542 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 7. 
From Day to Day. 
SAD IS OUR YOUTH. 
Sad is our youth, for it is ever going; 
Crumbling away beneath our very feet; 
Sad is our life, for onward it is flowing 
In current unperceived, because so fleet; 
Sad are our hopes, for they were sweet in 
sowing— 
But tares, self-sown, have overtopped the 
wheat; 
Sad are our joys, for they were sweet in 
blowing— 
And still, oh still, their dying breath is 
sweet; 
And sweet is youth, although It hath bereft 
us 
Of that which made our childhood sweeter 
still; 
And sweet Is middle life, for It hath left us 
A nearer good to cure an older ill; 
And sweet are all things, when we learn to 
prize them. 
Not for their sake, but 11 is, who grants 
them or denies them ! 
—Aubrey de Vere. 
* 
As a simple supper dish, try toasted 
bread lightly buttered and sprinkled with 
grated cheese; then covered with hot 
stewed tomato, seasoned with salt, pepper, 
and a blade of mace It is easily prepared, 
and very appetizing. 
* 
The Atchison Globe says that a woman 
weighing only 98 pounds lives seven miles 
northwest of Atchison. She has three 
carpenters and a hired man to cook for, 
in addition to her family. She has 2G0 
chickens, and 25 hens setting. Besides, 
she looks after a garden and feeds 30 
head of hogs. She has a baby weighing 
28 pounds, and this she usually carries 
when doing her work. Still, her friends 
in town often ask her if she doesn’t “get 
lonesome’’ in the country! 
* 
A useful sewing apron for wear when 
mending, or doing any dark-colored work, 
is made of two widths of black sateen. 
Divide one width down the middle, and 
sew to each side of the other, which 
should be slightly gored. Put a large 
square pocket at a convenient height on 
the right side. Sometimes, instead of a 
hem, the bottom of the apron is turned 
up for about 12 inches, forming a pocket, 
which is divided into compartments by 
rows of stitching. This is a convenience 
for holding sewing materials, though per¬ 
sonally we prefer the single pocket. 
* 
The Scientific American says that the 
best way of getting a refractory stopper 
out of a bottle is to take a turn around 
the neck with a stout string, hold the bot¬ 
tle firmly on .the table with one hand, 
grasp one end of the string with the 
other and and get a friend to pull the 
other end. A little sawing will soon heat 
the neck sufficiently to expand it and 
loosen the stopper. Broken stoppers have 
been extricated in this way, with noth¬ 
ing to lift them out by but a little bit of 
sealing wax melted into the broken sur¬ 
face. Try rubbing stopper with paraffin 
wax. 
* 
A pretty washable cushion cover is 
made of heavy white muslin about the 
weight of sheeting divided into squares 
V/ 2 inch in diameter. Every alternate 
square is covered with a lattice work of 
meshes one-fourth inch in diameter, 
worked in heavy embroidery cotton. Tn 
the center of each mesh is a tiny French 
knot. Any desired color may be used, 
and the edge of the pillow is finished 
with a white cord. For hard service, art 
ticking will be found very desirable to 
cover Summer sofa cushions; it may be 
bought in many very handsome designs 
for 25 to 35 cents a yard. There is at 
present a fancy for fine lingerie sofa 
pillows, not only in bedrooms, but in the 
living room also. They are made of fine 
linen or lawn, embroidered or trimmed 
with lace insertions, with ruffles to match. 
These are expensive to buy, when deco¬ 
rated with fine hand work. 
A cup of cold gruel, properly made, is 
not only desirable for a convalescent, but 
also for a growing child with a capricious 
appetite, or for a tired woman who feels 
the need of some support between hurried 
meals. We make cornmeal gruel as fol¬ 
lows: Shake two tablespoon fuls of corn- 
meal into a quart of boiling water, in a 
double boiler, so as to avoid lumps, salt 
it slightly, and let it boil slowly for four 
hours; stir as needed to avoid burning. 
It should be a rather thick cream, but 
not at all stiff; if the water boils away 
too much add a little more. When cooked 
strain to remove any lumps, and stir in 
a well-beaten egg, which is sufficiently 
cooked by the hot gruel; a little sugar if 
desired. Set away until cool, then chill 
in the ice box. When used take half a 
cupful of the gruel, and fill the cup with 
rich cold milk, which thins it enough for 
drinking. In cold weather thin with boil¬ 
ing milk. Oatmeal gruel is cooked in the 
same way, only we use three tablespoon- 
fuls of rolled oats to one quart of water, 
a little salt. Cook four hours, strain, add 
a little sugar and flavor with nutmeg. 
We do not add egg to the oatmeal gruel, 
but thin with milk like the cornmeal gruel 
when used. __ 
A Few Good Cakes. 
Orange Layer Cake. —Cream half a 
cup of butter and one and a half cup 
of sugar, adding a cup of milk and two 
cups of pastry flour sifted with a large 
teaspoonful of baking powder or one of 
cream of tartar and half a teaspoonful 
of soda. Flavor the batter with half the 
rind and juice of an orange. Bake in thin 
layers and spread with a filling made by 
mixing a large tablespoonful of corn¬ 
starch with a scant two-thirds of a cup 
of sugar, a bit of butter, one yolk and the 
juice and grated rind of either one large 
orange or two small ones. When well 
mixed, moisten the whole with a cup of 
boiling water, letting it tliicken on the 
stove. While cooking stir it constantly 
to prevent lumps, and spread thickly over 
the cakes. Place one upon another and 
ice the whole with a simple frosting of 
powdered sugar and the rind and juice 
of an orange. It is well to have a little 
extra filling in a bowl, serving a little 
with each portion of cake. 
Dried Apple Cake. —Soak two cups of 
dried apples, and when tender add one 
cup of raisins, one cup of molasses, one 
cup of sugar, a little cinnamon and cloves. 
Boil these to a syrup. When cool add 
one cup of sour milk, one cup of butter, 
two eggs and two liberal cups of flour 
carefully sifted two or three times. A 
teaspoonful of soda should also be added, 
either sifted with the flour or dissolved 
in the sour milk. Bake for two hours. 
This cake keeps some time and improves 
with age. 
Poor Man’s Fruit Cake.— Seed and 
chop a quarter of a pound of dates; mix 
with them one cupful of seeded raisins, 
and dust them with one-half cupful of 
flour. Dissolve a level teaspoonful of 
baking soda in two tablespoonfuls of 
warm water; add to it half a pint of 
ver^ thick sour cream, stir a moment and 
add one cupful of brown sugar, half a 
tumblerful of currant or blackberry jelly, 
a tablespoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoon¬ 
ful of allspice and two cupfuls and a 
half of flour. Beat thoroughly, add the 
fruit, mix well and turn into a greased 
square pan. Bake in a very slow oven 
for one hour and a half. This cake will 
be quite equal to plain/ fruit cake if the 
cream is very thick, and it is allowed to 
stand a week before cutting. 
White Mountain Cake. —One cup 
sugar beaten with whites of four eggs, 
half cup sweet milk, two and a half cups 
sifted flour, three teaspoons level full 
baking powder, one teaspoonful flavoring. 
Beat to a foam, then add half a cup 
melted butter and beat again. Bake in 
moderate oven. 
Dolly Varden Cake. —Cream one-half 
cup butter with one cup sugar. Add one- 
half cup milk alternately with one and 
one-half cup of flour in which has been 
mixed one teaspoonful baking powder. 
Lastly fold in the dry-beaten whites of 
three eggs and flavor to taste. Bake in 
loaf for one-half hour in a moderately 
quick oven. For icing make a syrup of 
one and one-half cup sugar and eight 
tablespoonfuls water. Boil, when this 
strings from spoon, add the well-beaten 
yolks of three eggs and continue beating 
for one-half hour. Flavor like cake and 
pour thickly over the cake. 
The Sense of Humor. 
I think it is the duty of parents to en¬ 
courage the sense of humor in their 
children, and when it is latent, develop 
if possible. I know two women who are 
situated much alike, as far as income and 
social position are concerned. Each has 
a good husband and nice children. One 
of these is unhappy, fretty and anxious, 
the other happy, serene and amiable. Now 
it seems to me, knowing both these 
women as well as I do, that it is the 
strongly developed sense of humor pos¬ 
sessed by the latter woman that makes 
the difference between them. The first 
one has almost no appreciation of a joke, 
she never laughs heartily, and to most 
humorous or joking remarks her only 
response is a puzzled look or one of pity¬ 
ing wonder that anypne can be so fool¬ 
ish. She takes a serious, not to say 
gloomy view of everything, and she is 
anxious about! trifles. The other woman 
on the contrary, while she has a much 
more thoughtful and earnest mind, has 
a quick eye for the humorous. Tell her 
a funny story and she laughs very heartily. 
She confesses that sometimes she laughs 
so hard that she is afraid that she will 
injure herself, but thus far she seems to 
thrive on the exercise. Those who ought 
to know, say that laughter is a great 
tonic and invigorator. Moreover the 
sense of humor gives balance to the 
character. Its possessor has a clearer 
conception of values and many things may 
be passed over with a laugh that other¬ 
wise might cause friction and unhappi¬ 
ness. 
But while the sense of humor is an 
excellent thing, and to be encouraged, one 
should have a care that it is humor of 
the right kind and not the wrong kind 
that is fostered. They should be jokes 
of a harmless and innocent nature that 
are recounted and humor of the kindly 
sort that is encouraged. That which is 
calculated to hurt feelings or make others 
uncomfortable, or the kind that is the 
least bit vulgar, or that borders even a 
very little on the indecent, should be 
sternly discountenanced. 
SUSAN B. ROBBINS. 
A Cure for Discontent. —Much dis¬ 
content arises in the farm home during 
the Winter through lack of employment. 
Now do not, all you farmers’ wives, pre¬ 
pare to silence me forever; wait until I 
explain. There is always work enough, 
but yet there are often hours when there 
is nothing pressing, and because there is 
nothing we take great interest in, we be¬ 
come discontented. Every woman should 
have some hobby or fad to chase away 
the blues. It may be amateur photog¬ 
raphy, or sketching, or music, or embroid¬ 
ery, anything in which the mind can find 
rest from household cares. The same 
routine day after day, week in and week 
out, is enough to make one sick of earth. 
It is unnecessary. There is always a mo¬ 
ment here and there for devotion to a 
hobby. Seize upon it if you want to 
keep young and happy. H. R. A. 
Four things a man must learn to do 
If he would make his record true; 
To think without confusion clearly; 
To love his fellow-men sincerely; 
To act from honest motives purely; 
To trust in God and Heaven securely. 
—Henry Van Dyke. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick re^ly and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee, page 8. 
Do You Make 
Enough ? 
Does your work at 
counter, bench or desk 
pay you as much as you 
want or need ? Are you 
being squeezed to death 
socially and intellectu¬ 
ally because you have so 
little money for the 
things and the life that 
would broaden and de¬ 
velop you? 
Make some systematic 
use of your spare time. 
Take a certain part of 
each day or evening and 
earn large sums in com¬ 
missions, rebates, bonuses 
and prizes making yearly 
sales for The Ladies* 
Home Journal and The 
Saturday Evening Post. 
Any man or woman, 
young or old, and boy 
or girl, who wants to 
“get on” can “get” 
with the help our sales 
department will give 
them as its representative. 
Do you make $1500 
a year? Many of our 
salesmen and sales¬ 
women make that and 
more. It is not “can¬ 
vassing.” It is a well- 
paid, respected and lib¬ 
eralizing business. 
Write us for informa¬ 
tion. 
The Curtis Publishing Compant 
3886-E Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
TELEPHONES 
AND LINK MATERIAL FOR 
FARMERS 9 LINES 
so simple you can build your own line. 
Instruction book and price list free. The 
Williams Telephone & Supply Co. 
7 8 Central Ave., Cleveland, O. 
CORNED BEEF 
We use only FRESH BEEF, and thon nothing but 
the plates. WE GUARANTEE THE QUAIATY. 
Everybody orders again, as theOORNED BEEF is as 
we represent. Write for prices—will answer promptly. 
GEO. NYE & COMPANY 
SPK1NUF1KLI), MASS. 
MACHINERY 
hide 
Best and cheapest. 
Send for catalogue. 
BOOMER & BOSCHERT 
,, PRESS CO., 
118 Went Water 8L, 
SYRACUSE, N. r. 
Monarch 
Hydraulic 
Cider Press 
Great strength and ca¬ 
pacity; ull sizes; also 
gasoline engines, 
steam engines, 
saw mills, thresh- 
— ws. ers. Catalog free. 
Monarch Michlniry Co., Room 161.39 Cortland! SI.. Nib lork. 
