S66 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 10, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THE LEGEND OF THE LAVENDER. 
In Charterhouse long years since, within 
a garden shade, 
The lovely altar linen the sacristan he laid. 
First wash’d in cool well water, then 
blanch’d by Summer sun, 
’Twould be like snow or lilies, thought he 
when all was done; 
He laid it on the smooth lawn with rev'rent 
tender care, 
Then pass’d amid his brethren to eat his 
frugal fare. 
Not long he left his treasure, he fear'd lest 
aught might mar 
The fairness of his sweet work as clouds 
dim light of star; 
So stealing from the cloister, he sought that 
garden green, 
When, lo! about the linen there shone a 
•wondrous sheen ; 
Sweet Mary-Mother watch'd there, and by 
her gown of blue 
The little Baby Jesus lay in the sunlight 
too. 
And from a quaint clipp’d border of blos¬ 
soms mauve and gray. 
He pluck’d soft spikes and flung them to 
where the linen lay. 
The father saw the vision, and said, as 
back he stept, 
“Now may I well return me, the cloths 
shall be well kept”; 
But later when the garden lay empty to 
his eyes 
The fiow’rs the Babe had gather'd breath'd 
scents of Paradise, 
And all the altar linen that winds scarce 
seem’d to stir 
Lay sweetly white and fragrant ’neath 
scatter'd lavender. 
—Augusta Hancock in the London Queen. 
* 
A good waterproof dressing for leather 
consists of one pint of linseed oil, one- 
half pound mutton suet, six ounces of 
clean beeswax, four ounces of resin; 
melt and mix thoroughly. Use while 
warm with a brush, on new boots or 
shoes. 
* 
Egg fritters are rather unusual, and 
may be liked as a change when prepar¬ 
ing a meal without meat. Boil eggs for 
four minutes, and then remove shells 
carefully. Roll out some good short pie 
crust very thin, and cut into rounds. 
Lay an egg on each round, season with 
pepper and salt and a little chopped 
mixed pickle, moisten the edges of the 
pie crust and press together. Brush 
over with beaten egg, roll in bread 
crumbs, and fry to a nice brown in deep 
fat. Serve on a hot dish garnished with 
parsley. If liked white sauce or drawn 
butter may be served from a tureen with 
the fritters. 
* 
The huckleberry season is the time to 
make a “black Republican short-cake.” 
Stew a quart of berries with a cup of 
water and a heaping cup of sugar for 
about 15 minutes. Then remove from 
the stove and while they are cooling pre¬ 
pare a feathery biscuit dough, using for 
every quart of stewed berries a quart of 
flour. Bake the cake in two layers, just 
as you would a strawberry shortcake. 
When they are taken from the oven 
pour half the stewed huckleberries over 
one, cover with the other and pour over 
all the rest of the fruit. The layers of 
cake should be thin and soft, so that the 
juices of the fruit will soak into them. 
Serve immediately either with or with¬ 
out whipped cream. 
* 
Clever dressmakers who have a repu¬ 
tation for style usually specialize in 
hand-made trimmings, which distinguish 
their work from the ready-made gar¬ 
ments of the stores. It is nort difficult to 
make trimming buttons which may be 
effectively used, some very handsome 
ones being of tinsel gauze decorated with 
metal or crystal beads. The wooden 
mould is padded and then covered with 
white silk, over which the tinsel is drawn 
and the beads added. Such a button 
may be used in conection with a made 
trimming of silk-covered cord or folds, 
or as center of a rosette. Little motifs, 
as flowers or leaves, from a bit of 
heavy lace, are often used to trim silk 
buttons, being caught down with Ken¬ 
sington stitch in embroidery silk along 
the edges. Ornamental buttons are 
quite expensive to purchase, but a little 
ingenuity on the part of a clever seam¬ 
stress will give attractive results. 
* 
An eminent philosopher used to say 
that whenever a new book came out he 
promptly read an old one. This is the 
season when many new books of travel 
are displayed, so we are reading an old 
one, “A Social Departure,” by Sara Jean¬ 
nette Duncan. This was published 20 
years ago; the author, now Mrs. Everard 
Cotes, has since become known as the 
author of several brilliant novels. In 
“A Social Departure” she tells how two 
women traveled alone around the world. 
The book bubbles over with gaiety and 
wit, but what specially interested us dur¬ 
ing the hot days was Japanese house¬ 
keeping in the little toy cottage where 
the two friends lived in Tokio. The 
drawing-room was simply furnished 
with one picture—nothing more. There 
were no chairs, because only people fol¬ 
lowing European modes sat on chairs— 
no tables, because there was nothing 
to put on a table; no dust-catching bric- 
a-brac, because refined Japanese taste 
does not exhibit more than one object 
of beauty at a time. While we have a 
prejudice in favor of sitting on chairs, 
and should find it quite as hard to rest 
on a little cushion on the floor during 
a ceremonious dinner as Orthodocia did, 
in the book (she whispered to her 
friend that nothing but a derrick would 
ever get her up again), we should like to 
copy Japan to the extent of simplifying 
our surroundings, especially during the 
hot weather. A room that looks “clut¬ 
tered up” cannot look cool; we want to 
give an effect of airiness. Hot-looking 
upholstered furniture should have linen 
covers; scarfs and “throws” and super¬ 
fluities generally should be removed. 
The old-time jokes about the formal 
stiffness and ugliness of a country par¬ 
lor are no longer true in the majority 
of cases; indeed, such flings at lack of 
domestic taste were quite as true of 
many town and city homes as of those 
in the country. There is still a tend¬ 
ency with many, however, to take the 
city house as a model, whereas the furn¬ 
ishings offered in the great shops as es¬ 
pecially for Summer cottages and bunga¬ 
lows will give the best effect in a coun¬ 
try home. This does not mean cheap¬ 
looking articles, by any means; it in¬ 
cludes comfortable furniture built on 
rather simple lines, rugs of homespun 
or ragstyle, and cotton hangings in ar¬ 
tistic colors and patterns. If we were 
planning a farmhouse living room we 
should select some of the very comfort¬ 
able porch chairs in various styles, and 
stain them some harmonious color, so 
that the men folks could take comfort at 
mid-day without feeling that working 
clothes were an injury to the furniture. 
These simple furnishings are often seen 
in some of the country clubs intended 
to attract city people, and they give us 
many a suggestion for household com¬ 
fort combined with good taste. 
Salt .Corn for Winter.— Take it 
when nice for the table, boil it on the 
cob till the milk is cooked. Take out 
of the water and when sufficiently 
cooled to handle cut and scrape from 
the cob. Take one quart of corn, put it 
in a stone jar in a smooth layer, 
sprinkle with one pint of salt, then put 
in another quart layer of corn, and so 
on until the jar is full. Tie a cloth over 
the top and set in the cellar until 
wanted to use; then soak and parboil 
until fresh. a. s. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of patterns and measurements 
desired. 
The group of patterns includes 7303, 
square yoke blouse, 34 to 42 bust. With 
low neck and without lining or with 
high neck and lining and undersleeves. 
One yard 36 with three yards of band¬ 
ing to trim as shown in front view, VA 
yards 18 inches wide for yoke and under 
sleeves and H yard of silk for bands as 
shown in back view, for medium size. 
7488, blouse for misses and small 
women, 16 and 18 years, with set-in 
sleeves, with or without eyelets and lac¬ 
ings. IjA yard 36, 1)4 yard of braid, 2 
yards of cord for lacings, for 16 year 
size. 7463, tucked kimono blouse, 34 to 
40 bust, with or without guimpe lining. 
1)4 yard 36 with 1 yard 18 for collar, 
y 4 yard 18 for yoke and under-sleeves, 
for medium size. 7344. two-piece skirt, 
22 to 30 waist, with high or natural 
waist line, with or without circular ruf¬ 
fles. 2V* yards of material 36 for plain 
skirt with 2 j^ards 36 for ruffles, for me¬ 
dium size. 7367, two-piece skirt with 
i 
7454 Norfolk Coat* 
34 to 40 bust. 
tunic effect, 22 to 30 waist, with high 
or natural waist line, with inverted 
plaits at the sides. 2 Yz yards of mate¬ 
rial 36 or 44 inches wide with 2 yards 
36 for foundation. 7471, four-piece 
skirt with tunic effect, for misses and 
small women, 16 and 18 years, with high 
or natural waist line. 3)4 yards 36, for 
upper portion. % yard 36 for lower por¬ 
tion, for 16 year size. Price of each 
pattern 10 cents. 
The pretty Norfolk coat shown may 
form part of a suit, or be used as a 
separate wrap. Such a coat of serge or 
homespun, dark green, blue, red or 
heather mixture, is a favorite outing 
wrap to wear with linen skirts; it is 
also an excellent model for linen or 
pique. For the medium size will be 
needed 5 yards of material 27, 3 yards 
36 or 44 inches wide. The pattern, No. 
7454. is cut in sizes for a 34, 36, 38 and 
40 inch bust measure; price 10 cent. 
Rhubarb and Elderberries. 
Will “Mabelle” tell us, in canning rhu¬ 
barb and elderberries together for pies, 
whether it is to be 4% pounds of each 
kind of fruit? My mother used to cook 
down elderberries alone; she just put them 
in crocks and tied them up, but I do not 
know how it was done. Mrs. g. r. 
Concerning the elderberries, about 
two quarts of shelled berries to one of 
finely cut rhubarb would be the propor¬ 
tions that suit us best. Cook with two 
cups of sugar and as little water as pos¬ 
sible. If wanted for pies, they do not 
need so much sugar, but they make a 
very good sauce. These berries mixed 
with equal quantity of apples and 
cooked, then made into jelly, are very 
nice, a beautiful purple color. 
I have just finished with my first 
Summer boarders, so I will send a 
recipe for a dish they were very fond 
of: Hard-boil as many eggs as you 
need to serve, place in cold water until 
you can peel without breaking the 
whites. Have ready a salad dressing as 
follows: Two eggs, one-half spoonful 
mustard, pinch white pepper and salt, 
teaspoon cornstarch, half cup vinegar, 
half cup sugar. Boil over a quick fire, 
stirring constantly. When thick remove 
from fire, add butter size of an egg. 
This will keep for weeks if kept in a 
cool place. When using if onion is 
liked a few slices run through the 
grinder can be added, also half cup of 
sour cream added just before using is 
an improvement. Wash crisp lettuce, 
arrange loosely in a dish, placing well 
around the edge, place the eggs in dish, 
then take the shears and cut some of 
the outer curled edges of the lettuce in 
strips and let fall about the eggs. Pour 
the boiled dressing carefully over so 
the lettuce is well dressed, also over 
the eggs. Then take some nasturtiums, 
cut the stems finely with the shears, let¬ 
ting them fall through the lettuce, 
separate the petals, letting them fall 
over the eggs and lettuce. This makes 
a beautiful as well as very tasty dish 
and is fine for a picnic lunch. The dark 
red nasturtiums are prettiest. 
mabelle. 
Pieplant Combinations. —Cook pie¬ 
plant and dried apples together; they 
are fine. Use more apples than pieplant 
or rhubarb. Plums are also very good 
to cook with dried apples, or any kind 
of berries. Pears and plums are nice 
canned together. a. s. 
Tomato Catsup. —One gallon tomato 
pulp, one pint vinegar, one cup sugar, 
two tablespoonfuls each of black pep¬ 
per, mustard, allspice, cinnamon and one 
tablespoonful cloves, four tablespoon fuls 
salt. Sift the tomatoes and cook pulp 
until quite thick before measuring or 
adding spice and vinegar; then cook all 
together until thick. This will keep for 
years. I think A. M. C. will find this 
good. a. s. 
Never fear to bring the greatest com¬ 
fort to the least trouble and the largest 
inspiration to the smallest duty.—Phillips 
Brooks. 
He who thinks he can find within him¬ 
self the means of doing without others 
is much mistaken, but he who thinks 
that others cannot do without him is 
still more mistaken.—Rochefoucauld. 
