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The Commoner,
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 48
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Tho Tapestry Worker
Carry mo out, my brethren;
For. I can work no more.
Carry mo out to moot Him '
My Master at tho door!
The sun Is slowing setting,
And the old man's eyes aro dim,
And the task He gave is finished ;
Carry mo out to Him!
Tho task He gave is finished;
I mind when it began,
How joyously and swiftly
Tho busy moments ran;
In order for His service,
Methought I wrought so well
That e'en His own appointings
I should at last excel.
But through my vain ambition
There fell tho hand divine,
That quietly effae'd it
My dearly, loved design.
And whilst I sore lamented
For beauty swept away, . '
More beauty hath obedience,--llieardtho
JVIaster say. .
Then Ijiwtfs,. still, ,my brethren,
And turned!; to " toil anew1,
Leaving to Him the guidance;
Whoseplans are sure and true;
And though to trace His pattern
At times I vainly tried,
My heart found rest remembering
Ho sees the other side.
I sat behind the canvas,
I saw no beauty grow,
I held His own directions
Enough for me to know:
Many had wider portions
Of clearer, brighter hue,
But the old man in the corner
The:;1!Mastor needed too.
And if nor gain nor glory,
Shine out from this my weft,
Still He will not be angry
I did the task Pie left.
And;nqwi:hat I am helpless,
And weary is my frame,
Mv brfithrnh. in thft rHarnnnev . a
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x ueur rum. can my name.
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They bore the old-man gently
Fpith&frojn the working room,
Foitllf froin the ended labor,
Forth" from the silent loom,
And down a voice came floating,
A voice serene and blest,
O, good and faithful servant!
Enter thou into rest.
Long, long In patient duty,
Thy yearning soul was tried;
Open thine eyes to beauty
Upon the other side!
Behind the canvas toiling,
Thou dlds't not dream of this,
That every shadow tangle
Wrought out eternal bliss.
And. every thread mysterious
Into the pattern given,
Was weaving rich perfection
Of love and life in heaven,
Npw rjse thou to the glory
By lowly hearts possessed,
Who but fulfill My bidding,
And leave to Me the rest!
j Margaret Scott Macritchle, from
the Uplands of God, published
! by Anson D. F. Randolph &
. Co., New York.
(tThe above poem was furnished
by Mrs. F. . C. Grow, of South Da
kota, for which she has our thanks.)
burning tho shrubs, briars and bram
bles will appeal to you. Keep the
fence corners free from drifts of
leaves and dead vegetation, and thus
rid the land of many pests, both in
sect and animal. It is a good time
to haul stones, brush, dead branches
of trees, or other rubbish and fill the
ditches and drains along the roads.
In villages there is great need of
a rest rojjm, where the country peo
ple, when visiting the village, may
find a suitable place for passing the
time between trades, leaving their
bundles, or their little children
while they do their buying and sell
ing, and whore they may get a hot
cup of coffee or tea, and can give
the chilly little folks a' cup of hot
milk and a good warming. The mer
chants should attend to this, as It is
to their interest to make their cus
tomers comfortable when they come
to town. In this they should pat
tern after the stores in the cities and
large towns,' where not only a rest
.room , is provided, but many, other
conveniences, with a lunch counter,
or dinner table, where the lunch or
meal is served for & Reasonable
price JSome of, the big "stores pro
vide a physician, ,a. nurse, telephones;
postofllco, information bureau, and
many other conveniences. Cheap
sheds In a sheltered situation should,
ho nnnsfrnp.fprl fnr fhA",'Hfh'h'Hnir ntl
the farm team on cold" or disagree
able days, where the animals would
be sheltered, and could eat without
being disturbed, and , where the
wagons and seats or wrappings for
the family could be lcept dry. It
is hardly any wonder that' country
p'eople patronize the mail order
houses to the neglect of the country
merchant, for thoy thus avoid a long,
disagreeable ' drive, the. exposure of
themselves and their teams to the
elements, and are not compelled to
sit in a crowded store room, with no
privacy or privilege, wben. waiting
for the transaction of .busines. It
Js quite time that the village, business
men should wake up to their, own
interests, and treat their J) country
customers with some, kindneps.
The pump bringing the water in
side would save many a trip out into
the cold and wet for tho housewife
or the children, and a good pump
is cheaper than a few doctor's visits.
Do not forget that many fires and
conflagrations are caused by defec
tive flues and careless handling qf
ashes, over-heated stoves set too
close to board , partitions, and ' the
like. Attend to these matters, and
see that your house does not "go up
in smoke."
For the Improvement Associations
tlf you have organized an 'improve
ment association, the keeping of tho
roadways tidy by cutting out and
r
Some Reminders
At this season of the year, there
should be much "running to and
fro," especially among the country
neighbors. It is well to cultivate the
social side of life, for in no other
way can we get "what is coming to
us," or gather the mental and spirit
ual strength necessary to carry us
through another season of toil. Let
the young folks visit and entertain,
by all means; but the elders will
find it to their advantage to get to
gether as often as possible, both
men and women. An Interchange
of Ideas Is always a good thing, and
keeps one from getting narrow and
oigotea. Tne iarm woman, espe
cially, is prone to tarry at home, un
til tho Isolation wears upon, her, and
it becomes a task greater than -she
care3 to take up, to get out of tho
house. It Is the same of women
everywhere, in village or city they
stay at home too much, a certain
class of them, and it does them no
good.
An important matter for the time
is the cleaning up of tho home
grounds, repairing, patching, paint
ing and papering the home, adding
vsuch conveniences as one can, inside
and out. There is the cistern you
promised should be dug; there is the
pump to bring the water inside, and
the kitchen si.nk, with its drain pipe
For tho Little Folks
Here is an easily made confection,
which the little folks will enjoy for
their Christmas festival: Chop
plenty of nut meats, and for each
cupful, have one cupful of granu
lated sugar. Put the chopped nuts
convenient to your hand, and have
a buttered nan close bv Put tho
sugar in a skillet, and put nothing
with it, and stir constantly, watch
ing closely until it melts into a pale
yellow liquid, when it is to be in
stantly taken off the stove and the
nuts put in,r and pouring as quickly
as possible into the buttered pan.
The whole work must he done as
rapidly as. possible, and a little
should be made at one time until
you "get the hang" of it. Nuts arid
fr,uit may both be used in this candy
or, as it is called, "crisp,"
Cream Candy Put into a kettle
one cupful of cold water, one pound
(a pint cup full) of white sugar, and.
half a teaspoonful of cream tartar;
stir until the sugar is dissolved, but
no more; then let it boil until a little
dropped in cold water, or on ice will
harden, but not be brittle. Have a
dish or platter or, better, a slab of
marble, well buttered, and, pour the'
syrup on it, adding any flavor pre
ferred as you begin to pull it. Let
it cool until It can be handled, then.
witn clean, greased hands, pull and
work, it until it gets white. It will
"pull"1 longer, if kept near the fire.
The longer and more rapidly it is
pulled, the nicer it is.
. Pon Corn Balls Pop the corn,
picking out all grains that ere not
well opened; salt it and keep it
warm, then sprinkle over it a mix
ture of one ounce of gum arable and
a half pound of sugar dissolved in a
pint of water, boiling the mixture a
few minutes and allowing to cool
ooiuio using, -men mix this well
kthe corn by stirring, and mold
Into balls with the hands.
tfrown Sugar Candy Two cupfuls
v;uu.ee SUEar (thfi nnlo vAllrvnr
Of
kind), one cupful of water and half
cupful of strong vinegar. Boil half
an hour, or until it hardens a little
when dropped on ice; then turn into
a buttered dish, and when cool, pull
and work until it is very, light colored.
Query Box
Mrs. Asa L. Cut a lemon and dip
the wet side into a little table salt
and rub the brass tray with this,
to brighten it; wash it well with wa
ter in which has been dropped some
ammonia water, and polish with a
cloth dipped In whiting. A table
spoonful of household ammonia to
a gallon of water is about right
Bessie D. For washing the cor
sets, use a- very strong suds of hot
borax water, which will kill any bad
odors of perspiration, and also
bleach the goods. Scrub with a stiff
brush instead of rubbing, and when
clean, rinse in very hot water, in
which there is a goodly amount of
bluing, and dry as quickly as p0s.
Ola' D Lustrine embroidery ia
done with mercerized cotton thread
which is also sold under the nam
of silkoleen crochet, cotton, comes in
a variety of colors, is more durable
than silk, and gives a permanent lus
ter to tho work.
Housewife It Is not necessary
that, you should burden yourself
doing hand embroidery or crochet
for trimming. That to be had in
the stores is in quite as good taste
for all ordinary purposes, and much
better than the crude stitching of the
hurried beginner.
Little Jess It would be "quite
the thing" for you to ask your
mother what the young man is en
titled to, at your hands, and to ask
the brother to suggest something
suitable. Let your gift be very sim
ple and inexpensive.
Annie F. Many of the factory
"cooking chests" can be had on
trial for a few days, but I do not
know, except from hearsay, anything
of their individual merits. The
home-made "fireless cooker, or hay
box" seems to have given good sat
isfaction, and it would be well to try
one of these before going to further
expense, If you have more time and
constructive genius than money.
Contributed Recipes
Fruit Rolls When baking bread,
reserve a, quart of the bread dough,
roll out about three-quarters of an
inch thick, spread with jelly, jam,
preserves or soft fruits, roll as you
would jeljy roll. Have a well but
tered biscuit pan, ,and cut off with a
sharp knife sections of the roll, cross
wise, about an inch and a half long,
set in the biscuit pan on end, not let
ting them touch, and leave to rise;
when risen like biscuit, cook in a
moderate ,oven... These. -m.ay.be served
Tvith a" nice sauce, or eaten as rolls.
MrsV Mi R. ' . fl ).
Devil's Food Cake Half cup of
chocolate grated; half a cup of cold
water; yolk of two eggs; beat all to
gether and let boil a minute, stirring
all the time. Prepare one cupful of
sugar, one tablespoonful of butter,
half a cupful of boiling water with
half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved
in it, one teaspoonful of baking pow
der sifted with one and a half cup
fuls of flour. Beat all well together,
then pour the boiled mixture over it,
stirring well. Bake in two layers,
and for filling,- take one-half cupful
of water, half a cupful of sugar,
tablespoonful of chocolate, beat well
together and let come to a boil, then
stir in one tablespoonful of corn
starch previously dissolved in a lit
tle cold water. The filling may be
used for icing also. M. E. Lock
wood. Cocoanut Loaf Cake. Cream one
cupful of sugar and half a cupful of
butter; have three-quarters of a cup
ful of milk, using the milk of the
cocoanut, if. you grate the nut meat
yourself, with enough sweet milk to
make the quantity. Beat lightly
three egg-yolks and add to the sugar
and butter,' and stir in the milk.
Sift with two and a half cupfuls of
flour two teaspoonfuls of baking
powder; stir into the mixture, adding
the grated nut meat (which can
either be grated at home, or bought
at the grocery store), and last, fold
in the stiffly beaten whites of three
eggs. Bake in a deep tin, and frost
the loaf when cool, sprinkling cocoa
nut over it. Mrs. Alice M.
Boston Baked Benns
A reader asks for a recipe for j
Boston baked beans "the real
AN OLD AND WELL TRIED REMEDY
Mns. WiNSwnv'a SooTin?ro SYmrr for cliUdrea
teoUilne should always be used for children wwi
teethlnsr, It softens tho gums, allays tho pain,
cures wind colic and Is the best remedy for uiar
rhoee. Twenty -Ave cento A bottle.
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