194 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
How Fear Turneth Aside Favor 
One told me, “Sorrow drawetb near!” 
The heart in me turned faint with fear; 
I hid within a darkened room 
And shrank and shuddered at the gloom. 
When I crept forth and day was dead, 
“ I,o, in the high noontide.” they said, 
“A great .Toy-Angel hailed nigh 
Your close-barred portal—and passed by.” 
—Alice Williams Brotherton 
in Century. 
* 
Regarding the directions for knitting 
men’s socks, on page 82, Mrs. Ruskirk 
adds: 
First, one pound of yarn generally 
knits two pairs of socks, but I always 
get iy 2 lbs., as if the yarn is quite coarse 
it does not always hold out. and what is 
left is good for repairs. The leg should 
measure 10 in., from top of heel to nar¬ 
rowing 3 in.; from back of heel to nar¬ 
rowing of toe, 8 in. It is a good plan 
to use a sock that has been worn as a 
guide. The ribbing is two plain, one 
purl. When taking up stitches on side 
of heel, increase three or four stitches. 
* 
A cement made by mixing plaster of 
Paris to a stiff paste with white of egg 
will mend a lamp that is loose in the 
“collar.” 
* 
In mending broken china the amateur 
often finds it hard to hold the broken 
piece in place while drying, and has re¬ 
course to various bandages to tie it into 
position, and these have an unhappy fac¬ 
ulty of slipping out of place. The expert 
repairer uses rubber bands, slipped 
lengthwise, crosswise, and any way they 
will hold, and where the broken article 
cannot stand upright for repairs it is put 
in a sand box. This is a box of conveni¬ 
ent size, with about eight inches of sand 
in the bottom. A broken plate, for ex¬ 
ample. may be set on edge in the sand 
box. the sand holding it upright while the 
mending is done. Repairers also «»e 
weights attached to tapes to hold pieces 
firmly in the sand, balancing or propping 
topheavy articles. There are many good 
commercial china cements, but white # of 
egg and plaster of Paris makes an ex¬ 
cellent adhesive. The plaster is well 
sifted, and a good pinch of it tied loosely 
in cheesecloth. The egg is well beaten, 
and then brushed on the fracture, which 
must be perfectly clean. Then dust well 
with the plaster, fit the edges together, 
using rubber bands to hold, if possible. 
Wrap loosely in . soft tissue paper, after 
wiping clean, and bury in the sand box 
so that the break will be held together. 
It may be moved from the box in 24 
hours, but if there is any loose plaster to 
scrape off this should not be done for a 
week, for fear of disturbing the “set.” 
* 
We are asked what application may 
be used to keep the top of a stove black, 
without the use of dusty polishes. One 
of our readers wrote us that she used 
grease and lampblack on the top of her 
stove, instead of polish, one part melted 
grease, into which is stirred one-half part 
lampblack. This was painted on with a 
brush. This is not dusty, but gives a 
dull finish. Grease or oil alone would 
prevent rust, but would not keep the 
stove black. Perhaps some of our read¬ 
ers can offer further suggestions. Keep¬ 
ing the top of the kitchen stove in good 
condition in Winter, with hard firing and 
much cooking, seems an endless chore. 
Dress in the School-room 
I should like to add another opinion to 
the interesting ones already expressed on 
the subject of dress in the schools. I am 
not optimistic enough to believe, as does 
Mrs. E. .T. R.. page 49. that uniforms 
will ever be adopted in the schools. It 
is contrary to one of the dearest rights 
of womanhood—to choose her own per¬ 
sonal adornments according to her own 
ideas of beauty. The plan has not proven 
a success in many instances. In fact. I 
know of no place where it is carried 
through, except in schools for younger 
girls and in business places where disci¬ 
pline is supreme. It seems to me the 
better plan would be to educate our young 
folk in the matter of appropriate dress 
and teach them that there is little benefit 
to he gained from criticising the dress of 
others. There is too great a tendency 
for all the neighborhood to take a keen 
interest in the manner in which the 
teacher dresses. The children hear it at 
home: “Where do you suppose she got 
her new suit?” “I would not let a girl 
of mine wear such high-heeled shoes.” 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 5, 1921 
What does it all matter if she is a woman¬ 
ly woman? She may be the victim of un¬ 
wise training or none at all ip her own 
girlhood, and more in need of the love 
and kindness of the neighbors than of 
their criticism. To discuss the matter 
before the children does not right the 
matter so far as she is concerned, and 
creates in them an unkind spirit. One 
of the dearest teachers I ever had was 
a frivolous girl, who wore clothes alto¬ 
gether out of place in the school-room. 
But she was a wonderfully sweet charac¬ 
ter. and today I remember more vividly 
her little acts of love to us. her trouble¬ 
some pupils, than I do her inappropriate 
clothes. , 
Do not think the problem of teachers 
clothes is one of the rural districts' alone. 
I myself taught in the school* of one of 
our largest cities for several years, and 
some of the teachers were fearfully and 
wonderfully arrayed. I remember one 
teacher “of doubtful age” whose fancy 
ran to laces and beads. It was a marvel 
to the other teachers how many strings 
of beads she possessed; and lace was 
everywhere, even around the brim of her 
hat. But this same teacher was consid¬ 
ered one of the most successful teachers 
in the primary. Other teachers were ad¬ 
vised by the superintendent to visit her 
classes and note the methods she used in 
getting the confidence of the little folk. 
They seemed to look upon her as a see- 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering alway* give number of pattern 
and size desired, sending price with order 
2001. Girl’s over¬ 
dress with separate 
blouse, 0 to 12 years. 
Embroidery, 1058. 
The medium size will 
require 2 yds. of ma¬ 
terial 30 iu. wide, 
and 1 yd. any width 
extra for the blouse. 
Each pattern 20 
cents. 
9993. Boy’s trou¬ 
sers with separate 
blouse, 2. 4 and 0 
years. The medium 
size will require 1 
yd. of material 3G 
in. wide. % yd. 44. 
% yd. 54. for the 
blouse, with 1% yds. 
30, 1 Vi yds. 44, Vi 
yd. 54. for the trou¬ 
sers. 20 cents. 
9849. TTnderwalst 
and drawers, 2 to 8 
years. The medium 
size will require 1 Vi 
yds, of material 30 
or 44 in. wide. 20 
cents. 
2000. Blouse with 
tucked front. 34 to 
44 bust. 1041. De - 
sign for border ’A 
in wide. 1057. De¬ 
sign for embroider¬ 
ing the lower edge 
of a blouse. The me¬ 
dium size will re¬ 
quire 214 yd s - of 
material 36, 40 or 
44 iu. wide. Each 
pattern 20 cents. 
end mother, and to her they were very 
precious little charges. No doubt there 
were mothers who visited her classes and 
went home to tell the folks that a wpman 
who dressed like that was not fit to have 
charge of children. But her clothes were 
not a true indicator to her character or 
her -ability as a teacher. 
The same. criticism can be made of 
women in every profession as that Mrs. 
E. ,T. B. makes of the teacher. Men in 
offices are going to their older women em¬ 
ployes with the plea: “Can t you say 
something to that new girl to make her 
cut out the thin waists and short skirts? 
But there is a wave of extravagant dress¬ 
ing spreading all over the country that 
cannot bo stopped by anything but educa¬ 
tion, and so far as the children are con¬ 
cerned. the best course to pursue, as I 
see it. is to dress them as prettily as we 
can, not to exceed utility or our purse, 
and then teach them that it is a sign of 
poor taste to talk about the clothes of 
others, except to admire. To do this the 
children must have something else to talk 
about. And right there the problem comes 
back to so many of the problems of us 
who live away from the city. We must 
furnish our young folk material for 
thought and talk. We must give, them 
the best reading material and the time to 
read. We must give them the opportu¬ 
nity to meet others out of our community 
in order that they may find out the 
thoughts and ways of others. 
As for the teachers, here is an oppor¬ 
tunity for the woman voter to get in her 
work. If the nien do not select the kind 
of women as teachers to whom we care 
to entrust our children, then it is time 
•for us to speak up and wage a campaign 
for better school trustees. If necessary 
let us put women on the board of trustees, 
those who have children of their own. and. 
who will see that the teachers are women 
of good taste and refinement, as well as 
the possessors of certificates. My own 
children will go to the school of a small 
but up-to-date town ; but even here there 
are problems. One mother reported her 
small son as saying: 
“Say. mom, do you think it is right for 
them to put such kids in for our teachers? 
Why, most of the teachers are just done 
high school, and here they are trying to 
teach us kids when they don’t know noth¬ 
ing themselves.” And the mother quoted 
the child’s words as a sign of unusual 
shrewdness in the little fellow, and con¬ 
fessed that she had agreed with him that 
he was the victim of a bad mistake. Hav¬ 
ing had nine year’s experience in the 
grades of a city school where college 
graduation was a requirement for all 
teachers, I feel competent to say that 
the schools of our village are above the 
average, and our teachers are efficient 
and thorough, although young. However, 
that small boy was handicapped. in get¬ 
ting the beet of his schooling by his spirit 
of destructive criticism, and by the en¬ 
couragement his mother gave him. The 
chances are that if she had pointed out 
to him the details of the training* that 
teacher had gone through in order to be 
able to take her position, had created in 
him an admiration for an educated mind, 
he would have forgotten that she was a 
young girl and would have admired her 
for what she had accomplished. 
It is in the power of us mothers to 
direct the little minds toward the goal 
we would have them attain. We have 
obstacles to surmount—unwisely chosen 
teachers, undesirable associates among 
the other school children, and other things 
that seem beyond our influence. But it 
is easier to teach our own little flock to 
think and do right than it is to remodel 
the existing state of other people’s minds. 
If we do not like the teacher’s clothes, 
let’s not discuss them : at least not after 
the first time the subject is brought up. 
Henry Van Dyke says in his “Footpath 
to Peace”: “Let us be governed by our 
admirations rather than by our disgusts.” 
So I say, let us admire our teacher’s good 
qualities and avoid criticism of the things 
we do not like. mbs. e. e. i.. 
Notes from Tennessee 
Another year gone by: time, how swift 
it flies with the passing years! Sad days 
and happy days go tinkling by; now a 
dear friend gone, here another won ; there 
a vacant chair, here a desolate home. 
Such is life ; we meet, -we loVe. we part; 
soon wo drop out. The gap closes up and 
the world goes on; yet we think, no 
doubt, that our place is hard to fill. 
Christmas was rather sad for me. with 
neither of the eldest lads at home, hut 
let me tell you a secret; the day before 
New Year’s the wee girl came from the 
mail box in great excitement with a box. 
What was it hut two new dress patterns 
for mother from the eldest son in Iowa ! 
Proud—well, words failed me. I buried 
my face in the lovely folds and cried from 
pure joy. Not that the need was so 
great, hilt the thoughtfulness of the dear 
lad so far from home on Christmas Day. 
Cecil was home from the Naval Train¬ 
ing Station a short time before Christmas, 
and along with his dear self brought us 
the mumps: cannot say it is so enjoy¬ 
able. but what can’t be cured must be 
endured. Our greatest regret was that 
it cut out a bit of enjoyment from his fur¬ 
lough home. 
The past months have been busy with 
rug-braiding and hooking, quilt-making, 
etc.; anything to keep busy and not think 
of 20e per lb. for butter and high-priced 
goods. One of our neighbors sold two 
pigs for 818 today, that he had been of¬ 
fered $25 for two months ago. Another 
sold a beef hide for 2c per lb. If we can 
just manage to go barefooted and hungry 
until these cheap articles come on the 
market—but we farm folks who sell at 
such prices are the only ones to tell the 
difference. Irish potatoes and beans 
cannot be sold at all. they claim. The 
market price for corn is quoted at 95c per 
bu.. but as there is very little for sale 
here, it calls for $1 per bu. to change 
hands. Sugar has reached down to 12c 
per lbs. A more equal adjustment of 
E rices is what we need. Let those who 
ave reaped the reward of this war come 
down off their pedestals of greed and lose 
with the farmer. Wo bent our backs to 
produce, and yet produce more. We 
saved, slaved and toiled. We saw our 
sons marched off to fight and die to make 
the world safe for democracy, while 
women and little children fought the 
weeds, hugs, worms and other pestilence 
of the farm, that they might he fed. What 
has' been the result? Rut everv cloud has 
its silver lining. We can revel in white 
bread, beef and pork products, butter, 
beans and potatoes: yet we know there 
are millions in our own land suffering 
from the actual necessities of life kept 
from them by the greed of influences that 
clutch the producer and consumer alike, 
slowly squeezing them dry. 1 They toil 
not. neither do they spin—only the web 
in which their victims are caught. For 
instance, for turkey that we have 
worked over ud fed, not counting the 
feed of the mother hen, the time of watch¬ 
ing for the nest, we receive 30c per lb., 
and the consumer pays 70c to 80c per lb. 
Who gets the best end of the bargain? 
We may be growlers and grumblers, but 
wo certainly do not belong to the I. W. 
W.’s, for we arose at 3 o’clock this morn¬ 
ing and have been busy the day through; 
and while there are many ills we cannot 
cure, we can find much to be thankful for. 
Today the hills are covered with snow, 
the clouds dark and low. The children 
are still having “a swell time” with the 
mumps. It is a job to keep them con¬ 
tented. First we teach the multiplication 
tabic, then the wee girl’s second reader, 
then spelling, reading, language, etc. All 
three want to be heard or taught some¬ 
thing at the same time. I am certainly 
tired when night comes and the last one 
is abed. 
At the present they are busy with mo¬ 
lasses candy, popcorn and the two kittens. 
Speaking of rats and mice. Lee has a 
number of rat traps-, box traps and steel 
traps. By moving his traps around he 
catches three or four every night. It 
certainly does help. He broils a bit of 
lean meat for bait. 
I have just completed an oblong braid¬ 
ed rug that is very pretty. I began with 
a three-strand braid of tan. sewed two 
strands together about 0 in. in length, 
then around six times with the tan, then 
came in with black six rounds, then added 
two more strings of blue and tan, which 
makes a fiat braid one inch wide. I 
braided sufficient to make the rug 38 in. 
long and about 28 in. wide. In finishing 
I dropped back to the three strands, and 
one can scarcely tell where the work 
breaks off. 
The last hooked rug I sent, off for sale 
was marked down, because I clipped the 
cotton strips. They claim they prefer 
the loops close together and unclipped. 
In the way of homemade rugs I think 
there is nothing that can excel the hooked 
rugs for beauty. An outside border of 
pale blue 1*/> in. wide, with corners fitted 
to make the next border round, then fill 
in with solid black for three or four 
inches. Next a background of tan. large 
leaves and buds of dark green and three 
big roses of pale pink or red makes a 
pretty pattern, not at all comulicated for 
a hooked rug IVt yd. long. n 4 yd. wide. 
MBS. D. B. p. 
Helps and Conveniences 
Too many homes rpgleet the proper 
lighting equioment. Even though* you 
have only kerosene lamps, select tall ones 
with wide wicks for supper table and 
reading. Set a substantial table or stand 
near enough to the stove for the men to 
enjoy reading these long Winter evenings. 
A 14-in. board. 5 ft. long, is one of my 
labor-savers. It is rather light, smooth 
and varnished. Sometimes it is my lap- 
board. and then again I lay it across the 
arms of the high chair for the extra cups 
and saucers, bread, etc., when serving a 
large table full of guests or helpers. It 
is also convenient to set the bread on near 
the stove to rise in the tins. 
My new clothesline is one of the prides 
of my heart. Two solid posts were set 
40 ft. apart; 6-ft. boards were fastened 
near the top of each and holes bored to 
rim clotheslines through ; cotton lines on 
the “road” side for the finer articles and 
galvanized at the rear for the heavy 
pieces. 
This is for the younger housekeepers 
only, although if some of the older ones 
were as long learning these hints as I. 
they may read these lines, too. Grease 
the bread pan liberally before setting 
sponge. If dough accidentally gets too 
stiff while mixing, pat the dough as flat 
as you can and pour on a little cold 
water, mix. and the result is agreeable. 
The tin coffee cans make nice tins for 
round loaves, which are just the thing for 
the school lunches. 
If you haven’t a sewing table, put it 
on your list of necessities. Mine is use¬ 
ful many times a day. Winter and Sum¬ 
mer. Near the Christmas tree for gifts, 
for a side table on New Year’s, for pies 
and cookies on baking day. to sprinkle 
clothes on ironing day. by bureau or table 
on “changing” day. for babies’ lunch 
or play time, out of doors for tea 
time and ditto for preparing foods, etc. 
.Tust right for the games at night or desk 
by stove and light, and. not least of all. 
when sewing. The whole family uses 
ours, safe to say. every day. 
Oat flakes can be cooked in a frying 
pan over the fire. Not the ideal way. 
but a most convenient way when time is 
precious. 
To dry the tea towel quickly or per¬ 
haps your thin, white waist, or the needed 
pair of hosiery, on a damp wash day, lay 
the toaster on the stove shelf, weight it 
down with a flatiron and fasten the ar 
tides between the handles—presto— 
heato—dryo! 
My new ironing board is one of my 
labor-savers. The old one is regulation 
size and weight. This one is regulation 
width, only 40 in. long, and has tw< 
cleats on underside to “fit” over the arms 
of a large rocking chair, made purposely 
to use when only a piece or two was tc 
he ironed in a hurry. The cleats are not 
troublesome when I lay the board on the 
table, and it being light and short. l ose 
it for most of my ironing. There is » 
large hole in the end to hang it by, and 
a bag on the back for holders. 
PATSY’S WIFE. 
Washing-day Notes 
If new clothespins are boiled in strong 
salt water and dried well they will not 
freeze fast to elothes. 
Don’t fail to heat clothespins before 
you hang out clothes in cold weather. 
This will nrevent the fingers from becom¬ 
ing painfully cold. O. a. t. 
