454 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 25 
Woman and 
The Home. 
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦mi 
FROM DAY TO DAY. 
The Dewey suit for small boys is one 
of this season’s novelties, and it has the 
advantage of being pretty, cool, cheap, 
and almost indestructible. It is modeled 
after the undress uniform of a naval 
officer, the coat having a standing collar, 
closely buttoned and trimmed with white. 
This suit is made of blue denim, and 
defies hard wear. One of the large New 
York stores has been offering this suit, 
with hat to match, for $1.35; certainly a 
moderate amount for the small boy’s 
Summer outfit. 
Folding rubber bathtubs are familiar 
appliances now, and are a great comfort 
and convenience in washing the baby. 
At Camp Black, where the New York 
State troops have been stationed before 
being sent to the front, the cavalrymen 
have an idea in folding bathtubs which 
may be found convenient in emergencies 
by others than soldiers. They merely 
dig a hole the size of a tub, spread over 
it a poncho or rubber blanket, and their 
bath is complete. After his ablutions 
are over, the bather pulls up his poncho 
and allows the water to soak away. It 
was, we believe, a woman who invented 
the folding rubber bath used in nurseries 
and hospitals, and apparently, the caval¬ 
rymen have been struck by the same 
idea. 
* 
A Canadian woman is desirous of ex¬ 
hibiting a plan of cooperative homes at 
the Paris Exposition. According to her 
plan, 44 houses, connected so as to form 
a square, are to be built around a block 
of land. Each house will have two or 
three stories, but will not be more than 
two rooms deep. In the central court, 
will be a large tw r o-story building, in 
which will be kitchen, laundry, cold 
storage and dynamo for providing heat 
and light to all the buildings. On the 
second floor of this will be library, 
kindergarten, and a large hall. The 
homes will be connected with the central 
building by telephones or speaking 
tubes, and electric conduits will carry 
hampers from the kitchen, and return 
refuse and soiled dishes. It is asserted 
that, under these conditions, housework 
is reduced to a minimum, and the cost is 
very small, compared with the comfort 
received. 
* 
The question is, are we likely to be 
satisfied with any home of that type. 
There are people who are satisfied with 
life in a boarding house or hotel, even 
where there are family ties: but this 
seems to us to lessen the warmer affec¬ 
tions of home life. One day recently we 
dined in a little hotel, in a small rural 
town remote from the great centers. 
There were a good many boarders, who 
came dropping in to dinner from store, 
office and school. There were many 
women among them who were living at 
the hotel with their husbands, instead 
of keeping house. After dinner, they 
yawned for a time in the rocking chairs 
in the bare parlor; then they went to 
their rooms for an afternoon nap. Ap¬ 
parently, they had no duties, and no 
occupations. We sighed over such empty 
wasted lives, in the midst of a busy 
world, where the harvest is great and 
the laborers are few. A woman with 
strong tastes or enthusiasms cannot live in 
that way; but there are plenty of women 
who, without the restraint or round of 
recurring duties of home life, must per¬ 
force be idlers, because they are not 
cultivated in any special direction. A 
woman who cannot fill her time in other 
ways suffers the risk of deterioration if 
relieved of all ordinary duties of home 
life. She is likely to rust out. 
CANNING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 
THE CANS AND THE KETTLES. 
This is the season when the careful 
housewife, following the example of the 
“busy bee v and the squirrel, lays up 
her store for Winter use ; but, unlike 
these industrious individuals, her store 
consists of fruits and vegetables, beauti¬ 
fully preserved and canned, and stored 
away in long rows in some dark, cool 
closet. Authorities among these house¬ 
keepers differ widely as to whether tin 
or glass should be used as vessels to con¬ 
tain all this hoarded sweetness ; indeed, 
there is much to be said on both sides 
of the question. Many people use tin 
altogether, because it is impervious to 
light, and can be sealed perfectly air¬ 
tight. I, on the contrary, strongly ob¬ 
ject to the use of tin, because the acids 
which are contained in most fruits and 
some vegetables, are likely to corrode 
the tin and render the contents of the 
can poisonous. Tomatoes, especially, 
should always be put up in glass jars 
with the covers, also, of glass, so that 
no metal shall come in contact with the 
contents. Quart or pint cans are far 
preferable to those of a larger size for 
tomatoes and, indeed, for most canned 
goods. Care should be taken, when 
using, to select a jar holding just what 
is needed for that day’s use, as these 
things soon ferment and spoil after being 
opened. 
Another point of discussion among 
housekeepers is the preserving kettle. 
Many, especially those south of Mason 
and Dixon’s Line, prefer a brass, or even 
an iron cooking kettle. I shall not soon 
forget my visit, at “ canning time,” a 
few years ago, to the old mansion on the 
eastern shore of Maryland, where Chloe, 
the old colored cook, slapped ’round her 
Summer kitchen in her bare feet, and 
with her grizzled locks tied up in a gay 
bandanna. The room was a square 
“ back gallery,” roofed over, but open 
on three sides to all the w inds that blow, 
and to the observation of all observers. 
Chloe used a brass kettle, always, and 
her cans were tin, but her canned toma¬ 
toes were delicious ; but for my own use, I 
infinitely prefer a granite or a porcelain- 
lined kettle, or one of the new aluminium 
kettles. Brass kettles are so hard to 
keep clean, and iron ones turn their con¬ 
tents black in spite of all one can do, un¬ 
less very careful. 
Do not wait until .you have time to do 
all your canning at once (as Chloe always 
did), but put up half a peck or even half 
a gallon of tomatoes whenever you have 
a surplus from daily table use. It is very 
little trouble, and is not nearly so weari¬ 
some in the end. Scald the tomatoes by 
pouring boiling water over them, remove 
the skins, cut them in halves or quarters, 
and put them in the kettle on top of the 
stove to scald. Be careful not to place 
them directly over the fire, as they will 
burn very easily, but keep the stove lid 
between. While they are heating, get 
ready the jars by placing them in a large, 
shallow pan on the back of the stove. 
Partly fill both jars and pan with warm 
(not hot) water, and allow it gradually 
to become hot. See that each jar has its 
rubber ring, its glass cover, and its 
metal screw ring in readiness for use. 
Let the tomatoes become boiling hot, 
stirring occasionally with a silver spoon 
to make sure that all parts heat alike, 
but do not let them cook after becoming 
thoroughly heated. 
When ready for the jars, do not re¬ 
move the kettle from the stove, but set 
it back from the fire. Draw up a small 
table to the stove, and cover it with a 
newspaper, and on this place the pan of 
jars, and the rings and covers. Pour the 
water from one jar at a time, and fill 
it, using for the purpose a small pitcher 
or a mug of earthenware rather than a 
tin dipper. Fill the jar to the brim, 
wipe the edge dry with an old, soft 
In Honor of the President 
the July Issue of 
The Ladies’ Home Journal 
H as a cover printed in the National colors, presenting a 
striking figure of President McKinley, surmounted by the 
President’s private flag, and portraits of his mother and wife. 
A SPECIAL NUMBER 
The Anecdotal Side 
of the President 
An article prepared specially 
by the closest friends and 
associates of the President. 
It will be accompanied by 
a series of 
New Portraits 
of the 
President 
Secured ex¬ 
pressly for 
this article, 
including 
what the 
President 
himself considers 
the best portrait 
ever taken of him. 
^ Cents ' 
a Copy 
The Declaration 
of Independence 
AS IT IS TO-DAY 
Photographic 
reproductions 
of the original 
draft and the 
authentic 
document, 
now rarely 
shown to any 
one. 
The President s 
£ March 
Composed by Victor Herbert. 
Destined to be the National 
march as associated with the 
office of the President of the 
United States. 
At All 
News-Stands 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY. PHILADELPHIA 
