1254 
Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 21, 1022 
went down on “negotiate,” which she spelled “nego- 
ciate.” Another fell on “auxilliary,” Beatrice 
White. 12 years old, daughter of Chief White 
Mohawk of the St. Itegis Reservation and the host, 
speller in Franklin County, went down on “bene¬ 
fited,” which was also the cause* of the downfall of 
little Alma Delyne of Faldos, who stood for Onon¬ 
daga County. Fourteen continued for another half 
hour, and then Commissioner Pyrke suggested the 
pencils and pads again. After To hard words only 
nine remained. The final eight were: Marjorie 
Bookhout, 10 years old. of Delhi, Delaware County, 
who spelled away like a major-general; Francis 
Forshay of Dutchess County; Herman Seroski of 
Sullivan County: Marion Shultz of Niagara: Celia 
Mullin of Washington County; Dorothy Coe of 
Madison: Clara Busch of Nassau, and William 
Payne of Suffolk. 
THE FINAL COUNT.—Then came the final count 
on 10 written words. Clara, Dorothy and Celia 
each missed two. and had to spell off’ for the second 
prize, which went to Clara when Dorothy and Celia 
missed “inoculate.” In the written test which fol¬ 
lowed Dorothy missed fewer words than Celia, so 
the contest decided itself, with 12-year-old William 
missing hut one word—“plaguy”—in which lie in¬ 
serted art “e.” 
GREATER REWARDS NEEDED.—This is one of 
the best features of the fair, and is worthy of de¬ 
velopment. Many who have witnessed the splendid 
work of the juveniles year to year regret that the 
prizes are no lugger, as the boys and girls work so 
hard and so long in order to win. There should 
also, many believe, be more prizes, say 10 fifth 
prizes of $4 each, to reward the many who spell 
well, yet fail to get any prize. Hotter yet, instead 
of the .$30 that is now divided into four prizes, make 
it .$130. and so divide the money that at least a 
third of the spellers can win some reward, or else 
divide the money on a pro rata basis, as is done in 
the juvenile judging contests, with all who reach a 
certain standard of efficiency receiving an award. 
ROYS' AND G IRES’ ACTIVITIES.—The hoys’ 
and girls' scfiodules for the days of the fair included 
many Interesting activities, and from 7 a. m., when 
the rising whistle blows, until 10 p. m„ when lights 
are out. the time was filled with rich instruction 
for the deserving youngsters. Setting up drills, 
demonstrations, athletics, council meetings, sight¬ 
seeing trips and a social program each night at 
7:15 made an enjoyable trip. A woman director 
was furnished for the girls and a man for the hoys. 
Individuals brought musical instruments so as to 
be able to help on social programs. Each night a 
campfire program was given, in charge of a different 
group. These included songs, recitations, story¬ 
telling, social games, original contests and addresses 
by well-known speakers. 
CARE OF THE YOUNG GUESTS.—Doctors and 
nurses were available, and each contestant was 
weighed and measured, and given special instruc¬ 
tion if underweight. The food was served at regular 
intervals and the meals were planned by an expert 
dietitian. Groups of Junior Project boys and girls 
were sought to give demonstrations of correct form 
and procedure in stunts, such as running broad 
jump, dashes, and toe usual Field Day events. New 
events, as the baseball throw for accuracy, the com¬ 
bination dip. relief drills, mimetic exercises, action 
stories and rhythmic work were worked in as oppor¬ 
tunity offered, to show the hoys and girls and the 
general public the possibilities of 1 lie physical edu¬ 
cation program. m.g. feint. 
It. N.-Y,—We agree with Mrs. Feint in the Im¬ 
portance of these spelling matches. They are as use¬ 
ful as any contests on the fair grounds, and ought to 
ho liberally supported. A horse race or a boxing 
match may he more exciting than a spelling contest, 
hut the art of grouping letters into words is more 
important than that of stepping off a fast mile or 
“knocking out” some human being. They tell of the 
following eonversalion between two “college men”: 
“I see Yale heat Harvard.” 
“’Zat so? What’s the score?” 
“I heard it was three to two.” 
“Must have been a great game!” 
“But it wasn't a game—if was a debate on the 
League of Nations, and that's .the way the judges 
divided!” 
“Huh! Nothing doing!” 
That probably presents the case much as it is with 
most people. Good spelling is- becoming a lost art 
with most business men. That is because they do 
not write letters any more. They “dictate” them, 
and tlie stenographer is supposed to attend to the 
spelling. The result is that many successful busi¬ 
ness men would hardly trust themselves to spell 
some of the simplest words. And we see that some 
of these spelling champions stumbled over very com¬ 
mon words. Even Hie Long Island youngster who 
"spelled ’em all down" was plagued by the word 
“plaguy.” Surely these young word analyzers are as 
important to the State as the fat cattle and fast 
horses. They ought to have their full share of the 
prize money. 
When Ice Breaks in the Icehouse 
1 NOTICE what the Pastoral Parson has to say 
on page 1040 about his difficulty in getting his 
ice out of the icehouse in good shape this season. How 
soon after putting in the ice did he get it covered? 
In order to have the cakes separate easily and come 
out without any trouble ice should be thoroughly 
covered immediately after the house is filled, before 
the cakes have any chance 4o melt and run together. 
If deft even a day or two without being covered, 
and weather is so that the ice melts even slightly, 
the cakes will stick and freeze together so that it 
will he almost impossible to separate them without 
breaking, and sometimes when conditions of thaw¬ 
ing and freezing seem to have been just right it is 
almost impossible to get out a whole cake, but they 
will ait shiver to pieces when you try to separate 
them. 
I am sure, from my experience several times in 
years past, the fact that Mr. Gilbert’s ice was thaw¬ 
ing when put in had a good deal to do with his 
troubles in getting it out. The ideal time for storing 
ice is a day so cold that the iee is dry the minute 
if leaves the water, and keeps so through all the 
handling—a day when it handles like a block of 
wood or stone. There is then no sticking together 
of the cakes or the consecutive layers. But we ean- 
IIow the lee is Stacked. Fig. 538 
not always have these ideal weather conditions, and 
often we must, harvest the ice crop under as unfav¬ 
orable weather conditions as most of us in this part 
Ot the country have had for harvesting the hay crop 
the present season. Far more important than a zero 
day is a good covering over the iee the next day. 
Nothing like sawdust for covering the top and 
around the sides of the ice in the family-size ice¬ 
house. Of equal, or perhaps greater, importance 
than the covering is a good circulation of air over 
that covering. Moisture is the great enemy of the 
ice pile. The more open the top of the building is, 
and still keep out the rain and the direct sun. the 
better the iee will keep. Leave both gable ends 
entirely open. 
Perhaps it is not absolutely necessary to break 
joints when packing ice, but if the joints are broken 
the ice will keep enough better and come out enough 
more easily to pay for the slightly extra labor in¬ 
volved many times over. mekiutt m. clakk. 
Connecticut. 
It Is In the Packing 
I notice the Pastoral Parson had trouble with his 
iee. We formerly had trouble with the calces stick¬ 
ing together, but have solved the problem to our 
own satisfaction. The fact that the iee was thawing 
when put in slrtmld make no difference, as the tem¬ 
perature ill* I lie icehouse quickly falls to .”>2 degrees 
when a lot of ice is put into it. and the ice will then 
he dry. We use sawdust for insulating material, 
and the walls of our icehouse are double-hoarded. 
We put in nine or 10 loads, and it lasts practically 
all the year. 
We pack the cakes of iee on edge, and when one 
course is completed level off the top with a home¬ 
made ice shave, made out of an old shovel handle 
and a piece of circular saw. and then pack the next 
course in the same manner, running the calces ot 
each course at right angles to the cakes in the course 
below, as in the illustration. The cracked ice from 
leveling each course is used for chinking cracks be¬ 
tween cakes, and enough will remain on top of each 
course to prevent, sticking together. In taking out 
calces in Summer striking between two calces with 
an ax will loosen a cake without trouble. 
The theory of packing ice is to prevent air circu¬ 
lation within the stack. If this is not done the ice 
will melt, and the water running between the cakes 
will freeze there, cementing them together so solidly 
that it will he practically impossible to get them 
apart without breaking them. By breaking joints 
and using cracked iee I imagine that any style of 
packing would he successful. Our refrigerator is 
rather large, so we cut our cakes IS iu. square. This 
facilitates packing, for if a cake does not fit well it 
can simply he turned over on any other edge. Mrs. 
Parson knows how to make salad dressing. 
Erie Co., N. Y. Alfred morrison. 
Western Views of the East 
If the author of the overworked phrase, “Go West, 
young man,” were alive and rational today, he might 
reverse his advice. Those to whom Horace Greeley ad¬ 
dressed himself did not go West on his advice: they did 
so because the West then was a new and distant land 
of enchantment and adventure. Youth always and 
everywhere turns instinctively toward the far-off and 
romantic spaces of the earth. Steel rails and settlers 
ironed out the old West’s isolation and much of its 
romance. 
The East discovered and peopled the West. The 
West has not discovered the East, so far as farming is 
concerned. The common or typical impression of the 
East entertained by farm people in the West is super¬ 
ficial and vague. It is uncomplimentary to the intelli¬ 
gence of the West, and absurdly unfair to the East. 
Our recent editorial entitled “Farming in the Eastern 
States” has elicited many expressions of appreciation 
from farmers and others in the New England and East¬ 
ern States. Last week Tut: Rvkai. New-Yorker quot¬ 
ed from and instructively commented upon the (lunatic’s 
remarks. A corn-bolt subscriber's letter on the subject 
is skeptical. “If,” lie says, “the East tits the Gazette's 
picture, why is it that New England, for example, has 
a large number of abandoned farms?” 
Our answer is that so-called abandoned farms are 
more numerous in some Western minds than in New 
England. There are farms in that region whose own¬ 
ers have moved into towns and cities or died. Every 
acre of these lands still is in the possession of someone. 
None of the farms has been abandoned, in the sense that 
ii no longer is Worth owning. As a matter of fact, 
many of them are capable, under intelligent manage¬ 
ment, of producing immediate fair returns, and all 
could be made productive at a comparatively small cost 
per acre of tillable land. Some of the land should 
never have been plowed; if should he planted to forests, 
and parts of if put down to grass. It will lie, some 
day. and then sheep raising ami lumber production again 
will add immensely (<• New England wealth. 
Many high-priced occupied Western farms are not 
nearly so well improved, as regards buildings, as some 
of New England’s temporarily untenniitcd farms. East¬ 
ern farms show a higher acre production than the gen¬ 
erality of Western farms with which a fair comparison 
can be made. If we view farming primarily ns a way 
of living, rather than as a purely commercial occupa¬ 
tion, we shall be compelled to accept tlm Easterner’s 
judgment that the East rewards its farmers more abun¬ 
dantly than the West in those forms of wealth which 
are priceless. 
Horace Greeley, if he were alive, might appropri¬ 
ately advise Western young men to go East, if they 
desired to go somewhere to farm. Our own Opinion is 
that many Western farmers who are seeking new loca¬ 
tions could go much further and do worse than locate 
in the East. We know that ;hc average Western farmer 
would learn much that he should know, and unlearn 
much that is not so, by spending his next holiday trav¬ 
eling open-eyed and inquisitively through any part of 
the rural East. 
T HE above editorial from the Breeders' Gazette 
l Chicago) is so different from the usual ex¬ 
pressions in the Western papers that il deserves a 
prominent place in the minds and memories of East¬ 
erners. The ordinary Western paper usually does 
not dan* to print anything complimentary to the 
Eastern farm, hut generally spends all its energies 
in “whooping it up” for the West, regardless of 
prices for laud, bushels of crops raised per acre, ami 
the price they get for them> interest on the money 
paid for land and taxes on the same, or for freight 
rates and middlemen's profits, or for other economic 
conditions that should influence a man who wishes 
to engage in farming. frank wiialen. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
R. N.-Y. It is indeed good to find a Western 
paper taking this fair ami friendly attitude regard¬ 
ing Eastern farms and farming. Not all of (the “au¬ 
thorities” in (lie West display this spirit. A news¬ 
paper article by l'rof. W. J. Fnuscr of the Idiiuois 
University contains some gloomy pictures. Here is 
one regarding New England: 
On a trip in Connecticut we came upon an unkempt, 
huugry-looking old man with a team of poor oxen, try¬ 
ing t<> plow mi irregular shaped field of about one acre. 
The stones were thick all over the field, though many 
had been removed to build fences. < hit* pari w its so 
covered with large Hat stones and so little earth that for 
two or three rods sqm)re it was impossible to tell 
where ilie plow had gone. One may wonder how any 
nmn could make a living with such an outfit mi such 
sterile and rocky soil, lie simply couldn’t. The old 
man and the oxen were putting up a desperate fight for 
a bare existence. This was the hardest farming seen, 
but many place were only a shade better. 
