THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
139 
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:: As Others See Us :: 
The Pursuit of Ideals Not Always an Ideal Pursuit 
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M IlS. IIILL and Mrs. West had their 
ideals, the same as you and I. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Ilill lived on a 
small farm just in the outskirts of a 
small town. They were well-to-do, past 
middle age, and childless. He was one 
of those persons so comfortable to have 
about the house, who seem to fit into any 
scheme the domestic tyrant sets in mo¬ 
tion. Mrs. Hill rather prided herself on 
having a good heart, but her ruling pas¬ 
sion was punctuality. She took it from 
her father who she said, always put on 
his linen trousers the first day of May 
regardless of the weather. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gayley West—Galley 
Wes f according to (lie local wits—lived 
in the small town before mentioned. Gay¬ 
ley—no one ever called him Mr. West— 
was a happy-go-lucky; although nearing 
sound—and Justina abandoned hope. 
The day was as dreary as the soul with¬ 
in her. There had been a light fall of 
snow which failed to hide the ruts in the 
muddy road or the tufts of grass and 
weeds by the roadside. Ice had formed 
in ruts and gutters, with here and there 
a miniature pond. Sudden inspiration 
came to Justina and as suddenly she 
carried it into action by a spring into 
the middle of one of these little ponds. O 
joy! Where was neatness now? Her 
mother’s dress was well bespotted, and 
her own garments, her stockings, her 
shoetops. She giggled as she looked at 
them, and that giggle was her undoing. 
“You did that on purpose, Justina 
West!” said her mother with sudden 
comprehension. Hadn’t Gayley done 
things on purpose to avoid going to the 
SERIOUS TROUBLE IN' A HAPPY FAMILY. 
the sixties he had nothing laid by for a 
rainy day. lie was a stonemason. Dur¬ 
ing the Winter he did such odd jobs as 
a not too vigorous search brought to 
light. At this particular Christmas time 
he was court attendant at the county 
seat. Mrs. West our other idealist, was 
devoted heart and soul to neatness. She 
was fond of saying she meant to be neat 
if it took a leg. 
Justina West, the child of her parents’ 
old ago, was one of those prematurely old 
children who develop in such an atmos¬ 
phere. She had reached the unlovely age 
of having teeth that seemed too big for 
her mouth, of legs that had lost the little 
chubbiness they had possessed in early 
childhood. She was happy-go-lucky like 
her father. She had, moreover, some 
traits that might be termed sports, so un¬ 
like were they to anything known of either 
family tree. She was of the stuff that 
martyrs are made of. The happy-go- 
lucky martyr, let it be remarked, is a 
rare bird. Nancy Hill and Ann Eliza 
West were kin. Nancy out of the good¬ 
ness of her heart seeing Gayley was 
away invited her poor relatives to eat 
at her bounteously spread Christmas ta¬ 
ble, and each woman began to live up to 
her ideals. 
Nancy prepared the Christmas dinner 
on the 24th, at far as possible, so as to 
be sure beyond the peradventure of a 
doubt that it would be ready on time. 
Ann Eliza provided spotless array for 
herself and Justina. Alas for ideals, 
where happy-go-luckiness was to be reck¬ 
oned with. Justina had heard her fath¬ 
er call Nancy Hill a queer old duck, and 
l ad taken an unreasoning dislike to her, 
and was in no mind to eat of her Christ¬ 
mas dinner. 
Knowing her mother’s passion for neat¬ 
ness the idea had come to her that, if 
something should happen to her clothing 
to soil it, it would be “all off” with go¬ 
ing to the feast. Such schemes as she 
laid only to discard them as each seemed 
likely to end in utter ruin to her best 
frocks, and she well knew another would 
not be speedily forthcoming. The mere 
making of a frock was a matter of time 
when Ann Eliz painstakingly set the 
neat stitches. Try as she would no feasi¬ 
ble plan presented itself. She submitted, 
rather sulkily it must be confessed, to 
the washings, brusliings, combings, her 
mother thought necessary to the occa¬ 
sion. At last the ordeal was over. The 
key clicked in her lock—such a dismal 
Hills years without number? Blood, if 
it is thin blood, is thicker than water, 
and Ann Eliza wasn’t going to allow 
Nancy Hill to be slighted by her daugh¬ 
ter, even if she was Gayley West’s daugh¬ 
ter, so with firm hand she led Justina 
homeward. It took time, more time than 
Mrs. West realized, to make the two of 
them once more presentable, according 
to her ideas of presentableness and when 
she rang the bell at the Hills it was a 
full half hour past the time set for the 
dinner. Let us draw the curtain while 
the woman who ate dinner on time and 
the woman who would sacrifice a leg 
(she was fond of turkey drumstick) for 
the sake of being neat, meet. It was 
Greek meeting Greek and neither woman 
flinched. No word about dinner was 
spoken then or throughout the short af¬ 
ternoon which dragged seemingly interm¬ 
inably in spite of ideals attained. They 
talked on the usual topics, but somehow 
each in turn seemed to have lost flavor 
and was soon disposed of and another 
introduced until it appeared doubtful if 
the supply would hold out, but the dis¬ 
mal skies brought early twilight and an 
early departure. 
But what of Justina? Her martyr 
spirit rose to the occasion. Red-hot 
pinchers would not have drawn from her 
tongue the admission that she was hun¬ 
gry. Her mother was infinitely relieved; 
indeed so great was that relief that a 
remark of Justina at supper that night 
passed unremarked, although ordinarily 
it would have been sternly rebuked. .Tus- 
tina’s manner when she made the remark 
plainly showed she knew she was safe in 
making it, so much for the insight chil¬ 
dren have into this workings of the 
minds of their elders. So absorbed were 
the women in their singular duel 
Justina was left to herself. Being accus¬ 
tomed to amusing herself she had no dif¬ 
ficulty in whiling away the time. The 
only incident worth mentioning was her 
visit to Mr. Hill’s shop where on Winter 
days he tinkered at various jobs of re¬ 
pairing. Cy Loomis frequently dropped 
in to kill time and Justina found him 
there when she skipped gaily in. 
Ephraim Hill felt uncomfortably at 
sight of her. He had not objected to 
eating on time, but left to himself he 
would have waited the coming of the be¬ 
lated guests. Ill 1 somewhat shamefaced¬ 
ly pushed the pail of doughnuts and 
pitcher of cider with its tin cup that 
stood on the work bench toward the 
child, but Justina was no halfway mar¬ 
tyr ; she calmly disregarded the proffer 
and soon skipped out again. “A dis¬ 
agreeable child,” was Eph’s comment 
after she had gone, and Cy Loomis who 
had not yet paid the child’s father for 
work done on his cellar wall a year ago 
the past Summer spat tobacco juice with 
unerring aim into a little mound of saw¬ 
dust, wiped his mouth with the back of 
his hand and rasped out: “Terrible dis¬ 
agreeable.” “Thus conscience doth make 
cowards of us all.” 
IIow good the click of the key in the 
lock sounded. The plain supper hastily 
set forth was a feast; with her mouth 
full Justina ventured her remark, “Isn’t 
Nancy Hill a queer old duck?” and we 
who have been permitted to look on at 
this amazing drama, we venture to re¬ 
mark, “Weren’t they queer old ducks”— 
the same as you and me. C. 
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II :: Good Words :: fjj 
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... 
1 THINK The R. N.-Y. the finest and 
cleanest farm paper I have seen and 
always extol it when I have a chance. 
The new department is a great addition; 
long life to it. ANNE L. HATCH. 
Massachusetts. 
I have been a reader of The R. N.-Y. 
a long time and enjoy it better than ever 
since the addition of the Woman and 
Home Department. May it grow and 
your good work go on. MRS. R. c. n. 
New York. 
Both husband, who is a creamery man, 
and I think your paper one of the best 
and most helpful we have ever taken. 
This is proved by the fact that when all 
the papers, farm, creamery and daily pa¬ 
pers come in he hunts through the heap 
for The R. N.-Y. Tonight The R. N.-Y. 
came and the Woman’s Department is 
just fine. I certainly hope it will al¬ 
ways be so and shall be glad to do just 
what I can to help. mrs. k. c. w. 
Ohio. 
I am a student of an agricultural 
course from Pennsylvania State; since 
graduation I have been out for the act¬ 
ual farm experience, in other words, as 
a farm laborer. This makes it my third 
position. The first place in Rhode Isl¬ 
and, second in Pennsylvania and now 
I am in New Jersey, and where I went 
I would hear the same story, that there 
is not a better agricultural paper than 
your R. N.-Y., or else I would hear some 
new starter in farming say, “I don’t know 
what I would do without Tiie R. N.-Y.,” 
and many other favorable expressions. 
Personally I believe that your paper 
ought to be in every farmer’s home, no 
matter if he got an education in agri¬ 
culture from school or college, or if he 
inherited his farming from his father or 
came into it from some other business. 
New Jersey. jos. l. rosentiial. 
Very sorry you started magazine num¬ 
bers. Before you did there was some 
chance of keeping even with my reading; 
now I am almost discouraged. 
CHARLES NELSON DODGE. 
R. N.-Y.—Few of us really have too 
much of a good thing. 
We could not do without the paper; 
my two-year-old grandson claims it as 
his very own and looks it over thorough¬ 
ly before he lets anyone else have it, un¬ 
less we put it out of bis sight. When 
it. came on Christmas Day lie dropped 
all his numerous playthings for the 
paper. mrs. t. ii. boger. 
I want to say that the human side of 
life pictured in each issue of your paper 
is worth the price. It is better than a 
sermon to read of the good, wholesome 
humanity of the “Hope Farm Man.” 
Maine. leon F. milliken. 
I want to thank you for the bits of 
humor that brighten the pages of The R. 
N.-Y. Most normal individuals are like 
•Tack, All seriousness without a bit of 
fun is dulling in its effects. The speci¬ 
mens of spice that you print are a tonic. 
W. II. s. 
I think The R. N.-Y. is one of the 
very few that has any real interest in 
their subscribers other than to make 
them paying subjects for their advertisers. 
Nevada. c, w. n. 
I have just read “Publisher’s Desk,” 
and want to express my sincere congrat¬ 
ulations. I hope to live to see the day 
when you will have one million subscrib¬ 
ers, and that both of you may still be 
“on tin* job.” 1 shall do my part to help 
get you tln> million. I do not write this 
to get an answer, for you have your 
hands full, but I want to encourage you 
in the good work you are doing. 
A. C. WORTH. 
T know that the biggest, best thing in 
The R. N.-Y. is the move you have 
started for the farm home (the woman’s 
workshop) to be happier and more con¬ 
venient. I always read this department 
first. Now of the the man that said if the 
dollar was all he got out of it he would 
not stay there. We must forget the 
dollar and remember to have vision, love 
and pleasure in work. 
HUGH HARTMAN. 
When you write advertisers mention Tiie 
I t. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
"square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
This Washer 
Must Pay for 
Itself. 
A MAN tried to sell me a liorse once. He 
said It was a fine horse and 1 had nothing 
the matter with It. X wanted a fine horse. 
But, I didn't know any¬ 
thing about horses 
much. And I did'n't 
know the man very 
well either. 
So I told him I want¬ 
ed to try the horse for 
a month. He said “All 
right, hut pay me first, 
and I’ll give you hack 
your money, if the horse 
isn't all right.” 
Well, 1 didn't like 
that. I was afraid the 
horse wasn't “all right” 
and that I might have 
to whistle for my mon¬ 
ey if I once parted 
with it. So I didn’t 
buy the horse although 
I wanted it badly. Now 
this set me thinking. 
You see I make 
Washing Machines—tiie 
“1000 Gravity” Washer. 
And I said to myself, 
lots of people may 
think about my Wash¬ 
ing Machine us I 
thought about the horse, and about the man 
who owned it. 
But I’d never know, because they wouldn’t 
write and tell me. You see I sell my Washing 
Machines by mail. I have sold over half a mil¬ 
lion that way. 
So, thought I, it is only fair enough to let 
people try my washing Machines for a month, 
before they pay for them, just as I wanted to 
try the horse. 
Now, I know what our “1900 Gravity” Washer 
will do. I know it will wash the clothes, with¬ 
out wearing or tearing them, in less than half 
the time they can be washed by hand or by any 
other machine. 
I know it will wash a tub full of very dirty 
clothes in Six minutes. I know no other ma¬ 
chine ever invented can do that, without wear¬ 
ing out the clothes. 
Our “1900 Gravity” Washer does the work so 
easy that a child can run it almost as well as a 
strong woman, and it don’t wear tiie clothes, 
fray the edges nor break buttons the way all 
other machines do. 
It just drives soapy water clear through the 
fibres of the clothes like a force pump might. 
So. said i to myself, 1 will d'o with my “1900 
Gravity” Washer what I wanted tiie man to do 
with Hie horse. Only I won't wait for people 
to ask me. I'll offer first, and I’ll make good 
the offer every time. 
Let mo send you 11 "1900 Gravity” Washer on a month’s 
free trial. I'll pay the freight, out of my own pocket, and 
It’ you don’t want the mnehino after you've used it a 
month, I’ll take it back and pay the freight too. Surely, 
that is fair enough, isn’t it i 
Doesn't it prove that the “ 1900 Gravity ” Washer must 
bo all that I say it is I 
And you can pay 1110 out of what it saves for you. It 
will save it's w hole cost in a few months, in wear and 
tear on the clothes alone. And then it will save 50 cents 
to 75 cents a week over that in washwoman’s wages. If 
you keep the machine after the month’s trial, I’ll let you 
pay for it out of what it saves you. If it saves you (10 
cents a week, send me 50 cents a w eek’till paid for. I'll 
take that cheerfully, and I’ll wait for my money until 
the machine itself earns the balance. 
Drop mo a line today and let me send you a book about 
the ” 1900 Gravity ” Washer that washes doilies in fi 
minutes. 
Address mo this way —H. L. Barker, 1452 Court Street, 
Binghamton, N. V. it' you live in Canada, address 1900 
Washer Co., 357 Yongo St., Toronto, Out. 
Save 5 5 to s 23 
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Stoves and Ranges 
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and get a betterstove for 
less money. Freight pre¬ 
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you aren't satisfied wo refund your inmitv. 
Write for Catalog and Prices. Bin Free 
Catalog shows why improved features of fluid Coin 
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-why they have given satisfaction for 53 years. 
Gold Coin Stove Co., 3 OakSt.,Troy,N.Y. 
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by test for ail worki n any weather. 
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styles, trives prices and tells how *o order. A posta 1 brings it. 
OVERLAND SHOE GO. Dept. 43 Racine, Wis. 
lgerous oil or match- 
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Satisfaction 
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Send $1 
today 
