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The Commoner.
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2f
H 1 -V. '
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11 I. i
"Mother to Child"
Is
thoro no way my life can save
thlno own a pain?
Is-tho lovo of a mothor no possibJo
gain?
. No laboir of Horculcs search for the
grail
No way for this wonderful to avail?
0 od In Heaven, O, teach me.
My prayer has been answered; the
pain thou must bear
Is tho pain of the world's llfo which
thy llfo must share.
Thou art one with tho world -
though
I lovo thee tho best,
And to savo thee from pain, I must
savo all tho rest.
With God's help, I'll do it.
Thou art one with tho rest; I must
lovo thee In them!
Thou wilt sin with tho rest, and thy
mothor must stem
Tho sin of tho world. Thou wilt
, weep, and thy mothor must dry
Tho tears of the world lest her darl
ing should cry.
I will do it, God helping.
And I stand not alone. I will gather
.a band
Of all loving mothers from land unto
laud;
Our children are part of tho world
do, you hear?
They are one with the world; we
must hold them all dear.
Love all for our child's sako.
tfor tho soke of my own, I must
hasten to savo
All the' children of earth from the
c Jail and tho grave;
For so, and so only, I lighten the
share
Of tho pain of the world that my
darling must bear.
Evon so, and so only.
Charlotte Perkins Stetson.
quored by some cruel fate, or crushed
by some bitter discouragement, wo
feel tho iron of tho world within our
souls. "Over tho hill," when some
lesson of llfo has left us helpless
and hopeless, and robbed us of all
the little strength and courage our
struggles havo loft us. "Over tho
hill," we see tho glimmer of tho
crown, shining abovo the marble
memorial and wo recall, with a peace
that passoth understanding, that
when the night shadows fall too heav
ily for longer toil, tho dear Lord
giveth his children rest and sleep,
on the other side of tho "low green
curtain that never outward swings."
Looking Above
beautiful evenings, "when
Those
wo are forced out of the house by
tho oven-liko heat, may bo made
most wonderfully entertaining, and
add greatly to our knowledge of the
worlds about us, if wo cultivate an
acquaintance with the heavenly
bodies through a good telescope, or
oven a good field glass. How very
few of us know that tho great plan
ets are accompanied by satellites
moons, not only one, but many, and
these little moons are clearly to be
seen through the aid of tho glass.
To thousands of people, tho stars
are but mere specks of light hung,
they wot not where or how, In the
depths of the heavens. They seldom
lift their eyes to the "beauty of the
heavens," nor can they give a name
to moro than half a dozen of the
most brilliant, if even so many. Tho
"constellations" are myths to them,
and few of them could bo outlined or
located by the chance observer. Yet
to one who has even a school boy's
knowledge of astronomy, and the
smallest thread of sentiment in his
soul, tho star-studded heavens is one
of tho sublimest of all spectacles. It
is tho only one which can give even
a glimpse of the vastness of the In
finite and Eternal. "What is man,
that Thou art mindful of him," is
the cry of the forgotten poet, as he
considers the glories of the heavens.
Even a good opera glass will greatly
multiply the number of visible stars
in any group. Taking tho little
group we call the Pleiades, with its
six visible stars, a good opera glass
will multiply the number many times,
while a most powerful Instrument
will bring into view several thou
sands. Sixty or more of these sur
pass our sun in splendor, one of
house and betake ourselves to the
cool green woods and purling wa
ters. The thought of mountains,
lakeside, rivers and seashore gives
us a veritable headache of longing,
but ono glance at our pocket book
shows us how very impractical such
longings are. What may we do to
rest our minds and bodies these hot,
Irritating days?
Now, do you ever try to realize
that a "tour of tho world", or of
any glyen part of the continent, is
not such an impossibility, if we only
go about It In earnest? In many
cases, wo need not go far from our
own domicile In order to know a
f great deal about a great many places.
If you havo a town or village li
brary, there are always books of
travel which can be borrowed; the
advertisements of the great railways
and steamship lines lire to be had
for iho asking, and many of their
booklets are veritable storehouses of
knowledge. Their descriptions are
made clear by both print and picture,
and are accurate, because they have
to be, even though they present only
tho alluring side. The study of these
books of travel .may be a family af
fair, or you can take the trip alone.
It Is very interesting, and if .you
put in only an hour or two a day,
pouring over them, together with a
good map which is generally fur
nished among the advertising matter,
you will get a very clear idea of the
"lay of the land,' from which knowl
edge you can converse very intelli
gently and understandingly with
your friends who have made the trip
In person. Try this, if you can do
no better, and if you find some day
that you really can take the trip,
the knowledge will be of great ser
vice to you in many ways.
women, who combine -profit with
pleasure, and many of these sensiblo
people will go in their own convey
ances. Begin now to plan, and plan
closely and wisely. If you can stay
but a day two days go, and go de
termined to get all tho good possiblo
out of the trip. Teach tho young
folks that part of the responsibility
of the trip must rest in their hands,
and don't take mother along just
because she will 'come handy' about
meal-time."
Reminders
lf . "Tho Blessing of Rest"
t From my sunny south window, in
iAll directions can be seen bits of
beautiful landscape, jeweled herd
and there with walls of wood or
brick or stone the home-nests of
tho suburban world, burnished by
the summer sunshine into seeming
golden palaces hung amid the tossing
treo-tops. When tho evening shad
ows fall, glintlngs of 'home-lights
flash "out from many a leafy covert,
and from innnv linmon iinanem 1
davliKht. the shadows of tho nitrhf- them being a thousand times more
fall bring out rays of star-like bril- b,rllliant. Astronomers calculate that
una constellation nas a diameter of
more than 40,000,000,000 miles. So
far away from us are the Pleiades
that, If our sun were there, it would
hardly be visible through the opera
glass that shows us nearly a hundred
new stars In tho group a" group that
compared to which our own solar
system is scarcely more than a celes
tial toy. Will you not study the
stars theso nights?
nancy. Ovor the leafy walls I often
look, wondering what lies beyond the
far-away hills, and many a picture
of tho probable and the possible hang
on the walls of vagrant fancy. So,
ono day, I wont out into tho un
known, seeking the solution of tho
haunting problem, and I found
Oyer tho hill, a little white-walled
chapel and a silent city, a peaceful
Bpot where the weary are at rest,
and where the world's turmoil does
not come. A peaceful, undisturbed
spot amid the cool country airs and
sweet, unchallenged sunshine; whore
the changing seasons come and go,
each laying Its tribute on tho lowly
mpunds which mark tho silent rest
ing places of something that we have
loved and laid away. On this side,
lies the great, groaning world, with
its toil, unrest and temptation; on
that peaco and rest from all earth's
tiresome tnmgs. "Over the hill" we
For tho Hot Days
Wo are tired of the cooking and
cleaning, the washing and bleaching
and ironing; tho sight of the pots,
pans and kettles fills us with dis
gust, and the thought of the sewing
machine gets onto our nerves. The
work of canning, pickling and pre
serving literally "ads fuel to the
flame," and nothing seems so desir
able as just to turn off tho gas, cool
fVlft rnl l-nritrn ,,.. rw 1
look Wlth w.sttul eyes When. co ' 2 in tte Ice ""4 T Z
A Profitable Vacation
Mrs. G., of Illinois, says: "Tell
our women readers to make ready
to attend the state fair, and take as
many of the family with you as you
can manage. The county fair should
not be Impossible for the whole fam
ily, but if you havo to be at much
expense for the trip to the state fair,
there must be discrimination. Yet
it could be accomplished without so
very great cost, if you would try the
old-fashioned way of traveling with
your own conveyance. If you can
not afford an automobile, take the
big farm wagon. Get a stout cover
for It, and if you havo to make it
up at homo, make it serviceable. A
good canvas cover will last many
seasons, , if you take care of it and
keep it for the one purpose of pleas
ure. Take whatever you need (mind,
1 say 'need') to sleep on, and a big
box of substantial provisions, with
tho air-spaces filled in with 'goodies.'
A small alcohol stove, that will an
swer every purpose, can be had for
from two to five dollars, and this
like the canvas cover, if taken care
of, is a good investment you will
find it 'available' for many days and
seasons. Take a 'fireless cooker with
it. Wear serviceable clothing, and
take only that kind with you. Leave
the fancy suits at home. Take toilet
articles wash hand basin, wash
cloths, soap, towels, combs, . hair
brush and mirror, and it would not
be a waste of energy to slip in the
clothes brush and the shoe-blacking
outfit. Do not wear new, unbroken
shoes! Go, expecting to enjoy your
self, and to mak,o tho trip enjoyable
to others. You will find plenty of
company there, sensiblo men and
Whatever you do, whether you
stay at home, or go away' on a camp
ing expedition,, do not neglect tho
fireless cooker. If you can not af
ford the manufactured article, try
the nome-made one. Even the crude
home-made affair should convince
you, if you give it a. fair trial, that
the principle on which they are run
is right and a money as well as time
and strength saver. There are sev
eral makes which claim to bake, and
responsible writers and editors as
sure us that they do what they
claim. The use of a cooker in ex
pert hands, such as any housewife
may become with practice, will not
only give better meals, but will les
sen the fuel bill and give tho house
wife the rest sho needs.
The principle on which the baking
is done is something like that of tho
old-time baking oven which our
mothers set over a bed of coals, and
then covered the lid with coals to
cook the top of the contents. Two
plates are heated very hot, one of
them put into the bottom of the cook
er, the food set on it and covered
with the other heated plate, tho
whole covered closely, and the bak
inc is well done. Snnh r.nnlrprs o.nnt
about ten or twelve dollars, andhave
several other cooking vessels.
There is a -cover which is to be fit
ted to the gas stove, and it is claimed
that the cooking can be done much
cheaper, several vessels set on tho
cover, kept cooking from tho heat
of one burner. With two burners
going it is claimed that as many
things can be cooked as can be crowd
ed on the top of the stove just as
is the case with the coal or wood
range.
Denatured alcohol is the ordinary
alcohol of commerce rendered unfit
for drinking by tho addition of some
soluble substance, and it is claimed
that this alcohol is a cheaper, clean
er, safer fuel and a better illuminant
than coal oil, and for cooking la
cheaper than coal.
Echoes of the Panic
A report of tho New York state
board of charities shows that the
increased cost to the state for the
support of needy people since the be
ginning of the financial depression
last fall, has been $3,000,000. In
Now York City, during the year just
passed, the number of persons com
mitted to public charitable institu
tions whose applications for relief
were Investigated, was double that
of the preceding year. The state
board removed 903 aliens to their
homes in other states and countries,
and in addition 2,420 persons com
mitted to New York City public
charity institutions were examined
but not removed for various causes.
If it were possible to get statistics
of those who suffered in silence,
those who saw their savings of years
slowly but surely dwindle away, and
with them their hopes of a comfort
able nest egg for declining years,
the cost of the panic would add a
good many millions more, Ex.
Some Tried Recipes
If rice is cooked in the usual way
In1 a double boiler with slow cook
ing, it will become a pasty mass.
Try this way: Wash and clean and
;"i.WMaii