482 
June 15, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
[ Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
THE SUNRISE NEVER FAILED US YET. 
Upon the sadness of the sea 
The sunset broods regretfully; 
From the far, lonely spaces slow 
Withdraws the wistful afterglow. 
So out of life the splendor dies. 
So darken all the happy skies. 
So gathers twilight, cold and stern ; 
But overhead the planets burn. 
And up the east another day 
Shall chase the bitter dawn away, 
What though our eyes with tears be wet? 
The sunrise never failed us yet. 
The blush of dawn may yet restore 
Our light and hope and joy once more, 
Sad soul, take comfort, nor forget 
The sunrise never failed us yet. 
—Celia Thaxter. 
• 
If the strawberry crop permits it, try 
this delicious fruit in dumplings. They 
will require one egg, a cup of sweet milk, 
a tablespoonful of melted butter, a heap¬ 
ing teaspoonful of baking powder, and 
_ flour enough to make a batter that will 
' be a trifle thicker than that which is com¬ 
monly used for griddle cakes. Pour a 
little of this batter into buttered tins, or 
porcelain cups; place a number of well- 
sweetened berries in the center and cover 
' them with more batter; then steam for 
about half an hour. Serve with a sauce 
' made by mashing some strawberries and 
incorporating them into an ordinary hard 
butter-and-sugar sauce. 
* 
The new shirt waists with two rows 
of fine knife pleating down the front are 
hard to iron satisfactorily. Some of the 
laundries flute them, but this does not 
look well. One woman says that she 
fastens down the pleating with two rows 
of bastings before it is washed. It is 
ironed on the wrong side to press the 
pleats into shape; then the bastings are 
drawn out, and it is ironed on the right 
side. If the frill has a lace edge it has to 
be picked out carefully. Some women 
buy cheap knife pleating, and baste it 
down each side of the center pleat of the 
waist; this is not laundered, but discard¬ 
ed when soiled. 
* 
1 Some of the hats we have seen this 
Spring recall the criticism thus related in 
The Youth’s Companion: 
| Mrs. Eldredge’s new hat had just ar¬ 
rived from New York. The brim had 
the fashionable downward tendency, the 
ribbon was exquisite, and a heavy wreath 
of large, many-hued globular objects en¬ 
circled the picturesque crown. 
The feminine members of the household 
eyed it approvingly, but could give no 
name to the botanical portion of the deco¬ 
rations. Mr. Eldredge, however, regard¬ 
ed the creation with mild disfavor. 
“I can see, John,” said the owner of the 
hat, pinning it into place and smiling at 
her husband, “that you don’t admire my 
hat. But why? Isn’t it becoming?” 
“It’s becoming enough,” returned Mr. 
Eldredge, examining it critically, “and it 
seems to be a nice hat, in spite of all 
those onions, beets and carrots; but you 
| know, Sallie, I never did like a boiled 
i dinner.” 
. * 
The Census Bureau has just issued a 
report showing that in the United States, 
exclusive of Alaska, Hawaii and other 
outlying territories; there are 4,833,639 
women at work. The total number of 
( women 16 years of age and over in con¬ 
tinental United States in 1900 was 23,- 
.485,559, which makes one woman in 
every five a breadwinner. In spite of the 
increase in the number of occupations 
that now employ women, almost one- 
fourth of these workers were engaged in 
some form of domestic service. The cen¬ 
sus shows that five females were em¬ 
ployed as pilots; that on steam railroads 
10 were employed as baggagemen, 31 as 
brakemen, seven as conductors, 45 as en¬ 
gineers and firemen and 26 as switchmen, 
yardmen and flagmen; that 43 were car¬ 
riage and hack drivers, six ship carpen¬ 
ters, and two roofers and slaters; that 
185 were returned as blacksmiths and 508 
as machinists; that eight were boiler¬ 
makers, 31 were charcoal, coke and lime 
burners and 11 were well borers. Some 
of these occupations seem to refute the 
oft-repeated assertion that a woman can¬ 
not drive a nail without using a flatiron 
or a hairbrush in place of a hammer. 
* 
Some time ago the newspapers told of 
Miss Etta Nelson, a rural carrier in New 
England, who delivered the mail during 
a blizzard that kept the entire community 
indoors. It appears, however, that there 
are plenty of heroines among the rural 
carriers, and Assistant Postmaster-Gen¬ 
eral Degraw has received many letters, 
newspaper clippings and photos from 
places which claim distinction in the pos¬ 
session of carriers of the fair sex who 
perform their duties under unfavorable 
conditions. Indiana has two candidates 
for honors in this respect, and they are 
sisters—'Misses Mollie and Effie Stevens. 
Whatever the weather the Misses Stevens 
deliver the mail on the route on which 
they are employed. On one occasion, 
when the roads were in such shape as to 
be almost impassable, the sisters shoul¬ 
dered the mail sacks, one of which con¬ 
tained 200 copies of a country paper, and 
traveled the entire route of 25 miles on 
foot, walking from seven o’clock in the 
morning until eight at night. Another 
incident of bravery to which the atten¬ 
tion of the Department was called is that 
of Miss Ella Bolton, a carrier of Mobile, 
Ala., who while delivering the mail was 
overtaken by a severe storm, and in at¬ 
tempting to cross a badly-swollen stream 
was thrown with her horse and vehicle 
into the water. She succeeded in saving 
not only herself, the horse and the ve¬ 
hicle, but also in recovering the bag of 
mail, which had fallen out of the wagon 
into the swiftly-moving stream. Boise, 
Idaho, claims the distinction of employ¬ 
ing more women than any other place. 
One of them, Miss Mollie Stewart, is 
the champion bronco rider of the North¬ 
west. 
* 
The beautiful handmade trimmings 
now so popular make a fashionable cos¬ 
tume excessively expensive, but they also 
put this work within the reach of clever 
needlewomen who have the leisure for 
it. Crewel embroidery is often seen in 
foreign work, applied to woolen or mo¬ 
hair costumes, and this gives a good ef¬ 
fect without close work. Crewels are 
also used on the square-meshed filet net 
for cuffs, vests and bandings. A bolero 
decorated with hand work converts a 
simple gown into an elaborate one. We 
also notice a lot of fine braiding used, 
sometimes entirely covering a bolero. Our 
grandmothers used to do a great deal of 
fine braiding, producing beautiful results, 
but it has rather lost its vogue as fancy 
work and many would hesitate to try it. 
A bolero of the Japanese kimono shape, 
completely covered with fine braiding, was 
made of twine-colored rough pongee, the 
braid being the same color. The various 
shades of cream, beige, biscuit and twine 
color seem likely to be popular in both 
pongee and linen. Loose box coats of 
coarse linen crash are offered for Sum¬ 
mer driving and automobiling; such a 
coat would be a very useful garment for 
a women who drives on dusty country 
roads, as it would protect her clothes, and 
still look smart. It may be made of any 
desired length, after one of the tour'st 
coat models. The buttons may be of 
pearl, of white linen, or of brown horn 
or composition, pearl being, as a ruli, 
the most expensive. We have seen some 
of these coats with a trimming of plaid 
mohair braid on collars and cuffs, but 
this may not launder well. Detachable 
cuffs and collar of colored linen would 
look well, and often make the linen color 
more becoming. Sometimes adjustable 
silk collar and cuffs are put on a linen 
coat; this Spring colored moire is more 
used than velvet for this purpose, on both 
cloth and linen jacket suits. 
The Bookshelf. 
Tomato Culture, by W. W. Tracy, of 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
This very useful book includes chapters 
devoted to the home garden, hotbed, 
greenhouse, and large areas for commer¬ 
cial purposes. Every detail is treated 
under the following heads: Botany, his¬ 
tory. general characteristics, essentials for 
development, selection of soil for maxi¬ 
mum crop, exposure and location, fertili¬ 
zation, preparation of the soil, hotbeds 
and cold-frames, starting plants, proper 
distance for planting, cultivation, staking, 
training and pruning, ripening, gathering, 
handling and marketing, adaptation of 
yarieties, seed breeding and growing, pro¬ 
duction for canning, cost of production, 
insects injurious to tomatoes and tomato 
diseases. It is a timely discussion of an 
important subject. Published by the 
Orange Judd Company, New York; illus¬ 
trated; 50 cents. 
Celery Culture, by W. R. Beattie, U. 
S. Department of Agriculture. This book 
gives a mass of information in condensed 
form. Among the subjects treated are 
the following: Areas adapted to celery 
culture; preparation of land; fertilization; 
production of plants, planting in field and 
garden; cultivation, irrigation, diseases of 
celery; insects and animals injurious to 
celery; blanching; storing; marketing; 
varieties; profits derived from celery cul¬ 
ture; production of celery seed. Pub¬ 
lished by Orange Judd Company, New 
York; illustrated; price 50 cents. 
Bean Culture, by Glenn C. Severy, 
B.S.; a practical monograph on this crop. 
It includes the manner of growth, soils, 
and fertilizers adapted, best varieties, seed 
selection and breeding, planting, harvest¬ 
ing, insects and fungous pests, composi¬ 
tion and feeding value; with a special 
chapter on markets by Albert W. Fulton. 
Illustrated; published by the Orange Judd 
Company, New York; price 50 cents. 
Of all the prides since Lucifer’s attaint 
there is not one more disastrous to prog¬ 
ress and success than that which will 
never acknowledge ignorance, and would 
rather remain in darkness than ask a 
neighbor for a light.—Dean Reynolds 
Hole. 
is a small item of cost compared with 
the expense of replacing the wagon. 
There is no better business economy 
than is shown in the spending of a few 
dollars on Pure White Lead Paint 
to preserve buildings, wagons and im¬ 
plements costing thousands. 
The deterioration caused by weather, 
rather than wear, is responsible for 
depreciation in their value. 
Pure White Lead Paint is protec¬ 
tion against the ravages of damp, rust 
* and decay. 
The Dutch Boy trade mark appears 
only on kegs containing Pure White 
Lead made by the Old Dutch Process. 
SEND FOR BOOK 
“A Talk on Paint,” gives valuable 
information on the paint subject. Sent 
free upon request 
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For cool cooking, less work and least fuel-expense use a 
NEW PERFECII0N 
Wick Blue Flame Oil Cook-Stove 
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R&yb Lamp 
The JLJT j-j j-l is the best lamp for 
all-round household 
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