1550 
Tht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  22,  1923 
WOMAN  AND  HOME  ] 
From  Day  to  Day 
The  Shepherd  on  the  Hills 
O  Lord,  I  bring  no  gift  of  gold 
Nor  frankincense  nor  scented  myrri — 
Here  in  the  dark  I  guard  the  fold, 
Thy  least  and  lowliest  worshiper. 
Yet  I  have  seen,  remote  and  far — 
A  jewel  in  night’s  diadem — 
The  white  irradiating  star 
That  shone  o’er  Thee  in  Bethlehem. 
And  I  have  watched  the  Wise  Ones  pass 
Till  voice  and  footfall  blurred  and  blent 
And  died  like  whispers  in  the  grass — 
My  heart  went  with  them  as  they  went. 
O  Lord,  I  bring  no  goodly  thing ; 
No  myrrh  nor  frankincense  nor  gold. 
I  heard  Thy  angel  chorus  sing, 
And  yet  I  stayed — to  guard  the  fold. 
— C.  T.  Davis  in  Arkansas  Gazette. 
* 
We  have  had  several  requests  lately 
for  method  of  preparing  dried  beef.  The 
following  is  a  formula  from  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Agriculture :  For  every  20  lbs. 
of  meat  use  1  lb.  salt,  one  teaspoon  salt¬ 
peter,  1  oz.  black  pepper,  %  lb.  sugar. 
Mix  these  materials  thoroughly,  divide 
into  three  parts,  and  rub  well  into  the 
meat  on  three  successive  days.  Keep  the 
beef  in  a  stone  crock,  and  turn  it  over 
frequently  in  the  liquid  that  will  form. 
After  remaining  in  this  pickle  for  one 
week,  it  should  be  hung  in  a  warm,  dry 
place,  where  the  water  will  evaporate 
from  it.  After  it  has  been  drying  about  a 
week  it  may  be  smoked  one  day  if  desired, 
or  it  may  be  stored  without  smoking. 
* 
We  are  asked  how  to  make  popcorn 
balls,  so  that  they  may  be  used  on  a 
Christmas  tree.  The  following  are  tested 
recipes:  Put  one  cup  sugar,  one-half  cup 
corn  syrup,  and  one-third  cup  water  into 
a  kettle  and  stir  till  it  begins  to  boil ; 
wipe  down  the  sides  of  kettle  and  steam  ; 
cook  to  238  deg.,  or  soft  ball.  Then  add 
one  teaspoon  vanilla,  and  pour  over  four 
quarts  of  corn,  stirring  as  you  pour.  Now 
moisten  the  hands  with  water  and  make 
the  corn  into  balls  of  the  desired  size. 
Maple  sugar  may  be  used  instead  of  the 
white  sugar,  and  for  variety  color  the 
white  syrup  pink,  flavor  as  desired.  Any 
desired  meat  nuts  may  be  added  to  the 
syrup  before  pouring.  Thus  added  to  the 
syrup,  they  will  be  more  evenly  distrib¬ 
uted  through  the  corn  than  if  they  are 
mixed  with  the  corn  before  the  syrup  is 
poured  on,  because  the  nuts  will  settle  to 
the  bottom  while  you  are  stirring,  if 
there  is  no  syrup  on  them  to  hold  to  the 
kernels  of  corn. 
Chocolate  Popcorn  Balls. — Stir  one  and 
one-half  cups  sugar,  one-third  cup  corn 
syrup  and  one-half  cup  water  over  the 
fire  until  melted ;  then  wipe  down  kettle, 
cover  and  steam.  Then  cook  to  the  hard 
ball,  or  240  deg.  ;  add  one-third  cup  mo¬ 
lasses  and  three  tablespoons  buttei\  and 
cook  until  when  dropped  in  cold  water  it 
will  be  brittle.  Remove  from  fire,  add 
three  squares  chocolate,  shaved  fine,  and 
one  teaspoon  vanilla,  and  stir  thoroughly. 
Then  pour  over  four  quarts  popped  corn, 
stirring  as  you  pour.  Then,  with  the 
hands  moistened  in  cold  water,  press 
lightly  into  balls.  Have  the  corn  warm 
in  a  warm  bowl. 
Knitted  Mitten 
Could  you  print  directions  for  knitting 
ladies’  mitten  in  just  plain  stitch? 
MRS.  F.  M.  C. 
Cast  on  27  stitches  on  each  of  three 
needles,  knit  2,  seam  1,  for  about  3  in., 
or  as  long  as  you  want  it  (this  is  for  the 
wrist).  On  the  first  needle  knit  to  the 
middle  of  the  needle,  seam  1,  widen  by 
picking  up  a  stitch,  knit  1,  widen  again, 
seam  1,  then  knit  around  plain  for  three 
rounds  (widen).  Continue  this  till  you 
have  about  30  stitches  (always  seam  be¬ 
fore  widening),  and  after  taking  off  the 
stitches  that  you  have  widened  (this  :'s 
for  the  thumb),  take  them  off  on  a  needle 
and  thread  (tie  securely).  Cast_  on  6 
stitches,  then  knit  around  plain  till  the 
hand  is  as  long  as  you  want  it.  Make 
the  stitches  even  on  the  three  needles. 
Knit  3  stitches,  narrow,  leave  5  on  the 
other  end,  narrow,  knit  3  rounds  plain, 
then  narrow  as  before.  Knit  2  rounds 
between  this1  time,  narrow  till  you  have  3 
stitches  on  the  needle,  then  take  off  and 
draw  up. 
For  the  thumb,  pick  up  the  stitches  on 
two  needles  that  you  took  off  on  the 
needle  and  thread,  and  the  6  stitches  that 
cast  on  the  hand,  knit  around  plain,  then 
narrow  in  the  middle  of  the  G  stitches  till 
they  are  all  narrowed  off.  Make  the 
stitches  even  on  the  needles,  narrow  in 
the  middle  of  the  needles  till  there  are 
3  stitches  on  the  needles,  then  pick  off 
and  draw  up.  MRS.  m.  m.  gunn. 
A  Pioneer  Christmas 
“Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
He  hides  a  shining  face.” 
My  happiest  Christmas — how  could  I 
ever  forget  it?  It  was  many  years  ago, 
before  I  came  to  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
back-  in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Ken¬ 
tucky.  Father  had  come  across  the  Cum- 
berlands  from  Russell  County,  Virginia, 
and  down  through  the  Blue  Grass  region 
and  into  the  mountains,  where  he  bought 
a  little  farm  many  miles  from  civilization 
and  had  thrown  up  a  log  cabin  with  a 
lean-to  for  a  kitchen.  We  moved  to  this 
wilderness  home  in  October,  and  along 
about  the  first  of  November  the  snow  be¬ 
gan  to  fall  and  when  the  storm  cleared 
the  earth  was  covered  with  the  white, 
fleecy  element,  to  a  depth  of  15  inches. 
Father  hunted  and  trapped  some,  and  we 
children  enjoyed  the  novelty  of  our  new 
home  immensely.  Time  sped,  and  ere 
long  Christmas  was  near  at  hand.  It 
was  the  morning  of  December  23.  A  gen¬ 
eral  thaw  had  set  in,  and  rain  was  fall¬ 
ing.  Father  had  set  out  for  the  little 
town  of  Beaver,  20  miles  distant,  to  see 
a  man  to  whom  he  had  loaned  some 
money  in  the  Summer,  hoping  to  make 
this  bridge  us  over  the  holiday.  The  man 
was  unable  to  pay,  and  so  father  came 
home  with  only  a  side  of  bacon  and  a  bag 
of  cornmeal,  and  he  had  narrowly  escaped 
being  drowned  in  crossing  a  swollen 
stream. 
We  were  very  poor  in  this  world’s 
goods,  though  we  had  always  managed 
to  have  nice  things  for  Christmas.  To  say 
that  we  children  were  downcast  over  the 
prospects  would  be  putting  it  mild,  in¬ 
deed.  The  following  day,  Christmas  Eve. 
a  great  storm  broke  in  the  mountains. 
First  rain,  then  turning  to  snow,  How¬ 
ever,  father  took  his  squirrel  rifle  and 
went  through  the  storm  in  hopes  that  he 
might  basr  a  wild  turkey  or  a  few  squir¬ 
rels  for  a  Christmas  dinner,  but  he  came 
in  late  in  the  afternoon  without  any 
.game. 
The  storm  was  increasing  in  fury  every 
hour.  The  cold  north  wind  howled  and 
crashed  through  the  mighty  forest  as 
though  the  war  gods  of  the  elements  were 
fighting  their  last  battle  for  supremacy, 
and  the  snow  piled  up  against  our  cabin 
door.  We  ate  our  frugal  supper  of  hom¬ 
iny,  corn  pone  and  bacon  and  retired 
rather  early.  But  before  father  lay  down 
we  knelt  in  family  prayer.  He  thanked 
the  Good  Master  for  the  blessings  of  life 
and  for  health  and  strength,  and  as  he 
lay  down  to  rest  he  quoted  : 
“Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
He  hides  a  shining  face.” 
The  storm  beat  upon  the  clapboard  roof 
of  the  cabin  and  we  slept.  Early  Christ¬ 
mas  morning  father  got  up  and  dressed 
and  went  into  the  lean-to  kitchen  to 
build  a  fire,  preparatory  to  mother’s  get¬ 
ting  breakfast,  and  directly  we  heard  a 
great  commotion.  There  came  the  ^flut¬ 
tering  of  wings,  and  the  familiar  “Konk, 
konk,”  of  turkeys.  Then  father’s  voice, 
raised  to  an  exciting  pitch  : 
“God  be  praised !  We  have  here  three 
fine,  big  turkeys !” 
We  jumped  out  of  bed  and  rushed  ro 
into  the  kitchen.  Sure  enough,  huddled 
in  one  corner  of  the  kitchen  there  were 
the  birds,  frightened  motionless.  Father 
took  the  large  bird,  a  gobbler,  to  the 
chopping  block.  The  other  two  birds 
were  put  under  a  large  goods  box  for  safe 
keeping,  and  as  father  and  mother  were 
picking  the  feathers  from  it,  he  repeated  : 
“Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
He  hides  a  shinging  face.” 
How  did  those  birds  become  impris¬ 
oned  in  the  kitchen?  The  explanation 
was  simple :  They  had  become  detached 
from  their  comrades,  no  doubt  during  the 
storm,  and  in  their  wanderings  had  seen 
the  light  from  the  smoldering  fire  on  the 
kitchen  hearth  through  the  door,  which 
the  driving  wind  kept  partly  open,  and 
thither  they  went  (a  turkey  is  strongly 
attracted  at  night  by  a  light).  The  wind 
calmed  during  the  night,  and  the  door, 
relieved  of  the  pressure,  swung  shut, 
making  the  birds  prisoners. 
Our  Christmas  turkey  dinner  was  a  lit¬ 
tle  late,  I  think  it  was  about  2  p.  m.,  and 
we  were  ready  to  sit  down  to  the  table 
When  there  came  a  loud  “Hello”  outside. 
Father  went  to  the  door,  and  there  sat 
Uncle  John  upon  a  big  black  horse  with 
a  huge  sack  across  its  back,  and  bundles, 
bundles,  hung  upon  the  horn  of  the  sad¬ 
dle.  and  everywhere.  He  looked  to  us 
children  just  as  we  had  always  imag¬ 
ined  old  Santa  looked,  and  he  was.  truly, 
our  Santa  Claus,  for  he  brought  us  toys, 
clothing  and  goodies  to  eat.  He  lived 
down  in  the  Blue  Grass  country,  and  had 
planned  to  give  us  a  surprise,  and  he 
did ! 
As  we  sat  down  to  a  bountiful  dinner, 
father  once  more  quoted  : 
“Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
He  hides  a  shining  face.” 
MRS.  J.  W.  K. 
More  About  Grain  Sacks 
Someone  wished  to  know  how  to  use 
grain  bags.  Here  is  my  way :  Lay  papers 
on  the  floor,  then  cover  the  floor  with 
your  bags.  Over  this  place  carpet  or  oil¬ 
cloth.  then  you  have  a  nice  warm  floor. 
Another  way  is  to  take  enough  bags  that 
will  make  a  good-sized  quilt,  sew  friiem  to¬ 
gether  flat,  then  cover  with  a  good  layer 
of  newspapers.  Now  cover  again  with 
bags,  but  make  sure  bags  and  papers  are 
sewed  tight.  On  the  under  side  .have 
gray  flannel,  ...nd  any  quilt  covering  one 
may  desire-  on  the  top.  With  colored 
worsted  catch  up  here  and  there,  and  you 
have  a  good  warm  quilt.  This  is  a  handy 
quilt,  as  well  as  warm,  for  there  is  no 
packing  away  of  quilts  in  the  Summer ; 
just  wash  your  cover  and  put  away,  and 
throw  the  bags  and  paper  away.  H.  J.  D. 
I  have  never  used  grain  sacks  for  mats 
or  rugs,  but  I  find  they  can  easily  be 
made  into  table  scarfs,  centerpieces  and 
children’s  school  bags,  by  washing  and 
The  Rural  Patterns 
In  ordering  always  give  number  of  pattern 
and  size  desired,  sending  price  with  order 
pattern  envelope  for  material  require 
rnents.  20  cents. 
1740.  Slip-  on 
draped  dress,  with 
neck  in  two  out¬ 
lines,  kimono  sleeves 
perforated  for 
sleeveless  e  ff  e  c  t, 
and  with  or  without 
shoulder  opening  and 
long  extension 
sleeves;  for  ladies 
and  misses.  Sizes 
34  to  44  in.  bust. 
Sizes  34  to  40  re¬ 
quire  3%  yds.  36-in. 
material,  and  Sizes 
42  to  44  require  4% 
yds. ;  Sizes  34  to  36 
require  3%  J’ds.  40- 
in.  material,  and 
Size's  38  to  44  re¬ 
quire  3%  yds.  25 
cents. 
sleeves  and  yoke  in 
one,  Peter  Pan  col¬ 
lar,  and  long  sleeves 
perforated  for  short¬ 
er  length.  Sizes  6, 
8,  10,  12  and  14 
years.  Size  10 
years  requires  3 
yds.  36-in.  material. 
Embroidery  Trans¬ 
fer  No.  11080.  Dress 
15  cents.  Transfer 
15  cents. 
Illustrated  Catalog  of  Fashions  and  Em¬ 
broidery  Transfers,  15  cents. 
cutting  them  in  desired  shape  and  em¬ 
broidering  a  pine  tree  or  flower  in  bright 
colors.  For  instance,  a  scarf  may  be 
stitched  along  the  sides  and  a  flower  or 
other  design  embroidered  on  each  end. 
One  may  pull  a  few  threads  on  each  end 
and  have  a  fringe  if  desired.  If  dyed  a 
dark  brown  they  show  up  the  embroidery 
much  better.  The  scarf  and  centerpieces 
will  be  found  very  pretty  when  used  in  a 
sun  parlor  or  bungalow.  MRS.  w.  c.  W. 
In  answer  to  the  inquiry  regarding  the 
use  of  burlap  sacks  for  rugs,  I  will  say 
that  some  of  the  handsomest  rugs  I  ever 
saw  were  made  entirely  of  them.  First, 
of  course,  the  sacks  are  ripped  open, 
shaken  free  from  dust,  washed  and  let¬ 
ters  removed.  One  sack  was  used  as  a 
foundation  and  stamped  as  for  any 
hooked  rug.  Part  of  the  sacks  were  left 
light  tan  and  part  dyed  dark  green. 
These  sacks  were  unraveled  (or  unwov¬ 
en)  and  the  threads  used  to  hook  in  a 
rug.  Two  or  three  strands  were  drawn 
in  at  one  time,  and  the  result  was  hand¬ 
some.  Later  a  rug  was  made  of  the  tan, 
brown  and  green. 
Speaking  of  materials  for  hooked  rugs, 
have  you  ever  used  old  chenille  for  this 
purpose?  This  same  lady  made  rugs  of 
old  chenille  portieres,  and  they  were 
lovely. 
For  myself,  I  needed  a  light  rug.  as 
one  door  hung  so  near  the  floor  it  would 
not  swing  over  a  thick  one.  I  dyed  a 
sack  brown,  hemmed  the  sides,  drew 
threads  at  the  ends  and  hemstitched,  then 
cross-stitched  a  vine  across  each  end, 
using  green  carpet  warp,  although  cotton, 
knitting  yarn  or  any  wool  yarn  would 
have  been  as  well.  Then  as  another  ex¬ 
periment  I  colored  a  sack,  using  navy 
blue  dye,  and  the  result  was  a  dark  old 
blue.  Then  I  cut  a  piece  of  the  size  I 
wanted  for  an  oblong  porch  pillow, 
fringed  the  ends,  tied  the  fringe  with  red, 
and  cross-stitched  a  design  of  single  red 
roses  and  green  leaves.  In  cross  stitch¬ 
ing.  I  crossed  over  two  strands  instead 
of  one. 
The  sacks  can  be  used  as  curtains  for 
small  cupboards,  trimming  with  bands  if 
desired.  mother  bee. 
One  of  our  friends  had  rugs  woven 
from  plain  brown  bags.  They  were  in¬ 
tended  for  a  kitchen  and  would  not  show 
soil  easily.  We  had  18  checkerboard 
bags,  green  and  red,  with  considerable 
printing  on  them.  They  were  cut  into 
inch-wide  strips  and  woven  on  a  loom. 
They  made  three  large  rugs,  and  they  are 
so  pretty,  the  green  and  red  flecks  oil  the 
brown.  The  plain  brown  bags  do  not 
make  pretty  rugs  unless  a  colored  warp 
is  used,  and  as  the  colored  warp  does  not 
wear  as  well  it  is  better  to  use  colored 
bags  and  white  warp.  mrs.  C.E.  c. 
Your  recent  inquirer  can  make  very 
pretty  rugs  from  her  old  grain  sacks  by 
cutting  them  in  strips,  6  in.  or  wider,  as 
one  wants,  the  rug  to  be  thick  or  thin, 
then  raveling  the  edges  to  within  %-in. 
of  center  of  strip.  Then  sew  them  on  a 
foundation,  having  the  strip  meet,  but 
not  lap.  It  will  fluff  up  and  be  very  soft 
and  pretty.  One  can  color  part  of  the 
sacks  and  then  mix  them  in  when  sewing 
on,  but  I  like  the  original  color  best. 
MRS.  B.  W.  M. 
A  Plan  Useful  for  Any  Church 
Contributors  to  The  R.  N.-Y.  have 
spoken  to  the  point  as  to  the  urgent  need 
of  the  manifestation  of  a  more  helpful 
and  neighborly  spirit  on  the  part  of  mem¬ 
bers  of  rural  churches.  The  apparent 
lack  of  this,  sometimes  noted,  is  due,  per¬ 
haps,  to  the  fact  that  country  women 
spend  more  of  their  scant  leisure  than 
formerly  in  diversions,  and  in  attending 
meetings  of  clubs  or  church  organiza¬ 
tions.  In  the  vicinity  where  I  live  many 
women.  I  think,  are  faithful  in  calling 
upon  the  sick  or  bereaved  among  their 
own  associates,  but  they  seem  to  find  lit¬ 
tle  time  to  make  acquaintance  with  new 
neighbors,  A  more  consecrated  spirit  is, 
of  course,  often  needed  to  overcome  this 
tendency  to  show  a  selfish  and  unchris¬ 
tian  indifference  to  strangers,  but  some¬ 
times  concerted  action  and  the  use  of  a 
systematic  plan  will  accomplish  much.  In 
reply  to  Mother  Bee’s  question,  “What 
is  your  church  doing  to  influence  those 
who  do  not  attend?”  I  am  glad  to  de¬ 
scribe  a  method  which  we  are  now  using 
with  good  results. 
The  Women’s  Home  Missionary  Soci¬ 
ety  of  the  M.  E.  Church  has  an  evan¬ 
gelistic  department,  the  secretary  of 
which,  in  addition  to  other  duties,  keeps 
a  record  and  makes  quarterly  reports  of 
all  calls  made  by  herself  or  other  mem¬ 
bers  upon  the  sick,  new  neighbors,  and 
shut-ins.  All  members  are  expected  to 
report  to  her  monthly  concerning  calls 
made,  and  the  distribution  of  religious 
or  missionary  literature.  At  our  monthly 
meetings  is  read  a  list  of  names  of  per¬ 
sons  upon  whom  calls  should  be  made,  or 
to  whom  letters  or  cards  should  be  sent, 
and  the  list  is  usually  extended  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  suggestions  then  made.  If 
necessary,  a  copy  is  furnished  to  each 
member,  or  else  each  person  is  assigned 
certain  calls  to  make.  A  penny  collec¬ 
tion  taken  helps  to  buy  flowers  or  a  plant 
for  the  sick.  Any  case  of  need  of  cloth¬ 
ing*  or  other  necessaries  is  duly  consid¬ 
ered,  but  happily  our  community,  though 
it  contains  few  persons  of  wealth,  has 
very  few  families  which  need  charity. 
Clothing  to  be  made  over  for  children  is 
accepted  by  some  mothers,  and  a  little 
tactful  help  of  this  kind  is  likely  to  ex¬ 
tend  the  influence  of  the  church  one  rep¬ 
resents.  Garments  still  useful  should 
never  be  thrown  away  by  anyone ;  if  not 
required  near  home,  they  should  be  sent 
for  Near  East  relief,  or  given  to  the  Sal¬ 
vation  Army  for  distribution.  We  have 
sent  10  cartons  of  clothing  for  Near  East 
relief  this  year. 
When  I  asked  one  woman  to  assist  us 
in  calling  upon  strangers,  she  said.  “Why, 
I  haven’t  even  time  enough  to  call  on  my 
old  friends !”  as  if  they  should  come  first 
on  her  list.  How  would  she  have  liked  to 
live  for  months  in  a  new  location  without 
receiving  a  single  caller?  A  little  imag¬ 
ination.  and  some  investigation,  will  show 
us  where  one’s  social  efforts  are  most 
needed.  One  of  the  first  results  of  our 
adoption  of  a  systematic  plan  of  visita¬ 
tion,  several  months  ago,  was  the  discov¬ 
ery  of  an  aged,  semi-invalid  woman — re¬ 
fined  and  likeable — who  had  lived  for 
more  than  a  year  in  the  village,  without 
receiving  any  calls !  As  she  never  went 
out,  it  had  been  supposed  by  many  that 
her  linsband  was  a  widower,  living  alone. 
Deeply  hurt  by  our  apparent  neglect,  the 
couple  have  not  yet  responded  to  our  ad¬ 
vances  by  beginning  to  attend  church, 
though  they  live  very  near.  Would  that 
our  present  plan  had  been  put  in  opera¬ 
tion  much  sooner.  G.  A.  T. 
