450 
THE KUR.AU NKW-YOKKKK 
March 20, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day 
THE ROBIN. 
When first the willow catkins show, 
And water elms put on a veil 
Of golden glory, and the flow 
Of maple sap in trough or pail 
With merry drip and tinkle makes 
The pulses leap, the fancies throng. 
Then robin comes at dawn and wakes 
And gladdens all the world with song; 
High on the cherry tree he tunes 
His voice to many a winsome lay. 
Or in the long, sweet afternoons 
Till sunset sings his soul away. 
Best bird, and wise, no idle praise 
Nor foolish blame disturbs his rest; 
Content he weaves divinest lays 
Or toils at humble love’s behest, 
We crown him laureate of our woods, 
We welcome his returning wings, 
And dream of joy’s beatitudes. 
Whene’er the vernal robin sings. 
—Benjamin S. Parker. 
* 
Here is a recipe for apple sauce pie 
that will be appreciated at the season 
when cellar-stored apples are rather flat 
in flavor. Prepare one pint of rich sweet 
apple sauce, and press through a sieve. 
Beat until light with an egg beater, then 
add the grated yellow rind of one lemon 
and half a glassful of red currant jelly. 
Mix well, and use as a filling between 
two crusts. Slash the top crust to per¬ 
mit steam to escape, and bake for about 
30 minutes in a quick oven. Serve cold. 
* 
If, in your house-cleaning, you come 
across the miserable buffalo moth, the 
pest of tacked-down carpets and plush 
furniture, treat it to a gasoline bath, 
bearing in mind the highly explosive and 
inflammable nature of this substance. In¬ 
fested floors should be well washed with 
hot suds, following this with the gaso¬ 
line. Getting the window screens in 
early will keep out some of the tiny 
mottled adult beetles. Books, photo¬ 
graphs and similar articles containing 
starch, sugar or sizing are found defaced 
by silver fish or fish-moths, very active 
wingless creatures of a silvery appear¬ 
ance, having long antenna! and three 
bristle-like feelers at the rear. Pyre- 
thrum powder dusted into their hiding 
places destroys them, and they are also 
poisoned by dipping cardboard into paste 
containing Paris green, and slipping this 
cardboard, when dry, into the crevices 
where they hide. 
* 
The National Housewives’ League has 
been urging the economy of baking at 
home, and recently conducted a contest 
in baking bread, muffins and biscuits for 
the benefit of the women of Greater New 
York. A wonderful display was made, 
and Mrs. J. li. Kiernan, who won first 
prize for white loaf, gives the following 
recipe for her prize bread, which makes 
two very large loaves: 
Two quarts of flour, two quarts of 
milk and water mixed. In the water melt 
two large tablespoons of shortening, a 
scant half cup of sugar, three teaspoons 
of salt and a small pinch of baking soda. 
When these are dissolved in the water 
add the milk; add also one yeast cake, 
dissolved in a little water. Mix in bread 
mixer for ten minutes and set to rise 
over night in a warm place. In the morn¬ 
ing turn the mixer three times, then pour 
the batter out on a floured board, cut 
into four even sections and mold into 
balls. Into two deep bread pans having 
two balls in each, set to rise again until 
the batter becomes double in bulk, then 
bak*e for fifty minutes, having the oven 
warmer at first and then slackening the 
heat. Mrs. Kiernan estimates the cost 
• >f this batch of bread at 21 cents. 
The whole wheat loaf which won sec¬ 
ond prize was raised with potato yeast 
that had been kept working since I860. 
* 
Old-fashioned people used to celebrate 
the return of Spring by dosing the family 
impartially with sulphur and molasses, 
on the ground that is was “good for the 
blood.” We realize now that many dis¬ 
orders of Spring were due to restricted 
diet, poor ventilation and defective sani¬ 
tation through the cold months, and en¬ 
larged knowledge gives us an opportunity 
to cope with all these troubles and dis¬ 
advantages. Still, most of us feel some¬ 
thing of the languor we call “Spring 
fever” when the first warm days come, 
and the family bill of fare needs rather 
more study than during nipping Winter 
days. Happy is the housewife who can 
put up a garden in cans, so that there 
is no lack of wholesome and tempting food. 
In the old days, when every pioneer fami¬ 
ly salted, or dried, or otherwise stored food 
for the whole Winter, people used to call 
February and March “pinch time.” be¬ 
cause the stocks of food were becoming 
low. Without being actually short of 
food, many rural housekeepers still find 
this “pinch time” in giving variety to the 
meals. Housekeepers in the neighborhood 
of The R. N.-Y. office only have to go 
round the corner to the Italian fruit 
dealer or French grocer to get fruit, sal¬ 
ads and vegetables in great variety, at 
moderate prices, but the farm house¬ 
keeper must depend very largely on her 
own resources. “Pinch time” is a good 
season to decide how far the family gar¬ 
den fell short of its possibilities last year, 
and to plan for its extension in the fu¬ 
ture. It is surprising how many excel¬ 
lent and interesting vegetables are ne¬ 
glected, and how restricted is the ordin¬ 
ary use of seasoning herbs. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns, send number 
and size desired. Price of each pattern 
10 cents. 
8577 Yoke Night Gown, 
Small 54 or 56, Me¬ 
dium 28 or 40, Large 
42 or 44 bust. 
8585 Blouse with or 
without Over Portion, 
34 to 44 bust. 
8593 Plaited Skirt with 
Yoke, 24 to 32 waist. 
8578 Empire Dress for 
Misses and Small 
Women, 
16 and 18 years. 
8589 Girl’s Dres$ 
4 to 10 years. 
8591 Gathered Blouse, 
34 to 42 bust. 
Seen in New York Shops. 
Independence blue is a new American 
color, said by its introducer to result from 
mixing the three colors of the flag in one 
dye. It is offered in all sorts of silks, 
ribbons, neckwear and silk hosiery. 
“Barnyard straw” is a fashionable 
weave in the new Spring hats. It is a 
rough heavy straw, showing a long sur¬ 
face stitch, and is seen in all sorts of 
colors now in vogue. Hats of this straw 
are much less expensive than the fine 
Milans. One popular shape has a low 
round crown and brim of medium width, 
slightly rolled, the hat being tilted a lit¬ 
tle on the head. One plain but attractive 
hat of this style was taupe color, faced 
with black velvet, the only trimming be¬ 
ing a narrow band of taupe moire ribbon 
with a cockade of the same color at the 
back. 
A toothbrush inclosed in a glass tube, 
with a ventilated celluloid cap at each 
end, cost 35 cents. It is a sanitary pack¬ 
age, and very convenient for a traveling 
case. There is always a tube of this 
sort for the toothbrush included in the 
fittings of a handsome dressing case. 
Hangers for fur sets consist of a rod 
to be passed through the muff, slipping 
over a hook at the loose end. with the 
bar above like an ordinary cloak hanger. 
Tt is all made of metal and costs 25 cents. 
It may be padded and covered with silk 
like any other hanger, and is a great ad¬ 
vantage with very soft or long-haired 
furs, which crease or flatten when kept 
in a box. When the furs are stored away 
the hanger may be inclosed in a camphor 
or tar bag. Other convenient hangers 
are those used for either skirts or trous¬ 
ers, a desirable form consisting of two 
flat pieces of wood held together by slid¬ 
ing clamps; the wood has small felt pads 
at either end, which hold the skirt with¬ 
out any risk of tearing. These are 10 
cents ordinarily. 
Waists of handkerchief linen had two- 
inch colored stripes, pink, blue, lavender 
or tan. They had yokes back and front 
with the stripes running across, and fine 
pin tucks below; long sleeves with turn¬ 
back cuffs and high collars that could be 
turned down. The seams were all joined 
with hemstitching. They were priced at 
$4.74. but could be copied by the home 
dressmaker, except the hemstitched 
seams. 
Nurse’s shoes of what is called “ten¬ 
derfoot” make are especially advised for 
housewives, or anyone who has to stand 
at work a good deal. They are made of 
soft kid, with medium toes, light soles, 
and low heels fitted with rubber base; 
price $2.98; widths from C to EE. It 
is also possible to get shoes with extra 
wide ankles, seamless cut broad toes and 
low flat heels up to EEE width; these 
are a comfort to elderly women who have 
become rheumatic or very large. 
Japanese fern balls look like dry 
brown moss, but dipped in water until 
soaked through, hung in a favorable win¬ 
dow, and then watered as required they 
break into a mass of feathery green. 
They are charming to hang on the piazza 
during Summer. Some of these fern balls 
are made up in fancy shapes, like mon¬ 
keys, ships, or other picturesque forms, 
which look very odd when they break 
into leaf. The plain balls are 30 cents. 
Dishes for Luncheon. 
M AY I ask through your excellent 
“Woman’s Page” for some dishes 
especially suited for lunch or tea? 
Every housekeeper has some special dish 
she makes, that is wholesome, nourish¬ 
ing, inexpensive and easily made. Will 
send one or two of mine. 
Canned Tomato Soup.—This is simple 
and fine. Three quarts tomatoes; two 
quarts hot water; six tablespoons onion ; 
six tablespoons sugar; six tablespoons 
parsley; six teaspoons salt; two salt- 
spoons pepper; three whole cloves. Cook 
slowly 15 minutes; strain. Add four 
tablespoons of cornstarch. Cook 10 min¬ 
utes ; seal. 
Relish.—One cup cold boiled ham, one- 
lialf cup grated cheese, a dash of papri¬ 
ka. Add one pint or more of white sauce, 
heat all together and pour over dainty 
slices of toast. 
Beef Loaf.—Seven cups choped steak, 
two cups bread and cracker crumbs, one 
egg, one cup or more of milk, a little 
sage. Bake. 
Nut Croquettes.—One cup stale bread 
crumbs soaked in one-half cup of milk. 
Into this stir one cup chopped walnuts. 
Season with salt and pepper. Add the 
beaten yolks of two eggs and fry in hot 
fat. 
Creamed Finnan Haddie.—Pick about 
one-half pound of finnan haddie and cook 
in a heaping tablespoon of butter till 
heated through. Then stir in one table¬ 
spoon of flour moistened in one cup of 
milk. Let this cook five minutes. Add 
yolk of one egg, a dash of pepper and one 
teaspoon of grated cheese. When smooth 
serve on hot toast. Garnish with pars¬ 
ley. MRS. s. B. s. 
R. N.-Y.—Perhaps other housekeepers 
w’ill respond to this request, and give 
some favorite recipe for luncheon, tea or 
supper. In most farm homes, luncheon 
retires in favor of a mid-day dinner and 
as, in many cases, the school children 
are away at this time, some hot and 
nourishing dish forms part of tea or sup¬ 
per. 
J J-%- 
| Are you saving the 
commissions on your 
insurance each year? 
T HE POSTAL LIFE Is the only Company that 
opens its doors to the public so that those 
desiring 6bund insurance-protection at low 
cost can deal directly for it, either personally 
or by correspondence. 
Yon make a guaranteed saving corresponding 
to the agent's commission the first year, less 
a moderate advertising charge. 
In subseqnent years you get the Renewal 
Commission other companies pay their agents, 
namely end you also receive an Office- 
Expense Saving of 2%, making up the 
Annual /II/ ® 
Dividend of /2/W in 
Guaranteed 
the Policy 
Beginning at the close of the second year, the 
POSTAL pays contingent dividends besides, as 
in the case of other companies. 
Such Is the POSTAL way; It Is open to you. 
Write now and find out t ie exact sum it will 
save yon at your ace—the first year and every 
other. Just Raj; insurance particulars 
a« mentioned in 
Rural New-Yorker for March 20/* 
and he sure to give: (1) Your full name; 
(2) Your occupation; (3) The exact date of 
your birth. No agent will he sent to visit 
you. Yon deal direct—the l>eneflt of the com¬ 
mission is yours. 
Postal Life Insurance Company 
Wm. R. Malone, President 
35 Nassau Street New York 
WALL PAPER 
BARGAIN BOOK 
FREE! 
Send name on 
postal now for 
beautiful book 
of 7S new patterns and lowest prices, 
beginning at 5c per doubleroll. Send 
no money— just a postal. Book shows 
how you can make your home more 
cheerful, brighter—a delight to the 
eye. Small cost will surprise you. 
Beautiful patterns for kitchen, hall, 
parlor, dining room, bedrooms, etc. 
Just write postal today. Address as 
below 
S 
UGAR 
When ordered with a| 
$10 Grocery Order 
25 pounds, 98/ 
Larkin Groceries, such as flour, coffee, tea, 
canned vegetables, dried vegetables, bam, 
bacon, fish, cereals, crackers, preserved 
fruits, relishes, confectionery: laundry, 
toilet, and home supplies of all kinds. 
GROCERY BOOK FREE 
Send a letter or postal today for your free 
copy. Just say, “Send me free a copy of 
Grocery book No. 1733.” 
Larkia Cxk buffalo, n. y. 
R AGS, Bags, Old Rubber and Metals 
(No scrap-iron). Ship direct to us in bogs, barrels or 
boxes. Save middlemen's profits. Mark package, 
plainly. A post card will hring you bunch of tag,. 
The W. L. LOE SER COMPANY. Buffalo, N. Y. 
Our 
Readers 
make the best sub¬ 
scription agents. Any 
member of the family 
can help. No experi¬ 
ence required. No 
investment necessary. 
A postal card will 
bring details, includ¬ 
ing copy of Reward 
List. Write to 
Department “M” 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 W. 30th St. 
New York 
