5i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 2, 
l Woman and Home j 
From Day to Day, 
A NATION’S STRENGTH. 
What builds a nation’s pillars high 
And its foundations strong? 
What makes it mighty to defy 
The foes that round it throng? 
It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand 
Go down in battle’s shock ; 
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand, 
i>ot on abiding rock. 
Is it ihe sword? Ask the red dust 
Of empires passed away ; 
The blood has turned their stones to rust, 
Their glory to decay. 
And is it pride? Ah! that bright crown 
Has seemed to nations sweet; 
Hut God has struck its luster down 
In ashes at 11 is feet. 
Not gold, but only man, can make 
A people great and strong; 
Men who, for truth and honor’s sake, 
Stand fast and suffer long. 
Brave men who work while others sleep, 
Who dare while others fly— 
They build a nation’s pillars deep 
And lift them to the sky. 
—Emerson. 
* 
A bedroom cabinet is one of the chintz- 
covered articles of furniture offered for 
the Summer bedroom. It comprises a 
case 24 inches high, 16 inches wide and 
12 inches deep. In this case are six 
shelves, including the bottom, each shelf 
holding a covered box that just fits the 
section. Boxes are labeled with their 
contents: “veils and laces,” “handker¬ 
chiefs,” “gloves,” “stockings,” “collars,” 
“ribbons.” Both boxes and frame are 
covered with flowery chintz, and the price 
of the complete article is $16. 
* 
A correspondent of the Washington 
Post corroborates the opinion of some 
old-fashioned housekeepers who consider 
that a mustard plaster is sovereign in 
every emergency. She boards in a house 
overrun by rats, which seem immune 
against ordinary discouragement. 
I didn't mind them very much until I found 
that they had gnawed a hole in one corner of 
my room. One night they fairly rioted, and 
I felt that I must do something, as I didn’t 
want to move. 
I got out of bed, and looked for something 
to stop that rat-hole with. The only thing 
I could find was three mustard plasters of the 
kind which are prepared on linen. I applied 
them to the rat-liole, and tacked them securely 
in place. 
The rats have caroused in the walls since 
then, as usual, but there has been no sign of 
their gnawing on those mustard plasters. I 
think I have made a discovery, and I expect 
that mustard plasters will soon be sold under 
the label: 
“To relieve pain and congestion, and to re¬ 
strain rats.” 
• 
Among the novelties displayed in a 
store devoted to crape paper products are 
paper hats, which require a close inspec- 
Keeping Tomatoes in Brine. 
If any of your readers have tried put¬ 
ting tomatoes in brine for Winter use will 
they kindly give their experience? I have 
read that it is a very satisfactory way of 
keeping them, but do not know anyone 
who has actually tried it. I would also 
like a recipe for canning or preserving 
strawberries by the cold process. I be¬ 
lieve they can be mashed and put with 
an equal quantity of sugar and will keep 
perfectly. 
Delicious luncheon omelette.—Make a 
sauce with one tablespoonful of butter 
and one of flour; add one large cupful of 
asparagus tips with some of the water 
they have been boiled in and a little 
milk. Pour the sauce over a nice light 
omelette made with four eggs and 12 
tablespoonfuls of rich milk; garnish with 
parsley. A cup of tomatoes may be used 
instead of asparagus. e. w. b. 
A Primitive Household. 
The household shown in Fig. 220 rep¬ 
resents the noble red man under some of 
the restraints of civilization. He has ad¬ 
vanced far enough to wear white man’s 
clothes and to build a little shack, but 
does not look as though he would enjoy 
a day’s work or try to lift himself from 
his surrounding squalor. Doubtless this 
The canning season is with us, and a 
large proportion of the women now en¬ 
gaged in this work will cook the fruit 
by standing the jars in the wash boiler. 
Instead of putting odd pieces of board 
in the bottom of the boiler to rest the 
jars on, have a board made to fit, with 
three cleats across it underneath and a 
number of auger holes bored in it so that 
the water passes through. We usually 
put enough water to come half way up 
the jars, but some housekeepers elevate 
the jars above the water and cover the 
boiler closely, thus cooking the fruit in 
the steam. 
* 
In marked contrast to the man with 
the hoe, who is pictured by the poet as 
bowed with the weight of ages, we men¬ 
tion a woman with a hoe at Los Angeles, 
Cal., who chased a burglar out of her 
house, punctuating his movements with 
vigorous blows. In San Francisco a wo¬ 
man actually talked a burglar out of 
countenance, and made him so ashamed 
of himself that he departed, and in Oak¬ 
land a woman “got the drop” on a bur¬ 
glar, and ran him off the premises. We 
have heard wonderful things of the mag¬ 
nificent climate of California, and it is 
evident that these ladies are giving an 
example of its invigorating effects. 
* 
Here is a recipe for Weisbaden straw¬ 
berry preserves, which are sold by some 
dealers who cater to a critical class of 
buyers. They are expensive to buy, but 
pay for the trouble of putting up: Take 
six pounds of strawberries—they need 
not be large or extra fine, but they must 
be sound; add to them in the kettle a 
very little cold water and cook slowly as 
for jelly. Pour in a jelly bag and allow 
them to drip overnight. In the morning 
add to the juice six pounds of broken 
loaf or granulated sugar and half a pound 
of strained honey. Boil to a very thick 
syrup. Fill pint cans with freshly capped 
strawberries, the largest and finest to be 
had. Screw on the tops, set in cold water 
in a large kettle—the wash boiler will 
do—and let the water come to a boil. 
Open the jars and fill to the brim with the 
hot syrup. Seal and put away in a cool, 
dark place. 
A PRIMITIVE HOI 
tion to persuade one that they are really 
made of this humble material. A year 
or two ago there was quite a fancy for 
picture hats made of crape paper ruffles 
trimmed with pompons of the same ma¬ 
terial ; they did not disguise their origin, 
but they were prettjq and were often 
used at Summer resorts. The modern 
style, however, is made by cutting the 
paper in strips five inches wide, which 
are pulled until all the crapiness is 
stretched out, and then braided in three, 
five, seven or nine strands. The product 
looks just like a handsome millinery 
braid. A hat frame is covered with tis¬ 
sue paper, and the braid is then glued 
over this, starting at the center of the 
crown and continuing spirally until the 
entire hat is covered, when it may be 
trimmed as desired. A braided toque or 
shirtwaist hat requires from one to 2j4 
rolls of crape paper, a roll being 10 feet 
long and 20 inches wide. What are 
termed garden and matinee hats are made 
of two-inch ruffles; they will require V /2 
roll of paper. Very picturesque rose hats 
are made of small crushed roses, requir¬ 
ing two quires of tissue paper and one 
roll of crape paper. An infinite variety 
of fancy work and decorative material is 
made from crape paper, and the modern 
paper napkins and doyleys, printed in 
beautiful floral designs, are so attractive 
that they suggest no kinship whatever to 
the original Japanese article. 
Snow in Cake.—T have tried snow in 
cake and find one cupful of snow, beaten 
in at the last, equal to two eggs. 
MRS. T. L . B. 
SEHOLD. Fig. 220. 
picture from the Bad Lands of western 
Nebraska is familiar enough to many of 
our readers on the other side of the Mis¬ 
sissippi, though strange in eastern eyes. 
The sociological views of this primitive 
American are expressed by the fact that 
he sits on the only visible chair, while 
Mrs. Lo squats on the ground at his feet. 
It is evident that he has not yet learned 
to live up to his clothes, but he may yet 
develop to a higher condition of life, in 
which the squaw will have the chair, while 
the brave goes out and hustles to provide 
for the needs of his family. 
The Bounty of Summer. 
To the woman who lives in the country 
Summer is the most delightful season. 
Then she finds pleasure and profit in out¬ 
door work with her poultry and in the 
garden. If she is wise, she seeks health¬ 
ful recreation in walks afield and in study¬ 
ing the birds and wild flowers. When 
her purse is thin, she has. all the store of 
Nature to draw upon. The farmer’s wife 
or daughter need never be at a loss for 
pretty gifts for those she loves. The 
material is everywhere. Hie city woman, 
in preparing for the holidays, spends 
weary hours in shopping. She pays more 
for everything than it would cost at any 
other time, and goes home “tired to 
death.” Her country sister can grow 
beautiful things without worry or con¬ 
scious effort, and can use the treasures 
gathered in tramps on breezy hill and in 
shady woodland. Suppose Sallie has sev¬ 
eral flower-loving friends. When she 
starts the early tomatoes in March, she 
sows one box with seeds of the Baby 
primrose, and another with lavender. By 
and by she transplants the former into 
pots and places them in a corner of the 
veranda, where they will not be exposed 
to the full sunlight. The lavender goes 
into an out-of-the-way place in the gar¬ 
den. By Fall the primroses are thrifty 
plants covered with buds. One cheers a 
helpless cripple, another brightens the 
room for a lonely old woman; each finds 
a mission which richly compensates the 
giver for the small trouble of raising 
them. The lavender is put into coarse- 
meshed bags and sent to a relative whose 
linen closet is her pride. 
Aromatic vinegar, a refreshing prep¬ 
aration for an invalid or a sufferer with 
frequent headaches, is easily made from 
the herbs found in most old gardens. 
Take of lavender, rosemary, wormwood, 
sage, and mint, a large handful of each. 
Place in a stone jar, and turn over 
one gallon of cider vinegar; cover and 
keep near the fire for four days; then 
strain and add one ounce of powdered 
camphor gum. Bottle and keep tightly 
corked. 
When June brings its wealth of bloom, 
Sallie saves all the rose petals. As soon 
as the blossoms begin to fade, she clips 
them off (a great benefit to the plant), 
and packs them into a bowl with layers 
of salt. Every day she turns them, watch¬ 
ing carefully to keep them from molding. 
Some of them she mixes with spices and 
other ingredients to preserve their sweet¬ 
ness, and stores them in one of the pretty 
inexpensive jars, sold for the purpose. 
She knows how the exile of the family 
will rejoice when she lifts the cover and 
sniffs the very breath of the roses about 
the home door. She places more of the 
rose leaves in cheesecloth pads, which 
fit inside a bureau drawer. Over these 
she slips covers of thin linen, laced to¬ 
gether with narrow ribbon. They will 
line the chiffonier of a school friend and 
form a perfumed bed for her neckwear 
and dainty fixings. The flowers of Sweet 
clover (melilot) may be used for the pur¬ 
pose. 
Sofa pillows, in great variety, are easy 
for a woman living in the country to 
make. Sweetfern, pine needles, rose 
leaves, and clover heads are all good for 
a fragrant filling. If preferred, they can 
be arranged as a sachet on either side of 
a layer of down or feathers. Not every 
one knows the delightful fluffiness of 
milkweed down. I have heard tidy house¬ 
keepers declare that they would never 
have a bit of it about because of the lit¬ 
ter. If managed rightly, there will be 
no litter. Gather the pods before they 
open and put the down at once into the 
covers. Then hang them on the line and 
leave them there for days. They will 
almost float of their own lightness when 
the down becomes dry and silky. 
She who owns a small camera can make 
numberless pretty gifts with its help. 
Homely farm scenes, glimpses of wood 
and brookside, groups of children and 
animals, all are “game” for the makers 
of snapshots. She mounts her blue or 
silver prints haphazard on a panel, and 
has a keepsake to gladden the soul of 
any beauty lover. Not everyone has the 
time or taste for the work, but for her 
who has, it is one of the pleasantest of 
the outdoor hobbies. m. e. colegrove. 
To give the white-haired father or 
mother not only respect, but confidence, 
to tell the joke and the secret to them first, 
to accord them cordially the central place 
in the merry-making, may seem trivial 
matters, yet they are not trivial to those 
who, in the twilight of life, begin to think 
they are useless and forgotten, and to 
question whether they shall be missed 
when they shall go out into the nearing 
night. Courtesy is but a little thing and 
costs nothing, and if it is due to anyone, it 
is surely to the aged among 11 s, especially 
when these are our parents.—Credit Lost. 
