The Commoner.
9
I
Home Department,
Little Boy Blue.
The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy arid stanch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new
And the soldier was passing fair, v
And that was the time when our Little B'oy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.
"Now don't you go till I come," he said,
"And don't you malce any noise!"
So toddling off to his trundle-hed,
Ho dreamed of the pretty toys. '
And as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Littlo Boy Blue . . '
Oh, the years are many, the years are long, . x.
But the little toy friends are true.
Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand, '
Bach in the same old place,
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face.
And they wonder, as waiting these long years
through,
In the dust of that littlo chair, ' '
iWhat has become of our Little" Boy Blue
Since lie kissed them and put them there.
Eugene Field.
The Holstcln Won.
It is often asserted that the Jersey is better
than the Holstein for dairy purposes, but in a con
test conducted at the Nebraska state tair the prize
was awarded to J. C. Doubt of' University Place,
Neb.i whoso Holstein cow, "Sharon Queen," showed
3.4 pounds of butter fat to 87 pounds of milk.
a
In Norway.
The young men of Norway are jubilant over a
law lately passed In that country providing that in
future any woman who desires to get married must
present to the proper authorities a certificate
showing that she is skilled in the arts of cooking,
sewing, knitting, and embroidering. The young
women are wondering why no certificates are to
be required from men which shall prove that they
are able to support their wives.
Rye Muffins.
As the mornings grow cool corn and rye muf
'flns and griddle cakes will be acceptable at break
fast. The round Iron pans make a good-shaped
muffin and are better for pop-overs than the ob
long form; therefore, when buying a new muffin
iron, select the round pans, which are grouped
eleven together for convenience.
A rule not new 'perhaps to old cooks, but safe
to recommend to the beginners, is as follows: Set
the iron pans on the top of the range to heat.
Measure one cup of rye meal after sifting; add one
cup of sifted flour, one-quarter cup of sugar, one
half level teaspoon of salt, and three and a half
level teaspoons of baking powder. Sift all to
gether. Beat one ess, add one cup of milk, and turn
into the dry ingredients. Beat two minutes. But
ter the pans, using either a small brush kept for
the purpose or a piece of manilla -paper, .folded.
Fill the pans two-thirds full In depth, but which
is really but one-half full, as the pans flare some
what. Bake in a hot oven twenty-five minutes,
when the muffins should be a little above the top
of the pans and risen evenly to the center. Alice
II. Whitaker, in Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Mistakes of Women.
One of the mistakes of women is in not know
ing how to eat. If a man is not be fed when she
is, she thinks a cup of tea or anything handy is
good enough. If she needs to save money, she
., does It at the butcher's cost. If she is busy, sho
will not waste time in eating. If she is unhappy,
she goes without food. A man eats if the sheriff
is at the door, if his work drives, if the under
taker interrupts; and he Is right. A woman will
choose Ice cream instead of beefsteak, and a man
will not.
Another of her mistakes Is in not knowing
when to rest. If she is tired, she may sit down,
but she will darn stockings, crochet shawls, em
broider doilies. She doesn't know that hard work
tires. If she id exhausted, she will write letters,
figure her accounts. She would laugh at you If you
hinted that reading or writing could fail to rest her.
All over the country women's hospitals flourish
because women do not know when to rest.
Another mistake on the list is their constant
worrying. Worry and hurry are their enemies,
and yet they hug them to their bosoms. "Women
- cross bridges before they come to them, and even
build bridges. They imagine misfortune and run
out to meet it.
Women are not jolly enough. They mako too
serious business of life, and laugh at its little hu
mors too seldom. Men can stop in the midst of
jierplexities and have a hearty laugh. And it keeps
them young. Women cannot, and that is one rea
son why they fade so earlythere are other rea
sons, but we will pass them now. Worry not only
wrinkles the face, but it wrinkles and withers
the mind. Have a hearty laugh once In a while;
it is a good antiseptic and will purify the mental
atmosphere, drive away evil imaginingB, bad tem
per and other ills. Buffalo Times.
About the Baby.
When the days grow colder don't wrap tho
baby up in two or three shawls and then wonder
why it sneezes at every breath.
j Lt it get accustomed to have no blankets. or
shawl about.it, and it will soon be able to with
stand slight changes of temperature.
If not warm enough, add another long-sleeved
shirt, but do not wrap it up and keep it from
the .pure air.
Whea extra warmth is needed to relieve colic,
a simple plan is the warming by means of an In
verted hot saucer wrapped in flannel and placed
over the abdomen.' This remedy will quickly give
relief.
Apply warm clothes to the feet and abdomen
if there Is a severe spell of crying that cannot be
hushed, and try giving a little hot water. This
external application of warmth is often better than
the customary, doses of peppermint, etc.
But whatever is done for the crying spell,
don't feed the baby to quiet it, unless it Is hun
gry. It Is distressing at times to sit and see tho
milk forced through the lips of a fretting baby
in the foolish imagination that it must be hungry
to cry so.
Much depends upon the regularity of an in
fant's time of taking nourishment, yet few seem
tc realize this.
The shortest time between meals should not
be less than an hour and a half better two hours.
But the important thing is to give the nourish
ment regularly; whatever time Is chosen, do not
shorten it because the baby Is fretful. Remember
that very often it is water and not food that is
needed to stop the peevishness of the thirsty little
mite of humanity. Farmers' Advocate.
Favorite Names.
The favorite women's names In the thirteenth
century were Alice, Agnes, and Matilda. There is
scarcely a village where the" do not appear re
peatedly. Some of the most amiliar namps'ln
modern times, however, seem to have been but
little used. Out of 100 women who were so un
fortunate as to be mentioned in the rolls fpr'ono
reason or another, and whose names have been
counted, but two had our favorite beautiful name
of Mary and there was but one Margaret. On tho
other hand, Isabella, Juliana, Cecilia, and Petronil
la seem rather high sounding. for medieval peas
ants, but they were common enough. There is an
occasional Euphonious and not infrequent Muriel
or Alice and Botild, Alvena, Estrild, Edith and
tho like testify to tho Saxon origin. Denver
Field and Farm.
lie Backed Out.
A woman having a farm homo to look after
and threo hired men to board, finding it extremely
difficult to secure needed help in the house, worked
up a nice little schemo with one of tho hired men.
Tho plan was for him to -get married and live In a
tenant houso on tho farm and he and his wife to
board tho other hired help. Tho woman found a
nice girl for him and the deal looked as though it
would go through, when ono day tho young man
said to tho woman; "I'd like to accommodate you,
but I just dasu't take the risk." Denver Field and
Farm.
Looking: Out for Mother.
One matter which all young girls should con
sider, which is perhaps almost hackneyed and yot
never unnecessary, is the question of reverence, all
that is implied by the injunction to honor our par
ents. To honor them is not only to obey thein;
It goes farther and deeper than mere obedience.
You cannot possibly understand the love that
your mother bears you; it is a law of nature thr.t
you should not understand. It is like no other
love; peculiarly interwoven with every fibre of her
being, not to be comprehended by any daughter of
you all until tho day when you perhaps hold your
own children in your arms. You must take it on
tiust. But remember that this love of hers makes
her acutely conscious of every touch of hardness
and coldness in your voice; she misses tho kiss
that you are in too great a hurry to bestow; sho
winces at the argumentative voice with which
you labor to get your own way; she dreads un
speakably to lose your affection and respect. Do
not begrudge tho tender word, the long caress,
even If you feel a. little impatient of it all the while.
You will long for it with a heartsick longing when
U can novor bo yours again. And remember that
hardness Is one of the faults of youth; you should
strive against it as much as you strive against
your faults of bad temper, or inaccuracy, or sloth.
Be hard on yourself if you like; that will not hurt
you. But you may regret it all your life that you
have been hard on anybody else. The Watchman.
i
Just Be (Had.
O heart of mine, we shouldn't " ,'
Worry so! . - ' , i
What we've missed of calm, we couldn't
Have, you know!
What we've met of stormy pain, '
And of sorrow's driving rain,
We can better meet again,
If it'- blow.
Wo have erred in that dark hour
We have known,
When the tears fell with, the shower,
All alone
Were not shine and shower blent
As the gracious' Master meant?.
Let us temper our content
With His own
For we tfnow not every morrow
Can be sad;
So, forgetting all tho sorrow
We have had,
Let us fold away our fears,
And put by our foolish tears,
And through all the coming years
Just be glad.
James Whitcomb Riley.
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