5o6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 20 
[ Woman and Home | 
From Day to Day. 
FINERY AND FUSS. 
The women folks are flxin’ for a weddln’, 
an’ the fuss 
The house is in here lately’s only equaled 
by the muss 
Of bastin’ thread a-lyin’ on the floor an’ 
silken scraps 
A-slippin’ to the carpet off the sewin’- 
women’s laps. 
The finery they’re flxin for our daughter’s 
weddin’ day, 
An’ her wardrobe, called a trousseau, will 
be simply grand they say; 
There wa’nt no women flyin’ round as 
crazy as a loon 
When 1 married Mamie’s mother in the 
golden month o’ June! 
I cannot help a-thinkin’, when these ruf¬ 
fled things I see 
The women folks a-makin’, which they 
say’s a lingerie. 
All pieced up with embroidery, an’ tucked 
around with lace. 
In her mother’s clothes assortment them 
things never had a place. 
Of course I like t’ see ’em, an’ it’s satls- 
fyin’, too, 
T’ think our girl can have all such, like 
folks that’s well-to-do. 
But with much less we entered on a happy 
life’s forenoon 
When I married Mamie’s mother in the 
golden month o’ June! 
They’ve been t’ see the florist an’ have all 
arrangements made 
For flowers, palms an’ orchids—quite a 
fancy price they paid. 
A very stylish preacher’s been engaged t’ 
tie the knot. 
An’, all in all. it seems t’ me that nothin’s 
been forgot. 
We didn’t have no flowers, but our life’s 
been one of bliss. 
We had a plain ol’ parson, whom the bride 
paid with a kiss. 
But two lives were simply blended an’ two 
hearts were set in tune 
When I married Mamie’s mother in the 
golden month o’ June! 
—Roy Farrell Greene in Brooklyn Life. 
* 
A FAVORITE dish just now at one of 
the popular New York restaurants is 
planked steak. The steak is covered 
with mushrooms, and served on a well- 
seasoned oak board, like planked shad, 
the board having a well to hold the 
juices. 
• 
Baries’ bibs are never very ornamen¬ 
tal, but the new fichu shape is rather an 
improvement on the old one. It is tri¬ 
angular. Long muslin strips extend from 
two of the points; they are crossed be¬ 
hind, and are then brought around un¬ 
der the arms to the front, where they 
fasten at the lower point of the triangle 
with a bib pin. 
Every day, on our way to the ofiice, 
we pass a large fountain in City Hall 
Park, whose sparkling basin offers an 
irresistable temptation to the small 
newsboys and casual gamins these hot 
days. Whenever the coast is clear from 
intruding policemen, some of the boys 
begin to paddle in the tempting water, 
and on more than one occasion we have 
seen a small boy splash in, clothes and 
all, for a bath, his well-ventilated ward¬ 
robe, like a good Baptist, being all the 
better for total immersion. Of course, 
if a policeman turned up, he would es¬ 
cape from his unauthorized bath, and 
rush dripping across the park, pursued 
by the recriminations of his blue-coated 
enemy. During the recent hot spell one 
small boy decided on a really luxurious 
bath in the same fountain. It was about 
six o’clock in the evening, when the 
home-going crowd was thinning a little, 
and the boy undressed deliberately and 
splashed into the water with great con¬ 
tent. The policeman was invisible, and 
the small law-breaker was luxuriating 
in fresh pink cleanliness when he 
climbed out of the basin and looked for 
his clothes. They were not there! Some 
envious miscreant had stolen them 
while while he was absorbed in his bath. 
The result was that a highly excited 
small boy rushed over to Park Row, In 
a classical absence of drapery which, 
while it would call out no remark in the 
tropics, was distinctly unconventional 
in New York. A kind-hearted working¬ 
man, noticing the boy’s plight, took off 
his coat for a covering, and escorted the 
unfortunate out of sight with a promise 
to replace his missing garments. It 
seems likely that one small . boy, at 
least, will abstain from surreptitious 
baths in future. 
* 
During the hot weather it is a good 
plan to cook the breakfast cereal the 
night before, turn into individual cups 
o* molds, and serve cold the next morn¬ 
ing, turned out of the molds, which 
should be moistened with cold water to 
prevent the cereal from sticking. A 
garnish of fresh fruit will often per¬ 
suade a fanciful eater to take the cold 
molded cereal, when it would not be 
eaten hot. Scalded cream is very nice 
with it. If any cereal is left from break¬ 
fast, it may be used in gems or muffins: 
either wheat or oatmeal is excellent for 
this purpose. 
• 
There has been an epidemic of green 
sun umbrellas lately; they look very 
well when carried with a blue gown, but 
when put to their legitimate use as a 
shade they have a most deadly effect up¬ 
on the complexion. Of course they are 
really comforting to the eyes in a hot 
sun. There are some shades of gray- 
green, however, that are very cool and 
pretty, and not so trying to the com¬ 
plexion. it is a pity that more women 
do not study cool effects in their Summer 
wardrobes; violent shades of pink and 
red add to the grilling effect of the dog 
days. This season ox blood, a tint a few 
shades redder than watermelon, has 
been extremely popular in mercerized 
cotton, madras and dimity, both for 
waists and skirts, and its effect is de¬ 
cidedly heating. All shades of pink 
seem to have an enormous vogue. 
* 
Last Summer it was the transparent 
shirt waist that aroused comment; this 
year women who like conspicuous styles 
for street wear are appearing in cotton 
gowns with low neck and elbow sleeves. 
The sleeve usually chosen is not puffed, 
but of the coat shape, ending just above 
the elbow, sometimes finished with a 
ruffle, but more often with a beading 
through which ribbon is run. It is quite 
likely that the undersleeves which have 
been in vogue have led up to this fash¬ 
ion, since nothing was easier than to 
discard them on the approach of warm 
weather. The necks are collarless, cut 
either square or round, very rarely V- 
shaped. These ddcollete gowns have 
rather a startling effect when seen on 
the city streets. Two young women seen 
shopping recently wore gathered white 
muslin waists cut round at the neck, 
with short little sleeve puffs, the general 
effect being so strikingly like that of an 
old-fashioned cambric chemise as to 
cause a feeling of decided embarrass¬ 
ment on the part of more conventional 
people. 
The Rural Patterns. 
In the skirt shown, the tucks are laid 
in groups of two each and extend from 
the waist to within fiounce depth of the 
edge of the skirt, where they are left 
free to form becoming fullness and folds 
and are slightly overlapped at the belt 
to give the perfectly snug fit. The back 
is simply plain, with fullness arranged 
in gathers. To cut this skirt for a wo¬ 
man of medium size, 8^ yards of ma¬ 
terial 21 inches wide, 6^4 yards 32 inches 
wide, or 4^4 yards 44 inches wide will 
be required, with 13 yards of lace to trim 
as illustrated. The pattern No. 3854 is 
cut in sizes for a 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30- 
inch waist measure; price 10 cents. 
The simple round yoke blouse is be¬ 
coming to many figures and is one of the 
latest styles shown. The model shown 
is of pale blue louisine silk, with trim¬ 
ming of silver and black braid with 
waved edges; but the design is equally 
well suited to all washable materials. 
The round yoke is smooth and plain, 
while the lower portions of the waist 
are gathered and joined to the lower 
edge. The sleeves are in bishop styie 
with narrow cuffs and the neck is fin¬ 
ished with a curved stock collar that 
closes at the center back. To cut this 
waist for a woman of medium size, 3^/^ 
yards of material 21 inches wide, 2^/^ 
yards 32 inches wide, or two yards 44 
inches wide will be required, with 12 
yards of braid to trim as illustrated. 
T'he pattern No. 3858 is cut in sizes for 
a 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40-inch bust mea¬ 
sure; price 10 cents. The wrapper shown 
also has the round yoke, and is comfort¬ 
able and becoming. The pattern comes 
in the regular sizes, and costs 10 cents. 
When Phyllis Cans Peaches. 
In the back yard is the big Crawford 
peach tree with its loaded boughs bend¬ 
ing until they have to be propped up all 
round lest they break. Phyllis is can¬ 
ning and there she sits in her rocking 
chair on the back porch surrounded by 
eight sparkling glass fruit jars. In a 
saucepan—white enamel with a blue edge 
—she has ready a syrup made of sugar 
and water, the water used being only 
warm enough to melt the sugar, not hot 
enough to melt her. A willow basket 
full of the great crimson and yellow 
fruit is gathered, and she peels and 
packs the halves in the jars like 
32 to 40 in. bust 32 to 42 in. l)ust. 
shingles on a roof or scales on a fish’s 
back. As each jar is finished she fiils it 
with syrup from the blue and white 
saucepan. Meantime Phyllis is not get¬ 
ting overheated. She glances at the 
loaded peach tree, listens to the twit¬ 
tering of the birds in its upper branches 
and the sweet breath of the honeysuckle 
shading the porch adds to her pleasure, 
driving weariness and care far away. 
When all the jars are done, she lifts 
the tray upon which she has placed 
them and vanishes into the kitchen. 
There she has ready the washboiler 
scrubbed and scalded. In it she ar¬ 
ranges the jars and pours around them 
a few quarts of cool water. Of course 
the jars must not rest upon the bottom 
of the boiler or they will break. Any¬ 
thing may be placed beneath them so 
that it is not made of wood, as that 
flavors the fruit with the odor from its 
own boiling. Phyllis, as it happens. 
uses horseshoes, and that may account 
for her luck. The boiler is placed on 
the front of the stove and covered, after 
which she renews the syrup in the 
saucepan and places it where it will 
presently boil. 
Half an hour, more or less, should 
steam the peaches soft. Phyllis pierces 
them with a fork to see. If done, the 
boiler is lifted to the floor. One by one 
the jars are set on the back of the stove, 
replacing the cover to the boiler each 
time, and filled with the boiling syrup, 
the rubber adjusted and the top screwed 
down. This is the only hot part of the 
task, and Phyllis—who hates the heat— 
can accomplish it in a few moments. 
And Phyllis says that all the fruits 
she ever heard of—plums, apricots, 
pears, cherries, berries, can be treated 
exactly in this fashion, the time of 
steaming varying with the fruit from 15 
minutes upward. The flavor is perfect. 
The fruit remains unbroken in the jars, 
and the syrup is clear and beautiful. It 
perfectly feasible to make sweet pickles 
in the same manner, the usual syrup of 
vinegar, sugar and spices being poured 
over them. If the jars when put into 
the boiler are cool and the water poured 
around them is also cool, they heat up 
gradually and the jars do not break. 
The amount of water used in the boiler 
need only be enough to give off steam, 
a deptn of a few inches: Phyllis’s wash- 
boiler may be replaced by any other cov¬ 
ered vessel which permits of steaming 
the jars. Some of the steam cookers in 
the market will hold four jars at a time 
and do the work over a two-burner oil 
stove. Only remember that whatever 
receptacle is used, must be absolutely 
clean and closely covered. 
Everything must be sealed with the 
usual care at the end, the jars kept 
scalding hot until the moment of put¬ 
ting on the hot tops, and the syrup used 
for filling kept at the boiling point. 
These precautions are necessary for any 
process of fruit canning, and if they are 
properly attended to, the steamed fruit 
keeps perfectly. Indeed, Phyllis learned 
this process from her mother, who as¬ 
serts that it was the only one considered 
safe when the glass fruit jars came into 
use, and canning superseded preserving. 
—Table Talk^_ 
With the Procession. 
All one’s life is music if one touches 
the notes rightly and in time.—^Ruskin. 
Our life is always deeper than we 
know, is always diviner than it seems, 
and hence we are able to survive degra¬ 
dations and despairs which otherwise 
must have engulfed us.—Henry James. 
Life, Love, Religion, these three are 
one. Tell me what you love supremely 
and I will tell you your destiny. Our 
philosophy and our morality must lead 
us at last to one thought—the idea of 
God.—Fichte. 
You must love your work, and not be 
always looking over the edge of it, and 
you must not be ashamed of your work 
and think it would be more honorable 
to you to be doing something else.— 
George Eliot. 
We mortals, men and women, devour 
many a disappointment between break¬ 
fast and dinner time; keep back the 
teal’s and in answer to inquiries say, 
“Oh, nothing!’’ Pride helps us; and 
pride is not a bad thing when it only 
urges us to hide our own hurts—not to 
hurt others.—George Eliot. 
Best Soap 
fi! is the highest grade, most economical Si 
|ij and most satisfactory kitchen and w 
laundry .soap. pi 
Made by B. T. Babbitt, New York. 
Sold by grocers everywhere. 
