698 
THE RURAL 
NEW-YORKER 
October 12 
I Woman and Home ] 
From Day to Day. 
WHEN JOHNNY SPENDS THE DAY. 
When Johnny spends the day with us, you 
never seen the beat 
O’ all the things a-happenin’ In this ole 
house an’ street. 
Ma she begins by lockin’ up the pantry 
door an’ cellar, 
An’ ev’ry place that’s like as not to inter¬ 
est a feller. 
An’ all her chiny ornyments, a-stlckln’ 
’round the wall. 
She sets as high as she can reach, fer fear 
they’ll git a fall. 
An’ then she gits the arnlcky, an’ stlckln’ 
plaster out. 
An’ says, “When Johnny ’s visitin’ they're 
good to have about.’’ 
I tell you what, there’s plenty fuss 
When Johnny spends the day with us! 
When Johnny spends the day with us. Pa 
puts his books away. 
An’ says, “How long, in thunder, is that 
noosance goin’ to stay?” 
He brings the new lawn mower up, an’ 
locks it in the shed; 
An’ hides his strop, an’ razor, ’tween the 
covers on the bed. 
He says, “Keep out that library, whatever 
else you do, 
Er I shall have a settlement with you, an’ 
Johnny, too!” 
Says he, “It makes a lot o’ fuss 
To have him spend the day with us!” 
When Johnny spends the day with us, the 
man acrost the street 
Runs out an’ swears like anything, an’ 
stamps with both his feet; 
An’ says he’ll have us ’rested ‘cause his 
winder-glass is broke. 
An’ if he ever ketches us it won’t be any 
joke! 
He never knows who done it, ’cause there’s 
no one ever ’round. 
An’ Johnny, In pertlcular, ain’t likely to be 
found. 
I tell you what, there’s plenty fuss 
When Johnny spends the day with us! 
When Johnny spends the day with us, the 
cat gits up and goes 
A-scootln’ c’rost a dozen lots to some ole 
place she knows; 
The next door children climb the fence, an’ 
hang around for hours. 
An’ bust the hinges off the gate, an’ tram¬ 
ple down the flowers; 
An’ break the line with Bridget’s wash, 
an’ muddy up the cloze; 
An’ Bridget she gives warnin’ then—an’ 
that’s the way it goes— 
A plenty noise an’ plenty fuss. 
When Johnny spends the day with us! 
—Elizabeth Sylvester in Century. 
* 
Chicago is to have a Scbool of Do¬ 
mestic Arts and Science. This school will 
continue the work formerly conducted 
at Armour Institute, which was crowded 
out there by other departments. The 
school has been started by an organiza¬ 
tion of women, who recognize the good 
work which was done at Armour Insti¬ 
tute. Cooking, sewing, dressmaking, 
millinery and nursing will all be taught 
practically, and the school is expected 
to be self-supporting. 
m 
A FKiEND in New York State asks how 
to make the old-fashioned watermelon 
rind preserve, which was a decided 
green In color, and cut into fanciful 
shapes. We have never made this sweet¬ 
meat, but recently met with the recipe 
for it. It improves and gains richness 
with keeping, and is exceedingly pretty. 
Cut up the rind in fanciful shapes. Place 
in strong brine and cover with grape 
leaves. After three days remove from 
the brine and soak in fresh water until 
all the salt taste is gone. Cover with 
cold water in which pulverized alum Is 
dissolved, in the proportion of four 
tablespoonfuls to one gallon of water. 
Cover with grape leaves, and let simmer 
for about half an hour; again soak in 
fresh water to remove the taste of alum. 
Make a syrup of two quarts of water, 
two pounds of sugar, half a pound of 
ginger root, sliced very thin, and one 
ounce of mace; this will require half 
an hour’s boiling or more to make a 
thick, rich syrup, and this proportion is 
for about 10 quarts of the rind. Pour 
the syrup over the rind, which must al¬ 
ways be kept completely covered. From 
time to time add more syrup if neces¬ 
sary. 
* 
Just what constitutes an educated 
man is generally regarded as a difficult 
definition. Our standards vary, nor is 
it safe to regard real education as intel¬ 
lectual training only. Here is a defini¬ 
tion given in Munsey’s Magazine by 
Prof. Butler, of Columbia College, as to 
the requirements which entitle a man to 
be termed educated: 
1. Correctness and precision in the use 
of the mother tongue. 
2. Those refined and gentle manners 
which are the expression of fixed habits 
of thought and of action. 
3. The power and habit of reflection. 
4. The power of intellectual growth. 
B. Efficiency, the power to do. 
* 
Here is a chicken story from Hindus¬ 
tan related by Mrs. Isabel Savory in her 
book, “A Sportswoman in India,” which 
was related to her by a man whom she 
knew well in that country: 
He had a henhouse and a hen that was 
sitting, but unluckily for her hatching op¬ 
erations a cobra got through a chink In 
the henhouse. The cobra made a fine meal 
of well-warmed eggs, but when it essayed 
to retire by the same hole through which 
It had entered It found those eggs In the 
way. It was much too large to get out, so 
It stuck in the hole, half in the henhouse 
and half outside. There it was discovered 
the next morning in a surfeited condition. 
It paid for its greediness with its life, and 
then it paid back the eggs it had stolen; 
for when the body of the snake was open¬ 
ed the eggs were all found unbroken and 
warm. They were replaced under the hen, 
and in due time were hatched, none the 
worse for their peculiar incubation. The 
strange fact that the cobra could swallow 
whole an egg much bigger than its own 
head is accounted for by the peculiar con¬ 
struction of that head. The head and jaws 
of the cobra are loose, and can be enor¬ 
mously stretched and distorted. 
Some time ago one of our readers in a 
western State told bow she and her 
neighbors met on mending days, work¬ 
ing together while one of their number 
read aloud. The gathering made toil a 
pleasure; work progressed rapidly, and 
the reading was a blessing to many a 
busy housewife who felt, ordinarily that 
she never had time to pick up a book 
or magazine. We hear of the same plan 
being carried out by other western wo¬ 
men, who have formed a darning club, 
which gives them the opportunity of ex¬ 
changing ideas, and listening to good 
literature, while they finish the week’s 
mending. It is a good idea to plan such 
meetings now, before the Winter begins; 
a surprising amount of wholesome plea¬ 
sure may be secured from it. There is 
one thing to be remembered, in planning 
such meetings; If any refreshments are 
served, they should be of the simplest 
character possible, like English after¬ 
noon tea. Elaboration destroys the 
character of such a gathering, and im¬ 
poses an undue burden upon the hostess, 
* 
We are told that the coming Winter 
is to see an extensive use of velvet, both 
in millinery and dress trimmings. Straps 
and rows of ribbon velvet are used a 
great deal on woolen waists. Where 
straps are used, the ends are pointed and 
often finished with tiny buttons. In 
some cases lacings of fine cord cross the 
straps, being fastened at each side with 
little bead-like ornaments. On the 
whole metal trimmings will not be used 
so much as last Winter, and the tinsel 
belts in such favor a year ago have now 
dropped quite out of sight. Some of 
them did rather suggest comparison 
with a brass band. In general trim¬ 
mings, up-and-down lines and stripes 
hold favor; this effect is given by tucks 
and straps on the waists. Horizontal 
tucking seems out of favor, even on the 
sleeves. Although the coat sleeve is 
seen on outside wraps and plain cloth 
gowns, the tendency is still for decided 
fullness below the elbow, the bell sleeve 
or large pear-shaped puff appearing very 
frequently. The puffed undersleeve fol¬ 
lows the outline of the bell shape, the 
puff being long, and decidedly full. 
Pickling White Onions. 
Can you give me a tested recipe for pick¬ 
ling small white onions? j. H. R. 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
First pour boiling water over the 
onions, to loosen the skins. As soon as 
cool enough to handle, begin to peel, 
dropping the onions, as peeled, into salt 
water (not brine) to prevent them from 
being discolored. Make a strong brine, 
heated to the boiling point, and pour 
over the onions. Leave them in the 
lirine 48 hours, then drain. Spice vine¬ 
gar according to the taste, which differs 
much with different persons, heat to 
boiling point, and pour over the onions. 
Set away for two or three days, then 
pour off the vinegar, heat it again, and 
cover the onions for the second time, 
put in the jars in which they are to be 
stored, tie up the covers and put away. 
To keep the onions white they should be 
pickled in white wine vinegar, but we 
prefer cider vinegar, because we are 
more sure of its purity, and it is more 
convenient. The onions take a yellow 
tint, but their fiavor is unimpaired. 
There are men who have never be¬ 
lieved enough to doubt. There are some 
who have never thrown their hopes 
with such earnestness on the world to 
come as to feel anxiety for fear It 
should not be true. But every one who 
knows what faith is, knows too what 
is the desolation of doubt.—P. W. Rob¬ 
ertson. 
in 
Business 
MetKods 
Farming 
Farming that pays large dividends. How 
to get good workers and foremen. By 
S. W. Allerton. Reprinted from a re¬ 
cent number of The Saturday Evening 
Post and will be sent to any address, 
together with a three months’ trial 
subscription to The Saturday Evening 
Post, on receipt of only twenty-five 
cents. The Saturday Evening Post is 
a handsome weekly magazine, beau¬ 
tifully printed and illustrated. Estab¬ 
lished by Benjamin Franklin in 1728, 
and published regularly every week for 
173 years, and now has a circulation of 
315,000 copies vveekly, and ought to 
have a million. 
No farmer can afford to lose what 
the strongest men in trade, politics a nd 
statecraft have to say—our own special 
contributors, including 
Ex=President Cleveland 
Hon. Thomas B. Reed 
James J. Hill 
Senator A. J. Beveridge 
Secretary Lyman J. fiage 
Postmaster°(ieneral Smith 
Address THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
PublisKers of THe Ladies’ Home Journal 
