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The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 4
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4
"Give Thanks"
Lord, I give thanks!
Thou' knowest my hest ambitions
failed;
My back with scourgings of .defeat
Was flailed;
My eyed oft felt the sharp salt wash
of tears;
No guerdon blessed the toil of years;
FaBt in the snares, my helpless feet
' worp tied
Yet in my woes thou didst, with mo
'abide.
Lord, I give thanks!
Last year my one lone ship came
i homo" to mo
A ruined wreck of what I sent to
sea;
No cargo in her hold, storm-torn
and scarred
.0, Lord, thou knowest that it was
hard
To watch her drifting hulk with
. h.op'eless eye, ;
Yet in my desolation thou wert nigh.
Lord, I give thanks!
Last year the hope I held the dear
est died;
Ah, like a desert waste became the
wide,
And weary world! Love's sweetest
star went out,
Blackness and darkness wrapped me
round about;
Yet, in the midst of my mad misery,
Thou lent'st thy rod and staff to
comfort me
changes. Stocks, jabots, laco fronts
and the dainty accessories so easily
made by one with deft fingers and
skill with the needle, add so much
,to one's appearance that they are. a
necessity, rather than a vanity.
if
A Correction-"'
A reader calls our attention to the
fact that the directions for making
a neck-bow given in our issue of
October the 7th, were faulty. Here
are the corrected directions: Fold
and crease the handkerchief in ex
act quarters; unfold, and in one
crease, just an inch from the center
of the handkerchief, punch a small
eyelet-hole; work around half of this
eyelet nearest the center of the" hand
kerchief (this is done to stay the
angle, which cannot be hemmed
around) , and then cut the cloth from
the eyelet through the hem on the
shortest crease. Neatly hem the raw
edges on both Fides of the cut; this
will give you a hemmed slit or slash
on one side of the handkerchief.
Plait the lower half of the handker
chief, which will be deeper than the
half that is slashed, and form a
jabot; tie the two ends of the upper
half in a single knot, drawing it
straight and firm, to form the bow
above the jabot.
should have considerable imagination
in order to "see things" not visible to
others. Straight lines and squares
indicate peace and happiness. Long
lines indicate long lives, more or less
troubled according to whether brok
en, clear or clouded. A crown indi
cates honor; birds bring good news;
a siiigle tree denotes health; flowers
are signs of joy and health; an
anchor denotes success in business;
a triangle foretells a journey and an
unexpected legacy; a serpent is for
an enemy; long, wavy lines denote
loss and vexation; a lily at the rim
of the cup denotes a happy marriage,
as do a ring or circle; if clouds are
about the ring, trouble and unhap
piness; it clear, happiness. A clover
leaf is good luck; the figure of a
man or woman indicates a visitor,
or news of a friend. A small square
signifies a letter; if surrounded by
dots, it brings money or good for
tune; surrounded by clouds, bad
tidings and Iocs. One with the gift
of seeing and imagining can make
the feature very popular.
The Effect of Dress
Some women know intuitively
how to dress to the best advantage,
and no matte what the material of
their garments, thoy always manage
tb-.mako o? good appearance. Let
the gown be simple and becoming in
model and color, and it is apt to
nfake a much better impression than
one of richer material that lacks in
these two requisites. The prevail
ing style should bo followed, but in
a way to bring out the personality.
No' matter what kind of a gown is
worni neatness in its appearance
doubly increases the good effect;
Color is a very important factor in
becomingness. Red has a warm
effect, and should bo worn in cold
weather. There are many shades of
Ted, and not all of them can be worn
by one person. Generally sonfe one
Bhade excels in suitableness. Color
Reveals character, too, in a great
(measure, and it is claimed that a
true, straightforward, dependable
woman likes and looks well in blue.
Quiet, unobtrusive, home-loving
women are said to like gray; hasty,
Impulsive, energetic women like red.
.Every woman should study to find
the color which best suits her in
dress, and it will generally be found
, that several colors or shades will
suit one person, and thus there need
not be a clinging to one color in
every thing. To ono who under
stands such matters, the stylo and
manner of wearing apparel reveals
indirectly the characteristics of the
wearer. Clothing should be of the
very best grade of material the
wearer can afford, oven though few
er are to be had, for where taste can
be indulged, the clothing usually pro
claims the woman.
For the Toilet
"Where soap does not agree with
the skin, almond meal may be used
to cleanse the face. Here is a good
formula: Four ounces of powdered
orris root, four ounces of wheat
flour, one ounce powdered castile
soap, one ounce of .finely powdered
borax, ten drops of oil of bitter al
monds, two fluid drams of the oil
of bergamot. Mix well and strain
through cheese cloth; use in plaCe
of a toilet soap.
The use of fa,ce powder is claimed
ny many to be beneficial, but the
benefit depends on the skin; it does
not always suit a very dry skin, and
it should in all cases be preceded by
the application of a skin food or a
cream of some sort; animal fats in
creams should be avoided as it is
claimed that where there is a ten
dency to superfluous hair, the ani
mal fat increases it. This ' may or
may not be true. The cream should
their children; they grow into the be rubbed well into the skin, left
new condition naturally, and uncon- for some time, then rubbed off and
Aged Men and Women
A reader, who is something of an
observer, wishes to know why it is
Lord, I give thanks! that women, who age very fast in
Susie M. Best, in Lippincott's. the early years after middle age is
past, do not break down as fast as
men, though men hold their age bet
ter up to and some years past middle
age. This answer is given by one
who professes to be an authority on
such matters. It is claimed that
women retain their vitality and
youthful spirits much longer than do
men. The burden of life falls from
them gradually, and the peace of re
tirement from active duties comes
upon them by littles and almost im
perceptibly; when their own cares
are ended, they live in the lives of
done as soon as the out-door work
is ended; at least before going to
bed. The general health has some
thing to do with the tendency to
chaps and cracks that some people
suffer from. But generally, it is the
result of circumstances and neglect.
Before going to bed, give your hands
a good soaking in rather warm wat,er
in which a little borax has been dis
solved, a teaspoonful to a basin half
full of water. Then, while the hands
are still wet, soap them well with a
good, vegetable-oil soap, and take up
a handful of corn meal and rub and
scrub them, just as you would with
soap ajone, without further wetting
until the soap looks dirty and the
hands clean; then rinse well in tepid
clear water, and rub well with corn
meal moistened with cider vinegar.
Both the" meal and the vinegar are
healing, and the acid kills the alkali
of the soap. Dry them well, and rub
into the skin some good cold cream
mutton tallow, with a little cam
phor stirred into it, is as good as the
best. If the hands, are quite sore,
and the tallow does not "soak in"
readily, wear a pair of cotton gloves
home-made are as good as any.
If the hands are troubled with "hang
nails," which is the ragged edges of
the flesh about' the nail, press the
edge back .gently with the thumb
nail while the hands are moist, and
rub plenty of the mutton tallow in
about the edge. The cuticle about
the sides and root of the nail has a
sort of "selvedge edge," and this
breaks and "ravels" back into the
flesh if not cared for, making tho
fingers quite sore at times.
For the deep cracks, have a' bit of
black harness, or shpe wax; heat it
in the flame of a candle or lamp, and
let drop, burning hot, along the
crack until it is well covered, then
lay a' bit of muslin or tissue paper
.over it to keep it from sticking, to
anything . els,e.. This ,is- healing,, and
will stop tho pain at, once. " .;
sciously adapt themselves to it. Man,
on the other hand, must often suffer
at once the shock of laying down the
business to which his life has been
devoted, and afterwards there is less
to tie him to existence. When he
lays down his business from what
ever cause, he is apt to lay down
with it his interest in life, and he
lays down life itself soon after. He
has not the adaptability to fit him
solf for other interests, and sinks,
under tho loss.'
"With two or three nice shirtwaists
silk or niessaljne, or other fine goods,
a nice tailored suit, plenty of neat
neckwear, one can make a good ap
pearance yet seem to have soyeral
Telling Fortunes
A pretty and amusing feature of
the holiday entertainments is the
telling of fortunes by tea-leaves. Rub
the leaves up fine, put into the pot
and - pour boiling water over them,
just as you would make tea at any
time, only, it need not be very
strong. The tea must not be strained
when poured into tho cups, but tho
pot should be gently shaken to stir
up the grounds just before filling
tho cup. When the cup is drained,
move it rapidly about to spread the
grounds, drain any moisture off, and
turn it quickly upside down in the
saucer, moving it aTound slowly
three times, making a wish each
time it is turned. Tho omons are
found in the lines and figures as
sumed by the grounds. The one
the powder applied carefully, and the
skin rubbed down well with a piece
of soft chamois skin. Nothing in
jures the skin more than the cheap,
Impure powders, and ono must be
careful to get a good brand.
A soap made with olive oil should
be selected for daily toilet use, and
soap of any kind should bo used only
when it muBt be. Little bags filled
with oat meal or rolled oats are very
cleansing in piace or soap, ana tne
use leaves the skin soft and nice. If
the skin is inclined to scaliness and
dryness, a good quality of cold cream
should bo used freely on it. A half
teaspoonful of cow's cream is a fine
emollient. If going out into the
sharp cold, cream and powder pro
tects the skin, forming a' mask that
effectually prevents roughness or
chapping. For the woman who stays
in the house constantly, nothing is
better, and a veil should always be
worn.
A girl Bhould be encouraged to
take care of her face and hands, and
taught how to do it. Careless girls
make unsightly women.
For Chapped Hands
Several letters ask for remedies
for chapped and cracked hands,
which the cold, wetr-weather is sure
to bring to the outdoor worker. Night
whoso fortune is to be told must 1 is the best time to remedy the neglect
drain tho cup. The fortune toller 'of the day, ana uio worm snouia be
Caring for Bulbs and Tubers
When the tuberous begonia bulbs
begin to lose their leaves, dry the
bulbs off and store in a box of clean
sand and keep in a 'warm place,
ready for early planting in tho
spring.
After the first frost, lift the dahlia
roots when the ground is quite wet,
and keep the clod of earth on them;
store in a frost-proof cellar; tho
earth will dry on the roots and pre
serve them.
Let the crinums stay in a tub of
soil and keep in a warm room or
cellar. Most kinds should be dried
off and stored in sand.
The Amaryllis Johnsoni is a win
ter blooming bulb, and should bo
kept slightly moist in a warm place
until it shows signs of growth, about
January 1, when it should be potted
and given very little water, increas
ing the amount as the growth in
creases. The bulb must not be pot
ted too early, or only leaves will re
sult. The flower-bud is usually tho
first to appear.
Caladium bulbs should be lifted
as soon as the frost kills the leaves,
and allowed to dry off, cutting tho
leaf-stalks off; and the bulb should
be. buried in sand and kept in a tem
perature of about 50 degrees. If the
bulbs begin to shrivel, the sand must
be moistened not wet, as too much
moisture will cause decay, while too
much dry will start the dry rot in
tho bulb.
Gladioli bulbs should be dug and
let dry, then stored in paper bags
and kept In a frost proof place. Tho
spottod calla is hardy In most of tho
middle states, and may be left in
tho ground; but it needs protection.
When lifted, it should be stored like
gladioli bulbs, but kept in 'a rather
moist atmosphere. It is a summer
bloomer.
Don't neglect planting the hardy
bulb that are to make your border
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