10
The Commoner.
VOLUME 0, NUMBER 43
for immediate wear, in case of a an,
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Baby's Record
A "Mother's Book" before me lies,
And as I read its pages fair,
I seem to soe a baby's face
Beside its lock of shining hair.
It -was in June the baby came;
'Mid sunny sides its life began;
In June the haby went away
Oh, little feet that never ran!
: The date of birth, the "baby's weight
A tiny mite, yet, oh, how dear!
A lock of hair, the first dress worn,
The baby's name, are written here.
''Baby's first gifts" a rubber ring,
A rattle-box, a worsted ball,
A tiny golden chain, a ring,
A picture book,-4i rubber doll,
VBaby's first laugh" the record ends.
. . Oh, little life, so sweet and, doar!
Oh, little feet tnat never ran
In the short time it lingered herel
'Itwas in June the baby came
t" In June the baby went away;
A memory sweet is left with these
Sweet records of the babys stay.
E. A. McGregor.
Remember, I am never too busy to
read what you write and to thank
you for the pleasure.
Our Social Chat
'J'Qlte ajtew of our sisters have wfit-
fJben mefrtin answer . to my .call a few
weeks ago, but I want to. hear from
more of you. Many of our readers
.' say: "I have often, thought 1 would
. -write to you, but know you are al-
- -ways bo busy." But you know it is
the busiest person wlio always has
:the most leisure. One who has much,
.. to do never allows her work to crowd
:her. She knows she must always al
'low for interruptions, pleasant or oth
erwise; so, when the "unexpected
happens," she has time to meet the
demands.
' Now, I am going to aslc you again
to let me hear from you. I know what
4 -a ta3k it is for many people to write
a letter, and how often the pen or
ipencil is mislaid, the ink well dry or
'the supply of stationery exhausted; so
i am not going to ask you to send
jmo a letter though I am always
pleased to get one or many. The
Commoner family is a large one, and
.the number of "girls" belonging to
it is well up to the hundred thousand
:mark did you realize that there were
bo many.? But that is only the "women-folks"
the voters are two or three
to our one. Out of that hundrnfl thon-
"Line Upon Line"
I can not remind you too often or
too persistently that the crawling
baby should have warm quarters. The
coldest air in the room is at the bot
tom; the wee darling is "low down"
in this cold strata, and must be well
cared for. For the busy mother, a
"baby pen" is a good and inexpensive
thing. I saw one recently made of
common poultry wire, two feet wide.
The wire was stretched tightly around
three sides of a frame, the fourth side
being "boxed up" with thin boards. In
this pen, baby was kept near the fire,
could see everything going on around
it, and the boxed side shut off any
draft from the door. Such a pen would
keep the little toddler in bounds, too,
and the mother's unimpeded steps
could thus accomplish more. Under
the little ones a thick comfort or
blanket could be kept, and on this the
playthings might he placed a few at
a time, to be removed and replaced
by others when haby showed signs of
tirtng of them. If the child is ac
customed (as it, should he) from the
very first, to amuse itself, it will great
ly simplify the work of the mother,
and the little, unwilling sister or
brother themselves little more than
babies will not be forced to "tend"
or still more irksome and unsanitary,
"nurse" the baby while mother is
busy. little children, like little ldt
tens, should be handled as little as
possible, and especially by the small
children, of the family. . With the
warmth and comfort about it, the lit
tle sprawler can soon be taught to
amuse Itself, and any one who has
watched a baby at play will recall
how, intensely interested the little one
will be in getting acquainted with its
own fingers and toes. Try the "baby
pen," dear mothers, and teach the
baby to amuse itself.
One thing I must beg you not to
do. Do not put a kitten or a puppy
into this pen t for baby to play with,
for the sake of both baby and other
youngling especially for the baby's
sake, as there may be fleas, if not
disease, and there are better play
things for your darling baby.
Keep the baby warm and comfort
able, and don't let its little limbs be
come mottled with cold.
the whole back premises presents ah
appearance anything but inviting.
Now is this your back yard?
A feature slightly lesB discouraging
is the slop, or swill barrel, can or
bucket, into which the water and
garbage" is thrown, often slopping over
and always unsightly looking. Too
often this is' left for "mother" to
empty, or at least to be incessantly
calling attention to it in order to' have
it attended to. This certainly is not
"woman's work."
If one can not have a drain-pipe' or
trough, there should be some other
way by which the waste water may
be emptied away from the house, for
if thrown out in cold weather and al
lowed to freeze about the door, there
is danger of bruised or broken limbs
from slipping on the ice thus formed.
Stock even swine should not be
forced to quench their thirst with
dirty water, but if it must be fed to
them, let it be thickened with food.
A can or boi should hold all peelings,
parings, and scraps fijorn the table
or cellar, and this should be given
fresh and unfrozen to the stock. The
receptacle should be on wheels
home-made is as good as any, so as
to be easily taken to the feed pens.
The back yard should be kept as. neat
ly as is the front one, winter or sum
mer, and' it can be.
The Back Yard In Winter
Ab the cold weather approaches, one
lis apt to begin a neglect of the bade
7r' aZSI?? flnd 7ard wW' e time spring opens,
- U U-XYlllltLLlllll III HHI1H TT1H
a
few lines, or a postal card! Don't
you think so? "Won't you try to be
one oi tno tnousand.?
nas culminated into actual abuse. It
is a habit with some families to throw
Look After the Flues
, '
The season for lighting fire's in fur
nace and heating stoves has arrived,
and it is well to see that the flues are
in good condition. -Most of the fires
which occur in the early winter are
caused by defective flues, and could
be prevented it care is taken to have
the chimneys and flues put in thorough
repair. Often the fires of the past
season have so dried the mortar be
tween the bricks that pieces of it drop
out, leaving openings which admit fire
to the walls. See that soot, scraps
of mortar, loose brick, or foreign rub
bish have not found lodgement in the
flues, and if it has, remove it and
patch up the chimney.
See that all cracks and breaks
about Qiq heating stoves are repaired,
so that no live coals can drop out
and cause mischief. Do not set the
stove too close to a board wall, and
be sure there is a good protection to
the floor underneath the stove, It
pays to take precautions.
For the Sewing Room
When one has been worried enoimh
trying to get used to the misfits which
ready-made clothing so often proves
to be, she will determine to try mak
ing her own. If she is at all inclined
to make the most of herself, this
will be a good thing to do. Then
too, there are often garments which'
with a little remodeling, will bo as
good as new, and this she can do, if
she tries. The first requisite is a
really good pattern, stylish, yet simple
and correctly cut and marked. There
are so many of these paper patterns
now turned out by responsible firms,
that it should not be a difficult thing
to do. If the goods are new, one can
suit the taste as to style and shape,
but if a garment is to be remodeled,
the shape and size of the ripped-apart
pieces must be the determining factor.
In using a pattern, the directions
printed on its individual envelope are
to be rigidly followed all the notches
cut, the large and small perforations
and crosses carefully marked, and the
outlines of the edges, as well as the
"run" of the cloth, strictly attended
to. Remember that the cloth must
fit the pattern; if it don't, a little piec
ing in inconspicuous places should be
resorted to, if the material is scant.
Do not allow yourself to fall into the
mistake that it' "will do," so it is close
to the shape of the pattern. The pat
tern should be tried on the material
in various ways before the cutting is
done, and the line of perforations
showing whether the goods are to be
cut lengthwise or on a crosswise fold,
or bias, and, if figured or with'a'de
sigh, these must all-he cut to go the
same way, either up or d6wn, or cross
wise; the nap of the cloth, too, must
be considered, and care must he taken
not to- cut "both pieces for onefside
which even good seamstresses some
times do. Many of our best periodi
cals not only furnish excellent paper
patterns, but also bodklets giving de
tailed directions for home dressmak
ing, at small cost
In making one's own clothing, an
individuality can be given each gar
ment, and colors and trimmings, as
well as styles which are becoming,
may be used.
Do not leave the window or door
screens ' in place after" the need for
them is done. Take them down, rub
them with a cloth wet in coal oil, and
all waste water, and much of the garb-1 put them away where nothing can
age from the house into the back yard,
just a postal card, sayinir thrft. -vrm ivn .. vu . ,'
,SLi" S- .pStTS
ment; what features of it Please von
most, and why, what you do not like,
and why, and what you think could be
done to make it still more helpful
and necessary to the thousands of
homes into which it goes. You must
send your letters or postals to -me,
care of The Commoner office, for the
publishers wish to know, as well as
myself, if I am doing my duty by you.
I know just what I should like to
give you; but my ideals are so much
higher than my abilities, that I must
be satisfied to do the very best I can,
and there is no way of knowing
whether I do this, or not, unless you
tell us. May we have the postals?
flies and malaria, it doeB not seem so
giarrngiy untidy, as the water sinks
into the ground, drains off or dries
up under the hot sunshine, and the
garbage withers with the heat or is
taken care of by the natural scav
engers of the -soil. But with the cold
weather, Nature leaves things a lit
tle to themselves. The sun does not
dry up the liquids, and the little scav
engers have gone out of business for
the time, leaving the garbage in all
its unsightliness to He for days just
where it is thrown. Unless the pigs,
poultry and young stock are allowed
m tne yard to clean it
punch holes through them, and where
they will keep dry. Flies are seldom
troublesome after the first hard
frost, and the screens can usually be
removed during the month of October.
Give all the winter clothing a good
sunning, and get your blankets on the
line early, leaving them in the fresh
air all day. Look over the clothing
that has 'been stored, .and mend -all
rips, tears and worn places, sewing
on buttons, putting in new tapes, and
have them ready to put on at a mo
ment's notice. There may be many
beautiful, warm days yet, before set
tled cold weather, but the heat will
not be oppressive. Many coutrhs and
colds can be avoided by being, ready
iU wuo f ru to ciean it up, the mass for any emergency, Especiallv should
accumulates, and by the spring time the children wan Sothing be "
For the Toilet
To darken red hair, rub castor oil
well into the scalp every two weeks.
To darken faded hair, boil two ounces
of garden sage in a quart of water
until the water is quite dark. Strain,
and wet the scalp and hair in this
every night.
To remove superfluous hair, get a
five-cent piece of toilet pumice stone,
of fine quality. Wash the face with a
good toilet soap, making it quite soapy
and apply the pumice stone, rubbing
gently wherever needed. It should be
used every day, always on a soapy
skin, literally rubbing the hair off.
A good pomade for chapped hands is
made of cocoa butter and oil of sweet
almonds one ounce each; oxide of
zinc and borax, one drachm each.
Heat the oil and butter together in a
double' boiler, beat until thoroughly
blended, then add the zinc and borax,
beating well together, and when cool,
stir into the mixture, six drops of
bergamont. '
A mild soap cream to be used in
stead of soap for .washing the face
before retiring, is made of fifty grams
of strained honey, forty grams of pure
white castile soap, powdered, and
thirty grams of white wax; melt to
gether in a double boiler; add ten
AW OLD AND VTMLt, TRIKP RKHSDT
Mna. WiNswm'B Boothiwo btbup for chlldw
teething vboald always b nscd fpr children whtlat
tcstulmr. It softens the runt, allays all pain, onratf
wind colic and Is the bast rwd for diarrhoea
Vwenty-nvecaBtaA bottle.
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