FROM DAY TO DAY. 
Who drives the horses of the sun 
Shall lord it but a day; 
Better the lowly deed were doue, 
And kept the humble way. 
The rust will find the sword of fame, 
The dust will hide the crown; 
Ay, none shall nail so high his name 
Time will not tear it down. 
The happiest heart that ever beat 
Was in some quiet breast 
That found the common daylight sweet, 
And left to Heaven the rest. 
Among pretty Valentine gifts seen 
this year are little heart-shaped doilies 
of white linen, embroidered in floral 
designs. These little doilies make dainty 
washable pin-cushion covers. A design 
of Bleeding-hearts, in several shades of 
pink, makes a very pretty decoration. 
* 
A cheap and pretty cover for a small 
table is made of denim in two shades of 
red, the plain side turned up to form a 
deep hem, headed with heavy cord. An¬ 
other style, very attractive in Delft blue, 
green or old rose denim, should be edged 
with buttonholed scallops of white linen 
floss, with a large fleur-de-lis of fish-net 
set in at each corner. 
A bkan bag is one of the useful things 
in case of sickness, when hot applica¬ 
tions are to be applied to the seat of 
pain. The bag is of flannel, loosely filled 
with bran and, when used, it is laid in a 
steamer, and there heated. It is much 
more convenient than hot cloths, saving 
the discomfort of wringing, and holds 
the heat better. Two bags should be in 
use, that the one may be heated while 
the other is applied. Several bags of vary¬ 
ing sizes will often be found a con¬ 
venience. 
* 
A keport recently issued by the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture, entitled Diet¬ 
ary Studies in New York City, is devoted 
to an investigation of the food habits of 
the city poor. One of the points brought 
out by this investigation is that a not in¬ 
considerable amount of the prevalence 
of intemperance can be traced to poor 
food and unattractive home tables. 
Throughout all these dietaries there was 
shown very little comprehension of the 
actual nutritive value of the food pur¬ 
chased, the selection, apparently, being 
made according to some whim or taste, 
the presence of certain food materials in 
the market, or because the housekeeper 
had become accustomed to purchasing 
certain kinds of food. The larger num¬ 
ber of families spent more than they 
really could afford for food, yet frequent¬ 
ly received insufficient notirishment. It 
is not only the very poor of whom such 
observations may be made, neither are 
they the only people whose moral wel¬ 
fare is strongly influenced by their food. 
* 
Asking a bright school-teacher whether 
she noticed any marked change since 
the appointment of a woman as president 
of the local board of education, she said, 
“ Yes, the floor in my school-room is now 
scrubbed once a week, instead of once a 
year, as formerly.” Furthermore, the 
walls in the school-rooms, previously 
dingy white, were prettily, though inex¬ 
pensively tinted, and instead of a few 
shabby maps, neatly-framed portraits of 
historical characters, or famous bits of 
scenery, adorned the walls, varied by a 
few fine raised-outline maps. The in¬ 
fluence of the feminine official was 
strongly felt in the promotion of clean¬ 
liness and order, and the women teachers 
felt far more freedom in discussing school 
problems with their feminine head than 
with the usual masculine official. We 
have always believed in the need for 
women upon school boards, and we be¬ 
lieve that there are few cases where such 
officials give cause for legitimate criti¬ 
cism. It was the first woman to hold a 
position upon the New York Board of 
Education who aroused the wrath of a 
school janitor, because she examined the 
school cellar, and insisted that it be kept 
clean. He said that it was the first time 
a member of the board had ever looked 
at his cellar, and he objected to the in¬ 
novation. 
* 
A very good and popular book about 
household economics, published a few 
years ago, was entitled Ten Dollars 
Enough. In this, it was asserted that 
the remarkable achievement of supply¬ 
ing the table for a family of two on $10 
a week “ has been done, and can be done 
again.” We think that, to a good many 
country housewives, $10 a week would 
seem a large sum to spend upon food 
for the family, even were it three or 
four times the size of the family given 
by the writer of the book mentioned. 
Discussing this question recently, one 
methodical housewife stated that, taking 
an average, one week with another, her 
table expenses would amount to $1.50 
per week for each member of the family, 
she being obliged to buy eggs, milk, and 
most of the vegetables and fruit used. 
Her dietary was good and varied. Mrs. 
Abel tells of a family of six, belonging 
to the professional class, and living in a 
small city, that lived for a year upon an 
average of 11 cents per person daily, 
and they lived well. Says Mrs. Abel : 
“ Here is an average bill of fare : Break¬ 
fast—milk toast, fried potatoes, coffee ; 
dinner—soup made of shank of beef, 
fried liver, rice and potatoes; supper— 
fried mush, bread and butter, stewed 
pears and cake. Next day, there was 
pressed beef made from the soup meat 
chopped and flavored, and next day, 
there was cheap fish nicely fried. The 
head of this household was a skillful 
economist, absolutely no mistakes were 
made in cooking, she had a long list of 
simple dishes at her command, and she 
especially studied variety.” This house¬ 
keeper did not have the advantage of the 
farm housewife, who finds her greatest 
economy in the supplies offered by gar¬ 
den and poultry-yard. Keep account of 
these supplies at regular market rates, 
and it is surprising how they will swell 
the farm receipts. 
HOUSEHOLD REMINDERS. 
Darning stocking's and mittens may 
or may not be highly ornamental work, 
but is very necessary. If the stitches 
are all taken on the right side of the 
web, every thread will show, and all the 
ends of thread or yarn must be more or 
less visible. The thin places are too 
often left till the stitches break. Stock¬ 
ing's and, in fact, all articles, should be 
turned wrong side out, before mending, 
and the stitches that are to print through 
to the right side, should be as short as 
possible; those on the wrong side may 
be much longer. In this way, the thin 
places can be nicely run, and the darn¬ 
ing will be almost invisible except where 
the holes have had to be filled in with 
“ basket work.” 
A very quick way to mend the toes of 
cotton hose is to spread some white 
mucilage on a piece of stockinet, or thick 
cambric, and lay over the worn places; 
of course, when the stocking is wet, the 
patch comes off, as quite likely it will 
need to in order that a new patch may 
replace it. 
Very many otherwise good housewives 
are exceedingly careless about the use 
of ehinaware. The pretty breakfast 
plates are tised for hot meats, fried eggs 
and hot vegetables, instead of using- the 
platters and vegetable dishes for the 
viands ; every bowl, without discrimina¬ 
tion, is used for hot gravies. The very 
best of ware will not stand such usage 
long without showing the abuse in a 
marked degree ; the glazing crackles, 
and the grease soaks through, making 
the dishes not only unsightly, but ex¬ 
ceedingly disgusting to the smell, for as 
soon as the dishes are warm, a rank, 
greasy odor arises from them. Teacups 
with handles need to be washed with 
care, and the saucers that are used upon 
the table should not be used to bake 
turnovers or trial cakes. 
Glassware that has figures or creases 
very often needs to be washed with a 
good brush, and then be well rinsed, else 
when the sugar is put in the bowl, and 
the milk in the pitcher, all the little out¬ 
lines that are filled with dust will be 
plainly visible. may maple. 
HOMEMADE SACHET POWDERS. 
Old-fashioned housewives delighted in 
placing dried lavender flowers or rose- 
leaves among their linen, and the use of 
similar inexpensive perfumes is agree¬ 
able in putting away ordinary clothes. 
Common powdered orris root, which costs 
25 to 40 cents a pound, is the basis of 
many of the sachet powders purchased 
and, put in little muslin bags, among 
one’s clothes, it exhales a very pleasant 
faint violet odor. A stronger sachet pow¬ 
der is made by pouring strong extract of 
violet over pulverized starch, a few drops 
at a time, so that the starch absorbs it 
without becoming pasty. The perfumed 
starch is then mixed with its bulk of 
powdered orris. Lavender flowers mixed 
with twice the bulk of orris make a 
pleasant odor. When not in use, the 
sachet powder should be kept in tightly- 
closed jars or boxes. 
A substitute for lemon verbena has 
lemon peel for its foundation. The peel 
should be cut in small pieces and dried, 
then ground up in a coffee mill. This is 
well mixed with 1 % ounce of powdered 
caraway seeds, and over the whole is 
poured a mixture of 1% dram oil of 
lemon and three ounces oil of bergamot. 
Powdered flag root and powdered corian¬ 
der form another fragrant mixture. 
Orris and coriander are often mixed 
with the flower petals used to form a pot¬ 
pourri, giving a pleasant variation from 
the strong spices commonly used. 
and in the interior—such a dish as that 
is far preferable and more satisfying 
than those “ elegant fancies ” mentioned 
above, and is almost enough alone for a 
good meal. But you ought to have some 
of my wife’s Graham bread to go with it. 
and you may have some, if you care to 
follow out the recipe as she gives it to 
me : “ I use a coffeecupful of good, wet 
yeast, for six loaves of bread, and make 
the sponge with white flour the same as 
I do for white bread, using about two 
quarts of lukewarm water. I always 
set this sponge the night before I wish 
to bake, in order that it may rise twice, 
and be done in good season next day. In 
the morning, when the sponge is suffi¬ 
ciently light, I put in about two cupfuls 
of New Orleans molasses, and stir it 
thoroughly, so that there may be no 
lumps. I then mix down with good, 
fresh Graham flour from which the 
coarser particles of bran have been 
sifted. 
“The dough is set away in a warm place 
to rise, and when it lifts the lid off its 
bucket, I knead it down and put it into 
tins, setting it away again in a warm 
place to rise. I always grease the tops 
of the loaves with fried-meat fat or but¬ 
ter, as I mold them into the tins, so that 
the crust may be soft and yielding when 
done. When the loaves are just round¬ 
ing the tops of the tins, they go into the 
oven, and stay thereuntil they have that 
dark and swarthy hue that indicates that 
they are just about ready to burn. I 
have made bread according to that rule 
for 14 years, and we never have any get 
old enough to mold, or have a crumb or 
crust left for dog or cat.” 
There are six of us in the family, and 
that baking of six loaves has to be du¬ 
plicated pretty often. It is not so good 
if eaten when warm, as when it is one 
or two days old. Such bread contains 
the elements that form good blood, bone 
and muscle, and also supplies that which 
makes good teeth, and should be found 
a regular article of diet upon all tables, 
especially where children abound. I will 
add further an item of hygienic import¬ 
ance ; when New Orleans molasses is 
used for sweetening, as it always should 
be, it has a pathological effect that is 
far more salutary and beneficial than all 
the medicines in existence. A. n. Phillips. 
A MASCULINE CRITICISM. 
In almost all the papers I read, there 
are ever so many recipes for cooking 
various articles, and in nearly all of 
them, I notice a large space is devoted 
to the compounding of things bearing 
such names as “ Charlotte russe,” “ float¬ 
ing island,” “ Mayonnaise dressing,” 
“angel food,” and “fricasseed” some¬ 
thing or other, and a host of other like 
vanities in the food line. Though I do 
not hold these things entirely in con¬ 
tempt—they, no doubt, have their proper 
place—I do hold that they occupy far too 
important a place in our cook books and 
recipe columns. I think I can truthfully 
say that I have known women to go on, 
year after year, making soggy bread, 
indigestible biscuits, or serving up badly- 
cooked vegetables, while they could dish 
up some of these vanities to perfection. 
Why should the desire to excel in the 
making of those fancy dishes take pre¬ 
cedence over the more plain and whole¬ 
some foods ? Plain, wholesome and 
nutritious food is what we want most— 
that is, we who work for a living. When 
company comes, we find that they, too, 
often prefer these healthful viands to 
the more elegant dishes. 
Good beans, thoroughly boiled, and 
then well browned in the baking, with 
jelly-like pieces of salt pork “ as big as 
my two thumbs ” found on the surface 
What 
Women 
Will 
Wear 
This 
Spring 
The Hats, Gowns, 
Wraps, New Shades 
and Colors,—all the 
Easter Styles are in 
the March issue of 
The Ladies’ Home Journal 
25 cents for a three 
months’ trial, or $1.00 for 
a year. Agents wanted. 
The Curtis Publishing Company 
Philadelphia 
NEW BECKER 
Washing Machine. 
A fair trial will convince the most 
skeptical of its superiority over all 
Other Machines. County rights for 
sale. Agents Wanted. Circulars free. 
N. G. BAUGHMAN, York, Fa. 
