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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1910)
r , t J4i The. Commoner. BEPTBMBER 23, 1910' 9 B3wifw'r " imjoMr serves them, counteracting the rancid tendencies of,tho tallow. The hot applications will have a tendency to shrink the leather, and tho shoes should bo largo enough to allow tho shrinkage. For the little shoes that will get wet, shrink, and hafrden in drying, giving the littlo feet much trouble, try applying clear coal oil plentifully with hard rubbing, to the hardened leather, and see how quickly it will soften it. Somo Homo Remedies An old-fashioned cough remedy, made of slippery elm, flax seed and sugar, is hero given: Soak a gill of whole flax seeds in half a pint of boiling water; in another dish put a cupful of broken bits of slippery elm, and cover this, also, with boiling wa ter; let each stand for two or three hours, then strain each through a muslin cloth into a sauce pan con taining a pound and a half of gran ulated sugar; squeeze out all the "tea" you can from each of the bags and stir into tho sugar until all is melted. Then boil until.it turns to candy; after it has cooked ten min utes, add the juice of two lemons to tho mixture. When it is cooked suffi ciently, pour it out on greased paper, or into a shallow, well greased pan, and mark off into squares before it hardens. Good for the children's "fall coughs." . For the raw, windy days that we shall soon have to endure, try this to keep the face from chapping: Beat well the yolk of one fresh egg and mix thoroughly with a teaspoonful of real "bee" honey; before going out Into the wind use a little of it on the face and hands, rubbing it in well. This is one of the best cos metics for smoothing and healing the skin. After the nightly cleansing of tho face, it may be used .with excel lent .effect. , , . - . For the nervous headache which leaves you tired, stupid and half asleep, try wrapping the head in a towel wrung out of cold (not only cool, but absolutely cold) water, pul ling, .it well down to 'the neck, and around the forehead. For brain workers at the desk, it will relieve and brighten the mental 'faculties as no drugs will, leaving-no bad after effects. If you have contracted the "pill" habit which is the case with the majority of people, try the water in stead, perseveringly, persistently, at least two quarts a .day, as you can manage the amount. Many people find' it hard to drink water at all, as, temperamentally, they are not bibu lous. If the water Is brought to the boiling point, then poured over a half cupful of bran or oatmeal (this amount to .a quart of water), cooled and strained, it can bo more readily taken, as this will relieve it of the flat taato which nearly all heated wa ter has. Tho Work-Box For mending the knees of tho lad 'dle's stockings, have the edges of the hole smoothed out nicely, and sew over it neatly a piece of black mosquito-bar, largo enough to reach over tho thin parts of the edges. .Then, with darning cotton or wool of a size, color and quality- to match the' stocking, darn through tho not ing, lengthwise and cross-wise. JDarn evenly and smoothly. For neck niching, get half a yard of whit net, which will cost about twenty cents, and cut into widths twice as wide as the niching is in tended to be. Double', these strips evenly, and either gather or pleat the raw edges together, and sew on a muslin band the desired length for the neck. This amount of net will make about ten ruches which can be laundered as often as .desired, a -Filet net embroidered with four itrand mercerized threa"d makes very nlco collars and cuffs. Trench and eyelet embroidery are very much used for neckwear, and tho work is very easily dono at homo, a littlo practice giving skill. Theso littlo ac cessories cost very littlo mado by tho tasteful girl or woman are very in expensive, but if bought ready made aro costly and unsatisfactory. For toilet wash cloths, flno knit underwear, worn thin, makes excel lent ones, and so does tho white mosquito-bar. Cheese cloth is not so good, being of harder thread. Wash rags should havo tho edges neatly hemmed, or button-holed, and should bo laundered often and kept sweet and clean. Washing Trousers A professional clean ir gives this way of washing trousers with satis factory results: First, shako or brush out all dust and lint, then wash thoroughly in warm (not hot) soap suds,, rubbing as littlo as possiblo, but pressing and squeezing with tho hands. Do not rub soap on any part, except the worst spots, which should be treated before tho garment goes into tho wash. Rinso through two rinse waters, not wringing, but allow ing them to drip as you squeezo, them. After tho last rinsing, turn' wrong side out and hang out of doors in a perfectly shady place, pin ning them to tho lino by the waist band, using enough pins so they may hang naturally without sagging. Watch closely and as fast as tho wa ter collects in the hems press it out with a cloth between both hands. Be fore they get quite ' dry, carefully press them with a hot flat-iron on the wrong side, afterwards turning them and creasing down the front of each leg. If these directions are followed they will look like new, with no ap parent shrinking. Another way of drying them, or rather getting tho water out of' them preparatory to dry ing them, Is to begin at the bottom of ono leg, roll it up, smoothing as you go to avoid wrinkles, and as tho cloth is rolled tightly and squeezed betwqen tho hands, the water is pressed out. When both legs have been rolled, treat tho body In the same way, then hang out to get near ly dry and iron with a hot flat iron, pressing heavily. Tho Modern Kitchen We can not all have a kitchen sup plied with every kind of labor-saving machinery, and thousand-and-one in ventions which tend to make of cook ery a real delight, but there aro many ways In which tho most common-place kitchen can bo made a model of comfort and convenience with a very littlo money and tho use of a few tools. Just set "John" to thinking of tho kitchen needs, and see that he is provided with plenty of work to keep him at home occa sionally. He'll enjoy it when he sees what a comfort his littlo kindnesses can be. Contributed Recipes Keeping Okra Gather the okra pods when right for use, and put in layers, sprinkling salt between, in a pail or earthen jar. Keep weighted down, as it makes Its own brine. Every three or four weeks change the brine, throwing away the old and putting on new of the same strength. When wanted, soak well in clear wa ter until the salt is out, then cook as freBh. E. M.t Illinois. Pepper Pickles Fifteen onions, two dozen sweet peppers, equal num bers of each green and ripe, three strong red peppers, cup and a half of brown sugar, three tablespoonfuls of salt, and two and a half pints of good vinegar. Remove the seeds from the peppers, and put through a Vegetable chopper with the onions; cover. with boiling water and leave for flv or ten minutes, then drain,! and add suirar. salt and vlnnirnr! bring to a brisk boil and seal in glass jars whilo boiling hot. Mrs. Julloii; Missourl. Aro you thinking of that Christmas box? So many littlo things can bo gotten together during tho next few months, and having them on hand will savo many a weary hour later on when tho work of tho season crowds. Many pretty things can bo mado at odd times, and at littlo ex pense. If vou havo never tried it. just givo this method of preparing for tno holidays a trial. Do not put off Rending for your spring-blooming bulbs. A few really good ones aro far more satisfactory than a larger number of poor, cheap ones. Keep your potted plants grow ing thriftily, and remember that "Jack Frost" does not notify you of his coming. Havo everything ready, so when an extra cool night comes, you can givo tho plants the light pro tection that will enablo them to bloom on until tho real freezes como. Seasonable Recipes Grapes -aro now becoming plenti ful, and may bo put up in .many dif ferent ways. For jelly, do not havo them very ripe; tho color as well as tho flavor is better if they aro just well turned In ripeness. Stem and lightly cook them, crushing them as they heat; then pour into a jelly hag and when thoroughly drained meas uro tho juice and put to heat; allow to one pint of the juice ono pound of sugar, heating tho sugar boforo adding it to tho hot juice, then bring to a boil and test with a spoon and a saucer, as it boils down, until it will jell. Somo grapes will mako jelly much quicker than others, Thoroughly rlpo grapes make a thick, dark-looking jelly that granulates. Those just turning havo a much finer flavor and a prettier color. Tho juice should bo boiled ub littlo as possiblo about twenty minutes. Unfermontod grapo juico Is mado from quite ripe juice, by boiling, straining tho juico, and bottling it, boiling hot. Plum Marmalade Scald and re move the skin of ripe plums and take out the pits; or, scald tho whole plums and when soft, rub through a' sieve or colander to remove skin and pits. To each pound of pulp allow ono pound of sugar; mix tho sugar and pulp and let stand half an hour, then boil twenty minutes, stirring to keep from scorching, then pour Into small jars and seal up. Olive Oil Mayonnaise Beat In an ice-cold cup or bowl the yolks of two eggs until light and creamy; into this beat one-half teaspoonful of salt, and one-quarter teaspoonful of pep per, and one-half pint of oilve oil, dropping as you beat, until tho mix ture is like thick cream, or honey. Thin withjemon juice to desired con sistency. Pickling Red Cabbage Select solid cabbage; take off tho rough outer leaves and halve without wash ing, unless very dirty; cut into quar ters, then slico into thin strips; Into the jar put a layer of cabbage and a sprinkling of salt, adding layers until all tho cabbage is used; then cover with vinegar prepared as for pickling onions. Cover and tlo down closely. Mrs. S. It. Gleanings A writer in a household magazine tells us that parents are steadily un loading moro and more or tneir oia tlmo duties upon tho schools, so that, when tho child reaches the ago of five or six years, if not earlier, the parents are coming to feel that their duties to their children are slight Housework of all kinds, darning, patching, sewing, cooking, garden ing, bed-mnking, washing, ironing, nursing, disinfecting, aro nil taught now in tho schools, being no longer a part' of tho homo education. In tho schools, tho grammar school grades aro falling moro and moro to women teachers, and it is claimed that if this continues, tho man teach er of children bolow tho toons will soon bo as extinct as tho dodo. Tho employment of women as tcaehors did not becomo general until after tho revolution, and tho nineteenth century was well advanced before girls had anything liko tho ndvan-' tngos for schooling that boys woro given. Books had nearly always boon considered outsldo of tho fem inino sphero from tho most ancient times. When Francotso do Salntonges, in the sixteenth contury wlshod to es tablish girls' schools in Franco, she was hooted In tho streets, and her father called together four doctors of law to decide whether oho wno pos sessed of a devil in planning to teach wonien. In our own country, tho early school laws did not rccognizo girls at all, expressly stating that "tho word children is to bo interpreted to mean boys." Nevertheless, they nearly all somehow learned to read, but scarcely a dozon women could writo In 1700, and of thoso wlioso names appear in tho recorded deeds of tho early eighteenth century, loss than forty per cent could sign thoir nnmes; the others simply making their mark. Northampton, Mass, now ono of tho most famous educa tional centers, voted in 1788 to be at -no expense for tho schooling of girls, and they wcro not ndmftted to its, public schools until 1802. PUZZLED . Hard Work, Sometimes, to Raise Children Children's tasto is oftimes moro ac curate, in selecting tho right kind of food to fit tho body, than that of adults. Naturo works moro accu rately through tho children. A Brooklyn lady says: "Our littlo boy had long been troubled with weak digestion. SVe could never per suade him to take moro than ono taste of any kind of cereal food. Ho was a weak littlo chap and wo were puzzled to know what to feed him on, "Ono lucky day wo tried Grape Nuts. Well, you never saw a child eat with such a relish, and it did. mo good to seo him. From that day on It seemed as though wo could al most seo him grow. Ho would eat Grape-Nuts for breakfast and supper, and I, think ho would havo liked tho food for dinner, "Tho differenco in his appearance is something wonderful. "My husband had never fancied cereal foods of any kind, but ho be came very fond of Grape-Nuts and has been much improved in health sinco using It. "Wo aro now a healthy family and naturally believo in Grape-Nuts. "A friend has two children who were formerly afflicted with rickets. I was satisfied that tho disease wan caused by lack of proper nourish ment. They showed it. So I urged her to uso Grape-Nuts as an experi ment and tho result was almost magical. "They continued tho food and to day both children aro well and strong as any children- in this city, and, of course, my friend is a firm believer in Grape-Nuts for sho has the evi dence before her eyes every day." Read "Tho Road to Wellvllle," found in pkgs. "There's a Reason." Ever read the above letter? A new one appears from time to time. They aro genuine, true, and fall of human interest. m MWW .. Uan.JCMfurs JSt wjhi iti if -. toHft&'Hwk