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MOTHER S WISH. 
They were talking of the glory of the land beyond 
the skies, 
Of the light and of the gladness to be fonnd in 
Paradise, 
Of the flowers ever blooming, of the never ceasing 
songs, 
Of the wanderings through the golden streets, of 
happy, white-robed throngs. 
“ And,” said father, leaning cozily back in his 
easy chair, 
Father always was a master hand for comfort 
everywhere, 
“What a joyful thing ’twould be to know that, 
when this life is o’er, 
One would straightway hear a welcome from the 
blessed, shining shore!” 
And Isabel, our oldest girl, glanced upward from 
the reed 
She was painting on a water jug, and murmured, 
“ Yes, indeed.” 
And Marian, the next in age, a moment dropped 
her book, 
And, “ Yes, indeed,” repeated with a sweet, 
ecstatic look. 
But mother, gray-haired mother, who had come 
to sweep the room, 
With a patient smile on her thin face, leaned 
lightly on her broom— 
Poor mother, no one ever thought how much she 
had to do— 
And ‘Said, “ I hope it is not wrong not to agree 
with you, 
But seems to me that when I die, before I join the 
blest, 
I’d like just for a little while to lie in my grave 
and rest.” — Credit Lost. 
Tiik influence of the shirt waist may 
make woman’s dress more masculine, 
but it also incites the masculine heart 
(or shirt) to emulate feminine taste and 
take to itself some of the dainty colors 
and fabrics. Pink and blue are favorites 
with gentlemen, and dotted Swiss has 
been seen. 
*• 
With the death of Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, a life of great usefulness was 
ended. She has been called the greatest 
of American women, and if we could 
number the vast throng which has read 
her book, and been influenced by its 
great purpose, we would say, “ Greatest 
of all women.” 
* 
Thk stiff collar of the shirt waist 
hardly holds its own with the ribbon 
collar. The latter is certainly prettier 
and more comfortable. The stiff collar 
belongs with the tailor-made suit, to 
which it adds style. Its severity is try¬ 
ing to most faces, and, except in white, 
it lacks the daintiness which we like in 
a woman’s dress. 
* 
Most papers are continually publish¬ 
ing advice about the complexion, etc., 
and more than half of such matter is as 
impracticable and useless as can be. 
We think that the care of one’s health 
is first in importance, and that the com¬ 
plexion can best be improved by giving 
proper attention to the stomach. Mrs. 
Rorer is an authority on the question of 
wholesome foods, and her fine complex¬ 
ion, it is said, she ascribes to her fond¬ 
ness for garlic. This seems to verify 
the claim that onions are good for clear¬ 
ing the skin. 
A JAR OF JELLY. 
1IOW IT IS MADE AND SOLD. 
Part VI. 
Brandied Fruits; Finishing Touches. 
I WISH to say one word about bran- 
died fruits. Many, I know, would 
consider a list incomplete that did not 
include these ; but none has ever gone 
out under our label. I haven conscien¬ 
tious scruples.in the matter, and to me, 
these seem very strong arguments 
against them. The excuse that “some 
one will put them up if you do not, and 
you might as well have the profit as 
they,” seems to me a very weak one, and 
not at all satisfactory. Many young 
men who are now drunkards, acknowl¬ 
edge that their love for liquor was 
acquired by eating brandied fruits. 
either at their mothers’ tables or at the 
table of some friend. I have a little boy 
of my own, and I can feel what a bitter¬ 
ness any mother would cherish towards 
another who would lead her boy astray, 
even through such seemingly innocent 
means. No mother must ever be able to 
lay such an accusation on my head. 
As I look over the articles written, I 
feel that I may have painted the busi¬ 
ness in too glowing colors ; that I may 
have carried the idea that entire failure 
is an impossibility. I have not intended 
this, and I wish to say emphatically, that 
no one need expect to succeed in this 
work who is not willing, at the outset, 
to spend many weary hours, and carry 
much anxiety. There is much to con¬ 
tend with and one needs endless patience, 
courage and strength. Of course, we 
cannot compete with the canned fruit in 
tins, and jellies put up by the pail at 
only a few cents per pound, somewhat 
lessen the sales of better qualities. An¬ 
other great obstacle in this work is its 
expensiveness. It needs quite a little 
capital to carry it on, and from the very 
first, it is continual outgo with no income 
till the end of the fruit season. 
We usually begin to ship our fruit 
October 1, using cases which hold one 
dozen each of quarts and pints, and two 
dozen tumblers. These cases are lined 
with indented paper on all sides, and a 
wrapper of it is put about each jar. This 
we buy in quantities in large rolls, cut¬ 
ting it ourselves in the desired shape. 
We cover our jellies and jams, first with 
a paper which comes in contact with the 
fruit. Then place over the top of the 
tumbler a cover of paper lined with one 
of paper cambric, both being wet with 
any material which will cause them to 
adhere to the tumbler. When this cover 
is dry, it is covered with a tinfoil cap of 
any desired depth, pressed on smoothly. 
The cans are then labeled, and wrapped 
in soft wrapping paper, when they are 
ready for packing, which is done in straw. 
It does not seem possible that, to make 
a glass of jelly complete, ready for ship¬ 
ping, we have to purchase articles of 11 
different firms ; yet people complain that 
these are such expensive luxuries, not 
considering the anxiety, care and, more 
than all, the labor over stoves kept 
at red heat during the long, summer 
days while the thermometer in the shade 
is steadily ascending to its greatest alti¬ 
tude. In this business, as with all others, 
there is no success without unceasing 
vigilance and perseverance. But the 
reward and satisfaction come with the 
appreciation of the public. This indus¬ 
try has had a rapid growth in our coun¬ 
try, and its farther development, with 
the many other sources of prosperity, is 
bringing out some noble elements of 
human character, for only as a nation is 
engaged in ennobling industry, can it be 
happy. mrs. o. p. howland. 
CALLED TO BE A COOK. 
(Concluded.) 
ELLIE had just engaged a new 
Phyllis, and was full of wonder, as 
all housewives are, as to why there 
should be so much inefficient help, and 
why our American girls should avoid 
this open door of employment as though 
a plague lurked just within it. As only 
a woman can, she ignored the fact that 
others besides herself might dislike to 
roughen their hands. 
“ Of course, we all lament the state of 
affairs,” said I; “yet I cannot blame 
any girl of good connections for not 
wanting to become the slave of a capri¬ 
cious mistress, where she must associate 
and sit at table with those who are her 
inferiors in refinement and culture. 
Neither can I blame her for not liking 
to place herself in a position where she 
will inevitably be slighted by those who 
were only her 4 equals,’ but who, simply 
by this accident of place, now consider 
themselves her * superiors.’ ” 
“ There is no necessity for her being 
slighted,” asserted Gertrude. “ The girl 
who respects herself is always respected. 
As to not eating with the family, she 
should look at it as a friend of mine did, 
who said that she did not know whether 
the family felt above eating at the same 
table with her, or not, but that she cer¬ 
tainly did feel above eating with them. 
And if you mention social position,” said 
this iconoclast, with a fine curl of the aris¬ 
tocratic nose, “ no one who works for a 
living, I care not in what occupation, 
has any social position, and she might as 
well get used to the fact in one line of 
work as in another.” 
“ That depends upon what you mean 
by ‘ social position,’ mademoiselle,” hast¬ 
ily interposed Mellie. “ If you use the 
term as do those eminent scions of the 
400 who dare not refer to their ancestry 
lest they discover a tradesman or a pret¬ 
zel merchant to the public eye, no doubt, 
you are correct. But you know that, 
when you use the word in its best sense, 
you and I are the social equals of the 
best our country can show. If your asser¬ 
tion were true, how could rail-splitters 
and tow-path boys come to be Presidents 
of this big nation, and their wives ‘ first 
ladies of the land ’ ? ” 
“Perhaps,” was Gertrude’s provok- 
ingly dubious answer,though the twinkle 
in her eye showed that she wished, 
rather to sustain her argument than to 
reaffirm a belief. 
“ At any rate,” affirmed Mellie, “ you 
wouldn’t want to do housework for a 
living, yourself, Gertrude ! ” 
Mellie felt that, in appealing to her 
friend’s aristocratic tendencies, she was 
securing her position ; but the shot had 
no apparent effect, for Gertrude replied 
calmly : “ No, because I can do some¬ 
thing else which pays a great deal bet¬ 
ter.” 
“ But suppose that you could not,” per¬ 
sisted Mellie. “ Put yourself for a mo¬ 
ment, in the place of the girl who is not 
fitted for a profession, or for any of 
those occupations that are generally con¬ 
sidered more ladylike than others, and 
which command more outward respect, 
at least. You would never do housework 
for a living ! ” 
“ Indeed, I would !” stoutly replied 
our friend. “ At least I would cook. I 
would 10 times sooner do it than to go 
into a shop, or where you have to work 
every moment, where you never have an 
instant to yourself, but must stand a 
never-ending strain from early morning 
until night. Possibly you may think 
that the young ladies who stand behind 
the counter have more ‘outward respect’ 
than those who do housework for a 
living ; but I tell you that it is just the 
other way ; for behind the counter, they 
are subjected to the whims and some¬ 
times the abuse of every one who may 
choose thus to treat them. And as for a 
factory ! Do you remember Mattie Mil¬ 
ler, Myra ? She was at school when we 
were.” 
“ I remember how she looked. She 
was not in my class, and I did not know 
her personally ; but I saw her with you 
quite frequently.” 
“ I thought that, perhaps, you might 
remember her. Her father was a mer¬ 
chant in easy circumstances, and during 
Mattie’s school life, they had, not only 
every comfort, but the luxuries of life— 
a beautifully furnished house and every¬ 
thing to correspond. But just as she 
left school, her father failed and lost 
everything. He was growing old, and 
had not the energy to try again, but 
seemed to lose all his interest in busi¬ 
ness, and not to be able to turn to any¬ 
thing else. Gradually he grew feeble 
and helpless. There were father, mother 
and a little sister of 10 years besides 
Mattie. The wolf came pretty near the 
door, and there was no one to do any¬ 
thing to keep him away but this girl 
who had never had anything to do be¬ 
fore.” 
“ Why did she not teach ?” inquired 
Mellie. “ I think that you said she was 
competent ?” 
“ She was well fitted to teach,” 
answered Gertrude, “ and at first she 
tried to find a position as teacher ; but 
she must be near home ; it was impos¬ 
sible for her to wait for an opening, and 
as none presented itself at once, she 
went into a factory, and there she has 
stayed all these long 10 years. She has to 
work every moment of daylight, and 
every day except Sundays. She never 
has a holiday, and she dare not be sick, 
for fear of losing her place. She has sat 
before a machine in that unnatural, 
stooping position, cramping her lungs 
and bending her spine during the hours of 
daylight for 10 years. Her life has just 
been one dreadful grind, until she has 
lost all hope and almost all interest in 
life. I went to see her when I first 
came home. There she lives, or, rather 
exists, in the same city where she went 
to school, and she has never once been 
back to a commencement. I tried to 
induce her to go with me, but she said 
pitifully, that no one wanted to see her. 
I told her that I wanted her. I think 
that she is the noblest girl in the whole 
class, if she does think her life is such 
a failure.” 
Gertrude’s flushed cheeks and excited 
manner, so unusual with her, gave added 
interest to the story, and there were 
tears in the eyes of both her listeners, as 
they emphatically agreed with her last 
remark. 
“ We often read such stories,” said 
Mellie, “ but they never seemed so real 
to me before.” 
“ So much for the factory part of the 
question,” went on Gertrude. “ Now, if 
you do housework, you get good wages 
(of course, it isn’t called a ‘ salary,’ but 
the money will buy just as much as if it 
were); you get a safe home, and you get 
your board. The board alone often takes 
nearly all a girl can earn at other em¬ 
ployments. Suppose you are a good, 
plain cook ! You can get 818 to 820 a 
month anywhere in the city where I 
have been living, besides board. You 
have nothing to do but cook, so you have 
considerable time to yourself ; and it is 
not very hard work. You can save all 
you earn except what it costs you to 
dress ; and you need not stay one hour 
with a vulgar mistress, or in any place 
where you are not treated well ; for 
such is the demand for competent cooks, 
that if you go out at one door, you can 
immediately enter the next. In fact, 
every door on the street is open to you. 
You need not take abuse or insult; you 
need not overwork ; you need not lose 
your self-respect; and you may be much 
more of a lady than your mistress can 
ever be, and be just as good a cook as 
though you were vulgar and ignorant.” 
Gertrude’s earnestness and her telling 
arguments—or, perhaps, I should rather 
say, her facts —proved both silencing and 
convincing, and they solved the problem 
which has been vexing my soul so long. 
Our family are all “ born cooks,” and 
should the time ever come when 1 shall 
be thrown on my own resources, I think 
that I shall be a “ good plain cook.” But 
still I wonder whether Gertrude would, 
even if she were- “ called ” by circum¬ 
stances and by natural fitness ! 
MYRA V. NORYS. 
Daniel Webster : “ Labor is the 
great substantial interest on which we 
all stand.” 
