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8
The Commoner.
Tol. a, No. 48.
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the dome Department.
Conducted by Belen Watts WcUey.
The Conductor of Uiis De
partment will undcrtaltc
to answer questions that
interest Housekeepers.
Address care Commoner.
gMWW
Dimple's Christinas Present.
Now, what shall wo got for our Dim
Sweet Dimple, who sits on my knee,
And coaxes, with whispers and Kisses
. For something she wants for her
"tree."
She has toys that would stock a small
merchantf -And
dolls, something less than a
score;
Of all sorts andshapes and conditions,
In numbers they burden the floor.
She has a wee cabinet cupboard
With cunningest drawors and shelf,
Just groaning with all sorts of dishes,
From daintiest china to delf.
Her cutlery beggars description,
All silvered and polished with care
The daintiest falling-leaf table,
The prettiest red and gilt chair.
A work basket .lined with soft satin,
With pockets of cardinal red;
Tucked into them, wee, snippy scis
sors, And ribbons and buttons and thread.
And, Oh! such a hint of a thimble!
You'd doubt 'tis a thimble at all;
You'd .think 'twas a buttercup petal
Rolled Into a wee hollow ball.
Her
"kitchen
corner,
things" crowd every
Her "traps" litter table and chair;
"There's just nothing left to get for
her,"
I said, with a sigh of despair.
"0, I know!" the laughing lips ah-
claiming the blessed birth of the Sav
ior of mankind. The angel batids,
joined by the heavenly hosts, break
into anthems of praise, and the dome
of heaven resounds to their delirious
joy, as they tell to the lost sons of
Adam the glad tidings of great joy
the glorious refrain rolling down the
ages, even until now "Glory to God
in the highest; and on earth, peace;
good will toward man." And with
the echo of this refrain filling all our
hearts, wo remember that the message
came not to the proud of earth, but
to tho lowly shepherds the watch
ers by night on the darkened plans of
Palestine.
swer;
"I know just the thing that will do
And mamma would only half-promise;
I ' think 'twould be '.splendid don't
you?"
And then, the sweet 'voice, sinking
lower,
,Just whisperedva sentence to me:
"Now, will you?" she 'eagerly vques-
. . tioned;
. I laughed. "If I find one may -be."
When Dimple arose Christmas mornv
' ing, . ' Vv '.,
'"She -saw, in its wrappings snow-i-
white, " .'- ; ."'.
A wee, wrinkle-faced little brother
v "You found it!" she screamed with
" i- - delight.
'ir
" 4
Mery Christmas.
Before another issue of The Com
moner greets its thousands of read
ers, the white festival of the year -will
have passed away. May its coming
bring into your homes the true Christ
mas spirit the blessedness of a de
sire to do good to follow in the foot
' Bteps of Him whoso birth the season
commemorates. We, of adult years,
look backward, and see the many
mile-stones marking the happy per
iods when hearts wore aglow with
hope, and joyous with glad ambitions;
'"when the strong,' sweet side of life
Btood out in bold relief, flooded withJ
the beautiful sunshine of our morning
1 years, and this retrospection fills us
Witlr a tender sympathy for the little
souls just now beginning the journey
along the road over which we have
passed.
Where memory fails us, imagination
j takes up the flight, and we see afar
' down the centuries, the ilelds where
, "shepherds watched their flocks by
night;" wo see the darkness burst
asunder as tho glory of God shone
. around about them, and we hear the
voice of tho angel messenger pro-
Suppressed Education.
It is a lamentable fact, and one
fraught with lasting misery, not only
to the present, but to future genera
tions, that tho one subject upon a
knowledge of which hinges the health,
happiness' and mental, moral and phy
sical well-being of the human race, is
so strictly tabooed that one scarcely
dares hint at it, with voice or pen,
without being at once frowned down
by the very onqs "who should be the
most interested in a thorough under
standing of it.
We send our sons and daughters to
the best schools, are careful that they
have the most thorough educational
advantages obtainable; we try to in
culcate good morals; we approve of
physical culture. Our children are
painstakingly trained along business
lines, and yjist sums are lavished upon
the acquirement of accomplishments
by our daughters. We encourage mar
riage, and complain at the lessening
number of children born in our fam-
.ilies. Yet we go blindly on, neglect
ing the most important teachings or
all that our young people should
know 'themselves should understand
the laws of being, and realize the aw
ful penalty of nature's broken law.
Until quite recently, the subject of
heredity has been given but little at
tention, but the widespread evils
crowding about ns cannot be ignored,
and the awakening has begun.
To this, ignorance which is in no
sense to be confounded with inno
cence is attributable much of the un
handiness of married counles ill-
I healm and early death of many wom
en, mis-shaped, deformed, depraved
and ill-conditioned children, organic
and functional diseases among both
sexes ; all the growing train of evils
resulting from a blind abuse of the
bodily functions, the criminal misuse
of a wonderful mechanism, the deli-
?:ato intricacies of which are most
mperfectly, if at all, understood, even
by the best of them.
This ignorance, and, indeed, crim
inal suppression, along lines of tho
most vital Importance, is greatly de
plored by those observant enough to
see the wretchedness to which it tends,
but, say they, where are the teachers?
The lessons would be one-sided, if
taught by one sex alone. So we must
go back to the proposition that the
teachers themselves must be taught
Let the "co-education" between hus
band and wife' begin in the home. Let
the father and mother. Jay aside all
prejudice and look at the subject from
both sides, in all its bearings, and
learn from each jDther, and from the
best authorities, all, that is to ..bo
known. If they will do th)s, in all
fairness, they will be surprised to
find how narrow and biased have been
their single prejudices. Let them lay
aside all thoughts of pruriency and
talk seriously to their children as soon
as they are old enough to understand
and, friends, that is at an earlier
age than you may have thought possi
ble. Lead these little white souls up
ward along tho paths from which you
have removed tho blocks of "stumbling,
teaching them, the sanctity of their
physical body which Bhould indeed
be tho temple of tho living God.
Looking For the Bright Spots.
Emerson says: "Do not hang a dis
mal picture on your wail, and do not
deal with sables and glooms in your
conversation."
Beecher follows with: "Away with
those fellows who go howling through
life, all the while pretending to be
birds of paradise. He that cannot
laugh and be gay should look well to
himself. He should fast and pray un
til his face breaks forth into smiles."
Talmage takes up the strain as fol
lows: "Some people have an idea
that they comfort the afflicted when
they groan with them. Do not drive a
hearse through a man's soul. When
you bind up the broken bones of the
soul, don't use cast-iron splints."
It is not always easy to smile, espe
cially if you have allowed yourself to
dwell in the shadows; but if you reso
lutely repulse the demon of darkness
you will find the sunshine all about
you. One can so train the eye of the
soul as to find out the bright" spots
and-gloss over the gloom, and even
the blackest clouds will give way be
fore a determined, cheerful spirit It
may require some effort and a good
bit of courage, to attempt the moun
tain paths, but it is better to " toil up
ward than to spend one's life In the
n.arshes of the low-land.
A year ago a little brown-eyed
daughter came to our home, and in
teaching her I have strongly insisted
that she must always try to find the.
beautiful, no matter what else-, pre
sented Itself. A few days ago, pausing
at the window, we looked out upon a
leaden sky, fine mist of falling rain,'
bare-branched trees and sodden path
ways. 'The outlook was not calculated
to awaken enthusiasm, and tho gen
eral opinion would have been that the
weather was decidedly "nasty;" but
the little girl, looking up into my
face and taking her cue from the ex
pression seen there, electrified the
household by cheerily saying, "Isn't
it a beautiful day!"
Of course, every one laughed, but I
comforted the little heart by telling
her she was right that there was
beauty ia it all, even if they did not
see it.
Weeds or Flowers?
Boys, did you ever notice the weeds
that grow in tho garden how tall and
strong and "sturdy they get to be, if
let alone. Did you ever notice that it
is alwayB the good ground from which
tho rankest grow? Could you not, by
a little care, just as well have had
growing there a crop of fine vegetables,
fruits and flowers? Did you ever bear
of any good purpose those vile this
tles, jimpsoh, burdock, cockle burrs
and careless weeds werq. made to
serve? Did anybody ever express ad
miration of the rank weed growth? .
No? Well, did you ever think that
your heart is like the garden? Bad
habits, little untruths, Receptions, actjs
of unkindness, are all weeds of the
heartthistles and thorns that eat
out the strength of your soul. Every
indulgence of them is one more seed
planted from which will spring up
other like plantB, and these will'bear
more seeds, which will sow them
selves, and one day you will wake up
to find your character garden all
over-run with rank, noisome weeds,
the fruits and flowers of kindness and
truth all choked and dead because of
these rampant intruders. A Ho is a
little seed, and planted in tho mellow
soil of :, boy's heart, it will require
no watering or sunshine to make it
grow to harmful proportions; indeed,
such things thrive best in the sha
dow. An act of selfishness, of care
less cruelty to onq weaker than your
self, is another seed, and from it will
spring a poisonous plant, that it will
be perilous even to touch. Once it
has possession of the soil, it is like
some plants in nature, the more you
try to dig it up the thriftier it will
grow. Every bruised or broken root
will send up another plant, and the
work of getting rid of it will compel
you to a long, hard, discouraging
struggle.
Is it not better, then, to commence
now, while the plants are but started,
and root them out at once, tear them
out of the soil before even the "char
acter leaf" shows itself, and plant in
their stead, the seeds of honor, kind
ness, love and truth?
Sometimes" you hear the grown peo
ple talk about "turning over a new
leaf" at the dawn of the New Year.
Well, now is a good time to look at
your leaves, and make up your mind
to pull up every vile thistle or murder
ous weed you find springing into life
in your heart-garden. Some of these
habits will be like purslane even tho
broken bits of branches, if. left lying
on the soil, will take root, as you
must not only pull. them up, by the
roots, Dut burn themup. by,, the, fires
of honor and truth. . ' ' ' '7 '
Llttlo Helps.
For the complexion, a simple-recipe
is, a glass of hot water,, with a-pinch
of table salt dissolved in it; drink be
fore breakfast. A good complexion is
greatly dependent upon a good circu
lation and good digestion.
A good method for improving tho
complexion is to take one and one
half pounds of oatmeal, four ounces
of powdered castile soap, eight ounces
of- Italian orris root, put in a cheese
cloth bag and use as wash cloth in
plenty of warm soft water, to be fol
lowed by a lotion made q,s follows:
10 cents' worth of glycerine, the well
beaten yolks of two fresh effKS. and a
half glass of water, well shaken to
gether. If the face is thin and flabby, its
contour can be greatly improved by
using an application made as follows:
One pat lanoline, one part oil beune,
one part spermacetti, one "part cocoa
nut oil, two parts egg albumen, one
part alchohol, hot water sufficient to
absorb. Heat and beat while warm
into soft, velvety mass. When ap
plied, it dries at once.
This is an excellent recipe, for tho
complexion; to be used just before re
tiring: Give the face a good steam
ing between turkish bath toweling
dipped in hot water, then apply to tho
face the following mixture: Two
ounces of strained honey, two onnce3
of lemon juice, four ounces of glycer
ine; mix well before using, and rub
well into the skin. In tho -morning,
wash in cold soft water, using white
castile soap, then rub the face thor
oughly dry. This is excellent for
........ u im nK T)AV
Take Laxative Bromo Quinine Tablets. All
druggists refund the money if it, fails to cure.
E. W. Cjrovo'a signature is on each box, ac.
7:"i
