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The Commoner.
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VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2
No Placo for Boys
What can a boy do, mid where can
a boy stay,
If lio Ih alwayn told to got out of the
way?
Ho can not Hit boro and ho must not
Btand there.
The cushions that cover that fine rock
ing oliulr
Wore put thero, of courao, to be soon
and admired;
A boy lum no business (o ever bo
tired.
The boaullful roses and (lowers that
bloom
On tho Jloor of the darkened and deli-
cato room
Aro not mado to
not by boys;
Tho lioiino Is no
their noiso.
walk on at least,
placo, anyway, for
Ycl boys must walk somcwlioro; and
what If their feet,
Sont out of our houses, sent into tho
street,
Should stop around tho corner and
pauao at tho door,
Whero other boys' foot havo paused
of Ion boforo;
Should pass through tho gateway or
glittering light,
Wlioro jokes that, are morry and songs
that aro bright
;Rhig out u warm wolcomo with flat
tering voice,
And temptingly say, "lloro's a placo
for tho boys."
Ah, what ir thoy should? What if
your boy or mine
Should cross o'er tho threshold which
N marks out tho lino
'Twlxt virtue and vice, 'twlxt pureness
, and sin,
And-Joavo all his innocent boyhood
within?
Oh, what if thoy should, because you
and I,
While the days and tho months and
tho years hurry by,
Aro too busy with caves and with
llfo's fleeting joys
To mako round our hearthstono a
place for tho boys?
Thoro's a placo for tho boys. They
will find it somewhere;
And If our own homes aro too daintilv
fair J
For tho touch of their fingors, tho
tread of their feet,
They'll find it, and find it, alas, in
tho street,
'Mid tho gildings of sin and tho glit
ter of vico; b
And with heartaches and longings wo
pay a dear prico
For the getting of gain that our life
time employs,
" To1 l 1)r0Vld0 U l)laco for th0
A place for tho boys, doar mother
1 pray; ulutr
As Cown r0UI1(1 om'
DOndoedsUS f01'g0t by Ur k,nfl. lovi"S
To show wo remember their mens
ures and nnn,i0. l Pieas-
TlioiiRh our souls niay be vexed with
tie rniln..iD t in.. l"u Willi
And Wov with besotments and toil
ing and strifo,
thed hoart and mine
If wo give them a placo in their inner
most shrine;
And to our life's latest hour 'twill bo
ono of our joys
That wo kept a small corner a place
for the boys.
Boston Transcript. -
AIT OIitJANn wwtty ..
MJW. WiM.nW.;Q" " ." """ RKSnroT
MD,hould ilwZ.l"1 t?r ohllar
win.?11;. ltB0fniTfi; wm llaT.i ,l,r?n wh,,
ma
"What Arc You Reading?"
It Is to be hoped that every one
is reading something, and it is well
if that something were of tho best,
whatever its class. Fortunately, in
those days, thero is no dearth of lit
erature suited to every taste and
need, and the principal thing is to
get something that will leave us bet
ter because of having read it. Every
faiuily should havo its political paper,
iwid it would bo well to read "both
hiud in uiu tiiuiy, i UlUiUl, Wliuiu-
somo newspaper should be read, in
order to keep touch with the ques
tions and happenings of tho day. The
local, county paper should 'find a place
on tho table, and among them should
always bo found tho papers that
mother likes. A good church paper
should not be forgotten. Papers or
magazines devoted to household
economy and "ways of doing things"
should not be overlooked, and in ad
dition to these, there should be such
as are suitable and interesting for
tho young people. There is so much
clean reading at reasonable prices,
that it is a pity not to have it. In
many homes, however, there are sev
eral "story" magazines, containing
only sensational, and often harmful,
fiction, the reading of which is re
sponsible for much of the unrest and
discontent of our boys and girls.
Then the newspapers which come to
us aro full of details of all manner
of crimes, scandals and outrages
against tho decencies of life, empha
sized by illustrations which teach the
lossons much more thoroughly than
any words can do. With tho Sunday
papers como tho "colored supple
ments" and "funny pages" which
aro anything but funny to one who
realizes how thoir teachings may im
press tho tender mind of the child
who usually falls heir to them. Pic
tures aro tho alphabet of the child
through which ho spells out the les
sons of life. Tho lessons should be
of a higher order.
If the minds of tho young people
are of healthy growth, they should
Ike the best of reading, and should
w 1Vm ,b0,0ls' papers and magazines
that will help to give them high ideals,
and train them for the work awaiting
them in life. The best is none too
good, and if bail nf nil u i0 - ..i.-
y bad or tho boy or girl. Books of
nformation are well, but books of
inflammation should bo rejected
"Going Back to the Simple Life"
Wo hear so much of itread sn
much of it; but we know it can neve?
d110' Everything points to he
fact that there is no going back We
must push forward, to the better con-
?t nn. tht broadep Possibilities the
tuturo prom sos us. Tt hon i.
s?v ii!?? - .--- rz
s . " wuum require a long time tn
set us back to tho frame of m h X
bat will allow us to be content with
tho bare existence which tho J!!
were forced to eke oitta th ol ?Z
(lays. Time was when the originals
for a'dn, WGr COntent a S
r i. '. . . Utt'B "- was
the best; the battle then, even as
now, was usually to the strong. Wo
are not certain that they were any
more content, or that they were any
more happy than we of today. The
watchword seems always to have been
to push forward.
We, of today, in tho new condi
tions, are as little children: dazed
with the mental and 'physical abund
ance that has come to us, we hardly
know how to use our wonderful good
fortune; we, in our ignorance and in
experience, are wasteful, extravagant,
reckless. Men and women alike are
bewildered. We make many mis
takes. We mistake the "fairy lights"
on the marsh-lands for the glow of
the stars, and of ten-times with the
best of intentions, we fall into error.
Though we should retrace our steps,
we might not get back to the solid
ground, for even the old paths are
obliterated. We can not go back.
Try as wo might, we could never find
the way.
But we can, and must, press for
ward. Some of us will fail. Many of
us must prove only stepping stones by
which the few may get safely through
the bogs. Through abuses of our
groat privileges, we must learn their
uses. The old garments do not fit
us we have out-grown them. And
tho new ones are too often but mis
fits. Slowly, but surely, things will
become adjusted; we shall see the
follies, and learn to avoid them. We
shall find the solid ground, and learn
to avoid the ditches of error, and in
time, get safely on our feet. But
we must all recognize the fact that
there is no going back. We must set
our ideals high, and push forward.
Disagreeable Duties
"The one thing which reconciles
mo to the three-times-a-day dishwash
ing," said my young friend, "is that
my dishes are so pretty. It is a pleas
ure to handle them." And watching
her shapely hands as she piled them
into the draining pan, I thought,
"What a text for a sermon on house
keeping!" "But your pots and pans?"
I inquired. "Oh, I always wash them
the minute I empty them. I always
have a pan of hot water setting
handy, and everything, as fast as it
is emptied, is washed and limur n,.
or set where it will dry out that it
may not rust. It takes so little time
when they are freshly emptied, and
they are out of tho way while I have
other things to think of. When the
meal is over, there is left me only the
china and glassware, and I like to
handle them."
.iiJh think "lis win aPPly to more than
dish washing. There are few women
that do not take pride In "pretty
things, no matter of what kind. They
may even be coarse, or common, so
they satisfy the demands of the beau-
"? natVrer' and tllis satisfaction
X?,L f met lr GVen the coarsest
-nature, for each and every one has
JL Jf' mIf ? can not lla fine
25ffi Wtt tehl
the common delf dishes, have prVtty
designs, or delicate tracery wS
renders them pleasing to ?he eye But
nothing will make amends for the
nicks, cracks, breaks, and scorch
which afflict many dishes through tho
careless handling . u?n tne
wivo Tf i ' ,;;r? , w bUUXO nouse
arY,;r; ;: x" ?et m good
"something for nothing." No matter
what the quality of our belongings,
they will require careful handling in
order to retain their prettiness.
Dishes that are thrown together in
the pan, with boilirig water poured
over them, no matter how fine or
coarse they are, will soon lose their
attractiveness, while rough handling
will leave them notched, nicked,
cracked and broken until one does not
care, and then dish washing is al
ways a burden. Setting dishes in tho
oven, or on the stove to "warm
things," or to keep them warm, is
another source of ugliness. Do keep
your dishes prefty and whole. If you
can not, use tin or agate ware.
"For Love of It"
"Duty is for man an enemy md an
intruder, so long as it appears as
an appeal from without. When it
comes in through the door, he leaves
by the window; when it blocks up the
vindow, he escapes by the roof. Tho
more plainly we see it coming, the
more surely we flee. It is like those
police, representative of public order
and official justice, whom an adroit
thief succeeds in evading. The offi
cer, though he finally collar the thief,
can only conduct him to the station,
not along the right road. Before man
is able to accomplish his duty, he
must fall into the hands of another
power than that which says, "Do this;
do that; shun that, or 'else, beware."
This is an interior power it is love.
When a man hates his work, or goes
about it with indifference, all the
forces of earth can not make him fol
low it with enthusiasm. But he who
loves his office moves of himself; not
only is it needless to compel him, but
it would be impossible to turn him
aside. This central force
manifests itself under a thousand
forms. " All that it touches
bears its seal, and the men it in
spires know that through it we live
and havo .our being. To ser,ve it is
their pleasure and .reward. They, are
satisfied to be its Instruments,' and
thoy no longer look at the outward
glory of their office, well knowing that
nothing Is great, nothing small, but
that our life and our deeds are 'only
of worth because of the spirit which
breathes through them." -The Simple
Life. ? f
"They say there are no such things
as fairies, or that they are fairies no
longer; but they know not whathey
say. The original of the fairies 'suns
by poets was found, and Is'sUll,
among those amiable mortals ''who
knead bread with energy, mend r-ents
with cheerfulness, nurse the siclwith
smiles, put witchery' tinto a rib'bon
and genius into a stew."--Cnarle3
Wagner. ai
IV
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care or it. We can never hav
For the Home-Keeper.
To keep the table cloth fresh'loolc-
ng for some time, when not infuse
it should be kept in folded creases,
and when brought out should be' laid
i m iable ,and unf0ed its entire
length, the width being doubled, 'with -the
crease along the center of the
table. Then the half-breadth that is
i?i?Sd M?UJd be tUrned bac' and th0
cloth will hang oven. A cloth 'that
foi ,gatli;!,ei 4 UP "anyhow," without
taking the trouble to fold it in its
own creases, will always look mussy,
and a mussy-looking tablecloth 'will
not keep clean nearly as long as a
smoothly-folded one.
Faded chenille draperies may be
freshened and made to serve another
5" b? -fawns out the dust? then
S g,In.strong soaPy water for flf-
PtoSn;toBi t0 reiU0Ve thQ old col
ilnslng in clear water and dyeing a
TO CURE A COLD IN ONE DAY
E. W. QUOTE'S akSSSS; -JfoS e?& b'oV
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