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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 34
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ttteen Watts McVe)
Department
Tired
I am grown old, and this is how I
know,
Not hy the stiffening joints or hair
of snow,
(Theso have heen gifts that time
has long bestowed)
But by my yearning for a snug
abode,
A clean white cottage where the
roses grow.
Once when the road-call came I
leaped to go,
But now I linger by the hearth
aglow,
The weight of years is my too
heavy load
I am grown old.
There is no summons in the winds
that blow,
There is no challenge in the seas
that flow,
There is no magic in the rovers'
code,
I am aweary of the open road,
Bitter it is to learn, but it is so,
I am grown old.
Berton Braley.
Getting Rid of "Things"
Every home should have Its own
private crematory, and the house
wife should not fail to avail herself
of its assistance whenever the neces
sity of "sorting out" occurs. The
"tyranny of things" is one of the
causes of so many nervous break
downs among housewives, and the
tendency in every line now is to con
centrate. In every department of
the home, the inclination is to hoard
up, to hang onto useless, out-of-date,
worn out articles that promise, even
in the remote future, to in any way
supply a demand. Every room in the
house is filled with "clutter," and
this is especially true of the garret,
store room, or basement corners,
trunks, or closets. Unless a very
present use is plainly to be seen for
the disabled article, it is best to dis
card it, either by selling, giving
away, cremating, or throwing into
the waste pit. Old clothes that can
by no possibility of the present hour
be turned to account, old rugs, worn
out carpeting, bed-clothing or furni
ture, broken dishes, leaky or rusty
cooKery vessels, out-of-date contri
vances that we have grown tired of,
should be put out of the house to
servo a good purpose with some
other less fortunate worker, or, if
not "available" for bestowal, or sale,
may be burnt up, or thrown into the
rag man's hands. Old, .soiled rags,
scraps or bundles of paper, trim
mings of vegetables, and scraps of
rarlous kinds will lend themselves
idmirably to tho aattviMoR nf ,
backyard crematory, and they belong
right there, instead of scattered
about underfoot, or tucked in
corners, or cluttering up closets, or
boxes, rendering the premises un
sightly and unsanitary. Just sepa
rate the sheep from the goats, and
sacrifice the useless to the gods of
cleanliness and sanitation, and you
will bo repaid in more than money.
A very satisfactory crematory can be
made of a few foot of poultry wire,
by fastening the end wires together,
and laying another piece on the top,
. to prevent the scraps escaping
through the top. Just try it once,
and see what a fine thing it is.
Table Manners
A writer in a magazine says that
custom has decreed that a man must
eat food with a fork instead of
shoveling it into his mouth with his
knife blade, and that parents who
do not teach their children that a
knife blade should never be put into
the mouth are measurably criminal,
since, by the neglected education, the
child's prospects in life are endan
gered. On the other hand, there are
some well-meaning, excellently en
dowed people who maintain that a
man's a man, even if he does "eat
with his knife," and in a degree, this
is true; but if children were only
taught to observe the etiquette of the
table in the small things of life, it
would spare them many a bad half
hour with themselves when made to
feel that they had committed some
unpardonable blunder, which, though
a little thing in itself, has set the seal
of "ill-bred" on their character. It
is necessary for one's own self-respect
that he or she should conform
so far as possible, to established
usage, and if the child's education
has been neglected, in this respect,
there are plenty of books giving the
rules of etiquette, a copy of one of
which every girl or boy should pos
sess. This, like the Bible and the
dictionary, is one of the necessities
in the family, and the simple rules
of every day usage should be care
fully studied by every member of the
family. In planning for your Christ
mas giving, this book would be a
wise choice for the growing girl or
boy.
home, and the boys, as well as the
girl, can do good service, if it is made
plain to them that, part of the re
sponsibility of life is theirs.
Getting Things Ready
When one realizes the chronic con
dition of "out of order" 'in which the
tools of the housewife are generally
found, we cease to wonder that
housework is considered a drudgery,
and sewing a species of slavery from
which the home seamstress seeks re
lease by resorting to the "ready
mades" that are, in most cases, a
species of extravagance for which
there is no excuse. In every family
there should be a good, well-cared
for sewing machine, if only for the
necessary "stitch in time" that will
save more than its cost, many times
over. The market is flooded with
cheap machines that are forever out
or nx, and which make even a few
hours' sewing a sort of nervous
breakdown breeder to the one who
tries to run one of them. But even
the best of machines has to have
care; it must be keptv covered from
the dust, the children must respect
u, ana Keep nanus off; the oil can
must be in evidence regularly, and
only the best of oil should be used;
if It runs heavily, benzine, gasoline,
or coal oil is the medicine noAdM
and all gumminess of the joints must
be kept wiped off. Bands, and all
joinings, screws, and fastenings
should be kept tightened, needles
should be kept in variety, and with
good, sharp po'lnts; attachments
should be in place, and in good con
dition, and there should be a good
light. After getting the machine in
good fix, see that all scissors, shears,
knives, are sharp and in place;
plenty of thread in variety, needle
pointed pins, and other nopRRRiHoo
The "cost of living" can be ma
terially reduced if the sewing ma
chine does Its full duty, and sowing
is by no means hard work if every
thing is in order and ready for good
service. Where there are children,
many things can be done by them,
and as they are not allowed to work
until well along toward youth, they
should be given employment in the
Gleanings
The terms, sanitarium and sani
torium, are very often confused.
Sanitarium is from sanitas, meaning
health, and is correctly applie'd to
a healthful place, or resort for con
valescents. Sanitorlum is from se
nare, to heal, and is correctly applied
to institutions designed for special
treatment of sick persons, as where
certain diseases are treated.
Plants, as well as animals, gen
erate heat as a result of the pro
cesses of nutrition and growth. Cer
tain lilies of the arum -family give
off so much heat during inflorescence
that a sensitive hand can plainly
feel it.
To clean bottles, put into the one
to be cleaned a teaspoonful of
pebbles or clean gravel, then add
warm water with a little soda dis
solved in it and shake until all dis
coloration is removed. Any of the
soap powders will answer even bet
ter than soap, as soap usually leaves
the glass streaked or dim.
To preserve the colors in gingham
or percale, before washing soak in
water in which a tablespoonful' of
turpentine to the gallon has ben
stirred, then wash them through'
suds as usual. When rinsing, add a
ntue oorax to the rinse 'water, turn
the garment inside out and dry in
the shade.
The best remedy for tired and
nervous feet in hot weather is rest;,
but this can not always be had; next
to this is massage and the applica
tion of a soothing tonic. In massag
ing the foot, which must be done by
a second person, hold the foot firm
ly in the left hand, massage each toe
separately, then massage the foot
firmly and proceed with the massage
to the knee, with an upward stroke.
Begin with the left foot, and make
the massage as thorough as possible
without tiring the patient. Alcohol'
is a good thing to use with the
massage.
For tlio Toilet
For cleaning the hair, wash thor
oughly in a suds made of warm
water and tar soap, then rinse well
in order to gets the suds out; rub
briskly with warm towels to remove
all moisture, carefully loosen the
tangles with a comb, brush well, and
rub into the scalp the following
dressing: Equal parts of bay rum
and cocoanut oil well shaken before
using. This is excellent for harsh
dry hair. '
For hard corns and callouses,
nothing is better than, after soften
ing the hard shell on the surface
with a good hot bath, to rub the scale
off with the toilet pumice. A bit of
tissue paper, or gauze or absorbent
cotton between the toes will relieve
soft corns. But the very best thing
for any foot-ail Is to insist on having
the right kind of shoe. This often
necessitates a wrnnpio -orifv. r. i
man, but insist on the right kind of
shoe.
For bleaching the "dirty" neck
nothing is better, or gives quicker
results than binding on the neck at
night the juicy part of the peelings of
cucumber. It is the arsenic in the
juice that whitens, and the bleachinir
properties are said to He next the
peel. Cucumbers for toilet prepara
tions should be neither ripe nor
green, but just at the stage wh
they are best for table use.
An ,,exc,ellent milk for whitenine
the skin is made by powdering one
fourth of an ounce of imported cas
tile soap and dissolve in three ounces
of cucumber essence (not juice)- let
this stand over night to thoroughly
dissolve, then add eight ounces of
the expressed juice of cucumbers
half an ounce of sweet almond oil
and a dram of tincture of benzoin
any preferred perfume may bo added
After the nightly wash, dab this milk
liberally over the parts to be
bleached and let dry on. Cu-umber
essence can be had of the druggist.
About the House
Any scratches on polished furni
ture can be lessened, and often
wholly removed, by laying a cloth
saturated with linseed oil on them
and letting it remain for several
hours, then polishing.
A woman who can doctor up her
ailing machine, clean up rusty shears,
sharpen knives and scissors, and
kitchen cutlery, tighten loose screws
and glue loose joints, will find the
knowledge worth while in more ways
than one.
It is recommended to keep ; cup of
granulated sugar on the sink shelf,
and while the hands are covered with
soapsuds, rub a pinch of it well over
them, in order to whiten and soften.
If your garment is not too badly
scorched (which means very bad in
deed), the short-cut to remedying the
damage is to hang the scorch in the
hot sunshine all day.
A short-cut for cleaning is to keep
a lot of newspapers hung on a hook
near the stove or sink, and use it as a
cloth for cleaning the range, or wip
ing off greasy articles, dirt, soot, or
rust For polishing the range noth
ing is better than newspapers. For
cleaning greasy dishes, pots, pans,
use the crumpled paper before the
dish rag.
Bran filled into cheesecloth bags is
excellent for cleaning wall paper. It
is' also better than soap for the bath
tub, and for the toilet, nothing is
better for the hands, face and neck.
It is as cleansing for clothes as for
the body. Boiled, and the water
used the same as soapsuds, it is as
cleansing for delicate colored fabrics
as soap, and does not injure the
color.
Flannels should be allowed to drip,
with as little wringing as possible
when getting through the last water.
Hang by the edge and let drip until
dry. For crocheted or knit goods,
rinse perfectly free from soap suds,
then "huddle" on a piece of clean
cloth, turning often, to dry even.
Hanging up will leave the article
"stringy."
What You Want to Know
When laundering white goods hav
ing colored embroidery that may not
be washed or boiled as other white
goods, wash them quickly in soft
water suds made with a pure, vege
table oil soap, rinse well and dry
them as quickly as possible in the
shade. It Is a good way to spread
them out flatly, so that if there is any
running of the colors, it will not
streak the white so badly, if at all,
the horizontal position allowing all
drainings to settle downward. Put
them into an old, clean muslin bag
which has been dipped in strong blu
ing water (the bag, not the articles)
and thoroughly dried beforehand;
hang this bag with the embroidered
articles inside in a well lighted place
for several days. The goods will be
well bleached and the embroidery
not faded.
For cleaning white yokes or cuffs
without removing from the garment,
cover them with a mixture of two
parts white corn meal and one part
powdered borax, rubbing it in lightly.
Roll up and leave the mixture on
overnight, then brush out thorough-
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