8
The Commoner.
TI. j, No. 3a.
1 l
THE HOME DEPARTMENT.
Our Plown Bird.
Father, with anxious hearts come wo
to tlioo,
Empty of arms and alono;
Bond down and hear us, in pity, wo
pray
Hear us, and comfort our moan.
Seo! there is nothing in all tho wide
rooms!
Listen! no bird-notes are heard!
Sunshine and shadow aliko aro en
tombed, Ngvor a laugh, nor a word.
Out of tho homo nest, away from our
caro,
Swift-winged, our nursling has
flown
Into tho field of tho world, with its
snares
Baby, our darling, is gono.
Out of tho reach of our sheltering
arms,
Joyous, tho young feet have sped
Lightly she kissed us, and bravely
she smiled,
Sunshine enwrapped tho bright head.
Gaily and bravely the world is so
fair!
Laughter meets caution and fear;
Seo! all tho. field is aflame with its
flowers!
Xook! all tho blue sky is clear.
Little she dreams of tho dangers that
lurk-
Nothing she knows of its snares;
Thorns on her roses? or ruo in hor
wino?
Well? she has courage, and dares.
Brave little spirit! Her armor is new,
"The field is the world," strange and
wide;
What can she do, when tho tempter
assail?"
Where from tho wrong may sho
- ' hide? ..-..'
How shall she wield, with hor soft
little hands,
Weapons of warfare and strife?
How shall the soft, dimpled shoulders
uphold
Safely, tho burdens of life?
0, if through sunshine, less watchful
she grow,
-.Careless of pitfall, Bho stray,
Guard her ami guide her, watch over
hor thon,
Father, in mercy, we pray.
Cheor, when tho shadows fall over her
heart;
Let thy dear love be her guide '
If the young feet, in their trust, lose
tho way,
Fold hor, oh, closo to thy side.
Lead her. Whatever the fato that
befalls,
Be thou her staff and her rod;
Keep the young feet in the pathway of
me, oh, pitying God!
Breathless I stand she has passed
from my care;
Out o'er the summer-tossed sea,
Hold the white hand with the strength
of thy love,
Draw tho white soul homo to Thee.
boiling syrup, havo a tendency to
harden. This can bo provonted by
cooking them until tender in clear wa
tor, or weak syrup, adding tho neces
sary amount of sugar later. Other
fruits become too soft, if cooked too
much, and these should bo subjocted
to one or other of tho following meth
ods: Pour your boiling hot syrup
over the fruit and lot it stand until
cold, thon drain off, heat the syrup
and ropoat tho process several times.
Usually the fruit is allowed to remain
in tho syrup over night, scalding it
with the hot syrup ovory morning for
three or four mornings, then gently
boil until the fruit is done. Another
way, sift part, or all of the sugar "over
and through the fruit, let stand over
night, drain off tho juice, bring to a
boil and add tho fruit, boiling gently
until done. Either of these methods
extracts tho juico and hardens the
fruit. Another way, Js to put the
fruit into the boiling juice, a little at
a time, let boil a fow minutes, skim
out and lay upon platters and set in
tho hot sun for a few hours, then add
ing to the boiled down juice, boiling
up once and sealing away tightly in
small jars.
Whon making tho syrup, if water is
used, a small teacupful to a pound of
sugar is about right. Before adding
the water to the sugar, thoroughly mix
with It the well beaten white of a
fresh egg, pouring the boiling water
over it, and skim carefully.
After the fruit is clear, if the syrup
is too thin, take out tho fruit and lay
It; in the jar, boil tho syrup down un
til it "ropes," then pour over the fruit
Preserves should never boil hard
a" gentle boiling is best. Preserves
"should never bo stirred while cooking,
and as little as possible when dishing
up for the table.
-Marmalades and jams require con
stant stirring, and should not be
cooked down too much.
When preserves are "candied," set
the jar in a kettle of cold water, bring
to a boil, and lot boll gently for an
hour. Candied fruit is the result of too
much sugar. When specks of mold
appear on preserves, marmalades,
jamB or jellies, they should be care-
iully removed, and tho fruit subjected
to the boiling process as above.
Fruits for jellies should not be
quito ripe.
risking Preserves.
Putting up fruit in tho form of pre
orves ia the most difficult process, bo
cause of requiring tho utmost pains
taking from start to finish, in order
iiot only to retain tho flavor, but that
the appearance, also, of tho finished
product may bo moat attractive. Our
mothors wore forced to long boiling in
order that their sweets might "keep;"
but tho modorn housewife, with her
Improved methods and self-sealing
Jars, can almost bid defianco to any
hint of -fermentation.
Many fruits, when put directly into
Sweet Tomato Pickle.
"On peck of green tomatoes, ten
small onions, whole spices, pepper,
bay loaves, two teaspoonfuls of sugar,
vinegar and salt. Peel tomatoes llko
an apple, leaving them whole and
sprinkle with two-thirds of a cupful
of salt. Alter standing six hours
hang them in a bag to drain all night.
Break up cinnamon and cloves and
put into a thin muslin bag. Peel and
chop tho onions, sprinkling thom with
salt. Whon tomatoes and onions aTO
well drained pack In layers in a jar,
putting bits of bay leaf and small pep
pers on each layer. Cover with good
vinegar, put in tho spico bag and let
Btand nine days, having them well
covered and pressed down by a cloth,
plate and weight When tho tlmo has
passed boil tho mixture as it is, add
ing tho sugar. Seal in glass jars, af
ter laying horseradish slices and black
mustard seed on top of the picklo.
Aunt Susan, in Housekeeper.
Home Keeping Women.
"Home-keeping hearts aro happiest,"
the poet tells us, and where one is con
genially mated, life may be anything
but a failure. Nearly all our most
noted women and greatest reformers
havo been admirable wives and moth
ers, their wise individuality permeat
ing their homes and social relations,
and their carefully reared children
have gono out Into tho world an hon
or, not only to. those homes, but to tho
nation at largo. The fow outside is
sues these women undertook wera
carefully chosen, well understood, and
intelligently and courageously advo
cated. There are thousands of women, cap
able as these, yet restricted by
cramped limitations, who, recognizing
their inability to walk these perilous
paths without endangering the peace
of other lives dependent upon them,
have turned themselves about, and,
with a sublime self-ignoring, have
made wonderful homes among the
common people, undisturbed by envy,
vain longings or frettings over lost
opportunities. They have taken up
their homely tasks and glorified them
by their wondrous faith and patience,
and have kept their altar fires burning
brightly through all discouragements,
feeling that in this they were serving
the cause to which they would have
consecrated their hearts and hands.
From these quiet homes havo gone
forth an unceasing inspiration, incit
ing all who came within Its magic in
fluence to a higher, holier life, and
speaking most eloquently of peace,
purity and unselfishness. Patient
faced women aro these; and tender
hearted and wise; not unhappy, for
they have risen above the petty rival
ries, spites, surglngs and small bick
erings which so often wreck the dis
couraged and tho disappointed in life's
great race.
Who shall say they have not
"served" as wisely and as well as have
their noble sisters who reaped with
the "sword and sickle" in the wldo
harvest fields of the world?
Degeneracy.
Here is an extract from a letter
that has fallen upon my desk:
"At the end of a few years of matri
mony we find, instead of the bright, in
teresting girl we knew, a tiresome sort
of person, whose whole intellect is
absorbed in attending to tho cares of
tho house, and in getting stylish
clothes for her children. Her
conversation seldom rises above tho
level of infant gossip and servants,
and the only ideas developed by time
and experience are ' expressed in her
conviction that men aro the most un
reasonable and selfish, of creatures,
and women the most abused and self
sacrificing." We find the husband at least tacitly
acknowledging that he Is disappointed
in tho wife ho has chosen, and yet hef
finds it difficult to point out his mis
take, and hardly "finds cause for blame
in her, for sho is a faithful wife, a
devoted mother and an excellent
housekeeper, and, as tho grounds oC
complaint on either side is somewhat
obscure, they go on, 'disappointed and
disapointing, to tho end of their days.
Should this thing be?"
Now, this is all wrong. Because a'
woman becomes a wife and mother is
no reason that sho should forsake tho
upper strata of thought the atmos
phere of the soul and allow herself
to walk forever upon the lower plane
of routine and petty cares. She should
cultivate the power to rise aboyo tho
little things of daily life, to keep her
head in tho sunlight though her feet
must walk tho shaded pathways. Sho
must not always attune her voice -to
the 'song of the shirt," for the "shirt
making" must end, if she only w(ills it
She must learn to rise above the mere
physical -wants of the hour.
For Bites ef Insect.
A solution of creolin (liquid soap
from coal tar creosote) is said to be an
effective remedy for the bites of in
sects, such as ticks, fleas, mosquitoes
and black gnats. It is recommended
also to keep flies off the horses and
cattle, and will cure mange ""on ani
mals; is a fine dressing for sores; is
excellent used as a dentifrice, and to
stop accumulation of dandruff.
One pound bottle of It will make six
teen gallons of the solution, and costs
about 60c per pound. -A solution of
one teaspoonful of creolin to one pint
(or quart, according .as strength is
desired) of jyater will greatly relievo
the Itching caused by the bite of these
insect pests. Any one who has sufi
fered from these bloodthirsty crea
tures should be' glad to try it.
Paragraphs From Exchanges.
Margaret Fuller once remarked, "If
I ever did any good in the world it
was by calling on every nature for its
highest." I have sometimes thought
one of the best ways for women to
help women is by seeking to bring to
the surface only that which is best and
noblest In human nature, though not
always by direct appeal. Those who"
are struggling to reach a higher plane
of life and thought find the most grate
ful assistance in her who stakes high!
aims and pure motives for granted.
I If our own lives are characterized byj
sincerity of purpose and real worth,
they will be the best Incentive to.
worthy effort on tho past of others.
1
Is not woman's attire often too:
mannish to be beautiful? Does a man's
hat, tie pr shirt front add to a worn-
an's beauty? There aro times when'
trousers would be suitable to woman's
employment, but let them bo woman-i
ly in appearance, say like those worn'
by Persian women, whose edstume
Worth once declared to bo the hand
somest on tho face of tho earth. Long
skirts, oven those that trail, aro beau
tif ul at the evening party, or when a'
'woman is not walking or at work
Let the stvle of dratm fin milted to thO
: means and tho employment, each!
(
iMMHJIE