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JANUARY 2G, 1906
The Commoner.
and cushions attached to the inner
linings. In this basket should be
placed a night dress, pinning blanket,
square blanket, shirt, band, soft
pieces of old linen,, safety pins of dif
ferent sizes, bottle of best vaseline,
box of powder, cake of pure, vegetable
oil soap, a soft towel and a fine
sponge or soft wash rag.
Benzine or Benzoin?
"A Reader" asks if benzine and ben
Boin are not one and the same thing;
if not, wherein do they differ? Ben
zine is a highly inflammable liquid
made from petroleum; it is used for
fuel, for lighting, for dry-cleaning
clothes, and many other things. Ben
zoin is a resinous gum. drv and brit
tle, obtained from the Styrax Benzoin,
a tree of considerable size, native of
Sumatra and Java, and found in other
countries into which it has been in
troduced. The gum-resin exudes
from incisions made in the bark of
the tree after it has attained its sixth
year. It has a fragrant odor and a
slightly aromatic taste. It is used in
medicine, and in many toilet preparations.
11
To Make a Mattress
Take ten yards of ticking; make
the top and bottom of the tick to suit
the size of the bedstead; allow two
inches on width and length for tying.
Cut strips five inches wide for the
casing, long enough to go around the
sides and ends of the tick. Sew the
casing around the bottom of the tick
and bind it with braid. If possible,
put the tick in a quilting frame, as
you would a comfort, and lay on the
bottom of it six pounds of cotton bat
ting, some crosswise and some length
wise, making it even; have a quantity
of corn husks stripped very fine, and
lay this evenly over the batting to a
depth of six inches; then lay over
this another six pounds of batting, as
before. Now put on the top- of the
tick and sew it to the casing, binding
with braid. A table or long board
should be placed under the mattress
as a support in the middle. Needles
for tacking can be made of the ribs
of an umbrella, sharpening one end
and using strong twine for the tack
ing, putting a piece of strong cloth
THE LITTLE WIDOW
A Mighty Good Sort of Neighbor to
Have
"A little widow, a neighbor of mine,
persuaded me to try Grape-Nuts when
my stomach was so weak that it
would not retain food of any other
kind," writes a grateful woman, from
San Bernardino Co., Cal.
"I had been ill and confined to my
bed with fever and nervous prostra
tion for three long months after the
birth- of my second boy. We were in
despair until the little widow's ad
vice brought relief.
"I liked Grape-Nuts food from the
beginning, and in an incredibly short
time it gave me such strength that
I was able to leave my bed and enjoy
my three good meals a day. In two
months my weight Increased from 95
tt 113 pounds, my nerves had stead
ied down and I felt ready for any
thing. My neighbors were amazed to
see me gain so rapidly and still more
so when they heard that Grape-Nuts
alone had brought the change.
"My 4-year-old boy had eczema, very
bad, last spring and lost his appetite
entirely, which made him cross and
peevish. I put him on a diet of Grape
Nuts, which he relished at once. He
improved from the beginning, the
eczema disappeared and now he is fat
and rosy, with a. delightfully" soft,
clear skin. The Grape-Nuts diet did
it. I will willingly answer all in
quiries." Name given by Postum Co.,
Battle Creek, Mich.
.'There's a reason, Read the little
book, "The Road to Wellville," in i
plvgS.
or old leather under each stitch, top
and bottom.
Query Box
Mrs. H. B. M. See Requested Rec
ipes. Thanks for kind words.
H. L. D. Eczema is a disease which
often requires long treatment to cure,
and sometimes all treatments fail.
Consult a physician.
Wesley S. Pour two tablespoonfuls
of cayenne pepper on the fire while
smoking the meat, and ft is claimed
that flies will not molest it.
J. L. From now on, until tho trees
bloom, throw the ashes from your
stove around the trunks of the plum
trees. It is said this will free the
fruit from the curculo stinging.
Young Mother Let the littlo folks
eat all the apples they want but limit
the supply of sweet biscuit and
cookies.
A. V. As you live in a large city,
your librarian should be able to an
swer your questions better than I
can. Consult him. You may know
what you like best to read, but you
may not be the best judge of what
is fittest for you.
M. D. A. Intestinal indigestion Is
cured only toy putting such food into
your stomach as it can readily digest
before passing it on. Out door ex
ercise, bathing, resting and refraining-
from worry are your best medicines.
Mrs. E. H. If we had more indus
trial and less fancy education in the
schools, it would be better. It is
claimed that a great majority of the
unemployed of today can do "sums"
in geometery and read Latin and
Greek, but know nothing of practical
industry that "makes good." Educa
tion is a good thing, but mere book
learning is a poor staff to lean upon.
M. G. R. Says: Take a lump of
alum as big as your fist; dissolve it
in a vessel large enough to bathe your
feet in, having the water come well
up on the ankles. Every night and
morning heat thiij solution quite hot
and hold the feet in it for fifteen
minutes, shower with cold water
quickly to close the pores, wipe dry
with a soft towel, and this will cure
the worst case of chilblain, even when
there are festered sores.
W. R. K. I am afraid your sug
gestions are entirely out of my line,
but will say that the restlessness of
the people of today is a product of
the times and existing conditions.
Thousands of these people, some of
them highly cultured and well-to-do,
would not keep a home if it were
given to them, if the ownership of it
made it obligatory upon them to oc
cupy it, and would value it only on
its money value, if outside of a large
city or town. Other thousands, owing
to the nature of their employment,
must be more or less migratory in
order to keep in touch with their
"jobs," and to these, the "rooms fur
nished for light housekeeping" are a
bonanza; while still other thousands
are compelled, either through the de
mands of their' occupation, -or because
of financial straits, to literally "live in
their trunks."- The transitory habit
a light brown In the pot, but do not
burn. Take out the meat and place
on a platter; add a pint or more of
cold water to tho gravy in tho pot,
bring to a boil and thicken with a
little flour blended in cold water. An
onion may bo browned in butter and
added to tho gravy boforo tho cold
water, if ono enjoys the flavor.
In cooking tough meats, remember
that the water Is just as hot If at tho
boiling pointthe surface slightly
agitated as if it were bubbling fast
and furious; the meat will cook just
as fast in the first case as in the last,
and will not harden.
Hyacinth Bulbs
As you bring your potted bulbs
from tho dark place to the light, do
it by degrees, immersing the pot once
a week half their depth m very warm
water to which a little liquid manure
has been added, leaving them in the
water until the soil is thoroughly
saturated. They will bloom quicker,
sending up tall spikes of handsome
flowers, and fine foliage. If placed
at once in strong light, the spike of
buds is apt to be very short, and
with some, the flowers may bloom be
fore they are entirely out of the soil.
It is beBt to place a funnel made of
dark paper over the bud-spike to in
duce taller growth.
On Toilet Matters
4
Unfortunately for the amateur who
first essays the work of blending oils
into a sweetly-scented compound, the
task is not always blest with the best
results, and, as a consequence, many
dollars' worth of good materials are
duly wasted in an effort to make two
or three jars of cream. First of all,
in the manufacture of any kind of
skin food it is absolutely necessary
to purchase the very best of oils, and
in order to be sure of getting them,
the purchaser should have some
knowledge of what to expect when
she asks for anything in tills line.
Almond oil, usually employed as the
basis of most articles, when pure and
fresh has but little odor, is clear, and
of a light straw color. Cocoanut oil
is a glistening substance, semi-solid,
resembling leaf lard, as it comes in a
white mass, and possesses a distinct
ly impressive odor that no ono can
possibly mistake. Lanolin is decided
ly sticky, resembling molasses candy
before being pulled, and reminding
one very forcibly of the fact that it
is extracted from sheep's wool. Ceta
ceum, taken from the Tvhale, is so in
tensely disagreeable to use that some
other oil should be substituted when
ever possible, as the fish-like scent is
not agreeable in cosmetics. Sper
maceti is usually found in long, white
cakes, while white wax comes in
small, round, flat shapes, like old
fashioned cookies. All of these arti
cles may be had at any druggist's, i
as they are in common use. I
All oils are to be melted before any
other ingredient can be added; for
instance: if the recipe called for
almond oil, lanolin, white wax, sper-
would bo too well supplied with it
Unless ono is willing to take a great
deal of troublo, and .knows what sho
s doing, and is suro of getting tho
best articles, sho would bettor buy tho
prepared article of some roliablo drug
dlst. With tho approach of. tho
blustering winds and "shifty" weathor,
one can find great comfort in tho uso
of a. good cream. Mme. Michaud, In
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Scrappre
Thoroughly wash and scrape a
hog's head, singeing such hairs as
cannot bo scraped off, split and take
out tho eyes, eyelids and brains;
clean tho ears, digging out tho Inner
canal, scrape and scald well; cutoff the
tip end of tho snout a little below tho
eye sockets. Put on to boil in plenty
of cold water, and simmer gently for
four hours, or until the bones will
easily slip from the meat. When
done, lift the meat out and pour tho
water it has cooked in through a fine
colander in order to remove all fine
pieces of bono; with tho hands mix
and remove all pieces of bone from
the meat, chopping the meat fine. Set
the liquor where 4t will get cold, and
remove all grease from tho top; re
turn tho chopped meat to the kettle
of water, season highly with pepper,
salt, powdered herbs as preferred
sage Is the most generally used. Now,
having brought the mess to a boll,
take a large wooden spoon and, stir
ring constantly, add enough corn
meal to make a soft mush. Cook
slowly for an hour, stirring occasion
ally to prevent scorching. Pour the
mixture In square pans and keep in
a cold place, slicing as needed, frying
or heating In tho oven.
seems to be part of the program of maceti and ono ounce of oxide of
the period.
A Pot Roast
A piece of the fore-quarter of beef,
if cut where the muscular fiber is
close and tough, should not be put on
to boil in hot water, but in cold, un
salted water and brought very slowly
to the boiling point. It should be.
tightly covered and cooked over a
slow fire for several hours: When
partly done, season with salt and
pepper; when the meat is tender, re
move the" cover of the pot and boil
down the water; as the water boils
away, the stock becomes a rich brown,
and the meat should bo turned fre
quently that the juices that "have es
caped to the broth may be again ab
zinc, with ten drops of rose geranium
to perfume the mixture, the cream
would be made in this manner: A
nicely enameled double boiler would j
be selected, and into this the oils are I
placed. The outer vessel would con-j
tain warm or hot water, and the inner J
vessel, containing the oils, would be
placed in this, to keep the oils from
too close contact with the fire. As
soon as the oils are melted and
thoroughly mixed, the zinc must be
sifted carefully Into it, stirring con
stantly, and then the mixture may be
removed from the fire and beaten
until cool enough to add the rose
geranium, beaten until cold and
creamy. This precaution of beating
is especially necessary in a cream of
the kind, mentioned, otherwise the
zinc powder would remain In the hot
sorbed into tho meat. Let all the
water boil out, and let the meat fry torn of tho dish, and the last, jar
Young Men
Make Money I
There is no more hon
orable, more educational,
more enlarging: and rel-
I atively more lucrative
I employment than repre
senting The Ladies'
Home Journal and
The Saturday Even
ing Post in your town
and its vicinity.
It is business, not "can
vassing." It begins in
your own home. If you
work with us as we train,
guide and help you it
will lead to a larger life
and usefulness to yourself
and others than you now
suppose possible.
Write to us for full
particulars about' our
honorable, pleasant and
profitable plan for giving
you a start in life.
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO.
I72-E Cherry Street
Philadelphia, Pa.
Wajjr.
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