FROM DAY TO DAY. 
A WRITER in Harper’s Bazar tells of 
■Fx. the effect produced by example, 
rather than precept. When a young 
girl she was constantly chidden for her 
harsh, unmodulated voice, but the 
troubled self-consciousness induced by 
frequent reproofs increased the fault. 
Finally she visited some cousins, noted 
among friends for the sweetness of their 
voices. While with them her own hard, 
rough tones were unconsciously modu¬ 
lated, and a great change was notice¬ 
able. Naturally enough the relative 
who had so often chidden her gave her 
own admonitions the credit for the 
change. Isn’t it often the case, that we 
expect precept alone to work a change, 
without reckoning on the force of ex¬ 
ample '? 
* 
Some very wise and-good people we 
know urge us to keep purely imagina¬ 
tive books out of the children’s library. 
They think it corrupting to a child’s in¬ 
telligence to give him fairy books and 
verse, which may destroy his taste for 
really instructive, solid reading. We 
used to think it a perverted taste which 
made a child crave candies. We now 
know that a certain amount of sugar, 
wisely administered, is a necessity for 
the building up of the childish body ; 
just the same as a certain supply of 
poetry and imagination is needed for 
the building up of the little brain. How 
much they lose, in the way of pleasure 
and content, who have no imaginative 
faculty! “I don’t like to play with 
Hazel,” observed one small girl of an¬ 
other, “ she doesn’t know how to pre¬ 
tend anything.” And the same imagina¬ 
tion that made the one little girl enjoy 
drinking imaginary tea out of make- 
believe china cups, in company with 
sociable guests who were, in reality, 
but corn-cobs wrapped in calico, would 
make her a happy woman in pinched 
and sordid surroundings. 
A subscriber to the American Kitchen 
Magazine tells how she decorated a very 
showy Christmas cake. She says: “It 
was a rich fruit cake, baked in a round 
loaf, and measured 10 inches in diameter. 
The top and sides were covered with a 
plain icing and then decorated with the 
usual fancy scrolls, points and other 
markings. In the center was a minia¬ 
ture Christmas tree about eight inches 
high, with a lovely white dove of frost¬ 
ing on the top. Loops of fluted frosting 
fine as yarn were caught from bough to 
bough in imitation of popped corn, and 
miniature Christmas gifts were hung 
here and there on the tree. Half-inch 
cornucopias, tiny dolls cunningly dressed 
in colored frosting, small packages tied 
with pink twine and suitably addressed, 
little silver confections, tiny strings of 
gilt bands looped among the branches, 
stars of tinsel, and on every twig a tiny 
candle of frosting tipped with scarlet for 
the flame. It was greatly admired, and 
very easily done after the inspiration 
seized me.” 
* 
Spinach is often rather an unsatisfac¬ 
tory vegetable, often being sent to table 
with a disagreeable grittiness which is 
simply the result of imperfect washing. 
An English book on vegetable cooking 
tells us to wash it by swinging it around 
in two or three waters, always lifting 
the floating spinach from the bowl, in¬ 
stead of draining the water off it. To 
cook it, cram it into a pot containing a 
small quantity of boiling water with a 
liberal allowance of salt. Keep it on a 
good fire, and occasionally press it down 
with a wooden spoon. When cooked, 
turn it out in a colander to drain, press 
it, and chop with a generous quantity 
of pepper, salt and butter. If cooked in 
too much water it loses both color and 
flavor, and it must never be overcooked. 
PRESSING WOOLEN CLOTH. 
W HEN woolen cloth is to be pressed 
but not washed, it is sometimes 
a question of how best to give it the 
dampness that will enable the hot iron 
to remove folds and wrinkles. Good re¬ 
sults are to be had by wringing a sheet 
out of warm water, spreading it on a 
large table, arranging upon it the pieces 
to be pressed, and then folding or rolling 
all into a bundle ; after lying thus for 
several hours, the cloth is evenly damp 
but not wet, and all creases and folds 
softened to the best possible condition 
for the ironing. The pressing, rather 
than ironing, must be done slowly with 
irons not too hot or too cool, moving 
them just fast enough to prevent one 
from printing its outline on the goods. 
Hot enough to raise a steam, but not hot 
enough to scorch wool, is right for the 
irons. Lady’s cloth treated thus loses 
every crease and the too clinging soft¬ 
ness lent it by wear. Thinner goods 
are handled the same way with equal 
success. Where much similar work comes 
up in the course of the year, it is not a 
bad plan to keep a worn sheet for this 
use, merely hanging it on the clothes 
line after using, and folding when dry, 
to tuck away in its corner of the sewing 
room cupboard. The process is, of course, 
that followed by all tailors, and called 
“sponging,”except that no pressing fol¬ 
lows the dampening of new cloth, it being 
merely spread smooth and left to dry. 
Most sewers probably know perfectly 
well that no “ full cloth ” beavers, diago¬ 
nals or lady’s cloth should be made up 
till “ sponged,” but now and then one 
does not know or neglects it, and spots, 
almost as bad as grease spots, appear 
later whenever a drop of water falls on 
the garment. It is possible to sponge a 
made-up coat or skirt, but the cloth will 
surely shrink, and the linings will 
then present fresh problems. With a 
dry quilt spread on the floor of an un¬ 
used room, two sheets and some pieces 
of old cotton, and another dry quilt to 
spread over all, a lady’s cloth skirt was 
sponged so that every rain mark disap¬ 
peared, but the lining had to be ripped 
free at the bottom and the garment re¬ 
signed to one shorter of stature. 
P. T. PRIMROSE. 
HYGIENE BOILED DOWN. 
I F we spent half the time and money 
in keeping well, that most of us do 
in getting well, we should be happier 
and live longer. One way not to keep 
well, is to eat what pleases the palate, 
even when one knows the stomach will 
not digest it, and a headache or, worse 
yet, for the family at least, dyspepsia 
for a week will result. To produce 
cramp, indigestion, etc., the following 
is recommended : A hearty meal well 
washed down with ice water, followed 
immediately by a bath—either a plunge 
or shower. 
It is quite unnecessary to sit long in a 
draught of air to secure a cold ; a very 
few minutes will suffice. If the experi¬ 
menter be heated or fatigued, it will 
furnish a case of pneumonia that will 
give employment to the doctor and, per¬ 
haps, the undertaker. Don’t sit in a 
crowded room two or three hours with 
overcoat and furs, then ride three or 
four miles with no extra wrappings. 
A clear conscience and a smiling coun¬ 
tenance are of more value than much 
quinine. 
Cold, damp feet are productive of 
many ills. 
Pure air, pure water and wholesome 
food constitute a better cholera mixture 
than many drugs. 
Regulate the clothing to suit the 
weather. It requires some time, but one 
may make many changes while his 
neighbor is petting his rheumatic limb. 
Aged people, children and those not in 
robust health, should be specially pro¬ 
tected by warm clothing in damp, chilly 
weather. 
A flannel bandage pinned firmly, but 
smoothly, about the abdomen, is recom¬ 
mended by physicians in bowel troubles, 
both for children and adults. 
If you must use water that you sus¬ 
pect to be impure boil it; true, it does 
not relish, neither do pills, if they are 
sugar-coated. 
Work, work hard if necessary, but not 
hurriedly except in case of fire, and take 
time to rest before eating ; eat slowly 
and masticate thoroughly. 
Do not make a practice of kissing 
everybody’s baby, and if you are sick or 
drink whisky, or smoke and chew to¬ 
bacco, don’t even kiss your own. 
A barrel of lime and a whitewash 
brush do not cost as much as one visit of 
the doctor. Keep the nose on picket 
duty ; when that signals distress advance 
the lime and copperas brigade. 
Dry soil is Nature’s absorbent and 
disinfectant. Make a liberal use of it 
around outhouses and pig pens. 
Isolation and a judicious use of a solu¬ 
tion of copperas, 1 to 1)4 pound to the 
gallon of water, supplemented by pure 
air, will do as much to suppress diph¬ 
theria and scarlet fever as a whole board 
of health. d. b. b. 
HOW TO TREAT THE KITCHEN FLOOR 
T HERE is no doubt that linoleum is 
a thing of great comfort for the 
housewife as a floor covering in the 
kitchen ; but it is quite expensive to get 
the best, and to buy the poorer grades, 
I have found a waste of money. After 
several experiments with cheap lino¬ 
leum and rag carpets, which are quite 
unsatisfactory as an all-over floor cover¬ 
ing, I tried a better and cheaper way of 
adorning my kitchen floor, which is al¬ 
most as good as linoleum. Any house¬ 
wife who desires it can save herself a 
good deal of labor by trying my plan. 
It isn’t painting ; I have tried that, also. 
but would not recommend it. Besides 
being quite hard work, if you do it your¬ 
self, it is difficult to get just the right 
shade ; one is likely to get it too light 
or too dark. 
If you have a good, smooth floor, buy 
a quart of linseed oil and five cents’ 
worth of burnt umber ; it may be bought 
in any hardware store. Then mix in a 
pint of the oil, a tablespoonful of the 
burnt umber, or a little less, if a lighter 
shade is preferred. With a paint brush 
or a good, thick, woolen rag rolled up 
firmly, go at the floor, which has pre¬ 
viously been scrubbed clean and dried. 
Dip in the mixture and apply, rubbing 
it in well. It may take from two to 
three hours to do it, but when done, it 
is dry and ready to be walked on at 
once. Wiped over with a wet cloth every 
day, or two or three times a week, it 
keeps as nice as linoleum, and 1 think 
that it is easier to clean. It will last, 
with constant wear, for two years, s. v. 
To the Newly Married. —Letters to 
the newly married should be addressed 
to both, says Harper’s Bazar. There is 
much that might be said. First of all, 
that neither take the devotion of the 
other for granted, making no effort to 
cultivate or retain what each felt to 
be a due. To lay stress on what is due 
to one, to claim in affection anything as 
a right, is the idlest of mistakes. It 
kills out the spirit, though the letter of 
the thing demanded may be won. There 
is nothing one should kill quicker in 
marriage than the first tendency in either 
one to discuss the peculiarities of the 
other before a third person. Nothing 
is more fatal, and nothing is more vul¬ 
gar. No one can ever take a greater 
liberty with the other. These person¬ 
alities are never funny, though they are 
often made to do service as family jokes 
brought out for the entertainment of the 
stranger. Were I to write a letter to 
the newly married, I should like to beg 
thit nagging be prohibited, and teasing 
secrets ; that mutual concessions be in¬ 
dulged ; that every disappointment in 
the other be regarded as an opportunity 
for helping that other, and not as an 
excuse for alienation ; and I should beg 
that the one who had a trouble, share it 
with the other, so that neither go about 
with evidences of worry while declaring 
that nothing is the matter. “ Oh, noth¬ 
ing! ” in answer to a loving inquiry from 
husband or wife sensitive to disturbed 
conditions in one loved, is often the first 
wedge which ultimately drives both apart 
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^ vV- V ‘X -TV -wv .X.y. v 
Rosa Bonheur 
Tells the Story of Her Life 
How she struggled with art: her first 
picture: her painting of “The Horse 
Fair" : her methods of work, and how 
she lives in her chateau in the forest 
of Fontainebleau. It is an inter¬ 
esting story in the Christmas 
Ladies Home Journal. 
One Dollar for One Year 
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
*1 
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