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The Commoner.
in-
Wanted Mother's Pay-Day
Tlio mother has novor had ono, though
many a your she's toiled,
And tho myriad cures of the household
her cheeks of tho. roso despoiled;
She hus delved from early morning to
tho soiling of tho sun,
And rccelvod no compensation for
tho faithful Borvlco done.
Oh, never a day thero passes but so
many things she sees
She longs to buy for tho dear ones
somo playthings a child to please,
Or a necktlo now "for father, If only
she had tho pelf;
But mother, with all tho wishing,
has never a thought of self.
All any sho can sharo their wages,
if only she'd think to ask;
Yet to seek her coin llko a beggar
she cannot stoop to tho task!
N'tml Tiwt1tm olinll IIOVOl' lt llfififlv.
wllh oni)hasIs all say,
JJut oil, If, with all tholr planning,
they'd plan for her own pay-day.
For why should she feel her "wages
must como llko a charity.
And she an account must render what
ever her spending bo?
On a sccrot trip to tho village she'd
llko at timos to go;
Or to succor some needy neighbor,
nor lot the homo folks know.
J wish that (ho mighty peoplo all over
this great broad land
Would demand a lawful payment for
work of the mothers' hand,
For whore the matter of wages to her
own homo folks Is left
She is of her well-earned money more
ofton than not boroft.
Alice May Douglas in Designer.
1 To My Only Son
Do you know that your soul is of my
soul such part,
That you scorn to bo flbro and core
to my heart?
None other can pain mo, as you, dear,
caii do;
Notvo other can please me, or pralso
me, as you.
Remember, tho world will bo quick
with its blamo,
If shadow or stain over darkened your
name.
"Like mother like son," is a saying
so true;
Tho world will judge largely of
"mother" by you.
Bok yours, then, tho task if task it
" shall be
To' force this proud world to do hom
age to me.
Be sure it will say, when its verdict
you've won -
"Sho reaps as she sowed for this
man is her son."
Helen Watts-McVey.
Getting Ready for Spring
Wo have, so far, known so little of
whiter in most parts of tho country
that wo scarcely realize that wo are
almost 011 tllG fhrosTinlfl rtf tl
springtime. We have so many days
that tempted us to spring work that
wo forget that February is our dark
i i C(?!des,1' stormiest month, in
which it will bo well to "house-up"
and got acquainted with our book
shelves and newspapers. Wo Bhould
squaro up accounts for tho past year
and find wherein and why wo have
succeeded or failed. In either case
wo- shall find lessons for application
during tho coming year. It is not
alono tho farmer to whom this ac
counting may bring gain, but tho
mechanic and laborer, as well as tho
business man and merchant in the
village and city. Wo must all learn
to "count tho cost," and to locate the
needless leaks and losses. Now is
the time to study these thing's, and
"get square" for the new beginning,
when tho business of tho year opens
up outside.
Ventilation of Rooms
The room which Is used by the
family ns a living room should be
chosen, with a view to the needs of
tho family from a hygienic point of
view. It should be a large room, with
facilities for ventilation, should be
on tho jj-funny side of the house, and
should have, if possible, windows on
both the south and west side of the
house, but an eastern and southern
exposure will answer every purpose.
The windows should bo large, and
easily lowered from the top, and the
upper sash should be left a little (at
least an inch) lowered all the time,
as ventilation of the living room is of
very great importance. Once at least
every day, the room should be flooded
with fresh air, and flushed with all
the sunshine obtainable. This treat
ment is better than disinfectants, and
it is not advised for summer alono,
but for oven the coldest days of win
ter. After a thorough, ventilation,
tho room soon warms up, on the cold
est days, and ono does not feel so
stupid and sleepy as though the .room
was kept closed, with the stove, fur
nace, or even tho lamp eating the life
out of the atmosphere.
If the bedrooms open off tho liv
ing room, so much more does it need
the ventilation, and tho bedrooms,
themselves, should be thoroughly
ventilated every morning. This can
be done by closing the door leading
into the living room and opening the
windows of the bedroom, top and
bottom, for several hours, after the
family get out of bed, leaving the
bedclothing tossed back off the mat
tress, until the bed is thoroughly
aired and cooled off of the heat of
tho body, In rooms which are prop
erly ventilated, one is not nearly so
apt to take cold from changes of
weather, or to suffer from headache,
or nerve troubles. Remember, the
only air we have, indoors or out, dur
ing tho hours of darkness, is night
air, and tho outside air Is seldom so
unclean as the air insido which is
saturated with the unclean breaths
of the members of the family.
Try the plan of living in the sun
shine and clean air, and, believe me,
you will not willingly go back to the
old practice of living on the dead and
poison-freighted atmosphere of closed
rooms.
- AN OLD AND WELVITUKn W5MKDT
tiblngrhbonld always b "used for nM -mi
J iml collo and Is the b& &&" Xod&K'
I'wenty.flTdcontsa bottle. rrhcoa.
Little Gains
No matter what the prosperity of
the country in general, thero will
always be poverty and hard times in
particular, and, if you read the daily
papers of any large city, you will
find many accounts of starvation, des
titution and hopeless suicides from
lack of employment. Many of the
men and women cited as suffering
lave been earners of good wages, un
rii, hef l0st tllelr W Bborei in
ESm dfwngea' or were turnea out for
&? Ptenc3 .r otller disabilities.
From these stories, it would be well
to learn a lesson of "laying un hav"
hHma mY Straws at a time,wouyfd
gain a ft in S ne, should se tS
nYod not nf eVOry duy' and th0 Sain
Safn ?, f! cessIty be a money
Sain. lu fact, it cannot always be-
though a saving of a few cents can
be done oftener than one thinks. But
in learning a new thought, in improv
ing one's mind by good reading, or
one's morals by good associations,
or one's tastes by seeing the best of
whatever is to be seen, new lessons
are learned, the mental process stimu
lated, the body strengthened, high
ideals are formed, thus lifting one,
little by little, to a higher plane. In
learning to be honest and worthy of
trust; in gaining a better knowledge
of our business; a constant piling up
of skill in our trades, clearer, higher
expressions of thought, and a bet
ter comprehension of and ability to
apply needed improvements, and in
working more fully toward the in
terests, not only of ourselves, but of
our employers, we are surely earn
ing promotion, and thus saving some
thing for the "rainy days" which in
evitably comes to every one of us, at
some time. But by this daily saving,
the rain will not come in such de
vastation fashion, or, at least, we
shall have a little shelter from its
fury. Indifference to the quality of
our work, keeping bad company, read
ing pernicious literature, fault-finding,
lack of skill, together with wasteful
habits and ill-advised extravagance,
spending one's money before it is
earned, and a frantic striving to "do
as other people do," are all broken
rounds in the ladder which, sooner
or later, will send us headlong into
want, destitution and, too often, dishonesty.
A "Rag-Bag" Shower
A writer in Farm and Fireside tells
of a unique, yet useful "shower" for
a bride. She says; "For the first
year or two after I was married, I
had tho awfulest time finding old rags
enough! When I got my outfit, I hard
ly thought of such things as dish
towels, and never thought at all of
aJ the uses one finds for old, soft
cloths somo rses such as new cloth
will not fill at all." She tells us that
the 'shower" consisted of hemmed
dish towels made from flour sacks
others were made from old, dark
aprons, to use about the pots and
kettles; iron holders and pot holders
cloths for washing dishes; sink
cloths; and many others, all neatly
hemmed and made from old, soft
worn garments. Rolls of soft white
cloth for use in sickness or accident,
made from old sheets, table linen,
etc.; dust cloths, squares of old mus
lin to use instead of napkins, where
food is covered; odds and ends, to
be used m any way needed, and the
cloths need not be all of white cloth,
but should all be clean and servicea
ble. I have an idea that such a
shower would be greatly appreci
ated as the necessities arose, although
they might seem nonsensical to the
inexperienced bride at the time.
"Let There Be Light"
In order to make home attractive
not only to the boy or girl, but to
the grown-ups of the family as well
there should be plenty of light on
warmth throughout the house6 Coal
on is by no means expensive now
adays and lamps may be had very
cheaply while, if wicks are bought
& thf fz!n; tlley d0 n(t cost much
I nf f 0il 8h0Uld bG Iad. though
LSi807y say that many country
nlb0rh,00df,are Siven but a poor
quality of this; the lamps should
have lartr iirn0 ...i.in i? a"uii
icept clean u? "fre,'UoYo K
. ....v. tuuiiiug inmps, the oil
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3
should be emptied out of the lamp,
strained througn a musiin cloth, al
lowed to settle and then, the lamp
having been thoroughly cleaned out,
the oil may be poured back, and the
new oil strained into the bowl of the
lamp through a cloth. The wicks,
according to some, should be well
soaked in vinegar and allowed 'to dry
beforo being used; but I have never
found that it does any good, if the
air tube in the burner is kept clean.
Do not use the burner, or the. wick,
after either gets dirty or stopped up
with the dregs so often found in the
oil. Even city people have this
trouble with their oil, unless great
care is exercised. Good, serviceable
chimneys are to be had for ten to
fifteen cents, and these should be
kept clean. A great many recom
mend washing them; some advise
putting them in cold water and bring
ing the water to a boil, to prevent
their breaking; but just as good re
sults are obtained by blowing the
breath in them and polishing, inside
and out, with crumpled newspapers.
If one gets a good quality of glass,
the chimney will be easily kept clean.
The wick should just fill the burner-
time, not too tightly. If it seems
too large for easy adjustment by the
thumb screw, pull out a few threads
from the wick, until it moves readily.
There should be a shade of some
kind, not only to guard the eyes, but
to throw the light down on the table,
concentrating it where it is needed.
Paper lampshades that, with care,
will last quite a while, may be had
for five cents; tin shades cost ten
cents, while there are the porcelain
shades of various colors, and the many
fancy ones made on a frame with
papers which come for that purpose.
But, whatever you do have plenty of
light in the home. Foul-smelling
lamps are caused by their being dirty.
Cleaning Feathery
Many feathers beside, those, of geese
and ducks can be made available by
the farm family, if properly deodor
ized and cared for. The old plan was
to bake them, but a thrifty sister
sends me the following: "Every time
you kill a chicken, try this: The fowl
should be a grown one, with few or1
no pin feathers. Pick dry, if you
choose, or scald before picking. Save
all fine, soft, quilless- feathers; or, if
you choose, strip the quills and throw
the bony part away. Scald the
feathers, and let cool enough to wash
them well with the hands; wash un
til clean, if it takes a dozen waters;'
then pour on boiling water again,
and let stand until cool enough to
wring out by hand, wringing and
squeezing them as dry as possible;
then, if the sun is shining, (and I
nope it is,) put them out, thinly
spread, to dry on any clean place;
if the sun is not shining, put them
into a large dripping pan, a panful
at a time, and dry in a quite hot
oven, (being watchful so they will
not scorch or burn, as this ruins
them), stirring very often. After they
are all washed and dried, put them
in a stout bag and beat them well, so
as to. make them fluffy. If they are
cleaned thoroughly, iif this manner!
using a good soap suds'to clean them
and rinsing them thoroughly all sub'
stance tending to dbcomposition wil
be eradicated, and the feathers will
smell sweet and clean."
The Egg Question
It will soon be time for eras to
be plentiful, and to spare, and we are
again asked to give a recipe for PiiN
q?m Sm "P aga1nst a i!me of need.
Some time ago, we told you about
BETTER THAN QDiMtnui,
ifSlW!,,Rdoosn9."ro5hUd'fnof bod wotttnc "
!r ,tl?w t,loro would Jo fovr chlldron that tvrvniVt ,t J
m. bumtnqrB. Box 118. Notro Damn. Ind. wiii fES
ur uomo troaunont to arty tnothdr siin novo .
monojr. Wrlto nor today If roUr clilldwin t JM2
you In this way. Don't bfumu the eh!M mlt
chanccs'aro It can't liolp It. cmid hB
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