1891) 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
School Luncheons. 
WHAT A CITY TEACHER SAYS OF THEM. 
“I believe,” remarked the veteran 
school principal, in the New York Sun, 
"that the cause of most of the break¬ 
downs on the part of both teachers and 
pupils is the luncheon question. What 
do you suppose causes the general col¬ 
lapse at the end of the school year which 
so many teachers regard as inevitable? 
Improper lunching, in nine cases out of 
10 . 
“It’s preposterous to think a girl of 
11 or 12 years of age should become a 
bundle of nerves with water for blood 
under a routine of four hours’ school 
attendance and practically no work at 
home. Why, do you know when I was a 
little girl going to a village school, 
every one of us children had no end of 
chores to do around the house, besides 
getting no end of lessons out of school 
hours, and we went to school at half¬ 
past eight and weren’t dismissed until 
four. And did we break down under it? 
Never heard of such a thing. Even now 
in Germany and France children work 
much longer hours at school than they 
do here, and breaking down is unheard 
of Again, it’s the lunching question. 
“In the country we either went home 
and had a hot dinner at noon, or took a 
wholesome cold lunch and ate it during 
the noon recess. City children very 
often have an allowance of five or 10 
cents a day with which to buy their 
luncheon, and as a rule they use about 
as little judgment as their mothers do 
in giving them the money. You can get 
a glass of milk and two large rolls for 
five cents at any of the little bakeshops 
near by, but I’ve yet to hear of a young¬ 
ster who buys anything so sensible. 
Cream puffs and ice cream soda are the 
most popular lunch. Once in a while 
an unconsciously sensible child lays out 
his lunch money on the penny chocolate 
bars of the slot machine. Of course he 
has a notion that he’s indulging in for¬ 
bidden candy, but chocolate is really 
nutritious and sustaining, while there’s 
nothing at all to be said in favor of 
cream puffs and soda. 
“When the children are having their 
luncheons, as a few of them do, in paper 
boxes or wrapped in a newspaper, I am 
always surprised how few of them have 
anything appetizing. As a rule they 
have nothing but thick slices of bread 
with the crusts on and the butter care¬ 
lessly spread. The meat is in chunks, 
and the whole thing anything but 
tempting. Mothers don’t seem to real¬ 
ize the Importance of this luncheon 
question. They think anything will do, 
and as a result the children are ashamed 
of their lunch. They go off in a dark 
corner and gobble it hurriedly, or they 
throw half of it away. A little fore¬ 
thought would enable even the busiest 
mother to have a variety of tasty and 
inexpensive lunches. It’s a lack of ap¬ 
preciation of its importance, that’s all. 
“I haven’t any scheme to boom, but I 
think the French system a very wise one 
for both teachers and pupils. I suppose, 
however, it wouldn’t take here at all, 
except, perhaps, in the very poorest sec¬ 
tions of the largest cities, and there it 
might do as much harm as good. You 
know in Paris they regard a cook and a 
kitchen as quite as indispensable a part 
of the school as janitors and teachers. 
Every child has his bowl of soup and 
piece of bread in quite the same matter- 
of-course fashion that we give him calis¬ 
thenics to make him a physically well- 
developed person. I have an impression 
though that it is only in the primary 
schools that the custo.’i prevails. In 
this country we need it more in the 
schools for older pupils. As a rule the 
primary children live near enough the 
school to go home at noon, and it is 
only the teachers who suffer. A major¬ 
ity of the grammar and high school 
pupils usually live farther away. 
“Where we have J,ried the lunch 
counter, I think it has been a failure. 
There is no intelligent supervision, and 
the school lunch counter does more 
harm than good to the children’s diges¬ 
tive machinery. I know one little girl 
who boasts that her lunches cost 
her only five cents a day. For that sum 
she buys coffee and pie and doughnuts 
from the school caterer. I don’t wonder 
at all that she has violent headaches 
and is getting round-shouldered and 
worn out. If I could have forbidden 
coffee and tea and pie and doughnuts 
and substituted cocoa and soup and 
brown bread and fruit, my little friend 
would be stronger at the end of the year 
than at the beginning, instead of the 
nervous wreck I’m sure she will be.” 
Puffballs for Dinner. 
HOW TO COOK A DESPISED FUNGUS. 
On page 831 we are told of the food 
value of the puffball. As this is a new 
food to many, we append advice as to 
the best way of cooking it. Select firm, 
young specimens, not less than two 
inches across. The flesh should be pure 
white, or at most pale greenish yellow. 
Reject all puffballs with streaked or 
dark colored interiors or very coarse 
warty skins. 
Omelet ok Fritters. —First remove 
the outer skin; cut slices half an inch 
thick; have ready some chopped herbs, 
peppers, and salt; dip the slices in yolk 
of an egg and sprinkle the herbs upon 
them; fry in fresh butter, and eat im¬ 
mediately. The herbs may be omitted if 
preferred. 
On Toast. —Rub an ounce or two of 
butter in flour, put in a saucepan, and 
fry until somewhat yellow. Add a little 
broth, *or beef extract, dissolved in half 
a cupful of water. Now add about iy 2 
pint of young puffballs cut into dice, 
half a teaspoonful of salt, pepper, a 
small blade of mace, and a little grated 
lemon. Stew until tender, and the but¬ 
ter is all absorbed; then serve on toast. 
Curried Puffballs. —Prepare as for 
serving on toast, except that all season¬ 
ing should be omitted, except salt and 
a little pepper. About 10 minutes before 
finishing, stir in a teaspoonful or more 
of curry powder, which can be procured 
in bottles at any fancy grocery. Serve 
hot, without toast. 
With Bacon. —Cut some thick slices 
of nice puffballs, and fry a few slices of 
good bacon in the usual manner. When 
nearly done add the puffballs, and fry 
slowly until cooked. In this process 
they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, 
and with the addition of a little salt and 
pepper, will form a most appetizing 
breakfast relish. Baking is not advised 
for puffballs, as it causes them to de¬ 
velop a rank flavor. 
....There is a Sunday conscience as 
well as a Sunday coat, and those who 
make religion a secondary concern put 
the coat and conscience carefully by to 
put on only once a week.—Dickens. 
_If a man’s definition of life is “suc¬ 
cess,” in the sense of making money, 
then, of course, Christianity ceases to be 
practical as soon as obedience to its 
teachings brings loss of money. If a 
young man finds that following Jesus 
will make it necessary for him to fail in 
business or in social success, then Chris¬ 
tianity to him becomes ideal and im¬ 
practicable—that is, if he has no other 
definitions of success. If the politician 
finds that in order to imitate Jesus he 
must at once abandon the selfish rules of 
his political party and suffer the loss of 
his position, or fail to gain his ends, 
then at once Christianity ceases to be 
practical, for it becomes instead an ideal 
system, impossible of actual achieve¬ 
ment in society.—Saturday Evening 
Post. 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
841 
-In this God’s world, with its wild¬ 
whirling eddies and made foam-oceans, 
where men and nations perish as if 
without law, and judgment for an un¬ 
just thing is sternly delayed, dost thou 
think that there is therefore no justice? 
It is what the fool hath said in his 
heart. It is what the wise, in all times, 
were wise because they denied, and 
knew forever not to be. I tell thee again, 
there is nothing else but justice. One 
strong thing l find here below: the just 
thing, the true thing. My friend, if 
thou had’st all the artillery of Woolwich 
trundling at thy back in support of an 
unjust thing; and infinite bonfires visi¬ 
bly waiting ahead of thee, to blaze cen¬ 
turies long for thy victory on behalf of 
it, I would advise thee to call halt, to 
fling down thy baton, and say, “In God’s 
name, No!”—Thomas Carlyle. 
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