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iT' "' "WFWl e,1HFwr " ;i The Commoner. .VOLUME 10; NUMBER 3t for tho fuel that keeps tho Internal furnace in good repair. See that there is a sufficiency of it, and de pend less on the furnace in the base ment. .. - rt " J- f- 1 s ? :-- rvi Ink-;, I? ''Conducted bf fielei Watts wye - A Story in Verso Only two children two tiny girls, The idols fair of a humblo homo; Who, enre-freo, sang through the sunny hours, Or knelt in prayer In the ovening gloam. And nurtured thus, as the years wont by, They grow In beauty as fair and sweet As the country blossoms that' paved tho way With fragrant snow for their rest less feet. Yho world, In passing, ond luckless day, Espied them, and said "They are all too bright ' y To bloom unnoticed; I'll take them honco, And crown their brows with a golden light." 60, out of tho cottage that knew no caro, Tho twain wont onward with lis som feet, Tor dreamod of tho poison the chalice held The cup was golden the wine was sweet. . But ono sank down, with a happy heart, Ere the cup was drained of Its rare delight, And they pillowed tho golden head with tears, And laid It away under blossoms white. .For a' moment, tho old World veiled his face "How sad, that a blossom so sweet Bhould die." Then surged along with his dance and song Small time had he, for a tear or sigh. Only a mother a fair young thing, With wide blue eyes full of happy light, 4v"ith mist-like floating of yellow hair, And hands that were jeweled and soft and white. She kissed her baby a wee, white thing, And laughed as it lay In its downy bed Like a snow-flake lodged in a rosy cloud, With a shimmer of gold 'round its dainty head. Strained tightly back, as In seeking dread Of tho wan, whito faco and the stony staro. In her wanted arms as sho moaning rocks, What is it sho clasps? Such an icy thing. Can this be tho mother and babe who laughed In the sunny room, with the warmth of spring? And this this bundle of bloat and shame That tumbles In, - through the broken door, With muttered curs and maudlin song Have wo ever seen it this thing before? Tho woman shrinks from the reeling form, - . And, shuddering, points to the bundlo white, And speaks with a stony, tearless woe "Hush, Harold. The baby is dead, tonight. And I oh, Harold, tho blow you struck, That murdered baby and broke my heart, Has done its work It will not be long And baby and I will not sleep apart." In are trying to 1 euro. The parents sin against the children through ignor ance; they are slow to believe that, where no external evidence of dis order exists, there is anything wrong with the health of the family. And the room was bright with a sum mer glow That only the magic of wealth could bring; No matter the tempest that raged without Within was the fragrance and calm of spring, And the father stopped In the half- qped door, And looked on the picture and proudly smiled; Then .kissing tho twain with a tender warmth "God bless you," ho whispered "My wife and child." Crouched in a room that is bleak and bare, With shattered shutter.and broken pane, Whose roof is mockingly letting through The wintry tempest of ley rain, A woman sits by a bed of rags Her oyes pain-blinded, and faded hair a lonely grave in the Potter's field They pillowed tho head that had lost Its gold; On the silent breast were the white hands crossed, The baby was clasped in their Icy fold. And the World reeled on, In its dance of death Scant time had he o'er the dead to weep; "I gave her the best I could give," he said . "What matter to me, if she failed to keep?" O, I often wonder, and question. Why? Does the golden head, with Its dreams uncrowned, Wear whiter robes, in the world above, Than she who lies in the pauper ground? Does the siniplo hearted, who only plucked Earth's -roses steeped In the morn ing dew, Share sweeter draughts of the Sa vior's love That she whoso chalice was brimmed with rue? Helen Watts McVey In Word and Works. Housekeeping Helps Hero is an excellent preparation for cleaning furniture: To a quart bottle nearly full of warm, water, add a tablespoonful of alcohol and a tablespoonfulof olive oil; shake thor oughly until well mixed, and use plentifully in cleaning the furniture;' rub well with a dry flannel after ap plying, and it will remove all soil. For cane-seated chairs Jthat have become darkened, use a, solution of oxalic acid and water a teaspoonful of tho acid tb a quart of water. Scrub the furniture hard with this mixture, using a stiff brush, rinse immediately with clean water to prevent the action of the acid on the cane, and the color will be restored, with the seat tightened. To clean upholstered furniture, cover the material with a towel and whip with a rattan; then brush the upholstered parts very hard, and wipe quickly with a cloth wrung out of clear hot water. Follow this with a clean white flannel dippedin alco hol. As soon as the flannel shows dirt, wash clean in tepid water; if this is not done, the alcohol will dissolve the dirt and deposit it in streaks on the surface of the fabric. Clear alcohol lightly used with the flannel wrung as dry as possible will not hurt the most delicate fabric. Some Reminders The School as Bad as tho Factory Tho cry raised against child sla very, says Health Culture, should not be directed against the mills and fac tories alone; there is no doubt but that the slavery of tho school room is quite as, if not more destructive than the slavery of, the factory. A recent commission has found that 12.000.000 Bchool children In the United States have physical troubles that retard or deflect their mental and moral development. Whether or not these figures are statistically cor rect, the reaj. conditions are deplor able. A means must be found to cor rect the condition that the health boards know to exist, and that they If you have kept your windows and doors open, living as much as pos sible in the fresh, clean air all sum mer, night as well as day, you know how extremely disagreeable you felt If Bhut up In a room that lacked ventilation. Remember this, -now that tho cool nights are coming on, and do not hasten to closo up the windows. If they must be closed, arrange for ventilation in some other way. Do breath clean air. We are often reminded that the city people steep -with closed doors and windows; but this is in part a necessity, because of night prowlers and thieves that "break in and steal." Closed doors and barred windows are almost a necessity in the large cities. But some means should be supplied for the admission of fresh air, and the out-flow of the foul atmosphere of the in-doors. Architects should supply these ventilators, and it could bo done, If those who are building would insist on the arrangements. Even a stove-pipe hole is better than nothing. Tho deep breathing of pure, fresh air will warm one up quicker than hugging a stove or hovering over a register. Plenty of fresh, clean air is cheaper than coal, and costs noth ing but its admission and the re moval of the foul air. The "furnace within" beats the hot-air or steam pipes. Many .doctors, who are supposed to make a life study of healing the ail ing, live, with their families in hot, stuffy rooms that are a disgrace to civilization, and among thoir patients, ignore the most powerful remedy on earth, for some worthless or death dealing drug, destroying the little vitality left to the victlrn of atmos pheric poison. Begin no w to arrange for a full supply of fresh air, even If less coal must be ordered. Gleanings From tho Family Doctor The god on whose altar is offered up the bodies, money, thought,, effort and happiness of this world is Fashion. Man, woman and child pays tithes, but only the family physician sees the pitiful sacrifice of liyes, the desecrated bodies, the maimed children, and the wrecked health recklessly exacted to appease this modern Moloch. There are better ways to beauty than by lotions and emollients. The body is formed to endure strain, weight and fatigue; but when the strain or weight is put on the wrong place, the body weakens, sickens and gets ugly. Sooner or later, one must pay the penalty for the infringed law. Women are fearfully ignorant as to anatomy and tho functions of the dif ferent parts of the body, and do things through this ignorance' that are harmful in the highest degree. An art course In anatomy would be invaluable to women, serving not only to Instruct as to health, but propor tions andbeauty. All taste in dress that conforms not to the highest welfare of the body Is bad taste, and bad taste is more responsible for the made up woman than anything else except ignorance. The woman who depends on pads should first know that she does arti ficially what should be done natur ally; fuller muscles and firmer flesh do not grow under pads, but by ex ercise. While right breathing and think ing are really physical and mental ex ercises, there are many motions in connection with, those two that make for beauty and joy in living, and these, In turn make loving kindness and heartfelt affection, as we see this beauty in others. All beauty is knit together, and real beauty can not be put on with pads and powders or lo tions. To attain to beauty one must regulate the soul and mind habits, breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing, exercising, and there must be a conscious willingness to trust to nature and life as being' able to re store. We must be willing to be our own, true selves, not some one else. Health Culture. Sitting Correctly Did you ever notice how your chil dren sit In their chairs? If not, just notice it now as they gather around the family table, or in your presence. Perhaps you do not know how to sit gracefully, yourself. Try this, and teach the children to try it: On sit ting down, see that your hips are brought no further forward than your shoulders wtien you are in an upright position. Get the hips as far back in the chair as possible, and settle firmly there. It is not necessary to "throw your shoulders back," but if you will straighten up and Inflate your chest, and keep the body in the position which the filled lungs give to it, you will find that your shoulders fall into line, and that you find much comfort in it. Keep the body as straight as possible, with the head well up. You can bend forward pr sideways, .and in leaning back, you should lean with your shoulders, and head, keeping tho spine straight. In this position you will find you can work easier and with less fatigue than In any other, because the body is braced and sup ported by the backbone. See that the children do not "sit on the end of the backbone," making a "frog back" of their spine. Do not lounge, yourself, nor allow your children fto lounge. Keep the chest well up, hol.dF" inir It In nosition by the chest muscles. Fix up J It will be a little hard atfirst, but .&