THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 16, 
142 
fr From Day to Day. 
THE TWO SEEKERS. 
Two men went seeking happiness, 
One walked the roadside way 
And looked with all his longing eyes 
Within each garden gay. 
Where’er he saw it growing 
He tried to grasp its flower; 
But always, in his clutching hand. 
It died before an hour, 
Till, angry and despairing. 
In bitterness he cried: 
“Others are given happiness, 
To me it is denied!” 
The other one looked round him. 
“Since happiness is found 
In other people’s gardens. 
Why not within my ground?’’ 
He dug and plowed and planted, 
And with a careful toil 
Where it was rough and stony. 
Enriched each inch of soil. 
Until with crowded blossoms 
The little plot o’erran— 
“How simple ’tis,” the owner cried, 
“To be a happy man!” 
—Priscilla Leonard in Catholic Stand¬ 
ard and Times. 
* 
Socks of the same length as those worn 
by men are noted among women’s hos¬ 
iery. Why women should desire to wear 
them we do not know, but we were told 
that a great many are sold. They seem 
to us a silly affectation, and a fertile 
source of discomfort, but there are many 
women who seek the eccentric in dress, 
with the idea that they are thus truly 
up-to-date, and probably this abbreviated 
hosiery touches their fancy. 
* 
A creeping blanket is one of baby’s lux¬ 
uries that provides both comfort and 
amusement. It is a large square of heavy 
cream-colored blanket material, embroid¬ 
ered with birds and animals done in 
worsted outline stitch, bright colors and 
bold designs being selected. A baby will 
spend much time creeping from one pic¬ 
ture to another, tracing out the outlines 
and playing with them, and anything that 
keeps the baby healthily amused is cer¬ 
tainly a boon to the mother. 
* 
Mock mince pie with cranberries is rec¬ 
ommended, and it may be useful for 
those whose apple bins are empty. It calls 
for one cupful bread crumbs, one cupful 
raisins, one cupful sugar, one cupful 
cranberries cut in halves, one level salt- 
spoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, all¬ 
spice and nutmeg, one cupful hot water, 
one-half cup vinegar and butter size of a 
large English walnut. Turn into a pie tin 
lined with flaky paste, place the top 
crust and bake in a brisk oven. 
* 
Here is a recipe for English tea cake, 
which will be found very good: Sift four 
cupfuls of dried flour into a bowl and 
chop into it a scant cupful of butter. 
Dissolve half a yeast cake in four table¬ 
spoonfuls of warm water and stir it into 
two cupfuls of milk, or enough to make 
a soft dough. Roll this out into a sheet 
and cut into cakes as large as a tea 
plate and less than half an inch thick. 
Set them, covered lightly, in a warm 
place until they have nearly trebled in 
thickness. Bake in a floured pan. Keep 
them covered for twenty minutes, then 
brown. Run a sharp knife around the 
edge, tear the cake open, butter and serve 
upon a plate lined and covered with a 
heated napkin. 
* 
Anyone who has old pewter stored 
away among the family treasures may 
bring it out very proudly now, as there 
is a revival of the taste for such things. 
Candlesticks, tea sets, plates, porringers 
and tankards of pewtei were familiar in 
Colonial homes, and the modern collector 
admires this ware for its honest simplicity 
and beauty of outline. Modern silver¬ 
smiths are reproducing these old forms, 
and the pewter is especially recommend¬ 
ed for Summer homes. Tt is v interesting 
to note how many Summer homes fol¬ 
low the Colonial farmhouse in furnishing 
and decoration. There should be some 
fine old pewter stored away in some old- 
fashioned country houses; this is a good 
time to use it for decorating the dining 
room. 
* 
Among foreign novelties seen recently 
are quaint wooden toys, that would defy 
the most strenuous play on the part of 
youthful owners. They are caricatures of 
birds, animals and dolls, stiff and rigid 
in outline, yet preserving characteristic 
pose: some suggest the toys of primitive 
savage toy-makers, others look as though 
they had escaped from a mediaeval Noah’s 
ark There are ladies in peasant costume 
with the general outline of a potato mash¬ 
er, geometrical soldiers and Elizabethan 
dames in ruffs and farthingales, but queer¬ 
est of all are wonderful dachshunds and 
gambolling cats. They are gorgeously 
painted with enamel paint, and practically 
unbreakable; they range in price from 
about 25 cents to several dollars. We are 
told that clever artists first evolved the 
idea, and much of their queer look of 
individuality is due to the hand work put 
upon them by the toy-makers of Austria 
and Bavaria. 
* 
Grandfather Robbins was irascible at 
any time, says the Youth’s Companion, 
but Grandfather Robbins afflicted with a 
stiff neck came near to making an ab¬ 
solutely unendurable visitor, as his young 
daughter-in-law discovered. 
“I’ve made mustard plasters all day 
long,” complained little Mrs. Robbins, 
telephoning to a sympathetic and helpful 
neighbor, “and he won’t wear one of 
them. I’m fairly at my wit’s end. What 
shall I do?—he won’t let me send for a 
doctor.” 
“I’ll come right over,” replied Mrs. 
Brown. 
“What I want,” growled the irritable 
invalid, when approached, “is a plaster 
that’ll take the pain out without taking 
the skin off, too, and I want it quick. 
Mind. 1 won’t stand a hot one.” 
“I'll make a plaster,” soothed Mrs. 
Brown, “that you’ll really enjoy wearing.” 
The patient submitted meekly to the 
lady’s ministrations. The neck was lim¬ 
ber the next morning, and the relieved 
old gentleman was loud in his praises of 
Mrs. Brown’s skill. He advised his son’s 
wife to acquaint herself without loss of 
time with the Brown recipe for mustard 
plasters. 
“Why,” laughed Mrs. Brown, when 
asked for the rule, “your mustard-can 
was empty, so I made it of cocoa, mixed 
with flour and seasoned with ginger.” 
Cotton-Seed Oil. 
We stopped using pork many years ago. 
We used cottolene for quite a while; that 
is made from beef suet and cotton-seed 
oil combined. I tried beef suet, but did 
not like it. Six years ago some one told 
us of cotton-seed oil; we tried it and 
have used it ever since. There are a 
number of brands, and it seems to me that 
those who call its flavor disagreeable 
must have got the wrong kind, for ours 
has no such failing. I think all who have 
tried it around here have been pleased 
with it. One farmer, who owns houses 
in New York City, comes seven miles 
for it. He told his brother he could eat 
pie shortened with it just before going to 
bed and not taste it in the morning. 
One cup of the oil will shorten one quart 
of flour for pie crust. It is easy to use. 
I stir it into the flour with a spoon, then 
stir in only enough cold water to bind 
it together. If kept in a cold room it 
will stiffen some, but can be softened 
easily. I have kept it in my pantry 
through the Summer and it did not get 
“frowy.” It has more shortening power j 
than butter or lard, so in using it in 
cakes, etc., the measure must be scanted, 
or they will be too short. Potato chips 
fried in it are delicious, and so are 
doughnuts. Nothing can be nicer in 
which to fry eggs, and it does not shrivel 
our fresh fish; but do not attempt to fry 
anything in it until it is very hot. It is 
good in salads. I use two mixing spoons 
or one-fourth cup to each quart of water 
to shorten my wheat bread. 
I know nothing about refining the oil, 
Perhans one cotild get information from 
the refiners. We buy ours direct from 
them. They will not sell less than 10 
gallons, which comes in cases containing 
two five-gallon tin cans. A gallon weighs 
iy 2 pounds. In the last four years we 
have bought over 300 gallons in barrels. 
The price has ranged from 34 to 55 cents 
per gallon f. o. b. New York. It is gen¬ 
erally six cents higher in cans than in 
barrels. If “Reader” from Ohio and her 
neighbors would only get some of the 
“I. X. L. Frime Cooking Oil” (be sure 
to call for this kind) and give it a trial, 
I believe they would continue to use it. 
LORETTE A. KINGSBURY. 
I would like to tell the correspondent 
who inquired for a substitute for lard, 
that “Wesson oil” is a refined cotton¬ 
seed oil, and is tasteless, odorless and 
colorless. It can be used for any purpose 
where lard is required. “Cottolene” is 
beef fat and cotton-seed oil, a very fine 
article indeed. The prejudice against 
cotton-seed oil vanishes with its proper 
use. MRS. M. L. BANKS. 
Florida. _ 
Coffee Fruit Cake. — This requires 
neither eggs nor milk. One-half cup but¬ 
ter. one and one-half cups sugar, one and 
one-half cups cold strong coffee, one-half 
cup molasses, one teaspoonful soda, one 
cup raisins, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one 
teaspoonful cloves, one-half teaspoonful 
nutmeg. Flour for thick batter, adding 
one level teaspoonful baking powder. For 
frosting without eggs, use one cupful of 
granulated sugar, five tablespoonfuls of 
milk; boil four or five minutes till it 
threads from the spoon. Flavor as de¬ 
sired. Add chocolate or not. Stir till 
right thickness for spreading. This is 
fine-grained, white (if chocolate is not 
used) and delicious. 
Potato Salad. —One must use judg¬ 
ment about the quantity of onion to be 
used in the salad. 1 use a small onion, and 
it flavors salad enough for four people. I 
chop the onion very fine, then add the cold 
boiled potatoes and chop them not quite 
as fine as the onion, then put in enough 
salad dressing—I use the boiled kind—to 
make the mixture moist and of the right 
flavor. Some people do not like onion, in 
which case lettuce or parsley may be used, 
and also hard-boiled eggs, is desired. 
S. B, R. 
Alt lead packed in 1907 bears this mark.' 
Pure White Lead 
Paint Does Not 
Crack or -Scale 
One value of paint is, of course, the 
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But the great and important value 
of paint is as a protector, and in this 
value various paints differ widely. 
Pure White Lead is the best pro¬ 
tective paint because it gives an opaque, 
durable, elastic coat that does not crack 
or scale. 
To protect your property longest, 
paint with only Pure White Lead and 
Pure Linseed Oil, 
This Dutch Boy trade mark protects 
you against adulteration and substitu¬ 
tion ; it appears only on kegs of Pure 
White Lead made 
by the Old Dutch 
Process. 
Send forBook 
“A Talk on Paint." 
givesvaluable informa¬ 
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request. 
National Lead Co. 
in whichever of the 
following cities is 
nearest u»n: 
New York, Boston, Buffalo, 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, 
Chicago. St Louis, Phlla, 
delphlaUohnT. Lewis 
& Bros. Co.], Put!*, 
burgh [National Lead 
It Oil Co.J 
A 
SK US HOW WE 
Give this Chair 
i and nearly 1000 other nice 
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etc. Send for our 2 free books, 
“How the Housewife Can Fur¬ 
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and “How the Housewife Can 
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Wash Dresses 
Simpson-Eddystone Prints are of 
absolutely fast-colors. They wash 
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standard for quality and artistic 
design. 
Some designs have a new silk finish. 
Ask your dealer /or Sintpson- 
Eddystone Prints. 
EDdystoKE 
PRINTS The Eddystone Mfg. Co. (Sole Makers) Philadelphia. 
Three generations of Simpsons 
have made Simpson Prints. 
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