93o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 31, 
From Day to Day. 
THE DEATH OF TIIE OLD YEAR 
Full knee deep lies the Winter snow. 
And the Winter winds are wearily sighing; 
Toll ye ihe church bell sad and slow, 
And tread softly and speak low, 
For the old year lies a-dying. 
Old year, you must not die; 
You came to us so readily. 
You lived with us so steadily— 
Old year, you shall not die ! 
He lieth still; he doth not move; 
He will not see the dawn of day; 
He hath no other life above; 
He gave me a friend, and a true, true love, 
And the new year will take 'em away. 
Old year, you must not go ; 
So long as you have been with us, 
Such joy as you have seen with us— 
Old year, you shall not go! 
He frothed his bumpers to the brim ; 
A jollier year we shall not see; 
But, though his eyes are waxing dim, 
And through his foes speak ill of him, 
He was a friend to me. 
Old year, you shall not die ! 
We did so laugh and cry with you, 
I’ve half a mind to die with you, 
Old year, if you must die ! 
He was full of joke and jest; 
But all his merry gulps are o’er. 
To see him die across the waste 
His son and heir doth ride post-haste, 
But lie'll be dead before ! 
Everyone for his own, 
The night is starry and cold, my friend. 
showed symptoms of croup she should 
immerse them in hot brine until the skins 
were easily removed. It is quite possi¬ 
ble, however, to convey an equally pain¬ 
ful impression by careless wording, as 
in the following directions sent out by 
the inventor of a new feeding bottle for 
infants: “When the baby is done drink¬ 
ing, it must be unscrewed and laid in a 
cool place under the hydrant. If the 
baby does not thrive on fresh milk it 
should be boiled.” 
* 
Under State appropriation there has 
been sustained at th’e College of Agricul¬ 
ture, Cornell University, a free Reading- 
Course for Farmers’ Wives on subjects 
pertaining to home life. A particular fea¬ 
ture of the course this year will be the 
establishment of clubs among rural women 
for the study of the printed bulletins. 
These may be in connection with the 
Grange, or in clubs organized especially 
for this study. The course covers three 
years and is divided into the following 
series: I. The farm-house and garden.' II. 
The farm family. III. Sanitation and 
food. Membership in the course is free 
in the State of New York, and is secured 
by sending the name and address to the 
Farmers’ Wives’ Reading-Course, Cornell 
And the new year, blithe and bold, my University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
friend, 
Comes to take up bis own. 
How hard he breathes! Over the snow 
J heard just now the crowing cock. 
The shadows flicker to and fro, 
The cricket chirps, the light: burns low ; 
'Tis nearly twelve o'clock. 
Shake hands before you die. 
Old year, we'll dearly rue for you ! 
• What is it we can do for you? 
Speak out before you die? 
His facp is growing sharp and thin. 
Alack .' our friend is gone. 
Close up his eyes; tie up his chin; 
Step from the corpse, and let him in 
That standeth there alone, 
And waiteth at the door. 
There's a new foot on the floor, my friend. 
And a new face at the door, my friend, 
A new face at the door ! 
-Alfred Tennyson. 
A friend makes her corn bread accord¬ 
ing to this recipe, and it is very nice: 
Two cupfuls flour; one cupful yellow 
meal; one-half cupful sugar; one table¬ 
spoonful butter; three scant teaspoonfuls 
baking powder; one egg. Sift the dry 
ingredients together, then rub in the but¬ 
ter. Add the egg, and mix with water, 
making a batter that will just drop from 
the spoon. Put in a well-greased pan, 
and bake half an hour. It is well to slip 
the loaf gently out of the tin, letting it 
remain upside down on the plate from 
which it is served; it looks inviting, be¬ 
ing baked an even light brown, and being 
inverted thus the steam passes off without 
making the surface damp. Slices should 
One of the new savings banks for chil- be cut as needed, after coming to the 
dren has the appearance of a safe with table, so that the bread keeps warm, 
combination lock, and can only be opened * 
with a magnet. This safe costs $1.25. Whenever we are called upon to read 
* a particularly illegible letter we think of 
A little medicine glass, having meas- the amusing rebuke given by Thomas 
urements marked upon it in raised letters, Bailey Aldrich to Prof. E. S. Morse, who 
is very useful in the kitchen for measur- was a flagrant sinner in this respect. Ac- 
ing flavoring extracts and similar cooking cording to Dr. Hale, Mr. Aldrich wrote 
materials. It is more convenient than a thus to the erring professor: 
“My Dear Morse: It was very pleasing to 
me to get your recent letter. Perhaps 1 
should have been more pleased had I been able 
to decipher the same. 1 have not been able 
to master any of it beyond the date, which 
such as are often used in trimming, may I knew, and the signature, which I guessed at. 
be folded on the sewing machine by using 1 ll(i re is a singular and perpetual charm in a 
t • i ., , . . letter of yours; it never grows old; it never 
the binder attachment. Ihe needle is re- 1ABoc , .. ’ ,, 
loses its novelty. One can say to one s self 
moved and the binder attached, the band every morning: ‘Here’s that letter of Morse's 
of material being inserted as for sewing. 1 haven't read it yet. I think I'll take an- 
The machine is worked as for stitching, ot ^ er shy at it to-day, and maybe I shall, in 
and the band comes through neatly folded. TT, ° f * feW , “T* 8 ’ be * bl ? 1 l0 l m 1 a ! i€ 
, . out what he means by those t s that look like 
It must of course be cut entirely even. w - s and those rs that have 
no eyebrows.’ 
* Other letters are read and thrown away, but 
Here is a delicious potato cake, well yours are kept forever—unread. One of them 
worth trying: Two cups sugar, one-half 
spoon, and can be relied upon for the 
right quantity. 
* 
Bias bands of dressed cotton material. 
Ad- 
cup butter, one cup hot mashed potato, 
four eggs beaten, one-half cup milk, one- 
fourth teaspoon nutmeg, one-fourth tea¬ 
spoon cloves, one-half teaspoon cinnamon, 
one cup walnut meats chopped fine, two 
will last a reasonable man a lifetime, 
miringly yours, T. B. Aldrich.” 
Since the first purpose of writing is the 
conveyance of ideas, we think illegibility 
is really an affront to the person ad¬ 
dressed, as well as a stealer of time that 
Saving the Children. 
Close by our office is the Newsboys’ 
Lodging House, one of the institutions 
maintained by the Children’s Aid Society 
of New York. This is a shelter for home¬ 
less children; how great its need only 
those familiar with the city’s poverty 
know. The Aid Society maintains in this 
city five shelters for homeless girls and 
boys; a temporary home for younger chil¬ 
dren, an emergency shelter for evicted and 
homeless women with children, an emi¬ 
gration and placing-out office, Brace 
Farm School for boys in Westchester 
County, a probation department for boys, 
19 industrial schools and kindergartens, 
and classes for crippled children. In ad¬ 
dition to this are Summer homes for chil¬ 
dren, both sick and well, and for mothers 
with ailing infants. Next to the relieving 
of actual suffering, the most valuable 
work done by this Society is the finding 
of suitable homes for dependent children. 
Effort is made to take such children 
away from the city, and to place them in 
good country homes. Many a boy, saved 
from the sordid misery of the city streets, 
has become a valued citizen in the com¬ 
munity to which he was transplanted. The 
cost of placing a homeless child in a good 
country home is $20. Thirty dollars will 
send a homeless boy to the Farm School, 
and train him to earn an honest living. 
For $100 a month’s hot dinners can be 
provided for the children of an indus¬ 
trial school. A gift of $500, given in trust 
to the Society, will provide an income that 
will place one child annually in a country 
home. 
During the past year 07,046 persons 
were aided by this Society; its work may 
be summarized as follows: In the indus¬ 
trial schools, 14,557 children were taught 
and partly fed and partly clothed; 14,340 
visits were made by the teachers and vis¬ 
itors to the homes of the children, and 
practical relief was given to poor families 
embracing 13,695 individuals. In the kin¬ 
dergartens there was a daily average at¬ 
tendance of 1,871 and in the classes for 
crippled children 234 helpless little ones, 
who were conveyed each day between 
home and school in wagonettes, and dur¬ 
ing the Summer were given a week’s out¬ 
ing in the country. The lodging houses 
sheltered 5,173 boys and girls. Through 
the Emigration and Placing-out Depart¬ 
ment 464 children were provided with 
good country homes, and 327 placed out 
at wages. Number of children already in 
family homes under oversight, 1,195; 
306 children were restored to friends; 479 
homeless mothers and children were given 
temporary shelter. Destitute families 
numbering 792 persons were assisted to 
friends or employment in the country; 
806 boys received training at the Farm 
School; 1,727 children were aided through 
the Sick Children’s Mission. The Secre¬ 
tary of this Society, from whom any in¬ 
formation may be obtained, is C. Loring 
Brace, 105 East Twenty-second St., New 
York. _ “ 
What we need is the education of the 
moral nature, l he conscience of men is 
not trained in our public schools and great 
institutions. I say give proportionate at¬ 
tention to the moral life of the student 
body of our great country. This body is 
taught everything else from the classics 
to the trickeries and rascalities in busi¬ 
ness affairs. Men must be taught to dis¬ 
criminate between right and wrong, and 
until that is done we must expect scandals 
in public life.—Bishon Huntington. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
rounding cups flour, two teaspoons baking a ^ Us - l )crM)n cau ^ spate. It is a pity 
powder, two ounces chocolate melted over k at ni , any well-educated persons permit 
: . themselves to acquire such a slovenly 
hot water and mixed with potato; add habit. Friendship may well cool after 
to sugar and butter and mix as usual, wading through long pages covered with 
Bake in three layers and put together cryptic characters, which merit the de¬ 
scription given of a certain great poet’s 
handwriting—that of looking like little 
'black worms in strong convulsions. 
with frosting. 
* 
We have heard of the printer, who, 
in making up a page of “Answers to Cor¬ 
respondents,” combined instructions to an 
anxious mother whose twin babies suf- 
If I would serve, while others sit at ease, 
My heart and hand, my brain and tongue 
must please 
To do their best; 
r , r • ■ c ■ i Not only dainty viands must be brought, 
fered from croup with a recipe for pick- But kin dly sp eech, that waits on kindly 
ling onions. As a result, the horrified 
parent read that whenever her babies 
thought, 
Must greet my guest! 
—Boston Cooking School Magazine. 
The Old Reliable 
ROYAL 
BAKING POWDER 
ABSOLUTELY 
PURE 
There is no substitute 
FLESH BUILDER 
The liver of the cod fish 
produces oil that is a won¬ 
derful flesh builder. No fat 
or oil can compare with it 
in that respect. To get the 
best out of it, it must be 
emulsified and made like 
cream. In Scott’s Emul¬ 
sion it is prepared in the 
best possible form to pro¬ 
duce the best possible re¬ 
sults. Thirty years have 
proven this. 
We’ll send you a sample free. 
SCOTT & BOWNE, 409 Pearl Street. New York. 
No Smoke House. Smoke meat with 
KRAUSER’S LIQUID EXTRACT OF SMOKE. 
Madefrom hickory wood. Glveadeliciousflavor. 
Cheaper, cleaner than old way. Send for cir¬ 
cular. E. Krnuaer & Bro., .Hilton, Pa. 
The Foot Protector 
that protects and that wears is what the man out 
in the weather wants. 
BUCKSKIN BRAND 
Rubber Boots and Shoes 
(Not made by a trust.) 
are all pure rubber. That’s why they 
last. Don’t be persuaded into buying: 7*0 
part rubber substitutes that are | 
made to sell cheap. Sold direct to re- n ~ 
tailers by catalog, saving big ex- J'w 
pense which is put into quality, r </v 
ltuikskiii trade-murk on every pair. 5 J ; 
Write for book, telling how they’re w z 
made. We have a good offer tor the ‘ 
ilrst to write from any locality. 
Write to-day. 
BANNER RUBBER CO., 
280 Bittner Street, St. Louis, Mo' 
lit K» 
Ten 
WHEN YOU DRIVE 
Bo your hands get cold ? 
Let us keep them warm. A 
pair of our elegant RUSSIAN 
BEAR EUR DRIVING 
GLOVES will do it. Fire¬ 
proof. ironclad palm, soft und 
pliable. Hand lined with hi s', 
quality wool fleece, and cutl 
with best core ur<.y. Will wear 
for years. For warmth, 
wear and durability 
this GLOVE has no 
equal. Also made in 
mittens’* one-flngered. 
Send us the wholesale 
price, #>£. and we will 
send you a pair post¬ 
paid. If you are not 
pleased, return them, 
and we will refund the 
money and postage. 
RUSSIAN FUR GO. 
Gloversville, N. V. 
LOWEST RATES TO ST. LOUIS AND 
RETURN VIA THE NICKEL 
PLATE ROAD. 
Stopover allowed at Chicago on all World’s 
Fair tickets, and at Cleveland on all except 
Coach Excursion tickets. For particulars see 
local Ticket Agent, or A. W. Ecclestone, D. P. 
A., 385 Broadway, New York City. 
California Information. 
California is a big state; large of area, 
rich in natural wealth, tremendous In its 
scenic features and with a future full of 
great promise. Every American is more or 
less interested in knowing about this wonder¬ 
ful commonwealth. A forty page folder with 
more than half a hundred beautiful illustra¬ 
tions and a complete map of the state in 
colors has been issued by the Chicago & 
North-Western Railway. It contains in con¬ 
densed and interesting form, a mass of in¬ 
formation on various subjects of interest, in¬ 
cluding a list of hotels at California tourist 
points with their rates, capacity, etc. Sent 
to any address on receipt of four cents in 
stamps. W. B. Kniskern, P. T. M., 22 Fifth 
Ave., Chicago. 
