iayo 
October 31 
POEMS OF THE WAR. 
HERE are many Americans who find 
their sympathies badly mixed up over 
this horrible European War. We are 
tied to Great. Britain by ties of language 
and blood, and most lines of thought and 
sentiment. Our people also have great 
admiration for the German people—a 
strong, sound, loyal nation. Older peo¬ 
ple will remember the part taken by the 
Germans of the West and Southwest at 
the outbreak of our Civil War with 
gratitude and respect. These very feel¬ 
ings make it all the more necessary for 
this nation to preserve a strict neutral¬ 
ity ill the fearful struggle now going on. 
•The sentiment of a nation is perhaps 
best expressed by its poets and we give 
here two new poems, one by an English¬ 
man. the other by a German-American. 
Fall In! 
By Harold Beghie. 
What will you lack, sonny, what will 
you lack 
When the girls line up the street, 
Shouting their love to the lads come back 
From the foe they rushed to beat? 
Will you send a strangled cheer to the 
sky 
And grin till your cheeks are red? 
But what will you lack when your mate 
goes by 
With a girl who cuts you dead? 
Where will you look, sonny, where will 
you look 
When your children yet to be 
Clamor to learn of the part you took 
Tn the War that kept men free? 
Will you say it was naught to you if 
France 
Stood up to her foe or bunked? 
But where will you look when they give 
the glance 
That tells you they know you funked? 
How will you fare, sonny, how will you 
fare 
Tn the far-off Winter night, 
When you sit by the fire in an old man’s 
chair 
And your neighbors talk of the fight? 
Will you slink away, as it were from a 
blow, 
Your old head shamed and bent? 
Or say—I was not with the first to go. 
But I went, thank God, I went? 
Why do they call, sonny, why do they 
call 
For men who are brave and strong? 
Is it naught to you if your country fall, 
And Right is smashed by Wrong? 
Is it football still and the picture-show, 
The pub and the betting odds, 
When your brothers stand to the tyrant’s 
blow 
And England’s call is God’s? 
* 
The German-American to His 
Adopted Country. 
By George Sylvester Viekeck. 
The great gnus crashing angrily 
Sound, distant echoes, in our ear. 
We pray for those beyond the sea 
Whose lives to us are very dear. 
We catch a mother’s smile. We seize 
In thought a father's hand again. 
We see the house and, through the trees, 
A girl’s face in the window-pane. 
May God above them stretch His hand, 
For men are mowed as fields of rye. 
Destruction rides on sea and land 
Or drops, like thunder, from the sky 
Columbia, though thou shed no tear, 
Must thou fan hate with evil breath 
Through ghouls in easy chairs who sneer 
While these our brothers go to death? 
Shall these that are thy children fling 
Their gibes upon our brothers’ scars? 
We taught our hearts thy songs to sing, 
Ay, with our blood we waged thy wax’s. 
We fought thy fight when Britain’s. paw 
Upon thy country’s heart was laid 
When the French eagle’s iron claw 
Perturbed great Montezuma’s shade. 
The dry bones of our kinsmen rot 
In Gettysburg. Was it for this? 
Are Sclnirz and Steuben both forgot? 
Nay, thine is not a traitor’s kiss. 
Let not thy words belie the right. 
Turn not from them that are thy kin! 
Thy starry crown will shine less bright 
If freemen lose, if Cossacks win. 
* 
T HE scientific meu have now found 
that the pumpkin really lias curative 
powers in kidney diseases. Boiled pump¬ 
kin and skimmed milk is recommended as 
a diet in cases of Bright’s disease. There 
seems to be no doubt about the genuine 
character of pumpkin as a “cure.” 
Grandmother’ pumpkin pie suits us bet¬ 
ter than any dose the doctor can put up. 
T HIS is a good time for all Ameri¬ 
cans to read Edward Everett Hale’s 
“The Man Without a Country.” There 
is no finer appeal to patriotic feeling in 
THE RURAL 
the language, and every child should be 
taught to read this classic at least once 
a year. Every New Englander makes 
it a point to read Whittier’s “Snow 
Bound” in late November of each year, 
and all Americans—no matter where 
they come from—should read Hale’s lit¬ 
tle story over and ove 
❖ 
A CHILD four years old. in New York 
City, recently choked to death on a 
peanut, which lodged in her throat. Here 
is another argument for peanut buttei’. 
* 
W INTER is coming. It is the dull 
season of the year on many farms. 
The family is crowded into the house, 
and there will be dull and cheerless hours 
unless we plan to make them otherwise. 
There ax-e two things we should try for 
anyway. Make your house warm axxd 
your living rooms bright. You may not 
be able to afford a heater which will heat 
every room, but try to have doors and 
“Books That Have Helped Me.” 
windows tight, and provide plenty of good 
fuel. If possible have an open fireplace. 
And do your best to provide a bright, 
clear light. Have a good lamp and make 
your evenings as bright as you can. 
$ 
T HE latest proposition for the coun¬ 
try is a clothes club. This might 
take the place of the old “sewing circle” 
or better, work out of that into broader 
lines. Women and girls could study the 
developments in clothing and save money 
by buying material to better advantage 
and studying new plans for designing. 
In this way cooperative dressmaking 
would come to be great help. No one 
wants a woman to spend all her time 
thinking of dressing, but it is her duty 
to make herself as attractive as she can. 
s 
W E are sometimes asked why such a 
feature is made of trying to en¬ 
courage farm women to make a little 
money of their own. Why not, instead 
of this, teach “higher aims and aspira¬ 
tions?” The R. N.-Y. deals with the 
practical, human side of life, and has 
unrivalled opportunities for knowing the 
desires and the limitation of country 
people. “Money makes the mare go,” is 
one of the old sayings into which has 
been packed a world of truth. One of 
the vital needs of the farm woman is 
the ability to handle and control a lit¬ 
tle money of her own. This does not 
mean a large sum—it is more in the 
fcelinrj that she is the real owner and 
mistress of her own money. That feel¬ 
ing is the foundation of true independ¬ 
ence and growth of the farm women. 
We like to get down to foundation prin¬ 
ciples, and that is why we do everythx g 
we can to encoui’age the woman on the 
farm to develop, if she can, a little busi¬ 
ness and income of her own. Fifty years 
or more ago a very large share of certain 
manufactured goods was made in farm 
homes. We can well remember years 
new-yokkuh 
ago helping to braid straw, sew hats, 
wind yarn and make mats and rugs. 
The money thus made was saved by the 
women and much of it was spent in 
educating the children. Many a suc¬ 
cessful man today will tell you how his 
college expenses were partly paid by 
mother and sister, who made hats and 
clothing through the long Winter nights. 
As manufacturing has developed men 
have taken most of this work of feeding 
and clothing the world away from women 
and with it has gone the independent ixx- 
conxe of the farm woman of old days. 
Now we want to bring some of this 
money back by sending part of this work 
to the farm women. 
* 
V IRGINIA has joined the “dry” 
States—voting for State-wide prohi¬ 
bition by 30,000 majority. Only three 
large cities voted “wet,” while the rural 
districts were “dry” by large majorities. 
One great argument against prohibition 
was that it will lose $700,000 annually 
in revenues to the State, but the people 
refused to consider this argument, and 
they will enforce the law. This makes 
10 States with 16,550,000 population now 
under prohibitory laws: Maine, Kansas, 
Georgia, Mississippi, North Cai'olina, 
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, 
Virginia and Went Virginia. The situa¬ 
tion in Ohio and Pennsylvania is hope¬ 
ful. There will be an opportunity for 
the submission of the question in New 
York within a few years, and when the 
struggle does come the power of the 
temperance vote will amaze the public. 
* 
N OW we are invited to cut down the 
cost of living by trying various 
“mock” preparations. Mona Varne Lace, 
of the Colorado Agricultural College, says 
the following dessert for 12 persons will 
cost 19 cents: 
Mock Plum Pudding. —One cup 
carrots, one cup potatoes, grated raw 
and put through grinder; one cup 
beef suet, ground fine; one cup raisins or 
currants, one cup brown sugar, 1U> cups 
flour, one teaspoonful each of nutmeg, 
cinnamon, and salt; one small teaspoon 
soda dissolved in three tablespoons hot 
water added last.’ Steam 3Va hours. 
Serve with sauce. 
Tx-y it on the family. It cannot hurt 
them at least. 
* 
O NE of our country readers was so im¬ 
pressed with a play at a New York 
theatre that she wrote inquiring whether 
a young girl should come to New York, 
and where she should go to seek a posi¬ 
tion, knowing it would be a reliable, leg¬ 
itimate business. This brings up the ques¬ 
tion of just who should come to the large 
cities seeking employment. What shall 
be the test to determine who will succeed 
and who will fail? What preparation is 
needed? What is the opportunity for a 
young man or woman coming from the 
free, healthful life of the country to the 
congested cities? There are openings. 
Many of our most successful men came 
from farms, but the city is also full of 
failures. We would like the views of our 
readers on this subject. What prepara¬ 
tion, if any, is needed in this day of spe¬ 
cialization? Who shall come and who 
shall stay at home? It is a vital question 
for many and we hope to take it up thor¬ 
oughly. 
* 
The Father's Part. 
HEN I was commenting on the fa¬ 
ther’s part in family life, as it look, 
ed to me, father quietly said that wives 
and children did not always do their part 
and he told me the story of our landlord 
in a certain place. This man was em¬ 
ployed in a sewing machine factory, 
where he did some especial difficult work 
at big pay. His doctor wanted him to 
give up, as the work was killing him, but 
the man thought if he could keep on for a 
few years more, there would be money 
enough for always and then he and his 
family could have such a good time. At 
last the time caixie to leave the factory, 
then the man found he had made a big 
mistake. His two sons were practically 
ruined, their mother and daughter cared 
only to spend his money. The man knew 
he could not live many years, and the 
time must be spent in physical misery oil 
account of some trouble like asthma. 
Supposing him asleep one night, he heard 
his sons express a wish for his death so 
they might spend the money. The daugh¬ 
ter said: “Oh, he’s too mean to die so 
we can have some fun.” The man after 
that made his will so that when the 
money did conxe to them, it would come 
only at stated times, giving each a mod¬ 
erate income. k. 
* 
Wife’s Pay for Housework. 
IIE daily papers x’ecently had a story 
of a legal decision in New Jersey. 
Mr. Wendt owed a mortgage for $8,000 
and endeavored to show that his wife had 
a prior claim of $5,592 because she had 
eai’ned $6 per week for 16 years for do¬ 
ing the housework. The papers stated : 
“When a husband pays a wife for per- 
forming household duties,” said the 
court, “he is putting her on the plane of 
a servant. That is degi-ading to a wife. 
It is her duty under the law to care for 
her husband’s home and for her family. 
Wendt testified that the mortgage held 
by his wife for $5,592 was for $1,000 she 
had loaned him and for her services in 
fulfilment of an agreement he had made 
with her sixteen years ago.” 
We are asked if this is sound law. 
As is usual, the newspapers did pot 
get the story very straight. The facts, 
are as follows: The bank held a judg¬ 
ment against Mr. Wendt. When Mr. 
Wendt saw that the judgment would 
probably be obtained he gave his wife a 
mortgage on his property in the sum of 
some $5,592, which covered all the equity 
which he held in this property. After 
the bank obtained its judgment, it com¬ 
menced a proceeding in equity to have 
the mortgage of the wife declared in¬ 
valid on the ground that there was no 
consideration and that it. was made to 
defraud Wendt’s creditors, and Master 
in Chancei'y Roe held that the scheme 
which Wendt used as the consideration 
for the mortgage to the wife, of claiming 
that he owed her $6 per week for 16 
years, was merely a scheme used to put 
her mortgage ahead of bona fide creditors 
and on that account it was illegal. Roe 
did, however, hold that the $1,000 loan 
from the wife to the husband was a legal 
transaction and enforceable even as 
against the other creditors because he 
found, as a fact, that the wife was not a 
party to the scheme. As explained this 
way, this does not take on the appearance 
of an unusual case. It was merely an¬ 
other scheme to defraud creditors. Had 
there been any legal written agreement 
between husband and wife which was 
not used as a basis for fraud, it would 
pi-obably have been held enforceable. 
MILLARD DAVIS. 
* 
A MONG the public school teachers in 
New York City are a number of 
married women. Several of them have 
applied for leave of absence at the ap¬ 
proach of maternity, and the Board of 
Education has adopted a stern rule. The 
case of Mrs. Peixotto has gained a na¬ 
tional notoriety. This teacher notified 
the Board that she would be absent from 
duty. While in the hospital, after the 
birth of her child, she was served with 
a notice of her suspension. She was 
charged with “neglect of duty” and not 
permitted to return to the school room. 
There was no question about the reason; 
’the Board of Education were determined 
that maternity should bar their teachers 
from the school room. The chief reason 
which they give that such teacher have 
a bad influence upon the morals of their 
pupils (!) is a remarkable commentary 
upon modern education and modern sen¬ 
timent toward women. Among the thou¬ 
sands of comments on this affair the fol¬ 
lowing by Mrs. Baleli, the suffragist lead- 
er, is to the point: 
At the present moment in warring na¬ 
tions a man teacher in school would and 
does drop his work to go to the front 
and perform a duty for his State. On 
his return he is not only given back his 
position, but he is honored above other 
men. But the Board of Education of the 
leading city in the United States declares 
that when women temporarily drop their 
work and march to the gates of death to 
create—not to kill off—our population, 
when woman does that the Board of 
Education of New York city declares 
that she has no valid excuse for absent¬ 
ing herself from school. 
Far from giving her back her position 
and far from honoring her, they turn her 
out from her profession. The arrogance 
of men! It is a striking argument .of 
the need of women to put their viewpoint 
in government. 
The New York courts have decid' d 
that the Board of Education has the 
right to enforce this rule if they see fit 
to make it. 
