1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
S7i 
Aunt Belle’s Vacation School. 
“The children are coming for the 
Summer,” said Mrs. Burke, without 
opening the three letters her daughter 
threw in her lap. “Grandchildren are 
dear little things, but somehow I should 
enjoy one Summer without them. I sup¬ 
pose I am getting old, but they are so 
noisy and troublesome. They are just 
turned loose from school, and have 
plenty of time to hunt up mischief.” 
“I’ll take care of the infants this Sum¬ 
mer,” said Belle, her youngest daughter. 
“I was away during two of their visits, 
so it is only fair that I should relieve 
the rest of you this time.” 
“I feel sorry for the children, but 
maybe they will be worn out by Fall, 
and their parents can’t send them an¬ 
other year. Belle always has a lot of 
theories to try on some one, so this time 
the boys and girls will get the benefit of 
them,” said Belle’s sister Mary. 
Bright and early the following Tues¬ 
day, seven boys and girls, ranging from 
seven to 10 years old, the children of 
two absent brothers and one sister, ar¬ 
rived at the farm laden with baggage 
and instructions. True to her word. 
Aunt Belle, who was a charming young 
woman, with, as her sister expressed it, 
a head full of theories, took charge at 
once, and soon had her flock busy. She 
allowed several days for a general in¬ 
spection of the premises, and the calves, 
pigs and colts that had arrived since 
last Summer, and then gathered them 
under the big elm tree for her vacation 
school. The sessions of this unique lit¬ 
tle school lasted from eight till 10 in the 
morning and from four in the afternoon 
till six. The novelty of it pleased the 
youngsters, who never knew what was 
coming, nor where school would be 
held, though Friday was always “letter 
day,” and most of the time the school 
was under the elm tree. There were les¬ 
sons in sewing and cooking for the lit¬ 
tle girls, while the boys made clay fig¬ 
ures wonderful to see; lessons in na¬ 
ture study with the help of a small mi¬ 
croscope, and lessons in everything else 
a bright girl could think of. The chil¬ 
dren were no trouble to anyone but 
Belle, and they were so much improved 
in every way simply because kept busy, 
that they suffered less from heat and 
bad temper than ever before. The let¬ 
ters to their parents and little friends 
on letter day were filled with glowing 
accounts of school, fishing, picnics and 
haying, but the children never suspect¬ 
ed when Aunt Belle advised and cor¬ 
rected that they were having valuable 
lessons in composition and punctuation. 
While they sewed and whittled. Aunt 
Belle read fairy stories, Indian legends 
and stirring historical tales to them. 
To their intense delight several squir¬ 
rels became tame enough to come under 
the tree for nuts, and many a happy 
hour was spent studying their habits. 
Not a single bird’s nest was robbed, 
though many were discovered and 
looked into. A little intelligent teach¬ 
ing convinced the children that life and 
liberty belonged to every creature, un¬ 
less destructive and dangerous. In for¬ 
mer years eternal vigilance on the part 
of the grown-up people was all that 
saved the birds and rabbits from de¬ 
struction. Aunt Belle displayed her 
scholars on all occasiona with pardon¬ 
able pride, and three of a neighbor’s 
children were added to the flock before 
the Summer was half over. The parents 
came to spend a few weeks before 
taking the children home in the Fall, 
and under the big elm tree Aunt Belle 
and her pupils gave an exhibition of 
work. It was a charming picture, for 
the little ones, in pretty Summer 
clothes, told about the collection of 
pressed wild flowers, the butterfly 
stories, the sand maps and the cocoons. 
The little girls had a table with dainty 
hemstitched handkerchiefs, pin cush¬ 
ions, table mats and doll clothes all 
made in the simplest possible manner, 
t»ut showing neat little stitches. The 
boys displayed tops, pin wheels and doll 
furniture which would have done credit 
to older fingers. All these things the 
children proudly said were to be given 
to a city hospital for the benefit of the 
little patients at Christmas. 
“Belle, you are a genius,” said her 
brother-in-law. “I would advise you to 
take up kindergarten work.” 
“I have been thinking of it,” answer¬ 
ed that young lady. “Billy Morris, the 
cashier at the bank, says he never had 
a kindergarten education and is anxious 
for me to begin on him. I think his 
term will start next June.” 
HILDA RICHMOND. 
Okra and Its Cooking. 
A great many northern cooks know 
nothing of okra or gumbo. The liking 
for it is usually an acquired taste, for it 
is rather suggestive, to the uninitiated, 
of green baize stewed in mucilage. How¬ 
ever, it is okra that gives the delicious 
flavor to Brunswick stew, and it aiways 
seems to combine well with tomatoes. 
The dried okra is obtainable during 
Winter. It is sliced in rings and evap¬ 
orated like apples. The very small, ten¬ 
der pods may be canned whole. When 
dried it must soak in water for an hour 
before cooking and then boil in salted 
water until tender, which will require 
about 20 minutes. Okra may be dried at 
home with very little trouble. Cut the 
pods in rings, string these on cordj and 
hang them where they wili dry quickly. 
Stewed Okra.—Take young and tender 
pods, cut off each end and wash them 
thoroughly, boil them in salted water 
until tender (about three-quarters of an 
hour), then drain off the water; season, 
with salt, pepper and butter and serve 
in a covered vegetable dish. 
Brunswick Stew.—^Stew a large fowl 
until the meat leaves the bone; remove 
skin, gristle and bones and chop the 
meat in coarse pieces. Return to the 
liquor; add a pint of corn scraped from 
the ears, a pint of young Lima beans, 
three cupfuls of tomato, a good sized 
onion, minced fine, a pint of young 
okras, a small red pepper, minced, a lit¬ 
tle celery seed, two tablespoonfuls of 
butter and salt, pepper and Worcester¬ 
shire sauce to taste. Simmer until okra 
is tender and then serve. The addition 
of a little paprika just before the stew 
is taken up improves it greatly. 
Okra Gumbo Soup.—Cut two quarts of 
okra into rings and add two quarts of 
tomatoes and three quarts of water; put 
over the fire and let it boil; take a 
young tender chicken, joint it and fry a 
nice brown; put it into the okra and to¬ 
matoes; make a brown sauce with the 
fat remaining in the pan and add to the 
soup. Add three small onions, chopped 
fine, a cupful of corn and cupful of Lima 
beans, and salt and pepper to taste. Let 
it simmer gently for several hours. 
When (this soup is served a tablespoon¬ 
ful of boiled rice and a tablespoonful of 
sweet green pepper, cut fine, is put into 
each soup plate. The Creole cook 
usually adds gumbo fillet powder, made 
from dried sassafras leaves. 
Okra and Tomato.—Trim the tender 
pods same as for stewing; cover one 
quart with salted water, add a slice of 
bacon and cook until nearly tender. 
Then drain and add one cupful of to¬ 
mato and one cupful of brown sauce; 
salt and pepper to taste and simmer un¬ 
til okra is done. 
Gkra with Rice.—Prepare one quart 
of okra as for stewing; put in a sauce¬ 
pan with a pint of tomato pulp, half a 
pound of ham cr lean bacon cut into 
cubes, a small onion and a red pepper 
chopped fine and a pint of good broth 
or stock. Simmer gently for half an 
hour. Just before serving add a table¬ 
spoonful of gumbo fillet powder; let it 
boil up once and serve with boiled rice. 
The rice may be heaped in the center 
of the dish. 
Okra, Creole Style.—^Wash, trim and 
cut into slices a quart of young, tender 
okra; place in a granite saucepan two 
teaspoonfuls of butter, a medium-sized 
onion, a medium-sized green pepper, 
both minced fine; stir over the fire until 
a golden brown, then add three large 
tomatoes peeled and cut into pieces, 
three tablespoonfuls of Spanish or some 
hot pepper sauce and salt to taste, and 
the okra. Cover the saucepan and sim¬ 
mer gently for half an hour. Turn out 
on a hot dish and sprinkle over with 
a teaspoonful of minced parsley and 
serve. 
Rejuvenated Bread. 
My better three-quarters reminds me 
that I have several times threatened to 
tell Thh R. N.-Y. folks about her reju¬ 
venated hread. This is stale bread—^the 
last of the baking—made palatable 
again and as good as new, or even bet¬ 
ter than new, by wetting the old loaf 
with cold water, putting in the pan and 
rebaking it in the oven 20 to 45 minutes. 
It will, if originally good, come out 
moist and fit to set before a queen. An 
old black Fanny, a cook from Virginia, 
gave us this information years ago, and 
we think it imssible that this way of 
making left overs go down acceptably 
may not be as well known as it should. 
The Hope Farm man, always inter¬ 
esting on all topics, touches lightly on 
pork and potatoes, the mainsitay of the 
farmers as all-year-’round provender. 
Well, I just wish I had a big chunk of 
sweet cornfed country-raised and coun¬ 
try-cured boiled pork this blessed min¬ 
ute, with at least five fair-sized pota¬ 
toes, freshly dug and cooked in their 
jackets. I could stow them away with¬ 
out discomfort, and finish off with a 
quarter of a fat cherry pie drowned in 
Julia’s or any other cow’s cream or milk, 
or a big saucer of berries smothered in 
powdered sugar and m'ilk. Not much 
dyspepsia, as yet, you see, clings to this 
robust child of 50 Summers! By the 
way, we discover that milk and fruit do 
not fight when eaten together with 
plenty of sugar; when frequently the 
fruit (strawberries noticeably so) when 
eaten without “the trimmings” causes 
distressing skin irritation, sometimes 
amounting to hives. We farmers should 
have on our tables the best of every¬ 
thing; all sorts of vegetables in profu¬ 
sion, including asparagus, rhubarb, etc., 
and all the fruits that we can grow. 
Fruit too long has been a luxury enjoy¬ 
ed more exclusively by the rich. Trees 
and small fruit plants are cheap enough. 
Let us plant them and eat the fruit 
thereof, and in the abundance that shall 
bless us we shall be richer than the 
millionaire. J. y. p. 
With the Procession. 
Knowledge dwells 
In heads replete with thoughts of other 
men; 
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. 
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, 
’The mere material with which wisdom 
builds. 
Till smoothed and squared, and fitted to 
its place. 
Does but encumber where it seems to en¬ 
rich. 
Knowledge Is proud that he has learned 
so much; 
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. 
—William Cowper. 
Patience is the key of content.—Mo¬ 
hammed. 
What an absurd thing It is to pass 
over all the valuable parts of a man, 
and fix all our attention on bis infirmi¬ 
ties!—Addison. 
I HAVE come to the conclusion that it 
is good to work hard; it makes one en¬ 
joy food and play and sleep so keenly. 
George Du Maurier. 
Think of your own faults the first 
part of the night, when you are awake, 
and of the faults of others the latter 
part of the night, when you are asleep. 
—Chinese proverb. 
What is meant by our neighbor we 
cannot doubt; it is every one with whom 
we are brought into contact, whosoever 
it be, whom we have any means of help¬ 
ing.—Dean Stanley. 
Learn to laugh. A good laugh is bet¬ 
ter than medicine. Learn to tell a story. 
A well-told story is as welcome as a 
sunbeam in a sick room. Learn to keep 
your own troubles to yourself. The 
world is too busy to care for your ills 
and sorrows. Learn to do something for 
others. Even if you are a bedridden in¬ 
valid there is always something that 
you can do to make others happier, and 
that is the surest way to attain happi¬ 
ness for yourself.—Boston Beacon. 
“I say to thee, do thou repeat. 
To the first man thou mayest meet 
In field or lane or open street. 
That he, and we, and all men move 
Under a canopy of love 
As broad as the blue sky above. 
“And ere thou leave him, say thou this 
Yet one word more. They only miss 
The winning of that final bliss 
Who will not count it true that love. 
Blessing, not cursing, rules above, 
And that in It we all live and move.” 
"A smile, a word, a touch. 
And each Is easily given; 
Yet either may win 
A soul from sin. 
Or smooth the way to heaven. 
A smile may lighten the failing heart, 
A word may soften pain’s keenest smart, 
A touch may lead us from sin apart— 
How easily either Is given!” 
When you write advertisers ihention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
“a square deal. ’ ’ See our guarantee 8th page. 
Rag Carpet 
l—D o n ’ t have cold, un¬ 
sightly rooms and hall- 
_ _ ways, when we sell new 
rag carpet, 30 Inches wide, 26 cents a Yard. Sam¬ 
ple Free. Franklin Supply Co., 718 Race St., Phila. 
No More Spoiled Fruit. 
Canning made easy and sure by using my Standard 
Patent Self-Melting, Self-Sealing Wa.x Strings. Very 
economical and easy to apply. Valuable fruit In¬ 
formation, and 100 Strings by mall, for 45 cents In 
stamps. C. C. FODTZ, Middletown, Ohio. 
The University of Notre Dame, 
NOTRtS DAME, INDI.VNA. 
Classics, Letters, conomlcs and History, 
.Tournalisn-, Art, Science, Pharmacy. Law, 
Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, 
Architecture. 
Thorough Preparatory and Commercial 
Courses. Ecclesiastical students at special rates. 
Rooms Eree. .Junior or Senior Year, Collegiate 
Courses. Rooms to Rent, moderate charge. 
St. Edward’s Hall, for boys under 13. 
The 68th Tear will open September 10,1901. 
Catalogue Free. Address 
REV. A. MORRISSEY, C. S. C., President. 
ST.MARrS ACADEMY 
NOTRE DAME, INDIANA. 
(One mile west ol ’he University of Notre Dame.) 
Conducted by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Char¬ 
tered 185.5. Thorough English and Classical educa¬ 
tion. Regular Collegiate Degrees. 
In Preparatory Department students carefully 
preiiared for Collegiate Course. Physical and Chem¬ 
ical Laboratories well equipped. Conservatory of 
Music and School of Art. Gymnasium under direc¬ 
tion of graduate of Boston Normal School of Qym- 
uasttca. Catalogue free. Address 
DIRECTRESS OF THE ACADEMY, 
St. Mary’s Academy, Notre Dame, Ind. 
Kindness gives birth to kindness, and 
love to love.—Mme. Necker. 
Incredulity robs us of many plea¬ 
sures, and gives us nothing in return.— 
J R. Lowell. 
Greatness is to take the common 
■things of life and walk truly among 
them.—Olive Schreiner. 
Bear your own burdens first; after 
that try to help carry those of other peo¬ 
ple.—George Washington. 
It is almost as presumptuous to think 
you can do nothing as to think you can 
do everything.—Phillips Brooks. 
MOTHEJRS.—Be sure to use“Mr8.Wlns- 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It Is the Best.— A.dv. 
Gold-Shell Rings. 
Most people like a 
nice ring. We show 
three styles. These are 
made by drawing a 
shell of gold over a rod 
of composition metal. 
They are better and 
will wear longer than 
solid gold rings of a 
low carat. The retail 
price would be from 75 
cents to 31. We will 
send one of these rings 
postpaid as a reward 
for sending one new subscription at 31. 
Cut a slip of paper the size of finger and 
send for size. 
