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The Commoner.
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VOLUME 4, NUMBER
d a riniOTt v
Chixngod
0, days that grow so chill and white,
Beneath the gray December's pall,
I watch you, with a sickening sense
Of something gone, beyond recall.
Tho hours drag by funereal train,
With mournful step and drooping
wings,
And to the russet garb they wear
A dull, cold sense of heartache
clings.
"Was it but .yesterday tho sun
. Rode up the sky with joyous pace,
And touched with flame the banners
gay
Tho woodlands flaunted In his face?
The hillsides flamed and flared with
light,
The valleys glowed with tyrian dyes,
While golden gleamed tho ripened
fields,
And blue as ' sapphires shone tho
skies. ' '
-v
vThe lark sang on the morning air,
The quail pipdd from the garden wall,
And from the wdld ' the' whippoorwill
Sent forth his lonesome, plaintive
call.
All through the lonely, nocturn hours,
Tho insect world; in wild unrest,
Shrilled loud Witih'-'varied orchestras
A medley grand, from Nature's
breast :'
'Now, all is changed. Through russet
-.. iiy: WOods,
The low winds sweep, with mourn
ful sigh,
The noisy insect world is hushed;
The,, late birds, silent, southward fly.
The stubble where the partridge piped
Is gray as garb of cloistered nun,
And all the life and light seems fled
From out the earth and sky and sun.
0", fading day! 0, sinking sun!
O, sky, so clouded, cold and gray!
How like art thou, to heart of mine,
From which all warmth seem3 passed
away!
"What matter all the princely gifts
The dying year to others bore,
" Since it has robbed me of my all.
And left me old and lone and poor!
H. W. M.
shine has been warm and heart-cheering,
and in its glow and comfort the
chill of the shadow has been tempered.
Lessons have been learned; successes
and failures have blessed us, for if we
read them aright, we must see that
failure carries with it blessings as
often as do successes. It is not always
blessed, or even best, to have our own
way; we do not always know.
Sitting at my desk, today s the earth
without white and glistening with
snow and ice, While within, the palp
radiance of the low-lying winter's sun
strains warmly through the tangle of
green foliage that fills my south win
dow, I am thinking of the many rays
of heart-sunshfne I have to thank you
for my wide-scattered band of help
ful readers. And the 'longing to repay
you in the only way r can do so brings
the thought of you very close to my
heart. And there is such a niultitude
of you! Did you ever think of it?
From the borders of the sunny summer
seas of tho far south .to the ice-bound
islands of the frozen north; from the
stormy coasts of the Atlantic to the
still waters of the Pacific, our "wire
less telegraphy" reaches into many,
many homes; and I know that in these
many homes are warm, true hearts
and home-keeping instincts. And' I
know a few of these home-keepers are
not women, but they are home-keepers,
and as such thev belong to the home
band. Down In the hearts of each o
these is cherished "a dream of fair
women," and tho hope that some sweet
day, a woman's bright presence may
share their joys and profit by their
homely endeavors. Shall we not help
them to, prepare the new home, or to"
brighten the old, in all tho ways we
can?
And to that end, I am going to ask
you again, to help me by your sug
gestions, for which I shall look ear
nestly, expectantly. I know you all
wish the Home Department to be ideal.
I am sure I do. and to that end. I
shall welcome criticism as cordially
as kind word of approbation. But I
want to hear from you. May I not?
And in token of this, I wish each of
you a heartily Happy New Year.
Homo Chats
When this number of The Commoner
reaches our thousands of readers, the
fading twilight of the dying year will
lie about us; the dawn of the New
Year, close at hand. While we lift
hopeful, longing hearts to greet the
new,' many of us will look through
" tears at the passing of the old, remem
bering the blessings the twelve-month
now closing has brought us. It is a
blessed provision of Nature that, in
saying goodbye there lingers few mem
ories of any pain; we remember only
the good. We know that our memory-house
holds many rare gem many
a priceless picture.
Into all lives, however, shelterpr1
pain and discouragements have come,
and to many, the shadows have been
heavy with heartache; but the sun-
- BETTER THAN SPANKING
Spanking docs not euro children of urine diffi
culties. If It did there would be fovr children
thnt would do It. There Is a constitutional cause
.for this. Mrs. M. Bummers, Box 1(59, N'otro Dame
Ind., will send her home treatment to any
mother. Pho asks no' money. Wrlto her today
if your children trouble you in this way. Don't
blamo tho child. Tho chances are it can't hclpit.
Quory Box
(Many "Querists" forget that it is
impossible for an answer to appear in
the Query Box under two weeks from
date of receiving their queries. If
tho answer is wanted sooner, it is best
to send a stamped, addressed envelope,
or at least, full address, that I may
answer oy man. i am always glad to
help you, and hope you will give me
the opportunity of doing so, often.)
Mrs. C H. W., Oregon, Mrs. M. A. M.,
Kansas, and several others, will please
accept thanks for timely recipes, and
for kind , words.
Sara M. -Sorry, but your letter
reached me too late to benefit you.
Edma. After washing the face, neck
and arms well in hot, soapy water,
rinse in hot water, dry with a soft
cloth and rub into tho skin freely co
coa butter, just heated to melting. Do
not use vaseline or castor oil.
Alicia, Teaspoonful of cream of tar
tar in half a glass of water, hot or
cold, every morning before breakfast.
Teaspoonful of pure olive oil every
day before breakfast and after nun.
This for sallow complexion.
I John H. -A monthly list. of the pub
lications of the agricultural department
will bo mailed you regularly, if' you
send name, address and a request for
it to the secretary of agriculture,
Washington, D. C. Many of them are
free.
Mrs. M. C. W. For rose sachet pow
der, mix three ounces of corn starch
with one ounce -orris root powdered,
and pass through a fine sieve; pour on
this eight drops of attar of ro3es and
mix well. For violet powder, four
ounces of orris root powdered, .twenty
drops essence of bergamot, and twen
ty drops essence of ambergris.
0. B. Write to superintendent, of
documents, Washington, D. C, ask
ing for Bulletin No. 88, bureau of
chemistry. The pamphlet contains 46
pages, and will cost you iive cents. As
stamps will not bo accepted, get a
piece of pasteboard, cut in it a hole
tho size of a nickel, put your nickel
in the hole, past thin paper over both
sides of it. put it in your letter and
it will go all right.
Busy B. For stuffed beefsteak, get
a nice, thick, - tender tfiece of round
steak, make a dressing or bread crumb3
as 'you would for stuffing a turkey,
spread it over the steak, roll it' and
secure it with skewers or tie it with
twine. Put it in the oven a3v you
would roast; a. cupful of boiling rwlter
in the pan, cover, and bake forty 'min
utes; take off the cover, set it onvthe
top grate and brown. Thicken 'the'
gravy and serve hot.
Beatrice. For sage tea as a simple
tonic, one large teaspoonful to a tea
cupful of boiling water and steeped for
an hour at boiling point, Is right.
When the scalp is not diseased, this
will stop falling hair if persisted In.
Sage tea formula given in issue of
December 2. is both a stain and a
tonic. (2) For an egg shampoo, beat
a fresh egg into a pint of tepid water;
no soap; wash the hair a3 you would
with water,; it will make its own lath
er and cleanse;' rinse in several wa
ters. (3) Kerosene (coal oil) is rec
ommended as a tonic, but there are
pleasanter ones. (4) No permanent
value. (5) Use cocoa butter instead of
vaseline, see reply to jscima. (6) S'ee
article, "For the Hair" in another col
umn. (7) Do not find recipe asked
for, but give another: One gallon of
rye in the grain; wash; cover with
water in which small handful of salt
has dissolved and bring to a boil;
when boiled about five minutes, drain
off water and let dry. Parch as you
would green coffee, and grind as want
ed. For a family of four, take about a
pint, pour being water over it, boil
a few minutes, let settle, and servo as
you would coffee, with sugar and
cream, if liked. Many thanks for cor
dial encouragement.
For Tho Hixir
So many friends have asked for help
in keeping tho hair nice, I am going
to "lump" a few of the best thing3 I
have been able to gather, and ask
those interested to clip tho article and
paste it In a scrap book, where it will
be available when wanted. Tho recipes
may not be alike beneficial to all. and
I would -advise you to ask your drug
gist's advice before using. They are
all highly recommended. In order that
a tonic may benefit, the scalp must be
in good condition and free from dand
ruff. MWU
For Dandruff,-Ono ounce of flowers
of sulphur to one quart of water; let
stand several hours until it will set-
50
tie, Btlrrinc: or.pnaii
tied, saturate ttTscato witon 8et
liquid every morning nnm th?.clew
obtained. Sulphur in.sohZ TQkt
sldered one of 'the bVt & te.coa'
2.-One ounce each of ?IcSu
and borax in a pint and ffif01
soft water. When dissolved wa L"$
scalp with the solution nihil h tho
but gently, let dry, and Wterwa WCLl
into tho scalp a little pure oil ' FUb
3. Ten grains of corrosive auburn.
to five ounces of distilled witch w?
If tids is considered too strongL S
druggist, use five grains of the sS
mate to five ounces of witch SSS'
the cure will be effected 1 in V U j
longer time. The corrosive subllma S
is poison, and it must be used u X
rected "alittleatatime'ndLut
be kept safely. Apply morning and
evening with a bit of old soft linen or
a bit of absorbent cotton, a little at
a time to the scalp only, if the scalp
is very tender, before using the dand
ruff lotion at night rub a little cologne
into tho scalp very gently. Do not wet
the hair, or use a fine-tooth comb or
brush it much." After the first week
use the lotion only once a day, grad
ually lengthening the interval between
uses until tho scalp is well. Once in
two weeks, wash the head with the
yolk of an egg beaten into a pint of
tepid water? rinse well in clear water
and dry, putting the hair up loosely.
Some claim that the scalp should bo
wet before using the shampoo, but
there Is little difference.
Tonic for the Hair. After the dand
ruff is cured, try this for a tonic: Forty
grains of qufhinq, scant half-cup of
table sajt in one quart of good bay
rum. If th,e hair is oily enough, use
this alone. ,but if dry. add an ounco
of castor oil to the formula. Use twice
a day, w&ttirig the scalp well with a
3ponge. Use the egg shampoo once in
three or four weeks.
Jaborandi 'Tonic. -For restoring gray
or faded'hair to its former color, have
your druggist put up fifteen grammes
of tincture of Jabbrandi, nine grammes
of lanolino and sixty grammes of gly
cerine. Apply to the scalp every night,
and In the morning wet the hair with
sage tea tonic made cl teaspoonful of
sage (powdered) to a teacupful of boil
ing water; apply with a sponge, and
use the egg shampoo every two weeks.
Coal oil applied to the scalp at night,
rubbing thoroughly into the roots of
tho hair, 13 recommended as a scalp
tonic, but is not pleasant to handle.
Mistakes so often occur in the print
ing of matter, that it would be well to
submit all recipes calling for drugs to
your druggist before using.
Plants li Wlntor
To the flower-lover, a sitting room is
not furnished without a few plants in
the sunniest window. They are tho
only bit of green life which most of
us 3ee for half the year, and to keep
them in health is not only a necessity,
but a duty, if we ask of them the pleas
ure they are so ready to give us. But
they are too often "killed by kindness
rather than neglect, and this cruelty is
more .often due to ignorance than to
undue solicitude on our part. In the
quiet time, when there is little growtii,
they do not need much water, ana
should have no stimulants. They are
often subjected to violent transitions
of temperature, and especially exces
sive heat. They must not be cniiieu,
but fresh air la essential, and the a r
wo breathe, charged with the carbonic
acid our lungs give off, is what they
like best; they feed on it, retaining
tho carbon if they are growing in W"
light, and thus their oulUvatlon ,
physically as well as aesthetically, u
eficlal to human occupants.
The dry air. of our sitting rooms
makes evaporation rapid, and wu
.enough to keep tho soil in lie pJ
moist should be given them; hut we
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