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The Commoner.
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 42t
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Defeated.
Soul, como thou, and let us see
How we come to lose the day;
How we failed to reach the goal
Slacked the pace, or missed the way.
Thou art beaten: face tfie truth;
Was It fate, or was It fault?
Where the battle fiercest raged,
Did we strike, or did we halt?
Did we own the battle lost
Bleeding, torn, swept from the field
Was it lot, or was it lack?
Did wo strive, or weakly yield?
Let us look the victor o'er
-. Flushed with triumph, at the goal:
This? this weakling of the band? t
Did we yield to this, my soul!
If some stronger hero's sword
Had struck down my weaker blade,
Not one coward's moan or word
Had the stinging wound betrayed.
But to see the battle won
By less daring heart than mine;
Feebler feet to win the race
Shallow brows the wreath to twine!
Up, and strive! The golden day
Is not lost, but still unwon!
Far beyond, the weakling lie
Glorious deeds as yet undone! -.-Golden
heights are yet to scale-1-''
i Far beyond the weakling's powers;
Strong of heart, and fleet of foot
Soul, the day shall yet be ours.
Selected.
too, there is a fascination In watching
the. growing plants which will more
than repay you for the time and trou
ble given them.
I do not like to think of a home
where there are no flowers at least
outside; and it is wonderfully restful
to the woman who is racked with
"house nerves" to have a few seedling
plants out-doors, the care, of which
takes her out into the fresh air and
the tonic sunshine, even for. a few
minutes.
Flower Talks.
Did you plant any hardy carnation
teeds last fall? Did you plant any
last' spring? If not, you have missed
much that is beautiful. The early
freeze in October finished all that the
September frosts had left of the fading
v summertime In my own flower garden,
and even the woodlawn slopes were
stripped of their' floral beauty. But
. In the border, the hardy chrysanthe-
mums, red, white, yellow and purple,
glow cheerfully in the autumn sun-
shine, while the hardy pinks and car
nations bloom on undisturbed. Such
. brave, sturdy little blossoms, laughing
at threat of frost or frown of cloud.
They are like little 'soldiers keeping
guard over the remnant of the dying
year. Here and there, a, petunia blos
som smiles out of its thrifty leaves,,
and a belated rosebud bends a dis
.couraged.'headfrom Its Bwaying stem,
, but there is no death in the carnation
!!bedi" it has given freely of its wealth
.'all through the summer, and the
early- snows will lie' upon its bright,
smiling petals
The seeds are so cheap, and germi
nate so readily, that there 1b little ex
cuse for doing without them. If a bed
is prepared, even now, and the seeds
Bown,"many plants will spring up this
fall, while others will appear very
early next spring, and you will have
many blossoms next year. Over the
bed, when the earth freezes, you
should scatter a coarse litter to pre
vent the alternate freezing and thaw
ing of the surface, which is what will
ruin your bed by throwing the young
plants qut of the soil.
Many biennials and perennials may
be sown this fall and the beds covered
, lightly with coarse litter, and the
plants will appear very early next
season much earlier than you can
work the soil. Prepare your beds
carefully, and buy your seeds of a re
liable Arm; in flower seeds, as in ev
erything else,, the best is the cheapest.
Mixed packages give good results and
a great variety of colors. Many things
may be raised ' from seed which, if
, fcought as individual plants from the
florist, -would cost many dollars. Then,
Sufjgeitloni.
Are you still "a-going-to" got those
Christmas presents? or have you al
ready begun their collection? Don't
allow yourself to wait too long, for
you know how many things claim
your attention the last moment. You
are always hurried; always worried;
and you find yourself wishing there
was no present-giving to be done, bo
cause'of the burden it has becpme to
you. Then, too, whon you-have to buy
everything at once, you find it makes
such a hole in your purse that you
feel faint to think of it
If you have everything to do in a
hurry, you never get just what you
want, or intend to get, and half the
time your presents are woefully inap
propriate, and you feel ashamed to
offer them. You have to divide your
pin money among so many that ev
erything has to be haphazard and
qheap, and you lose ytfur jumper, and,
often as not, your friend, and you
wish there was no such thing as
Christmas giving.
Under such circumstances, your
gifts grow to seem "duty presents;"
and there is nothing more ungracious
or unfriendly than an offering of re
gard which is given simply because it
must be because you feel that it is
expected of you. In such gifts there
is nothing of the sweet Christmas
spirit the "good will to all men"
which should make doubly acceptable
this happy holiday custom.
Whatever the value of your gift, let
it have a "Christmassy" look. A few
sheets of tissue, or other soft, pretty
paper, with a few yards of baby rib
bon and a bottljg of dainty perfume,
Will add CTeatlv fo thft frfpnt1vfinra rtf
'the plainest-present. Japanese nap-
Kins mane pretty wrappings, and, tied
with a bit of ribbon and a few drops
of perfume added, make the common
est gift attractive. Why should your
present represent a money value
which" you can ill afford? Do you
think your friend will love you more
than if your offering represented your-
Flowers and candy .are cheap, but
no matter a great love may nestle in
the heart of a tiny bouquet, or among
the dainty sweets of tho nnnriv ,
A set of hem-stitched doileys will cost
but a few hours' work and a yard or
twp of material; a bit of crochet,
battenburg, tatting, beadwork or
fancy knitting: so many and so pretty
things can be made by these methods
and they are always in good taste and
acceptable; a half-dozen soft lawn
handkerchiefs, hem-stitched, or fin
ished with edging and inserting, or
embroidered monogram; bits of pretty
colored or oddly fashioned china:
trifles, in little fancy boxes or baskl
ets. which may be only "little things "
home-made, handcraft something of
yourself, done up in real, Christmassy
style, are always acceptable.
.Christmas Is the children's festival
aSd the child-spirit should pervade
all things, keeping up the mystery
and preserving the charming 'tradi
tions. '
Crext-Stltch Embroidery.
The old-fashioned fancy-work stitch
of our grandmother's days is being re
vived. The importance of this stitch
fs that any one can do It without in
struction; it Is very easily done, and
when finished, it is very stylish and
effective. It is especially lovely
worked out in several colors, giving
the effect of Persian embroidery, or of
Bulgarian fancy-work. On canvas or
a very coarse-meshed goods, this
work can be done' without a pattern,
but on a fine-weave goods it is neces
sary to have a pattern, or to baste a
coarse canvas over the" goods and
count the stitches Work through
both canvas and material, being
careful not to sew any of the threads
of the canvas, but always put the
needle through the open mesh; this
is necessary, that the threads may be
pulled out when the embroidery is
done. This sampler embroidery is
used for decorating all sorts of sum
mer clothes and light weight goods.
There is no end to the combinations
of interesting color schemes that Jan
be worked out in this cross-stitch;
it can be done in silk, wool, linen or
cotton and be, made very fine and
lace-like in effect or very coarse and
vulgar. In using the cross-stitch em
broidery as a decoration, it is effective-to
turn- all the hems of a gar
ment on the. right side, and, instead
of hemming,. finish. with, a sigl,e, line
of cross-stitch; .it is the prettiest kind
of trimming for little school froqks,
fc baby's clothes, and ,for underwear.
The best canvas to use for basting
oyer materials to get a body on which
to work is the old-fashioned, open
work sampler .canvas, which is very
stiff and the needle does not go read
ily through the thread, and H has
such a wide mesh that there is no
difficulty in working up a large stitch.
If you cannot get regular sampler can
vas, the coarse canvas used foremen's
coats may be employed, or, star6h very
stiff a piece of mosquito netting and
work through the meshes. Woman's
Homo Companion.
''all oil you to advati t -i...
have gained bo an Imnulsp. in :10
hing higher. Your nature hZ
The Bolero Bleuse.
The "bolero blouse" comes as a
friend to the woman with half-worn
silk blouses to wear under' the longer
and heavier coats of winter suits.
These blouses were much worn dur
ing the summer, and were not only
useful, but becoming, and have, for
this reason, been continued in the win
ter fashions. They are quite short,
some two to four inches above the
waist-line, and half-fitting in shape
both back and front. The sleeves are
very wide-flowing, bell-shaped ones,
either ending at the elbows or con
tinuing to the wrist. If the Bleeves
end at the elbows, the sleeves S)t the
blouse worn beneath the bolero form
the necessary undersleeves, The
bolero should always match, in color,
if not material, the skirt with which
it is worn. One of . these useful gar
ments will hide many discrepancies
between this year's and last year's
fashions. Ladies' Home Journal.
Helpful Paragraphs. , "
Progress is the law of nature, and if
we do not go up, we must go down,
We cannot ttand still. If we are not
gaining, we are losing. Motion is life;
inertia la death. William Ellory
Channing gays: "Ypu-cannot, with
out guilt and disjrrace. ' atnn whr
you are. The past and the present
rcat to bo crushed. You worn
created that you are merely to toil
oat, drink and sleep, like the inferior
nnimals. It you will, you can rise
No power in society, no hardship hi
vour condition can depress you, or
'eep you down, in knowledge, power
virtue or influence, but by your own
consent."
Self-help is the only help that will
make- strong, vigorous lives. Self
reliance is a great educator, and early
poverty a good teacher. Necessity has
ever Been tne priceless spur which
has called man out of himself and
sped him on to his goal. Grit is more
than a match for almost any handicap,
It is the man who makes an oppor
tunity arid does not wait for it the
man who helps himself, and does not
wait to be .helped that makes the
strong thinker and vigorous operator.
It is the man who dares to he him
self, and to work by his own program,
without imitating others, who wins.
Success.
There is no doubt that a great many
young men fail because they do not
aim high enough, and a great many
more do not succeed because they are
not willing to pay the price of suc
cess. They are not willing to dig, and
stick, and save, for it. Their ambition
leads them no further than wishing.
"It is -not backed by effort No matter
what business, or profession, or occu
pation one is engaged in, he should
aim to excel in It, and to reach its
highest pinnacle. The love of excel
lence is the lodestar that leads the
world onward. Nothing less than our
best efforts will result In any lasting
benefit to ourselves or to the com
munity in which 'we live. It matters
not if we do npt .thereby reach our
ajm; we will grow broader and higher
and richer in experience and knowl
edge through' the trying. Success.
Old Clothes.
A great many mothers are worrying
about clothing for the little ones, who
have enough nSaterial stowed away
and hanging about to make every
child comfortable for the winter.
Trunks, boxes, bgs are literally bulg-
LIKKD JIJB "NIP"
Kt a Whf aicay 4u a Coffee Toper
Give coffee hal a chance and with
Fome people It sets Its grip hard ana
fast. "Up to a couple of years ago,
says a business man of Brooklyn, n.
Y. "I was as constant a coffee drinker
as it was possible to be, indeed my .
craving for"coffee was equal to that oi
a drunkard for his regular 'nip ana
the effect of the coffee drug upon my
system was indeed deplorable.
"My skin lacked its natural color,
my features were pinches and my
nerves were shattered to such an ex
tent as to render me very rritobJe'ti:
also suffered from palpitation or w
heart ,,., t
It was while in this condition i
read an article about Postum Iooa
Coffee and concluded to try it.
was not long before Postum had en
tirely destroyed my raging passion ior
coffee and in a short time I nf.(1
tirely given up coffee for delicious
Postum. . eA
"The change that followed was so
extraordinary I am unable to Jf crlD.,
it. Suffice it to say, however, that au
my troubles have disappeared, l am
my original happy self again and ou
the whole the soothing and pleasfini
effects produced by my cup of Pos1"
make me feel as though I f have been
'landed at another station.' .
"Not long ago I converted one
my friends' to Postum and he is now
as loud in its praise as I am. Name
furnished by Postum Co., noiw
Creek, Mich. nnxr n
Look in each package for a copy j
the famous little book, "The Road w
Wellville."