10 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January ?, 
[ Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
THE CALENDAR. 
A little bit of sunshine, 
A little bit of snow, 
A little heap of Autumn leaves 
Where roses used to grow ; 
A little bit of darkness, 
And a little bit of day, 
A smile and then a sigh 
For little pleasures passed away. 
A little bit of folly 
And a little bit of sense, 
A little bit of saving 
And a little wild expense; 4c 
A little bit of sorrow* 
And a little bit of cheer, 
A little bit of waiting 
And we've rounded out the year. 
^—Washington Star.^ t 
An excellent cleansing fluid, equal to 
many proprietary preparations, is made by 
combining equal parts of alcohol and ether, 
and then adding one-fourth as much 
gasoline as either. A garment cleansed 
with this should be well brushed and 
shaken, then sponged all over with the 
cleansing fluid, and hung out in the open 
air to dry. Never use this or any other 
cleansing fluid by artificial light, or near a 
fire. 
* 
A good cook says she always puts bak¬ 
ing powder in the last cup of flour put 
in a cake. She finds that when the 
powder is put in the whole quantity of 
flour she expects to use, it may happen, 
owing to some slight variation in in¬ 
gredients, that all the flour does not go 
in, and thus the quantity of baking powder 
called for is not used. This may account 
sometimes for the “falling’ of cake when 
there seems no apparent reason for it. 
* 
When making bread, one may use a 
quart of the sponge for old-fashioned 
Dutch cake, buns or rusks. Add to it 
one large cupful of sugar, three-fourths 
cupful of lukewarm water, butter the 
size of an egg melted in the water and 
two eggs. Mix witli enough flour to make 
a nice soft dough. Let it rise until light 
(three to four hours), then put it into 
well-greased pie plates; let it rise again, 
bake 30 minutes in a moderate oven. When 
done moisten the top with sugar water, 
then sprinkle with granulated sugar and 
cinnamon, and put back in the oven 
for a few* minutes to form frosting. The 
same foundation may be used for currant 
or cinnamon buns. 
* 
If we may judge by some of the new 
models shown, we are to see a return to 
bodices fitted with old-fashioned darts. 
The lines of the waist are fitted, the bust 
raised, and the shoulders made wide and 
high. This will mean a return to the 
most pernicious forms of tight lacing on 
the part of women who put fashion be- 
made of bright silks, plain or figured in 
pointed handkerchief shape, caught at the 
top and fringed at the bottom with 
beads; $1.15 to $12, according to 
size. It is possible to make very 
pretty shades at home, it one possesses 
nimble fingers. Pleated China silk, bor¬ 
dered with a bead fringe, makes a hand¬ 
some shade without much trouble., The 
silk is pleated on to the wire frame, fin¬ 
ished at the top with quilling or ruche, and 
at the bottom with bead fringe. For 
a lamp of the customary center-table 
size V/2 yard of silk at 50 cents a yard 
will be ample, with one yard of fringe at 
98 cents. The fringe may be purchased 
in a variety of colors. 
* 
When we were reading the many es¬ 
says describing one day’s work on the 
I farm, we were all impressed by the ex¬ 
cellence and variety of the food referred 
to. A reader whose experience of farm 
life was gained in New Hampshire does 
not consider the meals described charac¬ 
teristic of farm housekeeping, but rather 
of special occasions only. We have eaten 
.such good and varied food in farm homes 
when no special effort was made to pre¬ 
pare for guests that we think our corre¬ 
spondents simply gave their everyday bill 
of fare. Most of the writers, in the 
cases referred to, described a day in 
Summer or Autumn, when an extensive 
range of fruits and vegetables increases 
the variety of food. We should like to 
hear, however, what variety the Winter 
table offers. What do you eat in January? 
A simple description of the day’s food 
in midwinter, with recipes for little-known 
or unusual dishes, written briefly, would 
be interesting to many. We should like 
to hear from our friends on this subject. 
We would prefer descriptions of such 
meals as are served in the regular rou¬ 
tine, not exceptional or extra food. 
* 
Many a woman has doubtless won¬ 
dered, as she looked at the soft plumes 
in her hat, whether the ostrich had not 
suffered in parting from these decorations. 
The Transvaal Agricultural Journal 
touches upon this point as follows: 
The word plucking is apt to convey to 
those who have no knowledge of ostrich farm¬ 
ing an erroneous Impression; it would lead 
one to imagine that the feathers are pulled 
and dragged away, perhaps in a bleeding 
state, from the unfortunate ostrich, and so 
causing him great pain. This would be cruel, 
lint, in reality, the clipping of an ostrich's 
fearners causes him just, about as much pain 
as shearing does to a sheep. The feathers 
usually are clipped at six months’ growth 
(that is, from the date of drawing the quills). 
At this stage the feather is well grown out, 
and is just in the pink^ of its bloom and 
beauty, rich and full of lustre. To draw the 
feathers at this stage would mean great pain, 
besides, ruining the sockets in which the 
feathers grow. For this reason, therefore. 
the feathers are clipped to catch them in full 
bloom, and the quills or stalks of the feathers 
are left in the wing. After two or three 
months the quill end of the feather which 
was left in becomes perfectly ripe and dried 
out to the very tip, and at this stage the quill 
is drawn. It now comes away very easily, and* 
if anything, is a relief to the bird, making 
room for the young feather, which is already 
preparing to come out. Any man wanting to 
make money too quickly, and therefore draw¬ 
ing the quills before the time that they are 
ready, and consequently damaging the socket 
from which the feather grows, would simply 
be “killing the goose that lays the golden 
egg.” _ 
A Waste of Energy. 
There are many people who have a 
feeling that they must not favor them¬ 
selves, but must make everything as diffi¬ 
cult and uncomfortable as possible. One 
form that this Spartan spirit takes is a 
rooted objection to carrying anything 
warm with them to bed in Winter. There 
is a tradition that it is silly, and so they 
ge into an icy bed and shiver for an hour, 
perhaps, before they get warm enough to 
sleep. Now, is this sensible? I am not 
thinking of those who have warm rooms to 
sleep in, nor of the warm-blooded peo¬ 
ple who do not feel the cold at all, and 
go to sleep at once, but of the thin, cold¬ 
blooded people who have no strength or 
vitality to waste. Heat is energy. Think, 
then, how silly it is for one who has 
many useful channels for his or her en¬ 
ergy, to waste it in warming up a cold 
bed, especially when it can be done a 
great deal better in some other way. There 
is not only the waste of energy, but there 
is a nervous strain, and also loss of sleep, 
for sleep will not come when one is 
cold. How much better to put a hot jug 
or soapstone in the bed an hour before 
bedtime, moving it to a new place once 
or twice if possible. Then when one gets 
into bed it is warm, and one drops off 
to sleep at once, with a feeling of per¬ 
fect comfort, and begins to recover im¬ 
mediately from the physical weariness of 
the day, instead of unnecessarily adding 
to it. 
As for the best method of warming a 
bed, we have found soapstone foot-warm¬ 
ers most satisfactory, though a gallon jug 
of hot water is very good, as, being stood 
up in the middle of the bed it warms a 
good large space. The soapstone should 
be stood up on end for the same reason. 
We are living in modern times, and many 
of the methods of our forefathers have 
been found to be wasteful. When they 
have been proven so, let us not cling to 
them just because there was a time once 
when conditions made them necessary. 
SUSAN BROWN ROBBINS. 
For the Tired Mind. —Knitting is a 
good remedy for mental worry. “Go home 
and do fancy knitting for half an hour 
every day,” is the advice of a celebrated 
nerve specialist. When feeling tired or 
overdone a little knitting soothes the 
nerves, and even if the pattern be intricate 
it will help to divert the thoughts. 
ISAD0RE. 
fore comfort. We are also told that the 
graceful full skirt is approaching the end 
of its reign, and that panelled skirts with 
short panier overskirts are promised for 
Spring. We may be able to survive pa- 
niers, but what shall we do if they are 
followed by the “pull-back” polonaise of 
the early eighties? Du Maurier once pic¬ 
tured a group of fashionable ladies of 
that period reclining gracefully against 
easels, because their costumes would not 
permit them sufficient freedom to sit 
down, and that mode would certainly pre¬ 
sent difficulties to the modern woman of 
active life. Still, paniers preceded pull¬ 
backs aforetime, and history may again 
reneat itself. 
* 
Very beautiful are the lamp and candle 
shades made of beads, or trimmed with 
bead fringe. Candle shades made solidly 
of beads woven in Autumn leaf patterns 
and colors, with a deep fringe in solid 
color, cost $4 to $10 each. Fringed domes 
of sharply-cut jewel beads in solid colors 
or patterns, cost $2.75 to $3.50. “Hand- 
ROYAL* 
The absolutely pure baking powder. 
ROYAL—the most celebrated of all 
the baking powders in the world—cele¬ 
brated for its great leavening strength and 
‘ purity. It makes your cakes, biscuit, bread, 
etc., healthful, it assures you against alum 
and all forms of adulteration that go with 
the cheap brands. 
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO..'NEW-YORK. 
kerchief” shades are a new idea; they are 
You pay five 
times too much 
for lamp-chim¬ 
neys. 
Buy good ones. 
Macbeth. 
If you use a wrong chimney, you lose a 
good deal of both light and comfort, and 
waste a dollar or two a year a lamp on 
chimneys. 
Do you want the Index ? Write me. 
Macbeth. Pittsburgh. 
BABY RAMBLER ROSE 
An Kverblooming Dwarf Crimson Rambler, 
Other novelties as well as a general list of nursery 
stock. Illustrated descriptive catalogue FKKE. 
JOS. H. BLACK,SON & CO., Higlitstown, N.J. 
Ask 
your 
dealer 
for it. 
roiiNh. 
Not llttrn 
I.AMONT, COItt 
Trad©-M*rk. 
Is Guaranteed to go twice as far 
as paste or liquid polishes. X-lIny is the 
OR 1C INAL Powdered Stove 
It (rives a quick, brilliant lustre and Roes 
Off. S ample sent if you address Dept. P 
itl.188 & CO., Ayts., 78 Hud.on 8t.. New York. 
SEND US 
A COW, 
Steer, Bull or Horse 
hide, Calf skin, Dog 
skin, or any other kind 
of hide or skin, and let 
us tan it with the hair 
on, soft, light, odorless 
and moth-proof, for robe, 
rug, coat or gloves. 
But first get our Catalogue, 
giving prices, and our shipping 
tags and instructions, so as to 
avoid mistakes. We also buy 
raw furs and ginseng. 
THE CROSBY FRISIAN FUR COMPANY, 
116 Mill Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
OOKKEEPING, STENOGRAPH^ 
Penmanship, Telegraphy and Type¬ 
writing taught by mail at Kastman, 
Positions for all graduates of complete 
commercial course. Outfit for home study 
fa. Catalogue free. Address C. C. Gaines, 
Box637, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,or 119 West 125thSt., New York, N.X 
B i 
! 
Y 
■ I 
TELEPHONE APPARATUS 
OWN YOUR OWN TELEPHONE LINE. 
Our telephones are powerful, loud- 
talking and absolutely guaranteed. 
OUR PRICES ARE RIGHT. 
Telephones that work on any line. 
Large Catalog No. 9 Free. 
CONNECTICUT TELE. & ELEC. CO., 
Meriden, Conn., U. S. A. 
TELEPHONES 
AND LINE MATERIAL FOR 
FARMERS’ LINES 
so simple you can build your own line. 
Instruction book and price list free. The 
Williams Telephone & Supply Co. 
78 Central Ave., Cleveland, O. 
WHEN YOU DRIVE 
Do your hands get cold ? 
Let us keep them warm. A 
pairof our elegant RUSSIAN 
IS tt A R F U R DRIVING 
GLOVES will do it. Fire¬ 
proof. ironclad palm, soft and 
pliable. Hand lined with first 
quality wool fleece, and cull 
with best corcuri.y. Wibwear 
for years. For warmth, 
wear and durability 
this GLOVE has no 
equal. Also made in 
mittens'& one-flngertd. 
Send us the wholesale 
price, 8*2, and we will 
send you a pair post¬ 
paid. If you are not 
pleased, return them, 
and we will refund the 
money and postage. 
RUSSIAN FUR CO. 
Gloversville, N. Y. 
