1004 
Spring Cleaning. 
Our subject for discussion at the last 
Grange meeting was, “How Can We 
Beautify Our Town?” The lecturer called 
on several brothers for ttielr private views 
on this question. One dear, old friend 
rose slowly, leaning on his cane, and said: 
“I have heard many people of Boston and 
other big cities remark on the beauty of 
our drives and the nestling fields and the 
glory of our hills, and they always say, 
‘Why will you people mar it all by dump¬ 
ing' stuff in the ditches and along the 
lanes? It is too bad!’ It is far more 
than ‘too bad,’ it’s disgraceful. I went 
to a lecture once a few years ago and had 
a pretty bad two hours, on this same ques¬ 
tion, but I began the next day and cleaned 
up along my land. About a mile I own, 
and I did more than cart away rubbish; I 
cleared out bushes and weeds, and 
straightened my fences. Last Summer I 
more than got my pay for any little extra 
work, beside the satisfaction it’s been to 
me. After milking the boy turned my 
cows out, and let ’em feed on the grass 
along there. It was good for the grass— 
good lawn mower—and it was good for 
my cows and my pocketbook. Now down 
opposite the burying-ground there’s a big 
unsightly heap of stuff, and it’s even 
strewn along. Such places are sad and 
dreary enough without help. Now I am 
willing to give a day’s work with my team 
to get rid of that abomination, if some¬ 
body else will take hold too.” 
He sat down, and pretty soon a brother 
said he wisned the front fence business 
might be abolished. “It looks,” he said, 
“as if I live here; and you keep out. Now 
for my part I want every one to know 
that the latch-string is always out where 
I dwell.” Another said that he believed 
the “dump” near the cemetery had been 
cleaned lately and seeded down. T he old 
man rose again. His eyes twinkled 
shrewdly. “Wall,” he said, “you know 
the brother who owns that land has just 
joined our Grange. I’m real glad to hear 
he’s done it, but my offer holds good any¬ 
where else. There’s a plenty more sich 
parcels of land!” Then he grew solemn. 
“I want to warn my young friends that 
‘What ye sow, that shall ye reap!’ and 
you’ll have to reap it, too, in the natural 
increase. If you throw an old wash-basin 
down in your pasture lot, a dozen neigh¬ 
bors will do more than that—you will 
reap a reputation for slackness and un- 
tnrift that perhaps you won’t fully de¬ 
serve. Now my wife, she collects about 
a good large cartload of stuff from Fall 
to Spring and through the Winter again, 
i hen she j ust piles it all up somewhere 
right in my way, and -1 have to get out 
my old cart and lug that mess off.” Some 
one lauglied, “Where do you dump ?” 
“Oh, I go up in the woods and put it in 
a swamp hole ’t I know. If you want 
to do so, too, I’ll take ye over some day.” 
There is much that can be done to beau¬ 
tify our country towns. It is no doubt 
very picturesque to see a tangle of black¬ 
berry vines among rocks, and alders and 
birches by the roadside. But, after all, 
clean walls and smooth grassy borders are 
quite as beautiful. Planting fruit trees as 
they do in Germany is good. The trees are 
apple or something common and hardy, 
and a man is chosen to consider it his duty 
to cultivate and care for trees and land. 
No fences along the roads are permitted. 
The grass is kept like a lawn, and the 
weary traveler is privileged to rest and 
refresh himself in the shade. That is 
what all the trouble is for—for him. The 
caretaker has the harvest for his recom¬ 
pense and at the end of 10 years an apple 
tree ought to do well, thus coaxed and 
coddled. It seems to give excellent re¬ 
sults in Germany; and some such plan 
might work well here. There are many 
lovely brooks in the woodlands that bear 
the brand of neglect and the soil of civi¬ 
lization which might be spots of loveli¬ 
ness and “a joy forever,” with only a lit¬ 
tle thought and a bit of care. 
ADAH E. COI.CORD. 
A Food Problem, 
“I don’t know how to manage,” said 
Mrs. Dent, a perplexed frown on her face. 
“You see when there were just John and 
myself to do the work for, we used to 
have our heartiest meal at noon, and for 
supper we would have bread and butter 
and sauce. But now you know John’s 
brother is with us, and he works away 
and has to have a warm supper. And 
John works out of doors, so that he needs 
his hearty meal at noon just the same. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
435 
What shall I do? I don’t like to get two 
dinners every day, and yet I want to feed 
them both as they should be fed. Can't 
you give me some help, Mrs. Davis?” 
The older woman smiled. “I think 1 
can, my dear. I had the same kind of a 
problem once, only more complex. You 
see I had children in the family, and they 
needed only a simple meal at night; then 
one of the family was a brain worker, and 
another was out of doors so much that 
he could take care of two dinners a day, 
as you call it; still another worked away 
and carried a cold dinner, while as for 
myself, if I ate a hearty meal at night I 
was sure to be troubled with colds and in¬ 
digestion. 
"For a time I tried getting the two 
warm meals a day. There were quite a 
number of simple things I used to get for 
supper that were nourishing and appetiz¬ 
ing while not too heavy, such a? corn 
chowder, beef stew, Lima beans and warm 
brownbread, baked potatoes and Johnny 
cake and baked beans. Then besides that 
1 had bread and butter and some kind of 
stewed fruit or canned fruit for the chil¬ 
dren, and a simple dessert. 
“Well, the family were well fed and got 
on nicely, but I was making a slave of 
myself. I would get the hot dinner 
cleared away, and then in an hour or two 
I’d have to begin to get supper, and there 
would be kettles and cooking dishes to 
wash, and that would make my after sup¬ 
per work late and there would be no even¬ 
ing. I thought it over, and I made up my 
mind that I was as important a member 
of the family as any of the others, and 
that I ought to take care of myself. So 
I went to studying to find a way out of 
the difficulty. And I found it.” 
Mrs. Dent looked expectant. “What 
was it?” 
‘ “A steam-cooker?” 
“A-what?” 
“A steamer. At first it was an old 
steamer that set into a kettle, but later 
I got one of these patented ones that do 
not steam out into the room and that hold 
a great deal. This is the way I managed: 
I would prepare rather more of every¬ 
thing than I needed for dinner, then when 
I cleared the table I would put what was 
left on to smaller dishes and set them 
into my steamer. Then i would not 
have to give a thought to supper till it 
was time to set the table; then I would 
put water in the steamer and set it on 
the stove. When the family were ready, 
supper would be ready, too, and things 
would be piping hot and almost as good 
as if freshly prepared. 
The steamer does not dry things up 
nor injure the dishes, and they can be 
kept hot till everyone is ready, no matter 
if the electric cars are half an hour late. 
Once in a while I get a hot supper as I 
used to, but it is usually something sim¬ 
ple, such as baked potatoes and Johnny 
cake or baked beans; these things are 
easy to get. But usually I have my 
steamer to depend on, and it is such a re¬ 
lief not to have to be cooking in the after¬ 
noon with the thoughts of a big mess of 
supper dishes haunting me. I hen you 
see I’d have bread and sauce for the .chil¬ 
dren and myself, and the hearty ones 
would have what they needed, and all 
without over-taxing my strength.” 
Mrs. Dent started up and began put¬ 
ting on her wraps. “I’m going right dotim 
town,” she said energetically, “and get me 
a steamer. And I’m ever so much obliged 
to you for helping me.” 
SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The pretty misses’ blouse shown is 
made of pale blue mercerized chambray 
and is worn with belt and tie of blue rib¬ 
bon. The plain back with the tucked 
piece each and are gathered into straight 
cuffs. The quantity of material required 
for the medium size is 3J4 yards 21 or 27 
inches wide, or 154 yards 44 inches wide. 
The pattern 4,685 is cut in sizes for misses 
of 12, 14 and 16 years of age; price, 10 
cents. 
The five-gored skirt is always in style, 
let other designs be what they may. As 
shown it is made of mixed homespun, in 
tans and browns with threads of green, 
but all skirting and suiting and all the 
heavier dress materials are appropriate. 
The model is simply stitched with silk and 
is finished with a belt, but braid or other 
trimming can be used and the upper edge 
*712 Misses’ Five Gored Skirt, 
12 to 16 years. 
can be cut on a dip outline and under¬ 
faced when desirable. The skirt is cut in 
five gores that are shaped to provide ample 
flare about the feet and is laid in flat in¬ 
verted pleats at the back that can be 
stitched, as illustrated, or pressed flat as 
preferred. The quantity of material re¬ 
quired for the medium size is 5 yards 27 
inches wide, 3 yards 44 inches wide or 2j4 
yards 52 inches wide when material has 
figure or nap; 4 yards 27, 2*4 yards 44 
or 2 yards 52 inches wide when material 
has neither figure nor nap. The pattern 
4712 is cut in sizes for misses of 12, 14 and 
16 years of age; price, 10 cents. 
4686 Misses’ Blouse or Shirt Waist, 
12 to 16 years. 
fronts are much liked and the sleeves are 
the favorite ones that are snug above and 
full below the elbows. The waist consists 
of fronts and back, the former being 
tucked at the shoulders and finished with 
a box pleat. The sleeves are cut in one 
What Shall We 
Have for Dessert? 
This question arises in the family 
every day. Let us answer it to-day. Try 
Jeil-O, 
a delicious and healthful dessert. Pre¬ 
pared in two minutes. No boiling! no 
baking! add boiling water and set to 
cool. Flavors:—Lemon, Orange, Rasp¬ 
berry and Strawberry. Get a package 
at your grocers to-day, io cts. 
Banner Lye 
How easy to use 
The patented safety package is the 
easiest to open and the handiest to use. 
No more annoyance ; no more danger of 
any sort. 
Ban ner Lye is not old-style lye. Odor¬ 
less and colorless ; invaluable for clean¬ 
ing and disinfecting your kitchen, milk- 
room, milk-pails, dairy, etc. More effec¬ 
tive than soap because it gets into every 
corner; but you can also use it 
to make soap 
A 10-cent can of Banner Lye and the 
grease from your kitchen make 10 pounds 
of best hard soap or 20 gallons of soft 
soap without boiling or large kettles in 
ten minutes’ time. 
Your grocer or druggist sells Banner Lye. 
Send to us for free book “ Uses of Banner Lye." 
The Penn Chemical Works Philadelphia USA 
Popping of 
lamp-chim¬ 
neys is music 
to grocers. 
Macbeth. 
If you use a wrong chimney, you lose a 
food deal of both light and comfort, and 
waste a dollar or two a year a lamp on 
chimneys. 
Do you want the Index ? Write me. 
Macbeth, Pittsburgh. 
JOS 
The Genuine TOWER <5 
POMMEL 
SUCKER 
HAS BEEN ADVERTI5ED 
AND SOLD FOR A 
QUARTER OF A CENTURY. 
LIKE ALL 
£2£,WATEM0F 
CLOIMNG. 
It is made of the best 
materials, in black or .yellow, 
fully guaranteed, and sold by 
reliable dealers everywhere. 
STICK TO THE 
SIGN OF THE FISH. 
TOWER CANADIAN CO. limit.d. A. J. TOWER CO. 
TORONTO. CAN. BOSTON. HASJ..U J.A.. 
BIS mass r and offer. 
We sell the celebrated IMPERIAL, 
PONT and MARCEAU Band ( ^_ 
^Instruments at,-=-tW 
about one-’— 
half the prices others 
l ask for the same high grade ' 
1 goods. For our Free Band 
'instrument Catalogue, also 
our Free Booklet, entitled, , 
•‘How to Buy Band Instru¬ 
ments,” for large illustrations and complete 
descriptions of our three large lines of brass instru¬ 
ments. also everything in Drums, Clarionets, Flutes, 
Saxophones, etc., etc., for the free catalogues, our 
g uarantee and refund proposition, for the most llberul 
and instrument otter ever heard of, for the new 
method of selling instruments fully explained, for 
something new and immensely interesting to every 
bandman, cut this ad out and mall to us today. 
SEARS, ROEBUCK &C0.,CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. 
MACHINERY 
b Best and cheapest. 
Send for catalogue. 
•00MER & BOSCHERT 
PRESS CO., 
118 We«t Water 8L, 
ilBACVSS, H. X* 
TELEPHONES 
For Farmers 
Tho man who wants to know 
ALL about telephones for farm 
era should send for free book 
F- 7C, “ Telephone Facts for 
Farmers.” Address nearest office 
Stroinberg-CnrUon Tel. C'o. 
Rochester, N. Y., I'hlc-iigo, Ill. 
TELEPHONES 
For Farmers’ Lines. 
Organize an exchange In your 
community. Full particulars fur¬ 
nished. Catalogue free. 
THE NORTH ELECTRIC CO., 
162 St. Clair Street, 
C N. 301. CLEVELAND, O. 
TELEPHONE APPARATUS 
OWN YOUK OWN TELEPHONE LINE. 
Our telephones are powerful, loud- 
talking and absolutely guaranteed. 
OUR PRICES ARE RIGHT. 
Telephones that work on any line, 
barge Catalog No. 9 FliEK. 
CONNECTICUT TELE. & ELEC. C0„ 
Meriden, Conn., U. S. A. 
SAMSON 
Bridging Telephones 
THE NEW 
SPEED SPECIAL 
Lightning Arresters 
Jl Kfl THU ONLY 
Don’t Cost Much. 
Write for the Green —,,,, ^ ■% « . ■ 
catalogue. JHj^Sure Protection= 
KEYSTONE ELECTRIC TELEPHONE CO., PITTSBURG, PA. 
