10 
THE RURAI 
NEW-YORKER. 
January 7 
| Woman and | 
| The Home. | 
FROM DAY TO DAY. 
I would that I were like Mary, 
With leisure to sit at His feet; 
To list to the words of the Master, 
Falling so tenderly sweet, 
Giving the rest that I long for, 
A peace and a love complete. 
But I am a server, like Martha. 
And yet I can live at His feet, 
And treasure the words of the Master, 
Falling so tenderly sweet 
That they glorify all the serving, 
And make all my life so complete 
That I wonder I envied my sister 
Her leisure to sit at His feet. 
—E 11. Chase, in American Kitchen Magazine. 
* 
Rubber heels are now made to fit any 
shoes, and friends who wear them de¬ 
clare that this is the next thing to wear¬ 
ing wings. About half an inch of the 
leather heel is removed, and the rubber 
heel put in its place, fastened with six 
nails. Very many people have a trick 
of bringing down their weight chiefly 
upon their heels, and the rubber lessens 
the jar to an astonishing degree. Many 
a busy housewife, who is “ on her feet” 
all day, would find this rubber cushion 
an aid in removing her perennial back¬ 
ache. Rubber-tired bicycles and car¬ 
riages have been followed by rubber- 
tired business wagons, and now we ex¬ 
tend the innovation to rubber-tired 
humanity. 
* 
We are so accustomed to hearing pork 
decried as unwholesome that it is inter¬ 
esting to learn of its use in invalid diet¬ 
ary, in the case of wasting disease. Says 
Dr. Emmet; 
An excellent substitute for cod-liver oil, and 
one often better tolerated, is fat pork properly 
prepared. I direct a thick portion of a rib piece, 
free from lean, to be selected and allowed to re¬ 
main in soak for 39 hours before being boiled, the 
water being frequently changed to get rid of the 
salt It should be boiled slowly, and thoroughly 
cooked, and while boiling, the water must be 
changed several times by pouring it off, and 
fresh water, nearly boiling, substituted. It is to 
be eaten cold in the form of a sandwich from 
stale bread, ana both should be cut as thin as 
possible. It is very nutritious, but it should be 
given in small quantities until a taste for it has 
been acquired. It may be made palatable by 
the addition of a little table salt. It may be 
rubbed up in a mortar. 
* 
The Christmas just past was, doubtless, 
a strange experience to many an ex¬ 
patriated American. The close and 
dripping heat of the Philippines would 
make a strange midwinter festival for 
men from the snowy Northwest or chill 
New England. A great many tons of 
Christmas boxes have gone to Uncle Sam’s 
boys in foreign parts, and without doubt, 
many a household, during the holiday 
period, looked tearfully at an empty 
chair, while thinking of one who is up¬ 
holding the honor of the flag “ some- 
wheres east o’ Suez.” It is all very new 
to us now ; within a few years, we shall 
be able to follow the example of our 
English cousins, who eat their Christmas 
pudding in the blazing heat of western 
Australia and Equatorial Africa, or the 
chilly heights of the Tibetan frontier, 
and carry the home customs wherever 
they go. 
* 
A week before Christmas, an odd spec¬ 
tacle was displayed at many down-town 
corners in New York—a large iron camp 
kettle slung from a tripod. Over the 
kettle was the sign, “ Keep the pot 
boiling,” and an appeal for contribu¬ 
tions to aid the Salvation Army in giv¬ 
ing a Christmas dinner to 20,000 poor 
people, and to clothe 1,000 poor children. 
A Salvation Army soldier, in the white 
linen suit and cap of a professional 
cook, watched over each kettle, while a 
wire grating large enough to admit dona¬ 
tions, was placed over the top of the ves¬ 
sel, to prevent any covetous fingers from 
abstracting the silver and copper within. 
In schemes of this kind, the Salvation 
Army aims to begin at the very lowest 
round of the ladder—to feed and clothe 
the “ submerged tenth,” whose abject 
wretchedness must be relieved, before 
it is possible to uplift them morally. 
* 
A German scientist will earn the grati¬ 
tude of the children by his assertion that 
sugar is a wholesome food, and that its 
destructive effects on the teeth are over¬ 
rated. He says that, where candies 
cause decay of the teeth, the real cause 
of the trouble is the fruit acid used for 
flavoring. Negroes who chew sugar 
cane, and revel in molasses, have fine 
teeth, and pure cane or beet sugar will 
provide a wholesome food and stimu¬ 
lant. We have always considered that 
the chief trouble in candy-eating is the 
fact that the sweets are nibbled at con¬ 
tinually between meals, thus disturbing 
the digestion. A few candies eaten at 
meal times as dessert are not likely to 
cause injury, if wholesome sorts are 
selected. Most children have a craving 
for sweets which may better be con¬ 
trolled by wise indulgence than by pro¬ 
hibition. Chocolate fudge and similar 
simple homemade sweets will form a 
pleasant addition to dessert without in¬ 
jury to the child, unless some peculiarity 
of health renders all such sweets undesir¬ 
able. 
* 
Vert few of the women who proudly 
display muffs and wraps of Alaska sable 
are aware that this fur was originally 
worn by the plebeian and malodorous 
skunk. Properly prepared and dyed, 
this is one of the handsomest and most 
serviceable of the less costly furs. It is 
a fact worth noting, too, that dyed furs 
retain their color better than those left 
in their natural shade. In furs, above 
all other articles of dress, “ things are 
seldom what they seem,” Alaska sable 
is extremely popular now with women 
of moderate means. Next comes stone 
marten, which is a little higher in price; 
this is a species of sable killed in tem¬ 
perate regions, such as Maine or north¬ 
ern New York. After the stone marten 
comes Hudson Bay sable, worth double 
as much, while Russian sable is higher 
still, a cape of fine Russian sable rang¬ 
ing in value from $3 000 to $5,000. Mink 
is gaining in popularity and increasing 
in price. Electric seal, which is popular 
and serviceable, is not a seal at all, but 
is the skin of the little European cony, 
transformed by shearing, plucking and 
dyeing. It is said to wear much better 
than the Alaska sealskin. Otter, which 
was so popular a few years ago, now 
seems entirely out of date. 
A WOMAN’S CREAMERY. 
The Milwaukee Sentinel states that 
Miss Kate Peffer, of Pewaukee, Wis., is 
an example of what a woman possessed 
of grit and determination can do. She 
is the owner and manager of the Pewau¬ 
kee creamery, which she has made a 
great success in the past six years. 
Though it was organized as a stock com¬ 
pany, she by purchase from time to time 
of other interests, recently became sole 
owner of the property. 
Miss Peffer is tall, dresses well, is a 
fluent and earnest conversationalist,with 
a cheery bit of advice and a helping hand 
for those who deserve it. A daughter of 
the late Peter Peffer, a well-known 
nurseryman, dairyman, and farmer, born 
and reared on her father’s farm just out¬ 
side the village, she early learned to fol¬ 
low in his footsteps, and gradually as¬ 
sumed charge of the affairs on the old 
homestead. During the latter years of 
her father’s life, the farm, dairy, and 
nursery were practically under her di¬ 
rection. 
Miss Peffer, always willing to learn 
something new about agricultural sub¬ 
jects, spent a good deal of her time in 
study and research, besides attending the 
meetings of the various State societies. 
When a cooperative creamery was sug¬ 
gested for Pewaukee, it found her a 
ready and enthusiastic supporter. Her 
ability as a manager was recognized by 
the stockholders, and she was elected 
Secretary and Treasurer of the new 
corporation, which place she has filled 
satisfactorily since the organization of 
the society six years ago. Since 1894, 
she has, from time to time, bought the 
shares of different stockholders, and for 
three or four years past has held a con¬ 
trolling interest. About six weeks ago, 
she purchased the interest of the last 
stockholder. 
The creamery is similar to many others 
except that it shows the tidiness of the 
woman’s art. Miss Peffer understands the 
mechanism of the plant to the minutest 
detail. She begins the day’s work some¬ 
times as early as 5 A. m., and attends to 
the wants of its 65 patrons personally. 
Last year she handled over 200,000 
pounds of milk and sold over 6,000 pounds 
of butter eash month. 
She has taken a large number of valu¬ 
able premiums for her butter exhibits 
bo’h at the county and State fairs. In 
1891, Miss Peffer scored 100 points in her 
butter, and secured a fine parlor set 
offered by the Dairymen’s Association. 
In October, 1893, when she assumed 
charge at the Pewaukee creamery, her 
butter exhibit at the World’s Fair at 
Chicago was awarded a diploma and 
medal. Since then she has taken many 
premiums, and only this year, the cream¬ 
ery exhibit at the State fair secured 
several valuable awards. 
OILING SHOES. 
Leather is composed of a mass of tiny 
fibers, interlaced and interlocked one 
with the other very intimately. If they 
are in good, live condition, they will be 
very pliable and elastic, and stand a 
great amount of stretching ; but if hard 
and dry, when strain is placed upon 
them, they will break instead of yield¬ 
ing, and tear apart. This results in 
cracking in leather. With constant walk¬ 
ing, there is great strain on certain parts 
of the shoe, and the leather fibers should 
be kept soft and elastic. 
Farm boots and shoes, especially where 
they are constantly wet and dry, thus 
overcoming the oil in the leather, should 
be oiled frequently. Before oiling 
leather, all dirt should be rubbed or 
brushed from it, and it should be moist¬ 
ened with water to soften the leather, 
when the oil will strike in better. It 
should be simply damp, however, when 
the oil is applied ; this should be rubbed 
in with the hand, and the leather worked 
and pinched heartily. 
Various good leather oils are offered 
for sale at reasonable prices, but if a 
homemade article is desired, especially 
adapted for heavy shoes and boots, a 
good mixture is obtained by melting to¬ 
gether slowly, one part of beef tallow 
and two parts of pure neatsfoot oil. 
GUY E. MITCHELL. 
TWO SIMPLE SOUPS. 
Pea Soup. —“ I am very fond of pea 
soup, but it is so much work to make it 
that we don’t have it very often.” 
The one who said this to me must have 
made pea soup differently from my 
method. Whenever I have a particularly 
large day’s work ahead of me, I always 
like to have pea soup for dinner, as it is 
so easy to make. Put 1% cupful of split 
peas on the stove in a kettle with plenty 
of cold water. Let them boil gently— 
they are very prone to boil over if al¬ 
lowed to cook too rapidly—four hours. 
At about 15 minutes of dinner time, the 
water should have boiled down enough 
so that the mixture is quite thick but 
not stuck on at all. A little experience 
will show just how much water to put 
in and when to add more. The atmos¬ 
pheric conditions make it impossible to 
use hard and fast rules about such 
things, as water boils away twice as fast 
on some days as it does on others. 
Set the kettle on where the soup will 
cook faster, and add a quart or three 
pints of milk, and when it boils, add a 
little flour thickening. If salt and pep¬ 
per are mixed with the dry flour, it will 
wet up more smoothly with the cold 
milk. After adding the thickening, stir 
the soup constantly till it boils again, 
then strain into the tureen. I use a 
potato masher. Add a lump of butter, 
and more salt if needed, and the soup is 
made. 
Celery Soup. —Use the outer, tough 
stalks that are not suitable to be eaten 
raw, cut them up in small pieces, and 
simmer in water for three or four hours, 
or till tender. Towards the last, let the 
water boil almost away, then put in 
milk, a little thickening, and salt, pepper 
and butter. After the milk is added, 
great care is needed to keep the soup 
from burning. It will not do to forget 
it for a moment. If the milk can be 
heated scalding hot in a double boiler 
before adding it to the celery, so much 
the better. On cold Winter days, this 
soup is delicious for supper, and I have 
heard it pronounced “ almost as good as 
oyster stew.” suban brown robbins. 
A Hint. —Save all the unsealed envel¬ 
opes received containing circulars, etc. 
The gummed flaps can be trimmed off, 
labeled and stuck on the fruit cans as 
easily as a postage stamp. They are, 
also, good for labeling bottles, boxes or 
pantry stores, and save time and paste or 
mucilage. A. e. p. 
Church 
Debts 
Very likely the Dorcas Society, 
The King’s Daughters, or the 
Young People’s Society of 
Christian Endeavor, want funds 
to carry on their work this 
winter. Perhaps you have in 
contemplation a new organ or 
carpet for the Sunday-school, 
or possibly the question of 
paying off the church debt is 
troubling you. We have a plan 
for making more people read 
The Ladies’ Home Journal, and 
at the same time providing 
money for any of these ob¬ 
jects. Write to us and we will 
tell you how to do it. 
The Curtis Publishing Company 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
ruxarLfiniLTUTrLTUi 
THE PONY ELECTRIC 
This 1'elephone will talk 
from Boston to Chicago. 
It is fitted with an Elec¬ 
tric Hell, which, how- i 
ever, limits its usefulness 
to short % mile lines, 
as House to Barn, Pri¬ 
vate or Interior Systems. 
With Magneto Bells at¬ 
tached, the Telephone is 
good for any distance. 
Complete Sketch is 
furnished with every set t 
to enable any boy to set 
them up. The “ Pony’’ 
is mounted on an ebonized 
backboard, 8x4 inch hard 
rubber Receiver and 
Transmitter, nick¬ 
eled parts, and will 
adorn any parlor or 
office. 
Every Instrument is 
carefully tested, and 
guaranteed thorough¬ 
ly efficient. Weight, 
2J4 pounds. 
Price, $5 each, cash, 
or $0 including 500 feet 
Copper Wire, Batter¬ 
ies, etc. 
NATIONAL TELEPHONE MFG. CO., 
020 (R) Atlantic Ave.. Boston, Mass. 
No Catalogue. No goods shipped C. 0. D. 
