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The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 11
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Conducted by
Wetet Watts Mm
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Easier Dnwn
Awalco, awako, Oh sleeping buds, in
meadowland and mere,
In dale and swalo and garden plot,
for Easter day ls hero.
In purple gloom the night has swept
beyond tho misty hill
Tho April dawn In silvery gown Is
waiting at tho sill.
From moor and marsh, from holm
and croft, and brooksldo far away
Sho calls her flower-children all to
graco tho Easter day
Majestic lilies, fair of breast as
pigeon's milky wing,
And white and azuro violets that
breathe tho soul of Bprlng;
Vorbonas, touched with rosy flame,
tho pansy's purple gom,
And, In its regal purity, the Star of
Bethlehem,
Tho lowly bloodroot's bud of snow,
tho Jonquil's disk of gold,
Tho flowors of tho wind that spring
bo lightly from tho mold.
Bwoot April, snooded with tho sun
and zoned with tender light,
Is calling forth her blossom-babes
from hollowland and height.
Bo como, with nectaries of scent and
aurooles of bloom
Tls Easter morn, and Christ, tho
Lord is risen from tho tomb.
Harriot Whitney Durbin.
of the home-folks. And the children
were Just as happyl
Easter Eggs
In tho long ago, littlo children
colored their Eastor eggs in various
ways with homo-mado dyes. Here
are somo of tho old-timo methods:
For mottoes, first submerge tho egg
In hot water, then write on it with
tho sharpened end of a whito wax
or adamantlno candle. Tho wax or
oil will sorvo to prevent tho dye from
adhering. For dyeing eggs red,
brazil-wood or cochineal was used,
iu uu boi wun a solution of alum.
Thoy should bo bojled by preference
In a tin kettlo. Have your dye stuffs
well dissolved and strained before
Immersing tho egga, and then keep
Burring all tho time, to dyo evenly
If you want speckled eggs, dot about
with whito wax or oil. A neater way
of engraving eggs ls to dye them,
and with a pon-knifo scrape upon
them any device or letters you wish
Logwood chips will give a dark pur
ple, which may bo sot with copperas:
a good yellow may bo had by boil
ing in water in which the brown
Bklns of onions are thrown. Or
take two parts of black-oak bark and
on part of hickory bark and boll
for a littlo whilo, thon boll the eggs
In this, using a lump of alum to set
the color. Or, first dyo your eggs
in a pan of hot water colored with
a littlo tumeric tied in a bag; these
will bo yellow; then stir Into tho
water enough of Indigo blue to pro
duce any Bhado of green desired
?!Lbo11 mo.ro egSB ln m' Many"
children tied or Bewod up the eggs
in bits of bright colored calico, or
wool, "warranted to fade," and thus
powers, leaves, or figures wore read
ily transferred. Tho mothers in
those days knew of many things to
be used which would vary tho col
ors. The aniline dyes used today
are much less trouble, and glvo ex
cellent results, and their cost is but
a trifle; but ln tho far-away days
of our fathers and mothers, these
ayes were not known, and tho okk
colorlng depended on tho ingenuity
For tho Kitchen Floor
Wo cannot all have linoleum on our
kitchen floors, and some of us would
prefer tho bare, washable boards, for
several reasons. But tho work of
keeping an unfinished kitchen floor
clean is more than any woman is
able to accomplish without great fa
tigue to herself. A good oiling is
the very best protection the floor
can have; but if paint is preferred,
hero is a good, cheap paint that has
found favor with many housewives:
For a soft pine floor, fill all cracks,
rough places and nail holes with a
mixture of sawdust and glue, and
let this get thoroughly dry several
days will bo required. Then get
four pounds of French ochre and mix
it well with ono gallon of boiling
water, to which one ounce of melted
glue has been added. Paint the
floor with this, using a whitewash
brush, and the mixture must be hot
(not merely warm) when applied. If
applied at noon, it should be dry by
night. When dry, apply a coat of
boiled linseed oil, using tho white
wash brush, and this should be quite
hot, too. The oil should be dry by
morning. This will improve with
time, and is easily kept clean. For
a room twelve -by sixteen feet square,
about three quarts of linseed oil will
bo needed.
One of the very best preparations
for a kitchen or washroom floor ls
Unseed oil and paraffin. Sot the ves
sel containing the oil in an old iron
kettlo and put into the kettle suffi
cient boiling water to keep the ves
sel containing tho oil very hot, and
sot over tho fire, either indoors or
out, as you aro careful. Melt the
paraffin and stir it into the hot oil
two ounces of paraffin to tho pint
of oil. Have tho floor perfectly
clean, and all cracks and holes filled
una mo uning dried. Then apply
very hot with a whitewash brush, or
paint brush if you have it. Apply
to a small space at a time, rubbing
it in well before beginning another
space. The oil must be well rubbed
in, or it will "lint" and catch dust
and dirt.
For tho Toilet
Wo all want to look our best
men, as well as women, and it Is
right that wo should; It is natural
to love a person because they are
good, even though not pretty, but
wo love them none the less for a
littlo care of their looks. To be
beautiful, one must be clean. Clean
liness is, indeed, next to godliness,
in a greater sense than wo usually
admit it to bo. We often say of a
,a?ynthat the "dlrt is al1 on tho out
side, but it can not always be said
pf tho adult. To bo really clean, all
the sewers of tho system must bo in
good working order, and all offensive
matter must be eliminated. If not,
it is like tho kitchen where every
tnincr la claim hut Vi tT, n.
slop-pail. Buckets of lotion, pounds
of creams and skin foods, dozens of
flesh brushes, complexion rollers
soaps and bleaches will never makd
the skin clean and healthy unless
the regular cleaning is kept going
inside the body. It is like white?
washing the outside of tho plg-stT
When pimples and "liver spot?'
make their appearance, tho diet
should be looked to, and tho sewers
cleared out; rich foods, meats
pastries, sweets should give place
to fruits, fresh greens and the
simplest nourishing dishes. Blood
tonics would never be needed if the
blood making organs were supplied
with suitable material, and one very
necessary material is plenty of pure
water-drinking of the temperature
most comfortable, and a close second
is plenty of clean, fresh air. I do
not know but I should have placed
over all these, a cheerful, optimistic
state of mind, with a strong deter
mination to see nothing but the sun
shine, or, if not the real sunshine,
the nearest to it that can be found.
And the sun is always shining, if
only we brush aside the clouds. Try
cleanliness" of the inner self, and a
looking on the bright side.
For tho Laundry
When washing flannels to put
away, remember to choose a sunny
day, so they will dry quickly and
thoroughly. Put the flannels in quite
warm water; do not rub them on the
board, but press and rub them in
the hands, squeezing and patting un
til tho dirt is dislodged. Change
them to fresh suds as soon as they
aro clean. Rinse in a pail of clear
hot water, squeeze dry, or run
through a wringer, but do not twist.
Shake them out well, and hang in
tho sunshine. If treated thus, they
they will retain their softness and
smoothness, and will not shrink.
For delicate lace and muslin cur
tains, allow a tablespoonful of pow
dered borax to two gallons of warm
water, and soap enough to make a
strong suds. Soak the curtains all
night in this. In the morning add
more water, having it warm, and
press every part between the hands,
ouueusms uua "sozzung" them up
and down in the suds, but do not
rub; put them in fresh suds in a
few minutes, and If this water looks
dark after washing, put them
through another. Drain and put in
the boiler with enough cold water
to cover them; to boil up once will
be sufficient. Then take them out
t(la, tuJ? of clean cold water made
slightly blue with good indigo. From
this water squeeze out, or run
through a wringer, and Btretch on
frames, after starching, leaving them
in the sunshine to dry.
When you wish to make the wash
ing easy, try this: Put as many pails
pf water into the tub as you need
into each pailful of water put one
tablespoonful of aqua ammonia and
add one-half the usual amount of
soap: in that wntw tmir , -i.,.
over night (the white clothes). Pre
pare the water for the boiler in the
"?5?ew? In th? mornln&. and wring
the clothes out of the first water
putting them in tho boiler, boil as
SSS'wt1 rinse in two wit w5
Catting Children's Hair
us-Mrt; imit MIchisan, tolls
us. The writer has followed the
l1?? f halr basing for al
most thirty years. During that time
Seiul0n 10fcuttinS short the hai?
of little girls has come in and gone
out again several times. Early n
SX NWrM' became IntereBted in
the question whether or not cutting
the hair in childhood helped to pre?
w iItB auJy ln womanhood. I
have investigated this matter thor
oughly bo h by observation and from
data obtained from others I ha
become convinced that most womln
with heavy hair had heavy hah? i
childhood, but had their hair cut In
childhood, while most women having
thin hair, had thin hair in childhood,
or, having thick hair in childhood)
never had it cut. I believe that cut
ting is tho most effectual way of
preserving to womanhood tho beauti
ful locks of childhood. In my opin
ion, every child should have her hair
cut short between the ages of ten
and twelve, and the fact that her
hair is exceptionally long and heavy
should not make a child an excep
tion to the rule. It will materially
thicken thin hair and preserve the
thickness and beauty of hair already
thick and beautiful."
For Curling tho Hair
For making straight hair curl, few
things are better than tho old-fashioned
bandoline made from quince
seeds; it is entirely harmless, but
will leave, when dried, a dusty look
which can be readily brushed out
For a small quantity, pour one table
spoonful of boiling water over ono
dozen quince seeds and let stand
until cold, making the mixture fresh
every time it is wanted; strain, and
wet the hair with this, shaping it
into little rings, or twisting up on
kid curlers, or bits of paper, or clean
rags; when dry, brush lightly to
remove the quince dust. Another
mixture is made of a small quantity
of clean, clear pieces of gum arable
left to dissolve overnight in a little
cold water an ounce and a half in a
quarter of a pint of water, will mako
quite a good deal. Strain the dis
solved gum through a piece of thin
muslin, add a few drops of perfume,
and use to shape the curls as above.
This will give a glossy appearance
to the hair. An old, old curler was
made of sugar and water. None of
these will have but a temporary
effect, and in damp weather, the hair
soon straightens out The hair
should be clean, but not freshly
shampooed, as the shampoo takes
the oil out of the hair.
Hanging Paper
For the ceiling that has been
whitewashed, before hanging the
new paper, maka a paste of wheat
flour and mix it up with boiling
vinegar Instead of water, adding
five cents worth of liquid glue to tho
paste needed for each room. Tho
vinegar neutralizes the alkali, In the
lime, and the paper will stick. Pre
pare the glue as you would for other
use.
In case you have any doubta
about paper sticking to walls, it is
well to paste both wall and paper.
Fill every nail hole, or crack in th
plastering, and patch all large holes.
Query Box
Will Mrs. H. S. R., of Pennsylva-
mip'af?!81180 a?Cept thanks to Re
quested poem?
h Sonstantn Reader" wishes direc-
seed" frnmaki?S "California beer
seed from sorghum molasses Will
some one tell her? luoiasses' W111
Mrs. E. m tt u.n.....
usual ag S ug
who is part y breast-fed. When the
R.! lU,s the meals. Every
oaby is, however a law unto Hhi'
veX nftieMdeI-Tllere usual
pound far more nutrlmmX a r
best of meats SS$2to oM
of Importance as a bone-malrRi. ,J
note-builder, forma atTortal
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