744 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
The Housekeeper 
Oil, Woman, what is the thing you^ do, 
and what is the thing you cry? 
Is your house not warm and inclosed from 
harm, that you thrust the curtain 
by? 
And have we not toiled to build for you a 
peace from the winds outside. 
That you seek to know how the battles go 
and ride where the fighters ride? 
You have taken my spindle away from 
me, you have taken away my loom, 
You bid me sit in the dust of it, at peace 
without cloth or broom, 
You have shut me still with a sleepy will, 
with nor evil nor good to do, 
While our house the World that we keep 
for God should be garnished and 
swept anew. 
The evil things that have waxed and 
grown while I sat with my white 
hands still. 
They have meshed our World till they 
twined and curled through my very 
window sill; 
Shall I sit and smile at mine ease the 
while that my house is wrongly 
kept? 
It is mine to see that the house of me is 
straightened and cleansed and 
swept! 
My daughters strive for their souls alive, 
harried and starved and cold— 
Shall I bear it long, who was swift and 
strong in guarding them white of 
~)lci ^ 
My children cry in our house the W orld, 
neglected and hard-opprest— 
Is my right not then to command all men 
to be still while the children rest? 
I who labored beside my mate when the 
work of the World began, 
The watch I kept while my children 
slept I will keep today by Man: 
I have crouched too long by the little 
hearths at the bidding of Man my 
mate— . __ ,, 
I go to kindle the Hearth of the M orld, 
that Man has left desolate! 
—Margaret Widdemer. 
in the Independent. 
* 
We are again asked to repeat “Best- 
ever layer cake,” a recipe that has given 
much satisfaction to many housekeepers. 
Put into mixing bowl one cup flour, three- 
quarters cup sugar, one pinch salt, one 
level teaspoon baking powder, mix well 
dry. Melt in measuring cup a piece of 
butter the size of a walnut, break into 
this one egg without beating, fill cup 
with milk, pour into mixing bowl and 
beat well. Flavor tQ taste, and bake in 
a hot oven. “Best 0 icing is made as 
follows: Break the white of an egg into 
a glass so that the quantity may be 
seen; add an equal amount of water, stir 
slightly, turn into a bowl and mix in 
sufficient powdered sugar to make it 
right consistency. This icing will keep 
for some time in a cool place if tightly 
covered. 
e 
A bulletin on “Muscadine Grape 
Paste” (Farmers’ Bulletin 1033) was re¬ 
cently issued by the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. It is said that this paste 
may be made from the pulp pomace left 
after jelly-making, and that it forms a 
nutritious and appetizing confection. Sug¬ 
gestions are given in the bulletin for 
other fruit pastes. 
* 
The New York Bird and Tree Club 
has inaugurated a campaign to purchase 
fruit trees for the devastated regions of 
France. They plan to replant destroyed 
orchards, which will be memorials to 
those who were lost in the war. 
* 
A new swindle was recently noted in 
the city papers, which may later extend 
to country districts, so it would be well 
to be prepared. Says the New York 
Sun: 
From the housewives of Brooklyn yes¬ 
terday came a warning to their Manhat¬ 
tan sisters to be on 'the lookout against 
the latest type of swindler that the new 
Federal tax law on pianos, organs and 
music boxes and such like has produced. 
The newest pest doesn’t even wait for 
the law to become effective on May 1 
with respect to new instruments pur¬ 
chased after that date, but has set out to 
sound $5 notes on all the old instruments 
that he can get to in one day. The 
modus operandi is thus: 
The swindler picks out a likely look¬ 
ing apartment house and begins, at the 
top floor and works down. He rings the 
door bell and with the necessary offi¬ 
ciousness displays a tin badge inscribed 
“U. S. Tax Collector.” “Madame.’ lie 
declares politely, “I would like to look at 
your piano.” If madame exhibits any 
reluctance he points significantly at the 
‘Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 26, 1910 
badge. Madame has heard in a vague 
way of a tax on luxuries and semi-luxu¬ 
ries like pianos and finally admits the 
“collector.” 
“Splendid instrument,” remarks the af¬ 
fable visitor as he rubs his hand over the 
polished case. He lifts the cover, makes 
a notation of the make and number of the 
instrument—then sounds the note. 
“Five dollars, please,” he announces, 
puffing from his pocket an official receipt 
book and filling in some figures and a 
name. “Here is your, receipt. It’s the 
new Federal tax on pianos, you know, 
he explains, reaching for his hat. “Could 
you tell me if the family in the next 
apartment has a piano or a phonograph?” 
Frequently it has been only the family 
next door, the one that wishes there 
wasn’t a piano on the block, that sees any 
humor in the “collector's” visit. 
The Federal tax on pianos and other 
musical instruments applies only to such 
instruments sold or leased by the manu¬ 
facturer, producer or importer after May 
1. The proposed State tax on such in¬ 
struments has not yet become a law. 
One swindler operating in Brooklyn 
was reported yesterday to have collected 
$40 in one apartment house. 
Tennessee Notes 
Sunday night: the croaking frogs, that 
I fear will be looking through glass win¬ 
dows in a short time, the roaring winds 
and now and then a wild dash of rain, 
form a medley of outside noises. Within 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering always give number of pattern 
and size desired, sending price with order 
Skirt. 9662. Girl’s Box 
Price 15 cents for Coat, 8 to 14 years, 
each. Price 15 cents. 
the rustling of a turned page now and 
then, the gentle breathing of the wee 
girlie, whose long day of play has ended 
in sleep, that blest repose of tired bodies 
and tried minds, all go to form the en¬ 
vironments of home. Home from which 
four of the seven are gone; home that 
once seemed crowded and over-full, but 
now eeems empty. Do we ever reach the 
stage where in the lonely houses of dark¬ 
ness we will not gather them all together 
in memory, or where the homesickness to 
have them all under the. roof tree does 
not overcharge us at times? Blessed 
boon of sleep and work! 
And now that Spring is here one’s 
hands are full. The young chicks are 
beginning to come off, the oldest ones 
showing signs of gapes, so the others will 
have to be removed to new ground. The 
infection is obtained from the soil, and 
they are going to be changed. Oh, for 
some wired-in runs, but it is just coops, 
none the best of shelters. And many’s 
the uneasy night I spend for fear they 
get wet, or worse still, will be drowned. 
The turkey hens and the crows seem to 
be boon companions; sometimes I get the 
eggs and sometimes the crows get them. 
The guineas are beginning to dig out 
nest here and there, rq it will not be 
many days before Mr. Crow and family 
will fare fine. 
The peas are peeping through the 
ground, onions showing up; turnips, let¬ 
tuce, beets and radishes peeping out: 
strawberries in bloom, peaches, pears and 
plums all out. but there is many a slip 
between the bloom in March and the lips 
in the Summer. Yet we live in hopes 
and out of our cans. Indeed I look just 
as little as I can at all those empty 
crocks, jars, etc., and think every Spring, 
“My goodness, I will never on earth get 
you all filled!” but I do Just one day 
at a time; that is all we have to live, and 
if there are too many + asks I say there 
will be another day, or if there will not 
be, it does, not matter, so let it go. Shift¬ 
less? Well, yes, maybe so, but sometimes 
two days’ work done in one day is more 
expensive than one day’s work done in 
two days. We used to own a crippled 
mule. Give her time and she was a good 
worker, strong and steady; push her be¬ 
yond her gait and she could not get out 
of the stall next day, and while I am not 
a mule, we are a bit alike in some ways. 
Summer plans are to raise chickens, 
sell eggs, pick berries, can fruit (if there 
is any), make all the butters, jellies, 
pickles, etc., I can; try to raise turkeys, 
and if nothing happens hire a car and 
take the children to Johnson City and let 
them see a moving picture show. It is 
a treat for them we have planned all 
Winter. I have ordered the boys a suit 
apiece. They are saving pennies and 
dimes toward a new pair of shoes. When 
the days get longer, roads dry, and every¬ 
thing is complete, we are going. No 
doubt to many that sounds silly, but if 
it was 27 miles away and you had never 
been in such a place, never heard a brass 
band, never seen a circus, it would look 
big to you. And here’s hoping that the 
trip will not end so disastrously as the 
first one I ever made in a car. 
We plan to bed out the sweet potatoes 
next week. A few rows of Irish potatoes 
are planted, and we want to get the main 
crop planted sooner than we did last 
year, because for the past two years the 
midsummer drought has cut the late pota¬ 
toes short. Tobacco is going to be tried 
on the most extensive scale ever known 
in this section. I believe beans will prove 
the best investment, because so many have 
become disgusted the past year, and there 
will not be such quantities planted. Any¬ 
way, I would rather raise them for home 
use than to buy them at $5 per bushel. 
We will try both tobacco and beans; one I 
has to raise something to pay taxes, fer¬ 
tilizer bills, buy wire, grass seed, etc. 
They are things one cannot patch, half 
sole, or turn outside in, upside down, or 
stretch from one year into another. 
And now just a few words in regard 
to earning a bit of money for our own 
individual use. Do we use it for that? 
Not often. I have braided a few nigs; 
I have no loom, and then the braided rugs 
are so easily made, using three, five, 
seven or 11 strands. They can be made 
oblong, square or round, any colors; the 
more the better. I dispose of them at 
three to five dollars. I have quilted sev¬ 
eral quilts for city folks, and I find them 
well pleased with the work. The world 
is full of good people, and if we try well 
to succeed I think we will. When the 
outlook is dark, the family purse empty, 
and hard times just about to win, I close 
my eyes, draw a great deep breath, grit 
wliat few teeth I have together, and say 
over and over. “I will, I will, I will suc¬ 
ceed.” And then what my hands find to 
do I go after, and I feel better. Try it. 
MRS. D. B. p. 
Economies in House Decoration 
I want to let you know I enjoy The 
R. N.-Y. very much and always look for 
the many helpful suggestions which I find 
each week. I am much interested in the 
subject of hot school lunches, and I am 
doing all I can to encourage them in our 
district. 
I noticed a suggestion on page 43S that 
housekeepers who wanted papering done 
this Spring may feel inclined to wait until 
prices on such materials dropped. I had 
such fine success with an idea of my own 
invention I will just mention it, as it 
may perhaps help someone else. With 
the money which I earned selling crochet 
pocketbooks at Christmas time I bought a 
one-pint can of inside paint for 50c, with 
which I put two coats on the wood¬ 
work of a small bedroom. I also bought 
a half-pint can of rosewood enamel for 
30c which I painted over an old-fashioned 
piece of furniture (after sandpapering it) 
which made an ideal window seat with 5c 
for upholsterjng nails, using some idle 
drawer pulls which I had. 
I also had enough of the enamel to give 
the cot bedstead, stand and picture frames 
as well as the window seat two coats, 
which freshened them up to look like new. 
Then I papered the room with wallpaper 
which I had left from other rooms. (I 
should avoid using any with too bright 
CONSERVO 
Saves Food, Fuel, Time, Labor 
rnnn : no . With Conservo you may can 
14 quart jars of fruits, vege¬ 
tables, or meat at one time; and so simply! 
No fussy machinery or valves to operate, no 
makeshift wash-boiler method. But perfeft, 
government-approved cold pack canning. 
Wonderfully preserves all the original food 
flavors that so nourish and please. 
Pnolrina* The 8arne mea i that would 
VvvIVUlg require three top burners and 
an oven, can be cooked in Conservo over one 
burner, at the same time. Foods are cooked in 
their own moisture—nature’s way—retaining 
valuable health-giving mineral salts and juices. 
If you prefer, Conservo can be bought 
on our Easy Payment Plan 
FrCC Rnnlt “Secrets of Cold 
ITCt; DOUR Pack Canning” 
and Conservo cooking recipes. Very 
helpful to the busy housewife. Sent 
free. Merely mention dealer's name. 
Toledo Cooker Co. 
TOLEDO Dept. 37 OHIO 
V 
SSXVH" I I I f~r// 
SELF-LEVELING 
/ / / 
AUTO St A 
CARRIAGE FINISHES 
You can refinish your car yourself with 
Chi-Namel with full confidence that it 
will be a good job. You don’t require 
special skill nor need to dread “making 
a muss of it.” 
Chi-Namel is self-leveling even if rebrushed 5 
minutes after applying. Leaves no laps or brush 
marks, drying smoothly with a tough surface re¬ 
sisting water, weather, dust and hard knocks. 
THE CHI-NAMEL STORE 
IN YOUR LOCALITY 
has Chi-Namel finishes for every part of the car— 
for body, top, metal.work, woodwork. 
Like Chi-Namel it is always a high- 
class store noted for courteous service. 
If not readily located write 
THE OHIO VARNI6H COMPANY 
CLEVELAND, O. 
Save Fuel & Get More Heat! 
Tend One Fire - not Several 
Stoves and fire places are not efficient. They waste fuel— 
et most of the heat escape up the chimney. Still if your 
house was comfortable last winter you must have kept 
several wasteful stoves going. And you had to tend them 
all, carrying fuel and ashes through the house. The 
NEW IDE A Pipe less Furnace 
"The One You’ve Heard So Much About'* 
is scientifically designed to make all the heat useful. The 
NEW IDEA beats the whole house with little more fuel than 
needed for one large stove. 
The NEW IDEA takes cold air from tbe bouse continuously and replaces It with 
v arm, clean, moitt air while tbe cellar stays as cool as ever. Easy to tend. Cannot 
eet out of order. No pipes—only one bole to cut. 
Catalocue unt *»n rejutst. H'rltt Uda}, 
Utica Heater Co., Box 50, Utica, N. Y, 
Dealert or agents will find the NEW IDEA 
presents a wonderful opportunity to make money. IQ.ll 
