for country homes. Taste 
in house decoration has greatly changed 
4282 Child’s Double Breasted 
Cape with Hood, 2 to 8 yrs. 
within the last decade and the elaborate 
draperies and dust-delighting upholster¬ 
ies are growing less. We have learned, 
too, that the formal style of furnishing 
demanded by a city house is out of place 
in the country. It is worth while to visit 
large city stores in early Summer to 
study the furnishings they offer for 
porch and country-house use. These ar¬ 
ticles, primarily designed to meet the 
needs of city people going to the coun¬ 
try for the Summer, are equally suited 
to the needs of those settled in rural 
homes all the year round. 
The Rural Patterns. 
A cape forms a very useful extra wrap 
for little girls, as well as their elders. 
The model shown is circular and falls 
in graceful ripples at the lower edge. 
The hood is seamed at the center and is 
arranged over the shoulders, the upper 
edge being seamed to the neck that is 
finished with a roll-over collar. The 
original is lined throughout and is fin¬ 
ished with machine stitching done with 
corticelli silk, but the edges can be turn¬ 
ed under, stitched and pressed when 
that method is preferred. The right side 
laps well over the left in double-breast¬ 
ed style and the cape is closeu by means 
of buttons and buttonholes. The quan¬ 
tity of material required for the medium 
size (six years) is 1% yard 44 inches 
4288 Boy’s Suit, 2, 4 and 6 yrs. 
wide or 1% yard 52 inches wide. The 
pattern No. 4282 is cut in sizes for chil¬ 
dren of 2, 4, 6 and 8 years of age; price 
10 cents from this office. 
The boy’s Russian blouse suit is a 
variation on previous models. The suit 
consists of knickerbockers and coat. The 
knickerbockers fit snugly and smoothly 
about the hips, but are drawn up in the 
usual baggy style by means of elastic 
inserted in the hems. The coat has 
loosely-fitted fronts and is arranged in 
box pleats at the back. The long ends 
of the sailor collar extend to the lower 
edge of the fronts and give the effect of 
revers. The sleeves are full and are 
gathered into deep cuffs and the neck is 
finished with a standing collar. The 
quantity of material required for the 
medium size is four yards 44 inches 
wide with collar and cuffs. The pattern 
No. 4288 is cut in sizes for boys of 2, 4 
and 6 years of age; price 10 cents. 
Cooking Hubbard Squash. 
Tell the Hope Farm man that Mrs. N. 
says if the Hubbard squash is cut in half 
and placed in the pan with the outside 
up, adding a little water to make steam, 
there will be no trouble about cooking. 
G. H. N. 
Speaking of baked Hubbard squash it 
requires from iy 2 to two hours with a 
steady but not too hot oven. A thin 
brown skin will form, which should be 
cut through with a sharp knife and pull¬ 
ed off; then scrape the squash out of the 
shell Into an earthen dish and season to 
taste with salt, pepper and a generous 
lump of butter. Mash any lumps with 
the back of a spoon and stir the season¬ 
ing through the squash. Send to the 
table hot, and if the squash was a thor¬ 
oughly ripe, good one to begin with, it 
will be a delicious dish. mrs. w. h. c. 
Bainbridge, N. Y. 
To bake, cut squash in half, remove 
seeds and stringy portion. Place In pan 
with inside of squash down, and enough 
water to keep pan from burning. Bake 
until a fork will easily pierce the outer 
shell. To steam, prepare as above. If 
one has a steamer place one-half on dish 
at a time, or use an ordinary cook pot, 
place a network of sticks at the bottom 
so as to keep squash out of the water, 
cook one-half at a time with inside of 
squash down. Steam until shell is easily 
pierced with a fork. It requires much 
less time and fire than it does to bake 
squash. For filling of squash pies, to 
each cupful of squash use 1% cupful of 
milk, a pinch of salt, one-fourth of a 
cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of gin¬ 
ger, a little nutmeg, one egg, one-half 
tablespoonful of molasses. 
MRS. ,T. R. D. 
What is the 
brightest name in 
American story? 
Macbeth’s is on 
the brightest lamp 
chimneys. 
If you’ll send your address, I’ll send you 
the Index to Lamps and their Chimneys, to 
tell you what number to get for your lamp. 
Macbeth, Pittsburgh. 
American Buffalo 
ROBES 
are a thing of the past, 
but we have the KAZOO 
BUFFALO HOHK, a sub- 
stitute that has every 
(i|i|iiiirance and ninny 
advantages over the gen¬ 
uine Buffalo Skin Robe: 
brown or black. Made or 
very heavy EIDF.KDOWN, pliable, soft, lined with astra¬ 
khan and much warmer than a stiff skin robe. 
Interlined with rubber cloth, wind and water proof. 
Direct to you. ( 54x62 jiO.flO l Second quality 
Wholesale prices. ( 64x62 7.SO > much cheaper. 
All firBt Quality. ( 51x72 9.00 ) Money buck 
if dissatisfied. Catalogue of everything free. 
CASH SUPPLY & MFG. CO., Dept.G .Kalamazoo, Mich. 
STEEL ROOFING 
FREIGHT CHARGES PAID BY US 
Strictly new, perfect, Semi - Hardened 
Steel Sheets, 2 f eet wide, 6 leet long. The 
best Hoofing, Siding or telling you can uae. 
No experience necessary to lay it. An 
ordinary hammer or hatchet the only 
tools you need. We furnish nails free 
and paint roofing two sides. Comes 
either tiut, corrugated or “V” crimped. 
Delhered free of all charge* to all points 
in the U. 8 ., east ol the Mississippi River 
and North of the Ohio River 
AT $2.25 PER SQUARE 
1‘rlees to other points on application. A square iiiuamj 100 
square feet. Write for free Catalogue No. 57 
CHICAGO HOUSE WRECKING CO., W. 35th and'lron Sts., Chicago 
in an 
ELGIN WATCH 
Every Elgin watch has the word “Elgin” engraved on the works, and Is 
guaranteed against original defect of every character. A booklet about 
watches will be mailed to you for the asking. 
ELGIN NATIONAL WATCH COMPANY, Elgin, Illinois. 
