Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. HOMES AND BOARDING HOUSES. HILE taking my daily home- seeing all I dared. I come at length to the Library. Here I get some solid comfort. No one can question the propriety of my presence here or freeze me to death with politeness as some of the people in those homelike dwellings might do, and then, I can take back with me to my small room, a pleasure in the shape of a book that is worth more than all the pictures living or dead that the world ever held. Says Sancho Panza: "Blessings light on him who first invented sleep," and the Don should have added to Sancho's wisdom: "And blessings too, on him who first invented the printing press," for the oblivion gained from books comes nearest to that obtained from sleep. What room so small as not to hold one's favorite authors, or so cheerless that Lamb or the Autocrat cannot brighten? An interesting book is the real Aladdins' lamp I think. The darker and rainier, or colder the world outside is, the Perhaps after all it is just as well for me that I do not own brighter and warmer these one of these beautiful interiors. Ideal pictures are always the lighted rooms appear. The best. Ideal homes and mothers, and lovers, and-mothers-infact that not one of all these houses I nightly pass is ever bright- law generally possess more desirable qualities than the real ened for me, does not lessen my enjoyment at all, it rather beings. If I had one of these open fireplaces in my room, increases it, for if I were expected at one of these firesides II should be more comfortable no doubt, but it would have should hurry on my way, thinking only of the one bright spot awaiting me, and the beauty of all the other homes would be lost to me. It is impertinent to stare at people I know, but if the people stared at never find it out and you never meet one of them afterward, why where is the harm, and who would grudge so cheap a pleasure to a lonely old maid, who has only one small room on the fifth story of a side street boarding house. Some of these rooms do look uncommonly cozy. I could almost feel the warmth the other evening, from those big logs in the open fireplace in the room of that corner house. It was one of those half-thawed days in December. Slush under foot, and the fog which had been hugging everything all day changing into a thin disagreeable drizzle. Things generally had seemed to go wrong with my work all daythings are apt to go wrong with old maids of a certain age who have only their own small interests to fill their minds, and I was not in a mood to particularly admire anything. But when after unsuccessfully navigating the small lake of slush near the crossing, I came suddenly in front of that window my cares seemed to lighten. How the light from fire and lamp gleamed forth, and that placid sweet faced old lady sitting there in the large rocker, I wondered as I passed on: "Sings the blackened log a tune Learned in some forgotten June?" Any way, I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did. Occasionally while gazing into some of these interiors that line. from Emerson runs through my memory: "Every roof is pleasant to the eye until lifted, then within are sad eyed men and wailing women." But I don't allow Emerson's philosophy to trouble me long. Never as realities do these rooms appear to me, they are simply beautiful pictures and the people I see in them are but parts of the picture. I know well enough that were I to enter one of these homes to-night I should not find its occupants any freer from care and trouble than myself, and except on days when I am feeling unusually sour I never imagine otherwise. They are pretty pictures always, and have the merit of never being just the same. The unchangeableness of a painting is a defect; one cannot help wishing that those lovely ideal heads would move and let us see another view of their faces and a different smile, or that those two lovers standing so close together there near that pretty rustic bridge would-finish. I don't say that any such scenes as the last mentioned are ever among my views; I am not going to betray any secrets. I have been up and down the whole length of the street to be paid for; and if while gazing into the reverie-breeding embers my dreams must give place to calculations of their cost, I fear my pleasure would be very much lessened, and so as I think it over I come to the conclusion that I get the best of the pictures. The ideal comfort for me and for the people inside what is left-the bills. THE INNER MAN. For food, and not philosophy, are yearning. Thus any man-a poet, if you will Whom all the world with laurels has been crowning, Would much prefer a steak, well browned, to Browning. Compiled for GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. IT IS BETTER -Fred H. Curtiss. To do well late than never. To be wise to-day than to be foolish to-morrow. To be a giant on the floor than a pigmy on a pedestal. To be the builder of our own name than to have it built for us beforehand. To hammer and forge yourself into a character than to dream yourself into one. Original in GoOD HOUSEKEEPING. INTELLECTUAL READING FOR THE HOME. BOOKS THAT INCLUDE THE PRINCIPAL BELIEFS OF THE RACE. COMMON feminine longing is for intellectual attainments. Beholding a greater energetic vigor than her own, physical and intellectual combined, when a woman observes men, feelings peculiar to her sex possess her and she deplores her shortcoming in this limited contrast. She ignores those qualities for which man admires her and in which she far excels him, I refer to that distinctive department of mind embracing the feelings and more especially the emotions,-and by force of the exclusion puts herself at a disadvantage in the comparison. It may be that a weak flavor of intellect as well as "a weak flavor of genius, in an essentially common person, is detestable," as the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table expresses it, at least when that person would set himself up as equal to greater intellects, particularly if it be done in a dogmatic and hypercritical way; and intellectual training serves some women, as it does some men, in this way. The principal use that intellectual cultivation should be to a woman, unless she be such a prodigy as Mary Somerville, Catherine Herschel, or Elizabeth Cady Stanton, is its reactionary effect upon her feelings. She needs to make her feelings more reasonable, just as a man needs to make his reason more feeling. Her mental growth ought to fit the peculiarities of her nature and make the most of them rather than to be of a masculine tendency. A realization of this will reconcile women to their mental structure and leave them without longing for the unattainable. A great good that a woman can do her mind is to cultivate its representative power, its ability to comprehend the abstract and the relation of cause and effect, and to get such a knowledge of naturematter, force, life, society, mind and ethics-that she will know what effects certain causes will lead to and vividly picture the results, thus providing herself with an intellectual rudder for her feelings that shall steer their work for long as well as short voyages. As domestic life is constituted in our society, a woman may not have to undertake so great a life adaptability as a man does, but she has the opportunity and duty of so bending the infant twig that it shall be capable of doing the greatest good in its future environment. This duty should not be shirked by the father upon the mother, but it is so done at the early, and a most important time in the child's life; and taking the case as it is, mothers should make a study of child training, by cultivating the intellectual branch of the mind for the sake of its influence over the feelings and emotions. A woman has upon her hands responsibility for herself, and much for her children, her husband and others to whom her potent influence extends, and to get the best effect of this influence she must give herself intellectual cultivation. Furthermore, to superintend the affairs of her household with greatest credit to herself, a housekeeper must show intelligence in her ideas, familiarity with the events and thoughts of the day and an acquaintance with literature, not only that which feeds the feelings, but that which stimulates thought. It is a strange fact that works on English literature and English works on French and German literature are devoted almost exclusively to the books that relate to the feelings. Intellectual literature was indeed scarce until about the middle of this century, but of late years it has grown to such proportions that it has crowded out of reading the old-time intellectual works, and is crowding aside all but the best of the old emotional literature with much help in the latter re spect from the emotional literature of the present day. One cannot find a course of intellectual reading in the works on English literature. What we are seeking in this article is a moderate course of reading for women for the purposes outlined above. It is not necessary to lay out an exhaustive course; indeed, it would be better to make it quite limited and aim to give it scope rather than to call for the devotion of much time to one specialty or a few of them. After a comprehension of the works mentioned, it will be easy enough to extend the reading in any desired line. If a young man has rather more than a common intellectual disposition, he will naturally fall into the way of selecting the mental pabulum that he craves in the way of reading; but a young woman (and some young men, too,) when setting out "to improve her mind," that is, the intellectual department of it, is sure to turn to historical narration. With a perseverance that would be commendable, if applied with discrimination, she will labor hard not to falter in reading Macaulay's or Knight's History of England, Gibbon's or Mommsen's Rome, and Grote's or Milman's Greece; but the time comes when she takes an inventory of stock, and she finds that if she has an excellent memory, though she has accumulated a good many facts, her intellectual grasp is hardly better than before. The reason is, that her mind has been devoted to fact accumulation, when at the same time it should have been devoted to the discovery of fact relationship. Attention has been scattered instead of concentrated, and there has been little of the process of harmonizing knowledge. The reading that we are here looking after is that which will show the reader the reason of things, the relationship among facts, the order of nature. There must be comprehension as the reading proceeds. One must read better than Hamlet did and instead of reading merely "words, words, words," read the ideas they express. Read with care, attention, abstraction; and at the end of each natural division of the subject and at the end of each time of reading, recall the facts as thoroughly as possible, and what conclusions they sustain. One who is a stranger to the intellectual part of English literature, ought first to know what constitutes an education. Unless for some special purpose, such as translation, or teaching, or travel, or making a study of philology and ethnology, language learning is not education. The ability to use a foreign language confers no valuable mental growth, nor, with the above exceptions, is of any service in the betterment of life. Education in the feminine "accomplishments" music, painting, drawing, fancy work, and so on-is not intellectual; it is principally aesthetic. A course of reading, such as is commonly made up from fiction, poetry, orations, historical narratives and those productions that are distinctly recognized as "literary," Irving's Knickerbocker and Sketch Book, or Mitchell's Reveries of a Bachelor, for instance, is not of an intellectual nature, but pertains to the feelings and often to the emotions. There is no doubt that the feelings may be, and should be, cultivated, but, as their special consideration is foreign to this article, the education of the intellect here concerns. Yet, the feelings will not be in obeyance in a plan of intellectual reading. They will be most powerfully stirred upon acquaintance with the mechanism of the universe, the order of nature, the vast works of a Creator in even a part of their beauty and sublimity. There is no sublimer writing in the language than Tyndall's last chapter in his Heat as a Mode of Motion. But, dominating over the gratification of the feelings, will be an improved quality of rationalism-it ought to be a high quality-arising from the inductive and logical methods pursued. -George K. Holmes. [The next paper will outline a course of reading with the leading and most comprehensive works.] Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. Sixtieth round-plain. RECREATION FOR LEISURE HOURS. KNITTED SILK MITTENS. Now knit twenty-one rounds of two plain, seam two, alternately, forming ribs. The stripe for back of hand is now commenced on one of the needles with thirty stitches. The pattern is knit only on this needle, the knitting on other two being plain. Repeat the pattern ten times through. First round of hand-four plain, narrow, make one, six plain, narrow, make one, three plain, make one, slip one, one plain, pull slipped stitch over, six plain, make one, slip one, one plain, pull slipped stitch over, three plain, rest plain. Seventh round-fourteen plain, make one, slip one, narrow, pass slipped stitch over, make one, thirteen plain, rest plain. Eighth round—all plain. Ninth round-fourteen plain, narrow, make one, fourteen plain, rest plain. Tenth round-all plain. Repeat from fifth round of hand every time. Commence to form thumb in ninety-fourth round from beginning of mitten; it is knit plain as in a plain mitten. After the tenth time through the pattern or back of mitten do the rest of hand plain, narrowing off. This will fit a small hand. If a larger mitten is wished use No. 17 or 18 needles. Of course the thumb must come in opposite places in the mittens to make fancy work come on the back of hand. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. A QUESTION. Though sweet it be with serving song Or sound a note so high and strong -Eva M. Niles. Than these which greet the outward sight, Possession's pleasure in his art, And labor's keen and pure delight. On his pale lips Necessity Her flaming coal of fire has laid, His tears for every grief must start. To be, as he, divinely blest, Although of anguish set apart, Would'st thou, O friend, clasp to thy breast -Adelaide Cilley Waldron. LIBRARY LEAFLETS. GOODHOLME'S DOMESTIC CYCLOPÆDIA. This new edition is a superbly bound book of 652 pages, crowded with a vast amount of information relating to house and home. This has all been scrutinized by as high authorities as the country furnishes and absolute accuracy seems to have been attained. The book has the special merit of strict alphabetical arrangement in its topics, with abundant cross-references, so that they can be found at a glance. The index is very copious, and the directions and statements of fact in the book cannot fall far short of 25,000. The house is elaborately treated in planning, building, draining, warming, ventilating and furnishing in taste according to the best styles of decoration. Price lists have been carefully compiled, showing how an ordinary sized house can be neatly and completely furnished for either $600 or $1,200. Household management receives thorough attention in cleaning, laundry work, dyeing, care of lamps, gas meters, destruction of vermin and many other things. Food is treated of in its physiological aspects and every important process of cooking is lucidly explained and illustrated, while the cooking receipts make a superior collection. Bills of fare for the different seasons are given and directions for serving meals. The information about the toilet and about dress, including the cutting and fitting of garments, is full. The care, clothing, diet, sleep, teething, weaning and diseases of children are treated of very fully. Full directions are given for action in cases of bleeding, bruises, burns, poisons, sprains and the many other accidents of the household. The medical articles constitute a comprehensive guide in the domestic treatment of disease and accident. Gardening and floriculture, including window gardening, are explained; directions for the care of the domestic animals are given and there are articles on bee keeping, and every process of the dairy. Weights and measures are elaborately treated; and the volume contains many business forms and the law affecting the ordinary transactions of life. The volume is printed on tinted, super calendered paper, and contains 400 illustrations. The publishers have introduced a new feature in binding by having it strongly sewed on tapes, so as to lie perfectly flat when opened, and to last for a life time. In completeness, in reliability, in scope and in usefulness this cyclopædia is unquestionably without a peer: it is a whole library in one volume and it has in the household a valuable place that will never be left vacant when once filled. Price in extra English cloth, black and gold decorated back and sides, beveled edges, $5; the same with gilt edges and boxed (for wedding presents ), $5.50; library style, full sheep, marbled edges, $6; half morocco, marbled edges, $7.50. New York: C. A. Montgomery & Co., 7 Murray street. BIRD WAYS. A very pleasant study of various birds in diverse conditions is this by Olive Thorne Miller, one who believes, with Emerson, that "the Bird is not in its ounces and inches, but in its relation to Nature." These studies are from life, the result of loving and careful observation. The American robin, the cheery bird of the morning, comes in for his just dues, and this merry, tricksy, honest fellow is most charmingly described as he defends his home, trains his young and pours forth his exuberance of glad song. And so with the gentle, solitary thrush, the ruffian sparrow, the wily cat bird and the many voiced oriole-they are described in their habits and characteristics by one who has learned to study them and knows how to tell what she has seen. The lovers of birds will be delighted with the book. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $1.25. MRS. HERNDON'S INCOME. This story of Christian love and help in American society is of a woman, who, early impressed with social wrongs, is enabled to devote life and fortune to their alleviation. She joins an organization typical of the ones in favor with cultured and fashionable people where practice is put aside for abstract theory and personalism, but does not find the way to success until she is taught by humble workers how to do good. With other agents, a German socialist, who in his way seeks to do charity, a plain but earnest woman who believes that she has Christian work to do and a mission led by reformed criminals, this woman is able to recover another woman to virtue and happiness. The soul that is gained was nurtured in crime and in its maturity was beset by every temptation and repressed by every force, yet it is developed to great beauty. Its history forms the principal part of the story, that of the others contributing to and directing it to a conclusion wherein the full beauty of human life is realized. This work of the author, Helen Campbell, is original and strong. It eloquently directs attention to the neglect by American society of its wards-the wrong doers, the sick, the poor and the oppressed, and forcibly points out the true and most efficient Christian means to succor them. Boston: Roberts Brothers. BONNYBOROUGH. Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's last story is specially strong and beautiful and of well sustained interest. The heroine is of no commonplace conventional type. Peace Polly Schott is the name by which she was christened, and up to her womanhood "Peace" and 'Polly" are in a state of perpetual warfare, and the Polly is constantly antagonized by her half brother, 18 years older. After the death of their father, Peace Polly conducts the house for her half brother, who was old enough to better understand the Polly side of his sister's character, but who took pleasure "in stirring her up." But the sterling qualities of the brave and honest girl were on the "Peace" side, and the time came when the two thoroughly understood each other. There is no plot and not much incident, but this is quite in harmony with life in such a country town as this story takes its name from. There is nevertheless much in the story in the exhaustive analysis of the mental and spiritual experiences of Peace Polly. The author understands the strivings, the self questionings, the aspirations of a young girl's heart to perfection and probes her inward soul with infinite delicacy. Many a girl, confined within narrow bounds and debarred from congenial companionship, will sympathize with poor Peace Polly, who feels too old for her own generation and too young for the one which preceded it. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $1.50. For sale by Whitney & Adams, Springfield, Mass. THE WHAT-TO-DO CLUB. In the form of a story, Helen Campbell, in this book, suggests ways in which young women may make money at home, with practical directions for so doing. The narrative is lively, the incidents probable and amusing, and the dialects varying and characteristic. The recipes for pickles and preserves, evaporating fruits, raising poultry and keeping bees, are made poetic and invested with a certain ideal glamour, and we are absorbed by an array of figures of receipts and expenditures, equally with the changeful incidents of flirtation, courtship and matrimony. Fun and pathos, sense and sentiment, are mingled throughout, and the combination results in a very useful as well as entertaining book. Boston: Roberts Brothers. Price $1.50. THE WORLD'S WORKERS. The last volumes of this series contain the biographies of Handel, Turner the artist, and Charles Dickens, by his eldest daughter. The last is written expressly for the young, that they may love and venerate the man, before they can know the author and genius. The books of this series are all clearly written, and being in small and convenient form, and purchasable at a moderate price, should find numerous readers. New York: Cassell & Co., Limited. NOTES. The women journalists of this country have a National Press Association, and a New England branch has just been formed in Boston, of which Mrs. Sally Joy of the Herald is president. "The Breadwinners," says the Tribune, "has had a large circulation in book form. Harper & Brothers have sold some 25,000 copies in this country; two large editions-cumbrously printed and bound-have been sold in England, besides a much larger one in paper covers; 2,000 in Australia; it has achieved the honors of piracy in Canada and Nova Scotia; has been translated in to French and published as a serial in the Revue Britannique, of Paris; an edition in book form is announced by Hatchette & Cie.; it is published in German at Stuttgart; and in Swedish at Chicago and Stockholm. But more than all this, Baron Tauchnitz has given it the seal of his august approval, and prints it as No. 2248 in his collection of British authors. THE COZY CORNER. [In this corner we propose to have pleasant gossip with our readers and correspondents, in passing matters of household interest, and that it may be made an instructive and profitable Household Exchange, we invite correspondence of inquiry and information on all subjects of general interest and value to the Homes of the World.]-GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. AGAIN" MRS., MISS OR WHAT?" Editor of GOOD HOUSEKEEPING: "Mrs." William H. Alexander has recently called my attention to some of the articles upon "Mrs., Miss or What?" that have lately appeared in your paper. One writer quite spunkily asks why a lady should be expected to explain her signature by prefixing Miss or Mrs., any more than a gentleman by writing Mr. before his name. I have lived with a lady several years, and, knowing how nice they are, would never consent to the placing of a single unnecessary burden upon them, but the custom of ages has established the rule that when only initials are used-A. B. Jones, for example -they should be interpreted as belonging to a man. It is too late to inquire why, because the fact exists, and correspondence is, or should be, made to conform to the custom, otherwise, as in the case cited by Mrs. Hooker, and in numerous instances in my own experience, confusion is likely to arise. It is fair to assume that when a lady subscribes her name to a letter, she desires to have the person addressed understand who she is. She should, therefore, so write her signature that not only her sex, but her title, whether maiden cr mistress, will be clearly indicated. I believe that a married lady is not justified in signing her name with simply her maiden initials,-E. S. Jones, for example,-because of confusion in delivering, if for no other reason. The person addressed, when responding, could only use the same form in mailing the reply, and there the trouble would be likely to arise. Postmasters are not supposed to know the family history of their patrons, and while one would know Mr. or Mrs. A. B. Jones, and would properly deliver a letter to the latter, under that name, he might not know "E. S. Jones," though one and the same person, in which case the communication would stand a chance of being returned as "uncalled for." Three-quarters of the gentlemen who write letters, sign the given name. Probably nine-tenths of those in business, have the name printed at the head of their sheets, so that the percentage of those who only use initials, though clearly entitled to do so, is exceedingly small. It would appear, therefore, that the injustice of requiring a lady to sign her complete signature is not particularly conspicuous. The suggestion of "J. K. Sexten," that "Lady" be adopted as a common title, hardly meets the case, because there must be a distinction between the married and unmarried, to avoid annoying mistakes, particularly in the envelope superscription, though in many cases that term would be euphonious and convenient. What seems better is to follow the present form of polite correspondence, and when addressing a known "Miss," simply use the name in heading the letter,-Miss Amanda M. Brown,—and in addressing a known "Mrs.," use the name and title, adding "Dear Madame." Where doubt exists, say "Dear Madam," and if not exactly appropriate, the recipient must understand that the fault lies with her. There need be no doubt, however, if ladies will be careful to subscribe as they should; i. c., give name, and title, too, either in parenthesis-(Miss) Amanda M. Brown—or not, as may be preferred, and if married, use Mrs." in the same way, or as suggested by "Henrietta Davis" in last number. Respectfully, WILLIAM H. ALEXANDER. OMAHA, NEB. A HOUSEKEEPER'S DAILY PROGRAMME. Editor of GOOD HOUSEKEEPING: If you will allow me space in your valuable paper, I would like very much to state a few ideas which I feel certain will find an echo in the heart of every housekeeper in the land who really feels an interest in her work. What housekeepers need is a systematic course of housekeeping in all its different departments; just as the farmer has his guide, his directions for each month in the year in the management of his farm, so do we housekeepers need a guide,-full directions for cach month, for each week, for each day. Yes, let some competent authority write out, in each number of GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, a daily 181 programme for the two next weeks; let that be our guide. If all cannot follow it exactly, it will still be a wonderful help. The main reason, in my mind, why there is so much poor housekeeping, is not because of an unwillingness on the part of our women to do their best, but because of an almost entire lack of system. "Every woman has her own way of keeping house," is heard almost daily, and how can it be otherwise when there is not a published system in the world? We are compelled to grope our way in darkness many a time. I say it is time for us to have a chance to learn our profession from reliable teachers. I would not take one word from GOOD HOUSEKEEPING; it certainly meets a great want, but I do insist on a daily programme, not only of meals, but including every department of housekeeping, in its season, in every number. Forgive length. I feel warmly, A SUBSCRIBER. THE ITALIAN DOMESTIC SYSTEM. easiest, have invented methods of home-making which involve the The Italians, with their inimitable trick of taking life at its least possible expenditure of labor and lire. The French peasant or the Italian contadino wants but little variety, and usually eats twice a day-the inevitable coffee or sour light wine, and a hunk of bread with fruit, forming one meal; and maccaroni, or greens in some form, being the substance of the other. He has only his kitchen for his ménage. He cooks in it, eats in it, perchance sleeps in it; and yet the pity that is spent upon "the wretched creatures holes. They only tarry in them until the sun shall shine out each who live in such holes" is gratuitous. They do not live in these morning. The middle-class Italians have their appartamenti, with a subservient kitchen, perhaps; but the bulk of their meals are taken at the neighboring restaurant, or served by the omnipresent caterer. As for the wealthy Italians, their winter palaces are mines of ex among the sea Alps, is a paradise of rural and artistic beauty. And quisite art treasures; while every summer villa, by the lakes or. yet the American looks pityingly upon all this, because Signor Serbelloni's wife does not make her kitchen the pivot around which bellonis are satisfied. The horrors represented by domestic methe machinery of home-life turns. But, strange to say, the Sernials are so mitigated by remoteness of contact as to be a myth to these householders. The signora hires a cook for-I am afraid to say how little per month, who supplies the table according to order, and keeps himself and his assistants besides. For every Italian servant of quality must have his dignity supported by a coachman, with the air of a Roman senator, or gardener, with the host of supernumeraries, for whom he alone is responsible. Be he name of an archangel, it is his great pride that he and all his visible aids should present such an appearance as shall support the credit of the Serbellonis. The family is thus surrounded by a mild atmosphere of well trained and liveried deference; and what storms there be are met by these managers-in-chief. Often the coachman owns both equipage and horses; but as long as he is salaried, he belongs to signore, body, soul and assets.-Unknown Corres pondent. Compiled for GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. SOLEMN SAYINGS. The wealthiest miser is the poorest of all men. When a man's coat is threadbare it is easy to pick a hole in it. sorrow. A hungry man doesn't throw bread out of the window because it isn't pie. Youth studies most how best to live; old age studies most how best to die. A dollar decreases in size in the same ratio that a man's heart gets bigger. The best men and women are too busy doing good to have time to tell about it. An open mind, an open hand and an open heart will find everywhere an open door. Too many men are born with their mouths open who never afterwards learn to keep them closed. |