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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1913)
,. - ,p . 5,.-j 'Trfmfpmav' i ;.' 8 The Commoner. .VOLUME 13, NUMBER i9 oiiwS&s s " y) Qx lUJvr-i I L y T.!ie Sheaf of Days From n full sheaf In youth wo bravely draw Each morning ono light arrow, which Is Bent By strength of arm, impelled by hidden law, Until its forco is spent. Some shafts go well and true, and some go ill; Beyond our vision, others droop and fall; Fair shots are others, sped by strength of will, While some fly not at all. As the days wane, the sheaf is not so full; Our arms are weak; the darts but feebly go From lifeless cords our stiffening fingers pull To bend the sullen bow. nd some have straighter shafts and better bows; And keener vision others; but no hand The journey of a single arrow knows, Or how its flight is planned! Meredith Nicholson. Mothers' Pensions So much is being said and done about the enactment of laws giving to mothers a certain amount each month for each dependent child, by the state in which she lives, that every ono is or should bo interested in the subject. In many states, a man could desert his family with out danger of any penalty; he was not considered as being guilty of any crime, or liable to arrest, and could not always, or often bo made to provide for the support of even the infant children. In some states now, desertion of one's family has been made a felony, punishable with imprisonment at hard labor in the penitentiary. The abandonment of their families by men who forget honor and obligation has become an abuso so wide-spread as to awaken the state to its duty to the helpless children who are its coming citizens. Men marry young women and, after the first intimacy is over, desert them, leaving them often among tlv fa w tu ono or more young children to provide for, and noth ing, seemingly, could be done; but things are being changed. Tho arm of tho law may not be able to restore the husband or revive tho lost love but it can at least punish them se verely for so doing. Meantime, the helpless mother cati keep her chil dren with hor, and tho pension, added to what she can save by care ful attention, or earn at some work which will not interfere with the care of tho babies, will enable her to make useful citizens of them. The world is getting bettor every day and awakening to its duties to its citizens, young or old. Flics and Other Pests Tho very first step toward ridding tho house of theso worse than nuisances, is to Temovo all kinds of attractions which may bring them about. See that the back yard is kept clean, and do not throw any kind of eatables, vegetable trim mings or decaying matter, about the kitchen premises. If even a small amount of such things is exposed in such places, the flies will find it out and it la but a step from the garbage to the back door. Screens are a necessity, but cleanliness is more so. You can not control tho output from your neighbor's kitchen, but you can see that youc own premises are not attractive to the flies. The flies will somehow get Into tho house, even with the best of screens; but do not let them get out; kill every invader, and thus settle tho ruina tion of its progeny. Where there are children, ono must bo doubly vigilant, for the little toddlers are prone to hold tho door open, or man ago to get breaks in the wire, if not taught to caro for such things. Then you must resort to traps and poisons, and you must seo that, in case the poison is harmful, tho little ones can not reach them, and the older ones should bo early taught to let them alone. Ono of the "swattom ." rp.idv- mado at the stores, or home-made from a bit of wire screen attached to a handle, should bo furnished tho children, and they should be taught to use it wherever a fly is seen to alight. It is claimed that oil of sas safras scattered about will prevent mes coming in. it Is cheap, and will do no harm to try it; but cleanliness through soap and water anil scrub bing brush, supplemented by care fully putting everything eatable and drinkablo out of the reach of insects, will do moro than anything else to discourage the flies who aro seeking a nesting place. Roaches like dirt, too; especially eatable dirt, and there are few things more nauseat ing than to find the shell of a cock roach in tho food. In fighting tho pests, "If at onco you don't succeed, try, try again." Ham Bones If you live near a meatshop where ham bones can be had, you have with a few dried beans, material for a good meal. After all tho meat that can be sliced In salable shape has been taken from the bone it can usually be had for a few cents A pint of white beans, soaked over night and boiled slowly with the bone until done, makes a very tastv soup, or pot of boiled beans. Poison Ivy When you go for a stroll through the woods, or when the children are running through tho lanes and woods pathways, there is always danger of getting poisoned with the poison iyy, or oak vine which are all too plentiful along the walls and highways, growing in brush patches and on tho 7trunks of trees. Every one should bo taught .tho difference between the poison ivy and the SS Wnd. Poison ivy has three eaflots to each leaf stem, whilo tho harmless kind has five leaflets The berries of the poison ivy are a gray! ish whito, about as large as a pea while the harmless ivy has fruit of a deep black, and larrer ffn varieties of the poison oakfor poC ivy, are climbers, clinging by stem rootlets to the bark of trees or to other supports; another, is a ground trailer with upright brfncSes Wherever found, tho plant should be destroyed, and a good way to do this is to go out after a rain, when the ground is soft and loose, having up by the roots, burning them. ffhyt H?nS ,ar estromGly Buscep: tible to the poison, and tho Bufferlnff while with many persons it is very hard to cure.. The effect is well known, as an erysipelatous inflam mation, particularly affecting the faco and hands. It is not necessary with some people to comes in contact with the vine or leaves. The symp toms are itching, redness, swelling, watery blisters, and later a peeling of the skin. To relieve, bathe the parts freely with spirits of nitre; if the blisters are broken so as to allow the nitre to penetrate the cuticle, a single application is generally all that is necessary. Another remedy, take a handful of quicklime, dissolve it in water, let stand for half an hour, then paint the poisoned parts with it. Three or four applications may bo needed. Another: Bathe tho parts well with olive oil, taking internally two tablespoonfuls of the oil three times a day. Anointing the hands and face with the sweet oil win prevent poisoning by the ivy. Poison dogwood, a small but beautiful shrub ten to fifteen feet high, having a dark gray bark with the smaller branches of light color and the ends of the twigs red, affects in similar manner, but is more powerful. Treatment the same as for ivy poisoning. The National 'Cemeteries Answering one of our readers: The nation's dead soldiers are buried in seventy-three cemeteries, as well as in local cemeteries with their kindred. Only twelve of the na tional cemeteries are in the northern states, the principal of which are Cypress Hill, Finn's Point, N. J., Gettysburg. Pa MmmA nu tu Woodlawn, Elmira, N. Y., which contain the larger numbers. It is impossible to give the number in each cemetery, as the old soldiers are and have been falling away rapidly, and a very great many of them are being added to the graves of their comrades. The largest resting places of the known and unknown dead soldiers aro Arlington, Va., Chalmette, La., Chattanooga, Tenn., Fredricksburg Va., Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Little Rock, Ark City Point, Va., Mariet- &n?a,, f mpy S' Tenn" Nashville, Tr "a P,lar Grave and Richmond, Va., Salisbury, N. C, Stone River Tf!inn"yic csburg' Miss- Antietam, Md., Winchester, Va. Two ceme teries aro devoted to the thousands away in the prison pens of Anderson villo, Ga., and Salisbury, N. C A great many bodies buried in' the vuwuua nauonai cemeteries are thoso of the unknown dead. Scat tered about the country are ceme teries largely filled by soldiers who ?aWay ater years of citizen ship; but nearly every local ceme tery contains the body of somo ono or more of tho men who took part in the civil war and who preferred to Ho among their kindred in local cemeteries. ai Mid less bitter than the wju started and- when lanre S, ? transplanted to tho garden rnlBh Forcing plants is not SoneS as the plant should have one yeaA growth before being used. The field dandelions aro mnnii hl- ' . ua TSSfJS- S& .wk ' tte r.0. .Uu uitivctiea piant should have a rich, sandy loam, but will grow well in good garden soil. Like the radish, it must grow rapidly to bo good and tender. Taking Thought for Tomorrow When making your garden, do not forget the lavender plant. If you can not get the seeds, get plants from the florist or nurserymen, and grow a few hills at least, in order to havo tho dried herbs in your linen uiosec Anotnor lovely plant is the rose geranium, and it is not at all hard to grow. Before the leaves get coarse and hard, gather and dry them, and they will give a delight ful fragrance to the closets and drawers. One of the dear old plants our mothers used to cherish is the lemon verbena, which is not a verbena at all, but a green house shrub, and any one can grow it in the window, or planted out in the garden in tho summer and kept in the cellar in winter, when the leaves fall. The leaves give a delightful fragrance, but you must gather them while still growing. Propagating Plants by Cuttings A shallow dish of any kind which will hold several inches of sand will answer; cover the sand entirely with water, renewing as it evaporates. Cut the slips and set in this sand bath, and place in a warm, sunny place. The slips do not wilt, as they are entirely surrounded with water, and the moisture keeps the sand from burning them. Root geraniums, verbenas, and fuschias first, then, later in the season, the soft wooded plants can be rooted. This is the pro cess the housewife follows when she has but a few cuttings. Tea roses and many hardwood slips can be rooted in the same manner, and the plants should be lifted with care when well rooted, and soil sifted among the tiny rootlets when they are set in the pots. Dandelions The large market gardens of the east are cultivating the dandelion Plants for commercial purposes and SSiif8,0 Ltho "ens" is'very profitab e. The seeds should be so this spring, as early as possible and given the same cultivation accorded to carrots except they require thin ning to ten inches apart Next spring tho leaves will be read? ? use, and should be blanched by Vc lng a covering of boards or in? materials over the rows The S vated kinds are mumo Vite For tho Seamstress In hemming napkins, put the hemmer attachment oh the machine, do not thread; run the goods through the hemmer, turning an 'even hem, them hem afterwards by hand, following the line of accurate perforations. In hemstitching, draw the threads and baste the hem neat ly; with the sewing machine, regu lated to the stitch desired, without thread, stitch close to the edge as in ordinary hemmings. For hand- run tucks use a coarse needle, mark with the machine in the manner de scribed above, and run the thread in the holes thus made. Before cutting button-holes, if the material is inclined to fray mark the position and length of each, then stitch with the machine close around this mark. When the button-holes are cut between the stitching, there is a firm edge to work on. To be sure a sleeve will set well when there are no notches as guides on the pattern, measure an inch back from the shoulder seam, fold the armhole together and place the Inner seam of sleeve at front fold of arm hole. For a very stout person, measure two inches. Tho Kitchen and Pantry Theso rooms should be kept clean, and one of the best ways to keep them clean is to have all the walls and shelves and tho cupboards well painted and varnished. The work pi