26 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
JAN. ii 
and screw-driver. Judging from personal 
experience, few thing areharder to manage 
than a saw; it has such an aggravating 
habit of slipping to one side or cutting one’s 
board on the bias, like a gore. Then it has 
a way of getting stuck fast, when just half 
through the wood, whence it comes with a 
terrific jerk that nearly jars one’s teeth out. 
It is indeed a great accomplishment when the 
saw runs smoothly, and the hammer al¬ 
ways hits the nail on the head. 
We know one girl to whom tools are the 
greatest of all joys; she saws and hammers 
and whistles with all the joy of a boy. 
This Christmas she has been mkking a lot 
of boxes, which reflect the greatest possible 
credit on her talents and aptitude. She 
makes toilet boxes, covering them with 
plush, and lining with satin, to contain 
brush, comb, and hand glass, arranging 
every detail with such neatness that the 
only difference from a bought set is that 
this home-made article is much better 
made, and covered with a far finer quality 
of plush. She makes jewel caskets, glove 
boxes, and, in fact, every sort of box, cov¬ 
ered with the plush, with the skill of a real 
cabinet-maker. She has built the most 
ornate little cottage for her pug dog, with 
highly polished wood and most ornamental 
accessories, and she now meditates a desk 
for herself. Everything about the work is 
self-taught, but she takes as much interest 
in it as most girls do in their fancy-work. 
* 
* * 
Now, every girl cannot go in for carpen¬ 
try or cabinet-work like our young friend, 
but that is no reason why we should not all 
learn to use tools. There is a great deal of 
satisfaction in knowing how, and it is sure¬ 
ly handy around the house. One thing 
many girls lack is exactness; they often 
find it hard to nail up a box “just so,” or 
wrap up a parcel, or hang a picture 
straight. Such defects are largely reme¬ 
died by a course of manual training, such 
as one gets with the use of tools. If in ad¬ 
dition to saw and hammer, a girl learns to 
use gimlet, auger, and centerbit, she will 
find herself equal to many emergencies. 
* * * 
What to do in the evenings is often a 
question in a secluded household, where 
there is a circle of young people. Reading 
aloud does for a part of the evening, but 
one often wants more stir and snap. Quite 
an amusing game, new, at least to us, may 
be played with the letters used in playing 
word-making. The players all sit around 
a table, having appointed one as umpire, 
to whom is given the box of letters. She 
takes one letter at random, and throws it 
down on the table, and the first one who 
calls out a geographical name beginning 
with the letter takes it. This is kept up 
until the box is empty, the one having the 
greatest number of letters at the end of the 
game being the winner. Any place may be 
mentioned, lake, mountain, river, town or 
village, but no name must be given twice, 
and the players must always abide by the 
decision of the umpire whether it is a real 
place or not. The game must be played 
rapidly, and it results in lots of fun. 
Bubble-blowing is a childish amusemeut, 
but young people and grown-ups too can 
have a good deal of merriment over it. 
Spread an old sheet over the carpet, and 
let the players sit in a circle, each with a 
new clay pipe and a bowl of soap-suds, and 
see who can make the greatest number of 
perfect bubbles in a given time. 
This winter one of the new toys is a fairy 
bubble outfit, consisting of measuring tube, 
soap powder, and trumpet. The soap was 
of some special preparation, making very 
brilliant bubbles of such stability that one 
could handle them without breaking, if the 
hands were covered with woolen mittens. 
A boy stationed in a shop-window blowing 
these bubbles attracted much interest 
around the holidays. 
IN WINTER QUARTERS. 
OLIVE E. DANA. 
W ITH most of us, especially in coun¬ 
try homes, the cold weather neces¬ 
sitates the closing of some apartments and 
the more constant use of others, and so con¬ 
fines the family life within a comparatively 
small space. Housekeepers do not need to 
be reminded that the lessening of the do¬ 
mestic area does not imply less or lighter 
work, but rather the reverse. The constant 
fires and the litter of fuel and ashes, the 
short days and frequent meals, the many 
articles in use which must be kept in warm 
rooms or close at hand, and all the other 
accessories pf constant indoor occupation 
and amusement combine to produce that 
condition of chronic “ clutter ” which so 
tries the housewife’s soul. It is an ever-re¬ 
curring, puzzling problem—how to so plan 
the day’s duties, and so arrange the various 
household belongings as to secure order 
and comfort and peace in place of the al¬ 
ways-threatening disorder and confusion. 
One very good rule is to have nothing in 
the living-room or rooms save what really 
belongs there. Another is the time-worn 
maxim: “A place for everything, and 
everything in its place.” It is things out 
of place only that can create disorder. Fre¬ 
quent pickings-up, too, are a great help, 
one of which should occur the last thing 
before bed-time. 
Again, it is well to so arrange the day’s 
work, so far as possible, that those tasks 
which require most space and strength and 
time may be done in the absence of the 
men, or the children, or other members of 
the family not concerned therein. System 
and forethought tell now as at all seasons. 
It is best, particularly where the sweep¬ 
ing and dusting must be done by hands 
overfull at best, to discard many dust- 
catching cushions, draperies and bric-a- 
brac, in sitting-room, dining-room and bed¬ 
rooms. Yet let us not suffer the plea of 
small or crowded rooms, or lack of time, or 
indeed any other reason, to serve as an ex¬ 
cuse for banishing to the unused rooms the 
papers and magazines, the books and games 
which are never more needed and at no 
time can be more profitably used than now. 
There should be a place for these in every 
living-room. 
And most women find it a comfort as 
well as a convenience to have some work 
set apart, even in the kitchen, for sewing- 
chair and work-basket, for whatever one is 
reading, and maybe for pencil and paper or 
common-place book to catch stray thoughts. 
It may be beside the sunniest window, this 
low, inviting chair, or perhaps in the 
chimney-niche, or beside the stand of 
plants ; let it be somewhere, and use it. 
Ventilation, which in summer upon 
our breezy hills or open intervales takes 
care of itself, must in winter be provided 
for. Even frostv air does not come in unin¬ 
vited, of which fact we are frequently ad¬ 
vised by haunting odors. The house will 
not be less but more comfortable for one 
thorough airing each day. Every room 
ought to have communication with out¬ 
doors, and frequently, either by its own 
open doors or windows or through adjoin¬ 
ing rooms. Free circulation is a great boon 
to health and happiness. Stagnant air pro¬ 
duces stagnant thoughts, and low spirits, 
and fitful tempers. The morning hour, of 
course, suffices for the chambers, save as 
some unusually mild and sunny days afford 
ampler opportunity; but for the lower 
rooms an after-dinner airing, even if doors 
and windows are opened for a few moments 
only, will clear the atmosphere and raise 
the vital tone. There are some odors that 
will linger, notably those of certain vege¬ 
tables. An effectual remedy in many cases 
is a tea-spoonful of ground coffee sprinkled 
on a hot shovel. The w r omen of the house¬ 
hold are apt to get too little out door air 
during the cold weather. There are many 
days when they can but be thankful that 
no need or duty calls them out. But for 
health’s sake and for the sake of their own 
happiness and possible helpfulness, they 
should improve every opportunity, whether 
of ride or walk, of church privilege or 
neighborly visit or social gathering, which 
the stormy season brings. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
A quiet patient heart that ^meekly serves his Lord 
God’s finger joys to touch ; It Is his harpsichord. 
CT well at the moment, said Lavater, 
and you have performed a good act 
to all eternity. 
La Bruyere said that the most delicate, 
the most sensible of all pleasures consists 
in promoting the pleasures of others. 
Our reputation is what men think of us: 
our character, what God and the angels 
think. 
TRUST men, said Emerson, and they will 
be true to you ; treat them greatly and they 
will show themselves great. 
Cicero declared that there is not a mo¬ 
ment without some duty. 
No good book or good thing of any sort, 
said Carlyle, shows its best face at first.... 
According to Plautus that man is worth¬ 
less who knows how to receive a favor but 
not how to return one. 
George Eliot writes: No soul is deso¬ 
late as long as there is a human being for 
wliorn it cay feel trust and reverence....... 
Experience, said Coleridge, too frequent¬ 
ly like the stern-lights of a vessel, throws a 
light only on the path we have passed. 
The “Sermon on the Mount” is the 
Magna Charta of the “ Kingdom of God.”.. 
SAYS F. D. Huntington: Conduct is the 
great profession ; behavior is perpetually 
revealing us ; what a man does tells what 
he is. 
The perfection of wisdom and the end of 
true philosophy is to proportion our wants 
to our possessions, and our ambitions to our 
capacities. 
Nothing, says Thoreau, makes the world 
seem so spacious as to have friends at a 
distance; they make the latitude and 
longitude. 
Let friendship creep gently to a hight; 
if it rushes to it, it may soon run itself out 
of breath. 
Happiness is like an echo; it answers to 
your call, but does not come. 
P 0 m estk C c on fltmj 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE. 
M ANY housewives prefer to do their 
own marketing, not trusting the 
buying of the food to their servants. I 
think where ladies do go to market it 
would be a good plan to have a regular 
dress made for the occasion. For summer 
have a neat foulard or French sateen ; for 
winter a quiet gray cloth or flannel suit. If 
one chances to brush against a greasy 
stall or come in contact with moist vegeta¬ 
bles such materials will not be ruined, as 
they can stand being sponged or washed 
with impunity. And then, too, it shows 
better taste to wear something quiet and 
unobtrusive on such occasions. Our sense 
of the proprieties is constantly being 
shocked by meeting ladies (at least they 
have money and position ; but I doubt if 
they are real Simon-Pure ladies) on mar¬ 
keting expeditions decked with diamond 
ear-rings, pins, etc. Perhaps they delight in 
dazzling the eyes of the butcher, fish-mon¬ 
ger or vegetable man ! Still we do not ad¬ 
mire such taste. A plain, quiet dress, ap¬ 
propriate to the occasion, will not conceal 
the fact that one is a lady—that is, if she 
is one. 
* * * 
Do NOT DEAL “ on tick ” if you can avoid 
it; or, in other words, do 'not have an ac¬ 
count at the grocery or other stores if you 
can help it. Yes, I know it is convenient. 
In fact, it is entirely too convenient. You 
take a fancy for this thing or that—off to 
the store and get it! If you had to lay out 
the money for it, you would be more likely 
to count the amount in your pocket-book 
before you gratified every whim. 
Someone saysit has been called an “ open 
account”—and appropriately so, for it is 
the broad way to bankruptcy. It has been 
called a “standing account,” and appropri 
ately so, for it stands in the way of pros¬ 
perity, and I might add, of happiness and 
contentment. 11 has also been called a “ run¬ 
ning ” account, and well it may be for 
when once started it runs up so fast that 
there are very few who can keep up with 
it. It has been the ruin of many a 
home and again I say : Do not deal “ on 
tick ” if you can avoid it! 
♦ 
* 
APROPOS ot account books, I might add 
that there is one kind of account book that 
you ought to keep—and that is one in 
which you put down all your income, and 
also all your out-go. Yes, this theme has 
been dilated upon scores of times before 
and will be scores of times again : but this 
may be the first time it is said to you. If 
you keep an account of all that comes in 
and all that goes out you will not be so 
apt to live beyond your means. Remem¬ 
ber “ a penny saved is a penny earned.” It 
is not the money a man (or woman either) 
earns that makes him rich, but what he 
saves. 
* * * 
I have just made a very pretty, 'quaint- 
looking receptacle for ribbons, laces, hand¬ 
kerchiefs, or any like thing, from a last 
summer’s white high hat. It looks so well 
and is so very useful that I decided to tell 
the Rural sisters about it. 
First I took out the sweat-band ; then 
cut a circular piece of cotton batting to fit 
the inside of the crown, addiug sachet pow¬ 
der. .Next I liued the hat with some light 
blue cashmere—a relic of some former 
finery. To do this, cut a circular piece the 
size of the crown and sew a straight piece 
all around it the depth of the hat. Then 
fasten this in the hat, seams in. Sew it 
firmly to the inner edge of the rim. Then 
sew another straight piece of material 
about six inches deep around the inner 
edge of the rim. Make a casing in the free 
edge of the latter and run a silk cord or 
ribbon through it to draw it up by. This 
will cover whatever is placed within and 
keep it fresh and free from dust. Around 
the outer side of the crown I tied a band of 
ribbon, making a bow on one side. Around 
the rim I sewed a row of tiny colored tas¬ 
sels. It makes the neatest, prettiest, 
“catch-all” that I’ve seen in along time. 
Try it. 
* 
* * 
Bright Japanese fans of odd shapes 
tacked here and there on the walls brighten 
a room up wonderfully. A Japanese fan is 
a good thing to fasten over a stove-pipe 
hole when the stoves are down. It adds a 
bright spot to the wall and also serves as a 
ventilator—the air being able to pass 
through the splints. 
* 
* * 
Small card photos are again coming into 
favor, so, of course, tiny frames to fit them 
are seen at the novelty and fancy stores. 
Many of them are elaborate works of art, 
being of oxydized silver, set with Rhine 
stones. But I came across some lovelv 
little ones the other day for nine and 12 
cents apiece. These showed only the plain 
glass in front. If one has the ability to 
paint, a few stems of daisies or clovers, 
thrown carelessly across one corner, will add 
a lovelv finish to this useful little decora¬ 
tion. DORA HARVEY VROOMAN. 
WORTH REMEMBERING. 
A VERY GOOD way to manage the cod¬ 
fish which is bought at the country 
stores is to pick it up at once when brought 
home—being careful to leave the bones out 
—and put it into a stone jar or a glass 
fruit can or any other convenient recepta¬ 
cle. It is then ready for use at a moment’s 
notice and there is no waste or inconven¬ 
ience, as there is apt to be if the fish is 
hung up, as it often dries so hard that it is 
almost useless. It is too odorous to lie on 
the shelves near where milk or provisions 
are set, and I find this plan an improve¬ 
ment on anything else I have tried. 
To grind cinnamon bark for seasoning, 
it is a good plan, before putting it into the 
mill, to put it in an old plate or saucer and 
set it iu the oven a short time, where it will 
become quite hot without burning; then 
when broken up and put in the mill, it can 
be ground fine quite easily, and it will have 
more of the genuine flavor of cinnamon 
than the prepared kind which can be 
bought’in boxes. 
TURN-OVERS. 
One table spoonful of butter, three of su¬ 
gar, four of milk, two tea-spoonfuls of bak¬ 
ing-powder, two of lemon extract, one- 
fourth package of corn-starch, flour to roll 
out. Mix up light, roll thin, cut out with 
cake-cutter, put a spoonful of jelly on each 
one, turn over and pinch together, boil in 
lard the same as doughnuts 
AUNT RACHEL. 
FROM AN ENGLISH LETTER TO A 
COUNTRY GIRL IN VIRGINIA. 
C HRISTMAS in England is spent pretty 
much as it is in America—visiting 
friends and being visited, giving presents 
and receiving them, hanging up stockings 
and looking into them, etc., etc. The gen¬ 
eral features of the holidays are very much 
the same in the two countries, though 
there are some features peculiar to Christ¬ 
mas in England. One is that “ spice bread ” 
and cheese are quite an institution here for 
Christmas, as much so as the dinner of fat 
goose and turkey, and they are handed to 
every caller. This custom, however, is not 
in vogue among the “upper ten thousand;” 
but among the great middle and working 
classes. 
Another feature of Christmas here is 
carol singing. People are roused from 
Pt.orcUancouss §uUrrti$iuQ. 
When Baby was sick, wc gave her Castoria, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castoria. 
When she became Miss, she cluug to Castorls, 
When she had Children, @h e B» ve them Castoria 
