26 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 6 
Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
UNCLE BIJAH S TRIUMPH. 
“Thlng-s’ll come out all right some day,” 
Uncle Bljah used to say: 
“No use howlin’ before you’re hit, 
No use frettin’ about 
The price o’ the crop that ain’t thrashed 
yit; 
Nor even begun to sprout— 
No use pokin’ In every hole, 
A-spyin’ fer trouble there— 
Cold days cornin’, but lots o’ coal 
Down in the mines somewhere— 
Thlngs’ll come out all right some day. 
If you’ll jes’ let ’em come that way. 
“Things’ll come out all right some day,” 
Uncle Bljah used to say: 
" ’Tain’t every cloud that brings a flood 
Ner every breeze a blight; 
Better wait and risk some loss o’ blood 
Than fall down dead o’ fright; 
No use frettin’ ’cause things are not 
The same as they used to be. 
Or settln’ and dreadin’ to think o’ what 
Is coming fer you and me— 
Thlngs’ll come out all right some day. 
If you’ll jes’ let ’em come that way. 
“Thlngs’ll come out all right some day,” 
Uncle Bljah used to say: 
He gained no wealth, he won no fame. 
And small was the world he knew; 
He managed to set no stream aflame, 
But he laughed when the sky was blue! 
He coveted naught that his neighbor had. 
Nor grieved at unseen ills. 
But whistled away and kept a glad 
Song echoing o’er the hills— 
And whispered: “Things are all right,” 
the day 
That he smiled as he went away. 
—Chicago Times-Herald. 
* 
The San Jos6 (Cal.) Farmers’ Club 
recently held a prize competition for the 
best way of cooking prunes. It is said 
that 101 different kinds of cooked prunes 
were entered in the contest, varying 
from plain stew to souffld, pie, ices, 
pickles and salads. 
* 
A FRIEND asks US what can be added 
to soapy water used for making soap 
bubbles that will give the bubbles more 
permanence. A few drops of glycerine, 
shaken up in the soapsuds, will toughen 
the bubbles. The water should be very 
soapy. 
* 
A GIRL who has been visiting in the 
South says that she saw a tombstone in 
a Savannah cemetery which made her 
think that extreme thrift is not con¬ 
fined to New England. It was a plain 
stone bearing the inscription; “Sacred 
to the memory of Sarah, beloved wife of 
.lohn Smith, and of Jane, equally be¬ 
loved second wife.” A man who couldn’t 
buy a separate tombstone for a second 
wife really seems to possess a striking¬ 
ly frugal mind. 
* 
Mercerized pongee is one of the new 
Summer fabrics; it is cotton, but as fine 
and smooth as thin silk. It is usually 
seen in bright or delicate evening tints, 
and costs 35 cents a yard. Another new 
material is an old one under a new and 
fanciful name; it is a satin-striped 
barege, and is now called edelweiss. 
Among heavy linen materials are crash 
suitings in all the colors seen in tweed 
and homespun, with a dash of bright 
color, green, blue, scarlet or crimson, 
forming a faint uneven check on the 
plain ground. This material costs 40 to 
60 cents a yard, and is admirable for 
jacket suits or separate skirts. 
« 
A NEW bedcovering that is commenu- 
able for its economy of labor is the hos¬ 
pital spread, made of crinkled cotton, 
almost like a cotton crdpon. It can be 
washed as easily as a sheet and does not 
require ironing. It comes in the full 
width, wide enough for a bed, but where 
this is not obtainable ordinary cotton 
cr§pon may be joined by machine stitch¬ 
ing to make the size required. A light, 
easily-laundered bed-cover is very neces¬ 
sary in the Summer. The bed is often 
trimmed with a valance of the same 
cr€pon, but we do not really care for 
any bed valance. The fewer hangings 
and dust catchers about a bedroom the 
better. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The circular flounce with its many va¬ 
riations makes an accepted favorite of 
the season. The tendency is toward a 
snug fit above the knees and all the 
flare possible below. The skirt shown 
exemplifles one of the latest forms of 
the flounce and is cut in five gores 
above, a model that has been found to 
give more general satisfaction than any 
other that has ever been devised. The 
original is made of foulard in pastel 
blue and white and is trimmed with ap- 
pliqud of point de Venise lace, but silks, 
wool fabrics of various sorts and all 
the cotton and linen materials offered 
are equally appropriate. The upper por¬ 
tion of the skirt is perfectly smooth at 
both front and hips, the side portions 
being fitted by means of short darts and 
the fullness laid in an inverted pleat at 
the back, but the latter may be gathered 
if so preferred. The flounce is shaped 
in graceful and becoming lines and falls 
in soft undulating folds to the floor. To 
cut this skirt for a woman of medium 
size a yards of material 21 inches wide, 
8 yards 32 inches wide or 5% yards 44 
inches wide will be required. The pat¬ 
tern No. 3773 is cut in sizes for a 22, 24, 
26, 28 and 30-inch waist measure; price 
10 cents from this office. 
The smartest, most fashionable shirt 
waists for morning wear are simple in 
the extreme, and somewhat severe. The 
attractive and serviceable model shown 
includes all the latest features and is 
adaptable for all cotton and linen stuffs, 
for wash silks, for taffeta and flne 
Scotch and French flannel. As illus¬ 
trated, it is of mercerized madras in dull 
3773 Five-gored Skirt, 
22 to 30 in. waist. 
blue and white, and is worn with a 
white collar, black tie and belt, and is 
unlined; but made from taffeta or flan¬ 
nel will be found more satisfactory made 
over the fitted foundation. The lining 
is cut with fronts and backs only, and 
is fitted with single darts, under-arm 
and center back seams. The back 
proper is smooth across the shoulders, 
with scant fullness drawn down in gath¬ 
ers at the waist line. The fronts are 
gathered at the neck and at waist line, 
where the waist blouses slightly at the 
center. The front edge is finished with 
the regulation box pleat and the closing 
can be accomplished by means of studs 
or buttons and buttonholes, as preferred. 
The sleeves are in bishop style, with 
narrow, pointed cuffs that lap and close 
on the upper side. The neck is finished 
with a high turn-over collar. To cut 
this waist for a woman of medium size 
3% yards of material 21 inches wide, 3V^ 
yards 27 inches wide, 2^ yards 32 
inches wide, or 2 yards 44 inches wide, 
will be required. The pattern No. 3734 
is cut in sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 
42-inch bust measure; price 10 cents. 
Household Accounts. 
New Year resolutions may not be 
wholly out of fashion, but certainly they 
are not so prominent in the current lit¬ 
erature of early January as they were 
once upon a time. However, the first 
weeks and months of the new year offer 
a convenient season for a survey of our 
household possessions, a sort of taking 
account of stock, and planning improve¬ 
ments for the future. There seems to be 
a popular impression that women are 
averse by nature to anything like keep¬ 
ing accounts. An extremely aggravat¬ 
ing book based on that idea was writ¬ 
ten not long ago by ‘‘a mere man,” and 
entitled “The Domestic Blunders of 
3734 Shirt V^aist 
32 to 42 in. Bust. 
Women.” Though it contains som ^ 
truth its conclusions are unfair and il¬ 
logical. Even if the women of past 
generations were lacking in business 
ability, that is hardly true of the mod¬ 
ern woman, and will be still less a fail¬ 
ing of those of the next generation. Wo¬ 
men to-day are receiving a more busi¬ 
nesslike education and are gradually 
learning to think in percentages, and 
to study their own affairs impersonally. 
Many clubs and individual housekeep¬ 
ers, recently, have been studying the 
problems outlined in a little book by 
Mrs. Ellen H. Richards on “The Cost of 
Living. This is a valuable aid in the 
apportionment of the family income. 
Any housekeeper wishing to put her 
personal account in good form will find 
“The Twentieth Century Expense Book,” 
arranged by Miss Mary Dewson, a great 
help in adjusting each item to its proper 
place. A perusal of these books would 
convince even the most careful house¬ 
keeper that there were some phases of 
housekeeping which she had not mas¬ 
tered. Average housekeeping is not 
based on any definite plan; it is hap¬ 
hazard. We buy articles, food, clothing 
or furniture, without due regard to their 
harmonizing with what we already pos¬ 
sess. Even where we have a fairly defi¬ 
nite income we do not begin by assign¬ 
ing a certain per cent of it to each of 
the principal departments of our house¬ 
keeping. How can we begin a reform? 
Perhaps this is more easily done in the 
food supply than in the general expense 
account at first. A review of the re¬ 
ceipted bills for the past year, which 
every thrifty housekeeper files away. 
will give a basis on which to plan future 
expenditures. If our family is larger or 
smaller than last year the supplies must 
be proportionately increased or decreas- 
ea. Any change in price of the stand¬ 
ard articles must be reckoned. When 
the price of milk is higher the monthly 
cash apportionment must be larger, 
eve though the daily quart be still 
sufficient. We may find trom our bills 
that the weight of butter consumed 
each month is about the same, although 
it was bought in irregular quantities at 
greatly varying prices. Provided we 
have a proper place to keep it we may 
gain something this season by buying 
a full supply for the month at one time. 
And so we may go on through the list 
of standard groceries. All this is equal¬ 
ly true of articles produced on the farm, 
which should be reckoned at fair market 
prices in these accounts. 
Anyone who has not thus studied the 
household accounts will be surprised to 
see how nearly uniform in a normal 
family, are the quantities of butter, 
sugar, coffee, tea, potatoes, flour and 
the cereals. The quantity of meat and 
vegetables likewise will be fairly uni¬ 
form, though prices may vary greatly, 
but these also may be brought within a 
fixed sum for the week or month. Where 
we know how much money we have to 
spend, and what these constants” or 
standard articles are likely to cost, we 
can give ourselves a definite margin, lit¬ 
tle or much, to spend for extras or the 
unforeseen. By a little forethought our 
closets can be kept stocked with vari¬ 
ous “flavorers which do so much to vary 
a monotonous diet. A study of the die¬ 
tary series of bulletins issued by the 
United State Department of Agriculture 
will point out many places where we 
can secure a better balanced ration with 
no mere outlay. ann.\ barrows. 
By William Allen White 
The author of “What’s the 
Matter with Kansas?” brings 
the discussion up to date 
in an able special article, 
which will appear in an 
early number. Mr.Whitewill 
be a frequent contributor to 
THE SATURDAY 
EVENIMG POST 
OF PHILADELPHIA 
An interesting weekly magazine, 
fully illustrated. 
Sent to Any Address XHree 
MontKs (13 WeeKs) on R.e- 
ceipt of ONLY 25 CENTS 
■WITH THIS OFFER 
We will also send, without extra charge, 
a copy of the two books, “ The Young Man 
and the World” and “The 
Making of a Merchant.” 
These books are reprints of 
famous articles which have 
appeared in the Post. 
Boys WHo 
MaKe Money 
In a dainty booklet 25 out of 
some 1800 briglit boys tell in 
their own way just how tliey 
made a success of selling 
THE SJirURDJtY I J 
EVENING POST 
Any hoy who wants to try it will be 
given 10 copies tliis week without W 
charge, to sell at 5 cents each ; after V 
that at the wholesale price. A 
The Curtis Publishing Company J 
Philadelphia ^ 
