62 Q 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THE MAKING OF MAN. 
As the insect from the rock 
Takes the color of its wiug ; 
As the boulder from the shock 
Of the ocean’s rhythmic swing 
Makes itself a perfect form, 
Learns a calmer front to raise; 
As the shell, enameled warm 
With the prism's mystic rays, 
Praises wind and wave that make 
AH its chambers fair and strong; 
As the mighty poets take 
Grief and pain to build their song; 
Even so for every soul. 
Whatsoe’er its lot may be,— 
Building as the heavens roll, 
Something large and strong and free,— 
Things, that hurt and things that mar 
Shape the man for perfect praise; 
Shock and strain and ruin are 
Friendlier than the smiling days. 
—The Woman’s Journal. 
* 
For a person suffering with neural¬ 
gia in the region of the waist, so acute 
that it suggested pleurisy, the doctor 
ordered bags of heated bran. The bran 
was heated in pans in the oven, just 
as hot as it could be made without 
scorching, and then put in long, narrow 
bags that formed a girdle, the bags 
being wrapped an Turkish toweling. 
The bran thus applied is light, cleanly, 
and retains the heat for some time; it 
is valuable in allaying neuralgic pain, 
or wherever hot applications are de¬ 
sired. The sloppy old-fashioned poul¬ 
tice is rarely prescribed now as a relief 
to pain, heat being applied in other 
ways, and the dry bran is certainly 
excellent for this purpose. 
* 
Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led the 
British Antarctic expedition which so 
nearly reached the South Pole, is now 
lecturing in this country, and he tells 
some amusing anecdotes of the pen¬ 
guins, those strange birds that stand¬ 
ing upright look from a distance like 
a lot of dignified gentlemen in black 
coats and ’ white waistcoats. One day 
a big penguin strolled into camp and 
saw one of the shaggy dogs. Mr. Pen¬ 
guin stared and stared and came closer, 
until the dog snapped playfully at the 
bird’s funny short legs. Next day the 
penguin whose legs had been nipped 
came into camp with a personally con¬ 
ducted party of penguins, apparently 
to show them the dog, and, according 
to the explorer, those penguins called 
every day to look at the dog. The ex¬ 
plorers had a phonograph in camp, and 
occasionally gave concerts for the ben¬ 
efit of the penguins, as Sir Ernest 
solemnly explained, the birds bobbing 
around in a circle, with much apparent 
pleasure. These strange birds, which 
do not fly, but use their little wings in 
diving, are covered with short, thick 
feathers that are almost like scales on 
the wings. Many a time shipwrecked 
castaways in the Southern Hemisphere, 
approaching some desolate coast have 
imagined the distant penguins sitting 
upright upon a rocky shore to be hu¬ 
man beings. 
* 
People often write to us asking for 
the full name and address of corres¬ 
pondents in the various departments of 
the paper, sometimes complaining be¬ 
cause the full address is not given. 
They do not realize, apparently, that 
there are valid reasons against this. 
It is n'sit only to protect our friends 
from useless correspondence which 
might easily become annoying to busy 
people, but also because there are hun¬ 
dreds of swindlers who are on the 
lookout for the addresses of country 
people, either for their own use, or to 
sell to others. Once upon their list, 
there is no end to the circulars and 
letters from every class of swindler, 
including those who debase the mind, 
as well as those who would impoverish 
the pocket. Our correspondents have 
a right to be protected from this, hence 
the full address is usually omitted. 
There is another point, too, that is of¬ 
ten overlooked. A large correspon¬ 
dence entails considerable expense in 
postage and paper, as well as in time. 
If information is of any value to the 
inquirer, it is certainly worth return 
postage, yet many persons never think 
of this courtesy in writing to total 
strangers. Circumstances are different 
in the case of a paper like The R. 
N.-Y., which makes a special point of 
supplying information, either through 
its columns or by private correspon¬ 
dence. But to secure the address of 
a private person and then to send a 
curt postal card demanding informa¬ 
tion which will cost the person address¬ 
ed postage, as well as time and thought, 
shows not only lack of outward courte¬ 
sy, but also of consideration for the 
rights of others. 
* 
When the new Summer boarder 
spoke regretfully of the timidity of her 
two children, she was amazed to see a 
look of delight spread across the leath¬ 
ern countenance of Amos Hodder, says 
the Youth’s Companion. ’’That’s a ’ 
good telling,” he said, heartily. “Never 
you fear, ma’am, but that I can give 
’em some good times, now I know they 
are the scared kind. They can go hay¬ 
ing with me, and riding, and out in the 
barnyard anywhere they please. It’s 
the brave children, the kind that aren’t 
afraid of anything, that scare me. 
“Yes, ma’am,” he went on, seeing the 
boarder’s bewilderment. “It’s the boys 
that’ll try to ride the old turkey-gob¬ 
bler, and pat Jemima—that’s the cross 
cow—and milk Wilhelmina—she isn’t 
an overly good-dispositioned cow—and 
want to drive the colt, that make me 
tremble. 
“There was a little girl here with 
her ma one Summer. She went right 
out on the front stoop in the middle of 
a thunder tempest with a pair o’ shears 
in her hand to fasten ’em with wire to 
the lightning-rod and ‘see what would 
happen.’ And she tried to ‘soothe’ one 
o’ the kittens when ’twas having a fit. 
“I said to the mas in both cases, 
‘Isn’t that child o’ yours afraid of any¬ 
thing on this earth?’ and they both 
made answer, ‘No.’ They allowed 
neither o’ those children knew the 
meaning of the word fear; they ‘had 
been brought up to know that all things 
were good.’ 
“I let them stay their time out each 
Summer, but I never got caught again 
with either of ’em. And I can tell you 
one thing, if those children had been 
spanked by me the way they’d ought to 
t’ve b.en, they’d have know there was 
cue thing that wasn’t ‘good’ forever 
after.” 
Pot-pie Dumplings. 
There is probably nothing of which 
the young cook feels less sure than of 
her potpie dumplings, and nothing of 
which she, and sometimes her elders, 
oftener makes a failure. Years ago a 
hired girl taught me how easy a matter 
it was to have them always fluffy and 
tender and since that day my dump¬ 
lings have won for themselves quite a 
family reputation. Nothing could be 
simpler. Sift four or five times a quart 
of -flour with three heaping teaspoons 
of baking powder and a half teaspoon¬ 
ful of salt. Put it into a saucepan or 
convenient bowl and stir in milk off 
the top of the milk bottle to make a 
batter thicker than for cake but not as 
stiff as can be mixed. Drop this in 
spoonfuls over the top of the boiling 
veal, or chicken, or lamb. There must 
be broth enough among the meat near¬ 
ly but not quite to cover it, to cook 
up around the dumplings but never to 
cover them. You mqst put in the 
dumplings a half hour before time for 
serving, and if at that time the kettle 
shows too much broth, take out a bowl¬ 
ful to be returned after the dumplings 
are done. This is really the better 
plan, for more gravy is usually liked 
and that under the dumpling will be 
somewhat thickened by them and be all 
the better for diluting a little. Be 
careful, of course, not to cook as furi¬ 
ously as to make the stew burn on, but 
cover closely, keep boiling steadily and 
do not lift the pot lid till the half hour 
is nearly up. A little experience will 
show just how much milk makes the 
dumplings ten derest, yet not so soft as 
to lose shape. The batter should need 
a sharp jar of the spoon on the rim 
of the kettle to make it fall off, and 
should hold together and not spread 
out much where it falls. You will no¬ 
tice that no shortening is used beyond 
that of the creamy milk. The batter 
probably absorbs some from the top 
of the broth, for the dumplings are 
sure to be perfectly tender when not 
made too stiff. Lift them out with two 
forks when done, arrange in a circle 
on a large meat platter and pile the 
meat in the center, serving the broth 
from a gravy boat. No thickening will 
be needed in the gravy if you have be¬ 
gun the potpie in the right way by 
dredging in flour and browning each 
piece of meat in hot butter (or with 
salt pork sliced thin) before any 
water has been added, augusta rose. 
Cleaning a Rusty Kettle. 
How shall I clean a new iron pot so it 
will be fit to cook in? Will others give 
their experience? I have tried nearly 
everything I have heard of, hut still it 
rusts, and tastes of the iron. I have had 
it about three months. mus. c. w. d. 
We should like some experience 
from others on this question, as we 
have never used a new iron saucepan. 
We have some that have seen more 
than half a century of service, but they 
never rust. It is necessary to dry an 
iron vessel very carefully after wash¬ 
ing (setting it on the back of the stove 
until thoroughly dry is a good precau¬ 
tion), and it should be stored in a dry 
and airy place. It may be that mod¬ 
ern cast iron utensils rust more seri¬ 
ously than old-fashioned wrought iron. 
When you write advertisers mention Thb 
It. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and 
“a square deal.” See guarantee page 12. 
Admiral 
percales 
are as bright and 
varied in patterns 
and effects as any of the 
12)4c. goods on the 
market. Hamilton colors 
have a substantial 
reputation for dura¬ 
bility, dating from 
1825. 
Admiral Percales 
are 36 inches wide, 
and sell for 
onlyJQ cents 
m 
a yard. If you want 
something for Shirts, 
Waists. or House 
Gowns,ask your retailer | 
for Admiral Percale, 
or write us for samples. 
HAMILTON I 
MFG. CO. 
i93 Franklin St. 
BOSTON 
TOWER'S FISH BRAND | 
WATERPROOF 
OILED ' 
CLOTHING 
IS IDEAL FOR 
ROUGH AND READY WEAR 
IN THE WETTEST WEATHER 
IT WILL KEEP YOU DRY AND 
COMFORTABLE AND GIVE LONG 
SERVICE. 
51 ) 115 * 3 = SIICKER5*3= 
POMMEL SLICKERS 3— 
SOW EVERYWHERE- CATALOG fREE 
- A.J. TOWER CO. boston. 
Tower Canadian Co., ltd. Toronto. 
'kflSRAS® 
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 
