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6
The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2 J
' W&foWmiF$i$fF
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B.
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life
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fen!
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V
Tho Old and New
O, Bomotlmcs gloums upon our sight.
Through prcBout wrong, tho otornal
right!
And stop by Btop, since tlmo began,
Wo see tho sturdy gain of man;
That all of good tho past has had
Romains to make our own tlmo glad,
Our common daily llfo divine,
And ovory land a Palestine
Wo lack but open eye and ear
To find tho Orlont's marvels here
Tho still, small voice, in Autumn's
hush,
Yon maplo wood, a burning bush.
For still tho now transcends the old,
In signs and tokens manifold;
.Slavos rlso up men; tho Olive waves
With roots deop-sct in battle graves.
Through tho harsh noises of tho day,
A low, sweot proludo finds its way;
Through clouds of doubt and creeds
of fear,
A light is breaking, calm and clear.
Henceforth, my heart shall sigh no
moro
For oldon times and holier shore;
God's lovo and blessing, then, and
there,
Aro now, and hero, and everywhere.
J. G. Whittior.
Reading or Thinking?
It is told us that our greatest men
and womon attained their mental alti
tude with tho reading of but few
books. What books they did read
were carefully perused and thorough
ly digested through close thinking
and tho application of tho result of
such thought. The fault of the peo
ple of today is that they read too
much and too indiscriminately, and
a vast amount of mental dyspepsia
Is tho result. Tho omnivorous read
er Is not usually the best informed
person, because ne or she (generally
a girl or woman) skims through the
book superficially, and the attention
Is spread over too much space; Bhe
should read less and think more.
Onco it was my unhappy privilege o
have on my hands a girl guest who
was known as a "great reader." She
had read about everything she could
get her hands on literally skimmed
through it; but she could scarcely
tell you the real contents of any
hook sho had "been through." Her
one cry was for "something to read,"
and you would hardly get her set
down to a book that should have
required many hours to read, before
Bhe was back for "something to
read," as sho had finished what von
f;avo her. Yet she possessed very
Ittle information on any given sub
ject, and could give but a poor ac
count of tho contents of anything
she had skimmed through. Her one
great trouble was a bad case of men
tal dyspepsia, brought on by over
indulgence in tho reading habit. Tho
reputation of being a "great reader"
Is not always one to be coveted. Our
strongest intellects and best in
formed people are thinkers instead of
readors. In selecting books, maga
zines, papers, or other literature for
tho vacation, It is not always best
to fill our hands with tho trashy or
exclusively light literature. Try to
got a few ideas, while you are
resting.
letters. Up to his eighth year, ho
had novor owned a sheet of papor,
but had marked on any smooth sur
face ho had found. At this tlmo he
got hold of a' big copper cent, almost
tho first money ho had seen. Tho
dcslro of his heart could now bo ful
filled. Ho entrusted his coin to a
lumberman, and nskod him to hnv n.
sheet of paper at Catskill, tho lum
ber camp, twenty miles away. Late
that night tho messenger returned.
The boy, wearied with waiting, had
gone to bed. At the sound of the
arrival, ho awoke, his first thought
being of the promised paper. He
arose, and with feverish eagerness
tried to make characters on the
smooth, white surface. His hand was
too untrained, and the rude charac
ters little resembled letters. Disap
pointed, he returned to bed, only to
take up the struggle on the follow
ing days, and conquer tho difficulties.
Paper ho could not afford every day,
especially as he soon moved with his
father to the frontier, in Ohio. There
birch bark, sand banks, snow drifts
and ice wore his most frequent writ
ing surfaces. His schooling was very
meager a few months when he was
twelve years old so ho had to dig
out his own learning by flickering
candlelight. Books were scarce, and
worth any hardship to procure. To
continue tho study of arithmetic, he
had to have a book, and heard ho
could get one twenty miles away. It
was winter, and he had no shoes, but
he walked barefoot on the frozen
ground and secured his treasure.
Darkness came on and found him
miles from home. His only food had
been frozen turnips, found in a field.
At length he found a Bottler's cabin,
where he was shelterod for tho night.
Under such conditions, ho acquired
a fair education and developed a sys
tem of penmanship that for years was
almost universal in American
schools. Snencerian hnninARa mi-
leges were established in forty cities.
The boy who learned writing with
so much difficulty made tho task
easier- for thousands of boys and girls
and lived a beautiful and useful life
on the shores of Lake Erie, where ho
lies buried, at Geneva, Ohio. Suc
cess Magazine.
good light, where they can have tho
morning sunshine, and pinch out any
flower buds that may appear during
tho summer. Pinch tho branches
back, making them grow stocky, and
keep them growing.
For next winter's table decora
tions, off-shoots from old fern plants,
seedlings, odds and ends of nearly all
plants adapted to house culture that
have pretty foliage and thrive under
the same conditions, may go into pots
together and grown as a sort of
"happy family." If you are not
"lucky" with plants, do not attempt
to grow plants that require delicate
handling, or that can not stand the
extremes of temperature so unavoid
able in private houses. Choose rather
the sort that will bear neglect and
hard treatment, but make up your
mind not to subject them to any
thing of the sort.
Pineapples
When a pineapple is to be cut up
for cooking, or for serving as
chopped pineapple, cut the fruit into
quarters before attempting to re
move tho hard outer rind, then cut
the fruit into cubes with a sharp
knife, and it can be peeled without
any trouble and no danger of cutting
tho hands. Another method is to
first quarter the fruit, then remove
a thin peeling of rind and take out
the eyes with one of the pineapple
knives that come for this purpose,
and which works on the same prin
ciple as a pair of scissors; a little
scoop sinks far under the eye and
tho top closes down on the scoop and
cuts the eye out clean. There is thus
no waste. The fruit can always be
handled better if quartered and then
pared. When the pineapple is to
be kept overnight, remove the top
by twisting it off close to the fruit.
Tho Juice and flavor of the fruit
seems to be drawn up into the top
when It is left on.
A Boy With "No Chance"
Little Piatt R. Spencer seemed
born possessed with a desire to write.
Living in the woods of tho Catskills,
with very little encouragement for
learning, from his earliest years his
treat wish seemed to be to make
For tho Winter Window Garden
Do not forget that this is the
month in which to start your plants
for blooming in the windows during
thO Winter. If VOll fltnrt A vnmur
plant in the fall, you may have
plenty of growth and leaves, hut von
may expect no flowers from it. One
or uio best flowering plants we have
for window blooming is the ivy
leaved geranium, which is beautiful
in both foliage and flower. If vou
procure a young, thrifty plant right
now, and keep it growing well dur
ing the remainder of tho season, you
may reasonably expect a good show
ing of flowers from tho holidays on
into May. Give it good soil and set
the pot on a bracket whore it can
droop, as it will thus make a better
appeaTance, as the plant is half vino.
Pot it in garden loam, made friable
wiui coarse gravel and rich with old,
rotted cow manure; pinch back its
branches from time to time to force'
a bushy growth. The semi-double
varieties are tho best. The textures
of tho petals and tho coloring are
very delicate and make a thrifty
plant a thing of beauty, indoors or
out. Tho common geraniums make
valuable house plants if started now
and kept growing until time to bring
them inside. Plunge the pots in a
Baby's Basket Bed
If you have a strong clothes basket
or the bottom of a baby's buggy, try
this: Have the carpenter make four
stout wooden legs the height de
sired; put casters on the ends of
each and secure with screws. Fasten
tho legs to the four corners of
tho basket with Bcrews through
a thin board bottom slightly smaller
all around than tho bottom of the
basket. If tho basket has a wooden,
bottom (which some of them do) no
other board is needed. Finish by
tacking strips of thin board (weather
boarding will answer) two inches
wide, around the top of tho legs
wiuHu w mo DasKet, ror strength.
Paint this with white enamel paint,
or in colors, if liked better. A pretty
finish, though not needed, is a full
uuruun oi BUKonne fastened to the
hottom of basket, extending to the
floor. Two or three hoops fastened
to the inside of the basket so as to
support a covering of mosquito net
ting will Insure immunity from flies.
Contributed Recipes
Cookies This is a carbonate of
ammonia recipe, sent In by Mrs. J.
A. B, of Illinois, who recommends
it: Two cups of sugar, one cup of
lard, one pint of sweet milk, two
eggs, two and one-half cents worth
of ammonia, flour enough to roll
flavor with oil of lemon. Get Ave
cents worth of the carbonate of am
monia, dissolve half of It in boiling
water, and deduct as much milk
from the pint as the water used. Put
the other half of the ammonia away
in a sealed jar for use another Bmo.
Must be handled quickly and baked
in a hot oven. Roll the dough in a
sheet, lay in a pan, prick with a fork
and bake. When done, cut in
squares.
Dressing for Cole Slaw One cup
ful of vinegar, one egg, two tea
spoonfuls of sugar and one of salt,
one quarter teaspoonful of black
pepper. Let the vinegar boil, heat
the other ingredients together, add
and boil together five minutes; bot
tle for use. J. L.
Apples, Celery and Walnut Salad
One and a half cups of peeled and
chopped apples, one cupful of
chopped celery, half a cupful of
chopped English walnuts; toss the
ingredients lightly together and mix
with a stiff mayonnaise dressing to
which has been added half a cupful
of whipped cream. Line a flat dish
with lottuce leaves and pile the salad
on them.
Pepper Salad Six peppers, (three
red, three green), one bunch of cel
ery, half pound of shelled English
walnuts, two large apples, one head
of lettuce and French dressing. Wash
the peppers, cut off tho tops and
take out all the seed, chop the stalks
of celery with the nuts and apples,
shred the tender lettuce leaves, and
with this mixturo fill the peppers and'
pour over tho dressing. Serve on
lettuce leaves. Or, the peppers may
be cut in heart-shapes and scattered
oyer the other Ingredients. Mrs. S.
F. M., N. J. ' y
Requested Recipes
Mrs. S. asks for Manchurian Salad.
Perhaps this is what she wants: Use
large,, smooth firm tomatoes of uni
form size; cut off a slice from the top
of each. Remove the pulp. Cut tho
top edge of tho tomato shell into
points just deep enough to give a
scalloped effect. Place the shell on"
ice to chill while preparing the , fil
ling. Cut a pint of firm white cab
bage on slaw cutter and soak in cold
salt water; peel three tomatoes, re
move seeds and chop very fine; re
move seeds from two green peppers
and cut them into fine shreds. When
ready, drain cabbage well; pare and
chop two tart apples, and enough
onion to make a tablespoonful; put
a layer of the chopped cabbage into a
bowl, then a little of the chopped
apple, then a sprinkle of tomato, pep
per and onion, then another layer of
cabbage, and so on; have the top
layer green peppers. For the dres
sing, into a bowl whose interior has
been rubbed with a clove of garlic,
put one-half teaspoonful of salt,
three tablespoonfuls of India Soy,
twelve tablespoonfuls of olive oil;
mix wel and add twelve tablespoon
fuls of tarragon vinegar. Pour this
over the salad and put on ice. Lay
a large, tender leaf of lettuce on each
salad plate, set the chilled tomato
shells one in each lettuce leaf, fill
with the chilled filling, and on each
shell, on top of the filling put a
round slice of hard-boiled egg to rep
resent the rising sun of Japan. This
Httmu mum ue served very cold.
"Old Fashioned Lavender Sachets"
For Mrs. S. T. iwi . i
pound of lavender flowers; one ounce
of benzoin, half ounce of oil of lav-
i ' ounce extract of musk.
Mix Well: fill nnnWc mlrt i".
ture and close the bag. Lay about
T b ."w""bi etc. ii too strong
of musk, use less.
.j
Contributed Recipes
Sweet Cucumber Pickles Line
preserving kettle with nice, clean
grape leaves, and put in small cu
cumbers in layers, scattering a pinch
of powdered alum over each layer
when the kettle la full ,. ,!
I contents with more leaves, and pou?
over Just enough water to cover th