Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 113, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1918 — Page 2

The Housewife and the War

(Special Information Service. United States Department of Agriculture.) A FIRELESS COOKER FOR THE WARM DAYS

Material Needed for Making a Fireless Cooker.

FIRELESS COOKER IS EASILY MADE

Used With Kerosene Stove as Starter Kitchen Is Made More Habitable. TIME AND FUEL ARE SAVED Device I* Warm Weather Comfort In Any Household—Food May Be Left Cooking Without Any Worry as to the -Results. The tireless cooker is a warm weather comfort in most any kitchen. Used in conjunction with a kerosene stove, it means not only economy in fuel but it makes the kitchen a more habitable place when the warm days coine. Fireless cookers are now being made and used in hundreds of homes in town and country. What is more pleasing to the housekeeper than to put her dinner in the tireless cooker before she goes to town or market and to find it ready for serving when she returns? Advantages of Cooker. The fireless cooker offers several advantages. The first is economy of time, as the housekeeper may leave the food cooking without worrying about the result while she is engaged in other household duties or while she is away from home. Some foods are improved by long cooking at relatively low temperature. The texture and flavor of tougher cuts of meats, old, tough fowl and ham arpUmproved by slow cooking. Cereals and dried legumes and dried fruits are more palatable and wholesome when cooked for a long time. Soups and stews are delicious when cooked in the cooker. Raking, however, cannot be done very conveniently and satisfactorily in the ordinary homemade tireless cooker. Economy of Fuel. In some sections of the country economy of fuel must be an important consideration. The food for the cooker may be started on a wood or coal range when the morning meal is being prepared. The food to be cooked is first heated to boiling point on the stove in the cooking vessel and then this vessel, covered with a tight lid, is quickly placed in the cooker where the cooking continues. The cooker is so constructed that the heat does not escape. For long cooking it is necessary to place in the cooker under the cooking vessel a hot radiator A soapstone is the best radiator and can be purchased at most hardware stores at 50 cents. A stove lid, a brick, or disk made of concrete, heated and placed in the cooker, may serve as the radiator. When Cooking by Fireless. 1 Don’t let the food or disk cool before you put them in the tireless. The food will not cook, unless there is enough heat shut up with it. Reheat the food that requires long cooking, if it cools before it is finished. Reheat the food before serving, if necessary. A small quantity of food cools quickly, so either use the disks or put

a small vessel containing the food in the regular cooking vessel and surround it with hot water. Soapstone disks will increase the usefulness of your cooker. They can be heated hotter than the boiling point of water and when shut up in the fireless furnish heat which cooks the food. If you made your fireless according to directions, you can safely use the disks. Heat them very hot, but do not let them get red hot, for fear of cracking. With one below and one on top of the cooking vessel you will he able to roast meat or even to bake bread or puddings. Without the disks your tireless is useful only for certain kinds of food —cereals, beans, pot roasts, stews, etc. c 7 Make Fireless Cooker. A tightly built box, an old trunk, a galvanized-iron ash can, a candy bucket, a tin lard can, a lard tub, and a butter firkin are some of the containers that have been used successfully in the construction of tireless cookers. The inside container or nest which holds the vessel .of hot food may be a bucket of agate, galvanized-iron or tin. This nest must be deep enough to hold the radiator and the vessel of food but not large enough, to leave much space, as the air space will cool the food. The inside container must have a tight-fitting cover, and straight sides are desirable. The packing or insulation must be some material which is a poor conductor of heat. The following materials may be used and they should be dry: Lint cotton, cotton-seed hulls, wool, shredded newspaper, Spanish moss, ground cork, hay, straw, and excelsior. Sheet asbestos one-eighth inch thick and heavy cardboard have proved to be the best lining for the outer, container and the wrapping for the nest. Heavy wrapping paper or several sheets of newspaper may be used for lining the outer container, but the nest should be wrapped with asbestos or heavy cardhoard to prevent the hot stone scorching or burning the packing. It is well to have the 'outside container large enough to permit four inches of packing below and around the sides of the nest. If a cooker is being made with two nests, six inches of packing should be allowed between the nests. Pack into the bottom of the lined outer container four inches of the packing. Place the nest or inside container wrapped with asbestos or heavy cardboard and hold steady while the packing is put around tightly and firmly until it reaches the top of the nest. Make a collar, as shown in illustration, of cardboard, sheet asbestos, or wood to cover the exposed surface of the insulating material. This collar should fit tightly. Make a cushion which when filled with the packing will be at least four inches thick and will fill completely the space between the top of the nest and the lid of the outside container. It should fit against the top tightly enough to cause pressure when the lid is closed. The outside of the fireless cooker can be made more attractive by staining or painting it. The lid may be held in place by screen-door hooks and eyes. The cooker may be placed on casters so that it can be easily moyed.

The Completed Fireless Cooker.

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IND.

FIRST NEWSPAPER IN BERLIN

In ths Year 1661 a Weekly Journal Was Published, Edited by the Elector's Physician. The first Berlin newspaper was printed In 1661 in the reign of the Elector of Brandenburg. The paper was edited by Cornelius Bontekoe, a Hollander, physician to the Elector. Robert Voelker and Elias Locker, booksellers, were privileged to ssWll the paper. It was a weekly and appeared Sunday morning; the clerks of the booksellers would sell the papers. In winter before, and in summer after church, which was held in the open from May to September. Those of the young men who could not get a seat were allowed to climb in the trees 1 to listen to the sermon. With his wife, Louise, and the children and the household, the elector went regularly to church. He would, as a rule, remain standing, while the electress and children would occupy seats under the trees. After the closing prayer the newspaper sale commenced at the entrance gate. Rupert Voelker, the first bookseller of was allowed to give the elector a copy. After church the electress and children would return to the palace, while the elector would enter a palanquin and be carried to the Lustgarden. There he would read the paper, and then give audience to artists and other learned men. ' One Sunday a man was Introduced who entertained the elector (who believed in the appearance of the devil in some form or another) with a story which had happened to a farmer at the Berlin gate. “At the Berlin gate,” he said, “the farmer’s horses stopped suddenly. He left his wagon to coax them to go, but coaxing and cursing would not take them a step farther. The farmer turned his head and saw- an ugly woman on his wagon, blaspheming God and promising the farmer wealth. Then the farmer said: ‘All good spirits.’ The woman did not move. The farmer got angry and said : ‘Will you ride? Then ride in Jesus’ name,’ and the woman, the devil, vanished from the wagon.” The elector was greatly interested In the story and ordered the physicianeditor to have the story published in the next issue of the paper as a lesson to others not to be tempted by riches. Current news was not allowed to be published. Court functions and fables would find more favor with the Berliners. A bookseller from Leipzig came to Berlin to publish another paper, which was promptly forbidden by the elector, who considered one newspaper sufficient for Berlin.

Wells Doesn’t See It Through.

An edifying little .wrangle between Messrs. Wells and Jerome has been adorning the correspondence columns of the London Daily News. Mr. Jerome wrote something about a “League of Reason.” Mr. Wells then saddled Mr. Jerome with the elegant reproach of “slobbering with love and forgiveness about the neck of the kaiser, the crown prince, Reventlow and the Krupp family.” Mr. Jerome, very naturally, retorted that lie had done nothing of the sort, whereupon Mr. Wells criticised Mr. Jerome for holding opinions which Mr. Jerome subsequently stated he did not hold. After a few more interchanges of compliments the editor of our contemporary has printed a further letter of Mr. Jerome’s, despite a pressing invitation of his for further remarks by Mr. Wells, with the intimation, “This correspondence is now closed.” This embargo places Mr. Wells tn the unusual position of being unable to have ♦he last word.

Mix Wood and Coal in Making Gas.

At various points in Switzerland and France wood and sawdust are being mixed with coal in making gas, because of the coal shortage. For example, 10 per cent of sawdust is added to the coal in the vertical-bulb retorts in Geneva, while as an alternative for the sawdust, logs are sometimes used, In such cases the retorts contain about 260 pounds of coal instead of 1,240 pounds. The acid products from the wood have caused some trouble because of corrosion, but this has been largely overcome by alternating charges of wood with charges of coal. In another Swiss city, 375 pounds of sawdust is mixed with 66 pounds of coal in retorts that usually take 990 pounds of coal. —Popular Mechanics Magazine.

British Geological Pictures.

A committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science has been engaged for many years in forming a national collection of photographs Illustrating the geology of the British isles. According to the last report the collection now includes upward of 5,600 pictures. More than a thousand of these were taken in Yorkshire. A collection of the same character has been made by the geological survey of Great Britain, w’hich has recently published a list of its Scottish pictures. Both the B. A. committee and the geological survey offer prints and lantern slides for sale, and printed lists of them are available. The Tunbridge Wells Natural History society offers prizes for photographs of scenery illustrating geological features.—Scientific American.

Perfectly Normal.

“How does prohibition work in this town ?” “Like a charm, some of the brethren say.” “That’s fine.” “Yes. A great many of I our prominent citizens get up with the same kind of heads they go to bed with."—Birmingham Age-Herald. #

A Bird in the Hand

(Special Information States Department of ArriouJture.) NATION NEEDS MORE BACK-YARD FLOCKS

Cheap Eggs for the City Family Lies in Keeping Hens, Fed Largely on Kitchen Waste, in the Back Yard.

TOWN HENS MAKE FOOD FROM WASTE

Need for Increasing City Flocks Explained by Department of Agriculture. SMALL YARDS AFFORD ROOM Cheap Eggs for City Family May Be ' Obtained by Feeding Hens Waste From Kitchen—Male Bird Is Not Necessary. Poultry and eggs have never been cheap food for the city dweller. There is no hope that they can be, during the continuance of the war and its necessarily attendant high prices, even as relatively cheap as they ordinarily have been. The only possibility of cheap eggs for the city family lies in keeping enough hens in the back yard, where they can be supported principally on kitchen waste, to supply the family table. Keeping hens in the back yard is at once an economic opportunity for city families and an essential part of the campaign for Increasing poultry production. What may be done with fowls in a back yard depends upon the size of the yard, the character of the soil, the conditions of sunlight, shade and ventilation, and the interest and skill of the poultry keeper. The smallest and least favorably situated back yard affords an opportunity to keep at least enough hens to supply eggs for the household. The number of hens needed for that purpose Is-twice the number of persons to be supplied. Hence the smallest flock to be considered consists of four hens. Where hens are kept only to furnish eggs for the table no male bird is needed. Suitable Coop for Small Flock. A coop for a flock of four hens should have a floor arjpa of about 20 square feet, or about 5 feet per hen. For larger flocks the space allowance per bird may be a little less, because the space is used in common and each bird has the use of all the coop except what her companions actually occupy. For the ordinary flock of 10 to 15 hens the space allowance should be about four square feet per hen. With proper care the back-yard poultry keeper can keep hens, for laying only, confining them continuously to their coops, and have them lay well nearly as long as they would be profitable layers under natural conditions. While hens like freedom, good feed and care reconcile them to confinement, and mature, rugged birds often lay more eggs in close confinement than when at liberty. If the space admits of giving the little back-yard flock more room than a coop of the minimum size required, the condition of the land will determine the form in which the additional space should be given. If the soil is well drained and free from such filth as often contaminates the soil of small back yards, a yard for the fowds may be fenced in, allowing 20 to 30 square feet of yard room per bird. The opportunity for exercise on the land and in the open air which this gives the hens will benefit them, and make life for them more Interesting. If the soil is poorly drained and foul, the hens will thrive and lay better if not allowed on It at all. In that case, the best way to give them some benefit of the extra space available is to build adjoining the coop a shed covering about the same amount of ground, and having the front inclosed only with wire netting. The foul earth under this Ohed should be removed and the floor filled in a few’inches higher than the old Surface with fresh earth or sand. Attention to Cleanliness. By proper attention to cleanliness this may be kept in sanitary condition for a year or more. Whatever advantage can be given the hens in this way Wfli tend to increase production, and

to prolong the period of profitable laying. The eggs or hens kept in small back yards are perfectly good for eating, but of little value for hatching even when fertile. Good chickens cannot be grown under such conditions. The hens will usually lay well x for about a year. Then they should be replaced with farm-grown pullets. It is known as a matter of experience and observation that town and city people who have to figure costs of food closely have not been accustomed to use eggs freely except in the season of flush production and low prices. A great many such families can keep a few hens in the back yard, and even with low production get many more eggs than they have been accustomed to use.

BOY'S AND GIRLS CAN HELP.

Those boys or girls want to help win the war— Give them a flock of hens in your back yard. To enjoy, to feed and care for; A source of eggs and meat — A good way to earn those Thrift Stamps! And at the same time to help to produce food to win the war. Farmers’ Bulletin 889, “BackYard Poultry Keeping,” tells just how. Free on request. —United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

NEED FOR MORE POULTRY.

Meat can be produced from poultry more quickly than from any other source. One of the necessities imposed upon the United States by its entrance'into the world war is to produce more meat than it has ever produced before. This is essential not only to meet its own greater needs because of being on a war basis but also to save the countries with which it cooperates in the war from defeat through lack of food. In order to leave available for the forces overseas as large a proportion as possible of ,the output of cured and compact meats it Is desirable that there be a decided Increase in both the home production and the home consumption of white meats such as poultry. To that end it is imperative that the productive stock on general farms and in the back yards of the nation be rather largely increased during the current year. That is the national situation with regard to poultry mSeds as described in a recent publication from the office of the secretary of agriculture, “The Agricultural Situation for 1918, Part XI, Poultry.” Ducks for Meat and Eggs. On general farms ducks can be raised with success and at a profit. As a source of Income, however, they do not appear to be as well adapted for the average farm as chickens, but under certain conditions they are good money-makers. The demand for ducks’ eggs is more limited than for hens’ eggs, and though ducks for table use usually bring a good price, their market is also more limited and is mostly confined to large cities. For this; rea* son it is advisable to study the market conditions before making any large investment in ducks. Intensive duck farming op a large scale has been more successful than intensive chicken raising. Pekin ducks, which are kept extensively »by commercial growers, are less subject to disease than chickens, and artificial methods of hatching and rearing have been used very successfully with them. Farmers as a rule have rarely given the necessary care to the feeding and marketing of their ducklings to se,cure any large share of the trade in fancy green ducks. It is thia trade which attracts the commercial duck raiser. A green duck is a duckling which is grown rapidly and marketed when from eight to twelve weeks old, weighing at that time from 4# to 6 pounds. They age usually sold in the spring and summer and bring high prices. Farmers who grow ducks generally market them In the fall

SAW[?]

Movie SpeiM ® j to Ttt’KN Ono Among the moit Be Called a One Had to Pay for Headgear. My seat was directly behind those occupied by the-trio who figured in a serio-comic accident that • convulsed nearby spectators in a Broadway moving picture theater the other afternoon. I therefore am able to tell just what happened and giye details that must have puzzled persons sitting a little farther away. The two wonmn were loaded down with parcels and small packages when, right In the middle of a thrilling drama they slowly and cautiously fitted themselves into two orchestra chairs near the middle aisle. It was a tight fit, for neither of the ladies could be described as sylphlike in form, and the armfuls of purchased bundles contributed in no way to facilitate adjustment of the generous cargo nature previously entrusted to each. Parcels of various sizes slid from their knees into recesses under the seats In front and slopped into the aisle from the lap of one who sat nearest to it. The theater was in semidarkness, and it was only by the groping of many hands, in response to whispered appeals, that the troubles of diligent hours spent in shopping were returned to them. They then apparently for the first time discovered that the adjoining seat—third from the side—was unoccupied, and into it they dumped their bundles and their hats. Quiet in the immediate vicinity had scarcely been restored when a stout, middle-aged man arrived with coupon calling for the seat they had just converted Into a sort of family catch-all. Regardless of their exclamations of despair he inched his way in. while they with frantic haste struggled to clear off the place upon which he was to sit. < Peace finally descended again upon the neighborhood, and we had given ourselves up to undisturbed wonder concerning the fate of the film heroine should the villain penetrate her disguise as a French artillery officer, when one of the package-laden women said to the other: “Mercy! I promised to be home hy five o’clock. Lucy is going out and I forgot all abaut it.” While the speaker, who sat nearest the aisle, arranged her hat and pierced it with a couple of pins, her companion struggled to convert the fruits of their shopping into two portable pyramids. Suddenly she uttered a little scream, and then . w’hispered to her friend in awe-stricken tones, “I can’t find my hat. I believe that man is sitting on it.” “Gracious goodness,” said the other. “Ask him.” “I can’t do it,” said her friend. “You ask him.” Thus appealed to, the bolder.of the two turned to the man, who appeared to have heard nothing of their conversation. and said: “I think you are sitting on this lady’s hat.” “I am not doing anything of the sort • why should I?” was the amazing reply she received. “Sit down,” cried several voices to the hatted and hatless ones, from whose arms bundles again began to leak. “I am not sitting on your hat, ma’am,” said the suspected male, “but it it will do you any good, I’ll prove Then he arose, and from under his ponderous body the hatless woman removed what had once been a towering millinery creation, with twin pinnacles soaring aloft, but which was now only a pancake of cloth and feathers. A wave of mingled applause and protestation swept that part of the theater, as the shoppers departed, pausing every few feet to recapture some meandering parcel. —Madge Arthur, in Buffalo Courier.

B. C. 55.

“The next morning, hr treacherous and hypocritical as ever, a large company of Germans, which Included all the principal and senior men, came to his quarters, with a double object —to clear themselves (so they alleged) for engaging tn a battle the day before contrary to the agreement and to their own request therein, and also by deceit to get what they could in respect of the truce.” This is not an extract from an account of current happenings in Russia between that country and Germany. It Is from Caesar’s history of his dealings with certain German tribes in the year 55 B. C. Replying to the spokesman of these Germans (who had crossed the Rhine to invade Gaul) the narrative reads: “To this Caesar replied as seemed good; but the conclusion of his speech was as follows: He could have no friendship with them' if they remained In Gaul.” These extracts from a famous book are commended to the attention of powers that be. —From the Outlook.’

Famous London Meeting Place.

Before the war Trafalgar square, London, was the favorite meeting place of the suffragettes, the Hons at the column’s foot were frequently the platform from which Mrs. Pankhurst and her daughters addressed the don crowd. The shops along the Strand were often given the attention of militant women, with the result that for a long While • most of their windows were boarded and barred.