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The Commoner.
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
. i fdlJ! I yMWWWr
JWfcuJ-SayA-J
W KJlZSZs&r
t
tftfir W Conducted by
'tWcM Watts JfcXp
&7 w
! If
file, A
tment f
epar
Don't l''orget the Potatoes
"An old lady wil In hor old arm-chair.
Kor days mid for woolen hor only faro,
As filiu sat in lior old arm-chair,
J lad boon potatoes.
"Hut now Lhoy wore gone, of bad or
good,
And sho thought of tho deacon over
tho way,
Tho deacon ho ready to worship and
pray,
WIioho collar was full of pota
toes. "Sho on id. 'I will sond for tho deacon
to coino.'
And tho deacon eanio over as fast
as ho could,
Thinking to do tho old lady sonio
good,
13ut novor for onco of potatoes.
"Ho prayod for patience, goodness
and grace;
But whon ho prayed, 'Lord, glvo her
peace,'
Sho audibly sighed, 'Givo pota
toes.' "So, onding his prnyors, ho started
for homo,
Tho door cloned bohind him, ho
hoard a doop groan:
'Oh, givo to tho hungry pota
toes!' "And tho groan followed him all tho
way homo;
In tho midst of tho night it haunted
his room;
" 'Oh, givo to tho hungry pota
toes!' "Ho could boar it no longer; aroso
, and drossod;
From his woll-flllod collar taking In
hasto
A bag of his host potatoes.
"Tho widow's heart leaped up for
Joy, . t
Tlrtr fnnn ntinn ...! .1
w. ..v.iia imiu mm naggaru no
!Spyf '8nWtU0 docon, 'shall I pray?'
Y03, said Uvo widow, 'now you may.'
"And would you who hoar this sim-
Vftll?1, ,UX8 P00r' aiM,DrayInS l'c-
Thon proffejj your prayers with alms
and goo.d deeds;
SOnood30"h0 1U)r thIr wnnts aiul
Prtuaifoodlr POaC and graC' SpIrI"
For Wisdom and guidance all those
aro good
But don't forgot tho potatoes!"
Tho Independent.
The Family Wnrdrobo
ntUG IL:ttor of ocono"J' between
homo sowing and ready-to-wear
htUlnft i UUlr SS t,lQ houso "wThei
lo.r cutting, llttlng and putting to
gether, in addition to tin "and
strength for tho work, it as about as
economical to buy tho factorv-nmdS
wear as to ,aio it ono's self Jr
tho sowing has to bo hired, in addi
tion to the cost of tho materia it
will greatly enhance expenses An.
vory often tho work will bo mos
unsatisfactory in ovory way, and all
AN OI.l) AND WELL Tinii-n ir,..
wjnty.nvo"iHitea botu? mncUy for ll'a"hoeju
fomfo.-t in the wearing of the cloth
ing spoiled.
Not every woman is a good seam
stress, nor can they give a good ac
count of the materials that pass
through their hands, and to attend
to nil the other demands made upon
them in addition to tho sewing,
makes veritable slaves of them, keep
ing them constantly in the treadmill
which makes wrecks of our women.
This condition usuallv moans dis
comfort in the home, neglect of im
portant affairs, and too often useless
doctor and drug bills, for no drugs
will robuild the breakdowns from
worry and overwork. Nearly all un
derwear can bo bought fully as cheap
as it ea: be made at homo, although
tho home-made will probably be of
better materials, but tho health,
strength and time of the seamstress
must bo countod in tho cost, as well
as (ho materials used. Knitted un
derwear of all shapes, sizes, weights,
materials and prices can bo had, and
it is a vory poor garment that will
not stand tho wear of two or more
seasons. If tho winter wear is
bought in January or February,
which is really tho time we need it,
and tho summer goods in July and
August, much saving can be made,
especially on broken sizes, short
lengths and remnants. Tf ono docs
a cash business and buys only what
is needed, it should bo as easy to
buy at ono time as another.
In tho way of muslins, tho great
objection is to the profuse use of
cheap trimmings, cheap laces and
poor ombroideries; but if ov n this
material were bought by-tho indi
vidual at regular priced, the mater
ials would coot about as much as the
finished garment. And even these
will, in nearly all cases, serve for
two or three seasons at a little cost
to replace any torn or tattered trimmings.
necessity stays our hand when we
try to stretch it over tho needed to
secure the desired. But in this we
aro only "one of the crowd." Even
thoso wo envy have their limitations,
and are sorely straightened at times.
There are a few good rules which it
would be well to live up to, and they
apply as well to men as to women:
Get only the things you can pay for,
and for which you have a definite
use, either now, or in the very near
future. Do not buy merely because
a thing is "cheap," or reduced in
prico, with the idea that it may
"come in handy" at some future
time. Few people have money to
tie up in indefinite "futures." Buy
only what you need, and try to get
tho value of your money.
teenth century, the work was much
used in decoration of kneeling mats,
and cushions in churches, because of
its great durability, and church vest
ments are still existent, preserved
from medieval times, showing the
cross-stitch embroidery just as it is
done now. Cross-stitch is not re
stricted to use on ginghams or can
vas; wool goods, silks, satins, vel
vets, plushes, and any goods through
which silk, cotton, linen or woolen
threads may be easily drawn are in
order. If neatly done, with due re
gard for regularity of stitches and
carefulness of design, it can be made
very beautiful, and is quite popular
for many kinds of ornamentations,
and trimmings.
j , "Buying the Best"
One of our readers says: "Tell
our pooplo to always buy the best."
And that is good advice; but there
aro so many things to consider in
deciding what really is best, that the
question of what really is best is
hard to decide. What would bo best
for one would bo very bad for an
other, and what would be regarded
as economical in some cases would
soom very extravagant in others. It
is always well to buy the best we
CU,n, ,1MX ,f0,r' for th0 Purpose for
in l i S i,iton?ocl- por material!
in any lino, is always poor material
use it as we may.
"Making the Most of Money"
Somotimes, when wo measure the
demands mado upon our purses by
tho contents of tho purse itself, we
'tho Klid t0 envy th0 edomot
tho 1 ittlo brown people the World's
Fair brought to us, in tho matter of
clothing, at least But a great dea
of the worry might be eliminated
if we would only realize ttitft it is
duo to our desire to live up to the
standard of dress and housekeeping
set by someone whoso means exceed
our own; that wo aro, in fact, sacri
ficing ease and comfort in our de
sire to achieve beyond our imUa-
w nV reach what Devoid is
We feel that we have a right to all'
the comforts and beautv that-"
other enjoys, and wo strain our re
sources and our nerves to reach
them; but we aro continually baffled
in our attempt to grasp them; stn
A Co-Operative Scheme
Wo find an article going the
rounds ot the press, the idea con
tained in which might profitably bo
taken up by more than the girls.
The "scheme" is good, whether the
item is truo or not. The story goes
that half a hundred girls employed
in tho offices, stores and factories of
a big Missouri city have taken up
the matter of a vacation in a co
operative way, and are now savihg
their money and putting it into a
common fund which will enable them
to enjoy a thoroughly good time dur
ing the llOf. WPntllOV Ar1 tinnl,ln
they aro making an investment which
is likely to bring them a splendid in
terest. They are buying their sum
mer home down in the Ozark moun
tains of Mlssbnri,' which region has
ono of the finest climates in the west
ern world, and are paying for it out
of their wages at tho rate of fifty
cents a week, and they are all go
ing down there this summer and live
the simple life for as long as their
vacation lasts.
l-'T h?7 bonght a forty-acre
tract for the sum of $120. A lor
cabin cost them $75; a barn is built
a fence put around the place, and
a few trees will bo planted in the
spring. The total cost is not ex
pected to be more than $300. The
fifty girls have raised tho necessarv
sum for the payment of the land, and
expect to have a neat sum in the
treasury when the vacation season
arrives in July, with which to fur
ther equip their home in the way of
furnishings, and fixing up the pro
perty. A garden will be planted and
altogether, the girls anticipa e a do
lightful time. Other assooiat ons are
copying their idea, and there i" no
reason why it should not be all thei?
fancy paints it. On such a "farm
much of tho furnishings may be
home-made, and loir ontt ,!! ?
but little and can be madery X
uresque, whil living as supplied bv
the surrounding country, is chean
and of the best. The scenery is beau
a r" a M? 1CUS - "he
heaven such ?T' Thinlc what
"Cross-Stltch" Embroidery
tlEn! l&SSn0""
broidery, Canvas s itch PlanfnHn"
embroidery, etc., is f very nc Im
origin, and it is claimed that S
used in the decoration nl was
tains of the ifiSSSSSg? n nl ff
Cross-Stitch" on Heavy Fabric
When heavy fabrics are used as
a background for cross-stitch work
and the material presents no check
like weave or figure which makes it
possible to count the threads, the
work must bo done over canvas, and
the canvas removed when the work
is finished. In some cases, the de
signs are worked on bands of bunt
ing, scrim, grenadine, cheese cloth,
duck, tarlatan, crash, and the like,
and these bands applied to the fab
rics as wanted; or bands of velvet
are worked and disposed of on the
gown. Or the stitches may be sim
ply worked over the band on the
fabric, as in the case of canvas, only
that the underlying fabric remains.
The embroidery may be worked up
on the hand, or in a frame, the lat
ter being the most practical. When
on frames, the material to' be em
broidered is stretched in the frame,
under canvas or not, as desired, and
if canvas is used, it mnst be drawn,
thread bv thronrt f u ..i '
either by drawing out,, or cutting
close to the work. Great care must
be taken in removing the threads' of
the canvas- that the stitches sh6uld
not become in the least disarranged.
"Cross-Stitch" Embroidery '
One of our girls wishes to know
how to copy a crochet pattern onto
checked or barred gingham to be
worked in cross-stitch. I copy the
following directions from the Farm
World: uJ'Ta C0Py ,tJie design on checked or
barred gingham, one has simply to
across the check diagonally from
right to left and from left to righ?
like X) on each check crossed in -the
pattern, or made to represent i
block of stitches in crochet leaving
the others unworked, or, as a change!
cross the spaces and leave the checks
unworked. To transfer the design
to unmarked fabric, take a sauare
of paper the size yon wish your work
to be, mark it off with the same num
ber of squares or checks there i"?n
fabHceSwinthPiaCVhlS Ver your 3n
taoric with a sheet of impression
paper (such as is used with a ?ypS
goods, fasten securely, either with
weights, thumb-tacks, or in any de
sired way, so that neither clSSf nor
paper will slip, and copy the des?n
on the checked paper, usinp sotaS
sharp-pointed instrument ? ,
Pencil will ao-JtToL
Hniul-Mndo Trimming
.."Sri ss.rsf.5? as
A most, wonderftil remedy
t&Lroftchi.al affections.,
ree from opiates, in boxes only.
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