-tt-' .rrviTS'.-rwTT- 'T,W?T'iS,W?,f. . t .- ' '' The Commoner. VODlIMiil 8, NUMBER 15 10 "Tho Pitying Ones" SouIb that havo grown sorono and strong, Patient, nnd of lovo's kinship wide These lwivd been mates with sorrow long Those souls of purpose tried. Tho loneliness of wistful night, Tho hoartaeho of tho weary day, Tho shadows, whore they looked for light, Have 'companiod them alway. Thoso woro tho hopeful souls, and glad, Strong, with tho strength of gold en dreams; Touched with tho gift, all magic mad, That makes life what it seems; 'Till thoir swoot youth had wandorod on, Laughing, with curled and care less lip, And thoy awoko, to find joy gone, To servo grlof's 'pronticcship. And that ,so prodigal thoy spoilt Their g'ladness in Life's singing time, Poor, shivering souls wero thoy, and bent With famine in their prime; Their olden bliss oh, bitterer far It made the pain that took its place; Whore onqe was laughter came the scar Of sufferng on each face. B:tftheso same souls of simple kind. Steadfast aro they in thoir own guise. Not in thoir fabric may you find Tho weakness of vain cries; Silent, thoy pay what price they must; Dumb, by disaster's proudnoss stilled, 'Til they arise from out the dust With a great pity filled; Pltyfof all who to the woight Otv life's grim care must bond them low, But most, for thoso of darkest fate, The gentler ones thoy know; The loving ones that count no cost, The faithful, that but faith de mand; Tho truthful, whoso poor way is lost In a misleading land. These, that aro glad and childlike born, Not armed to cope with hate and doubt, So trustful, that the rogue's rich scorn Shall follow them about; High souls, that yet aro reckoned ' cheap, ' And oftenest drink Life's foulest lees , O, pity, poignant, deep and strong, The calmed ones feel for these! And for their sakes the song is heard That cheors the way on which thoy wend Tho heartening cry, tho manful word, The hail that means a friend Comfort for a'll? Ayo, in God's grace, But most to these dear ones ad dressed Who find tho world a cruel plnce i For them that lovo it best! v Ripley D. Saunders, in Ex. Floral Notes Begin your preparation for next winter's garden now, by planting Hud sowing seeds of such as must have the summer's care for devel opment. Study tho florist's 'cata logue, and got to work in tho right season and manner. May and Juno plantings, slippings and rooting cuttings are absolutely necessary, unless you havo the means with which to purchase plants from tho florist, which is sometimes expensive. If one raises her own plants and seedlings, there is a hot ter acquaintance between the flower lover and the flower. Mrs. L. M. tells us how to get bono meal for our plants. Dissolve one can of potash (concentrated lye) in a suitable vessel, with about half a gallon of soft water, over tho fire. Sot away to cool, and into this lyo put any kind of bones that collect chicken, beef, pork, as they may bo stripped in the kitchen. Keep add ing tho scraps of hone until the lyo will eat no more. Pour off the lye into a glass jar, jug or bottle, and when watering the plants, to each gallon of water add ono tablespoon ful of the bone liquid. (These are the directions set in, and if any one has tried tho method satisfactorily, or unsatisfactorily, wo should be glad to hoar from such.) Remember that a flower or foliage plant will grow wherever a weed will, and a fruiting shrub is just as easy grown as a bramble or useless shrub. A good grape vine will ask no more caro than ,a wild ivy, but will appreciate, all it gets. "Jim son," burdock, cockleburr, pokeberry, and the like, aro all unsightly, and would bettor bo cleared away, and the room they occupy given to some beautiful or useful plant. Many unsightly views may be screened away by a wall of vlning plants, annuals or norennials. and the .whole family would be the happier tor the change. Do not forget that tho back yard will grow flowers as well as weeds. Plan for beauty spots. Got all of them you can. clothes, or for their dollies, in which they will take interest. Quilt-piecing can be done so rapidly and so well on tho sewing machine that, after the cutting out of the blocks has been done, it takes but a little while to put the number of blocks needed together strongly and service ably. One can piece quilts "while they rest," when they could not bear to touch work requiring more thought. There are many books published giving all directions with illustra tions, from which even the inexperi enced can learn todo many kinds of fancy-work knitting, crocheting, tatting, netting, and stitches with the needle. Mint Sherbet Here is a delicious ice for an evening refection: Macerate the leaves of a good handful of fresh garden mint, adding afterwards the juice of two lemons; cover, and let stand for fifteen minutes or half an hour. Put two cupfuls of sugar and a pint of water into a porcelain ket tle and stand over the fire, stirring until the sugar is dissolved; let cook until the syrup threads, then remove from the fire, add half-teacupful of orange juice and the mint leaves and lemon, and when cold, strain and add other flavoring, if desired, to taste; freeze and serve in glasses. Every garden should have Its bed of mint, as many pleasant and healthful drinks" may be made from it during the hot season. For" tlio Sewing Room For finishing ruffles, handkerchiefs and children's clothing, try the ma chine hem-stitching. Rub the cloth where the threads are to be drawn out with a piece of pure white soap, rubbing on tho wrong side of the cloth, then draw the number of threads desired from the goods to be stitched; fold the hem over and baste the edge of the hem to the Center Of thO drn.wn annoa !, loosen the tension on the machine and stitch exactly along the edge of tho hem. Take out the basting threads and pull tho edge, of the hem to the bottom of the drawn threads. Tucks may bo hem-stitched in the samo way. Every sowing room should have a scrap-bag of generous . size, into which should bo tucked all the new pieces of cloth that are at all suit able for making up Into quilts. 'All serviceable pieces that may be saved from the making over, or cutting down of garments, should bo put away in rolls and bundles, each fabric to itself silks with silks, cot tons with cottons, woolens with wool ens, and when a leisure hour comes they may be made into quilt covers' thus saving tho price of eight or ten yards of new goods, and giving nnf as much service in their new form Do not make the little girls "nte quilts." Very few children like such work, or can do it well enough to pass, and thoy may just as well bo given HUle tasks on thoirown For What it is Worth A famous French general, who was noted for his youthful appear ance, gave this as his rule for ward ing off old age: Stand erect, bend over without moving the lower limbs, and touch the floor with his finger tips thirty times every day. Had he allowed himself to acquire rigidity of the spine so he could not do that, he would have had with it weak ab dominal muscles, which result in por tal congestion; this portal conges tion interferes with stomach diges tion and with the action of the liver. The poison-destroying power of the liver is lessened, auto-intoxication re sults, and hardening of the walls of the blood vessels brings on old age at a much earlier day than it would otherwise come. By keeping the spine flexible and the abdominal muscles strong through exercise, the portal circulation is kept free", and .the body supple. Medical Talks. House cleaning will not be hard to get through with, if you keep things clean every day "by littles." It is the accumulations of neglect that make the mountain out of the mole-hill. Do tho duty nearest to hand every day, and the way will be smoothed to the end. Stitches for "Fancy Work" Answering B. G. The names ap plied to the various stitches in crochet work are not always the same in all "fancy-work" depart ments. This is sometimes called "long crochet:" Take up the thread insert hook in the work, take up thread and draw through, making three stitches on the needle; take up threa-1 and draw through one stitch, again, and draw through two stitches, then again, and draw through the remaining two. This is like what is called double crochet, except that the thread is not put over twice at the beginning. Double treble, triple-treble, or other stitch after treble, are called by the general name of long crochet, often to the confusion of the inexperienced work er who can not judge correctly from effect. M. L. B. The star stitch in knit ting is made as follows: Cast on any number of stitches divisible by 3, with 2 extra. 1st row: Knit one,' over, knit three, slip the first of these three stitches over the other two; repeat "over, knit three and slip first stitch over the other two" until but one stitch remains; knit this one plain. Second row: Purl across. Third row: Knit three, slip first .stitch over the, other two, over, and repeat until but two stitches remain, over, knit two. Fourth row: Like second row. Repeat from first row. Beatrice. The stitch may be what is called the "snail trail," which is an old favorite. It is made in this wise: Bring up the needle and floss, hold the latter for a little under the left thumb, pass needle from right to left, with a movement of the thumb, push the floss upward under point of needle, turn it upward, reverso position, of needle from left to right, insert it horizontally to take up sev eral threads of the material in tho place where the knot is to be formed, about one-eighth of an inch from where the needle was brought up first, then turn the floss downward under the point of the needle and draw carefully through. I hbpo you can work by these direction's. For the Toilet Answering several querists: Fret, restlessness and . overwork are all causes of pale ' complexion and pinched features. Fatigue ages one more than anything else, and an ex hausted woman is never a cheerful or a happy one. Nothing can equal rest and restfulness as aids to beauty and health, as the reposeful condi tion smooths out the wrinkles, rounds out the lines of the body, and gives a softness and clearness to the complexion. "Laugh and grow fat," is a good recipe. A cheerful, opti mistic spirit is the very best medi cine one can take. It is all a ques tion of nerve-force, or the lack of it. For the hands, trouble must be taken; keep a slice of lemon on the wash stand to remove stains; use only the best soap (not necessarily the most expensive), and very little of that. Press back the skin around the .nails; don't cut, but file the nails with a fine nail file that will cost but a few cents. If the nails are brittle, soak in warm olive oil every night. Do not use any metal, or sharp in strument for removing the dirt under the nails; brush out with soap and water, or clean with a toothpick or orange stick that comes for that pur pose. There is an old story that. tells us of a woman Who committed suicide because she was tired of the endless washing, brushing, combing and do ing up her hair, and of the never endihgness of dressing and undress ing her body. Now and then one feels like canonizing her, because she chose the better part," and gave up the fight. Where the hands and lips chap, or roughen during the warm weather, the cause is probably to be found in some constitutional trouble. Usu ally, this cause can be traced to poor circulation, and poor circulation is generally due to too little exercise, or exercise of the wrong kind, or mal- AN OLD AND WELTj TRIED REMEDY I'fin? WFW!8 SooTiriNa Syrup for children ffi u,l Bh?tUlSlwwK J,0Uficd for children VvX toothing; it soOona tho gums, allays tho nnln. SilS? "fr cllcnd is tho bl remedy IbrStak rhoea. Twonty-uve cents a botUo, vr 9HI