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The Commoner.
VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2t
ted, be sure to plant a half dozen
bulbs of lilium Candidum in tho
border. Their pure, - waxy-white,
fragrant blossoms are beautiful. They
are not expensive, and once planted,
are there to stay.
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Courage!
When round you raves the storm
'And winds run cold, then do not
quail;
' But spread your breast, drink in the
gale,
And it will make you warm.
Never in toil glvo o'er.
' Still tug at what you can not lift.
Squander your muscle there's true
thrift;
You'll got it back, and more.
Your onemies subdue.
March up, strike first, your fears dis
sembling; You'll loarn unless they see you
trembling
They're more afraid than you.
Stout fingers will not slip.
The nettles stab the timid hand;
In firm fists they aro soft as sand;
Whato'or you grasp at grip!
' Fear not the goriest giant.
A straight-shot shaft his heart will
find.
The elements themselves are kind
To those who prove defiant.
Of drugs and pill no wealth
vVill bribe the microbe or the hearse,
But Red Blood beats the Red Cross
nurse;
St6ut lungs and limbs are health.
OfConso.ia best defense; '
If you're besieged, come out and
fight.
If foiled by day, come back at night.
Let grit make you immense.
And never be dismissed
From getting your deserved desiro.
Meet chill with heat, but fire with
fire..
Resist, persist, insist!
Dare all. Do what you can.
Lof.Fate itself find you no slave.
Make Death salute you at your grave,
And say, "Here comes a man!"
Selected.
that can be done in that direction.
There must be other outlets for the
animal spirits, outdoor exercises and
interests in which the mother can
scarcely bo expected to join, yet
which aro absolutely necessary for
the proper development of the physi
cal and mental intelligences of the
growing boy or girl. Children will
grow in some direction if not in the
right, then in the wrong; and human
nature seems to rather fancy the for
bidden paths. Their awakening in
telligences and developing faculties
must be fed and strengthened by
proper foods, and in the idleness of
the streets and alleys they are far
more apt to find poison than nourish
ment. Habits of sloth, indolence, a
dislike for steady work, and bad
habits generally are formed, which
will be apt to work against their
success all through their lives. This
is from the mother's standpoint;
there is another view to be taken by
the fathers.
The Problem of Child-Idleness
The solution of the problem of
child-labor being practically assured,
tho question which now demands our
most intelligent attention is, what is
to -De done with the idle child? Now
that the schools are closed, the
streets and alleys, h4ghways and by
ways of all large villages and cities
aro swarming with children under
fourteen years of age, who, perforce
of circumstances, must be left to
their own devices as to how their
, time shall be spent. We all know the
old saying, that "Satan fills the idle
head and hands," and in no sense is
tho truth of this saying more clear
ly demonstrated than in the case of
the child which, during its most im
pressionable years, finds itself with
nothing to do, and no disciplining
tasks to be taken up. As homes are
now conducted, with so much of the
work of them done in the shops and
factories and by machinery, little is
round for the children therein, and
thoro seems no way to keep the rest
less little things out of the streets.
Generally, the mother is wracked
with tho nervous cares of the house
keeping, and with caring for the lit
Oo toddlers still under her feet, lit
erally, and can not give her time to
tho supervision and amusement of
thoir elders, while, so far n rnm.ir.
ing the child to share in the work
of tho household goes, thoro will
etill bo many hours after all has been
Writing in the North American
Review of the future of the idle
child, Thomas Speed Mosby, Mis
souri pardon attorney, says:
"Records indicate that the age of
the greatest criminality is some
where between the ages of twenty
and twenty-five, and that from 60 to
75 per cent of felons are entirely un
skilled in any trade or profession. In
the reformatories, where the prison
er, by reason of his youth, has less
time in which to acquire a trade, the
percentage of the unskilled Is neces
sarily much greater than in the pen
itentiaries. The ages of
the boys in these institutions, at the
periods of reception and discharge,"
range between the ages of ten to
twenty-one years, thus covering the
entire period between childhood and
manhood. If the habits
formed in youth may be regarded as
in any sense an index or forecast of
tho character of the adult, then In
the light of the criminal statistics.
r
tne problem or child idleness may
justly lay claim to some measure of
the dignity and importance so freely
accorded to the much-mooted prob
lem of child labor, and before making
it impossible for the youth to acquire
practical (as well as theoretical)
knowledge of gainful pursuits, We
snouiu reckon the latent dangers
which lurk within the probabilities
of a generation brought up without
effective knowledge of useful work.
It by no means follows that, in teach
ing the child to work, that his powers
should be taxed beyond their ca
pacity. The labor of the child should
not proceed beyond the limits of
healthful exertion, and the primary
consideration should, at all times, be
an educational and not a financial
one. He should be taught that the
object of labor is not only to earn
money, but that he is under obliga
tion to serve, Inasmuch as he is
served; to give, as he receives; to
bring to the world as he takes from
it, and he should be taught the means
of meeting that obligation. Thus, he
will go forth to his duties, feeling,
not that the world owes him a living,
but that he owes to the world a life."
Potting Easter Lilies
It seems out of place, these hot
sweltering days, to talk of flowers
for Easter; but August and Septem
ber are the months in which to pot
bulbs for Easter blooming, and for
planting lily bulbs in , the border
The lilies surest to meet our expect
ations of flowers for Easter are the
lilium Harris! and tho old favorite
of our grandmother's garden, lilium
Candidum, the latter variously
known as Annunciation, Madonna
and St. Joseph's lily, because the old
artists always painted the Madonna
as holding a stalk of these lilies in
her hand. Lilium Candidum is one
of the best for potting, and is per
fectly hardy in the border, where
it blooms in early summer. The
bulbs should be either potted or
planted as soon as they can be had
not later than the middle of Septem
ber, to secure the best results, as they
start into growth very early in the
autumn, forming above ground a
rosette of green leaves which lies on
the surface over the bulb, bright and
green all winter. The Harris! is not
planted in the border in the higher
latitudes, though in the southern
states the bulb is hardy.
Get the bulbs as soon as possible,
and plant or pot at once, as every
day they are left out of the- soil
weakens -the rudimentary flower
stalk. Do not expose the bulb to
the air before planting, as the drying
tends to blight it, and though it may
grow, it will give little or no bloom
the first year. For potting, both the
Candidum and the Harrisl may be
treated alike. Choose large, solid
bulbs for the best effects. The. large
bulbs have longer flower-stalks and
many more flowers than the small
bulbs, but the small bulbs reach the
blooming stage more quickly. Deep,
rather than large "pottf1 should be
used, and they may be planted in
boxes, or unglazed jars having plenty
of drainage holes in the bottom, and
for large bulbs there should be a
gallon of soil; not less than two
quarts of soil should be used for
small bulbs. A good compost Tor
these bulbs is composed of equal
parts of garden loam, leaf-mold and
sand.
When first potted, if the vessel is
deep, the top of the bulb may be only
just covered, with the pot only about
two-tnirds full of soil, with moss or
other mulch laid over the crown to
keep the surface moist. For ordi
nary florists' pots, a bulb seven-to-nine
inches in circumference requires
a pot seven inches across the top;
very large bulbs call for a eight to
ten inch pot. In deep pots, as the
stalk grows, the soil should be filled
in around the shoot several times,
and rootlets will be thrown out from
the underground stem, giving extra
strength and nourishment to the
flower stalk.
When properly potted, a trench
should be dug in the open ground
deep enough to nearly hide the pot;
a generous layer of coal ashes should
be placed in the trench to keep
worms and other insects from get
ting into the pots through the drain
ago holes when they are set into the
trench. The soil should then be
pulled around the pots, banking to
the top, and over them a layer of
straw and a covering of slanting
boards should be arranged to keep
out too much rain. The pots must
never be allowed to dry out, and
tho soil around them should be kept
moist at all times. In this place
they should be left until well rooted
and showing thick, vigorous shoots!
They root slowly, an4 do much bet
ter in tho ground, but can be placed
in a cellar or closet, kept moist and
cool, setting a box over them for pro
tection. If half a dozen bulbs are
potted, they will bloom along to suit
themselves, and If potted at differ
ent times, may be had in bloom for
two months.
If you can not care for them pot
The Toilet
It is said that $6, 000, 000 are an
nually spent by the people of the
United States (not all of them wo
men) for cosmetics and beautiflers.
Many of these aids to the toilet are
the rankest of frauds, many are
worthless without being positively
harmful, while many others are pos
itively injurious, if not poisonous to
the human system, used either ex
ternally or Internally. Many prepar
ations which are really beneficial fail
of their purpose because of the care
lessness or indolence of the users,
for few men or women will give to
their personal appearance the con
stant, persistent, persevering care
which must be given to insure suc
cess. The remedies, removers and
renovators are given but spasmodic
trial, or, failing to do what is ex
pected of them after a few days
trial they are thrown aside, whereas
they should have been used for
months, or even for years, in some
cases, in order to produce satisfac
tory results.
It is an old saying that "be'auty is
but skin deep," and the saying is
true, in regard to the beauty brought
about through surface bleaching, and
the like. But true beauty must come
from within. If you want something
that will wear and "stand tubbing,"
you must begin deeper down than the
cuticle. There is nothing which
beautifies so absolutely as perfect
cleanliness and good health, and to
have good health, all the organs of
the body must act normally. Tho
body is like the family; if one mem
ber gets "grumpy," or out of sorts.
It affects the whole of them, and be
fore peace can be restored, the one
member must be set to rights. In
this age of hurry, worry, selfishness
and greed, it is a little hard to get
or maintain good health, but there
are certain rules which all may fol
low, and these rules must be studied
from each individual's standpoint, for
What will apply to one will not do
for another. The study of hygiene
and sanitation is of far greater im
portance than many of the fads
taught so assiduously in the schools,
but a few more generations must be
sacrificed before our youths shall bo
liberated from the chains of ignor
ance with which our so-called wise
acres so heavily weight them down.
For tho Laundry.
Chiffon is a very different material
to satisfactorily clean, but the dry
process is less disastrous to it than
wetting. If the goods is not too bad
ly soiled, it may be cleaned by brush
ing carefully with a mixture of two
parts powdered starch to one part
of powdered borax. Spread the chif
fon on some clean surface and rub
over several times with the mixture,
using a soft cloth or brush, and rub
bing gently; shake free from tho
powder every time and repeat with
fresh. After going over it several
times, fill the chiffon with clean
powder, roll lightly and leave for a
day or two, protected from dust, and
when this Is shaken out, it should be
fresh and clean.
For fine, flowered organdies, ordi
nary soap and starch will not do.
Make a starch with four quarts of
water and one cupful of corn starch
and cook until it thickens. Put
three quarts of this starch into two
gallons of soft cool or cold water,
and waBh the muslin In it as if it
AN OLD AND WELIi TRIED REMEDY
Mrs. Winsmw's Soothing Syrup f or chil
dren tcethlnir should always be used xorohU
drcn while teethinc, Itsoltons the cums. allays
all rnln. cures wind colic and Is the best remedj
for diarrhoea. Twenty-five cents a bottln.
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