478 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
April it>, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
TIUED MOTHERS. 
A little elbow leans upon your knee, 
Your tired knee, that has so much to 
hear; 
A child's dear eyes are looking lovingly 
From underneath a thatch of tangled 
hair. 
Perhaps you do not hoed the velvet touch 
Of warm, moist fingers, folding yours so 
tight— 
You do not prize this blessing overmuch; 
You almost are too tired to pray to-night. 
But it is blessedness! A year ago 
I did not see it as 1 do to-day; 
We are so dull and thankless; and too slow 
To catch the sunshine till it slips away. 
And now it seems surpassing strange to me 
That, while I wore the badge of mother¬ 
hood, 
I did not kiss more oft and tenderly 
The little child that brought me only 
good. 
And if. some night, when you sit down to 
rest, 
You miss this elbow from your tired 
knee, 
This restless, curling head from off your 
breast. 
This lisping tongue that chatters con¬ 
stantly ; 
If from your own the dimpled hands had 
slipped, 
And ne'er would nestle in your palm 
again; 
If the white feet into their grave had 
tripped, 
I could not blame you for your heartache 
then ! 
I wonder so that mothers ever fret 
At little children clinging to their gown, 
Or that the footprints when the days are 
wet 
Are ever black enough to make them 
frown. 
If I could find a little muddy boot, 
Or cap, or jacket, on my chamber floor; 
If I could kiss a rosy, restless foot, 
And hear its patter in my home once 
more; 
If I could mend a broken cart to-day, 
To-morrow make a kite to reach the sky— 
There is no woman in God's world could say 
She was more blissfully content than I. 
But, ah.' the dainty pillow next my own 
Is never rumpled by a shining head; 
My singing birdling from its nest has 
flown, 
The little boy I used to kiss is dead! 
-—May Riley Smith. 
* 
In the Yakima Valley, Washington, 
where the big apples are grown, and 
bearing orchards sell at one thousand 
dollars an acre, rain is scarce, says the 
Youth’s Companion. Irrigation is prac¬ 
tised everywhere. But now and then 
during the growing season a light rain 
will fall for a few minutes. These rains 
are highly prized, for irrigating water 
is measured closely, and served to each 
user in proportion to his acreage. Last 
Summer a fruit-grower who owns forty 
acres of orchard was rejoicing in one 
of these precipitations of moisture, when 
one of his hired men entered the house. 
“Why don’t you stay in out of the 
rain?” inquired the fruit grower. 
“Oh, that’s all right,” replied the man. 
“A little dew like that doesn’t bother me 
a bit; I can work right along just the 
same.” 
“That isn’t the point!” exclaimed the 
rancher. “Next time it rains, you come 
into the house. I want that water on 
the land !” 
* 
One of the most useful features in 
Uncle Sam’s new cook book, “Econom¬ 
ical Use of Meat in the Home,” is the 
advice regarding the use of inexpensive 
cuts and practical suggestions in making 
meat go farther, without lessening the 
nutrient value of the food. For ex¬ 
ample, one economy is to “extend the 
meat’s flavor” over other substances that 
are not meat. For example, serve dump¬ 
lings, pie crust or toast with the meat, 
or use a border of rice, hominy or 
mashed potatoes. This is not only econ¬ 
omy, but the use of these starchy sub¬ 
stances with the meat gives a better 
balance to the ration. Here science en¬ 
dorses the unknown cook who first de¬ 
veloped the idea of meat stew with 
dumplings, or Maryland chicken with 
biscuits reposing in the rich gravy; such 
dishes are not only a joy to the palate, 
but they are constructed on a basis of 
pure science. It is also recommended 
that housekeepers be generous in using 
stuffing, which adds to the meat dish, 
and also utilizes stale bread. “It is 
often well,” the experts add, “to pre¬ 
pare more stuffing than can be put into 
the meat and to cook the remainder in 
the pan beside the meat. Some cooks 
cover the extra stuffing with buttered 
paper while it is cooking and baste it at 
intervals.” The advice on saving and 
clarifying fats, and the use of marrow, 
is also good, while the recipes given 
will be found very helpful. 
* 
At a recent meeting in New York, 
held under the joint auspices of the 
public health committee of the Medical 
Society of the County of New York and 
the City Federation of Women’s Clubs, 
a large audience collected to hear what 
a number of doctors had to say about 
catching cold. The following is a com¬ 
posite report of the lectures given, taken 
from the New York Sun: 
To begin with, you don't take cold by 
being cold, but by a sudden and unequal 
lowering of the temperature of some part 
of the body. Indeed you frequently take 
cold because you are too hot, as when 
you sleep in a warm room with too many 
bedclothes over you and in that distress¬ 
ing condition kick some of them off, ex¬ 
posing bare or but slightly protected skin 
to a temperature of lower degree, but still 
too warm. And again by wearing too 
warm clothing of a slowly absorbent qual¬ 
ity next to the skin you bring about a 
condition in which you readily take cold, 
although, as you complain to the doctor 
when you call for him next day, you have 
been suffering from the heat. 
The next best thing to having light 
and quickly absorbent material next to 
the skin, if you want to be in a general 
condition of health to resist taking cold, 
is to accustom yourself to the daily cold 
sponge bath. This was insisted upon 
strongly. It appears that the cold water 
the doctors recommend for this daily splash 
is not so much a preventive in itself as a 
means to an end, the end being the brisk 
rubdown after the wetdown. This rub- 
down should be vigorous and in its process 
more than one towel should be used. That 
lively friction of the body is what puts it 
into a condition to resist the sudden con¬ 
gestion of the skin which all the speakers 
warned about. 
If women will persist in wearing thin- 
soled shoes and flimsy stockings they can¬ 
not hope to avoid taking cold by treating 
their cold feet either with hot water bags 
or with electric muffs. Again there must 
be an application of cold water, a cold 
footbath extending half way up to the 
knee and then that lively rubdown is the 
oulj svay to get congested skin of the feet 
and ankles into any proper condition to 
resist the taking of a cold. 
The long list of diseases which some have 
believed result from the common cold re¬ 
sult from something else, said the speak¬ 
ers. The cold leaves the affected mem¬ 
branes in a condition where they cannot 
throw off the millions of disease germs 
which are constantly attached. Then the 
germs, not being driven away or resisted 
as they are by a normal membrane, get 
in their work; that is to say, they get 
into the circulation of the blood and have 
their way. There is a very simple way of 
keeping the membrane of the nose, which 
shelters so many disease germs, in a healthy 
condition. That is by a daily morning and 
evening application of warm salt water. 
Take a glass of water that is at blood 
heat, add half a teaspoonful of salt and 
with that rinse the nasal passages. • And 
then if you do take cold you'll suffer 'ess 
catarrhal miseries and at all times you'll 
be less likely to absorb any germ disease. 
But chiefly and emphatically all of the 
r a vice which was not technical related 
to the vast health value of that daily cold 
sponge and the brisk rubdown thereafter. 
That precautionary measure observed and 
heavy silks and woollens as next-to-the- 
skin clothing regarded with disfavor, hu¬ 
manity will come pretty nearly forgetting 
the miseries of just a plain ordinary every¬ 
day cold. 
* 
Rag rugs are sold in a variety of 
weaves now, among the more expensive 
being “Pilgrim” rugs, in all sorts of deli¬ 
cate colors and cretonne mixtures. Car¬ 
lisle rugs are similar in weave, having 
centers in self-colored mixtures with 
plain insertion borders, while the most 
modest in price are the Tuxedo rugs. 
Shaiki rag rugs, woven through and 
through on a Jacquard loom, are reversi¬ 
ble, very thick and soft, and beautiful in 
coloring, usually plain centers with 
quaint borders in brighter colors. The 
largest size in all these rugs is 9x12 feet, 
which in Shaiki costs $27.50, Pilgrim 
$19.50, Carlisle $14, and Tuxedo $9, and 
there is a variety of smaller sizes at 
prices to match. Our ideal for a country 
dining room is a hardwood floor with a 
simple rug, and these various rag rugs 
ar not only durable and attractive, but 
now very much the fashion. Kilmarnock 
rugs arc not of the rag variety, but they 
are excellent in wearing quality, and 
practically dust-proof. They are heavy 
with plain centers and flowered or geo¬ 
metric borders, and cost more than the 
rag rugs. Kasak rugs cost less than the 
Kilmarnock, but are similar in style, 
though lighter and less even in weave. 
It is a pity that uneven floors and lack 
of thorough heating compel covering the 
floors with matting or carpet in so many 
country houses. To take up, remove ac¬ 
cumulated dust, and tack down the cov¬ 
ering again is one of the most disagree¬ 
able and laborious of the housekeeper’s 
tasks. Nothing gives such a feeling of 
relief as the knowledge that, apart from 
needed papering or painting, a room is 
practically “housecleaned” every time it 
is swept, and only needs additional work- 
in the form of cleaning curtains or hang¬ 
ings in Spring and Fall. This is a line 
of reform every woman should work for. 
More About Soap. 
As to the inquiry regarding homemade 
soap not remaining firm after being 
taken from the vessel, as noted in The 
R. N.-Y., Mrs. Wishard, who has been 
very successful in the making of home¬ 
made soap, says the only thing she can 
see wrong (provided the soap-grease was 
clean of dirt) is the lack of sufficient 
salt. The thing to do is to reheat and 
resalt. j. i. wishard. 
a\Vjso\^\\ \ V ’ 
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Cf 
Haste and Waste 
Stop and think for a moment the 
next time you are about to buy soda 
crackers. 
Instead of Hastily buying soda 
crackers that go to waste because 
broken, soiled or soggy, buy 
Uneeda 
Biscuit 
in separate five-cent packages. Soda 
crackers in large packages soon be¬ 
come broken, stale and unpalatable. 
On the other hand, Uneeda Biscuit 
in handy, moisture proof packages 
are always fresh, clean, crisp and 
whole —not one wasted . 
(Never Sold in Bulk) 
NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY 
