500 
THE RUKAIs, NEW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
AN ANSWER FROM THE SEA. 
Come down, ye graybeard mariners, 
Unto the wasting shore! 
The morning winds are up—the gods 
Bid me to dream no more. 
Come, tell me whither I must sail, 
What peril there may be, 
Before I take my life in hand 
And venture out to sea. 
“We may not tell thee where to sail, 
Kor what the dangers are; 
Each sailor soundeth for himself, 
Each hath a separate star; 
Each sailor soundeth for himself. 
And on the awful sea 
What we have learned is ours alone; 
We may not tell it thee.” 
Come back, O ghostly mariners, 
Ye who have gone before! 
I dread the dark, impetuous tides; 
I dread the farther shore. 
Tell me the secret of the waves; 
Say what my fate shall be— 
Quick! for the mighty winds are up 
And will not wait for me. 
“Hail and farewell, O voyager! 
Thyself must read the waves; 
What we have learned of sun and storm 
Lies with us in our graves; 
What we have learned of sun and storm 
Is ours alone to know. 
The winds are blowing out to sea, 
Take up thy life and go!” 
—Ellen Cortissoz. 
★ 
An Indiana woman, Mrs. Margaret K. 
Horn, has obtained a pension of $24 a 
month from Congress, in recognition 
of her bravery during war with the 
Sioux Indians. In 1862 while her hus¬ 
band was lighting in the Civil War Mrs. 
Horn was among those besieged at Fort 
Ridgely, Minn., and she took active part 
in the fighting with the Indians. She is 
certainly entitled to a Government pen¬ 
sion. 
* 
Ik you wish to serve a delicious drink 
on a hot evening, try currant julep. 
Mash a pint of currants, add a pint of 
water, and strain through cheesecloth, 
then chill. Line tall glasses with fresh 
mint, put a tablespoonful of crushed ice 
in the bottom of each, and add a table¬ 
spoonful of plain sugar syrup. Fill 
glasses with the currant water, and 
drop into each glass a few perfect rasp¬ 
berries. Serve with straws. 
* 
A sore finger which must be kept cov- 
erde while at work is especially trouble¬ 
some in dishwashing and similar employ¬ 
ments. Much of the trouble can be re¬ 
moved, however, by buying a rubber fin¬ 
ger at the drug store, which only costs 
a nickel, and which stays on without 
tying. The fact that it is waterproof 
is a great point in its favor. After once 
trying the rubber finger no one would 
willingly return to the finger stall cut 
from an old glove. The rubber fingers 
come in a variety of sizes. 
* 
The Woman’s Home Companion tells 
about a little four-year-old who has al¬ 
ways lived in an inland village, and 
therefore is not much acquainted with 
nautical affairs, though deeply interested 
in railroad trains and other forms of 
terrestrial locomotion. Recently he vis¬ 
ited in a neighboring town which is sit¬ 
uated on a river. Standing on the shore, 
he saw a small ferry boat approaching, 
and became much excited. Seizing his 
mother’s skirts, he exclaimed, “Oh, look, 
mama! Here comes a choo-choo car 
in swimming!” 
* 
Here is a good recipe for graham 
muffins. Scald one and one-fourth cup 
of milk, add to it one-fourth cup of 
sugar, one-half teaspoon of salt and one 
tablespoon of melted butter; let cool, 
add one yeast cake dissolved in one- 
fourth cup of lukewarm water, then add 
one cup of white flour, and two cups of 
graham flour, mix well and add one 
well-beaten egg. Set to rise in a tem¬ 
perature of 70 degrees until the mixture 
doubles in bulk, then with a spoon dip 
lightly into buttered muffin pans, let rise 
the second time and bake fifteen or 
twenty minutes in quick oven, according 
to the size of the muffins. 
* 
A social philosopher once proved that 
next to the mothers, the maiden aunts 
are the greatest power we possess for all 
moral advance. This view is endorsed 
by Chicago, which boasts that its “‘five 
maiden aunts” have done more toward 
securing better industrial conditions in 
that city and in the country at large 
than any other like number of citizens, 
men or women, in the world. The “five 
maiden aunts” are Jane Addams of Hull 
House; Julia Lathrop, a charity expert; 
Mary McDowell, of the University Set¬ 
tlement ; Margaret Haley, who organ¬ 
ized the Teachers’ Federation, and Dr. 
Cornelia De Bey, a practicing physician, 
who secured the settlement of the great 
stockyard strike by arbitration. Dr. 
De Bey has also been prominent in in¬ 
vestigating factory violations of the 
child labor law and is a member of the 
Chicago Board of Eduaction. 
* 
A soft-wood floor needs special care 
before it can be kept in order, but once 
properly treated it may be as easily kept 
clean as hard wood. There are many 
country houses where the expense of a 
new hard-wood floor cannot be con¬ 
sidered, but where treatment of the old 
floors will be found extremely advan¬ 
tageous. They should first be well 
cleaned and then planed smooth. The 
cracks should be filled. Some use putty 
for this purpose, but a better material 
is boiled sawdust. Put some sawdust 
in a dish, cover with boiling water, and 
let it stand until it softens; then put it 
over the fire and boil to a paste. Strain 
off the moisture, add thin glue water to 
soften a little, and then press this wood 
pulp into the cracks. Let it harden, 
then go over the floor with a wood filler 
which may be bought at a paint shop. 
When the filler is dry, apply several 
coats of floor varnish. Clean such floors 
by going over them with a broom cov¬ 
ered with soft cotton. Occasionally the 
floor should be wiped sparingly with 
34 to 44 bust. 
linseed oil; it should always be rubbed 
in with the grain of the wood. 
More About Oil Stoves. 
We have used an oil stove for nearly 
three years with very satisfactory re¬ 
sults. We have a four-hole four-wick 
stove, on which I have done all cooking, 
baking, washing and ironing for some 
time. Three gallons of oil will easily 
run it a week. It is a good baker, and 
while the oven will not hold as much 
as a range, still it will bake enough for 
any fair-sized family. The only objec¬ 
tion is lack of hot water, as in a range 
the reservoir is always full of hot water. 
MRS. IRWIN S. MURPHY. 
July 18, 
The Rural Patterns. ders to conceal the armhole seams and 
The plain, simple shirt waist is being the moderately full sleeves are gathered 
extensively worn this season for a great into cuffs. The quantity of material 
many occasions and suits many women required for the medium size is V/ 2 
better than any other sort. This onfr yards 21 or 24, 2S/% yards 32 or 2 yards 
allows a choice of the yoke or a plain 
back and is supplied with a patch 
pocket. There is a high turn-over collar 
which is designed to be made from the 
material, but as the neck is finished 
with a neckband any preferred collar 
or stock can be worn with it. The waist 
is made with the fronts and back. 
5966 Plain Shirt Waisi, 
34 to 44 bust. 
When the yoke is used it is applied 
over the back and the front is finished 
with a regulation box plait. There are 
sleeves of the shirt waist sort that are 
made with openings finished with 
straight cuffs. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size is 3J4 
yards 21 or 24, 3}£ yards 32 or 2 yards 
44 inches wide. The pattern 5966 is cut 
in sizes for a 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44- 
inch bust measure, price 10 cents. 
Plain shirt waists are always needed. 
No. 5960 is an exceedingly attractive 
model that can be made with three- 
quarter sleeves finished with shaped 
cuffs, or with regulation sleeves as liked 
and which can be finished with the 
neck-band, and worn with the pretty 
separate collars that are so fashionable, 
or with the attached turn-over collar. 
The waist is made with tucked fronts 
and plain back and is finished with a 
box plait. The sleeves are moderately 
full and are joined to cuffs, whether 
they are made in three-quarter or in 
full length. The quantity of material 
required for the medium size is 4 yards 
21 or 24, 3^4 yards 32 or 2% yards 44 
inches wide. The pattern 5960 is cut in 
sizes for a 34, 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44-inch 
bust measure, price 10 cents. 
Pretty tucked blouses are being ex¬ 
tensively used just now both for odd 
wear and for the entire gowns made 
of thin material, and No. 5961 suits 
both purposes equally well. In the illus¬ 
tration it is made of fine batiste with 
trimming of Valenciennes lace and in¬ 
sertion, but it is just as well adapted 
to embroidered muslins and to the 
pretty cotton and silk and cotton veil¬ 
ings, to the tissues and all similar mate¬ 
rials and it also suits the many thin 
silks that are treated in lingerie 
style. If liked the yoke can be made 
from all-over lace or from rows of 
edging joined one to the other in place 
of being of the material trimmed with 
banding. The blouse is made with 
front and backs and the yoke. It is 
tucked on indicated lines and joined to 
the yoke and the trimming is arranged 
over it. The epaulettes are finished 
separately and arranged over the shoul- 
44 inches wide with 8 yards of insertion 
and 6J4 yards of lace. The pattern 
5961 is cut in sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38, 
40 and 42-inch bust material, price 10 
cents. 
One of the Little Things. 
Little Alice’s teacher, who is a great 
friend of mine, is always speaking of 
the little girl, “My brightest pupil,” she 
always says, “It is quite remarkable how 
well she comprehends what she reads. 
And she has such an excellent memory, 
too. I enjoy watching her take up a 
new lesson; the careful, deliberate way 
she goes at it, when one can almost see 
the reasoning and picturing going on in 
the little mind, is a revelation to the 
teacher accustomed to the haphazard 
way most children study. I cannot un¬ 
derstand how she does it!” 
One dark wet afternoon Alice popped 
her cheerful little face into my sitting 
room. “What a dismal day,” was my 
heartfelt greeting. “Why, I’ve liked it,” 
die said, “I helped Mother mend and 
we learned that lovely little poem of 
Longfellow’s, ‘The Rainy Day’; do you 
know it?” And she repeated the beau¬ 
tiful lines that have brought consolation 
to so many weary hearts. “Isn’t that 
just like to-day?” she added; “I think 
I shall always like rainy days after 
this.” 
This gave me an inkling, so I went to 
her mother. “Yes,” the mother told 
me, “we have learned a great many 
things in that way. Last Winter we 
memorized all of ‘Snow Bound,’ and I 
now have ‘The First Snowfall’ laid 
away for an appropriate time. Some¬ 
times we take funny things, sometimes 
pathetic, but Alice likes best things 
about ‘outdoors,’ as she expresses it. 
This plan has been a great help in many 
ways. By repeating and talking about 
things we have learned we get through 
many tedious tasks cheerfully we find 
pleasant subjects for conversation with¬ 
out discussing unduly the affairs of our 
friends and neighbors; while I find Alice 
steadily improving in her observation 
and ability to memorize. 
“Yes, it was a little trouble at first, 
for I had allowed myself to get away 
from these things, but I now enjoy it 
as much as she; and I see that she is 
already beginning to choose reading 
that is worth while. This gives me a 
great deal of comfort, for I have al¬ 
ways believed that many of the troubles 
of young girls arise from their reading 
improper literature and getting wrong 
notions from the silly stories which 
form the basis of some young ladies’ 
reading. I want to keep my girl a lit¬ 
tle girl as long as I can!’ 
When I told Alice’s teacher she said, 
“So that is the reason,” then added des¬ 
pairingly, “Oh, why don’t more mothers 
do it, if only out of sympathy for us 
poor teachers!” alice m. ashton. 
