52 
©7 be RURAL N E W-Y O R K E R 
London Purple for Cockroaches 
I notice that on page 13S7 A. I. S. 
wants to know how to rid the kitchen of 
cockroaches. If the inquirer will try 
London purple the coackroachcs will 
leave. My house was badly infested with 
them, and I tried everything I read of in 
The R. N.-Y. and other papers. I bought 
a great many of the advertised prepara¬ 
tions, but none did any good. The roaches 
got more plentiful. Finally, learning that 
London purple would rid henhouses and 
nests of mites, I tried it in the house for 
them and fattened them nicely. I was 
told at first to use borax, and I did, one 
of the small boxes, one-half pound, I 
think. Three years ago I got a 5-lb. 
carton of borax. I threw it into each 
shelf of the cupboard, back of radiators, 
and kept at it. In a week the cock¬ 
roaches were as lively and numerous as 
ever, but I stuck light by the borax; 
used it freely every day. I made funnels 
of paper and blew it back of the kitchen 
wainscoting and back of the mop-boards in 
the other rooms. In two weeks they were 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
The Strength of Little Villages 
The cities challenge across the land: “Lo, 
we are mighty ones; 
Our strength, our speed and our millions 
we are massing behind the guns 
The power of our man-made altars, the 
prowess of our sons!” 
But, oh, the little villages that lie below 
the hill, 
With green blinds and open doors and 
streets so peaceful—still! 
Their thoughts are on a far road in 
France or Italy, 
Their hearts are carried out o’ them as 
a full moon draws the sea. 
For it’6 work and give; it’s help and 
give; it’s wait and hope and pray— 
It’s “your boy and my boy” there, and 
“What’s the news today?” 
The cities challenge across the _ sea: 
“Watch ye our burthened ships. 
Accomplishment dwells in our midst today 
and praise is on all lips— 
Watch ye our mighty portals from whence 
world-traffic slips.” 
But, oh, the little villages all up and 
down the shore, 
They give their sons, they give their 
strength—and still their hearts give 
more. 
The needles click, the fingers fly for 
boys in blue and brown, 
For your boy and my boy from many a 
little town— ‘ 
For your boy in the trenches and my 
boy on the sea, 
For all they both are fighting for Free¬ 
dom and Liberty! 
And it’s, oh, the little villages all over 
this our land; 
So little but so mighty, as back to back 
they stand. 
Over their shining cottage doors the ser¬ 
vice flags float high, 
And out on every off-shore wind the 
prayers and blessings fly— 
And oh, ye cities, gird yourselves and 
put forth all your might 
Lest the strength of little villages sur¬ 
pass yours in the fight! 
Edna Valentine Trapnell, 
in New York Tribune. 
* 
The New York health authorities re¬ 
cently arrested a Brooklyn chemist for 
making and selling aspirin tablets that 
consisted of talcum powder, cornstarch 
and salicylic acid. During the influenza 
epidemic aspirin has been used freely as 
a remedy, and also as a preventive in 
cases of incipient cold. The best authori¬ 
ties agree, however, that. aspirin should 
never be taken without the advice of a 
physician. It is a heart depressant, and 
may be extremely dangerous in individual 
cases, or when taken too -freely. It is 
one of many things better left alone, ex¬ 
cept when taken upon a physician’s re¬ 
sponsibility. 
One of our English friends, writing 
earlv in December, observed that butter 
was'then very dear, two shillings and six¬ 
pence a pound (about 60 cents). At that 
time we were paying 70 cents a pound for 
it in New York. Of course our English 
friend was rationed, and had to buy her 
butter on a card system, but as people of 
moderate means can only spend a certain 
amount on butter, many of. us have to 
ration ourselves when the price gets very 
high - 
The little quilted silk jacket, sleeveless 
or with long sleeves, still remains a spe¬ 
cial comfort to wear under one’s coat in 
Winter ; it does not pull out of shape or 
wear shabby as soon as the knitted wool 
spencer. If to be worn over light-col¬ 
ored blouses it should have a white or 
light-colored lining, if the jacket itself is 
black, but there are very pretty quilted 
jackets all white. These garments are 
very light, warm and inexpensive. I or 
babies’ wear quilted white silk coats come 
in full length to wear under the silk or 
cashmere outer coat in severe weather. 
Little sleeveless coats of brushed wool 
bound with broad silk braid _ in many 
bright or light colors are used like sweat¬ 
ers under a coat, or over a thin blouse in 
the house. Corduroy breakfast coats, 
made in all sorts of bright colors, are 
quite similar to the sport coats of the 
Summer; they are really a pretty and use¬ 
ful fashion, as they can be slipped over 
a thin house dress, and provide extra 
warmth when necessary. 
fr 
The following recipe for corn and rolled 
oat biscuits was among those sent out by 
the Food Administration; One and one- 
third cups corn flour, one cup ground 
oats, six teaspoons baking powder, one 
teaspoon salt, three tablespoons fat, one 
cup milk. Sift dry materials together. 
Work in fat well. Combine liquid and 
dry material, handling lightly. Boll or 
pat one-half inch thick and cut as 
biscuit. Bake in hot oven. The ground 
oats are prepared by putting rolled oats 
through the food chopper. All measures 
are level. In measuring the baking pow¬ 
der, level the spoon with a knife. Drop 
biscuits require less baking powder than 
rolled biscuits. 
the roaches, putting it in cracks and table 
and cupboard drawers where the roaches 
hid. The roaches soon disappeared. This 
was more than two yeai'6 ago, and they 
have not yet returned. Care must be 
taken not to get London purple into food, 
as it is a poison. mrs. j. h. 
Borax and Roaches 
Seven years ago cockroaches got into 
our home, and “increased and multiplied” 
exceedingly, the worst pest ever. I tried 
everything that was recommended as 
“good” for them, and it all agreed with 
growing scarcer, and a month saw the 
finish. Borax freely and persistently used 
will clear out the worst premises, for our 
home was a terror. I would have given 
anything to know what to do. I have 
been told that apartment houses become 
overrun. Borax is harmless, easily ap¬ 
plied and will work. Most of the roach 
powders are hard to use, and proved no 
good to us. I used nothing but borax at 
the time, and hadn’t for quite a while, for 
I was nearly discouraged. A 5-lb. carton 
isn’t a bit too big. It won’t spoil if not 
all used, and it got the roaches in a 12- 
January 11, 1919 
room house, every room inhabited. We 
use wood and stumps for fuel, too, and 
always thought we got the start from 
that source. E. G. T. 
Fig Recipes 
Fig and Rice Pudding.—To two cups of 
cooked rice add the well-beaten yolks of 
two eggs, a pinch of salt, one half cup of 
sugar, one and one-half cups of sweet 
milk and one teaspoon of vanilla. Put 
half of this mixture in a buttered pudding 
dish, add a generous layer of chopped figs, 
and add the remainder of the rice. Dot 
the top with bits of butter, bake for half 
an hour in a moderate oven and serve hot 
with a sweet sauce or with cream. 
Fig Cake.—One cup of sugar, three 
eggs, one cup of milk, two teaspoons of 
powdered cinnamon, three cups of flour, 
ono-lialf cup of butter, three teaspoons of 
baking powder, one-half teaspoon of salt, 
one teaspoon of vanilla extract, one-half 
teaspoon of grated nutmeg and one cup 
of shredded figs. Wash and dry the figs, 
then shred them. Cream the butter and 
sugar together. Add the eggs, well beaten, 
and beat for five minutes. Sift the dry 
ingredients and add to the first mixture 
alternately with the milk. Add the figs 
and flavoring and turn into a buttered and 
floured cake tin. Bake for one hour in a 
moderate oven. 
Steamed Fig Pudding.—One cup of 
chopped figs, one-half cup of chopped suet, 
three eggs, two aud one-fourth cups of 
soft bread crumbs, one-third cup of milk, 
one cup of brown sugar, and one teaspoon 
of salt. Cover bread crumbs with milk. 
Chop figs and suet together. Add other in¬ 
gredients, pour in buttered melon mold 
and steam for three and a half to four 
hours. Serve with the following sauce: 
One-half cup of butter, one cup of pow¬ 
dered sugar, three tablespoons of milk, 
and two tablespoons of jelly. Mix sugar, 
jelly and milk, and warm in double boiler 
or over hot water. Add to creamed butter 
slowly. Do not permit the sugar mixture 
to become hot—only warm. 
Stewed Figs.—Wash and dry one pound 
of figs. Put four tablespoons of sugar, 
one tablespoon of lemon juice, half a cup 
of water and a quarter of a cup of straw¬ 
berry jelly into a saucepan. When boiling 
add the figs, cover the pan and let stew 
gently until the figs are tender, turning 
often during the cooking. Serve cold with 
cream or milk. 
Fig and Raisin Pudding.—Soak one cup 
of bread crumbs in one cup of milk for one 
hour; stir into them three eggs, beaten 
very light, three tablespoons of powdered 
suet and three tablespoons of flour sifted 
with one tablespoon of baking powder. 
Have ready one-half cup of minced figs 
For the hoys 
in the service 
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