Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1882 — Page 2

THE FARMER’S WIFE. # . • BY PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE. m Blrd-like she’s up a t dawn’s blush, to summer beats ot winter snows—flft veins with healthful blood atlush, Her breath of balm, her cheek a rose, to eyes— the kindest eyes on earth— Am sparkles of a homely mirth: Xtemure, arch humor ambush in The clear curves of her dimpled chin. A hi gutless creature, hale and gogd, Ah! fount of wholesome womanhood. Far from the world’s unhallowed strife! Oo4’s blessing on the farmer’s wife! X love to mark the matron oharms, Her fearless steps through household waysi Her sun burnt hands and buxom arms, Her waist unbound by torturing stays; Hlitli as a bee with busyxare, She’s here, she’s there, she’s everywhere; Long ere the clock has struck for noon Home chords of toil are all in tune; And from each richly bounteous hour She drains its use as txes a flower. lApart from Passion's pain and strife, PeJfee gently guides the Farmer’s Wife. Homeward, his daily labors done, The stalwart farmer slowly plods, From battling, between shade and sun, With sullen glebe and stubborn sods. Her welcome on his spirit bowed to sunshine flashing on a cloud? All vanished is the brief eclipse! Hark! to the sound of wedded lips, And words of tender warmth that start. Oh! well* he knows how vain is life, Unsweetened by the Farmer’s Wife! But lo! the height of pure delight Comes with the evenings stainless joys, When by the hearthstone spaces bright * Blend the glad tones of girls and boys; . Their voices rise in gleeful swells, Their lighter rings like elfin bells, TUI |with a look ’twixt smile and frown The mother lays her infant down, And at her Arm, uplifted haud, There’s silence ’mid the jovial band; Her signal stills their harmless strife— Love crowns with law the farmer’s Wife! Ye dames >n proud, palatial halls— Of lavish wiles and jeweled dress, » On whom, perchance, no infant calls, (For barren oft youk loveliness)— Turn bitberward those languid eyes And for a moment’s space be wise; Your sister ’mid the country dew Is three times nearer heaven than you, And where the palms of Eden’s star, Dream not that ye shall stand by her, Tho’ in yonr false bewildering life, Your folly scorned the Farmer’s Wife. 'T —Home and Farm.

A DAUGHTER WORTH HAYING.

'“Harvey Mills has failed!” said Mrs. Smithson one chilly spring waning, as she ran in to see her next ■door neighbor and intimate friend, Mrs. James. “My husband just came home, and he says what we supposed to be a rumor only is a sad fact; the assignment was made yesterday. I threw on a shawl and ran over to tell you. They are to keep the house under some sort of an arrangement, but they have discharged ad of their servants, and what in the world Mills will do, Mrs. James, with Mrs. Mills’ invalid habits, and Miss Helena with her dsinty ways and refined bringing up, is more than I know,” and pretty shallow Mrs. Binithson looked at her news loving friend and neighbor with the air of an epicure regarding some favorite dish. “I heard about it last evening,” said Mrs. James, adjusting the pink ribbons, at the throat of her black silk dinner dress, “and this morning I presumed upon our cousinship so far as to drive over and see how they were getting along And really, Mrs. Smithson, you will be surprised when I tell you that, although'l expected to find the family in great confusion and distress, I never saw them in such a comfortable way and in such good spirits. The worst was over, of course, and they bad all settled into the new order of things as naturally as could be. My cousin Mrs. Mills was sitting as calm as you please up there in her sunny morning-room, looking as fresh ana dainty as she ate her toast and sipped her coffee.” “Our comfortable and cosy appearance is all due to Helena,” said she. “That dear child has taken the helm. I never dreamed she had so much executive ability. We were quite broken down at first, but she made her father go over the details of his business with her, and they found that by disposing of Helena’s grand piano, the paintings and slabs, and costly bric-a-brac her father has always indulged her in buying, we could pay dollar for dollar, and so keep the house. My husband’s old friend, Mr. Bartlett, who keeps the art store, you know, and who has taken a great interest in Helenna, bought back the statuary, vases, etc., at a small discount, and Barker, who sold us the piano a year or so ago, and who is another old friend, and knew, of course, just how we were situated, took it back, deducting only twenty-five dollars.” “Helena has just gone into the kitchen. What she will do there I don’t know; but she says -he needs the exercise, that she has not attended the cooking school here in the city for nothing, and so long as the meals are served regularly and properly and the house.kept in good ordeV, her father and I are not to worry.’ After she told me that, I drew my call to a close, and ran down into my cousin’s kitchen to see her dainty daughter there. And wfaat do you think ? I found that girl at the sink, with her sleeves rolled up, an immense water-proof apron on, washing a kettle!” “Washing a kettle?” repeated Mrs. Smithson, holding up both her •oft. white hands in unmeasured asto ishment. “Yea, Mrs. Smithson, washing a exeat, black, greasy, iron kettle that

me&had been boiled in, -and had been leit unwashed and gump&y when the coog left. And do yw know? She was laughing over It all. and saying to ner youngest brother, who stood near by, that she really liked it, for shfllhow felt she was making herself useful’' * “The idea! Liking to'wash kettles!’ and the two fine ladies looked at each other*in open-eyed wonder. “It Feemsto me as if Helena Mills was trying to make the best of her father’s altered fortunes, and was simply doing her duty in the premises,’’ spoke Miss Carlton, Ida Jamse’s new drawing teacher, who was that evening engaged in giving her pupil a lesson on the opposite side of the center table. She spoke in an earnest and yet modest way, and it being the vogue in New City hist then to patronize Miss Carlton, the pretty and accomplished graduate from Vassar, the two ladies looked at her amiably, and she went on: “Yes, perhaps,“replied Mrs, Smithson, “but how coylcl a girl of real nanive refinement '’(both sides of the “old stock”)take so kindly to washing pots and kettles. The fact of it is, people have been mistaken in Helena Mills. She never posessed* that innate gentility she has nad credit for. But every one finds their level, sooner or later—he, he!’ These two women, having thus summarily disposed of Helena Mills, socially, they repeated their belief that the lovely, dutiful young girl had now found her proper level over in their set until it was common talk in New City. Miss Carlton, in her round of professional calls among the socalled elite, was entertained in nearly every household with the information that Helena Mills had given up her studies even, and gone into the kitchen work —“and if you believe it she likes it.” Then would follow reflection upon the natural ability and bias of mind of young women who was “fond of washing dishes.” This sensible, accomplished little drawing teaoher was the only one to be found, who mingled in the “upper circles” of New City, who said a word either in praise or defense of Helena Mills’ new vocation. Miss Carlton always and everywhere protested that the young gifl’s course was not only praiseworthy but beautiful. She maintained that every woman, young or old, high or low, who took upon herself the labor of elevating the much abused as well as despised vocation of housework—upon which the comfort of every home depends—to a fine art, was a public benefactor. Miss Carlton’s friends all listened and laughed, and then went on with their senseless and malicious tirade. She was heartily glad when her engagements in New City were ended and she was not obliged to move in such “select” society, whose ideas were always a mere echo of opinions —no matter how trivial and foolish—which had been expressed by a few of its most wealthy members. ***** Mrs. Dr. Forbes, nee Miss Carlton, had heard very little about New City society for five years. Rut having occasion to pass through the place on the cars lately treated herself to a little gossip; chat with the conductor, whom she hud known as a New City gallant. “Theie is no particular news, Mrs. Forbes,” said he, “unless it is the engagement of Helena Mills to young lawyer Bartlett, sou of Colonel James Bartlett, you remember, owner of the big corner art store. A capital choice the young squire has made, too. She’s as good as gold, and everybody says she’s the best girl in the city. She is a perfect lady, withal, and treats everybody well. Not a bit of nonsense or shoddy about her. Why, bless you, Mrs. Forbes, when her father failed in ’72, she took entire charge of the family, and she has managed the house ever since. “Her father is now in business again for himself, and emp.oys more men than ever. Her mother, who has been an invalid for years, was forced by Helena’s example to try and exert herself so as to share her daughter’s burden to some extent. As the result of her new, active life she has followed, she lost all her ailments, and is now a happy, hearty and healthy woman. Helena's brothers have grown up to be fine, manly, helpful fellows, and the whole family are better ofT every way than before. As matters were going on before Mr. Mills’ failure, the whole family were in danger of being spoiled by too much luxury. “There was a good deal of talk at first among the big-bugs about Helena’s 'pots and kettles,’ and they used to say she had found her true 'level.’ I always thought there was a piece of malice in their talk, for the girls of her set envied her beauty and accom{ilishments. lam rather fond of tellng them now that Helena Mills has found her 'level’ in the richest, most influential, and just the best family in New City.’

A Salmon That Cost $50.

Last Sunday a gentleman of Seabeck, W. T., went out in the canal for the purpose of catching fish, and when a twenty-five pound salmon took his hook it nearly upset him and in landing his game a SSO watch slipped from his pocket and sank from his sight in the water. This is the fnost costly fish ever caught, standing the angler $2.00 per pound.—Portland Oregonian. A Fort Sully dispatch says the trial by the court martial of W iliam 8. Kelly, charged with attempting to poison First Lieutenant Hoffman, of the Eleventh United States Infantry, has begun there. The prisoner pleaded not guilty. . A cable has been laid from Bruzo Santiago to Galveston, and the latter city will soon be placed in direct communication with Yera Cruz.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Cool rain water anil: soda will remove machine grease from washable goods. Fish may be scale&much easier tfy dipping them in boinng water Mor a minute. , * A teaspoonful of turpentine "bolted with white clothes will aid the -whitening process. Ripe tomatoes will remove ini?and other stains from white cloth; also from the hands. Laiftpwick dipped in hot vinegar before rising is sala to prevent offensive smells from lamps. Silicate of soda (soluble glass) is used in Germany for coating eggs in order to preserve them. Kerosene will soften boots or shoes hardened by water, and render them as pliable as when new. Tortoise shell and horn combs are preserved from cracking by being occasionally rubbed with oil.

Boiled starch is improved by the addition of a little spermaceti, or salt, or both, or gum arable dissolved. If a shirt bosom or any other article has been scorched in ironing, lay it where bright sun will fall directly on it; it will take it entirely out. Kerosene will make t’n kettles as bright as new; saturate a woolen rag and rub with it; it will also remove stains from varnished furniture. Boiling water will remove tea stains and many fruit stains; pour the water through the stain, and thus prevent it from spreading through the fabric. For iron rust take dry cream of tartar and rub on with the finger while the cloth is wet. Hang or place where the sun will shine directly upon it. Should the rust not come out with the first application, repeat. Ham ToAST.—Mince finely a quarter of a pound of cooked ham with an anchovy boned and hashed, add a little cayenne and pounded mace, and add just sufficient milk to keep it moist ; make it quite hot and serve on small rounds of toast or fried bread. WhiTE Wine Jelly.—Pour one {>int of oold water on six sheets of singlass; let it stand until dissolved. Then pour a pint of boiling water on it, ana add the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one pint of sugar and one wine glass of white wine. Let it stand until it hardens. » Bbeaking glass.—'To break glass any required shape, make a notch with a file on the edge of the glass; draw your figure, starting from the notch; make a small rod of iron redhot and drag it along the lines; a crack will follow the iron, and the , glass can easily be broken. To Keep Pineapple.— Pare and cut out the eyes of a ripe pineapple; strip all the pulp from the core with a silver fork; to a pint of this add a pound of granulated sugar; stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved; put in glass fruit-cans and turn down the covers as closely as possible, This will keep a long time.

Strawberry Ice.— To one quart of double cream add two ponnds of picked strawberries, pressed through a wire sieve; one pound of puiverized sugar and, if desired to heighten the color, a few drops of prepared cochineal. Mix these ingredients, freeze and work the composition until the ice is of sufficient body, then mould to any desired form. Simple pure white lead ground in oil, aod used very thick, is an excellent cement for mending broken crockery ware; but it takes a very ong time to harden sufflcently. The aest plan is to place the mended ob- . ect in some storeroom, and not to ook after it for several weeks, or even months. After that time it will be so firmly united that, if ever again broken, it will not pa t on the line of the former fracture. It resists moisture and a heat not exceeding that of boiling water. The Michigan Horticultural Society gives the following from W. K. Gibson about his successful treatment of house-plants: “To make good winter-bloomers, set young plants in the open ground in spring, and do not allow them to bloom through the season. Pinch in strong shoots so as to dwarf them. Pot them when the plants are dry, or before a rain. Place a shelf, with brackets, under a common window, or, if in a bay window, turn the carpet back and place zinc or oilcloth so as to allow frequent showering. If there is no other way, take the'plants to the kitchen every few days for a bath. Geraniums, oxalis and Chinese primroses make good bloomers.” An excellent Mixture to remove grease-spots, from boys and mens clothing particularly, is made of four parts of alcohol to one part of ammonia. Apply the liquid to the grease»spot. and then rub diligently with a sponge and clear water. The ch&nistry of the operation seems to be that the alcohol and ether dissolve the grease, and the ammonia forms a soap with it which is washed out with the water. The result is much more satisfactory than when something is used which only teems to spread the spot and make it fainter, but does not actually remove it. If oil is spilled on a carpet and you immediately scatter corn'meal over it, the oil will be absorbed by it. Oil may also be removed from carpets upon which you do not dare put ether or ammonia by laying thick blotting paper over it, and pressing a hot flatiron on it. Repeat the operation several times, using a clean paper each time.

The President’s Habits.

President Arthuf pays attention to every little detail of household decoration. He cdfatinually wants this or that article of furnitureshifted about to change the appearance of things. Hells, particular even to the exact angle at which the corner pieces rest, and on Mondays, when the rules he has made for the White House exclude visitors, it is his custom to inspect the house throughout and see that everything is in order. A reception is apt to leave some things topsyturvy. Inquisitive people often like to study upholstery, perhaps, and they forget to replace the shams. The shelf ornaments may take their fancy, and they sometimes fail to restore things to the condition in whicn they wer# left at the dictation of the president’s aesthetic taste. In this democratic age few people are aware of the grandeur to be seen in the house of the chief ruler of the nation. The state dining room is the room in which the president entertains at table the distinguished guests No matter whom it may be he is entertaining, the president is always served first. He sits at the center of one side of the long table, his wife if he be married, directly opposite him. It sometimes happens that the secretary of state will be seated in the chair usually assigned to the president’s wife. After, thepresident has been served, White House etiquitte requires that the lady sitting next the {> resident on his right, and then the ady on his left be served before any others. Then the President’s wife is waited upon, and afterward the gentlemen immediately on her right and left in the order nam- d. Then the other guests follow. Whenever the table is set for a dinner the large brass Sdateau which extends for sixteen eet along the table, which was imported from France during the administration of President Monroe, is filled with fruits, and French candies. In the centre, directly in front of the President, is placed a full rigged floral ship, which was sent to President Garfield at the time of the last inauguration by a Boston florist. The flowers are renewed from the White House conservatory. When the chandeliers and candlebra are lighted, and other effects produced to heighten t he scene, the spectator is apt to think of the regal festivities of someother land than free America.

Across the wide hall or corridor which extends from the east room to the large plant conservatory at the west end of the house, 1 was shown into the private dining room of the president. There I saw the handsome buffet and the sideboard which Mrs Hayes had made during her stay in the White-house. The buffet was ornamented with pretty patterns and dishes finished from designs of Theodore Davis, the New York artist. The scene depicted upon each dish suggested a story of some kind. In the drawers of the sideboard is kept the White Honse silver ware. The gold spoons which President Van Buren purchased are still here. They are said to have defeated him when he ran a second time for the Presidency. Some of che silverware I saw Crump said was seventy years old, and the side tables in the room have done duty for sixty-five years. The President often entertains his company in this private dining room. Then the upper gas jets are lighted, and the eight candelebra, four of silver and four of brass, are distributed on the table and about the room, the reflectors all beir\g so colored as to impart a deep rosy tint to the scene. iSxteen pounds of candles are used to carry out this system of lighting by candelebra. It may be of interest to some people to know the hours meals are served at the White House. During Hayes’s Administration breakfast was served at 8:30 o’clock lunch at 1. and dinner at 9 when Gen. Garfield became the nost, the hours were [all an Ohio ideaj changed. Breaktast was ready at 7; 30, dinner at 3, and tea at 7. President Arthur is not regular as to any meal except dinner, which is served at 8 o’clock in the evening[a metropilitan idea]. He is not an early riser, and it is not unusual for his breakfast to be as late as 10:30 o’clock. A cup of coffee is always relished by him at this meal. He rarely resigns himself to slumber till three or four in the morning, and five or six hours are all he requires for rest. How he maintains good health under the heavy strain of so many hours’ activity is a question that troubles his friends. He is fond of the delicacies of the season, and his table is not the least expensive of the various drafts upon his purse.—Cleveland Herald.

Boat Sailing Extraordinary.

A specimen of boat-sailing extraordinary was witnessed down the bay yesterday atternoon by ten or more gentlemen of this city. The catrigged boat Wandered had conveyed a party to Bullock’s Point for a shore dinner, and after the party had landed the boat was made fast to the wharf. A strong wind was blowing from the south, and the boat slipped her moorings and went sailing gayly o’er the waves In the direction of Pawtucket, but runn ng as straight as if steered by a master hand. The craft finally grounded on the shore near Pawtucket, where she remained about half an bout- Then the former mysterious occurrence was repeated, for, as if controlled by unseen spirits, the boat veered about and came sailing majestically back over the water, landing within fltty feet of the place from whence she started. That a l oat could sail from one side of the bay to the other, coipe about, and return to almost the identical spot from whence she started, without some guiding-power at the helm, is passing strange, but the story is vouched for by “ten good men and true.—[New York Sun,

FOR THE CHILRREN.

ENTERTAINQJG HER BIG SISTER'S BEAU *BEBT HARTK. “My sister’ll be down la a minute, and sat* you’re to wait, if you please,- T And Bays I might stay till she came, if I’d promise ner never to tease, Nor speak till you speak to me first. Bnt that’s nonsense, for how would you know What she told me to say, if I didn’t? Don’t yon really and truly think sot “And then you’d feel strange here alone' —, 7°. u wouldn’t knowjust where to sitFor that chair isn’t strong on its legs, and We never use it a hit. We keep it to match with the sofa. But Jack says it would be like you To flop yourself right down upon it and knack out the very last screw. “S’pose you try? I won’t tell. You’re afraid to. O! you’re afraid they would think it was mean. Well, then, there’s the album -that’s pretty, if your fingers are clean. For sister says sometimes I daub it; but she only says that when she’s oross. There’s her picture. You know It. It’s like her But she ain’t as good looking of course! “This is me, It’s the best of ’em all. Now tell me, you’d never have thought That once I was little as that? It’s the only one that could be bought— For that was the message to pa from the photograph man where I sat— * That he wouldn’t print off any more till he got his money of that. “What? Maybe you’re tired of waiting. Why I often she's lon ner than this, Ther’s all her back hair to do up and all of her front curls to friz. But it’s nice to be sitting here talking likegrown people, just you and me. Do you think you’ll be coming here often? Oh do! But don’t oome like Tom Lee. “Tom Lee. Her last beau. Why, my good ness! He used to be here day ana night. Till the folks thought he’d be her husband; and Jack says that gave him a fright. You won’t run away,then,as he did? for you’re not a rich man; they say; Pa saysyou are poor as a churcn mouse. Now are you? And how poor are they? “Ain’t you glad thatyou metmell Well, I am; for I know now your hair isn’t red, But what there is left of it’s mousy and not what that naughty Jack said/ But there! I must go. Sister’s coming; but I wish I could wait, Just to see If she ran up to you and she kissed yon in the way that she used to kiss Lee.” WHERE TOBACCO FOB CIGARETTES IS FOUND. A little red-headed Italian boy, who gave his name as Frank Chicabau and who said he was eight years old, was up in Harlem Court yesterday on a charge of being a vagrant. He was barefooted, had on ragged clothing and his head looked as \ hough it had never known a comb nor his face water. He spoke English very imperfectly. The officer said that he found the boy gathering cigar stumps from the gutters and streets and sidewalks, and showed Justice White a basket half filled with the butts of old cigars, covered with mud and water-soaked. “What do you do with them?” asked Justice White. “I sell them to a man for ten cents a pound,” replied the boy, “but I don’t know his name, and they are used for making cigarettes like they sell in all the stores/’ The officer corroborated the boy’s statement, and said that there c were many boys and even girls scouring the city in search of stumps and half smoked cigars which were dried and sold to small manufacturers of cigarettes. The boy said he lived with his father in One Hundred and Eleventh street, but could give no further account of himself. Justice White thought the-case one for the' society for the prevention of cruelty to children to investigate and temporarily committed the boy for examination.— New York World.

SILVER. BY DON MARSH. I will endeavor to tell the boys some thing about this precious metal. Silver is found throughout the West in large quantitioa and in a great variety of forms, the most common of which is the black sulphide (silver two parts to one of sulphur). Another form, called Ruby silver, is very beautiful, and is composed of arsenic or antimony and silver. It is also associated with lead, as in ordinary galena. The refining process of the sulphide is as follows: The ore is crushed into fine powder and then roasted with oommon salt; she chlorine in the salt unites with the silver, forming silver chloride, which is put in a revolving cylinder with water, mercury, anb iron scraps. The iron takes the chlorine up, and the mercury and silver unite and form an amalgrm of mercury and silver, from which the silver is easily separated by washing. It Is separated from lead by melting the alloy and allowing it to slowly cool, The lead solidifies much #ie soonest, and by skimming out the crystals as soon as formed it can be almost entirely separated. It can be profitably separated from lead where it yields but two or three ounces to the ton. Silver is the whitest of the metals. It is malleable and ductile. It expands at the moment of solidification, and can therefore be east into Ibricks. It has a powerful attraction for sulphur, ana even the perspiration of our bodies contains more or less sulphur which unites with the silver coins our pockets, forming a black sulphide. The test of silver is hydrochloric acid, with which it forms a cloudy precipitate of silver chloride. The solution of silver is blue, from the copper it contains. Standard silver is whitened by being heated until the oxygen of the atmosphere has converted a little of the copper on the outside into oxide of copper, which is dissolved by being immersed in dilute nitric or sulphuric acid. Lunar caustic is nothing but nitrate of silver. It is the basis, of photography, hair dyes, and indellible ink. A band of counterfeiters, including “Gopher Bill,” has been captured in Philadelphia.