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The Commoner.
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 42
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When Baby's Hair Was Cut
The day thoy cut the baby's hair
The house was all a-fldget;
8uch fuss they made, you would
have said
He was a king the midget!
Sorao wanted this; some wanted that;
Some thought that it was dreadful
40 lay a hand upon a strand
Of all that precious hcadful;
While others said to leave a curl
Would bo the height of folly,
tlnless they put him with the girls
And called him Sue or Mollie.
The barber's shears wont snip-a-snip,
The golden fluff was flying,
Grandmother had a trembling lip,
And Aunt was almost crying.
The monfolks said, "Why, hollo, Boy,
You're looking five years older!"
But mother hugged the shaven head
Close up against her shoulder.
Ah, well; the nest must lose its
birds,
The cradle yield its treasure;
Time will not stay a single day,
.For any pleader's pleasure.
And when the hour's work was
weighed,
The scales were even, maybe;
For father gained a little man,
When mother lost her baby.
Medical Magazine.
just to get back to the country,
and meet, with the old friends. Why
not make something of your life be
sides toil?
The Sociable Side of Life
What are you doing about it the
Social center" idea? Are you giv
ing it any thought? But thought is
not enough "Blessed are they that
do," you know, and faith without
Works is dead. So, it behooves you
to get busy and decide on what is to
bo done for the social side of life,
for both the youths and the grown
ups. It is a poor way to spend your
Afternoons and evenings camped up
about a stove, or asleep over your
paper or book. No wonder the young,
stirring blood listens for the call of
the city. It is not only the young
people that weary of the monotony
of themselves; we all long for com
panionship with other minds. There
is no tonic like it, and it is the best
thing "to take" for the cure of
"nerves." There should be in every
community some place whore the
people can gather, young and old,
and get acquainted; where they will
feel Jtree .to come, and to bring
others. The country school house is
better than nothing, but there Bhould
be a hall built and kept up especially
for social meetings, men's clubs,
women's clubs, boys' and girls' clubs,
social gatherings of all kinds, public
meetings, lectures, dances, and for
Informal neighborhood meetings
where one neighbor can learn to
know another. "It is better to wear
out than to rust out," and that Is
Just what a great many men and
women are doing rusting rotting
from disuse. Stir up the social
eenter Idea; work for it, and Insist
' on others working for It. It is' the
social life of the city or the dream
of It that takes our young people
from us, and it Is also the dream of
many old people to go to town, or
city, when they get old, so they can
have the advantages of social gather
ings. Many families leave the farm
and village Just for the sake of being
with people; .and when they get to
the city, they do not fit In, and they
are lonely and longing all their days
The New Cookery
Paper-bag cookery seems to have
taken the world by storm, so far as
real, enthusiastic interest goes, and
the gas companies, especially, are
giving "demonstrations" in various
cities, showing the housewife how
she may successfully do away with
the cleaning of pots and pans, and
provide better flavored foods for her
family with the paper-bags and the
gas oven. The bags are made of an
especially prepared celulloso paper
which retains all the juices and
flavors of the food, and it is positively
stated that the meats cooked in these
new "utensils" retain their weight,
allowing little or no shrinkage.0 With
gas, gasoline, alcohol and electricity
as fuel, with all the other labor
saving machinery now to be had for
the household, and now the doing
away with the disagreeable work of
cleaning the pots and pans, the fortu
nate woman who can command all,
or even the greater part of these
housekeeping aids, can surely find
time to grow, mentally. Every day,
there are "demonstrations" of vari
ous domestic labor-saving machinery
and devices at the various business
houses, department stores and other
centers of interest, and the woman
who can find time to attend them
and money to invest, even to a
limited extent, in them, will find it
greatly to her advantage to learn all
she cant The fireless cooker still
holds a "prominent place in the in
terest of the housewife, since baking,
roasting, and all other cookery can
be carried on with them. There are
untold numbers of lesser helps, all
of them good in practical hands, but
some of them mere "junk" in the
hands of the impractical or easily
discouraged women. It will not pay
to buy everything; these demonstra
tions, and the reading of good, re
liable magazine literature on the
subject, will guide one fairly well
in the matter. If you live where
these things can be seen, bo sure to
look at them, and try to understand
the principle on which thoy are
worked.
not yet largely in the individual
homo, but in hotels, restaurants, and
public places. Everything, from the
cooking to the delivery of shaving
water is expected to be done by elec
tricity, music will bo furnished, auto
matic dumb waiters will carry orders
to the basement, and the servant
question will be solvedj as at most
two or three human servants can
carry on the business of the whole
establishment.
The argument one most often
hears against the "woman in busi
ness" is that it unfits her for
domesticity, and wrecks the home
life, but it is not conclusively proven
by actual facts. Down deep in every
woman's heart is the love and long
ing for home, and it has been proven
that "a woman can make a home out
of a wood shed, if "put to it." But
where a woman has to lead a busi
ness life in order to support herself
and perhaps others, it" is a hard
matter for her to carry both burdens
without failing In health sooner or
later; no man would attempt it. If
women were more fairly dealt with
m. regard to money matters, the ma
jority would vastly prefer the com
forts of the home. .
Educating the Woman
"R. P.," one of our brother read
ers, writes me that he Is very much
averse to , the forming of clubs by
the country women, for the gathering
only gives them opportunities for a
more extended retailing of scandal
and gossip. I'm sorry this brother
has to associate with women of such'
low mentalities; but you know it Is
an accepted saying that, "As the hus
band, so the wife Is' and It Is true
to a very great extent. It may be,
that R. P. sets a bad example for
his women folks to follow, and if he
would lead them along the higher
patnways, tnoy might do better.
Seems to me that I have heard that
some men are given to gossip, and
"telling good stories." Would it not
be a good idea to form clubs ad
mitting both the women and the men,
and thus they might better each
other. Try It, brother. Take your
wife to your own club meetings, and
let her learn how better to use her
mind.
Comments
Press dispatches to the daily
papers make mention of the organiz
ing of societies known as the
"League Against Lending Books."
In order to become a member, one
must own at least two books, and
register a solemn vow that ho will
not lend any book, no matter to
whom. Such a society would doubt
less become popular In more locali
ties than a few, for the majority of
book lovers have had their choicest
books depleted by borrowers who
forgot to return them. Where there
are publlq, or even circulating
libraries where a book may be taken
out for a certain number of days by
paying a small sum for the privilege,
there seems to be no excuse for the
borrower from individuals. Many
people who are supposed to be
governed by the rales of strictest
honesty will yet literally "steal" the
book of their best friend, by borrow
ing It with no Intention whatever of
returning It to the owner. Yet these
rogues would bo very indignant if one
accuses them of dishonesty.
Electricity Is gradually taking the
place of first aid to the housekeeper,
Taking Precautions
It is not advisable that one should
begin to "coddle" 'the body as soon
as the chilly season comes .on, but
it is a very good thing to take neces
sary precautions againBt "catching
cold" which some people do as soon
as the wind changes in the autumn.
Nasal catarrh, the "catching cold" In
the head, Is usually a slight, brief
fever, which ordinarily passes off In
a few days, even without treatment
of any kind: but thin nmit tnwm
sometimes becomes chronic, and the
recuperative powers of the body be
comes weakened and exhausted
Every "common cold in the head"
tends to a succeeding one, and the
person who suffers from them be
comes more and more liable to
further attacks, not alone from the
weather, but from inhaling dust, or
whatever Irritates the already weak
ened and Inflamed mucus membrane.
roe earner stage of a cold In the
head Is often successfully treated by
snuffing up a solution of naif na
water, or a two per cent solution of
carbolic acid, two or three times a
day. A glass cup; with an opening
at the bottom to which Is attached a
piece of rubber tubing of sufficient
length, in the free end of which ia
a class or hard rubber piece that flta
wf?efln0tri1' fa,almot a necessity,
but the fluid can be "snuffed up" out
of the palm of the hand successfully
The head Bhpuld be thrown well back
so the fluid will flow down into the
mouth, and the patient will soon
earn how to keep it from going down
into the throat; the throat should bo
gargled with the same kind of fluid
Borax and common baking soda
equal parts of each, In a pint of
water, or borax and salt, a teaspoon
ful of each to the pint, are all good.
This should be used several times a
day, but necessarily morning and
evening. A "simple cold" sometimes
leads to serious results, but often can
be broken up if the patient stays in
a warm room, using plain nourish
ment and inducing a gentle moisture
of the skin. For the little folks,
care must be exercised in regard to
clothing, and to exposure in many
forms. Begin now, and ward off
many of the diseases of winter.
Learning the Art of Resting
We have so many old-young people
that we are lead to wonder why men
and women get old at so early an
age. One woman, over sixty years
old, said to me a few days since, "I
a-m never tired, and I always feel
active and cheerful; I can stand more
than many women of forty years of
age. It all depends on getting rested
and keeping rested, and it is only by
following a few common-sense rules,
that this can be accomplished." One
of these rules is to concentrate the
muscles; settle yourself somewhere
and keep perfectly still; arrange your
feet, aTms, legs, head, hands and feet
so you are perfectly comfortable, and
then sit in this position for five
minutes. Don't cough, don't move,
don't fidget; don't do anything but
breathe deep long easy, breaths as
you do when asleep J keep the mouth
closed, and shut or-leave the eyes
open, as you see fit, but don't try to
see things. Then, begin to move one
set of muscles, say the arms, stretch
ing them out alternately, doing this
twenty-five to fifty times; while us
ing your muscles you may sing, or
hum tunes. Begin working your
knees, and feet, your toes, and your
ankles as you did your arms. Bend
ing exercises for the hips come next,
leaning the body forward and draw
ing the lower limbs up; continue this
with all the joints, but do not keep
It up until tired. Begin easy and in
crease the dose. Then, learn to rest,
for you will be a little tired. Rest
the neck and head. In walking about,
tne neaa snould be well back on the
neck, never thrust forward or rest
ing on the breast. If sitting, rest
the head on the back of the chair, or
against some sunnort. Mont women
have backache simply because they
uo. not rest me back. When stand
ing, stand straight; when sitting, sit
back as far as possible In the chair.
The chair should tfe low enough for
the feet to rest on the floor. Rest
tho hair by letting It down; rest the
eyes by closing them for a time; rest
the mind by thinking of pleasant
things. Learn to rest the body all
over, taking from flvo to ten minutes
every day. Don't wait until you
"have time." Take it. Rest,, and
see how much better you will feel
In a week's time.
For the Toilet
An easy way to make a good cold
cream is to stand a jar In hot water
and put in tho following: Half an
ounce each of white wax and sper
maceti; add four ounces of oil of
sweet almonds; stir until all Is dis
solved, then add two ounces of rose,
orange-flower or lavender water, and
beat briskly until cool.
Lavender water is one of the most
refreshing and delightful of toilet
waters, made by the following
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