COSY CORNER CLUB. WAITING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2410, 10 May 1900, Page 56

COSY CORNER CLUB.

WAITING.

"Emmeliae desires to draw the aiieu-

■v.'l,^.<A-ri-ja:aum

tion of members to the dates which are always given as the limit of time tor receiving contributions to the Cosy Corner Club. These dates, being extended to their farthest limit in the lirst place, must for THE l-UTUKK ]5K STIUfTLY OBSERVED. AND PAPERS ARRIVING AFTER THE DAY SPECIFIED will be disqualified. The editor's* decision on this point, he gives me to understand, is adamant.

The editor very truly points out that there is no reason why members at the other end of New Zealand, or in Australia even, cannot have their papers in long before the dates fixed, as, th'i topics bsing given out two months previously, amp.c time :s thus allowed for even the mo&t dil vtorv members.

To the editor's decision, Emmeline adds her own request that all members will show their real sympathy w'-th, and interest in, the Cosy Corner Club by renewed punctuality, thus helping her in every way.

Ec wan Tb 5"i3. — I was sorry to be deniLcl the pleasure of a lew words with you at our meeting, my dear Iriend, and was -"eiy glad to see you--writing again. li'lniiANDAis. — Like some other cornpatiicis ol yours who are friends of mine, l.fear you look upon time and .its limitations with a jcvial disregard, L'lrl&ndais. For my sake, however, I will ask you to make the necessary -efforjr rather than deprive the club of the payers we so much enjoy. My Boy Fbjend. — A little message for you implied in ""Ificonnu's" iettei was overlooked. Here it is : "What a reflective mind your ' Eoy

Fi iend ' has !

I hope ha will write often,

his ideas axe so beautiful." Staelight. — On looking at Ihe dais of you. 1 little note, I find it io be Af.ai.cb 31, and this suggests to me that your paper on "Ideals'" — and it is such n nice paper too — was intended for the members' meeting, April 5, contributions to be in by Hatch 20. Beaching me so late I have no dcubi J assumed it was for the May meelog (a<3 several other mistakes were made as to the sequence oi topics), and laid it asida with tlio -£ay papers. It is tuch a pity, fcr in any case it v,-a.= too late, being written after the dste for receiving papers* had closed. You will see a notice on the subject of dates in this issue, and I con-

fidently appeal to j~ou all, my dear

to show your regard for me m this respect. Cassandba. — Yov.r choice of a topic at our

members' meeting appealed strongly to "Rowan Tree," who writes thus : '"1 quits

agreed with ' Cassandra's ' "oapcr on music, and shall be glad if you will tell her so. 1 was going to .vrite on the Fame subject had tims permitted. Music for me holds a wonderful charm, as indeed it does, I think, for almost every one, old or young "When griping grief the heart doth wound, And doleful dumps the mind oppress, Then music, with hei silver sound, With speedy help doth lend redress.'' Inccnku. — No, I £>m sorry I canr.Oj tell you who wrote ''If I Should Die To-night," but I will have it put "into our page afc any earl;' date, as so many of our circle have wished to have the complete poem.

CLUB MEETS JUNE 7,

CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE IN BY JUNE 1.

A sketch of the war in the Transvaal,

Wr.tars may choose tlie natural featuies of the country ; J3oer character as revealed by the vrar ; British character as revealed by the war; the life, character, and pursuits of tha Boers, in peace, or any aspect which suggests itself, but, of course, it can only be an aspect because of space liruitatioas.

CLUB MEETS JULY 5. CONTRIBUTIONS MUST BE IN BY JUNE 28. TOPIC.

Which has piodnoed the nob'est deeds and the finest characters m the voild's hi&to.y— impulse oi- reason? Give instances in &up- . port of your decision.

What a mingling of hope and sadness is wrapt in the word! What a world of pathos, and tenderne&s, and longing lies oft behind it ! What sickness of hope deferred or of patience exalted to heroism it implies ; and often, alas, it means the raging of a fierce, rebellious storm in many a "breast — in impotent agony of indignation and fiery resentment as some passionate son] writhes and chafes under the b.tterness of a wrong it teels to be unjust, yet is powerless to hasten to an end. Even from the lips of little children we hear the word "waiting," and, thank 'Cod '. that coming 'from them there is more of hope and less of sadness or bitterness than may come to fill it in after years. One livfcle fellow is waiting till he is old enough to go to school: then ail shall see what great triumph his small brain will achieve. That little girl with the eager eyes and smiling lips cries "Wait till I'm big, and then mothei can rest all day.'' Fow many youths are waiting ' the time when they ma/ go forth to begin life for themselves. Even to the most cautious and thoughtful the way does not seem very dark or Ihorny or difficult of ascent. To the more hopeful and light-hearted it often looks like a rich garden, whose fruits hang so loav that once within it, he may Avolk here and there, gathering, without effort or waiting, whichsoever he may desire. There is __ no heart tremour ie their waiting time: they think that the door which opens to let {hem out of the shelter of home upon life's highway, where so many are jostling and struggling — aye, and fainting and failing — in the effort to acmeve, will, in thoir case, be synonymous with the door which leads> I to success, and that by a speedy route. Ah, my young brothers, should it prove far otherwise, should -you find that after your time of waiting to begin life's battle has ended, and you are fairly at work upon the field, there lies before you a long, hard waiting time betwixt the beginning and the end — the first struggle and the victory : \\ i- you be brave and hopeful and patient? Will you remember always that the things most worth winning are only won by great and continued effort? That they a--e well worth waiting for, even though you may wait in shadow, and toil in pain with weary brain and hand. - Will you remember that even as it " is better to have loved and lo^st, than never to have loved at all," even so is it bettei to strive and wrestle and agonise in a good effort, even though no crown of victory shall award you, than to be passive and inactive in life's battle-, to be a laggard and a drone, drifting hither and thither, though drifting calls for no hard striving. A bright glad girl waits with flushed cheeks and quickened pulses the coming of her lover ; waits at fir&t with smiling eyes and lips, and small hands twitching to feel the clasp of his .strong ones. After a while the smile dies out of her eyes, and only yearning lies there : " fhe is waiting to learn why he came not, he who never failed to keep his tryst with her, and she learns way when, some miles avray from the trysting place, she looks down on the cold dead lace of her lover. After that she waits to keep the tryst in heaven which God deemed be&t should not be kept on earth. Does she sit down to weep over her blighted youth ; to look ever into her aching heart, and bemoan its emptiness, or does she, rising, dry the tears from her eyes, lock the door of her heart upon the sacred memory there enshrined, and pass on her way, pausing at times to place in the hands of one who had passed through the thrice bitter experience of waiting for a false lover a bunch of heart's ease, or to lift a little weary child over a rough place ; to lead aged and tired feet round one ; to turn the swift, reckless steps of an erring sister from a path leading to darkness, misery, and shame back to light and happiness and purity? Filling thus the hours of her waiting time may the angels find her when they come to bear her to that bright try&ting-place above. Then there are thor-e who are waiting the removal of a great burden, an ever-hinder-ing, ever-clogging weight of injustice. Some wait with their &ouls all dark and &tormy with rebellion, others in sullen despair, and yet some have reached, through infinite tears and jeain and deep heart-

longing, Resignation's calm, beautiful mead, and are waiting there the lime light shall illumine the darkness and they shall ■\ralk free once more. In a lowly, poverty-stric-ken home, where a helpless mother lies tended by a daughter whose cheeks are thin, white, whose eyes are large and burning, there is crusl waiting. "Tis ten days &ince the lady promised me work I could "do at your bedside, mother, bub it has not come. Must 1 leave 3-ou alone, and work out for bread?" Poor things, they are! waiting the fulfilment of a promise made ] in a moment of heart pity, stirred by the I 'sight 01 want and woe she had not j dreamed of ; but the promise was made by one of society's fair daughters, and forgotten in the whirling excitement of a home where there was nothing to remind her of I a picture so daik as the one she had seen ' when &he made the promise. Ah, me ! I fear tlis world is full of such waiting ones, not all in such depth of misery, it is true, yet all alike wailing the fulfilment of promises made by acquaintances who could have put a stepping stone before them had they not forgotten their promises. A grey-haired mother gazes at earliest d-nvn from her window. Her eyes are fijj] of tears, and of that desp yearning which tells ox hope deferred. She' is thinking of the boys who left the old home so long age — how long it is since she had a letter from then>— her heart is hungry lor one, for news of them. "Where ore they, and what are they doing? " she asks herself every day. A faint gleam cf hops comes into' her eyes as rhe turns from the window whispering. '" Perhaps a letter may come to-day." "She is waiting, boys, in &uch heai t-hunger as you can never know for a, letter from you. Surely you cap ppare just a few minutes from your fun and frolic —or it mar be worse — uo ease that hunger and bring ' smiles to her eyes ra place of tears ! She has carried her aching heart here and there, back and forth, for so long 3 time, she has laid her tired head on the pillow from which the sleep is driven by the thought, " The letter did not come after I all — oh, my boy? ! " Ah, thoughtless boys. } perhaps in that great day of reckoning all [ her needless heart-hunger may be charged j against you. "There are worn and weary waiting ones — those wasted by sickness and sorrow. They are so tired of the false hopes which have arisen as they thought health was returning, so tired of pain and languishing and exceeding weakness, all earth's bonds seem loosed : - they are waiting now for the angel Death to carry them to Heaven's gate, where, all pain and sorrow' clone away, God shall lorever wipe all tears from their eyes as they pass through. ' VIOLET.

Four pounds marrow, cut in squares, sprinkled with salt, left one night, and strained. Take noz ground ginger, -|oz mustard, Joz turmeric, lib loaf sugar, six shallots chopped «.mall, a few cloves, and three pints of vinegar. Jjoil together for ten minutes, then put 111 the EiErrow, and boil slowly till tender. When cold it is leady for use, and is delicious with any kind of cold meat. COLD FOWL MASHED WITH WHITE SAUCE.

Hive the fowl trussed for boiling. Then tie it up in a piece of buttered paper — this to keep the bird a good colour. Make a few holes in tj»e paper. Put it in a pan of boiling white &to:k, hi which you have put two large onions, cne large canot, two pieces of celery, and a bvnch of herbs. - There should be about two quarts of stock ; if you have not any, rise water. The vegetables give a good flavour to the fowl, and you will require some of the stock for sauce. The fowl will probably take about three-quarters of an hour. "When it is tender, take it out and let it go cold. Then make the sauce. Melt 3oz of butter in a saucepan ; stir into it 3oz flour and nrix smoothly. Cook this for a fow minutes over the fire, but do not let it get brown. Now stir in a pint and a-half of the broth, and allow it to boil. Add hilf a tablespoonful of cream, and strain in loz o£ leaf gelatine which has been dissolved in a little of the stock. Place the bird on a large dish, and as the sauce gets cooler and firmer, pour it very smoothly ovei every part of the fowl. If the sauce is allowed to get too cold :t will become lumpy, and if too warm, too much of it will run off the bird. "When mashed oil over, lift the bird on. to a clean dish. A veiy pretty garnish for this dish is chopped E>spic jelly. This can be arianged in two lines down the breast, or oi> the dish round the bird.

CHOCOLATE ICING,

Put into a saucepan Jib of powdered sugar, 2oz grated chocolate, and about one gill of water; stir on the fire until the mixture assumes the consistency of a thick smooth cream, lay the icing evenly on the cake or pastry with a knife, and put it into the oven for a minute or two to set the icing.

BARLEY SUGAR,

Put into a pan lib loaf sugar, half a pint of water, ond a pinch of cream of tartar. Boil •without stirring as in the above, and remove tlis scum; brush the sides of the pan with waim watei. Test it frequently by taking a small quantity in a teaspoon, and, when cool enough, roll it between your finger and thumb ; if it forms into a ball it is ready. Remove from the fire, stir in the juice of a lemon, and pour the mixture on to an oilrd tin. When it begins to set, cut it into narrow strips, and, as boon as these sue cool enough to handle, tv/ist into the familiar coils we used to lovo &o to suck.

HOT CAKES

Pui Ub of flour in a basin, and rub in 2oz butler, ~adcl Ln.lt a teaspoonvul of carbonate oi soda, and a leaspconfnl of cream cf tartar, also a taspoonful of stilt. Mix to a soft dough with milk and water. Form into a round cake on the pastij; board A kneading the dough vei'X

lightly. Put on a baking sheet, divide into coffee with milk, acM a well-beaten egg, and eighth, and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve sugar to taste. Stir over a gentle heat till the hoc for breakfast. egg thickens, jusc as ia making ordinary cusLOIN OP VEAL (BONED AND STUFFED). tai^- Poux iOimcl the P^ding, and serve. Two pounds of loin of veal will make a nice ITALIAN SOUP. little jomt. Bone it, and fiU with vf. I force- Take half a head of celery, one carrot, one meat. Cover with greased paper, and bake for turnip, or.c onion. Slice the vegetables very an hour. Take off the paper a quarter of an thinly. Take half a pint of the niixed vegehour before the veal is done, so that it may tables, and cook them in slightly salted water biown. until soft. Drrin them. Have ready a quart AN OLD EECIPE FOR BUBBLE AND &aa the vegetableSj season wit h pepper and SQUEAK. salt, and serve very hot. If preferred, asparaChop up and fry lib of cold boiled pota- gus, peas, French beans, etc., may take the toes aad lib of cooked cabbage, with a place of the winter vegetables, little Pepper salt and a good piece of butter.- BAKED MARMALADE PUDDING. Sel aside tc keep hot. Fry some slices 01 cold „. „ , , , , , „-,,,. boiled beef very lightly, put them in a deep ■!f. lx , Itllre1 tllree 4 . dessertspooiiuus o£ melted bxittei dish with alternate layers oi vegetables, piling with three tablespooarals or marmalade ; beat it high in the middle: Servo very hot. up the yolks of three eggs Beat al -well to- _ __,_,_, ___£-„, _ gefchei for ten minutes. Line a shallow dish COFF-!i..b CU STAKD. with puff paste, pour 111 your mixture, and bake Make less than half a pint of very strong in slow oven.