Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1905)
y iram-mnmi iwj xP'iuwi The Commoner. m r VOLUME 5, NUMBER 25 HAYING TIME Dancing Daisied and waving Grasses, Bow your heads, for' your death is nigh, ; fire yet another bright- day, passes Dry and withered and dead you'll lie. Under the sun that brought you glad ness, ' i i ' Undor the skies that beamed with love, it iii Lowly you'll rest in silent sadness, No more a joy to any abovp. Buttercup gold and nodding 'Clover: Give the bco of your honied sweet, Never again' will th6 saucy' rover Gather your gold on his' restless feet, Give it all, fpr you never will need it; Toll your friend you must go away; Do not mlrid' if he does not' heed it, Everything has its appointed day. Nod farewell to your friend, the sparrow, Throw a kiss toward the robin's nest; She will look out from hor home to morrow, And grieve to see you are laid to rest. Say goodbyb when .the butterfly passes, v Ho will die with the summer's breath ; Fragrant Clover and swaying Grasses, The way of life is, the way to death. Farewell, friends, do you mind the dying? None escapes it by" skill or-might; !Ask- of the- 7,nKl "why 'tis ever sighing Ask of the day why it fades to night. Little Daisy, is life worth grieving? Buttercup, do you fear to go? Tis always the way, in the world you're leaving And there is a better beyond, wo know. Marion S. Wonson, in Park's Mag' azine. It is claimed that an effectual way of driving flies from a kitchen and adjoining rooms is to burn a small lump of camphor gum on the stove. Screen wire is so cheap and so satis factory, tjiat it will pay to invest in a set of screens, which, with care, will last, several seasons. Or the wire may be tacked directly on, the window frames, covering the entire opening and allowing both sash to be raised and lowered as desired, though this method interferes with the washing of the windows. , Floral Note3 Hibiscus and other hardwood plants may be propagated in this way. Ivy geraniums and the scented varieties, which are somewhat hard to root, may be "slipped" in this way successfully. Now is a good time to do the work. Homo Chat The house fly, musca domesticus, is the product of the manure pile, in which its ogs are deposited to hatch in twenty-four hours, and in from ten to fifteen days to give torth the per fect fly. No sooner does it attain to its flnal winged stage than it be takes itself to the family dwelling, to which it is doubtless attracted by the food found therein. We are told that it is a scavenger, and that an unusual abundance of flies indicates a healthful season; but these con siderations do not lessen the annoy ance its detestable presence causes us. ' Wire screens at windows and doors practically bar them from the rooms, and it is a very easy matter to drive out the occasional intruder which somehow slips past them, but when there are no screens, and their pres ence becomes excessive in number, other methods must bo tried. Clos ing the doors and windows, a few puns 01 an insect powder gun filled with Persian Insect powder may be blown in different parts of the room, directing the bellows toward the ceil ing foi1 better distribution; or, the powder may be cast about from the hand. If the perethrum powder is fresh and strong, immediate effect will bo seen by tho staggering gait of tho flies, which will soon fall and die, and may be swept up and burned. It Is decidedly preferable to fly-paper, which constantly draws new supplies! Tho water hyacinth t is one of the most interesting of water plants, and is of tho easiest culture. Drop the tiny plant into water where it will not float away a bucket, tub, or other vessel will do; or it may be dropped into a pool of water. The curious inflated leafstems with their shining leaves looking as though freshly var nished is but one of their attractions. Among these leaves there will, in July or August, appear delicate, lavender-colored flowers, blotched with yellow, and nothing can bo more beau tiful than a -spike of these flowers in perfection. Five plants will stock a pond six or eight feet square, as they increase rapidly. In the north, the winter cold will kill them, but in southern waters they are a nuisance, as they live and spread, becoming a thick mass of roots and stems, and in-many streams entirely impeding navigation. For use in restricted places,' "nothing x&- more interesting. Florists offer them for about tea cents each. One will supply a neighbor hood of plant lovers in a short timo, if the vessel containing it is set in the hot sunshine and the water not al lowed to become stagnant. Tho plant may be kept over winter in the house with proper care. The peony will not bloom for sev eral seasons after being disturbed. They do well planted in any good garden soil in a good situation. Every fall the roots should be covered an inch or two with old manure, which should be left on the ground in the spring. It is a herbaceous perennial, the tops dying down each fall. There are some very beautiful varieties. The roots are best transplanted in the fall. Seeds of perennials should be plant ed in June, the soil covering them thinly, and sprinkled over with chopped moss or grass, to keep the soil from drying out. A box may be turned over the bed so as to exclude the light and keep in the moisture. The soil must be kept moist -not wet. July and August is the time for budding roses, as then the bark will readily separate from the wood. Set the bud on the north side of the stalk, if possible, and wrap closely with raphia, moss, or cloth, which should remain on it until next spring before removal. When buds of different va rieties and colors are set upon a strong stalk, the effect is very pleas ing. For rooting roses, break off slips with a heel of half-ripened wood, place in rich soil, turn a tumbler or glass jar over the plants, pressing the mouth well down into the soil, keep the ground moist by pouring water about the jar which must not ho ca. turbed. At the end of three or four weeks, the slips are generally rooted and one side of the jar may be slight ly raised to admit tho air; in a counle of weeks more, the jar may be re moved, and the plants shquld not be disturbed until tho spring following The Woman's Club In the July Delineator, Helen. M. Winslow, one of the best knownclub women of the country, s&ys: "Women have turried to books for literature and art and ethics, and are now" con sidering in their clubs the, art of liv ing. They are studying housekeeping, not only in the modern home, but, in the modern municipality. They are taking interest In civic and legisla tive movements, and are contributing something toward the betterment, in thd methods of administering the ' af fairs of the town, city and state. They haven't the least idea, at present, these club women, of attempting to rule over city or state, although after ten or twenty years more, it would not surprise me to meet with women in high municipal offices as a result of the experience they are gaining to day. In several cities the club women have organized a crusade, at different time, for a clean city, and have not wholly failed. In Oakland, Cal., about two years ago, the women organized such a movement ' demand ing that something be done to raise the standard of cleanliness in that city; they were not easily, discour aged, and after a while their work began to tell. Today, not only the women, but the men of Oakland wear .the "Clean City Button," and all are alike" interestedin- making the city what it should be. The American Civic Federation has paid a splendid tribute to the work of women's clubs throughout the country in behalf of parks, school gardens, and beautify ing of towns and cities. Do mestic problems appear on a large proportion of the new club programs, and women everywhere are taking up the servant question in a scientific and rational spirit. Investigation of employment agencies and conditions surrounding domestic service are to be prosecuted more effectively the coming year than ever before. There is an "inter-municipal committee on household research" in Boston, New ionc, ana Philadelphia, which has made and passed on to club women an investigation into training schools and their success In improving condi tions in the domestic situation. This, and much more, is what the woman's club stands for." v 1 1 1 Query Box Housewife. If much pickling is done, the wooden spoons will be most necessary. F- L. There is a "Good Sense" shoe manufactured, but I can not give you E. S. The child may not be like either of its immediate parents, but may embody the character of an an cestor several generations back. O. F. T. A good liquid wood filler can be bought ready-made, much more satisfactory than you could make it. very few painters make their own fillers nowadays. Several "Readers." In another col umn I give you two recommended methods for the removal of corns. There are a few guaranteed corn plas ters on the market, but I know noth ing of them, personally. Frances C The newest skirts are less cpmplicated with plaits and straps than formerly;, fewer flounces are used for trimming, and the plain gorod styles are gaining in popularity. Worried It is claimed that all traces of the mark sometimes left on garments by cleaning with gasoline may be immediately removed by lay. ing over the place a piece of white tissue paper and pressing with a hot iron. Home Keeper. Have your kitchen, floor as clean as possible and paint with boiled linseed oil, letting tho first coat dry, and theii applying a second. Annie M. The seeds of perennials should be planted in June or July, to have them bloom the next season. (2). ( The large flowered platycodon is showy and long blooming, and per fectly hardy; the flowers are blue and white. (3). About two feet high. Mrs. L. D. H. The "Consumptive's Companion" might "take well," if you could get it protected and place it be fore the public. But this would re quire business ability, if not money and influence, in order to make it successful, financially. Sarah S. Order your lllium candi dum bulbs now, and they will be sent you in due season. They should be planted in August; plant about eight to ten inches deep, surrounding the bulb with coarse sand. Use no ma nure about the bulb. It will form a rosette of green leaves this fall and will bloom next year. S. M. Tie a twine string around the bottle where you want it to break, and saturate the string with coal oil, then touch a ' lighted match to it, and as soon as the string is burnt away, pour cold water on the bottle where the string was, and it will break as though cut. With a file rasp off the sharp edges, and it is ready for use. Ella M. There is no such thing as a soap without any alkali. A really good, safe soap is. made from vege table oils with just enough alkali to hold it in hardened form. All soaps which contain more than this are said to contain "free alkali," , and are de structive to the tissues of the skin. Mrs. W. W. For washing the black goods, do not use soap. Make a thin paste by boiling two quarts of wheat bran (to be had at feed stores) in a gallon of soft water (stirring, that it do not scorch) for half an hour; then strain through a coarse cloth, thin with clear water sufficient to wash one dress, and wash the garment in this water as you would in soap suds; when clean, rinse well in clear water and when nearly dry, iron on the wrong side to prevent the "shiny" appearance. No starch will be need ed. Thinned flour paste will do if you cannot get the bran. Some Corn Cures Answering several readers: Corns are caused by pressure from ill-fitting shoes not necessarily tight ones. Those on the parts of the foot next the shoe are' called hard corns, while those between the toes are called soft ones. The soft corns are some times due to acid in the blood, but generally to the narrow or pointed toed shoe which forces one toe upon another. The quickest and surest cure is to remove the cause, generally the ill-fittine: shoe, not necessarily to larger shoes, as a large shoe often causes callouses or corns through rub bing, x For corns between the toes, we usually find the mis-shapen shoe to blame; but we cannot always get a sensibly made shoe, and must there fore expect corns, and even more ser ious foot-troubles until ive demand a better shape. . Physicians advise that the first thing to be done is to relieve the surrounding tissues of the active in- BETTER THAN SPANKING Spanking docs not euro children of bod wcU;mr. If It did thoro would bo fow children that would no It. Thoro la a constitutional causo for this. ri' " Bummers, Box 118, Notre Damp, lnd., will send nor homo treatment to any mothor. Sho asks no mo: oy. Write her today If your children troublo you In u way, Dqn'tblamo tuo cuuu. can't uoip it. mmmmJL.ml -"' -A jfcpWW