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The Commoner,
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 41
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The Grandslre's Corner
' Every day lie has hla corner, where his
wide-armed chair is placed,
And he sits, sometimes, and muses
j, with his fingers interlaced
nr, iittlnad nf flio flriftini? of the
years that come and go.
(And his eyes have caught their sun
shine, and his hair has held their
snow.)
ftTSo ho nods there, in his corner, and it
seems a place aparc,
- Seems a spot afar from stresses of the
street and of the mart,
Seems a place that asks no portion of
the Tushing world witnout
Just his corner, with his armchair, and
his books spread roundabout.
Here he dreams betimes, and dozes,
here he hums the olden songs,
Here his heart is always happy he
has long forgot his wrongs;
And when lamps are lit at twilight,
here within his inglenook
He will spend an hour of comfort with
an olden friend a book.
But the best tf all the children! How
they love those songs of his!
How their feet have worn a pathway
straight to where his corner is!
And -he drops his books and papers,
, t and each little lass and chap
Hears the wondrous fairy stories from
'" " the throne on grandpa's lap.
Or 'the children laugh, tmd scamper in
some game about his chair
And thQ light creates a halo of his
quaintly silvered hair
And, the children understand him; they
' , are playmates all, in truth,
Ior they sense the bond that likens
happy age to joyous youth.
And, I sometimes think that heaven is
a, place serene and fair
With a-plenty tempting corners, each
with one big wide-armed chair
And a grandsire throned upon it with
the children at his knee, '
Filling all the ways of heaven with the
music of their glee.
W. D. Nesbit, in St Louis Republic.
colors that become you. Don't be
satisfied with "any old thing."
The stay-at-home habit is a disease,
and a degrading one,. at that. A wom
an can not be either well, or happy or
wholesome who lives down in the soli
tude of her workshop all the time, and
she cannot do justice to her family
unless she broadens her views. Ill
health, bad temper, crankiness, and
Irritability all lie in wait for the soli
tary woman, and through her, reach
out to her family and surroundings.
She must get out of doors, go "off the
place," look at other people's door
yards, and discuss the world's doings.
Begin now. Whenever the gude mon
is going to town, or to "see a neigh'
bor," put on your hat and go with him.
It may astonish him at first, but he
will soon get used to it in fact, grow
to like the sensation of having you
along, expect it of you, and you will
both be the better for the new turn
of affairs.
van
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The Stay-at-Home Habit
An exchange says: "There are
women who actually boast that they
have not 'been off the place' for
months, and do not wish to go; but
why they should think it anything to
be proud of, nobody has any idea."
Instead of the stay-at-home habit
being a source of pride, it is usually
an indication of a very unsocial, self
ish disposition, if it nan ho TiGlrifirl? hut
ill It is one of the inevitables, then the
l woman wno is a victim of it is to bo
pitied. It should not onlv be consld-
id a privilege, but a positive duty,
go to church, town, neiehborhond
gatherings, or exchange visits with our
neighbors, thus showing that you
appreciate your friends and have an
interest in the welfare of the com-
mnity. In order to thoroughly eniov
lese social comminglincrs. one should
ry to look her best, and take a pride
in a gOOd DBrfiOnnl nrmorirnnna TV
e becomingly dressed, one need not
e expensively garbed; a neatly made,
well-fitting, clean, whole garment, if
nly of print, percale, sateen, or ging-
luui, wun a toucn or becoming color
it the throat, will make even a plain
woman pleasant to the eve. Dn nnf
)o afraid "people will laugh at you"
p-v. 4iiuf uij. .iiihi. irv rr innir vrAiii
est. Have your skin p.ion nnn vn.
mir neatly combed, and choose the
"Making Over"
In many instances, it is really more
economical to buy the new than to
make over; the old garment; but there
are those who are "too poor to econ
omize," hence, the old garment must
serve for another season, preferably In
a new form. It Is not always the seem
ingly .poor who are thus forced to save
the pennies. Many who are well-to-do
are often forced to meet emergencies
which leave little for the every-day
needs, and it is far better to wear the
old. than to go in debt fdr the new.
The darn or patch is a badge of honor
in such, cases, for it shows that the
parents will not take goods they see
no way of paying for, and if the child
is properly trained, it will be proud
of the fact that the parents are honest
and asking no favors; that they are
too honest to go in debt.
In many cases, the mother, or seam
stress of the family will haye more
time than money, and thus she will be
earning the "penny saved," if she re
fuses to throw away really good cloth
simply because it may become known
that the garment when finished has
been "made over." In some instances
it may call for courage to live within
our means, but we should all strive for
the courage to shelter, clothe and feed
our family strictly within the limits
of our income. There is nothing more
harassing and degrading than debt;
the feeling that the clothes we wear,
the food we eat and the shelter over
our heads are all beyond our means,
and that we are ujsing the property of
another, knowing we cannot at onco
(if at all) pay for it! A great many
people are preaching (to others) the
living of the simple life, at the same
time they, themselves, are straining
every nerve to enable themselves to
live and dress as expensively as do the
families of men of large and unre
stricted means, solely for other peo
ple's eyes. This is neither honest nor
honorable, and leads to many (often
disreputable) makeshifts, and unhappy
hours.
voices; no echoes then, and yet there
was no silence anywhere, and the
doora were always swinging. Now
the door is shut. There is nothing
more to say.
One of the saddest things a mother
is called upon to do is the putting away
of the childish belongings of those who
are children no more. Especially sad
dening is this, when they to whom the
abandoned things belonged have gone
out into the world", out of your sight,
dragging your heart after them, as
these toys were once dragged after
the childish forms. Every broken toy,
every bit of soiled ribbon, every tatter
of torn lace, the scattered debris of
some idle day, finds a voice, and speaks
In trumpet tones to the bereft heart.
We re'member this torn ruffle, and
recall that she was scolded for not
mending it; and we hear the girlish
voice, as the soft arms are thrown
about our neck as she laughingly says:
"Good old mammy! you Will mend it
for your bad girl." You find, in some
odd corner the scissors that were lost;
the ball of worsted that rolled away;
the mislaid needle case; the un
matched glove, whose mate has some
how disappeared, necessitating a new
pair; the rent or ripped garment cast
aside in a moment of girlish haste
the book, the paper, with a passage
marked here and there; the half-worn
shoe that she had outgrown and tossed
aside the crumpled lace, the faded
flower. Yes, they all speak; they all
have tongues. She, only, is silent.
Here is the music she last sang a
plant her little fingers "slipped," and
then let it die because she forgot to
water it All things are here; all
things speak. But she the child we
loved the world called her, and she
followed the call. Some day, a woman
will come back to us. But the child
never any more.
for a continuous bloom, up to the first
of January; but the later planting will
not do as well as the first. One of the
most satisfactory ways to "root" them
is, on potting them, to sink them In
the ground outside, where water will
not stand on them, covering them with
a blanket of manure. Let them stay
buried for six or eight weeks even
longer; and when you are ready to
take them inside, bring them into the
warmth and light gradually. Do not
at any time keep them very warm.
Even a freeze when In bloom does not
damage them a great deal, but it is as
well not to let them freeze carelessly.
Voices of the Silence
Floral Notes
The question with most of us is not
what plants we shall bring inside, but
what must we leave outside. It is
very hard to deliberately doom our
summer pets to the death, while every
one of them Is crying to us, out of its
frost-bitten foliage, "Take me, too."
"Do not leave me to die." But we look
ahead, and realize that their death i3
but a question of time, for we know
we cannot take care of them all. It is
at such time that we look longingly
at green houses, conservatories, plant
rooms and big, sunny windows, and
often, when we shut our eyes to the
pleadings of our plants, there are tears
in them that blur our vision.
Do not try to keep too many plants,
else you must neglect them all, and a
few healthy, well-cared for things is
much better than a houseful of in
valids. A short, quick death in the
border is not so pitiful as the lingering
death in the window. "No luck" is
usually the result of an unwise selec
tion of varieties, ignorance of their
needs, or carelessness in caring for
them.
One who brings to her window gar
dening but little time and less experi
ence will find the Culture of bulbs par-
Chrysanthemums
One of our readers asks how she
may have chrysanthemum blossoms
like she sees in the- greenhouses and
at the florist's windows. She cannot
have them by any treatment she can
now give her plants. The treatment
must begin in the spring, by having
thrifty, well-growing plants to start
with. These may be bought as pot
plants, or she may raise them from
seeds; but the seedlings do not always
"come true" that is, bear flowers like
the parent. They must be cared for all
through the summer, generally in pots,
and the buds must all be pinched out,
except one or two; or, if more blooms
are wanted, the buds must he severely
thinned. Those that are wanted for
extra large blooms must have extra
care given them, with all favorable
conditions, and should l)e under shelter
or indoors before frost appears. The
plants will give some bloom if out in
the cold, but the blooms will be dam
aged, and not so many of them.
When we see these beautiful flowers
in the fall, we want, right away, to be
gin growing them ourselves; but a3
they pass away, our ardor cools, and
we forget to plant them when the
spring time comes. In the gardens of
our mothers, and even now, in some
country gardens, we find the old, hardy
sorts, with great balls of gold and
white, red and lavender, and mixed
colors, and we covet them. If we
get a "root" of these hardy varieties
from the garden, plant it this fall, and
care for it until it gets established,
giving it care every year after, we,
too, can have this beautiful flower.
But, like every other good thing, we
must take care of it, or lose it.
The best time in the year in which
to take up those "wildlings" you
staked last summer, is in October or
November; or, if you neglect it then,
in February or March. But the au
tumn months are best, because you
have more time. Do not disturb the
roots more than you can help, retain
ing as much of the soil in which they
grew as possible. Our nativ.e flowering
plants are, many of them, well worth
saving, and they are rapidly passing
away.
Do you ever think of It you, who ticularly suited to her. needs as they
nave ouuivea many tnings; who go
through empty rooms, hearing the
ghosts of song and laughter, th echo
of feet that fall no more upon the
boards upon which you stand? Even
the walls seem to ask: "Whither have
they gone?" And your answer Is tears.
When the little feet frolicked about
you, and the little, meddlesome fingers
wore everywhere, you did not mind
the empty rooms; there were no
An Old Fashioned Mite Society
A reader who is interested in church
work asks, "What is a Mite society,
how should it be conducted, and who
may be members of it?"
We hear less of mite societies now
than in the old days, but the old-fashioned
mite society was organized and
conducted as a means of raising money
for the various expenses of the church.
Any one Interested in church work
could become a member of it Its
usual custom was to hold meetings at
the houses of its members, usually,
once each week, or month, as the so
ciety might determine. It was the duty
of the hostess receiving to plan (to
gether with such committee as might
he chosen, how the evening should be
spent, and new features were sought
to be added to the various methods of
require so little attention, and bloom
so beautifully at their appointed time.
"Store" bulbs are not always satis
factory; it is wise to buy of a reliable
florist, even at the cost of a few cents
more. Bulbs should not he potted later
than the first of November, to obtain
the beat results, as the longer time'
they have for the formation of roots.
the better and larger the bloom Bulbs uthiK. jtBofum t&gum.aiuysauptun,irar
may be planted at intervals, however, ' WSSSSVSsi ME1 nm9ay ror marraa
AN OLD AND WWLL TBIBD RKMKDT
Mrs. WTNRX.OWS Soothing Sykup for cblldre
teething should always bepsed for children nhll
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