968 
Uhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 11, 1917. 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
A Prayer 
Lord, for the weak and sinful do wo pray. 
For those with hidden crimes xipon 
their hearts, 
For him who stifles conscience all the 
day. 
But in the night at his own shadow 
starts. 
For lonely ones with no one upon earth 
To share the hiirden of their misery. 
On Avhom no tender guiding hand from 
birth 
Was laid to lead their faltering steps 
to Thee. 
For those who loA'ed much and were be¬ 
trayed, 
' Left with 'their sinking dread alone to 
grieve. 
Who in their anguish are to juay afraid 
To Thee who wait’st to pardon and 
receive. 
We pray for all who have been trodden 
down, 
For all w'ho night nor day no comfort 
brings. 
Who down the wind of this bleak world 
art blown 
Great Bearer of the burdens, King of 
Kings. 
—Stephen Coleridge. 
* 
Homemade briquettes to save coal aie 
being tested by some thrifty housewives, 
made from nothing more than waste pa¬ 
per. We have not yet tested them, so 
cannot give an opinion as to their prac¬ 
tical value. They are made from waste 
paper and cardboard of every sort by 
cutting the material in small pieces and 
soaking it over night in a tub of hot 
Avater until quite soft. The briquettes 
are then made by compressing the inaks 
of pulp into balls about four inches in 
diameter and squeezing out as much 
water as posible. After being thoroughly 
dried in the sun or an oven the briquette 
is ready for use and may be kept indefi¬ 
nitely until needed. This is really a 
rough sort of papier machd. If such 
briquettes demonstrate their usefulness 
in the kitchen range, they Avill afford an 
economical use for odd scraps of paper 
which accumulate rapidly, but are not 
usually salable to the junkman. 
* 
Scalloped eggplant with chopped meat 
is a change. Cook and chop the egg¬ 
plant, season, and put in a baking dish 
Avith the chopped meat in alternate lay¬ 
ers. (If 'desili'ed the thin juice from 
cooked tomatoes may be poured over to 
moisten it. Form the top layer of the 
eggplant, cover Avith seasoned bread 
crumbs, dot Avith butter and bake. 
The Children’s Bureau of the TT. ,S. 
Department of Labor has recently i.ssued 
a brief circulAr on “Saving Mothers.” It 
refers to the fact that about 15,000 Avom- 
en die annually in the Fnited States from 
causes connected Avith maternity, Ayhile 
about 75,000 babies die each year from 
diseases of early infancy connected with 
the health of the baby’s mother. Says 
this circular: 
Little has been done as yet to shoAV 
women that much of the AV’a.ste of moth¬ 
ers’ lives and health is unnecessary. 
Even less has been undertaken by com¬ 
munities to provide protection for them. 
Many communities Avhich have studied 
their typhoid and tuberculosis death 
rates and have undertaken costly meas¬ 
ures to reduce them have been heedless 
of the death rates among mothers. It 
is not strange therefore that since 1000 
the typhoid rate for the country as a 
whole has been cut in half, and the rate 
from tuberculosis has been markedly re¬ 
duced, while the death rate from ma¬ 
ternal causes has shown no demonstrable 
decrease. 
Difficulties are perhaps greatest in 
rural districts where the sheer inaccessi¬ 
bility of a physician is often added to 
the other elements of the problem. Here 
a public nur.sing service with headquar¬ 
ters at the county seat, or other accessi¬ 
ble town, would probably be the first 
step, placing at the service of every ex¬ 
pectant mother a visiting nurse Aviio is 
especially equipped to giA^e her informa¬ 
tion about personal care and to A\mtch 
for symptoms of trouble demanding med¬ 
ical advice. As such a nursing service 
develops, its headquarters might become, 
with the cooperation of phy.sicians, a sort 
of maternal and child welfare center to 
which not only expectant mothers but 
also mothers Avith babies could come for 
instruction, examination and advice. If 
no general hospital were conveniently 
near, a cottage hospital for mothers and 
babies might ultimately form a part of 
such a center. 
We are informed that Loudoun Coun¬ 
ty, Virginia, has a county nursing as¬ 
sociation, which cooperates with the 
county home demonstration agent em¬ 
ployed under the Smith-Lever act. In 
Canada the Victorian Order' of Nurses 
is establishing country nursing stations, 
Avhile both Australia and Ncav Zealand 
have nursing organizations working in 
rural areas. 
Seen in New York Shops 
lioed for basketmaking (willow) is 
sold by the large department stores. It 
comes in a Auiriety of size.s, designated 
by number, and is sold by the pound. 
No. 2 is the fine cord-like reed used for 
making very small baskets and coasters, 
but the size ordinarily used by amateur 
Avorkers for fancy baskets is No. 3, 
Avhich costs .$1.17 a pound ; No. 5 is 
the size ordinarily used for spokes, cost¬ 
ing 96 cents a pound, while No. 6 is the 
heavier for foundations costing 74 cents 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering always give number of pattern 
and size desired, sending price with order 
9465—Blouse with 
Square JJeck, 34 to 
42 bust. 
Trice 15 cts. 
9469—Skirt with 
Applied Box Plaits, 
24 to 34 waist. 
I’rlce 15 cts. 
9460—Overall Dress, 
34 to 42 bust. 
I’rice 15 cts. 
a pound. No. 4 is used for spokes in 
making little baskets of No. 2 reed. 
Nippers and awls used in basketry are in¬ 
expensive tools, but the worker must have 
a waterproof apron of rubber cloth or oil¬ 
cloth, as the reed is soaked in water when 
handled. The completed baskets are fin¬ 
ished Avith shellac when left natural or 
colored. Most workers color the baskets 
with commercial dyes, but more esthetic 
and uncommon effects are obtained by 
painting Avith artists’ oil paints and fin¬ 
ishing with shellac. 
Among outdoor Summer comforts are 
baby hammocks with four high sides that 
Avill keep the baby where he belongs; 
in khaki the price is $12.50. 
Among motor cover-alls are women’s 
linen dusters for $3.75 to $5.75, while 
motor coats of I’alm Beach cloth are 
$6.75, and dark mohair $6 to $8.50. 
Natural colored pongee makes the most 
expensive motor coats, averaging from 
$18.50 up to about $50. 
All sorts of books giving instructions 
in French are offered in hook and de¬ 
partment stores, for the benefit of those 
going abroad on military service. “Sol¬ 
diers’ Spoken French,” price 54 cents, 
“Vade Mecum—For the Use of Officers 
and Interpreters,” price 68 cents, 
“French Nautical Phrase Book and 
Reader,” price 89 cents, and “Lessons in 
Idiomatic French,” price 86 cents, are 
among the helpful textbooks noted in 
one department store. 
Adjustable Avindow screens that slide 
out to fit the Avindow arc much more 
desirable now than in the old clumsy 
Avooden-framed models. They have metal 
frames, firm and neat in appearance. _The 
size 30 inch(?s deep, that opens out to 
a Avidth of 42 inches, Avas seen in one 
department store for 99 cents each. 
They come in a variety of sizes from 18 
inches deep up. price A'arying AV'ith the 
size. 
The Silent Mil! 
Do you remember AA'hat Kipling said 
about the old mill-Avheel that began by 
grinding corn and ended by driving dy¬ 
namos? Only we must admit it doesn’t 
exactly driA'c a dynamo, neither does it 
longer grind corn. It is a silent mill, 
and the country cannot affoi’d it. 
The other day Ave drove to a feed store 
Avith a farmer after feed. It Avas a typi¬ 
cal feed store, such as may be found in 
any New England village. The farmer 
OAvned stock, cattle, hogs, and poultry, 
also a large farm, but outside of the hay 
and roughage, like all other farmers, and 
stockmen in the Eastern country, he buys 
all grain and pays a good price for it, too. 
“I’d like to knoAA',” said the old feed 
man, “Avhat you are going to feed to get 
your money back nowadays.” 
It brought to mind the days of long 
ago, when father drove to mill Avith the 
grist of AA'hcat from Avhich the bread, 
both Avhite and graham, Avas made at 
home by mother, such sweet, wholesome 
The Brook of the Silent Mill 
bread, light and tender, in Avbicb Avere 
found no uuwliolesome ingredients. And 
last if not least was the “feed”; mid¬ 
dlings, bran and shorts for the stock, 
good weight, good quality and good re¬ 
sults. These AA-ere the days of fat oxen 
and steers, plenty to keep for home use, 
fresh beef all "Winter, corned beef and 
dried for Spring and Summer. Every 
farm Avas its own source of supply, and 
no depending ui)on the cold storage and 
meat combines for the home supply at 
their own prices. Every Fall during 
butchering time the family supply of 
sausage Avas made up by the butcher; it 
Avas the host ever, too; Ave kueAV just 
Avhat it Avas made of. The sweet, clean 
lard for the year Avas also no small item, 
compared Avitli the various high-priced 
compounds used today. 
The yearly grist of cornmeal, for fam¬ 
ily use, cracked corn, hominy, all raised 
on the farm, Avas ground by the home 
mill, genuine, honest product, no mill 
sweepings or chaff, ground straw, or foul 
seeds. The old road to the mill cros.sed 
the brook, clear and limpid, creeping 
sloAvly between the banks, Avhere it met 
the river below. It is not a large river, 
just an ordinary stream Avhere the old 
mill, a grim Avhite structure, stands re¬ 
flecting its gaunt form in the Avaters be¬ 
low. But the mill wheel is silent; the 
days of its activity are past; there are 
no grists to grind. Grain is no longer 
raised in the hill country; corn as a crop 
is not to be depended upon they say. 
The early and late frosts too may se¬ 
riously claim it as their toll. 
The farmer now drives to the feed 
stores with an empty wagon, a pur.sse of 
more or loss dimensions; he drives home 
again with a light load, a lighter purse, 
and grumbles at the high preies n't feed 
stuff; goes without best cuts of meat, as 
it is quite beyond his means, while his 
Avife endeavors to supply a bill of fare 
containing an eqiml supply of food value 
by supplying meat substitute, Avhile be 
supplies the hungry land Avith fertilizer 
.substitutes, and wonders Avhy the cli¬ 
matic change has been so great that 
grain can no longer be raised as in the 
good old days in bis borne country. 
Statistics are of little interest to any 
except the statistician. Yet those Avho 
study the laAV that governs cause and 
effect must learn that which causes the 
silent mill, must affect and not for the 
better those who depend in a more or 
less degree upon its pi'odncts. Certainly 
the mills are not all silent throughout 
the land. There are great milling cen¬ 
ters of enormous capacity, Avhere daily 
output is beyond our realization. 
ever, these are controlled by compara¬ 
tively foAv. do not doubt that these 
are AA'orld-wide benefactions, hut that 
does not imply that the average farmer 
should depend entirely upon the food 
supply of these centralized milling con¬ 
cerns, any more than that his Avife should 
depend upon foreign dressmakers to sup¬ 
ply her Avardrobe from across the sea. 
Father came back to Ncav England 
after many years’ sojourn in the West; 
hack to the land of his birth; back to the 
home of his boyhood, with a heart still 
full of love for it; back to the traditional 
old Ncav England. 
“I suppose,” he said one morning, after 
•a fcAV days’ mental inventory, “your barn 
dates back before the Avar, at least?” 
“Yes, longer than that?” 
“There is one thing I Avould like to 
remark about it, and Avhile I am at it, 
say the same thing about the farm yard.” 
“What’s that?” 
cll,” he answered slowly, “What 
strikes me most about all this is that barn 
isn’t a barn any longer, and this farmyard 
isn’t a farmyard. There is no A\heat or 
chaff, or anything of the sort in that barn, 
nothing but saAvdust in your feed bin; 
plenty of hay; yes, but somehoAV it all 
looks too mechanical and empty. And 
what is the matter Avith those hill pas¬ 
tures? Where are the sheep?” 
“Dogs? Yes; Avell, there have always 
been dogs, and there have always been 
shepherds since the times of Abraham in 
the laud of the Chaldees. And in those 
days the sheep did prevail. The aban¬ 
doned farm Avas unknoAvn; there Avas 
plenty and prosperity, for previous Co¬ 
lonial days had taught its lessons. And 
you will have some more truths to learn 
in the experiences of these days.” 
Truly Ave believe in progress, in so- 
called higher education, in advancement 
along all lines, in all methods of up¬ 
building. We also belicA'e that our acres 
are ready to meet any demand upon 
them ; that our sons and daughters are as 
ready and capable as Avere their ancestors 
to meet any call or emergency made upon 
them, or that the times may demand; 
that the silent mills may again speak, 
the flocks return upon the hills, the empty 
country churches be filled, to bring back 
into their OAvn all the goods for which 
they stand. 
THE COUNTRY GENTLEAVOMAN. 
Canning Pumpkin; Blueberries 
In canning pumpkin and squash for 
pics sift before processing and add one 
cup sugar and tAvo teaspoons salt to 
each quart jar. 
Blueberries retain their flavor bettor 
if canned by the open kettle method. 
Allow one quart and one pint to each 
quart jar. Have jar and cover thorough¬ 
ly sterilized. Put berries in rather shal¬ 
low agate or aluminum pan, acid one cup 
boiling Avater, cover closely two minutes 
and then remove covei*, allow to boil up 
once, pack in jar which should stand 
in vessel of boiling water, dip rubber in 
hot water and seal. MRS. J. A. allen. 
Cucumber Pickles 
Pick carefully to avoid bruising cu¬ 
cumbers. Wash and drain. Pack in 
glass jars. To each quart jar add one 
teaspoon salt and one of ground mus¬ 
tard, six small peppers (such as come 
in mixed spices) and six pepper corns. 
Cover with vinegar that has been scalded 
and allowed to cool. These keep very 
nicely, the mustard keeping the vinegar 
from changing, and they are more whole¬ 
some than pickles hardened with alum. 
MBS. J. A. 
