382 _ 
A Picnic or a Bolshevist 
Some Thoughts on the Unpleasant Results of Being 
P EOPLE cramped up in the city, avid 
for the first breath of spring, the 
first appearing flower to the last russet 
leaf, can not understand the selfish 
attitude of the country person who 
doesn’t like gates left open, lunch boxes, 
banana peeling, loose papers and debris 
scattered along the w r ay of the thoughtless 
picnicker. The slant of my perspective 
was deflected toward the rural side of the 
question by an unhappy event of a few 
years ago that put a permanent dent in 
my philanthropy so far as picnic parties 
are concerned. 
We lived two miles from the city on 
an oiled road, a grove of trees lying south 
of the building with a small lake between. 
On that lake we had a boat painted white 
with a red band. The oars also were 
decorated in red arid white. Over a 
small stream friend husband had builded 
an artistic little bridge with broad 
approaches and a wide handrail, painted 
white. We had a swing, seats, benches 
and hammocks, an ideal place for a picnic. 
One morning I received a telephone 
call. 
“This is the Rev. — speaking, could I 
talk to Mrs. A—?” 
“This is Mrs. A—.” I dropped my 
voice, respectfully. He wanted per¬ 
mission to hold a Sunday-school picnic 
on the grounds. It was so conveniently 
located, the mothers would be along to 
look after the smaller youngsters, it would 
be a real charity and he was sure that I 
would enjoy it also. I had a slight feeling 
of apprehension, but was really glad to 
accord the privilege. 
But When the Party Came—! 
On the appointed day they came in 
swarms. Before noon I had to fasten 
the gates of my house-yard to keep my 
prize blooms and shrubs from utter de¬ 
struction. They fought over the drink¬ 
ing cups at the kitchen-door pump and 
broke three of my glasses. They broke 
down a stretch of division fence and let 
a sow and seven pigs into our neighbor’s 
potato patch. They dropped paper and 
bits of pasteboard down an open well, 
broke an oarlock and dropped an oar 
into the lake. One ruthless young lover 
cut “Joe and Amy” so deeply into the 
bridge railing that time will never efface 
it. One of the smaller ones worked so 
persistently undermining a cypress rack 
that he brought the light structure down 
on his head. At the first howl, the mother, 
whose attention had been held elsewhere, 
rushed to the rescue. 
“Did that-miserable-old-thing fall on 
my precious? Tell mother where it hurts, 
darling!” But darling was up and doing; 
there were other worlds to conquer. I 
was examining my crushed vines. 
“Why, it was a perfect trap,” she 
snapped, glaring at me as though build¬ 
ing deadfalls for innocent nurslings was 
my favorite avocation. 
When the day was done the rector 
thanked me profoundly. “It has been 
a happy day,” he said. “It was so kind 
of you, Mrs. A— to give these young 
people this golden opportunity to bask 
in God’s glorious sunshine.” He bowed 
once more and herded his band of in¬ 
surgents into the road. As they went 
down the line singing “The end of a 
perfect day” I glanced out over the place. 
In appearance it might have been a 
Bolshevik headquarters. 
Plenty of Other Picnic Places 
I made a mental resolution. There 
was plenty of God’s glorious sunshine 
elsewhere. We had a monopoly on only 
about twenty acres of it, and there 
would be no more “basking” on those 
premises. Not unless they would agree 
to throw a cordon of police around the 
house-yard and call out the National 
Guard. 
It cost us $7 to repair the fence and 
pay the damage done to the neighbor’s 
garden, and $1.75 to replace the broken 
oar. It took me and the hired man two 
days to gather up the rubbish from the 
grounds. The well was used only for 
cattle so we were not obliged to clean it 
out, but I found the swing rope in the 
back of the field where some youngster 
had been lassoing a fence post. 
About a month later the telephone 
rang. 
“This is the Rev. — speaking, could I 
talk to Mrs. A—?” 
It caught me unawares; I had formu¬ 
lated no plan for this emergency. 
“I would like to speak to Mrs. A—,” 
came the insistent voice over the line. 
“Is she at leisure?” 
“I’m afraid she—isn’t,” I answered. 
“It’s a very busy time, I’m sorry.”— 
Mrs. R. G. Armstrong. 
A Peasant Embroidery Set in 
Gay Colors 
W E have had peasant embroidery on 
blouses and dresses, and now the 
gay stitches are appearing on table linen. 
The picture shows a large centerpiece 
wittqeight smaller doilies of two sizes, and 
each one is to be decorated in the bright 
red and blue stitches_characteristic of the 
real peasant work. 
The embroidery is ridiculously easy, 
too. The leaves and flowers are made 
with plain long stitches in blue thread and 
the leaf veins in outline stitch in blue also. 
The centers of the flowers and the other 
dots are French knots in red thread. 
American Agriculturist, June 21, 1924 
Riot? 
Too Hospitable 
The hem has an odd finish. After 
turning the edge under, catch it with even 
buttonhole stitches, spaced out in blue 
thread. Then go back and join the top of 
every other stitch with red thread. This 
is done by a simple running stitch. 
A set of transfer patterns, one center- 
piece and four of each of two place-mat 
sizes, can be obtained from the Embroid¬ 
ery Department. Use a very hot iron to 
transfer the designs to the material. 
Special price for full set of nine transfers, 
45c. For set of centerpiece and six mats, 
three of each size, 35c. Centerpiece trans¬ 
fer only, 15c. Single mats either size, 
10c each. Ask for E 13. 
First-hand Experiences Making Rugs 
Different Readers Answer “Jane's” Appeal for Good Advice 
S EVERAL correspondents answered 
the appeal of “Jane” for informa¬ 
tion on rug-making. Mrs. H. F. H. 
writes that she has made a number of 
rugs, she might be pleased with rugs of another 
sort that are easily made and answer the pur¬ 
pose as well as braided rugs. My left-over 
rags included odds and ends of everything, 
among them several browns that did not look 
braided rugs of different shapes and sizes. 
She says: 
“I would advise cutting the rags a little 
coarser than for carpet. I would not mix the 
cotton and wool. I think they wear better 
separate. The wool does not want to be cut 
quite as coarse as the cotton cloth. I like the 
oblong shape the best, but in sewing the braids 
together you must hold them loose. Around 
the corners I always sew a little, then see if 
they will lie flat on the floor. You can make 
them hit-and-miss or keep the colors separate in 
braiding as in making carpet.”— Mrs. H. F. H., 
New York. 
Mrs. F. W. R. finds that any sort of 
rag can be used: 
“If ‘Jane’ hasn’t set her heart on braided 
Bedside Rug Made 
on Home Hand Loom 
at all promising. I crocheted a chain of six¬ 
teen stitches of faded brown check apron 
gingham, then crocheted a single crochet the 
length of that, putting in three stitches at the 
ends the first time around; a small ball made 
the center; then light or dark browns one or 
more rows as the rags would make. The outer 
edge was a dark brown, the second row a little 
lighter, the third still lighter, and so on, so 
that the effect is a shaded brown border. The 
whole rug is made of rags that you would say 
possessed no beauty in the ball; old linings, 
etc., and no bright colors. My friends admire 
that rug more than others with brighter colors 
and seemingly more possibilities. 
Even an Old Coat is Useful 
“Another, an all-wool rug, has a center 
made of an old coat, the colors being placed 
in rows according to the amount of each, 
reds, blues, grays, etc. The outside of this 
rug is dark brown. One all wool rug is 
made of leftovers, each color making 
whatever it could regardless of rows. One 
all cotton made of blues, in 
regular rows, also has a shaded 
border with dark blue for the 
outside row. 
“I use old rags together, new ones 
by themselves and do not mix cot¬ 
ton and woolen in the same rug. 
I shape them for the place they are 
to occupy. For each side of a bed, 
where the space is narrow, the 
woolen rugs are made long and 
narrow; others are wider as the 
space requires. It is simply a case 
of making the chain when starting 
rug. A neighbor made a star¬ 
shaped rug of blues by widening 
at regular points. I kept my edge 
curved by putting in the extra 
stitches irregularly. I have a 
wooden crochet hook; some use a 
button hook with good results. 
I have started a rug of new rags, 
mostly percales and outings but 
have to sew black rags that I 
want for finish. ‘Jane’ won’t 
know the possibilities of rags 
which seem to have no beauty until she 
begins to work with them.”— Mrs. F. W. R. 
Other Home-Made Rugs 
The large illustration shows a woven 
colonial rag rug, made on a home loom. 
These looms, which come in several 
sizes, are extremely practical for women 
who do a good deal of rug-making, either 
for their own pleasure or to make money. 
Warp may be ordered in different mate¬ 
rials and colors. 
The small picture shows a rug of cro¬ 
chet, made from a heavy jute thread 
which now comes in ball form, like knit¬ 
ting wool. Colors may be combined as 
one desires. Whether you weave, cro¬ 
chet or braid your rug, you will find it 
interesting work to do with a very satis¬ 
factory product at the end. Home-made 
rugs are now seen everywhere, and gift 
shop proprietors report a steady demand 
and sale for them, especially for the small 
bedroom or “spot rug” type. 
I do all sewing for my family of three 
grown girls and four boys, ranging in age 
from five to sixteen, and find your pat¬ 
terns a great help. I always turn to that 
page first to see if there is something 1 
do not have. Then the prices are so 
reasonable, and that is a great item in 
these days.— Mrs. G. N., Pa. 
Home-Made Rug of Jute Crochet. 
(The names of the firms supplying looms, rag filling, 
jute for crochet y etc.y will he furnished on receipt of a stamped, 
self-addressed envelope. Directions for making the ru(J 
shown in the smaller picture will he sent for 12c in stamps. 
Ask for E 2.) 
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