1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
STOVE WOOD IN CALIFORNIA. 
The picture on page 679 shows one 
method of getting out stove wood in Cali¬ 
fornia. As will be seen, the tree is a 
big one and worked up on the spot more 
easily than hauled to the house, especially 
in a country where there is no snow for 
sledding logs._ 
A TRAP FOR SINK DRAIN. 
I want to give you a tip about that sink 
drain of yours. Our drain is two-inch 
iron pipe (regular screwed joints) about 
70 feet long and empties into a small 
cesspool (nothing else does, into this 
one) covered over with logs and two feet 
of dirt. It has been in use one year 
now, and all this time we put anything 
into it that will go through the holes in 
the sink strainer (about 3-16 inch) cof¬ 
fee grounds and any old thing. I opened 
the cesspool this summer to see how the 
pipe looked inside and it’s as bright as a 
dollar. There are two reasons for this: 
One is that the trap at the sink is bclozv 
the floor, thus giving a sufficient column 
of water between sink and trap to wash it 
out thoroughly every time a pail or any 
considerable body of water is emptied in 
the sink. Fig. 288, page 678, shows con¬ 
struction of trap which cost far less than 
a lead trap and is better. A plumber 
stopped at the house last year the day I 
was putting it in and smiled loftily and 
told me it was all wrong. I told him at 
the time that I had probably installed 
more feet of pipe than he ever saw and 
knew what I was doing, so he shut up, 
and time shows I was right, though T 
never had tried just this trick before. 
The other reason is that we use wash¬ 
ing powder for all the greasy pots and 
saucepans, etc. After one is used it is 
set back on the stove filled with water 
and with a teaspoonful or tablespoonful 
of powder added. When the water boils 
it is taken off and there is practically no 
washing to do, simply empty contents 
into sink and rinse, and the pan is twice 
as clean with half the labor as if it was 
scrubbed in a dishpan in the old-fash¬ 
ioned way. The soapy water goes on its 
way rejoicing, cuts out any grease in the 
pipes, and there you are. Until we lived 
out here in the country where we can’t 
get a servant half the time for love nor 
money we never would allow washing 
powder in the house, but for this one 
purpose and this only it is invaluable. A 
20-cent package lasts us from two to 
three weeks, and we are very lavish of it, 
as we don’t like to work in grease. 
c. c. 
QUESTIONS ABOUT WIRE FENCING. 
We are much interested in an investi¬ 
gation which is being conducted by the 
Department of Agriculture into the causes 
of the rapid rusting and corrosion of iron 
and steel wire fencing. We believe that 
this is a matter of very great importance 
and that great benefit will come from this 
investigation. We have been asked to 
aid in the collection of information by re¬ 
questing our readers to answer the follow¬ 
ing questions. We sincerely hope that 
those of our readers who have not lately 
paid attention to the condition of their 
wire will take the time necessary to in¬ 
spect it and send in their answers as 
soon as possible. 
1 . IIow many years on the average do 
your wire fence's last before they begin to 
rust through and break up? 
2. IIow many miles are your fences dis¬ 
tant from the nearest city or town where 
any considerable amount ol’ coal is burned. 
3. How many miles are your fences dis¬ 
tant from the nearest salt water? 
4. Have you noticed that the bottom wires 
that are often enclosed in grass or weeds 
last better than the upper wires which hang 
free? 
5. Have vou noticed that where wire is 
stapled to a living tree, it seems in some way 
to have been preserved near the point of con¬ 
tact with the tree? 
0. Have you noticed any difference, how¬ 
ever slight, in the way wire lasts near to the 
posts to which it is stapled compared with 
the way it lasts midway between the posts 
where it: hangs free? 
7. Have you noticed that after all the gal¬ 
vanized covering has disappeared some wires 
will last much longer than others? 
8 . Have vou noticed any difference in the 
lasting quality of barbed wire as compared 
with plain wire or woven wire fencing? 
9 . In the case of woven wire fences do you 
find that some wires last much better than 
others or do they begin to fail all about the 
same time? 
681 
A HIRED MAN TALKS BACK. 
A few days ago I was reading a copy 
of The R. N.-Y. that contained an ar¬ 
ticle written by O. W. Mapes, the hen 
man, giving some of his experiences with 
farm help or rather hired help. What 
he says about hired help is quite right, 
but he may have forgotten to say some¬ 
thing about the employers themselves, 
and not only the employers, but the par¬ 
ents that do not care for the discipline of 
their children. Some parents think that 
a little taste of any kind of an intoxicant 
will do no harm, but if they will ask 
some one that has a drinking habit they 
will know what it will do. I will give 
one instance as an example. Not long ago 
on the place where I worked there was 
a little boy visiting his grandmother. One 
day we had sweet corn and the little 
boy took the dry silk off the ears and 
made it into cigarettes and kept smoking 
them all day. I told his grandmother that 
she was making a grave mistake in let¬ 
ting him do such a thing, but she said 
that it would do him no harm. A day or 
two later he asked me for some tobacco 
to make cigarettes, but he got my strong 
refusal. That night I told his aunt of it, 
but what she did was never made known 
to me. I would consider it a crime that 
never could be forgiven when a boy of 
eight or JO is allowed to do such a thing. 
I think older folks are to blame for so 
many drinkers, smokers and chewers. 
1 have a brother who drinks, but he 
was, as I have said, taught to do it by 
his employer when he was no more than 
12 years old. 
In another article I noticed an experi¬ 
ence with a “crackerjack.” The party 
who wrote that article did not say wheth¬ 
er he drank or not, so I cannot answer 
that as well as if I knew more of him. But 
my experiences with such people is that 
they want to do just as they please, so 
the only remedy is to give them to under¬ 
stand they must do as they are told. 
Orange Co., N. Y. j. e. l. 
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AliD 
PRESIDENT LIKES 
BOYS WITH RIFLES 
. 
Mr. Roosevelt Accepts the 
Vice Presidency of Public 
Schools Athletic League. 
PRAISES TARGET WORK 
Fully Approves of the Clean Methods 
Employed in Training the .Young 1 
Men of America. 
GIRLS NEED EXERCISE, TOO 
:ir 
•y* 
Oystkb ' Bat', L. I., Friday.—President 
Rcosevelt has accepted the office of .hon¬ 
orary vice president of the Public School# 
Athletic League, with t headquarters In 
New York city. • In his letter to General 
George W. Wingate, ; president of the. 
league. President Roosevelt expresses his 
cordial approval! of the objects of the 
league. _. 
Following Is President^ Roosevelt’s let¬ 
ter accepting the ^tender ,of the honorary 
vice presidency:— 
“Oysteb Bay. August 19, 1905. 
“My dear Gexebal, Wingate:— In an¬ 
swering your letter 1 beg to say that It 
•will give.me tho greatest pleasure to accept 
the office of honorary ■ vice president of 
the Public Schools Athletic League of 
which you are President.,, . ^ , ^ 
Praises ' IUile ' Practice. '' j! 
“I am glad that you have Installed In; 
each of four high schools a sub targets 
rifle practice and are' teaching the boys) 
to shoot with the Krag, and I am pleased 
with the great success Jhat you have met 
In this effort. . . ^ .. , T 
“I’m also particularly pleased that you 
are about to organize a womans auxiliary 
branch, for the girls need exercise quite 
as muOh as do the boys,. . , 
"The demands such a movement make 
Upon the time and the money of those en¬ 
gaged therein are very heavy. You are 
doing one of the greatest and most patri¬ 
otic services that can be done, and you 
are entitled to the heartiest backing in 
every way from all who appreciate the 
vital need of having the rising generation 
of Americans sound Ln body, mind and 
soul. Sincerely ypurs. ( 
“THEODORE ROOSEVELT." 
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RIFLES FOR BOYS 
“Stevens-Maynard Jr.” $3.00 
“Crack Shot” - - • $4.00 
‘ 5.00 
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“Little Krag’ 
99 see 
cut 
tfir 
“Favorite, No. 17” 
Please ask your dealer for the “Stevens” 
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high Street 
CHICOPEE FALLS, MASS. 
