19 10. 
THE R XJ KAE NEW-YORKER 
7«3 
My Experience Taking Boarders. 
My interest has been aroused by the 
article about taking Summer boarders, 
and the experience of one farmer’s wife. 
My experience was so dissimilar to hers, 
that I would like you to see another 
phase of the same subject. 
Several years ago I, like many others, 
thought there was a little extra money to 
be made by taking a few boarders during 
the Summer. A girl about 16 was en¬ 
gaged to help me with the work and the 
care of my year-old boy, and our large 
house and lawn, with all the numerous 
farm comforts and attractions, seemed 
alluring even to my accustomed eyes, but 
I had not proceeded so far as to adver¬ 
tize, when returning home one Sunday 
afternoon in early June we found a lady, 
gentleman and two small children walk¬ 
ing around the yard, admiring the place 
and the flowers, of which there were 
many. Our farm is situated 12 miles 
from a large city and one mile from the 
trolley line, so very often during the 
Summer we see strangers walking 
through the fields and lanes. The lady 
was extremely good-looking, with a very 
attractive manner. Her husband we soon 
learned was a doctor in one of the most 
select sections of the city. The boys, 
aged two and five years, appeared like 
well-mannered children. After chatting 
awhile, they proposed to return home, 
when I, surmising a light luncheon 
might not come amiss, served them with 
some bread and butter, sponge-cake and 
milk, for which they were very grateful. 
Then, my husband having finished his 
chores, offered because of the little folks, 
to take them to the car line, the doctor 
offering to pay for the service, but my 
husband refused. 
About a week later I received a letter 
asking if I would take Mrs. S. and the 
two children to board for the Summer, 
to send immediate reply, and if in the 
affirmative, terms, etc. Here was my 
chance, come to me without any effort, 
so I sent word my terms were $5 (not 
$7), and then made all necessary prepa¬ 
rations for my guests. The rooms looked 
cool, airy and inviting, and with the fresh 
flowers made the place very fragrant. 
The morning of the Glorious Fourth 
they came, whizzing down the lane in 
their auto. The doctor stayed to dinner 
with them and said he might run out 
every day, but would not as a usual 
thing stay to meals. Everything charmed 
them, and the dinner was praised high¬ 
ly, making me feel the extra effort was 
worth while when people were so 
pleased. 
The next morning we had our break¬ 
fast at 6.30, the boarders at eight o’clock. 
With having to arrange their rooms, it 
made quick work to have dinner ready 
promptly. The following morning the 
children did not care for their breakfast, 
but at 11 o’clock came in for some lunch. 
When I arranged their rooms I found 
banana skins and cake crumbs scattered 
around which accounted for the singular 
loss of appetite. Mrs. S. had never been 
accustomed to the care of both the chil¬ 
dren, as the doctor usually assisted in the 
care of them every morning, and I think 
the unusual task of dressing and watch¬ 
ing them wore on her nerves, for during 
the hour they were dressing every morn¬ 
ing there was the wildest commotion 
overhead, the younger child screaming 
all the time, and the mother scolding, 
until I wondered what on earth was the 
matter, and Mrs. S. developed severe 
nervous headaches, which called for the 
use of so many medicines the room soon 
had the odor of a drug store. One day 
Mrs. S. asked me to move the children’s 
bed into her room and the dresser into 
their room; she wanted the children in 
the same room, as she had the idea that 
our hired man might turn into the regu¬ 
lation dime novel villain and assassinate 
them all. While it all looked very fool¬ 
ish to me, I made no remarks, but spent 
an afternoon doing as she requested, and 
apparently she was satisfied with the 
change. 
They all admired the little pigs in the 
•orchard, and after each meal Mrs. S. 
would collect everything on to a plate, 
bread and all, to my secret annoyance, 
and carry it out to the pigs, until one 
day one of them bit her finger, where¬ 
upon she nearly went into hysterics and 
declared she would die of hydrophobia, 
but some of the numerous bottles in her 
room were brought into use and evident¬ 
ly the remedies proved effective, as no 
more was heard of the accident. 
One rainy day they were all obliged 
to remain indoors. Mrs. S. played on 
the piano and sang all the songs she 
could find, while the children amused 
themselves in their own way, which way 
consisted of pulling down everything that 
was not fastened and breaking several 
valuable pieces of china. Coming down 
to breakfast one morning Mrs. S. brought 
the water-pitcher and showed me where 
Johnny had knocked out a large piece, 
spoke her regrets and said she would 
make it right before she left; as it was 
a set which should be matched to be com¬ 
plete, the loss was worse, but of course 
accidents will happen. On Sundays the 
doctor would bring out from six to 10 
friends for the day. I did not prepare 
their dinner, except to save them a large 
pitcher of milk and some eggs, as they 
brought their lunch for an outdoor pic¬ 
nic. Now, this was all right so far, but 
the next morning our pretty yard looked 
as though a Sunday school picnic had 
been let loose, with all the boxes, bags, 
newspapers, string, paper napkins and 
pickle bottles. It took nearly half a day 
to return the place to its accustomed 
neatness, and made me feel tired. 
Finally Mrs. S. decided she could not 
stand the care of the children any longer, 
so one day the doctor brought out with 
him a little girl about 10 years old, evi¬ 
dently a neighbor’s child, who was to 
play with the children and keep them 
amused in return for a few days’ visit in 
the country. But of all the confusion 
and noise during her stay of two days 
I never heard the like, and then the doc¬ 
tor took her home. To all appearances 
everything was perfectly satisfactory; 
nothing was said or indicated to the con¬ 
trary, but I felt and told my husband 
that Mrs. S. was not happy or contented. 
She was disappointed in her ideas of 
country living, and I think was lonesome 
and homesick; the children were irri¬ 
table, because she kept them so well sup¬ 
plied with foreign fruits, sweet cake and 
candy they had little appetite for the 
fresh vegetables and fruits I prepared for 
them. 
One morning the doctor came, and 
when dinner was announced they came 
chatting cheerfully. They asked permis¬ 
sion to take their frozen dessert out¬ 
doors, and then I commenced doing up 
the regular afternoon work. At four 
o’clock I was sitting in the diningroom 
looking over berries for supper, when 
the door opened and to my astonishment 
Mrs. S. walked in dressed in regulation 
street costume, said her husband had re¬ 
ceived a telegram stating that some 
friends were coming, and she must re¬ 
turn home to welcome them. She paid 
her bill, omitting the broken pitcher and 
the little girl’s visit of two days (but I 
would not remind her), and before sup¬ 
per the auto whizzed down the lane with 
my Summer boarders as suddenly as it 
had appeared two weeks before. I gave 
a great sigh of relief, for the work was 
really too hard for me, preparing so 
many meals every day, besides the regu¬ 
lar tasks of taking care of fruit and 
chickens, etc. 
Now, what was the trouble? I do not 
think the cause lay in the farm or me, 
for no one could have tried to please in 
every possible way more than I had done. 
They were people in good society, of 
good education, manners and customs;' 
while not exactly wealthy, were in good 
circumstances. I have reached the con¬ 
clusion that the ordinary farmer’s wife 
cannot earn money taking boarders—if 
the experiences I have read are samples. 
It is too hard, and there is too much 
worry and too little money connected 
with it, and it needs carrying on on a 
larger scale than the ordinary farmer’s 
wife could manage. It is in numbers 
there is safety, and so we will let the 
competent, capable, striving manager un¬ 
dertake the task of making the city peo¬ 
ple happy, while we will be contented 
with our regular tasks, which bring less 
work and less money, but more content¬ 
ment and peace. F. n. a. 
Canned Vegetable Soup. 
I would like to know how to make anti 
put up a vegetable soup, like what we buy 
canned at the grocery stores. I want to 
use potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and celery. 
Will some one who has had experience in 
the matter tell me how it is done? Would 
glass or tin be the better to put it in when 
made? n. j. 
The following is a good recipe for 
vegetable soup. One quart meat stock; 
one quart boiling water; one cup each 
chopped onion, carrot and celery; one- 
half cup each chopped turnip, parsnip 
and cabbage; one cup strained toma¬ 
toes; one tablespoonful chopped parsley; 
one teaspoonful sugar; one teaspoonful 
salt; one saltspoonful pepper. Use all 
or as many varieties of vegetables as 
you wish, and chop all fine. Fry the 
onion and carrot in a little butter before 
adding to the stock. Cabbage and pars¬ 
nip should be parboiled five minutes, 
carefully drained, and then added to the 
stock. Add the seasoning, and simmer 
slowly for several hours. Rice, maca¬ 
roni or barley may be added if liked. 
There are almost as many ways of mak¬ 
ing vegetable soup as there are cooks to 
make it, but the above is a standard 
recipe. But we have never canned it, 
and we would like to hear from anyone 
who has. We think to keep properly 
it would need a temperature of 240 de¬ 
grees, and would thus need cooking in 
a closed oven, instead of the open kettle 
process. The high-temperature foods 
may be canned by heating the cans or 
jars in an oven, the bottom of the oven 
being covered by an asbestos board one- 
eighth of an inch thick. A chemical 
thermometer registering up to 250 de¬ 
grees is needed, as guessing at the tem¬ 
perature will not do. 
Peppers in Many Forms. 
Stuffed Peppers.'—Cut off stems and 
scoop out seeds; parboil 15 minutes; 
prepare an extra pepper; chop fine, mix 
with it a small onion, minced; mix with 
equal parts cold boiled rice and minced 
ham, adding a tablespoonful of melted 
butter, and half a teaspoon of salt; fill 
peppers with this mixture, cover with 
buttered bread crumbs and bake 20 min¬ 
utes, basting with butter and water. 
Fried Green Peppers. — Cut open 
lengthwise, taking care not to let the 
seeds touch the sides. Take out the 
seeds, slice the peppers crosswise and 
lay in boiling water until it and they 
are cold. Drain and wipe the sliced pep¬ 
pers and fry in butter. Serve dry, as an 
accompaniment to fish. 
Stuffed Green Peppers.—Cut stems 
and tops from eight large peppers, re¬ 
move seeds and let stand in brine for 
two hours. Fill with a forcemeat made 
from chopped cold roast mutton and 
seasoned with a tablespoonful of chop¬ 
ped parsley, two tablespoonfuls of chop- 
pen onion, one tablespoonful of melted 
butter, one and one-half cup of the stock 
and salt if necessary. Bake 45 minutes, 
putting sufficient water in the pan to pre¬ 
vent sticking. Serve on a platter gar¬ 
nished with parsley. 
Peppers Scalloped with Rice (Marion 
Harland).—Halve the peppers, taking 
care that the seeds do not touch the in¬ 
ner walls. Extract the seeds with equal 
care. Lay the halved peppers in boiling 
water and let them get perfectly cold in 
the cooling water. If this be done before 
cooking green peppers in any way, they 
will be mild and sweet. They are also 
made tender by the process. Mix with 
a cupful of cold boiled rice, two table¬ 
spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese, and one 
of melted butter. Salt to taste and nil 
the halved peppers with the mixture, 
rounding it neatly over the tops. .Ar¬ 
range in a pudding dish, cover and bake 
for half an hour, then uncover and 
brown. 
West Indian Pilau.—Prepare peppers 
by removing seeds and scalding, and, 
when cold, fry in butter. Drain and 
chop or cut into small pieces. In the 
butter left in the pan fry a small sliced 
onion, and strain it out. Add to the 
butter three tablespoonfuls of chicken 
stock. Have ready a cupful of boiled 
rice which has been kept hot and dry in 
the oven. Turn it into a deep dish, boil 
up the stock, add the chopped pepper 
and pour over the rice. Loosen the rice 
with a fork, to allow the peppers and 
gravy to penetrate the mass, and serve. 
When you w rito, advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and .you’ll get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See guarantee page 8. 
ffl 
T 
FOUNDED IB42 
What a delight to be 
able to get brown cotton 
dress-goods that will wash 
without fading 1 
Simpson- 
Eddystone 
Fast Haze! Brown Prints 
the result of over 65 years’ 
experience and leader¬ 
ship, are the fastest and 
most beautiful brown cal¬ 
icoes ever produced. They 
withstand sunlight, perspi¬ 
ration and repeated wash¬ 
ing. Artistic designs on 
well-woven, durable cloth 
Show this advertisement to your deal¬ 
er when you order, and don’t accept] 
substitutes. I! not In your dealer’s | 
stock write us his name and address. 
We’ll help him supply you. 
Tlie E«idy*tone Mfgr. Co., Philadelphia ] 
Established by Wm. Simpson, Sr. 
DAISY FLY KILLER 
1 1 ■" a Neat,clean,ornamen¬ 
tal,con ven ient,cheap. 
I.A8T8 AM/ SEASON 
Made of metal, cannot 
h pill or tip over, will 
not soil or injure any¬ 
th in g. Guaranteed 
effective. Of all 
dealers or sent pre¬ 
paid for 20 cents. 
HAROLD SOMERS 
150 Dekalb Ave. 
Krookly n, N. Y. 
Turn yourflurplns fruit into 
money. You can make 
handsome profits from the 
safe of cider, vinegar op 
fruit juices. Write for 
catalog of outfits. x 
THE BOOMER S 80SCHdT 
PRESS CO., Jl2 Water SI, 
luractise, N. 1. 
Hydraulic 
Thomas-Albright Co., 
Cider Presses 
sizes. We have had 33 
years’ experience and 
can save you money. 
Also Steam and Gaso¬ 
line Engines, Boilers, 
Sawmills, etc. 
Catalogue 
Free 
NEW YORK. NX 
Monarch 
Hydraulic 
Cider Press 
Great strength and ca¬ 
pacity: all sizes: also 
gasoline engines, 
steam engines, 
sawmills, chresh- 
_ ers. Catalog free. 
Monarch Machinery Co* 609 CortlandtBtdfl.. New York 
The jar with a \ \\ 
Wide Mouth jf« -- 
k 
for large 
fruits 
Smooth top — 
f) best glass — 
a quick and 
sure sealer 
Here is the cure for preserving-time troubles—a jar which over¬ 
comes the common faults of common jars—makes the work of pre¬ 
serving lighter and good results more sure. 
The Atlas E-Z Seal Jar has many good points to its credit—un¬ 
usual strength—even thickness of glass—smooth finish on the edge 
where old-fashion jars are often dangerous—a wide mouth which 
takes large peaches and pears whole , and a sealing device which closes 
air-tight by a little easy pressure on the sealing lever. 
See how the lady in the illustration is doing it and how large the fruit 
looks in the jar. 
Send us your grocer’s name and we will send you a book of preserving 
recipes free. 
HAZEL-ATLAS GLASS CO., 
WHEELING, W. VA. 
