Loading...
Zurich Herald, 1919-09-05, Page 2Efficiency Test for Homemaker. To Mrs. T. Q. Franks a Medal has been awarded as America's best home -maker. Hero .is the efficiency test which she would submit to every housekeeper to' answer: 1. Do you consider you occapation of housewife a profession of which you are proud and to whit:, you bring your most intelligent at.ention? 2. Do you and your husband regard yourselves as business partners, shar• ing a knowledge of the family finances and prospects, and co-operate in spending your income wisely? 3. Have you a stated amount to ex- pend on food, operating expenses, furniture, recreation etc? 4. Have you a personal bank ac- count for the income entrusted to you, and do you handle bills and other communications systematically and promptly? 5. Have you a cost keeping system which is a complete record of every day's expenditures? Can you give a yearly or monthly statement of what you have spent and how? 6. Is your house planned through- out on sanitary, economic principles, both for yourself and for all others within it? Are the heating, ventilat- ing and lighting systems up to the maximum in quality and quantity and down to the minimum cost? 7. Have you accurate knowledge of all labor-saving devices applicable to your household, supplying all you can afford? Is the work of your house. intelligently planned, so that each worker has a clear idea of individual respo.tsibilities and a reasonable time of reit? 8. Have you ^ practical knowledge of cooking? Of economical buying, stock -taking and the balanced ration? 9. Have you taken all passible pre- cautions against fire, thievery and other dangers to the house? Have you a complete inventory of all your household belongings? 10. Have you compared all your housekeeping methods, in detail, with those of at least a dozen wemen of ;fimiler incomes and circumstances? Are you willing to be told that your methods might be improved by such practical housekeepers?: by an em- ploye?—by an expert? In marking yourself on this test, allow 10 for each question, giving yourself a fair percentage if you can- not fairly claim the entire 10 points. Add results for your total percentage of 100, or "perfect." To Serve Corn. How to Boil Corn—Husk the ears, remove the silk with a vegetable brush so it will all come off. Have water boiling and boil corn rapidly for five minutes. Remove from water at once and place on a plate which has been covered with a napkin, and bring the ends up so the corn will be covered. Do not add salt and do not let the ears stand in the water. Serve at once. When Boiling Corn in Husk—Re- move a few of the outer husks, then turn the inside ones back; remove the silk carefully; bring back the husks, and tie. Boil same as above. This adds to the sweetness of the corn. Escalloped Corn -2 cups grated fresh corn, % cup fresh breadcrumbs, 3:2 cup milk, 1 tablespoon butter, a little pepper, 1 egg. Mix corn with milk, ;seasoning and well -beaten egg. Brush earthen bakedish with butter. Pour in mixture and cover top with buttered crumbs, Bake 30 minutes in moderate oven. To butter crumbs, put butter an pie tin. When melted, add the crumbs and shake until the crumbs have all been touched with butter. Scrambled Corn and Eggs -1 cup grated fresh corn, 3 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon finely cut green pepper, 1 tablespoon butter, dripping; or oil. % teaspoon salt. Put the corn, pep» per and half the milk on in saucepan and cook 5 minutes. Beat the eggs and half cup of milk until light; add to corn and cook slowly, stirring con- stantly until set. Add butter and salt; serve on thin slices of toast. Pepper can be omitted and parsley or celery tops used instead. for the experiences of the men who went over will continue to, interest us for a long time to cane. Later on, the main social meetings may be supplemented by soil study clubs, corn clubs, or fruit andorchard study clubs, .:f you are in a fruit dis- trict. Domestic science and bread - making clubs are suitable for every. type of school community. Parents ar#d_ . pupils both become interested in these clubs and will- soon be compet- ing for the same eriees.., Do not try to have contests without prizes or ribbons, or you will lose much of the interest. If your organization is vig- orous enough to support at least two of the clubs suggested, you will have no trouble in making up $2, $3, or even $5 purses. The high school classes in English, civics or public speaking, can be asked torwork up debates and amateur plays, 1� home talent play and an occasional debate can be arranged to be given by the patrons. 'Ibis gives the teach- er of public speaking an opportunity to help, and nothing " quite equals a home-t'alent play for bringing out an interested audience. A small ad- mission fee will cover expenses, If there is a balance, it can. be used for prizes. We are now facing the grave prob- lems of reconstruction. Producers are an important economic force in this question of supply and demand. Why not have your community' organ- ized from this social centre arid' be ready to make a study of your part as a constructive unit. What Your Rural School May Lack. Are you satisfied with the returns from your rural school? You have probably been paying increasing taxes in order to have better teachers, new courses and perhaps a new school building. If your school is the cen- tralized type, the up -keep has been as great as in the city school; but the central school has been found the most practical 'system for the present-day rural needs, giving city educational advantages to a certain degree. As an educational centre, the well - organized rural school fulfils its obli- gation to the pupil, but does not give the fullest possible return to those who support it. The stage is all set for some one to work out this lacking benefit, and it may be your school that is waiting to be made the social centre of your community. The first move in the development of the school as a social centre is to organize bi-montnly or monthly meet- ings for social gatherings. Call on your county agent or home demon- stration agent to furnish a talk at the first meeting. Secure some talent, from amontakyour friends for the am- usement ° sof the, program Do not expect the teachers to work up the program of activities; the chances are that they are as busy as you are, if not busier. You should, however, call upon them for co-opera- tion, for" in such affairs it is advisable to combine interests and share respon- sibilities. There need be no fear as to lack of interest on the part of the teachers, for they are always inter- ested in things social or educational. One of the best ways to arouse interest in a community gathering is to arrange a meeting, and have for a speaker one of the local boys who has been in the service. If this is not possible, ask a soldier from a neigh- boring town or city to speak. Adver- tise this feature and your assembly hall will be crowded. Invite a boy who has not been so fortunate as to be sent overseas to tell the audience about cantonment organization. Learning the value of organization will, in itself, be helpful in building up your community work. After you are organized, ask every returned soldier in your community to speak, The Cup T hat Cheers Tea is the dried leaf of a plant, originally cultivated in China, but now grbwit extensively in India, Ceylon and Japan, and to a very small extent In the United States. It has no food Same in itself, for it is a pure stimu- lant, and as such is injurious unless used in moderation. Tea, and coffee have virtually the same effect on the body, and owe their stimulating pro- perties to the same chemical sub- stance, though it is called theine when it appears in tea and caffeine when it appears in coffee. This substance, which we may as well call by its more common name, caffeine, is pre- sent in the proportion of about three or four per cent, in tea and one and one half to two per cent. in coffee, Since we use a larger amount of cof- fee than of tea to make a cupful, the quantity of caffeine in a cupful of cof- fee about equals the quantity in a cup- ful of tea. Caffeine is similar in chemical com- position and in stimulating properties —as well as in its power to bring about injurious effects --to creatine, wli.ich is present in beef tea. Judging by the fact that nearly everyone drinks either tea or coffee, it is prob- able that, except in unusual cases, a moderate amount of caffeine taken daily does no special harm. Those who preach against the use of those beverages a9sert, however, that they contribute to the disturbances attri- buted to an excess of uric acid in the blood—high blood pressure, rapid pulse, headache, vertigo, insomnia, rheumatic pains and disease of the kidneys. One effect of tea or coffee taken with meals is to retard diges- tion, which is not always undesirable, as it prolongs the "staying power" of a meal; but when digestion is poor, often no benefit results from treat- ment until the patient ceases entirely the use of tea and coffee. We best appreciate the benefit of tea as a stimulant if we take it in the afternoon when our energy has begun to flag a little; then a cup of weak tea, without food, will give us renewed strength to finish the day's work. Two small cupfuls taken an hour or two apart will do more good than one large cupful; but in Canada few of its seem to have the time for even 'one cupful, although it would perhaps be better for some of us if we took a few minutes early in the afternoon for the cup that cheers, rather than to wait until later when we are fagged. Tea should be poured off the leaves very quickly; most persons let it sterid too long, and thus extract too much of the caffeine as well as of tannin. It is a curious fact that the tea habit, or its equivalent in coffee, cola, Paraguay tea, or guarana, is al- most world-wide. Caffeine is a far nearer universal form of stimulant than alcohol, A Dazzling Total. Nothing less than :a White Paper has been issued in England in which' an attempt has been made to 'total up the number of articles of clothing and surgical comforts made by the Sister Susies for sick and wounded soldiers "under the Army Council's scheme, and Sir Edward Ward finds that the number turned out meshed the amazing total of 88,000,000; the workers who achieved it totalled -400,- 000. The Director -General pays tri- bute in the paper to "the noble self- sacrifice of the great band of work- ers at home." A LOVER WHO WAS ABSENT-MINDED. A great many stories have been told of the extreme absent-mindedness of learned men, but none is more amus ing than that told of Ludwig Brugge- • mann, whose vivid imagination helped to put him in a very emrlg situation. Bruggemann, a scholar, who was in 1817 a councillor of the consistory it Stettin, had gpt some reputation by his clever work with statistics. For many years he had been a widower, and since he found single life lonely, he began to look round for a wife. When the thought of marrying again first came to him, he immediately con- fided it to one of his friends. The lat- ter gave •.him every encouragement, and even went so far as to mention a certain charming little widow, who was certainly attached to him; and would make him a most devoted wife. That night Bruggman went to bed in a happy state of mind, thinking of the lovely widow. In his dreams he stili saw her, and even proposed to her. Did she refuse? How could shel And he spent the remainder of the. night dreaming of the happiness `they would enjoy as man and wife. When he awoke, it was a glorious Sunday morning. He dressed .him- self in his best and wasted no time in handing to the minister the announce- ment of his engagement, to be read in due form at the morning service. The announcement was made without a question. Hardly had the words been uttered when a little scream was heard in the rear of the church; the widow, shocked at hearing herself so unexpectedly disposed of, had fallen in a swoon. The blunder could never be satis• factorily explained, and the visionary engagement remained visionary. The lady might not have refused an honor- able proposal from the councilor, but she never could be convinced that he had not'inade intentional game of her. An Immense Flower. The largest of all the flowers of the world is said to be the rafflesia, a na- tive of Sumatra, so called after Sir Stamford Raffles. This immense flower, it appears, is composed of five round petals of a brickish color, each measuring a foot across. These are covered with numerous irregular yel- lowish white swellings. The petals surround a cup nearly a foot wide, the margin of which bears the stamens. The cup of the rafflesia is filled with a fleshy disk, the up- per surface of which is covered with projections like miniature cows' horns. The cup when free from its contents will hold about twelve pints. The flower weighs about fifteen pounds and is very thick, the petals being three-quarters of an inch. It is better to be brought up on porridge and milk in the country than on tea and sugar and jam in the town. -Peter M'Intyre. -44:. 4. 0 .'. at * Ntt auras 310,,D it+11#y93 iy'd34 3)3r, Fainting. Painting is a sudden weakness or loss of consciousness owing to a trans- itory failure in the circulation of the blood and the consequent anaemia of the brain. For some unexplained reason, fainting is not so common as it used to be in the early Victorian and mid-Victorian era. It may be be- cause it is the' fashion at present to wear corsets that do not greatly con- strict the waist, or because young wo- men live much more in the open air than they used to. In an attack of fainting the person becomes dizzy and sometimes nause- ated, his sight;feils, his face is pale and often covered with a cold per- spiration, his pulse is rapid and very feeble, and finally the sufferer falls and becomes unconscious. In a few minutes consciousness gradually re- turns, and after a brief moment of confusion, full consciousness and strength return and recovery is com- plete. Because a young woman does not fall heavily but chooses a "soft spot" and sinksegently into it is no reason for believing that she is sham- ming,—feinting instead ofofainting,— for there are always premonitory symptoms that a person who has once fainted recognizes as a warning. When fainting occurs in young adults it is not necessarily cause for alarm, unless the person is known to have disease of the heart or unless the attacks recur with great fre- quency. In the litter case there is a possibility or even probability that the person is suffering from the mild form of epilepsy known as petit mal. It occasionally happens thattthe heart does not recover its strength; after an attach of fainting its beats grow weaker and weaker until death occurs. That is more likely to happen in the old, however, and is extremely rare in the young or in healthy adults. Since the faint is owing to lack of blood in the brain, the first thing to do is to place the sufferer at full length with his head lower than his body if possible, and then to loosen the clothing about his waist and neck in order to allow for free circulation. Sprinkling his face with cold water and bathing the temples with eau de Cologne or brandy will often help. If the patient is able to swallow, you may give him half a teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammoni in :half a glass of water, or a cupful of hot black coffee. The windows should be opened and air brought to the patient by fanning. Smelling salts should be used very cautiously, as too strong a whiff would be far from beneficial. If those measures do not prevail in a short time, you should summon a physician, for the condition may prove to be something much more serious than a faint. • THE BIRD'S EYE MAPLE. Theories as to the Manner of Growth . of This Beautiful Wood. What makes the bird's eye maple? That is a question which is often asked when a beautiful piece of fur- niture made of this wood is display- ed. There have been a number of theories, but the real reason is sim- ple. The favorite theory has been that sap -suckers, by pecking holes through the bark of young maples, make scars which produce the bird's-eye figure in the wood during successive years. Bird -pecked hickory is often cited as an analagous case, yet who ever saw bird's-eye figures in hickory, though the bark may have been perforated like a collender by the bilis of ener- getic sap -suckers? The effect in the case of hickory is the opposite of bird's-eye in maple; the wood is dis- colored and unsightly. Some attri- bute it to the action of frost, but no such connection between cause and effect has been shown to exist. The explanation of the phenomenon is simple, and a person with a good magnifying glass can work it out for himself. The bird's-eye figure is pro- duced by casual or abnormal buds which have their origin under the bark of the trunk. The first buds of that kind may develop when the tree is quite small. They are rarely able to force tlieir way through the bark and become branches, but they may live years under the bark, growing in length as the trunk increases in size, but seldom appearing on the outside of the bark. If one such bud dies, an- other will likely rise near it and con- tinue the irritation which produces the fantastic growth known as bird's- eye. It is said the Japanese produce arti- ficial bird's-eye growth in certain trees by inserting buds beneath the bark. The 'Field Musoum, Chicago, has a sample of what is claimed to be artifically produced bird's-eye wood from Japan, A new form of swing for children consists of a car that runs back and forth on a semi -circular track. *.i �@;`�'i�t�'R,,a'C"r'.•'f,i�''to'7:•^6.;`�f?t7,'F�,:�t�:a'"�, t'�iii IN TEN YEARS , ill.i'1':,•'t+?• 'o:to-,: A'? fA :' i22r;Ye k' i ftp, ;' '?c4ta "Mother," said TIester Fulton, "1 have about decided that Pin a failure as far as trying to be a Christian is amount to • $744.20 concerned. I try and try, but I don't But if invested in our air% seem to come anywhere near my Debentures will amount to.. $860.20 ideals• r feel like giving the whole Write for Booklet. The Great West Permanent Loan Company. Toronto Office 20 King St. West 500 Dollars if invested at 3% wil!.ainount to $697.75 If invested at 4%, interest' Com- pounded quarterly, will Too Slow. "Please, mother says these matches won't strike!" From behind.his counter the grocer looked down on the child with the air of an insulted saint. "Won't strike?" he .said." "Why, look here!" And he struck one on his leg. The child departed home to tell his mother of the mistake she had made. But in a very short time he was back at the shop with the matches, which he laid on the counter with. an air of finality. "Mother says come and strike trousers!" They used to hang horse thieves, but the man who steals an automobile generally gets off with a parole. she hasn't time to matches on your STORMYaNDOW5 &BOORS QIZES to suit your twai u . - Fitted with slaw. Safe de. livery puahntecd. Write for Price List iT'l• Cut down foci * bills. Insure winter comfort. The HALLIDAV COMPANY, Limited HANM.TON VACTORT OISTRIOVTOR6 CANADA E have numerous inquiries fro m prospective purchasers for Western Farm Lands. Send full particulars of your land to UNION TRUST COMPANY LIMITED Winnipeg, Man. MCCRIMMON'S MOUTH WASH , A Universal Mouth Antiseptic for Pyorrhea and Sore Gum:. MCCRIMMON'S TOILET WATER A Stainless Antiseptic th a t Assures Perfect Daintiness. MCCRIMMON'S' BARBERS' ANTISEPTIC • (non -perfumed) A Valuable Face Lotion for Tender Skins. MCCRnoN'S DISINFECTANT and DEODORANT A Powerful Odorless Germ- icide that Instantly Absorbs All Other Odors. MADE IN CANADA Compounded Solely by McCrimmon's Chemicals, Limited Phone M. 5877 29 RICHMOND •ST, EAST TORONTO, ONT. thing up." "The danger with young people, Hester," said her mother, "is to set up absolute standards for themselves, and to call anything less failure. As you grow older you'll learn that failure is a relative thing. You young falks talk in .superlatives most of the time. But life will weather down these jagged cliffs of judgment." "But haven't I failed if I haven't reached my ideals?" Hester asked. "Everyone who has ideals fails in that sense of the word," replied her mother. • "But which is better, to set your ideals so low that you can easily reach them, or so high that, although you far outreach a low ideal, you do not attain the higher? You know the old saying, 'Not failure, but low aim, is crime.' It is always a sorrowful thing to see a person whose fortune is as big as his heart and whose . dreams are always within reach of fulfillment. When a person has ideals that are never satisfied, he is facing an inevitable failure that really means success." "Yes; but I don't get done what I want to do," replied Hester, "and surely that is failure." "There again you are ' mistaken, dear. There is no failure when you are doing your best. You may not be producing the result that you expect ed. But your effort is producing a result of its own, which, in the provi- dence of God, may be better than the one you intend. Don't you remember how Browning put it? "Not on the vulgar mass Called work must sentence pass, Things done that took the eye and had the prime; * * * * But all the world's coarse thumb And finger failed to plumb, So passed in making up the main account: All instincts immature, All purposes unsure, That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's amount: Thoughts hardly to be packed Into a narroew act, Fancies that broke through language, and escaped: All I could never be, All, men ignored in nae, This I was worth to God; whose wheel the pitcher shaped. "To God, my dear, the ideal is the real, the intentional is the actual. Thoughts must be things to Him, and purposes nobly striven for credited for deeds done, or else men are being mocked who dream in marble but must build in mud, think in gold but must give in brass, feel in scarlet but -must act in fustian. But I like to think that it is with us as with David, when he was disappointed in building the temple, and God comforted him by telling him, 'Thou digest well that it was in thine heart.' Don't get to thinking in ultimate terms too quick. ly about life, my dear. There are not so many finalities in life as you young folks think. Remember the old say- ing, 'Man's periods are God's com- mas.' " The Scheme That Failed. The young lawyer had just opened his new office, where the paint was hardly dry. Hearing a step outside, and seeing a man's form through the glass of the deter, he stepped over to the brand-new telephone and, taking down the receiver, assumed the ap- pearance of being in deep conversa- tion. "Very well, Mr. Allen," he was say- ing, as the visitor entered. "I'll attend to that government work all right, al- though I'm frightfully rushed just now. Overwhelmed with cases. . Quite right. . . Oh, yes, • . Certainly. . Good -by," Hanging up the receiver, he turned to his visitor, hoping to see him duly imiiressed. "Excuse me for interrupting you, sir," said the stranger apologetically, "I've just come along to connect up the telephone." Pass the Salt. Two reporters were boasting of the speed of their shorthand writing. "Whenever I, am reporting a meet- ing on a warm evening, all the people try to get near to my table." "Why?" asked the other. "Because," said the penpusher, "any hand goes so fast that it creates a current of air like a fan." "A mere nothing," said No. 2 "I always have to report on wet paper, or else the current of air caused by the movement of my hand would blow it away. Besides, the paper has to be wetted very few minutes, because the friction caused by the rapid move. ments of my arms would set fire to it in no time."