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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1903)
PWpWpW,T 8 The Commoner. VOLUME 3, KUMBEU 2J, wjtf "wt'Vp w'W r- 7 mtmmfpfi l" i sot kwawwfe 7 1 ) D 3 rimGlTl V The 5ongr of the Shirt. With Angers weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red, A woman sat in unwomanly rags Plying her needle and thread. Stitch! stitch! stitch! In poverty, hunger and dirt; And still with a voice of dolorous pitch She sang the Song of the Shirt: Work! work! work! While the cock is crowing aloof; And work work work, Till the stars shine through the roof. It's 0, to be a slave Along with the barbarous Turk, Whore woman has never a soul to savo, If this is Christian work. Work work -work, Till tho brain b'egins to swim; Work work work, Till tho eyes are heavy and dim. Seam, and gusset, and band, Band, and gusset, and seam, Till over the buttons I fall asleep, And sew them on in a dream. 0, men, -with sisters dear! 0, men, with mothers and wives! It is not linen you're wearing out, But human creatures' lives. Stitch stitch stitch, In poverty, hunger and dirt, Sowing at onco with a double thread, A shroud as well as a shirt But why do I talk of Death? That phantom of grisly bone; I hardly fear his terrible shape, It seoms so like my own; Because of the fasts I keep 0, God!, that bread should be so dear And flesh and blood so cheap! Work work worlc, My labor never flags; And what are its wages? A bed oi straw, k crust of bread, and rags. That shattered roof, and this naked floor, A table, a broken chair; And a wall so blank, my shadow I thank For sometimes falling there.' Work work work, From weary chime to chime; Work work work, As prisoners work for crime. Band, and gusset, and seam, Seam, and gusset, and band, Till tho heart is sick, and the brain benumbed, As well as the weary hand. Worlc work work, In the dull December light; And work work work, When tho woather is warm and bright While underneath tho caves The broodinK swallows clincr. Ac if to show mo their pretty backs, .omu I.W11, iUO W1LU uiejjopriiig. My tears must stop, for every drop Hinders needle and thread. Thomas Hood. Child Labor. It Is estimated that there are over two million children earn.ng bread in this country. We, who buy our goods at tho bargain stores, bowing down to the god of cheapness, are not only responsible for these, but for the other millions, of underpaid girl-clerks and sewing women who are going the broad road every year by thousands, out of sheer desperation. We do not realize our culpability in the matter as we should if we were brought Into closer contact with these pitiably un derpaid workers, and could see the matter in its true light The child earned dollar the bread earned by little children whose teeth are not strong enough to dent its crust, and tho dollar saved at the bargain coun ter and in the ready-made clothing de partments which is wrung from the poor earnings of the silent clerks and sewing women, costs the nation a great deal more than It will ever buy. There is a heavy discount on these dollars. It is like blood-money. It may put a little more butter on the family loaf, or a little more trimming on the occasional family dresses; the wee or the weak shoulder at the wheel and the f raff" hand at the rope may be and, alas; too often are the only way of keeping the wagon out of tho mire; It may cool the fever and wipe the eyes of the often overburdened mother tho hope of a hopeless home, and tho one drop of rain from a brazen sky, but it is a sacrifice and a sin for which, somewhere, somebody must some day pay a fearful cost Hood's Song of the Shirt is a song of today; it is a song for all time, and should appeal to every citizen with a force that should compel a closer knowledge of the workings of such a syntom of labor as is now In vogue, and a realizing sense of tho duty we owe to our children and to the world. -Exchange. bit of elastic run In a sheering at the wrist Does not she look sweet? Paying: Cacti. It would be a good thing if the, fam ilies of a neighborhood would band together, pledging themselves to buy nothing on credit; to pay cash for ev ery purchase, no matter how their "credit" stood, thus literally living within their means. Pecuniary in debtedness for current living is not desirable, and, although voluntary In debtedness Is well-nigh universal, it is yet one of the greatest evils extant. Very few people Teally have to go in debt for necessities. It is the pur chase of the unnecessary which calls for credit One's necessities are real ly very few, when closely pinned down, if every one would make up his or her mind to buy nothing with out paying for it on the instant; it is really wonderful to what a small compass their wants would shrink. If everybody would adopt the cash sys tem, there would be little cry of "hard times," for every one, knowing the exact state of the Individual finances, would govern the purchase accord ingly and the necessary would take pieceCence over the mere fancy. The credit system is responsible for an Im mense amount of unhappiness, loss and 411-feeling between friends. The good the system may do Is greatly overbalanced by the evil It has done, is doing and will continue to do, so long as it Is allowed. 'ir Oh, but to breathe tho breath Of the cowslip and the primrose sweet; With tho sky above my head, And the grass beneath my1 feet, For only one short hour To fool as I used to foel, Before I knew the woes of want, And the walk that costs a meal. O, but for one short hour! A respite, however briof. No blessed leisure for love or hope, But only time for grief. A. littlo weeping would ease my heart, But In their briny bed For Tho Girls. , A 'neat kitchen outfit for the lassie who likes to help mamma about her work is made of calico, gingham, sa teen or other washable material. There should bo several suits, as wo all know how prone to "got into the wash" such things are. A full skirt, reaching to the bottom of, and com pletely covering, the dress-skirt, is finished with a neat hem at the bottom and tho top Is gathered and sewed to tho lower edge of a belt; to fasten this belt behind, either long strings or but ton and hole may be used. A large bib, covering the whole front of dress waist, is attached to the top front of the bolt, and straps extend from this over the shoulders and are fastened to tho ends of the bolt A pair of sleeves of scant fullness, extending from tho wrist to above the elbow, fin ished at both top and bottom with a suitable hem, with a "sheer," or set on casing about an Inch from the hem, In which to ran a piece of elastic. Is drawn over tho dress sleeves, the hem below the casing serving as a ruffle. A largo circular piece of thin goods, nemmea on the edge, with a "sheer or ensing an Inch or more further In. In which to run a bit of elastic, serves as a cap to pull over the hair after the manner of a dust-cap. Servicea ble "half-handers" for the protection of the little hands may be made from tho tops of black stockings, with a The Wlado.w Oarden. It does seem a little premature, talk ing of the window garden in the first a ays of August, but right now is the time to 'say things," that you may begin to think of it in time. It Is all nonsense to say that "anybody can have a fine show of thrifty plants in winter' with little or no trouble. Ev erything of real value in this world requires time and trouble for Its achievement, and plants are like chil drenthey must have the rieht care at the right time, or they will not thrive. To be sure, if you have plenty of money, and the right "conditions," you may get your plants later from the greenhouse of the florist, but If the dollar is not forthcoming, and free slips are, they should be started early in August; they must be making thrifty growth by the early September days, and you must have them ready to stand the ordinary "house" condi tions, by accustoming them to tho new quarters before they are driven indoors by the threats of frost No class of plants is more attrac tive than tho trailers; they occupy littlo room, and their suspended con dition exhibits them at their best Nothing is daintier than a thrifty, well chosen hanging basket But plants suspended in the heated upper air of tho living room, exposed to rapid evaporation, renuires DlenrJfiil, nnil -tnrHMma nrnfniliT T-P -rrtr.. r,lH(i ing basket Is yet to be started, now If a good time to set about it Sterilizing: The fluTc Fr Baby. Several Querists, having read of the importance of sterilizing (Pasteuriz ing) milk for the baby, have applied to me for information regarding tho method employed to effect tho desired result As tho Query Box Is devoted to brief answers, I have thought best to give tho desired Information In a separate article of greater length than the limited space of the "Box" would allow. AH "bottle" babies have more or less trouble, aniens the mother t careful, painstaking and intelliccmr and often, these qualities fail because of some side complication which has been overlooked. But one cannot ba too careful, where baby Ib concerned Tho simplest plan, and the least ex pensive, is to take a tin pail having a closo-fitting cover, invert in its bot tom a perforated pie-tin, or have a false bottom or rack made to fit into it, In order to keep the vessels contain ing the milk from resting on the bot tom of tho bucket A hole may be punched in the cover of the pail, a cork inserted, and a chemical thermo meter put through the cork so that its bulb may dip into the water and the temperature of the water thus known without lifting the cover. An ordinary dairy thermometer may bo used, re moving the cover from time to time to test thtf-heat, but the other way is less trouble. Put in the pail sufficient water to reach the level of the milk in the vessels containing it, and set the bottles on the false bottom, putting the lid on tightly. If bottles are used, they should be plugged with absorb ent, or other clean cotton; a small fruit jar, loosely covered, may be used; but whatever vessels are used should be kept scrupulously sweet and clean. There are sterilizing apparatuses on the market, that are not at all ex pensive, and with care one of these will last a long time, and be of very great service, not only for baby, but may be put to other uses. These con sist of a metal (usually tin) vessel, with rack holding eight graduated bottles, arid cleaning brush, which may bo had for $1.50. The amount of water to be put in the vessel is indi cated by a beading on the inside, and into this water is set the rack contain ing the bottles of milk, the vessel closely covered, and set over the fire until the water reaches a temperature of 155 degrees, when it Is removed from the heat and .the bottles, left in the covered vessel of water for half en hour and then removed to some cool place. The milk may be used any time within twenty-four hours. Physicians toll us that a tempera ture of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, main tained for half an hour, is sufficient t.D destroy germ life In milk, and rais ing the temperature to 155 degrees and then letting it cool slowly, insures the proper temperature for the desired result If the temperature of the wa ter is raised above 155 degrees, the quality of the milk is injured. This sterilizing outfit Is the safest, and least trouble, and if a self-addressed envelope, stamped, Is sent to me, I will give the name of the firm where they may be obtained. Business ad dresses may not be given in this de partment Absorbent cotton may be had for 20 cents per pound; the ster ilizer bottles, annealed, flint glass, made to stand repeated heating and cooling, will cost about 75 cents per dozen, and the brush for cleaning, 8 to 12 cents. Rubber nipples, to fit over the bottle, may be had at from 30 to 50 cents per dozen. A very careful mother may use the Jong rub ber tube for tho bottle, but ordinarily, its use is to bo discouraged, as It is often carelessly cleaned If cleaned at all, and great harm results to the baby. The rubber nipple must be turned Inside out and brushed with a igpft tooth brush in soap suds, rinsing It-W1 with borax solution. "Nothing lstoo good or too clean for baby." Wash and scald the bottles as soon as empty, laying them tfl the sup until needed again. They may be thoroughly cleansed by putting Into them some sharp, small gravel with the suds, shaking thoroughly, and rins ing perfectly clear with a solution of baking soda, or borax. Requested Recipes. A plain white sauce, or drawn but ter, !s made . as follows: Melt one rounded tablqspoonful of butter In a uauce-pan, and let boil until it shows : 'raffirf ' . rAjXtm.-MLl li.lt'JMiM.itki, drntfobamtiki