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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
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Tho Forest in Autumn
All ghostly in tlio twilight dim they
stand,
Tall sycamores in shame of naked
ness, While scarlet-leaved ahout them
creepers cling,
As though to comfort them in last
caress.
A.nd just heyond, long lines of leaf
stripped oaks,
And dark in this, the twilight
hour, are the pines,
While redly gleams the sadsafraS
that still
To don the mourning of the year"
declines.
Beneath the white-railed bridge all
sullenly
The sluggish river takes its fetid
way;
And last faint gleams from out the
golden west
To silver turn its waters dull and
gray.
And as the purple veil hides all the
gold,
The silver sickle of the new-born
moon,
With one lone star, hangs in the
brooding sky,
And o'er the scene night settles
all too soon.
Frank Fair, in St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
For tlio Toilet
We are assured that, in these
strenuous times, women get gray
hair very early In life, and for some
reason, women (no more than men)
do not wolcomo the frosting of time.
Grayness early in life is hereditary
in some families, while others go
down even to old age with very little
loss of coloring. Many would-be
wise ones contend that the woman
who early acquires a grayness is
usually the nervous woman; but this
is not the rule. About" as many slug
gish, ease-loving women as their
active, restless, nervous sisters, are
found with whitened hair. It is also
claimed that the general health has
much to do with the color of the
hair. Perhaps. We know that the
state of health affects the condition
of the hair, but many a well, strong
woman past middle-age, has whit
ened hair, while a confirmed invalid,
though she may have faded, dry hair,
is not getting gray. Bodily infirmi
ties affect the health of the hair, be
cause the hair is part of the body. A
"weakened physical condition, and a
state of extreme mental unrest alike
tend to age one; but the cause of
graying of hair is not known. Noth
ing seems to stop the whitening,
once it is begun, or restore the color,
once it is lost. It is claimed that
tonics containing sulphur or iron, or
both, have a tendency to restore life
to the hair, but these should be given
by a physician, and, unfortunately,
physician's prescriptions are not al
ways infallible. Even the best-informed
dermatologists acknowledge
their inability to do more than dye
the hair, and they do not recommend
this. Massage of the scalp will often
give tone and life to the hair, dark
ening it slightly; but just moving tho
fingers over the hair Is not scalp
massage. The finger-tips must be
held so firmly aginst the scalp that
one can feel it move over the skull
underneath. The very best advice
that can bo givon is to keep the hair
clean, well combed, well brushed, and
make it as soft and glossy as one can
by taking the best of care of it and
the general health of the body. Gray
hair is lovely, if kept nice; white hair
is beautiful, and gives to the fading
features a softened expression which
nothing else can do. Nothing is more
unlovely than poorly dyed hair, and
the hair-dresser's skill costs too
much for the ordinary pocket-book to
consider. Even the young face is
more lovely under, soft gray hair,
if well kept.
Wastefulness in Dress
In the days of long ago, a garment,
once made, was a useful thing as
long as it hung together, being
passed down the line as a made-over,
after it became unsuitable for the
original owner. In trying to settle
the blame of "the cost of living"
bestowed on the women-folks, Good
Housekeeping says:
Not only has the price of wearing
apparel increased, but the number
of hats and garments a woman
thinks she must have has also in
creased almost incredibly, the limit
being fixed only by her ability to pur
chase. Then, too, the style changes
much oftener, which necessitates
more frequent purchases, and the
discarding of garments, even when
they are almost new. In the large
cities, women of the wealthy class
are spending exorbitant sums for a
blouse, a pair of shoes, a parasol or
pair of slippers; the amounts spent
for jewelry and articles of personal
adornment are astounding. Today,
$400 dresses are not unusual, or con
sidered so very costly by the well-to-do
class. Then, too, a dress or
"gown," must not be worn more
than one time, or at most a few
times, and the extreme woman insists
on having a different dress for each
event the tea, the country club, the
automobile, the seashore, the horse
show, and for each evening enter
tainment. Each occasion of the
social whirl has its demands, and
money is spent recklessly simply to
"do as other people do," regardless
of how the money comes. This is
one of the serious problems. The
woman wlio has the temerity to dress
according to her means, or to wear
a garment that is out-of-style, no
matter of how good material, must
be possessed of a quite sublime
courage. The plainly dressed woman
or girl is invariably the neglected, if
not cruelly snubbed woman, no mat
ter how brainy, or how cultured she
may be. Every society woman
recognizes "style," but very few of
them know the less apparent evi
dence of mental or spiritual merit.
until it is comfortable. The arms
eye should not bind. It is always
easier to make the opening larger
than it is to decrease the size.
The arm-seam underneath should
make a straight line from under the
arm to the hip; it should pull neither
back nor front. No pattern will fit
two figures alike, but there are a
few directions that will apply to all.
A very trying process is the putting
in of the sleeves correctly, and much
of the comfort as well as the good
appearance .of the garment depends
on the fit of the sleeve.
When ready to put in the sleeve,
the waist should be tried on, and
the very top of the shoulder should
be marked with a pin, or a notch, or
thread. The sleeve should be put on,
and also marked on the center of
the top, and as the pattern directs,
have two rows of shirring run be
tween the notches on the top of the
sleeve; the under seam of the sleeve
should be about two, or two and a
half inches forward of the under
arm seam of the waist, and the
shoulder-marks on the top of
shoulder and sleeve top should be
placed together; gathers should
cover the space in front five to seven
inches, being a little the thickest
together at the top, and spreading
two and a half inches back and front
of the top.
With tho Sewing Machine
When basting, be sure to baste
straight and close enough so that the
seam will not gap and pull apart;
make the notches meet, and it is a
good idea to pin the seams at the
notches and at intervals along before
basting, as tho side next the sewer
inclines to full a little, making it
shorter than the under seam.
If tlj shoulder seam is nut ton
far forward, it gives a round-shnulrU
ered look to the garment. The head
should be hold perfectly straight, and
the shoulder seam should then be in
a direct line with the back of the
ear.
The arm-hole should bo cut as
light as it can be worn with comfort
and ease by making short slits under
the arm in front of the bust, a little
at a tinio with he point of the shears,
An Old-Time Toilet Recipe
Baked buttermilk is said to have
been responsible, to a large degree,
for the beautiful complexions among
our forbears. It is claimed that its
use, even for a few days, brought
great improvement, but continued for
five or six months daily, its effects
were wonderful. Here is the recipe,
copied from an old "beauty" book:
The proportions were one gill of real
buttermilk to a pint of fresh milk.
Pour this into a jar with a close
fitting lid, and place where it will
keep hot all day, but it must not be
set on the range. In old times it was
set before the fire-place. By night
the milk should have turned to the
consistency of clotted cream, and
must then be poured from a height
from one vessel to another until it
has returned to the smoothness of
fresh milk. It was then sweetened
with cane sugar and corked down
tightly in a stone bottle and placed
before the fire, but not too near, and
left for five or six hours. At first
baked buttermilk Is not very much
liked, and the fancy for it is an ac
quired taste. If it were not acid,
it was not considered to be perfectly
made, and It should effervesce when
the bottle was opened, which assured
one a refreshing drink If well iced,
and was considered a remarkably
efficacious means of improving the
complexion. Every night, on retir
ing, the would-be beauty of a hun
dred years ago bathed her face in
fresh buttermilk, or wanting this, in
the baked beverage. It was claimed
to remove all tan, freckles, and to
prevent wrinkles. Any one wishing
to test its efficacy will find it not ex
pensive or harmful, even if it does
not "work the charm."
Renovating Black Silk
To a sufficient quantity of ox-gall
add boiling water sufficient to make
it warm, and with a clean sponge
rub the silk well on both sides
squeeze it out well, and with a fresh
dipping of the sponge, go over it
again in like manner, until niQ dn.
looks clean and brighter; rinse tho
silk then in fresh cold water, chanc
ing the water several times, until th
last water is quite clean, then hang
in the open air to dry; before it is
quite dry, bring it in and pin in
shape on a board or table. If it needs
stiffening, dip the sponge in a thin
glue water and rub on the wrong
side before hanging to dry. Silk may
be pressed with a hot iron, but caro
must be taken to have the iron not
too hot, as silk scorches very easily.
Culinary Mattcra
It is claimed that under-cooking is
the cause of much of the trouble
where chocolate is found indiges
tible; it should be boiled in water
from half to an hour, and scalding
milk added just before serving, it is
claimed that it should be cooked
until it will "coat the spoon."
When using oyster stuffing for the
turkey, it is better to partly roast
the fowl, then withdraw from tho
oven and stuff. If stuffed before
cooking, the oysters are apt to be
cooked too much. Add the oysters
to the crumbled bread that had been
rubbed with butter and moistened
with the oyster juice. The raw liver
of the turkey may be used in the
dressing, if liked. Oyster dressing
may be made by itself and cooked in
the pan with the turkey, and in this
way can be put into the oven at any
time wanted.
A dressing to be served with the
turkey, but not cooked inside of it,
is made of equal parts of mashed po
tatoes, soft bread crumbs and finely
chopped butternuts or walnuts;
season this with salt, pepper and
parsley and a small onion grated;
stir this well together with some
butter and the beaten yolk of two
eggs; shape into balls and fry quick
ly in very hot fat until r, nice brown.
Pumpkin Pie Cut the pumpkin in
small pieces after peeling and re
moving the seeds, put into a kettle
with a pint of water; cover closely
until it gets to boiling well, then let
simmer slowly with the cover off,
that the water may evaporate as it
cooks. The pulp should be thick and
dry when thoroughly done, and it
must be stirred often in order to keep
it from burning. Rub the pulp
through a sieve' or colander; some
pumpkins will still have a little
water in the pulp, and this may be
allowed to drain off in the colander.
To four cupfuls of the pumpkin allow
four cups of rich milk, four well
beaten eggs, one teaspoonful of salt,
cup and a half of sugar, half a
grated nutmeg, and two teaspoonfuls
of ginger; beat well together to blend
seasoning. Cinnamon or other de
sired spices may be used. Bake in
one crust in a steady oven until a
golden brown.
Historical Coincidences
John Adams was eight years older
than his successor, Thomas Jeffer
son; Jefferson was eight years older
than James Madison; Madison was
eight years older than James Mon
roe; Monroe was eight years older
than John Quincy Adams. Washing
ton ended his presidential term in the
sixty-sixth year of his age; and so
also did John Adams, Thomas Jef
ferson, James Madison and James
Monroe. Jefferson and Adams died
the same day Fourth of July, 1826,
just half a century after the Decla
ration of Independence. Monroe died
exactly five years later Fourth of
July, 1831. Roosevelt is the only
president seriously addicted to the
woaring of spectacles. It is said to
be a historical fact that all the presi
dents of the United States had blue
eyes, except William Henry Harri
son. New York Press.
What You Want to Know
Where electric irons are used, the
cost is said to be about five cents an
hour, where the rate is ten cents per
kilowatt hour; in some localities, iuo
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