Rice Snow.—Boil a teacupful of rice very gently in a pint of milk until the rice has absorbed all the milk. Separate the whites and yolks of two eggs. Take the rice off the fire and beat in the two yolks; add two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar and a few drops of vanilla. Pour into a buttered pie dish; whip up the whites of the eggs with a little castor sugar and pile on the top of the pudding; put in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Eat hot or cold.
When the Orlingburys got back to town, they found “The Rowans” a very changed place without Marion. She was not coming back there at all, so they had to make their daily plans as they best could without her. They found it simpler, now that there were only two of them, to give up the late dinner and have early dinner out in the middle of the day. This Jane could easily arrange at her cookery school. It was the easiest thing in the world to cook a chop, or, selecting a nice clean little girl who took a great interest in her lessons, to put her to make a diminutive pie or a steak pudding, and to cook a small quantity of vegetables. Ada took her dinner at a “Lyon’s” shop or some similar establishment near to the office. They both had a good high tea when they returned at about half-past six, and our old friend Abigail was by this time sufficiently experienced to prepare this for them. On Saturdays Jane generally cooked a piece of gammon of bacon, ham, or pickled pork to last for breakfasts for the week. Mrs. Oldham kept them well supplied with eggs.
For the high tea they had one dish only that needed cooking. Jane was always able and willing to bring any cakes or scones that were required back from the cookery school.
(To be concluded.)
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
GIRLS’ EMPLOYMENTS.
An Anxious Waiter (Bank Clerkship).—In the Bank of England, and in one or two other banks in London, girls are employed as clerks, but in each case it is necessary for the would-be clerk to obtain a director’s nomination. If you have any relations or friends employed at the Bank of England, or at Messrs. Rothschild’s or Baring’s banks, it would be advisable to make your wish known to them, and to ask whether they could give you an introduction to a director. You write a neat clear hand, which is an important advantage for clerical work. Should you fail in these quarters, you might apply to the Prudential Life Assurance Company, High Holborn. Otherwise we recommend you to work hard at shorthand, type-writing, and book-keeping, as, if you could make yourself really competent in these three branches of work, you would have no difficulty at present in obtaining employment, notwithstanding the melancholy accounts that clerks give of the “overcrowdedness” of their business. The majority of unsuccessful clerks either possess none of the accomplishments we have enumerated, or only possess one or two of them imperfectly.
Yellow Crocus (Qualifications of a Clerk or Secretary).—These are, a clear neat handwriting—yours, by the way, though excellent in other respects, covers rather too much space—impeccable type-writing, rapid shorthand, and, if possible, some knowledge of a modern language. A good general English education ought to be indispensable, and though we cannot say that it is so, it makes the difference between a permanently low salary and promotion. From your letter we infer that you have had a good education; it therefore only remains to study the subjects we have mentioned. Many thanks for your kindly expressed wishes for the future of the “G. O. P.” It is interesting to learn that you, in common with so many of our readers, have derived pleasure from The Girl’s Own Paper since its first appearance.
S. B. F. (Laundry Manageress).—We are glad to see that you corroborate the advice we constantly give to girls to learn the laundry business in all its branches. The vacancy you mention you might try to fill by applying to the Central Bureau for the Employment of Women, 60, Chancery Lane, though it is not always easy, as you know, to find girls possessed of the requisite trade experience. For the benefit of some of our readers we will quote a passage from your letter—“I can assure you on behalf of my colleagues in the trade that there is a great demand for women of fair education, who are sober, trustworthy, and able to take the oversight of the work in laundries. The great failings of nearly all capable laundry manageresses are drink and a low standard of morals, especially as regards honesty; and if a woman of superiority went in for the work, she would never lack a good berth, as all the hard work in laundries is now done by men.” We quote what you tell us with the more satisfaction in view of the statement sometimes made by ill-informed persons that girls are likely to be ousted by men from the laundry trade. The demand for expert and honest laundresses and manageresses was manifestly never greater than it is at present.
Ida (Book-keeping).—If you wish to learn book-keeping by double entry in a thorough manner, you should attend classes at some technical institute in your neighbourhood. Were you living in London, we should advise you to join the Birkbeck Institute, Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane, or the Regent Street Polytechnic. Many excellent handbooks have been published on the subject, by the aid of which every determined and persevering girl could master the subject alone; but, of course, lessons in class make the difficulties much more readily surmountable.