TliiS business of entertaining "in
I one room or two" Is not always
en easy matter. However, the
very essence of it all is—"dain
ty." The appointments, of necessity,
ere en a small scale, and when they are
attractive and delicious to the last de
gree the hostess has nothing left to be
desired.
Again, it is not altogether a matter
cf '•entertaining," either. Comfortable,
£a!nty, pleasing things are perhaps as
essential to the family's happiness In
their private home relations as to the
visitors* that come and go. But be that
e.s it may— whether the hostess is con
tent, when alone, with strictly simple
appointments or not— the pretty, at
tractive serving of any dish is sure to
win the heart of the guest.
Silver plays an important part In all
household matters, so here, too, it lends
Its usefulness. In handling fruit there
ere many helps both in serving and eat
ing. The scissors, with their pretty era
bossed silver handles, are a practical
eld, as well as the different kinds of
fruit knives.
Speaking of grapes, the individual
"grape dip" Is a practical and most at
tractive manner of serving this fruit.
There is a deep tumbler, much the
chape of a bunch of grapes, set in a
silver stand something of the nature of
a soda-glass bolder. The glass is filled
partly with crushed ice. and a bunch of
grapes, first having been thoroughly
washed. Is placed in it. The advantage
of serving In this manner Is that the
grapes are kept perfectly fresh and
cool to the last minute when the tongue
touches the cc-ld drops of water on the
firm, clean grape. One important word
about grapes: Quantities of grapes
come from cold storage, having been
picked in late August or September. On
the whole, they keep well; but when
they come into the warmer air of
houses, or even outdoors, the stems
shrivel and the grapes fall at the
slightest touch, though the body of the
grape is still fresh and firm. An incon
venience to which no guest should be
subjected is to struggle with such
grapes They are successful rivals of the
eel when it comes to trying to keep them
where they belong. They roll out of
one's reach with exasperating ease. A
word to the wise hostess: Be sure to
test the grapes when purchasing them.
Use only the grapes that are firmly fas
tened to their stems.
A fruit salad Is a delicate dish which
appeals to most every one's taste. It is
composed of small pieces of banana,
pineapple, orange, peach, grapefruit,
apple, pear, pieces of nut (English wal
nut, almond, butternut) and maraschino
chrrries. The different fruits can be
varied according to their season, or, if
all are desired, a first-class fruiterer
Keeping Open House
THE suggestion of the very fa
miliar talk I purpose to hold
to-day with our flat dweller
and cottager is found in a letter
from a newly made matron and
housewife. Sho "sets the case," to
use a favorite phrase of Andrew
Jackson's, so aptly as to spare me
the trouble of preliminary explana
tions. -'<)-*
Ours is the stereotyped slx-rooma
end-a-batb apartment. A drawing room
cf fair dimensions (.for a cfty llat) and
a tiny ante-room, dignified by the name
of "library." three bedchambers and a
dining-room, with a love of a bath
room, lined with tiles, compose the shell
of what we would glorify into a home.
Both of us are hospitable and we are
rich in congenial acquaintances. _We
would like to -keep open house"! Per
fconally, 1 should like to have a minia
ture slilon, and do my infinitesimal best
toward hastening the day of which you
end Prolessor somebody spoke in an
article you wrote- last summer upon
lawn parties. But— and the word is a
veritable But-tress— our income and our
lodgings are too small to warrant such
luxuries as dinner parties,* luncheons
m.il evening receptions. "Entertaining"
—as the wwrd ta generally applied— is for
the rich, not for the almost-poor.'.
John and 1 are happily content in
one another's society, yet we agree
(again!) in thinking that happiness
chouid not make us selfish and that the
Influence of every real home should be
felt beyond the walls that bound it.
E. R. U.
John and you are 60 essentially
right that I could devote the whole
of this paper to showing the reason
and beauty of your conclusion.
"Beal homes," linked together by
common needs, common. sympathies
and harmonious tastes, make up the
highest order of society.
You honor me by asking my ad
vice in your perplexity. As a start
ing point, strike "entertaining"
from your catalogue of available
trcrdjs. It meant well enough in
SCHOOL FOR HOUSEWIVES
can cupjJiy lucui. iue ucoi na.y «.u »""«
a truit salad is to place the little indi
vidual glass dish containing it in a sher
bet glass of crushed Ice. Ice is delicious
In so many ways, come to think of it.
It is a (aithful stand-by in all methods
of good serving. Add a few drops of
sherry, and the fruit salad makes a de
lightful dish. There are also low, flat
glass receptacles for the ice of a fruit
salad. That is a matter of taste.
One service for a grapefruit is a cut
glass bowl with a silver rim on a pret
ty china plate. This is for serving the
half fruit in its rind. Before placing
in the glass cup. the seeds and pulp
should be removed. Then each section
should be cut from the rind, so that it
may be lifted out easily with the spoon.
Two styles of spoon are illustrated
which are really orange spoons. Somo
people prefer the blunt, short bowl to
the grooved, narrow spoon.
But the best way to serve grapefruit is
In the fruit-salad dishes. Remove the
sections of the grapefruit, place them
Bide by side, .in their natural symmetri
cal order, in the small Individual slass
dish, and top them with maraschino
cherries. Then place this in the sherbet
glass of crushed ice. The sherry id last
but not least, and is put on, of course,
when the dlfh is eaten.
A most delightful idea is to color the
ice with cochineal. This lends a delicate
rose color, harmonizing beautifully with
the cherries and the pale shade of the
grapefruit It may be used with the
fruit salad also.
the beginning, but, like many an
other respectable thing, it has been
misused until it has lost character.
Leave "entertainments" to the
newly rich clan with whom dollars
are the only test of "real good sas
siety."
Next secure for your home and
for. yourselves that degree of se
clusion without which what should
be a garden oi delights it trampled
into a common. Keep open house
upon one day of the week. Let your
friends comprehend that you are
joyfully at home to them upon one
afternoon and evening out-of the
seven which make up the weekly
round. The announcement is a flat
tering assurance % that you wish to
be sure of seeing them when • they
call. When a woman says: "I 'Have
no day at home ; I" (bearing hard
upon the pronoun) "see. my friends
whenever they can make ;if con
venient to call," I; settle within my
self that she is willing to take. the
risks. of being out when they caance
to come ; also, that her time .'is of
little value to herself.
Unless your dining room opens
directly out of the . drawing room,
serve the ; modest refreshments pre
pared; for your "at-home" day. in
the larger. of the two parlors. Set
a table in a ; convenient corner, and
make it an attractive: part, of :your
furniture. . Cover' i i with your, pret
tiest teacloth, arrange upon; this
your daintiest tea equipage, arid "al
ways brighten the; array, with .flow
ers or ferns. , A y basket of : l ijrht
cakes, two or ; three plates of sand
wiches and thin* bread and butter, a
fancy dish of bon-bons flanked by
one of salted nuts, end' in the af t-
Serving Dainty
Fruit
Dishes
ernoon tea and in
the evening choco
late, make up an
all - sufficient;
menu, were your
income trebly as
large as it now is.
1 hope you have
a standing tea- --V
kettle and spirit lamp for making
tea in the drawing ; room. In no
other way are you certain of hav
ing it hot and -fresh. If made In
the kitchen and brgfught to you in
the teapot, there are eight chances
against two that the water has stood
upon the tea leaves until the fan
nic acid extracted from them : has
The Housemothers in Weekly Conference
A CORRESPONDENT . wrote to me
not long : ago for a . recipe for
making vinegar -without grapes
or upiJies. She ilves in a part of
H Mexico where these fruits do not grow,
and, like a sensible woman, .she dreads
to use the 'vinegar of commerce based
upon sulphuric acid. ..; \u25a0>:• . - :-:-,\u25a0'
I feebly, suggested vinegar made rrom
sweetened Oolong. tea, left to sour into
a thin acid. I also asked why a better
vinegar could not be made from v crush
ed and macerated cactus figs.
One of our invaluable Minnesota^ cor
respondents comes to V,he rescue with a
briff practical letter: ! . *:
Hero is a .=• most ' excellent recipe for
vinegar: -• \u0084 \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 ; .--.
fw. a quart* of molasses ' in \u25a0 a crock, \u25a0 ana
pour over it nine quarts I of : boiling rain
.water; let ell stand until mllkwarm; put in
• two quarts of red clover blossom* and two
cakes of yeast loam. Let this stand for two.
, weeks, and strain through a towel. Nothing
win mold in this - vinegar, -j If direction*
are carefully followed.. • - \u25a0 >'-- '_ /
I have made this vinegar : In . July,' and it
\u25a0was ready for. use in' two montns. I Wvt \u25a0
' never tried it without the clover blossoms.
- Mrs. W. A. R. v (Minneapolis).
Dyed Kid Gloves.
1. Kindly : inform' me through -your col-.
umns bow -to - dye - light - green . kid - gloves
-.black..' -\u25a0--':'. \u25a0. .\u25a0\u25a0; \u25a0\u25a0-;..?\u25a0*-. ,-\u25a0.•\u25a0• •",„,--.--
Z. How to remove ice I cream ' stains from
a white -v ash -silk waist, and also, how to
wash and Iron this garment. \u25a0 ' - •\u25a0.-. ./\u25a0'
'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0..' \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 v.. GIRL- (Chicago).
1. As Punch said' to young people who
meditated matrimony— DON ',T.
r , A dyed glove is always a* risk. :When
' done by an amateur, it is sure to be a
rank failure. -The black will Bmear your
: face , if you chance : to - be .warm \u25a0 and \u25a0 in
•' advertently \u25a0 raise youri hand "to ' moist
cheek or brow.' If your, hands perspire, ;
the dye strikes through the kid soften
ed by the second dyeing and stains your
skin ; purple. I \u25a0 have * seen < It, and know
thatmy advice is i sound.; v -: . .
2.\They will come out in the wash. Use
.borax soap ; wash ' quickly . in : cold .water, !
rinsing three, times to get the soap outj
dry . in the wind '- : and *.- iron \ while still
damp through a thin cloth.>^i'*-->;-..vj;*-- :
Another ; Bequest^ -for
.Will you forglve'another .woman (theTdoz-";
enth. I : verily Relieve) i who ; begs to . be • told
how - to . make M government \ whitewash? .1 ;
want to use It in my cellar and In my chick-! \u25a0
- en house. And . I have lost - the recipe 1?Be ,
; merciful! and next time I will keep It in my \u25a0••
Jewelry case. "\u25a0 R.-C."E. S (Nashville. Tern.) \u25a0-.
Luckily,ilihave»the-;formula at hand.
1 Luckily— because "such a* coincidence
-rarely. comes about.; :, . . --^
.^\u25a0".GDyern^ent
: ' Slake half 'a' bushel of ' lime with boiling" l '
* water; ' cover the ' process • to ' keep s In . steam : <"•?.
strain, the * liquid < through «a* fine r sieve ; or ;
\u25a0-. strainer, and add to '.It -one »peck-of ! Balt. ;:
. previously .- dissolved Sin- warm -, water; i three
pounds of ground rice -boiled to a thin paste
and stirred In 1 while > hot; * half » a : pound lof \
, bpan sn whiting, and one of glue/previously
dissolved by soaking In cold water*- and then
. hanging ;• over.-^ a -.. slow x flre $-• In \u25a0< a*. small '
pot. hung in a \u25a0 larger onei filled with water
Add five, gallons of hot waUr •\u25a0 to Uxm - mix- ' ••'
THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY" CALL;
MARION HARLAND
embittered a beverage that should
never have that peculiar "tang." If
poured into cups and brought into
the drawing room by the maid, it
cools in the passage. Have the
boiling water heated / in the kitchen
and/kept on the- bubble -over the
6piritlamp. . \>-',
Even better than • the alcohol
lure, etir well,- and' let it stand a lew days,
covered from the dirt. -It .should be applied
hot, for which purpose It can be , kept In a
. kettle or portable furnace. . v ,-'. ••\u25a0.- --\u25a0' \u25a0
A pint of this wash mixture. If properly
r applied, will cover one square yard. Col
orjng matter may be added, as desired. For ,
cream color, add \u25a0\u25a0 yellow ochre; for fawn,
add, proportionately, four • pounds of umber
to one pound of Indian red and * one pound
• of common lampblack; for common': stone
color, add. proportionately, four pounds , or
raw umber to two pounds of .lampblack.- .'.
A Commonsense Table - of : Measures.
Do all your housekeepers < keep < this table
/of. measures In the back of their favortw -
cook book? I do. Weighing is tedious, and
" should the <\u25a0 scales > chance - to \u25a0 be r "tin or
rusty, an : uncertain \u25a0 business. ; I cook cy ;
measure and have few failures, r I pass tn«
list over , to you \u25a0 for the common R ood -,_J \u25a0
A ST. 'LOUIB MEMBER.
First, : our Missouri' co-worker tells >in
what proportion :, ingredients are to^ be
put together to insure the best results:
1. One heaping teaspoonxui of baking pow
.-. der to two cups of Hour ' »". v \u0084 / - \u25a0 v- v: • -.'
2. One teaspoon: ul of cream of tartar and
. a half teaapoonf ul , of . «oda ; to two; cups 01
\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 flour.--' '\u25a0\u25a0-. \u25a0 . -\u25a0 • \u25a0 ••:>'•\u25a0-•• •\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0-- \u25a0\u25a0---\u25a0"\u25a0.• - .;\u25a0
3. One level f teaspoon! ul '- of "oda , to ; two •
j-cupa of ;molaeBes. . : • , '"J».^.»,
\u25a04. Four heaping teaspoonfuls of cornstarcn
to one quart of milk.: \u25a0„ , „ \u2666„ «
8. A little over an ounM of gelatine to a
. quart of liquid. \ './,<- ; - ; '3^^
Now as to her measures: .
\u25a0 1. bbctyarops equai one teaspoonfuL
2. Three teaspoonluls r> equal • on« : table
- spoonful. . ' .:\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0--- - ;.-\u25a0\u25a0: ' ' ••'\u25a0-\u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0'-
3. Four tablespoonfuls equal- a quarter ol
a cup, or half. a gill." ' V tv . "'>•_:
4. Elgnt rounded tabl«spoonfuls of dry
: material equal i one cupful. \u25a0\u25a0-«\u25a0 /
-\u0084 6. Sixteen : tablespoonfuls of : liquid , equal
one cupful. \u25a0 - : --s^sjfcßß^w^BJWNoJW
- : 6. One cupful of liquid equals two ffl'ls. or .
•\u25a0\u25a0'\u25a0 half a pint., : - 1 1 : -\u25a0*;.-;*•
7. One # heaping . tablespoonful of sugar
\u25a0.equals one ounce. .'\u25a0' -\u25a0' \u25a0 - _' lll l •\u25a0
.•: '. - •8. One -.heaping " tablespoonful of -butter •
equals two ounces.' . - : : .> V 7V 7
. 9. One cup of butter or. sugar equals one-
;half pound. ;'.:.\u25a0 \u25a0'\u25a0- .v. ~ \u25a0 \u25a0"-\u25a0\u25a0 , \u25a0 -''•-:\u25a0\u25a0 "•- V.
10. Two cups of flour equalone-half pound. 1 .
'-\u25a0 •- l.wish : i could ; present ' every 1 member
of our Exchange with a big,', framed and
- glazedf: card on « which % these M two lists
are ; printed ?\u25a0 in : ; capital i letters. ? ; VThey,
. should . have ] the I place lof j honor.- in , mix- -
I ing room lor I kitchen and ibe I committed
to the cook's memory, by tactful degrees..
Where Gasoline -Is a Godsend.
\u25a0 Will you kindly" tell one of your readers in
: i your* column how »ito " T rid v our> house .\u25a0 ana ?
clothes of.llceT.\We,found:them,ln our ser- .;.;
:,vant's \ rootn." and J now ' they 1 are all ' over <
\u25a0-\u25a0 the house.--. - ANXIOUS. (Philadelphia): -:
A ••loathly" *- visitation 1 -\u25a0:; Soak h every- ;
Mhing.ingasollheriusrngjtheinozzle-offa/
. syringe :. with ia T t fine ~ spray. I?. Take! one \u25a0
,;room at^aUime; lock'if.up|for K 'twenty
" four : hours ;; then =go 'in 1 ins the -daytime t
• and ' airi the 5 room. - * Beware ' of • artificial ;
lights in or near it until it is ventilated.
;.:'; ..'"> ; Cleaning a ' Dovm^ Quilt; ;,
: v Kindly i publish in" your valuable 'paper \u25a0 a
I recipe \u25a0 for cleaning a 1 down \u25a0 aullt /; and I oblige I
- HOUSEKEEPER - (Philadelphia). ( -,
I know of no way of ! cleaning it with-
burner is a neat
apparatus to be
bought at any
shop where, gas,
fixtures are sold — •
a set of gas' tips
6et in a circular
frame, and at
tached by a 'flexi
ble tube to chan
delier or bracket
burner. I have
made use of this
for several sea
sons to my entire
satisfaction, set
ting it upon a
marble-topped
stand near the
tea table; or,
if upon the latter,
in a large stone
china plate, lest
the heat should injure the cloth or
the surface of "the table. _
Prepare • sandwiches and cakes
early in the afternoon, set them
•upon the table and cover with damp
ened napkins to keep them fresh.
Do not make tea until visitors ar
rive, and never before 4 o clock.
Chat cheerily while you are prepar-
out emptying the cover and washing It
separately. • .
"s" s Rust Stains A
I have a white wash silk dress, and In
some unaccountable way I tot the skirt full
of stains, which I think are rust. Will you
kindly . tell • me whether you know of any
preparation ; that \u25a0 will take them out ? .
y- - • _,Q- T - JX. \u25a0 (Chicago).
Javelle water "and sunshine will ex
tract rust : if the process be .tried faith
fully ? and \u25a0>\u25a0 patiently. Rinse with pure
water after every- application, waiting
ten minutes to 'let the detersive "get in
its fine. work."
How to Clean ; Felt Hats.
A black felt hat may be cleaned with am
monia and warm water, but light hats must
be cleaned with oatmeal, heated and applied
\u25a0with a brush. A white felt hat is cleaned with
* equal parts of powdered pipe clay and flour.
\ Hub the powder over every part of the hat
S and then brush thoroughly. There Is noth-
RECIPES
Hard Soap.
. - (By request.) - i --
" HE ingredients are uiree pints of cold
' water, 3 one • can • of potash, one large
. tablespoonful -of \u0084 borax, \u25a0; on» small
cupful of ammonia.'. * •-«'*- : • :: \ . - .
Save every- little piece : of- grease or drip
pings, and when you have a flve-pound pall
of U. make the soap. .' Cut the potash In the
cold - water/. -~ Let *ft = cool. \ which . will -. tak»
about - an ;. hour.?. Warm '\u25a0'- the \u25a0 grease. • strain
through a clean cheesecloth and add: it, and
Btlr slowly until v. thick •\u25a0 as i honey. - Put' a
clean \u25a0 white.' cloth :In I the , bottom of an old
dripping c pan: * then < put , a - piece of \u25a0 thick
wrapping. paper over thei cloth/) Grease this
paper; j then, > when \u25a0 the - soap Is as thick- as
honey, » pour.' lt r in.i and when < hard ' cut : with
string for use. i- You will. be \u25a0. well repaid: for
making ; this ; soap, slt is \ good \u25a0; for , chapped
hands 1 and \u25a0 shaving, r My,- husband will use
no other. - - " Mrs.'L. E. B.
Pop-Overs.
-> Three I cups fof s flour.; three ; cups . of milk, '. ;
: three i eggs, < whites and -. yolks - beaten sep
arately *. and * very s light; i three ; teaspoon ruls
of tmelted sbutter," one aaltspoonful ot salt. ,
Pour iln nine : : - well-buttered \u25a0« cups -: of \u25a0• same/
size las 1 that 1 used - for measuring 1 and" bake
to a' fine brown.-. Eat as soon as done, with
sauce. \u25a0•..\u25a0\u25a0••'; :--, : -::^\ '-\u25a0-\u25a0'\u25a0- \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 .-\u25a0-\u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0\u25a0•..-\u25a0
Baltimore Fried Chicken.
Joint a. • tender '\u25a0 chicken " as for . fricassee;
flip I each piece \u25a0In beaten^ egg, then roll ' In
6alted cracker dust until' thoroughly coated.
Set aside for an hour before frying la fat to
ing and pouring 1 it out. If your
maid be presentable, let. her pass
cups and plates, or you may press a
young girl into service. The maid
removes soiled cups, etc., and brings
in cleanJ '
If you have musical friends upon
whom you can depend, and others
who recite or tell stories well, call
upon them once in a while to give
character to your pocket-edition
salon by the exercise of their tal
ents.
Zirst, last and all the time, make
it your study to please and inter;
est your guests and to find your
pleasure in the reflex action of their
enjoyment. People like to talk
of themselves, their own pur
suits, amusements and troubles.
She who never forgets this leading
fact, and acts tactfully upon it, is
pretty sure to be a social success
and to earn a reputation as a model
hostess. . - -^T,
ing better for cleaning light colored felt
hats which are only slightly soiled than dry
corr.meal rubbed on with a piece of clean
Cannel. R- F. (Baltimore. Md.).
' little German. Cakes.
We are indebted to one of our notable
company. of German housewives for the
following:
1 niii tell you bow to make deilcloua cake
for luncheon. When too much sugar is used
they do not 'get nice and pimply. In Uer
man. we say "pucklg." .
Ono egg; one-half egg shell of water; a
f>mch of salt. Mix in flour until the douga
3 like that for noodles; roll out. cut In
strips about four Inches locs and two inches
wide and cook in boiling lard. Then sprin
kle with - sugar. Will • not somebody try
them and , let me know -now they like
them? - . .•••:,"\u25a0•-
Now 'for the cake frosting, or icing: /.
- One-half pound of powdered sugar, or con
fectioner's: butter, size of a walnut; thra*
tablesooonfuls of warm .water: two table
spoonfuls of chocolate- H PRAU.
MARION HARLAND
a golden brown. B« sure to fry long enough
lor - the ' thickest pieces of chicken to be
cooked all the way ; through. After dlshins
the chicken, strain the fat again, stir in a
lump of butter rolled In flour, that has been
slightly browned, and, when It bubbles, a
small cup of. hot cream or milk to which a
pinch of soda has been added. 1 Stir for two
minutes to prevent scorching: add a table
spoon fut •of minced parsley and pour " over
the chicken.
Old-Fashioned" Pudding. :
One ,. quart oi ' milk, one quart of Indlaa
meal, < three eggs, three heaping tablespeon
fuls of sugar, • one teaspoon! ul of 1 salt and
one-half • pound of beef suet - chopped Into
powder. ,' Scald \u25a0 the milk r and > while bolllns
not stir In the meal 'and suet with the salt.
When cold, add the yolks, beaten light with
the sugar, - then \u25a0• the = whites. -• Dip your - bag
in hot water, flour It and fill half-full wtth
the > mixture, as It will ~ swell vary much.
Boll, five hours. • Eat-very hot.: with butter
and \u25a0\u25a0 sugar. - - This » pudding is even • better
when baked In a well-buttered dish for an
hour and a half.' Bake,- covered, for an hour
and a quarter," then -
Sponge Fritters.
Use - stale V sponge cake cut Into rounds
with -i a . cake cutter. Cut the cake • care
fully: and fry to a nice. brown in. deep fat.
Dip each slice for a. second -In a bowl or
boiling 1 rallk. \u25a0 draining this oft on the side
of the, vessel; lay on a hot dish and spread
thickly with strawberry. Jam, peach Jelly or
other delicate conserve. Pile them neatly
and serve hot. j Eat with cream.
SERVANTS'
DEVOTION
Some of the/Things Which
Make Her Life and
Yours Happier
Mary E. Carter
Copyright. 1306. by A. S. Barnes & Ca.
ONE of trie most attractive bed*
chambers that I ever saw as
signed to a household domes tic <
was in a very slrnple.inexpensivo
home of a young couple who were not
well off. according to the world's stand- •
ard. Their house was small and very
plain compared with. the average homes
of their friends and people of their cul
ture and standing. When I was there
they had but lately passed through
some trying financial struggles, and care
ful economy characterized their house
hold management in every department.
It was my good fortune to be taken over
that little home. What there impressed
me more than anything else was", the do
mestic's bedchamber.
I have, seen a great many rooms of
servants, many very nice ones, too: but
I was struck with that one as never be
fore in all my experience in mansions
palatial, handsome or ordinary. It was
as completely furnished as any one
could desire for making the toilet. The
floor was prettily carpeted: there was a
rocking chair, undoubted evidence that
the maid had time to sit down in her
own bedroom and enjoy it. The window
gave upon broad daylight., wtth nothing
to intercept the air or the light: the
shades and sash curtains were fresh and
dainty, and the entire room, with all its
appointments. Inviting enough to tempt
the most fastidious person.
A MODEL BOOM
It was not under a hot roof In summer,
neither was it cold in winter— the season
that I was there. It was quite as warm -
then as the room of the mistress of that
dear little home. In fact, that ser
vant's bedchamber was more comfort
able and far more attractive looking
than many rooms where decayed gen
tlemen and women are obliged to dwell
when hard luck compels them to take up
their abode in lodgings In a great city.
And that unpretentious home was in one
of the largest cities of these United
States, but, of course, not in an exjen- \u25a0«
sivc quarter. I had never before met
the mistress. I have never seen her ~
since, but 1 understood very well why
her one maid was devoted to her service
and ready to do anything for her.
The mistress had a sweet, generous na
ture not hypnotized -by what "other
people"* were willing or unwilling to do
for their domestics. She followed the
trend of her own kindly disposition, and
did her best for her servant's comfort.
And, the result was that, when I made
my call there, the maid was taking all
of her mistress' meals up to her of her
own accord, because she thought that
she was not strong enough to go up and
down stairs.
. In .remarking upon her servant's de
votion, the mistress did not seem to re
alize that she herself had evoked th»
best from her. by her own consideration
for her comfort and happiness while un
der, her roof. One who had gone to
her service a total stranger soon" be
came a loving, devoted handmaid and
the watchful guardian of her health.
INFLUENCES ALL GOOD
There is scarcely any one- so hope
lessly stack and degenerate as not to be
Influenced by Improved environment,
and there are few, however daintily
reared, so self-centred and established
In nice and orderly ways, who are not
apt to fall oft and go steadily downward
until they finally aro hardly recogniz
able by their old friends— lf they art
thrust away from ail of life's refine
ments. Most Improving influence often
reach us \u25a0 through what tha ey» rest*
upon; frequently they are more potent
than what comes to us through the ear. .
It is too tru«, I know full well, that -4
there are some young people who hay* |
been reared in luxury and who have al
ways been surrounded by beautiful
-things, who are yet shockingly care
less, even worse than untidy, in their
own apartments, notwithstanding they
appear in public remarkably well groom
ed. But this la no reason why others
who have never had a chance in life,
and have never known any but rough,
uncouth surroundings, should be forever
debarred from what might evolve and
develop the best that is in them.
This is not a pie? for giving luxuries
to servants. It is more a protest, by
contrast, against what has been the rula
regarding the sort of places too often
tl* ought "good enough, for them."
Finally, they ought to have some closet
norn and good locks and keys to their
bi reau drawers, their bedchambers and
to ' their closet doors. The: servant's
room Is "her castle"— it to the only
place that she may call her own. What
ever privacy she has must be secured
to her there. The fact that she is a
stranger and a sojourner In the house,
by courtesy, entitles her to these things.
A COMFORTABLE BED
It seems strange , that one must even
speak of the servant's bed > to say that
it should be good, in- every respect a
restful spot for a tired . body, pleasant .
to look upon and decent in all its ap
pointments.
\u25a0 Here is an unquestionable fact: People
who are constantly changing their ser
vants are those who show, them tittle or
no consideration at any v time, whether
it be in the character , of . the rooms
given- to. them.- or when they are about
their household work. But a pleasant
room will be of little avail to one kept
so steadily at work, .from rising 'until/
bedtime, that: she will feel, too ttretLsjtL.
wash f and dress herself in the after
noon,'or (to keep her sanctum in order;
or '-. who is too much hurried tr jm one
duty to another ever to find time to sit
down -. in : her room and. think her own
thoughts, ucalloytd with a mom c/
haste.