The National tribune., 1883-04-12

the best relief for pictures and wal!-ornamentS.
In cities the upholsterer recommends for bed
rooms and rooms which are devoted to family
| use, that the paper be without pattern and well
vanished The advantage of these walls is
that they may be easily washed with soap and
| water. But for the country delicate grounds
and pretty patterns are practicable. Purchas-
sers should bear in mind that the smaller the
room the less prominent should be the pattern,
and that the effect of wallpaper in sample
book is one thing, and the effect of the same
kind of paper on the wall is quite another
thing We quote again from our author:
Secure much neutral color in your room; con-
slider the latter as background. 1t is not gen.
orally known that one reason why old painted
windows are so much more brilliant in effect
than most modern ones, is that in the best pc
Rod of painted glass this maxim was always
borne in mind and that nearly three-fourths
of a painted window was composed of white
glass. By this means their bright colors lose
none of their brilliancy by juxtaposition with
each other. In the hall it is best to use color
which reflects rather than absorbs light For
this reason ground or strongly colored glass
should be avoided. If the staircase looks
out upon chimey-tops and other dreary things,
screen of delicately-tinted glass placed over
the lower half of the window, while the upper
half is filed in with sheet of pate-glass, will
allow sufficient light to be let in from the top
of the window. Where it is practicable the
wood panels of the hall door may be removed
and Cathedral glass Inserted Hall-curtains
or portieres should always be made of some
light diaphanous substance. The beauty of
draperies lies in their folds, and probably for
this reason reps which are difficult to drape,
are less in favor now than formerly. Their
place is supplanted by waste-silk, velvet
and jute velours. Ia purchasing draperieS
it may be we'll to remember that large pat
tern makes q small room look smaller, and
J-f
ance of height. Draperies should be of good
material, because, being so near the eye, flaw or
fimsiness is readily detected. If chintZes are
used those shaded patterns which are richest
and most effective and contain many colors,
should be sought. But plain draperies are best.
They may be ornamented, but always with
some color in harmony with the prevailing
color in the room, and with the color in the
curtain. Sometimes broad band of some har-
monious color is put at the top of the drapery,
if it be portiere, and band of a different but
harmonious color is put just above the middle.
Crewel-work embroidery worked on the ma
terial of the curtain is pretty. If the material be
veivet-cord velvet, for instance-the embroid-
cry may be ON another kind of velvet the same
| color, but a shade or two darker. Different
draperies are used with good effect in the same
room. We have often wished that popular
| taste would cry down the fashion OF weaving
large pictures of trees, plants, and flowers into
! lace curtains. The best botanist would often
be puzzled were he asked to name figures,
while the most casual observer detects the fla
! grant incongruity between the material and
| the thing pictured. In the matter of floors we
| all are not fortunate enough to have any choice
Hall floors especially are sources of perplexity
| to the careful housewife, and if she were al
| lowed verdict it would doubtless be in favor
| of that material which, while it is pleasant to
the eye, is also easily cleaned. In the Old
| World there is much more variety in these
| floors than with US. There they are variously
| of stone marble, mosaic, tile, and rarely Of
wood. If the hall floor be of wood, cover with
| a self-colored drugget, and lay strip of richer
carpeting down the center, is the suggestion
| of our author. But with the most generous
| intentions one can only make suggestions in
| the matter of house furnishing This is the
| truth which the furnisher should lay to heart ::
| let the home be ever so simple, but make it
| eloquent of truthfulness and sincerity; at every
turning let it speak of comfort, fitness, and
| harmony, and, above ALL see to it that thou,
| thyself, art there, in and among all loyal,
reverent soul, and art and nature, hope and
fate, friends and angels shall not be absent
| from the chamber where thou sittest.'
As Aunt Helen finished Mrs. Atherton laid
on the table as her contribution, several sets of
drawing-room fireplace tiles. On one set
branches of dogwooa blossoms were delicately
painted on a transparent blue ground. On
another a vine of Virginia creeper twined up
| one side, showing crimson leaves and branches
of the blooming purplish berries. The vine
crossed over to the top, nearly to the left side,
where 1t met a branch OF alder, green in LEAKAGE
and adorned with the crown seed-yessels of the
alder. Then there were few monochromes-
| geometrical figures IN Indian red on q dark
green ground. The hour ended with Tabbies
weekly offering:
OUR TABLE.
Eggs.
soft-boiled Eags.-Place the eggs In warm
saucepan and cover with boiling water. Let them
stand where they will keep hot, but not boil, for
ten minutes. This method will cook both white
and yolk.
Sofboiled Eggs, No. Put the eggs into boiling
water and boil three minutes and a-half By this
method the white of the egg is hardened quickly
the last minute, and consequently the white is
hard and the yolk hardly cooked enough. The
first method is, therefore, the most healthful.
Hdrd-bo1ed Eggs.-Put the eggs into hot water,
cover and boil twenty minutes. Ten minutes
will boil them hard, but they not so digestble
SIS when boiled twenty. Ten minutes makes the
yolks hard and soggy; twenty minutes makes
| them soft and mealy.
minutes IN two quarts of boiling water, to which
has been added one tablespoonful of salt Drain
through colander and add one tablespoonful OF
butter. Spread very lightly on a hot platter. On
the rice place six dropped eggs and serve.
Eggs Sur lie Plat.-Little stone-china dishes come
| expressly for this mode of serving eggs. Heat
and butter the dish and break into it two eggs,
being careful not to break the yolks. Sprinkle
lightly with salt and pepper and drop on them
half a teaspoonful of butter, broken In small
pieces. Place in moderately hot oven until the
white is set, which will be in about five minutes
There should be dish for each person. The flavor
can be changed by sprinkling little finely chop
ped ham or parsley on the plate before putting In
the eggs.
| Dreamed Eggs.-Boil six eggs twenty minutes.
| Make one pint of cream sauce. Have six slices
OF toast hot dish. Put layer of sauce on
each one and then part of the whites of the eggs
cut III thin strips and rub part of the yos through
sieve on the toast Repeat this and finish with q
third layer of sauce. Place in the oven for about
three minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Stuffed Eggs-Cut six hard-boed eggs In two.
Take out the yolks and mash them fine. Add two
teaspoonfuls of butter of cream, two or
three drops of onion Juice and salt and pepper to
taste. Mix all thoroughly. Fill the eggs from the
| mixture and put them together. There will be a
little filling left, to which add a well-beaten egg.
Cover the other eggs with this last preparation
and roll IN cracker crumbs. Fry ia boiling lard
till a light brown.
Scotch Eggs-One cupful of cooked lean ham,
chopped very fine; one-third of a cupful of stale
| bread crumbs one-third of a cupful of milk,
half teaspoonful of mixed mustard cayenne
egg and six hard-boiled. Cook the bread and
milk together until u smooth paste. Add to -
| ham and add the seasoning and egg mix
| thoroughly. Break the shells from the hard
boiled eggs and cover with this mixture. Put into
a frying basket, and plunge into boiling fat for
| two minutes. These are nice for lunch, tea or
picnics.