1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
631 
mands, not money capital to be sure, 
but intelligent study and care. Desk 
room in a central and convenient locality 
is the first requisite. Then a partner, 
one of her own sex, may be secured. 
One of the firm must always be at the 
office during business hours, and one at 
leisure to attend to the outside work. 
Both must be qualified to give such in¬ 
telligent information to the house-seeker 
as shall facilitate the selection of a suit¬ 
able place, and to render such assistance 
as is frequently beyond the reach of the 
richest and most influential. 
How is this knowledge to be acquired? 
By personal inspection of all property 
in one’s neighborhood offered for rent or 
sale. This inspection must not be of 
the superficial, desultory kind that con¬ 
tents the average real estate agent. A 
woman who has really studied a piece of 
property would know more than the 
street and number, and the fact of the 
building being of wood or brick. She 
would be able to give the number and 
size of each room in the house, to state 
what rooms are hard finished and what 
require floor coverings ; how the house 
is heated, how the chimneys work ; 
where hot and cold water, bath, etc., 
are located. She would be able to tell 
the size of window shades required, the 
condition of cellars, roofs or outhouses. 
In fact, she should be able to offer to a 
prospective patron a practical plan of 
the house with every item of information 
a careful examination would reveal. If 
repairs were found necessary, the owner 
could be seen, and if possible, convinced 
of the bad policy and wastefulness of 
letting property run down till only an 
inferior and impecunious class of tenants 
would consent to occupy it. 
Imagine a real estate office that really 
was a bureau of information ! Instead 
of being told that Mr. - is out, but 
may be in again during the afternoon ; 
that no one accessible knows anything 
about the premises in question, but the 
worn and weary househunter might wait 
a few hours till some one might be in 
who knows where the keys are, or could 
tell what the rent is, or whether a back 
yard or 50 acres accompany the dwell¬ 
ing ; picture an office with an attendant 
always in readiness, with keys always at 
hand, with information as to all import¬ 
ant points that would save fruitless 
journeys to utterly unsuitable places ! 
Who would not seek the services of such 
a real estate agent ? What landlord 
would not place the renting of his prop¬ 
erty in such capable hands ? She would 
either get all the business in the place, 
or her presence as competitor would 
force the other agents to bestir them¬ 
selves and give some attention to famil¬ 
iarizing themselves with its details. 
When it came to selling property, even 
more care and intelligence would be re¬ 
quired and rewarded. Title deeds would 
have to be investigated, legal formali¬ 
ties mastered, and everything that per¬ 
tained to the question clearly under¬ 
stood. With such expert assistance at 
hand, a purchaser would not be com¬ 
pelled to invest thousands of dollars in 
property whose drawbacks and incon¬ 
veniences could be learned only when 
too late to correct the mistake. The 
healthfulness of a neighborhood, the 
prospects of improvements, trolley lines, 
paving, etc., would be intelligently set 
before the purchaser. It is an undeniable 
fact that, at present, many buyers of 
real estate invest the savings of a life¬ 
time without half the intelligent con¬ 
sideration that would be bestowed on 
the selection of a rug or an article of 
clothing. Frequently they purchase 
recklessly, only to find a piece of undesir¬ 
able property on their hands, that can 
be realized on only at a sacrifice. 
ELLA H. COOPER. 
Lamb and veal are not so digestible 
as mutton and beef; immature meats 
being like immature fruits and vege¬ 
tables in their wholesomeness. They 
both contain more water than ripe fruits 
or mature meats 
On the Wing. 
THE SUMMER BOARDER. 
HOW TO CARE FOR PAYING GUESTS. 
[editorial correspondence.] 
A Paying Crop. —Farms well located, 
not too far from a city, often suggest 
themselves as suitable for a trial in 
keeping Summer boarders. In a few 
cases, such enterprises are very success¬ 
ful ; in a good many moderately so, but 
there are many, many cases, where the 
plan fails. When a farm household goes 
into this business, it must be treated as 
thriftily as any other farm crop. It 
must not be regarded as a little side 
line, which may help to pay some of the 
household expenses, for it is a business 
in itself. People will go to a fashion¬ 
able resort, and submit to high prices 
and indifferent accommodations, because 
of the other advantages, real or fancied; 
but they will not do the same when they 
are paying for country board. 
A Model Boarding House. —While 
going through a picturesque locality in 
Broome County, N. Y., I visited a farm¬ 
house fitted for the reception of Summer 
boarders, where arrangements were 
made for such guests upon a business 
basis, and some of the wisdom provided 
by experience may be of use to others. 
The house is beautifully situated upon 
a lofty hill, the city at its feet, and a 
broad panorama of hills and valleys 
spreading to the horizon. While there 
are beautiful woods on the near hill¬ 
side, the house itself stands out with 
few trees, so as to catch all the breezes. 
Sufficient shade is provided by a veranda 
12 feet wide, running along the east and 
south sides. This veranda is ceiled with 
narrow matched boards, and has a bal¬ 
ustrade 14 inches wide on top, so that it 
may be used as a seat. The Summer 
boarder likes to live out-of-doors, and 
this piazza is so wide, that there is am¬ 
ple room for chairs and tables, so that 
it is preferred to inside reception rooms. 
Even on stormy days, there is ample 
protection from the weather. 
Inside Arrangements. — The wood¬ 
work throughout the house is Georgia 
pine, the floors bare and polished. The 
room first entered is a large reception 
hall, having an ample fireplace and 
mantel of red pressed brick. On the 
east side of this are two dining-rooms, 
which may be thrown into one, giving 
accommodations for 20 guests. The bed¬ 
rooms all have bare, polished floors, and 
white enameled iron beds, provided with 
excellent springs and mattresses, and 
ample bedding. A well-arranged bath¬ 
room shows all the conveniences of a 
well-built city house, water being sup¬ 
plied from a cistern 70 feet above the 
house. The water-supply is a well, from 
which the water is pumped by a wind¬ 
mill. 
Some Rules for Success. —“ What do 
you think the chief points for success in 
caring for Summer boarders ?” I asked 
of the presiding officer of this house¬ 
hold. 
“ Giving them the class of living that 
they are accustomed to,” she responded. 
“ It is useless for a farmer’s wife, accus¬ 
tomed to the plainest living, to take in 
boarders of a good class, and expect 
them to be satisfied, unless she makes a 
change. Some will say, ‘ What is good 
enough for my family must be good 
enough for them.’ This is unreasonable. 
The food must be good and varied, and 
it must be daintily served. The linen 
must be clean and whole, the silver and 
glass speckless ; there should be plenty 
of pretty, if inexpensive, china, and 
there should be a bowl of flowers, from 
garden or field, in the center of the 
table.” 
Arrangement of Meals. —“ Do you 
give your guests a midday dinner ?” 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adw. 
“ No ; they are all accustomed to din¬ 
ner at night, and are better suited by 
conforming to their usual mode of liv¬ 
ing. It is, also, rendered more conven¬ 
ient by the fact that some of the men go 
to business in the city during the day, 
returning at night. Luncheon is served 
at midday.” 
The Help Problem.— “ It would hard¬ 
ly be possible to manage a boarding¬ 
house of any extent without outside help, 
would it ?” 
“ No, I wouldn't advise it. Of course, 
there may be cases where the family 
comprises sufficient help itself. But the 
mistress of the house can’t be forever 
delving in the kitchen. I have done the 
cooking myself, when help was short, 
but it pays better to have efficient help 
in the kitchen, while the mistress pre¬ 
sides in the dining-room.” 
“What class of help do you recom¬ 
mend ?” 
“ That must vary greatly in different 
localities. I have now an efficient young 
colored man as cook, who helps in wait¬ 
ing when not busy in the kitchen. A 
woman acts as waitress and second girl. 
Most of the washing is done out. Of 
course, I can always find plenty to do 
myself.” 
Table Supplies. —“ As your place is 
well supplied with fruit, I suppose you 
make this a feature on the table.” 
“Yes, people always expect an abund¬ 
ance of fresh fruit and vegetables when 
they pay for country board. We have 
stocked our place with a view to this. 
But it is folly to imagine that, given 
fresh fruit, people don’t expect anything 
else. The table must be liberal and 
varied. Our first boarders come in 
strawberry time ; other small fruits fol¬ 
low the berries, and the fruit is kept up 
by plums and peaches. Our dairy pro¬ 
vides cream, cottage cheese, and dairy 
desserts; a good many of the boarders 
like milk to drink, especially at break¬ 
fast and luncheon.” 
Juvenile Boarders. —“ Do you take 
children among your boarders ? ” 
“No, it certainly does not pay. People 
never wish to pay as much for a child as 
an adult, on the ground that children do 
not take so much room or desire so much 
food as an adult. But, if they do not eat 
so much, they waste more, and they are 
very often annoying to the adults. I 
don’t think that I have lost anything by 
my refusal to take children, and I do not 
know any one keeping Summer boarders 
who can say candidly that the children 
are desirable.” 
“ Do you furnish your guests with any 
forms of entertainment ? ” 
“No, it has never appeared necessary. 
At a fashionable resort, people demand 
entertainment, but in furnishing country 
board, I think that the hostess fulfills 
Upheld by Everyone 
for their time-keeping quality. Nearly 
8,000,000 in use. Made for a third of a 
century. Inspected, known to be mechani¬ 
cally perfect, before offered to the world. 
High grade, but not high price. 
Ruby Jeweled Elgin Watches 
are the World’s Standard. Made complete in 
the great Elgin Factory. 
Sold by Jewelers Everywhere. 
her duty in giving good and abundant 
food and comfortable rooms. When there 
are a number of agreeable people staying 
in the house, they provide a good many 
amusements among themselves.” 
It will be noted that this successful 
hostess makes a point of giving her 
guests the sort of entertainment to which 
they are accustomed ; she does not work 
on the “ good-enough ” plan. This does 
not mean any ostentation, but refined 
comfort. There must be sufficient help 
to wait upon the table properly, without 
serving everything in a jumble. Sweep¬ 
ing and dusting must be done systematic¬ 
ally, so that the house is not “ all torn 
up ” on any one day. The bare floors add 
greatly to the cleanliness, since they may 
be swept or rubbed without raising a 
great dust. The bill of fare must be 
made out for each day beforehand, so 
that there is no frantic hurry at meal¬ 
time to replace some lacking dish. The 
hours for meals must be punctually ob¬ 
served. The hostess, while trying to 
make everything agreeable for her 
guests, must not lose sight of the busi¬ 
ness side of the enterprise. To sum it 
up, it would appear that a capable house¬ 
keeper, with ample and convenient ac¬ 
commodations, ought to find the Sum¬ 
mer boarder a paying crop ; but experi¬ 
ence shows that such hostesses, like 
poets, are born, not made. e. t. r. 
B.&B. 
Write us a letter 
—ask for samples 48-inch all-wool 
Black Broche Jacquards, 
65c. yard 
—85c. would be much more like 
value—note how dressy the de¬ 
signs—and the quality—and we’re 
quite sure you’ll be pleased and 
find evidence of such Black goods 
value as you’ll see it pays you 
to buy. 
Other interesting Black goods 
values, 35c. yard, upwards to .$2. 
New nobby effective Plaids, 25, 
45, 50c. yard. Other new Plaids, 
including fine skirting styles, 
to $1.50. 
Rich fancy Silks, 50 and 65c.— 
they’ll show we sell the choice 
kinds for less prices. 
Samples cost you nothing. 
BOGGS & BUHL, 
Department C, 
ALLEGHENY, PA. 
MACKINTOSHES. 
Men’s all wool Tricot, $5.00 
Ladies’ cashmere two-cape, $4.00 
These waterproof garments would cost you $10.00 
each in any retail store. Send money order for 
sample, stating bust measure and length. Agents 
wanted everywhere. Address, 
M. F. REESE SUPPLY CO., Setauket, N. Y. 
,,$9.50 3UYS A QR\DK VICTOR MiCHIHt 
■j Adapted to Light and Heavy Work. Reliable and ?‘.aa\ 
■ Finished; Guaranteed for 10 Tear*. Write for 40 .?age Gfcfci 
leg?.©. Atlaohracnt* Free 8C DAI 8 FRX9 TRIAL. Add-'WK 
3 SB VICTOR MFfl. CD.. St. 
Canning and Preserving Fruits and 
Vegetables; and Preparing Fruit 
Pastes and Syrups. 
The experience of practical workers. The best 
methods by which the surplus fruits may well 
be saved for home use and for the large mar¬ 
ket demand. Hundreds of tested recipes from 
famous preservers. Evaporation of fruits. 
Paper.20 
Fruit Packages. 
A description of the current styles of baskets, 
boxes, crates and barrels used in marketing 
fruits in all parts of the country. How to 
grade and pack fruit. Illustrated. Paper..30 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York. 
| ■ Write for our 145-page book, The Origin of Stammering, a practical and 
\J U scientific treatise on speech defects, by George Andrew Lewis, who* 
stammered for more than 20 years. Sent Free to any address. Answer at 
once, inclosing six cents in stamps to cover 
postage, and we will send you, in addition 
to the above book, a beautiful souvenir 
containing 25 illustrations and half tone 
engravings interesting to every Stammerer. 
Ask also for a free sample copy of The 
Phono-Meter, a monthly paper exclusively 
for persons who stammer. Address: 
STAMMER 
THE LEWIS SCHOOL FOR STAMMERERS, 83 Adelaide Street, Detroit, Mich. 
