626 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 20, 
l Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
THE SONG OP THE COMMON PEOPLE. 
We are common people, the hewers of Wood 
and stone. 
The dwellers in common places, mighty of 
brawn and bone. 
Bearing the common burden that only the 
shirkers shun. 
And doing the common duty that others have 
left undone. 
Dubbed, by the few, plebeian, rabble or prolo- 
taire, 
Ours is the hand that feeds them, ours is the 
prize they share, 
And ours is the common blessing, free to the 
toilers all, 
To win from me lowly valley unto the sum¬ 
mits tall. 
Common, and only common— 
This by the might of birth— 
Yet the world in its need leans on ns— 
We are the kings of the earth. 
We are the common people, and ours is the 
common clay 
That a God deemed fit for using, when, in 
that olden day, 
He took the dust of the Garden, the dust that 
Ilis will obeyed, 
Fashioned, and formed, and shaped it, and 
man in His image made: 
And, seeing that God selected such clay for 
the human test. 
And deeming His wisdom suffices to choose 
but the surely best, 
We, who are common people, and made of the 
common clay, 
Leave to the proud uncommon to improve on 
the Maker’s way. 
Common, and only common— 
Tattered, sometimes, and frayed— 
We still are content with the pattern 
That God in IIis wisdom made. 
We are the common people, yet out of our 
might is wrought, 
Ever, by (tod's own fiat, matters of mighty 
thought, 
Men of that grand republic whose rulers walk 
alone, 
Piercing the future shadows, knowing what 
seers have known; 
And, measured by these, the unco' are petty 
and wee and small, 
Playing with gilded baubles, chattering, volu¬ 
ble all; 
And these, our sons, surpass them as the hills 
o'ertop the glen, 
For their great hearts throb to the world's 
long sob, and they are the saviours of 
men. 
Common, and only common, 
Hopelessly commonplace. 
Yet out of our loins still issue 
The saviours of the race. 
—Toronto Mail and Empire. 
* 
Medicine cabinets are now offered at a 
great variety of prices, but one of the new¬ 
est ideas is a cabinet of wood, covered 
with germ-proof celluloid, the shelves be¬ 
ing made of glass. This will satisfy the 
particular housewife who wishes to ster¬ 
ilize her belongings. 
* 
Bent-wood furniture is offered now in 
many attractive models; among them are 
small dining tables having the central pil¬ 
lars formed of the bent wood. These are 
very light, easily moved about; they cost 
$9 or $10, and are very suitable for a 
small house or flat. Small bent-wood tables 
with cane tops cost $6 or $7; settees with 
cane seat and back $10, and chairs $5 to $7. 
Bent-wood furniture of good grade lasts 
forever, and its lightness is a great advan¬ 
tage. 
* 
Nowadays people do not go to the 
woods for materials when they wish to 
make root beer, but buy a little bottle of 
extract at the druggist’s or grocer’s. If, 
however, one wish to make the real thing, 
here is a Connecticut recipe for it: Gather 
in the woods two pecks of wintergreen 
leaves and stems. You may use the old 
leaves as well as the new ones. Sweet 
black birch will do in place of the winter- 
green leaves, or you may use half and half 
wintergreen and birch. Add a peck of 
spruce twigs and half a peck of princess 
pine, garnered before it blossoms, and a 
handful of sweet cicely and the same 
amount of fennel leaves. Cover all, twigs, 
bark and leaves, with boiling water and 
boil down until the strength is extracted. 
It will take about 20 minutes boiling. 
Strain carefully and then cool. In place 
of the homemade yeast of olden times, you 
may use half a cake of compressed yeast 
to every gallon of liquid, and add also a 
pound of sugar. Add the yeast while the 
liquid is lukewarm. Sometimes old fash¬ 
ioned housewives use a portion of honey 
to sweeten their herb and ginger beers. 
Use about a pound to every two gallons, 
and only half the quantity of sugar. Put 
the beer in a large cask and let it stand for 
two or three days, stirring it occasionally. 
Then bottle it. Use bottles with patent 
corks, which are in no danger of flying 
out prematurely. Place the bottles in a 
corner of a cold cellar. This beer will 
keep a number of weeks, but can be used 
as soon as it is bottled. It is not only a 
wholesome and cooling drink, but an eco¬ 
nomical one in the country, where one can 
easily gather the herbs from nearby woods. 
♦ * 
This is the season for hot huckleberry 
cake, which will be a welcome addition to 
the supper table. Sift three cupfuls of 
flour with a “rounded" teaspoonful of 
cream tartar and a “rounded” one of 
soda. Rub through the sifted flour a 
piece of butter the size of a small egg. 
Add two cupfuls of cleaned huckleberries, 
one-third of a cupful of sugar and one 
and a third cupful of sweet milk. Turn 
the dough, after mixing it nicely, into a 
buttered pan and bake in a quick oven. 
Serve piping hot with butter. The extra 
soda called for is because of the acidity 
of the berries. 
* 
Nearly every woman now has a loose 
kimona or house jacket, which is a com¬ 
fort when resting on warm days, or when 
interrupted while dressing. A simple 
skirt to match the kimona is quite a con¬ 
venience, as the two garments seem cooler 
than a wrapper, and they are very easily 
made. At this season every big dry 
goods store has bargain sales of wash 
goods, and it is quite possible to buy a 
pretty muslin suited to this use for six or 
seven cents a yard. These are materials 
usually sold for 10 and 12^2 cents. In 
spite of the masculine horror of bargain 
sales, we think it is possible to buy hon¬ 
estly reduced goods on such occasions, if 
the shopper does not lose her head and 
purchase wildly. 
* 
We have all known persons like the 
woman thus described by the Youth’s 
Companion: 
“What is the reason Mrs. Lawton with 
all her good points is so unpopular?” 
asked the Summer boarder of her aunt, 
Miss Euphemia Boggs. ‘'I’m sure she is 
kind-hearted and generous, and capable 
and good-natured.” 
“She’s a monopolist, or thinks she is,” 
snapped Miss Boggs, “and folks don’t 
like it!” 
“A monopolist?” repeated her niece. 
“What do you mean, Aunt Phemy?” 
“I mean just what I say,” said Miss 
Boggs, firmly. “She’s a monopolist of dis¬ 
eases and accidents and happenings of 
every kind. Start in to tell her about an 
attach of rheumatism you’ve had, or a 
sprained wrist, or your cousin's diphtheria, 
or a railroad disaster you’ve read about, 
or how your stovepipe fell apart, or what 
an unusual drought they’ve been having 
where jour brother lives, and she’ll sit on 
the edge of her chair looking as if she’d 
burst, till vou stop for breath. 
“Then when you do stop she’ll say. ‘You 
can’t tell me anything about rheumatism;’ 
or, ‘The d ctor said he never saw a sprain 
like mine;’ or ‘1 guess you’ve never heard 
how I hung betwixt life and death for 
weeks with diphtheria;’ or, ‘No railroad 
accident sounds like much to me after 
what I passed through in Ohio when the 
bridge broke;’ or, ‘I haven’t got anything 
to learn about what stovepipes can do after 
my experience two years ago;’ or, T pre¬ 
sume it’s slipped your mind that 1 was in 
California at the time of that terrible 
drought, the worst that’s ever been 
known.’ ” 
“And does she make up stories,” asked 
Miss Euphemia’s niece in amazement; 
“stories to fit all such times?” 
“Make’em up,” said Miss Boggs, testily; 
“she don’t have to make ’em up. That’s 
what irritates folks so, everything she says 
is true. And you take a town like this, 
about all we’ve got to be proud of is what 
happens to us.” 
* 
Among suggestions for making vinegar 
given by a correspondent of Good House¬ 
keeping, it is stated that half-gallon fruit 
jars are better than stone jugs to make it 
in, as a larger surface is exposed to the 
light and air, and by shaking often, oxy¬ 
genation, souring, is hastened. A cloth 
should, of course, be tied over the top to 
keep out insects and dust. The jars 
should be set in the sun, and whenever 
the fluid has worked clear, strain off and 
leave it in a warm place until it is as sharp 
as desired. When mother forms, new 
vinegar can be made by simply adding 
sweetened water. Always use soft water, 
but if it is not available, boil the water 
and set it in the sun a day or two. To 
make vinegar from apple or peach parings, 
fill a jar half full of parings, add one- 
half teacup molasses, and fill up with 
water. Set in the sun and strain for use 
in about two weeks. Tomato vinegar is 
made by mashing and straining a quart of 
ripe tomatoes, putting in a jar with one 
cupful of sugar or molasses, then filling 
the jar with soft water, and keeping in a 
sunny place two weeks. In default of 
other material vinegar may be made from 
yeast. Dissolve half a teacupful of brown 
sugar in one pint of warm water, add one 
small yeast cake, and fill the jar with 
water. This must be left to work for two 
weeks. _ 
Seasonable Relishes. 
Bordeaux Sauce.—Two quarts of cabbage 
chopped to a powder, one quart of chopped 
green tomatoes, drained free of juice, three 
small onions chopped, one quart of vin¬ 
egar, one-quarter ounce each of celery 
seed, black pepper, ginger and turmeric, 
one-eighth pound of mustard seed, one- 
quarter cupful of salt, and one-half pound 
of brown sugar; mix together, boil 15 
minutes, and can while hot. 
Pepper Sauce.—Take two dozen large 
ripe peppers, remove the stems and most 
of the seeds; put them in a kettle with 
three sliced onions, two cloves of garlic, 
one teaspoon ful of salt, one pint of vin¬ 
egar and one tablespoonful of grated horse¬ 
radish; boil together until the vegetables 
can be rubbed through a coarse sieve; re¬ 
turn to the fire, add a pint of vinegar, one 
tablespoonful of brown sugar, one tea¬ 
spoonful each of ground cloves, allspice 
and black pepper; boil five minutes; bottle 
and seal while hot. 
Canned Pimentos.—These are simply 
red peppers, the long, tapering, sharp- 
pointed sweet variety. They repay one for 
the trouble, as they retail at 15 cents a can. 
and in glass jars at 35 cents per quart. 
Select ripe red ones, neither dry nor 
woody. Cut off stem end and extract the 
seeds. Drop in a jar and cover with brine 
that will float an egg. Let stand three 
days. Wash in several waters, cover with 
clear water one day, then drain well. Place 
peppers in cans, fill to overflowing with 
boiling water, add a level tablespoonful of 
salt to each quart of water; place in a 
boiler on two inch layer of straw, weight 
cans to prevent tipping, pour in boiling 
water to cover two-thirds of the can, screw 
lids on loosely and cover the boiler. When 
the water boils simmer 10 minutes, remove 
and seal. They are used in salads, as a 
relish with cold meats or are stuffed with 
rice, macaroni or bread crumbs. 
Pickled Peaches.—For pickling, peaches 
should not be too ripe. Choose 25 perfect 
ones. Peel, cut them in halves and remove 
the stones. Into the preserving kettle put 
a cupful of cider vinegar, one and one- 
half cupful of granulated sugar and three 
small spice bags each containing a few 
cloves, a stick of cinnamon, a little green 
ginger and a piece of mace. Tie each bag 
securely. When tlie sugar has melted add 
the fruit and cook them until they are 
easily pierced with a straw. Seal in cans 
with a spice oag in each. The older recipes 
for pickling peaches direct that the syrup 
be boiled up afresh and poured over the 
fruit again nine days in succession. 
Preserved Melon Rind.—Pare the melon 
very thin; do not pare away all the rip¬ 
ened melon. Leave about one-quarter inch 
attached to the rind. Cut in pieces and 
place in a crock over night with salt 
sprinkled between the layers. In the 
morning drain, pour boiling water over, 
leave for one-half hour, drain again. Now 
weigh the fruit—to 10 pounds fruit add 
five pounds granulated sugar, one-half 
gallon white vinegar, one ounce stick cin¬ 
namon, one ounce white ginger root, and 
one-half ounce whole cloves. Tie the 
spice in small muslin bags, place all in a 
large pan and boil slowly. The longer 
it boils the nicer will it be. 
For the Apple Consumers’ 
League. 
Cider Glace.—Boil thick peelings of tart 
red apples (preferably Jonathans) in half 
their bulk of water. Reduce one-half, 
strain, and to every pint of juice add a 
good cupful of sugar and two tablespoon¬ 
fuls of water. Two solid quarts of peel 
ings will make a pint of juice. Turn into 
a freezer; when half frozen add the stiffly 
beaten and sweetened white of an egg. 
berve in tall sherbet glasses, and over each 
portion pour two tablespoonfuls of chilled 
cider. 
Steamed Apple Sauce.—Pare and slice 
the apples rather thinner than for sauce 
cooked in tne usual way, dropping into 
cold water as you slice them. Drain, turn 
into the inner vessel of a double boiler, 
and fit on the cover. Fill the outer kettle 
with warm water and bring to a steady 
boil. Keep this up for half an hour after 
the boil begins, then lift the lid and beat 
the soft apple to a mush with a spoon. 
Close and cook 15 minutes longer. Run 
through a colander or a vegetable press, 
sweeten to taste while hot, and set away 
to cool. 
Apple Pulp Pudding.—A delicious apple 
pudding that is timely now, with the har¬ 
vest of this fruit at hand, is also a simple 
one. Stew apples that have been pared, 
cored, and quartered, gently until they will 
pulp; beat and add to every pint of pulp 
a half cupful of sugar, a quarter cupful 
of butter, a half cupful of bread crumbs 
and three eggs well beaten separately. Bake 
Half an hour. Serve with cream, though 
the pudding is good by itselt with a little 
powdered sugar sifted over the top. A 
pint of the pulp is the foundation of a 
pudding for four persons. 
Kenilworth Ranch Dumplings.—Take a 
quart of flour, one cup of good sweet lard 
and half-cup of butter; rub this into the 
flour after it is sifted with one teaspoon¬ 
ful of baking powder; add enough milk 
to make a soft dough. This is rolled out 
quickly into a sheet an inch thick and then 
cut in squares. Into each square is laid 
a half-apple, peeled and cored, and the 
crust tucked around it. Have ready in a 
dripping pan a syrup made of one cupful 
of sugar to one of water; lay the dump¬ 
lings in; bake in quick oven 30 to 40 min¬ 
utes. Serve with an old-fashioned mo¬ 
lasses sauce. 
Apple Pancakes.—Measure two cupfuls 
of sifted flour; add half a teaspoonful of 
salt and sift again. Then stir in gradually 
two cupfuls of cold water and the beaten 
yolks of three or four eggs, making a per¬ 
fectly smooth batter.' When well mixed, 
fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a 
froth. Place a tablespoon ful of fat in an 
iron frying pan and when hot pour in 
enough batter to cover the bottom of the 
pan quarter of an inch thick; have a few 
nicely flavored apples, pared, cored and 
finely minced; sprinkle a layer of the 
apple over the cake (not too much, or the 
pancake is liable to break).- As the cake 
cooks, slip a flexible knife under it, lifting 
it so it will not burn, and shake the pan 
gently to and fro. When the pancake is 
a light brown on under side, slip it on to 
a hot plate, put a piece of butter on top 
of the apples, hold the frying pan over it 
and deftly turn the cake back into the pan 
and cover and cook until the apples are 
soft. Then slip it out of pan on to a hot 
plate; set the plate over hot water to keep 
the cake warm and continue frying up re¬ 
mainder of the batter in same manner. 
Serve them separately or piled, one upon 
the other. Serve with sugar sprinkled 
over them and oranges or lemons cut in 
halves for squeezing over them. This 
quantity of baiter should make four cakes. 
Do not have your pan too large. 
Dutch Apple Pie.—Make a rich puff 
paste and line deep pie plate. Core and 
cut into eighths as many rich tart apples 
as will fill the pie plate by laying each piece 
of apple with the curved side up, just as 
close together as can be placed; over the 
top sprinkle half cup light brown sugar, 
half teaspoonful cinnamon and tablespoon 
ful flour. Dot bits of butter over the top 
and add half cup water; bake slowly and 
carefully until apples are tender and water 
absorbed. Serve warm with cheese. 
