438 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 18 
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♦ Woman and ♦ 
♦ The Home.* 
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FROM DAY TO DAY. 
Many of the prominent girl§' schools 
in the neighborhood of New York in¬ 
clude cricket among their popular 
games. In England, where cricket holds 
the place of baseball with us, there are 
many teams of both women and girls, 
and the game seems likely to attain 
equal popularity here. Miss Hazen, the 
author of the American Cricket Annual, 
recommends this game very highly for 
girls, on the ground that the exercise is 
not too severe, while calling every 
muscle into play. As she rightly ob¬ 
serves, the quickness of eye, of judg¬ 
ment and of movement, together with 
the free action of throwing a ball, catch¬ 
ing it, and running, are all forms of 
training every woman would be the 
gainer by having. 
* 
Wk women don’t really mind being 
called (with due deference), the weaker 
sex, so long as the qualification is not 
applied to our mental endowments. But 
the record in athletics among the stu¬ 
dents at Vassar may be regarded with 
respect, even by our active brothers. 
Here are some of the Field Day records : 
Event. Record. 
100 yards dash.11 seconds. 
220 yards run.32 seconds. 
120 yards hurdle.21 seconds. 
Running high jump.4 feet 5 inches. 
Running broad jump.11 feet 8 inches. 
Standing broad jump.6 feet 11% inches. 
Fence vault.4 feet 5 inches. 
If any of our masculine readers are 
disposed to view feminine athletics 
rather contemptuously, would they try 
that standing broad jump, and see how 
far they come out ahead of Vassar ? 
* 
Some of the daily papers are telling of 
a remarkable surprise party in a Penn¬ 
sylvania town. It was not one of those 
ghastly entertainments, ordinarily called 
surprise parties, the chief conspirator 
being the victim’s wife. According to 
the newspaper accounts, about 50 of the 
neighbors assembled at the scene of 
festivities, a comfortable farmhouse. A 
short time before the hour set for dinner, 
a handsome carriage was presented to 
the master of the house. Then, under 
his plate at table, he found a gold watch, 
and when the festive meal had ended, he 
was invited to the yard, and a herd of 
10 Holstein cows was driven up and pre¬ 
sented to him. Next appeared two young 
women, dressed in pink, w’ho carried a 
tray on which were piled gold and silver 
to the amount of $3,000. This, too, was 
presented to the happy man. All these 
things were the gifts of the farmer's 
wife, who, by industry and frugality, 
had saved all this money, during 15 years 
of married life, without the knowledge 
of her husband ! There ought to be a 
moral concealed somewhere about this 
little story, but we don’t seem able to 
find it. What was the husband doing 
during those 15 years, and where was 
the conjugal confidence ? A woman who 
could save several thousand dollars dur¬ 
ing 15 years of matrimony, unsuspected 
by her husband, must have uncommon 
financial opportunities. We once saw 
a business letter from away down in 
Texas which bore the superscription, 
“John Doe & Wife, nurserymen and 
florists.” The head of the firm explained 
that his wife was such a valuable aid 
that he thought it only fair to put her 
name on his stationery. There are many 
farmers who would be justified by the 
facts in putting “ and wife ” after their 
business title. But we hope that few of 
these wives would keep their business 
qualifications so far apart from their 
husbands as the heroine of that Pennsyl¬ 
vania surprise party. 
ONCE AROUND THE CLOCK. 
A Chicago lawyer once recklessly 
asked a woman on the witness stand 
how she had spent her time during the 
hour between 8 and 9 A. m., on a certain 
morning. She responded that she had 
washed and dressed Susie and Jimmy 
ready for school, mended a rip in the 
boy's clothes, sewed on some of Susie’s 
shoe buttons, and put up a lunch for 
recess ; then she fed, w r ashed and dressed 
the baby, cleared away the breakfast 
dishes, interviewed two hucksters and a 
ragman, dusted parlor and dining-room, 
watered the house plants, swept the 
kitchen, rubbed off the stove, and read 
the paper for a few minutes while some 
milk was scalding. By the time she 
had finished enumerating these varied 
employments, it was the opinion of the 
entire court that any person who could 
crowd so many employments into one 
brief hour was competent to manage the 
invasion of Cuba! 
Hope Farm Notes told us recently how 
the family occupied their time on a wet 
and dismal Sunday. Below, two busy 
housewives tell how they occupied them¬ 
selves during one working day. Such 
a record often makes us wonder whether 
there is any other woman’s profession 
which makes such a demand on foresight, 
energy and brains as that of the house¬ 
keeper. 
A Wisconsin Day. 
Wednesday morning, I arose at five 
o’clock, and after building a fire and 
putting on the tea kettle, proceeded to 
mix the bread sponge that had been 
stirred up the night before : after mold¬ 
ing it thoroughly, it was put in a warm 
corner to rise. Breakfast was then pre¬ 
pared for the family. Potatoes were 
boiled, homemade sausage fried, coffee 
made, and all was in readiness by the 
time the masculine part of the household 
had finished milking the 20 cows, which 
composed our dairy. During that time, 
the windows of the sleeping rooms had 
been opened, and the bed clothes hung 
on chairs to air. 
Breakfast was finished about half past 
six o’clock. The bread dough being by 
that time quite light, was molded down 
and left to rise again. Beets from the 
garden were washed and put over to boil 
for pickles. A head of cabbage was 
washed, chopped fine and put in a porce¬ 
lain kettle at the back of the range, 
where, well seasoned, it would cook 
slowly and be ready for dinner. Eight 
o’clock having arrived, lunch was put up 
for the youngest two boys, who went 
some distance to school. Hot water was 
kept in readiness to wash the milk cans 
which arrived about this time from their 
daily trip to the factory, and were al- 
wajrs, of late, washed by one of the 
older boys under the ej’e of the mistress. 
After this, some doughnuts were made 
and fried, also a green apple pie pre¬ 
pared, and baked. The bread dough 
being sufficiently raised by this time, 
was made into loaves, and was soon 
ready for the oven. While the baking 
was in progress, the beds were made, 
and vegetables prepared for dinner. By 
10 o’clock, the house was in order ; the 
clothes, which had been ironed the day 
before, w'ere removed from the bars, and 
were looked over to see whether they 
needed any repairs, and if anything 
called for mending, the garment w T as 
placed in the work basket to be at¬ 
tended to during any leisure hour that 
came to the housewife. About this time, 
one of the young men came in, having 
accidentally cut his hand with a corn 
cutter. Salve, a soft cloth, and experi¬ 
enced fingers, soon put the wound in 
good condition, and it was time to begin 
preparations for dinner. The beets were 
sliced and put in vinegar, half a Hubbard 
squash was put in the oven to bake, pota¬ 
toes were boiled, and at 12, the bell 
called the hungry workmen in to dinner. 
After dinner, some apples were peeled 
and stewed for supper, while the dishes 
were gathered up and washed. When 
tired with a long forenoon’s work, I have 
always allowed myself a half hour or so 
to rest after the dinner work is done, 
and think it pays in every way. At 2 
o'clock, quite refreshed. I assailed the 
mending basket, and repaired the stock¬ 
ings that were more or less dilapidated, 
and the garments that needed buttons 
or patches or both. Two hours of steady 
work completed the needed weekly 
mending, and as a reward for industry, 
I took an hour to read a favorite author. 
At 4:30, I began to prepare for supper to 
be ready promptly at 5:30, that time hav¬ 
ing been found to be more convenient 
for all parties. It was the easiest meal 
of the day to prepare, consisting of cold 
meat, warmed-over potatoes, applesauce, 
bread and butter, etc. The dishes were 
then washed, and things made ready for 
breakfast, while the milking and other 
chores went on outside, and the daily 
round of work seemed nearly done. 
When the school boys came in, they be¬ 
gan to look over their lessons for the 
coming day, and Mother’s opinion was 
often asked for on every subject, and 
the informal style of the questions and 
answers was enjoyed by all parties. Dur¬ 
ing this time, my hands were occupied 
with some knitting for a coming charity 
fair. By a little after 9, all had retired 
to rest, the Mistress last, after closing 
the house for the night, and seeing that 
the fire was in proper shape. 
AUNT RACHEL. 
A Day in Ohio. 
I fancy that the households are not 
numerous where the proportion of femin¬ 
ine help, as compared with the male help, 
stands at such a small ratio as one to six 
—a condition that exists in my own 
home. Four of the males are growing 
boys, and the reader can intelligently 
understand why but little time can be 
devoted to reading, fancy work or fine 
art. Once around the clock, from 6 in 
the morning till (5 in the evening, is a 
ceaseless round of steady, unremitting 
labor for nearly every day in the week, 
and but for a vacation of a week or two 
(which every farmer’s wife should be 
able to take), is the same throughout 
the year. But let none infer that it is 
the toil of hated drudgery, for it is a 
labor of love from one devoted to the in¬ 
terests of her household. 
Beginning at 6 in the morning, that 
hour has already found us busy for an 
hour or more, except during the Winter 
preparing for breakfast, airing the 
rooms, and planning the day’s work, 
which is usually to choose from a multi¬ 
tude of things that which need perforce 
be done first. Breakfast is served to the 
working force who come in from the 
morning chores about the barn, and the 
younger children, who are allowed to lie 
longer and take the needed sleep of 
childhood, come at a little later time ; so 
the table must stand, and the food be 
kept warm. In this interval of time, 
many things are put to rights prepara¬ 
tory to a busy day. Four dinners for the 
four boys at school usually find their 
way to the dinner baskets, and are set 
aside ready for the eager lads, who are 
anxious to be off to school early so as 
to lose no time to be enjoj’ed at play. 
The hands of the clock move forward, 
and before the one pair of feminine 
hands can serve breakfast to all, and 
clear away the dishes and set the dining¬ 
room to rights, the 8 o’clock mark is 
reached, and the real day’s work must 
begin. 
The chamber work next claims atten¬ 
tion. The fresh morning air and the 
purifying rays of the sun have, for hours, 
had free access through sleeping rooms, 
closets, bedding and night-robes. By the 
use of the cleanly mattress, the weekly 
sweeping is sufficient, only a slight brush 
of the carpet sweeper and feather duster 
is necessary to make the rooms present a 
wholesome, tidy appearance. The cosy 
family sitting-room must assume its 
cheerful appearance. The porches must 
be made clean from the footprints of 
Rover and his four boy companions. The 
kitchen, rightly named the laboratory 
of the household, must also receive due 
attention. 
The what - shall - we - have - for-dinner 
problem now presents itself for imme¬ 
diate consideration. It must consist of 
something wholesome, toothsome and 
appetizing. He who works must eat. 
and what housekeeper finds a cellar 
better filled with quantity and quality 
than the wife of an industrious and 
progressive farmer ? The choicest and 
freshest of fruit and vegetables are at 
her command. If the butcher’s cart fails 
to present itself in due time, she is not 
wholly dependent on his arrival. By 
wise provision, a bountiful supply of 
spring broilers has been raised; dried 
and corned beef, salt pork and smoked 
hams have also been stored away. Fresh 
eggs are always on hand, and with milk, 
what more need be required to form the 
foundation for a good dinner ? The 
neighboring farm-bells ring and the 
whistles from the factories remind one 
that dinner must soon be served. As the 
four boy helpers are at school, the 
mother hands must again clear away 
the dinner dishes. 
Sometimes the busy hands grow weary, 
and their owner is seized with a longing 
almost irrepressible for more time for 
self-improvement, and leisure hours, 
free from care. The thought of the un¬ 
finished garments, and the basket of 
undarned stockings, soon put an end to 
such reveries. Two hours or more of 
steady work sewing and mending have 
occupied the time since dinner before 
its accompanying work has been cleared 
away. Not a moment now must be lost. 
Time flies on rapid wings, and the 
hungry school boys with empty dinner 
baskets will soon return. If supper is 
long delayed, woe to the larder and 
dinner baskets on the morrow. 
Again the kitchen fire crackles, the 
teakettle sings a merry song of greeting 
to the father and sons as they come in to 
prepare for supper. Soon they will pair 
off, the oldest two lads to assist their 
father with the chores about the barn, 
while the younger brothers heap high 
the woodbox, bring the kindlings, and 
feed their pets. Once around the clock, 
the hands have performed their journey, 
but the hands of the housewife are busy 
still, and must be for an hour yet before 
the pleasantest time of the day arrives, 
viz., from 7 to 10. a treasured time for 
rest, reading and social enjoyment. 
Busy wives and mothers can grow in 
intellect in spite of work or poverty. We 
can elevate ourselves and help to elevate 
others, if only a short time each day or 
evening be spent in reading something 
that will bring us into closer sympathy 
with the outside world. Do not grow 
discouraged, but bear in mind that the 
only truly independent housewife is she 
who does her own work. A stupendous 
problem has been solved when she learns 
to single out the things that must be 
done to-day, and with no remorse of con¬ 
science, leaves the rest till to-morrow, 
wasting no time regretting that more 
could not have been accomplished in a 
single revolution of the hands, once 
around the clock, mks. a. b. Phillips. 
A BICYCLE CASE. 
Every wheeling woman knows the 
difficulty'of finding a suitable and con¬ 
venient place for storing her bicycle. 
Very often the only bicycle stable is the 
cellar or the hall; the first is inconvenient 
and if damp, injures the wheel, and the 
second is unsightly. An ingenious 
Australian who had received her wheel, 
securely boxed, from London, settled 
this problem very satisfactorily. 
She had had visions of having her 
bicycle case painted and fitted with 
shelves to serve as a cupboard, when it 
suddenly occurred to her that there was 
no reason why it should not continue to 
be a bicycle case for the term of its 
natural life. It was long enough to hold 
the bicycle, but not high enough to 
make it worth w'hile furnishing it with 
