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The Commoner.
8
VOLUME A .NUMBER 8.
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"Dead!" and my heart died with him.
"Buried! What love lies there.
Qono, forever and ovci,
No longer my life to share!
"Only a dog!" Yes, "only!"
Yot theso aro bitter tears!
Weary and heartsick and lono,
I turn to the coming years.
Something that always loved mo;
Something that I could trust;
Something that cheered and Boothed
mo,
Is mouldering in tho dust.
Gontlo and faithful and nohlo,
Pationt aud tendor and brave,
My pot, my playmato and guardian,
And this is his lonely grave!
I go to my empty chamber,
And lingor before tho door;
Thoro onco was a loving wolcomo
I listen for that no more.
I sit by ray lonoly hearthstone,
And loan my head on my hand;
Oh, tho host of my wayward nature
Lies low, with ray Newfoundland!
Ono plank, when tho ship was sinking,
In a wild and stormy sea-,
Ono star, when tho sky was darkened,
Was tho lovo of my dog to me.
A star that will shine no longer,
A plank that has missed my hand,
And tho ship may sail or founder
No watcher is on tho strand!
Oh, woll may tho Indian hunter
Lie calm on his couch of skins,
Whon tho pain of this world ceases,
And tho joy of tho next begins.
On tho happy hunting prairies,
Uhdor bluor skies beyond,
Will not his steed and watch-dog
To his spirit call respond?
Blue hunting grounds of tho rod man,
May not I dream the dream?
Surely, my old companion
Awaits till I cross the stream!
Waits, with a faithful yearning,
Almost akin to pain,
Till, In some future heaven.
Ho bounds to my foot again.
Mary Francis.
(This beautiful poem was written
by tho author, Mary Francis, on the
death of a favorite Newfoundland dog,
in 1857. Tho author's grief is touch
ingly expressed in tho lines, and she
doomed thom of such a personal na
ture that sho was averse to their pub
lication. An invalid friend, turning
over the leaves of hor portfolio, read
and admired tho poem, and bogged
permission to copy it This copy, tho
author avors, was found after tho
death of tho copyist, and, under the
impression that ho was tho author,
was published under his namo. The
above is tho poem, entire, as It was
originally written by Mary Francis.
The words will appeal to many hearts
that have known the loss of tho on
faithful friend to man.)
Tho House-Help Question.
The terra, servant-girl, has become
so nearly synonymous with tho words,
ignorance and incompetency, that our
bright young girls who would really
profer to work in tho homes aro mado
to fool an extreme reluctance to
ward a branch of industry that can
promise them only social ostracism
and no homo privileges to componsato
tho loss. They go into stores, shops,
offices and factories bocauso they have
, not tho moral courage to faco tho dis
advantages attaching to tho worker
In tho household without regard to
her mental, moral or physical qualifi
cations. Tho "servant" is in too
many cases regarded only as a beast
of burden, to whom no kind of en
couraging word or notice is duo, atid,
no attention is paid to her social
needs or advancement No matter
what her abilities, to many employers
a servant is a servant, pure and sim
ple, and no claim for consideration,
aside from her wages, is for a mo
ment allowed.
To this state of affairs is to be
attributed, in great measure, tho fact
that only tho ignorant, incompetent
and mentally obtuse girls those who
can get or keep no other situation, aro
willing to take tho name and the placo
it has degraded. Of course, these aro
only a "vanity and vexation of spirit,"
to tho distracted housekeeper, and, un
fortunately, this incompetent class will
not "take telling," too matter how
kindly It is done. It is simply a "case
of endurance" or doing without, and
tho latter is often the most satis
factory of tho two. Then, it now
and then happens that a good, capable,
and tho mistress, made cautious by
though unskilled girl comes along,
past experiences, touches lightly on
tho "telling" part, but works with
tho girl until she feels that she can
at least trust her to do the simplest
things, only to find her tired of the
place and packing her "things" to go
in search of "something better." So
she drifts; capable of much, but
knowing nothing thoroughly, and
finally sho marries ignorant, incapa
ble still, and either learns life's les
sons through bitter tears, or degener
ates into a slatternly housekeeper, an
unwise mother and an unhappy wife.
The domestic education should be
gin in the home, in tho earliest years
of tho child, boy or girl; its best,
most pationt teacher is the mother;
tho need of knowledge is felt here,
too, and this can only be remedied by
uaymg uie gins, the future mothers
and housekeepers, thoroughly ground
ed in housewifely science; this can
nowhere better be done than in the
training, or cooking courses that
might bo added to tho curriculum and
made a part of every public school
education. Certainly, one of tho most
important things in this life is to
know how to keep well, and. no one
can keep health without knowledge
of tho requirements of tho body. Poor
cooking leads to sickness and sickness
is sin or a prolific source of it. A
healthy person is a happy one,and no
ono can bo either healthy or happy
while nursing an outraged stomach.
It is claimed by some that tho much
ridiculed "cooking school lessons" are
not practical; that few homes and
Kucnens aro fitted up with their re
quirements, In the way of stoves
ovons or utensils; that these cooking
school graduates will not attempt to
use tho old "implements" which have
so long and so honorably served the
family uses. In many cases, they are
not to blamo, for the old-time devices
of the culinary quarters have little
to recommend them, ntiri mi r
cooks were good in spite of them. It
Is time the kitchen received its share
of labor-saving and hygienic devices
and our inventors certainly aro at
work in that direction. But if every
girl know tho necessary "chemical
combinations" for simple dishes which
could bo prepared oven In tho most
crudely furnished kitchen, it would
greatly odd to the health and conse
quoit luppiness of the partakers. If
sho always know the "reason why"
and, by a knowledge of kitchen chem
istry, were able to vary the food com
binations with confidence that there
would be a minimum of failure and
consequent loss, cooking would not be
the detested drudgery which it is now
regarded as being by too many of our
homo and housekeepers.
Other means have been tried, and
have failed; now let us see what sys
tematic education can do. We aro all
ready to fall in worship at tho feet
of the perfect cook, and we have some
shining lights ahead of us to which
to point our already half-convinced
objectors.
HoiiB'CIcanIii Help.
Wash grained wood with cold tea,
dry, and rub hard with a cloth dipped
in linseed oil.
Old newspapers, dampened in water
in which a little ammonia has been
dropped are excellent for cleaning
windows and polishing lamp chim
neys. To remove scratches and bruises
from furniture, rub them gently with
a fresh walnut, butternut or hickory
nut kernel. Tho oil in the kernel
makes them disappear.
Strong ammonia water and a Btout
scrubbing brush will cause your old
brass to shine like new. Scouring
with hot vinegar and salt is also rec
ommended. Wash in clear hot water
afterwards, and polish with whiting.
To remove the unsightly marks
caused by drippings from faucets in
marble basins, or in the water-closet
bowl, try pulverized chalk moistened
with a few drops of ammonia; apply
with an old tooth or nail brush, and
they will quickly disappear.
Use a whisk broom to brush off
cloth or chenille table covers and to
dust out tufted furniture. Keep one
near the kitchen sink and brush it out
frequently with ammonia and water.
Keep one for the kitchen range
To clean bottles that have held oil
placo wood ashes in each bottle and
immerse in cold water, heat the water
b'uuuuw uutu it dous; after boiling
SSfn"101!?' l0t remain in tne water
i Co1?,' ?UGn wasn In soapsuds and
ritose well in clear water.
For summer there is no better floor
covering than matting, it is easily
kept clean, and is fresh and neat in
SffwH When the fl00r is coverd
with matting, rugs are, of course a
necessity, but this does' not necessar
ily means great expense, as Japanese
rugs may be bought as low as ?2 S
and many of them are as rich in col
oring as the Persian. In taking care
of matting, it is not well to wlsh it
often: whfmi.it 0n0 i,ii., r
together fo7on7hour4?wrStso
bran and four of water; strain, press
all the moisture possible from the
bran, add two quarts of cold water
and two tablespoonfuls of salt to tne
strained mixture, wash the mottlSe
thoroughly with this, and ru drf
with a clean .cloth. The salt is 2
prevent the matting from turning yel-
Query Box.
Young Mother. Flannel which hn
become yellow from use and i fremS
left out of doors on a cold night
W. IC-Oxalic acid, dissolved .in w
water, will remove paint snnV f 0t
window glass. To $R $b $&
ato liard wood, soap the nails 7
Allce.-To renovate -your nil nwi
scrub clean with just as mtlo soai nr
any) as possible, dry eawftinS P(iJ
varnish with oil 'cloth vaSj'wWch
will cost you about 50c a pint
Lottie, Stanbury, -Mo. To prepare
oxalic acid for use, put three ounces
of the crystals into a bottle with ono
half pint of water, Jet dissolve, and it
is ready for use. To remove stains,
remember that what will remove ono
kind of stain may leave another kind
larger and more .distressingly con
spicuous, and great care is necessary in
the use of acids and other , cleansing
fluids.
A Reader. A good polish for a
stained floor is beeswax, shredded Into
enough turpentine to dissolve it. This,
also, will help the looks and the wear
of your linoleum. Another highly
recommended polish is equal parts of
sweet oil, vinegar and turpontine. A
"stained" floor is not a painted one.
For directions for staining floirs, see
answer to F. L. M.
F. L. M. To properly stain a floor,
some preparation is necessary. First
scrub until perfectly clean; when dry,
plane down all rough places; for fill
ing cracks and nail holes, make a
pasto of one pound of flour and three
quarts of water, adding a teaspoonful
of powdered alum; tear bits of news
paper and soak in the pasto, making
the mixture about the consistency of
soft putty; force this into the cracks
and holes with a case knife, or simijar
instrument, and smooth it level with
the boards. Putty may be used, but
will cost you more, and this will servo
as well. When tbis filling is hard
ened, it may be stained or. painted to
match the floor color. Size the floor
wherever it is to be stained, and apply
three coats of varnish stain, taking
care that each coat is perfectly dry be
fore applying the next. This can bo
polished with turpentine and bees
wax, and will keep good for years.
An Innocent Sufferer. This recipo
is said to be infallible, and we give it
on that recommendation: On March
17, all furniture suspected of harbor
ing "the little brown bug"' should bo
thoroughly doctored with any kind of
bedbug poison, full strength. You will
not be troubled with bugs again until
somebody brings you a new supply.
Some say the vermin is destroyed be
cause the" 17th is good St. Patrick's
day, but the real reason is that the
bugs are killed before they lay their
eggs. Once the eggs are laid, the
housekeeper has an all-summer's flght
ASKING QUESTIONS
An Inquiry Changed a Mnn'u Wnolo Life.
- When you get a man to recognize
that his bad feelings come from im
proper food and that he can get well
by using scientific food; the battle is
half won. One of New York's business
men says:
"I was troubled for a long time
with indigestion, headache, and stom
ach trouble, and had taken various
medicines but with no good results.
I concluded to see how a change of
food would affect me. I never cared
particularly fo'r cereals of any kind,
but ate meat and pastry continually
and drank coffee.
I found on inquiring, that Grape
Nuts were highly spoken of and decid
ed to give them a triaj. To say I was
surprised at the result would not be
gin to do justice to my feelings. My
headaches left me; ray brain became
clearer and active; my attacks of in
digestion grew fewer and fewer until
they ceased entirely and where I once
went home tired, fagged out and indis
posed to any exertion whatever, I
nw found a different state of affairs.
My color was good, my muscles
Strong and firm nnr1 ful'ltr ,inl in
'anytuin& I asked of them, instead of
UUil " auoy. i live two miles from
!?i us!?ess and walk it daily back
and forth, If the weather permits. I
am 55 years old and foel as well and
sti-ong as when I was 30,, and can ride
'ii s a day on bicycle without
lOOlintr nnv m r.i xt i,,
J by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
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