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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1907)
1T5;- sF7iJHiy jrVpiy wyytff r The Commoner. 11 cJUNE 7, 1907 -flfflW' e . . t a" er makes nor mars. One muit learn to make his own environment at least to make it subservient to his endeavors. It is not where we work, 'so much as Jhow wo do the work -One that is determined to succeed .will become so absorbed, in the busi ness ho is about that he will make his own environment. In order to succeed at anything, we must work now, and here. As it is out in the world, so it is in the home we ac complish only by earnest, persistent doing, and never growing weary of doing; by plotting? planning, think ing, experimenting, and then by working out the plans and experi ments" to the Tefy best of our ability. H '-'K- a' i Many busy people are Bhameful wasters of time and opportunity, simply becousev they do low things when higher ones are possible. They read a poor book when they might read a better one; they squander time with inferior companions when good ones are- possible; they waste time in half-doing things, .in botch ing, bungling and blundering, and then in doing things over and over because they were not done rignt the first time. Marden, in success. : f The Child-Labor Problem fc'iZ&he agitation for the doing away V. ;.wmi child labor is bringing to the " - front another, question: After the labor is taken 'from it, what is the -. .child to do? It is easy to say, "Put v him in school, and let him grow," ' but the fact stares most of people in the face that in order to keep the child in school and growing, there is stringent need of money. Some . ' body must work. Where there are several children, oven with steady work and wages, the average wage earner finds it a problem, at times, to stretch his "pay envelope" so as to. cover the needed expenditures for his family. The mother should not tthough,in many cases, she. must ' . ne called upon to add the duties of "wage-earner to her already over-full hands. The demands of motherhood, -with the additional cares ofthe housework and home-making are too , often beyond her strength; while, the constant supervision of the do .. Ings and the looking after the whereabouts of the idle children, and trying to keep .them in "the way they should go," is one of the most "nerve-wrecking problems of the day. 7. Many a well-to-do mother, with t, Jaelpers about her work, goes to bed , at night after the nerve-stretching Z, experiences of the day too tired to ,; even utter a prayer. While the con ditions for the chld are being bet . tered, let us try to look the question in the face, and try to contrive some satisfactory answer "What are we going to do with the child?" We must" not forget that a child has ', other appetites than that of the ;. physical body. There must be asso : ciations provided for him recrea tions, as well as lessons; habits must be taught him habits that will - fit him to become the man we would have him to be. There must be 'moral, as well as physical training, and-the play ground must ultimate ly giye place to the workshop. Many wise, child-loving people are begin- - ning to say that the workshop, it ' self, must be the play-ground; the early lessons of life should take " form as in the kindergartens of our -""public schools. For the girls, this kindergarten training" may ' take place in the home; but for the boy there is little found in the home work to fit the boy for the rush and -whirl of the life in the business "V- vyorld. What are we to do with the rVchild? which they come, and the heredity they bring with them. The real evil lice far back of the immediate par entage in many instances; often it began generations ago, and we have not far to look for the cause of it all. One of the rarest things to bo found in this world is a mentally, physically and morally sound man or woman. Indeed among the great ma jority, it is the exceptipn, rather than the rule, to find & really, com fortably healthy individual. Almost every one to be questioned ha somo ailment or disease of a more or less seriouB character. In the case of a fine physique, the mental or moral (or both) have been neglected, and it Is seldom that a really fine men tality has a. corresponding physical development. One can not gather figs of thistles, or grapes from thorns, and the law of heredity passes on to the offspring the de fects and ailments of the parents "even to the third and fourth gen eration." We sternly condemn the parent who would neglect a sick child, or wilfully thrust -a helpless being into absolute danger; but what must be said of the person or per sons who, knowing their unfitness, deliberately afflict the unborn with the consequences of their frailties and vices? Instead of trying to en force marriage and parentage upon irresponsible people, it should bo de manded of them that, for the sake of future generations, they should possess a knowledge of and a respect for the ante-Jiatal laws of being, as well as a healthy body and a sound mind, to offer upon the marriage altar. One can not build without material, and the value of the struc ture we rear will depend upon the worth of the material of which it is constructed. Generation Ms better than education, and while we are building and endowing institutions for learning, .Jet us, not forget that the well-born child., without educa tional facilities sugh as ..these sup ply will be vastly the superior, through natural ability, of the weak ling school child who comes lntothe world weighted down with, a cruel heredity. "Compulsory education" would be a good thing for the law makers, as well as for .the people for whom the laws .are made. where one business would pay, an other would bo a flat loss; what ono woman or girl could do 'profitably, another would bo "plum crazy" to attempt. Not all women can plan wisely, or wisely follow a plan. In such matters, one can but offer sug gestions, hoping for the best; but the best suggestion may not fall in the right place. The problem of making a living "earning bread money," oven In these supposed prosperous timos is, to very many people, a very serious and distract ing question. It is hard to plan for another. Something About Milk The Good Book assures us that "in the multitude of counsel there is wisdom," but we are often so con fused by the contrariness of tho counsel thd.t we are unable to, recog nize tho wisdom when w soo it. In the matter of milk for the babies, we are solemnly warned that it must be either boiled or sterilized; in the next breath, we are told that boilfcd or sterilized milk 4s unfit for the baby's consumption. In one caso, it is a cemetery; in the other, it is an acquarlum. Puro, fresh milk, wo are told, contains a preservative in the form of a beneficent bacteria, which stand ready to make war on the intrusive "bad" germs, and the boiling or sterilizing kills these good police-germs, and leaves tfie door un guarded for tho entrance of the poison-producing conditions. la any case there will be trouble, for the milk will be unfit for use in a short time, anyway. If the milk is not heated, the primary-police force will be killed by the invaders, and if it is sterilized, the heat does the work of destruction, and the milk "goes bad" all the same. Then, the doctors toll us of diseased cows, and the hygjen ists tell us of unclean methods of the milkers. What shall we feed the babies whose mothers have ' failed them? bolt) "a turn-over whito collar, r small VAl Veil or invisible not' over tnit"hair, straw hat with a wing in ,nd a ? I The, Real Issue - 'ifisbecomingpatent to-all close ' observers andstudentsthat -the real question of "race-suicide"- has nbt to deal so much with the number r of the children brought into the 'world, as with the conditions under x Earning Money at Homo One of our readers who lives in the country, sends us the following. which contains much truth: "There is plenty of work; here for any one who is able and wants to work; but in order to get the work, one must go to it. Work must be away from home, and there is little that can be carried to the home of the' worker. It makes me tired to read those art icles in women's departments of the newspapers and magazines, telling how women may make money in the home. The writers thereof do not know what they are talking about; they write to fill space, and are paid for it by editors that know as little about it as they do. I wonder if they ever think how many anxious girls and women will read their stuff, hoping to find something that will help them to solve the dreadful prob lem of earning a little money by which to eke out a starved subsist ance, or how misleading such stuff invariably is! Personally, I do not attempt any of their fool experi ments, but,I have known many who have believed in them, only to fool away what little money they had, and It all ended In- grievious disap pointment." "Earning pin money, or bread money," at home is just one of those things In which "so many things make a difference." Work at home is governed by the same laws as work outside, and so much de pends on conditions, environment, market and marketing facilities, the demand for the supply, the time, health, strength ..endurance" and per sistence of the worker all these things must be considered. Where one succeeds," "hundreds would fail; Comfortable Clothing We are told by the fashion writ ers that not only long, but very full skirts will again be worn some of the extremes in fulness measuring eight yards at the foot-line. ,These lengthy skirts are for formal and dress occasions. But wo are com forted by the advice that, for street wear, the skirts are made to clear" the ground entirely, being $wo or three inches short. Thin material.' ate taking the place of even light weight woolens, though light-weight serges and English mohairs make up .nicely for occasions, and the blouse suit is coming into ravor ror service able wear. Wash goods for all kinds of costumes, wears and occasions are in favor, and will greatly lqssen the expenses for clothing, while at the same time increasing tho bills for laundering. For Summer Wear Blouse suits are to be worn for all traveling, even for short trips, to and from tho city. It Is an American custom to insist upon coat suits, and to equally persist in carrying the coat over the arm, as it is constant ly done on hot days. The tendency Is very strong to substitute for these costumes the simple, cool washable blouse suits, which are not at All expensive. The class" of women who have lit tle money to spend, and who wish to spend it to the -best advantage, should not buy the black or blue suit for summer wear and trail it through the hot .days vith the inconvenient coat burdening the arm, but should expend a couple of dollars on a black and white striped or .checked cotton fabric, or a 'solid gray or blue, or brown, and make it up at home Into a plain blouse and skirt, lx leather makes a fresh, cool, couvonicnl cos tume at small expense. Ono could afford several of these suits, if made at- homo, for tho cost of ono coat suit. Tho skirt should he cut qilito short, and the waist should be lined. Tho soft turnoyor collars of em broidery can bo made nt homo quite inexpensively. Wash gdods are much used for summer woar, and nothing is moro cool and becoming than theso freshly-laundered blouse and skirt suits. Linen gowns will be much worn, and aro suitable for nearly every occa sion. Tho linon frock with tho Jumpier waist having tho largo arm holes, and the skirt with fan plaits, as well as linen coat suits, and tho blouse and skirt suits. The goods may be whito or colored, or any of tho fancy linens. There is littlo difference in tho colors worn by older, and younger women this season. White Is always a good choice, and no woman is too old to wear this in every fabric. Black and whito stripes in muslin will answer many doubts as to ma terial for an afternoon gown. Consumption of Liquids Liquid nourishment, wo are told by the American Magazine, should bo sipped, or spoonedeaten that it may become mixed with tho saliva. Liquids taken between meals, before tho stomach is empty, disturbs di gestion. Clear coffee, chjekon broth, lamb broth, oatmeal, tea, clam wa ter, whey, and milk mixed with an equal amount of vichy are among tho best. The practice, however, is a bad one. Falntness, "gonencBB," and other symptoms of Indigestion that invite this practice may be caused by it. Tho taking of semi-solids at soda fountains between meals is to be earnestly condemned, Water . alone should be taken at a draught, and ice water, which checks tho flow of saliva, should not be taken when eating starchy foods. Four glasses of water a day, clear, and of tho temperature that suits, is sufficient for the sedentary person. CHILDREN SHOWED IT Effect of Their Warm Drinic in tho c Morning "A year ago I was a wreck from coffee drinking and was'on the point of giving up ray position in tho school room because of nervousness. "I was telling a friend about it and she said, 'We drink nothing at meal time" but Postum Food Coffee, and it is such a comfort to have something we can enjoy drinking with tho children.' "I was astonished that she would allow the children to drink any kind of coffee, but she said Postum was tho most healthful drink in the world for children as well as for older ones, and that the condition of both the children and adulta showed that to be a fact. "My first trial was a failure. The cook boiled it four or five minutes and it tasted so flat that I was "in despair but determined to give it one more trial. This time we fol lowed the directions and boiled it fifteen minutes after the boiling be gan. It was a decided success and I was completely won by Its rich delicious flavor. In a short time I noticed n. decided improvement in my condition and kept growing bet ter and better month after month, until now I am perfectly healthy, and do my work in the school room with ease and pleasure. I would not return to the nerve-destroying reg ular coffee for any money." "There's a Reason." Read the famous little "Health Classic," "The Road to Wellville," in pkgs. i!- 5JS