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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
