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The Commoner.
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2&
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The Gospel of Labor
But I think the king of that country
comes out from his tireless host,
And walks in this world of the
weary, as if he loved it the most;
For here In the dusty confusion,
with eyes that are heavy and dim,
He meets vngain the laboring men
who are looking and longing for
him.
lie cancels the curse of Eden, and
brings them a blessing instead;
Blessed are they that labor, for Jesus
partakes of their bread,
lie puts his hand to their burdens;
ho enters their homes at night;
Who does his best shall have as a
cucst the Master of life and light.
And courage will come with his
presence, and patience returns at
his touch ,
And manifold sins be forgiven to
those who 'love him much;
And the cries of envy and anger will
change to the songs of cheer
For the toiling age will forgot its
rage when the Prince of Peace
draws near.
This is the gospel of labor ring It;
ye bells of the kirk
The Lord of Love came down from
above to live with the men who
work.
This is the rose that he planted here
, In, the thorn-cursed soil
H'oavon is blest with perfect rest, but
the blessing of earth is toil.
Henry Van Dyke, in National
Monthly.
In many cases, women have only
themselves to blame for hard, drudg
ing toil.
For' the Outing
Study rather what not to take than
what to carry with you to the picnic
grounds. Do not take china plates,
cups or dishes. Have a supply of
the cheap little wooden or paper
plates to be had at the grocers or
the bakers, and keep a supply of
bright, clean tin cans those evapo
rated milk comes in, if the perforat
ed ends is melted off make good cof
fee and tea cups, and larger cans
"Tlio Perennial Fourth'.'
; 'Every. year, tliq fooling .is growing
stronger against the dangorous pas
time of celebrating with fireworks
the anniversary of the birthday of
the nation. The aftormath of such
celebrations every year is appalling,
and thousands are yearly crippled or
killed because of the practice. There
should be many more "safe and
sane" ways of showing our joy as a
nation than in cultivating the war
like spirit of our youth, and ending
the day with suffering and death, be
sides conflagrations and the "going
up in smoke" of many thousands of
dollars of wealth caused by the de
structive fireworks falling in the
wrong places. Manufacturers have
devised and put upon the market so
many most beautiful, and compara
tively harmless displays, that there
seoms no call for the "roar and fire"
of battle, as well as the smoke and
clangor hanging about its field.
will answer for dishes; these, and
many like conveniences can be
thrown away when the mealjs done.
Leave the layer cake, soft pies,
custards, and other messy things at
homo. Have plenty of sandwiches,
plain bread and butter, or with
cheese and dressing, or chopped
meats, fish, or fruits between the
slices. Have small biscuits, broken
and buttered while hot; have cookies,
cold sliced fowl and meats wrapped
in parafllne paper; have the juice
of lemons, sweetened and put into
bottles and well corked; take ice,
well wrapped In newspapers and
blanket, if you care to carry it; have
cans of evaporated milk for the tea
and coffee. Take the 'tin salt and
pepper shakers, paper napkins (to
be had for five cents a dozen), 'two
or three towels; and a few chdap
knives and forks and spoons. A
covered tin pail to carry water in,
and something for the children to
drink from, are also necessary. Be
sure to take food that will not cre
ate undue thirst, and which will sat
isfy the healthy appetites which pic
niclng always gives. Then, just
make up your mind to enjoy every
moment of your time, and "take no
thought of tomorrow," If the thought
is going to detract from the joy of
today,.
Take the outing. The one impor
tant thing Is to take yourself. Mother
should go, but not to be the burden
bearer. Take her as the guest of
the family.
In some of the city drug stores it
costs about twenty-five cents per
pound bottle; ll, others, as much as
fifty cents a pound (or pint).
Put in a few "rest" hours in
picking up things around the barn
and' fastening on loose pickets or
rattling boards. With the heavy
rains of summer roofs sometimes
show a leak, and these should be
attended to at once, or the plaster
ing and paper will be spoiled, making
a demand for greater expense and
more labor.
Keep the weeds cut out of the
corners, and especially about the
house, and the lawn can be kept
smooth with the lawn mower, hook,
will do for making the tea' and coffee,
while tin platters, the small tin or scythe. Keep things looking neat,
baking pans to be had for five cents, ana make home attractive to the
young boys and girls. Do not let
the vines straggle, but keep them
tacked up to the sides of things.
Have plenty of them.
the cream to taste; have ready a'
second bowl, very cold, at hand, and
use an egg-beater to whip the ice;
as the froth rises transfer it to tho
other bowl, and if wishecT particular
ly thick a sieve should be used to
allow any unbeaten to drop through.
When there is doubt about the rich
ness of the cream, dissolve a tea
spoonful of gelatine in a little cold
milk for each quart of cream. Put
the cup containing tho gelatine over
boiling water and s.tfr until tho
gelatine is entirely dissolved; when
cool, but not set, whip it into tho
cream-, and set .on ice a couple of
hours before serving, and this will
firm it.
The New Era
One of the blessings of the age
is that the housewife need no' longer
immolate horself upon tho domestic
.altar by grilling over the red-hot
stove in tho furnace heat of the old
, time kitchen. In very many neigh
borhoods, gas is used for fuel; where
this can not bo had, gasoline, coal
oil, and, in a smaller measure, de
natured a'cohol is the fuel used, and
these are all perfectly safe, if prop
erly handled, and used in good
Stoves. But wo are further blessed
with tho steam cooker and the cook
ing chest. Especially should we be
thankful for the cooking chest the
flrelcss cooker, and as one is so easily
constructed by the home mechanic,
if tho commercial article can not be
reached, every housewife should in
sist on having one of home manu
facture, and then use it, despite of a
few failures, until she gains a thor-
ough control of it and learns' by
practical experience its great worth.
General Helps
If lemons are inclined to spoil in
hot weather, make a syrup of them,
which is always ready for use in
various dishes. For one dozen lem
ons, carefully grate the rinds, taking
off only the yellow; squeeze out the
juice and add to the grated rind,
letting stand for several hours. Them
take four pounds of sugar and make
a thick syrup with just enough wa
ter to boil it smooth; stir in tho
lemon juice and bottle, dipping the
w" " iJurumiiQ wax. tho wax
may be used over and over again, if
saved when opening the bottles. Put
the syrup up in small bottles, and
if not wanting to use so many lem
ons, keep the proportions as above.
Bo sure to keep a bottle of per
oxide of hydrogen in the house, as
its uses are manifold. Diluted with
water one part water to two parts
peroxide, it cleanses the mouth,
sweetens the breath, and keeps the
teeth clean. For a sore mouth or
gargle for sore throat it is used the
same strength. Applied to open
sores it cleanses, disinfects and helps
the healing process, removing all
festering matter. There ia nlwrivR n
call for .atjonqoojit raGb
Culinary Ways
It is not easy to learn to make
flaky pie-crust from printed recipes;
so much depends upon the handling
of the dough, even with the ingre
dients rightly proportioned. Some
flours are lighter or dryer than oth
ers, while butter, sugar, and flour
measured by "spoon" or cup may
not be accurately proportioned owing
to the difference in cups, or their
being heaped up or leveled off. Just
a little too much water will make
a dust mpre flour necessary, and the
materials may be kept too warm and
blend top much,
Ice water should be used, just
enough to make the dough soft
enough; the paste must bo mixed
with only the tips of the fingers, the
lighter thq touch the better; heavy
kneading and working spoils the
flakiness. The paste must be rolled
on a board floured enough to prevent
sticking, and the butter 'laid over it,
then the dough folded, rolled again,
more butter laid on 'it, folded again
and rolled until all the butter is
used. Lay the dough on a plate and
set on ice until wanted.
A delicious dessert for a luncheon
is made thus: Get a' set of the
pretty little irons called rosettes,
which cost-but little. Make a pan
cake batter by beating light two
eggs and adding a pint of milk, two
teaspoonfuls of sugar and a pinch of
salt, with flour enough to., thicken.
Have' tho little irons hot and fill
with the batter. The irons are so
shaped that there are thin partitions,
and the batter bakes almost imme
diately. Fill while warm with any
fruit preserves or creams, or let get
cold and fill with ice cream.
For pies, roll paste about a quar
ter of an inch thick, adding an ex
tra thickness for the edge. The
regular puff paste requires a very
hot oven, but r.ot allowed to scorch.
After baking, tho pie should not be
reheated, but may be kept on ice for
twenty-four hours.
Green Apple Pic
Do not stew the apples before
making the pie, and this presupposes
good apples. Cover the bottom crust
to the edge with apples, peeled, cored
and quartered, and each quarter cut
into three pieces lengthwise. Lay
them evenly and sprinkle a very lit
tle salt over them, not quite enough
sugar to sweeten, a thread of good
molasses over every part of the ap
ple to enrich and brown it, a dust
of cinnamon and the same of grated
nutmeg, distributing it evenly so all
will cook well into the fruit. If the
fruit lacks juice, add a spoonful of
water; if liked, a few. drops of lemon
juice, dropped here and there, adds
to Its flavor. Secure the upper crust
firmly to the under and bake in a
moderate oven In making apple
pies, green or ripe, remember there
are apples and apples, and be sure
you get the right sort.
Sponge Cako
Whipping Cream
Many housewives complain that, in
whipping cream, they fail to get it
firm, and it goes back to thin cream.
To "whip" successfully, .the cream
used must be very thick and rich
what is called "double cream," and
the cream should be set for more
than twenty-four hours. It should
be on ice for several hours before
using, and tho bowl containing it
must be ..set. in another vessel filled
;Wito. crocked ice; sweeten and flavor
We are frequently asked for direc
tions for making sponge cake that
will not be dry and crumbly, (Good
quaHty pf cake does .npt depend en
tirely on the' proportions of ingre
dients but very largely on the way
In which those ingredients are put
together. Much of this can only be
learned by observation, and practical
experience. Not every housewife,
even though she may be an excellent
coqk otherwise, can successfully
make cake. Here are some direc
tions which will aid the beginner,
and they are but a small part of
what one should know in regard to
cake making and baking : "Sponge
cakes depend for lightness upon the
amount of air which is beaten into
the mixture before baking. The fol
lowing, though often varied with
good results provided a larger
amount of air is entangled in the
batter, is a safe rule: Never stir a
sponge batter, as the air already en
tangled is thus allowed to escape;
beating, cutting and folding are tho
correct strokes. Separate the eggs,
and beat the yolks until very thick
and lemon-colored, and beat the
whites until they are stiff and dry.
Add the sugar to the yolks and beat
again, then add the flavoring. Beat
in the whites of the eggs, flour sift
ed' with the salt, and finally cut and
fold. For this stroke, use a case
knife, adding the flour gradually and
cutting it in. Never stir it. Three
eggs, one-half cupful of sugar, one
half cupful of flour, a pinch of salt,
one teaspoonful of lemon juice and
grated yellow rind from" one-half a
lemon are'the correct proportions for
a small loaf. But after all, it
depends on the baking. Many a
promising cake has been ruined in
the oven because there must be too
much left to the individual judg
ment: There can' be no hard and
fast rules laid down, but the stereo
typed cooking school rule is helpful
it divides the time into quarters:
first quarter .the batter -rises; second
quarter it continues to rise and be
gins to brown; third quarter it con
tinues to brown; fourth quarter fin
ish baking and shrink from the pan.
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