Che  RURAL  NEW-YOKKER 
1217 
Farm  Women’s  Experience  Club 
Short  Notes  by  Farm  Housewives 
Heard  at  the  Chautauqua 
The  great  event  of  the  Summer  for 
many  of  us — Chautauqua  week — has 
come  and  gone.  This  is  the  third  sea¬ 
son  for  our  city,  and  it  is  good  to  see  the 
increase  in  interest  and  attendance  since 
the  first  year,  not  only  in  the  city,  for 
though  exact  figures  are  not  yet  available, 
our  local  chairman  says  that  about  20 
per  cent,  of  the  tickets  were  sold  to  out¬ 
siders.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  see  a 
farmer’s  family  from  20  miles  away, 
while  around  here,  which  is  10  miles  from 
the  city,  many  of  the  farmers  had  season 
tickets. 
I  suppose  many  readers  of  The  R. 
N.-Y.  heard  the  same  lectures  and  music 
that  we  did.  The  morning  lectures  by 
Dr.  Lloyd  on  “Child  Life,”  were  very  fine, 
and  an  effort  will  be  made  to  have  him 
return  next  year.  While  the  listeners  iu 
the  morning  were  mostly  women,  the  men 
who  did  attend  were  deeply  impressed 
and  greatly  interested.  I  saw  two  boys 
of  10  taking  notes  and  could  not  help 
wishing  that  every  young  man  and  girl 
in  the  country  could  hear  Dr,  Lloyd.  I 
shall  have  to  confess  that  most  of  the 
vocal  music  was  beyond  some  of  us.  The 
previous  years  left  us  vritb  some  good  old 
songs  ringing  in  onr  ears  and  also  some 
jolly  ucav  ones;  however,  it  must  have 
been  a  pleasure  to  those  with  more  cul¬ 
tivated  tastes. 
But  the  lectures  left  nothing  to  be  de¬ 
sired  from  first  to  last.  Joe  R.  Hanly 
spoke  on  American  weaknesses  of  char¬ 
acter,  such  as  the  tendency  toward  preju¬ 
dice  against  people  or  things  with  which 
we  might  be  somewhat  unacquainted  ;  the 
lack  of  self-control  shown  in  regard  to 
public  opinion  or  action,  for  instance,  we 
are  responsible  for  our  foolish  deeds  even 
if  everybody  else  does  the  same ;  and  the 
very  American  quality  of  trying  to  get 
everything  under  the  sun.  He  urged  his 
hearers  to  mix  giving  with  their  getting, 
and  to  try  self-sacrifice  instead  of  ex¬ 
pecting  it  of  other  people. 
Mr.  ICavanaugh  spoke  of  the  abuses  of 
justice  that  had  crept  into  lawT.  Ilis  mes¬ 
sage  to  parents  was  to  teach  in  the  home 
a  wholesome  respect  for  parental  law,  for 
the  laws  of  our  country  and  for  the  law 
of  God.  Dr.  Russell  Conwell,  in  his 
“Acres  of  Diamonds,”  made  one  feel  that 
anything  we  choose  is  ours  for  the  taking, 
while  Dr.  Edward  Ott’s  message  to  this 
nation  of  acquirers  was  to  spend  their 
earnings  not  for  those  things  which  are 
foolish  and  support  a  false  and  inflated 
standard  of  living,  but  wisely  and  well  for 
that  which  gives  real  comfort  and  pleas- 
ure  and  builds  a  true  home. 
Mrs.  Rorer  said  that  sickness,  constitu¬ 
tional  weaknesses  and  consequent  evils 
are  largely  due  to  wrong  foods  and  poor 
methods  of  preparation.  Few  of  us  older 
women  know  much  about  domestic 
science.  What  we  read  about  it  seems 
to  apply  to  city  conditions  rather  than  to 
those  of  the  country.  Now,  if  science  can 
help  us,  I  propose  that  we  try  this  plan 
in  which  a  young  domestic  science  teach¬ 
er,  born  and  brought  up  on  the  farm,  has 
consented  to  help.  Suppose  we  send  a 
list  of  the  foods  used  for  breakfast  or  din¬ 
ner  or  supper  (not  company  meals,  just 
everyday  actual  meals),  and  let  her  tell 
us  wherein  they  are  insufficient  or  too 
abundant,  unbalanced  or  wrong  in  any 
way,  and  she  will  suggest  corrections  and 
the  reasons  for  them.  aims.  a.  G.  doren. 
St.  Lawrence  Co.,  X.  Y. 
The  Hired  Man  and  His  Wife 
The  letter  on  page  1101  by  “The  Hired 
Man’s  Wife,”  interested  me,  also  the  one 
she  referred  to  on  page  891.  I  too,  am  a 
hired  man’s  wife,  and  for  myself  have 
nothing  to  complain  of,  having  found  the 
farmers’  wives  very  kind  and  helpful. 
The  subject  of  the  farmer  and  his  hired 
man  is  one  we  are  interested  in.  We  do 
not  enjoy  moving,  changing  is  not  good 
for  either  party,  hut  what  is  the  hired 
man  to  do,  bear  abuse  and  profanity  day 
in  and  day  out  and  year  in  and  year  out? 
Day  work  is  far  preferable. 
I  think  the  hired  man  should  ask  for 
references  as  well  as  the  employer.  We 
have  no  objection  to  being  the  hired  man 
and  his  wife  if  we  can  be  treated  as  a 
white  man,  not  as  a  slave,  or  as  the 
“scum”  of  the  earth.  Then  again  the 
houses  we  are  asked  to  live  in  are  a  dis¬ 
grace  to  respectable  people.  I  don’t  won¬ 
der  some  farmers  can’t  got  help  to  stay 
under  the  conditions. 
I  am  glad  that  all  farmers  are  not  that 
kind  and  know  there  must  be  many  such 
as  the  “Hired  Man’s  Wife”  of  page  1101 
refers  to.  We  hare  wished  for  a  farm, 
equipped  with  stock  and  tools,  to  work  on 
shares  so  that  we  might  use  our  common, 
seuse,  judgment  and  be  of  more  value 
than  a  mere  tool.  And  then  again  as  the 
man’s  wife  I  could  be  of  some  use  help¬ 
ing  my  husband  in  many  ways  to  earn 
the  living,  where  now  I  can  sit  around 
and  crochet  or  sew  or  read,  etc.  Wo 
have  not  the  use  of  a  horse  here,  so  are 
dependent  upon  kind  neighbors. 
We  find  all  the  social  life  we  need  or 
wish  in  the  local  church  less  than  a  mile 
away.  If  more  of  our  country  sisters  and 
brothers  would  enter  into  the  church  life 
it  would  mean  much  to  themselves  as 
well  as  to  the  pastor  and  the  little  church. 
We  have  magazines,  books  and  music  and 
The  R.  N.-Y..  and  could  not  get  along 
without  any  of  them.  We  want  more  in¬ 
formation  on  this  subject.  E.  R.  T. 
Genesee  Co.,  X.  Y. 
Wanted  a  Woman 
As  I  read  the  article  by  Reader,  on  page 
1101,  it  set  me  thinking.  Would  there 
be  any  applicants  for  the  place?  I 
asked  the  farmer  what  he  thought  about 
it  and  he  replied  it  must  be  some  far¬ 
mer’s  wife  writing,  as  no  one  else  would 
do  so  much,  and  how  true !  To  read  the 
article  and  not  know  the  different  ways 
of  life  in  the  country  it  would  be  almost 
beyond  belief,  but  I  know  it  is  nothing 
unusual  iu  the  country.  There  are  many 
farmers’  wives  today  doing  as  much  and 
more,  if  possible,  and  get  no  more  iu  re¬ 
turn.  I  hear  some  say  they  would  not  do 
it,  and  many  times  have  these  same  poor 
women  thought  so,  too.  It  certainly  is  a 
case  for  “woman’s  rights”  to  step  in,  but 
I  fear  it  is  too  late  in  most  cases. 
We  must  make  a  start  iu  the  younger 
generations  growing  up  and  teach  our 
boys  that  women  are  not  pieces  of  ma¬ 
chinery.  Iu  the  country  if  a  young  man 
thinks  of  marrying,  he  looks  for  the  girl 
that  can  do  the  most  work.  He  does  not 
plan  for  the  comforts  he  can  give  his 
bride,  for  mother  has  always  managed 
with  so  and  so.  The  first  step  in  most 
cases  is  to  start  life  on  a  farm  with  a 
heavy  mortgage.  Naturally  the  young 
bride  is  anxious  to  help  her  husband  and 
must  if  they  succeed,  and  gradually  she 
does  more  and  more,  and  as  the  family 
grows  larger,  puts  more  upon  her  shoul¬ 
ders.  Once  started  how  can  she  do  other¬ 
wise?  I  heard  a  farmer  say  to  bis  wife 
(back-to-the-landers)  when  she  com¬ 
plained  that  she  was  unable  to  do  so 
much :  “What !  Don't  you  expect  to  help 
pay  for  the  farm?  You  know  we  cannot 
afford  to  hire!”  So  work  she  must. 
A  young  man  marries  and  his  folks  are 
well  fixed  financially.  After  a  long  Win¬ 
ter  in  a  hot  house,  his  bride  and  mother 
were  taking  it  easy  one  day  when  the 
young  man  came  in  and  finding  them  in 
easy  chairs,  exclaimed:  “Well,  if  you 
folks  have  nothing  to  do,  but  sit  around, 
you  ha<l  better  take  boarders  and  keep 
busy.”  These  are  a  few  instances  to  show: 
that  the  article  is  not  an  unusual  case. 
When  I  finished  reading  I  said  to  myself: 
“Yes,  there  are  others  in  the  same  boat 
and  I  for  one.”  aunt  Elizabeth. 
“Having  satisfied  you,  sir,”  went  on 
the  book  agent,  “that  you  are  iu  constant 
need  of  our  superb  dictionary,  permit  me 
to  show  you  also  its  greatly  enlarged 
appendix  which  no  family  should  be  with¬ 
out.”  "Nothing  doing,”  gasped  the  pro¬ 
spective  victim.  “It  has  cost  me  8500 
to  have  one  of  those  things  cut  out,  and 
I  want  no  more.” — Woman’s  Journal. 
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Barn 
Light  Your  House  ani 
To  Cook  Your  Meals 
Ask  the  good  woman  who  cooks  on  a  carbide  range  and 
lights  her  home  with  carbide  lights — 
She  will  tell  you  that  Union  Carbide  is  doing  more  for 
country  home  folks  and  country  home  life  than  any 
discovery  or  invention  of  this  age. 
She  will  tell  you  that  her  Carbide-range  has  added 
to  her  health  and  happiness  by  shortening  her 
kitchen  hours  and  by  making  her  cooking  a  much 
simpler  and  easier  task. 
She  will  tell  you  that  the  range  is  a  practical  duplicate 
of  her  city  cousin’s  gas  ranges  and  that  she  turns 
the  fire  off  and  on  with  a  twist  of  her  wrist— saving 
all  the  time  and  doing  away  with  all  the  bother 
and  dirt  connected  with  handling  fuel  and  ashes. 
She  will  tell  you  that  all  these  advantages  are  the 
biggest  kind  of  a  help  towards  keeping  both  herself 
and  her  kitchen  clean  and  cool  during  hot  weather 
months. 
She  will  tell  you  that  her  carbide  lights  in  every  room 
and  out  on  the  porch  are  the  cleanest,  whitest  and 
most  beautiful  lights  in  the  world. 
She  will  tell  you  too,  that  all  these  lights  are  equipped 
with  “friction  igniters”  to  “light  up”  instantly  with 
the  pull  of  a  little  ornamental  brass  wire  rod. 
She  will  tell  you  that  the  handsome  bronze  and  brass 
fixtures  and  the  brilliancy  of  the  light  itself,  has 
doubled  the  attractiveness  and  beauty  of  her  home. 
You  must  ask,  too,  the  man  of  the  house  about 
Union  Carbide  itself — 
He  will  tell  you  that  in  weight  and  bulk  Union  Carbide 
is  quite  like  coal — that  he  gets  his  supply  at  factory 
prices,  and  that  he  gets  it  direct  from  the  company’s 
warehouse  in  his  district. 
He  will  tell  you  that  his  Union  Carbide  comes  in  blue 
and  gray  22  inch— hundred  pound  “drums”  (cans) 
— easy  to  handle,  easy  to  store. 
He  will  tell  you  that  he  keeps  a  six  month’s  or  a  year’s 
supply  on  hand  in  a  corner  of  his  barn  or  shed. 
He  will  tell  you  that  he,  himself,  not  only  comes  in  for 
his  share  of  the  benefits  of  the  range  in  the  kitchen 
and  the  lights  in  the  home  but  he  has  his  own  car¬ 
bide  lights  throughout  his  barns  and  in  the  center  of 
the  yard  round  about — big  brilliant  ball  lights 
operated  the  same  as  the  house  lights  without 
matches. 
He  will  tell  you  also  that  the  double  benefits  of  both 
lighting  and  cooking  make  Union  Carbide  by  far 
the  most  economical  and  desirable  lighting  and 
cooking  service  for  country  homes. 
And  he  will  tell  you  that  the  best  proof  that  this  is  all 
so  is  the  fact  that  he  is  only  one  of  over  300,000 
country  home  users  to  whom  we  now  supply  Union 
Carbide  in  the  little  blue  and  gray  drums. 
Send  this  coupon  for  our  handsome  advertising  book¬ 
lets  giving  complete  information  —  with  many 
illustrations. 
Union  Carbide  Sales  Company,  Dept.  10 
New  York  City 
42nd  St.  Building 
Chicago,  HI. 
Peoples  Cas  Building 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Kohl  Building 
Union  Carbide  Sales  Company- 
New  York  Chicago 
Dept.  10 
San  Francisco 
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