davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

they are aroused. Put away the clothes you and they took off and left to air the night before. Straighten out small dis orders, rearrange what needs setting to rights. By the tune you have done part of this one or m&e of the children will probably be ready to be taken up and washed and dressed If you can plan to give them their bathssat bedtime It will save you work and time in the morning and will be more comfortable and convenient if there is dearth of heat or of hot water when they arise. The business of getting them Into their clothes will be a compara- lively simple matter and there need be little effort in getting them to breakfast at the proper time.
 l wish to interrupt my directions for work just here to beg you not to do all this without food. If you take nothing more, break your fast with a cracker or a piece of bread and butter and save yourself the fatigue that follows exertion on an empty stomach. and possible headache.
 If the baby sleeps late you may have to delay it's tub until after breakfast. I hope your training has been of the-knd that makes the youhgster willing to lie comfort ably in bed without attention or to sit in Iile HE II CildAt dl lAS 1fhbASt d iiAAiS Wi1PPNA concealing the tumbled night clothes, until after breakfast.
 System applies again here. As soon as breakfast is on the table for the family the maid should take her morning meal and then turn to the next work you have de- clded upon for her. Have regular days for your cleaning-sweeping, scrubbing. win- dow washing. ete.-as you do for your laundry work. so that the maid may waste no time in settling what Is the next thing to be done. Divide the work you assume from that which evolves upon her and each stick to your own.
 For instance. you may take the bedroom work. This will enable you to keep an eye on the children at their play. While you are making beds, dusting and putting to rights the maid will wash the dishes. brush up and dust the dining room. She may have had time to dust before breakfast. and you may have dusted your parlor then. If not do that after you finish the bedroom work But before you either of you go to your other duties inspect the pantry and the ice box and plan for your days meals. so that you can do your marketing when
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
MARION HARLAND'S HELPING HAND.

dripping. Let the paste remain on the keys ivory with damp chamols skin. You may clean the Ivory handles of knives In the same way.
 '" ROASTED POTATOES: May be made more palatable and nutritious If the skins are greased well before they go into the oven. Wash and wipe perfectly dry and rub with slightly salted grease or butter. When the potatoes are done. pincn each firmly between the thumb and finger roll ing ii about as you pInch to make the inside mealy. Then break 1t open. You .rll, be able to scrape every bit of the cohterts clear from the skin. and we all knew the best part of the potato lies next to the skin.
 MASHED POTATOES: Should be beaten light with hot milk and to each pint ot .ne potato add saltspoonful of baking powder. You may whip the mass to a fiuhy cream by following these directions. and the taste will be greatly improved.
 ITO POACH EGGS: We heat the/pan slightly and butter 1t on the bottom and sides before pouring Tn the hot water. The eggs will not adhere to the pan If this pre- caution be taken. When they aie just set we clap cover over the pal ard finish cooking them. They will :aks on fine glaze while covered
 JAHNETTA M."
 Your items deserve a bigger rame. Each is good, and we thank you for the " bunch"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

for them to form.right habits and to leai A self-control. I think some one long ago preached of training child perfectly by the time it Is years old I strive 10 teach mine implicit obedience and not to ask why a command is given. E. r. B.
 As I have had the privilege of looking into the nursery of the four splendid chil- dren who fill to the full the life of the born mother who has written the forego- ing letter. I can testify to f successful operation of her theories. It is so unusual in this day of unrest to find woman quail fled by education and extensive travel to shine in any sphere. whp is content to ac- quaint herself with the minutest O. ;all of her babies dress and habit. and attaches the right degree of importance to the moth- CTS mission in her own home that have drawn more largely from her letter than I had intended. Mothers who are mothers will forgive me
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

enough to do their own dressing or any part of 1t, Let me take 1t for granted that they are not and also that the breakfast hour cannot be later than 80.
 Leave the preparation and the service of the breakfast to your maid. You say she Is willing. though not experienced, but a little training will easily enable her to cook and make ready the simple breakfast you probably are sensible enough to have. h.
 sist upon system in the work of the maid as well as in your own and teach her that tasks must be done ip certain order. Let her have everything In readiness the night before so that there may be no last-mlnute rushing out for necessaries. If you use a cooked cereal have this in the double boiler. and keep an order in your kitchen and din- ing room which does away with uncertain ty as to where to find anything that is needed in a hurry. The table should not be set until the morning, but this the maid can do while the kettle Is heating and the water for the cereal coming to boil.
 If you can possibly manage 1t. let me advocate early rising. There is great deal of truth as well as poetry sn the proyerb that the morning hour has gold in its mouth and in the other saying that a half hour in the morning Is worth an hour later in the day. If you have restless nights with the baby 1t may not be the easiest thing in the world for you to rise betmes, but 1t is better to do this and try to make the space for half hours nap later In the day than to finger in bed until there must be a scurry all along the line to get to the breakfast table in season.
 I speak whereof l know when l cham pion the early hours. For years l have risen at in summer, at 6 in winter. and the quiet of the un6isturbed time before the household is afoot enables me to plan for my occupations and to gather up the threads which are to be woven into the pattern of the days toll. Try my habit and see if you don't gain enough by 1t to recompense you for giving up that last hour In bed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
4 Fem HousewifeLu Items.

May l offer a few housewifey items that may not have found their way into the Corner? l promise to be short 1t not sweet.
 ITO GET RID OF THAT CREASE SPOT: Brush out the dust that inevitably settles upon oily substances and. once there. sticks. This lone, sponge with pure chioroform. l have yet to see the grease that was obstinate under this simple treat .ment.
 TO CLEAN AND wHITEN PIANO KEYS: 1 note that you advise sleeping sstrips of canton flannel in oxalic acid and laying them upon the ivory. You ada very sensibly that care must be taken not to let the powerful acid drip upon the wood of the instrument. Let me tell you of safer method Make pretty stlff paste of equal parts of olive oil and household ammonia thickened with pulverized chalk. and cover the keys with 1t. There is no danger of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

tortures from the incursions of tiny para sites l identify with your fieas." I pass on to what she finally discovered to be an effectual remedy for the intolerable plague:
 Take washday as the most convenient time Tor handing the henhouse. When the wash water in a tub has been used for the legitimate purpose of cleansing the clothes, instead of throwing 1t away, put about a feacupful of coal oil Into the tub and a large kitchen spoonful of lard or dripping. first melting it in hot water or on the stove. Stir thesa.up with the studs In the oughly with it. Do this with every tub. distributing the contents as evenly and im- partially over the floor as you can. so that all parts will be well covered. Then with q large dlpper throw this mixture all over the sides of the house and under the roosts.
 ITO treat the roosts wash them with rag dipped in a stronger mixture of the same materials. scrubbing the roasting poles thoroughly and leaving no crack or crevice unvlsited. If this operation be re- peated every three weeks during the spring and simmer throwing the plain wash water Into the henhouse every week. one may set hens all summer and hardly see a mite or by whatever other name the wretches may be called. The first applca- tion should be made early in February. and the last may be made with the first killing frost In November
 "I set my hens all spring and summer, while my nelghbors fumgate and white wash and with discouraging results.
 The most mortifying part of the in- fiction was that the creatures would leave the henhouse for our dwellings and make life miserable for us the year around. I hope the story of their defeat and our pres ent peace of body and mind may do some good when told in the Corner.
 Until kind friend made me acquainted with this homely remedy we had no relief
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
Studp to Keep Order.

Studp> to Keep Order.
 Here once more Is where system comes in. You should know from day to day what you will have to eat, at least in a general way, so that if bad weather detains you at home until the afternoon you will not be seriously inconvenienced or be forced to do that most expensive thing, market by telephone.
 If you have made an early start the routine of daily work like dishwashIng, bedmaklng, and dustlng should be aone by 10 o'clock, and you will be free to go out with the children if the weather permits, or to sit down to your sewing or get at other work. Direct your maid in the same system and see that she lives up to 1t. l don't mean that you are to be martinet and follow her up all the time. Nothing dis heartens and irritates a maid more than this None of us would like it. But en- courage her to be methodieal and show her that you appreciate her efforts and the good results she wins.
 have spoken of certain days for certain duties If the washing and ironing are dispatched by Tuesday night you may have the sweeping and scrubbing appor- toned among the remaining days of the week, leaving Saturday free for prepara- tions for Sunday and extra cooking Divide your own work in the same way, doing your mending when the clean clothes are fairly in and never letting 1t accum ulate unless in sickness or some similar emergency.
 Above all, study to keep order rather than to make order.
 Haven't you known housekeepers whose ideal of tidiness was to let everything get into a general messlness and then have a grand cleaning up? l have. Don't follow this plan. Force yourself to put away things where they belong as soon as you have done with them, and train your children and your paid to do the same thing. Your husband was probably already trained when you got him. and 1t was a matter decided by providence whether he is the sort of man who picks up for himself or who permits you to pick
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

7VOUR talks anent maids interest tf me so much that I am often
 4 tempted to put in my six cents
 Earlier in life l always kept
 niaids--rcally and truly kept them. without friction. Then for while there was a fear lest we might not be able to keep what means we had. and until matters were strengthened out we got along with out servants. And O, how did-and do- hate the kitchen LII t..e more. thlnk, De- cause I just can't slight my work. My housekeeping is certainly hard task master to mel
 Yet l cannot join In tbe reproduction or our American domestic system that comes so naturally from the lips and pens of a majority of women For more than year now l have had the sister of a maid had 2 for six years, and nothing but her ap- preaching marriage would take her from me When she leaves. the next youngest sister is coming to me. and they tell me that if she gets married they will send to Ireland for the next sister. and keep this up as long as want maid. They will never let me be withoutcne.
 They are Scotch-lrish Protestants from near Belfast, and excellent maids The one I have now has not taken three days off in the year. When for while l insisted upon her taking her day off she said at last:
 T am tired of this horrid going out every week. would rather be at home working. " Honestly. nearly dropped in swoon. I had thought her sister who preceded her was the only maid of that stamp alive. "Today she Is in town. seeing play l sent her as a little treat. She is sure to be back in time to get dinner.
 You see there are two sides to the rvexed question. But all my life 1 have treated my servants as I should like to be !. treated were I in their place They are human as well as myself They have but one pair of hands and one pair of feet. and their bones are no larger than mine If women would try for one month to do all they expect of a maid. there would be less cry of dissatisfaction on both sides
 NEW JERSEY HoUsEMoTHER,"
 While admit that yours is by no means SO singular case as perhaps you may think. I cannot agree unqualiiedly in what you and hundreds of other writers upon the subject assert-viz: that good mistresses are sure to make good servants. You rec oliect David Copperield's dismay at dis
  reform Dora's mind that perhaps 1t was already formed " before he married her 1T you or I. we will say. had the making ol the model maid from the start. the hnisnee product might equal our expectations. Bu so many forming hands have had hold ol the raw material before she fell into our' that we had not half chance to show our skill A story 10 which l often revert II pondering this subject is of the little chaE who had heard his mother put her guest ease for the accidental breaking of cuI by saying. Never mind. Ii was cracked bp1orew The boy had terrible fall. ant Ae mother running to pick him up. ejacu (iated: My darling. you have broken you head"
 The brave lad looked up through his tears Never mind. mother. was crackit be fore"
 You have had what maintain is the rar good fortune of getting ho.d of two maids with he promise of thi who were no ..---,-s. s.~s~-> sou secured them. l con
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
BerDick Sponge Cakc.

BerDick Sponge Cake.
 "I saw the other day request in the Corner for recipe for the far famed Der wick sponge cake 1 am pleased to be able to send 1t. Several years ago cut 1t from a Chicago paper and have kept 1t ever since.
 I have not had the pleasure of being one of your correspondents until now. The clipping inclose gives the history of the celebrated cake. 1t will. l think, interest those readers who have never heard tho strange tale. MRS. Elr G. D."
 The history of the far famed recipe Is odd and will. as our new and welcome corre- spondent says. interest readers who may never have heard of 1t until now.
 " BERWICK SPONGE CAKE-In 1845 William c. Briggs lost leg in a Maine rall- way accident. In those early days rail- roads had small capital and could III afford to defend damage suits. Besides, Briggs had clear case. But he said: Build me a restaurant in North Berwick and stop every train five minutes there and won | sue The restaurant was built and Briggs wife made sponge cake to sell there. The recipe was secret; the cake became fa- nous all through New England and was sent everywhere in boxes. In twenty years Briggs retired rich but lost all his money in speculation. The restaurant is closed and we fear no one now knows the secret of the Berwick sponge cake.
 have helped my mother make this cake many times, little dreaming it was so famous. She had long narrow dripping pan made on purpose to bake 1t in. The following is the recipe:
 Six eggs, powdered white sugar. three cups; sifted flour, four even cups; cream of tartar, two teaspoonfuls; soda. one tea spoonful; one cup cold water. one-half of 9 lemon. First beat the eggs two minutes. add the sugar and beat five minutes more. then stir the cream of tartar in two cups of the flour and beat one minute; dissolve the soda in the water and add; wash the lemon dry. then grate the rind and squeeze in the juice. Finally add the remaining two cups of flour and beat all one minute Put Into deep pans fin a moderate oven. This will make two bars or loayes When 1t is done It smells like fresh popcorn. There is considerable beating about this cake and therein lies the success. but 1t beats all the sponge cakes you ever beat.
 Note-You can use three tablespoonfuls baking powder if you wish In place of cream of tartar and soda, but slft if in the last two cups of flour. FRANCES e.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

IT ! ~LDlNG. as l do. a finger upon the u pulse of my well beloved constit- HI aency 1 welcome the opportunity to put before them a letter from one of the number which Indicates the need Of many The following note -.oiees the perplexities of more than one young housekeeper and mother who longs for a guiding hand out of her labyrinth of work and worry.S The word that helps her should be an afd to them also.
 Dear Marion Harland: l have three children-the baby still nursing-and the \ help I keep, although not experienced, Is willing 1 work constantly, but somehow my house does not always look as nice as l should like to have it. My conclusion is that ought to regulate my work in a more wise and systematic way. have
 tried, but couldn't succeed. Could some one trained in the affairs of housekeeping kindly help me with advice? should like
 to learn in detail how to go about my work day by day. allowing, of course. good part of the time for taking my babies out
 Also, where the duties of the maid shall end and mine begin. I am sure this ad-
 vice viii greatly help many troubled young
 mothers. EARNEST HoUsEKEEPER
 Your letter is a type of many others l receive. so that feel with you that ad- vice such as you ask may be needed by
 other perplexed housekeepers. A large number of years has passed since I myself was a young mother who had to plan her work closely but have not forgotten those far off days, and from theni>l learned cer- stain things which believe may help you now.
 You make long step in the right direc- ton when you recognize the fact that your work should be regulated systematically The haphazard method of housekeeping may possess certain advantages over the i" nasty particular variety, but If you have Ideals of neatness and order in your home. system is the only way by which you can attain these.
 Begin then, by taking time to sit down and plan your outline of occupation. Make a general scheme of work and live by it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
Cleaning Can't Be Escaped.

Cleaning Can't Be Escaped.
 Of course we can none of us escape gen eral cleaning of different kinds. Dust will accumulate and have 10 pc swept and secured away and even daily work with a carpet sweeper and a dustcloth will not spare us sweeping and scrubbing days. But the work of these may be greatly les sened and although we may have to scrub kitchen and pantry shelves once in so often, We may yet keep thens so clean as we go along that weewill not be haunted by thoughts of dust heaps in corners wait ing until we have time to sweep them away. Alore than this, order is possible all the time if every cup and saucer, every knife and spoon, every sort of clothing has it's own fixed place and is put back in 1t as soon as It's period of service is ended
 l grant that this Is not always easy al the moment. When you come in tired after a walk with the children t Is much easier to toss your hat and gloves on the he'd and kick your overshoes into the corner and to let the children follow the same course than 1t is to put each article where i belongs. But to quote the old woman with the toothaehe; {" It feels so good when Ii stops aching" In other words, 1t is ( comfort when you recover little from tn, first fatigue of the return to knoy tha there is not awaiting you pile If gar. ments to be gathered up and slowed ava, just when you want to do something else
 There Is something to be said for tho comfort of slack ways" woman said {, me the other day. They make the fam fly much less trouble than the other kind My husband and have been married foi twenty years and In all that time we have shared one bureau of three drawers anC one small writing desk. If I had beer one of the people who is fussy about house keeping We never could have got along a: amiably as we have done"
 Perhaps not-and yet. wouldn't system have simplified matters and made the bus. band and wife more comfortable with the limited space at their command? Arc amabllity and good system in housekeep ing incompatible?
 Try 1t and seei
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
IMPORTANT NOTICE

DECAUSE of fhe enormous number of ~ letters sentto tse department ! must ask contributors to limit their communications to 100 uo,ds. except in cases of formulas or recipes phieh require greater space. want eH my correspondents to h0oe q shooting in thc Corner. and if n,y request in this respect Is complied wiih II isR De possible to print many more htters.
 Attention Is called 10 he faci hai Marion Harland cannot reeeipe money jor patterns. os she has no connection Dih any department that sells them. Marion Huiand.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
4 Chicken Flea Remedy.

' VIII you kindly tell me how to get rid of chicken fieas? We have removed to new home. and the chicken house and yard are fairly alive with the pests. L. M. R."
 A letter written by Mississippi member although too volumlnous for publication entire. supplies us with an answer to your query. The author underwent unspeak able
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
Dpide Work pith Maid.

If your children do net awake carly and confess to prejudice in favor of let ting them sleep as long as they can-dls- charge some of your other duties before
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

gralulate you with all my heart and hope for a continuance Gsf the blessing. l make but one comment upon your optimistic dec- aration that If the golden rule were prac- iiced by mistresses the consequences would be an utter revolution in our home depart ment. Let this be as 1t may. it is always and everywhere right to do unto others as we would have them do to us, and. this done, we must abide the consequences If more tares than wheat follow the sowing. it was nevertheless our duty to put the wheat into the ground.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
Rise Eorly if Possible.

You do not say In your letter if you are obliged to give your husband an early breakfast or 1T your older children are big
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

although we tried innumerable insect de stroyers. MRS. II. C. B.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

for him. If the former, return hearty thanks to heaven; if the latter. make the best of the si. .atton.. for it is not at all likely that you can change 1t or him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

you take the children out for their morning airing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
FAMILY MEALS FOR A WEEK

olsan b Brwn nhedta
  cream LUNCHEON l Cuqu Tea henh sopm of ofoo aaoeb boiled td sanr rtTs butter an 1 Pumpkhpe Brown bread cut h Baekenee
 
  spinach h0
  Fpnh
   wEDNE nta a npkr 
  nacerlwl CT
 
  neded "
 
   Back@rea tred e1ssm pua
  tea DINNER rbef oupwnhr rou uktmdeon npen ifuveD Bacon
  onngem ad Tea an ".
  Grapru  dr@m Bacon esand9a
  "combnat op" pMd .nndu Reed dpostes s t ees deg d
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

Sweet Tomato Pickles.--use one gallon of tomatoes. After they are sliced salt and drain over night in q colander. Add one quart of good vinegar. one pound of brown sugar. one heaping table spoonful of all kinds of spices, ands the same of mustard, and one teaspoonful of cayenne pepper. Boil until tender