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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 45
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VIvSJ1 Helen Watts Mc&fe)
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My Garden
In summertime how fair it showed
My garden by the village road,
Where fiery stalks of blossoms
glowed,
'And roses softly blushed;
With azure spires and garlands
white,
Palo heliotrope, the sun's delight,
Sweet odors filled the day and night
Where'r the south wind rushed;
Beneath the strong, unclouded blaze
Of long and fervid summer days,
Their colors smote the passing gaze
And dazzled every eye;
Their cups of fragrant honey-dew
Charmed all the bees that o'er them
flew,
And butterflies of radiant hue
Paused, as they floated by.
Now falls a cloud of sailing snow,
Tho chilling winds of winter blow,
No blossom dares its cup to show
Earth folds them in her breast.
A blanket brown, a sombre pall
Is softly, gently hiding all;
In vain shall any sweet winds call
To break their rest.
My garden is a vanished dream;
Dead in the chilly, moon's pale beam;
Stiff icicles above it gleam;
And yet, I know not how,
My flowers shall hear the dropping
rain
When spring renews each hill and
plain,
And they shall all be mine again,
Though swathed in snow clouds
now.
Roso Terry Cook.
flict with the spirit that prompted
the custom, I do not see that its
existence effects much harm. But
when people who can in no sense
afford to buy expensive gifts and yet
at the same time are compelled to
do so because they are expected to
return in like what has been given
them, . then the viciousness of the
custom is seen in its actuality and
certainly should be wiped out. Any
society that would bring this about
deserves commendation and support.
In theory everyone is opposed to
the custom and in practice everyone
supports .it. The true Christmas
spirit has become so commercialized
that virtually the twenty-fifth of
December has come to signify the
banner bargain sale of the year in
the department store calendar rather
than the commemoration of the birth
of the Christian religion.
with loving, courageous sympathy.
The young people expect great help
and encouragement" from you, and
you must live up to their expecta
tions of you. Do not leave it all to
your minister. Take part of the re
sponsibility on your own shoulders,
and make it your business to keep
the young people in the right path.
Say what you will, if the church
shows no interest in her young mem
bers, there are others who will, and
the "children" will go where they
are made to feel welcome. The
church, not alone the minister, owes
a duty to the young, and now is the
time to help with example as well as
by precept. Right now!
Commercialism and Christianity
Giving
.Gleanings: St. Louis society and
club women opposed to the useless
giving of presents at Christmas will
shortly organize a society to bo
known as "A Society for the Preven
tion of Useless Giving" to carry their
idea into effect. .
Similar organizations have already
sprung into life in New York, Chi
cago and other eastern and middle
western cities. Mrs. August Belmont
and Miss Anne Morgan are the lead
ing spirits of the Now York move
ment. Dr. Lena K. Sadler imported
tho idea to Chicago.
The purpose of tho societies is,
as their names designate, to abolish
the now prevalent custom of giving
a Christmas present simply because
you think someone is going to give
you one. It is a determined effort
to do away with tho so-called "ex
change" system of gift-giving and to
revert to the simple pristino custom
of close friends observing the yule
tide by the bestowal of homely, in
expensive gifts.
Everyone would be much happier
if tho custom of useless gift giving
was entirely abolished, and tho plan
to militantly oppose it deserves uni
versal support. Men and women in
every class of society impelled by a
foolish sense of propriety annually
make extravagant purchases that all
but impoverish them and certainly
cause their donors much moro
misery than joy. Tho thing should
bo stopped.
As long as the practice of giving
extravagant and numerous presents
"Women Before the Law"
I have several letters from our
sister readers discussing the "Votes
rfor Women" question, and every one
of them is full of food for thought.
But this department of The Com
moner does not deal with political
questions, and the individual opinion
of your editor is of small conse
quence where she has no voice. I
would like, however, to repeat my
urgings that every woman make her
self acquainted with the laws of
her state governing women, individ
ually, or as property owners, wage
earners, and as regards her rights in
the matter of her children and her
household goods. Not every hus
band is honest with his wife, where
property matters are concerned, and
It is well to know what, if any, real
ownership you may have in your
children. Many a woman, by trust
ing to the honesty of her husband, so
far as her earnings' and property is
in question, has been reduced to
penury through either his own
ignorance, poor business ability, or
dishonesty. Get your law-books,
and read up on the common ques
tions of the day. See if you even
own yourself. A Texas sister asks
what I think of the laws of Texas
Tegarding women's position. If I
lived in Texas, I should know what
they are. It is but, a question of
time when all states will open the
polling places to women.
Clubs for the Young Folks
A new question is opened up for
our young people, and we can but
urge them to give close attention to
the matter. That there is more
money to be made on the farm, and
more happiness In the making of it,
than any city work can give, is being
demonstrated through the boys' and
girls' agricultural clubs being or
ganized all over the country. While
the boys are running their corn clubs
and showing what good work they
can do, the girls are organizing farm
clubs, and beating the boys to the
dollars right along. Raising vege
tables, fruits, poultry, eggs, and
many other food stuffs, canning the
fruits and vegetables and selling the
poultry out-put, has been found to
be immensely profitable, and I aih
asked to have our girls and boys
send to the Department of Agricul
ture, Washington, D. C, for Farm
ers' Bulletin No. 385, which will tell
them how to form these clubs. Put
in the winter planning for the com
ing year.
The Church and tho Young People
During tho winter months, the
church should keep its doors wide
pen for its young people. It should
study tho questions most earnestly
as to how to engage the young minds
and activities in ways which will
make them grow into symmetrical,
well-developed men and women.
They should have responsibility; the
officers of the church should have
tho settlement of questions Involv
ing vital Interests of the body, but
churches are often afraid to put the
young people forward, and leave
them feeling like outsiders. Let
them have a real, social, 'live home
in the church; make them feel that
it is their church; their Interests
that are involved. Show them that
their brethren have warm, loving
heartB and take pains to join in their
pleasures. The young of both sexes
demand social life, and if they do
not find it in tho church, they will
find It elsewhere. Let them have
social meetings, and church parties,
and encourage them in feeling at
homo amonc tho brethren: chow nx
at Christmas time Is confined to the interest in their interests, and mnicA
wealthy and rich, while it Is in con- their joya and Borrows your own,
What You Want to Know
The mercerization of cotton has
added to the difficulties of the house
wife, as it is very hard to detect the
presence of cotton in fabrics that
pass readily for silk or linen. Cot
ton is mercerized by immersing it
in a solution of caustic soda, which
swells out the cell-walls of the mul
tiple fiber, giving it the jdossiness
of silk. But the gloss will wash
out, and thus expose tho fraud.
"Huckaback" toweling Is most in
demand, yet very few know why iff
Is thus called. It is so-named from
the weave, which throws up a little
knot, or huck, in both warp and
woof? making a slightly roughened
surface, which is very much liked
for absorbing moisture, and only
very sensitive skins object to it.
Many of tho weaves are very attrac
tive. The "bird's-eye" toweline Ir
delightfully smooth and absorbent,
and is much glossier and finer than
the huckaback. If one has time and
Inclination, the toweling may be
purchased by the yard and the hem
ming and marking done at home,
giving them Individuality; but noth
ing is saved. Twenty-four Inches
by forty-two Inches is the size most
liked, or twenty-two-by-forty, as one
likes. This for the family use, while
the guest towel may be fifteen by
twenty-four inches, as it can be used
once or twice, then thrown into the
laundry-bag. . '
The all-wool blankets' are much
more economical, even at a greater
price, than the mixed blankets con
taining more or less cotton. Service
ability, beauty, lightness and warmth
are all in the favor of the all-wool
covering. It will outwear the mixed
1 fabric, will wash better, and be
serviceable as long as therp
inch of it left. A small percental
of cotton will not hurt the blank!t
as it will keep it from shrinking
when washed, and add to its appear.
ance after being laundered, a i3
scarcely possible for the housewife
to detect the small quantity which is
nearly always used in the "all-wool"
blankets sold as such in most of
stores. When cotton is used it is
mostly used in the warp. '
For tho Laundress
Replying to queries about the use
fulness of the gas iron, we quote
from Good Housekeeping Magazine
.the following: "The trying and diffi
cult piece of mechanism to heat by
gas is the flat-iron. In general, gas-
ueatea nat-irons are a delusion and
a snare; they are working against
the natural law that air, when
heated, rises and does not fall. To
construct an iron so that it will
distribute heat evenly ajid well over
the bottom surface of the flat, and
yet to permit full access of air- for
combustion without endangering the
safety of the ironer, is not a simple
thing. And with the iron has to
be used that unsafe 'hing, the rub
ber tube. That ironing is done with
them, that people do not burn up,
that they are not asphyxiated, is no
proof that they cost little to use in
this way, or that they are not sur
rounded by elements of danger, or
tnat tney do not contaminate the
atmosphere. There are some few
good gas irons, but the gas iron, at
its best, is not so good nor so safe
as the hot plate on which good sad
irons may be. placed to heat, and we
have found this method uses no
more gas."
The flat-iron which uses gasoline
for fuel does the work more cheaply,
heats up quicker, and gives satisfac
tory results, so far as we have heard,
except -for. the smelLwhich goes with
the fuel. The same burner will use
denatured alcohol, and many prefer
this fuel, though it costs more, and
can not always be had. The most
satisfactory self-heating flat-iron is
the electric. It is not much, if any
more expensive than coal or wood
used in a range, and the heat is even
from start to finish. It is the ideal
self-heater where electricity can be
had.
However, the gas story is in its
Initial chapters, and the devices for
its successful uses In the household
are constantly improving.
Requested Recipes
Chop Suey This is said to be
made as it is served in Chinese res
taurants: Get the Chinese beans at
any Chinese store; these are some
thing like macaroni, made of paste
and molded into beans and let dry
hard. Take half a cupful of fresh
pork cut into small pieces, put into
a sauce pan or skillet and let fry
brown in its own fat; half a cup of
chopped celery and half a cupful of
chopped onions added to the fried
pork and add to this a large half cup
ful of the Chinese, beans; add enough
boiling water to prevent burning and
simmer all together, for ten minutes.
Season to taste and serve hot. There
are other recipes, calling for other
ingredients., but this is claimed to
bo "real Chinese."
Mrs. L. R. says, "Any one can
cook a goose, but how do you get
it ready for cooking?" After killing
the goose, dip in water near the boil
ing point until the water has bene
trated to the skin, then roll in an old
blanket or anything that will pre
vent the escape of the steam. Leave
about ten minutes, then begin witn
the legs and rub the feathers to
ward the head. After the goose U
cleaned of feathers dress as any
other fowl. Some say to pluck tne
1rr 4Atl0l.Q tttHHO thO fOWl 18 SUU
I warm, then dip in boiling water,
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