-""wnw'w '?jin!WWgyf'' it i The Commoner. & er, w&K-h t S3Sr F5t5nSil IJprrr V-wi pnaJr B 1 "ff. ' V0LUMJ3 5, NUMBER i0 epartmen if Cleansed Anew I am cleaning my house, in the soft spring light The house of my soul, you know; I've opened each window and long shut door That into each room sweet winds may blow. And when I have finished, so sweet "twill be That friends may gather sweet com fort there; Its walls will be hung with pleasant thoughts That may give forth lessons of love and cheer. Purged of all litter, each tiny space I will polish its windows with hope and truth, And its home-like comforts alike will charm The lonely and old, ana tne restless youth. Cleaning and scouring and scrubbing . v?. away, From the lowest nook to the top most flight, Bringing whatever is worth to view, Burning the rubbish, and bleaching the blight. And my rooms shall be beautiful, And open wide to the light and sun; No Bccrel chamhor, with close-shut door Shall bar my guests from its Joy save one One tiny closet, ali sweet and clean; And no one may ever enter there Save my heart and me, when the way is dark, And I go to the Father in secret prayer. Selected. cook if the party happens to have a cook book and a few pots and pans. What a fallacy! A great chef is born, like any other great artist," but he admits that, like the humblest of us, he must learn his art as we do ours, though he has a natural gift for his work, even before he starts." He further tells us that "Women rarely care to take much trouble over cooking, especially when they are not acting as professional cooks; the house wife who does her own cooking con siders it a waste of time to spend much of the day in her kitchen ar ranging for the family meals." He al3o contends that women must learn that no trifle is too small for their consid eration in the matter of cookery. There are several reasons that he has left out of the argument: One of them is that, while a man cook insists on having everything called for outfit- and all at his command, a woman generally has to put up with what she can get, simply because she can not help herself. Not one kitchen in a thousand has a set of scales or graded cups for measuring, ana very lew kitchens have an outfit that a "man cook" would at all accept as complete. Then, too, one ''small detail" with which no man cook troubles himself overmuch is the one relating to econ omy making everything count for something. Women cooks, especially tnose in their own homes, are usually pinned down to a set sum for expen ditures; they must either have doled out to them, nickel at a time, the nouse-money, or are conlined to a cer tain monthly allowance which must be made to cover expenditures for certain departments, no matter what unforseen emergencies may occur; and the sum is generally the minimum. As to devoting much of the day to her kitchen; it must not be overlooked that the average woman cook, in her own home, must be a sort of composite wife, mother, nurse, hostess, seam stress, laundress, scrub wnrrmn ortnnrl Olir Mnma P.Vin4c? 8..1 .1 i ii .. '-. ..w... .., BU1, uuu ruusiauoui" generally, as One of our exchanges goes into a we as cook, and her day has but Housewife. A sulphur candle, which can sbe had of your druggist for ten cents, should be burned in your closet. Not dangerous. S. M. Not being a physician, I can not give you a prescription for a "sure cure" for your troubles. Ask your physician. Ignorant. Cake may be eaten with the fingers or with a fork. Most peo ple prefer the fingers. Mrs. M. H. If the trunk is not too greatly damaged, give it a good rub bing with hot linseed oil applied with a woolen cloth, not too much at a time; then varnish. Anxious Mother. To break the child of sucking her thumb, put a little red pepper on the thumb every time she puts it in her mouth. She will soon let it aione. M. D. S. Coarse bread, good but 'ter and lean meat are said to be best food for nerve sufferers. Eggs, if eaten, should be well cooked. In many cases, an egg that has been boiled twenty minutes can safy be eaten where an underdone one would cause trouble. Agnes L. One tabkspoonful of good vinegar, mixed with three of pure linseed oil, and plenty of rub bing with a woolen cloth to bring out o polish is said to be line fcr mahog any furniture. Student. Whi'e it is not obligatory for a man to give up his seat in a public vehicle, a truly coi-rteous man will always resign his place to an old rian or old woman, a cripple, or n woman carrying a baby. Mrs. S. Four ounces of rose water, to which add, drj,) by drop, stirring to keep from curdUng, oue 'drachm of tincture of benzoin, for a milky prep f ration for the skin. Be.izoin is very drying to the skin. lengthy discussion as to why a man makes a greater success at cooking I than a woman does. The writer claims that "there is absolutely no question as to who makes the better cook the man or the woman," and cites as proof the fact "that all the chief hotels and restaurants in this country and in England employ men at the head of their culinary depart ments; that a female 'chef is not to be found In any large kitchen." The writer adds that "cooking is a fine art, and rises far above a mere domestic xluty," and that men are not more epicurean than women, as women are quite as fastidious over their food as the ordinary man. The reason he gives for man's superiority over wom an in the line of cookery is the thor oughness and exactness with which he does his work; that a man cook will insist on having everything called for in a recipe, or let the dish go, while a woman will try to got along with what she has thus spoiling the dish. He further says that "a great many people think that anyone can twenty-four hours in jt. Into these hours she must crowd the work of a dozen trades and professions aside from that of "chef," to say nothing of the time wasted in sleep. If she be "at service," she will have less of the responsibility, but many demands will bo made upon her time outside the pots and pans. Last summer, while at the World's fair, I watched the ladles who were giving lessons in cook ery. Not one that I saw waltea on herself in the matter of reaching after or washing un the thiners hsp,i n i, demonstration. There was always a girl or woman at her elbow to assist her But I have known women in the home doing a little of everything, dodging in and out of the kitchen on a score or more of outside errands, who could beat any professional cook at gettin- nf S 1;eaU1f1UJ' VQUS meals out of next to nothing,1' with only a few vessels to get them, up m. What could she not have done, had she devoted her full time to cooking and concoct ing alone with two or three assistants always at her elbow! Ibtants BETTER THAN SPANKING Spanldnp does not cure children of urine dim. culties. If it did there would' he few ohildron that would do it. There is a constitutional cause for this. Mrs M, Summers, Box 100. Notre Damelnd., will send her homo treatment to any mother, She asks no money, Write hor today if your children trouble you in this Viv Sthcffit0 ChM TUG cl,ances iit Query Box C. E. G. Can not tell you of- a clo-m ing process for the white shoes tn ffnSie,"Chives are used Principally to flavor soups and salads. y Busy BeeA-There is no set form for a note of thanks for favors renTered Write as you would speak, but briefly Paper Hanging It would seem a waste of time and space to give drections for paper hanging, were it not for the fact that there are always beginners, and, in the hurry of the house-cleaning sea son, the professional hanger is not always to be had. Then, too, the work is not hard, or difficult to understand and with a little experience and a uash of common sense, members of the family may easily do it them selves, at quite a saving of expense. Among our Querists are several seek f,nr TuSUfh informaon, and they will find their answers in (.his article.' ?r ?ou have settle1 ie ques on of co or and design for each room to find the quantity of paper needed for each, multiply the length of the (sT i(28afL??teeni et) by Ule widLl1 (say 12 feet), and then multiply this ?y Ah0 ght of tllc wns (soy nine feet). This will give you the numbe? of square feet of wall surface that is to be covered. " For t e celling multiply the length by the width and you will have the number of square feet of ceiling surface. The nrmEoibe ,a,PDed over te at each angle of side and end and this must also be allowed for' Wal paper is sold by the "double roll, ana in each double roll there are supposed to be sixty square feet pf paper. Your dealer will soli you a 'single roil" but no less. Divide the bvf f S,qUaro feet o wall surface ?olw?n?Umb?P!! feet in ine b roll (60), and this will give von S number of rolls nnmin,i i !! J?u . the "waste" in cutting, for you must mS the designs of the paper as you w it, and some patterns are more tS ful than. others, owing to the si? the designs. It is always as Wei t get a little more than enough as th dealer Avill generally take back U t is left if not less than a single roll Bordering is sold by the yard ami each double roll of border contain! u1UUm tuu 1U ' not I0rG"ting any projections or recesses, and divide tin number of feet by three, to find tk number of yards of bordering needed If you have never papered a room it will be well to take a few lessons' or the professional hanger, as there are many things, small in themselves that must be carefully observed in! order to succeed. Like everything else it is easy enough after you once know how, and it is not difficult to learn. Some Contributed Recipes Rhubarb Pie. -To one cupful of fine ly chopped rhubarb add a cupful of sugar and the' grated rind ol one orange or lemon; put a tablespoonful of corn-starch, into a cup, moisten with a tablespoonful of cold water, and pour in enough boiling water, stirring, to fill the cup; add this to the rhubarb. Beat until light the yolks of three eggs and add to the mixture, then pour into a pie, dish lined with good crust. Bake without top crust. When cold, cover with a meringue made with the whites of the three eggs and half a cup of powdered sugar. Set in the oven and let brown deli cately. Asparagus Soup. Use the water la which asparagus has been boiled and the tough ends of the stalks. Cook the stalks until tender in the water; press through a colander; put a quart of milk Into a double boiler, and when it is hot add two tablespoonfuls of butter and two of flour previously blended. Cook'until smooth, then add the asparagus pulp and water, sea son and serve. Gooseberry Pudding. Use either fresh or canned berries. Stow the fruit gently until i will pulp, then beat it up. To every pint of pulp add a quarter of a pound of sugar (more, if liked), two well beaten eggs, one ounce of butter and a quarter of a pound of bread-crumbs. Mix all to gether, except the eggs, which must not be added till the mixture is quite cool, and then stirred in thoroughly. Put the mixture into a buttered dish and bake for half an hour; strew a little sifted sugar over the pudding before serving. For the Laundry We are beginning to get out our pretty dresses, and making them ready for use the first fine day. White waists and other white goods that have turned yellow from Ijing too long, or from careless handling by the last laundress, should be dipped in boiling water in which some cream of tartar is dissolved, and rinsed thor oughly. Or, to each pailful of water in the boiler add one tablespoonful of coal oil; let the clothes boil twenty minutes, then remove from the boiler into very hot water and rinse well, hang in the sunshine, and th y will be white and clear. Colored goods, or white goods with colored figures, should be soakKl half an hour before washing in a pailful of water to which has been added a tablespoonful each of salt and alum, which will usually set the colors. Soiled ginghams and muslins should be washed in thin starch water, wltn out any soap; the starch clears the print, and will usually stiffen the goods just enough. When washing hlacK goods, such as duck, percale, calico, lawn, and goods, which should ho starched, .use no sojip, jjmt in water enough to wash a dress boil half a Si-ii. bffi-