812 
THE RURA.E NEW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
VARIETY. 
The sun comes up and the sun goes down, 
And day and night are the same as one; 
The year grows green, and the year grows 
brown, 
And what is it all, when all is done? 
Grains of somber or shining sand, 
Gliding into or out of the hand. 
And men go down in ships to the seas, 
And a hundred ships arc the same as one, 
And backward and forward blows the 
breeze, 
And what is it all, when all is done? 
A tide with neverfa shore in sight, 
Getting steadily on to the night. 
The fisher dropped his net in the stream 
And a hundred streams are the same as 
one. 
And the maiden dreameth her love-lit 
dream, 
And what is it all when all is done? 
The net of the fisher the burden breaks. 
And always the dreaming the dreamer 
wakes. 
—Author Unknown. 
* 
A pretty Summer work-bag is made 
from a fine embroidered handkerchief. 
The handkerchief is folded through the 
middle and the sides sewn up. A dou¬ 
ble row of lace insertion is put around 
the top, like a hem, ribbon being run 
through it, and a lace edge is sewn 
along the top of the insertion to make 
a frill when drawn up. It is a very 
pretty little bag, and if wash ribbon is 
used it may be laundered without even 
removing the draw-string. 
* 
Drop dumplings are delicious in soup, 
but should -be carefully made; they need 
a “light hand,” as old-fashioned cooks 
say. Beat a tablespoonful of good beef 
drippings until white; dip an egg in 
boiling water and then break it into the 
dripping, and beat well together; add 
two tablespoon fuls of flour, pepper and 
salt to taste, a grate of nutmeg and a 
dessertspoonful of chopped parsley. 
Form the mixture into pieces the size 
of a large walnut, drop them into the 
boiling soup, and cook them about a 
quarter of an hour. 
* 
A “pinch” bag is a convenient little 
receptacle for inclosing small articles 
that may easily slip out; the principle 
is old-fashioned enough to seem quite 
new. Its name comes from the fact 
that there are no drawstrings; the 
mouth of the bag is left flat, and is 
fitted with two stiff parallel whalebones, 
which keep it shut; pinching the whale¬ 
bones at either end curves them enough 
to open the bag. A pretty piece of 
flowered ribbon three inches wide is 
nice for making the bag. Turn a hem 
on each end of the ribbon just wide 
enough to slip in the whalebones, and 
sew it firmly. Slip in the whalebones, 
rounding the ends slightly, and taking 
care that while long enough to be 
snug when the bag is seamed up, they 
are not too long, so as to tear the 
silk. Now fold the ribbon through the 
middle, the tops meeting evenly, whip 
the edges together firmly, and the bag 
is finished. Unless pinched the bones 
keep the top of the bag firmly closed, 
and any small articles are kept securely 
in it. 
* 
The daily papers reported recently 
that an epidemic of pellagra at Durham, 
N. C.. had resulted in five deaths. It 
was said that local physicians were un¬ 
able to assign any cause for this dis¬ 
ease. It is well known, however, that 
the disease results from the use of 
smutty corn, a warning on the sub¬ 
ject being given in Rtiralisms, page 690. 
Pellagra or corn-smut disease often 
appears in southern Europe, but h§s 
been rare in America. Its first symp¬ 
toms are a reddening and roughening 
of the skin, with swelling, and it also 
involves digestive troubles and great 
depression of the system, and acute 
melancholy or insanity. Where corn- 
meal in various forms is a material part 
of the diet it is very necessary that it 
should be sound and clean. Smutty 
grain of any sort is dangerous, and 
should be avoided. Further reports of 
pellagra in the South come from Mis¬ 
sissippi, and the Marine Hospital Ser¬ 
vice has taken up the matter. The re¬ 
markable fact that the disease has only 
appeared recently in the South, where 
maize has been freely used since the 
first settlement of the country, causes 
some disquiet. It has not been regard¬ 
ed as contagious in Italy, where it is 
most prevalent. 
* 
Many plump women torture them¬ 
selves in over-tight bodices, especially 
in Summer, because they feel that loose 
blouses give them an untidy look. 
They realize, too, that a woman who is 
very warm, tightly collared, and uncom¬ 
fortable betrays the fact by her appear¬ 
ance, but seek relief «by loose sacques 
and general carelessness when they are 
not on dress parade. In reality, a stout 
woman can improve her appearance 
very much, without making herself un¬ 
comfortable, by giving a little thought 
to her clothes. One very useful gar¬ 
ment is a brassiere or bust supporter, 
to be worn over the corset, taking the 
place of the ordinary corset cover. It 
is usually made of coutil, or some simi¬ 
lar firm fabric, and boned at the seams, 
or it may be left unboned, depending 
on its smooth fit and firm stitching to 
retain shape. Such a garment costs, 
ready-made, from $1 up, but can be 
made at home. We have a pattern (No. 
6205) which takes one-half yard of ma¬ 
terial, and is very satisfactory. Of 
course it must be fitted carefully. 
There is also a bust-supporting corset 
cover (No. 5950), which is much bet¬ 
ter for a stouter figure than the ordin¬ 
ary styles. This season’s styles are de¬ 
cidedly becoming to plump women; not 
the skin-tight princess models, but the 
simpler one-piece costumes, which may 
be modified by trimming to suit any 
style. A one-piece dress, ’ giving the 
effect of long lines, is a great improve¬ 
ment to the plump figure when com¬ 
pared with separate waist and skirt. 
Canning Peas and Corn. 
There was a request in The R. N.-Y. 
for a recipe for canning beans, peas, 
etc. Below is Mrs. Rorer’s recipe. Put 
the beans or peas in the cans and fill 
with cold water, putting on tops but not 
tight. Put layers of paper in the bot¬ 
tom of a wash boiler or deep pot. Put 
cans in the boiler, fill to nearly the top 
of the cans with cold water, cover 
boiler tightly and boil three hours. Re¬ 
move and fasten tops tightly. That is 
Mrs. Rorer’s recipe as nearly as I can 
remember. I have used the recipe for 
beans, for years, and never had a can 
spoil, but some of my peas did not keep 
well and since then I have boiled them 
four hours with good results. I always 
use the lightning cans with new rub¬ 
bers, and if I have not enough vegeta¬ 
bles to fill cans and to have the boiler 
full I put in cans of water, because they 
must be packed in tightly in order not 
to break; as they roll in the boiling, if 
not in tight. Alice h. Warner. 
Tested Pickles.— Take one gallon 
cider vinegar, one cup of mustard, one 
cup salt, two cups sugar, 10 cents worth 
of mixed spices. Wash pickles, pack in 
crock and pour the mixture over them 
cold. In using this mixture you neither 
scald vinegar nor pickles. 
MRS. ARMSTRONG. 
Removing Grass Stains. —I noticed 
on page 742 a paragraph on removing 
grass stains and decided to tell you my 
method, which I think is simpler, and it 
is perfectly satisfactory. I soak the 
spot in sweet milk until the stain has 
disappeared. I have in this way remov¬ 
ed grass stains from the knees of my 
boy’s light-gray woolen pants and many 
other articles without any injury to 
either color or fabric. mrs. w. d. r. 
The Rural Patterns. 
The girlish princess dress shown in 
No. 6412 is made with the panels, the 
gored upper portions of the skirt and 
the straight plaited flounce. The clos¬ 
ing of the dress is made at the left of 
the back, the chemisette at the centre. 
The sleeves are in one piece each, tuck- 
6412 Misses' Prir.cesse Dress, 
14 and 16 years. 
ed on indicated lines. The quantity of 
material required for the sixteen year 
size is 10)4 yards 24, 6)4 yards 32 or 
5)4 yards 44 inches wide with )4 yard 
18 inches wide for the chemisette and 
1)4 yards of banding. The pattern 
6412 is cut in sizes for girls of 14 and 
16 years of age; price 10 cents. 
The plain princess gown shown can 
be altered by its trimming in a variety 
of ways. It can be made with the pleat- 
6413 Princesse Costume, 34 to 44 bust. 
ed flounce, or in plain gores. The 
gown can be made with a seamless back 
and closed at the front, or with backs 
shaped more closely to the figure by 
means of a centre seam and closed eith¬ 
er at the left of the front or at the 
centre back. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size is 11 
yards 21, 8 yards 22 or 6 yards 44 inches 
wide with 1)4 yards of banding, width 
September 11, 
of skirt with plaited flounce 4)4 yards, 
of plain skirt 3 yards. The pattern 6413 
is cut in sizes for a 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 and 
44 inch bust measure; price 10 cents. 
Canning Mushrooms. 
Will you tell us bow to do up mush¬ 
rooms the way you get them in the cans 
when you buy them? mrs. g. g. 
The “button” mushrooms, rather than 
the more mature ones, are usually can¬ 
ned, because their color and appearance 
is better. The following method is 
given by Prof. Gerald McCarthy of the 
North Carolina Department of Agri¬ 
culture. Use freshly gathered selected 
mushrooms. Prepare the following li¬ 
quid : One quart of water, one ounce 
of salt and two teaspoonfuls of vine¬ 
gar. Place in an earthen or porcelain- 
lined kettle, and bring to a boil. Put 
in the mushrooms, a few at a time, stir¬ 
ring carefully to avoid bruising until 
they are soaked through; then put on 
the lid, and boil for 10 minutes. Re¬ 
move from the boiling kettle in a skim¬ 
mer or colander and plunge several 
times into cold fresh water, then drain. 
Pack into jars, and cover with the li¬ 
quid in which the mushrooms were 
boiled. The jars are then closed and 
“processed” at 212 degrees for 30 min¬ 
utes, the processing being repeated on 
two succeeding days, but as a “process¬ 
ing kettle” is not always at hand, this 
work may be done in any large kettle, 
standing the bottles on a rack with the 
water coming about two-thirds up the 
kettle, covering, and cooking for 30 
minutes after the water begins to boil, 
repeating this the two succeeding days. 
Hot melted butter or hot salad oil may 
be used to fill the jars, instead of the 
liquor in which the mushrooms were 
boiled. _ 
A Creamery Tank Refrigerator. 
“There’s a mystery I’d like to have 
explained,” I said. Cousin Mary was 
ironing in the airy back room, and I 
was ■shelling the peas for dinner. 
“Well, what is it?” she asked. 
“I don’t want to be inquisitive, and I 
hate to seem to be prying into your do¬ 
mestic affairs, but I would like to know 
how you manage to have fresh meat 
every day.” 
Mary smiled, but said nothing and I 
went on. 
“You told me your meat man comes 
only once a week, and the fish man the 
same, but you have fresh fish or meat 
nearly every day. You had pot roast 
Monday, bluefish Tuesday, sausage 
Wednesday, steak Thursday, sword fish 
Friday and today you say you are go¬ 
ing to have steak again. Now how do 
you manage?” 
Mary laughed. “I’ll reveal the secret 
as soon as we get those peas on cook¬ 
ing,” she said, and when that was done 
she led the way to the barn. She rais¬ 
ed the heavy lid of the big creamery 
tank where the men kept the great cans 
of milk that went to the butter factory 
every other day. There at one end of 
the tank, among the cakes of ice float¬ 
ed several two-quart lightning jars se¬ 
curely sealed, so that no water could 
get in. 
“There,” said Cousin Mary, as she 
fished out the steak jar from the icy 
water, “is the secret of it. By getting 
a good quantity when the meat and fish 
carts come along, I can keep supplied 
all the time. I have actually kept fish 
and meat perfectly fresh in this way, 
for a whole week. I have told quite a 
number of people about this. A great 
many farmers through the country keep 
their milk in tanks of ice water, and 
those I hav.e told were glad to adopt my 
method. It is such a satisfaction to 
know that you have a good supply of 
meat in the tank. If we depended on 
the carts entirely, you see we would 
have to do without, a good many days, 
or else fall back on canned things.” 
SUSAN B. ROBBINS. 
