Perhaps I should make an exception here in regard to the darkened parlor that was the pride of our grandmother's heart. Never, except on Christmas or some equally rare occasion, were we granted free access to this room, although we were welcome to do as we would with the rest of the house. With all her love for us, our grandmother could not rise above the custom of her day and. generation of keeping a room sacred to the use of occasional company or great events, as weddings, funerals, or certain holidays.

The very restrictions placed upon us in regard to this room, made it all the more desirable; and although the hours we spent within it were few and far between, they were sufficient to impress upon my childish mind many of its special features. I remember that on the north side there were two long "cupboards," reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The shelves of these cupboards contained many articles too precious to be kept anywhere else. Among them were our grandfather's books, a bandbox containing our grandmother's best bonnet and cap, and some curious china that was, I know not how old. I remember one piece in particular, a square, brown earthen milk pitcher with a short spout. A long, lean dog of the hound genus, formed the handle, and we used to wonder if he didn't get tired standing there day after day with his toes just touching the pitcher, and his hungry eyes looking down into it from over the top, for the milk he never saw much less tasted.

Across from these two cupboards, in the space between the windows, stood a “what-not,” and it was this that fascinated us most. On it there were some curious shells, some books with titles we could not pronounce, some crocheted mats, and various little trinkets, among which was my special admiration a china match safe. The lower part of this was square like a box, while the upper part could be lifted off. This upper part represented a placid looking youth with his arm about a sunbonneted figure wearing a blue dress and long white pantalets. This interesting couple were seated together on a rustic bench, on the back of which was perched a deformed yellow "dove," at least we children called it a dove, although its color was like a canary, and its form like that of a hawk.

Little Alice liked better a china shepherdess, called for some unknown reason, "Betsy Bean ;" and although she is now a woman, I fancy she has never quite outgrown a tender feeling for this old favorite ; for not long ago I saw in a little box, the contents of which she treasures because of their associations, this same poor old "Betsy Bean," broken and battered it is true, but the same simpering beauty that smiled at us from the polished shelf of the old “whatnot," some family portraits, a slippery haircloth sofa, some equally uncomfortable chairs, a shining round table, on which reposed the beloved family Bible, a carpet gay with roses, white curtains with lambrequins at the top-all these made up the prim, dark, old-fashioned parlor.

It is a relief to close the door upon it and picture to ourselves the cozy "sitting room," with its deep window seats filled with plants. Among these plants was a "crab" cactus that had a pleasant way of blooming just at Christmas time, and was older by some years, than any of us were. On a summer day this room was almost as charming as the old garden itself. An Æolian harp was fastened in one of the windows, and its sensitive strings responded to the softest breeze. There was a great fireplace, some comfortable chairs, and an old eight-day clock, that ticked so loudly, it was quite frightful to be alone with it. If I could only make you see some of the things connected with this old house, as memory brings them back to me! I would show you the dining room with its long table where we all gathered at Christmas-the table that somehow was always large enough to accommodate every one of us.

I would like you to see the kitchen where we held so many "taffy pulls" and frolics, and the long porch back of the kitchen. There was a woodshed on one side of the porch, and it was here that we found old Tabby one day purring over five little spotted kittens that she had found somewhere. A few weeks later we solemnly "baptized" these kittens in a kettle of water, disregarding with the thoughtless cruelty of childhood their pitiful wailings, until our grandmother came to their rescue.

If I could make you see it all as I do now, we would ascend the stairs and peep into the bedrooms with their quaint old-fashioned furniture. We would linger longest in our grandmother's room, and perhaps we would investigate the high old chest of drawers in the corner. We would find a little box in one of the drawers containing the portrait of a fair little girl, dressed in the costume of a century ago. Who would ever guess that our grandmother was once that same little girl?

But, alas! You cannot see it all as I do, because you did not like me, spend a happy childhood within the old brick house. Perhaps some day, however, I will tell you of the big garret, where we spent our rainy days masquerading in the costumes of our -Martha Dean.

ancestors.

Compiled for GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

UNADULTERATED HOUSEHOLD SPICE. Men want spiritual food much more than they want sugar and coffee.

Godliness is as profitable for the life that now is as for that which is to come.

Sensitiveness is a natural quality. We cannot destroy it if we would, and we would not if we could.

We fence off our Christianity, and deem it meet to drape ourselves in ghostly garb when we enter the sacred enclosure.

The man who goes to church once on Sunday lifts up his. voice in favor of church-going just as loudly as he who goes four times.-Gail Hamilton.

Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

LITTLE FOXES,

And How They Work Mischief.

LONG with a few more prevailing fui de siecle habits that are not an improvement on those in vogue a century ago, is the habit so many women have of contracting small debts. They seem to think that in some way it adds to their social status to say with a groan and in a tone of mock sorrow, "O, my bills, I am sure my allowance won't reach this month." And then without a tinge of remorse tuck the various bills out of sight and straightway forget all about them; meantime the grocer, the ice man, the washerwoman, the dressmaker, all must deny themselves necessities to grant my lady her luxuries. Therein lies the secret; the money given to Madam Aby her husband to run the household and cover needful expenses is frequently put into one handsome piece of bric-a-brac, a bargain in furniture, a jewel, or a new and needless bonnet, trusting to luck to get the money for unpaid bills at some future time.

Now Mr. Grocer has a bill to pay and finds it hard to collect the cash. He doesn't dare dun Madam A-, or even politely remind her, for fear she will take umbrage and transfer her custom to some rival. The washerwoman's rent is due, and she dare not hint of the back pay belonging to her. The dressmaker must bow and smile and continue to make expensive gowns for the madam without the ghost of a suggestion that she needs money. This habit of laying bills aside until some convenient time, by people who could manage better if they tried, is very hard on tradespeople; and this want of consideration; this selfishness on the part of a great many women is very hurtful to those doing business on a small capital, and frequently cramps those doing business on a larger scale.

Would that all women had the spirit of a certain widow who was left with a family of small children to rear and educate on a very limited income. She was

a woman of culture, and had been accustomed to all the refinements of wealth. In after years, when her children had grown to manhood and womanhood, and were a credit to her and to the society in which she moved, a friend asked her this question: "Margaret, how did you manage to bring up your children so well on such a small income?”

"Well, I'll tell you," she frankly replied, “when I could afford to buy butter, we ate it, and when I couldn't afford to buy it, we did without!"

There is the keynote to a sensible woman's success, the art of doing without!

Like Miss Wilkins, I would like to paint a pen portrait of one of my neighbors, a sensible woman, a bright, brainy, cheery, contented woman who lives as well on her husband's small salary as many women do on twice the amount. While conversing with her one day on how to live within one's income, I said:

"My dear Mrs. B- at the risk of being thought impertinent, I am going to ask you how you do it?" "Do what?" she asked.

"Do a host of things," I answered, “on a little money; dress yourself and children in such nice style, keep your house so well furnished; your table well set with good viands; and in fact live as well as any one in the neighborhood."

"I have two rules," she replied, "one is, 'Practice strict economy,' and the other is, 'Pay as you go.' It is the habit of having things charged that eats into one's income for then one buys much more than is needed. I pay cash for my groceries and provisions; my dry goods and all necessary things are paid for when bought, and at the end of the month my postman's hand is not made weary bringing me dunning letters and long standing bills. Perhaps I am peculiarly constituted," she added, "for I have a perfect horror of debt. I positively revel in the idea that I can look all the people with whom I trade squarely in the face and say to myself: I do not owe you a penny."

"Don't you find it hard always to pay cash?" I asked.

"Sometimes I do," she replied, "particularly if I see some odd curio that would look well in my cabinet; some little gem of a water color; a piece of old lace, that I might get for a bargain, or rare bit of china; oh, yes, it is hard to pay cash at all times to the baker, the butcher, the candlestick maker, but I think it is only right that they should be paid, and so I make a strenuous effort. You must know," she smilingly continued, "I have a banking system of my own which I mean to have copyrighted. In an upper bureau drawer I have five or six little toy banks. One is marked, 'Servant's wages;' another, 'Church dues;' a third, Benevolent objects;' a fourth, ‘Medicines and doctor;' and a fifth, ‘Unex

pected expenses,' and so on. When I get my allowance a certain sum is put into these banks, and although I am frequently tempted to break one or all of them to gratify some selfish whim, I generally manage to resist the temptation, for that is the only system by which I can keep square with the world and manage, as you are pleased to term it, in so admirable a manner."

Compiled for GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

-Margaret Prescott..

IT IS A SOLEMN FACT That it is easy to fall into a trap, but hard to get out again.

That ten minutes added to the little nap of an uneasy sleeper is time well spent.

That there are those who have robbed and rioted on: ill-gotten gains, who are oft the readiest with their gifts. to charity.

That there would seem to be but one field which woman may not cultivate hopefully and gracefully-that of the football game-but time makes such fearful changes that there may perhaps yet be a "good time coming" in this line.

Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

THE SCIENCE OF A COAL FIRE. A Few Simple Rules Founded on General Principles. HEN people begin to burn hard coal they usually go through a series of perplexities and mishaps which may be escaped by observing a few simple rules founded on general principles. Gas escaping from the fire into the rooms of the house; explosions and the bursting of flame and smoke into one's face upon opening the door of the stove or heater need not occur; the escape of gas up the chimney should not be allowed, as this is a serious loss of fuel. First-As soon as a suitable quantity of good kindlings are burning so as to produce a good flame apply coal enough to make a base for the fire after the kindlings shall have been consumed, but not enough to smother the flame. The heat beneath freshly applied coal generates gas; a flame supported by a small direct draft of air should come at once in contact with this gas, then a blue flame will creep over the surface of the coal and the gas will be burned, greatly economizing the fuel and saving the annoyances referred to above. The next application of coal should be made as soon as that first applied is well ignited, and with the same precaution as to quantity, though now a portion of the fire may be completely covered if the coal slopes down towards a brisk fire which is not covered; the gas will generate first from the thin layer of coal at the bottom of the slope; the fire not covered will ignite this gas and the blue flame will gradually creep up the slope; when this slope is well ignited coal may be applied, forming a slope in the opposite direction.

By covering the fire all out of sight a reservoir of gas is obtained, filling the open space above the coal; some of this gas may escape into the house, some of it may pass up the chimney and be lost, but when the fire has burned up through the freshly applied coal and comes in contact with this reservoir of gas the most natural thing in the world under the circumstances is an explosion, which is the cause of fire and smoke bursting into one's face on opening the door onto the fire at this critical time.

Every stove or heater designed for burning coal should have a slide opening in or near the door, or in a kitchen stove or range just under the top, in front, to admit air; when these openings are not provided, the door of the heater or top of the range should be left just enough open to admit the necessary air.

Chemistry teaches that oxygen is a strong supporter of combustion. Gas burns only as the flame is supported by the oxygen of the atmosphere, otherwise the flame of the gas burner would follow down through the pipes to the main reservoir. If a hot

fire is desired after the gas has burned out of the coal the direct air draft may be closed.

To replenish a low fire apply only a little coal and give a strong draft; do not shake or poke a low fire, though it may be well to gently remove ashes which obstruct the draft. If the fire is quite low apply a little charcoal before adding the hard coal. For heating purposes best results are obtained by keeping a liberal quantity of coal burning, regulating the heat by the draft.

To run the heater with only one application of coal per day will usually result in a shivering for the first few hours, with the evils of an atmosphere polluted with gas while the dull fire is warming up the coal, and then in having more heat than is desirable, an economy of care and labor at the expense of fuel, comfort and health. -Ethan Brooks.

Original in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

A PRETTY RUG.

HENILLE rugs combine beauty and durability, and are so economical that they commend themselves to the thrifty housewife. Select soft woolen material, either dress goods or knit underwear, from the pile of cast-off garments, and cut in bias strips one inch wide. Gather the strips lengthwise through the middle, using a coarse needle and No. 8 thread. It will not be necessary to sew the strips together; simply lap the edges and gather through them, twisting the roll as you go. When one thread is full, tie on another, and proceed until you have all you need. Much of the beauty of the rug depends upon the colors used, and if the goods are faded, as they are likely to be, dye them the colors you wish with Diamond dye. Roll these gathered strips into balls and send them to a carpet weaver, whose charge for weaving and chain will not be more than twenty-five cents per square yard. It does not resemble ordinary carpet weaving, as the chain sinks into the rags and does not show. Use some dull color for the middle and

bright colors for the border. If you prefer a hit or miss center, collect all the small pieces you have, cut into strips and lay in a pile by themselves. When you have enough, mix them well and sew them. The shorter the strips and the greater the variety of colors, the prettier it will be. Have the border of some plain color. Heavy crocheted fringe made of carpet chain or colored cord should be placed across the ends. -E. J. C.

Selected for GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

SOCIAL HOMES, AND BLESSINGS FOR DAILY USE. When wealth has been won, our power to enjoy it is past, and it goes into the hands of children whose industry and enterprise it kills and whose best life it spoils.

It is not often that great accumulations of wealth do anybody good. They usually spoil the happiness of two generations-one in the getting, and one in the spending. J. G. Holland.

LEASURES

Looking for Flaws.

Don't look for the flaws as you go on through life,
And even when you find them

It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind
And look for the virtue behind them.
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
Somewhere in the shadows hiding;
It is better by far to look for a star
Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away

To the bosom of God's great ocean;
Don't set your force 'gainst the river's course
And think to alter its motion.
Don't waste a curse on the universe-

Don't shrink at the trials before you;
Don't butt at the storm with your puny form,
But bend and let it go o'er you.

The world will never adjust itself

To suit your whims to the letter; Some things must go wrong your whole life long, And the sooner you know it the better.

It is folly to fight with the infinite,

And go under at last in the wrestle.

The wisest man shapes into God's plan
As the water shapes into a vessel.

Alaskan Matrimony.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

WE HAVE NOT KNOWN a great deal about the life, people and habits of that great American territory, Alaska, though it has been so long a part of our country. The gold findings in that region have drawn special attention to the Alaskan as a class, and the following facts regarding matrimonial matters there will be read with interest: Wooing and wedding in Alaska among the natives are interesting and peculiar rites. When a young man is of a suitable age to marry, his mother, his aunt or his sister looks up a wife for him. He seldom marries a woman younger than himself; she is much older, and sometimes is double his age, and even more. She is selected from a family whose position equals his or is even higher. When a suitable woman is found the young man is asked how many blankets and animal skins he is willing to pay

for her. When this important question is settled, a feast is arranged in the home of the bride and the friends of both families are invited. When the company is assembled the woman's people extol the greatness of their family. The young man's marriage gifts are spread out where they will make a fine show, and then his family sound their praises. The ceremony lasts from one to two days, and finally the young bridegroom takes his wife to his own abode.

"JOHN has broken the record," said the proud father. "I expect so," said his mother resignedly. "He's broken the front gate, and three places in the hedge, and the cat's back, and the croquet set, and his collar bone, since he began to ride, and I'm prepared for anything."

Finishing Mahogany.

IT SOMETIMES becomes necessary to resurface old furniture, and the average housewife is not always certain how best to accomplish the desired purpose. Where there is mahogany which requires such dressing, these instructions are given: After it has first been scraped off and sand papered smooth, apply a coat of furniture oil (linseed oil, turpentine spirits and Japan mixed will answer), which let stand over night. In the morning hunt up the finest red brick you can, hammer it into a powder, which put in a cotton stocking and sift over the work. Then wrap a square block of iron or wood in a piece of carpet and rub the brick dust powder with it, rubbing the way of the grain of the wood, backward and forward, till a good gloss appears. If not sufficient, or if the grain remains at all rough, repeat the powdering, being careful not to sift too much dust, as this and the oil should form a paste. When the surface is perfect, clean it off with a wad of carpet, and, if you can get it, some fine mahogany dust. The surface made by this process improves with wear.

To clean soft mahogany and other porous woods first scrape off and sandpaper in the usual way, then wet the surface with a sponge of water. This will

raise the grain of the wood, which can be cut away with pumice stone (fine lump), rubbing the wood in the direction of the grain and keeping it moist with water. Let the work then dry. Then wet again and rub. Repeat the process until the surface becomes perfectly smooth and the texture of the wood much hardened. If this should not prove satisfactory try pumice stone (lump) and raw linseed oil. This will give a durable face to the work, which then may be polished or varnished.

MAY-What did papa say when you asked him for my hand?

Cholly-I didn't hear him say anything.
May-How was that?

Cholly-I was too busy dodging!-Town Topics.

Baby's Eyes.

THE ALARMING prevalence of defective vision among children gives importance to every helpful suggestion regarding care and conservation of the eyesight. In the case of infants, there is quite possibly room for material increase of thoughtfulness among mothers and nurses. A learned and observant woman, in a recent lecture in one of the larger cities, on the care of the eyes, in young and old, made these pertinent suggestions regarding young children: "Great care and attention should be given to the eyes of the new-born infant to insure proper cleansing. Eye difficulties in adult life frequently result from a neglect then and during the first year of babyhood. Toys should not be suspended too near baby's eyes, nor should the light be allowed to shine directly into them. The hood of the carriage should have a dark lining. The babe should not be allowed to look backward over its head."

EVERY DAY in the advancement of the world makes it harder for a young man to achieve success in life when encumbered by bad habits.

The Coming Man.

THE QUESTION of drunkenness or sobriety in an employe is year by year assuming greater importance. The more responsible requirements of these later times makes a new phase in the temperance question. Rapid transit and rapid pretty much everything annihilate time and space, and they have also the liability to annihilate a great deal of human life. Those who direct these things, they who are in immediate control, must have clear heads, sharp eyes, and strong arms. There is no place of responsibility in which a drunkard or tippler can by any moral right be put. In discussing this matter, a recent writer says very pertinently, and speaking the sentiments of all thoughtful persons: The conviction is deepening, among employers and laborers equally to dismiss inebriety from the problem of employment, wages, and labor. Each side plainly see the injury -the damage to all parties imposed by the inebriate.

The day is coming and must soon come, when sobriety will stand first among the titled qualifications of labor. So many men work among machines that drunkenness is inconsistent with their own safety; so many work in places which involve the safety of others, where drunkenness cannot possibly be tolerated. A drunken man may wreck a train simply because he is drunk. He may destroy property because he is drunk and make a drunken blunder with machinery. Human liberty does not include the privilege of drunkenness in places where human life or property is at stake or dependent upon the mistakes of an alcoholized brain. Drunken clergymen or those who drink are seldom seen in these days. Drunken doctors above all should not be tolerated. by the public. Drinking locomotive engineers certainly are dangerous men. No penalty can be too great for a company which knowingly employs drinking men in places where their responsibility involves human life. In fact, all such men should be cured of their inebriety or discharged, and no such person should be given employment unless he has a clean bill of health in relation to inebriety.

THE ICE CREAM sold in the streets of London is found to contain 7,000,000 microbes to each centimeter. Science shows that more than 1,000,000 microbes to the centimeter are unhealthy. The only safe plan is to count them before eating.

Why it THE THIN glass tumblers, which have Happens. recently become quite the fashion in this country, have developed the rather unpleasant habit of surprising many a housekeeper by cracking suddenly while standing on the shelves. It has needed ocular demonstration, says Cassier's Magazine, to convince some housekeepers that tumblers could behave in this manner. When one of these tumblers is found cracked, the first thought is that a careless servant must be in fault. Hot water or rough handling was always the cause of the breakage of the old-fashioned flint glass goblets. The difference between the old and the new kinds of tumblers seems to be in the haste with which the latter is prepared, thus necessitating a very short stay in the annealing furnace. The molecules of the glass in this case have no chance to arrange themselves in lines of least strain, so that every new-fashioned tumbler is filled with torsion stresses tending to fracture its substance with any slight external aid-as, for example, the cool air from an open window striking the proximate sides of the tumblers set on a diningroom table. Of course, the advantage of using the new kind of tumblers is that their cost is only onefifth or one-sixth of the old kind. Looking at the matter more broadly, the tendency of the new glasses to spontaneous fracture is only another illustration of crystalline degeneration. Herbert Spencer, in perhaps the most fascinating chapter on evolution which he has ever written, points out that all substances which have been rendered colloid by the application