FROM DAY TO DAY. 
N unlimited supply of little pincush¬ 
ions is beginning to take the place of 
little trays on the bureau. These are 
useful for the fancy stick-pins, or for 
keeping the various sizes and colors of 
pins separate. An odd style is made by 
joining several pieces of differently col¬ 
ored silk into an irregular patchwork, 
stuffing with bran, and then catching 
down the joins into deep creases, like 
the wrinkles in a much-divided tomato. 
Each join is then covered with gold 
cord. The odder the color, and the 
more uneven the crinkles, which must 
be caught together very firmly, the bet¬ 
ter the effect. 
* 
Regarding the care of very young 
children, a writer in Harper’s Bazar says 
that the baby should be intelligently let 
alone. It should not be handled, or held, 
or rocked, or amused, or should its atten¬ 
tion be attracted in any way. For the first 
five or six months, it should lie quietly 
in its bed or basket, be regularly fed, 
and as regularly encouraged to sleep. It 
will, of course, get tired. Therefore, it 
needs occasional turning, with change of 
position, and a gentle rubbing of the 
limbs or back. A good rule is to stroke 
the little body for a few minutes, and 
to change its position every time the 
baby needs to be made dry. The natural 
rapid growth of infancy makes the flesh 
tingle and the limbs ache, and frequent 
rubbing with the palm of the hand pro¬ 
motes future health as well as present 
comfort. In order to preserve for a 
young babe the proper conditions of 
light, warmth and air, and yet to lift 
and carry it as little as possible, it is 
necessary to have for its first nest a mov¬ 
able bed. Any basket with the sides 
and bottom carefully protected and 
padded will serve, but the most con¬ 
venient is the regular dog basket, with 
a hood on one side. This, when properly 
draped, serves to exclude draughts, 
while the drapery may easily be read¬ 
justed to vary the degree of light. But 
when such a basket is used, the child 
and bed together may be changed from 
one room to another, or from one part 
of the room to a darker or lighter corner, 
or to a cooler or warmer one, as con¬ 
venience or comfort may suggest. 
* 
Commenting on the above, one mother 
recalls the plan she adopted in caring 
for her young baby. A pillow was 
placed in the bottom of a large clothes 
basket, with a smoothly folded, quilt 
over this ; the baby was laid in the 
basket, and the mother went on with 
her work rejoicing. During the dog- 
days, the baby lay in its basket out in 
the little yard, as a relief from the 
baking heat of a city flat, or was trans¬ 
ferred from room to room, as the mother 
worked. After four months, however, 
the basket was no longer safe, as the 
baby learned to roll itself over the edge, 
so a thick quilt spread on the floor 
formed its lounging place. All babies 
need lots of “ mothering”, but it is cer¬ 
tainly a serious mistake to hold the 
child constantly on one’s lap, resulting 
in injury to both mother and baby. 
A SALMAGUNDI PARTY. 
ALMAGUNDI, according to the dic¬ 
tionary, is a strange and highly- 
seasoned hash, and the salmagundi 
party, like the hash, admits of a wide 
range of ingredients. It is simply a 
party with as many different games as 
there are sets of players. There is a 
table for each game, and four players to 
a table. For example, there may be 
tables devoted to dominoes, angling, 
cuckoo, tiddledywinks, authors, etc ; the 
simpler and more absurd the game the 
better. The tables are numbered as in 
progressive whist or euchre, and, when 
the leader at the first table rings a bell, 
the games begin. As soon as the first 
table has finished, the bell is rung again, 
and all play ceases whether the players 
have finished or not. The winning part¬ 
ners move up from their table, and the 
losers go down, transferring partners 
when they change tables. Of course, 
the winners at the first table, and losers 
at the last, remain where they are, 
merely changing partners with the new¬ 
comers. Scores are kept, and the win¬ 
ners of the greatest number of games 
may receive little souvenirs ; there are 
also booby prizes for the losers. 
This salmagundi idea may very readily 
be adapted at a very informal gathering, 
where there are too many to play any 
one game, and the constant progress 
from one table to another prevents the 
games from becoming tedious. A table 
that always results in much merriment 
is provided with a bowl of common bone 
buttons in the center, and a strip of 
broad tape, thimble, needle and thread 
for each player. When the bell rings, 
the four players begin to thread their 
needles, and indulge in a button-sewing 
contest. The men are not allowed to 
receive any assistance from their part¬ 
ners, and their efforts at threading the 
needles, as well as sewing, are usually 
received with much ironical applause. 
The refreshments may be served at the 
tables on which the games have been 
played. Many make the mistake of serv¬ 
ing too much cake, rather than savories, 
though most people prefer the latter. 
Lettuce sandwiches are always liked; 
the bread should be a day old, cut very 
thin, the crust removed, and the slice 
cut into hearts or diamonds with a cake 
cutter. The bread is buttered lightly, 
and a crisp lettuce leaf, flavored with 
mayonnaise, put between. Sardines, 
boned and rubbed to a smooth paste, 
make another good filling for sand¬ 
wiches. Cheese wafers, prepared by put- 
ing a bit of rich cheese on each cracker, 
and placing in the oven until the cheese 
melts, are very savory. Cheese straws 
and cheese fingers are easily made, and 
excellent. Crisp little cakes of different 
styles are usually preferred to richer 
and heavier kinds. Let the coffee be 
strong and clear ; if chocolate is served, 
a spoonful of whipped cream must be 
put on the top of each cup. Salted 
almonds or peanuts, crisp and fresh, 
will give diversity, but the refreshments 
at a gathering of this kind should never 
seem too elaborate. 
SAVING STRENGTH IN HOUSEWORK. 
N view of the amount of work most 
women have, it is always expedient 
for them to try to save steps in every 
way possible. To be forever hunting 
for a holder, which is seldom at hand 
when wanted, is poor policy, indeed, 
when the difficulty can be solved by 
making some holders from brown linen, 
and sewing them on to dress braid, with 
a loop on the end through which the 
apron strings can be slipped. The braid 
should be nearly as long as the apron. 
In this way one can always have a holder 
at hand, with but little inconvenience. 
When the work is done up, and the 
apron taken off, the holder should be 
hung up by the loop of the braid. It is 
advisable to make the holders of four 
thicknesses, for they will then be thick 
enough to take anything from the stove 
or oven. They should also be made of 
wash material, so that they may be 
washed when soiled. Make up, not one, 
but several ; there will then be no dan¬ 
ger of getting out of stock, provided two 
or three are in the wash. The braid ought 
to be ripped from the holder when it is 
to be washed. 
Many pantries are not suited for doing 
housework in ; and when this is the case 
it is a good plan to have a table, made 
expressly for the purpose, near the stove, 
on which to mix bread, cake, etc. This 
table should be provided with a set of 
drawers in which to keep mixing spoons, 
kitchen knives, forks, spoons, can opener, 
hammer, screw driver, scissors, balls of 
twine of various size, potato masher, 
knitting needle for trying cake, and 
many other utensils indispensable in 
kitchen work. By such a device, many 
a trip to the pantry and back may be 
averted. 
One of the most irksome tasks con¬ 
nected with housework, is washing 
dishes. The number of aching backs and 
feet might be greatly diminished if 
women would only sit to do this. An 
ordinary chair is not the thing ; use one 
without arms or back, and not very high. 
The object in view is to have the chair 
of such a height that there will be no 
necessity for bending over to do the 
work. It may seem strange to many 
people to sit to wash dishes, but after a 
few trials, the practice seldom fails in 
commending itself to sensible women. 
All kinds of housework cannot be done 
sitting, but when they may, I would ad¬ 
vise every housekeeper to adopt this 
plan. With improved machinery for 
washing clothes, whole washings may 
practically be done sitting at the tub, 
and some kinds of ironing may be done 
in this position. If women would only 
take time to stop and think of lighten¬ 
ing labor, they would generally be amply 
repaid. fred. o. sibdey. 
LATE WINTER VEGETABLES. 
INTER wanes, so likewise do the 
vegetables in the farmer's cellar. 
Potatoes, rutabagas, onions, and per¬ 
haps a few late winter squashes are all 
that remain of the winter store ; variety 
will have to be obtained by different 
methods of cooking these. 
Squash, when boiled and mashed in the 
usual way, will, perhaps, taste some¬ 
thing like pumpkin—it often does to¬ 
wards spring—if so, try 
Squash Fritters. —Mix cold, boiled, 
mashed squash with beaten egg, salt, 
pepper, and a little flour. Form into 
small, flat cakes, di-edge with flour, and 
brown on both sides in a buttered fry¬ 
ing-pan. Pile on a warm platter with 
bits of butter between. Turnip or par¬ 
snip may be used in the same way. 
A favorite dish with us is 
Diced Turnip. —Pare, slice and cut the 
turnips into dice an inch square, boil in 
a small quantity of water, which has 
been salted and sweetened a trifle. When 
tender, the water should be boiled away, 
then add a few spoonfuls of sweet cream 
and a beaten egg. Let it come to a boil 
and serve at once. 
Escali.oped Onions. —Place a layer of 
cracker or bread crumbs in a buttered 
baking dish, then a layer of onions sliced 
very thin (previously soaked in salt water 
for an hour or more), season with salt, 
pepper and bits of butter. Make three 
layers of crackers and two of onions. 
Fill the dish with rich, sweet milk, and 
bake one hour. 
Potatoes admit of a great variety of 
dishes. The following may be new to 
some : 
Potato Puffs. —Prepare as for mashed 
potatoes. To every pint add three table¬ 
spoonfuls of sweet cream, then the 
beaten yolks of two eggs. Mix well, 
then stir in the beaten whites of the two 
eggs. Heap the mixture in a dish which 
can be sent to the table, bake 10 minutes, 
or until the mass has risen and browned 
nicely. 
Princess Potatoes. —Mash the pota¬ 
toes, season highly, pack in a buttered 
square tin. When cold, turn out. 
Shortly before serving time, cut the 
potatoes in strips about half an inch 
thick, have ready a tablespoonful of 
melted butter in one deep plate and a 
beaten egg in another. Dip the strips 
first in the butter, then in the egg ; lay 
them in a buttered pan, not allowing 
the strips to touch, bake 10 minutes, 
arrange on a platter and serve at once. 
Creamed Potatoes. —Slice thin as for 
frying, let stand in cold, salt water for 
half an hour. Place in pudding dish 
with salt, pepper and some milk or 
cream—about half a pint for an ordin¬ 
ary dish. Bake 40 minutes, scatter bits 
of butter over the top and serve hot. 
MARY S. 8TELS0N. 
SEWING VELVET. 
HEN basting velvet use a silk 
thread, and marks will not be 
left on the pile of the velvet after the 
stitches are pulled out. As one’s work- 
box often contains raveled silk or spools 
of old-fashioned colors, the practice does 
not always cause extra expense. When 
thread is used, cutting each stitch on 
the right side before pulling out bast¬ 
ings prevents much defacement. Les¬ 
sons on home millinery in Harper’s 
Bazar advise that, when a facing is to 
be sewed down, finger marks may be 
avoided by using a piece of velvet under 
the finger, its face against the pile of 
the velvet being sewed, this where the 
touch has not the lightness required for 
deft handling. The idea seems as 
applicable when collars, bands, etc., are 
being sewed upon as to the home mil¬ 
liner putting on a brim facing or band. 
Of course, we nearly all of us pinch our 
work, our needles, pencils, knives, every 
sort of tool we work with and substance 
we work upon, five times as hard as we 
ought to ; but though we are in so doing 
wasting muscle and nerve force all day 
long, not often does the waste bear such 
evident bad results as when we sew on 
velvet. P. T. PRIMROSE. 
A memorandum slate, hung inside the 
kitchen closet, is a very great help to 
the busy housekeeper, but a small pad 
of paper and a lead pencil will be an 
additional aid, as orders for butcher or 
grocer may be written there, and the 
sheet detached instead of giving a verbal 
order. A decorated wooden panel, with 
a little pad glued to the center, like a 
calendar, is serviceable and pretty. The 
panel has a pencil attached by ribbon or 
cord, and has a cord to hang by. When 
the pad is exhausted, another may be 
glued in place. If desired, the panel 
may be made of heavy pasteboard cov¬ 
ered with linen, embroidered in some 
suitable design, and then smoothly 
pasted on the foundation. 
