1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
207 
his  papers,  and  she  felt  as  though  they 
could  not  afford  any  more.  I  ventured 
to  ask  how  many  Frederick  thought  he 
couldn’t  do  without,  and  she  said  he  took 
nine.  I  left  her,  much  puzzled  to  know 
whether  her  husband  was  as  selfish  as 
she  represented  him  to  be,  or  whether 
she  made  him  appear  so  by  never  asking 
for  or  maintaining  her  rights. 
At  another  time  and  place,  I  called 
with  a  ladies’  paper.  This  time  the  man 
of  the  house  was  present,  and  as  soon  as 
I  made  my  errand  known  he  began  to 
look  uneasy.  I  felt  sorry  for  him.  The 
wife  (one  of  those  strong  minded  women 
I  suspect)  said  that  the  paper  was  the 
very  one  she  had  wanted  for  a  long  time, 
that  she  was  not  taking  any  paper  of  her 
own,  and  she  would  like  this  one  if  John 
gave  her  the  money  for  it.  John’s  face 
grew  more  troubled  as  the  conversation 
progressed,  and  he  tried  to  reason  with 
the  obstinate  creature,  asking  her  if  she 
was  sure  that  she  really  wanted  it — said 
he  thought  it  was  a  silly  mess,  what  he 
had  seen  of  it.  I  told  him  that  the  paper 
was  intended  solely  for  women,  and 
would  probably  meet  the  mental  re¬ 
quirements  of  the  poor  weak  creatures. 
Of  course  it  would  seem  paltry  enough  to 
men,  who  wanted  to  store  their  minds 
with  tariff  reform  and  the  demonetiza¬ 
tion  of  silver. 
A  bright  thought  struck  him  suddenly, 
and  the  wrinkles  left  his  brow  as  if  by 
magic.  This  is  what  he  said  :  “  Why, 
you  women  have  a  whole  page  every 
week  in  the  -  Farmer,  you’d  forgot 
that,  hadn’t  you?  ”  It  was  all  in  vain; 
he  might  better  have  kept  his  bright 
thought  in  his  reserve  fund,  and  he  finally 
put  his  hand  down  deep  in  his  pocket  and 
Oh,  so  slowly  !  drew  out  a  silver  dollar, 
and  handed  it  grudgingly  to  his  wife, 
the  woman  who  to  my  certain  knowl¬ 
edge  worked  1G  hours  a  day  for  him 
and  his  growing  family — who  should  have 
had  money  in  her  own  possession  with¬ 
out  the  humiliation  of  asking  for  it. 
How  many  men  consult  their  wives  as 
to  whether  they  shall  take  the  Cleve¬ 
land  l’laindealer  or  Leader,  or  the  New 
York  Sun ;  and  how  many  men  are  there 
that  cannot  take  any  paper,  because  the 
wife  takes  nine  and  cannot  afford  to  buy 
him  one ? 
When  the  farmer  has  expensive  habits 
— using  tobacco,  and  the  like,  where  does 
his  wife  get  an  equivalent  ?  If  she  should 
spend  a  like  amount  every  week  for  some¬ 
thing  to  suit  her  taste,  such  as  oranges  or 
bananas,  the  whole  neighborhood  would 
decry  her  extravagance,  when  in  reality, 
it  would  not  be  an  extravagance  at  all. 
And  the  whole  family  would  be  more 
healthy  and  clear-minded  if  the  fruit  was 
also  substituted  for  the  tobacco.  I  have 
seen  many  poor  families,  some  of  whose 
members  were  only  half  clothed  and  fed 
• — yet  I  never  saw  one  so  poor  that  the 
father  could  not  afford  to  use  tobacco. 
The  wife  should  have  a  right  to  buy 
any  labor-saving  machine  that  she  thinks 
will  save  her  strength,  or  will  save  hiring 
help ;  that  is,  if  they  are  moderately 
well-to-do,  and  her  husband  has  the  new¬ 
fangled  farm  implements  which  few  men 
have  not  in  these  days.  There  may  never 
be  a  machine  invented  that  she  can  ride 
around  on  to  do  her  housework,  but  there 
are  washing  machines,  patent  mops,  and 
a  host  of  simple  contrivances  helping  to 
make  work  easier,  the  whole  of  them 
together  not  costing  as  much  as  a  sulky 
rake,  sulky  plow,  or  sulky  cultivator.  A 
farmer  who  owns  all  these  while  his  wife 
plods  on  in  the  old,  back-breaking  way, 
will  be  apt  to  have  a  sulky  wife  too. 
The  children  also  have  their  rights  on 
the  farm,  which  it  is  well  not  to  tamper 
with.  Many  a  growing  boy  has  become 
When  Baby  was  sick,  we  gave  her  Castorla, 
When  she  was  a  Child,  she  cried  for  Castoria, 
When  she  became  Miss,  she  clung  to  Castoria, 
When  she  had  Children,  she  gave  them  Castoria 
dissatisfied  and  finally  succumbed  to 
the  temptation  to  leave  home,  thinking 
thereby  to  gain  the  rights  which  his 
parents  have  denied  him.  A  little  spend¬ 
ing  money,  the  use  of  a  horse  occasion¬ 
ally,  a  term  at  the  high-school  may  be 
the  coveted  rights. 
If  the  girls  in  the  farmer’s  family  are 
given  a  musical  education,  the  boys 
should  be  given  an  equal  chance  in  any 
study  or  business  they  prefer.  All  of  the 
spare  money  should  not  be  spent  on  a 
part  of  the  family,  while  the  others  do 
work  that  is  often  uncongenial  and  irk¬ 
some. 
The  farmer  himself  does  not  always 
get  his  rights  on  the  farm.  I  have  always 
thought  that  he  had  an  equal  right  with 
the  rest  of  the  family  to  rest  when  tired. 
Yet,  in  some  families  the  idea  that  a 
great,  stout  man  can  ever  tire  is  never 
entertained  for  a  moment.  When  his 
work  is  the  heaviest  and  most  pressing, 
his  good  wife  gets  the  churn  ready  for 
him  to  expend  his  surplus  energy  on  dur¬ 
ing  his  nooning.  He  never  opens  the 
kitchen  door  without  having  an  empty 
water  pail  held  out  to  him,  and  he  some¬ 
times  cannot  help  thinking  that  she  has 
held  it  there  some  time  waiting-  for  him 
to  open  the  door.  If  anything  is  wanted 
after  nightfall,  John  is  the  one  to  hustle 
his  boots  on  and  go  after  it,  no  matter 
what  he  has  been  doing  through  the  day. 
Why  not  let  him  lie  upon  the  best  sofa, 
and  rest  his  head  upon  the  best  crazy 
cushion  the  house  affords — that  is,  if  he 
acts  fair  about  other  things  we  have 
talked  about  ?  Try  to  manage  so  that 
on  the  farm  there  will  be,  not  man’s 
rights,  not  woman’s  rights,  but  equal 
rights. 
A  farmer's  trade  is  one  of  worth, 
He’s  partner  with  the  sky  and  earth. 
He's  partner  with  the  sun  and  rain, 
And  no  man  loses  for  his  gain. 
(Begging  the  author’s  pardon,  I  would 
add  the  following  to  his  verse  :) 
The  earth  alone,  of  these  partners  four, 
Gets  back  her  share,  and  a  little  more. 
For  the  farmer  knows  mother  earth  to  cheat 
Of  her  rightful  share,  woul  J  spoil  his  wheat. 
His  busy  wife  is  his  partner,  too. 
Oft  her  share  Is  small  and  her  profltB  few. 
If  she  and  the  earth  get  on  a  strike, 
Then  what  will  the  farmer’s  trade  be  like  ? 
Just  he,  the  sun  and  the  rain  and  sky, 
Can  do  nothing  together,  if  they  try; 
Without  old  earth  and  her  daughters  fair, 
There  would  be  no  profits  for  all  to  share. 
So,  farmers,  now  own  up,  be  fair, 
And  learn  to  do  business  on  the  square, 
For  equal  rights  is  the  greatest  charm 
Of  country  life  upon  the  farm. 
MRS.  PHEBE  KINDER. 
Tools  for  Her  Work. 
A  CARPENTER  would  not  think  of 
trying  to  work  without  a  good 
supply  of  tools,  and  why  should  a  house¬ 
keeper  ?  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that 
she  should  have  five  or  six  different 
kinds  of  lemon  squeezers,  and  then 
squeeze  her  lemons  with  her  fingers,  or 
three  or  four  potato  mashers,  and  then 
serve  the  potatoes  whole.  Neither  do  I 
want  her  to  have  her  pantry  filled  with 
steamers,  cookers,  broilers  and  kettles 
that  are  never  used — but  to  have  plenty 
of  useful  tools. 
I  have  found  that  I  can  live  without  a 
soap  shaker.  I  have  tried  it.  I  use  in¬ 
stead  a  little  washing  powder  in  my  dish¬ 
water.  Trial  will  show  how  much  to  use, 
also  what  kind  is  the  best.  It  makes  the 
water  so  much  softer,  and  seems  cleaner 
than  soap,  and  glass  and  silver  look  so 
bright  that  you  will  like  to  look  at  them. 
The  bits  of  soap  that  would  go  into  the 
soap  shaker  can  be  used  in  the  boiler  on 
wash  day.  And  the  powder  will  not  hurt 
your  hands,  for  of  course  you  use  a  han¬ 
dled  dish  mop,  while  the  water  is  hot  at 
least.  The  dish  cloth  without  the  handle, 
the  one  that  is  made  of  an  old  dish  towel, 
is  always  wearing  out  and  getting  linty. 
Anyway  mine  is,  or  was,  for  I  have  found 
a  remedy.  I  buy  a  yard  of  crash  toweling 
— it  is  quite  thick  and  strong — and  cut  it 
into  halves  ;  I  then  hem  both  pieces  and 
there  are  two  dish  cloths  that  will  last 
three  or  four  months  apiece. 
One  tool  that  I  find  useful  in  the  kitchen 
is  an  artist’s  palette  knife.  It  is  very 
limber  and  is  not  suitable  for  rough  work, 
but  in  certain  places  it  has  no  equal. 
How  discouraging  it  is  to  try  to  scrape  a 
bread  bowl  or  a  soiled  plate  with  a  knife 
that  is  so  stiff  that  it  is  utterly  impossible 
to  bend  it  and  get  at  the  corners  and 
curves.  But  a  palette  knife  is  so  pliable 
that  you  can  scrape  the  bottom  as  well 
as  the  sides  and  you  do  not  feel  as  though 
you  were  scratching  the  dish  all  to  pieces. 
The  price  is  not  very  high,  20  cents  will 
buy  one  ;  and  it  is  just  as  good  for  its 
original  purpose,  if  the  paint  is  well  wash¬ 
ed  off  after  using.  How  can  a  woman 
pare  potatoes  and  other  vegetables  with 
an  old,  dull  knife  that  has  nicks  all  along 
the  edge,  and  not  complain  ?  It  is  a  very 
simple  thing-  to  use  an  emery  stick,  and 
it  is  really  a  pleasure  to  pare  a  potato 
with  a  sharp  knife.  s.  B.  bobbins. 
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ENERGY 
„  AYER’S 
Sarsaparilla 
The  fact  that  AYER’S  Sarsapa¬ 
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Has  cured  others,  will  cure  you 
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