52 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 19, 
no matter if he does' eat more’n his 
value, I sha’n’t be the one to put an end 
to him, an’ I dunno’s I could fetch it 
even if I was so minded.” 
From Day to Day. 
THE WEAPOKED MAN. 
['“The freeman * * * was the ‘wea- 
poned man,’ who alone bore sword and 
shield."—Green's History.] 
When oak woods grew where barley waves 
And bare downs faced the sky, 
Untrodden save by Winter wolves, 
Where now great cities lie, 
The fathers of our Saxon folk 
(Sires of our blood and bone) 
Set up their thorpes and homesteads, 
Self-centered and alone. 
They were not over-masterful 
Nor braggart in their pride, 
But the freeman’s badge was the spear in 
hand 
And the war-sword at his side; 
And when the arrow-splinter came 
To muster great and small, 
The man who stood unarmed that day 
Was weakling, priest, or thrall. 
When we waged the War of a Hundred Years 
Or marched to Flodden fray, 
Small need was there for time or toil* 
To marshal our array. 
Each yeoman's chimney held its bow. 
Each manor, jack and spear. 
And every churl could handle steel 
To guard his goods and gear. 
Now cities gather them goods and gold 
With ships on every soa, 
And the Guilds of Craft wax fat and proud, 
And every hind is free; 
And no man wears a weaponed bolt, 
Save he whose trade is war. 
Yet—weaponless men are thralls at: heart 
As it was in the days of yore. 
—Cymric ap Einion, in London Spectator. 
The new Spring and Summer fabrics 
appeared in the shop windows the day 
after Christmas. Among the silk-and- 
cotton fabrics is spider silk, a filmy ma¬ 
terial with silk figures and floral designs; 
it costs 50 cents a yard. Soie imprime, 
at the same price, is printed in flowers 
and stripes ; soie raye is very sheer, in 
silk stripes, dots and small figures. Bar- 
rone silk mull is another combination of 
silk and cotton at 30 cents a yard, printed 
in shaded effects. Imported printed voile 
at 50 cents a yard is a new cotton fabric 
of even weave, like challis, printed in 
floral effects or staple figures. Mulls, 
organdies and dimities offer the customary 
range of styles from vzy 2 to 30 cents a 
yard. For a nice white dress that must 
bear frequent washings nothing gives 
better satisfaction than dimity. 
* 
An Iowa man announces that he wants 
a wife who has taken a domestic science 
course, and he also wishes her to be 
chosen by a committee of stockmen whom 
he names. He is quoted as saying that 
he does not believe in love matebes. 
but thinks a man should choose his wife 
just as he would his live stock. He is 
no doubt scientifically accurate in his 
views, but we think he would find a great 
deal of competition, complicated with old- 
fashioned and unscientific sentiment, 
when he attempts to select a young wo¬ 
man who answers his specifications. 
His style of courtship would probably 
approximate that of a disconsolate 
western widower, who thus approached 
the widow he had selected as his second 
venture: “If aint likely, Mis’ Jones, as 
I’ll ever meet another woman I can care 
for like poor Lizy, but I’ve just got to 
get some one right off to take keer o’ the 
pigs and the children, so if you’l 1 put on 
your bonnet we’ll go up to the justice’s 
and get the thing over with!” 
* 
A woman who often has to carry out 
a pan of ashes complained of their scat¬ 
tering on windy days, when the fine dust 
enveloped her. We showed her our plan, 
which is simply to put a large duster or 
why the men folk do not carry out the 
ashes. Well, in some cases there are no 
men folk, and in others it may be no re¬ 
flection on their kindliness and consider¬ 
ation if the women are obliged to do this 
duty. There can be no hard-and-fast rule 
as to a man’s helpfulness around the 
house, and we have found it hard to sym¬ 
pathize with some women who seemed to 
think that everything they didn’t like to 
do themselves was a man’s plain duty. 
Still, we must remember that some do¬ 
mestic chores too heavy for woman’s 
strength mean little exertion to a man’s 
rnuscle, provided he is not already over¬ 
worked in'other directions. 
* 
Paper vests arc displayed in some 
drug-stores, with the recommendation 
that they are the lightest and warmest 
extra garment that can be worn under a 
coat. They are made of a soft but tough 
crinkled manila paper, lined with thin 
muslin to prevent tearing, and bound 
with colored tape, sewn on with herring¬ 
bone stitch. The vests are sleeveless, 
with under-arm seams. Three tape 
strings are put on each side for fasten¬ 
ing; they start at the seam, and arc 
stitched by machine for about three 
inches, then left loose. This method of 
attaching prevents risk of tearing. We 
think such a vest made of Dresden flow¬ 
ered crepe paper (which usually costs 20 
cents a roll), lined with cheap white lawn, 
and bound with either tape or some in¬ 
expensive ribbon, would be a useful ad- 
ditioh to the feminine wardrobe, for it 
would fold up into much less compass 
than a chamois or woolen vest, and would 
certainly be a great protection under a 
tight-fitting coat. For this purpose we 
would not stretch the crepe paper much 
before making up, and thus lessen the 
risk of tearing the paper. For ordinary 
decorating we always stretch it before 
use. A great many women who wear 
tight Eton jackets in Winter re-enforce 
them with a piece of paper across the 
chest and back on windy days, so the 
paper vest may be regarded as a product 
of evolution. 
* 
The old saying that a cat 
lives seems to be borne out 
stories, says the Youth’s 
One of them is told of an 
has nine 
by many 
Companion, 
old Maltese 
cat which has survived many a catastro¬ 
phe by land and sea, and sits triumphant 
on the hearth of a New Hampshire 
farmer. 
“I dunno where that old warrior came 
from,” said the farmer speculatively one 
day to a visitor. “He appeared to me 
one night when I come in from the barn, 
and he didn’t look as if he had any par- 
tic’lar folks, so I let him stay on. But 
he’s a fearful big eater, and it did seem 
for one spell as if he wa’n’t disposed to 
hunt for himself a mite. 
“I handed him over one day to a 
neighbor that had got to make way with 
an old cat of his own, and I says to him, 
‘I want you should take this Malty o’ 
mine along and kill him quick an’ merci¬ 
ful.’ 
“Well, lie took that cat along with his 
own, an’ late that afternoon he come in 
to tell me how that he give ’em both a 
dose o’ something quick an’ sure an’ 
painless. ‘Just puts ‘em to sleep, an’ 
they never wake up,’ he said. An’ he 
allowed to give ’em a decent burial that 
night. 
“‘Well, I cal’late you won’t bury Malty,’ 
says I. ‘He come in about half an hour 
ago, fetching along a big rat to show 
piece of sacking over the pan, bringing me, an’ he walked spryer’n ever,’ 
it down at the sides so that the cover is 
held in place as the pan is carried. It 
does not take a minute to adjust the 
cloth, and it saves a great deal of exas¬ 
peration. Some one may rise to ask 
“An’ if you’ll believe me, all that power¬ 
ful dose ever done to that cat was to kind 
o’ stim’late his faculties. 
“I cal’Iate,” said the owner of Malty, 
“I shall let him live out his days now; 
Home Soap Making. 
I have been led to wonder to what far 
remote regions The R. N.-.Y. penetrates 
by reading the calls for methods for 
making soft soap from ashes. To many 
overburdened women it seems like a relic 
of past ages; it is hard enough to keep 
clean with the best soap we can buy. 
More than 50 years ago, down in Connec¬ 
ticut, I remember when 1 was a child, 
that my father would have no ash leaches 
set as his mother used to do, for he said 
he needed all the potash in the ashes for 
his crops. So to use the waste grease in 
a largely meat-eating family, crude pot¬ 
ash was bought, and the soft soap was 
made by putting the clean grease into the 
soap barrel, adding the water and the 
brown mass of crude potash, and the 
whole stirred occasionally to mix well, 
and in a few days a fine light-colored 
soap was formed by the chemical action 
of the potash on the grease, without fur¬ 
ther trouble. Mother would occasionally 
add a little more cold water if it did not 
work fast enough, or was too stiff, but 
she discovered that soap would “form” 
without the old kettle boiling which was 
hard, disagreeable work. But a latter 
generation of fruit eaters finds so little 
grease that cannot be cleaned up for use 
in cooking that it would be difficult to 
accumulate enough for the soap used in 
a large family. Surely wherever The 
R. N.-Y. can go, if ever so remote from 
stores, one can send the three or four 
dollars to a department store that will 
bring the box of 100 cakes that will free 
the housekeeper from anxiety for a long 
time. Or does the ambitious young wife 
hear husband say his mother made her 
own soap? Let her tell him the world 
moves, and go on her quiet way rejoicing 
that she has courage to reduce her work 
as the mothers of past days could not do. 
If it is a matter of the disposal of ashes, 
then remember that if they are sprinkled 
on the garden or around fruit trees, or 
on the wheat ground, or even on the 
grass from which stock feed, the in¬ 
creased product will pay for the best soap 
made. And last but far from least, will 
you please to notice the hands of old 
users of “soft soap”? The joints are 
knobby and the nails curve the wrong 
way, the strong lye taking the life-giving 
oil all out of the skin, and tending to 
ruin the fine texture of the nails. It is 
much better to throw the ashes out on 
the ground for the chemical action of the 
elements to turn into fruit or flowers or 
useful crops. molly burwell. 
For opportunity has all her hair on her 
iorehead; but when she has passed, you 
cannot call her back. She has no tuft 
whereby you can lay hold on her, for she 
is bald on the back part of her head, and 
never returns.—Francois Rabelais. 
4 > 
No matter how 
4* well children are 
after their holi- 
days, the confine- 
ment and close 
air of the school- 
4* room soon affect 
their health 
Scott's 
Emulsion 
builds new blood 
and fat. Keeps 
children vigor- 
ous, strong 
and healthy. 
ALL DRUGGISTS; 
50c. AND $1.00. Q 
ONLY $102$ 
No Extra Charge for Attachments 
Try it thirty days and if It Is not all we claim 
for It and satisfactory to you In every way, 
* 2 turn It to uf,—we will pay freight both ways 
and at once return your money. 
[.This applies to all the sewing ma- 
‘johlnes we sell. This price, only 
'110.25, for the up-to-date, well- 
made, easy-running "New 
Peerless” No. 26 drop-head 
sewing machine, Is the 
wholesale factory price. 
At double this price the 
No.2f> New Peerless would 
i he worth the money. It Is such 
1 agoodmachlno that It Is guaran- 
I teed absolutely for ten years. 
Description : — Five draw- 
| ers. drop-head, full size, high- 
1 grade head, tlnegolden finished 
selected oak cabinet, ball-bearing wheel,self-setting 
needle, self-threading. Easy to run. Almost 
noiseless. Does beautiful work; well-ma.lethrough* 
out; carefully adjusted. All parts Interchange¬ 
able. Complete set of finest steel attachments. 
COMPLETE WITH 
ALL ATTACHMENTS 
ONLY 
$|900 
Newest Improved 
“New Peerless" No. 
29. No better machine Is 
sold at any price. In 
mechanism and In wood¬ 
work It is positively the 
most improved sewing 
machine, handsomest in 
design and finish, moBt sub¬ 
stantial in construction and 
docs the best work. Solti at I 
factory price on a binding 
guarantee to replace,without' 
charge, any part that may , 
prove defective within ten 
years. Thirty days trial. 
If you are not satisfied with machine Wc will refund 
your money and pav all freight charges: 
Some Special'Features.—(inly machine with 
automatic self-locker) swell front; nutotnatlc lift; 
drop-head; ball-bearlngstahd; this design In quarter- 
sawed golden oak: all attachments, highest grade, 
without extra charge. We guarantee safe delivery. 
Write I s Today. You will not tie rlUstqiointed in our 
Now Peerless, No. 26or No. 29. Our new bin catalogue, C-S8, shows 
other sewing machines and everything for home and farm, all 
at factory prices. Write us today. 
Kalamazoo Supply House, 730 Lawrence Sep, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
A 
SK US HOW WE 
Give this Chair 
i and nearly 1000 other nice 
things for the home with orders 
for groceries—tea, coffee, soaps 
pure foods, extracts, perfumes, 
etc. Send for our 2 free books, 
“How the Housewife Can Fur¬ 
nish Her Home Without Cost.” 
and “How the Housewife Can 
Save $10.” A postal will do. 
Crofts & Reed. Austin Ave., Dept, r-6. Chicago 
START NOW ^ ^ 
and In threeorfour weeks, by study- 
ing at odd times, you will be qualified to > 
nil the position of Brakeman or Fireman, 
paying from $76.00 to $1*6.00 a month. . > 
Our course will not interfere with present work. 
Notice, we don't say “maybe" you’ll ^et a posi¬ 
tion, we don’t say we’ll “assist” or “help” you— 
Wo guarantee to place you in a good paying posi¬ 
tion, in line tor rapid promotion, when you aavo 
completed the course. 
Send for our froo book, telling what we are and 
who we are and you will then clearly understand 
why we offer young men greater opportunities than 
others, and why we can guarantee positions while 
others only promise. 
\\ e accept no applicants, we take no one’s money 
for our course, who is not bodily and mentally qual- 
to become a Brakeman or a Fireman. 
High officials ot this country's greatest railroads 
are officers ot our Association, and many others rec- 
°5?J nc ”d us ai }d co-operate with us because— 
Theaiin of this Standard School is to supply the roads 
Yi n i Cn w ^° ^ ave ^ een . prepared for their duties. 
We have more applications lor our graduates than 
we can till. 
Wj*H® For Particulars Now, stating age, weight 
and height. A few dollars and a tew hours'study 
means a life ot prosperity and pleasant work. 
UNITED RAILROAD ASSOCIATION, 
/vzv Loonard St., Now York City 
Branch Offices: Chicago, Ill., Denver, Colo. 
DRILLING & 
PROSPECTING MACHINES. 
Fastest drillers known. Great money earners I 
LOOMIS MACHINE CO., TIFFIN. OHIO. 
Well 
Canadian Government 
FREE FARMS 
O VER 200,000 Ameri¬ 
can farmers who 
have settled in Cana¬ 
da during the past few 
years, testify to the fact 
that Canada is beyond 
question the greatost 
- — farming land In the world. 
Over Ninety Million 
Bushels of Wheat 
from the harvest of 1906 means 
good money to the farmers of 
Western Canada, when the world 
has to be fed. Cattle Raising, 
Dairying and Mixed Farming are 
also profitable callings. Coal, 
wood and water In abundance; 
churches and schools convenient; 
markets easy of accers; taxes low. 
ror literature and informal. *\ address the 
Superintendent of Immigration. 
Ottawa, Canada 
or THOS. DUNCAN, 
Canadian Government Agent, 
Syracuse Bank Bldg., 
Syracuse, New York 
