i89o 
423 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
THOUGHTS AS THEY OCCUR. 
F you are the mother of children over six 
years old, be sure to furnish them with 
some toy dishes, and don’t think they are 
all for the girls. The boys will derive real 
comfort from them too. 
* * * 
Call your day’s work well begun, when 
you have sent each member of the family 
off to his or her dally occupation in aTiappy 
frame of mind. In the bustle of starting, 
if each has had just the help needed to 
make things edsy and pleasant, and goes 
off rested and refreshed, then turn back to 
the “ pots and pans,” or the week’s mend¬ 
ing with a thankful heart. 
* * * 
Mothers, remember the birthdays ! Why 
don’t I say, “ Fathers, rememlwr the birth¬ 
days ?” Because father has to keep in 
mind matters of more importance, particu¬ 
larly if he is a farmer; and it is mother’s 
special privilege to attend to these affairs 
connected with home which may seem 
trifling, but which mean so much to the 
children. 
* # * 
We say of a child taken from us by death, 
even as Mrs. Hemans writes in one of her 
beautiful poems, “Would I had loved him 
more!” Or. rather, would I had shown 
my love more, by doing more to make him 
happy. “ I wish I had not been so worried 
over the litter Johnnie made.” “I wish I 
had read the story she wanted again to 
Mary, even if I had read it a half dozen 
times before.” And so on, through a long 
list of “ little” things we might have done 
to add to the happiness of our beloved 
dead. This mourning over the past, is not 
without good results, however, if it causes 
us to do better by the little ones yet spared 
to us. In the natural course of events, they, 
in a few years, must leave us to go out and 
battle with the world. While we in the 
old home note their struggles, their suc¬ 
cesses and their failures, to remember 
wherpin we failed in our duty to them will 
surely cause us more sorrow than we now 
feel over the dead. SUSIE niles. 
they will look as if new. You need not 
allow for shrinkage. Two pairs of curtains 
bought at the same time, from the same 
lot, were laundered at the same time. One 
pair were pinned according to above direc¬ 
tions (the goods will stretch well while 
wet, you know), and came out almost as 
good as new; the other pair were dried 
“any way,” i. e., carelessly, and looked 
“any way” when finished. In fact, they 
had to be made over, for the parts shrank 
unequally. I hope this comes in time to 
help some of our young housekeepers who 
are "doing up” curtains for the first 
time. Of course, the experienced matrons 
did not need to be told all this, the Don. 
* * ♦ 
I THINK that I have a better plan for 
keeping pie-crust sweet and ready for use 
than the one advanced by the writer who 
tells us to wrap it in paper. After you 
have salted the flour and rubbed or chopped 
in the lard or butter, before adding any 
water, take out what you think will be 
enough for the number of pies you wish to 
make, and put the rest away dry; it will 
keep as long as you want, and it is very 
handy to have ready for use, as you have 
only to put water to it and it is ready to 
roll out for a pie, and it will take scarcely 
10 minutes to have a custard pie in the 
oven, when this prepared crust is in the 
house. 
Here is my filling for a custard pie: Beat 
up four eggs very light; salt, add four 
table-spoonfuls of white or brown sugar, 
season with nutmeg, add one quart of milk, 
and bake in a deep pie plate. 
PHIL. A. DELPHIA. 
[In writing the above note our friend 
has created a bond of sympathy between 
herself and the whole Rural family, the 
Chief Cook included; on the one side, be¬ 
cause she has given the cooks a labor-saving 
idea, on the other, because she has given a 
recipe for a good, thick custard pie, and, 
therefore, all the husbands will bless her.— 
Eds.] 
HUSBANDS. 
MY SUCCESS IN SUMMER MIL¬ 
LINERY. 
NE rare, beautiful May day I returned 
to my home from a tour of business 
errands with the fact impressed upon my 
mind or rather my head, that my millinery, 
which I, a busy woman, had thought, 
would, with the least alteration, do “fairly 
well ” for another summer was a year be¬ 
hind date. Though many of us may not 
care very much for the world’s opinion, 
few like to feel that they are a whole 
twelvemonth “behind the times” in any 
particular, even in the unessential factor 
that millinery should be in our lives. That 
very day I examined the condition of the 
exchequer, and found that only a pitifully 
small sum could be devoted to finery. 
Then, from their appointed places, I 
brought forth my last year’s hats, that had 
so pleased me before. Now, my tastes, 
grown fastidious, found defects in each ; 
luckily they could be remedied, and these 
were the ways and means: A fine, large, 
black straw hat, trimmed with black net, 
and a full cluster of white lilacs; a yellow 
straw, sailor hat, fortunately very fashion¬ 
able in shape, but the trimming, alas! 
black grosgrain ribbon, picot edge, a sure 
evidence of decline ; a small toque, faced 
with black velvet, black lace and white 
roses, the buds of which formed the decor¬ 
ations. My “ treasure-box ” disclosed three 
nice black ostrich tips, an elegant long 
black plume, which I had lavishly pur¬ 
chased in other days, and a roll of black 
velvet ribbon. I removed all the trimming 
from the large hat; I had an idea concern¬ 
ing it which I hoped to carry out. The 
milliner whom I consul ted,'told me that 
the crown of this hat could be easily 
lowered an inch for 25 cents; then it would 
be of the correct hight. The lace braid 
which formed the edge of the hat, was 
somewhat broken, so I purchased a new and 
wider one for 50 cents. I knew I could 
sew the braid on and was almost confident 
that I could adjust the crown as well as a 
“ professional.” 
After examining the iace bonnet, I had 
decided that morning that a new frame, a 
lower one, was necessary, and should be 
forthcoming. 
I began on the large hat. Around the 
lower part of the crown was a band of fine 
lace-work. This I carefully ripped from 
the brim, cut off two or three rows, fitted 
it to the brim again, and replaced the 
broken edge braid with the new one. It 
was a slow task; but as will sometimes 
happen, I had more time than quarters 
then, and I felt amply repaid and gratified 
by my success. I faced the brim with the 
net and draped it around the crown, placed 
the full tips among the loops near the front 
and the long plume gracefully around the 
crown, and my stylish chapeau was com¬ 
pleted. 
The black velvet ribbon was transferred 
to the sailor hat, as a band around the 
crown, with loops and ends in front. Both 
front and side decorations are used, but in 
the present instances the trimming when 
placed in front was found more becoming 
to the wearer. The next hat was rather to 
be a new lace bonnet, or flower bonnet. The 
new frame was low, small and natty. I 
carefully ripped all the trimmings from the 
lace bonnet. I steamed the velvet by 
placing a damp cloth around a hot flat¬ 
iron and drawing the wrong side of the 
velvet over it. The lace was dipped in a solu¬ 
tion of two table-spoonfuls of vinegar to a 
cup of tepid, soft water, rolled up in a 
cloth for a few moments, and ironed on 
the wrong side. I made a slight puff of 
the velvet around the toque, wide in front 
and narrow at the back, and gathered all 
the lace before I began to trim with it (but 
scantily in order to have the pattern dis¬ 
tinct), and let the edge just fall over the 
velvet. The lilacs, four or five stems, were 
almost exactly like many of the small 
flowers so much in vogue. All of these I 
separated into little bunches of three or 
four flowers each, and sewed them closely 
over the top, completely covering it, thus 
forming a crown of flowers. For the ties 
I bought two yards of narrow black velvet 
ribbon, at three shillings a yard, making 
six shillings, or 75 cents; the frame at 25 
cents, would make $1 the cost for this hat; 
50 cents for the braid on the large hat, 
would make the total $1.50, the entire ex¬ 
pense for the three hats. Thus another 
woman is well bonneted for the summer 
for the total outlay of $1.50. 
If one has plenty of flowers, and the 
style is becoming to the face, a dainty 
fashion is to place a row of the flowers 
nearly around the bonnet or toque, between 
the first and second rows of lace. 
A. K. JOHNSON, 
YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WAYS. 
IN A HADLEY, ’twould be a crime to 
“ pulverize that butcher;” but as you 
have cried: “ Ruralists to the rescue I ” I 
will seize the first weapon within reach—a 
beefsteak “ pulverizer ’’—and join the ranks 
as a valiant defender of onr stomachs. I am 
so glad you call for a rule to make tough beef 
steak palatable: I will give it. Ma’am, and 
digestible too. 
Pound —not cut—the steak all to rags, no 
matter if the neighbors are deafened by the 
racket: better that their ears than the stom¬ 
achs of the family should suffer. Dredge 
each side of the well punished steak with a 
little flour. Barely grease the frying-pan 
with butter or a bit of suet. The pan must 
be piping-hot when you drop in the steak, 
and must be kept so, never mind if the 
steak does “sizzle;” as soon as it’s brown on 
one side, turn it over to get brown on the 
other, then transfer it with haste to a hot 
platter to be garnished with lumps of but¬ 
ter, salt and pepper, and then convey it to 
the table. Another time omit the flour. 
* * * 
Grease all the castors when the beds are 
taken down for spring cleaning; a bottle 
of sweet oil, and a stiff feather for apply¬ 
ing the same will work wonders in im¬ 
proving the patience of the home-sweeper 
on cleaning days. They will also save 
“ wear” of carpets. Oil bureau and other 
wheels; touch the door hinges with the 
mollifying feather and also the springs and 
catches on windows. Yes, and that 
squeaky old pump. Oh, there is no end to 
the utility of a wee drap o’ oil when in¬ 
telligently applied. 
Again: When you catch your skirt or 
sleeve on a projecting nail, that has worked 
itself loose, do not frown, examine the 
rent, and go away forgetting all about 
“ that hateful nail ” till it again attracts 
attention by another gentle (?) tug at your 
apparel. Nay ! at the first notice of its ex¬ 
istence march straight to the tool-box and 
seize the hammer; return to the scene of 
danger and with one fell blow bury the 
nail. See if you do not feel as if you had 
overcome an enemy, as yon triumphantly 
put that hammer just where you found it. 
* * * 
When your new lace curtains first ar¬ 
rive, measure their exact length and 
breadth and “make a note on’t.” Then 
when the time comes for washing them, 
measure a space on the carpet of exactly 
the same size as the “ note ” calls for; pin 
the curtains on this space'and, when dry, 
S ERENA LAWTON paid me a visit last 
week; she is a fine woman and the dis¬ 
cipline of adversity has done a great deal 
for her. Unable to gratify her exquisite 
taste in dress until she had first earned the 
money needed therefor, she became a mil¬ 
liner of such skill as soon made her inde¬ 
pendent pecuniarily. 
Nothing embodies so much of beauty, of 
poetry, of divine possibility tome as a child. 
So now, as I looked at Serena in her full, 
roundly perfected, vitalized womanhood, I 
said, with a sigh that came from the very 
bottom of my heart: 
“Are you going to fill all your life with 
work and work only ? ” 
“There is little else,” she answered, sadlv; 
“ if I had not father and mother to main¬ 
tain I might afford a husband, but whom 
should I marry? It would need to be a verv 
exceptional man that could meet my re¬ 
quirements fully. Such a man as I would 
choose for a husband would be far more 
likely to seek as his mate some slender 
childlike bud of a girl that could call out 
his manliness by her need of guardianship. 
I must either marry an equal or—a—a—” 
she hesitated, then spoke, blushing at the 
disagreeable truth, “ a pet.” 
“Yes,” I assented, realizing with shame 
and anguish, as I had done often enough 
during the last 30 years, that my conjugal 
yoke-fellow was neither the one nor the 
other, “you could not easily find a man to 
whom you might look up.” 
Serena.tossed my baby into an ecstacy of 
delight with her strong, white, beautiful 
arms, then snuggling him to her, turned 
to me consolingly, with: “Why, Jessie, 
you were such a mere child when you 
married : only 15 ; you could not be expect¬ 
ed to know what Everard was. Supposing 
even that you had obtained a divorce 
directly you found him out. what would it 
have amounted to ? His gravest faults are 
the faults of men in general. Some have 
stronger redeeming traits; but so far, all 
the suitors that have offered themselves 
to me are too much like Everard Strong, 
the man who has blighted your life with 
his lack of manliness.” 
“Blighted my life ! ” Was it as bad as 
that in the eyes of a practical person like 
my world-wise Serena ? Why! Had I not 
become the truer woman because my hus¬ 
band was of unstable mind and evil habits? 
Had not his contemptible equivocation 
taught me truth, and his cowardice, bold¬ 
ness ; his sloth and wastefulness, energy 
and economy? And I had the children! 
Ah, the children! Had I not been com¬ 
pelled to thank God for not giving me more 
children ? For taking away my eldest and 
most gifted son? Serena was right: a 
woman worthy of a good hnsband must 
needs live lonely and die childless because 
there are so few good men to be had. Fools 
like myself, easily cheated by pretty talk, 
and the coarse creatures, really unfit for 
the Divine trust of motherhood, bid fair to 
outnumber the fitter sort in the candidacy 
for connubial bliss. e. s. L. 
Holmen, Wis. 
[While the above may be but a fancy 
sketch, it will, no doubt, seem to many 
happy wives and good husbands, to be un¬ 
justifiably severe. If it were actual, some 
exaggeration of expression might be for¬ 
given a good, refined woman, groaning 
under the daily burden of existence, beside 
one who was neither refined nor good. 
There would, however, be little to be 
gained from the publication of such an ar¬ 
ticle, were it not for the hope that it might 
prove a warning to girls against the worse 
than folly of too early, or hasty marriages. 
One who marries “at 15” is all too sure to 
repent at leisure: and, alas! that she will 
have so many, many years in which to ex. 
ercise repentance ! — Ed.] 
pjsreUantaus Advertising. 
Readers of R. N.-Y will please the ad¬ 
vertisers and benefit the paper by always 
mentioning it when writing to advertisers. 
With His Thumb, 
A boy is said to have saved the Netherlands 
from inundation. Multitudes have been 
saved from the invasion of disease by a 
bottle of Ayer’s Sarsaparilla. This medicine 
imparts tone to the system and strengthens 
every organ and fibre of the body. 
“ I have taken a great deal of medicine, 
but nothing has done me so much good as 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla. I experienced its bene¬ 
ficial effects before I had quite finished one 
bottle, and I can freely testify that it is the 
best blood medicine I know of.” —L. W. 
Ward, sr., Woodland, Texas. 
• “ Confined to an office, as I am, from one 
year’s end to another, with little or no out¬ 
door exercise, I find great help in Ayer’s 
Sarsaparilla, which I have used for several 
years, and am at present using, with excel¬ 
lent resKlts. It enables me to keep always 
at my post, enjoying the best of health.” — 
H. C. Barnes, Malden, Mass. 
Ayer’s Sarsaparilla 
PREPARED BV 
DR. J. C. AYER & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
Sold by Druggists. $l,six$5. Worth $5 a bottle. 
GOLD MEDAL, PARIS, 1878, 
W. BAKEIl A CO.’S 1 
Breakfast Ciena 
Is absolutely pure and 
is Is soluble. 
No Chemicals 
are used in its preparation. It baa more 
than three time* the strength of Cocoa 
mixed with Starch, Arrowroot or Sugar, 
and is therefore far more economical, 
costing less than one cent a cup. It is 
delicious, nourishing, strengthening, EA¬ 
SILY Digested, and admirably adapted 
for invalids as well as persons in health. 
Sold by Grocers everywhere. 
W. BAKER & CO.. Dorchester, Mass. 
HOW DOLLARS ARE MADE! 
Fortunes are made every day In the booming towns 
along THE QUEEN & CRESCENT ROUTE. 
Cheap Lands and Homes in Kentucky 
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi 
and Louisiana. 
stock lauds. Also the finest fruit and mineral lands 
°n the continent for sale on favorsble terms. 
FARMERS! with all thy getting get a home in 
the sunny South where blizzards and ice clad plains 
are unknown. THE QUEEN & CRESCENT ROUTE IS 
and qutrkr.l Line CINCINNATI to NEW ORLEANS 
e»t and tyilrkent Cincinnati to Jacksonville, Fla. 
For Correct County Maps, Lowest Rates and full par 
ticulats.addr ess ,D G.Edw ards, lien.Pass.ATkt.Agt., 
Queen tfc Crescent. RouteTUncinnjTfiro; 
