IWflPPfl!?! nyvjUryyywy ''WH "r i 'WIMf -fmwm The Coisii&oner. IMJGUST 7, 1903. 9 W8W chops, etc., are now made of paper in various designs and sizes; napkins, dolleys, and many pretty, inexpensive table ornaments, are also shown. Wooden dishes, of various sizes and designs, are also to bo had; paper cake boxes, and other conveniences do oway with the basket of heavy, break able dishes which, in former days, filled the gudewife's picnic hours with a nightmare of dread, and, only too often, her home-returning basket with remnants of cracked, chipped or brok en china. With care, many of these paper and wooden dishes may be made to serve several occasions, and they aro quite inexpensive. Farm Saaltatloa A correspondent, referring to on ar ticle which appeared under the above heading in a recent issue of The Com moner, asks for a method, practical and inexpensive, by which the evils epoken of may be remedied, and the wasted fertilizers saved. As ttr the house-slops and decomposable garbage, the question is fairly answerod in an article entitled "Potting Soil," pub lished in this department in The Com moner of June 26. Any one who has tried this method will attest its prac tical worth. For the larger evil, I must quote from a higher authority on such mat ters than I profess to be, but I have gsome knowledge or the value and availability of the method recommend ed". It is both practical and inex pensive, but requires some little reg ular effort on the part of each mem ber of the family. Leaving out all other considerations, the proposed re form should secure the best efforts of all sensible men and women, for the single reason that it will secure relief from an evil, the tolerance of which would almost justify Darwin's theory of our origin. "While the disinfecting power of the poll has been known certainly since the time of Moses, and wo know not how much earlier, the superiority of dry earth for this purpose seems not to be generally known in our day, or, at least, not much practical use has CHANGE Quit Coffee and Got Well. 'A woman's coffee experience is in teresting. "For two weeks at a time I have taken no food but skim milk, for -solid food would ferment and cause such a pressure of gas and such distress that I could hardly breatho ot times, also excrutiating pain and heart palpitation and all the time I was so nervoufc ind restless. "From childhood up I had been a coffee and tea drinker and for the 3ast 20 years I have been trying dif ferent physicians, but could get only temporary relief. Then I read an ar ticle telling how some one had been cured by leaving off coffee and drink ing Postum and it seemed so pleasant gust to read about good health I de cided to try Postum in place of coffee. "I made the change from coffee to Fostum and such a change there is in me that I don't feel like the same person. We all found Postum delic ious and like it better than coffee. My health now is wonderfully good. "As goon as I made the shift from coffee to Postum I got better and now all of my troubles are gone. I am fleshy, my food assimilates, the pres cure in the chest and palpitation are all gone, my bowels are regular, have o more stomach trouble and my headaches are gone. Remember I did cot use medicines at all just left off coffee and drank Postum steadily." Name given by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. Send to the Co. for particulars by mail of extension of time on the $7, bOO.OO cooks contest for 735 money ttizes, been made of the knowledge In the form of the earth-closet. Of this, be sides the stationary closet for use outside of the houso, or which may be set up in any unused room or shed, thero may be a portable form adapted for use in any bedroom. With closo attention and a rogular and liberal use of the dry earth, evory partlclo of odor may bo prevented. For those who do not care to go to the expense of mechanical contrivance, it will bo all sufficient to have a box of dry, sifted earth, with a tin scoop with which to throw down tlio requlsito quantity of dust after each use. The earth for use must bo dust-dry, sifted of its coarser particles and rubbish. It can be gathered from the roadside, or plowed ground, and stored in boxes, barrels, or sheds, taken up during the hot dry months. Placed under shel ter, it will remain sufficiently dry throughout the year. Tho soil may be sifted, a boxful at a time, as neod ed, and the earth-closot, intelligently managed, furnishes a means of dis posing of offensive excrement without nuisance, and, apparently, without detriment to health. Ashea of an thracite coal are believed to be as good an absorbent material as earth, and even soft coal ashes, mixed with an equal part of earth, may bo used, thus giving a value to what is now consid ered a nuisance. Earth-CIesct Per The Farsa For this, a houso of any desired size or pattern may be built, with seat ar ranged as for an ordinary closet. Be neath the seat, instead of a vault, there should be a box, mounted on a flat truck, with four small wheels, to which a handle may be hooked by which it may bo drawn away when necessary to be emptied. A door should be made in tho back of the closet beneath tho seat largo enough to receive the truck and tho box; this door should be hung upon hinges at the top, so it may open upward and be secured with a hook and staple whilo open, and by another at tho bottom when shut. A box of dry, sifted earth or coal ashes is to bo kept in tho closet, and a tin scoop, holding about two quarts (which may be made by shaping an old tin pail or fruit can with tinner's shears), provided by which to handle the soil. A few inches of dry earth are placed in the bottom of tho box or receptacle under the seat, and each time the closet is used a scoopful from tho dust-box is thrown over the deposit, completely covering it When the box is filled it should be removed, and emptied where it may be kept quite dry, until used for fer tilizing purposes. rihe absorbent muse not be applied fresh to the land. It should bo first rown Into a bin, or boxes or barrels, in which it will re tain moisture long enough for perfect fermentation. The absence of fetor, even with prolonged keeping, shows that the process which goes on in the mixture is some kind of combination between the earth and the organic matter, a sort of disintegration, rather than of decomposition in the ordinary sense, as everything, even paper, becomes incorporated with the soil. The deposits, when taken from the closet, should bo thrown into a com pact heap under shelter, and, if nec essary, moistened a little, and left to ferment After a sufficient time, the heap should be shoveled over, and left to undergo a second fermentation. When ready for use, the earth will be nearly indistinguishable from soil newly gathered from the field, will be perfectly clean, free from smell, and may be kept, carried about and ap plied whenever and wherever wanted. The plan is well worth a trial. The Geed OM Daya Agriculture, as wo know it, can, gcarcely be considered to have existed in tho eighteenth contury in America. The plow was Httlo used; tho hoe was the implement of industry; made at tho plantation smithy, tho blade was ill-forniod and clumsy, nnd tho handlo was a sapling with the bark left on. After a succession of crops had oxhaustod tho soil tho cows were sometimes penned upon it. Tho use and value of manures was llttlo re garded, and tho barn was sometimes removed to get It out of tho way of 1'eaps of manure, becauso tho owner would not go to the expense of remov ing these accumulations and putting them on his field. In Virginia, tho "poor whites," who had formerly been Indentured ser vants, were the most lazy, the most idle, tho most shiftless and worthleps of men; their habitations were mcro huts, tho chimneys wero ot logs, as wore tholr huts, the openings between tho logs being chinked with clay. The walls had no plaster, tho windows had no glass If, indeed, thero wero even openings dignified by that name and their furniture was such as they made themselves. Their grain was thrashed by driving horses over it in tho open held; when thoy ground it, they used a mde pestlo and mortar, or placed It in tho hollow of one stone and beat it with another. Tho Massachusetts farmer who wit nessed tho rovolutlon plowed his ground with a wooden plow, sowed his grain broadcast by hand, and, when lipe, cut it with tho scytho and thrashed it on tho barn floor with a flail. His house was not painted, and his floor was not carpeted. Light was furnished by candles of homo manu facture; cavernous fire-places supplied the heat, and the smoke, also; tbe family wore homespun, and, if linen were wanted, the flax must bo sown, weeded, pulled, and rotted, broken and swingled, for all of which processes nearly a year was required before the flax was ready for spinning, bleaching on tho grass and making for wearing. If woolens wero wanted, sheep wero sheared, tho wool washed, dyed, spun and woven, and tho garment made at homo by hand. These conditions con tinued after tho republic had been es tablished, and wero not measurably ameliorated until the nineteenth cen tury was well advanced. In many parts of tho country at tho present time similar conditions provaiL The Plebian Potato, Frank H. Mason, tho American con sul general at Berlin, has mado a full and Interesting report to the state de partment upon "Tho Potato as a Source of Wealth in Germany." He shows tho immense increaso in the growing of this vegetable within tho last few years and its various uses as human food, feed for domestic animals and its alcoholic and starch produc ing qualities. In 1901 something over 12 per cent of the arable land of the German empire was planted in pota toes, and tho crop was valued at ?95, 000.000. Tho potato has had an eventful his tory since it was discovered by the Spaniards in tho beginning of tho sixteenth century and carried by them from Peru, to Spain. Like its cousin, the tomato, it was at first regarded with great suspicion and was cultivated as a curiosity and not as an article of food. Sir John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh all carried It to Eng land, and It was the latter who first planted it on his Minister estates in Ireland, where it soon took root and flourished. There it soon became the principal article of food for the peas antry, so easily was it cultivated and so abundant was its production. From Ireland it was carried to other parts of Europe and. early acqulrod tho name of tho "Irish potato," by which It is still known, oven In this coun try, from which It was first taken. It was Franco that first taught tho world how to cook tho potato in more than one way, and it was Frederick tho Great who introduced it into Prus sia, whero it has flourished, as Mr. Mason's roport shows, only a llttlo less than in Ireland. As a food tho potato has long ranked next to wheat as a necessity of tho table, though It contains but a sixth of wheat's nutritivo dualities. But It lias also had Its period of ban- lsnmcnt In Franco It was long sup posed to bo the cause of loprosy and fevers, and it was forbidden to thon tulferlng from gout, rheumatism and uiaoetcs. Lately, however, Professor Moses of Toulouse has come out strongly in favor of tho potato as an article or diet. lie declares that it is not only harmless, but that It Is benefi cial in kidney diseases on account of tho water and organic salts contained in it, forming an alkali which nour ishes tho person whilo curing the dis ease. The valuo of tho potato, however, consists not alono in Its food quali ties. From it starch, dextrine, suirar and alcohol are derived in commercial quantities, particularly starch and al cohol. Its Importance as a crop for farmers, therefore, can hardly be over estimated. Chicago Journal. The Wiltbank Claim, It is possible that tho heirs of John Wiltbank can prove that tho right to take possession of tho cracked Lib erty Bell accrued to their ancestors In 1828. The bell wbb cracked, accord ing to Bradshaw's history of it, In 1824, whilo being rung violently on the occasion of Lafayette's visit to this city in that year. It was not wholly disabled until some months later, and John Wiltbank was given the contract of furnishing a new bell. His bill for casting and putting in place tho new bell was $1,400, but councils mado him throw off ?400 in allowance for the material of tho old bell, which thereby became his had he chosen to take possession of it But It looks as though John Wilt bank and his descendants have slept on their rights. Mr. Wiltbank being more appreciative than councils of the bell's history and its future valuo as a relic, refused to destroy it He left it in the city's possession and for a long tlmo it was stowed away as though it was mere junk. Later its value was recognized and it was placed in a position far more suitable for such a relic, and it has been held in honor ever since. The Wiltbank claim is, therefore, stale. Whatever validity it ever had is certainly outlawed by this time, the city of Philadelphia having been in the peaceable and quiet enjoyment of the cracked bell for three-quarters of a century without any adverse claim or ownership having been mado by John Wiltbank or his heirs. The mo tive with which tho present suit is brought, namely, to prevent tho bell from being harmed by accompanying junketing councilmen to expositions once too often, is a most laudable one. But Philadelphia is jealous of its rights in the Liberty Bell and will re sist this rather too ancient claim, re gardless of the pious motives which inspire It Philadelphia Press. AM OLD AND WELL TIUED BE3UCDY. VXJ. WlKHLOWS SOOTHINO STRUT for CBlldrea teettilBg atioaia alwayi be tued for c&U4rea while SeetBlB. It toltm the giuu, allays all paia, care wlsd eeUe asd 1 tts best remedy for eUrrscea TweatjT'ave ceatt a lotU. it la Um Daft. wH