11)14. 
THE RURAL NEW-YOKKER 
881 
• • 
“Short Stories 
99 
All Sorts of Personal Experience With Food, Friends and Fixtures 
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Water Supply for Church. 
ILL you help in solving the prob¬ 
lem of water supply for a country 
church? There is a cemetery on the 
property, which makes a dug well out of 
the question, and an inside cistern has 
proved objectionable. Another feature of 
the problem is the infrequent use of the 
water; it being seldom used oftener than 
once a month, at times of social gather¬ 
ings. Would a drilled well, or an out¬ 
side cistern, sunken into the ground to 
keep from frost and a filter be advisable 
under the above conditions? If so, which 
would be preferable? If the cistern and 
filter, what would be the approximate 
cost? E. w. A. 
New York. 
This is a problem about which it is 
difficult to give specific advice without 
detailed knowledge of the surroundings. 
Owing to the infrequent and only partial 
use of a cistern supply, whether filtered 
or not, such a supply could hardly help 
but become stale and unpalatable, if not 
really unwholesome. It is very much 
more difficult, also, to prevent water 
stored in underground cisterns from be¬ 
coming polluted than is generally sup¬ 
posed. Leaky walls and pervious covers 
are the rule rather than the exception. 
A little investigation might discover a 
spring of sufficient capacity for the needs 
of a church, and available for its use, 
but, failing this, a well would have to be 
resorted to, and there are probably few 
country churches where a well may not 
safely be used. The depth at which 
water may be found, and the ease with 
which wells may be dug, drilled, or 
driven, vary, of course, with the locality, 
but neighboring wells will usually give 
some clue to these points. Shallow wells 
are comparatively liable to pollution, 
but deep wells—50 to 100 feet in depth— 
are usually safe, especially if a stratum 
of clay has been pierced. It is possible 
that a well may be driven at such a 
height above, or such a distance from, the 
cemetery upon this property as to render 
the presence of the cemetery a negligible 
factor, and, in my opinion the danger of 
pollution from this source is liable to be 
overestimated. A greater one, and one 
which should be guarded against, is hav¬ 
ing a privy vault in such position that 
surface or underground drainage from it 
might be carried into the well. The only 
suggestion that I feel able to make, at 
this distance, is that, if a flowing spring 
be not available, a deep well be drilled 
or driven, if possible, where the contour 
of the surface indicates that the under¬ 
ground flow is away from it and toward 
the cemetery; and further, that no privy 
be located where any part of its contents 
may be carried to the well by natural 
drainage or by the flushing of the ground 
from melting snows and heavy rains. 
M. B. D. 
N EXT TO GODLINESS.—Isn’t this 
true story the limit for keeping a 
house clean? Miss Margaret is Uncle 
G.’s housekeeper. She is from the pro¬ 
vinces, and a dear and valued friend of 
the whole family. One Summer, not 
long ago, she took a long vacation and 
visited an old school friend in New 
Brunswick. This friend was the last of 
her family and lived alone, having just 
property enough to live on and nothing 
to do but keep her house clean. Always 
the first thing in the morning she went 
over the kitchen and dining-room floor 
carefully with a dry mop, to see if by 
any chance there might be a hair any¬ 
where. She wouldn’t enter her house 
from outside at any time, or let Miss 
Margaret, without shaking her skirts. 
And on Monday afternoon she calmly 
laid her clothes on the kitchen floor to 
sprinkle them. In respouse to Miss Mar¬ 
garet’s look of surprise, her friend said 
calmly: “I always do.” K. 
U SE FOR “SOAP WEED.”—Years 
ago I worked on a dairy ranch in 
Colorado. The cows fed on the range and 
during the season there was great com¬ 
plaint about the “soapy” taste to the 
milk. This was due to eating soapweed 
or Spanish bayonet. It was a great 
nuisance, but has now become an article 
of commerce. The Colorado Experiment 
Station tells how it is gathered and used 
for the manufacture of soap: All parts of 
the plant are utilized, both tops and 
roots. In Western Kansas manufactur¬ 
ers are paying $8 a ton for the plant 
baled and delivered at the railway sta¬ 
tion. The estimated cost of cutting, dry¬ 
ing, baling, and hauling the material is 
$5 to $6. This gives a fair margin as 
wages, and, at the same time, encourages 
the eradication of this weed. The weed 
is usually allowed to dry two or three 
months after cutting. It is then baled by 
means of the broom corn baling machine. 
S TORING WINTER CLOTHES — 
Miss Anabel Turner, instructor of 
home economics at Wisconsin Uni¬ 
versity, tells how to put the Winter 
clothing away : “The prime requisites in 
ciation, he lost no time in getting it 
“loaded” again. This “extinguisher” will 
throw its stream on to any of our roofs. 
The extinguisher would be easier for fires 
within easy reach. It is scarcely more 
than a foot long and works like a piston 
syringe. Unlike the others, it stops when 
you stop. It will put out gasoline and 
sensible people carry one in the automo¬ 
bile. Also I believe it is frost-proof, 
which the other is not, unless salt is add¬ 
ed to the solution, and I believe there 
is some objection to that. Perhaps it 
hastens deterioration in the machine. 
There is no doubt in my mind as to the 
efficacy of “fire extinguishers.” I would 
not stay long without one where I could 
get it into action. I should think insur¬ 
ance companies would compel their pol¬ 
icy-holders to keep them, but there have 
been some queer things brought out about 
insurance lately. All I can be real sure 
of is that I do not want a fire. 
MRS. W. W. SHEPARD. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. 
G rammatical mistakes.—a lo¬ 
cal school-teacher says she started 
teaching with intention that no 
grammatical mistakes should be made in 
her room. She taught in a factory vil¬ 
lage, and had to correct the children so 
much that they soon were afraid to speak 
at all. Now she apparently notices only 
the most glaring, like “hain’t got no.” 
I labored hard one term with a girl only 
to hear her remark. “Won’t I tell mamma 
what is wrong when I get home.” I 
know a high-school principal whose slang 
food, like the leaves of the common Wan¬ 
dering Jew, were given him from time to 
time. 
He never would take a dust-bath, be¬ 
ing accustomed to splash in the water 
every day to his heart’s content. Poor 
“Bobby” knew no life but that in a 
cage, and was never happy out of it. He 
spent the Summer days out of doors, his 
cage hanging on the porch, seemingly as 
happy as the wren, who scolded him, or 
the cat bird, that mocked him, but of my 
own free will I would never cage a 
living thing, and I would say to one who 
asked—“The best way to keep a canary 
is where the Creator intended him to be, 
out in the free air. As Emerson said: 
“I thought the sparrow’s note from heav¬ 
en. 
Singing at dawn on the alder bough; 
I brought him home, in his nest, at even; 
He sings his song, but it cheers not now, 
For I did not bring home the river and 
sky, 
He sang to my ear—they sang to my eye. 
c. G. J. 
upiTY HELP.”—On page 792 I see 
the item of “City Boys as Help¬ 
ers.” May I tell my story? I 
have had five of them ; two were all that 
was to be desired, two were fair help, but 
the last one was a bad egg. I can’t find 
one good thing to say for the last one. 
Yet, the same mail that takes this to 
you, takes a letter to the same school I 
got the two good boys from. 
n. E. VAN TASSEL. 
K eeping ham through the 
SUMMER.—For each ham from a 
hog weighing about 200 pounds use 
a pint of fine table salt, three tablespoon¬ 
fuls brown sugar, two tablespoonfuls 
black pepper and one tablespoonful cay¬ 
enne pepper. As soon as ham is trimmed 
in shape rub this mixture in thoroughly, 
especially around the bone. Wrap in 
paper folded closely about it, and tie. 
Put in cloth sack and hang up with 
small end down. Meat prepared in this 
way will keep perfectly for several 
months, and the lean docs not get hard 
as it sometimes does when packed in 
brine. b. c. f. 
B eeswax.—j. a. g.. on page too, 
wishes to know how other farm 
women extract beeswax from the 
honey comb. An easy way to extract the 
wax from a small quantity of comb is as 
follows: Put the pieces of comb into a 
colander, set the colander into a deep 
pan containing a little water to prevent 
burning, and put the pan into the oven 
of your cook stove. The heat of the oven 
will do the rest. If a large quantity of 
wax is to be extracted, it is best to use 
one of the several excellent wax presses 
now on the market. F. R. H. 
P OOR PORK.—I would like to have 
some of the readers of The R. N.-Y. 
tell me what is the matter with our 
pork. After keeping house for more than 
35 years, and having the finest salt pork 
that could be asked for, now for three 
successive years it has spoiled. We have 
given it the same treatment that has 
herotofore been perfectly satisfactory, 
and after about two months or perhaps 
three, it becomes rather soft and smells 
badly, so we cannot use it. There re¬ 
mains quantities of salt in the jar and 
the brine seems to be exceedingly salt, 
but the meat is spoiled. Can The R. 
N.-Y. solve the question? h. b. b. 
Biscuit Without Waiting, 
tiY^OU certainly are a master-hand to 
X turn off work,” said Mrs. Adams 
admiringly, as her friend slipped 
a pan of biscuit into the oven and set 
about arranging the table for lunch. “I 
always thought I was quick but you cer¬ 
tainly have me ‘beat a mile’ as Bobby 
would say.” 
Mrs. Carson laughed. “I have half a 
notion to keep still, and accept your 
praise as a tribute to my ability, but the 
truth is, anybody can be just as quick. 
My biscuit-without-waiting recipe is the 
result of an accident, like bleaching sugar 
and making glass and a few hundred 
other things. Do you remember the sup¬ 
per we were going to give at our church 
last Fall?” 
“For the Harvest Home? I should say 
I do. We had fried chicken, stewed 
chicken, chicken pie, chicken croquettes 
and chicken patties for a week. You 
know the creek raised so it washed away 
the bridge, and we couldn’t get across. 
I had my chickens all dressed, so we 
just had to eat them.” 
“I think it was the worst storm I ever 
saw,” returned Mrs. Adams. “Lizzie 
said it would have made Noah think of 
old times, you know what an irreverent 
thing she is. I was to supply the hot 
biscuit, so I had taken a sack of flour 
and measured it and added salt and bak¬ 
ing powder and shortening, so there was 
nothing to do but the milk. Of course 
nobody came, so there I was with all 
that prepared flour on hand. I put it in 
a big can, and used it when I wanted 
biscuit, till it was all used up.” 
“But did it keep? I should have been 
afraid of the shortening,” said Mrs. Car- 
son. 
“Yes it kept perfectly for several 
months,” answered her hostess, "and 
since then I have never been without a 
similar can of flour on hand. It makes 
biscuit making a pleasure and about the 
easiest thing there is to get in a hurry.” 
Colorado. mrs. e. m. 
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I| The Hen With a Record || 
I S to be the bird of the future. She is the one most likely to take the 
job of mounting the American flag away from the Eagle. The record 
11 that counts is the one made at an authorized egg-laying contest. 
Farm Women Raise the Business Hen 
We believe that some of the most profitable flocks in the country are 
to be found on the farms—developed and kept by farm women. The 
egg-laying contests have thus far been used mostly by breeders of National 
reputation or by amateurs with whom poultry keeping is more or less of 
a plaything. We believe there are farm women who have the birds that 
H can hold their own with the best. To prove it we offer 
A Free Chance At An Egg-Laying Contest 
The R. N.-Y. will pay the entrance fee for one or more pens of birds 
to be made up from the flocks of farm women who care to furnish a hen 
for such a contest. Such women may send their best ben or pullet of 
any breed they prefer. We will make arrangements, pay the entrance 
fees and see that the hens are properly and fairly handled and fed and 
recorded. 11 
Your Hen Will Be Tested 
with a record that will be official and if she can make a good yield 
your flock from that time will be in the position of a herd of dairy cattle 
which have made large records for butter or milk. Mrs. Newly-rich said 
11 her Orpington hens could lay, but they were not obliged to do so. The 
farm woman’s hens have got to lay to give her pin money and help pay 
the mortgage. Some of those got to lay hens will make things lively at 
an egg contest. U 
Will You Enter A Hen? 
First of all, we want to know whether our women readers would like 
to enter a hen for a record. If so, please let us know at once and we will 
make all arrangements and give information about handling and training 
11 the hen. 11 
I . ... § 
putting away Winter clothes are: thor¬ 
ough brushing and cleansing; exposure 
to the air and bright sunlight for several 
hours; and tightly closing the bags in 
which they are placed. Sunshine is one 
of the best disinfectants known; direct 
sunlight has caused the death of many a 
germ and moth egg. If the clothes are 
well brushed and cleaned, with due atten¬ 
tion to pockets and seams, then well ex¬ 
posed to bright sunlight, and tied up 
tightly in cotton bags, you may feel safe 
about them until the cold days bring them 
out again. Cedar chips may be put in the 
bags, but this is not necessary. News¬ 
papers or tar paper may be used instead 
of cotton bags, but care must be taken 
to have the packages tightly sealed. Moth 
balls are undoubtedly effective, but the 
odor is disagreeable; camphor gum too 
is good, and not so disagreeable. In the 
case of clothing that will be needed oc¬ 
casionally, it may be remembered that 
moths seldom touch clothes that are fre¬ 
quently disturbed.” 
needs translation. Book English is apt 
to be stiff; there is no harm in colloqu¬ 
ialism. I don’t want anyone to be over 
conspicuous in speech. By the way, when 
mother refused to let us say “Shut up” 
and we wanted to. we said: “Have the 
goodness to close that cavity in the low¬ 
er part of your countenance intended sole¬ 
ly for the mastication of food and con¬ 
tinue to remain silent.” e. s. k. 
F IRE EXTINGUISHERS.—Some time 
ago there was a bit of discussion 
about “fire extinguishers,” with 
opinion not exactly in their favor. We 
have had the sulphuric acid and soda ex¬ 
tinguishers ready for use on our place 
for several years, and the time came 
when the one in the kitchen saved the 
house. It was in a dry spell and the 
fire was in the wood shed roof. By the 
time we could have had ladders and buck¬ 
ets on the job (there were only children 
and women here) it might have been be¬ 
yond us. They gleefully told their father 
how quickly “Mother had that fire ex¬ 
tinguisher going.” To show his appre¬ 
C ARE OF A CANARY.—A good many 
years ago, when I was a very little 
girl, I was awakened one Christ¬ 
mas morning by a most unusual sound. 
Downstairs I rushed, expecting to see 
Santa himself, but found instead a can¬ 
ary bird in a cage. A friend of the fam¬ 
ily had left it for me the night before. 
The canary, which had been named “Bob¬ 
by,” and I became fast friends, and he 
lived until I had grown from a very lit¬ 
tle girl to a very big one, and he might 
have lived much longer, if he had not 
been accidentally killed by his cage fall¬ 
ing to the floor. He was always healthy, 
and sang very much. We never had an¬ 
other bird with him, but he never 
pined or moped, and seemed very happy 
and well all the seven years we had him. 
We fed him seed, the commercial mixture, 
being careful that there was not too much 
hemp seed in it, as birds like this seed, 
and will eat too much of it, if allowed 
to do so. Canary, hemp, rape, and mil¬ 
let seed form a good mixture. A piece of 
cuttle fish bone was always kept in his 
cage. He was given fresh water twice 
a day, oftener in Summer. He was given 
a bath once a day, while his cage was 
being cleaned. A hard-boiled egg, a lit¬ 
tle piece of hard bread, and some green 
