FROM DAY TO DAY. 
A new inatcli-scratcher consists of a 
piece of water-color paper seven by four 
inches, on which is the figure of a man 
with his hack turned. The coat is made 
of sandpaper, the rest of the figure be¬ 
ing painted. At the top are the words, 
‘‘ Scratch my back,” and a loop of ribbon 
for hanging. 
* 
Among pretty trifles recently described 
in Harper’s Bazar, are pig pen-wipers. 
They are made in the shape of little 
pigs, cut from pieces of flesh-colored 
chamois; a few outlines with pen or 
brush give the ears, eyes, mouth, etc. 
Two other leaves of the same shape are 
put underneath, the whole being fastened 
together by a bow of baby ribbon, pass¬ 
ing through two little slits in the upper 
part of the hack. It is easy to find a 
picture of a pig in some advertisement, 
which will do for a model. 
* 
Personal, attractiveness is so earnest¬ 
ly craved by most women, that it seems 
extraordinary they should be willing to 
encourage its loss. Yet, whenever a 
woman gives way to petty tempers, to 
“envy, hatred and malice, and all un¬ 
charitableness," she is not only bringing 
discomfort to others, but is, also, writing 
an unlovely record of her character upon 
her face. Most of the unprepossessing 
faces we see are unattractive chiefly be¬ 
cause they are stupid or ill-natured. A 
woman who is healthy, good-tempered, 
and intelligent is often more attractive 
in iniddle age than in youth, while 
youthful prettiness may be utterly gone 
in maturity, where an ugly nature has 
written its index over the features. 
* 
Women are often alluded to as though 
they were dependents, yet, according to 
one of the great charitable institutions 
of New York, the number of deserted 
women who seek aid is less than one per 
cent, while more unmarried men seek as¬ 
sistance than unmarried women. We 
believe that most women always will earn 
a living, if given any chance. There is 
many an instance, too, where the men of 
a family would give up, and sink down 
into the “ submerged tenth ”, were it not 
for the superior energy of the women. 
We have all seen the loosening of family 
bonds that sometimes follows the loss of 
the energetic house-mother. Charles 
Kingsley tells us that the word husband 
was originally derived from “house- 
band ”, the force that holds and draws a 
family together; but the house-band is 
quite as often some quiet, home-keeping 
woman, as the masculine head of the 
family. 
* 
A convenient umbrella case is one 
which may be used either hung upon a 
door or wall, or rolled up for traveling. 
It is made of dark serge, lined with linen 
crash, being 32 inches deep and 20 inches 
wide. It contains two umbrella pockets 
and six smaller pockets, the umbrella 
pockets, 27 iuches deep, being in the 
center, with three shallower pockets 
down either side. All the pockets are 
bound with braid, and are firmly stitched 
to the lining. Outside and lining are 
stitched together by a braid all around 
the edge. On the outside, a ribbon 
tie must be put at both top and bot¬ 
tom, to fasten the case when rolled up, 
and also a strap of the material to carry 
it by. Five small brass rings should be 
put along the top, to hang the case up 
when desired. An additional convenience 
is to replace the smaller pockets with 
one large one, the depth of the umbrella 
holders; a waterproof, folded flat, may 
be put in this, and thus rolled up with 
the umbrellas. 
A DRYING RACK. 
The season of the year is at hand when 
the little folks will be coming in with 
damp foot gear, despite earnest efforts to 
keep their feet dry. Thousands of boots 
and shoes are practically spoiled in the 
attempt to dry them. Too strong and 
too sudden heat is usually applied when 
the shoes are put into the oven, set on 
the hearth, or upon sticks of wood laid 
over the stove’s top. Fig. 11 shows a 
handy rack that can be attached to the 
wall behind the kitchen stove, two-thirds 
of the way up to the ceiling, folded up 
against the wall when not in use, and 
turned down at night to hold the chil¬ 
dren’s damp boots. Here they will dry 
without danger of injury by the heat, 
and at the same time are out of the way 
and need not be watched. The construc¬ 
tion of the rack is shown at a glance, w. e. 
INSTITUTES FOR FARMERS' WIVES. 
In The R. N.-Y. for November 20 , the 
editor of Woman and the Home com¬ 
ments on the fact that plenty of instruc¬ 
tion is offered for the men at the farm¬ 
ers’ institutes, but the farmers’ wives 
and daughters are entirely left out. The 
institutes, it is claimed, recognize the 
farmer’s needs and his place in the 
A DRYING RACK. Fig. 11. 
world’s economy, and it is suggested that 
the needs and rights of the farmhouse 
wife be likewise recognized. 
Is it, after all, the institutes which 
have recognized the needs and rights of 
the farmer ? Has not the farmer him¬ 
self awakened to the necessity for an 
understanding of the most advanced 
scientific methods of work ? Is he not 
becoming more and more keenly alive to 
the need of a better knowledge of the 
best ways of doing things ? He is coming 
to understand that he must have intelli¬ 
gent ideas about drainage, the composi¬ 
tion of soils, the application of fertilizers. 
In short, if a farmer now-a-days wishes 
to be up-to-date, or abreast of the times, 
he must be progressive, open to con¬ 
viction as to the superiority of scientific 
methods, know of the best fungicides, 
etc. ; hence he demands the institute as 
a method of enlightenment on all the 
various subjects pertaining to his work. 
How is it, on the other hand, with 
women ? Are they not conservative in 
the extreme ? Do they not imagine that 
they are already proficient in the art of 
cooking and housekeeping generally ? 
Are they not so wedded to “ their way of 
doing things” that nothing short of a 
revolution would induce them to change ? 
If a new mode of preparation is sug¬ 
gested, a different process of cooking 
proposed, the good housewives, with a 
shrug of the shoulders, will say, “I know 
better ; I have done so-and-so long enough 
to know how it should be done.” If a 
“ balanced ration ” is discussed, the same 
antagonism is aroused. They and their 
grandmothers before them have known 
enough to provide a bill of fare good 
enough for anybody, without bothering 
their heads about “ balanced rations.” 
To illustrate, a chair of Domestic Sci¬ 
ence, which is liberal and comprehensive 
in scope, has recently been established 
in the Ohio State University. Did the 
women of the State rejoice over this 
recognition of their needs and rights? 
On the contrary, there was criticism, and 
more or less condemnation from various 
sources. The educated and the unedu¬ 
cated alike made such comments as 
these: “ What is the use of it?” “The 
idea of going to a university to learn to 
cook and keep house!” “A girl can 
learn all she needs to know about cook¬ 
ing and housekeeping from her mother.” 
But who, that is alive to the needs of 
the times, can doubt for a moment the 
wisdom of providing the opportunity 
whereby the young women of the coun¬ 
try may study the art of homemaking, 
where this art is coordinated with other 
university work ? 
There are oases, however, in the des¬ 
ert of conservatism. Here and there, 
women are awaking to an appreciation 
of their needs and rights. In Kansas, 
for instance, the institutes do not ignore 
these needs and rights, while in Michi¬ 
gan, farmers and their wives, recognizing 
that their interests are more or less 
specialized and not in a common line, 
hold double sessions, i. e., the farmers’ 
wives and daughters hold sessions of 
their own, discussing subjects of special 
importance to them ; their husbands, at 
the same time, are holding meetings of 
benefit to them. This is, certainly, a 
wise move. Women are especially in¬ 
terested in the wisest and best man¬ 
agement of the household; men are, 
likewise, interested in farm manage¬ 
ment and all that pertains thereto. To 
get the greatest good, this double pro¬ 
vision must be made. Of course, there 
are general subjects in which all are in¬ 
terested, and such would be discussed in 
general sessions. As stated in the be¬ 
ginning, however, the demand must pro¬ 
ceed from the women themselves. When 
the hunger is made manifest, the food 
will certainly be forthcoming. 
MRS. W. A. KEDLERMAN. 
GERMAN FINISHING SCHOOLS. 
In South Germany, writes a London 
Chronicle correspondent, the finishing 
schools have been developed on very 
practical lines. Before admission, the 
girls are supposed to have been thor¬ 
oughly well educated. They must know 
the rudiments of arithmetic, must have 
a fair acquaintance with English and 
German grammar, and must be able to 
write and speak their own language 
properly. They come to the school 
mainly to learn housekeeping. 
The schools generally number from 10 
to 20 boarders, each of whom has a 
separate bedroom. Every morning after 
breakfast, the girl has to make her own 
bed and dust the room. Once or twice a 
month, she is obliged to alter the posi¬ 
tion of the furniture, so that she may 
know how to arrange things. Every 
week she is called upon to take her 
dresses from the cupboards, where they 
hang, and pack them in a box, with 
everything else she may require for a 
long visit. This done, the mistress in¬ 
spects it and points out the many ways 
in which she may save space. 
In a school visited in Baden, only 16 
pupils are admitted, and two house¬ 
maids and one cook are kept. At the 
commencement of the term, the girls 
are informed by the mistress that four 
of them are required every week to take 
absolute charge of the house. They 
have to rise early in the morning and see 
to the preparation of breakfast. When 
this is finished, they make their beds and 
tidy their rooms, and afterward, go 
around the house to see that the servants 
have done their work. Then they are 
told by the mistress of what the midday 
dinner will consist, and this they have 
to prepare, though the cook will super¬ 
vise what they do in the kitchen, giving 
hints and preventing waste. 
One of the four girls will have to sit • 
at the head of the table and serve the 
soup, carve the poultry or joint, and help 
the sweets. This meal over, those on 
duty have, after a short rest, to arrange 
afternoon tea, which they lay in the 
drawing-room, and at which they have 
to wait upon their companions and any 
visitors who may happen to call. In the 
evening, there is frequently some music 
or light recreation, where the four girls 
have to act as hostesses. They finish up 
their day’s work by .arranging supper, 
and are not allowed to retire for the 
night until they have left the kitchen in 
perfect order, and have seen that the 
doors and windows all over the house are 
properly secured. 
A BABYCAGE. 
A cage for the baby is described and 
illustrated in a recent issue of Trained 
Motherhood. Little “ baby yards ” may 
be bought readymade ; these consist of 
an inclosure of low railing, but they are 
too large to be pushed through a door¬ 
way, hence are rather inconvenient. 
The “ baby cage ” described is five feet 
long, 27 inches wide, and 26 inches high. 
It has a movable floor, a rounded base¬ 
board coming up two inches around the 
floor, to keep the feet from slipping out. 
The fence is made of round upright pick¬ 
ets five inches apart, fitting into a 
rounded top rail. It can be taken apart 
and stored in small space. The floor is a 
great advantage, for in warm weather, 
the child may spend nearly all his time 
outside, without danger from damp grass 
and, during the excessive heat, he may be 
allowed to go barefoot, without any risk 
of injury. An advantage of the movable 
floor is that the entire cage may be lifted 
up and put over a sand-heap in the yard, 
for the baby to amuse himself there. As 
the writer in Trained Motherhood says, 
there would be fewer badly-injured 
babies if very busy mothers would try 
this plan of “ caging up” the restless 
little one. Of course, baby must have 
his toys with him in the cage. 
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A forty-eight-page 
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tells the story of how 
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won their college 
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in music, without 
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others may do the 
same. It will be 
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Philadelphia 
