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The Commoner
YOL. 15,: NO. 3
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A Baby's Eyes
A baby lay in its mother's lap
So
hid in tho warmth ol an
wrap
That a lifeless mass of black it
seemed,
Except that out of an opening
gleamed
The baby's eyes.
The mother's form had lost its grace,
And lines of care were on her face;
But she loved her babe which she
held so tight
That the only thing that was left in
sight
Was the baby's eyes.
Like a sparkling gem in the cold, dull
earth,
Or a smile that in tears finds sudden
birth,
The one bright thing in that unclean
wholo
Was the windows of an immortal
soul
Tho baby's eyes.
O. C. H.
Conduct
'y&efimsWftfe J
slips, as they are easier to wash than
muslin, and are warm to the face.
Make a bag large enough to slip in a
hot flat-iron, or a hot brick, wrapped
in a wet cloth, and have a draw-
jenif
unclean
Tor tho Flower Garden
Where thrifty young rose plants
can be had for ten cents each, or even
so cheaply as fifteen for one dollar,
gent out by rel' ble rosj growers, one
should surely have a rew plants. A
half dozen will not cost much, and
they ijl be, a source of delight all
summer!! you have a local florist
who is reliable, it is just as well to
buy of him, as by this means, you get
the plants in pots, and there need be
no', shock in transplanting. Once es
tablished and given good care, the
rose plants will live for years.
If you have a bare, sunny window,
a Ave cent plant of the German, or
parlor ivy will grow read.ly, and soon
bo a mass of clean, light-green leaves.
You can propagate the plant by sim
ply burying one of the joints of the
vin.e. Outside it will soon cover a
trellis, and will stand quite a degree
of qold in the autumn.
Try and have a window box, if you
can not have a garden, or outside
border. A window box is very orna
mental and gives an air to even the
shabbiest little cottage,
Stakes, trellises, plant supports,
should be prepared and if possible,
painted, and put where they can be
got at when the need for them arises.
All garden tools should be overhauled
and repaired, sharpen the dull blades,
tighten up the loose joints, and give
them a chance to do good work with
comfort to the hands that hold them.
When making the garden, don't
neglect to plant a row or two of pars
ley; the foliage is as pretty as flow
ers, and when the leaves get too
abundant, they come in handy in the
kitchen. The plants are easy to
grow.
If you have but a small garden,
have a. set of shelves, built like a step
ladder and set plants on them. Boxes
of rich earth can be set on.the. shelves
and many beautiful things can be
grown in them. In odd corners scat
ter petunia seeds as soon as possible.
They '.germinate quickly, and give
plenty of color.
For the Cold Nights
There will be plenty pf them, yet,
before, the warm weather comes, and
for those who have tb occupy cold
frfdrooms, nothing is. better for night
wear "than nice, soft-fleeced outing
flannef. Use this also for the pillow
string to close the bag with. Jfut
the hot iron in the bed a few minutes
before you are ready to crawl in your-,
self,-and if you are an elderly, or old
lady, or a young child, have a square
of "near flannel," or thick outing
flannel to throw around your should
ers before you lie down. Many a
child and old person go to bed at
night with cold feet, or feet that get
cold before they get into bed, and
they suffer a great deal from this
cause. Where there is the possibil
ity of a draft blowing on the head,
a wrap for the head snould be used,
rather than pull the bea clothing up
over the head. Where there is no
way of heating the bedrooms, the
lack should be made up by dressing
the body warmly. Many delicate per
sons, old and young, are comfortably
warm when they get into bed, but the
chill of the cotton sheets takes away
the warmth from the reet and body,
and it is almost impossible to get
warm again. Where the ordinary
blankets can not be tolerated, a cov
ering of flannel will take their place,
and the flannel need not be the most
expensive. One little child I know
can not endure wool blankets, yet she
seems never to be warm in bed. Her
mother had an old merino shawl, soft
and fine, and she cut the fringe off
the sides and used it to tuck the girlie
in; she slept warmly, and did not ob
ject to the soft, warm cover. The
fleeced cotton blankets are not as
warm as one would think, but they
are much warmer than the slick,
smooth, cotton sheets, and retain the
warmth to a better degree. If you
make the bed things now, you will
have them for the first cold nights
next fall, and they will not be wasted.
The outing flannel is cheapest in the
spring.
"tlnmntnir rtff" titVh1 TtlttV
in the dark, scatter thinly
rial, or a layer of paper may be
spread over it; or a single fold of
gunnysack be used. No more water
should be applied to the soil until the
plants start to come through, which
will be in from eight days to two
weeks, but the paper or gunny sack
may be sprinkled occasionally not
made dripping wet to pfevent mil
dew, or
come up
over the surface soil at the time of
seeding an ounce of flour of sulphur
to about every twenty square feet of
surface. As soon as the plants begin
to break through the soil, remove the
covering of straw, paper or sacking,
and cover with a bit ot poultry net
ting, and over this lay a white muslin
cloth white mosquito netting will
do; and they will thus be protected
againBt the hot sunshine -and also
keep insects jaway from the young
plants.
Raising Pansies
If you want satisfactory results
from your pansy bed, you must pur
chase good seeds, not relying on seeds
gathered by yourself or given you by
your neighbor. These seeds may prove
all right, but the chances are, they
will not. The best seeds are secured
from the crown flower of the first per
fect blossoms; your seed dealer will
get them for you, but you will have
to pay more for them than for other
kinds. The best seeds will cost you
from ten to twenty-five cents the
packet, but it will pay you to get
them, if you like quality rather than
quantity After you have the seeds,
you must pay good attention to the
preparation of theseed-bed; the soil
must be fertile and rull of humus
matter for retaining moisture and in
order to keep the roots of the plants
cool in hot weather. If you want the
bed free from weeds and insects, it
will pay you to soak the bed with
boiling water to reach every part af
ter it is prepared; then it must get
dry, and be well raked before sowing
the sGeds. The soil should not be
stiff,. and to avoid this, a little sand
may be added if it is' naturally stiff.
The seeds should be sown, or scat
tered on tho surface and covered with
sand mixed with very iine soil to the
depth of about one-eighth of an inch,
then firmed down evenly with a flat
board. After this, the bed should ho
covered with two of three inches of
clean straw, or. other suitable mate-
For Basement Floors or Walls
Where basement floors are not sub
jected to a great pressure of water,
a good hydraulic cement (water liinej
will form a tight cellar bottom and
sides; but where the ground is full
of water outside, and the cellar is like
a basin in it, the pressure of the wa
ter upward will surely find crevices
or openings where it will ooze up.
The cure for this state of things is to
get drainage outside, if possible; but
if this can not be had and repeated
patchings will not stop the leaks, take
up the floor in a very dry time and
after covering the whole with a layer
of gravel, pour into it. melted asphal
tum, which should be rolled and
pounded down while warm, and two
or more applications may be applied,
topping with sand. If the gravel can
be hot also, it will make a better
floor, but if it can not, some "coal tar
may be mingled with the asphaltum,
and the gravel coated slightly with it
before the hot asphaltum is applied.
"An Old-Time Builder."
This friend also tells us that a var
nish made of one-fourth pound best
gum shellac dissolved in one pint of
alcohol will remedy damp walls, if ap
plied to them: It dries In a moment,
and another coat can bo applied at
once. This varnish is fine for furni
ture also.
will not admit dampness, and the pa
per will stick to the yarhish. Naphtha
is inflammable, and no fire should be
in or near the room when it is used
The smell, if objectionable, will soon
disappear.
Mrs.. Li. D., Missouri, sends the fol
lowing, which she says she has not
tried, but has heard recommended: A
Russian preparation for remedying
moisture in walls of houses consists
of a mixture made by adding one
pound of white resin to a boiling solu
tion of one and seven-eigths pounds
of green vitriol and fifty pounds of
water. To this add, if for the out
side, five pounds of sifted red ochre
(to color), four pounds of rye flour,
and three and one-fourths pounds of
linseed oil. Stir the wnole together
until it forms a complete homogenous
mess. Apply two coats of this mis
ture, while hot, letting the first dry
before the second is given. Apply
only, in warm weather, and when dry,
the walls will be impervious to rain.
Oaring for the Canary
The bird must be kept during the
day in a light room, but at night the
room should be darkened, as, es
pecially in the spring time, the bird
is apt to be deceived into singing
where the room is very light at night.
The cage should be cleaned every
day, and if one can have two cages,
one into which the bird may be shift
ed while the regular one is thorough
ly cleaned, it will be well. Where
there is a chance for the cage to be
come lousy, it must be washed thor
oughly, all over, w'ith very hot water,
and at night a white cloth should be
thrown over it, to be scalded next
morning, as the mites are apt to go
to the white cloth in the night. The
bath cup should be thoroughly clean
ed, as well as the drmsing cup, every
FOOD QUESTION
Settled With Perfect Satisfaction
More About Damp Walls
C. H. G., Chicago, 111., sends us
these additional remedies for damp
walls: Remove the paper and wash
the walls well with a strong solution
of alum and water; let get thorough
ly dry, and two wettings are better
than one, but each must dry before
the other is applied. When the sec
ond coating is dry, put on the new
paper as at any other time. The
dampness that disfigures the paper
will be prevented.
No. 2 Line tho walls where the
dampness shows with sheet lead, not
thicker than the sheet lead lining of
.ct ucoia, iuaieir mis to the wall
with copper nails, and then jiaper as
UBUUl.
No. 4Cover the wall with a var
nish made of one-fourth pound of
shellac dissolved in a quart of naph
tha, making in these .proportions as
much as is needed. J3ome recommend
f,,l,uuv- "Bumu qi naptna, but alcohol
is much dearer, and no.beUer. Apnly
the 8helhtcto the walk w" a J! J
it veryvdamp give, second coat, and
Jet get thoroughly dry; ".The wall wni
oe covered with a hard surface that
It's not an easy matter to satisfy
all the members of the family at meal
time, as every housewife knows.
And when the husband can't eat
ordinary food without causing trou
ble, the food question becomes doub
ly annoying.
An Illinois woman writes:
"My husband's health was poor, he
had no appetite for anything I could
get for him, it seemed.
"He suffered severely with stomach
trouble, was hardly able to work, was
taking medicine continually,' and as
soon as he would feel better he would
go to work again only to give up in a
few weeks.
"One day, seeing an advertisement
about Grape-Nuts, I got some and he
tried it for breakfast the next morn
ing. "We all thought it was pretty
good although we had no idea of us
ing it regularly. But when my hus
band came home at night he asked
for Grape-Nuts.
"It was the same next day and I
had to get it right along, because
when we would get to the table the
question, 'Have you any Grape-Nuts'
wa,s $ regular thing. So I began to
buy it by the dozen pkgs.
"My husband's health began to im
prove right along. I sometimes felt
offended when I'd make something I
thought lie would like for a change,
and still hear he same old question,
'Have you any Grape-Nuts V
"He got so well that for the last
two years he has hardly lost a day
from his work, and we are still using
Grape-Nuts."
NftiriA Hvati hv Pnst.um Co.. Battle
Greek. Mich. Read. "The Road
nr.iim. ii ' 'i
vyeuvnje,. in pKgs.
spn.
to
'"There's a Rea-
t.
Ever jread the ahove letter? A new
one appears from" time, to time. Tney
are genuine true, and fall of human
interest. v
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