466 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 11, 
From Day to Day. 
THE MAKING OF A SCEPTIC. 
When father got his picture took he had a 
winning smile, 
,Tes’ like an angel whispered to him every 
little while. 
lie wore a stand-up collar and a button-hole 
bouquet, 
An’ looked the fam’ly over in a kind and pa¬ 
tient way, 
Like nothin’ ever riled him. None who saw 
him would have said 
He’d have the heart to take a strap to me out 
in the shed. 
The photograph can never do full justice to 
the look 
That father's face had on the day he got his 
picture took. 
But when we got back home It wasn’t any 
time at all 
Till father smoked his pipe an’ left his coat 
out in the hall, 
An’ looked as fierce as anything, an’ started 
in to scold 
Because the steak was tough an’ everything 
was gettin’ cold. 
I tell you it was somethin’ most discouragin’ 
an’ strange 
To see his disposition undergo so great a 
change. 
I wish we could arrange it every day, by 
hook or crook, 
To have him take a trip to to\yn an’ get his 
picture took. 
So when I see the portrait of a statesman, 
looking grave, 
Or of some military man a-standin’ up so 
brave, 
Or of some actress lady, with a sweet an’ 
tender smile, 
Or of some financier, with an expression free 
from guile, 
Or of some scientific man, a-looklng calmly 
wise. 
Or of a violinist, with his hair down in his 
eyes, 
Or of some literary chap a-bendin‘ o’er a 
book, 
I think about the day that father got his 
picture took. 
—Washington Star. 
* 
Among rag carpets offered by some city 
stores are patterns designated Betsy Ross, 
Martha Washington and Colonial Dante. 
The Betsy Ross is striped, while the oth¬ 
ers give a plaid effect. They cost 65 cents 
a yard. 
* 
A western judge who excited comment 
some time ago by asserting that a hus¬ 
band had a legal right to spank his re¬ 
fractory spouse, now publicly declares that 
a household can have only one head, and 
that the husband. The reason for this 
dogmatic assertion, however, may be found 
in the fact that the judge is a bachelor. 
* 
The New Jersey court which recently 
decided that a girl’s life possesses only 
one-half the money value of a boy’s does 
not really discriminate against the femi¬ 
nine sex, for the decision was based solely 
upon prospective ability to earn money. 
The real value of a woman, either to her 
family or to society, does not lie in her 
ability to earn money alone. Indeed, we 
usually find that the woman whose death 
or disability is a real calamity to those 
about her is one who has never earned 
actual wages at all. It is also often noted 
that a wage-earning daughter with a mod¬ 
erate income is of more actual value to 
her parents than a son of larger earning 
capacity, because she is more willing to 
use her earnings for the benefit of others. 
On the whole, the New Jersey decision 
seems correct in law, but not in justice. 
* 
One of the subjects discussed before the 
women’s institutes in Ontario, Canada, 
this Spring, is “The Apple in Its Relation 
to Domestic Comfort.” That is a very 
suggestive title. If the average country 
home cut apples out of its bill of fare 
the deprivation would soon show us how 
much we depend on this familiar fruit. 
Here is recipe for apple puffs, a good and 
uncommon apple dish given in the Home 
Science Magazine. Sift together one pint 
of flour, three level teaspoons of baking 
powder, and one-half teaspoon of salt. 
Mix into a soft dough with one scant cup 
of milk, one beaten egg, and two table¬ 
spoons of melted butter. Divide among 
the eight cups of the muffin pan and 
lay sections of apple on top, sticking the 
sharp edge in. Sprinkle with spiced sugar, 
then bake like any muffins. These may 
be eaten like warm bread or served with 
a rich sauce for a pudding. 
* 
A household novelty recently noted is 
the X-Radium heater, used on the table 
to keep food warm during a meal. What 
X-Radium may be is the maker’s secret, 
but it is said to be a substance which 
takes up heat as a sponge takes up water, 
holding and retaining it for an indefinite 
time. The heater is made in two parts: 
First, a heating pad of stamped steel filled 
with X-Radium; second, a stamped steel 
bowl-shaped stand, with asbestos mat in 
the bottom, into which the pad is placed 
after being heated. Both parts are finely 
finished, polished and heavily nickel-plated. 
The pad is put on the stove for 20 min¬ 
utes, and then placed in the receiver, 
where it is said to retain the heat for 
two hours. It would seem a decided con¬ 
venience in Summer, when cooking by 
gas or oil, as one is often obliged to 
keep the burner going merely to retain 
the heat in coffee pot or tea-kettle. This 
heater costs $2.50 complete. 
* 
In spite of gas and electric light, lamps 
remain a necessity, and their beauty be¬ 
comes more marked each season. They 
also become more costly, especially where, 
as is usually the case, the shade is priced 
separately. The wrought-iron hanging 
lamps for library or dining room, with 
colored bent glass paneled shade finished 
with bead fringe cost from $15 to $100; 
wrought-iron hanging porch lanterns, very 
suitable for the country home, are from 
$3.50 to $25, while the porch side lanterns 
cost $5.50 to $37.50. Japanese pottery 
vases mounted as lanterns cost $7.50 to 
$15; Japanese bronze $40 and up. Lamps 
made in mission style of heavy dark oak 
have shades to match, set with colored 
glass panels; they look very sombre, and 
cost from $7.50 to $45. We are quite sure 
that the long-departed Californians who 
made the original mission furniture would 
not have been guilty of these laborious 
lamps. Among the Summer lamp shades 
are those of burlap, plain and figured; 
they are dome-shaped, finished with a 
fringe of colored glass beads and cost $5 
to $6.50. 
* 
A farm account book is a good invest¬ 
ment, especially if one has to cope with 
such an emergency as confronted Farmer 
Dockridge, as reported in the Youth's 
Companion. He was hastily awakened in 
the dead of night by Alf, the hired man, 
who told him the barn was on fire. In¬ 
structing Alf to blindfold the horses and 
lead them out through the back door, 
if there was time enough, he hurriedly 
donned his trousers, rushed into the Sum¬ 
mer kitchen, grabbed up a screw-driver 
and ran out to the barn. The roof was 
burning fiercely, but he dashed into the 
building and began with frantic haste to 
unscrew the hinges of the smooth pine 
door that opened into the corn-bin. Alf 
had succeeded in getting the horses out 
safely, and the sparks were falling round 
the old man; but he stuck to his task 
until he finished it, and emerged from the 
burning barn, carrying the door, just as 
the roof fell in. 
“That’s a good deal of a risk to take for 
the sake of saving a bit of kindling-wood,” 
commented a neighbor who had been 
awakened by the flames, and had run over 
to see if he could be of any use.” 
“Kindling wood!” exclaimed Farmer 
Dockridge, pointing to the pencil marks 
that covered the door. “See them figgers? 
There’s all my business accounts fer the 
last six years. That door’s wuth more 
than the hull barn!” 
The Rural Patterns. 
Skirts are growing fuller, and the pat¬ 
tern shown is a recent and attractive one. 
The skirt is cut in seven gores, there be¬ 
ing a box pleat at the back edge of each 
with tucks between that are stitched with 
silk. The pleats in the center back meet 
and beneath them the invisible closing is 
22 to 30 waist. 
made. The quantity of material required 
for the medium size is 9^4 yards 21 inches 
wide, 9J4 yards 27 inches wide or 5J4 
yards 44 inches wide with 5^4 yards of 
lace applique. The pattern 4687 is cut in 
sizes for a 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 inch waist 
measure; price 10 cents. 
The excellent model given will be found 
useful for all waist materials, and will 
form a useful style for a shirtwaist dress. 
It is made up to 46 inches bust measure, 
which fits it for stout figures. The waist 
is made with fronts and back, that are 
fitted by means of shoulder and under-arm 
4716 Blouse or Shirt Waist, 
36 to 46 bust. 
seams, and is gathered at the waist line, 
the back being drawn down smoothly, the 
fronts made to blouse over the belt. The 
sleeves are the accepted ones of the season 
and are finished with straight cuffs and 
the shaped stock finishes the neck. The 
quantity of material required for the me¬ 
dium size is 4^4 yards 21 inches wide, 4 
yards 27 inches wide or 2 yards 44 inches 
wide with % yard of any width for stock. 
The pattern 4715 is cut in sizes for a 36, 
38, 40, 42, 44 and 46 inch bust measure; 
price 10 cents. 
A Word About Greens. 
Sheep sorrel is a plant whose fine acid 
flavor is made of but little use except by 
the children, who delight in its sourness. 
Sorrel is of more use than the farmer be¬ 
lieves to whom it is a troublesome weed. 
It is one of the most valuable plants in 
our list of Spring foods, containing, as it 
does, a tonic acid. It is better cooked 
than eaten raw. It can be boiled and 
served like other greens, or it can be used 
in cream of sorrel soup. This is made 
by cooking three large handfuls of sorrel 
in a tablespoonful of butter till done, then 
rub through a sieve, and add to a quart 
of hot white stock. Make a white sauce 
of one tablespoonful each of flour and 
butter and one pint of milk, seasoned with 
salt and pepper. If preferred after adding 
this sauce to the stock, just before serv¬ 
ing add the beaten yolks of two eggs and 
one-half cupful cream. Sheep sorrel does 
not belong to the true sorrel family, but is 
a species of dock, the sorrel being acid, 
and the docks bitter. Possibly all the 
docks make good greens, but the only 
kind we have ever used is the curled or 
narrow leaved. It-grows thriftily in gar¬ 
dens, usually as soon as any vegetable 
growth begins. It is almost impossible to 
eradicate. 1 he roots have a medicinal 
value, and are used in making root beer 
in connection with dandelion and bur¬ 
dock roots. The burdock is said to be 
used as an article of food by the Japa¬ 
nese, the roots resembling artichokes. 
Sorrel seed is offered by the seed growers 
for five cents a packet. This improved 
kind has large leaves and a habit of rapid 
growth. 
Spinach is one of the most satisfactory 
of the cultivated greens, and deserves to be 
grown in every garden. It has a most 
beneficial effect on the system. The 
French cook spinach in its own juices, 
thus prepared, they call it “the broom of 
the stomach,” as it is a most valuable 
medicine in the guise of food. Spinach 
thus cooked is claimed to be Nature’s 
sovereign remedy for producing a fine 
complexion. A good sized packet of spin¬ 
ach seed costs but five cents. The leaves 
make one of the finest greens and will 
please those who object to the bitterness 
of the dandelion or the pungency of the 
mustard. The latter plant make a very 
palatable dish to those who like the mus¬ 
tard flavor. We grew the mustard last 
year, but prefer the old stand-by, spinach. 
The mustard leaves grew to a large size, 
and the plants were slow about running 
to seed. Helen c. Andrews. 
It is only a poor sort of happiness that 
could ever come by caring very much 
about our own pleasures. We can only 
have the highest happiness, such as goes 
along with being a great man, by having 
wide thoughts and much feeling for the 
rest of the world as well as ourselves.— 
George Eliot. 
Are You Chained 
ToThe Wash Tub 
Whether a housekeeper does 
her own washing or not the 
worry and work connected with 
“ Blue Monday” literally chain 
her to the Wash-Tub. We can 
sever the chain . Let us send 1 
you the 
“ 1900 ” 
Ball 
Bearing 
Family Washer 
■pni A I Freight prepaid. No money or promise of any kind is re- 
| | Lb quired. Use it for thirty days; then if you do not wish to 
purchase return it at our expense. We pay the Freight both ways. 
Unlike all other washers, the “1900” sends the water through the 
clothes and washes them absolutely clean in six minutes with no wear 
or tear on the garments or the operator. Perfectly adjusted Ball-Bearings 
do the same for it as for the bicycle—make it work with little effort. 
IT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE TO YOU FOR THIRTY DAYS 
Write today for full information and Free Catalogue. 
“1900” Washer Co., 106 F Henry St., Binghamton, N. Y. 
