Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, June 18, 1910, Page 13

\THE FARMERS TALK [/ ~ o~ o~ TO FARMERS )’b Life is a Big Conumdrum—It Doesn’t Have to be Answer- ed—The Little Fuzzl= Metaphysics—But They of Individual Life are Enough to Wrestle With—Farmers Do Not Eelieve Much in Have Their Place—Life is Not All Doings—Man Must Work to Live and If 4 Wise Must Find Joy in - W v (Written Specially for The Bulletin) | *“Take time to live—you will be a mme dead.” As I read that old ent revamped in a recent news- pmper article 1 began to wonder whether it hadn’t a bearing on some farm problems. Life a good deal of a conundrum, anyway. What's it all about? What's it for? What's its object? What's the best thing to do with it? ‘There are several thousand answers to these questions—but there isn’t one answer to any one of the questions which will meet the full approval of everybody. So far as the abstract prob- lem is concerned, we might as well give it up_ at the start. It's like the wonder whether Mars is inhabited or whether the sun is going some time to burn out or to blow up. We may know these things, some day, when the Central Knowledge sees that time end we are ripe for knewing. Till then we can speculate—and wait. e But, individually, we don’t have to guess the big conundrum. Instead, each has the little puzzle of his own life to meet and that he must solve, in some fashion or other. The big one he can let alone for the slow unravel- ings of eternity, but the little one he has to live with and must master it or be mastered by it. And it makes no difference whether we sit down to it with pen end paper and seek to work it out by the rules of logic, or whether we stubbornly turn our backs on it and go out to hoe corn—Iit is with us as our shadows are, ever-present, un- escapable. We farmers, as a rule, don't “go much on metaphysics.” There's too much dirt to dig and toe many weeds to kill. We hawve to cultivate cab- bages first, and our own souls second— think we do. What to plant and where to plant it; how to make it grow and how to scare up help enough to take care of it while growing; how to keep our roofs from leaking and shoes on the children’'s feet—these and kin- dred topics engross us. We're a little apt, in truth, to regard people who theorize and speculate about life as useless eritters, not earning their salt. When a man's hands have hardenec and crooked to the grip of the plow and the hoe handle, he's apt to think the penholder too small a tool to be worth working with. When he spend: his strenuous days greppling with hard facts, he becomes impatient of those who “waste” their energies speculat- ing over theories. 1£1 am pro-ud to it, and must an- swer candidly, “cross my heart and tell the truth, honest Injun, now" as I heard a small boy conjuring < companion recently—I shall have t: admit a good deal of sympathy with this feeling. I own up to a tremendous admiration for people who DO THINGS. T feel a real reverence for such men as Edison and Bell and Col- onel Goethals and “Teddy” Roosevelt. When, the other day, T saw the huge Mauretania drive majestically up New York harboer, I experienced a sense of hero worship toward her captain. 1 should, if I had met him, have taken off my hat in token of my respect for the wonderful accomplishment of that bi-monthly but no less marvelous deed of his, in hurling those thousands of tons of “heavier-than-water” steel across the pathless ocean, straight and true as an arrow, to an invisible port But, after all, while it was he who did it, he never could have done it but for the previous dreamings and the- orizings and speculations of numerous star-gazing astronomers who had spent their lives in staring at the heavens and plotting out hypothetical orbits and figuring the altitudes and declina- tions of wheeling planets and twinkling suns, far-sown in the undreamable depths of infinite space. From their silent, dark, quiet observatories came the knowledge which made his mas- tery of his clattering, screw-threshing leviathan possible. Life isn’t all do-ing: & part of it is be-ing. While it isn’'t common sense to set the thinker heavens high above ?e worker, it is not modest for us ragmatists to assume a greater vir- tue for, ourselves than just our fair share.” AccompMshment is more than mere existence; granted; bdut exist- ence myst come first. We must live before we can do the work of live memn. Right_there comes in the trouble wii many of us plain farmer-folks. re so busy doing things that weo ean’t and won't stop to be ourseiver. i know some farmers to whom !ifs is nothing more than a chanze to Wait oa thetr horses and their cows, their corn and their cabbages, their hay-m,~s end their manure heaps. They aphcr an idle moment as natua-e 1S sa‘d to athor a veewum. They sean tn chase therelves across -the days aiic vears ie- lertlessly; cler's so mu.a t> do and so lirtle time to do it; when cne row iz hoed there’s another begin anc they can't stop till that {l done, and then the next, and so on and on till, at last, the hoe handle drops from the Delicately Formed and gently reared, women will find in all the seasons of their lives, as maid- ens, wives and mothers, that the one simple, wholesome laxative remedy, which acts gently and pleasantly and naturally and which may be taken at any time, when the system needs a laxative, with perfect safety and real- ly bemeficial effocts, is Syrup of Figs and Elixir of Senna. It has that true delicacy of flaver which is so refreshing to the taste, that warming and grateful toning to . the stomach which responds so favor- ably to its action and the laxative ef- fect which is so beneficial to the sys- tem whenm, occasionally, its gentle cleansing is required. The genuine, always bearing the nae of the California Fig Syrup Co., druggiste in original packages of one #ize oaly, price 84y ospts =ar bottle. R TR S R His Work. nerveless hands, and they enter on their first and last rest. Men and brethren, what's the use? Cabbage raising isn't the end of life; to have a bigger and better barn isn't the sole object for even a farmer's ex- istence. All that life is for I dom’t profess to know, but one thing it can wisely and properly be used for is the elevation of our own manhood and womanhood. If you are grangers, as I hope you are, you'll have heard some- thing of that sort before. Our farms, our horses, our cattle, our belongings of all sorts are but the tools which we may use to develop our own selves. They are or should be our servants, not our masters. We don’t feed and support our horses for their owa sakes; but for the use they may be to us. I am not here to become slave to even my farm; it is here to furnish me subsistence. Who was the man in the old parable who walked all his life with his face bent downward and his on the ground, so he might not ble bit of gold some one Never mind who he was called; we've all seen his like; men permanently de- formed and neck bowed by their con- stant downward looking, till at last they get so they can’'t look up, even if they want to. All day-time they're peering into the mud, and the night is to them but a time for penance, be- cause the light has failed and they hcan’t see what may be in the slime till it comes again. They do not know or care for the awful glory of the blue vault above them; they never see the serene stars shining overhead; their lives begin and end with the little rood of much trodden soil over which they travel back and forth, digging and grubbing. Of course, we must work to live. No- body denles it; everybody admits it. It doesn’t follow that we live solely to work like slaves at a never-ending, never-to-be-accomplished task. My gardens stretch back from the house over a level area, and I work on them and over them, day by 4 I must do it to get the fuel by which the human engine may be enabled to Tur But I am something more than just an en- gine—a machine. Nor is my farm all gardens. Behind them rises the moun- tain gide;green hilly pasture fields: ab- rupt rocky cl pine plumed knoll yack of all the majestic mountai self, heaving its huge bulk pass athwart the sky-line. stop digging with my at it and take counsel with it? Shall I never lay down the hoe to climb up to the summit and breathe in some thing of the god-like peace and which dwell there? Because my work 1s in the valley shall my never scale the heights! it- vely Shall I never hoe to look up I like corned beef and cabbage, and I must hav: the something as filling and as no g. I also like the trailing arbutus and the hep of early spring, When I've set o cabbage plants why shall I not hour or two off to rest and re: in the woods or by the brook or in any other way which feeds the other side of my nature The language hasn’t words shameful enough to expres ontempt for a‘a. solute do-nothings or women on earth but has a real w l)rl\ to do. He is a despicable shirk if he refuses it, or casts it on another’s shoulders. But that work is not the end and object of life; it is the price for life. Life itself is some- se and something more. It is something which is to be earned by our work and then owned. How ecan one own and master that which owns and rules him? “Take time to live.” better’ to have but little and get all the good there is out of that little than to be a millionaire—and =a bondsman to the millions. It's better to have a small farm and live a full, rounded. manly life on it, than to own thousands of acres and be compelled to give them up all your life in wretched slavery. “Not what we have but what we'are Makes up the sum of living!” THE FARMER. Art Criticism. “I don’t life marble statues,” said the fluffy young thing. “They always ook as if they had a cataract or some- thing of tliat kind the matter with their eyes. Oxalic Acid Removes Ink. One housekeeper removes ink stains from a kitchen floor or cother unvar- nished boards by aprlying strong ox- alic acid, afterward washing well with fresh water. On Deing Good. If I can put one touch of a rosy sun- set into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.—George MacDenaid. All in a Name. Many a young man starting out to conquer the world considers himself an Alexander, when he is in reality but a smart Alec.—Puck. Varying Size of Rain Drops. Government scientists who have been measuring them say rain drops vary in size from the merest speck of water to two inches in diameter. Showing World’s Progress. Only seven metals were known the days of Columbus. 61 in use. in There are now Child Mortality in New York. Thers is a weekly average of 450 deaths in New York city among chil- dren under five years old. No Proof. ~ Just because a man lives like a lord 1s no sign that he isa’'t as mean as the Sariah is worried. Ever since she lost $13 of a Friday, life to her has been a hoodoo! She can’'t tell how it happened. The hired man who thinks the loss of an hour a day is nothing to growl about doesn’t realize that means a loss of 31 days in a year. He'd be wiser if he figured more. The corn that was planted in May is looking down on the corn planted in early April. April planted sweetcorn should wear arctics. Sally Jones used to be one of the sayest and smartest girls in town, but since she discovered her affinity life has been boisterous with her. The man with a glad hand in Sun- day ‘clothes looks like a good fellow until you have handed him your coin for a gold brick; then he looks like just what he is. When the hawks capture eight yvoung turkeys in a day in a brood of twelve, turkey raising cannot be re- garded as real profitable business. The frost is no respecter of persons. It kills the crops of the righteous and lets the unrighteous escape. This shows frosts are controlled by law, not by prayer. Cy Cymbal ought to be ashamed of himself. \He says if Samantha Psalter had not set her cap for an ideal she might have caught a beau. A cheap hqrse i{s an expensive crit- ter for a milk cart. He too often spills the milk in the street. I have no doubt,these fellers who say “if farmers knew imore they'd do bet- ter,” really believe it; but I'd like to see one of them run a farm. The proof is always in the pudding. Parson Dawson’s son, Bob, says he is going to be a bacteriologist because re th is more money in it than in farming. Least beneficial occupations often pay biggest money. Bill Bangs says he could keep his word better if Nancy did not have so many darn chores for him to do. Bill always blames Nancy for his short- comings. So long as hired farm to run by help expect the union rules instead of natural law, there’ll be a big problem for the farmer to solve. Eight hour days are not agricultural. I don’t like these bird-lovers who leave the bars down and let the cows into the farmer’s corn. I feel like set- ting the dog on them. I never blame a city chap who wants a farm to admire for buying one. It is easier to have an inviting place in the country than it is to work it. Parson Dawson says he wishes re- partee was not so often impudence The parson has more college than rural in his makeup. Cymball sa, a great many mean things are said about yellow dogs Nothing can be too derned low tq be lied about. Samantha Psalter has a pair of bantam hens called “the heavenly twins.” They wanted to set so bad she put one egg under each, and they hatched one chicken and they both mother it. She says she never ownec a chicken of such importance before. Bill Bangs’' hound’s ululation makes night an uproar for his neighbors, but Bill says you enjoy the howl if you only think of it as a song. Jack Jason, when he sees anything serious in front of him, gets drunk; drunk a good deal of the time. JOB JOLT. MUSIC AND DRAMA Thomas Dixon has written another play on the race problem, which has named “The Sins of the Father. Consuelo Bailey has taken Marguerite Clark’s part in the New York revival Margaret Anglin is going into com- edy after this season, deserting the tearful drama. Gertrude Quinlan in "“Miss Patsy” will be the opening attraction next sca- son at the Ltberly theater, New York. “Seven Days, !he Nllu‘l\lng farce at the Astor theatre in New York, will be produced in Vienna. Mies Ellen Terry is to appear in New York in three lectures at the Hudson theater on Nov. 3, 10 and 17. A new music_ hall singer, imported from London, whe is expected to make a big success here, is Cissie Curlette, who is represented as a combination of Vesta Tilley and Lucy Weston. Klaw & Erlanger stole a march in securing Sarah Bernhardt for next season. She will play in this country under their management, and will use a repertory of about 10 plays. The Philharmonic society York’s oldest and most cons orchestral organization, signalized the conclusion of its sixty-eighth season by placing itself under the profession- al management of Loudon Chariton, who for the past ten of the most successful America. New rvative The Shuberts announced Wednesday night that the engagement of “The M kado” at the Casino Theater had been extended for two weeks beyond the scheduled length, and the comic opera will continue without change of cast until July 9. Fritz Scheff, who had planned a trip to japan for the summer has consented to delay her vacatio and the other members of the company have agreed to remain for the extra two weeks. Hans Robert and Eva Williams have been added to the cast of Up and Down Broadway,” with Eddie Fo Brmma Carus and Gussie Holl. This is the new summer revue which is to follow the all-star revival of “The Mi- kado” at the Casino Theater and which is being rehearsed under the direction n J. Wilson. Father’s Rights. Ir¥ 2 man thinks he has any rights about bis home, let him disapprove of the young man his daughter has dragged in.—Atchison Globe. First Woolen Clotn. The first woolen cloth made in Eng- land was manufactured about 13 though cloth was not dved and dressed by Englishmen until 1667. A palent has been granted for an attachment to rocking chairs to oper- ate a fan 0 asal 1 Aecmasnia, THREE PRIZES MONTHLY: third. Award made the last Saturday $2.50 to first; $1.50 to second; OIM to in each month, EVERY WOMAN’S OPPORTUNITY. The Bulletin wants good home let ful letters of any kind the mind may Wednesday of each week. Write on b Address, SOCIAL CORNER EDIT! ters, good business leiters; suggest. They should be in ut one side of the paper. OR, Bulletin Office, Norwich, Conn. help- nd by LETTERS SHOULD BE SIGNED. We are glad to welcome to the Social Corner this week letter-writers from Nebraska and New Jersey; and also one from Hartford. The interest in the Corner is grow We have omitted several unsigned ing and the spirit of it is inviting. letters this week. The real name must accompany each letter, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith. No one knows the real names will not be disclosed where a pen-name to print it will appear.—EDITOR SOCIAL CORNER, Motherhood. Social Corner Editor: From far off New Jersey I come to enter your Social corner. May I enter. Your visitors I see have written on several subjects—I would write a few lines on Motherhood. If through your columns you might awaken in some of our young women a deeper love and respect for the pleasures and responsibilities of Motherhood, what a vast amount of good you might dc- complish. So many of our young women m’ to- day are Jooking at the one si of Motherhood. the one where they see all the work, the self denial, the suf- fering. But, girls, there 1{s another side. That dainty little bundle all your own to fondle, and in such a short time to return your caress. Then a little while and little pattering feet to run mother’s errands; and again a little, when perhaps the financial bur- den is heavy, a help to lift that bur- den; and then—a comfort in declin- ning years; and now, right here, a word to those of us who have parents still with us, may we never fail in gi ing to them the affection and comfort that is their due. What more blessed heritage could be ours, than an un- sullied name and Godly training by christian parents. All honor to parenthood. “Better than gold is a veacgeful home, Where all the fireside charities come,— Thbn_lhrlne of love and the heaven of life, Hallowed by mother, or sister or wife; However humbile the home may be, Or tried with sorrow, by Heaven's de- cree, The blessings that never were bought or soid, And centre there, are better than gold!” CATHERINE LOCKE., Camden, N. J. Good Cheap Cake. Editor Social Corner: I send ceipt for goo@® cheap cake: —2 eg 1 cup sugar; 3% cup of mil 1 «un of flour: 1 teaspoon butter; 1 level tea- spoonful cream tartar; iz teaspoonful soda. Scald the milk and melt the butter in it. Cream the eggs and sugar, then add the flour into which the cream tartar and soda have been sift- ed, mix all together thoroughly, then over the mixture pour the scalding milk, and beat well. Bake in two layers. . Filling for cake: 1-3 cup butter; 1 cup powdered sugar; 2 teaspoons re- cocoa. Cream together and flavor with 4 teaspoons cold coffee, 1-2 teaspoon vanilla. M. E. H. Hartford. Another Out-of-Door Being. Editor Social Corner: Here is an- other outdoor being that is glad, with | Recluse, to be allve. That is, I am as much of an out-door being as it is possible for me to be, and do all the housework and sewing for a large fami My plan is to remove to the porch or lawn everybit of work that can possibly be done there, and sleep h open ndeows at night. If the Social Corner Sisters will try doing more of their work out of doors, they will be surprised to find that much of the so-called drudgery may be made a pleasure; and instead of tearing down the constitution will build it up This I know by experience. It is no zuess work with me, for many times I have done work out-doo that T never could have done in a heated kitchen. My sympathy goes out to the woman who must do housework and have no porch or shade tree to flee to for a refuge; and the poor little chil- dren of those same mothers who must play in the house with the same play- things that they have used all win- ter, or brave the dangers of the hot and dusty street, while our own chil- dren are romping In the fields, or quiet- 1y sleeping under the big shade trees. Oh, how I wish that I was able, or that some one else who was, would buy a few of these abandoned home- steads, and fit them up for summer homes for the mothers and children that would not otherwise get away from the ecity. May those of us, es- pecially those who have the care of small children be truly grateful for our pleasant homes in the country: and let us draw nearer to nature and nature’s God. I want to speak of just one other matter, then I will take my leave, or else none will want me to come into the Corner again. The head of our house is aw! at noon, so we pack our luncheon and proceed to some pleasant spot on the farm to eat it. One can go to a different place nearly eviry day in the week. Remember to save the nearby places for days when one is unusually tired, or in a hurry. When this plan is followed the din room may be put in order immedia after breakfast and requires little if any attention until dinner is served in the evening. More work is saved than made by thus departing from the regu- lar routine and it brings so wmuch pleasure to the children. With besl wishes for the long life of the Social Corner, from one who enjovs the Cor- ner very much, <L‘Bl RBANITE. Keep Out The FI Editor Social Corner: We enjoy the Corner much, with its many helps and hints. I will send a few that some voung housekeeper may find helpful It requires an amount of perseverance to keep a house free from flieg, but the comfort of it when accomplished Iis worth the effort to secure it. The screens should be put in early— the back door should not be forgotten. The cellar windows should also be screened. Do not leave the siop pail at the backdoor unless it has been scalded and dried. See that no food is left where flies can light upon. it, and that the table is cleared as soon as the meal is over, and the crumbs swept up. If the table must wait for some late comer, cover with two breadths of cheese-cloth sewed together. There i no room in the house where it is niwre important to keep the flies out than the dining room. A mosquito netting portiere will be foundg of seérvice in the door leading from the dining-room to the kitchen. It will take from two and a half to three vards of netting., the length of the doorway, with @ deep hem at the bottom- of the writers but the Editor—they is appended. Where the name is sent Into the hem sew small marbles, enough to weigh it sufficiently to keep it in place, then run a shirr at the top to accommodate a curtain stick, fasten over the doorway on the side where the door does not open, Stafford. HOUSEKEEPER. A Surpr Shower. Editor Social Corner: To entertain a bride a pretty idea was carried out once, by the friends of a young couple. The affair was of the nature of a “Surprise Shower,” each guest provid- ed as a little gift, a certain article for the work bag, such as tape, cottonm, scissors. and so forth, A charming flowered cretonne bag was fitted up with all the gifis, and to the bag was attached a card with the following lines: Here's to the bride. In your life may there lurk just as much pleas- ure as this holds of work. Bright as a pin be your future, my dear, small as its point may your sorrow ‘appear. May your horizon with rose tints be lit; some < ds are crowshade, may yours all be wit. Here are some hints that I'd just like to name: Darning Hub's socks saves his darning the same. This is no yarn which I'm try- ing to spin, 'twixt you and Hubby have none button in. Love's llke a needle— true steel and bright shined, Needles have one eye and love is quite blind. Here, then, i luck! May your joy ever grow. Don't have things sew-sew; but all things just sew. Graclous! 'Od Bodkins! and shiver my pins! When a girl's married her life just begine. CUPID. Cross Not the Bridge Before You Get There. Editor Social Corner: How many people ther o cross the bridge before they ach it, and make moun- tains of molehills, which would never be noticed by th who take the world as it Is. Worry and fret will kil any one sooner than hard work. It will | put wrinkles in the face which can never be removed, and turn the hair white for the grave. There are some who never look for trouble and are bound to look on the bright side. Some vears ago we had a boy live with us who made the best of life, aithough he was young in years. On the fingers of one of his hands he had a number of large warts. One day he was run- ning the cutting machine at the barn to cut hay for the horses, much agadnsi our wishes_when he accidentally cut off three of his fingers. As we were taking him to the doctor’sgto have T hand dressed, he remarked: ‘“Gee ‘hat is the way to get rid of your warts!” He was like Bridget, who saw her husband fall from a tree while pick- ing apples and break his leg. She ran to him and sal “Pat, T am so sorry—how much better it would have been if you had broken your neck and not had to suffer!” The bright side is the best for us all. Fretting and worrying is a hab- it like smoking, only worse, and should not be cultivated. Life is about what we make it. We can travel along a path of roses a large portion of our lives. or we can go along the path of thorns and make ourselves miserable and make it very unpleasant for our friends. June is the month for roses, and those who have formed the habit of fretting over little trials of life, should look on the heautifu]l roses and make a vow that there will be roses in the home 1 in the paths of life mor than once yvear-—the month of June We are as much Interested in the Soclal Corner as ever, while we do not write weekly, as we see the young peo ple are writing letters and we will give them the sgpace. We will say t« the young writers. Keep on sending letters to the Social Corner. Tt will be a good school for you. We on Knew a boy who wrotée a story for a New York paper just for the spoct of writing, and to his surprise he re- ceived a check for $300 for his trou- ble. RURAL DELIVERY Danielson. Nice Tested Recipes. Editor Social Corner: Our fam enjoy. the Social Corner immensely a on Saturday morning it is the first sectio of the paper that we want to look at. I am sending you a few recipes that if given a trial I think will be re- peated. A recipe that will produce a delicious confection: Put‘into a saucepan a cup- ful of sugar, one-half cupful of milk, one-half cupful of broken chocolate. the yolk of an egg and a teaspoonfu of vanilla. Beat the mixture well and place on the stove until it begins to boil and become smooth, but do not let it become too thick. Then set it away to cool. While cooling, beat one- half cupful of butter until it becomes creamy: add one cupful of sugar, two aten eggs, one-half cupful of ich a scant teaspoonful of soda has been dissolved, two cupfuls of flour and lastly the cooled mixture Bake in four tins in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. When rthe cakes are cooled spread over and between the sheets icing made as follows: Boil two cupfuls of granulated sugar with one-quarter cup of twater for five minutes: beat the whites of two eggs to a froth and pour the hot syrup upon them, beating all the while until well mixed. The icing may be used at once. Pin a piece of stiff writing paper around the cake if you do not dish to frost the sides. Neapolitan Cream Cake: The fol- lowing is a recipe that I am sure has never been published. While the foundation is not original, the putting togetner and naming of the cake is, #nd has been pronounced a decided hit by those who have tried it. iwlf cup of butter, beat add ohe cup sugar, two-thir cup of milk, one and two-thirds cups of flour, oue-half cup of cornstarch, quarter teaspoonful of seds, one L teaspoouful of cream tartar, one- quarter wspoonful almond extract an the whites of three eggs. Divide thi mixture inte {hree parts, leav white, and tw one of the othe add a little pink color paste, to rep- resent the strawberry, and to the other a little brown color paste, to represent the chocolate. Bake in three bread pans that are the same size, top and bottom. When c¢ooled. make a pistachio filling a3 follows: Two cups of confectioner's paste, to give a icate gree Before the coloring matter is added, spread a little of the lcing over two of the cakes so that when cut they will not eeparate, and on the top spread this filling, making about one- eighth of an inch thick. This is a very nice fancy cake and when cut looks much like the mixed ice cream. There has been published some very nice recipes. I would like to see more even if we do not all win a prize. I cut out the recipes that I think good and paste them into a blank book. call it my Social Corner Recipe Book and T consider it a prize in itself. O¢f course, T do not keep all that are pub.- lished—only what I call, the choic ones. ‘Wishing success to the Social Cor- ner, JUANITA. Why Have Any Stale Bread? Editor Social Corner: Though an exile from home, T still get my news of the great world, largely from The Courier, I find much entertainment and always some new ldeas from the Social Gorner. The bright and inspiring Arethusa “'Cleanlines, referred to the saying: is next to godline: 1 would like to and verse, The spirit of it is cer! there, and the sanitary laws of we moderns would be healthier for keeping. Old proverbs we often take for granted are in the Rible The Jetter about “stal, many expensive recipes for saving it which cost far more than the bread. And so I ask, “Why have any, stale bread ?” ‘Why not be like the boy in the ad. eating his favorite breakfast food and explaining to his dog waiting for the leavings, “There ain't going to be any leavings.” Of course, | mean as & general rule. The ecrust is the best part of the hread; and dry bread, if sweet, 18 healthful, NEBRASKA. The Phoebe. Editor Social Corn Sitting uader the old apple tree as I write I watch the birds building their summer homes and listen to their singing and little talk among themselves. Among the earliest birds of the spring 3 the be, 1 suppose all our count: readers are familiar with the volce this it tle favorite. It seems to have a kind of sociable spirit as though it woulM call attention to itself and ask for éur kindness and good will. Phoebes are fond of building their nests near our dwellings. I know one pair that for several years have built on a beam {in a buil@ing that was little used, He =tands outside watching flies and pip- ing his gentle cry of “pheb h‘. He is called a fly catcher. re other birds that are called g olx ers, but these have a partioular wey of doing It. They sit on a tree of shrub until a fly approaches, then dart after it and return to their perch. They seem to become attached » a spot where they have nested and re- turn to it every year, but never In occupy the old nest, for I notice they build a new one by the side of it next vear, until there is a row of them. What a vast amount of time and pa- tience! It seems to me that boys are net so cruel to_ the dear birds as in deys past, I used to think boys were dreadful when I saw them aften throwing stones at birds. to injure them and perhaps kill them. I Bepe at least they have given up thet erue! habit ARETHUSA. Brooklyn, A Help and a Hint. Editor Social Corner: Hawve been reading the Social Corner letters this morning, and cannot resist the tempta- tion of writing one. In my family we use a great deal of outing flannel fore 1'hit on this plan we bad & beg full of odds and ends of all kinds nf outing flannel. Now 1 always buy white, and I find it & great -nlng where it takes four yards to make one garment—two can be made from sev- en yards—there is ne waste, as the smallest scrap can be used, and It ean be scalded with the other clothes, no danger of fading, alwavs white, This seems to be a Help One Anoth- er corner as well as Social Corner. What would help one another more than a change of air and surrounfmg for a few days’ visit with ons of the country cousing, and what would be nicer than to have one of our country cousins visit nearer the city for a few days affer the tiresome season of can- ping and preserving. VEIL. Norwieh. Something New—Halley’s Comet! Editor Social Corner: Twenty ears ago 1 heard it—and ever since it has lived—this saying: What's new? but, truthfully speaking, evervthing is nld—only dressed up In a different eol- or or style, Just keep one guessing and you have him Iinterest the old-fashion grab bag at the fe tival—it takes, I had two or thr walnut rods that had been used on the stairs to keep the carpet in place. I awed them into four and one-half inch lengths, and after cleaning them, them round with some left crust, pinched the edges to- gr-thnr wet my finger and smoothed seam down, stood them en end in pie- tn and baked light brown. After thay were done I reinoved the stick and fll- ed the tubes with fine chopped eat, well seasoned and puta stuffed e in one end. T then placed them on top of a mount of hot mashed potatoes, aving the ends of the tubes touch in he center, and apart at the outer edge: placing two or three olives or a nolled egg. slashed part way down, so 15 to show the volk a little in the cen- ter. Radish can be used instead of olives, T have named the dish Hal- le comet, as our folks look for it quite often. J BT Yant Soap from Banana Skins. Banana ekins are utilized in soap- making on the west coast of Africa. The skins are rich in alkall, so they are burned to an ash, and this mixed with water and palm oil goes to make a cleanser which is in demand among the whites as well as the natives. A Prayer, Let us congratulate each other upon seeing the dawn of this year also, and let us unitedly pray that we enter upon it, continue in it, and come to its close under the unfailing blessing of the Lord to whom all years belong— Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Be Cheerful. Cheerfulness is a.matter of birth and education. If you want to be cheerful, you can be so by learning to smile. A sluggish liver pulls down the corners of the mouth as soon as a mountain of trouble, Monetary. When we hear a girl refer to her dresses and shoes as frocks and boots, we know ber father {8 making more money than he used to~—Ohio Stute Journal, Uncle Allen, “I've noticed,” remarked Uncle Allen Sparks, “that the fellow whe really swears off from his bad habits lonn't #0 around advertisiag i beforehand.”