The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-12-19
IDEAS for dMnaneu.

r Is more conspicuous than the dreadful
monotony. the eternal repetition of the
commonplace dishes she serves to her long
suffering household.
1t Is always the same story with her,
she doesn't know what TO have for
breakfast. dinner or supper. but shs al
ways does manage to LAY the same
things on the same particular morning in
every day of the year. She often speaks
of her desire TO make a change and va
riety,'' but nothing is farther from her
temperament or her possibilities.
She Is essentially welded to her preju-
dices, which have made the ..rut' in
which she runs, like a wheel on a car
track, all the year round; to move to the
right or the left would be to make mis-
chief for her.
New facts, new discoveries, new sFs-
TENS, make no impression upon her. Her
family lose their appetites or grow dys-
peptic. but the routine is the same; the
same fiat, insinid rice pudding or apple
pie, the same tough. oYerdone steak or
UNDERGONE mutton; the same doughty bread
and occasional hot biscuits, which make
pellets hard as bullets for the stomach to
act upon, and the same mixture of chicory
and hot water for true coffee.
49,
Hwould not seem possible for the house
keeper who lives In this nut to surprise
her household occasionally with freshs
steaming cocoa for breakfast, instead OF
what she calls .coffee;s' or with light, de-
Ecious rice cakes. or with well-boiled hflom-
my, instead of the ever-recurring oatmeal
or with rice ~fritters, or a rich rice PUG
ding, in place of the fiat, sloppy concoc-
ton Of something floating In curdled milk,
which she (not jokipgly calls pudding.
Indeed, the aousekeeper who lives in
a rut never Jokes. Life is a serious BUSH
ness with her, as it is to the unfortu-
ate members of her family. She is
ever Inspired with an idea, in fact,
&ould not act upon it If she had one, as
would give her .'trouble'-everything
has to be done or that is done IS a
able to her. Life itself is a burden,
;ause she always carries it In the
me place. n the fact that people eat,
nd must cat, and that she has to look
after what they eat, IS q n~ever-ending
grievance.
She has no pleasure in the infinite va
riety which the markets afford, and in
the change which the seasons bring, 1t
only means that something costs more
or less, generally more, and gives her a
fresh source Of trouble.
This temper Of mind produces its nat
ural effect upon the body; such a woman
is apt to be sick. complaining, and is al
ways snervous''-the modern term for
cross-and forms the habit of looking
out for the unpleasant side of things, in
stead of their bright and cheerful side.
80
Good foed-feod that tastes well and di-
gests well, is the most important factor
in the general health and happiness of
the household. To obtain 1t, personal
supervision and assistance of an intelli-
gent mistress of the house is needed
p woman with a genius for house
eeping, the genius being simply the
apacity for taking any amount of
,ouble in order to do things as they
hould be done and not make trouble of
In a country so prolific as ours, every
ne ought to live well; and it is popular
supposed that every one does; but
ere is probably no country in the world
Whsre-se slittle satisfaction Is obtained
from the amount expended, and the rea-
son lies largely in the ignorance or in
difference of the households mistress,
who has so hopelessly fallen into a rut
that she fails to understand her duties
or to make the most of her o%pportuni-
ties.
Quite splendid shirt waists Of silk vel
vet in any color, royal purple, blue, red.
brown or green, may be had at the mems
furnishing shops for SIS. The plain and
figured flannel one for morning use costs
from Sc to 50. At the big stores very
useful corduroy waists are sold as low as
IS, and neat plain and figured silk ones
from $3.50 up.
Blu if you want your winter shirt
MIST to be absolutely perfect, 20 to the
eishers for it.
~ in the big stores may be a little
ee but the one bought at the mans
ssfeSks a mnes and r~ightness diff
to find elsewhere.
seh nothing in the world is easier to
yourself, if you only know how 10
tSout it. You must be fairly clever
~ YOU needle. of course, and buy a
~ fiat pattern that viii tell just the
lber of yards to get; then after you
We bought your stuff, copy the fur
lsher's shirt waist to the last thread.
%H-T- +Er EHA- H~-ar
Made in this way, "a fine velvet waist
that you can wear straight up to May
even later, weather permitting-need cost
no more than $, for this is the season
for velvet remnants, and the stores are
full of them.
As an Instance of what may be done,
one big store sold last week short lengths
af velvet at IS cents a yard that had cost
8. "a and IS. The shorter pieces were al
npst AL enough for a waist, and there
we're spleadid plaids. rich plain colors
ad dainty stripes and brocades without
umbeE
One Beautiful six background of silver,
ray and white, oyerrun with black vel
vet lines. caught one old lady's eye. and
directly she had bought fourteen yards
o~ragsentire gown.
marked down from A75,s she
red to an admiring neighbor; isn't
Wiy?.
bi-oh. kim and merciful bargain
rti-she added 5oyfully: .Pye wanted
velvet dress for twenty-five years,
we got one at lastiH
Ike warning and don't wait twenty
cars for a velvet shirt waist.
I is flying, and bargains have a way
lining out when you stop to hin
Dng over them.
c7eS IN fuanfv-fva -o .r