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The Commoner.
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 18
fiSfetoW
a y "an(I! I hum Sn--a7 & rW
Conducted by
Helen Watts Mc&5 l
epartme
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Tho Wish
Should somo groat angel say to mo
tomorrow,
"Thou must rc-trcad thy pathway
from tho start,
But God will grant In pity for thy
sorrow,
Somo ono dear wish, tho nearest
to thy heart."
Tills wore my wish: From my life's
dim boglnnlng,
Let ho what has been! Wisdom
planned tho whole;
My want, my woo, my errors and
my sinning
All, all were needed lessons for
my soul.
Ella "Wheeler-Wilcox.
In May
Tho sunshine dances among tho
treos,
And plays bo-peep with the saucy
breozo
That whirls tho blossoms like flakes
of snow
From leafy boughs to tho ground
bolow.
0, Mayday snowflakes are fair to see,
When Spring is young and tho heart
carofroo;
Wlion mating birds fill tho air with
song,
As back from tho Southland they hie
along.
May woos us all by her matchless
grace,
'The best we have in her care to
place;
After her largess of sun and rain,
Our Autumn harvest at last we gain.
Fann Journal.
ing vino or shrub to plant there, so
much tho bettor.
And if you possibly can bring
yourself to use it, havo a flreless
cooker. Even where gas Is used,
tho cooker is an economy of time and
strength, as well as of fuel. I never
yet saw a gas stove that would not
burn the foods if you did not watch
it; a flreless cooker never burns, and
requires no watching. Do try one.
For Canning Tlmo
As the fruit season is so near, the
following table will bo of interest
to many of our housewives: Exact
proportions of sugar and fruit used
for canning and preserving cannot be
given, as the quality of the fruit as
to sweetness or sourness varies
greatly. An approximate amount Is
given, leaving It to the judgment of
the cook to suit proportions, for a
quart jar of fruit:
For cherries, six ounces of sugar
to a quart jar of fruit; strawberries,
six to eight ounces; raspberries, four
ounces; blackberries, five to six
ounces; quinces, eight to ten ounces;
pears, four to six ounces; grapes, six
to eight ounces; peaches, four
ounces; pineapple, four to six ounces;
crabapples, six to . eight ounces;
plums, four ounces; pie-plant, eight
to ten ounces.
For preserving and jellies, the
sugar must be white, or very light
colored; for many jams and most
and borax to each twenty barrels of
water. The sediments will settle in
a few hours, and the water will be
fit for laundry purposes. Where the
cistern water has become unfit for
use, take one pound of pulverized
alum, dissolve it in one quart of
boiling water, pour the solution into
the cistern and stir thoroughly with
a long pole. This is best done in the
evening, and by the next morning,
the water should be settled and ren
dered clear and pure. Twenty-four
hours for settling is better.
Borax, dissolved in water will also
act as a purifier, removing sourness
and bad smells. Where sewerage or
unwholesome gases are in evidence,
the borax solution should be freely
used. Borax solution should always
find a place on the wash stand where
water, hard from any cause, must be
used. Add the borax to the water
until it feels just the least bit "slip
pery" between the fingers.
Where muddy water must be used,
it is readily cleared by adding a
tablespoonful of powdered alum to
the tubful, stirring thoroughly and
allowing to settle. Water for cook
ery must not be cleared with alum
or lime.
weather, this may be boiled up and
put into a jar and sealed, and will
keep for several days. In order to
make a dish of gravy, one has only
to take a little of this glace and
thicken it with brown flour.
To brown flour for gravies, sift
and spread the flour over the bottom
of dripping pans and brown on the
stove or in the oven, stirring con
tinually to prevent scorching. Quite
a quantity may be browned at one
time and kept in a closed can or jar.
To make horseradish gravy for
meats, melt and mix well one table
spoonful of butter and flour in a
sauce pan; add one pint of stock and
cook until well done; add a' pinch of
sugar, salt and white pepper, and
three or four tablespoonfuls of grated
horseradish, and a touch of vinegar
just before serving.
Saving in the household is a good
thing, but it can be overdone. There
iff one greatly needed economy which
is rarely practiced, and that is, the
saving of herself by the housewife,
especially one who is the mother of
a family. Yet it pays the best.
Tho Real Secret of Tidiness
An exchange says the real secret
of tidiness is to leave things where
they can be found by the persons who
require them, and not to hide them
sweet pickles, light brown or brown away in blotters and presses and
Getting Ready for Hot Weather
It is none too early to make prepa
ration for comfort during the heated
term, and many things can be done
in that direction by a little fore
thought. Keep the flies out of the
house, both for the sake of comfort
and for cleanliness. Screen the
doors and windows with wire or mos
quito netting, and thus keep out not
only the flies, but the bugs, moths,
millers and mosquitoes that fly about
at nignt. Keep all foods covered,
and do not throw scraps about the
doors or yards. Carry all garbage
away from the house, burn or bury
It, or add it to the compost hean, and
do not spare the hand in sprinkling
air-slacked lime over tho manure
pile, using it liberally in the out
houses. Do any and everything,
rather than invite the noxious Insects
to abide with you.
If you havo allowed your back
yards to become dumping grounds
curing tne cold monthB, pick up,
clean, up, rakoand clear the ground
and sow grass seeds plentifully over
it. Whore the drains are open, scat
ter plenty of lime, and where they
are closed, pour a strong solution of
some good disinfectant down the
pipes. Copperas is cheap, and is as
good as any. Where much greasy
dishwater is thrown, it is a good
thing to pour down the pipes a
strong, boiling-hot solution of sal
soda, as this will cut the grease and
carry it off,
Fruit, flower and ornamental
ahrubs will grow wherever weeds
will flourish. No matter how "com
mon" the perennials or shrubbery
may be, it is better than burdock,
dog-tennel, Jimson weed, cocklebur,
poke-berry, or other fence-comer
rubbish, and if one has a fruit-bear-
sugar may be used. Where strong
flavoring Is wanted, brown sugar Is
indicated.
For canning fruit or vegetables,
many most successful housewives re
fuse to use sugar, saying the natural
flavor of the contents is impaired by
its use. Sugar causes the fruit to
swim on top of the liquid, and packs
the solids at the top of the jar.
Without It, the fruit sinks to the
bottom, and is always covered. Jars
should bo well filled, in order that
no mold may form on the top.
In canning any soft fruits, no
water should be used to start the
boiling. If the kettle is set on a
rather cool part of the stove or over
a kettle of hot water, enough juice
to start with will exude, and the boil
ing process should be started slowly.
Berries should only be heated
through, not cooked. If the cans are
wanted very full, two batches should
be cooked at once, and the berries
skimmed out, packed In the jars
carefully, enough juice poured in to
fill all spaces, then sealed. The
jar should be overflowed for a few
seconds to be sure all air Is forced
out.
drawers, a woman . snould not go
into a man's study and put all his
papers indiscriminately into pack
ages, or a recipted bill into an en
velope that he is sure to destroy. In
a woman's eye, every business paper
is an unsightly object which she con
siders it her duty to dispose of, and
though she may hear the man who is
looking for it swearing about its dis
appearance, she has not the courage
to come forward and confess, but will
indignantly deny that she ever
touched his old papers. If he hap
pens to find it, she will say, re
proachfully, "Oh, is that what you
was making such a fuss about? You
should take better care of your pa
pers." Just as if he had no right
to a table, or corner where he can
spread things out to suit himself.
One of the ways to bring about a
reformation is to teach the women
folks to know a business paper, or
a dollar bill, when they happen to
see one. It is but poor economy to
leave such knowledge out of her
education.
For Using Water
Where a' cistern can be had, one
should never have to wrestle with
the problem of fitting hard water for
laundry purposes. Where hard water
is inevitable, sal soda 'is of endless
value for breaking it, and rendering
it huh, enougn ior wasnmg purposes.
Dissolve one pound of sal soda in
one quaTt or boiling water, put into
a can or jug and label the can, for
it must be kept out of careless hands
Ono tablespoonful of this solution in
the boiler half full of water, or in
the dishpan, is sufficient. This Is
also good for pouring down drains
to cut the grease from the dishwater
One pound of the soda to three gal
lons of water is about right for clean
ing me pipes and drains.
Small Economies
There is nothing that adds more
to a dinner, for so small an expense
as do good gravies, and there ate few
things so bad as a bad gravy. One
must have stock, or glace, to begin
on, and the only way to cet thiR Ir
to bo forever on the lookout for any
bits of meat that can be boiled. The
poorest economy in the world is prac
ticed by the woman who, after tak
ing her meat from the pot, skims the
grease from the stock and throws it
away; yet many do this, not know
ing the possibility of the "boilings."
After taking up the meat, the con
tents of the kettle should be poured
into a stone jar, and any meat left
over should be returned to it; all
boiled or stewed meat, ham, or
corned beef should be treated in this
manner. Alter tne grease has been
skimmed from the top and the meat
The Difference
An exchange says: "To demand
that a busy man take upon himself
the rearing of his children, left
motherless, is to demand the impos
sible, if at the same time he is ex
pected to provide for their material
wants. His affections may be as
strong, his honesty of purpose as
great, his ideas of right and wrong
all they should be; but it Is a physi
cal impossibility for him to note each
development, prune, correct, uphold,
and repress, as occasion demands, the
fast growing child of his love and
pride. How the busy man can pre
serve his health (which he must do,
to keep busy), yet care for his chil
dren, is indeed a problem not , yet
solved by man."
In another . issue, appears the folj
lowing:' "It is almost unknown for
a woman to desert her children.
Thousands of fathers are doing it
every day, discouraged, no doubt, by
the stress of circumstances, but
weakly forsaking the trust. The
mother will fight to the last gasp for
her little ones, and, deserted by the
father, wllltturn to all and any sort
of employment to give them bread
and shelter. And yet in prosperity
there are persons so misguided as to
think that the mother has not an
equal right even with the father, in
the care and custody of the child.
It is difficult to see why any woman
should be deprived of the right to
her own children on equal terms with
the father. It is only by
the light of science that one Is able
to realize that the woman in the case
is the lower type in the family." And
we do not suppose that, if left to
ourselves, we should have at all been
able to realize it. Even now, had
we not been "shown" by Professor
Sargent, who has "worked it out by
the laws of science," we might still
be in doubt.
To clear black or oily water, add used, the rtocl should be straTned
two ounces each of powdered alum and boiled down to a jelly In warm
Query Box
Mrs. K. C. For bleaching the
faded or streaked muslins, soak them
an hour in a hot solution of one tea
spoonful of cream of tartar to one
quart of boiling water. The gar
ments must be thoroughly clean be
fore putting into the taTtar bath.
Wash the garment in the same water
in which it is soaked, making it hot
before washing, and dry out of doors.
J. C. L. For grafting wax, melt
together five parts of resin, one part
beeswax, and one part tallow. " Stir
well together, and when wanted for
use apply the mixture warm (not
hot.) Cover every part of the graft
witht the grafting wax and bandage
so as to exclude all air.
Housewife A good sealing wax
for cans not entirely air-tight Is
made of two parts of beeswax and
M
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