i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
887 
BAGS-USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL. 
HE great variety of materials out of 
which bags are constructed, the wide 
range of uses to which they are adapted, 
and the decided comfort which a liberal 
use of them gives the thrifty woman who 
perseveringly strives to live up to the old 
adage: “ A place for everything and every¬ 
thing in its place,” have given them an envi¬ 
able, permanent place among our belong¬ 
ings. It would be almost an easier task to 
say what materials are not adapted to 
making them than what are. Plush, vel¬ 
vet, the various kinds of silk and satin, 
sateen, damask, brocade, cretonne, cotton 
sateen, both figured and plain, Turkey red 
calico, ticking, denim, chamois leather and 
silk bolting cloth, all these serve the pur¬ 
pose admirably. 
Take an inventory of all the odds and 
ends of either pretty or useful things in 
your possession, and be sure that the piece 
you cannot use for anything else will help 
make a pretty bag, if only you have the in¬ 
genuity to utilize it to the best advantage. 
If you are an adept at either painting or 
embroidery you can, of course, employ the 
knowledge to effect beautiful results ; but 
if you have neither the time nor the ability 
for doing these, be comforted by the 
thought that you will certainly not inflict 
on a long-suffering public any more of the 
ugly effects so often produced in both kinds 
of these so-called “ornamentations.” Then, 
too, if one fortunately has both means and 
a cultivated taste, as beautiful results can 
be obtained by the harmonious combina¬ 
tion of materials, colors and designs, as by 
the most elaborate embroidery or painting. 
Nearly all the various kinds of embroidery 
and painting, both in water and oil colors, 
are used in decorating bags. Besides 
these, the various fancy stitches done in 
silk can be used very effectively, fringe or 
lace, either home-made or oriental, being 
commonly employed. Cords and tassels, 
ribbon, metal ornaments in a variety of 
shapes, and small brass rings covered with 
single crochet done in silk, make a hand¬ 
some heading for fringe ; or these last can 
be used with excellent effect in over laid 
work. Care should be taken to make the 
crochetted stitches even and close to¬ 
gether. In covering these rings, threads, 
zephyrs, worsteds, embroidery silks, flower- 
crewels, etc., may be utilized. The tassels 
should always be made full, put through 
the ring and fastened; they can be put 
close together, or a space can be left be¬ 
tween them, as one chooses. 
First among useful bags I put those used 
to hold soiled clothes ; either the medium¬ 
sized ones to be placed in each individual 
chamber for collars, cuffs and handker¬ 
chiefs, or the more generous sized ones, 
which should be relegated to closets and 
bath rooms. Of the former class there is 
the ordinary shaped bag, which is made 
by sewing together the long sides of an ob¬ 
long piece of goods, lining it, and putting 
a shirr from two to three inches below the 
top, leaving the sides open above the shirr 
to display the lining, which may be either 
similar to the outside or of a contrary color. 
Either cord or ribbon is used to gather the 
bag and to suspend it by. 
A decidedly handsomer shaped bag is 
made from an oblong piece of goods, two 
by three feet. Sow the two long sides to¬ 
gether to the depth of a foot from each 
end; fold so as to bring the seam in the 
center of the width, and sew up both ends. 
A handsome one was made of figured Nile 
green French sateen, lined with a delicate 
shade of pink, and having each end trimmed 
with ring tassels made of cream linen 
thread. Get a wooden ring, such as is used 
for portieres, and putting the top end 
through it, let it hang over to a depth of 
eight inches; fasten with a few stitches, 
and use the ring to suspend it by. Pretty 
fancy-striped towels are used, having the 
fringe at the ends. The bags can also be 
made much larger than this for closets and 
bath rooms. 
Still another handsome bag is obtained 
by taking 2% yards of cretonne, folding it 
double and sewing the side edges togther. 
PLEASE mention Thb R. N.-Y. to our adver¬ 
tisers. 
Wlieu Baby was sick, we gave her Castoria, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castoria, 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castoria, 
When she had Children, she gave them Castoria. 
The upper edge is then faced to a depth of 
two inches with plain sateen, and a small 
slat is run under the facing, being held in 
place by a row of shirring at the upper and 
lower edges. The upper row forming a 
frilled edge. An opening a quarter of a 
yard long is made on the outside of the bag 
at the center near the top. Its edges are 
bound with the sateen, and a ribbon bow 
finishes the lower end. Rosettes of ribbon 
decorate each upper corner, and the bag is 
suspended by a similar ribbon. Where a 
bag is needed to hold «, large amount, this 
is an excellent style.' 
Ticking and denims make excellent bags, 
where durability is essential, and either 
kind of goods can be decorated to look 
really handsome. The latter material is 
prettier when bleached enough to look 
dull, and most people think the wrong side 
preferable to the right. Outline embroid¬ 
ery, done in either white or red, is very 
effective on this material. 
I saw dainty bags made of all-over em¬ 
broidery, and others of figured Swiss mus¬ 
lin, both kinds being lined with colors and 
decorated with ribons to correspond. A 
clothes-pin bag is a decided acquisition. 
Use strong material, make a bag 18 inches 
deep, with a back 12 inches and a front 15 
inches wide. Gather the latter to fit the 
former at the bottom and sew together; 
put an inch-wide band long enough to 
reach around the waist on to the back at 
the top, and curve out the top of the front. 
Shoe bags, so called, are excellent for 
various other purposes. Strong materials 
are best. They should be made about two- 
thirds as wide as the door to which they 
are to be fastened, and they may have 
either one or two rows of pockets. A foun¬ 
dation is first made and then an oblong 
piece once and a half as long as the founda¬ 
tion is wide is gathered at the bottom, 
shirred at the top, and sewed strongly to 
the foundation. Tacked to the inside of 
the closet or other door, such bags are ex¬ 
cellent receptacles for various other things 
besides shoes and rubbers. Where cup¬ 
boards or drawers are lacking among 
kitchen and pantry conveniences, when se¬ 
curely fastened to the doors they help much 
to make up the deficiency. 
Dusting bags should be considered a 
necessity in nearly every room; an un¬ 
sightly accumulation of dust would often 
be removed easily if a duster were conven¬ 
iently at hand. One of a very pretty shape, 
which admits of being handsomely made of 
odds and ends, is formed by first smoothly 
covering a round piece of cardboard four 
inches in diameter, with whatever material 
the bag is to be made of. Sew together the 
short ends of an oblong piece 10 by 24 
inches; line this, and make a shirr two 
inches below the top; gather the bottom 
slightly and sew to the cardboard in over¬ 
hand stitch. Made of short pieces of 
ribbon, velvet or plush used separately or 
in combination, these bags are quaint and 
handsome. Ticking ornamented with fancy 
stitching done in crewels, silk or tinsel, is 
well adapted for these bags. And there is 
no better duster than a yard square of 
cheese cloth with an inch wide hem all 
around it feather stitched in yellow linen 
floss. KATHERINE B. J. 
TREE, OR STOCKING? 
* ( T F I am to have any Christmas gifts 
X I want them put into my stockings 
or in some way attached to them. I don’t 
want a single one put on the Christmas 
tree at the church,” said Elta, who had 
not yet seen her 15th birthday, but was ex¬ 
ceedingly thoughtful for her years. 
“Why, what is the matter with the 
Christmas tree ? ” inquired her father, as 
he looked up from his paper, “ I thought 
that was just the place to exhibit all the 
fine things; or are you afraid yours will 
not compare well with those given to your 
friends.” 
“ I am not afraid mine will not be good 
enough to exhibit, if that were all. But 
there are a good many children and grown 
folks, too, who will go there hoping to be 
remembered with something nice, that are 
very likely to go away with nothing more 
than a tiny bag of pop-corn and candy 
mixed, while those who are no better brush 
past them apparently loaded down with 
costly gifts, and there will be a sad pain in 
some hearts and in others a feeling of envy 
and hatred will be awakened, and I don’t 
want any one to look at me with envious 
eyes. Then, I don’t like Christmas trees 
anyway, and I do like the old myth of 
Santa Claus coming down the chimney 
with presents. It is such a sweet pleasure 
to jump out of bed at the Christmas dawn, 
and look over the pretty gifts that seem to 
have come by magic while we have been 
sleeping and spread them out on the table 
and then go back to bed and have a cosy, 
dreamy nap till the house is all astir. De¬ 
liver me from the ostentatious Christmas 
tree, where lots of presents are hired for 
the occasion ; even empty boxes are done 
up in parcels to make an appearance of 
many valuable gifts from numerous 
friends. It is too disgusting for anything.” 
MAT MAPLE. 
[Elta’s experience with Christmas trees 
has been very unfortunate for one so 
young. Let us hope that, when she is 
older, she may find more pure pleasure in 
them, even if it be by making special trees 
for some of those who have been left out — 
Eds.] _ 
SWEET POTATOES—NEW EVERY 
DAY. 
ITH sweet potatoes cheaper than 
the white ones, even in many parts 
of the North, we must regard them as a 
staple article of food. After tiring of them 
cooked in the ordinary plain baked and 
boiled styles, the good housewives will be¬ 
gin to cast about for some new ways of 
serving them in order that they may not 
become a drug in the every-day “ market,” 
that is, the home-table. 
To serve them with meat, they may be 
first steamed until nearly done, then peeled, 
sliced, and placed in the dripping-pan 
around the meat, as they should be basted 
at intervals until nicely browned. This 
way of cooking them is counted especiallv 
nice with salt pork. 
They may also be cooked in a similar 
manner without meat by placing them in a 
buttered baking pan and basting them with 
butter. Prepared in this way they become 
“ glazed sweet potatoes.” 
A combination of boiled-baked sweet po. 
tatoes, which is a relief from both, consists 
in boiling them till tender, peeling and 
slicing them as before, * sprinkling a layer 
with white sugar and a little salt, and 
adding butter generously. “Repeat from 
as the knitting directions say, and bake 
half an hour. 
There are three ways of using sweet po¬ 
tatoes which are considered particularly 
nice for hygienists : in sweet-potato bread, 
sweet-potato cake, and sweet-potato pud¬ 
ding. 
To make the bread, boil, peel, and mash 
half a dozen of the potatoes, add Graham 
flour enough to make pretty stiff, knead 
well, and bake in small loaves. 
For the cake, proceed as for sweet potato 
bread, then add grated cocoanut and chop 
ped figs, dates, or raisins, or all three. 
Bake as cookies. To make the pudding, 
grate six raw sweet potatoes of medium 
size, add two quarts of cold sweet cider (or 
water with a little boiled cider); one cup of 
grated cocoanut, and one cup of raisins. 
Thicken with Graham flour to a medium 
stiff batter; beat well, and bake in a moder¬ 
ate oven. 
What are sometimes known as “ Southern 
sweet potatoes ” are prepared somewhat 
like “ boiled-baked.” They are sliced raw, 
however, and sprinkled with the sugar and 
salt. Water to cover them is then poured 
into the pan, and the potatoes are also 
covered with a dish, and baked two hours. 
A fine gravy is formed in this way. This 
may seem to the Northern palates a great 
deal like “sweets to the sweet,” but it will 
make a change, and perhaps it will be 
relished to an unexpected degree. 
I suppose I am one of the newer friends, 
but let us not cast aspersions; we shall all be 
old soon enough. I am anxious to help and 
to be helped. myra y. norys. 
Next week we shall give in this department 
special directions for the women’s share 
in that disagreeable but necessary part of 
farm work known as “ butchering.” This 
will be for the help of younger housekeep 
ers, who often have sore need of instruc¬ 
tion when called upon to take up the bur¬ 
den of this work. 
Chocolate Pudding—Very Nice.— One 
quart of milk put on in the double boiler. 
When it boils add two heaping table 
spoonfuls of corn-starch mixed in some of 
the milk reserved for that purpose from the 
quart, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, half a 
teaspoonful of salt and an ounce (square) of 
Baker’s chocolate, scraped and melted. 
Let it boil five minutes stirring well. Take 
from the fire and add one tablespoonful of 
vanilla extract, one egg, and a small lump 
of butter. Return to the fire a moment to 
set the egg. Put in a mold or bowl which 
has been wet with cold water. When cold, 
serve in the center of a platter with a 
boiled custard poured around, or plain, 
with cream, whipped, if preferred. 
In writing to advertisers please always 
mention The Rural. 
Nothing Else 
equals Ayer’s Pills for stimulating a torpid 
liver, strengthening digestion, and regu¬ 
lating the action of the bowels. They con¬ 
tain no calomel, nor any other injurious 
drug, but are composed of the active princi¬ 
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“ I was a sufferer for years from dyspepsia 
and liver troubles, and found no permanent 
relief until I commenced taking Ayer’s Pills. 
They have effected a complete cure.”— 
George Mooney, Walla Walla, W. T. 
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Eock House. Ya. 
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thartic Pills are the most effective medicine I 
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“ Two boxes of Ayer’s Pills cured me of 
severe headache, from which I was long a suf¬ 
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Ayer’s Pills, 
PREPARED BY 
DR. J. C. AYER & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
Sold by all Dealers in Medicines 
ADVICE TO THE ACED. 
Age brings infirmities, such as sluggish, 
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Tuff's Pills 
have a specific effect on these organs, stim¬ 
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VICTORY AT LAST ! 
Self-threading Sewing Needles. 
The Blind can nse them. Invaluable for 
failing sight Finest needles made. Mill- 
ward's Gold Eyes- do not cut the thread. 
Sample paper, 10c : 8 for 25c : 12 for 15c. 
New England Novelty M’f’g Co., 
21 Portland St., Boston, Mass. 
Six days earlier than 
any variety tested at the 
Agricuit’l Ex. Grounds 
at Geneva, N. Y. Color 
greenish white : pulp 
lender, sweet and de¬ 
licious. The only grape 
that ranks first boih in 
earliness and quality. 
Each vine sealed with 
our registered trade¬ 
mark label. Send for 
circulars giving lurtn.r ir formation. Agents wanted 
Address STEPHEN HOYT’S aONS. New Canaan, Ct. 
W ANTED. 
*.300 Silver Maple, ) To measure 1 % inches in 
“AOO Sugar Maple, - diameter one foot from 
200 Norway Maple.) the ground 
MURRAY & KEENE. Flushing, N. Y. 
Berry Plaits, Seals k Trees 
THAT WILL CROW. 
Send list of wants, and get our prices on Small Fruit 
Plants of ail varieties. Fruit and Ornamental Trees. 
Vinfs and Shrubs. Field, Garden and Flower Seeds. 
Low prices and first class stock. 
ALLYN BROS., Nurseries, Palmyra, N. Y. 
To show you our handsome Household Maga¬ 
zine conducted by '‘Jenny June” which is just 
what you want, we will send it to you 
months 
for20c. 
Stamps t 
Each Number has St pages, beautifully illus-l 
trated and contains FASHIONS, HOUSE-1 
HOED WORK, COOKING. KE-| 
CEIPTS, ART INSTRUCTION', 
CORRESPONDENCE. IN' TIU 
KITCHEN’, POETRY. EMBOID. 
ERY, STORIES, FANCY WORK.J 
ETC. Every number complete. 
.The Home Milker, 
Union Square, 
^ New York. City 
:} 
Salaries Paid] 
To Agents. 
7«36ce.gewVoT Lt| 
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V. 
