400 
THE RURA.I* NEW-YORKER 
March 23, 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
AT SIXTY-TWO. 
Just sixty-two? Then trim thy light, 
And get thy jewels all reset; 
’Tis past meridian, but still bright, 
And lacks some hours of sunset yet. 
At sixty-two 
Be strong and true, 
Scour off thy rust and shine anew. 
’Tis yet high day, thy staff resume, 
And fight fresh battles for the truth; 
For what is age but youth’s full bloom, 
A riper, more transcendent youth, 
A wedge of gold 
Is never old; 
Streams broader grow as downward rolled. 
At sixty-two life is begun; 
At seventy-three begin once more; 
Fly swiftly as you near the sun, 
And brighter shine at eighty-one. 
At ninety-five, 
Should you arrive, 
Still wait on God, and work and thrive. 
Keep thy locks wet with morning dew, 
And freely let thy graces flow; 
For life well spent in ever new, 
And years anointed younger grow. 
So work away, 
Be young for aye, 
From sunset, breaking unto day. 
—Author Unknown. 
* 
At the opening of the Women’s Con¬ 
gress in Berlin recently Frau Kuhne 
advocated a proposal that all German 
women be compelled to spend a year 
in domestic training, and be legally de¬ 
barred from marrying unless they have 
a certificate showing that they have ful¬ 
filled this duty. We would suggest as 
an amendment to this that no man be 
permitted to marry unless he can pre¬ 
sent a certificate of sound health and 
sound morals, and the assurance of a 
home in which the lady with the domes¬ 
tic certificate can pursue her avocations. 
* 
A writer in the London Gardiners' 
Chronicle, describing the Kauri forests 
on the west coast of New Zealand, 
says that in places they have buried 
forests beneath them; it seems incredi¬ 
ble that trees roughly estimated at 
2,000 years old should have other still 
older trees under them. The sap wood 
of these buried trees quickly goes to 
dust, but the heart wood is perfectly 
sound, and much capital is invested 
by sawmills in getting the wood out. 
Kauri gum, which is now used ex¬ 
tensively for special varnishes and other 
branches of the mechanic arts, is the 
product of these trees, and is dug up 
like a mineral from swampy land where 
the trees have been buried and disap¬ 
peared through ages of decay. The 
Kauri, Dammara australis, is a species 
of fir, and a very valuable timber tree. 
* 
Two pseudo-scientific catchwords per¬ 
petually in print nowadays are eugenics 
and race suicide. We read solemn dis¬ 
sertations on the improvement of the 
race, for eugenics means the science of 
the improvement of stock, whether 
plant or animal, and side by side with 
this we see solemn tabulations showing 
the decadence of the family. It is not 
so many years ago that a very good 
but much misunderstood Englishman 
(his name was Thomas Robert Mal- 
thus) proved by means of equally 
solemn tabulations that the population 
of the world was growing so much 
faster than its means of subsistence that 
inevitable starvation awaited us—un¬ 
less there was some check in the rate 
of increase. Malthus died three- 
quarters of a century ago, but the 
bugaboo of many modern reformers 
nowadays is the small family; unlike 
Malthus, they are more worried about 
dwindling population than dwindling 
subsistence. Some of the wiseacres 
now tell us that the birth rate declines 
in countries which have wise and 
humane legislation preventing child 
labor and regulating the labor of 
mothers; in other words, the birth 
rate is higher where children have the 
market value of slaves. We are not 
told how great the death rate may be 
among young children under such con¬ 
ditions, but Mr. Spargo’s book, “The 
Bitter Cry of the Children,” is quite 
illuminating. The autocrats of the 
militarist school believed it the duty 
of every woman to bring many chil¬ 
dren into the world, that there might 
be enough soldiers for their, ambitions; 
the modern autocrats of trade need 
them to fill mill and factory. It seems 
about time the women themselves had 
a word to say—that the world into 
which they bring their children with 
fear and suffering should be ordered 
and governed for the good of the many 
and not exploited for the privilege and 
aggrandizement of the few. 
* 
The humble catfish is esteemed in 
many parts of the country, and the fol¬ 
lowing recipe for catfish chowder is 
recommended as a favorite receipe: 
Skin, clean and cut off the heads. Cut 
the fish into pieces two inches long and 
put into a pot with some fat pork cut 
into shreds—a pound to a dozen 
medium-sized fish, two chopped onions, 
or half a dozen shallots, a bunch of 
sweet herbs and pepper. The pork will 
salt it sufficiently. Stew slowly for 
three-quarters of an hour. Then stir 
in a cup of milk, thickened with a table¬ 
spoonful of flour; take up a cupful of 
the hot liquor and stir, a little at a 
time, into two well-beaten eggs. Return 
this to the pot, throw in half a dozen 
Boston or butter crackers, split in half; 
let all boil up once and turn into a 
tureen. Pass sliced lemon or cucum¬ 
ber pickles, also sliced, with it. Take 
out the backbones of the fish before 
serving. 
* 
Among suggestions for improvement 
in rural life, made by Assistant Secre¬ 
tary of Agriculture Hays in a recent 
speech, he advocated the division of 
counties into areas five miles square, 
each with its centralized school and 
with provision for transporting the 
children to and from school. He also 
urged for each county an agricultural 
expert and a domestic science expert, 
who would instruct in their special lines 
throughout the county. The county 
would thus be composed of strong 
units, held together by a common inter¬ 
est. As Mr. Hays said, the boys of one 
school division would compete with the 
boys of another unit in athletic games 
and thus become acquainted with one 
another; they would get over the sense 
of isolation and unite under common 
leadership. It seems to us there is an 
idea here for people to work out among 
themselves. Just as the great trade 
guilds of mediaeval times strengthened 
the bonds of human brotherhood, and 
paved the way for political freedom, 
so a closer union among country peo¬ 
ple, extending from the farm to other 
lines of rural life, would not only make 
life happier, but would also compel 
greater recognition of the claims of the 
country on the part of the town. 
Keeping Maple Syrup. 
In a recent issue is an inquiry in re¬ 
gard to keeping maple syrup. As we al¬ 
ways have had maple syrup to store 
year by year I reply as to my experience. 
We always keep our syrup upstairs in a 
dry, dark place, also our honey the 
same. Either is sure to sour if kept in 
a damp place or down cellar. 
MRS. e. j. R. 
Attempt to keep nothing but “first 
run” of syrup or that made early in the 
season. Put the syrup in cans that can 
be sealed air-tight and seal while boil¬ 
ing hot. The syrup should weigh 11 
pounds to the standard gallon when at 
bO degrees F. Never store the cans in 
cellar; the syrup will keep better in the 
attic, but a cool, dry room is best of all. 
This is my advice after 40 years’ experi¬ 
ence as a Vermont syrup and sugar 
maker and dealer. L. R. tabor. 
When I get my fresh maple syrup in 
the Spring I put it into pint bottles, fill 
as full as possible without allowing it to 
touch the cork. Then take a square of 
paraffin paper and put it over the cork, 
smoothing it down on to the neck of the 
bottle and fastening it there with a 
small rubber band. I then set it on a 
darkened shelf in my fruit cellar. It 
keeps perfectly. c. j. H. 
There is no secret or special place to 
keep maple syrup to keep it from sour¬ 
ing. The reason maple syrup sours is 
that it is not made thick enough, or the 
cans are not filled full. If maple sap is 
boiled to proper thickness, which is 11 
pounds to the gallon, 220 degrees by 
Taylor’s syrup test, put into the cans 
cold, the cans iHled full and sealed air¬ 
tight, it will keep for an indefinite length 
of time. I had one customer report 
opening a can four years old that had 
kept in perfect condition. I always store 
syrup for family use in the attic over 
the cook stove, where the temperature 
often goes above 100 degrees. Syrup 
and honey, both comb and extracted, 
should be stored in a warm, dry place. 
Honey will greatly improve with age 
stored under such conditions. I have 
had over 30 years experience producing 
and marketing maple syrup direct to the 
consumer, serving customers in nearly 
every State in the Union, as well as to 
those in London, England. I have yet to 
get a report that a can of my syrup has 
ever soured. I have seen a great many 
cans of sour syrup, but investigation al¬ 
ways proved the cans were not filled full 
or that it was not boiled to the proper 
•thickness. l. d. gale. 
Two Texas Recipes. 
I noticed in a recent issue an inquiry 
for brown bread made without yeast, 
and I send directions for making a 
whole wheat bread with baking powder, 
which would be similar. I also send 
my way of making a syrup for hot 
cakes, which we think is almost as 
nice as maple syrup, which is 90c. a 
quart down here in Texas. 
Mocha caramel flavoring and syrup. 
One cup sugar, one-half cup strong 
coffee. Caramelize the sugar and add 
carefully while on the stove, the cof¬ 
fee, hot. Stir a few minutes. Remove 
from fire and when partly cool bottle 
for future use. A delicious flavoring 
for cake-icings, custards, ice cream, etc. 
Use enough to make a “coffee and 
cream” color. Syrup: one cup sugar, 
three-quarters cup boiling water, 
sufficient Mocha caramel to ; .ake deep 
amber color. Boil all together short 
time. 
Whole wheat bread: Three cups 
wheat flour, one-half cup sugar, three 
teaspoonfuls baking powder, one tea¬ 
spoonful salt. Sift all together. Add 
one and one-half cups milk, three- 
quarters cup currants, one egg, beaten. 
Mix; put in greased pan; let stand 20 
minutes, and bake one hour. g. b. m. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
[ei\s Fa.shiorvs 
SPRING & SUMMER 
Su 1912 
Where Thousands o! r Well 
Dressed Men Come From 
In all parts of the world—in every 
country on the globe — Ward’s 
clothes are worn. They are worn 
by the man who wants to be well dressed 
and at the same time save half the usual 
clothing prices. No one can offer you 
more in the way of expert tailoring 
and no one will charge you so little 
for the best. You have your choice of 
hundreds of the season’s choicest fabrics, 
of all the spring’s snappy styles, of a suit all 
tailored, ready to ship the day your order and 
your measurements are received or if you pre¬ 
fer, we will make a suit to your special orde>\ 
In any and every case we guarantee your entire 
satisfaction as to fit and style and wearing 
qualities. If for any reason you aro not satis¬ 
fied your money will be instantly refunded. At 
least investigate before you buy your spring or 
summer suit. You owe that much to your 
pocketbook. If you want a suit already tailored 
complete ready to ship ask for Special Ready 
to Wear Clothing book No. 33. If you want 
a suit tailored to your measure ask for book 
No. 3 8. Take your pick of these other free 
money saving books which present equally good 
values in the lines they represent. Put the 
numbers of tho books that you want on the 
coupon. 
26. Bicycles, Motor¬ 
cycles. 
27. Baby’s Dress and 
Toilet. 
29. Circular and Drag 
Saws. 
30- Women’s Spring 
Fashion Book. 
33. Men’s Spring 
Clothing Book. 
35. Dry Goods. 
3 6. Muslin Wear. 
3 7. Millinery. 
38. Men’s Made-to- 
Order Clothing. 
1. Paints. 
5. Roofing. 
6. Vehicles, 
7. Furniture. 
9. Wall Paper. 
1 0. Typewriters. 
11. Grocery List. 
14. Wire Fencing. 
1 6. Building Plans. 
1 7. Baby carriages. 
19. Sewing Machines. 
2 0. Gasoline Engines. 
2 1. Cream Separators. 
2 2. Building Material. 
2 5. Automobile Sup¬ 
plies. 
Montgomery Ward & Co. 
4 Chicago Avenue Bridge, |9th and Campbell St*, 
i CHICAGO KANSASCITY 
Please send mo tho following books free of charge. 
Book numbers, 33,. 
Name. 
P. O. 
State . 
Send coupon to the nearer address 
161 
makes and burns its own gas. Costs 
2c. a week to operate. No dirt, 
grease nor odor. A pure white 
light, more brilliant than electricity 
or acetylene. None other so cheap 
or effective. Agents wanted. Write 
for catalogue and prices. 
THE BEST LIGHT CO. 
40 IE. 5th Street,Canton, O. 
// »!\ 
V* 
GIVE YOUR 
FARM THE ADVANTAGES OF 
ELECTRIC LIGHT 
The kerosene lamp and lantern were once a necessity on the 
farm. Now you can throw them away, as every farmer can have 
his own electric light plant, giving safe and convenient illumina¬ 
tion to dwelling, barns and outhouses, at a very modez-ate cost. 
A complete outfit for a farm lighting plant corveists of a 
small gas engine, dynamo, switchboard and .the famous 
44 
Cbloribe accumulator” 
—the storage battery used by the great municipal lighting companies, the 
railroads, the telegraph and telephone systems. The plant occupies little 
space—you can place it in a tool-house, barn or basement; it is easy to 
set up, perfectly safe and simple to run. 
Electric Light—ample for all ordinary requirements—can be pro¬ 
vided by running the engine only a few hours occasionally—the rest of 
the time current is furnished from the stoi-age battery. 
Let us show you how easily and cheaply you can have your own 
electric light plant. Ask the nearest Sales Office for the book,"Informa- 
. tiou on Electric Lighting.” 
TheElectrtc Storage battery Co. 
1888 Philadelphia 
New York Boston Chicago St. Louis Cleveland 
Detroit Sau Francisco Toronto Portland, Ore. 
1912 
Atlanta Denver 
Seattle Los Angeles 
