886 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
December 31 
* 
| Woman and | 
I The Home. f 
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FROM DAY TO DAY. 
Most, if not all, of the department 
stores, have a restaurant and women’s 
waiting room, but one Philadelphia store 
has made an innovation in establishing 
a smoking room for men. It is a Turkish 
divan, gorgeously arranged, and here 
the men may wait while their women- 
kind hunt for bargains. With a nursery 
for babies and a smoking-room for the 
husbands, enthusiastic shoppers may 
check the entire family, and then hunt 
for bargains undisturbed. 
# 
Occasionally even a woman, whose 
efforts with a hammer resemble light¬ 
ning, in that they seldom strike twice in 
the same place, hits what she aims for, 
and this was the case with a Pennsyl¬ 
vania housewife recently. A bear wan¬ 
dered into her back yard, while she was 
engaged in hanging out the clothes, and 
endeavored to carry off her pet goat. 
The family dog attacked the bear, caus¬ 
ing Bruin to lose interest in the goat, 
and then the housewife finished the in¬ 
truder by splitting his skull with an ax. 
The only thing in this item which seems 
untrue to feminine tradition is the 
weapon used. That heroic woman ought 
to have killed the bear with a broom or 
a flatiron. 
* 
In a recent article on the cleaning of 
tomato seed, in The R. N.-Y., reference 
was made to the use of the waste from 
the canning factory, in making tomato 
ketchup. The report of New Jersey’s 
State Dairy Commissioner places tomato 
ketchup among the articles of food most 
commonly adulterated, salicylic acid 
being a component part in many in¬ 
stances. Cream of tartar, honey, syrup, 
and coffee shared with ketchup the evil 
distinction of being the articles most 
commonly adulterated. Half the sam¬ 
ples of cream of tartar examined con¬ 
tained foreign substances, chiefly starch 
and sulphates. The strained honey was 
largely adulterated with glucose, which 
strengthens our personal predilection 
for honey in the comb. One reads occa¬ 
sionally of artificial combs filled with 
glucose honey, but we doubt whether 
this libel on the busy bee has ever been 
substantiated. 
* 
Reading of those centralized town¬ 
ship schools, described by our Yankee 
in Ohio, we see many good points, and 
some distinctly disadvantageous ones, in 
the plan. Apart from the difficulty of 
getting to the school (which must be 
quite serious in the case of small 
children during the Winter), there is the 
further drawback of hastily-eaten cold 
lunches. Many schools look with great 
disfavor on the carrying of lunches, and 
permit it only in bad weather or excep¬ 
tional cases; but it is obligatory where 
children have to come a long distance. 
When lunch-time comes, the air in the 
school-room is usually foul, and should 
be freely ventilated ; if the pupils have 
to eat their lunches in the room, this 
ventilating is likely to be carelessly 
done. It is difficult, too, to put up a 
school lunch that is at once satisfying 
and hygienic, and every mother feels in 
her heart that it is an advantage to 
have the children home for the noon-day 
meal. No doubt the children in these 
Ohio schools have ample playground, so 
that they have a chance for exercise and 
fresh air during recess. We always feel 
strong pity for the poor little victims of 
a big city school within a stone’s throw 
of The R. N.-Y. office ; their dingy build¬ 
ing is hemmed in by factories and tene¬ 
ment houses, and their only playground 
is a dark and airless basement. Small 
wonder that they rush against passers- 
by, like small cyclones, in their efforts 
to play tag and red lion in the crowded 
narrow street. 
A BRIDE’S COOK BOOK. 
It goes without saying that, for awhile 
at least, the newly-wedded man can eat 
anything concocted within his home, 
however dyspeptic may be its nature, 
and declare it food for the gods ! There 
is supposed to come a time, however, 
when the man in question begins to 
yearn for a sight upon the table of the 
“ good things his mother used to make ” ! 
It would appear, therefore, to be the part 
of wisdom for the bride-elect to be, not 
only forewarned, but forearmed as well, 
against this inevitable yearning on the 
part of the lord of the manor. 
The forearming may come in the form 
of a little wedding present—a dainty 
parchment-covered recipe book, with 
decorations suitable to the occasion. A 
suggestion in this direction is offered in 
Fig 402; the old shoes flying after the 
retreating wagon, with “ Things That 
His Mother Made” etched across the 
page. The little book is made of very 
heavy, unruled linen paper, with the 
cover of parchment paper or the very 
heavy, rough paper that is used for 
water-color painting. The ornamenta¬ 
tion may be done in whatever medium 
one chooses—water color, sepia or pen 
and ink. 
Inside are to be written the recipes for 
a lot of the “good things his mother 
“I ' -ill!,. 
A BRIDE’S COOK-BOOK. Fig. 402. 
used to make ! ” These can quietly be 
procured from the mother in question. 
Such a little book will add a bit of mer¬ 
riment to the bridal gift-making, and 
may be made to prove, as well, a source 
of practical assistance later on, when 
household cares are assumed. d. 
GINGER-SNAP TALK. 
“ I make them by two rules,” said the 
hostess. “ When I would rather use an 
egg than half a cup of butter, I make 
the butterless kind ; but when the con¬ 
ditions are reversed, I use the eggless 
recipe. There isn’t so very much differ¬ 
ence in them, though I think the butter¬ 
less ones are nicer.” 
“ Which kind are these ? ” “ Do tell 
us about it! ” said the callers. 
The hostess smiled. “ Do you want a 
lecture ? Well, here are my rules : 
“For Butterless Ginger Snaps .—One 
cupful of molasses, one half cupful of 
sugar, a pinch each of salt and ginger, 
one teaspoonful of soda, one egg and 
two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Pastry 
flour to roll out. Put sugar and molasses 
on the stove in a saucepan which is large 
enough to do the mixing in. Just as 
soon as the molasses boils, and the sugar 
is dissolved, remove from the fire and 
stir in the soda, which has been well 
pulverized. Let it cool while you beat 
the egg and vinegar together, stir these 
in, also the salt and ginger, then mix in 
enough flour to make a stiff dough. 
“ For Eggless Ginger Snaps —One cup¬ 
ful of molasses, pinch of ginger, half a 
cupful of softened butter, a teaspoonful 
of soda dissolved in a little milk or water, 
flour to roll out.” 
“You put in so little ginger ! ” 
“ I know I do,” responded the hostess 
quickly. “ I see recipes for ginger snaps 
where the ginger is put in by the table¬ 
spoonful, and I have tasted ginger snaps 
which I know had Cayenne pepper in 
them ; but I don’t like them that way. 
I think it is nothing short of sinful to 
give such things to children, and they 
can’t be good for grown people. I prefer 
to have just the least hint of ginger, it 
is so much more delicate. 
“One thing which bothers some peo¬ 
ple, is to know how much flour to use. The 
dough should be stiff enough so that it 
won’t stick to the board and fingers, but 
not so stiff that you have to struggle to 
roll it out. Roll quite thin, so the snaps 
will not be clumsily thick. The butter¬ 
less ones rise more than the others, and 
need to be rolled a little thinner. Cut 
with a round cutter and place far enough 
apart in the baking tin so that they will 
not touch each other when they are done. 
I don’t know as you are offenders in this 
respect, but many people are. They pack 
the snaps into the pans so closely that, 
although they were circular when they 
went into the oven, they come out all run 
together. The knife has to be resorted 
to, and after the surgical operation, you 
find square cookies with rounded cor¬ 
ners. These are not pleasing to the eye, 
and look very unworkmanlike. 
“ I think that is all I have to say on 
the subject, except that the ginger snaps 
should be kept away from the air, or 
they will grow soft and limber.” 
SUSAN BROWN BOBBINS. 
DRESSMAKING IN INDIA. 
At the risk of sending all my readers 
to India for dressmaking, says a mis¬ 
sionary doctor, writing to Harper’s 
Bazar, I shall let you into one of the 
secrets of India’s charm to the Anglo- 
Indian. Since coming back to this coun¬ 
try, nothing seems harder than to get 
sewing and dressmaking done ; though 
Indian tailors might drive an ordinary 
home dressmaker insane, they certainly 
do take care of their mistresses in a most 
fatherly manner. Of course, they are 
men, and of course they are as much a 
part of one’s establishment as the cook 
or the butler. My tailor was an inherit¬ 
ance, and fell to my happy lot along 
with my dignified white-haired cook, my 
maid, and my portly and lordly butler. 
Pandarum was ever faithful to my in¬ 
terests and, when work waxed short, 
did not rebel at being “ let out ” to other 
ladies. In fact, so famous waa Pan¬ 
darum as a buyer, and for style and ex¬ 
quisite embroidery, that he was oftener 
called for by my missionary and civilian 
friends than I liked. He had a goodly 
family, who all, of course, lived on the 
tailor street. I remember well his hand¬ 
some old paralyzed father, and less well 
his wife and children. I think there 
were seven in the family, yet Pandarum’s 
wages were but $3.25 a month—and no 
meals! 
Promptly each morning he came to my 
room, took out his mat and unrolled it 
on the veranda under my window, and 
placed upon it his hand-Singer sewing- 
machine and his large basket of work. 
Mending he seldom did, for that could as 
well be done by a native ayah; but he 
had so real an interest in all my ward¬ 
robe that he saw to it that “ long-cloth ” 
and cambric in quantity were kept on 
hand, and that I made frequent and 
sufficient purchase of hand-made laces 
and embroideries from the native schools 
to keep me in an assortment of lingerie 
such as he thought fitting. 
How he loved to plan and fuss ! What 
concoctions in ruffles and tucks and in¬ 
sertions adorned my nightdresses, skirts, 
and other garments! When no other 
work was ordered, he would inspect my 
bureau drawers, and inform me that I 
needed new night-gowns or skirts, and 
that, if it was Madame’s pleasure, he 
would begin the garments at once. I 
might have to interrupt him, but though 
a man of much decision of character, he 
was enough of a Hindoo to respect my 
authority, and would lay aside his tucks 
and shirrings to reline the carriage or to 
mend the saddle, which had, perhaps, 
been hung too near the wall, and so had 
become the feeding-ground for white 
ants. Or perchance there was needed a 
pair of slippers to go with an evening 
dress. Until a month ago, I had one 
pair which were wholly hand-made, and 
which I had kept as a curiosity. The 
soles were cut out by the native leather- 
worker, who brought his tools to the 
veranda and copied the soles from an¬ 
other pair ; the lining was of plain satin, 
and the outside of pale yellow satin em¬ 
broidered in gold. 
The India tailors can copy almost any¬ 
thing from fashion papers (though they 
have not the Worth touch in drapery), 
and, as for gowns from home, they copy 
them so literally that a newcomer not 
only has the satisfaction of setting the 
fashion, but soon, to the arousing of 
another set of emotions, finds herself 
without one gown which is distinctly her 
own ! 
Some of the tailors do excellent em¬ 
broidery. I still have (and wear at times, 
when I wish to be very festive) a pale 
yellow India silk—to which the yellow 
slippers belonged—heavily and exquis¬ 
itely embroidered in gold. 
Usually embroiderers are specialists, 
and get rather higher wages than Pan¬ 
darum did ; but he did my dress as part 
of his regular work, and as beautifully as 
any specialist from the temple could 
have done. 
As to upholstering furniture (in cool 
linens and cottons, of course), making 
the strong nettings for beds, or punkahs, 
which are so necessary to our comfort, 
he had no superior. 
A CONUNDRUM SUPPER. 
The following description of a conun¬ 
drum supper may prove just the thing 
for a church sociable where a little 
money is to be earned by those who have 
the entertainment in charge. The room 
is arranged with small tables, each hold- 
A Term 
or a Year 
At the New England 
Conservatory, includ¬ 
ing room, board, etc., 
all at our expense; any 
other conservatory or 
college if preferred. 
Send for illustrated 
booklet showing just 
how hundreds of girls 
have earned, through 
us, a complete mu¬ 
sical education. 
THE LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL 
The Curtis Publishing Company 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Will Carleton’s 
MAGAZINE, 
“Every Where” 
You have all heard of 
Will Carleton, the fa¬ 
mous poet and editor,author 
of “Farm Ballads,” “City 
Legends,” etc. His Maga¬ 
zine, “Every Where,” 
contains his latest poems, 
sketches and stories; best 
of additional literature. 
50 CENTS A YEAH. 
SPECIAL OEFEK: 4 Months for 10 Cents, 
if you mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
EVERY WHERE PUBLISHING CO., Brooklyn, N.Y 
