1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
887 
Two Christmas Shoppers. 
Just before Christmas Helen and Bettie 
went together to spend each her little 
hoard of money saved up for the holiday 
giving. They were so fortunate as to do 
their buying in a city of some commerce, 
where several large department stores 
offered goods in sufficient variety and at 
reasonable prices. Yet after the first gay- 
ety and glitter of the gaily decorated 
counters had been enjoyed, and they set¬ 
tled down to the search after various arti¬ 
cles on their lists, Bettie turned to her 
friend with an “Oh dear! ’ which was half 
laughter, half sigh. 
“Why didn’t I buy my little plain, sen¬ 
sible things weeks aco?” she complained. 
“I am sure they would have been cheaper 
then, and would have seemed more at¬ 
tractive without all this flash and dazzle 
of novelty, holiday stuff to throw them in 
the shade. Yet. see how eagerly people 
are buying. Half those toys will be 
smashed before a week’s play, and people 
get their houses quite too full of knick- 
knacks and meaningless things, Aunt Kate 
says.” 
“Yet I mean to buy an armful of those 
same foolish toys. Children so love them, 
and it will not be many years longer that 
my nieces and nephews can be made happy 
with tin stoves and iron horses and carts. 
My sisters tell me that the iron toys are 
most satisfactory for little people, and the 
rubber ones for the babies. But I guess 
your Aunt Kate is right about most of the 
bric-a-brac. Let’s hurry to the book 
counters before all my money is gone,” 
and Helen and Bettie hastened on as soon 
as the long wait for change made it pos¬ 
sible. 
“Here is a little copy of Longfellow that 
is a bargain I am sure,” whispered Bettie 
at her friend’s elbow. 
“But it is not complete, and everyone 
ought to have all of Longfellow’s poems, 
else the very one you want is sure not to 
be there. My idea is to own complete edi¬ 
tions of Whittier, Tennyson and some of 
the poets I love best, and then have one 
or two of the best collections of poetry. 
Of course Bryant’s “Library of Poetry 
and Song” would be first choice, but it is 
expensive because so big a book. There 
is a lovely two-volume edition, but prob¬ 
ably that costs even more. Last year I 
spent some of the money Santa Claus 
brought me for Charles Mackay’s “Thou¬ 
sand and One Gems of English Poetry.” 
You can’t think what pleasure I have 
taken with it, nor how often I’ve found in 
it the very poem some one was asking for. 
Having it has decided my buying two or 
three copies of Palgrave’s “Golden Treas¬ 
ury” to give away. That is a smaller col¬ 
lection, and costs so little. You can get 
one volume for a quarter. It is neatly 
cloth bound and just the size to go into 
a boy’s pocket.” 
“I thought you were buying Shakes¬ 
peare’s plays for all your boy friends?” 
“No, no. Only for Jack. And now 
Constance has made up her mind to ask 
each friend who insists upon giving her 
something to let it be a Temple Shakes¬ 
peare. They arc such dainty little books, 
and fascinating, though you don’t like 
them, Bettie.” 
Bettie laughed, having no wish to deny 
the charge, and Helen went on, “Jack has 
‘Merchant of Venice,’ ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Mac¬ 
beth’ now. He loves the tragedies and 
prefers ‘Julius Csesar’ to ‘As You Like 
It’ for this year’s present. They cost 50 
cents a volume, you know,- are always 
bound in red leather, and the set can be 
added to anywhere and at any time. Of 
course if a boy will read only the Henty 
books and Oliver Optic you may as well 
buy those. But all last Winter Jack 
scorned the third-class plays which come 
to our little opera house, and are always 
poor stuff. He saved his money, came to 
the city and saw Richard Mansfield as 
Shylock. It was an event to him, and will 
be remembered long as he lives.” 
“Oh. it’s well enough with Jack, who 
can have all the neckties, gloves and sub¬ 
scriptions to periodicals he wants, but I 
hope you don’t know of any more sets 
of books.” 
“Yes, I do. And I am going to buy one 
or two, if ever that clerk can find time to 
sell them to me. The ‘Modern Reader’s 
Bible’ series are just as fascinating as the 
Temple Shakespeares. They cost the 
same, but are in black, flexible leather. 
Each book has an explanatory introduc¬ 
tion and notes, so that one reads with all 
the knowledge a scholarly person has. I 
sent the Book of Job to a shut-in last 
year, and she said it was like new litera¬ 
ture, with all the added charm of the old 
and well-beloved. I happened to know 
that she loved the poetry and wisdom of 
Job. One volume contains the master¬ 
pieces of the Bible. I want it to give my 
Sunday School teacher. Why, Bettie, 
shouldn’t I buy books? Even the people 
who don’t read them want them in their 
parlors, and I haven’t selected one of the 
late novels, which will be useless when 
once read.” 
“Buy what you like, dear. But a dollar 
doesn't go far at the book counter, and 
we have so little to spend, so many friends 
to remember. There seems more pleasure 
to be had from a pretty handkerchief, a 
pair of gloves, a nice purse, or a hot-water 
bottle, a rubber sponge, a bath mat, a hand 
mirror or brush and comb set.” 
“There isn’t for everybody, and books 
never wear out. If we read good ones we 
can hope to take their substance into old 
age and even into the life beyond. 
PRUDENCE PRIMROSE. 
The Bookshelf. 
A Self-Supporting Home, by Kate V. 
Saint Maur. This book tells how a city 
woman, moving to a small run-down 
country place, gradually makes it self-sup¬ 
porting. The work is given month by 
month, and while few failures are record¬ 
ed, it must be said that the work is de¬ 
scribed practically and simply; that the ad¬ 
vice given is in the main sound and good, 
and that any city woman desirous of set¬ 
ting up a country home will find Mrs. 
Saint Maur a sympathetic counsellor. 
Bees; poultry, including chickens, ducks, 
pigeons, Guinea fowls, turkeys and pheas¬ 
ants, are discussed, while the other live 
stock includes the family cow and horse, 
pedigree cats and aristocratic rabbits. 
Some of the experiences related have a 
delightfully convincing personal touch; for 
instance, the case where, in an emergency, 
chilled chicks were brooded on a hotbed 
made of baked corn! We think that “A 
Self-Supporting Home” would be a very 
good book for a country girl who thinks 
her environment gives no opportunity for 
remunerative work. She would not find 
all the suggestions offered applicable to 
her own case, perhaps, but she would real¬ 
ize that there are genuine possibilities in 
rural life, and that an educated woman 
does not lose in dignity by this active 
manual work. The enthusiasm thus gained 
would be a powerful force in the better¬ 
ment of farm life. Many books in this 
line are so obviously insincere that they 
repel us at once. In the book under dis¬ 
cussion this tone is conspicuously absent, 
and we can only say that if every word in 
it is not true it certainly deserves to be. 
It is charmingly bound, well printed and 
freely illustrated. Published by the Mac¬ 
millan Company, New York; price $1.75 
net; postage 14 cents additional. 
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body. It’s a great flesh build¬ 
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A 
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Dignified and substantial dress-goods. 
Finest quality of fabric with rich per¬ 
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Ask your dealer /or 
Simpson- Eddystone Solid Blacks. 
Three generations of Simpsons 
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PRINTS The Eddystone Mfg Co (Sole Makers) Philadelphia 
EDDYSTONt 
-THE- 
Angle Lamp 
OUR PROPOSITION is to send you a light which, 
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The Angle Mlg. Co., 78-80 Murray St.. New York. 
Stevens Catalogue Free 
Illustrates and describes our entire line of 
rifles, shotguns, pistols. Send 4 cents in 
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Insist on Stevens Firearms. If you/dealer 
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J. STEVENS ARMS AND TOOL CO. 
200 High Street 
Chicopee Falls, Mass., U. S. A. 
Wholesale Prices 
Freight 
Paid 
Gold Coin Stoves have been Standard in high grade trade for nearly 
fifty years. In every town where they are not now on saie, we will sell 
direct to the user, the 
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(Ranges also) at their wholesale price, sent on approval, safely de- 
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An old customer writes: “Gold Coin is good enough for 
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Illustrated Catalogue Free describes our full line of Gold Coin 
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THE GOLD COIN STOVE CO., S Oak St., Troy, N. Y. 
(Successor to Bussey aDd McLeod, Est. I860) 
HERE IS THE PROOF 
Proof of wearing quality. The rubber strip stretches but does 
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common sense in making, explain why 
Buckskin Brand 
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Look for the Buckskin Brand—don’t buy if you don’t see it—on 
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BANNER RUBBER CO., 
280 Bittner St., St. Louis, Mo. 
WEIGHT 
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An almost, infallible remedy for dis¬ 
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