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FROM DAY TO DAY. 
A very pretty scent sachet is made by 
perfuming- several thicknesses of wad¬ 
ding-, and folding over it a piece of China 
silk, gathered together at the top, so as 
to make a full puff of the whole. Where 
the silk is gathered up the head of a 
Japanese doll, fastened upon a stick, is 
inserted, a lace frill forming a collar, 
and hiding the place where the material 
is gathered. The same idea is carried out 
rather more elaborately with a small 
bisque doll in place of the Japanese head. 
The full puff of the sachet is not unlike 
a Louis XIV. hoop, with the lace frill 
standing out around the waist, and a 
fancy fichu over the shoulders. 
At a recent teachers’ meeting, the pro¬ 
fessor of domestic science at the New 
York Normal College commented on the 
fact that a majority of the pupils in the 
city public schools were poorly devel¬ 
oped physically. Good complexions, she 
considered, were the exception rather 
than the rule, and both boys and girls 
appeared to be poorly nourished. These 
were not the children of the very poor, 
but those from comfortable homes. The 
fault was laid upon the mothers; the 
speaker considered that women had not 
kept up with the men in modern pro¬ 
gress, and it was her opinion that, until 
domestic science is properly taught in 
the public schools, we are likely to see 
little improvement. It was the opinion 
of this teacher that, even if the mother 
were able to teach such work, she had 
no time to do it, neither had her daugh¬ 
ter the time to learn. If this is the ease, 
it is difficult to see how much would be 
gained by adding such science to the 
public school course. While it is true 
that many women are incompetent to 
teach their daughters, especially among 
the city mechanics’ wives, there are 
plenty of exceptions to the rule, and 
lack of stamina on the part of their 
daughters may result quite as much from 
the unhealthful conditions of city life as 
from lack of domestic science. Indeed, 
many of the crowded city schools are so 
unsanitary that we need scarcely look 
further for causes of low vitality among 
the children. 
COUNTRY GIRLS’ OPPORTUNITIES. 
Many a woman who is busy in secur¬ 
ing the comfort of the home circle, feels 
as though her work amounted to very 
little, because it is not properly appreci¬ 
ated. For this reason, many country 
girls crowd into the city, to swell the 
vast army of wage-earners, even while 
they know that there is plenty of work 
to be done at home or in the homes sur¬ 
rounding theirs, and that their places 
must be filled with inferior or foreign 
laborers. A few fortunate ones may 
secure positions as typewriters, book¬ 
keepers, etc., but the majority ai’e oblig'ed 
to do what they can. If country girls 
would put their pride out of the way, 
and do what they could find to do in the 
country, they might be able to make fair 
wages, and still remain in pleasant, 
healthful places. It is almost impossible 
to get good help, either in the house, or 
to care for the sick, etc., in the country, 
without sending to the city for it, and 
many busy housewives are obliged to 
struggle along, utterly unable to do their 
daily work, who would be glad to hire 
some one of the young girls for a few 
days at a time now and then. Sick people 
who are unable to hire a high-priced 
trained nurse often suffer for care when 
the members of the family are busy or 
tired out. Yet our country girls rush to 
the city shops and stores, and work until 
health fails, to earn simply enough to 
pay board in crowded houses and buy 
necessary clothes. 
In almost every country neighborhood, 
there are plenty of people who are not 
able to keep a girl all the time, who 
would be glad to hire some one to do 
washing and ironing, or come into the 
house for a few days or a day at a time 
to help clean house, or prepare for guests, 
parties, weddings or funerals, to keep 
house while they go away, to help nurse 
the sick, or to sew. If a girl has the 
knack, she may help remodel and repair 
children’s or adults’ clothing at the 
change of season, or help retrim hats 
and bonnets. 
If some of these girls who desire po¬ 
sitions as clerks or saleswomen should 
turn their energies to account in trying 
to sell the products of their fathers’ or 
neighbors’ farms, they might oust the 
dishonest middlemen to the advantage 
both of themselves and the country at 
large. I fail to see how it would be any 
more of a disgrace to them than selling 
the same things over the counter in the 
city after they have passed through the 
hands of the middleman. 
Where the amount of farm products 
to be disposed of is not very large, so 
that it seems hardly worth while to send 
to a commission merchant, much waste 
may be prevented by this plan. Of 
course, the girl who thus disposes of the 
goods receives a commission, By look¬ 
ing for opportunities in this way, it is 
quite possible for the country gii’l to 
find some means of earning a little, 
without trying her fortune in the crowd¬ 
ed, lonely city. Alice e. pinney. 
DESIRABLE WAYS OF COOKING 
CHICKEN. 
Stewed chicken is an appetizing dish, 
but too frequently it appears upon the 
table a mass of bones and stringy meat. 
As in nearly all families more fowl is 
cooked than is needed at one meal, it is 
a better way to serve only the best por¬ 
tions in the stew or potpie, reserving 
the bits for made-dishes. One may, also, 
contrive to have broth enough to serve 
as the foundation of a soup. This may 
be made with half milk, seasoned to 
taste and thickened with a little flour 
cooked in hot butter. 
Joint the chicken for stewing as usual, 
only leaving the breast whole, using as 
much of the neck as possible. Use the 
feet, also, to give a jelly-like consistency 
to the broth. This may be a new and 
not acceptable idea to some, but the feet 
are easily cleaned, and not to be rejected 
any more than pigs’ and calves’ feet. To 
clean them, wash thoroughly and throw 
into boiling water for five minutes. The 
entire outside skin will then peel off like 
a glove. Cover the fowl with cold water 
well seasoned with salt, pepper, onion, 
and a few thyme leaves. bring to 
a boil quickly, and then stew gently 
until the meat is tender. Take up 
the better portions, the breast, wings, 
second joints and drumsticks, if the 
latter will be needed for the first meal. 
The breast will separate easily into 
four long fillets, and the bone may be 
returned to the pot to stew with the 
rest of the meat. The stew may be 
served at once with some of the strained 
broth, say a pint to a fowl, thickened 
with a little flour wet in cold water ; but 
the dish is much better when reheated, 
and makes an easy Sunday dinner. 
Allow the remainder to stew until the 
meat easily separates from the bones, 
then skim it out of the broth, and re¬ 
moving every bit of meat, return the 
bones to the pot to simmer until the 
gristly portions are dissolved, then strain 
and cool. The pieces of meat may, if 
there be enough, be made into pressed 
chicken. Season them highly, and 
moisten with a little of the broth. Pack 
neatly in a pan, and place another pan 
with a weight in it on top ; then set away 
to g-et cold and solid. 
Should there not be enough meat for 
pressed chicken, it may be chopped and 
served on toast with a little thickened 
gravy, or made into croquettes. For 
these, use equal portions chopped chicken 
and white sauce. If one pint of the 
latter be needed, cook together one table- 
spoonful of butter and one of flour, add 
gradually one pint of milk, stirring till 
smooth and thick. Season to taste, and 
just before taking from the fire, add one 
beaten egg. Do not allow the sauce to 
boil after the egg is added. • Stir in the 
chopped chicken, and spread the mixture 
about an inch thick upon a greased fiat 
dish, and set away to cool, on ice, if pos¬ 
sible. It will take at least several hours 
for it to get sufficiently chilled. When 
cold, form into small cylinders or balls, 
roll in beaten egg, then in fine dry bread 
crumbs, and fry for one minute in deep 
hot fat. 
An easier and very nice dish is chicken 
turnover. Beat two eggs, whites and 
yolks separately. Add the yolks to a 
half cupful of milk, and pour this upon 
two tablespoonfuls of flour, season with 
salt, and stir in the whites gently. Melt 
a tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan 
large enough to hold the batter in a thin 
layer. When the butter is hot, pour in 
the batter. Cook on top of the stove for 
a few minutes. Scatter one cupful of 
chopped and seasoned chicken over the 
batter, and place the pan in the oven. 
Cook until done, but not hard. It will 
take about five minutes. Fold over like 
an omelette, and turn on to a hot platter. 
Use a little of the broth for gravy. 
When about to reheat the chicken 
stew, skim the fat from the stock, and 
use about three cups of the latter to the 
meat of one chicken. Cook one table¬ 
spoonful of butter and one of flour to¬ 
gether. add the stock, gradually stirring 
until thick and smooth. A tablespoon¬ 
ful of the chicken fat may be used, but 
the butter tastes better. Put the pieces 
of chicken in this and set back on the 
stove to heat through. Some tiny bis¬ 
cuits baked and split, and served under 
the meat, make this a Yankee potpie. 
Put the breast in the center of the plat¬ 
ter, and arrange the rest neatly around 
it, pour the gravy over it, and garnish 
with some small boiled onions and a 
little parsley. 
A nice way to cook young chickens is 
to pan or smother them. Split in half, 
rub outside and inside with melted but¬ 
ter, and dust with pepper, salt and dried 
bread crumbs. Put in a pan in a hot 
oven without water. Brown all over 
by turning them. Then add hot water, 
a quart to two chickens. Cover with a 
pan, and steam three-quarters of an 
hour. When ready to serve, cut the 
chicken into convenient pieces, and place 
neatly on a dish. Thicken the gravy 
and see that it is well seasoned. Pour 
over the chicken, and garnish with some 
small boiled onions and a little parsley. 
Both chicken and gravy should be a 
delicate light brown. 
ALICE AUGUSTA SMITH. 
/ 
£ 
X" 
■sdr 
The 
Inner Experiences 
of a Cabinet Member's 
Wife 
They are the actual social 
experiences of a prominent 
Cabinet member’s wife. For 
this reason the authorship 
will be withheld. The most 
intimate peeps behind the 
''urtain of high official and 
social life in Washington. 
The January 
Ladies 
Howie 
Journal 
will be 
A Midwinter 
Fiction Number 
The first short story ever writ¬ 
ten by Clara Morris, the dis¬ 
tinguished emotional actress. 
There will be a delightful 
story—“A Shy Man’s Woo¬ 
ing”; a love story of the rail¬ 
road—“ The Hundred-Dollar 
Shortage,” by Francis Lynde, 
and the second installment of 
Hamlin Garland’s novelette, 
“The Doctor.” 
Entertainments 
Entertaining on a Small Income 
Fancy-Dress Parties for Children 
Novelties in Home Parties 
Light Refreshments for Evening 
Companies— Mrs. Rorer 
Lilian Bell 
Reaches Paris in her “letter” 
in the January Journal, and 
no American girl has ever 
written of the holiday city of 
Europe and the French people 
as she does in this letter. 
There is a dash in the letter 
which makes it, by far, the 
very best in the series, and 
gives a better idea what there 
is in store for those who follow 
Miss Bell’s delightfully-un- 
conventional letters of travel. 
\m 
7% 
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W" r 
> 
I; 
U ^^Eor 23 cents we will send The Ladies' 
Home Journal on trial for three months 
ALSO, a handsome illustrated booklet containing our Prospectus for 1898, with 
portraits of famous writers, and small reproductions of some of the illustrations 
that are to appear in the Journal in future numbers. 
The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia 
