3i6 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 2 
f Woman and Home ] 
‘ *.- 
From Day to Day. 
“O YE OP’ LITTLE FAITH. 
A sower sowed his seed, with doubts and 
fears; 
“I dare not hope,” he said, ‘‘for fruitful 
ears; 
Poor hath the harvest been in other years.” 
Yet ere the August moon had waxen old 
Fair stood his fields, a waving sea of gold; 
He reaped a thousandfold! 
In a dark place one dropped a kindly word; 
‘‘So weak my voice,” he sighed, ‘‘per¬ 
chance none heard, 
Or, if they did, no answering impulse 
stirred.” 
Yet in an hour his fortunes were at stake; 
One put a life in peril for his sake. 
Because that word he spake! 
‘‘Little I have to give, O Lord.” one cried, 
‘‘A wayward heart that oft hath Thee 
denied; 
Couldst Thou with such a gift be satis¬ 
fied?” 
Yet when the soul had ceased its mourn¬ 
ful plaint 
God took the love that seemed so poor and 
faint, 
And from it made a saint! 
—Christian Burke. 
* 
A man who evidently knows some¬ 
thing about housework says that if a 
woman has the meat, potatoes, etc., all 
cooked ready to take off the fire at the 
same time, she has enough ability to 
make a train dispatcher. 
* 
Do not let an umbrella get rusty in 
the joints. It will wear much better if 
the joints of the ribs are oiled occasion¬ 
ally; if rusty they should he cleaned 
with kerosene before oiling. Of course 
there should not be sufficient oil to spot 
the cover. 
* 
Large holes in knitted underwear 
can often be mended more firmly by 
crocheting than by inserting a patch. A 
fine crochet needle and soft four-ply 
darning cotton are required. Ragged 
bits of the fabric should be cut away 
until a firm straight edge is reached. 
The stitches should be caught up one 
hv one, the cotton drawn through and 
fastened at the side, working backward 
and forward until the gap is filled. 
♦ 
Among inexpensive conveniences that 
will aid in keeping one’s clothes in good 
condition we must include a set of suit 
and cloak hangers suspended from a 
closet rod. The rod is fastened by screw 
eyes into the bottom of a closet shelf, 
and the hangers are suspended from 
this. Skirt hangers are similar in shape 
to cloak hangers, but with a deeper 
curve; the skirt band is hooked, and 
the hanger then slipped in, keeping the 
skirt flat, yet without creases. Suit 
hangers consist of a skirt hanger with 
an upper extension for the coat, all be¬ 
ing made of wire. A set of six hang¬ 
ers and closet rod costs 90 cents; single 
rods 15 cents; single skirt hangers 15 
cents; single suit hangers 18 cents. 
it 
In addition to the ruches sold by the 
yard, collar ruches are now made \V 2 to 
two inches deep at the back, curving 
and growing narrow till they slope off 
at the front. These are worn as a fin¬ 
ish for the stock. Ruches for the wrists 
are three to six inches wide, falling 
over the hand, and are quite expensive. 
From their likeness to the frills upon 
elaborate underwear, they are described 
as lingerie ruches. With the return of 
the little Eton and bolero jackets, which 
are a feature of the Spring suits, frilly 
lace trimmings are much in vogue. In 
addition to the wrist and neck ruffles, 
vest fronts or jabots of lace or chiffon 
ruffles attached to the stock are seen; 
with such an accessory a plain shirt 
waist can be transformed into an elab¬ 
orate garment while under the little 
jacket. 
Here is a maple sugar layer cake that 
is highly endorsed: For the layers 
cream one-half pound of butter and one 
pound of sugar; add six well beaten 
eggs, one pound and one ounce of flour, 
one cupful of milk and two even tea¬ 
spoonfuls of baking powder. Beat thor¬ 
oughly and bake in round jelly-cake 
pans. For the filling scrape half a 
pound of maple sugar into an enameled 
saucepan; add half a cupful of milk; 
stir until the sugar is dissolved, and 
cook until the syrup forms a thread. 
Take from the fire and pour, little by 
little while still hot, into the whites of 
two eggs beaten to a meringue. Beat 
steadily until cool, then spread between 
the layers and over the top of the cake. 
* 
A i.ittle suggestion given in Good 
Housekeeping will be a comfort to elder¬ 
ly women whose sight does not permit 
them to thread needles readily. Take 
the spool of thread and paper of needles 
and, without breaking the thread, 
thread the whole packet of needles, like 
stringing beads. When a needleful of 
thread is wanted, it should be broken 
off as long as desired, without unthread¬ 
ing the other needles, fastening the out¬ 
side needle to the spool, ready for the 
next needleful of thread. A more elab¬ 
orate arrangement of this kind is thus 
described in Harper’s Bazar: Cut a 
piece of pretty, bright silk or cretonne 
12 inches by six and line it with white 
flannel or cashmere all across, except 
2V 2 inches at one end. Bind it all around 
with ribbon or braid and make it, by 
all means, bright in color. The fainter 
the eyes grow the prettier the bright 
colors look to old people. In the end 
where there is no lining the spools aie 
to be put. Make of stiff bristol-board 
a tube large enough to hold a good- 
sized spool and roll the left-hand end 
of your case of silk or cretonne over it, 
putting inside of it four spools—one of 
No. 70 white thread, one of No. 40 white, 
one of No. 50 black thread, and one of 
black sewing silk, leaving a long loose 
end of each coming out where bristol- 
board tube closes. String these spools 
first on ribbon to match the binding, and 
put a fiat button or a disk of heavy 
cardboard between each two. Tie this 
ribbon in a pretty bow at each end and 
tack it to the case. Tack the binding of 
the case, between the spools, through 
to the outside, thus holding the tube 
firmly in place with the spools inside. 
Four papers of needles complete the 
outfit. The needles should be taken 
from the paper and quilted into the flan¬ 
nel lining of the case, the thread from 
each spool being carried along through 
the eyes of a whole paper of needles. A 
ribbon to tie the whole into a pretty 
rolled-up case is added. 
Some Simple German Dishes. 
One of the wise saws which our Teu¬ 
tonic cousins are fond of using, says in 
substance, that the good housewife by 
watchful care makes 10 farthings out of 
one. In an acquaintance with many 
German women and their households, I 
learned to admire this same careful 
economy and ability of making much 
out of little. The German matron may 
be eminent in the social or musical 
world, but she is first and foremost a 
good housekeeper, and no detail of that 
art is too small to receive a share of her 
attention. We Americans might learn 
of her along this line. Following her 
example, we would use more soups in 
place of high-priced meats, and find how 
nutritious and appetizing many of these 
can be made without a basis of stock. 
We would utilize odds and ends of meat 
and vegetables in the soup kettle or 
savory ragouts instead of inflicting 
them in the form of hash upon our long- 
suffering families, and we would substi¬ 
tute the wholesome and easily-made 
kuchen for rich cakes and pastry. Here 
is a chance for reform, all overworked 
housewives! Serve freshly baked 
kuchen on the tea table once a week and 
the family will welcome the change. The 
Germans drink unlimited coffee along 
with the kuchen, but the cakes are good 
alone, as anyone may prove by making 
a trial. 
Black Bean or Lentil Soup.—Soak a 
pint of black beans or lentils overnight. 
In the morning, parboil them. Boil 
gently in fresh water until soft enough 
to rub through a sieve. Add a bay leaf, 
some cloves, and .a stalk of celery 
Brown two slices of bacon cut in dice 
with half a minced onion and turn into 
the soup. Serve with squares of toast. 
Brown Flour Soup.—Put a lump of 
butter into a clean iron frying pan. 
When melted, sprinkle in half a cupful 
of flour and stir briskly until the flour 
is of a uniform brown color like roasted 
coffee. Add this gradually to two quarts 
of water. Peel and cut into cubes three 
potatoes and cook in the soup 20 min¬ 
utes. Season with an onion and a tea¬ 
spoonful of celery salt. 
Ragout.—For six persons use two 
pounds of meat—the trimmings of a 
roast or chops or any of the tougher 
parts—two onions, one tablespoonful of 
butter, one tablespoonful of flour, salt 
and pepper, and a bay leaf, a quart of 
potatoes and turnips cut into cubes, and 
a quart of water. Put the butter into a 
stewpan, add the meat and brown on 
both sides. Add the flour, and when 
browned, the water, stirring constantly. 
Cook gently for two hours, then add the 
vegetables and cook more briskly 
three-quarters of an hour longer. Ten 
minutes before serving add a cupful of 
sour thick cream. The remains of a 
roast or boil can be used instead of 
fresh meat. 
Compote of Apples—Peel and core the 
apples so that they remain whole. Put 
into baking dish, fill the cavities with 
jelly, add enough water nearly to cover 
ROYAL Baking Powder is in¬ 
dispensable to the preparation of 
the finest cake, hot-breads, rolls and 
muffins. 
The very essence of grapes, the 
delicate and healthful acid of their 
juice, is the chief ingredient in 
Royal Baking Powder. Is there 
any wonder that it makes the cake 
and biscuit superlative in flavor 
and taste? 
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK. 
