392 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 20 
From Day to Day. 
THE TABLE SET FOR TWO. 
The sunshine falls on the ■window sill, 
And the day looks in at the open door; 
The kettle sings, and the dear old wife 
Goes back and forth o’er the kitchen floor 
With plate and platter, and fork and spoon, 
As every day she is wont to do, 
And she lavs them with a quiet grace 
On the homely table set for two. 
Oh, the bread is like the sea’s white spray, 
And the cloth is clean as mountain snows; 
From the pantry shelf to the kitchen stove 
The dear old wife on her errands goes; 
The morning-glories over the porch 
All in a riotous tangle run, 
The cat lies cur-led asleep on a chair, 
The old dog blinks at the noonday sun. 
But the dear old wife Is sad to-day, 
And the morning hours have seemed so long, 
For her thoughts are of the long ago, 
When the old house rang with mirth and song; 
When the red-cheeked boys and merry girls 
Came trooping in through the open door; 
Some wander now ’neath an alien sky, 
And some will come back no more—no more. 
There are empty chairs against the wall, 
And the wide old rooms are strangely still; 
The day is sad, though the sunshine falls 
Like sifted gold on the window sill; 
And the dear old wife in her quiet way 
Does the homely tasks she is wont to do; 
But the tears fall fast as she sadly thinks 
Of the lonesome table set for two. 
— Good Housekeeping. 
* 
A pathetic incident reported from 
Newtown, Mo., the scene of the recent 
terrible tornado, was the wreck of the 
Weaver home, where the family of eight 
persons saw the death cloud coming, but 
refused to desert the aged father, an in¬ 
valid, in the search for safety. They 
stayed by him, but the house was 
wrecked, and the old man crushed in his 
chair, five of the others being shockingly 
injured. 
* 
An Italian was arrested in New York 
recently for beating, in a shocking man¬ 
ner, his little daughter, aged seven or 
eight years. The child’s condition was 
a shock even to the officers of the Gerry 
Society, who are accustomed to the sight 
of maltreated little ones. The brutal 
father explained in the police court that 
his child was an evil creature, possessed 
of devils, and it was necessary to beat 
her, in the hope of driving the demons 
out of her. In proof of his assertions, 
he twisted the little girl’s feet and 
ankles, showing the child to be double- 
jointed, this peculiarity deciding, in his 
superstitious mind, the fact of demonia¬ 
cal possession. This child will be prop¬ 
erly cared for in future, and the brutal 
father will have time to consider the 
matter in jail. Such a man as this would 
seem poor material to make over into an 
American citizen. 
* 
According to those familiar with the 
history of costume, the mu ft celebrates 
the four-hundredth anniversary of its 
existence this year. Muffs were first 
used in Venice, that home of costly 
medieval dress, in 1499 Its ccnstruction 
was then the reverse of what it is now, 
the outer part being of costly brocade, 
while the lining was of fur. It became 
a regular article of dress in other parts 
of Europe in the Seventeenth Century, 
being carried in the house as well as on 
the street. At the end of the Seventeenth 
Century, men adopted muffs of enormous 
size, and it again became a masculine 
fashion at the end of the Eighteenth 
Century. Enormous muffs, carried by 
women wearing gowns cut immodestly 
low, appear- in many portraits painted 
by artists of the last century ; as a mat¬ 
ter of hygiene, this expanse of fluffy fur 
would seem more wisely applied to the 
uncovered shoulders. Last Winter, we 
seemed to be drifting towards the nail- 
keg muffs of these last-century belles, 
as far as size was concerned, a much 
more comfortable fashion than the tiny 
pockets of lace and ribbon which have 
appeared as the fashionable muff, from 
time to time. 
* 
The outbreak of measles, on a num¬ 
ber of United States transports, is at¬ 
tributed to the tenement-house sweat¬ 
shops in which the soldiers’ clothing was 
made. During the process of making, 
the clothing was, probably, used as bed¬ 
ding by children ill with the disease. 
That this opinion is not fanciful is shown 
by the condition of many sweatshops in¬ 
vestigated by the New York Board of 
Health and the factory inspectors. 
* 
The sight of the family wash, hang¬ 
ing out on a verdant drying-ground, is 
pleasantly domestic, suggestive of well- 
ordered home life, but the same display 
in the front yard of a city home is open 
to objections. Washington society was 
much agitated several weeks ago because 
the family of a Pennsylvania Congress¬ 
man inaugurated the custom of hang¬ 
ing out their weekly wash in front of 
the house. Other families followed their 
example, and soon that vicinity made a 
remarkable display on washdays. Some of 
the more dignified residents complained 
to the District Commissioners and, 
after due deliberation, that body decides 
that the hanging of the family wardrobe 
in the front yard is a nuisance which 
must be stopped. The police are, there¬ 
fore, instructed to suppress the prac¬ 
tice, and the legal rights of the clothes¬ 
line are settled in Washington, at least. 
* 
In the United States, 4,000,000 women 
earn their own bread-and-butter. One- 
third of all persons engaged in profes¬ 
sional services are women. Among un¬ 
usual occupations enumerated are 19 
women who act as trappers and guides, 
and two who are veterinary surgeons. 
There are several women mail carriers, 
in different parts of the country. A fact 
foundry is the industry of two Chicago 
women; they have an agency for sup¬ 
plying facts upon any given subject, 
their main customers being journalists, 
authors and public speakers. Women 
florists, both growers and retailers, are 
found all over the country. Women 
switch-tenders are to be found on some 
western railways ; there are a few wo¬ 
men running elevators, and some women 
work as pianomakers. It is said that, 
in Kansas, there is no trade, no profes¬ 
sion, no interest and no deal without a 
woman in it. We have always believed 
that a woman has a right to adopt any 
profession or occupation for which she 
is fitted, but there is no credit in being 
employed merely because she will do the 
work cheaper than a man. 
* 
Specialists now apply the term “house 
nerves” to certain conditions of ill 
health attacking those who remain too 
much indoors. The chief victims are, 
of course, women, and while some of 
them stay indoors through indolence, 
the majority are kept in by two causes, 
pressure of family duties, and dread of 
exposure to the weather. One distress¬ 
ing symptom of the malady is a chronic 
condition of “blues”; the victim con¬ 
tinually broods over troubles, real and 
imaginary, studies herself, her health, 
her wants, and forever anticipates mis¬ 
fortune. This condition of worry not 
ODly affects her health seriously, but 
also reacts on her disposition, and she is 
very likely to become confirmed in “nag¬ 
ging”. Outside recreations, sunshine 
and pure air, are the best remedies for 
“house nerves”, and fortunately they 
are within the reach of most sufferers. 
A habit of looking upon the dark side 
should be strongly fought against, for 
while it is true that ill health often 
causes melancholy, it is equally true 
that melancholy will cause ill health. 
We can’t imagine any more delightful 
tribute than that offered by dwellers in 
the slums to a slim little trained nurse 
who works among them for one of the 
tenement-house settlements ; they call 
her “ the sunshiny lady”. It seems to 
us that a “sunshiny lady ” is one of the 
possessions no family should be without. 
* 
The fashions of civilization are often 
condemned for their absurdity, but we 
have no reason to envy a belle of Af¬ 
ghanistan. She has blue-black hair, 
plastered stiff with gum, and either 
fastened up in odd shapes, or hanging 
down her back in several braids. The 
margins of the ears are pierced and dec¬ 
orated with rows of small silver rings, 
while large rings hang from the lobes. 
The neck and breast are tattooed with 
little figures of stars and flowers, and 
the lustrous black eyes are enhanced by 
coating the lids with black antimony. 
The cheeks are rouged and dotted with 
little round moles of gold and silver tin¬ 
sel, fastened on with gum. A loose mus¬ 
lin or silk jacket of yellow, blue, or red 
hangs below the waist, and wide trous¬ 
ers of silk or other colored materials 
complete the indoor costume. On going 
out, the lady wears leggings of cotton 
cloth, gartered at the knee, shoas of 
red or yellow leather, and a boorkapoosh 
or cloak. Some ladies wear horsehair 
veils, and others fasten vinaigrettes to 
their foreheads, which contain attar of 
roses or other scents. 
Housekeeping: in Africa. 
An American missionary, writing to 
the American Kitchen Magazine from 
Mount Silinda, East Africa, tells of the 
trials of the housekeeper in that country. 
The mission is 250 miles from the coast; 
railway charges for the first 220 miles 
are very high, and no responsib lity for 
safe delivery is assumed. The last stage 
of the journey is performed by wagons. 
Native Bread. —“We live largely upon 
pumpkins, sweet potatoes, corn and 
native grain called mgoza or spokr ; the 
last two one buys from the native people. 
It is usually brought to us by the women. 
Occasionally, if a cotton blanket is 
wanted, they will bring two bushels, 
but usually we can buy only a few quarts. 
Since flour costs from $20 to $30 per 
barrel, the missionaries, when they first 
came, experimented until they were able 
to make a fairly palatable bread from 
the mgoza. Probably, as much time has 
been consumed in the production of a 
single loaf as would be required at home 
to make bread for several hundre d people. 
The ground is not plowed, but dug up 
with heavy hoes From the time that 
the blade first appears, it must be con¬ 
stantly watched, first that the locusts do 
not eat it, and then that the birds do not 
get more than their share of the seed. 
Each stalk bears a large head contain¬ 
ing many tiny seeds. 
Reaping and Milling. —“la reaping 
the grain, the natives cut each head with 
a knife, then it is thrashed by pounding, 
sifted by a dexterous throwing up in the 
air, and then catching the seed on the 
side of a native sieve of wicker work. 
The native women walk from 3 to 20 
miles to bring the grain to us. In pre¬ 
paring the flour, the grain is stamped in 
a wooden mortar, washed, dried in the 
sun, heated over the fire, and then 
ground on a stone The mgoza has too 
little gluten to make good bread unless 
manise is added. This must be dug, 
washed, peeled, cut in small pieces, 
dried, pounded in a mortar and sifted. 
The Mission School. —“The school is 
made up of native boys who live with 
the missionaries, working to pay for 
board, tuition, books and clothing; the 
larger number of these boys come from 
the lowlands, 150 miles away. In my 
home, I have six native girls, three of 
whom have sought our protection be¬ 
cause they were being forced to marry 
against their own wish, and while only 
children. Besides these, during the past 
year, I have had 11 European boys and 
girls, children of settlers living in the 
district. You will understand the re¬ 
sponsibility of training these girls so 
that they will be able to make the best 
possible homes in this land.” 
Gallant Nebraskans in Manila. 
An interesting book on the Philippines 
has been written by Major Younghus- 
band, an officer in the English army, 
who had studied the Islands carefully. 
Major Younghusband took a decided 
likiDg to the American volunteer, and 
has a good deal to say about him in the 
course of his book. He finds that, accord¬ 
ing to the usual military standard, he 
does not look very much like a soldier, 
in his shirt sleeves, with his canvas 
trousers tucked into his boots, and a 
slouch hat on his head, He found him, 
however, a very adaptable fellow—stal¬ 
wart, well set up, and presenting the 
best type of man for military purposes. 
His unquenchable good nature, and his 
deference to women especially pleased 
the Major. 
He tells how, on the day he went to 
visit Aguinaldo, Mrs. Younghusband 
started out in Manila to purchase photo - 
graphs. She encountered an American 
soldier in the shop of the Spanish dealer, 
and when he saw she could not get what 
she wanted, volunteered to show her the 
way to another place. So he guarded 
her to the other shop in the most un¬ 
affected and natural manner possible, 
and there she met a couple of Nebraska 
boys, who told her of still another place 
where a still better selection could be 
procured, and offered to show the way. 
The Nebraska boys inquired who she 
was, and learning that her husband was 
a British officer, were anxious to know 
all about his service. The shop to which 
they piloted her was in a narrow street, 
and before they would allow her to en¬ 
ter, they went ahead to see if it was all 
right for a lady to go there, and then, 
finding everything in proper condition, 
escorted her to the place, and when she 
had completed her purchases, escorted 
her back to the more public streets. 
All this was done in the most simple and 
natural manner possible, and with a 
quiet courtesy that charmed the Major’s 
wife extremely. A l ! ke courtesy is every¬ 
where apparent, says our author, even 
in the treatment of the native women. 
M r altham 
MSitches 
are always 
guaranteed to be 
free from any defect 
in material or 
construction. The 
makers particularly 
recommend the 
movement engraved 
with the 
trade mark 
“ RIVERSIDE ” 
Made in various 
sizes for ladies 
and gentlemen, 
and for sale by all 
retail jewelers. 
“The Perfected American Watch,” an 
illustrated book of interesting informa¬ 
tion about watches, sent free on request. 
American Waltham Watch Co., 
WALTHAM, MASS. 
