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FROM DAY TO DAY. 
The simplest food and plainest table 
service gain an air of refinement when 
order and neatness are observed. With 
a crooked tablecloth, dishes dropped 
anywhere, and an insufficient array of 
unpolished spoons and forks, the best of 
food becomes unappetizing. Naturally, 
a busy woman without help cannot pre¬ 
sent all the little niceties of serving, but 
order and cleanliness are surely within 
her power. A frequent cause of untidi¬ 
ness is the serving of cold dishes on the 
platters in which they made a previous 
appearance at table, with unsightly 
scraps or portions of sauce or gravy dis¬ 
figuring the neatness of the dish. A 
dish of cold meat arranged in neat slices 
with a garnish of parsley, watercress, 
young carrot tops, or even wild sorrel, is 
vastly more attractive than the same 
meat brought on in a gravy-smeared 
dish, with no attempt at daintiness. 
* 
Thk butter dish is another stumbling- 
block to careless housewives. We all 
know the large, uncouth dish, with a 
ragged-looking lump of butter in the 
center, which is not, by any means, con¬ 
fined to farmers’ tables. In the summer, 
where ice is not obtainable, it almost is 
impossible to keep the butter in a 
shapely pat, when served in this way. 
It should be rolled into little balls, not 
at all a difficult operation with the 
wooden utensils made for the purpose, 
and served in a dish of cold water, a 
sprig of parsley floating with it. If the 
water is freshly drawn, the lack of ice is 
hardly noticeable. A little tub of clear 
glass, standing on a glass plate, makes a 
very pretty dish for this purpose. In 
serving, the butter-knife ordinarily used 
is replaced by a silver butter-spear or 
little fork. 
* 
Cheese is another viand often served 
very carelessly. A plate of carelessly- 
sliced cheese, some of the pieces in a 
state of wooden dryness, others appar¬ 
ently in a profuse perspiration, is any¬ 
thing but inviting. It should be kept in 
a covered dish, all the crumbs and small, 
irregular pieces being set aside for cook¬ 
ing. Many good housekeepers hardly 
realize the value of cheese in cooking, 
and this indifference often leads to 
waste. When cheese is bought cut from 
the large makes, it is very difficult to 
avoid waste, unless care be taken to use 
all the fragments before they grow stale. 
The small cheeses, like the little Dutch 
makes, are brought on the table whole, 
a lid of rind being removed from the 
top, and the interior scooped out, while 
the rest of the rind is left intact. 
It is not every one who can gauge the 
degree of an oven’s heat at any moment 
with even approximate accuracy, says 
Table Talk. A useful and simple test 
is to try the oven every 10 minutes with 
a piece of white paper. If too hot, the 
paper will blaze up or blacken ; when 
the paper becomes dark brown ( i. e., 
rather darker than ordinary meat-pie 
crust), the oven is fit for small pastry. 
When light brown—the color of really 
nice pastry—it is ready for tarts, etc. 
When the paper turns dark yellow, one 
can bake bread, large meat pies, or large 
poundcakes; while if it is just tinged, 
the oven is fit for sponge cake, me¬ 
ringues, etc. 
* 
Some of the best bread made by large 
bakers comes to the consumer in a wrap¬ 
ping of waxed paper, held in place by a 
very light rubber band. It is thus 
wrapped as soon as cooled, insuring 
cleanly handling. This wrapping keeps 
it much fresher, too, and prevents the 
absorption of flavors from other articles, 
which are sometimes quite apparent. 
The same plan would be found very 
useful by a housekeeper who wished to 
keep her bread fresh as long as possible, 
and it would also be an advantage in 
storing away, especially where several 
different kinds of cake are kept in one 
box. 
SOME IDEAS IN FANCY WORK. 
T HE “mint sticks” shown in Fig. 182, 
are covered with white and crim¬ 
son ribbons intertwined, bearing a most 
taking resemblance to the stick-candy 
city shops were large butterflies of white 
crepe tissue paper, ornamented with 
splashes of gilding or dainty coloring. 
Of course, no rule need be followed in 
applying the splashes, further than in 
getting the opposite wings alike. The 
divisions of the body are to be marked 
with tinsel, and the antenme made 
from two single tufts taken from an 
ostrich tip. eleanor root. 
of our childhood. They are the most 
useful and pretty of sachet bags, and 
may be filled with lavender sticks, rose 
leaves, violet powder or any other of the 
dainty perfumes which convenience or 
fancy may dictate. 
Fig. 183 is a court-plaster case in the 
shape of a heart, with the words, “ I 
STICKING PLASTER CASE. Fig. 183. 
will stick to you if others cut you,” in 
fancy lettering and, to carry out the 
idea, a decoration of forget-me-nots. 
The flowers and letters may be either 
painted or embroidered. Of course, the 
painting is far more quickly done, and 
where one has a knack, is very effective. 
A box of cheap water-colors, a little 
courage and a little practice will, gener¬ 
ally, accomplish wonders. A most use¬ 
ful thing to have in decorative or fancy 
work, and one whose uses are, indeed, 
legion, is a bottle of gilding. Directions 
for using come with each bottle, so that 
the merest tyro can use it. If desired, 
the flowers may be embroidered and the 
letters painted or gilded. 
Fig. 184 gives another chance for gild¬ 
ing and paint brush. The prettiest 
lamp or chandelier screens noted in the 
SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME TEACHING. 
W HEN families live on plantations 
15 or more miles from a school 
of any kind, as was the case with our 
own large family, the question of the 
children’s education necessitates a choice 
between boarding school or home in¬ 
struction. My parents were opposed to 
sending young children to boarding 
schools, and wisely kept them under 
their own supervision and influence, 
undertaking their education themselves. 
Hut educating a large family of children 
is rather a formidable task for parents 
who have other duties as well, and in 
such eases, the eldest boy or girl can be¬ 
come an important assistant and teach 
all the younger children, if properly 
directed. They should be allowed a 
small room for their exclusive use, a 
table, a desk or so, and good books ; and 
after the young teacher learns how to 
assemble and conduct the school, it will 
flourish, and be a great source of enter¬ 
tainment as well as instruction to all 
the children concerned. When only 13 
years old, I presided over one of these 
liliputian school rooms, and I honestly 
believe that the children learned quite 
as much as if they had been under the 
care of a grown teacher. 
It was our delight to devise methods 
by which lessons, otherwise incompre¬ 
hensible to the little minds, became 
clear and interesting. Much difficulty 
was experienced in trying to teach the 
children the difference between penin¬ 
sulas, capes, isthmuses, etc.; they were 
just so many great-sounding words to 
the little minds, and nothing more. 
Realizing this, I put down the book, got 
a large shallow tin pan from the kitchen, 
tilled it half full of clean sand, and 
poured in enough water thoroughly to 
saturate it. With the hands, the sand 
was pushed together, forming two rough 
bodies of land joined by a narrow neck 
of sand. This represented our continent, 
and the water around the sand the 
ocean. A bit of paper was then twisted 
in shape for a ship, and the children 
were shown how it must sail around 
South America because of the isthmus. 
The lesson was instantly clear to them, 
and so interesting that the little hands 
would contend for the privilege of cut¬ 
ting, with one sweep of the fingers, 
through the isthmus, in order to see the 
ship sail proudly through. Islands, etc., 
were represented in like manner, and 
making “ land and water features ” be¬ 
came a favorite lesson that was never 
forgotten. 
We also found the following little 
homemade device a most useful aid in 
teaching children the names and loca¬ 
tions of the different States. A good- 
sized map of the U nited S tates was drawn 
off carefully by putting a sheet of trans¬ 
parent white paper over the geography 
map, or if the map can be spared from 
an old book, that may be used instead. 
Paste the map on a board, one about a 
quarter of an inch thick. We used the 
side of a clean wooden cracker box. 
When the paste is dry, cut through all 
the division lines of the States with a 
scroll saw. When this is done, lay the 
board together in its original form, and 
place it on another whole board. The 
sawed board has a margin all around 
the United States, and this margin 
should be tacked all around its edge to 
the whole board on which it rests, but 
the little blocks representing the States 
must be left loose. Into the middle of 
each State, drive a round-headed tack 
just far enough to hold firmly. This 
tack is to be used as a knob by which 
the State may be lifted from and re¬ 
turned to its place again. It is a good 
idea to put the tack at the capital city of 
each State. Lift all the States from 
their places, mix them together in a box, 
and offer little prizes to the children 
who will replace them all correctly. Let 
them refer to the geography map for 
assistance at first, then gradually they 
will learn to locate the States from 
memory. 
If the drawn map is to be used, color 
the States with water-color paints or 
colored pencils; trace the rivers and 
towns carefully with ink, and write the 
name of each State clearly and neatly. 
At first, let the capital city of the State 
be the only one represented, and only 
the largest rivers ; when these are thor- 
oroughly memorized, the child may be 
allowed to add other towns and rivers 
to the map by referring to the one in 
his book. M LANE GRIFFIN. 
CANNING GREEN PEAS. 
1 HAVE often tried to can green peas, 
and invariably failed till last year, 
when I came across a recipe in an old 
Danish journal, which I tried success¬ 
fully. After shelling the peas, they are 
mixed with dry salt, about one handful 
of salt to the quart of peas. Let them 
stand two days, and then put peas and 
the brine that has formed in bottles, 
not necessarily preserve jars, shaking 
them well together. Then make some 
paper stoppers and put in the bottles, 
wrap them up in hay or straw, and place 
in the boiler. Fill in water enough to 
reach the necks of the bottles ; then 
bring them to a boil and let boil till the 
peas begin to look tender, generally 
half an hour. Lift the boiler off, leav¬ 
ing the bottles in till perfectly cold, 
when they are taken out. Screw on the 
tops, if preserve jars ; if bottles, cork 
with new scalded corks, and seal with 
sealing wax. Place them upright in the 
cellar, and when wanted for use, put the 
peas in lukewarm water to soak over 
night; then prepare like fresh peas. 
By this method they lose none of their 
original flavor. sophy valentine. 
The Dictionary as an Educator — 
There is no more useful or helpful thing 
in the education of a family than an 
unabridged dictionary. The habit of 
finding out the meaning of words is an 
important one, and where the means of 
finding them are at hand, it very soon 
becomes a pleasure to search them out. 
I know the mother of a large family who, 
when asked by some one of the children 
the meaning of a word, invariably re¬ 
plied, “ Look in the dictionary ; that 
will tell you plainer and in better words 
than I can.” One of the best invest¬ 
ments that can be made for growing 
children is in an unabridged dictionary. 
Although the first cost often seems con¬ 
siderable, it pays for itself many times 
over in a few years. aunt rachel. 
HALL’S 
Vegetable Sicilian 
HAIR RENEWER 
Beautifies and restores Gray 
Hair to its original color and 
vitality; prevents baldness; 
cures itching and dandruff. 
A fine hair dressing. 
It. P. Hall & Co., Props., Nashua, N. H. 
Sold by all Druggists. 
