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The CofiiihOfiefi
SEPTEMBER 25, 1903. '
9
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the confidence that, however others
might mock them, thero was, in the
homo hearts a belief in their honor, a
trust in their power to conquer.
00
If the little, restless feet should
grow weary of the thorns of earth, ana
turn backward to the golden gates ere
the cares of manhood set their seal
upon their sinless brows, how sweet
will bo the knowledge that no act of
cruelty on your part added to the
burden of grief that made the way
ward little heart turn gladly from its
pilgrimage of pain. Bo kind to the
little boys. Be patient with them.
Cherish their virtues, and teach away
the vices. Teach them to be men.
Query Bx
M. J. Answered by mail, as you re
quested. Many thanks for kind words.
Eunice. A lump of alum Bize of a
small nutmeg to a gallon of cucum
bers, dissolved and added to the vine
gar when scalding the pickles for the
first time, will render them crisp and
tender.
Sister. Something must be wrong
with your recipe, or your handling of
it. I give you two well recommended
recipes in another column, under head
ing "Potato Yeast."
Young Cook. One pint of potato
yeast, one teacupful of hop yeast, one
cake of compressed yeast, one dried
yeast cake, or two-thirdo teacupful of
yeast crumbs, each represent equal
strength. Sour yeast will never make
good bread. If your yeast smells sour,
but does not taste sour, it is not
spoiled; if it has no smell, it is dead.
One cupful of yeast should make six
loaves.
Mother. Children's digestive organs
work faster than thode of adults, and
when Nature clamors for food "'tween
meals," unless it is very near meal
time, the call should not be refused. A
bit of bread and butter, or a bowl of
milk and browned bread crumbs
should be given.
Sister Allie.- Toast that is palata
ble cannot be made of bread that is
very dry or moulay; in the latter case,
it is not fit to use; and all left-over
pieces and scraps of bread should be
put in the oven and cooked slowly
until they are of a pale brown color
and crisp, when they should be
crushed quite fine with a rolling-pin.
These crumbs, if put in a dry place,
can be kept indefinitely, and they serve
innumerable uses in the economy of
the kitchen.
Querist Persons of large chest and
abdomen, florid complexion and active
capilliary circulation, require a free
use of water as a drink, and can use a
great deal of it with beneficial results,
as the water is readily absorbed from
the stomach, and thrown off by the
skin. Those of a spare body, nervous
temperament, with bilious appearance
of the skin, the pores of which seem
glued together, cannot take nearly as
much, without suffering from disa
greeable sensations. With such per
sons, the water lies like lead in the
first passages, and is finally carried
off by the kidneya. For these, hot wa
ter drinking Is better than cold.
Mrs. J. F. F. Cocoa butter, or the
fat obtained from the cocoa bean, is, a
firm, solid, white substance at ordi
nary temperature, agreeable to taste
and smell, with little tendency to be
come rancid. It has the usual quali
ties of the simple edible oils, acting as
a protection to the skin when applied,
and is used for chapped hands, lips,
etc., leavings no discoloration to the
skin when used. Applied to the face
and hands at night and washed off in
the morning, it keeps the skin soft and
clear, but is not a skin food. Taken
internally, it acts as a non-nitrogenous
article of food. The most general
medicinal use made of it is as a basis
for suppositories and medicated bou
Eies, In some countries, It is used In
the manufacture of soaDS and pom
ades. A dally wash of strong sage tea
is a great invigorator for the scalp
For answer to other inquiry, see ar
ticle entitled "For the Laundry." Your
"kind words are appreciated.
Doris. To clean white ostrich fea
thers, dissolve tour ounces of good
white soap in four pints of water, cut
ting the soap into small pieces, and
beating in the warm water as you
would beat an egg, to make a lather.
Pull the feather through the water,
up and down, gently rubbing with the
fingers, fqr a lew minutes, and when
clean, rinse in clear water as hot as
the hands can comfortably bear; put
between two soft cloths, to absorb
most of the moisture, then shake dry
over u hot stove. Finish by drawing
the feather over the back of a table
knife, slightly heated.
Invalid. Stomach troubles are gen
erally prevalent in hot weather. One
of the surest, simplest and safest
cures is fasting. People seat too much
and too often. Try nature's cure:
give the stomach a rest, drinking
plenty of hot water to wash out the
inflammation. Make it a rule to al
ways leave the table just a little
hungry.
Katherlne. White cotton or linen
goods that have become yellowed by
being laid away may be bleached by
the old-fashioned method of washing
in strong soap suds and drying In hot
sunshine. When putting away silks or
satins (white), always wrap them In
blue tissue paper, or put them in bags
made of blue silesia.
5elf-Confldence.
Have confidence in your self. Do not
allow yourself, for a moment, to doubt
your own ability. Take whatever be
falls you as a matter of course, In
tended, In some way, to benefit you.
The man who accomplishes Is the man
who asserts, "I can, and I will," and
who says it from his heart, and means
every letter of it. As a man "thlnk
eth In his heart, so Is ho." and his own
valuation of his abilities will be the
measure of his greatness. As a stream
cannot rise above Its fountainhead, so
one cannot rise above his own faith
in his ability. A self-reliant man
feels that he Is born to conquer fate,
and takes hold with the firm convic
tion that he can do the work better
than any one else under the sun, and
he accomplishes the hardest tasks
while the whiner Is crying "I can't"
People call him lucky, but plucky Is
the better word, as all his success Is
the result of his firm stand In the
fight The plucky man does not rec
ognize tho' word defeat as meaning
failure: if he falls, he gets up and
goes at it again, and every disaster
leaves him so much further up the
hill, if ho heads the right way.
00
It is the man who sits down and
waits for help who has a close ac
quaintance with failure, for every onp
haB enough to do to fight nis own bat
tles. Don't wait for some friend to
start you. Start yourself. Lean on
your own strength; ask no favors, and
don't shirk the hard things. How
much of the hard work do you suppoRe
is necessary for fitting your strength
to your work? Much of It Is meant
for discipline; can you not accept it
as such? Do not whine if reverses
come; do not expect disappointment,
but if It comes, meet it like a man,
with a sturdy strength that defies It
Face the fact that you are "down on
your luck," sometimes, but also face
the fact that you are not going to
stay down. Make up your mind to the
fact that everything worth having
must be paid for. in some kind or coin,
but see that "the game is worth the
candle" before you begin It and, hav
ing begun it, play to win.
Lead Pencil!.
Every boy and girl in the school
room has use for a lead pencil, but I
wonder bow many of them know any
thing about what they are made of,
how they are mado, and whore, or by
whom.
Tho origin of tho uso of black lead
(plumbago, or graphite) is very ob
scure, and it is bcllovcd that tho first
mention mado of It was In tho begin
ning of the fifteenth century. It Is
certain, however, that in lfiGS, tho
celebrated mine of Borrowdalc, In
Cumberland, Englnnd, was discovered,
and pencils made of the graphite,
which is not at all like tho mineral
known to us as lead, began to be used.
The Borrowdalo graphite mine was al
lowed to bo operated but about six
weeks, each year, so tho output was
not very great This mine has long
been exhausted, but other beds of
graphite havo been found In various
parts of the world, and In dlfforent
places in tho United States; but tho
finest in tho world Is that taken from
the mines at Tlconderogn, N. Y. In
appearance, It la a soft, cr.mbly black
powder, with lumps nil through It, nnil
with a peculiarly greasy feeling and a
gloss.
Tho finished article, as used in the
pencils, and graded as to color and
hardness. Is mado by mixing with
the pure graphite after It Is finely pul
verized, different proportions of pure,
finely pulverized clay, of a particular
kind. Until recently, the best pencils
were wholly mado in Europe.
Thoro are nearly four hundred dif
ferent sorts and grades of pencils
fourteen dlfforent grades of softness
mado in America, but until about forty
years ago, all our pencils came from
Europe. Tho census roport on lead
pencil making In tho United States
in 1860 was: Capital invested, ?(i.G00:
people engaged in their manufacture,
58. The census rrport of 1900 gives
us: Capital invested, $2,227,406; peo
ple employed, 2,241. Tho wood used
for the better grades of pencil Is a
soft-grained red cedar; pine is used
for the cheap grade. Tho process em
ployed In making tho pencils, from
taking the graphite from the earth and
the wood from tho forest, is very interesting.
medlum-slzo raw Irish potatoes, on
cup of white sugar, tnhlcspoonful cauh
of salt and ground ginger; let cook
tlvo to ten minutes, stirring frequently,
when It will bo thick, like starch. Turn
it luto an earthen jar, and when (In
summer) topld, or (In winter) qulio
warm, add half-pint of tjooH ydast
saved from la t mailing, or one fresh
yeast cawc, previously dissolved in a
little water. Set tho Jar In a largo
pan, and let rlso; as often as it rises,
stir It down until fermentation conscs,
when It will bo quite thlu. Put In a
stono Jarwlth cIoko cover, and sot
away In a cool place the bottom of
tho cellar, In the Ico chest or other'
qulto cool place, and It will keep two
weeks. Oni la-go cupful will mako
six loaves. No Hour is used in tho
yeast
O O
Potato Yeast, No. 2. Tako as many
hops as you can grasp In your hand
twlco, put two quarts of water over
them and boll elowly for one hour.
Pare and grate six largo potatoes In
to a two-gallon jar, add half a cup of
sugar, tablcspoonful each of salt and
ginger; pour over this the half-gallon
of boiling hop-water, stirring all the
time. When milk-warm, add one cup
of good, lively yea"t, set in a warm
place until It rises, and remove to tho
cellar, or somo other cool placo. If
tho potatoes are allowed to stand after
being grated, they will darken, and
darken tho yca't. A good way to pre
vent the darkening Is to grato them
Into a pan of water, and when dono
grating, pour tho water off, and add
tho hop- ater. Always Bhakc up tho
yeast before taking any out to use. Do
not cork tightly. One pint of potato
yeast is the amount generally used for
a "batch of bread."
In making yeast, as In all other
culinary labors, common senno can
not be used too lavlBhly.
Making: Cruller.
"Young Housewife" says her crullers
are always soggy and greasy, and
wants to know how to mako good ones.
It is not all In tho making; a consid
erable part of success lies In tho cooit
Ing. Hero is a recipe, which is nice,
and not too rich for school lunches:
One cupful of sour cream, two eggs,
two tablespoonfuls soft butter, cup and
a half of sugar, half teaspoonful of
soda (If your cream Is very sour, use
a little more), and flour enough to
roll. Mix, working very little, flour
your board well, roll out the dough a
half-Inch thick, and cut in rings. Have
your dough all cut out before you be
gin to fry. Put plenty of sweet lard In
your skillet enough to floa., the dough
when It rises and let it get smoking
hot (not burning); drop your rings
Into the hot fat, and as soon as it
rises, and the underside Is a litf'o
brown, turn It, repeating the turning
until It Is an even, rich brown, when
take up with- a vlre fork and drop In
to a pan fined with paper (to absorb
any surface grease). Should the fat
get too hot, and scorch, pull th
skillet to one side for a few minutes,
while yon refill with more rings,
which will slightly cool the fat If
more fat Is required before the whole
of the dough Is cooked, put It In when
all the rings are taken out, and let it
get hot again before attempting to
ccok It Experience will soon teach
you to make as nice eatables as any
one.
Petato Yeaat.
Pat a handful of bops in a sack and
boll In two quarts of water for fif
teen minutes; remove tho hops; grate,
and Immediately put Into the hop wa
ter (to keep from turning black) six
For tha Laundry.
A handful of borax to ten gallons of
water helps to whiten tho clothes.
Borax, being a nc tral salt, docs not
Injure the texturo of linen or cotton
fabrics. For softening hard water,
one tablespoonful for a gallon of water
Is used, and it Is claimed that lt-eaves
much more than Its cost In soap. Tho
saturated solution of borax consists of
as much crystal c powder as the wa
ter will dissolve, and It Is always Bafo
to put in a little extra. Borax has no
corrosive action upon cotton, linen or
woolen goous, and while It removes
all hardnena from water, It Is also an
excellent detergent
The old-fashlpned way to "break"
hard water for laundry purposes (and
a very good way it was), was, and in
some parts of tho country still is, to
fill a water barrel full of water from
the well or spring, and pour into it a
peck or more of hardwood ashes, and
let stand a day or two, stirring occa
sionally. If enough ashes had been
added, tho water would take on a cur
dled appearance, and soon settle per
fectly clear. If milky, more ashes
should be added, taking care not to
add too much, or It would affect tho
hands unpleasantly; on the other
band, If too little was put In, tho
clothes would turn yellow. Experlenco
scon determined tho quantity. , "
A farmer's wife, because she has to
be maid of all works, should not con
sider herself thereby the loser of ono
particle of self-respect, or one whit
beneath the woman who never toils.
Neither should she be ignorant of tho
out-door affairs of the farm, and, al
though she need not metaphorically
con the masculine apparel, she should
not be ignorant of how they should be
worn. It Is also her business to know
the exact state of her husband's. (and,
consequently, her own) financial af
fairs; If she Is properly balanced
(and most women are, to that extent),
she will know just exactly what .she
can and cannot afford.
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