7oa 
THE RURAL N KW-VOK JCER 
May 0 , 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day 
WHEN THE CANNON BOOMS! 
When the cannon booms, 
When the snare drums rattle fiercely 
And the feet of men in khaki hammer 
time out on the pave, 
It is easy to be brave; 
It is easy to believe God is angry with 
the other Man, our brother. 
And has left the sword of Gideon in our 
wayward human hand 
When the cannon booms. 
When the cannon booms. 
When the battle flags are fluttering and 
men are going mad 
With the blind desire for glory, 
Filled with visions grand and gory, 
It is easy to assent 
To the Corsican blasphemer’s scoffing 
creed; 
It is easy to believe God is with the big 
battalions. 
Whether cherubim or hellions, 
When the cannon booms. 
When the cannon booms. 
When the primal love of fighting stirs 
the tiger in our blood, 
And the fascinating smell 
Of the sulphur fumes of hell 
Rouses memories of the pit from which 
our human nature rose, 
It is easy to forget, 
God was not found in the earthquake, in 
the strong wind or the fire; 
It is easy to forget how at last the pro¬ 
phet heard Him 
As a still, small voice, 
When the cannon booms. 
When the cannon booms, 
When the war lords strut and swag¬ 
ger 
And the battleships are plowing for the 
bitter crop of death, 
While the shouting rends the ear 
Echoing from the empyrean, 
It is difficult to hear 
Through the din the Galilean 
AVith II is calm voice preaching peace on 
earth to men! 
’Twill be easier to claim, 
If we will, the Christian name, 
To become as little children and be men 
of gentle will, 
When the cannon booms, the cannon 
booms no more. 
—William Herbert Carruth. 
* 
Belgium has conferred the cross of 
the Order of Agriculture upon Mrs. Belle 
Van Dorn Harbert of Colorado, president 
of the International Congress of Farm 
Women. This is, we are told, the first 
time this order has been conferred upon 
a woman. 
* 
The girl with a delicate skin should 
remember that a reddish brown chiffon 
veil worn when driving, motoring or 
walking, is an excellent protection against 
sunburn and freckles, while the white 
veil is no protection. AVith the brisk 
winds and strong sun of Spring a sensi¬ 
tive skin suffers very quickly. 
* 
AATsconsin has an anti-gossip law. 
The newspapers recently reported the 
conviction, under this law, of a person 
who made slanderous statements about 
another, and who thus became liable to 
a fine of $250, with the alternative of a 
year in jail. It was quite a shock to 
discover that the gossip thus convicted 
was a man, because we have been taught, 
from the time of Solomon at least, that 
talking about one’s acquaintances was 
such a purely feminine failing. 
* 
The newspapers recently noted the 
fact that a very wealthy young wom..n 
had entered a New England hospital to 
take a nurse’s course. Later it was an¬ 
nounced that she had given up her course 
and the newspapers quote her as saying: 
“I thought training in a hospital meant 
taking care of patients. I find it is 
three-fourths housework and drudgery.” 
Newspaper stories are not always ac¬ 
curate, and the quotation given may be 
entirely incorrect in this case, but there 
is no doubt that many young probation¬ 
ers get their first shock of disillusion in 
a hospital when they find that wearing 
a becoming uniform and bathing a pa¬ 
tient’s fevered brow form a very small 
part of the duties required. It is hard 
for them to realize that a woman who is 
not willing to scrub a floor well is not 
lit to be trusted with a hospital patient. 
If we would take all the hard, or tiring, 
or unpleasant duties that must be done 
when nursing some member of the family 
at home, and then multiply them by the 
dozen or the hundred, we may get an idea 
of what professional nursing means. Out 
of the first drudgery, however, arises the 
passion for service, which puts the work 
of a nurse on a plane by itself. It was 
not until Florence Nightingale took the 
light of her lamp through wretched hos¬ 
pitals at Scutari that people realized 
nursing was an occupation for educated 
women. AVhen we contrast the trained 
nurse of to-day with Sairey Gamp and 
Betsy Brig, who certainly represented 
the ignorant mercenary of their period, 
or with the degraded women who used 
to be given this work in city hospitals, 
we may be very grateful for our altered 
ideals of service. Perhaps, in the course 
of time, the same solution will be ap¬ 
plied to domestic service, and we shall re¬ 
alize that this too is essentially the work 
of refined women. English papers con¬ 
tain many advertisements of “lady helps,” 
“lady cooks.” “lady nurses,” “lady gar¬ 
deners,” these awkward terms meaning 
educated or refined women trained to 
manual work. Surely it is not unreason¬ 
able to suggest that trained mind and 
character is quite as necessary in one 
whose work forms part of the home as in 
the outside helper who is only with us 
in sickness. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns ahvays give 
number of patterns and measurements 
desired. Price of each pattern 10 cents. 
No. 514 is a design for embroidering a 
square collar. The scallops on the edges 
are to be padded .and buttonholed, the 
dots, flowers and leaves may be worked 
in solid embroidery or as eyelets; or the 
leaves can be worked solidly with the 
flowers and dots as eyelets; or the dots 
only can be worked as eyelets. The 
stems are to be outlined. Stamped on 
pure Irish linen with mercerized floss to 
work, 25 cents. 
A Farmers’ Club. 
Macomb is a township of large dairy 
farms in Northern New York. It has no 
railroad, no trolley line, no village of any 
size. AVhen the children complete their 
eighth grade work in school they go 10 
to 15 miles to a high school in an ad¬ 
joining town. 
These farmers felt the need of some 
social life to break up the monotony of 
their workaday world, and to attract 
the young people to the farm. The old- 
time huskings, quiltings, and apple par¬ 
ings are only memories of the older in¬ 
habitant. Rainy day visits are seldom 
indulged in, and the church attracts but 
few. The social need became so ur¬ 
gent that a call was sent to each home 
asking every member of the family, from 
the youngest to the oldest, to meet at 
the hall ova r the corner grocery on a 
certain Saturday evening. About 35 
responded to the call. A chairman was 
chosen and the purpose of the meeting 
was stated. Permanent officers were 
elected, a committee was appointed to 
draw up a constitution and by-laws, and 
the Macomb Farmers’ Club became a 
factor of importance in the community. 
It is now successfully launched on the 
fourth year of its existence. Meetings 
are held once in two weeks, on Saturday 
evening. 
A program is presented at each meet¬ 
ing consisting of music, recitations, cur¬ 
rent events and discussions of farm or 
timely topics. After the program the 
young people play games or dance until 
12 o’clock. There is a club picnic in 
August and several banquets and socials 
are held during the year. Some atten- > 
tion is given to dramatic work, and a 1 
play is presented each AVinter. Last year 
prizes were given the boys for growing 
corn and potatoes, the girls for the mak¬ 
ing of bread and cake. The club has 
purchased a piano, song books, silver¬ 
ware and dishes. 
AA'hile the president has general super¬ 
vision of the club, the programs are made 
out by committees, thus keeping up the 
interest by giving each one in turn a 
share in the work. A kindlier spirit has 
grown in the community, feuds have been 
forgotten, and best of all, the club mem¬ 
bers have learned to work together for 
the common good. MRS. NETTIE c. ROYce. j 
A AVise Woman Says : 
“Neighbors are like members of your 
own household once removed, that is if 
they are the genuine article.” remarked 
Mrs. Sage, when a question of rights and 
duties came up. "You can, of course, 
live next door to people for years, in the 
country as well as in the city, and not 
know their tastes in garden stuff or in 
wallpaper. You can bow and say good 
morning as you pass in the highway, 
always speak of them as excellent sort of 
folks, and never see the inside of each 
other’s houses, or exchange opinions or 
views. That is a very safe way of deal¬ 
ing with the man and woman over 
the boundary fence; by avoiding 
all dealings with them you steer 
clear of chances for disagreement as 
much as possible. There are people as 
well taken on these terms; some have 
a little more money or breeding, and do 
not care for the simple, old-fashioned 
country democracy; others have so few 
brains and such crude ideas of manners 
as to make it impossible to admit an 
equality of footing. AA’e are bound to 
meet reserve with good-humored letting 
alone, and we suspect that the keep-to- 
themselves people miss more than all 
their gains amount to. 
“I am a firm believer in neighborliness, 
myself. That is a miserably narrow life 
where there is nothing to give and no 
desire to take. It does us all good to 
broaden out in sympathy, to laugh be¬ 
cause another laughs, and to keep still 
because another wants to talk. There is 
some grist in almost every man’s talk if 
our millstones are dressed to crack the 
kernel of his talk. 
“AA’hen I urge that neighborly rela¬ 
tions exact almost as much from us as 
do ties of blood I have in mind the pa¬ 
tience, forbearance and charity necessary 
if we are to enjoy the people Heaven has 
given us to live among. AA r e must take 
them for better or for worse, and we 
must not be surprised or discouraged 
when, now and then, there seems less of 
the better than we could wish. Take 
all things together, year in and year out, 
there is a surprising sum of good in even 
the neighbors who try our patience and 
make us wish sometimes that some one 
else might live next them. If we reso¬ 
lutely put annoyance and resentment far 
from us, and bravely endeavor to follow 
St. Paul’s receipt as to whatsoever things 
are of good report, I believe there will 
gradually grow up in us that patience 
and charity that blesses him that gives 
and him that takes.” A. T. s. 
Victrola VI, $25 
Other styles $15 to $200 
The Victrola is a 
source of endless 
pleasure to the en¬ 
tire household. 
It gives everybody the kind of 
music they like best. 
Hear your favorite music at any Victor 
dealer's. Write to us fc 
catalogs. 
Victor Talking 
Machine Company 
Camden, N. J. 
Berliner Gramophone Co. # 
Moutreal, Canadian Distribut 
The Reflex Slicker 
asks no favors of the weather man 
F. 
For protection against 
the wet, for hard service 
and comfort, nothing 
equal* it. No water 
can reach you even 
through the openings 
between the buttons — 
that's where our famout 
Reflex Edges 
Protect You 
by keeping out every drop. 
‘ 'Staydfasl ’' Pockets will not rip. 
$3.00 Everywhere 
PROTECTOR HAT 75c. 
(waterproof) 
Satisfaction Guaranteed 
Catalog IfSWER’S 
A. J. TOWER CO., Boston »> 
Tower Canadian Limited, Toronto BRW' 
MAKE BIG PAY DRILLING 
WATER WELLS 
Our Free Drillers’ Book with 
catalog o£ Keystone Drills 
tells how. Many sizes:trac¬ 
tion and portable. Easy 
terms. These machines 
make good anywhere. 
KEYSTONE WATER DRILL CO 
Beaver Falls. Pa. 
Our Women 
Readers 
will be interested in 
the articles given for 
soliciting subscrip¬ 
tions to The Rural 
New-Yorker. 
Send postal to 
Department “M.” 
The Rural New-Yorker 
333 West 30th Street 
New York City 
IS 
