WHAT I KNOW ...about... HOUSEKEEPING, .•.and a Tew... Other CWngs. ADRIAN, MICHIGAN. 1898. •p9jis;9p ji spimr) put! sqn[3 o\ psqsiiun^ ddud 9I^S9|OLj/v\ •iiT:.b'iii3iw 'AHiri03 99M^u9i 'U13IJPV 'Avio o vnawv oi X[ddv •s)U90 05 '^oud p :^d!9D?J uo ss^ippi' aub 01 'pn^d ;sod ';u9S dq \\\/a >|ooq siqi lo Xdoo y WHAT I KNOW ...ABOUT,.. HOUSEKEEPING, /^ AND A FEW OTHER THINGS, ...BY... AMELIA C. CLAY, ADRIAN, MICHIGAN, 1898. 5Uiia \U a Copyrighted and Published, 1898, By the Author. In the interest of the Women's Guild of Christ Church, Adrian, Mich. In its preparation many thanks are due to the women of the Guild and other friends, who provided recipes, patiently listened to its reading, and furnished suggestions. Many of the ideas in the article on ''Serving" were gathered from the Boston Cooking School Magazine, than which there is no better authority, and used by permission of the Editoi*, Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill. Ttrt^O COPIES B£Ct.,tu. To housekeepers who do their own work, and to those who keep but one domestic, this little book is dedicated, in all love and sympathy, A, d, Li, :X CONTENTS, ^ Introduction. Method for the Week. Cooking-. Recipes. Serving-. Washing- and Ironing-. Dish Washing-. Bed Making-. Hardwood Floors and Sweeping-. Lamps, Kerosene, Gasoline and Gas. Moths and Carpet Bug-s. Sanitation. Social Duties. Tired Mothers. The Children. ; for nothing lovelier can be found In woman, than to study household good, And good works In her husband to promote." — ^[^ltl^)^\s I'(tr(((lisr Lost. ^^^*A^^A^^ :X INTRODUCTION. :^i IpOOD housekeeping- is comparatively a modern art. ^^ It is a mark of civilization. From the long- houses /u of the Iroquois and the community structures of ' the Pueblos to our present methods of living-, is a mighty stride, and still the human race is march- ing on. Domestic science is being- taught in our colleg-es and a knowledg-e of cooking- and bed making- can be g-ained in many of our public schools. Edu- cators everywhere are awakening" to the necessity of a practical schooling- to accompany the theoretical. Chicag-o has just appropriated twenty-five thousand dollars ('98) for the teaching- of common household arts in her public schools, and President Snyder of the Ag-ricultural Colleg-e of Michig-an said at the meeting- of the National Educational Society in Washington, (summer of '98:) "Our present courses of study are INTKODUCTION. arrang-ed for the ten per cent, who expect to take hisfher education. Would it not be better to reverse this order and arrang-e our courses of study to satisfy the ninety per cent, who will not be able to enter the secondary schools nor the universit}'?" It would seem that nothing- could be more sensible than to use common tax money for the benefit of the majority, securing- the g-reatest practical g-ood for the g-reatest possible number. Those who teach the foreig-n languages or drawing- or modeling- in clay or follow the profession of music are the minority-, but all, to accomplish anything- in a life-time must eat and drink, and what we eat and drink and how pre- pared is of more general consequence. It has been said, "the kitchen is the work shop of the house," but is it not rather the work shop of the world, since all the muscle and bone and sinew and blood that control every activity of the human race depend for health and strength upon what is prepared within its precinct? No young- lady can be considered accomplished until she has acquired the practical knowledg-e of every household duty. She may not be oblig-ed to sweep and cook and wash and iron continuously through life, but she will make the better homekeeper, the better hostess, the better all 'round woman for having- learned them, and the chances are in favor of the majority of the g-irls and many of the boys in our public schools using this knowledge in detail, either for their own comfort or for the comfort of others, INTRODUCTION. almost dail}^ in the course of a life-time. To hasten the day of practical thing-s for the common people, who really compose the foundation of a nation's greatness, and incidental!}' to assist in a modest way the homekeeper, this little work is issued by one who has kept house over one and a half score years and has tried to practice what she preaches; not, however, without man}', many failures, but always with their rich, compensating- experiences. Let no housekeeper be discourag"ed who reads it. Nothing- can exist with- out rules, and existence would be miserable indeed if there were no exceptions to rules. Because "cleanli- ness is next to godliness" no housekeeper is expected to follow the members of a household around con- tinually with a mop in one hand, a broom in the other and a duster hanging to her girdle. No rule or set of rules can go beyond the impregnable barriers which untoward circumstances often erect, or rise above the higher law of common sense in housekeeping, but all educational methods require one to learn the rules first and the exceptions later on. y^^cp. #^^fe IwF METHOD FOR THE WEEK. jSC METHOD FOR THE WEEK. Order is the law of the universe. From the largest heavenly body in its orbit. to the tiniest atom, each obeys the law, and man or woman cannot improve on the methods of the Creator. Order should be the law of the household, not like that of the Medes and Persians that never varied, but g-eneral law moving- things along- its course like a river, which, though at times swells and overflows, or shrinks to a thread-like form in drought, still it con- tinues on its way, moving everything in its correct channel, which may be either broad or narrow as circumstances permit. Certain days should be set aside for certain kinds of work. Monday is proverbially the washing day, Tuesday ironing day, Wednesday should be devoted to the family baking and the cleaning of the kitchen. A long handled duster should be used on that dust catcher the kitchen stovepipe, as well as on every projecting ledge and often on the walls, then the kitchen floor should be swept and scrubbed. A scrub brush and cloth in hand is preferable to a mop, but if a mop is used the base board will need cleaning with new suds and cloth after the floor has been washed. Thursday should be sweeping and dusting day throughout the house; very often this will be finished in the forenoon, leaving the afternoon for the family mending or any other purpose. Friday may be cleaning day outside of the kitchen. Washing hardwood floors and windows and closet COOKING. 9 floors and stoops and cleaning- silver come under this head. Saturday must be baking- day again and washing kitchen floor for Sunday. Ev'erything that can be done on Saturday for the next day should be done, like shelling- peas, etc. Man}^ deserts, especially in summer, are fine made the daj^ before and placed in a cool cellar or on the ice. A^^A^^>^^^^^^ X COOKING. JSC It has been jokingly said that "the way to a man's heart is throug-h his stomach," and it has been inti- mated also, that after the Easter bonnet season is passed and the ice cream season is here, that the same avenue will lead to a woman's heart. Only the other day I heard an amiable young- woman remark that the meanest thing a man ever did is to go into an ice cream parlor and sit and eat alone, so possibly there is more reality about this matter than food for joking. Christ fed the multitude repeatedly, which proves that this method of reaching the human heart was thoroughly understood by the Master; and eating- and drinking- one with another has been considered from time immemorial an indication of existing- bonds of affection between the parties. There are many excel- lent g-uides to cooking- to be procured now-a-days. There are Mrs. Rorer's, and the "White House." and all the old standard cook books, and "Table Talk," 10 COOKING. and the Boston Cooking- School Mag-azine, and last but by no means least comes Miss Colling-'s "Popular Dishes," which is full of valuable recipes from cover to cover. It is not my purpose to emulate any of these, but to say a few thing-s that are, possibly, not told in cook books. Perhaps your family likes corn beef, always save the water in which it was boiled. Pick out 3^our own piece of beef for corning while it is fresh and g-et your meat man to put it into the brine, leaving- it one day for every pound or thereabout; when broug-ht home and washed put it in a kettle and cover it with cold water and bring- to a boil, then pour the water off for boiling- the veg-etables in, cover the corn beef with hot water and cook moderately until thoroughly done. Whatever of the meat is left from dinner place in this liquid and set in a cool place over night. In the morning, remove the fat and the meat and use the liquid from time to time as you would use soup stock, only you will have to use a larger quantity. One way to prepare it is to boil it with a little bag of spices, place a couple slices of lemon in each individual soup dish, mash them slightly with a wooden masher and strain the hot liquid over them. No other soup has the peculiar flavor of this. The liquid also makes a fine soup mixed wuth canned tomatoes. An ingenious cook can find many ways of using it; flavored with onions and other vegetables and little bits of left over gravies it becomes quite recherche. No bones from meat should ever be thrown away, but all washed and placed in a small, heavy canvas bag, laid on a stone and broken into pieces with hatchet or hammer, then removed to a kettle and boiled half an hour and strained for. the foundation of soups. Often nothing need be added but flavoring, RECIPES. 11 as it will be rich enoug-h from the marrow and juices of the bones. Cream soups can be made in short order in summer which does away with hours of fire-keeping- and the consequent calling- in of the flies. Save all fats, even from smoked meats. When a quantity has accumu- lated place it in a kettle with one-half its bulk in water and add a tablespoonful powdered borax for every three pounds fat or thereabout; boil ten or fifteen minutes, watch it at first that it does not boil over, set it away in a cold place and when hardened run a knife around the edg-e of the fat and turn the cake upside down on a smooth surface, scrape off the black for soap g-rease and the remainder will be fit for any use. If you want it still whiter repeat the process. The water remaining- in it should be boiled away before using-. A^^A^^^^^^A^^ a: recipes. -X '*'V*'V 'White Bread.— (Two Loaves.) Boil two midling- sized potatoes in water enoug"h to cover them; when done remove from kettle and mash throug-h a sieve. Add to these a level teaspoon ful salt, a tablespoon sug-ar and three tablespoons sifted flour. Pour boiling- hot over these 1>^ cups of the water in which the potatoes were boiled and mix thoroughly. When lukewarm add a half cup of water in which a yeast cake has been soaked and crushed. 12 RECIPES. Whip all thoroughly and place it in a temperature of 75 deg-rees. All this can be done at noon. Just before bed-time add \}4 cups water and flour to make a mid- ling- stiff batter and set over nig^ht in a warm place. In the morning- add a piece of butter the size of an egg and mould with flour, not too stiff. Let it rise to double its orig"inal size then mould into loaves and let rise ag-ain and bake 30 or 40 minutes. The secret of lig-lit bread is to keep it in a warm, even temperature. If bread becomes chilled in any stag-e of its making- it is ruined. In winter the flour to be used, especially in the morning-, should be kept in a warm place over nig-ht. To have g-ood bread in winter make a constant summer temperature for it every minute until it reaches the oven. There is no care too g-reat, no material too g-bod for bread. Steam Corn Bread. 1^ cups flour, l}^ cups corn meal, 1}^ cups milk (slightly sour), ^ cup molasses, 1 teaspoon soda. Steam three hours. Sweet milk or even water can be used instead of sour milk if necessary. Baking- powder tins will make pretty shaped loaves and fit nicely into the steamer. Do not fill them but a little over half full. Never jar the steamer nor remove cover while steaming- anything*. Breakfast I^oaf.— (Mrs. Ketchum's.) [With Huckleberries.] 1 tablespoon butter, 1 pint flour, 1 cup molasses not quite full, 1 teaspoon soda, pinch salt. Mix with cold water to thickness of cake batter and stir in 1 pint of huckleberries. Bake in gem tins or a loaf. RKCIPES. 13 j^unday Morning: Mackerel. Put to soak skin side up in plenty of water Satur- day noon. Before bed-time turn this water off and put on fresh. In the morning- put it, if possible, in a round bottom kettle, cover with plenty of cold water and boil ten minutes. Drain off the water, slide the mackerel on to a hot platter, scrape off and remove all black skin and turn the platter on a slant and pour plenty of hot water over it from the tea kettle to re- move any remaining- pieces of skin, drain water from the platter and wipe with a clean cloth the platter around the fish until it is dry and clean. While the fish is coming- to a boil, mix two table- spoons butter with one level tablespoon flour and melt in frying- pan, pour boiling- water over this, stiring- all the while until it reaches the thickness of drawn butter. Pour this hot over the fish, set in the oven two or three minutes and serve. If the fish is small do not soak it so long-. Breakfast Disk.— (Miss Emma Keeney's. ) 3 slices toast," 3 eg-gs — boil the eg-g-s hard, chop the whites and cream them with 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon flour and 4 tablespoons water. Lav the toast on a hot platter, place the creamed whites on top and sift over them the 3'olks after pressing- them throug-h a potato masher. The creamed whites must not run. They can be seasoned with cayenne to taste. Spiced Beef.— (To Serve Cold.) [Mrs. Breeton's Household Management.] 14 lbs. of thick flank or rump of beef, ^ lb. coarse sug-ar, 1 oz. saltpeter, % lb. ground allspice, 1 lb. common salt. Rub the sug-ar well into the beef and 14 RECIPES. let it lay for twelve hours in a larg-e crock or marble- ized kettle, then rub it with the saltpeter and allspice and let it remain for another twelve hours, then rub in the salt. Turn it daily in the liquor thus formed for a fortnig-ht, then soak it a few hours in water, dry with a cloth and roast in a covered roaster, with a little water in the bottom, for four hours. Turn once or twice during- roasting*. This is a favorite English method. Cream Chick. en.— (Mrs. E. I. Waldby's.) 1 chicken, 1 can mushrooms, 4 sweet breads, 1 quart cream, 2 large tablespoons butter, 2>^ tablespoons flour. Put cream in double boiler and heat, rub flour and butter tog-ether and stir it into the hot cream, add a little onion juice and a sprinkling- of nutmeg-. Pre- pare chicken and sweet breads in half-inch cubes as for salad, add all to the hot cream, season hig-hly with black pepper and salt and a pinch of red pepper; pour all into a baking- dish, cover with bread crumbs and little bits of butter and bake slowly^ half an hour. Brown the top slig-htly. Cream Macaroni ^witli Clieese.— (Miss Colling's.) [From "Popular Dishes."] Break }( lb. of macaroni into pieces about one inch long, drop into two quarts of boiling salted water and boil about twenty minutes. While it is boiling grate % ]b. of cheese. Also make a cream sauce. Place half a pint of milk in a double boiler, rub together one rounding tablespoonful each of butter and flour, add to the milk when boiling and stir about two minutes. Add ^ a teaspoonful of salt and a speck of cayenne. When the macaroni is tender, drain it, and RECIPES. 15 add it to the cream sauce, stir until mixed, add the grated cheese and stir until dissolved. Everybod}^ likes this method of preparing- macaroni and cheese. — Author. Cliicag^o Cheese Balls. Whites 3 eggs beaten stiff, Xy'z cups grated cheese, salt and cayenne to taste, make into balls size of a walnut, dip in <^^^ and then in fine cracker crumbs, fry quickly in hot fat and serve immediately while hot. These are fine served with lettuce salad made with French dressing. Salad Dressing:.— (Mrs. D. C. Clark's.) The well beaten yolks of 5 eggs, 2 even teaspoons ground mustard, 2 even teaspoons salt, 1 even tea- spoon sygar, 5 tablespoons vinegar, Yz cup melted butter, sprinkling of red pepper. Mix yolks and vinegar thoroughly, now mix solids by running them through a sieve two or three times, now mix solids and liquids thoroughly and strain through a sieve; mash th(^ lutnps in the bottom of the strainer and pour all through again. Repeat until all goes through the strainer easil3\ Now cook it in double boiler, stirring all the time until stiff, but not too stiff. Remove from the stove and while it is hot add the half tea cup melted butter, pouring it in slowl}^ in a fine thread-like stream, and stirring the dressing hard all the time. If made with all this care it will be smooth and fine, but if there are any lumps in it, run it or press it through a strainer while hot. Before using mix it with equal parts of sweet cream, (thick cream if possible.) If this salad dressing is put into glass cans while hot, and about a quarter inch of vinegar poured over it when cold, it will keep a year 16 RECIPES. or more. Screw the top of the can on tight. It can be made while eg-g-s and butter are cheap. Every time you make a white cake use the yolks for salad dressing. Corn Sal^d,— (Mrs. Miller's.) Boil the corn and cut from the cob by cutting" each row of corn down the middle with a sharp knife and then scraping- each row. This is the only way to cut corn, as it leaves the outside skin on the cob and g-ives the best for eating-. When cold have equal parts of celery cut in half inch cubes, and corn. Mix just be- fore serving- either with French dressing-, mayonnaise or boiled dressing, as preferred, and serve on lettuce leaves. Canned corn may be used for this in winter. Other veg-etables or apples can be used in place of corn if desired. If apples are used choose tart, firm grained ones; as soon as they are pared and cut into half-inch cubes throw them into cold water, then lay them out on cloths to dry before mixing-, put more cloths on top and press g-ently down to g-et the water from them. Mix this salad just before using-. This is the famous Waldorf salad that appeared in ''Table Talk" Janu- ary, 1895. Mayonnaise was orig-inally used for it, but boiled dressing can be used if preferred. Corn Omelette.— (Mrs. E. I. Waldby's.) 18 ears corn, 1 pint sweet milk, 2)^ tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 slight tea- spoon black pepper, 6 eggs, 2 tablespoons butter. Grate the end of the kernels and scrape with the back of the knife; add sugar, salt, pepper and flour; now whip the yolks and add, then the milk, and beaten whites; put in well greased dish, cover with bits of butter and bake three-quarters of an hour. RECIPES. 17 Oermaii Cream Pie. By permission of Miss Colling-, I copy her recipe for German Cream Pie from "Popular Dishes." This pie has none of the lard pie crust and in consequence recommends itself to the most delicate stomach. Since using- this pie crust in my family "no other need apply," and I use it for tart pies also, making- it on a jelly tin with a removable bottom: TWO PIES. 1>^ cups flour, Yz cup butter, 2 tablespoons g-ranu- lated sugar, 2 eg-gs. CREAM FUELING. 1 pint cream or milk, yolks 6 eg-g-s, 6 tablespoons g-ranulated sugar, 2 rounding- tablespoons flour, 1 tea- spoon vanilla. MERINGUE. Whites 6 egg's, 6 tablespoons granulated sug-ar, a few drops vanilla. Sift the flour, add to it the sugar and butter; cut the butter well into the flour, then with the hands rub until all lumps are removed. Now add the egg-s beaten just enough to mix thoroughly, stir and work to a smooth paste. Divide into halves, form into balls and flatten out (one at a time) on the board. Now, roll gently and carefully, keeping just as round as possible, until, when you place the tin in which it is to be baked (which should be a layer cake tin) in the centre, there will be a border about one-half inch all around. Now, with a knife carefully cut away this border; place the centre in the tin, pressing it out to the edge if it shrinks while transfering it to the pan; moisten around the edge with a pastry brush dipped 18 RECIPKS. into eg-g- (a teaspoonful may be reserved for the pur- pose) and then lay the paste which has been trimmed off, around the edge for a border. This gives it the appearance of a very large tart with a very small border. Bake in a moderate oven until a good brown, watching carefully, and prick with a fork if they rise in the centre. While they are baking, put the milk into a double boiler, beat the yolks until light, add the sugar then the flour, and stir into the boiling milk; stir until thick, remove from the fire, add the vanilla and when the crusts are baked turn them out of the pan and place upon the reversed bottom in order to have a perfectly flat surface. Now, put in as much of the filling as the crusts will hold. Make the meringue by beating the whites very stiff and adding the sugar b}' degrees, just cutting it in, not beating it any after sugar is added; add the vanilla and put on top of the pies, making a border first and filling in the centre after the border is complete. Place in a warm oven until a delicate brown. This must be served on the tin on which it is finished or very care- fully removed to a glass cake stand, as the surface must be perfectly level. Lremon Raisin Pie,— (Mrs. Trowbridge's.) 1 cup raisins, stoned and chopped, 1 lemon, 1 cup cold water, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 table- spoons butter, 2 eggs. Save the white of one egg for the top. Put water and strained lemon juice and half the grated peel in marble dish and boil, add sugar, flour wet with a little cold water, butter and raisins and whip the two yolks and one white very hard and add and whip again. Add to top the white beaten to froth with a little sugar. Bake in under crust. RKCIPKS. 19 Cottas:e Cheese-Cake Pie.— (Mrs. Hambleton's.) 4 cakes or 1>4 cups cottag-e cheese, 4 eg-g-s, jolks and whites beaten tog-ether, ^ pint milk, Y-z tea cup melted butter, juice of 1 lemon and the g-rated rind of 2, >^ cup sug-ar, nutmeg- to taste, sprinkle cinnamon on top. Mix all ingredients and put in lemons just before baking-. This will make two pies. Bake in under crust with no upper. Potato Pie.— (Mrs. F. W. Clay's.) 1 cup sug-ar, 1^ cups cold water, juice of a fine, larg-e lemon and half the g-rated outside peel, 1 raw potato the size of a larg-e lemon. Have ready all the ing-redients, measured, grate the potato over an earthen dish, g-rate the lemon on the same g-rater and rinse all off the g-rater with the cup and half water, add sug-ar and juice of lemon. Bake with upper and under crust. The potato should be put in water after it is pared to preserve its whiteness. Adrian Mince meat. 3>^ lbs. raw chopped lean beef, 1>^ lbs. raw chopped suet, 10 lbs. unpared apples, cored and chopped, 3 lbs. seedless raisins, 2 lbs. currants, 2 orang-es, chopped, 2 lemons, chopped, ^ cup boiled cider, 1 cup molasses, 3 lbs. dark brown sug-ar, 1 gallon sweet cider, 2 table- spoons salt, spices to taste. Boil two hours slowly and can. Fruit juice and fruit can be added if desired. Puddingf.— (Mrs. Geo. Morey's.) \y2 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour, 3 table- spoons sugar, 6 ^gg^ and 1 pint sweet milk. Boil flour and sugar in the milk, add butter, let cool. Beat 20 RKCIPES. eg-g-s separately and add. Set all in a pan of hot water and bake half an hour. Serve with whipped cream, or if preferred, a lemon sauce. Ivemoii Sauce. 1 cup sug-ar, 2 cups hot water, juice 1 lemon, 1 heaping- tablespoon flour, a piece of butter size of walnut. Wet the flour with a little cold water. Boil sugar and water together, add flour and butter, whipping all the time. Remove from stove and add lemon juice. A very little of the outside peel can be grated in if desired. Crumb Pudding.— (Mrs. Rial Clay's.) I pint bread crumbs rolled fine and browned in the oven, 1 cup sweet milk, 2 eg-g-s, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup raisins (stoned), a little g-ing-er and cinnamon, 1 level teaspoonful soda. Steam two hours. The water must always be boiling when anything- is put to steam, the cover of the steamer must be tight and never removed until the article is entirely done. Re- moving the cover du7'ing cooking makes evei'ything heavy. SERVE WITH FOAMY SAUCE NO. 2. [Boston Cook Book.] y^ cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoonful vanilla, 2 tablespoons fruit juice, ^ cup boiling water, white of 1 ^%^ beaten to a foam. Orang^e Pudding.— (Mrs. Johnson's.) Pare and slice crosswise, thin, 6 oranges; have a cup of sifted white sugar and- ^ of a cup grated cocoanut; put these in a dish in alternate layers, hav- RECIPES. 21 ing- oratig-es at the bottom and cocoanut at the top of the dish. Beat the 6 ^^olks thoroug-hlj, add Yi cup sugar, small }4 cup cornstarch, 1 quart sweet milk scalding- hot in double boiler, let it stiffen and pour it over the orang-es, etc. Now beat the 6 whites to a froth, add lig-htlj 1 cup sug-ar and spread over the top and slig-htly brown in oven. Serve ice cold. .Sno^w Pudding.— (Mrs. Purdy's.) 1 pint boiling" water, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, whites 3 eg^g-s, Yi cup sugar, pinch salt. Moisten the corn- starch, sugar and salt with a little cold water, stir them into the boiling water and as soon as clear add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, stir in thoroughly but quickly. SAUCE. 1 pint milk, yolks 3 eggs, J^ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon corn starch. Boil to a thin custard and when cool flavor with vanilla. Serve very cold. Suet Puddingf.— (Mrs. W. E. Jewett's.) 1 cup sour milk, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup raisins (stoned), 1 tablespoon cinnamon, Y^ tablespoon cloves, 1 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 cups flour, 1 cup filled lightly with chopped suet. Steam two hours. DRESSING. Y2 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar rubbed to a cream, add 1 tablespoon flour and 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons vinegar and Y2 ^ nutmeg. Pour 1 pint boiling hot water over and simmer one or two hours. This brings out a delicious flavor. Pour in more water as needed to keep the original quantity. 22 KKCIPES. Forest itill Pudding-. 1^ tea cups flour, Yz teaspoon baking- powder, >4 tea cup pulverized sug-ar; sift all tog-ether live times; wet with 2 eg-g-s well beaten, and stir it full of apples cut in small cubes. Steam two hours. Serve with whip cream or butter and sug-ar creamed and flavored. Any other fruit not too juicy will do. Almond Pudding.— (Mrs. Frances B. Stockbridge's.) [From "Crumbs of Comfort."] 1 quart milk, when boiling- stir in 5 tablespoons of cornstarch wet with a little cold milk, V^ cup blanched almonds chopped fine, 1 cup sugar, salt, and the yolks of 5 eg-gs. When it stiffens pour into a pudding- dish and cover with the whites of the eg-gs frothed, and flavored with almond. Bake a lig-ht brown and serve cold with whipped cream. Hnglisli Plum Pudding.— (Mrs. Simpson's.) 1 pint bread crumbs, 2 lbs. raisins (stoned), 2 lbs. currants, Yi lb. chopped suet, }^ lb. brown sug-ar, ^ lb. citron, 1 cup molasses, ^ pint brandy (fruit juice if preferred), 6 eggs, ^ pint sweet milk, 1 pint flour, 2 teaspoons soda, a little more flour to dredge the fruit, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon to taste. Tie loosely in a cloth and boil six hours. Sauce. — See Foamy Sauce No. 2. I^emon Meringue.— (Mrs. Channer's.) 6 eggs, 4 lemons, 1 cup sugar. Whip the 6 yolks thoroughl}' and place them with the sugar and lemon juice and grated outside peel in a double boiler and RECIPES. 23 thicken not too stiff. Remove from the fire, and when partly cold add the whites of 4 of the eg-g-s beaten to a froth. Line a dish with lady fingers, put in the mixture, beat the 2 remaining- whites and spread over the top, place in the oven and slightly brown. Serve ice cold. Prune l^liip.— (Miss Black's.) %. lb. prunes stewed soft and pressed through a strainer, 4 table spoons fine sug-ar, the whites of 4 eg-gs well beaten. Bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve cold with whipped cream. Chopped nuts may be added if desired. Soft Gingerbread.— (Mrs. R. A. Bury's.) 1 cup molasses, 1 teaspoonful soda, 1 egg-, lig-htly beaten, 2 tablespoonfuls lard, 1 small half teaspoon salt, Yz teaspoonful ginger, ^ teaspoonful cinnamon, yi cup water, 1% squall cups sifted flour. Bake in moderate oven. Potato Fried Cakes.— (Mrs. Cutter's.) 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, 3 potatoes, boiled and maahed, 2 eggs, shortening the size of a small ^%^g^ 2 teaspoons baking powder; season to taste with cinna- mon or any spices desired. Mould soft with flour. Cookies.— .(Mrs. Gilllland's.) Ij^ cups sugar, 1 cup butter, 2 eggs, 1 even tea- spoon soda. Flavor with nutmeg. Mix to a smooth dough. Roll and cut small. Lay them in the tin with space between. If plainer cookies are wanted for children, add ^ cup sour milk. 24 RECIPES. Fruit Cook-ies.— (Miss Octa Shattuck's.) ^ cup butter and 1 cup sug*ar rubbed to a cream, whip the yolks of 2 eg-g-s and add, put 1 even teaspoon soda into ^3 of a cup of rich sour cream and add. Now, sift 1 even teaspoon baking- powder into 1>^ cups flour, dredge 1 cup seeded raisins chopped a little and Yz cup citron sliced fine, with more flour. Now, add to the above the whites of the 2 eg-g^s beaten to a froth, the 1>^ cups flour and the dredg-ed fruit. Mix soft, lifting- to baking- tin with a broad knife. Sift sug-ar over the top and bake in a quick oven. Roll thicker than ordinary cookies. Nuts may be used in- stead of citron if desired. Jumbles.— ( Mrs. Trowbrid ge's. ) 2 cups white sugar, 1 cup butter, 4 eg-g's beaten separately, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons cream tartar. Curled Snaps.— (Mrs. Channer's.) 1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup flour, Yz teaspoon soda. Mix thoroughly. Grease a tin, and lay in with spaces between small Yz table- spoonfuls and bake in a slow oven. When done curl over a rolling pin and let cool. If the first seem too thin add a little more flour. Flavor as preferred. Bread Cake.— (Mrs. Cutter's.) 3 cups bread sponge, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup butter, 4 eg'g's,^ Vz teaspoon soda, 1 cup of fruit, spices to taste. Let rise and bake. RECIPES. 25 Maple Sug:ar Cak.e.— (Mrs. Marble's.) Yi cup butter creamed with 1 cup sug-ar (granulated), 3 egg-s, leaving- out one white for the top and filling-, y^ cup water, 2 teaspoons baking- powder sifted into 2 scant cups flour. Bake in three layers. FILLING. A heaping- cup of maple sug-ar boiled in 3 table- spoons water until it hairs, then whip it hot into the thoroug-hly beaten white of egg, pouring it in in a thread-like stream until it is thickened. When the cake is cold spread this between the layers and on top. Ifly Motlier^s Ivemon Cake. 1 tea cup butter, 3 of powdered sugar, rub them to a cream, stir into them the yolks of 5 eg-gs well beaten, dissolve a teaspoon soda in about a tablespoon hot water and add to it a cup sweet milk, then add this to the cake, add the juice and grated outside peel of 1 lemon and the well beaten whites of the 5 eggs and sift in as lightly as possible 4 tea cups flour. Bake in two long tins about half an hour. Chocolate Cake. 3 ounces chocolate, 4 eggs, ^ cup milk, 1 teaspoon- ful vanilla, >^ cup butter, 1>^ cups sugar, 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder, 1^ cups flour. Beat butter to a cream, add sugar gradually, beating all the while, add yolks, beat again, add the milk; melt the choco- late in double boiler and add it, then the flour, beat thoroughl}^ again, beat the whites stiff and add care- fully, add vanilla, baking powder and bake in a moder- ate oven in two layers. Frost with white frosting. 26 RECIPES. Pound Cake.— (Mrs. Ketchum's.) 9 eg-g-s, leaving- out the yolks of 2, lyi cups butter, 2>^ cups sug-ar, 4 cups flour, ^ cup wine or g-rape juice, % teaspoon soda and 1 teaspoonful cream tartar. Flavor with nutmeg" and extract lemon. Bake one hour. Cream the butter and sug-ar and sift cream tarter and soda into flour. Sour Milk Cake.— (Mrs. Fred Clark's.) 1 cup butter, 1>^ cups sug-ar, % cup sour milk, 3 cups flour, 3 egg-s, 1 level teaspoon soda, 1 cup chopped raisins (stoned), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, piece citron size of an eg-g- (sliced fine), 1 teaspoon g-round cinna- mon, ^ teaspoon each allspice and nutmeg". Spanisli Buns.— (Mrs. M. E. Chittenden's.) 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, 1 cup sour milk, 1 even teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon each of cloves and cinnamon and allspice, 3 cups of flour and more if needed to make a middling stiff batter. Bake in a flat loaf and cut in squares. Roll Jelly Cake.— (Mrs. W. E. .Jewett's.) 4 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cream tartar, y^ teaspoon soda, a pinch of salt. Bake in two long tins, spread jelly on and roll. Cream tartar and soda should always be sifted into the flour unless otherwise stated. If turned from the tins on to a cloth they will roll without sticking to the surface. RECIPES. 27 Coffee Cake.— (Mrs. Wightman's.) 2 cups brown sug-ar, 1 cup butter, 1 cup strong- coffee, 1 cup molasses, 4 cups flour, 4 eg-^s, 1 tea- spoonful soda, 1 teaspoonful g-rated nutmeg-, 2 tea- spoonfuls cinnamon, 2 teaspoonfuls cloves, 1 lb. rais- ins (seeded), 1 lb. currants. Fruit Cake.— (Mrs. Simpson's.) 4 lbs. flour, 3 lbs. butter, 3 lbs. raisins (stoned), 4 lbs. currants, 24 eg-g-s, Yz pint brandy (fruit juice if preferred), % lb. citron (sliced), 1 oz. mace, 2 nut- meg-s, cloves and cinnamon to taste. Steam three hours. Then put in oven one hour, or until a nice brown. Everyday Fruit Cake. 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup shortening-, mostly butter, 1 teaspoonful mixed g-round spices, 2 cups sour milk, or buttermilk, 2 teaspoons soda, 2 cups raisins (stoned), 4 cups flour. Concerning^ Jellies. These must always be made while the fruit is slig-htly g-reen, as over-ripe fruit juice positivel}' re- fuses to jelly. Currants for jelly must be washed and well drained and dried on cloths but not necessarily stemmed; mash them and squeeze throug-h a strong- cheese cloth. Use a pint of sug-ar for every pint of juice. Place the sug-ar in the oven to heat. Boil the ^uice fifteen or twenty minutes, removing- the scum all the while. Add the hot sug-ar, let come to a boil, skim, and pour into tumblers. I have heard of canning- the hot currant juice and 28 RECIPES. making- the jelly in the winter as needed. It is said that this method insures the brig-ht red color and also the fresh taste belong^ing* to the currant season. I cannot speak of this method from experience, but it seems well worth trying-. Oreeti Orapes Make a beautiful amber jelly; pick just before ripen- ing". Cranberry Jelly. Sort and wash the berries. Place in marble kettle and put on cold water until covered. Cook until all are opened, assisting- them by mashing- the g-reenest ag-ainst the side of the kettle with a wooden spoon. Pour all into a tarlton bag and hang- over nig-ht to drain over an earthen dish. Next morning- add a pint of sug-ar'to a pint of the juice and boil. Remove scum and try on a saucer until it jellies; not much boiling- will be necessary. The berries left in the bag- can be pressed throug-h a sieve to remove skins, boiled with sugar to taste and used for a sauce for the table; use plent}' of sug-ar. When jelly is cold do not cover with paper but pour over a thin coating- of parafine. Always melt the parafine, however, in a water bath or double boiler, else it might take fire. Use early cranberries for jelly. Pulled Oates.— (Mrs. Gilliland's.) Wash them thoroughly in several waters, cover with water and soak about an hour, then pour off the water and remove tbe stones and put a blanched almond in each date, then cover with cold water and cook slowly twenty-five minutes. Now, lift the dates carefully RECIPES. 29 from the liquor, heap them in a pyramid or put in a mould. Boil the liquor down to a thick syrup, pour it over the dates and stand aside to cool. Serv^e with whipped cream poured around the dates; i pound dates and X pound shelled almonds will serve five people. Custards.— (Barbara's. ) 4 eg-g-s, yl cup sug-ar, a pinch of salt, 4 cups milk. This will make five cups of custard. Whip the eg-g-s and sug-ar and salt thoroug-hiy and add the milk and whip ag-ain, pour into custard cups and place them in a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven. Watch must be kept lest they bake a little too long- and g-row watery. These can be kept in the ice tank for half a week or more. Nothing- can be better or handier for dessert on washing- or ironing- day. They can be turned upside down into a saucer, a teaspoon of the custard dipped from the centre and a teaspoon of jelly put into its place, and a tablespoon of whipped cream above this and served with wafers or cake. Some bake them in pretty custard cups or in tumblers and serve in the same. Ice Cream.— (Mrs. Sara Jones'.) 1 pint of milk, 1 pint of cream, 1 cup sug-ar, 1 table- spoon flour, a pinch of salt. Stir flour and sug-ar tog-ether and wet with a little cold milk. Put the re- mainder of the milk in a double boiler and when hot add the wet flour and sug-ar, stirring- all the while, and leave it to cook twenty minutes or longer. When cold add cream and flavoring-, and freeze. Use about two inches pounded ice to a half inch barrel salt for freezing-. 30 RKCIPKS. Rasberry Cream.— (Mrs. E. T. Smith's.) 1 quart fresh berries, 1>^ cups sugar, 1 pint water. Boil all tog*etlier twenty minutes, and when cool place in freezer and nearly freeze, then open the freezer and add 1 pint of cream and thoroug^hly freeze all. When frozen, take out the dasher and cork the freezer, cover with a piece of heavy double carpet and let ripen. Other fruits can be used. Lreiiioii Ice. — (Barbara's) 1 quart water, juice of 3 lemons, 1 cup sug-ar, whites 3 eg-g-s beaten to a froth. Put the eg-g-s in just before freezing-. Ivenion Ice.— (Mrs. Cotting-ton's.) 1 quart milk and the juice of 3 orang-es and 3 lemons, 1 cup sug-ar. Mix sug-ar and milk and partly freeze, then open freezer and strain in the lemon and orang-e juice and freeze all. Raisin, Currant and Orang^e Jam. 5 pints currant juice, 5 lbs. sug-ar, 3 lbs. raisins (seeded and stoned), juice 8 oranges; chop the peel and put in cold water and bring- to a boil, pour this water off. Now, mix all the ing-redients except the sug-ar and boil three-quarters of an hour, add the sug-ar and cook until the thickness of jam. Place in tumblers and when cold cover with a thin coating- of parafine. Cliipped Pears witli Ginger.— (Mrs. E. T. Smith's.) Select pears that are fair but hard, pare them and chip into small pieces. To a peck of pears use 8 lbs. of sugar, 8 lemons and a jar of preserved ginger. Cook all together slowly for three or four hours. They are very tender and rich. Used for luncheon. RECIPES. 31 Freiicli Pick-les,— (Mrs. Johnson's.) 1 peck green tomatoes (sliced), and layered altor- natel}' with G larg-e onions (sliced), 1 cup salt sprinkled over the layers and left to stand over night. Drain well in the morning-. Boil in 2 quarts water and 1 quart vineg-ar fifteen or twenty minutes. Drain ag-ain thoroug^hly and pour over 2 quarts vineg-ar, 2 lbs. brown sug"ar, % lb. white mustard seed, 3 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon cloves. Cook soft but not mushy, and can. Old-FasHioned CofTee. Alwa3'S use a marbleized coffee pot. If g"ood strong- coffee is wanted, take a heaping- tablespoon coffee for each cup. Whip an eg-g-, add a tablespoon water to it. In making- coffee for four people use a third or half of this mixture; stir it into the coffee until all is dampened. For every tablespoon coffee pour over a cup of boiling- water and a half cup extra for steaming- away. Fill the nose of the coffee pot with a clean rag-, keep the cover tig-ht and watch it closely until it is ready to boil; then shake the coffee pot and set over so low a fire that it cannot possibly boil. In ten or fifteen minutes it will be read}" to use. It can stand at an even heat this way and hQ g-ood for hours, but if it boils hard or grows cold and is reheated, it is ruined. Odds and Biids and a Few Dont^s. Don't refuse to cook eg-g-s for members of your family when they want them because they are expensive and then spend twice as much for meat they do not want. If strawberries are high priced, and you want a short cake, leave out your meat; have soup and vege- tables and then serve your short cake and cream. 32 RECIPES. A hearty dessert should not ordinarily be served after two or three heavy courses. Fruits or water ices are preferable in summer and some lig-ht dessert in winter. Put boiled beets whole, into equal parts of vineg-ar and water. This prevents them from becoming- too sour; add a little sug-ar and salt. Beets may be canned in this liquor for winter use. Choose small ones, put them up boiling- hot. Use half a tea cup sug-ar to a full pint each of vineg"ar and water, also a tablespoon salt. When buying- muskmelons choose those with dark g-reen streaks running- leng-thwise in the valleys be- tween the sections, for sweetness. Little Gems pre- ferred. Bake cakes in a covered earthen dish, or they may be put in a roaster and baked with fine results. Pudding-s should be set in a shallow dish of hot water while baking-. Keep cold meats in a tig-ht covered eartken dish for moisture. Never butter your pie plates, but dredg-e them lig-htly with flour. To stone raisins easily, put them in warm water a few minutes. Use wooden spoons and marbelized or earthen ware for cooking-. Clean all brown spots from earthen ware with lemon juice or vineg-ar. Fill your tea kettle with vineg-ar and let stand a day or two if you wish to remove the lime. Have one broom for your walks, another for the kitchen and a better one still for carpets. RECIPKS. 33 If you can g-et some broom corn that has been freed from seeds but has not been trimmed, you can sew six or eig-ht of the stalks into a little round hand broom that will be so long- it will reach under cupboards and book cases and bring- dirt out of corners as nothing- else will. This broom corn can be procured at any broom factory. Some tie ribbons around the handle stalks eind make them very pretty with a bow and ring to hang- them by. Use chloroform for paint on delicate fabrics, but be careful to have plenty of air to breathe while using- it. E^or a g-rease spot on silk rub on and in, very thick, a cake of mag-nesia and hang- the g-arment in the closet a week. The chances are that when you brush off the mag-nesia there will be no g-rease spot. For removing- g-rease from ordinary fabrics see preparation for washing- woolen blankets. Paint your porch chairs in the fall, so the paint will become thoroug-hly hardened throug-h the winter; this in the interest of the backs and shoulders of dresses and coats during- the following- summer; it is well also to have linen carriag-e robes or towels over them for very dainty dresses. Carriag-e paint is preferable for porch chairs. 34 SERVING. a: serving, a: Luncheon may be served either with or without a table cloth. In either case small, round asbestos heat protectors should be used under the lining- to the table cloth or under the doylies, for all hot dishes. If a table cloth is used, an embroidered centre piece is not necessar}^ unless desired. An oval or round bevel edged mirror may be used, g-iving- the advantag^e of reflected fruit or flowers. A handsome vase of flowers, one variety, or any pretty blossoming- plant may be placed in the centre of the table; when the latter is used, set the pot into a silver jardiniere or bouquet holder; or, crimped tissue paper may be ruflied top and bottom b}^ pulling out the crimp on the edges with the fingers, and placed gracefully around the pot either with ribbon and bow or without. A few flowers like the centre ones, or delicate green sprays may be placed here and there on the table cloth. Fruit makes a handsome centre piece in which medium sized red apples ma}^ be placed with good effect. As a general rule, one color should prevail in a luncheon; if red is chosen the shades to all lights should be red and sheer. The flowers may be American beauties or carnations, or any simpler ones, arranged in small corsage bouquets and grouped around the centre piece of flowers; to each of these ma}^ be pinned a handsome red ribbon, about an inch and half in width, extending toward the place of each guest and terminating at the edge of the table in a bow between the guests. These may be drawn as souvenirs when the guests retire from the table. Souvenir cards, simple or elaborately SERVING. 35 hand painted, may be used to designate the place of each g-uest at the table, they should be placed on the napkin. If the luncheon is to be served without a table cloth, an individual doylie shoufd be placed for each guest, also smaller doylies about the centre piece for almonds, olives, etc. The following- general menu will answer to illustrate the method of servinir: Fish Meat Salad Ice Ci-eam Coffee Soup Bread With Sauce One or two Vegetables Mushroom Patties Cheese Balls Cake Olives Wafers Almonds Preserved Ginger. This menu can be varied as the hostess desires. More courses may be added or some left out. Roman punch or sherbet could be substituted for the patties, and oysters or clams for the soup. In preparing- the table, place a plate for each person, at the rig-ht a knife for the meat, a small fork for the fish, and a soup spoon; on the left place a larger fork for the meat. It will be observed that no silver is spread upon the table except sufficient for the first three courses, this prevents the table from looking too much like a jeweler's show window. A glass for the water should be placed at the end of the knife a little to the right. Knives, forks and spoons should be laid at rig-ht ang-les to the edge of the table and at an even distance from it of about an inch. Those to be used first, place at the outside, g-rading inward toward the plate. Lay spoons with bowls up, forks with tines up and backs of knives, from the plates; lay the folded 36 SERVING. napkin at the left of the plate. Place salt and pepper at each end of the table diagonally, on doylies, or individual salt dips may be used. The carafes or water pitchers may be placed at each end of the table, or the water may be served from the side. Place gracefully around the centre piece on small doylies, the fancy dishes containing almonds, olives, etc., and lay the spoon for each on the side of the doylie. Just before the guests are seated the glasses should be filled two-thirds with cold water, and as necessary during the meal a glass dish of pounded ice with spoon in, may be passed to preserve the coldness of the water. Dishes for hot food should be placed in the warming oven, and dishes for cold food should be kept in the refrigerator for hours before needed. Luncheon may be served from the side entirely, or, by the hostess at the table. The former method will be observed with the above menu. After the guests are seated, the waitress will place a plate of soup in front of each guest from the right. All dishes which the waitress is to set down in front of the gnests are set down from the rights all dishes to he passed are offered at the left^ thus enabling a guest to use the right hand. All plates to he 7'enioved are taken from the left. Much confusion will be avoided if these simple rules are observed. When the soup course is finished remove the plates from the left, one at a time or one in each hand. Always remove the silver on the plate where it has been used. There is no authority for gathering up all the silver first as is sometimes done to the detri- ment of handsome wardrobes and well dressed heads. FISH COURSE. Place a plate with fish from the right in front of each person; begin at the right of the hostess and SERVING. 37 serve all on that side (beg-inning- presumably with the g-uest of honor), then begin at the left of the hostess and serve all on that side. The hostess is often served first, probably that she may set the pace for the g"uests to follow. Place a spoon in the vegetable dish and pass it on a small server at the left of each guest. When filling glasses, draw them to the edg"e of the table, fill two-thirds full and return to place. Offer bread or rolls with their respective courses when necessary. Serve the mushroom patty course in the same manner as the previous courses, except that now you commence to bring in the silver with the course. Remove plates as before and set salad plate with hot cheese ball in front of each person, with a fork at the right. If the salad is of lettuce, endive, or any- thing requiring- a knife, place a kite at the right and the fork at the left, being careful to lay them down softly and straight. Offer wafers and olives. Remove salad plates, also bread and butter plates and their knives, also all salt and pepper on a small server; remove crumbs with scraper and tra}' from a table cloth, with a napkin from a polished table. Place finger bowls half -filled with water on doylies which have been placed on plates; if they are brought on with the dessert, place a spoon at the right and a fork at the left of each bowl; the guest will remove the bowl and doylie to one side, and the plate is used for the dessert. Some finger bowls have saucers, in which case the doylie should be placed between the bowl and saucer, and all three removed to one side. The fing-er bowls may be brought in after the dessert if preferred. After dessert pass the ginger. Set the coffee down at the rig-ht of each guest; be sure it is hot and strong. As it is to aid digestion, it is better to use no cream or sugar, nevertheless it is safe to pass both. 38 SERVING. Oiiiiier Is served with a table cloth. Flowers or fruit ma}' be used for a centre piece. For a Thanksg-ivitig- dinner a prett}' fruit basket for the centre of the table may be made of a small sized, good shaped pumpkin; cut off about one-third of the top or enough to leave a well shaped dish, remove seeds and line with a plate or saucer; now stick tooth picks perpendicularly around the top cut-edge and hang from them clusters of grapes or fruit of any kind, heap the top with fruit of various kinds, and twine smilax in and out if you wish. The arrangement of the table for dinner is similar to that for luncheon. Candelabra are often used and are pretty. Place them on each side of the centre, lengthwise of the table. Lay a serving cloth at each end of the table for host and hostess. A piece of bread an inch thick may be laid on the folded nap- kin and the napkin doubled once more over the bread. Arrange on the side table everything that is to be used for serving the separate courses, spoons, ladles, forks, etc., and have them in order so there will be no delay when they are needed. Have finger bowls all arranged for use. Nothing- makes a dinner move along more smoothly in the serving than a little study of system beforehand. Just before the guests are seated half fill the glasses, light the candles, place the soup turreen in front of the hostess' place, an extra plate at the left and slightly in front of the turreen, and the soup plates to the number of three or four in a corresponding posi- tion on the right. After the guests are seated, the waitress should stand at the left of the hostess and remove the turreen cover to the sideboard, being care- ful to turn it upside down to prevent dripping, and bring the ladle and place it in the turreen. Then she should place a soup plate on the plate in front of the SERVING. hostess, and when a ladle full is served she should lift the plate and soup plate with the right hand, carry them to the guest at the right of the hostess, remove with the left hand the plate in front of the guest and deposit the plate and soup plate in front of the guest, all from the right. Meantime the hostess will have arranged another soup plate and plate; the waitress should place the plate returned in front of the hostess and repeat the same to the next guest, fol- lowing the same order as for luncheon. Clear soup is served for dinner. In a dinner the meat course should be served by the host; all others by the hostess. Remove plates with silver as in luncheon, then re- move the meat. Place the salad in front of the hostess and serve in same manner. Clean and crum the table with scraper and tray. Serve ice cream course the same as in luncheon. After dessert place finger bowls in front of each person. Coffee is served at table or in the drawing room. Cream and sugar should not be served with after dinner coffee. One can use finger bowls in the same manner as at luncheon if desired. If oysters are to be served for dinner, six may be arranged on each plate with a section of lemon in the centre, or they may be placed each on a half shell and imbedded in ice on a deep plate. These may be placed on the table the last thing before the guests are seated. Clams may be served on the half shell the same way. Serve horseradish with clams. Where after dinner coffee is not used, the coffee should be served with the meat course. In such case offer cream and sugar. In replenishing a cup of coffee bring the hot coffee in a coffee pot to the hostess and refill the cup at table, as when the cup is once removed, no guest is quite sure that he receives the 40 WASHING AND IRONING. same cup in return. Coffee with the meat course is preferable for family dinners and reunions as there are generally elderly persons present who have been accustomed to it, and it is not in g-ood taste to spring- formal methods where the sentiment of ^' laissez fairc^^ naturally holds sway. All styles must be used appropriately and with a grain of common sense. a; washing and ironing. :x First, sort the clothes. Scald table linen with boil- ing water to remove stains. Good soap and soft water are necessary. Make a warm suds. Some add a tablespoon of spirits of ammonia to each pail of suds, but one of the best washers I ever knew used only the plain suds. Soak the clothes about half an hour and rub them through the suds, replenishing 4t often by drawing off the old and pouring in new. This is ab- solutely necessary, as clothes must not be rubbed in dirty water. Rub table linen first, then pillow cases, sheets, handkerchiefs, shirts, etc. After rubbing, place the clothes to steam in warm suds. Clothes must never boil. Steam them with the cover on the boiler a half hour or an hour if you like, but shove them back on the stove where they cannot possibly boil. Remove them from boiler, drain, rinse through two waters and then put through a blueing water. Boil your starch until it is clear and starch your clothes before hanging out to dry. Sprinkle and fold WASHING AND IKONING. 41 the clothes over nig-ht, rollin«r them tig-ht to equalize the dampness. The collars, cuffs and shirt bosoms must be put throug-h-a cold, raw starch before ironing. Iron the body of a shirt first, then slip the bosom board under and with a clean damp cloth rub the bosom hard to remove any pieces of cold starch, then if still too wet rub it with a dry cloth very hard and iron with a clean, hot iron while it is ver}- damp. Iron it until it is dry. Now remove the bosom board, smooth out the remaining- wrinkles in the body and slip the bosom board under again and polish with a polishing- iron. Pure " elbow g-rease " will do it. An overworked housekeeper can fold sheets and children's nig-htdresses and snap and fold towels and han^ more gallons warm water and stand away in a covered stone crock; when washing- blankets use enoug-h oi this preparation to make a strong- suds and let them soak in it for half an hour or more. Rub throug-h this suds (use no soap), and if they are very much soiled put them through another suds in the same way, then rinse until the water is clear. Blankets washed this wa}^ are as g-ood and soft as new, with no shrinkag-e. Have 3^our rins- ing- water just a little warm. Keep a small bottle of this preparation handy for removing- soiled spots from dresses, vests, coats, etc. Put a cloth over your fing-er, dip it in the fluid and rub it on the g-rease spot, then rub dry with a dry cloth. :^ DISH WASHING. /€ Have plenty of soap and soft water. Scrape the dishes as clean as possible and sort them; have a dish pan of middling- hot suds in front of you, to the rig-ht of this have a dish pan of clear, hot water, to the rig"ht of this a pan to drain dishes in. Wash the g-lassware first and silver next. Wash every piece in the suds, dip it into the hot water to rinse and place to drain, then another piece, and so on. I do not think much of the plan that fills a dish pan full of washed dishes all bottom side up and then pours over them hot water from the tea kettle. I like the right side of my dishes rinsed. One must have a clean dish cloth and clean dish BED MAKING. 43 towels, of course. I once knew a womem who required one dish cloth for the g-hiss and silverware, another for China, and still another for cooking- utensils. If she found the dishwasher using- the wrong- dish cloth for the wrong- article there was war in the kitchen immediately. This would be distracting. If my dishes come on to the table smooth to the touch and g^lossy to the eye, and if when I g-o to the kitchen after the work is done, I find clean washed out dish towels and dish cloth, and all smelling sweetly, I am satisfied. Soda should always be used for milk dishes and cream pitchers, never soap. ;^ BED MAKING. J?4: The best bed maker I ever knew was a colored g"irl. She said she learned at the South. No mud pies were ever more level on top or had more evenly slightly slanting sides. Fortunately the days of feather beds are g-one. Every mattress should have a cover (not too thick) to tuck under all around; this can be washed as often as one wishes. The under sheet should be long- and wide enough to tuck under all around to insure its not wrinkling. The remainder of the covering-s should not be tucked in but spread on loosely and evenly. In these days of iron and brass enameled bedsteads that admit of a spread reaching- to, or near the floor, it is an eas}^ matter to put the clothes on in this wa}^ and it is much more healthful, as the air g-ains admittance all the day. Brush both 44 BED MAKING. sides of the mattress once a week and turn it over. Of course, beds should be thoroug-hly aired in the morning for hours. French bolsters are pretty for day time. They can be made of wire such as plants run on. Get that which is just the width of your bedstead. Roll it the size you want your bolster and cover with a piece of blanket or comfort, drawing- over the ends and sewing them; now cover with material like your spread, gathering each end to the centre and sew to the middle of each end a pretty ribbon bow or rosette. This can stand on end or be laid across a chair at night. If your spread is Marsailles, use some soft, fine white material for your bolster, but when the spread is of colored material use the same for your bolster. Always at night, at home or abroad, remove or cause to be removed the outside spread, folding it in the original creases, also the shams or outside pil- low cases in the same way. A bed thus cared for can look well a long time. If you have pretty linen pillow cases trimmed with lace you can slip them on over the pillow cases that are used at night and remove them at bed-time. These are preferable to shams, as they look more genuine. One cannot expect a bed to look well during the day without extra coverings for bed and pillows that can be laid aside at night. HARDWOOD FLOOKS, SWEEPING AND DUSTING. 45 HARDWOOD FLOORS, SWEEPING AND DUSTING. Never touch a broom to a hardwood floor unless it is completely covered with a cloth that will not slip off. Broom covers can be made of canton Hannel, the nap side out. Cut them a little larg-er than the brush of the broom and leave them open a few inches each side at the top so the opening- will be wide enoug-h to admit the broom, sew on tape string's at the top and tie around the base of the broom handle. Covered this way a broom can be used also for the wall. There are many methods of treating- hardwood floors, a safe and reasonable one is to treat them as you would treat a piece of furniture, especially parquetry floors. Dust them every day or every other day, according as they are used, with a soft cheese cloth. About once in two or three months wash them in clear tepid water and wipe them dry, always using- soft cloths. After- ward rub them over with a cloth soaked with g-asoline (there must be no fire or lig^hted lamp in the room) then rub with another cloth thoroug-hly saturated with sperm oil; wipe dry with a clean cloth and polish with a piece of chamois or soft cloth. There is no better way to clean and polish furniture when you clean house than this. Never put boiled oil on a floor. If you wish to oil an ordinary hardwood floor, wash it clean and wipe it dry, then use equal parts raw linseed oil and turpen- tine, rubbing- it on with a soft cloth. This I learned of a manufacturer of hardwood floors. 46 LAMPS, KKKOSENK, GASOLINE AND GAS. For sweeping- carpets, first remove all furniture pos- sible, then sprinkle with small bits of damp news- paper, open doors or windows on opposite sides of the room and sweep in the direction of the current of air passing- throug-h. If there is an open fireplace in the room, burn a few dry newspapers in it to insure a cur- rent of air up the chimne}^ then open a door or window as nearly opposite the fireplace as possible and sweep toward the latter. Wait a full half hour after sweeping-, then dust with a yard square cheese cloth and shake the duster out of doors every few minutes to keep it clean. >«'\/.y»'\/.>*'\/>^»'\/. LAMPS, KEROSENE, GASOLINE AND GAS. /N^/.-'My^ Scissors should never be used on a lamp wick unless, possibly, a new one. After the first burning- the charred top should be rubbed off with an old rag- placed smoothly over the fing-er, then the side of the burner should be scraped with a knife. If there is an opening leading- to the oil chamber, keep it un- obstructed with a wire. Kerosene lamps should be filled every day to within a half inch of the top, for the lower the oil the more dang-erous the lamp. The oil in the lamp does not explode, but the g-as inside the lamp explodes when it reaches a certain deg-ree of heat. It follows that if there were no space above the LAMPS, KEROSENE, GASOLINE AND GAS. 47 oil for the g"as to form in, there would be no explosion. Kerosene is dang-erous when one lig-hts a lire with it for the same reason. The moment it is poured over the fire it commences to form in combination with the atmosphere a combustible g"as. This g-as is invisible to the eye and its presence is not counted on. At the first strike of the match, however, the person is en- veloped in flames. Better not use it^ but if you are determined to be foolhardy and to run the risk of self- destruction, do not use over a quarter of a tea cup full and do not allow one second to pass before lig-ht- ing- it after it is poured over the kindling*. I have no war to make on g-asoline stoves, but I •never feel comfortable so long- as I know that my dear friend has one in her house. However I might risk myself with one, I never wish to trust another. Gaso- line forms a combustible g-as much more instan- taneously than kerosene when exposed to the atmos- phere, consequently it should never be used near a fire or a lighted lamp. I have heard of g-asoline explosions with no fire around. Friction produces heat, and a certain deg-rce of heat is all that is necessary to cause an explosion. The only absolutely safe and comfortable thing- for cooking- in summer is gas. It saves the disposition, makes comfortable the cook, thus enabling- one to give all the attention to having everything turned to a nicety. There is no kindling of fires, nor any wait- ing for the fire to die down in a hot day. There is no danger of burning the food, for the fire can be made in an instant as low or as high as the necessity re- quires. It is perfectly clean, furnishing no dust or ashes and no coal black on .the hands or face. In fact too much cannot be said in favor of it, and its greatest merit is its absolute safety. 48 MOTHS AND CARPET BUGS. •X MOTHS AND CARPET BUGS. X ^^^*^^^^ The plentiful use of Persian insect powder will annihilate them. I have heard ladies say "insect powder does no g-ood." / know fro7n experience thai it zuill kill them. Buy your insect powder of a drug-gist who keeps it in a glass can with a g-lass stopper; never buy where it is kept in a drawer, and when you bring- it home^ put it immediately into a tight can and fasten the top' down. A ten-cent bellows will do to use it with for flies and on ordinary occasions, but if the ants are in your cupboard, wash the shelves clean, wipe them dry, then scatter the powder with your hand plentifully on the shelves, filling every crack and crevice; lay clean papers over them and use as before. When you clean house serve all the closet shelves and drawers and all bureau drawers with the same treatment. Scatter insect powder around the edges of the room before the carpet is laid. If you are cleaning a room without removing the carpet, get down to the floor and with a long screw-driver in your left hand pry away from the base-board the carpet between the tacks and with a whisk broom in your right hand sweep out all the dirt that has accumulated under the edge of the carpet since last housecleaning, then fill in with fresh insect powder. Do this in the spring and again in the fall, and where good insect powder was put under the carpet before it was laid I would be willing to pay a premium for all carpet bugs. Serve your bedsteads with insect powder when you clean MOTHS AND CARPET BUGS. 49 house and ag-aiti in July. Insect powder is a very clean dust and pays for itself over and over ag-ain by saving- carpets and v^oolen blankets and wardrobes, and above all your own peace of mind. It will not harm a child or any creature with lunges, only being fatal to insects with their peculiar mechanism for breathing- purposes. Therefore use it plentifully. Fill the cracks of the closet floors with it. A pound will g-o a great way, and when you see your beautiful blankets come out fresh and whole in the fall, you will feel abundantly repaid. There are many ways for keeping furs. The moth ball, tar paper and the patent paper bag- have their advocates. Furs should be packed the first of May or thereabout. I keep mine in black pepper. Lay your g-arment on the dining- room table or on the carpet, the fur side up, and use a larg*e pepper box; sprinkle the pepper into the fur freely, folding- loosely as you g-o. When all is peppered and folded, take a clean 2j/2 bushel g-rain bag- (any other bag of the size will do), sprinkle plenty of pepper inside of it and put the loosely rolled g-artment into it lengthwise, neck side down; fasten the loop by which you hang- the g-arment to the bag- either wnth needle and thread or stout safety pin and tie the opening- of the bag-; now sprinkle another g-rain bag- with pepper inside and put the first bag- into the second bottom side up, sprinkle pepper in the top, tie with a stout string- and hang- in your clothesprcss. I have kept a fine, larg-e wolf robe in this way for twenty-five years and it has never lost a hair from moths. The pepper will shake out in the fall in five minutes, and you will never advertise to your friends by the smell of your garment how you keep your furs. 50 SANITATION. Ti, SANITATION. :X Houses with first-class plumbing' and g'ood drainage are the healthiest, but even these need looking- after. Always see that clear water is put throug^h a drain after using- it, enoug-h to crowd the dirty water out of the traps so there will be no odor of dish water or an3^thing' disag-reeable. A few drops of ammonia once a week will sweeten drains and closets, and for vessels in sleeping" rooms nothing- equals a few drops of ammonia every morning-. If a hard brown sedi- ment g-athers in the bottom of your wash pitcher that will not scour off, sOak it in vineg-ar. It stands to reason that if an alkili will not remove it an acid will. If you are g-oing- to leave your house closed a few weeks or more, have someone come in at least once a week and turn the faucets a few minutes and draw the closets, otherwise the water in the traps is liable to evaporate, or dry away from long* standing, and let the sewer gas into the house. But many houses do not have plumbing, nor even drainage. Where slops are thrown on to the ground, a new place to throw them should be found often and sand or ashes scattered over the old spot. Mr. Geo. E. Waring, Jr., says: *'No form of cess- pool, no leaching vault and no cemented tank should be allowed under any circumstances, neither should there be permitted any form of the old-fashioned out- of-door privy with a vault." These can be built on the ground, however, without a vault, and earth or coal ashes can be used in them SANITATION. 51 the same as in earth closets. A box in the corner of the building- filled with sand or coal ashes and a hand shovel in it, is all that is necessary. The above author says further: "The earth or coal ashes not only absorbs foul smells but will actually destroy them by slow com- bustion. They are porous materials, sufficiently dry for the free admission of air or oxyg-en. The foulest substances when covered with these at once lose their odor, and are in time as effectively destroyed by com- bustion (oxydized) as thoug-h they had been burned in a furnace. The process is more slow, but none the less sure." This material when oxydized and removed at the rear of the out-house is as wholesome as the g-arden earth. Let us have the benefits of scientific knowledge dealt out to the multitude by our leaders in the form of law, if necessary. A new era would come for the health of a city if this were the case. One could ride in every part of a town in Aug"ust and September without having" one's olfactories offended with foul smells from out-houses. It would seem that human being-s should have the wisdom of the cat that always turns to cover the refuse of the body with mother earth. It would also seem that Boards of Health, composed as they are of educated men, would consider the very first step necessary for a city's health, the doing- away with the old-fashioned privy vault and the compelling- by law the use of earth or coal ashes in all out-of-door closets. It has been said, ''A word to the wise is sufficient," 52 SOCIAL DUTIES. ^ SOCIAL DUTIES. :X /^.V^vy^ Every housekeeper, however humble, owes some duties to society. Perhaps some one will say, "I have no society but my neig^hbors." Then you owe it to them to be a g^ood neighbor. Extend tor them your interest for their welfare, your sympathy and help in sickness, your kindly smile and cheerful word. These are days of holding- receptions. The hig^hest dig"nitaries in the land hold theirs, the humblest citi- zen may hold hers. Inviting friends to your reception is merely sending them word that yoii will be at home on a certain day and that you would like to have them call on you. It is your privilege to choose a day to receive your friends, and it is a compliment to you for your friends to call on that day, in other words, to accept your in- vitation. No acceptance of an invitation to a recep- tion need be sent. If you go to a reception, leave your card, if you cannot go, send your card sometime during the specified hours for which you were invited, not before if it can be avoided. If you leave or send a card, no call will be necessary later. Having met the hostess on entering the reception, it will not be necessary to return to say good-bye. This avoids con- fusion and saves those who have just entered from waiting to meet the hostess. Receptions are convenient and can be made exceed- ingly pleasant. If one has a calling acquaintance of three or four hundred or more, there is no other way to compass the matter of meeting one's friends and SOCIAL DUTIES. 53 acquaintances. Some ladies never make g-eneral formal calls, onlj- accepting- and extending- reception invitations, as a larg-e list of individual calling- acquaintances makes them too much slaves to visiting-. An invitation to a luncheon, however, a dinner or a party of an}- description, should be answered either with a note of acceptance or of reg-ret in less than twenty-four hours after it is received, and a call should be made on the hostess in a week or two after the party. The word "acceptance" or "reg-rets" should never appear on a visiting- card in answer to an invitation. Note paper should be used and the note written in ac- cordance with, and after the style of the invitation. On leaving a party, always bid adieu to the hostess (and host if there are g-entlemen) before retiring- to the dressing room, and afterward leave as quietl}- as possible. Alwa3^s meet your friends half way and accept an invitation in the same kindly spirit in which it is given, and when it is returned do not attempt to guage your entertainment by that of your friend, neither in splendor nor in ceremony; let your hospitality, 3'our good will, your good taste, combined with your inter- est in promoting the pleasure of each individual guest, speak for 3"our entertainment, regardless of line furni- ture or cut glass. Never receive a favor or a present on any occasion without acknowledging it with thanks at the earliest opportunity, personally if possible, if not, by note. Nothing is more stupid than to be ungrateful, and gratitude unexpressed — buried in the heart — is like a diamond unmined, of no earthly use. The habit of some, to return the compliment of a present immediately with another present, is to be deprecated. It embarrasses the first donor and de- ^4 I'IRKD MOTHERS. stroys the pleasure with which the present was g-iven. The bestowing- of a g^ift should arise from spontaneous consideration^ one for another. I once said to a gentleman who had very kindly fixed up a set wheel to my carriage, which overtook me one morning while riding in the country with another woman, "You are a true knight, 3'ou help the ladies out of their troubles; I will do something for you if it is ever possible." He looked up smiling, and with a wave of his hand said, "Do it for somebody else, do it for some- body else." This represents the ideal spirit in which favors and presents should be given, out of very kindliness and never with the thought of indebtedness, or return; then would an endless chain of kindly thoughts and words and deeds link all humanity, heart to heart and friend to friend. A^\/,A\f.^*\fJ^^ TIRED MOTHERS. ^ A housekeeper who keeps a domestic will find the routine suggested in this book for housekeeping com- paratively easy, but I think I hear one who does her own work, at my elbow saying, "How can I follow such a program with my children to see to, my meals to prepare and my dishes to wash every day?" "My dear," I reply, "that is just what you can do, you can follow it; you may not keep up with it but this is your route to follow if you aspire to keep your house well." But let me whisper in your ear. Neglect TIRED MOTHERS. 55 the sweeping- some Thursday if you can not do it all in the morning-, taking onl}- such rooms as demand immediate attention, and in the afternoon take the children with their baskets and happy faces on the street cars, or perhaps your own conveyance, to some piece of woods; take along- a hammock; if there is a pebbly brook where the little ones can take off their shoes and stockings and wade and chase the minnows so much the better. And how all will enjoy helping- to spread the supper on a clean cloth on the grass. Everybody loves a picnic, and children best of all. Perhaps grandmother will put the supper on for your husband at home, or better still, perhaps they can both join you. If you cannot get so far away, have one under the trees in the orchard or some friendly shade in your garden. It will rest you; the little change will do 3'ou good. I remember when to drop all work, snatch up the baby, and ride around a few squares for twenty minutes, or a mile into the country and back, would send all worries skulking out of sight never to dare to show themselves again. Your own good judgment will tell you what best can be left un- done for a short season with the least inconvenience to your family. But is there not help right around you? It is as necessary for a housekeeper to marshal the forces at her command to the best advantage, as to be able to execute in detail, and it is surprising how every one around the house can help a little. Grand- mothers and children can save the mother's tired steps in the way of light work, and are usually glad to do so. Boys can wash dishes and do it well, if necessary, and make nonethe less manly men in consequence. I know a little girl of eleven years who takes upon her- self Saturday forenoons to air every bed in the house, do all the chamber work, brush up the sitting room, do the dusting, making her -mamma who is engaged 56 ^IRKD MOTHiBRS. meanwhile with the Saturday's baking-, feel that a fairy is going- throug-li the house, leaving- fresh, clean footprints in every corner and behind every mantle ornament. Cheerfulness is absolutely necessary to a house- keeper. If she wears a sour face the whole household will partake of the acidity. Someone will say, "How is a woman to keep cheerful with an endless round of duties to attend to? " I answer, she cannot attend to any duty acceptably if she allows herself to be worked out of g-ood temper into a fret. An aunt once said to me by way of advice, "My dear, when you marry, always smile sweetly when your husband opens the door, no matter how the work has gone, no matter if things are out of place, if you look up with a happy face he will never discover a sing-le defect." Therefore I repeat, douH fret. If you do you will drive away every home friend that you have, and what others will you care for after that? I know that you value and love your husband and children more than any other friends on earth, then why not show the very best side of your nature to them; why show them the worst side and keep the best for strangers? It would seem as thoug-h a g-enuine mother's love were such a holy thing- so near akin to joys of Paradise that we poor mortals must veil it over with frowns and fretful words lest the lig-ht of Heaven should come too near and blind our earthly vision. Do not allow your- self to be deceived. Keep the very best of yourself for your best beloved, and then, contrary to all human reasoning-, those within the influence of your family circle will partake of the reflection of your home love, and feel, unconsciously perhaps, that an ang-el visitor is passing- near. This is a serious matter. I believe that fretful im- patience is the besetting- foe of many and many an TIKKD MOTHERS. 57 otherwise superior housewife and mother. And so I repeat in letters of fire if I could, DON'T FRET. You cannot afford to have your children say, ''I do like Miss so much, she does not fret like mamma." You cannot aiford to have your husband think, ''How sunny Mrs. is, I wish my wife did not worry so." I know this may be puttings the matter on a very low g-round, but as yet we are all human. I know there are "two sides to this ques- tion," a husband -may be cross and the children may be nerve distracting-, but in any event make it the business of the day to hold on to yourself. There is no other remedy. Never lose your temper for one mo- ment; school yourself to be gentle, lady-like, and let it be g-entleness of the heart; take a g-enuine interest in everything- pertaining- to each member of your household and forget yourself, and above all forget your little petty cares. While 3^our husband is away on business and the children are at school, and 3'ou are busy, busy all the day, be sure to keep good company. Your thoughts will be your company then. You can have Longfellow or Phoebe Care}' or your favorite au- thor or some Bible gem to help you think. You can gather in a lot of beautiful things and store them in the mind that will be of value to you all your life. Don't allow yourself, while traveling the pathway of life, to descend into the gutter to pick up the rub- bish there, like hatred to anyone, evil thoughts, your own treatment bj^ somebody; the moment you stop to pity yourself you are lost to good. Rather turn to the bank on the other side of the pathwa}- and gather flowers and useful things, perhaps to give to your loved ones or some wayfarer that you may meet. Re- member that though every pathway must have its gutter, it is onlv for carrying off useless and harmful things; let them go, and welcome the flood-tide of 58 run cHiLDRKN. time that carries them to oblivion; there are better thing's worth living- for, and be assured, O, tired mother, that a blessed harvest will come to you as sure as the day follows the nig-ht; a reward of rest and peace will crown your patient efforts. A^ THE CHILDREN. JSt Don't nag- them. Let them alone. Be careful not to contract the habit of saying- to them for every little act, "Don't do that," ''You must not do so," "Now, stop that," until their delicate, sensitive nerves are all "torn up" and you never realize that you have been dogging- their footsteps until some overt act is com- mitted from sheer nervousness or possibly from dis- couragement and its consequent recklessness. Althoug-h parents and g-uardians are older and stronger and probably wiser, this fact does not carry with it any bullying privileges, neither does this last remark imply that children are not to be taught good manners and are not at times subjects for discipline. Beware how you answer their requests with a hurried " Yes," or " No," for these two little words convey to the child-mind at times a world of pleasure or a world of woe. If you make them a promise, keep it even at your own inconvenience, and then be careful how you make the next promise. I have heard children say, "But mamma, you said you would, you promised," until I began to fear the moral results of a broken word from what should be so high an authority. THE CHILDREN. 59 When correcting-, let it be for something- that is ab- solute 1}^ wrongs, and never before strang-ers. Never proclaim or allow it to be proclaimed that was punished to-day. Do as you would be done by if you were a defenseless little child. This matter of g-overn- ment is a matter between yourself and your children exclusively, unless somebody else has been wrong-ed, and even then you are the arbiter. Throw the children on their honor, believe in them, and when opportunity- oifers because of occurrences, set them thinking- about rig^ht and wrong" and help them to interpret both. Make your g-overning rules few and far between and be sure they are reasonable, and when once you have required a thing-, no matter how insignificant it may be, never g-ive up until you get it. This may be a slow and tedious process at times, but patience and firmness will succeed and the habit of obedience will be established in consequence. Meantime keep your temper. I once heard a mother say to her bo3% "I do not know that I shall let j^ou play with any more, he is so saucy to his mother, I am afraid you will learn to be saucy, too." "Why, mamma," he replied, "she is saucy to him, you oug-ht to hear how saucy she is, she is just as saucy as she can be;" which all meant, of course, that she made a child of herself, dis- puted with him, lost her temper, and with it her in- fluence and power for good. Woe to the innocents when the blind lead the blind. Coddle the little ones, sympathize with the older ones, g-aining their confidence. Never g-o on the "out of sig-ht, out of mind" plan, know where they are and what they are doing-. Furnish them with plenty of g-ood, interesting- and instructive child literature and with plenty of child g-ames and puzzles. 60 THE CHII^DRKN. Put overalls (bless the one who invented them for children) on the little girls and bojs and let them go barefooted on hot mornings and give them a few- bushels of sand and a dish of water and let them make mud pies and fried cakes. Thanks to the times in which we live the prim, furbelowed little misses and kid gloved boys are passed and the overalls are stylish. This will help some particular mothers to become reconciled. Of course, the children should "slick up" at times, but they will soon understand that "there is a time for everything." Have them throw their arms back at night or morning in nightrobe, until the back of the hands hit behind them. Every other physical exercise they naturally get at play, but this broadens the chest and enlarges the lungs, thus insuring for life against untoward climatic conditions. Keep them in the shade, or better still, in the house during the hottest part of the day in summer, letting them out again at three or four o'clock. Many a boy has para- lyzed his intellect with severe exercise under a scorch- ing sun, thus ruining his whole life. So take care of the children's brains; take care of their morals also. The Jews were not so far astray when they obeyed the command of circumcision, and many Gentile and Christian parents are following their example to-day, and that too under the advice of some of the best and most prominent physicians. When one realizes the innocence, the utier helplessness, the complete igno- rance of little ones, coupled with the power of habit and the frailty of human nature, nothing can be more reasonable, more humane or more merciful. The old dispensation required the obedience of the act, the new dispensation goes further and requires obedience in motive also. In view of all this, why not make the former auxiliary to the latter and be gainers THE CHILDREN. 61 thereby? Whatever one might wish to say of the Jews, however tenaceous they ma}^ be of "the pound of flesh," they are at any rate domestically, a moral people. Even in the infancy of the race, bad as some of their conduct seems to us when blazoned with the lig-ht of the nineteenth centurj^, still, their social morals even then surpassed those of all other races, and the general family morality of their men and women to-day is something- for Gentiles to emulate. Furnish the children with plenty of good company as they grow to be ^^oung men and women, company that you are willing they should marry in, for if they marry, it will surely be in the company they keep. Young folks zvill have compan3% see that they choose the best as to intellect, good habits and all qualities that command respect. This may take some of your money and quite a little trouble as you look at it, but what if it does, no care or means could be better ex- pended. There is an old proverb which reads, ''An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,'' and many a sorrowing parent has learned how useless it is to "lock the barn after the horse is stolen." It is unnecessary for a mother in these days of free schools to undertake to educate her children intel- lectually, and not at all a necessity, but there is a certain moral and Christian training that a mother cannot shirk, whatever her household duties are. If her time is exceedingly limited, fifteen minutes spent every night before retiring in sending their con- sciences back through the day, receiving their childish confidences, listening to their short evening prayer and teaching them to repeat some Scripture gem, will accomplish a great deal if persevered in. A child will sleep more sweetly, perhaps dream of angel visits, for repeating "I wall lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is Thou Lord only that 62 THE CHII^DREN. makest me dwell in safety," or, "Casting- all your care upon Him for He careth for you." Such precious seeds sown in youth become indellibly fixed in the mind and heart to bring- forth rich results in the future — sometime, somewhere, perhaps on the battle- field, lying-, wounded, under the stars, God knows when and where, blessed memories of mother's g-ood- nig-ht kiss, ming-led with her precious words and the touch of her loving- hand, will lead some stricken mother's darling- boy throug-h old-time, pleasant, flowery paths, into the love and lig-ht of Heaven — and all for a few minutes' care every nig-ht. What mother, what g-uardian of children would dare to forcg-o so precious a harvest? ^3^ M jtP 39 1898 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II 002 112 179 4 A^. TIMES PRINT, ADRIAN, MICH.