1911 . 
THE RURAI^ NEW-YORKER 
1241 
Charity Sweetheart’s Letter. 
For the last two years, since I saw 
some at a neighbor’s, our principal 
decoration for the living room at 
Christmas has been the “Chinese lan¬ 
tern” plant (Physalis Francheti). It is 
a perennial and a rather insignificant 
blossom, but develops its lanterns or 
fruit pods like husk tomatoes in the 
Fall, only they are orange red, and can 
be taken off when ready and dried for 
decoration. We mix them with pine 
branches, and our living room is very 
much admired, for people generally like 
things pretty, though they do not take 
the trouble always to get them. I put 
my lanterns away last January and 
they came out as fresh as ever as re¬ 
gards color, though a little frail in 
texture and more brittle of stem. We 
have some barberries that retain their 
red fruit and make a variety in their 
corner, and after all there is nothing 
like looking forward and trying to 
“make things pleasant in one little 
place,” as our dear Mrs. Whitney wrote 
years ago in one of her books. As we 
grows older Christmas means a sad as¬ 
pect to many of us, for we think of 
time’s changes, and the swift passing 
of years, but we recognize it as God’s 
plan, and can only make the best of life 
as it is before us. This is where we 
fail—at least I do, for I am apt to 
slide along, with the thought that I will 
do better and enjoy more as I go along, 
and yet the time does not come when 
“Our cares will leave us time for rest.” 
I thought of all this the other day when 
I went down to see Aunt Langly, whose 
husband has been lame for many years, 
since he fell and dislocated his hip, and 
it was never set properly, but left him 
a sufferer for life. But their garden 
was a lesson in patient perseverance, 
for it was all neatly cleared up, and 
every currant and gooseberry bush tied 
up after being pruned and cared for. 
This is the reason that Uncle Langly’s 
• gooseberries are so well known as su¬ 
perior in size and flavor, and his vege¬ 
tables so fine. As he walked about with 
crutch and stick it made me feel 
ashamed of myself, that these simple 
duties in life should ever be felt a hard¬ 
ship when one has health and all the 
bones in good working order. This 
view of the world’s work was in mind 
when “Theo,” who is spelling big words 
in her reader, asked what was the 
meaning of “optimist” and “pessimist,” 
and I told her that I had lately read 
a definition that the first sees the dough¬ 
nut—and the second only sees the hole. 
She looked puzzled, and I had to ex¬ 
plain that it need not be a doughnut, 
but that some people saw good in every¬ 
thing, and others only saw what was 
lacking. “I want the doughnut, Auntie, 
when you make them,” she answered 
with a pretty smile. 
Aunt Langly had the nicest tomato 
soup I had ever tasted and I asked for 
the recipe. She said that she put a 
couple of spoonfuls of powdered bar¬ 
ley into the tomatoes when they began 
to boil, and added a bit of parsley and 
celery and an onion. After boiling for 
15 minutes it was strained through a 
sieve, and then could stay simmering on 
the back of the stove till wanted. She 
asked me if I knew that if you peeled 
your onion from the root upward it 
would not make the tears come, and I 
have tried it since with partial success. 
We have a quantity of sweet apples 
from an old tree in the garden, and I 
have only this Fall realized how good 
they are baked with a little doctoring, 
though it is like painting the lily. As 
an experiment one day when there were 
some half-filled glasses of jelly and jam 
in the pantry, I cored some Talman 
Sweets and filled the place with jam or 
jelly, and there was a passing of plates 
for more when they were baked. An¬ 
other day the centers were filled with a 
bit of butter and brown sugar, and it 
was pronounced “delicious.” 
The house plants are beginning their 
old trick of dropping leaves, caused by 
the change of temperature, and I found 
those kept coolest look the best. There 
are little oranges on my dwarf orange 
tree, and they seem to agree with life 
in the shed so far, but will soon have 
to come to the window. I bought some 
bulbs with pocket money just as an ex¬ 
periment, and expect to have Roman 
hyacinths and Paper White Narcissus 
flowers ready to sell by New Year. 
They are in long shallow boxes, and 
were planted in October, and put in 
the cellar for a month. Some of them 
will be gifts to those who have none, 
and they will do double duty, for I shall 
enjoy seeing them opening their buds, 
and so they will bless, like mercy, “him 
that gives and him that takes.” 
CHARITY SWEETHEART. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of pattern and measurement de¬ 
sired. 
The first group shows 7216, peasant 
blouse with sleeves seamed in. The pat¬ 
tern is cut in sizes from 34 to 42 inches 
bust measure. For the medium size will 
be required 2 yards 36 inches wide, w?th 
54 yard of velvet, 1 yard 18 inches wide 
for chemisette. No. 7229 is cut in size 
for girls from 8 to 12 years of age. 
For the 10 year size will be required 3 
yards of material 36 inches wide with 
5/4 yards of lace 4 inches wide, 3 
yards 6 inches wide and 8)4 yards of 
insertion' to trim. The tunic, No. 7221, 
is cut in sizes from 34 to 40 inches 
bust measure. For the medium size will 
be required 2)4 yards of material 36 
inches wide with 4 yards of all-over 
lace 18 inches wide for the blouse and 
trimming, 1 yard of chiffon for the 
drapery and 5 yards of ribbon for sash. 
The child’s coat, No. 7219, is cut in 
sizes from 4 to 8 years. For the 6 year 
size will be required 2)4 yards 36 inches 
wide with % yards for collar, cuffs and 
shield. The circular skirt that is dart 
fitted over the hips and of moderate 
width is a favorite one. The pattern, 
No. 7215, is cut in sizes from 22 to 30 
inch waist measure. For the medium 
size will be required 4)4 yards 36 inches 
wide. Price of each pattern 10 cents. 
The second group includes blouse, No. 
7234, cut in sizes from 34 to 40 inches 
bust measure. For the medium size will 
be required 2)4 yards 36 inches wide 
with 154 yard 27 inches wide for guimpe 
and 1J4 yard of all-over lace 18 inches 
wide for the facings and under-sleeves. 
Two materials are used in the little 
girls’ dress, No. 7234. It is cut in sizes 
from 10 to 14 years of age. For the 12- 
year size will be requird 2 yards of 
plain material 27 inches wide, with 2)4 
yards of plaid material 36 inches wide. 
No. 7213 is cut in sizes from 14 to 18 
years. For the 16-year size will be re¬ 
quired 4)4 yards of material 36 inches 
wide, with 2 yards 18 inches wide for 
the trimming portions, % yard or ruf¬ 
fling for the sleeves, 1)4 yard 18 inches 
wide for yoke and under-sleeves. The 
skirt, No. 7238, is cut in sizes from 22 
to 30 inch waist, and for the medium 
size will be required 3J4 yards of ma¬ 
terial 36 inches wide. The middy suit, 
No. 7244, is cut in sizes for boys from 
4 .to 8 years of age. For the • 6-year 
size will- be required 2)4 yards 36 
inches wide with )4 yard 27 inches wide 
for collar and sleeve trimming. Price 
of each pattern 10 cents. 
Salt-Rising Bread. 
Will you give minute directions for mak¬ 
ing salt? rising bread in The K. N.-Y.? 
H. S. J. 
Dissolve a half teaspoonful of salt in 
two cups of scalding water, and beat in 
gradually enough flour to make a very 
soft dough. Beat for 10 minutes, cover 
and set in a very warm place for eight 
hours. Now stir a teaspoonful of salt 
into a pint of lukewarm milk and add 
enough flour to make a stiff batter be¬ 
fore working it into the risen dough. 
Mix thoroughly, cover and set again in 
a warm place to rise until very light. 
Turn into a wooden bowl and knead in 
enough flour to make the batter of the 
consistency of ordinary bread dough. 
Make into loaves and set these to rise, 
and when light, bake. When baking 
the bread gives off a peculiar sour odor, 
due no doubt to a special fermentation, 
but there is no trace of this in the bread 
when cooked. People accustomed to 
salt-rising bread always prefer it t,o any 
other kind. Some recipes add a table¬ 
spoonful of cornmeal to the flour used 
in making the yeast. 
Autumn Leaves. 
I notice inquiry and directions in R. 
N.-Y. regarding the preservation of 
Autumn leaves. When I was a little girl 
in the State of Maine we used, after the 
first frosts, to gather branches of bright¬ 
ly colored leaves, preferably maple, and 
without any preliminary pressing and 
without removing the leaves from the 
branches, we sprinkled each leaf with 
rosin, finely powdered, and rubbed it 
over with a flatiron just hot enough to 
melt the. rosin. The result was very 
satisfactory, the leaves keeping their 
color and shape admirably through the 
Winter. We used, also, to gather the 
large fronds of the wild ferns that the 
neighbors called “brakes” after the early 
frosts had turned their green to a creamy 
white. These we pressed between the 
leaves of our big school geographies 
and they made a pretty addition to 
our home Christmas decorations. 
LOUISE PRINCE FREEMAN. 
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DRIFTING 
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energy? 
Health is the founda¬ 
tion of success. 
Nerves, Brain, and 
Body should be staunch— 
dependable. 
Scott’s Emulsion 
the best of food-tonics, is 
the firm footing for health. 
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