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The Commoner.
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 3J.
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We Hake It e.
When faint, exhausted, from life's dull
routine
1 fain would rest,
There seems no Hold wherein I glean
Save one, that shines through mystic
screen,
Only one joy tha. seems to mean
What is, is best
I fold my arms, and my aching head
- On them 1 lay;
Tho eWorld, and all Its flowers, seem
dead;
Then cometh to 'me what the Lord
hath said
Of tho river of life not alono by
bread,
Wo find tho way.
it is not strange the way seems drear
To you and me;
If wo do not strive, how could it clear?
When beautiful leaves grow brown
and sear,
And wo grope for rays that come not
near.
What should we see?
Ah, 'tis well to smile, when clouds
'hangiow-r
'Tis bqtter thus:
The winter comes with sleet and snow
When tho summer sun has lost its
glow,
But -the Autumn lies between, we
know
'Tis well for us.
God gives us light if we only see
Tho darker side,
Aa swo Journey on towards Eternity,
Why, jthe darker side it is sure to bet
Wq can, drift as slaves,, or elso be freo
; , . While wo here abide.
''" Selected.
now emotions. As her nature blos
soms, it hungers for fresh foods; at
every stage of its devlopment, now de
mands are to be met intr-rests alive
cud pulsing, sensations, that lift and
exalt, or degrade and debase, accord
ing to the food they arc forced to ac
cept Happily, the world is moving in be
half of women; the world's irtelll
gfneo approves, this movement, and it
encourages greater freedom to women
in all affairs, whether of home or
state. Woman is a " natural home
maker, and so long as women live, now
o' old, there will bo homes made and
l.i'pt Selected.
coarso or fine. Tin cans do as well,
and for some plants, better, than the
earthen pots, and they have the added
virtue of being "without money and
without price' but they must have
good drainage holes in the bottom.
7 hoy do not allow the earth to dry out
so fast as the porous pots do, and un
less the drainage is good, the soil may
sour, doing great injury to the plants,
if not killing them outright Very few
plants can stand wet feet
The Old and tin New.
When tho man was plowing and
sowing and reaping in tho old, crude
manner, and the woman was spinning
and weaving, churning and tailoring
and doing scores of things" which have
long since been taken out of her hands
tbey were approximately' equal and
satisfied with each other. During the
last few yjars, ambitious men have,
made long strides forward. Much of
the work which they formerly labor
iously performed with their hands is
much better done now by machinery,
and the rough, unskilled service of
those who are as yet unfitted for any
thing higher. While men were thus
piogresslhg, it was not to be expected
that intelligent women, mated with
them, would stand still. There is no
more a new woman today than there is
a new man. The husbands, of the
piesent would be no better satisfied
?ith tho old-fashioned wife than they
would with the old-fashioned clothes,
or out-of-date means of transportation.
or unwieldy implements of labor.
With the passing of the old order of
things, and tho dawning of tho new,
there arose the improved womau, to
r.Ete with the improved man, and to
meet tho now conditlpns. he has re
vealed her possibilities In art, science,
literature and government, in nil tho
trades, professions, and avocatious,
ehe has shown marked ability, and has
taken her stand aa a rotent factor in
social life. You will find her every
where; and wherever she is found,
there also will men bo more manly,
refined and human with tho humanity
which approaches the Dlvlue. Life is
to her no longer sluggish, but ardent,
earnest, impetuous, full of act.vity, its
waters whipped to fineness, its stream
ewift. It has washed many new
Ihings within her reach new perspec
tives, now aspirations, now affections.
Floral Chat
Put six or eig t of tho tiny bulbs of
the Trlteleia uniflora in a six inch
pet, moisten thoroughly and set away
for a month, as you would a hyacinth,
Keeping the soil moist (not wet), then
bring .gradually to tho light, and into,
few days the dainty, starry blooms
will appear. The blossoms have a de
licious wood-violet fragrance. ' If
planted in the fall iri tho garden, it
v ill bloom beautifully next spring;
thf bulbs increase rapidly.
0 0 x
Daffodils are the double and single
Narcissus of tho Trumpet class, eah
scape bearing one largo flower at tho
summit, the plant having strap-leaved
fcliage. The Jonquils are tho golden
flowered, fragr&nt Narcissus, bearing
three to five medium-sized double or
single flowers at the top of the scape;
T.lants are si lall. with rush-liko
foliage. Narcissus commonly known
by "the true name are mostly such as
Narcissus poetlcus, which have large,
showy perianths and a small, cup-like
center. - Polyanthus Narcissus has
much larger bulbs, foliage and flower
clusters, but the flowers are small.
All belong to one family.
0 O
Do not neglect the planting of a few
bulbs out doors. While the hyacinth
if beautiful and fragrant, it is also
much higher priced than the 46032385s,
come of which are also fragrant. A
ued of mixed 46032385s, of the different
vorieties, will be royally beautiful next
spring. There are many low-growing
bulbs that bloom beautifully, and the
bulbs are quite cheap; and these may
cccupy the same bed with the 46032385s.
Crocuses bloom- almost in many
cases, quite before the snow is off
me ground, and they coni6 in many
beautiful colors. These may be set
In the sod on tho lawn, and will bloom
imong the springing grass blades, Do
not set the bulbs too deep Sow the
seeds of annuals over the bulb bed
this fall, and when the bulbs are done
blooming next snrlnir. the annuals will
occupy the bed. Petunias, or pansies
are good for this purpose.
O 0
For the cemetery, a bed of fragrant
white 46032385s, or even those that are
not fragrant, makes a pleasing sight,
pnd will require little care. A bed of
mixed hardy bulbs of tho delicate
shades will be satisfactory Be sure
to sow the seeds of some later-blooming
annuals over the bed. A mixed
package of double portulacca seeds, if
you do not object to colored flowers
in such a place, will give you much
beauty, "sowing itself," year after
year. One might choose the delicate
colors, even of that. Sweet alyssum,
is also lovely to grow over the bulb
bed.
00
For a plant receptacle, paint tin
cans any color, and before" tho paint
dries, roll them in clean whito sand,
Plaanlng Abcad.
One of our readers writes "mo: "I
want to tell you about my Christmas
box. Do you think the subject is pre
mature? Indeed, it is not, where one
must meet the holiday requirements
with a slim purse. The holiday sea
son of the past year had hardly faded
away before I had my 'Christmas box'
open for the reception of things for
the next. Unless you have tried it, you
have no idea of the dainty and .useful
things that may come out of it to meet
the next holiday demands, at almost
no expense. It must needs be capac
ious, for a littl) of everything will
find its way into it before the end of
the season. Among the contents are
broken and discarded toys, castaway
books, unappreciated cards, bits of
silk, lace, ribbon, scraps of embroid
ery, tapes, stray ornaments, 'beads,
buttons, little outworn or outgrown
garments, scraps of woolens, cottons
and mixed goods collected at remnant
counters, ends of embroidery cottons,
linens and silks that will work up yell
nowhere else, a few stray pennies,
pretty bonbon boxes O. the many,
many things that there seems no.otfcer
way to get rid of.
''During my leisure moments, from
the very first, I fashion pretty, inex
pensive things from these scraps, kmlj
crochet, and fancy-stitch others, us
ing up the tiniest scraps, short-lengths
and bits of material, painstakingly,
and thoughtfully trying to fashion the
most trifling to suit some taste, and
when the rush and hurry of gift-bestowing
is upon us, I can smile serene-lj-
at the worry and perplexity of those
who 'just don't know what to get,'
or who to give it to, when it is gotten.
No matter how many demands are
made upon me, I am in a condition .to
meet them, besides having something
for the unexpected 'emergency' g'ft
I think it would be a good plan, if such
a box was 'instituted' in every home.
One can, in this way, utilize many
things that would otherwise be wasted
and the articles that can be fashioned
from them would cost both time,
money and strength to buy when
wanted."
Now, don't you think the plan is a
good one? Yes? Worth a trial, even
at this late day of the year.
The Vapor Bath.
As the season approaches when sud
den colds, coughs from suppressed per
spiration, neuralgiac and rheumatic
twinges, and like ailments may be ex
pected, it is well to give some thought
to remedial agencies. There is really
nothing better, for all ailments, than
water, if one uses it understanding.
It is nature's owl healing agent, and
there are few cases of illness that will
not yield to a proper use of it.
For many years of these troubles,
the vapor bath is especially servicea
ble, when not continued to the point
of producing faintness, dizziness and
undue lassitude. It is not necessary
that one should own a "cabinet," in
older to avail themselves of the bath;
a .pail or pan of water, with a few
red-hot bricks to generate tho steam
U all sufflclont Thfr patient may sit
Id an open-work (cane) seated chair
with a couple of blankets pinned close'
ly about his neck. A vessel contain
ing a few pints or quarts of water is
to bo placed under the chair, and tho
brick or stone, heated red-hot, Should
bo dropped into it to keep the steam
constantly rising from tho water. As
a general rule, patients should prac
tice much self-rubbing, because the ex
ercise of so doing is of advantage In
itself. Friction should be active and
rapid, rather than harsh or scraping;
magnetic, rather than forceful. Wet
ting the head, and drinking much wa
ter will aid in forcing out perspira
tion on the body. Some form of cold
bath should always succeed it
Llscn Fabrlci.
The linen cloth of commerce is the
product of the flax plant. Flax is an
annual, sending up a stalk from ten
to forty inches high," and' bearing deli
cate bluo flowers. The seeds are used
in the manufacture 'of linseed oil, lin
seed meals, and other valuable prod
ucts. The stalks, when used for tho
manufacture of threads and cloth, is
hand-pulled before the seeds are ripe,
and subjected to various processes in
Older to separate the. fibrous portion
from the worthless matter. When
hf.nd-pulled in the summer, it is left
in the field for a time, then soaked in
water, rotted, until tjie fibrous mat
ter can be sepaarted from the stalk
matter, beaten, hackled, and otherwise
prepared for use, The cultivation or
the plant and preparation of the fibre
are very ancient industries, anteda -ing
history. In ancient Egypt, tho
fibre was a very important article, as
it was not only worn by all classes,
but was the only inaterial the priestly
order was permitted" to wear.
The most valuable modern flax is of
Belgium; there, the plant is hand
pulled in summer, before the seeds
iipen, stacked in thelfield or housed
quf ing the w.inter,, and .ho following
spring it is retted, (stepped in water)
in crates sunk in the sluggish waters
of the river Lys. After it has soaked
a sufficient time, the sheaves are tak
en out and stooked (or, as we say,
shocked), after which it is once moro
placed in crates and sunk in the rv.er
lor further rotting of the woody mat
ter, and when finally taken out, It is
loosened and put in cones, and when
quite dry it is stored for come tirno
pievious to undergoing the operation
oi scutching, after which it Is pre
pared for the spinning wheel and the
loom. Some of the linen, fabrics are
exceedingly fine and beautiful. It is
a very durable material, and its fab
rics range jUl the way from the coars
est tow to the most delicate lawns and
laces.
. The linseed oiJ ar ! linseed meals of
commerce are the product of the rip
eced seeds, put through the various
piocesses necessary for their evolution.
Faahloa Notes.
In most of the periodicals which
maintain a department devoted to
fashion intelligence, tho editor of tho
department talks away ovor the heads
oi' the ordinary circumstanced mothers,
and recommends materials far beyond
the purchasing power of the average
family purse. Serge, Shepherd's plaid,
homespun, silks, cashmeres, mohairs,
cloths, velvets, and like materials are
told off as though one had but to
choose and possess. These are all ex
cellent fabrics, and exceedingly to he
oesired, but the fact remains that tho
average mother, in planning for tho
wardrobes of her little brood, finds it
oftentimes a difficult ' undertaking to
properly supply them with eyen the
less expensive cottons and woolens,
and still keep within the limits of her
means. To such mothers I would say,
"Let not your hearts be troubled"
the old standard, serviceable wash
goods, such as calicoes, percales, ging
hams, hollands. sateens, chambreys.
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