614 
April 1019 
<Iht RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
The Fairies 
T'p in the airy mountain, 
Down the rushy glen. 
We daren’t go a-hunting 
For fear of little men; 
Wee folk, good folk. 
Trooping all together; 
Green jacket, red cap. 
And white owl’s feather 
Down along the rocky shore 
Some make their home— 
They live on crispy pancakes 
Of yellow tide-foam ; 
Some in the reeds 
Of the black mountain lake. 
With frogs for their watchdogs 
All night awake. 
High on the hill top 
The old king sits; 
He is now so old and gray 
He’s nigh lost his wits. 
With a bridge of white mist 
Columbkill he crosses, 
On his stately journeys 
From Slieveleague to Rosses: 
Or going up with music 
On cold, starry nights, 
To sup with the queeu 
Of the gay Northern Lights 
They stole little Bridget 
For seven years long; 
When she came down agaiu 
Her friends were all gone. 
They took her lightly back, 
Between the night and morrow ; 
They thought that she was fast asleep, 
But she was dead with sorrow. 
They have kept her ever since 
Deep within the lakes, 
Ou a bed of flag leaves. 
Watching till she wakes. 
By the craggy hillside. 
Through the mosses bare, 
They have planted thorn trees 
For pleasure here and there 
Is any man so daring 
To dig one up in spite. 
He shall find the thornies set 
In his bed at night. 
Fp the airy mountain. 
Down the rushy glen, 
We daren’t go a hunting 
For fear of little men; 
Wee folk, good folk. 
Trooping all together; 
Green jacket, red cap. 
And white owl’s feather. 
—William Allingham. 
* 
How many of us know “vegetable ren¬ 
net”? A firm dealing extensively in hardy 
plants was asked to supply this, and a 
little investigation showed that the yellow 
bedstraw, Galium verura. was the plant 
meant. The flowers of this plant are used 
in some parts of England to curdle milk, 
•and this property is possessed by other 
Galiums, the Greek name being derived 
from milk. A number of bedstraws, in 
different varieties, art' common and in¬ 
conspicuous weeds, their name of ladies’ 
bedstraw being derived from the old Eng¬ 
lish name of “Our Lady’s bedstraw,” 
legend asserting that this plant was the 
straw in the manger at Bethlehem. Other j 
names for the Galium are cleavers and 
goosegrass. 
S*£ 
Is it possible to weave a rag rug with 
mitered corners ou an ordinary loom? 
One of our Tenders wants to know 
whether this cau be done. We judge not, 
considering the method of weaving rags, 
and we have never seen any rag rugs in 
the stores woven in this way. Also has 
anyone tried coloring rag carpet without 
dipping and boiling? One of our readers 
thought of using strong dye or paint 
thinned with turpentine, and applied with 
a brush. This did not seem very prac¬ 
ticable to us, the carpet rag fabric being 
very different from matting. Faded rag 
carpet is unsightly and there must be 
many yards of it, still strong and ready 
for service, that would be improved by 
coloring. --Who can give us suggestions on 
this subject? 
* 
One form of first aid for the tired 
housekeeper is rubber heels. Anyone who 
is much on her feet needs them, and it is 
surprising how that silent, elastic cushion 
soothes the nerves and relieves tired 
backs. No one questions the value of 
rubber tires on vehicles, and there is the 
same necessity for a rubber-tired house¬ 
keeper. Many women who are kind and 
considerate to everyone around them are 
really cruel to their own feet. They wear 
poorly fitting shoes, or think they can 
“make out all right” with run-over heels 
or worn soles that chafe or callous the 
foot, or they think the constant pain and 
strain of fallen arches is merely a tem¬ 
porary rheumatic affection. Foot troubles 
depress the nerves, and lead to symptoms 
whose origin is not always recognized. 
There is every reason for the house¬ 
keeper, above all other workers, to be 
kind to her feet. 
* 
The following recipe for graham nut 
bread comes highly recommended from 
Massachusetts: One and one-lmlf cups 
graham flour, one and one-half cups white 
flour, one and one-half cups sweet milk; 
one-half cup molasses, six English wal¬ 
nuts, one-half teaspoon salt, two tea¬ 
spoons baking powder, one-half teaspoon 
baking soda. Mix flour, salt and baking 
powder together. Add milk and molasses, 
to which has been added the soda. Then 
add chopped,nuts. Beat all together well. 
Bake in hot oven about 45 minutes. 
Seen In New York Shops 
Fibre madras is like silk, very durable 
and washes well. It is used for men’s 
shirts and women’s blouses and dreeses, 
and costs $1.25 to $1.75 a yard. 
Leather waistcoats to wear with serge 
suits and dresses are a novelty, costing 
from $8.50 up. One model was scarlet 
with bjack patent leather trimming; 
others were rose or tan suede, white kid 
with black belt, or suede printed in Per¬ 
sian designs. 
Many of us will remember the old- 
fashioned “miser” purse of crocheted silk 
and beads that closed with steel rings, 
and was carried by the middle, with both 
ends hanging. We saw some beaded bags 
of that shape recently, made of colored 
silk, decorated with steel beads and closed 
with steel rings; they were $20. ‘ All 
sorts of beaded bags are fashionable, and 
many of them are very expensive. 
Some blankets noted recently were 
blocked patterns in various color combi¬ 
nations. also white with black border and 
tan with white border. They were 00x84 
inches, and said to be made of long coarse 
wool with a slight admixture of cotton, 
which made a good wearing quality. They 
weighed 4% lbs. and cost $22. It is not 
surprising that cotton blankets are in de¬ 
mand ; some attractive _ styles 70x84 
inches were seen for $5.50; they were 
solid colors with Grecian border, pink, 
old rose, blue and tan. Similar blankets 
in Navajo Indian designs wore $7. 
Marabou capes in large square shape 
were seen recently for $8.49 and $8.89 
They were made with a fluffy tail effect, 
the color a new seal shade, lined with 
satin, and finished with satin streamers 
having pompon ends. 
Water Systems in Oklahoma 
In the little article on page 3S3 “Notes 
from Oklahoma,” the types made me say 
that there were water systems in the 
homes. There are three kinds of water 
systems common hei*e. First a deep wel! 
iii the yard, from which the women and 
children draw most of the water for 
household use, washing, calves, chickens, 
etc Then there is the “water boy” sys¬ 
tem. This is a contraption of rope, wire, 
old wagon wheel and a patented roller, 
whereby the water supply is drawn from 
the springs, which arc usually at tin- 
bottom of a deep canyon. I saw a spring 
yesterday which has two of these “water 
boys,” one coming from each side of the 
canyon. Four families get water there, 
and' it must be drawn at least 10<» yards 
before reaching the top. after which each 
family carries it from 100 to 300. yards. 
Then there are quite a few who haul 
water, from neighboring wells, springs or 
creeks. This last takes the men’s time 
but is the easiest on women and children. 
Others carry water from neighboring 
wells. Our supply comes from a well 120 
feet deep. Almost all the wells are 
equipped with pulley-wheel and rope, and 
are drawn by hand, which task is a real 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Oil. 
I N the crowded city streets or out on the farm, Raynsters stand for 
wet-weather comfort and protection. Everybody’s wearing them. 
Farm folks are out-of-door folks. They need protection, if any¬ 
one does. 
The Raynster line of weatherproof clothing includes coats for 
men, women, boys and girls. It includes slickers and slip-ons. 
featherweight silks, fine cloth coats that are the best kind of over¬ 
coats, as well as light and heavy rubber-surfaced coats and ulsters. 
Each coat has the Raynster Label sewed in the collar. Be sure 
to look for this label. It is your insurance of full value. You 
should be able to find Raynsters in any good clothing store. 
We'll mail a Style Book free if you ll write for it. 
United States Rubber Company 
Clothing Division New York and Boston 
