The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, May 12, 1911, Page 8, Image 8
"W lsl rjRjnflf tw-j- jtm- loaWiiiM.ii.i, awwim inw nwwii'n'lHI' rvr -w ' ffW $ The Commoner. VOLUME 11, NUMBER 18 fiSfetoW a y "an(I! I hum Sn--a7 & rW Conducted by Helen Watts Mc&5 l epartme nt f Tho Wish Should somo groat angel say to mo tomorrow, "Thou must rc-trcad thy pathway from tho start, But God will grant In pity for thy sorrow, Somo ono dear wish, tho nearest to thy heart." Tills wore my wish: From my life's dim boglnnlng, Let ho what has been! Wisdom planned tho whole; My want, my woo, my errors and my sinning All, all were needed lessons for my soul. Ella "Wheeler-Wilcox. In May Tho sunshine dances among tho treos, And plays bo-peep with the saucy breozo That whirls tho blossoms like flakes of snow From leafy boughs to tho ground bolow. 0, Mayday snowflakes are fair to see, When Spring is young and tho heart carofroo; Wlion mating birds fill tho air with song, As back from tho Southland they hie along. May woos us all by her matchless grace, 'The best we have in her care to place; After her largess of sun and rain, Our Autumn harvest at last we gain. Fann Journal. ing vino or shrub to plant there, so much tho bettor. And if you possibly can bring yourself to use it, havo a flreless cooker. Even where gas Is used, tho cooker is an economy of time and strength, as well as of fuel. I never yet saw a gas stove that would not burn the foods if you did not watch it; a flreless cooker never burns, and requires no watching. Do try one. For Canning Tlmo As the fruit season is so near, the following table will bo of interest to many of our housewives: Exact proportions of sugar and fruit used for canning and preserving cannot be given, as the quality of the fruit as to sweetness or sourness varies greatly. An approximate amount Is given, leaving It to the judgment of the cook to suit proportions, for a quart jar of fruit: For cherries, six ounces of sugar to a quart jar of fruit; strawberries, six to eight ounces; raspberries, four ounces; blackberries, five to six ounces; quinces, eight to ten ounces; pears, four to six ounces; grapes, six to eight ounces; peaches, four ounces; pineapple, four to six ounces; crabapples, six to . eight ounces; plums, four ounces; pie-plant, eight to ten ounces. For preserving and jellies, the sugar must be white, or very light colored; for many jams and most and borax to each twenty barrels of water. The sediments will settle in a few hours, and the water will be fit for laundry purposes. Where the cistern water has become unfit for use, take one pound of pulverized alum, dissolve it in one quart of boiling water, pour the solution into the cistern and stir thoroughly with a long pole. This is best done in the evening, and by the next morning, the water should be settled and ren dered clear and pure. Twenty-four hours for settling is better. Borax, dissolved in water will also act as a purifier, removing sourness and bad smells. Where sewerage or unwholesome gases are in evidence, the borax solution should be freely used. Borax solution should always find a place on the wash stand where water, hard from any cause, must be used. Add the borax to the water until it feels just the least bit "slip pery" between the fingers. Where muddy water must be used, it is readily cleared by adding a tablespoonful of powdered alum to the tubful, stirring thoroughly and allowing to settle. Water for cook ery must not be cleared with alum or lime. weather, this may be boiled up and put into a jar and sealed, and will keep for several days. In order to make a dish of gravy, one has only to take a little of this glace and thicken it with brown flour. To brown flour for gravies, sift and spread the flour over the bottom of dripping pans and brown on the stove or in the oven, stirring con tinually to prevent scorching. Quite a quantity may be browned at one time and kept in a closed can or jar. To make horseradish gravy for meats, melt and mix well one table spoonful of butter and flour in a sauce pan; add one pint of stock and cook until well done; add a' pinch of sugar, salt and white pepper, and three or four tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish, and a touch of vinegar just before serving. Saving in the household is a good thing, but it can be overdone. There iff one greatly needed economy which is rarely practiced, and that is, the saving of herself by the housewife, especially one who is the mother of a family. Yet it pays the best. Tho Real Secret of Tidiness An exchange says the real secret of tidiness is to leave things where they can be found by the persons who require them, and not to hide them sweet pickles, light brown or brown away in blotters and presses and Getting Ready for Hot Weather It is none too early to make prepa ration for comfort during the heated term, and many things can be done in that direction by a little fore thought. Keep the flies out of the house, both for the sake of comfort and for cleanliness. Screen the doors and windows with wire or mos quito netting, and thus keep out not only the flies, but the bugs, moths, millers and mosquitoes that fly about at nignt. Keep all foods covered, and do not throw scraps about the doors or yards. Carry all garbage away from the house, burn or bury It, or add it to the compost hean, and do not spare the hand in sprinkling air-slacked lime over tho manure pile, using it liberally in the out houses. Do any and everything, rather than invite the noxious Insects to abide with you. If you havo allowed your back yards to become dumping grounds curing tne cold monthB, pick up, clean, up, rakoand clear the ground and sow grass seeds plentifully over it. Whore the drains are open, scat ter plenty of lime, and where they are closed, pour a strong solution of some good disinfectant down the pipes. Copperas is cheap, and is as good as any. Where much greasy dishwater is thrown, it is a good thing to pour down the pipes a strong, boiling-hot solution of sal soda, as this will cut the grease and carry it off, Fruit, flower and ornamental ahrubs will grow wherever weeds will flourish. No matter how "com mon" the perennials or shrubbery may be, it is better than burdock, dog-tennel, Jimson weed, cocklebur, poke-berry, or other fence-comer rubbish, and if one has a fruit-bear- sugar may be used. Where strong flavoring Is wanted, brown sugar Is indicated. For canning fruit or vegetables, many most successful housewives re fuse to use sugar, saying the natural flavor of the contents is impaired by its use. Sugar causes the fruit to swim on top of the liquid, and packs the solids at the top of the jar. Without It, the fruit sinks to the bottom, and is always covered. Jars should bo well filled, in order that no mold may form on the top. In canning any soft fruits, no water should be used to start the boiling. If the kettle is set on a rather cool part of the stove or over a kettle of hot water, enough juice to start with will exude, and the boil ing process should be started slowly. Berries should only be heated through, not cooked. If the cans are wanted very full, two batches should be cooked at once, and the berries skimmed out, packed In the jars carefully, enough juice poured in to fill all spaces, then sealed. The jar should be overflowed for a few seconds to be sure all air Is forced out. drawers, a woman . snould not go into a man's study and put all his papers indiscriminately into pack ages, or a recipted bill into an en velope that he is sure to destroy. In a woman's eye, every business paper is an unsightly object which she con siders it her duty to dispose of, and though she may hear the man who is looking for it swearing about its dis appearance, she has not the courage to come forward and confess, but will indignantly deny that she ever touched his old papers. If he hap pens to find it, she will say, re proachfully, "Oh, is that what you was making such a fuss about? You should take better care of your pa pers." Just as if he had no right to a table, or corner where he can spread things out to suit himself. One of the ways to bring about a reformation is to teach the women folks to know a business paper, or a dollar bill, when they happen to see one. It is but poor economy to leave such knowledge out of her education. For Using Water Where a' cistern can be had, one should never have to wrestle with the problem of fitting hard water for laundry purposes. Where hard water is inevitable, sal soda 'is of endless value for breaking it, and rendering it huh, enougn ior wasnmg purposes. Dissolve one pound of sal soda in one quaTt or boiling water, put into a can or jug and label the can, for it must be kept out of careless hands Ono tablespoonful of this solution in the boiler half full of water, or in the dishpan, is sufficient. This Is also good for pouring down drains to cut the grease from the dishwater One pound of the soda to three gal lons of water is about right for clean ing me pipes and drains. Small Economies There is nothing that adds more to a dinner, for so small an expense as do good gravies, and there ate few things so bad as a bad gravy. One must have stock, or glace, to begin on, and the only way to cet thiR Ir to bo forever on the lookout for any bits of meat that can be boiled. The poorest economy in the world is prac ticed by the woman who, after tak ing her meat from the pot, skims the grease from the stock and throws it away; yet many do this, not know ing the possibility of the "boilings." After taking up the meat, the con tents of the kettle should be poured into a stone jar, and any meat left over should be returned to it; all boiled or stewed meat, ham, or corned beef should be treated in this manner. Alter tne grease has been skimmed from the top and the meat The Difference An exchange says: "To demand that a busy man take upon himself the rearing of his children, left motherless, is to demand the impos sible, if at the same time he is ex pected to provide for their material wants. His affections may be as strong, his honesty of purpose as great, his ideas of right and wrong all they should be; but it Is a physi cal impossibility for him to note each development, prune, correct, uphold, and repress, as occasion demands, the fast growing child of his love and pride. How the busy man can pre serve his health (which he must do, to keep busy), yet care for his chil dren, is indeed a problem not , yet solved by man." In another . issue, appears the folj lowing:' "It is almost unknown for a woman to desert her children. Thousands of fathers are doing it every day, discouraged, no doubt, by the stress of circumstances, but weakly forsaking the trust. The mother will fight to the last gasp for her little ones, and, deserted by the father, wllltturn to all and any sort of employment to give them bread and shelter. And yet in prosperity there are persons so misguided as to think that the mother has not an equal right even with the father, in the care and custody of the child. It is difficult to see why any woman should be deprived of the right to her own children on equal terms with the father. It is only by the light of science that one Is able to realize that the woman in the case is the lower type in the family." And we do not suppose that, if left to ourselves, we should have at all been able to realize it. Even now, had we not been "shown" by Professor Sargent, who has "worked it out by the laws of science," we might still be in doubt. To clear black or oily water, add used, the rtocl should be straTned two ounces each of powdered alum and boiled down to a jelly In warm Query Box Mrs. K. C. For bleaching the faded or streaked muslins, soak them an hour in a hot solution of one tea spoonful of cream of tartar to one quart of boiling water. The gar ments must be thoroughly clean be fore putting into the taTtar bath. Wash the garment in the same water in which it is soaked, making it hot before washing, and dry out of doors. J. C. L. For grafting wax, melt together five parts of resin, one part beeswax, and one part tallow. " Stir well together, and when wanted for use apply the mixture warm (not hot.) Cover every part of the graft witht the grafting wax and bandage so as to exclude all air. Housewife A good sealing wax for cans not entirely air-tight Is made of two parts of beeswax and M JWWV1 t-tfto