BUDS. 
A hud may never blossom, 
SI ill, bold a perfume sweet, 
Au<i none may breathe its fragrance, 
Till crushed beneath their feet. 
Its torn and mangled petals 
Will then the truth disclose, 
That only dew and sunshine, 
It lacked to form a rose. 
Thus many hearts lie bleeding, 
Crushed down by hate and scorn ; 
A smile, a tear, was lacking, 
Withheld in life’s bright morn. 
’Tis well, we know the Master 
Than man is far more kind. 
Beyond, each bud will blossom; 
There, love each heart shall find. 
OSCAR F. FROST. 
Some one wishes to know whether 
scolding ever accomplishes any good that 
may not be effected in some better way. 
What do you say, scolding wives ? Give 
us the arguments that uphold your 
course. 
* 
The asbestos mat, mentioned on page 
831 (1895), is very useful in the kitchen, 
and costs but five cents in New York. 
By its aid, oatmeal can be cooked with¬ 
out burning in an ordinary saucepan, 
quite as well as in a double boiler. 
* 
At the recent live stock show held in 
this city, there was one exhibit which 
produced an impression upon us which 
we believe must have been shared by 
many others. Some fine sppcimens of 
the beef cattle and sheep were sold to 
slaughtering houses. These were ex¬ 
hibited in the ring, being preceded by 
men carrying banners bearing the an¬ 
nouncement : “ Bought by-to be 
slaughtered for the hotel trade.” We 
realized that the vegetarians have a 
finer sense of right and wrong, perhaps, 
than the rest of us. We wondered why 
the close associates of animal life, the 
country people, should be so insensible 
to the claims made by vegetarians, that 
it is cruel to take life of any kind. 
* 
A case is pending in the courts of 
Washington which ought to arouse an¬ 
other such a champion as Elizabeth 
Cady Stanton has been. A widow is 
trying to obtain possession of her child¬ 
ren. her husband having willed them to 
his relatives. It is a surprise to many 
to learn that, in the District of Colum¬ 
bia, the law allows a man to dispose of 
his children by will as he chooses. They 
are his property. Senator Hale, of 
Maine, has introduced a resolution call¬ 
ing for an investigation of the law. This 
is, probably, the last “ relic of barbar¬ 
ism” on Washington’s statute books. 
We hope that the seat of our Govern¬ 
ment will, in time, become a credit to 
American civilization. Until the last 
session of Congress, it was unlawful for 
a wife to hold property in her own name, 
and the husband could take it from her 
whenever he pleased. 
THE SOUTHERN FARMER'S WIFE. 
HERS IS NOT A LIFE OF POETRY AND EASE. 
F every northern farmer's wife, tired 
and nervous, could spend three months 
among the country housekeepers of the 
South, she would go home, and com¬ 
mence life over again, quite content 
with her lot. My idea of the southern 
woman, as gathered from floating bits of 
litex-ature, newspaper clippings, etc., 
underwent a violent change when we 
came South. Instead of seeing an easy¬ 
going, large-eyed, creamy-complexioned 
woman, who arose in the cool of the 
morning, sipped a cup of coffee, or 
chocolate, took breakfast at ten, then 
enjoyed a siesta in a hammock during 
the heat of the day, while colored ser¬ 
vants did the drudging; we found a 
sallow-skinned, hollow-eyed, weary- 
lookiug woman with a crowd of tow¬ 
headed children clinging to her skirts. 
Large families are the rule in the South. 
We found this woman quite as often at 
the wood pile as elsewhere, splitting 
wood and gathering chips.We found her 
in the meat house making sausage, and 
helping put away the last butchering; 
at the soap kettle, and in the barnyard 
milking a drove of cows. The southern 
farmer considers it beneath his dignity 
to milk a cow. 
She boils her clothes in a huge iron 
kettle, in the yard, laying them over a 
bench, and beating them with a paddle, 
instead of washing them with a wash¬ 
board. 
In many cases, cooking is done at the 
fireplace, after the manner of our great¬ 
grandmothers. We found her scrubbing 
bare floors, and bringing water from the 
spring. A good pump convenient to the 
door is a rarity, while “ the old oaken 
bucket that hangs in the well” tries 
women’s muscles all over the South. 
Occasionally, one finds a neighborhood, 
sometimes extending for a number of 
miles, in which the farmers seem un¬ 
usually prosperous, having commodious, 
well-built homes, and the conveniences 
and some of the luxuries of life around 
them. But more often the farmer's wife 
lives in a home bare of ornament, and 
devoid of many things that a northern 
housekeeper could not do without. A 
composite picture of the southern farm¬ 
er's wife, shows her a quiet, sober-faced 
woman, leading a hard, laborious life, 
rearing a large family, patiently accept¬ 
ing the hardships of life as inevitable, 
keeping her home tidy and orderly; kind 
and hospitable to the stranger within 
her gates. 
The farmers of the South practice se¬ 
vere economy, and usually have a nest 
egg laid by for a rainy day ; but this 
economy is often at the expense of the 
wife, who rides to town in an old-fash¬ 
ioned shawl and suubonnet, while her 
lord and master goes well dressed. This 
is the farmer’s wife as I found her 
among the hills of Kentucky ; in the 
mountains and valleys of Tennessee ; in 
the northern part of Georgia ; in the 
southern part of Alabama, and in the 
“piney woods’ of Florida. 
.JOSEPHINE STARR. 
THE BEST OF LIFE . 
NCE upon a time, as the legend 
runs, a weary traveler wended 
his way up the mountain side. As he 
journeyed, he stooped to pluck a tiny, 
beautiful flower that caught his eye. At 
that moment, a door, which seemed to 
be the entrance to a cave, opened before 
his astonished gaze ; but as he entered, 
it proved to be the vestibule of a palace, 
wherein were treasures, new and old, 
costly and rare beyond description. He 
heard a voice say : “Take what you will, 
but don’t forget the best.” He raptui-- 
ously feasted his eyes on the wonderful 
sights, and hastened to load himself 
with all that he could carry away. 
Again he x’eached the outer world, 
filled with the delight of possession. 
But what is this ? One by one, his trea¬ 
sures slipped away fi-om his close clasp, 
and vanished, for he had forgotten the 
best, his little key-flower. 
Life opens xxp to us like a vast treasux-e- 
house. What is the best—for xxs '? To 
what shall we cling as we press into new 
avenues, accumulate expei’ience, grasp 
new pleasures, and delight in new 
beauties ? Is it found in labor, which 
however distastefxxl it may at times ap¬ 
pear, is, after all, a panacea for many 
of our ills ? Or in a life of ease and 
pleasui-e with the thorns of care and 
trouble carefully removed ? Or in music, 
with its wonderful power to xx pi if t the 
soul ? Or in art, with its charm of in¬ 
terpreting, and enhancing by disclosing 
the beauties of nature ? Or, perhaps, in 
books, where the “great thoughts be¬ 
long only and truly to him whose mind 
can hold them,” and the hearts who have 
dared to cry out of their depths have 
met an answering throb in our own ? 
In all these ways, and in many others, 
are hidden treasures which should be 
sought and held by us just so far as our 
capacity and opportunity will admit. 
Not in these, however, is found the key. 
Isn't the thought of service inseparably 
connected with the highest good ? 
PATIENCE STRONG. 
TEACHING THE VALUE OF MONEY. 
F we expect a child to grow up with a 
knowledge of the value of money, 
we must make it a part of his education. 
It is just as sensible to expect him to 
appreciate a rare wox-k of art, without 
ever having seen a painting, as to expect 
him to use money judiciously without 
knowledge, gained by experience, of its 
value. Many young people are spend¬ 
thrifts when they come into possession 
of a little money, simply because they 
do not know the purchasing value of a 
dollar. 
Let the little one earn a few pennies 
by hard work, that he may know the 
cost of them. He may spend a part fool¬ 
ishly. Do not we older children do the 
same ? Carefully explain to him that, 
so long as he spends all he earns, he will 
never save enough to bxiy something 
gi’eater. Get him to invest his savings 
in a chicken, lamb or pig. Show him 
the gi*owth of his cents into dollars. 
Teach him that money used for present 
plpasui’e, is gone and that he soon wea¬ 
ries of his bauble. Make him understand 
that money is not elastic ; that 100 cents 
will buy just 100 cents’ worth of goods. 
Let him buy and sell, and loan money, 
to yourself if need be, that he may 
understand business methods. Take him 
with you to town when you go to make 
a trade—purchase or sale. This will not 
make him grasping if he receive the 
right kind of ti’aining ; it will make him 
careful of little things. 
Do not neglect the girls. You think 
them extravagant. How can they know 
the difference between economy and ex¬ 
travagance if they are never taught the 
value of money ? Give them a share of 
something, but let them earn it them¬ 
selves. Make it large enough to allow 
them a sufficient amoxxnt to make all 
needful purchases. Be their savings 
ever so small, have them deposit them 
iu a bank, if conveniently near. Let 
them have bank books of their own, and 
make di-afts, checks, certificates of de¬ 
posit, etc. MRS. V. W. LEE. 
MRS. STANTON’S BEGINNING. 
Y wedding trip was to England, 
whei’e there was a call for the 
world’s anti-slavexy convention. This 
was in 1840. The women had taken a 
very active part iu the anti-slavery agita¬ 
tion, and women delegates wei’e sent; 
but when they reached their destina¬ 
tion. they were not allowed to take their 
seats. When I x’eturned home, I decided 
to hold a convention and discuss woman’s 
i-ights, for I considered the condition of 
woman about as degraded as that of the 
slave on the Southern plantation. I 
wi’ote to my two friends in the Legislature 
to know if I could have a hearing on the 
married woman’s property bill, and they 
replied ‘yes.’ From 1840 to 1848 Ei-nes- 
tine L. Rose, Patxlina Wright and myself 
had circulated petitions in the State of 
New York. 
“I used to go up in the garret every 
day and read over my speech, thinking 
I could slip to Albany and back without 
the knowledge of anybody but the Leg¬ 
islature ; and one day when I was think¬ 
ing of all this, my father entered with 
the old Albany Evening Journal, edited 
by Thurlow Weed. He laid the paper 
down in front of me, and said : ‘ What 
does this mean ?’ And there I read : 
‘ Elizabeth Cady Stanton is to address 
the Legislature Monday afternoon, at 
2 o’clock, on the married woman’s pi*op- 
erty bill.’ 
“ I answered, ‘I suppose it means what 
it says.’ He was perfectly confounded, 
and so was I. 
“ Then he said: ‘ When my clients have 
gone, I wish you would read it to me.’ I 
was in the depths of despair; I had never 
seen my name in print before, and 
thought it was the most awful disgrace 
that could befall a woman. 
“ When I i*ead my speech to my father, 
he suggested several improvements, and 
found worse laws for illustration than I 
had, working with me until 1 o’clock in 
the morning ; yet for a conservative old 
judge, to have his daughter the subject 
of ridicule, was a deep blow. I spoke 
two hours, and this, my first speech, was 
published in the Evening Journal. This 
same year, 1848, the married woman’s 
property law passed, and gave married 
women their rights to property. That 
same year, I called the first woman’s suf¬ 
frage convention ever held in the woi-ld. 
We had not the slightest idea that any¬ 
body would make fun of it, but it was 
laughed at and i-idiculed from one end of 
the countiy to the other; but I have lived 
to see an entire re volution in woman’s 
field of enei*gy.” 
A NEURALGIA PREVENTER. 
OU would be surpi-ised to know 
what a comfort that old shawl 
is to me,” said an invalid fi’iend not long 
since. The article which she was put¬ 
ting out of signt beneath her pillow, had 
certainly lost its prettiness, through 
much washing and wear. Once it had 
been a fluffy, white, knitted thing ; now 
its tasseled fringe was trimmed off, but 
it was still clean and soft. 
“ I have always suffered so much from 
neuralgic pains,” explained the invalid, 
“ that I could never, except in the 
warmest, driest weather, sleep with as 
much fresh air in my bedroom as I 
baby bones 
are soft, so soft they scarce 
can be called bones in the 
earlier years; gradually 
they harden, and furnish 
the frame which supports 
the growing body. The 
hardening comes from what 
chemists term “the min¬ 
eral substances.” 
When these are absent we 
have “ Rickets ”—a lack of 
bone-tissue, which shows 
itself in delayed teething, 
profuse head-sweats, and 
later, if not arrested, mal¬ 
formations and deformities. 
Such a baby needs lime 
for its weak bones and cod- 
liver oil for its fat-starved 
body. Scott’s Emulsion 
of cod-liver oil, with hy- 
oophosphites, will give its 
ittle body the needed fat 
in the easiest form. 
50 cents and $1.00 
SCOTT & BOWNE 
Chemists - • New York 
