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The Commoner,
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VOLUME 3, NUMBER a
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Conducted??
Wen Watts M'lfy
IDepanme
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Afttr tke Wfddla. ,
Wo'ro married, thoy Bay, and you
think you have won me:...
Well, take this whito veil from my
brow and look on me.
Hero's matter to ,vex you, and matter
to grieve you;
Here's doubt to distrust you, and
faith to believe you.
I'm all as you see common earth,
common dew
Bo wary and mould mo to roses, not
rue.
Ah, shake oul, the filmy thing, fold
after fold,
a.nd see if you have me to keep and
to hold;
iook close on niy heart; see the worst
of its sinning
"a it not yours today, for the yester
day's winning?
The past Is not mine I am too proud
to borrow
You must grow to new heights if I
love you tomorrow.
We're married. I'm plighted to hold
up your praises
As the turf at your feet jdoes its hand
ful of daisies;
That way lies my honor, my path
way, my pride;
But mark me If greener grass grows
either side,
I shall know it; and keeping in body
with you,
Shall walki with my spirit-feet out In
the dew.
We're married. Oh, pray that our-
love do not fail: .
I have wings flattened down and hid
under my veil:
They are subtle as light you can
, never undo them;
And swift in their flight you can
never pursue them;
And spite of all clasping, and spite of
all. bands,
I can slip, like a shadow, a dream,
from your hands.
Nay, call mo not cruel, and fear not
to take me
I am yours, for all time, to bo juot
what you make me; ,
To wear my white veil for a sign or a
cover,
As you shall bo proven my lord or
my lover:
A covor for peace that Is dead, or a
token
Of bliss than can never be written or
spoken. Alice Carey.
Anniversary.
Friends, do you know that, with
this issue of The Commoner, I have
been with you a whole year? Fifty
two times it has been my pleasant
privilege to meet with ytfu as your
editor; and I have so wanted to be
helpful to make mvRolf nenfui rt
you. Whether or not I have succeed
ed, and to what extent, it is for you
to say.
Many of you 'have sent me kindly
messages; many have sent nelpful
words, and I am grateful. Your kind
ly suggestions have given me new
thoughts, and encouraged me to seek
a higher standard for my work. In
the past, I told you that, although I
could not, for myself, claim great wis
dom, I should seek to know a great
deal that I might thus be abie to sprve
you accoptibly. To enable me to do
this, I asked you to write to me, kind
ly, suggesting ways in which I might
make our Department a source of
greater interest and a mine of house
wifely wisdom. In thus co-operating
wo shall be able to givo aid to the
Inexperienced, to cheer the discour-
bu, Buuugmen uie weak, support
I the fainting, lift the fallen, ease the
UUrUUU, I1&ULUU LUU lUUU UUU UUUUtlCl
the heedless. The Home is the heart
of the world, and if the heart is
healthy, wholesome and pure, the so
cial body wil be better able to with
stand the attack of moral diseases, and
we shall grow better, broader, wiser
and greater in all ways.
The invitation is still in force. I
shall be glad of your suggestions, and
avail myself of your kindly helpful
ness. Many of you speak In warm
terms of praise of The Commoner, and
say, "I shall be glad to help The Com
moner In any way I can." This is one
of the many ways let us know how
you think we can make it more help
ful, more servicable to the home. If
I am permitted to be with you an
other yeav, I hope to grow closer to
your hearts, as you have to mine, and
to so broaden and extend the useful
ness of our department that it shall
be deemed a necessity In your family
life. The field Js wide; the work pro
lific of much good. Let us work together.
Our June Brldcf.
The printed page is full of advice to
this class of our daughters, and, much
of it is so impracticable as to be dis
couraging to the young wife who is
ambitious to keep the love of her hus
band. In no less than, five papers ly
ing before me as I write, the young
wife is assured that she must posi
tively, under all circumstances, meet
her young husband with a smile. Her
own troubles and worries must be
carefully hidden, no matter how ser
ious their nature. "John" must not
know that she has any. But she must
listen, smilingly, of course, to all of
his. Ho should feel free to tell her all
his business perplexities, and she must
enter fully into the spirit of them,
sympathizing with him, and accepting
all his plans with wifely zest. If he
gets to staying out of nights, she must
not question' him, or allow him to
know that she rotlces it She must
"wear the little bow In her hair which
caught his fancy," as her lover; the
colors he liked she 'must ho mtrn tn
wear, even about her work, and that
work, whatever its character, should,
according to these advisors, be In
variably performed, in a dress of Im
maculate neatness and daintiness of
fitting.
O O
I always imagine, on reading such
advices, that the writer has failed to
take his (?) own prescription. If John
has, a mothQr and sisters, and knows
anything about domestic matters he
will lenow how impossible it is for
the average woman even one of large
practical experience to do the work
of the house in a "spotless gown," un
less she have a goodly quantity of
them and can do, or hire done, a large
amount of laundering; and even then
Angelica is more apt than not, In her
unskilled handling of smudgey cook
ing vessels, to get a good many smutty
dabs on her face, hands and gown
during her "battle for bread." Some
women, I must admit, can go through
the whole kitchen performance and
come out of It "unspotted from the
contest," not even tho "smell of the
smoke" clinging to her garments, but
they are few. I should advise that
the experimental housekeeper be sup
plied with a goodly supply of big
gingham aprons, oversleeves, or com
fortably fitted work dresses, war
ranted to wash, and that she lay aside
the dainty lawns until tho dinner
dishes are safely on their shelves. If
John is a sensible fellow and of
course he is he will think she is far
prettier in her comfortable print gown
as she goes about her household du
ties, than she possibly could be in a
stained and -rumpled lawn or uiitidy
silk, Be just as pretty and as neat as
you can, dears, but do dress sensibly
and comfortably.
O 0
No, girls, don't imagine that you can
live your life apart from John's life;
you must learn, to bear each other's
burdens, and thus lighten .both. Be
just as cheerful, hopeful, optimistic
as you may; let your daily trials and
perplexities worry you as little as pos
sible, using them as stepping-stones
to a higher plane. You will find many
discouragements; make many fail
ures; so will John. You will also,
each "of you have many pleasant,
cheering successes: make the most of
both, and it will do no harm to talk"
tnem over with each other. Remem
ber, It should be -no more "I" or
"mine," but "we" and "ours." Bear
yo one another's burdens, and bear
them lovingly, encouragingly; do not
forget that "ye are yoke-fellows," and
to insure the true pulling, each must
keep your own trace-chain taut You
must "pull together," and in order to
do this, It is necessary that each
should know the strength of the other.
Your business, henceforth, is John's
business; his business is yours.
Sick Babies.
It has been said that no better in
vestment of public money could be
made than to employ a sufficient num
ber of competent physicians and nurses
to take charge of ignorant mothers and
teach them how not to kill their
babies. Given, the best of medical ad
vice, and the general oversight of a
trained nurse, arid, ten chances to one,
the ignorance of the mother will out
wit them and succeed in killing the
babe; while undoubtedly loving theiri
devotedly, and making every sacrifice
In her power, her lamentable lack of
sanitary methods will work great
hardships on her children. It Is a
pitiable thing that women "are allowed
to assume the duties of caring for a
delicate human life while, many times,
not knowing the first and simplest
rules pertaining thereto.
It is difficult to give, on the printed
Page, even general rules, applicable to
all cases. Every babe is. an individ
ual, and calls for individual treat
ment, and the health and well-being
of the little morsel of humaniuty de
pends almost altogether" on the Intel
ligence of tho mother.
0 O
Statistics tell us that the majority
of all children who die in hot weather
are under one year of age, and one
third of all the children born die be
fore thcr age of five years. Instead of
discussing how to increase tno number
of births, It would be well to give time
thought and money to the study of
how to keep alive 'those already born
Us not always the delicate, sickly
child who succumbs to diseases of the
hot weather months. A great deal de
pends upon the clothing, as well as
upon tho diet, and constant oversight
m many particulars Is the price to be
paid for baby's health. Clothing too
not, too rough, or unclean, as well as
too scant and unsuitable to the hour
&nd atmosphere, cause untold mischief.
Unsuitable, or ill-advised diet brines
on indigestion, and thus opens the
door for a train , of jevils. whloh tun
trained 'taWM of ' mo f0 C
is powerless to resist twiners
. '6 0
Tho majority of deaths occurrw
during the summer months ar g
to be from the ranks of bottle-fed chn
dren, and the greatest care should be
taken by the mother of her own
health, that she may be able to nSS
her child But in many cales this s
impossible and the child's life, or at
smallest, its comfort, is the result
Only very general rules for theh- can
can be given, and the mother must not
too fearlessly pin her faith to the di
rections found in iher favorite maga
zine, but this rule will apply to all
cases: The baby must be kept clean
and comfortable; its clothing must bo
neither too thick nor too thin; must
be added to or taken from to suit tho
varying temperature of the hours A
garment that would be too cool in the
early morning hours might be too hot
and too heavy for the noon-time, whilo
another change might be necessary
before the evening. A thin, soft, silky
woolen garment next to tho skin is
uou.er tnan tne thinnest cotton gar
ment, as it will prevent the too rapid
evaporation of heat, maintaining a
more even temperature than any other
material will do. Tho temperature
over the little stomach and bowels
should be given particular attention
to. The clothing should be loose, and
tho little feet and legs kept warm.
0 O
A daily tepid bath, In slightly salt
ed water (with very little, if any, of
some pure, unmedicated soap) should
not be neglected. Where the tubbing
is not practicable, a dailyi tepid sponge
bath may be given, but the atmos
phere of the room muBt be such that
the child will feel no chill. The baby,
in health or sickness, must be pro
tected from sudden shocks, however
slight Absolute cleanliness must bo
maintained. No excoriations from wet
or soiled napkins must be allowed.
Sometimes the mother's milk does
not agree with the child, but this is
the exception, and, in any case, where
the child Is "bottle-fed," trouble may
be looked for. Here, too, absolute
cleanliness in regard to the bottle,
tubing and nipple must be strictly
observed. The effect 'of the milk or
other food given should be carefully
watched. It would be bette" on the
least sign of disagreement, to experi
ment carefully, asking the advice of
some physician who is known to be
successful in the treatment of chil
dren's diseases. Do not neglect to
give even a nursing child frequent
spoonfuls of pure, cold water.
Food For Children.
When the mother's milk fails; a very
good substitute may be made as fol
lows: One, tablespoonful of perfectly
Bweet cream, two of cow's milk, four
cf water, one of lime water, arid one
of sugar of milk. '
In artificial diet, no two babies may
be fed alike. This will not agree' with
all children. Some children thrive
wonderfully on the undiluted milk of
a young, fresh cow. Barley water, al
bumen water, whey are all recom
mended. For whey diet, to one pint of
milk, use a teaspoonful of pepsin, or
rennet Put in a double boiler on tho
stove, and let stand until the whey
rises to the top; break up tho curds
with a fork and strain through coarse
muslin. Add ten grains of bicarbonate
of soda to a pint of the whey, thus
rendoring it alkaline. Add a tea
spoonful of the sugar of milk to a pint
of whey, put it in a bottle, cork with
a piece of absorbent -cotton, and Pas
teurize sterilize at a low temperature
before using.
To prepare albumen water: To a
teacupful of pure water add the white
of one egg, stirring it into the water,
but do not boat the egg; add a pinch
of salt and strain through" muslin.
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