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The Commoner;
JANUARY 20, 1911
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Scatter Sunshine
Put a bit of sunshine in the day;
Others need its cheer and so do
you
Need it most when outer sky's dull
gray
Leaves the sunshine-making yours
to do.
Give the day a streak of rosy dawn;
Give It, too, a touch of highest
noon;
Make the ones about you wonder
why
Sunset's crimson should appear
"so soon."
Sunshine-making is a blessed task;
Cheery hearts, like lovely, wide
bltfe sky,
Banish gloom and give fresh, cheery
hopes,
Check the rising tear or thought
less sigh.
Put the golden sunshine in. each day;
Others need the cheer that comes
through you
Need it most when outer sky's dull
gray
Leaves the sunshine-making yours
to do.
Ladies' Home Journal.
The Old Wood Fire
Among the "old things that have
passed away," we may reckon the
"fire on the hearth." But in the
days of our older people, the open
fireplace was the main comfort of
the home. After the. evening chores
were done .the father would' bring
in the great badklog coated with
snow, often of ampler girth than
himself, and fully breast high to him
as ho held it upright, canting it one
way and another, walking it before
him on its wedge-shaped end. He
would perhaps stand it against the
chimney while he took a breathing
spell and planned his campaign, then
the andirons were hauled forward on
the hearth, and the bed of half
burnt brands and live coals raked
open, the Icy log was walked into
the wide chimney, where a skillful
turn would lay it over, hissing and
sputtering with a cloud of steam, in
its bed of hot embers. It seemed a
thing alive, and its vehement sput
tering and protesting made a dra
matic moment in the family life. The
stout shovel and tongs, or perhaps a
piece of firewood for a lever, would
force It against the chimney-back;
then a good-sized stick, called a
"fore-stick" was laid in front, and
in the interspace smaller sticks were
crossed, thrust and piled, and all
quickly kindled by the bed of coals
and brands. The flames went up the
chimney throat with a roar, and the
room was flooded with a glorious
warmth and light, such as no other
heating device could rival, or even
approach. In very cold weather, a
fire was kept all night, some member
of the- family getting up once or
twice to replenish it. In warmer
weather, a good heap of coals were
drawn together and covered, with
ashes at bed time, or the backlog
banked with ashes, and in the morn
ing one had but to rake the embers
out of the ashes and build the fire
as before. In many families, the
fireplace served for cooking, and
many a delicious meal has been
served from the long-legged pots,
spiders and baking kettles that were
used on the bed of glowing coals, or
drawn from the ashes themselves,
where they had been baked beautifully.
Getting Ready to Garden
Now is a good timo to look over
the catalogues and make out your
lists, both of garden vegetables and
flowering plants. Many very beau
tiful things can bo raised from
seeds, costing but little except care,
while if the plants were bought, each
plant will cost a few cents, and even
then, without good care, might not
live. Many perennials and shrubs
will grow from seeds. Among the
very easiest things to grow are the
cannas. Tho hard shelled seeds must
first be soaked by pouring boiling
water over them, in a cup, and let
stand until the water is cold. Most
of the seeds will have burst by that
time, showing the white Inside, but
those which have not may be again
submerged in boiling water and left
to cool. Or the hard shell may be
filed through with a three-cornered
file, until the white Is seen, then
soaked in warm water and planted.
The seeds germinate readily, and the
young plants grow without difficulty.
Canna seeds do not "come true,"
but if you get a good strain of seeds,
you will have many beautiful
blooms, some of them very choice.
The tuberose should be potted and
kept moist and warm, and after the
ground warms up in the spring they
may be pushed from the pot and
set In the border. The bulb Is easily
ruined by frost, as a little chill will
kill ' the flower germ. The 'bulb
bloonls but once,' but after bloom
ing, little bulblets will show at the
sides of the old bulb, and if you
have patience, and like such work,
you can have them blooming in two
or three years.
A good way to get a supply of
perennials is to buy a packet of
mixed seeds, costing ten cents; plant
them, and watch them grow. You
will find many pleasant surprises
when they get to blooming.
Don't forget that sweet peas must
be planted very early indeed; the
plants are quite hardy, and they
bloom better if a good start is given
them, before the hot months. Get a
packet of mixed seeds, or buy them
in bulk, and plant liberally. With
the bloom, it is literally "cut and
come again," the more you cut, the
more the bloom.
ing. And if, in the second place,
It Is paid to us, too, let us bo quite
sure that our novelty has as much
to do with it as our surpassing fas
cinations; that when we are gone,
wo shall bo forgot, and the next
visiting girl will havo our boquets
and our candy and our compliments.
Don't let us act as if every young
man who tries to bo polite to us, or
even who honestly has a good time
with us, will never know any hap
piness without us. And don't let us
make ourselves conspicuous by the
amount of attention wo let any one
young man pay to us no, nor hate
ful by the readiness wo show to jilt
girls' company at any momeirt for
the company of a boy. You've seen
girls do this, and you know what
was thought of them; you don't want
to be in their class."
"Tho Men One Meets"
In an article for girls on visiting,
Good Housekeeping has this to say:
"When we are visiting, our hosts
will try to introduce to ns Just as
many of their nicest acquaintances as
they can, making special effort to
have us meet those they think we
would particularly like. And espe
cially about the young men we meet
we must be very careful. Of course,
every unengaged girl who goes a
vlsiting secretly hopes to meet Him
in the new surroundings. Some
how,' He always seems so much like
lier to be lurking in strange quar
ters than In the old, familiar ones!
But we must not be eager to believe
that every young man we meet is He,
and very particularly, we mustn't
act that eager. We all like novelty;
young men as well as girls find it
delightful, and the young men
friends of our hostess may show a
disposition to "rush" us, as the col
legians say. But let us not suffer
it to turn our heads. The compli
ment is paid, in the first place, to
our hostess to the girl we are visit-1
Washing tho Faco
A noted beauty gives the following
reclpo for washing tho face. She
claims that it is worth a hundred
dollars and cost her that much to
learn It, and it was worth all it cost.
She says one must always be sure
to get a' good soap; not necessarily
expensive, but a good toilet soap, and
rub It right on the face. To' rub
soap right on the face, try this:
Take a basin full of soft water;
throw a little borax Into It and a
teaspQonful of oat meal tied in a 1IE
tlo muslin bag, and squeeze the
starch out of the oatmeal Into tho
water. Then dabble your face with
the water. Now take the cake of
soap and rub it right on your face;
don't be afraid of it use plenty,
and spread it on until It has formed
a heavy lather; you cannot use too
much if it is a good soap. Of course
it must be washed oft4, but you can
use a great many waters and it will
all come off in time. Use not less
than nine waters, and in the ninth
put plenty of borax to soften tho
water. The final dash is with water
made milky with tincture of ben
zoin. The real time to wash the faco
is at night, when it must bo washed
with the soap and massaged with
cold cream. For a rough, red skin
that chafes and cracks in cold weath
er, use the little bran or oatmeal
bags in the softened water. Four
tablespoonfuls of oat meal, or rolled
oats tied up in a thin muslin should
be dropped in the water and left for
a few minutes to soften, then squeeze
all the "goodness" out of the meal
and wash your faco and hands in
this starchy water. In large cities
where the atmosphere Is filled with
dirt, dust and coal soot, the bran or
meal treatment is absolutely imperative.
For a common sore throat, just
bake an Irish potato in the oven
and when it is done, take out the
pulp, mash up fine and mix with
It a teaspoonful of black pepper and
vinegar enough to moisten. Spread
on a rag and bind on the throat at
night, and the next morning the
throat will be well. Mrs. B. C,
Illinois,
Oaring for Willow Furniture
The first thing to do is to remove
all dust, grimo and 8611 from the
niches and intricate work, and to do
this requires a good hard scrubbing
with a stiff brush. Strong soap
should not be used, as it injures the
varnish; make a warm suds of rain
water and a good borax washing
powder and have it of medium
stxength, thoroughly dissolved. After
thevigorous scrubbing, rins6 off
with clear, warm water, using tho
brush; but first bo suro to got It
clean; if the first suds gets a dirty
black look, throw it out and use
fresh, for if dirty water is used, tho
furniture will look dingy and
streaked. Choose a sunny day,
work out of doors, and when well
rinsed, wipo dry with a dry chamois
skin.
Cure of tho Feet
Corns aro caused by friction or
pressure on tho skin, and bunions
are duo to displacement by prossuro
of the joint. Only well-fitting shoos
will permanently euro the corns, wd
after tho foot Is deformed by tho
badly shaped shpe, there scorns to
bo only palliation, not cure. Soft
corns form between tho toes and aro
very painful. For these, a good
remedy is a bit of absorbent cotton
covered with powdered chalk placed
botween tho toes; or paint the place
with colorless iodine. Anything
that will remove tho pressuro will
help to remove tho pain. A formula
used for both corns and bunions calls
for one drachm of salicylic acid, five
grains of cocaine, and half an ounce
of .collodion; paint tho surface of tho
corn or bunion twico a day with this
for several days. Only well-fitting
shoes will prevent or permanently
cure any of those painful ailments.
Tho feet should bo well bathed in
strong salt water every night, thor
oughly dried, and tho stockings
changed every day.
Collar Wrinkles
When the back of a waist wrinkles
Just below' the collar, cut out the
back just there; if tho wrinkles aro
across the back and lowor down, tho
back Is too long, or the shoulder
seams too tight. Wrinkles some
times show under tho arms Si the
side-forms Are not held sufficiently
full. A larger collar Is sometimes
inflicted when tho neck wrinkles all
around. Tho waist should bo as long
as can comfortably be worn, and tho
darts should bo kept near together
at the waist-line, to give the taper
ing effect to the waist. All tho fit
ting should bo done before cutting
out tho armholes and neck correctly.
FAMILY OF FIVE
All Drank Coffee From Infancy
It Is a common thing in this coun
try td seo whole families growing up
with nervous systems, weakened- by
coffee drinking.
That is because many parents do
not realize that coffee contains a
drug caffeine which causes the
trouble.
"There are five children in my
family," writes an Iowa mother, "all
of whom drank coffee from infancy
up to two years ago.
"My husband and I had heart
trouble and were advised to quit
coffee. We did so and began to uso
Postum. We now are doing without
medicine and are entirely relieved
of heart trouble.
(Caffeine causes . heart trouble
when continually used as In coffee
drinking.)
"Our eleven-year-old boy had a
weak digestion from birth, and yet
always craved, and was given, coffee.
When we changed to Postum he
liked it and we gave him all he
wanted. He has been restored to
health by Postum and still likes it.
"Long live the discoverer of
Postum!"
Read "The Road to Weljville," in
pkgs. "There's a Reason."
Ever read the above letter? A new
one appears from time to time. 1 They
are genuine, true, and full of human
interests ,- 'v .&
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