The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
717 
Things To Think About 
The object of thi» department i* to give readers a chance to express themselves on farm 
matters. Not long articles can be used—just short, pointed opinions or suggestions. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER does not always endorse what is printed here. You might 
call this a mental safety vatve. 
Are the American People Ungrateful? 
The letter of T. A. Price in The R. 
X.-Y., page 527, in regard to what he 
deems the public attitude toward ex-ser¬ 
vice men, wakes in my heart a response 
tin* deeper because I have heard my fath 
er voice a similar complaint, years ago. 
lie had served nearly three years in the 
Civil War. and had left an arm at Cold 
ITarbor. For his pension, which was 
small at first, but gradually increased, 
lie was grateful; and he scorned to claim 
tax exemption on land bought with it, 
saying that the Government had done 
enough for him. It was not, therefore, 
for lack of money compensation that his 
“hungry heart”—to quote Mr. Price— 
was unsatisfied, lie felt a lack of grati¬ 
tude. of sympathy, even of due respect on 
the part of many of his fellow citizens to¬ 
ward ex-soldiers, and it rankled in his 
soul. 
In after years, however, this bitterness 
was considerably abated. Perhaps he 
came to realize that as the reaction of 
human nature after any ordeal is in pro¬ 
portion to the intensity of the strain, a 
great war is inevitably followed by a tem¬ 
porary weakening of moral fiber ahd a 
waning of lofty enthusiasm. Then, too. 
public sentiment, which always tends to 
swing like a pendulum from one extreme 
to another, was settling back toward a 
just equilibrium, it supported increasing 
eompeusatiou for disabled soldiers, and 
permitted, finally, a wide distribution of 
benefits to many who bad not been in¬ 
jured in service. It would probably now 
approve the bonus without controversy, 
were it not for tin* fear that to grant it 
would postpone, if not prevent, govern¬ 
ment expenditures gravely needed for the 
disabled and the insane. A deepening 
produced the impression that the nation 
no longer felt interest in its defenders? 
Deploring this effect, and moved by real 
feeling, I wrote in 1920 the poem which 
I append and offered it to several period¬ 
icals. Although I bad previously sold a 
considerable number of poems to the same 
editors, this one was declined by all ex¬ 
cept one newspaper. I believe, however, 
that this, like thousands of other contri¬ 
butions rejected as "war material." ex¬ 
pressed the representative sentiment of 
thoughtful people. It was entitled "Two 
Years After": 
Once more, the motor or the plow. 
The student’s desk, the mine, the mill— 
A hundred places claim them now. 
And often, with a secret thrill. 
We pass them with a casual glance 
That—saw beyond, the fields of France! 
In peace, they knew no martial dream ; 
In war. whatever dream they had. 
It shared the sacrifice supreme; 
Their hearts were martial, khaki-clad. 
We found them, in the nation’s need, 
Sons of the old heroic breed. 
And now when they have turned again 
To all the waiting fields of toil. 
These quiet boys (these gallant men) 
Whose civic worth no wars can spoil, 
Our hearts remember, though we hide 
With sileut lips, our gathered pride! 
GKA.CE AGNES TIMMERMAN. 
Xew York. 
The Old Scythe Tree 
Can you tell whether the young man 
who hung the last scythe in the old scythe 
tree ever came 'back to take It down? 
The picture and a short history of the. 
The Old Scythe Tree 
protest against the inadequacy of meas¬ 
ures taken on their ‘behalf is making 
itself heard. 
Worthy citizens, who have any true 
conception of what our soldiers experi¬ 
enced in the World War, can never forget 
our immeasurable debt. If others seem 
ungrateful, it is not inexplicable in a 
world which too often is indifferent to its 
benefactors and forgetful of its obliga¬ 
tions. That of which our soldiers com¬ 
plain is true of Christ Himself. Ilis toil 
and suffering for humanity must, it would 
seem, insure reverence even from those 
who fail to recognize His divinity; but 
whose name is so insulted daily upon sac- 
religious lips, as bis! Many of our sol¬ 
diers themselves are among the most in¬ 
consistent in this respect. Would that 
they all might set us as praiseworthy an 
example in peace as they have in war! 
Many do, and these our hearts hold in 
double honor. 
Scant as are the usual rewards of pa¬ 
triotism, it never perishes from the earth. 
Not for recompense do men face agony 
and death. Garibaldi, who knew the la¬ 
tent possibilities of sacrifice in the hu¬ 
man soul, dared to proclaim: "In return 
for the love you may show your country, 
l offer you hunger and nakedness, 
wounds and weariness and death. Who¬ 
ever will, let him follow me !" And men 
tlocked to his standard. Those who in a 
like spirit have faced the unparalleled 
horrors of the World War, have within 
themselves a reward, a "g«od part" which 
cannot he taken away. Let them never 
doubt that there are innumerable other 
hearts capable of appreciating their de¬ 
votion. who will honor them forever, 
though they may not speak aloud their 
praise. 
For real coldness toward the soldier 
there can be no apology, hut much of 
seeming indifference is but the silence of 
conventionality. I myself have some¬ 
times found it impossible to find words to 
express to returned soldiers what 1 really 
fell. It was difficult, too, to pay them 
any tribute through the press, for most 
editors and publishers, soon after the war 
closed, ceased, for business reasons, to ac¬ 
cept or publish wlmr they called “war 
material.” What could more surely have 
tree were published in The R. X.-Y. in 
the Fall of 1917. ki.meu b. wuelan. 
The picture shows the "Old Scythe 
Tree" referred (o by Mr. Whelan, with 
the two flags and two scythes placed 
there by tile young men who enlisted in 
the World War of 19IS, there being two 
young men, instead of one, as spoken of 
in the query. This is the old "Balm of 
Gilead” tree, described some time ago iu 
The R X.-Y.. near Waterloo, X. Y. in 
which Wyman ,T. Johnson placed a 
scythe in October, ISfil, saying, as he 
• leclarcd his intention to enlist. "Let it 
hang there until I return.”. He was 
killed in action in 1st 14 and the scythe 
was left in the tree. It became embedded 
with the growth of the tree, and now 
only about six inches of the blade is vis¬ 
ible. this showing in the picture as a 
light streak at the right side of the tree 
trunk. 
The farm has since the war been 
known as tile "Scythe Tree Farm.” In 
191*. in answer to the call, two young 
men living on the farm, sons of Mr. and 
Mrs. Clarence L. Schaffer, the present 
owners of the place, enlisted in the Fed¬ 
eral service. Raymond !.. Schaffer en¬ 
listed in the army and was called into 
service in Company F, ffffd engineers. 
Camp Devons. Mass. On leaving his 
home he placed his scythe in the old tree. 
The carpenters’ union of Geneva, of 
which he was a member, kept a (lag float¬ 
ing over his scythe. Four months later 
his younger brother, Lynn K. Schaffer, 
enlisted in the navy, and was called to 
the naval training station at Great 
Lakes, Ill He also hung a scythe be¬ 
side bis brother's, and the Young .Men’s 
Bible Class of the Waterloo Presbyterian 
Church hoisted a flag over his scyrlie. 
The two hoys were safely returned, 
each honorably discharged. Kadi re¬ 
moved the handle from his scythe, hut 
left the blade in the tree. The two flags 
were also taken down. The flag in mem¬ 
ory of Mr. Johnson is maintained 
throughout the year by the local G. A. R. 
Dost. The two hoys have bought a farm 
and will now take their station in the 
great army of American farmers, press¬ 
ing on to do their share in tin* work of 
feeding the nation. A. H. Imtlver. 
When Hungry Little Muscles 
Say, “Please Help Me” 
I AID you ever stop to think who it really is 
that’s talking, when childish voices raise a 
clamor, “Mother, I’m hungry?” 
It’s really muscles and bones and nerves and 
cells worn in the stress and strain of play — that 
are calling for rebuilding material. 
What kind of an answer? The right thing, or 
just anything? It makes a big difference. 
Grape-Nuts, so deliciously crisp and appetizing 
to taste, and so quick and convenient to serve, is 
a splendid food for rebuilding young bodies. All 
the wonderful nutriment put in wheat and barley 
by Nature, including the vital mineral elements, is 
there—and Grape-Nuts digests easily, qflickly 
and completely. Served with cream or milk, 
Grape-Nuts is exceptionally nourishing. 
‘'That’s splendid!’’says appetite. “That’s just the 
need!” say the hungry muscles, nerves and bones. 
Ready to serve right from the package—always 
crisp and fresh. A favorite dish with all the fam¬ 
ily. Sold by grocers, 
Grape-Nuts—the Body Builder 
“There’s a Reason” 
Made by Postum Cereal Co., Inc., Battle Creek, Mich. 
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Tor Big 
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For Night,detlrauino hut)*, dent and heetlet, tpray with a 
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guarantee editorial page. : : 
