the Commoner
5
VOLUME 9, NUMBERS
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Wflit .,Heten Watts Mmt
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Motherhood
Dear heart, overburdened with work
. and care,
Such as loving mothers must ever
bear, . .
Longing for one little day of release,
To pluck from hurry, one day of
peace,
In which to quiet the heart and
brain
One day to be free from the terrible
strain
On nervo and temper, away from the
noise
Of your romping, rioting girls and
boys,
May you, every day, of the dear Lord
ask
Strength to bo patient with your
great task;
For the time may come when the
empty walls
Will echo but sound of your lonely
calls;
When you'd welcome the footprints
on the floor,
The marks of fingers on wall and
door, ',
And. ,the streaks and smears on the
window pane,
If only the little ones came again;
The time will come when the little
1 feet
Will, find their way to the luring
street; .
Or the "busy hands may be folded
atilk .J
i .Never
TViWit
more u
Never thOiOhildren that went before.
Ask, then, for strength and patience
sweet ,.
To guard the hearts and to guide the
feet.
to get all the fresh air we can; to
seek cheerful people; to cultivate
cheerfulness, ourselves; to fear les3
what others may say, if wo neglect
something.- Be ourselves, and he
lieve in ourselves. Just one hour,
one day, orie step at a" time;
"Nerves"
Verf aealntp torqvokjp.ypurwill.,,
"mis, or so; they will. ..come, no
V. u
I
-L. D.:L.
The New Ycart-
We have .all" been turning leaves
and making resolves; but if we have
not turned the' leaves. In the right
direction, or made the resolves along
the right line, it is all a waste of
nervous- energy. It is better just to
.resolve from day to day; to give our
selves a little latitude for failure,
and for a new beginning. One of
the things we should resolve to do,
and then do it, is to make the next
step in the right direction. Let to
morrow take care of tomorrow, and
give all your energies to the tasks
of today. If you can fill the present
hour acceptably, you will be ready
to take up the tasks of the next; but
if you fail the one hour, just push the
failure out of sight, and go on with
the next, profiting by your failure.
Do not promise yourself to do too
much; give yourself room. The evil
of the age is straining trying to do
more than Is possible, and then fret
ting because we fail. Half the time
our bodies are taking their revenge
for over-strain. The happiness of
many a home is shattered because
the over-wrought one becomes irrit
able and erratic through nerve ex
haustion for which there is no ex
cuse. No moment for rest or relaxa
tion Is granted the body. It may bo
from necessary labor to make both
ends meet; it may bo from ceaseless
strain to vie with others; but It
means the same thing burning the
candle at both ends-. If not re
strained, this ceaseless extravagance
grows beyond even the control of the
wisest physician. So, let us begin
the new year, resolved to stop when
we are tired, rest both, mind and body
if only for a few minutes. Resolve
A "big, brutal" doctor gives this
advico to his patients who are suffer
ing from worn-out nerves. He says
study and labor with a definite ob
ject are better tonics than rest for
many women. Hobbies are blessings
when they lead one to forget them
selves. Brain culture is a fine tonic,
and hysteria cases need mental stim
ulation rather than sedatives. His
advice is to study anything but your
self and your absolutely unimportant
feelings and sensations. Be useful;
reach out into other lives, and touch
upon the strong questions of the day.
A complete change of work, though
to the house-mother this is seemingly
impossible, is one of the very best
things for her. Long.- walks and
romping with the children is good.
To throw one's self, heart andt sovtl
into some absorbing occupation will
strengthen the nervous system, if not
carried too far. The work cure
should extend even to the -invalid,
confined to her couch, and there are
many little, light duties that can be
readily and' absorbingly, done by
'these ailing ones.jj.lt is'' ndjb always
that the hands alone can' be brought
into service; the mental faculties are
often to be aroused, and set to work.
Thinking for others, shunning sym
pathetic friends, looking for all the
funny things to be found, seeing the
humorous side, are all better than
medicines, and can every one be liad
by "whosoever will.'"' Think- health,
talk health, look health, and refuse
to live under a cloudy' and you will
see a difference. "Just.beglad.M It
is a long way easier to laugh than
to cry, if you only think so.
rotundity of the faoe is lost. The
first teeth, though frail, and destined
'for a temporary service, may be pre
served until they are displaced bythe
second teeth, by having the decayed
points cleaned and filled properly,
though temporarily. Of the necessity
of preservation of the first teeth
there can be no doubt. The comfort
of" the child in after life and the
good appearance of the face aliko
demand that these teeth be pre
served until they are pushed out by
the second teeth. Every child should
be taught, as soon as possible, to use
a tooth . brush and some harmless
mouth wash salty water, or a solu
tion of borax, or diluted peroxide of
hydrogen, are all simple and good.
A soft wood toothpick should also
be used by them. Until they can
handle these themselves, the mother,
father, or some other member of the
family should use them.
Parasites in the Hair.
This subject will "bob up" when
ever the children are In school. One
neglected child will soon stock up a
whole class. Here iB a good rem
edy: Get a cake, of bichloride of
mercury soap, and cut it in halves;
shave one half and dissolve it in
boiling water, over a gentle heat.
There should be just enough water
to form a jelly-like 'mixture when
cold. Then wet the hair thoroughly
Jn clear warm water, 'and rub in
enough of the jelly-mixture to thor
oughly saturate every- part of the
scalp; give the head a good shampoo
with the mixture, then rinse in sev
eral clear tepid waters. After the
hair is dry, if you wish to wash out
the nits, wet the hair and scalp
thoroughly with good vinegar; let
(dry on, and the nits will be dissolved
and readily wash out of the hair.
For tho Toilet
L. T. If gray hair is hereditary,
it is -impossible, so far as-is known,
to arrest its advances; if caused by
illness, or sorrow, or trouble, in
nearly all cases it is. useless to try
to restore the original color, as the
hair, once having turned gray, will
never return to its original color.
The best thing, to do is to attend to
the general , constitutional health,
.and'keep the Eair as Wealthy as pos
sible. ,
F. !.,.& For the hair on the up
per lip, try peroxide of ' hydrogen,;
and ammonia. Take the pure perox
ide and saturate a bit, of cotton; lay
this on the offending hair and leave
until it stings; repeat until the hair
is bleached, then apply . a drop of
ammonia after the peroxide, and it
Is claimed that the constitution of
the hair will be eventually destroyed.
It will take some time.
For enlarged pores, treatment
must be persevered in for a long
time, and one of the best ways is to
use a soft camel's hair face brush
and a bland, hygienic soap; scrub the
face with this gently, every night
with a warm soap suds, then rinse
well in clear water; then wet the
face with an astringent common
vinegar is good, and let dry; then
apply a little cold cream or skin food,
massaging gently until absorbed.
This should he done at night.
T. R. Get a good camel's hair
face brush a bath flesh brush will
not do. .Soap the brush as you
would were you going to scour the
"hands, and scrub hands, face and
neck thoroughly, but gently, then
rinse off the soap with plenty of
tepid, clear water, dry softly, wet
with a toilet vinegar, let it dry on,
and use a little cold cream to re
store the oil to the skin. The objec
tion to the brush' is that most of
Women use it too vigorously, 'injur
ing the skin by unnecessary friction.
ing tlie lines of the pattern in cut
ting. As. in folding, the two lavern
of the material are face to face, the
parts cut double are bound to bo
opposites one for each side of tho
garment, and a "mistake is impos
sible. Single-width material not hav
ing any figure, stripe or nap, may be
folded with the, two cut ends to
gether. For hemming to be dono by hand,
put the hemmer attachment on the
machine without thread, turn an even
hem at the start, run the goods
through the hemmer as' if sewing,
and afterwards heni by hand.' The
line of perforations is easy to fellow.
For hand-run tucls, use", av coarse
needle, mark with ' the machine as
above, and run thread in the holes
thus made.
To keep silk threadfrom unwind
ing too rapidly when sewing on the
machine, put a small" piece of thick
cloth under the spool.
This is the season fotf making up
underwear, and plain house dresses,
turning and rejuvenating out of date
garments, and making over and cut
ting down for the children. Many
an old garment can be brightened up
with a bit of plaid or cheerful trim
ming, and skirts lengthened by in
sets or seams hidden by tucks or
trimmings.
Buy only good materials, and select
clear, clean loolcing designs. Ma
chine made laces are to be preferred
to poor embroidery, and the tortions
wear well and do up nicely.
Children's Teeth
Parents should be warned strong
ly against, the practice of having the
teeth of children removed, either the
first or second set, unless under the
advice of a competent dentist. When
the first teeth are extracted early,
and for a considerable period before
the second teeth take their place, the
jaw gradually contracts, and thus di
minishes the space allotted to the
second teeth. The contraction which
thus takes place can not again be
recovered, and a certain fullness and
For tho Home Seamstress
The reason for sponging woolen
goods before the material is cut Into,
is that the moisture, where seams are
pressed, is apt to leave an ugly mark,
the finished garment is apt to shrink
when worn, and if caught in a Bhower
the rain is apt to spot the material.
The work may be done at home, or
the merchant will have it done for a
customer for" a few cents a yard. If
the goods are expensive, it will pay
to put it into the hands of a pro
fessional. Too much stress can not be laid
upon the necessity of strictly follow-
Renovating ,. .
To clean a felt hat, if the felt is
soiled, remove the trimming and
brush the hat well; cover with a
paste of -gasoline and hran; make
this paste as soft as possible without
being1 wet, apply" it thickly to the
hat, pressing it on firmly with your
fingers. "The gasoline will evaporate
very quickly; then tne bran can be
shaken off, and the hat should be
quite clean. Gasoline must' not be
used near a fire or flame of any kind,
ad it is highly inflammable. Even
in a room next to one in which there
is a fire, it is dangerous to use it.
If ribbon bowg are limp, unpick,
remove all stray pieces of thread,
brush and put the pieces to soak for
an hour in a weak solution of cold
sugar and water. Have this solution
made beforehand, three or four
lumps or heaping teaspoonfuls of
white sugar being dissolved in a pint
of boiling water, and the. mixture
being allowed to get perfectly cold
before putting the- ribbons into it.
When they are well soaked, take
them out and roll them up as tightly
as possible; do not wring them, as
this will crease them beyond hope.
Put the little rolls away until they
are almost dry, then spread out the
ribbon between two clean cloths and
press with a hot Iron. Ribbon treat
ed in this way regains the necessary
stiffness without the shinlness ao
often visible on Ironed silk.
To freshen velvet, if it is crushed,
stretch It tightly between your hands
and move it to and fro over the
steam of a boiling kettle until it is
thoroughly damp. Have ready a
board covered with a clean napkin;
lay all the velvet on the board, and
fasten round with drawing pins; set
it aside to dry, and the pile will
come up again, and look as good as
ever. Nothing must touch the velvet
while it is drying, or a bad mark will
be made, which will remain until the
velvet has undergone another steaming.
Contributed Recipes
Rabbit Frlcassed Cut up the rab
bit, season with cayenne pepper, salt
and a little chopped parsley. Pour
in a pint of warm water, or veal
broth if you have it, and stew over
a slow fire until the rabbit is quit
tender, adding some bits of butt
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