678 
THE RURAL NEDW-YORKER 
July 17, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
IJ E A V EX LY TREASURE. 
“What I spent I had; 
What I kept I lost: 
What I gave I have.” 
—Old Epitaph. 
Every coin of earthly treasure 
We have lavished upon earth, 
Eor our simply worldly pleasure, 
May he reckoned something worth; 
For the spending was not losing 
Though tlie purchase were hut small; 
It has perished with the using; 
We have had it—that is all ! 
All the gold we leave behind us 
When we turn to dust again. 
Though our avarice may blind us, 
We have gathered quite in vain ; 
Since we neither can direct it. 
By the winds of fortune tossed, 
Nor in other worlds expect it. 
What we hoarded we have lost! 
But each merciful oblation. 
Seed of pity wisely sown— . 
What we give in self-negation, 
We may safely call our own ; 
For tiie treasure freely given 
Is the treasure that we hoard. 
Since the angels keep in heaven, 
What is lent unto the Lord ! 
—.T. G. Saxe. 
* 
To make currant marmalade, place 
the fruit in a double boiler and cook 
until soft, then rub through a sieve 
so as to secure all pulp and juice, re¬ 
taining the seeds. Measure the pulp, 
put on stove and boil 25 minutes, skim¬ 
ming carefully; add one pound of sugar 
for each pint of pulp, boil until a drop 
put on a cold plate will form a bead 
without spreading; then put in small 
jars or glasses and cover when cold. 
* 
Listen to what Charlotte Bronte says 
about spinsters: “I have already got to 
the point of considering that there is 
no more respectable character on this 
earth than an unmarried woman, who 
makes her own way through life, qui- 
ctly, perseveringly, without support of 
husband or brother, and who, having 
attained the age of 40 or upwards, re¬ 
tains a well-regulated mind, a disposi¬ 
tion to enjoy simple pleasures, and for¬ 
titude to support inevitable pains, sym¬ 
pathy with the suffering of others, and 
willingness to relieve want as far as 
means allow.” 
* 
Newspaper reports say that farmers’ 
wives in Central Indiana have rebelled 
against providing # big dinners for 
thrasher hands, and when the thrasher- 
men come to make contracts they are 
told that they will have to provide 
the men’s dinners, which many of them 
are not prepared to do. No doubt they 
will have to adopt the plan in vogue 
farther west, where the traveling thrash¬ 
er has a cook and camp outfit to pro¬ 
vide - for the men. W/e think farmers’ 
wives have been seriously imposed on in 
this matter of boarding harvest hands. 
More and more elaborate meals have 
been demanded, until in many instances 
it would appear that the housekeeper 
must make herself a veritable slave at 
the behests of these men. We shall 
be very glad to see a reform in this 
particular, in every locality where the 
custom of boarding these men still con¬ 
tinues. Some of our readers tell us 
several women often unite to do the 
work, helping one another in turn, but 
in any case a weariful amount of work 
is involved. 
* 
We do not vouch for the following 
story but it was related by the Portland 
Oregonian, which is a newspaper .of 
high standing. It states that a big An¬ 
gora, mascot and pet of the Standard 
Copper Company at Landlock, lay qui- 
etly sunning herself on a rocky pinna¬ 
cle 2,220 feet above the sea level and 
near the mine works, when a bald 
eagle swooped down upon Madam Cat 
and carried her away. The mine fore¬ 
man was a witness to the abduction 
and intently watched the eagle and its 
prey as they soared over the mountain 
tops. The sad fate of the cat was 
discussed in the bunkhouse for three 
nights, when the sudden jangling of the 
telephone bell announced from a dis¬ 
tance of two miles that the cat had 
come back. Madam Grimalkin was a 
sorry-looking sight. Her long hair was 
dishevelled and in spots her mutilated 
skin was bare. How far she was car¬ 
ried and how she escaped her captor 
she cannot tell. It may be she killed 
the bird. When the eagle swooped 
down and carred the cat away the mine 
foreman asserts both cat and eagle must 
have gone twenty miles, for both were 
lost to view only on account of the 
failure of vision to follow them further. 
* 
The Minnesota State Entomologist, 
F. L. Washburn, in an interesting bul¬ 
letin on household insects, gives the 
following advice about preserving cloth¬ 
ing-from moths: 
When one is absolutely sure that no eggs 
or larvae (worms) are present, a very good 
practice is to store articles in paste-board 
boxes which are afterward thoroughly 
sealed by pasting paper over the cracks. It 
is usually not safe to let woolens, furs 
or feathers remain undisturbed a long time 
in an ordinary trunk, since, as a rule, such 
trunks are not moth-proof. Cold storage 
is much resorted to for the preservation of 
furs during the Summer, and this is quite 
a feature in the business of many of the 
cold storage plants in cities. The pest can¬ 
not work in a temperature below 40 degrees 
Fahrenheit. Frequent beating of furs, fur¬ 
niture, curtains, woolens, etc., during the 
Spring and Summer, say in May, June, 
July and August, is helpful. The writer 
in his own house has practiced the fol¬ 
lowing method for several years with 
marked success: A galvanized iron chest 
was constructed, about two feet square at 
the ends, and three and a half feet long. 
The cover tits in with a flange, and a strip 
of felting is glued on around the edge 
which rests on the edge of the chest when 
the cover is in place; six hooks on the 
cover fasten into eyes soldered on the chest, 
and serve to keep the former tight. Into 
this receptacle in the Spring goes all of 
our clothing not to be used during the 
Summer, and which is attractive to moths. 
At the same time in a saucer-like dish 
placed on top of the clothing is poured 
four tablespoonfuls of bisulphide of carbon, 
and the chest closed. It should not be 
opened for any purpose for three or four 
days. AVe repeat this performance about 
10 days later, since the vapor fatal to 
the larvae does not, we believe, kill the 
egg, and perhaps once or twice more at 
intervals during the Summer. These latter 
fumigations are probably not necessary, but 
would kill any insect life, should a moth, 
by accident, have crawled in. This vapor, 
heavier than air, sinks through the clothes 
stored in the chest. It is explosive when 
mixed with the atmospere, and no light of 
any kipd should be brought near it. Bi¬ 
sulphide of carbon may be purchased in 
pint cans. It in no way injures the clothes. 
A tight closet made for the purpose or any 
perfectly tight chest might lake the place 
of the iron box above described. 
The Bookshelf. 
Just One Blue Bonnet. —This 
unique book tells the life story of Ada 
Florence Kinton, artist and tvorker in 
the Salvation Army, written by her 
sister, Sara A. Randleson. Miss Kin- 
ton Avas the daughter of Prof. John 
Louis Kinton, a lecturer on education¬ 
al matters in London, the friend of 
Matthew Arnold, Dr. Rigg, George 
Macdonald and other men of letters. 
Florence was graduated from the Ken¬ 
sington School of Art, and came to 
Canada, gaining a high reputation as 
instructor in art schools at Kingston 
and Toronto. Later she became in¬ 
terested in Salvation Army work and 
devoted her time and talents to it, il¬ 
lustrating and editing the official or¬ 
gan, as Avell as taking active part in 
the rescue work of the Army. The 
book contains reproductions of many 
of her pencil sketches, and much in¬ 
teresting matter regarding nature and 
life in Canada and Australia, Avhere she 
afterward went. Tt costs $1, and or¬ 
ders in this country will be filled by 
Arthur N. Ingersoll, of Maplewood, 
N. J. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The simple blouse shoAvn is a useful 
model with separate skirts. The blouse 
is made Avith fronts and back. There 
are tucks laid over the shoulders which 
extend to the waist line at the back, 
but only for a short distance at the 
front. The plain sleeves are made in 
one piece each and can be finished at 
the wrists to suit the fancy. The shirt 
waist sleeves are gathered and joined 
(5359 Misses’ Blouse, with or without: 
Dutch Collar, 14 to 16 years, 
to straight cuffs. When the Dutch col¬ 
lar is used it can be either joined to 
the neck edge or finished separately and 
adjusted over it. The quantity of ma¬ 
terial required for the 16 year size is 
3 yards 24, 2 % yards 32 or 2 yards 
44 inches wide with J^.y ar d any width 
for the belt and trimming. The pat¬ 
tern 6359 is cut in sizes for girls of 14 
and 10 years: price. 10 cents. 
The sailor suit is a very attractive 
model for boys’ wear. The suit con¬ 
sists of blouse and trousers. The trou¬ 
sers are made in true sailor type. They 
are laced at the. back and made with 
fall fronts which are buttoned into 
6355 Boy’s Sailor Suit, 4, and 8 years, 
place on a support. The blouse con¬ 
sists of the front and back and is fin¬ 
ished with a sailor collar. The sleeves 
are -tucked at the wrists but plain at the 
shoulders. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size (10 years) 
is 4Jq yards 24, 4 yards 32 or 2Rj yards 
41 inches wide. The pattern 6355 is 
cut in sizes for boys of 4, 6 and 8 years 
of age; price 10 cents. 
When putting the rods in sash cur¬ 
tains, slip the end of an old glove 
finger over the end of the rod and the 
sharp edges Avon’t catch and tear the 
curtain. s. b. r. 
Another Farmer’s Wife Speaks. 
I have been reading the letters of 
Mrs. J. F. Gregory and Nettie E. Boyce, 
and find there is little else for me to 
say, as they express my views clearly 
on the farmer’s Avife question. Still I 
would like to add one more name to 
the many who are not “doAvntrodden.” 
I appreciate the sympathy Avhicli our 
city sisters give us. Many times I have 
had the utmost sympathy for them— 
to my Avay of thinking—because they 
kneAv nothing of the beauty of life, liv- 
ing “penned in.” I am a farmer’s Avife, 
and, as Nettie C. Boyce has said, my 
father, grandfathers and great-grand¬ 
fathers Avere all farmers. Being a sub¬ 
scriber to Ladies’ Home Journal, I read 
the letter referred to in The R. N.-Y., 
and am very glad that it gave an op¬ 
portunity to inform our city sisters that 
as a rule Ave are not “doAvntrodden” in 
Kentucky. True, Ave work, Ave plant 
our beans, peas, and other vegetables, 
and anxiously wait and watch to see 
the result of our labor. With the great¬ 
est satisfaction Ave gather dinner from 
our garden, the Avork of our oavu hands. 
Does not this compensate us for the 
little labor bestowed? Truly, our city 
sisters haA r e advantages that Ave have 
not, and Ave have adA-antages that they 
haA-e not. Life is what Ave make it. 
If Ave look for clouds Ave will surely 
find them; if we look for sunshine Ave 
will find ic also. Very seldom you see 
a farmer’s Avife complaining because 
she is one. Should you find one, usually 
ill-health is at the bottom of the dis¬ 
content. Many of our country, boys 
have married city girls who have made 
model wives, and who could not be 
induced to go back to the city to re¬ 
side. We as a rule have musical in¬ 
struments of some kind, and if Ave do 
not enjoy life it is our own fault, be¬ 
cause we have everything to enjoy if 
we so desire. This is life as T find it, 
and the farmer’s Avife in moderate cir¬ 
cumstances is to be enA’ied. As to 
pleasures, people differ so widely that 
one cannot “measure his corn in some 
one’s half bushel.” I could write page 
after page of the pleasant life the coun¬ 
try affords. mrs. H. R. able. 
Cold-Processed Fruits. 
Fruits that can be successfully pre¬ 
served without heating are finest of 
all because both color and flavor are 
retained, as Avell as the substance. Va¬ 
rious acids are used, and there is a 
method of sulphurizing that some claim 
is fine. The writer has never tested 
the acid methods and, after thoroughly 
testing, discarded the sulphur method 
because the taste of the sulphur could 
never be, entirely, overcome. The fruit 
looked perfect, but I would rather haA-e 
it taste natural. Fruits put up by the 
folloAving methods are both pure and 
delicious, but in each method coldness 
is the factor that makes for success. 
Currants; all the berries; pineapple, 
cut in small pieces,- or other small 
fruits may be preserved by the folloAV- 
ing method: Wash; drain; slightly 
crush, and Aveigli. Noav, spread on 
platters or granite pans (never tin) 
and sprinkle over the fruit a pound and 
a quarter of sugar for each pound of 
the fruit. (Granulated sugar is best.) 
Mix the sugar and fruit together, light¬ 
ly, and place in the refrigerator for 
several hours, or over night. Cleanse 
cans, tops, and rubbers thoroughly 
(rinse in lime Avater if possible, other¬ 
wise hard Avell Avater is much better 
than cistern Avater) and put in the re¬ 
frigerator to chill. 
When everything is thoroughly chill¬ 
ed (even the spoon) fill the fruit into 
cans, Avorking as rapidly as possible; 
seal, and stand, heads down, in a cool, 
dark, dry place. It is best to have 
nothing in the refrigerator Avith the 
fruit as there is always danger of its 
absorbing odors and germs from food¬ 
stuffs. When all possible precautions 
