Democratic Press, Volume 1, Number 18, Decatur, Adams County, 14 February 1895 — Page 7

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CHAPTER X Cotit in ur<l. The night was balmy, but the great heat of the day had passed. ‘How delights 1 is this driving aliout in open carriages in the evenings.” exclaimed ‘ eraldine. bounding up the step. ‘‘We never drive after dinner in Scotland. 1 wonder why.-” "The evenings are seldom warm enough,” replied Bellenden. standing by the door for granny had not yet ?ome out. “You have not many evenings like this at inchmarew.” "But they are warm enough for l»oatmg—or. at least we go. whether it is warm or not,” said she. laughing. "Not clad like this, ’ and he glanced »t the soft white cambric donned for her aunt's party, and considered suitable to end the dav in, the while, in his mind's eye, he beheld the roughest, warmest, thickest of serge frocks over which even ado ible-folded plaid had not been unwelcome. “Don't you remember." he added and as he' spoke he looked her fully and bodlv in the face, "don't you remember how cold it grew, and how you shivered and trembled that night-” Granny came out ere he had an answer. Granny was much pleased with her entertainment. The scene altogether was as novel to her us to Geraldine, for there hail been noth.ng of the kind in her young days, and she looked and wondered, and admired, and trotted hither and th ther. and gave herself up so entirely to the enjoyment of the evening, that she, too. once more became the granny of Inchmarew, not the stately dame Bellenden had found in Mount Street.

After descending from the tower, the three pioceeded to wander aboat. sometimes looking at thisobject. sometimes at that, occasionally listening to the musicians, now taking a seat, now walking to and fro -all was pleasant, and each one was pie ised, • But we must really go some time,"’ cried the old lady at last. "We have been beguiled into staying much later than 1 inten <ed. and our jsior coa nman will have wondered what can possible have happened to us. I had been growing a little fidgety before you came back ust now" from which it may be interred that the chaperon han more than once been left for a few minntes to rest herself, while the others had just stepped round the corner to see something absolutely imperative to be seen "we must lose no time now,” she said at last. "Geraldine. your shaft 1 It is growing • uite cold. I have put on mine some time ago Now. and she set off briskly, and either did or would not notice that it was Belledden who slowly drew the shawl round her charge, the while he bent his head to murmur something which told her that he was thinking of another darkened sky and deepening chill, when the sei -same service had been turned into a close caress. He parted from them at their carriage door, saying he would walk home. He wished to be alone, and felt that Geraldine did also. “She has won me. and I think I have won her,” he told himself. “She is a noble creature, and I deserved, richly deserved, that I should be despised for my conduct towards her. But now we are reconciled now 1 may say what I choose, look what i choose, make any allusions 1 choose. How quick, howapprehensive she is! How readily she guesses my meaning and interprets every sigil! She must know all. She must understand me. 1 have been plain enough. I have said everything but the one thing, and that I shall not linger over now. And to think that the little girl 1 le t behind on the Highland loch was to be my fate after all!” Was he, or was he not, getting on a little too fast? CHAPTER XVI CECIL AT THE REGATTA, Whereby had the wondrous change been wrought? It hail come about of itself: it had been the result of no effort, of no ingenuity, no ability. Bellenden had simply borne his punishment in patience, and after the first, had neither resente 1. nor disdained it, and in this had lain his strength. What woman can long resist t he meek endurance of tier wrath? And thereupon the old charm had begun to work. Perhaps neit her quite knew when it had so begun certainly Geraldine did not. and was fam to continue in ignorance: but after that evening in the gardens, nay, even after the other spent in the hot and crowded theater, she could no longer conceal from herself that it was there. She would find herself looking, listening, responding as of yore. Anon she would awake with a start, wild with herself and with him all too late. What was to be done? The season was yet at its height. "Henley is the next thing,” said Lady Haymond. She was a person of more exact and circumscribed opinions than her mother, and she had not altogether approved of several amusements to which Geraldine had been taken; but Henley Regatta was the ane festival of the year of which she was wont to partake with unqualified satisfaction. Her sister Maria, who, it will be remembered, was the other Hint occasionally referred to at Inchaiarew. had now issued her customary invitation to stop at The Lawn, go Sown the river in boats, lunch on the sank, and enjoy all the pleasures of '.he regatta with none o f its toils. Maria had hoped that her mother and niece would be this year of the party also, and in her letter instructed Charlotte to concert with them as to preliminaries. "You have got your invitations, I j

know, said her ladyship, coming in early one morning. ‘ and 1 am so glad that Geraldine will have the treat. I con-ider Henley Regatta quite the prettiest of the summe • sights.” Whereu on granny coughed and looked about her, but made no an swer. “\ou mean to go of epurse?” demanded laidy Haymond, somewhat imperiously. "I—we have not quite made up oir minds, my-dear.” The truth was that Cecil was the difficulty. Geraldine had not, it was true, put into words the burden whi h was daily pressing upon her in the shape ot Cecil, saying to herself that her grandmother saw nothing, and that she would not be >o selfish as to disturb her poor dear serenity and peace of mind: but granny had in reality been carefully on the alert, watching at every turn for what might next befall, and ready to catch her cue in a moment ot time, at any emergency. She also thought it best to say as little as need be, and only to do nothing and a cept nothing without her granddaughter's sanction. Cecil had gone with the two to Ascot, and to Hurlingham, and had spoilt both days: was he now to spoil Henley also? Geraidine had announced her intention of going no more to either of the former resorts. Ascot she said, h d been very ] retty.J very bright, very gay. the horses themselves nad been t eautiful and the racing delightful; but she had not liked it as a whole — and there had been a quick shake of the litile resolute head and a se.ting of the stern young lip, which might after all, have had no reference to her cousin. But in regard toHurlingham, he had certainly been the chief offence. There she had seen nothing but a harmless polo match, and had drunk tea on t he lawn, and dined later on in the club-house, and certanly whatever evil had been present, ft had not presented itself to her innocent eyes,—so it was, it must have bet n < 'evil's presence on that occasion which had caused tin-affair to find so little favor in her sight. “It was altogether stale,” she told Bellerden. afterwards. “Stale!”exclaimed he in surprise. “1 did not know. I fancied you had never I een there before.” "Neither I had. And,” said Geraldine, impetuously, "1 never wish to go there again.” "Your cousin m st have been disappointed,” observed he. "He meant to please you, I know.” He had not hi i self been of the party, and knew very well why. "It was stupid.” cried the spoilt child, “stupid. We felt so foolish, granny and I, and Cecil, sitting up therewith no one to talk to amt no reason why we might not as well have been at home. If Cecil had invited a number of nice people—- " Myself, for instance.” Gerald ne laughed. “Do say it,” continued he, only half in jest, "because, you s. e, 1 was so terribly anxious to go, and so greatly disappointed that 1 was not asked.”' .\ow there was no chance of his being asked to Aunt Maria's Henley party, and that in itself might have taken the edge off someliody's pleasure, but if to that were to be added Cecil Raymond's uninterrupted companionship for two whole days, the outlook might be regarded as black indeed, tn consequence came granny's cough when her daughter's pressing tone seemed to compel an answer "Yea" or "Nay" she read consternation on the brow of her fa r barometer. "You will go, of course,” proceeded Lady Raymond, however. “I know you are disengaged, and Maria is counting upon you. She told me long ago that she had not worried you with invitations before, so she had reckoned on you sot the regatta. We shall be a family party so pleasant. The Lawn always looks its best at regatta time, and a few days in the country will do us all good.” “Geraldine and I—yes —I think we can go: but really we must talk it over together first ” protested granny, doing as well as could have been expected of her. “You see you are our first intimation of the news, for though we had got the letter, I had really hardly looked at it." nervously turning the envelope backwards and forwards in her hand. “We will endeavor to go, but ” “Oh. you must really make a p :sh for it. All along it has been understood that Geraldine was to see Henley: and 1 can assure you both, that, as a sight, it is, in its way. unique. My girls enjoy it of all things. The row down the river for The l-awn is three miles above Henley the crowds of boats, the music the brightness, the gaiety over all," cried Lady Raymond, with renewed animation, "and Maria really exerts herself to get the right people together: 1 have never met any but pleasant people there. The girls will tell you the same. She invites a considerable number to luncheon, in addition to those stopping at the house. I used to take Ethel and Alicia when they were still in the school-room—l felt so sure of there only meeting the right sort of people. That, and the Eton, and Harrow match, were the only galas we permitted them, as young girls.” “Oh, you must come to the regatta,” Ethel was saying aside to Geraldine. “It is really good fun. and we should all be so disappointed if you did not. I doubt if Aunt Maria would ever forgive it. Tell granny she must go.” Which Geraldine did with a sigh. She saw there was no help for it, since to have stood out would have been to raise a family commotion —of all things to be avoided at the present crisis: and now all that remained to be done was to try and struggle through as well and as bravely as she could. “You are going to Heniey?” said Bellenden. when he heard of it. “Yes, Henley might be verygoou fun if you are with the right sort of people.” he added, unconscio sly plagiarizing Lady Raymond in his choice of ideas. "Who are you to be with?” When he heard of whom the party were to consist, and that it was to be confined to the Haymonds and the St. Georges, his face changed. “I don’t know Mrs. George,” he said, "but I shall see you, 1 dare say. somehow. I shall go'down for the day. It is a miserable way of doing it, but I have no other. lam too late to get a room anywhere now.”

••Youalways go then?” •‘Never went before in my life.” She dared not risk another q. estion. For Geraldine, as we ha e already I hinted, knew that sio daily drew i neari-r and nearer the edge ol a preeI ipice. 50 far. she had prevented the words being spoken which she had felt were trem ling more than once upon the lips hard by, and had just managed to turn aside more than one moment instinct with opportunity, so that she had got as far as another week on, since Hie night ill the gardens, without any ad .ance having been made; but she had learned more and more to distrust herself, and to watch that other one. Was Bellenden but toying with her young heart a second time? She did not think so—but how was she to be sure? What if those meaning glances, those dulcet undertones, the pains he took to be near her. the gloom on his brow when parted from her, were all but the cunning of a master hand playing again its delusive, magic music! 51 e had thought he had loved her ! once-not io ed like this, of course—but still had granted her a place in his affections and memory which she had been proved never to have possessed; and as she ~ad refused to doubt him I then, how was she now to trust herself to judge h m aright? [TO BE CONTINUED.] The Future of the East. About 600 miles of the great transSiberian Railroad have been opened for travel with befitting ceremonies, says the Boston Globe. This is less ..’gniiieant in itself than in what it po. .ends for the future of European and Eastern civilization when the whole road, covering 5,000 miles, is pushed across Siberia. We generally think of Siberia as a desolate province where the victims of “darkest Russia” are locked out of the world: but this immense region of the earth has vast tracts of fertile land, and the new road will prepare the way for a flood of cheap grain to inundate the markets of Europe and appal the European farmer. Such a vast speculative enterprise as this, with rails spanning over a fifth of the circumference of the earth and costing 1125,000,000 for construction, could hardly be carried through in any other country than Russia, where the co-operation of the Czar counts for everything. When this road is completed and unites Asia and Europe its influence upon the destinies of the East will be incalcuable. Every European country , having possessions in the Orient will be affected. It may mean, too, that Russia, and not the United States, is yet to supply Europe with bread, for another United States, for purposes of supply, will be , set up in the heart of the Eastern con- , tinent. , The world is wide. The vast resources locked up in the almost boundless Russian empire are relatively untou -lied as yet, to say nothing of the possible capacities of the oriental masses when aroused from the long slumber of antiquity by the new oncoming forces of progress.

All Depends on the Heart. He who rudely flings a crust to a beggar has, indeed, supplied food for a hungry body, but has robbed both himself and the beggar of what was their due— himself of the privilege of showing forth the spirit of Jesus, and the beggar of the glimpse of a nobler life. Self-isolation is self-destruction. We need the incitement to virtue which comes from association with the lowly and needy quite as much as they need our help. God has so ordered this world that none have greater need to beg than the self-satisfied; and none are so poor that they may not become God’s almoners, if they will. All depends on the heart. If the Spirit be within. His fruits,gentleness and good ness, the kindly heart and the generous hand, will be manifest.—Rev. C. W. McCormick. The Oldest Stamp. Parisian stamp collectors have been discussing the question whether the English stamp of 1840, called the Rowland Hill stamp, is really the oldest in existence, and the conclusion arrived at is opposed to this view. They claim I that the first French stamp dates from nearly two centuries earlier, in 1653. Ju that year people used to buy at the Palais de Justice, in Paris, “billets de post pave,” or carriage-paid tickets, with which the carriage of letters foi any place within the capital could be prepaid. One of these tickets is said to be in the possession of M. Feuillet de Conches. It was used by Pellisson, the famous minister and academician, on a letter addressed by him to Mlle. Scudery, the no less famous romance writer. Disappointing a Proud Father. A proud father had, just before dinner, been telling the visitor how clever his little girl was. He said it was not precocity; it was intelligence. When she learned a thing she knew its value, and she was never known, like other children, to ask foolish questions. “You’ll see now. If that child asks a question about anything it will surprise you with its sense.” At dinner the conversation turned upon Austria. The intellectual child was taking it all in. In a pause in the talk, she piped out: “Papa!” “What is it, my dear?” said the proud parent, with a pleasing smile, as he looked at th*. visitor, as much as to say, “Now is your chance; you listen.” “Papa, are they all ostriches in Austria?” Resented the Innovation. Dr. Elvey, in his recently published memoirs, tells the story that, on one occasion, when the sermon had been changed to please some visitors, the organ-blower, much offended said: “You can play Rogers in D if you like, but J shall blow Attwood in C.” In several European countries, including France and Belgium, elections are always held on Sunday.

REALRURALREADING WILL EE FOUND IN THIS DEPARTMENT Convenient and Practical How of Hens' Nests - A Mistake in the Management of Root Crops—Gauging a Plow's Depth —Agricultural Notes. Portable Hens’ Nests. Where but fifteen or twenty hens are kept, and no regularly constructed henhouse Is at hand, a series of nests so made from light matcral that can be readily moved about as desired, will be found a valuable acquisition. The manner of constructing these nests is shown in the illustration, from the American Agriculturist. Five or six. or even as many as eight nests may be thus grouped. The nest space, r. is one foot wide at the bottom; the front board is six inches wide; tile op"ti space between this and the roof board, a. is eight inches wide, the roof board being about fifteen inches in width. An alighting or stepping board, x. is six inches wide, leaving an inch space between that and the front o£ the nests, Ji MOVABLE HENS* NESTS. for refuse to pass through. The hang ers. s s. may be of any strong material and hung upon spikes, drivta at the proper place and in a slanting direction. This row of nests may be changed from the inside to the outside of the building, or placed whore most convenient. Where nes s are located singly. and some distance apart, the laying hen will occupy the nest witii another especially if both are in the habit of dropping their eggs in that identical nest. By this system of grouping, when they reach the stepping board, or walk, and find one nest occupied, they pass on to another, without molesting the occupant. Another point in favor of portable nests Is that they are readily taken down, and every part can lie thoroughly cleaned. Those who have tried this plan of grouping nests find it extremely convenient and practical. Plant Foods The established fact that leguminous plants are able to gather a portion of the nitrogen they need for food, either directly or indirectly, from the free nitrogen of the air, suggests that it may be worth while to investigate the foraging powers of different plants for other nutrients. Every one knows that in any given soil different plants are grown with different degrees of success, and it seems quite likely that some plants are able to use certain compounds of potash or phosphoric acid in the soil which are not so readily available to others, just as leguminous plants can obtain nitrogen from sources that are not available to the grasses. Some tests were made at the Maine Experiment Station last year to ascertain the capability of different plants to appropriate phosphoric acid, and they seem to indicate that wheat, barley. corn, peas, and especially turnips, can secure this food from crude, finely ground South Carolina rock with greater or less ease, while beans and potatoes derive no benefit from it. Os course, definite conclusions can hardly be drawn from one year's work, but these investigations are being continued. It would be a distinct gain to horticulture and agriculture if it could be known in what particular form each particular plant preferred to have its food.—Garden and Forest. A Gauge Runner Plow. The value of a guage ou a plow to regulate the depth at which a plow shall run is so obvious that nothing need be said in its favor. The cut shows an attachment for that purpose. A flat wheel out ou the beam is so arranged that it can be raised or lowered by opPLOWING AT ANY DESIRED DEPTH, erating a lever on one ot' the handles, and, when set for any depth, “staying out.” This device may be used without stopping the plow or stepping from the furrow. The plowman has complete and instant control. The wheel is made to fit either a wooden or Iron beam, and is held perfectly rigid. Among its advantages are: When one part of a field is sandy, and another is composed of hard clay or is stony, the plow can be run at the same depth, and In a fruit orchard the plow can be instantly raised or lowered when passing near a tree, so as not to injure the roots. Farm and Home. Protecting Bees. Bees will come out of their hives if the weather becomes warm for a day or two. They then clean out the hives and remove the dead bees. The animal heat in the hives when the outside temperature is high causes greater activity In a strong colony than may be desirable. Should the temperature fall slightly while the bees are working many of them will be overcome with cold and perish. The hive should be in some place where it is protected from sudden changes of temperature. Keeping Potatoes Assorted. Potatoes that are piled in cellars need pretty close looking after in winter. Sometimes the danger is from frost, but it is much more often due to a warm atmosphere. There is rapid exhaustion of the vigor of potatoes kept for seed by having the eyes push forth pale or white shoots, as they will when kept

in tne warmth and darkness of a large bin. If frost can be kept out the seed potatoes should be thickly spread ou floors where the sun can shine upon them. Tiiis cannot lie done in the cellar. but towards spring seed potatoes should be kept iu upper rooms, and the temperature la- regulated by a thermometer and small stove. Incubators for Winter Hatching. It is not natural for hens that are kept in vigorous health to want to set In winter. The incubator is at this sea son an absolute necessity for those who would rear early chicks. Art is in this instance bitter than nature. The heat can be regulated more certainly and evenly with an incubator than most hens will do it. The hen has really very little sense. If the fit of sitting leaves her a few hours she will expose the eggs to be ehilled, and then return after every germ of life is destroyed and set patiently on the eggs until they are at last taken away from her. In midsummer or late spring the hen can do the work as well and as cheaply as an incubator will. She may not set any more steadily, but not so much depends on her fidelity, as in warm weather the air is very near the right temperature to develop the young chick in its shell. Snow Over Winter Grain. All farmers who grow winter grain like to have plenty of snow in winter. It is not so much to protect, the ground from freezing, for severe cold will freeze through a light snow, and a light covering is better than a heavy one always. What the snow does is to cover the leaves so that they do not evaporate moisture, as they are always doing when exposed to currents of air. The destruction of woods in many States lias made winter grain a more doubtful crop than It used to be. It sweeps the snow that should be a protection for the whole field into banks on the leeward side of fences. It also blows away a good deal of surface soil, as is seen by the blackened surface of snow banks opposite winter grain fields late iu the winter. A Common Mistake. One mistake is frequently made in the management of root crops at the time of harvest. Many people, when topping their roots after or jus*, before gathering, cut off a portion of the root itself, as shown in the ligur? at the right In accompanying illustration. I would rather go to the other extreme, says a writer in American Culv , 1 y A V EE"> ■ ? L 'ER', ! K* 7 V ■ I W Its OE TOPPING ROOTS. tivator, and leave a portion of the tops on, as shown in the figure at the left of the sketch. In one ease we not only cut away and waste good material, but also facilitate the escape of juice, by oozing out and evaporation. In the other case we save everything worth saving. Let us be economical even in i small things. Caution as to Temperature. Sudden extremes of temperature disintegrate. Don't chill the cream with chunks of ice in the churn and expect the best results. Don't beat it suddenly from a low degree to the churning temperature and churn immediately. Let it stand for some time at the right tem- : perature and better results may be I expected. Don't even heat milk just |as it enters the separator. Warm it gradually anil iu advance of the separation. Temperature has very much to I do with success in handling milk and I cream—the right temperature is one of the essentials. But not only has the degree of heat very much to do with results, but sudden changes have peculiar effects and should be avoided, especially just previous to. or during, manipulation. Farm Notes. The exact temperature for loosening the hair from the skin of a pig at butchering is 180. The pig should remain a full minute in the water at this temperature to give time for the hair . to be loosened. Do not forget that a grade animal : will not breed all his good qualities. Nothing but a thoroughbred will give I you improved stock from your mares and heifers, or from the droves and I flocks. Do nut waste your time. There is no point tn the life of an animal when it is not making gain or losing, and every pound lost is two pounds to gain. All classes of stock i should be kept growing, If the ansI mals lose weight under favorable conditions it is an indication that better stock should be used. Mr. .1. V. Strong, Adams County, Indiana, has a Holstein-Fri esian cow that gave eight gallons of milk per day and made eighteen pounds of butter on a week's test of fair average feeding. | He thinks this cow at four or five I years will make twenty-one pounds of butter a week ou a good feeding rat tion. The Engineer’s List says: “A good preparation for preventing tools from rusting is made by the slow melting together of six or eight parts of lard to one of resin, stirring till cool. This remains semi-fluid, ready for use, the resin preventing rancidity and supplying an air-tight film. Rubbed on a bright surface ever so thinly it protects and preserves the polish effectually. and it can be wiped off clean if | desired, or it may be thinned with coal [ oil or benzine.”

Don't Grease the Griddle* Hot pancakes are such universal favorites, and the family is so varied in all its branches, that every one knows how to mix the most approved ingredients. whether the substratum bo buckwheat, rice, Indian meal or wheat flour. But how to bake diem is the question, without filling the house with smoke and a heavy, greasy odor. Do not grease the griddle. That’s my way of cooking them. The griddle must be lie perfectly clean and smooth and neither too hot nor yet too eool. When I think it about right I wipe it off with a wet towel, then try one small cake. If it bakes to a nice light browa tueu I keep the griddle at that temperature until the meal is finished, moving it alternately to a cooler or warmer place on the range, as may be needed. Rules for the Refrigerator. I.—Milk, butter, meat, vegetables, even fish, may be kept in ene refrigerator. provided each article is placed in a separate covered dish. Nothing uncovered, excepting, perhaps, eggs in the shell, should be tolerated in u. refrigerator. This useful piece of household furniture was never intended to take the place of a safe. 2.—dean the refrigerator once a week, ar three times as often if the weather be warm. 3.— Do not permit left-overs to accumulate. Either make them up Into some dainty dish according to one of the excellcut recipes that teachers of cookery have made familiar in our homes, or give the scraps away, or throw them into die garbage kettle. Anything, rather than risk the family's health by keeping an unsavory refrigerator. Use a Light Broom. Do not. send by a man to buy a bpoom. He will pick out the largest otte, give one stroke with it across the store floor and say. "Yes, that is just right.’' But with half bis strength a woman must sweep for hours with it every week, digging out corners, coaxing the dust from carpets and stairs. Have a light broom and a dust pan with a straight, firm edge, and send the heavy broom to Hie barn and the bent tin dust pan to the dumping place for rubbish. which should not be the wood pile or over the wall. How to Frame a Onilt. A writer in the Home and Farm p its the quilt in the frames in the old-fash-ioned way, bastes it around the elges ami down the center; then she takes it out, carefully rolls it from each side toward the center basting; begins in the middle and on her sewing macuine stitches the rows the desired distance apart to each side edge. After she has gone one way she can begin at the eml and go to the other end, bat it makes a smaller roll under the arm of the machine to begin in the center. Oyster Catsup. For oyster catsup ke one quart oi oysters, one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful ot' cayenne pepper and same of mace, one teacupful of cider vinegar and one teacupful of sherry. Chop the oysters and boil in their own liquor with a teacupful of vinegar, skimming the scum as it rises. Boil three minutes, strain through a hair cloth, return the liquor to the fire, add the wine, pepper, salt and mace. Boil fifteen minutes, and when cold bottle for use, sealing the corks. To Fry Sausages. The ordinary way of frying sausages is not file best way of cooking them. A far better way is to put them in the oven on an ordinary baking tin, turning them from one side to another until they are brown on both sides. In a hot oven they will cook in this way in ten or fifteen minutes. If they are ill eases they should be pricked thoroughly. to prevent them from bursting under the heat. Household Hints. Only the soft part of an oyster should be given an invalid. If a cake bakes too rapidly ou the bottom, slip an asbestos plate under. Frozen tea will be found at many afternoon teas. It is made like case frappe. In blacking the kitehen stove better results are reached it' the blacking is wet with coffee instead of water. “A little lemon juice squeezed into the water in which rice is boiled,” says a notable housewife, "keeps tne grains separate.” Lemon skins have a use after the pulp and juice have been removed. When they are rubbed briskly over brass or copper, and followed by an application ot soap or wood ashes, they are almost sure to clean. The whites of eggs intended for cakemaking should never be allowed to stand during the beating process even for a moment, as they return to a liquid state and cannot be restored, thus making the cake heavy. It is a mistake to make a large tea biscuit. Properly speaking, a tea bisquit should not be more than two inches in diameter, and proportionately thick when baked. This gives a delicate, moist, flaky biscuit, which will be cooked through before the outside crust has become hard or overbrown. Large wash tubs are needed for rinsing purposes, but a small one is better to use for rubbing clothes. Then, instead of a large, heavy wooden pail that, when water soaked, is all a woman wants to lift from the floor, have two smaller fibre or pulp pails, or at least let them be small, even if they must be wooden.