The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-05-27

ternating with smaller ones. The whole
Is outlined with rope-iinen fiosses In shades
Of olives and greene.
Some curtains lately seen were of heavy
cream linen monte. with frieze and dado
worked in a pattern the motive of which
is a yellow lily with foliage in shaded
browns.
W dainty sofa cushions which adorn
a modern room merit description. One.
OF large size, is covered with pale blue
twilled silk powdered with flower forms
worked in white rope linen, outlined and
traversed with silver. 1t is edged with
a fril of white lace, the pattern out
lined and bordered with silver threads.
The second is of pale sage-green silk,
embroidered with single scarlet peoples
separated by waves of gold thread.
Another handsome cushion is worked
upon linen ~huckaback towelling of loose
ly woven texture. The pattern is the
cactus design of the Associated Artists,
and is rather Egyptian in character. 1t
is done in outline, with standings, and
some solid work here and there.
The ground is covered with darned
work in good-colored silk, giving a beau
tiful effect to the whole.
Some darned- work pillows are shown,
and although they are not new to some
people, they are entirely new to the gem
eral public. They are entirely unlike the
darned work on mail cloth or canvas
weave materials. The darning was done
on a scft. thin imported cotton material.
1t somewhat resembles the cotton on
I Hhiah y IT,, ri 5Gh rxra,1~ t- l1,> IN -.
all Morris designs. and are imported,
stamped on the materials, the, designs in
close darning in two or more threads of
f~loselle and the stitch following the grain
of the flower or leaf. Afterward the
background is filled in with the desired
colors.
A finished cushion has the appearance
almost of satin, with the delicate color
ing of the design through it, the whole
being entirely fiat. exquisitely beautiful
and unusual.
The back yard of a city home is an
accurate index of the domestic govern
ment under which the premises are man.
aged.
To stand at a back window and run the
eye along the row of yards opposite is
to AVE an interesting glimpse into what
may be called a diverse treatment of the
same subject.
The u~nsightly back yard is not confined
to poorer classes. In Philadelphia the
working people take special pride in the
little strip of grasses and the few flowers
which a limited space allows in their little
homes. The carelessness of servants and
the Indifference of hosekeepels who do
not properly supervise these servants is
responsible very often for the untidy
yard, which offends the eye and which
can so easily be avoided even in the most
crowded districts.
Most city houses, at least the newer
ones, are underdrained nowadays. A we'll
drained yard is a great element in the
comfort of a household. 1t is in the
suburban districts and in small villages
where there is no system of sewerage that
the housekeeper will lave to be specially
careful.
A yard damp from standing water, lit
tered and u~nsightly by household refuse,
is not only ugly to look upon but it is a
decided menace to the health of surround
ing places. Where there are large back
yards and no drainage it is always better
to carry the water from sinks n Trains
- -~- 80 04l tAA9 2IOoe0.
There are careful housewives who never
let even the dish water go through the
drain of the sink. In a bucket kept for
that purpose it is taken away from the
house and thrown where the sun and air
can act as dlsinfectants. OF course, no
one who makes any pretense to good
housekeeping ever puts solid substances
in drains or throws them in the back
yard. Each family should try to burn its
own garbage.
This can be easily done if the refuse of
each meal is burned directly after the
cleaning up" of the meal. If it is not
practicable to burn the garbage, a COW
cred receptacle should be kept in the
back yard to hold it until the periodic
visits of the garbage man.
Beside the ash barrel which each house
hold needs. there should be a barrel to
hold broken crockery, pieces of glass and
tin cans that would otherwise be thrown
in the yard. When this barrel is full a
junk man will gladly empty It for a few
pennies.
If the space will possibly permit in the
little city yard, the housewife should
have a small grass plot. If she does not
find one on going into the house, she can
easily make one. Mark out the required
space. take up the bricks which cover it,
and pile them carefully away in the cell
lar. They will be of use some day. At a
florists can be procured for a small sum
a little load of rich dirt with which to
the exposed space. In this, grass
seeds bought at a reliable place will flour
ish exceedingly well and form a fresh
little space of refreshing green. Nor is
the grass plot ornamental only. On
wash days many a dainty piece of mus
lin or linen gets its summing and bleach
ing on these little city lawns.
If the yard is large enough, a space
should certainly be devoted to flowers.
Nothing gives such a rouch of beauty to
even the humblest home as the growing
flowers which brighten the dullness of
bricks and back walls. If the yard is too
small for planting, shelves run along the
sides of the fence can hold boxes of
growing plants which give a sort of gar
den effect to the yard. Soap boxes will
serve nicely this purpose, and growing
plants are SO cheap now In the market
that every woman can have her little bit
of fower garden, IL she will.
Whatever the circumstance of the house
keeper, there is no reason why her back
yard should not be as clean and inviting
as any other part of the house, and in
small homes an ~fnvjfdnr ward aaa