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The Commoner
JULY, 1916
17
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Mother-Love
Sometimes the little lip3 of him, all
dewy-wet and tender,
Are laid against the lonely breast
that never felt their kiss;
The baby-eyes look smilin' up in all
their shining splendor
O, little son, my little son! that I
should mourn like this,
Sometimes I see him comin' through
the furz and purple heather,
And, O, the toodlin' feet of him
that never stepped the earth!
An' when we're settin' quiet-like,
himself and me together,
There's dimpled hands that beckon
in the peat-smoke on the hearth.
The happy mother's childer sure
they come and lean beside me,
With their eyes so full of pity that
my own deep teardrops start
An' himself so kind and watchful
that no evil shall betide me
But naught can ease the weary
ache within my empty heart!
O, Mary, up in heaven, if my' little
son .be weepin',
(Though heaven is grand, 'tis lone
ly; an' my babe is small, 130
small!) ,
O, take him, on your mother-heart
and sooth him into sleepin',
Lest sobbi'n through the long,
long nignt, he hears his moth
, .er'A call. ' .'
! Mabel Hillyer Eastman.
Two or three gatherings during the
summer are not enough for any com
munity. There should bo more pic
nics, and the whole family should
share in them. The crowd should not
be large; a half dozen families, con
genial to each other, would be prefer
able to scores of all sorts, known and
unknown. These gatherings should
not bo "dress-up" occasions; wear
something that may bo torn, stained,
or otherwise spoiled by hard usage,
so it is clean and comfortable, and
everything should be oJl goods war
ranted to wash. The girls will be
charming in anything even last
year's styles, and the matrons need
not bo confined to "dowdy" clothing
in order to be comfortable. Thero is
always a "betwixt and between," and
if you are not worrying about your
clothes, you can enjoy the fun of the
day. The men and boys will not need
to bo cautioned; they know how to
have a good time, and they are not
hampered with worry about their
clothing. Plenty of rope for swings
for the wee ones, hammocks for the
sleeping babies, and "pillows for the
little tots who tire easily, should be
among the preparations. Plenty of
drinking cups paper or metal
towels and other toilet necessities
that can be slipped into a shopping
bag, are needed.
For the dinner, do not have too
many, sweets; more wholesome foods
rubbing a rag over it, then on the
"chigger" bites, will scattor them.
For any kind of insect bites, such as
bees, put a little soda on tho wound,
drop some vinegar on it, let it bubblo
a minute, then bind up with soda on
tho wound; will cure with no swell
ing. Fresh earth is said to do tho
same. For any kind of insects, such
as wasps, spiders, etc., apply damp
ened salt and bind tightly over the
spot.
For sumach and ivy poisoning,
cover with moistoned cooking soda;
or batho the parts Several times a
day with sweet spirits of nitre, or wot
with heavily salted milk and allow
it to dry on. Powdered chalk wot to
a paste with water and applied thickly
will give relief and prevent inflam
mation. A tea mado of corncobs
broken into small pieces and boiled
In a porcelain kettle until tho water
is a deep golden color, had been
known to prevent, or euro swelling,
if kept up for six hours tfr more. The
corncobs must bo fresh and clean.
Among Our Letters
One of our readers asks tho fol
lowing question: 'What is a sacch
arated (not saturated) solution of
lime, and what is it used for?" In a
well-known work on Materla-Medica
we find the following: "Lime Is much
more readily soluble in sugar-and-
water than in pure water, and ad-
inoro effectual remover for tan and
freckles than tho old-time horM,
radish and buttermilk, or buttermilk
and tansy, of our grandmothers' ,
time. You can buy tho buttermilk
in tho city, and tho horseradish or
tansy can bo had at tho market.
Ella S. Almond meal lathers ex
actly liko soap whon used on tho fac
and hands for cleansing. It Is used
instead of soap, as it Ib cleansing and
softening to tho skin.
Barbara. Black heads aro an ac
cumulation of dirt, and tho sebaceous
matter tho skin is trying to throw
off. Soap and water and friction
with a turkish towel bath cloth will
remove them. If allowed to stay in
tho skin for any longth of time, the
matter can be pressed out in tiny
round forms, which aro called by
some "flesh worms." If forced out
unskillfully, they aro liable to leave
largo holes and scars enlarged
pores, which aro hard to close. After
thoroughly washing tho faco at night
in quite hot water and puro vegetable
oil soap, rinse off tho soap, and bath
tho faco with puro cider vinegar,
which lot dry on. Vinegar Is healing,
cleansing, and will kill any alkali left
by tho soap.
Jonnlo J. Tho oatmoal for which
you ask is made by adding to four
tablespoonfuls of finely ground oat
meal tho juice of one lemon and one
quart of distilled water in which has
previously been dissolved ono dram
of borax. Tho oatmeal may bo
boiled in tho distilled water beforo
adding tho lemon, if preferred. Use
at night after washing tho face, and
it takes tho place of cold cream, mak
ing tho skin softer and finer. It Is
very inexpensive, and effective. Get
tho oatmeal not tho rolled oats.
' t. Vacation Days
This is the season for picnics, out
ings and social gatherings, whether
among village or community friends,
or at the pleasure resorts among the
hills and mountains, or" at the lake
side or seashore. Only the favored
few can seek the far fields, but the
stay-at-homes can have just as good
times perhaps better as those who
spend more dollars than they should
spare in running about seeking new
scenes from which they return far
more worn than when they started
out.
Rural communities are especially
favored in the matter of "places to
go to," and tho new and rapid meth
ods of transportation have very ma
terially enlarged their pleasure fields,
until, to a great many of them it is
but a matter of choice where the day
shall be spent. For those who have
automobiles, the lengths of travel
may bo limited only by the miles they
can get over in the prescribed time,
while for others, dependent on car
riage or wheel travel, or even those
who must make the trip on
foot there are always suitable spots
within reach, charming, and in ev
ery particular desirable for a day's
outing.
If neighborhoods would join
forces and prepare regular picnic
grounds, with accommodations for
getting the meals ready (not neces
sarily for cookery, but for hot water,
tea, coffee, or fish-frying, etc.,)
with swing and other amusements
for the children, grounds for the
sporting clubs, temporary tables for
dinners, shelters from the occasional
summer shower, swimming places,
boating, and other outing pleasures,
among which there should be a plat
form for dancing, these grounds
would bo much moro frequently
used, and largo or small gatherings
might occupy them at different times,
to the larger sociability of the neighborhood.
are desirable; something that win
satisfy the appetite that the outing
always creates. Where it can be
done, let each sort of food be
wrapped in oiled or paraffined paper,
with plenty of paper napkins, wood
en dishes of all sorts that can be dis
posed of when the feast is ended,
making no heavy baskets or worry
about tho best dishes. There are sol
many extremely cheap furnishings
for the picnic table that it would be
foolish to pack up heavy china, or
silver, or even aluminum for the out
ing. Usually, what fruits one can
not bring can be had in the neigh
borhood, and evaporated milk can be
carried with no thought of spoiling.
Even for the "bottle baby," the baby's
brand of a certain manufacturer can
be used without fear. Somebody
will always have ice and an ice cream
freezer, and tho ice cream being
home manufactured, you will not fear
ptomaine poisoning.
N6 matter where you go, however,
the picnic pests will be on hand to
enjoy the occasion with you; perhaps
it will be better to say, to keep you
from over-enjoyment. Mosquitoes,
chiggers, ants, gnats, and various in
sects, Including in some regions ticks,
if your picnic grounds are in the
woods, and it is well to be prepared
for such things as poison ivy, and
other poison vines that are so nurx
ful to somo people.
For the mosquitoes, get a small
vial and mix in it one, ounce of spirits
of camphor, one ounce of oil of : clt
ronella, and half an ounce of oil of
cedar; this does not smell at all bad,
and if used on a handkerchief or
other cloth, and kept about the face
and neck, the pests will not stay with
you. Ants are sometimes and in some
places troublesome, and the foods
should be so put up that they can
nof get into the containers. Oil of
cedar, or of sassafras, r of penny
royal, are any of them objectionable
to insects.
Liquid sulphur will discourage the
attacks of chiggers, or ticks, and
thick soap suds will do the same;
wetting X soap with a little water,
yantago is taken of this fact to make
a saccharated solution of lime, which
is twelve times as strong as tho or
dinary lime water in general use. It
is made as follows: Rub together one
ounce of slaked limo and two ounces
of white sugar; transfer tho powder
to a bottle containing a pint of wa
ter, and shako occasionally for a few
hours. Finally, draw off tho ulear
liquid and keep in a well corked
bottle. In all cases where ordinary
lime water is used, one-twelfth the
quantity of tho saccharated solution
of lime may bo substituted. Under
many circumstances, as in traveling,
for example, it is of great advantage
to be able to use a concentrated so
lution." Ordinary household limo water is
made by taking two ounces of fresh
ly slaked lime and putting it in a
bottle containing a gallon of water;
shake it for a few minutes, then
place It on one side to settle; in a
half day, or a few hours, the, undis
solved lime will have fallen to the
bottom, and the upper, clear liquid
may be decanted off carefully and
used as required. The bottle should
be kept well corked, and the solu
tion freshly prepared as needed. The
slaked lime is made by adding water
to quick lime. Place two pounds of
lime in a metal pot (enamel, porce
lain lined, is good), pour over it a
pint of water, and when vapor is no
lon'ger given off set it aside to cool.
When it is cool it may be taken out,
sifted through an iron wire sieve and
the powder kept in a closely stop
pered bottle. The powder loses much
of its activity if allowed exposure to
the air. -Lime water is used for
many things in the household, and
for many ailments it is a valuable
remedy.
Query Box
M s, By "water-bath" Is meant
the setting of a smaller vessel con
taining whatever is to be melted in
side " of ' a larger vessel containing
boiling' water. The "oatmeal" cook
er is on the same plan.
Worried. Thero seems to be no
Requested Information
A flno hair tonic Ib made as fol
lows: Where tho hair is very dry, a
tonic must have somo on in it to db
of help. An excellent formula is
GRAPE-NUTS
embodies tho full, rich nu
triment of -whole wheat
combined with malted bar
ley. This combination gives
it a distinctive, delicious
flavor unknown to foods
mado from wheat alone.
Only selected grain is used
In malting Grape-Nuts and
through skillful processing
it comes from tho package
fresh, crisp, untouched by
hand, and ready to eat.
Through long baking, the
energy producing starches of
the grain are mado wonder
fully easy of digestion.
A daily ration of tills
splendid food yields a mar
velous return of health and
comfort.
"There's a Reason
Sold by Grocers Everywhere
?