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The Commoner
VOL. 14; NO. 4
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Li a WWTa rr-ci rTiriAnt '&J
Aivndy
Wlmro is" tho rond to Arcady,
Where Is tho path that leads to
peace,
Wlmro' shall 1 find tho bliss to bo,
Whoro shall tho weary wanderings
coaso?
These aro tho questions that come
to me,
Whoro Is tho road to Arcady?
Is there a mystic time and place
To which some day shall the
traveler faro,
Whoro there Is never a frowning face
And never a burden hard to bear,
Where wo as children shall romp
, and raco?
Is there a mystic time and place?
For Arcady is an earthly sphere
Where only the gentlest breezes
blow,
A port of rest for the weary here,
Whoro tho velvet grass and the
clover grow.
I question oft, is it far or near?
For Arcady is an earthly sphere.
And tho answer comes; it is very
near,
It's thoro at the end of a little
street,
Where your children's voices are
ringing clear
And you catch the patter of little
feet.
Whoro is the spot that is never
drear?
And the answer comes it is very
noar.
For each man buildoth his Arcady,
And each man fashions his Port
of Rest;
And never shall earth spot brighter
bo
Than the little home that with
peace is blessed.
So seek it not over tho land and sea,
For each man buildeth his Arcady.
Edgar A. Guest, in Detroit Free
Press.
"Tho Passing of the Homo"
We hear and read a great deal of
nonsense about tho "passing of the
homo," the "shirking of tho duties
of tho home" by womankind who
aro every day turning their tired
shoulders away from tho endless
drudgery and hopeless servitude of
tho so-called "housoworker." It is
hurled at us from the pulpit, from
tho lecture platform, from tho print
ing press, and our "men folks" are
never tired of telling what "mother"
used to do. But women go right
on, hunting jobs in the shops, stores,
offices, factories, or crowding into
hoarding rouses, apartments, rooms,
or family hotels. And down in our
hearts, every one of us are home
makers and home-keepers. There is
nothing we love so well, or long for
so intensely. But wo just don't like
the drudgery! We do like to be
c,lean! We like clean rooms, and
clean and dainty served foods, and
we know that it is our right to have
them. There is a reason for all
this, and no amount of preaching,
lecturing, or ink-slinging, or nagging
"will ever force us back willingly into
tho old-time "duties" of the past
when we see on every hand the new
laws of life, the thousands of new
dtovitfaB the . numberless helps ' and
labQisavers with which the markets
are; flooded. With the modern in
ventions staring us in the ' faoe'
demonstrating on every hand the
ease and beauty of real house-keeping,
women are going more and more
half-heartedly out of the shelter of
tho home; but she is surely going;
and not until the home, or place oi;
abode is made as attractive as are
tho factories and other work places,
will tho intelligent women of today
lay down her mutinous rebellion
against tho unnecessary dirt and
slavery of housekeeping; for it is
slavery, and no woman can con
scientiously say she revels in scoop
ing up dirt with her two hands. The
remedy for all this is to furnish the
homo with tho modern inventions
which have borne the test of repeated
trials. No artisan will attempt to do
tho work required of him without the
proper tools, and women are now
coming into their own; they realize
that there are easier methods of
doing the old duties, and as soon as
these needs are recognized, and the
home work-room stocked properly,
the home will keep the woman. Not
before.
Our Whiter Garments
It will soon be time to put away
the heavier garments which may be
worn again next season, and it will
pay to put them away properly. The
first thing to be done is to see that
the garments :re clean, free from
grease spots and dust; air thorough
ly on a bright warm day. and if the
wind happens to be blowing gently,
so much the bettor. Nothing is
surer death to germs and bugs than
bright, clear, hot sunshine. Brush
the goods thoroughly as the fabrics
may allow, and watch for any spots;
these may bo removed by some one
of tho cleaning agencies, such as
naptha, gasoline, French chalk, and
in some cases, sponging with clear
soap and -water, afterwards sponging
out all traces of soap.
Sticky spots must be sponged out;
if possible use for the cleaning only
a cloth of the same material of the
garment. If the garments are thor
oughly freed from dust and all spots
cleaned, and then put away properly
before the moth gets in its work,
there is little danger of their ravages
for it is not the moth that does the
mischief, but the eggs they are per
mitted to deposit which hatch and
tho larva feeds on the material. No
amount of disinfectants will kill the
moth eggs. Every inch of fur gar
gents should be thoroughly inspected
and some recommend the use of a
fine-toothed comb, doing the combing
very gently. The loosened eggs
should come out entirely when the
garment is well beaten out of doors
Do not delay putting the furs
away until the moth season com
mences. Everything in tho way of
woolens or furs or hair goods must
bo put into wrappings or closely
fitted bags, with every aperture
closed so that the tiny mother moth
cannot get inside. If put into trunks
pr bags, or boxes, they should not be
hidden away in dark corners, and
several times during the summer
months they should be taken out and
given a thorough airing and sunning,
beating them gently and examining
them closely. Remember, if the
moth cannot get into the garment,
there will be no eggs or larva.
come. But wherever there is a fam
ily, of even one member, the first
days of spring awakens a longing for
clean things, and every bright, ray of
spring sunshine shows to the tidiest
nt hmianwtvpt: nn matter where
situated, the absolute necessity of
"getting down to business." A few
years ago, the housewife found the
regular semi-annual upheaval one of
thQ most arduous of tasks; but with
the introduction of the many labor
saving devices, "old things have
passed away," and it is no longer the
hard, unpleasant drudgery that our
mothers knew. Our women are con
stantly reaching out for these new
discoveries, and gathering up tools
especially designed for the home
work, which means actual, cleanli
ness, not merely a shifting of the
dust and dirt from place to place.
With the coming of the vacuum
cleaner, which is now getting cheap
enough for even a slim purse, the
dirt and dust is sucked up from car
pets, bedding, clothing, hangings and
corners of every kind, and taken out
of the house, leaving no dust to
settle back as soon as the broom and
dust rag are laid aside.
There are many hand vacuum
cleaners to be had which do the
work well wrere the cleaner run by
a motor is not available. For the
housewife who cannbt avail herself
of electric devices. thp.SA hand nlean-
er are to be had at a cost of from
$8 to $25, and often as low as five
dollars, for the small family. The
diist is drawn up" into the cleaner,
and can be carried out of the room.
There are vacuum cleaners which
only gather the dust, but do not take
up the lint, and these are not eco
nomical, as a carpet sweeper is also
needed. There are dustless dusters
that really carry out the dust from
the furniture and mops that do not
call for splashings of water; there
are liquid polishers, and a vegetable
oil that is used with, a mop, keeping
the floors clean and bright. The
housewife should have the right
tools. Men will not work, or be al
lowed to undertake a job, without
proper tools, and housework would
never be the drudgery it is, if women
were supplied with the mechanical
helps so very necessary to her work.
pense; when you should have ' tho
"means to the end" yourself. Learn
not to borrow, and teach the same
lesson to your children. Depend on
yourselves, not others.
Do givo the boys and girls a few
hours each day for themselves, and
see how much better they will do
the work you set them at for the
good of the family. Let them share
your plans, and tell them the "why"
of things. Get them interested and
make it worth their while. Give
them books and papers suited to
their needs and tastes, and if you
take advantage of the clubbing rates
offered, you will get, the maximum
amount of literature for the mini
mum amdunt of money. Get them
a graphophone, if , you cannot get
something more costly, but no better.
If they ruin one, they will be more
careful bf the next. They can be
had at small cost, or as high-priced
as you care to pay for.' Make the
home life attractive, and keep them
off the streets.
Garden Notes .
Where one is compelled to start
plants in shallow seed pans in the
sunny windows, egg shells can be
made very useful by taking each half
shell, pricking a hole in the end of
each one, then filling them with soil
in which two or three seeds may be
planted. When it is, time for trans
planting, the shell 'can be broken
away from about 'llie soil, and the
plant set in the border or garden
without disturbing the roots. Of
course, watering properly should be
attended to. Too much water will
ruin the plant, but the soil should be
kept reasonably moist.
Egg plant was .introduced from
Africa, and is . sometimes called the
guinea p.quasn. it,; .is .coming more
and more into favor, but requires
care in starting.. The young plants
are started very- early in. a hot bed,
and when two inches high trans
planted into a second hot bed, and
must not be put out in the garden
until all danger of frost is. over. A
few plants may be .started in the
NEW LIFE
Found in Clihnsa' to Right Food.
House Cleaning Time
In mauy localities the spring house
cleaning is well under way, while in
others it is just commencing, or will
not bo begun for a month or more to
To Remind You
If you want fresh herbs for season
ing the dishes for your family, you
should send for seeds, or plants, and
have them in your garden. If the
garden is of the "pocket-handkerchief"
type, so much the more need
for you to hav just the few things
you cannot buy, and one of these is
the fresh-gathered flavoring herbs
and vegetables. When you are plant
ing, plant enough to have them dried
and of the best, for use during win
ter. Did you ever have to use the
store' sage, or other "seasoning'"
If you are handy with tools, you
can save a lot of money by making
the "little helps" in the way of gar
den or field implements in your spare
l u. xuere 10 aiways some spare
time, and if. you have a shop, how
ever small, with a few good tools,
which you teach the boys and girls
to use carefully, yon have no idea
how much "rest" you can get bv
spending a little time there -In doing
little, interesting stunts in the me
chanical line. If you have, no shop,
or tools, make arrangements to have
them and don't go over to your
neighbors to do little jobs at' his ex
After one suffers 'for months from
acid dyspepsia, sour stomach, and
then finds the remedy is in getting
the right kind of food, it is some
thing to speak about.
A New York lady and her young
son had such an experience and she
wants others to know how to get re
lief. She writes:
"For about fifteen months my little
boy and myself had suffered with
sour stomach. We were unable to
retain much of anything we ate.
"After suffering in this way for so
long I decided to consult a specialist
fn stomach diseases. Instead of pre
scribing drugs, he put us both on
Grape-Nuts anl we began to improve
immediately.
"It was the key to a new life. I
found we had been eating too much
heavy food which we could not
digest. In a few weeks after com
mencing Grape-Nuts, I was able to
do my house work. I wake in the
morning with a clear head and feel
rested and have no, sour stomach.
My boy Sleens Wfill and waItah -with a
laugh.
"We have regained our lost weight
and continue to eat Grape-Nuts for
both the morning and evening meals.
We are well and happy, and owe it to
Grape-Nuts."
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
Creek, Mich. Read' "The Road to
Wellville," in pkgs. "There's a
Reason."
Ever read. the above letter? A new
one appears' from time to time. They
aro genuine, true, and full of human
interest. ' ' . .
;Afta3mmiftfa&