1901 
6i9 
A Day With the Babies. 
Where the narrow strip of Jersey 
shore rises abruptly to the Faiisades, 
with the white dome of Grant’s tomb 
gleaming directly across the Hudson, a 
small vine-covered cottage attracts the 
passer-by. It is not the gay window 
boxes, the smooth green lawn, sloping 
up towards the rocky bluffs, or the 
abundant shade that causes one to 
linger near, but the avalanche of babies, 
overflowing from the cottage to the 
lawn, the roadway, and even to the 
river’s edge. It is not a kindergarten 
or an orphan asylum, as a first glance 
might suggest, but a fresh-air day nur¬ 
sery, where poor mothers may take en¬ 
feebled infants and children from the 
crowded city for a breath of wholesome 
country freshness. It is doing practical¬ 
ly the same work as the Floating Hos¬ 
pital, described in The R. N.-Y. two or 
three years ago, only, instead of a day 
on salt water, the Edgewater Creche 
provides the pleasures of the country. 
It is 16 years since the Cr6che began 
its work. A good woman started its 
career with Mason Cottage, a pretty lit¬ 
tle shingled building like a Swiss chalet; 
an open-air pavilion was added and a 
bath house is now in course of construc¬ 
tion. A bathing pool has been enclosed 
between two jutting piers, within stone’s 
throw of the front door, and it is a 
joyous sight to see the children in 
various stages of undress, paddling or 
splashing in the river. The guests of 
the Cr6che receive tickets entitling 
them to its privileges, and providing 
them with transportation across the 
river, from various churches, societies 
and nurses’ associations in Hew York. 
Last year between June 15 and Septem¬ 
ber 15, 10,192 guests were received. The 
Cr6che is entirely dependent upon vol¬ 
untary contributions, and makes no dis¬ 
tinctions of race, color or creed. In ad¬ 
dition to the matron, a trained nurse 
is in attendance, and it receives a daily 
visit from a woman physician. 
From the reception room, furnished 
in a cool harmony of blue and white, 
we go upstairs to a dormitory, with rows 
of little white cots for sleeping babies. 
“Do your guests ever stay over 
night?” we asked. 
“Sometimes,” said the matron. “We 
may decide that a sick child would be 
greatly beneflted by staying, or our 
nurse may wish to arrange for its care. 
We have a bed here for the mother, too.” 
Looking at both mothers and babies, 
we were struck by their neat appear¬ 
ance. Many looked ailing, with the 
bleached tenement-house complexion we 
grow familiar with in the city, but there 
was no appearance of squalor. Mention¬ 
ing this to the matron she said: 
“You can’t judge poor people by out¬ 
ward appearances. They wear their 
best clothes when they come here, and 
their self-respect prevents them from 
making any parade of their circum¬ 
stances. There may be real want among 
those you see now.” 
The number of visitors goes as high 
as 375 in a single day. The collection of 
babies at the time of our visit was a 
very variegated one. There was one 
family of flve Japanese, ranging in age 
from about 10 years to as many months, 
and these little slant-eyed subjects of 
the Mikado pranced about the lawn and 
took flying jumps off the terrace with 
as much exuberance as the native born. 
One solemn baby sat alone in the mid¬ 
dle of the crowded lawn, apparently feel¬ 
ing that this was no occasion for levity; 
his attention was equally divided be¬ 
tween a pair of sky-blue stocKings and 
the wandering shadows from the 
branches over his head, which were evi¬ 
dently a new experience. Brick-and-mor- 
tar babies know little enough of the 
things that grow; some of the tired wo¬ 
men who visit the Cr6che and view the 
growth about the Palisades say that 
they never before knew so many trees 
and flowers grew in America! 
Th« bath house now being built is a 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
memorial gift; it contains 16 baths for 
babies, and three for adults, but the 
river pool is the great attraction to the 
children old enough to enjoy it. It is 
pleasant, too, to see the bland satisfac¬ 
tion with which the juveniles imbibe 
milk, a little-known fluid with many of 
them. To the average tenement dweller, 
milk is a luxury, and not a food. One 
mother who had commented on the good 
temper of her baby while at the Cr6che, 
was asked whether she gave him milk 
3805 House Gown, 
32 to 42 in. bust- 
at home. “No, indeed,” she answered 
with surprise. “He gets his coffee, like 
the rest of us. Milk costs too much; be¬ 
side, it’s too much trouble.” 
The white-capped nurse and white- 
aproned matron, little women both, with 
a big responsibility resting upon them, 
c'an tell many a tale of the silent hero¬ 
ism, the suffering, and the mutual and 
brotherly charity of the poor. Some of 
the saddest sights we see from the tall 
windows of The R. N.-Y. office, are the 
frequent babies’ funerals from the near¬ 
by tenements—sometimes with the 
senseless parade of hearse, procession 
and braiss band—sometimes a pathetic 
little coffin carried into a shabby hack. 
The pcxir city baby must have a strong 
grasp on life to keep his hold on it at 
all, and this present Summer has been 
harder than usual to endure. Such in¬ 
stitutions as the Edgewater Crdche, St. 
John’s Guild, and the various fresh-air 
associations mean life to many a child, 
and even those who doubt the usefulness 
of many so-called charities must be in 
sincere sympathy with their work. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The house gown or wrapper shown 
has the yoke faced on to the lining, but 
both the gathered fronts and the pleated 
back are separate and are arranged over 
it. The neck is finished with a regula¬ 
tion stock, and shaped bretelles fall 
over the shoulders and make a most ef¬ 
fective trimming. The sleeves are in 
bishop style with pointed bands at the 
wrists. The original is held at the waist 
by ribbon velvet, but when desired the 
gown can be allowed to fall free from 
the yoke. To cut this gown for a woman 
of medium size 12 yards of material 21 
inches wide, 11 yards 27 inches wide, 
10% yards 32 inches wide, or 6% yards 
44 inches wide will be required, with 
one yard of plain silk for tucking or % 
yard of tucked material for yoke and 
collar. The pattern No. 3805 is cut in 
sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42-inch 
bust measure; price 10 cents. 
The breakfast jacket illustrated is 
suited to dimity, batiste, lawn and the 
like, and to such light-weight wools as 
cashmere and albatross, but in the ori- 
MOTHEiRS. —Be sure to use"Mrs.Wlns- 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Beet.— Adv. 
ginal is made of white lawn with frills 
and bands of needlework. The fronts 
are tucked to yoke depth, then allowed 
to fall free and form folds, but the back 
is laid in pleats that are stitched in 
tucks and produce a tapering effect. At 
the neck is a sailor collar and the 
sleeves, as shown, are tucked and in el¬ 
bow length, but the pattern also in¬ 
cludes those of full length that are cut 
in slight bell shape. To cut this jacket 
for a woman of medium size, four yards 
of material 27 or 32 inches wide, or 2% 
yards 44 inches wide will be required, 
with 4% yards of embroidered bands 
and seven yards of edging to trim as 
illustrated. The pattern No. 3892 is cut 
in sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40-inch 
bust measure; price 10 cents. 
Rural Recipes. 
Peach Roll.—Cream together half a 
cupful of butter and a cupful of sugar, 
add two well-beaten eggs, also half a 
pint of rich milk. Mix well, then sift 
in flour enough to make a soft dough. 
Divide the dough in three, ix)ll out each 
piece in a long oval, and cover the up¬ 
per sides of the dough sheets with ripe 
peaches, peeled and sliced thin. Roll 
up the sheets, pinch the ends, and lay 
them in a baking pan side by side, then 
set them in a brisk oven. Serve with 
a very rich sweet sauce, flavored with 
the peach kernels, blanched and shred¬ 
ded fine. 'Po make this sauce, cream a 
cupful of butter, mix it well with two 
cups of sugar, beat very light, then set 
over hot water, beat in the juice of a 
lemon. Add the shredded kernels, and 
stir hard. Keep the water around the 
sauce boiling until ready to serve. Cut 
the roll in thin slices, put three on each 
plate, and deluge them with the sauce. 
Preserved Melon.—Muskmelons, or 
cantaloupes, that are underripe, and the 
rind of watermelons, may be preserved 
in this manner; Make a syrup of sugar 
and water, one pound of sugar to a 
quart of water; when the syrup is boil¬ 
ing, drop in the melon and allow it to 
stand until the next day; then pour off 
the syrup; let it heat to boiling point 
and pour over the melon slices and let 
stand until cold. Repeat this for three 
days. After boiling up the syrup the 
last time and before pouring it over 
3892 Breakfast Jacket, 
32 to 40 Bust. 
the fruit, flavor delicately with vanilla 
extract. 
Spiced Melon.—Select melons not 
quite ripe or take the rind of water¬ 
melons, slice, pare and cut into strips 
or blocks. Steep these for 24 hours in 
cold water and vinegar; have water 
enough to cover and add enough vine¬ 
gar to make the water tart, but not very 
acid. Then drain them and put them 
into a cold syrup made of sugar and 
water boiled together. Bring slowly to 
boiling; then let get cold; then drain 
off the syrup; add to it a few sticks of 
cinnamon, a few cloves and little ginger 
root; boil up and pour over the melon 
slices; repeat for three days; then seal 
up in jars. Another way is to take flve 
pounds of the fruit, cut into blocks; 
put into a stone jar. Boil three pounds 
of sugar with one quart of vinegar and 
pour over the fruit. Continue to do this 
for eight days. The following day pour 
off the syrup, add to it half an ounce of 
whole cloves and one ounce of stick cin¬ 
namon; boil together for a few minutes; 
then add the melon and simmer gently 
for half an hour. Seal in jars and do 
not open for two or three months. 
Cucumber Catsup.—Pare large, ripe 
cucumbers, remove the seeds; grate fine 
and measure. Place the pulp in a col¬ 
ander and drain well. To every quart 
of the pulp allow a half-teaspoonful of 
cayenne pepper, one teaspoonful of salt, 
two tablespoonfuls of grated horse-rad¬ 
ish, and a pint of good cider vinegar. 
Mix together thoroughly, do not cook; 
bottle and seal. This is very nice to 
serve with fish. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
‘ ‘a square deal. ’ ’ See our guarantee 8th page. 
o ne word — 
Macbeth — stands 
for everything good 
in lamp chimneys. 
My name on every one. 
If you’ll send your a<l(lres5, I’ll send you 
the Index to Lamps and their Chimneys, to 
tell you what number to get for your lamp. 
M.A.ciii"n[, Pittsburgh. 
flO 
The 
WorldsTimel 
Standard 
—i.s Elgin time, and has been 
since the Elgin factory per¬ 
fected the American watch. 
Every portion of an 
ELGIN 
WATCH 
—and every machine used to 
make it—is made in the Klgiu 
factory. The Watch Word every¬ 
where is Elgin. Every Elgin 
Watch has the word “Elgin” en¬ 
graved on the works. Booklet free. 
ELGIN 
N.VTIGNAI. WATCH 
Elgin, 111. 
CO. 
JUNIOR Dash Lamp 
Cold Blast. 
For Kerosene. 
s a neat, moderate sized tubular lantern with strong reflector, 
bio to any vehicle, and gives an extra good light that will not 
..., wmd. It is but 12 in. high; weighs only 26 oz.; burns 
Id hours. Can be used as hand, wall or dash lamp. Attachment for 
accompanies each. There is no removing of the globe in 
lighting or regulating. It is easily kept clean and absolutely 
not at your dealers, send US$1.25 and we will send you one all 
charges prepaid, safe delivery guaranteed. 
Before you buy anything in Lamps or Lanterns obtain our large 
illustrated catalogue, sent free on request. 
E. Dietz Company, 
