1904 



GLEANINGS IN REE CULTURE. 



1031 



and every thing else have gone entirely 

 away, the bowl fills up, say, half full of 

 clean water, so the apparatus, when it 

 rests, presents to the user just a bowl of 

 clean pure water and nothing else. The ar- 

 rangements for avoiding all bad odors are 

 the same as the one mentioned in the leaflet 

 on sanitary drainage. Our bath-room con- 

 tains, besides the bath-tub, water-closet, 

 and basin, a hot-water radiator, so that it is 

 always warm and comfortable in there, even 

 in the night. 



I forgot to say that there are a good 

 many beautiful wash-bowls for hot and cold 

 water, made of enamel, such as we have 

 been talking about; but those of our neigh- 

 bors who have used both, vehemently urged 

 that we get a marble- top basin with porce- 

 lain bowl. This costs almost double the 

 other kind, but they declare it is enough 

 easier to keep clean and tidy to pay the dif- 

 ference. 



I am well aware that there are some peo- 

 ple who will say, "Oh! it is all very well 

 for you rich folks to talk about your bath- 

 rooms, etc., fitted up in city style, but-" 



Now, my friends, let me say a word on 

 this very subject. We have hundreds and 

 thousands of well-to-do farmers who have 

 all the latest appliances for caring for stock 

 and handling farm crops, and this is all 

 right. They have earned the right to them. 

 Some of these well-to-do farmers, and I 

 may say well-to-do mechanics also, are will- 

 ing their wives should have modern and even 

 elegant furniture for the homes; and where 

 is there a woman who would not be made 

 happy by having an up-to-date bath-room 

 right out in the country? Not only is such 

 an apartment a useful object-lesson to every 

 member of the family, but I firmly believe 

 thousands of lives might have been saved by 

 installing these modern sanitary arrange- 

 ments. When there is a neat tidy room in 

 which to take a bath, the children will not 

 need scolding to make them keep themselves 

 clean; in fact, they will take pride in it be- 

 sides enjoying it. They will be more likely 

 to clean their feet when they come into the 

 house, and they will take better care of 

 their clothing. A good bath-room is one of 

 the appHances of civilization, and I might 

 also say of our Christianization ; and what 

 woman is there who will not feel a just pride 

 in showing her guests, relatives or others, 

 how conveniently she can minister to their 

 wants in a civilized way? I do not mean, of 

 course, that people should go to such an ex- 

 pense until they can aff'ord it; but thousands 

 who can afi:'ord it neglect this wonderful 

 convenience as an adjunct to the home. In 

 the summer time I greatly enjoy taking a 

 good wash out at the cistern pump, and per- 

 haps that is the least expensive way, all 

 things considered; but in cold stormy weath- 

 er I do greatly enjoy a warm bath-room 

 where I can take a good wash, say after 

 traveling on the cars or any other way for 

 that matter. Cleanliness is certainly next 

 to godliness; and order is one of heaven's 

 first laws if not the verv first. 





MY APPLE STORY. 



Now, this story about apples is going to 

 touch on a good many things; and you may 

 think, when you are part way through it, it 

 is not an apple-story at all; but you will see 

 where the apples come in. A little over a 

 year ago I started to tell you about my trip 

 to California, and return, and I am going 

 back now to finish it. I left off where I was 

 enjoying the health-giving waters of Agua 

 Caliente hot springs. After I crossed the 

 desert with my brother to his old home in 

 Tempe my digestion began to get back in its 

 old track. We carried along some large 

 canteens filled with water from the springs. 

 So long as that lasted I was vv^ell and happy; 

 but when I began to drink water from other 

 sources there was trouble. I tried distilled 

 water. That was better than the miscella- 

 neous waters I found in traveling, but it was 

 not by any means equal to the water of the 

 hot springs; and it seems to me as if this 

 special writer contained some chemical that 

 was specially needed. 



My first stop after leaving Tempe was at 

 Bowie, on the Southern Pacific. This is a 

 little station away off on the sandy desert, 

 with great mountains looming up on every 

 hand. At Bowie there are the largest oil- 

 tanks, to contain the oil belonging to the 

 Southern Pacific, that I ever saw in my life. 

 I took down the dimensions, but I have lost 

 them. You could not only put a good-sized 

 meeting-house inside of one of those tanks, 

 but they were large enough to contain a 

 moderate-sized country village. The station 

 agent told me how many thousand barrels 

 each one held, but I have lost my figures. 

 No wonder these western railroads can af- 

 ford to oil their road-beds to keep the dust 

 down, and to run their locomotives with oil 

 instead of coal. 



We had to wait nearly all the afternoon 

 for the train to Safford, where W. D. Jeffer- 

 son had invited me to call. I will not de- 

 scribe his ranch here, for I did it on page 27 

 of our issue for Jan. 1. It was terribly hot 

 around Bowie station. While waiting for 

 the train I looked longingly toward some of 

 the clouds that seemed to threaten rain ; and 

 we could see rain coming down in different 

 directions off in the mountains and down the 

 valley toward Safford. The train was late, 

 and the longing eyes of the weary passen- 

 gers were often turned away across the des- 

 ert. I was one of the first to catch sight of 

 the smoke of the engine, and I think it was 

 fully an hour after we got a glimpse of it 

 before it reached the station. The delay 

 was caused by heavy rains down in the 

 valley. One woman echoed my sentiments 

 when she said, "I wish it would rain here. 

 I should like to see a big soaking rain out 

 here in this hot dry sandy desert." 



