Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW. Or snow should so silently fall,- To strive to do right, to live true!" Then good-bye, Old Year full of failures, With records of folly and sin! And welcome to New Year's fresh gladnessAnd spotless white page to begin! We know we will mar it and blot it As snow is turned foul by earth's touchBut He who hath given new chances, Gives help,-and we know, forgiveth much. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. -Judith Spencer. HOW TO MAKE MONEY. A Series of Twelve Papers BY RUTH HALL. CHAPTER I-TALKS AND CLASSES. The genius of observation is almost the sum total of human genius.-Balzac. HERE is a real danger that fine sewing may become one of the lost arts, and that it will be with women as it is with men: only those whose whole trade it is can handily hold a needle. As women grow more and more like men in their attainments and professions, this may be a necessity of the change. Ready-made clothing, and even "mending and darning done" in some shops, helps all this along, as well as the multifarious other duties which press upon a little girl's attention, which absorb her later years, and which leave her as a woman, scant time and no knowledge to "take a stitch" for herself or for others. She, in her turn, is not competent to instruct her children, and so the evil expands, and has even now expanded, until one sees comparatively few any more who can do the exquisite handiwork which was common before the era of the sewing machine. Every mother is aware of this, and most mothers would be glad to have their small girls taught the mysteries of hemming, gathering and felling by hand. She who could teach them this should be able to turn her talents to quick account. A still more elaborate plan is that carried within the past year by a practical dressmaker. She gives a series of ten lessons, for five dollars a course, to a class to whom she imparts the art of cutting, fitting and putting various garments together. Anyone with any natural bent can carry on either of these ideas in other ways: first, by the securing unquestionable and painstaking information in any popular direction, and then giving it out again in the form of these classes. A dancing class or a whist class is a further possibility in these days, when everyone "wants to know, you know." The universal greed for desiccated information lends itself readily to all sorts of clubs, "talks" and lectures. A class for physical culture is always popular. A woman with a college degree, or a particular leaning towards some one branch of learning, can often secure pupils to tutor. Even a non-sectarian class for Bible study can be made to reap small profits from Sunday-school teachers, who often sorely deplore their meager knowledge of Scripture. One for the reading of Shakespeare, with drilling on elocution and pronunciation, has been found to succeed. Any number of simple courses of lessons may be given for children, those combining with them amusement or out-of-door exercise, as botany, geology, or bird-lore, proving most taking. A woman of cultivation and of recent social opportunities once earned considerable money in a community where her pretensions were celebrated. She first published an explanatory card in the local press setting forth what she intended to do. She proposed giving a course of familiar drawing-room talks on manners the etiquette of the street, of church, of letter writing, of paying visits, of various social functions, and of every-day life at home and at school. These were to be primarily for children and for young people, simply because, although this was not stated, she was sure that the parents would be too proud to confess their own need of them. This part was managed by each ticket admitting not only a juvenile but one adult friend. The lecturer knew that these elders would be glad to receive instruction that was not apparently aimed at them. She did not reckon without her host. Mothers were quite ready to send. their little ones and to accompany them. The course of procedure was according to the following pro-gramme. A question box was placed on the hall table, in which slips of paper were thrust bearing inquiries on any point of etiquette or fashion on which the anonymous guest desired enlightenment. These were read and answered at the next weekly meeting. Then the elegantly, though very quietly, dressed and queenly-looking speaker began her simple disserta-" tion on current blunders and the proper performance of the subject in hand. She touched upon trifles that even the best books on social usages do not make clear, and gave any new ideas or any of the season's caprices in style. With these were what might be called "standards" of conduct, painstakingly outlined for both girls and boys, so that each might clearly understand what Mrs. Grundy would have a right to expect under most circumstances that could occur. For example, some of the heads touched upon under manners in church were: the position in the pew, ungainly attitudes, listening to the sermon, kneeling, whispering and laughing, attention to strangers, staring at late comers, turning the head, etc. Special to boys: assistance with wraps, carrying prayer-books, etc. These lectures were rendered sprightly by the manner of delivery, and were interspersed with illustrations and amusing stories. It is difficult to make a monologue lively and entertaining. It is a requisite to her who would pose as a lecturer. If she possesses the inborn traits which go to make up a good conversationalist, study and practice will do the rest. Then she may give talks on personal beauty, or the care of the body (these invariably take, coming from a recognized authority), or on dress, or dress reform, although this last calls for an exceptionally pretty and graceful person to show forth the extreme ideas promulgated. As hinted before, grown people seldom like to acknowledge their ignorance of matters of etiquette, but "the latest thing," if delivered by one who knew, would be often found an attractive lecture. Health talks or lectures on sanitation include a topic in which all of us are interested. If one's subject is of so vital a nature that listeners would scarcely dare refuse the opportunity of learning something more about it, it naturally helps immensely to draw an audience. Any odd experience may be woven into a talk. Women I know have prepared chatty little accounts of visits to, respectively, Old Mexico, the Southwestern States and some out-of-the-way corners of Europe. These had a limited but decided vogue. A political question, or matter of research, or a general discussion, to last out the season, on what the papers are saying will almost always attract a number of hearers. Sometimes such subjects as civil government, a review of the administrations from Washington to Cleveland, the seal fisheries, Russia and the Nihilists, or Ireland and Home Rule any like matter of general or passing interest-will evoke attention if the lecturer is held in repute as authority. I dwell repeatedly upon this last clause; it cannot be too insisted to every woman who is choosing her way in the world of work. Nowhere does thorough information count for more than in the fashionable pursuit of talks and lectures. Any woman who is celebrated for her . specialty may exploit that in this direction. If, for instance, we are drawn towards the study of birds and their habits, we naturally wish to secure the assistance of some one among a half-dozen writers, several of them women, who have made little folks in feathers the object of their closest scrutiny. One of these women has gained all that she knows of the matter within comparatively few years and under the disadvantages of increasing age and flesh, which made investigation of exceptional difficulty. What such a person could do, any studious, strong girl with a modicum of time could far more easily acquire. If you have the talent for keeping your listeners' attention, see if, in the line of your literary preferences, there is not some important matter which may be "crammed" and absorbed, to be wrought into an entertaining lecture. Let it be so completely assimilated that you have it, as the common phrase says, at your fingers' ends. It should be to you what James Rus-ell Lowell said a poem was to him: "I wait for subjects that hunt me, Till they have made me into verse." With this thorough-going comprehension of the matter, "now's the day, and now's the hour" for such topics as "Children's Games," a research of their original meanings and corruptions; "Dreams and Visions," "Psychical Phenomena," and a long line of kindred investigations. With the idea in mind that the tendencies of the time should be viewed with an eye to one's profit from them, it may be well to note that anything about children is a fad at present, as is anything of the occult. Study clubs might be regulated, on the same lines, of the fancies of the passing hour. Languages, too, may be taught (I speak whereof I know) even by others than natives if what is called the Natural Method, now much in use, is adopted. This plan enables the learner to speak in the tongue learned from the first lesson, as a child does in beginning to talk. The pleasure and pride are so full in the continued and rapid progress in this respect that any bright woman who is a course or two ahead of her class, can bring them up to reading, writing and conversation, to their intense enjoyment of the process. Her private preparations should be diligently kept up, and she should not be over-ambitious in what she tries to impart. Within these limits one could prepare intending foreign travelers, or, after this preliminary drilling, read the classics of French, German or Italian literature with young students. A series of evenings" is pleasant, where nothing save the language to be acquired is spoken, where there is much bright description by the instructor on the customs, people, books and history of the people chosen, where national games are played, and dainty refreshments conclude the entertainment. This scheme is suggested partly for its oddity. It may not be amiss to again say that an original manner of doing an old thing is sometimes more effective than a novel plan. One notion, which in its entity is thus far peculiar to Germany, is the opening of a sort of domestic school for little girls, although not necessarily limited to their tender years, since their elders may well attend it also. This includes lessons in the varied data of feminine general requirements, from mending and keeping their clothes in order-the proper care of them, as well as their entire renovation-to all branches of cooking, and the superintendence and active labor called for in every room of the house. Some parts of this instruction are already given in this country in certain institutions, but nothing so complete, nor anything which can be so readily changed and molded to suit our national needs. The lack of knowledge on the part of the mistress as to how work should be done in detail is a conceded evil of the day and of the servant question that is forever cropping up and intruding itself into apparently foreign matters. Almost any mother, while bewailing her incompetency in teaching her daughters, would be delighted to have them taught the science of housekeeping, which otherwise they must painfully learn, as she has done, by the experience of mistakes. A parting word on this matter of lecturing may appear malapropos, yet it has its deep importance. Make your appearance as well as your talk attractive. Try to please the eye no less than the ear, not by overdressing, nor by affectations and posé attitudes, but by making the utmost best of your personality. In the covert (for, of course, it must not be obvious) endeavor to enchant, you will soon discover how essential this apparent unimportance was to your ultimate success. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. SARAH GRAND ABOUT WOMEN. OMEN are their own worst enemies just now. They don't follow their leaders loyally and consistently; they have little idea of discipline; their tendency is to go off on side issues, and break up into little cliques. They are largely actuated by petty personal motives, by petty jealousies, by pettiness of all kinds. One among them will arise here and there, and do something great that is an honor to them all; but they do not honor her for it-perhaps because something in the way she dresses, or some trick of manner, does not meet with the approval of the majority. Women are forever stumbling over trifling details; to prove themselves right pleases them better than to arrive at the truth; and a vulgar personal triumph is of more moment than the triumph of a great cause. In these things they are practically not a bit better than men. They seem worse in fact, because we expect so much more of them in the way of loyalty and disinterestedness, and their power is so much greater, too, in social matters; when they misuse it, they do much more harm. This will not always be so, of course. As their minds expand, they will see and understand better. At the present they do not know enough to appreciate their own deficiencies-they do not measure the weakness of the vacillations by comparing it with the steady strength of purpose that prevails; and, for want of comprehension, they aim their silly animadversions to-day at some one whose work they are glad enough to profit by to-morrow; they make the task of a benefactress so hard that they kill her, and then they give her a public funeral. I pity them. -The Beth Book. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. TEDDY'S ANSWER. Teddy and Freddy were talking. "I wonder where God is," they said. "I think that He's very far off in the sky Where no one can find Him," said Fred. "Oh, I think that He's right here and near us And thinking about us," said Ted. "For you know He's so kind and so loving, I think That He's every one's Grandfather, Fred!" -Jane Gray. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. NOVEL READING FOR THE YOUNG. Some of the Dangers of a Too Free Indulgence in This Most Fascinating Pursuit. a necessary passport for one who would join the ranks of educated and intelligent readers. The influence for all that is good in literature and morals, that a pure, high toned and high-class work of fiction has, cannot be too highly estimated. As for the enjoyment of those who revel in these elysian fields, words quite fail in the effort to do it justice. But for all the benefit and pleasure which accrue from this most delightful of pursuits, it is to the reader of mature mind alone, to whom this treasure hoard should be freely opened. That its free indulgence by the young should not be permitted can easily be seen. But little reflection is needed to show the reasons for it. Indeed the reasons are many, but perhaps the one of paramount importance is that the novel gives false ideas of life. At least the proportions are a little out of drawing. For instance the majority of novels deal with the subject of love. Now love is indeed the "greatest thing in the world," to quote our lamented and beloved Drummond, but it is not love in the generic sense, which is treated so exhaustively, but it is the special manifestation of the love of man for woman, and of woman for man. It is true that there is no subject which appeals more to the human heart and interest than this, yet it is a mistake for a young person to gain the idea that this is all there is of life, and that everything else is dwarfed into insignificance beside it. Many noble and happy lives are passed without it, and while it is a paramount feature in the life of the majority of men and women, yet even with them, other interests play a large part. It is not the whole of life, though the young novel reader not unnaturally comes to think so. It is eulogized to the detriment of all other affections. It is true we have the Bible command that for this cause man should "leave father and mother," and where he has indeed found his heart's mate, the complement of his soul, we do not question that he should throw all minor considerations to the winds. But it is to be noted that it is not always the other half of his very self that the lover has found, though he may fancy so. No, it not infrequently happens that the young man, or it may even be the lady, despite the poet's tribute to the constancy of the fair sex, having been crossed in love, finds a new object upon whom to pour the heart's affections, and in a very short time too. Sometimes but a few months elapse before a cure is effected in this way. It seems a pity that in a case so easily remedied, a father and mother should be defied and estranged, and one of the sweetest and tenderest of human relationships severed. In place of this, it would seem better that a few sleepless nights, and a week or two of desolating grief should sweep over the victims' heads. Love is a sacred thing. It is all a part of the same divine flame, and filial and parental love have their claims, which the ordinary novel is inclined to disregard. The story writer treats the passion of his lovers as an enduring emotion, fixed, unchanging, unalterable. Such constancy exists, but it is not the rule, as all must agree. Think of the men in the world of fiction, who pass through life alone and unconsoled because refused by the women they love. Now as every lovely heroine refuses several eligible men, and as most of these suitors never love again, the inconsolable bachelors are numerous in the novel world. In real life there are actually very few. Even if the rejected suitor fails to find another to rival his first love, he simply modifies his ideal, marries some girl who is fond enough of him to make up for other deficiencies, and settles down into a comfortable, easygoing family man. His regrets for his lost love are very few, if any. His business, his favorite interests, his surroundings, prospects, all play a part, and a very important one, which the novel does not recognize. This is natural enough from its scope and purpose, and the adult reader understands this. boys and girls do not. They know nothing of life itself. It is all vague and unreal. The older people throw little light on the subject. They are too busy living to talk about it. It is fact not theory, doing not talking which occupies them. The child's ideas are gained largely from books. His mind is filled with his own absurd and illogical views of life. He has no means of knowing its realities. His mental pictures are far from accurate, and this is to be expected. So long as they are pure and wholesome, there is no actual cause for alarm. They will learn soon enough, we may say, that love making is not the occupation of life. That is true enough, but for all that, the sentimental and high-flown notions which many young girls get from novel reading are harmful in more ways than one. The stilted language of the earlier novels no longer exists. The lovely Amandas swooning on the bosoms of their Lord Mortimers have gone never to return, but the conversation of our heroes and heroines, though changed in character, is in many cases hardly more realistic. The words are no longer polysyllabic. The sentences are less involved. The wealth of attempted imagery and poetry which adorned every conversational effort is disappearing. In its place we have the terse, epigrammatic style. To the ordinary lover, these latter-day verbal pyrotechnics are hardly less difficult of achievement than the flowery discourse of earlier times. As a rule when we feel most deeply, it is most difficult to express ourselves fluently. The eloquence of the lover of the novel is the result of the careful study of the author, who, seated quietly at his desk, uses all his ingenuity, thought and skill to make his hero's remarks brilliant and effective. But the lover in real life is embarrassed and diffident. He stammers and halts, hesitates and stops, though where his fair inamorata is ready to see his meaning, she usually succeeds in understanding him. Still, many a silly girl compares her awkward, blushing admirer very unfavorably with these elegant courtiers of fiction. And, indeed, even the roughest and rudest of "paper" creations gives us unexpected touches of eloquence. In simple, manly words, he tells the girl of his heart that it is the purity of her soul, the elevation of her mind, the nobility of her character, etc., which appeals to him, and that she will ever be his inspiration, the lodestar of his existence, etc., etc. Our simple little novel reader expects that her Thomas will surely give some tribute to her charms, but his panegyric consists of the eloquent language of the eye and arm and lips, perhaps. These are all convincing in most cases doubtless, still the incense offered by the lover of the printed page is not to be despised and would add to the situation. Possibly no girl would admit it, but the fact undoubtedly remains that she who has derived her views largely from novels has many a disappointment to meet, and many illusions to overcome. It is true that no irreparable injury may be done by the false ideas which excessive novel reading gives rise to, but no good can result from distorted or illproportioned views of any sort. For this reason alone, even if there were no others, the young should be guarded from the danger, and defer until later in life the free indulgence of this most fascinating pursuit. -Josephine Martin Sanford. Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. SINCE MOTHER WENT. The old home's mighty lonesome now-it ain't wnat one would call A home, just like it used to be, 'fore mother died last fall; There's nothin' like it used to be about the dear old place, Yes, home is mighty lonesome now-deserted, sad an' drear, The sweetness of the long ago, the brightness of the May Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. OYSTERS As they are Served in Maryland and Virginia. IT is well known that oysters have been highly esteemed as luxuries from the earliest times. The Romans, indeed, those masters of the world and of the gastronomic art, considering no feast complete without them. And yet they with all their wealth of resource were unable to partake of their favorite dainty, as it may now be obtained by the humblest citizen of the United States. In fact the discovery of America and the discovery of the oyster in its acme of perfection may be considered as contemporaneous, for in no other country is it to be found so large, so deliciously flavored and above all so cheap as here. Visitors to our Atlantic seaboard are frequently struck by these facts, as well as by the incredible extent to which the tempting bivalve is consumed even among our poorer classes. Lord Morpeth described New York as the place where every man ate oysters all day and all night. Charles Dickens, also, in both of his visits to this country bore special witness to the superior size, excellence and universal popularity of American oysters. In his description of an American dinner in "Martin Chuzzlewit," he says: "The oysters, stewed and pickled, leaped from their capacious reservoirs and slid down by scores into the throats of the assembly." It is not, however, in New York or along the more northern Atlantic coast that oysters are known and understood at their best, but in that storehouse of nature's most choice dainties Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. There where they are culled fat, well grown, finely fleshed, and delicious from the beds as wanted can their superiority only be fully recognized, and here, too, will be found the most approved methods of enhancing or preserving that superiority in the cooking and serving. A few of these ways are given herewith and will be found well worth the trial: Old Virginia Oyster Soup. Take two quarts of good oysters and wash them through two waters. Strain the liquor and add to it four blades of mace, some celery chopped fine, a teaspoonful of black pepper, a little cayenne pepper and salt if necessary. Let it simmer over the fire five minutes, then add a quarter of a pound of butter rubbed smooth with two tablespoonfuls of flour and three pints of rich cream and new milk, half and half. Let it come to a good boil, stirring all the time, then put in the oysters and let them boil up once, no more or they will shrivel up and be tough. Remove the oysters put them in a tureen and pour the soup over them. Shirred Oysters. Separate the oysters from the liquor, put the liquor in a stewpan, add one pint of water, a wineglassful of cream, a lump of butter the size of an egg and pepper, salt and bread crumbs or small crackers to taste. Let all boil together, then add the oysters and let them cook until thoroughly heated. Fried Oysters. Select only the finest and largest oysters, drain them and dry gently with a soft white cloth. To one quart of oysters have ready three eggs well beaten and mixed with an equal bulk of the richest cream. Season with pepper and salt to taste, and dip the oysters carefully into the mixture one by one. Also, have ready the heart of a fresh homemade loaf well crumbled after first being thoroughly dried in the oven. Remove the oysters from the eggs and roll them carefully in the bread crumbs so that each one will be thoroughly encased. Manipulate each carefully and daintily so that all shall come out as short, plump and smooth as possible. Now lay aside in a cool place for half an hour, then fry in the best olive oil that must be boiling hot before the oysters are put in. Fry a rich golden brown, not too dark or they will become tough, and the oyster flavor in a measure destroyed. When done remove quickly with a skimmer, drain thoroughly and serve garnished with parsley and slices of lemon. Oyster Loaf. To the oyster lover the present recipe will prove a revelation of gastronomic enjoyment. It is a favorite method of preparing oysters in the South, and can be made so quickly it should prove a boon to those housewives whose husbands are given to bringing home guests at unexpected times "to get a bite to eat." A Vienna loaf of bread is to be preferred as it is nearly all crust. Cut off the top of the loaf and scoop out the interior leaving it like a box. Fill the space with oysters and sprinkle some of the crumbs of bread you took from the loaf on top of them. Season with pepper and salt to taste. Replace the top of the loaf, and put the whole in a dripping pan and pour some of the liquor of the oysters over it. Put it in a hot oven and allow it to bake fifteen minutes, being careful not to let it remain in long enough to scorch or burn. Serve hot and cut as for slicing. Some people like the addition of lemon juice as a seasoning. Oyster Pattles. (Old Virginia Recipe.) Make some rich puff paste and bake it in very small patty pans. When cool turn them out upon a large dish. |