852 
THE RUKA-JU NEW-YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
In Athens, when all learning centered 
there, 
Men reared a column of surpassing 
height 
In honor of Minerva, wise and fair, 
And on the top, that dwindled to the 
sight, 
A statue of the goddess was to stand. 
That wisdom might obtain in all the 
land. 
And he who. with the beauty in his heart, 
Seeking in faultless work immortal 
youth, 
Would mould this statue with the finest 
art, 
Making the wintry marble glow with 
truth, 
Should gain the prize. Two sculptors 
sought the fame; 
The prize they craved was an enduring 
name. 
Aleamcnes soon carved his little best; 
But Phidias, beneath a dazzling 
thought 
That like a bright sun in a cloudless west 
Lit up his wide great soul, with pure 
love wrought 
A statue, and its face of changeless stone 
With calm, far-sighted wisdom towered 
and shone. 
Then to be judged the labors were un¬ 
veiled ; 
But at the marble thought, that by 
degrees 
Of hardship Phidias cut, the people 
railed. 
"The lines are coarse; the form too 
large,” said these; 
"And he who sends this rough result of 
haste 
Sends scorn, and offers insult to our 
taste,” 
Aleamcnes’ praised work was lifted high 
Upon the capital where it might stand : 
But there it seemed too small, and 
’gainst the sky 
Had no proportion from the uplooking 
land; 
So it was lowered, and quickly put aside, 
And the scorned thought was mounted 
to be tried. 
Surprise swept o’er the faces of the 
crowd. 
And changed them as a sudden breeze 
may change 
A field of fickle grass, and long and loud 
Their mingled shouts to see a sight so 
strange. 
The statue stood completed in its place. 
Each coarse line melted to a line of 
grace. 
So bold, great actions, that are seen too 
near. 
Look rash and foolish ta unthinking 
eyes; 
They need the past for distance to ap¬ 
pear 
In their true grandeur. Let ns yet 
be wise 
And not too soon our neighbor's deed 
malign, 
For what seems coarse is often good 
and fine. 
—Author Unknown. 
We have told how in Great Britain and 
Europe more and more of what has been 
called man’s work is going to women. 
So many of the men have gone as sol¬ 
diers that women are forced into new 
lines of industry. The wealthy English 
classes employ many footmen and but¬ 
lers, who wear a livery or uniform. 
"Parlor maids” are being employed to 
take the places of these men and tailors 
are suggesting a new uniform for them: 
The sketch of the enterprising tailor 
presents a figure half woman and half 
man A narrow skirt pendent from the 
waist is feminine. A jacket buttoned 
across a striped waistcoat surmounted by 
a stand-up collar and a black neekktie are 
decidedly masculine. As a matter of 
taste it seems doubtful whether the new 
uniform will supersede the neatness of 
the ordinary parlor maid’s frock and cap. 
We just refer to this to show how this 
terrible war is to change industry to its 
smallest detail by changing the work 
and the condition of women. This change 
will be felt all over the world, for condi¬ 
tions are now such that customs and 
habits, like fashions, are reflected from 
one country to another. 
* 
We have a letter from a hay fever vic¬ 
tim who is made miserable wherever 
“ragweed” or Roman wormwood is 
found. She wants to find a place in New 
England where this weed is unknown. 
Are there any such locations? We shall 
be glad to hear from other hay fever 
sufferers. 
* 
Is not Rev. Geo. B. Gilbert right in say¬ 
ing that after all the rural church should 
be the great helper and social center in 
country neighborhoods? It is possible 
that we may not all agree with Mr. Gil¬ 
bert’s plan of inducing people to attend 
church, but let us think for a moment 
what "the lonely road” really stands for. 
We think Mr. Gilbert is doing a great 
work—one which other country minis¬ 
ters might well follow. Of course there 
is much in personality, and we cannot 
all work in just this way, but to fulfill its 
mission properly the church must stand 
for service, plain, practical and personal 
—the kind that takes right hold of a 
man's life and makes it worth while. 
* 
If someone would investigate the mar¬ 
keting of fashions as you are looking into 
the poultry market, wouldn't there be 
some interesting revelations? When a 
woman buys a garment that is in the 
height of fashion, does she get 35 cents 
real value and 05 cents fashion for her 
dollar? In my opinion she gets less than 
35 cents real value. c. 
No question but that the constant 
change in “fashions” makes a fearful 
drain upon the family in which the wom¬ 
en attempt to keep up with styles. On 
May 4 the Skirt and Waist Company at 
Weedsport, N. Y., was forced to give up 
business. The styles changed so fre¬ 
quently that this company could not keep 
up with them : 
The coming of the bubble skirts three 
years ago was the first blow to the busi¬ 
ness. The company had been engaged in 
the manufacture of full petticoats and 
the coming of the narrow skirts caused 
a lull in business. About the time that 
the company was ready to go in the man¬ 
ufacture of narrow petticoats, the style 
again changed and the large quantity of 
manufactured material, it is said, was 
on the hands of the company without a 
market for it. 
This factory was a feature of Weeds- 
port’s industry and its closing affects 
many working women. 
* 
Some time, perhaps not far distant, 
the woman on the farm may be able to 
receive a helper, may be able to enjoy 
girls in all the lighter occupations, and 
the entrance of women into these occu¬ 
pations takes household helpers away 
from families where help is needed. 
* 
Widow’s Pension in New York. 
My husband died last August leaving 
me with four small children. I am a 
helpless cripple myself, but my oldest 
girl helping with younger children, helps 
keep home together. I am now living 
on a farm, but will move in March next, 
as the farm is heavily mortgaged. Do 
you think I can get a widow’s pension? 
I saw by a paper a widow in Fort Plain 
gets $25 a month during her natural 
widowhood. She had four children too. 
What would I have to do? Whom would 
I have to see? Would I be required to 
see an official of the town in which my 
husband died? I do not understand the 
pension law. One of my neighbors says 
I can get a small pension soon. Others 
say I cannot. mrs. c. m. 
New York. 
The Widowed Mothers’ Pension Law 
will not go into effect until July 1st of 
this year. At that time, a board will be 
appointed in each county of the State, 
before which applications for a pension 
under the law may be brought. It will 
be necessary only for you to apply to the 
supervisor of your town, and ask him to 
present your case to the County Pension 
Board for you, or you may make your 
own application, directly. There is no 
other legal formality to be observed. It 
is the intent of the law to provide a 
small pension for all widowed mothers 
who, without it, would be obliged to 
place one or more of their children in 
some institution supported by the public. 
The amount of the pension will be small, 
not amounting, in any case, to more 
than it would cost to support the child 
benefited in an institutional home. From 
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In the July Woman and Home Magazine number we begin a 
new continued story: 
The Regeneration of Sarah 
It is a good story of farm living, well written, uplifting and true 
to life. We know our readers will enjoy it. It will make them 
think, it will broaden out their lives, and help to show them the 
better way of leading a life that is worth while. Many farm 
stories are too thin to cast a shadow. This one is solid enough 
to make it worth while. 
2 = 
a nine-hour day. Meantime I smile 
when the city woman says the country¬ 
woman lacks energy or she wouldn’t let 
food products (fruit or vegetables) go to 
waste; she should can ’em, dry ’em, pre¬ 
serve ’em, for the city woman to eat, 
after she has bought them by way of the 
telephone girl and delivery boy. I had 
the satisfaction of telling one such wom¬ 
an that the telephoning girl and delivery 
boy might be working in the country. 
The city people want to eat their cake 
and have it too. j. c. 
* 
During each year we are asked to give 
advice to at least 500 different people 
who have back-to-the-land aspirations. 
They tell us freely about their circum¬ 
stances, their hopes and their fears. Why 
do these people think of leaving a good 
job in the city to try the uncertainty of 
farming? Here is a statement made in 
regard to one back-to-the-lander which 
has not, perhaps been brought home forci¬ 
bly to you: 
My friend complains to me that since 
the company by which he is employed has 
begun to employ female help it has be¬ 
come almost impossible for male clerks 
to make any progress financially, with the 
exception of a few favored individuals 
who through church, social or other in¬ 
fluence stand in a preferred class, and 
that it is a matter of utmost indifference 
to the management whether a man goes 
or stays, in fact, it is known that in 
some cases it would be perhaps more 
agreeable if a man resigned his job. as 
that would make a place for a girl and. 
incidentally, be a saving to the concern of 
about half the man’s wages. 
Without question there is great truth 
in that. It is one of the things which 
must be considered more and more in the 
future. The war is to make the situa¬ 
tion more acute than ever. In the towns 
and cities girls and women are crowding 
into all sorts of occupations. It is safe 
to say that in the future the untrained 
boy or man must expect to compete more 
and more with the labor of women and 
your description of your own circum¬ 
stances. I should judge that you would 
be entitled to the benefit of the law, 
though this will be a matter for your 
own County Board to determine after an 
investigation. M. B. D. 
* 
The Spirit of Women. 
I noticed the piece on page 754, R. 
N.-Y. The writer says he can read the 
man’s views on the suffrage question by 
getting acquainted with the wife. Why 
not put it the other way, and tell the 
views of women by watching the treat¬ 
ment they receive from their husbands? 
You invariably see a woman who is spir¬ 
ited, rebellious, under the treatment of 
“I-know-it-all” men, and there are more 
of these in this free country than a 
careless observer will notice. 
What is there for the woman when 
the man takes the stand "The money is 
mine. I’ll do what I have a mind to with 
it,” and there are also more of these than 
many seem to think? The women either 
settle into spiritless servants, getting 
board and clothes for their drudgery, or 
they fight for some rights either in di¬ 
vorce court or out of it. It is an end¬ 
less struggle for anything but the scan¬ 
tiest of existence. 
It would do me good to find just one 
man dominated by his wife. There are 
none in this part of the country and if 
there were many the women would sure¬ 
ly get the ballot. I will admit that yet 
there are too many of the women with 
the spirit all crushed out of them to se¬ 
cure the majority of women on the suf¬ 
frage side, but with every generation they 
are growing less. a. b. g. 
* 
Women as Soldiers. 
On page 65S the Hope Farm man 
stated that during our Civil War women 
served as soldiers, taking actual part in 
military operations. An old soldier who 
June 26, li*15. 
served in the Civil War has taken excep¬ 
tion to this statement, and says that 
from his experience such a thing would 
be absolutely impossible without almost 
instant detection. In order to settle the 
matter we wrote to the Secretary of the 
War Department at Washington, and 
have received a long reply from the Ad¬ 
jutant-General. He says there is no offi¬ 
cial record to be found in the War De¬ 
partment showing definitely that any 
woman was ever enlisted in the military 
service as a member of any regular or¬ 
ganization. He says it is possible, how¬ 
ever, that there may be a few instances 
where women served as soldiers for a 
short time without being detected. Wom¬ 
en were often employed as laundresses 
and nurses ,but could not be said to 
have been in the military service. The 
48th and 49th Congresses granted a pen¬ 
sion to Sarah E. E. Seelye, who claimed 
to have served in Company F, Second 
Michigan Infantry, under the name ot 
Franklin Thompson. She received a 
pension from Congress. On May 10, 
18G3, what is known as the “Kearney 
Cross” was awarded to certain persons, 
among whom were Anna Etheridge of the 
5th Michigan Volunteers, and Mary 
Tepe, of 114th Pennsylvania. The Ad¬ 
jutant-General also refers to nine re¬ 
ports made during the war showing that 
women served as soldiers in male attire. 
In the personal memoirs of General P. 
II. Sheridan, Volume 1, page 245, refer¬ 
ence is made to two women discovered in 
male attire within the Union lines. The 
State of North Carolina made up a roll of 
honor containing the names of persons 
serving in the Confederate Army. This 
record shows that Mrs. S. M. Blaylock 
volunteered March 20th, 1S62, as a pri¬ 
vate soldier of Company F, 26th N. C. 
The following quotation is taken from 
this roll of honor: 
“This lady dressed in men’s clothes, 
volunteered, received bounty and for 
two weeks did all the duties of a sol¬ 
dier before she was found out; but her 
husband being discharged, she disclosed 
the fact, returned the bounty, and was 
immediately discharged April 20, 1862.” 
* 
Women as Rural Mail Carriers. 
Will you please tell me what steps are 
necessary to secure a job as rural mail 
carrier. I have heard numerous com¬ 
plaints against the present carrier. I am 
the mother of six children, the oldest 13, 
the youngest three. I need the job in 
order to help support and educate my 
family. Do you think the government 
would be likely to give the job to a 
woman? MBS. L. m. 
You cannot take any steps in the di¬ 
rection of such a job. The Department 
has decided not to permit any more 
women to serve as carriers. No reason 
is given us for this but it seems to be 
final. We understand there are a few wom¬ 
en appointed before this new rule went 
into effect. 
* 
The Study of Latin 
I would like to speak a word in favor 
of allowing the young folks to study 
Latin. I studied it in the country high 
school a year; though I know but few 
words of it I like it, and would not wish 
to part with what knowledge I have ot 
it. When I take my Gray’s Botany to 
find out about a plant, there I find the 
Latin, also Greek and I wish I knew a 
little of that too. 
When I take my New Testament and 
Psalms in Latin and find the chapter 
with which I am familiar, I think the 
Latin is beautiful, although I have small 
idea how it should be pronounced. 
Why should Caesar be read among the 
first after the beginnings of Latin? Why 
not something of more interest? Of 
course if a child takes no interest in the 
study and finds it very hard, it will prob¬ 
ably be time wasted to study it, if the 
child has to leave school early, but I say, 
let those who like it take it, and it will 
never harm them, even if they are never 
able to earn a cent more for knowing it. 
A. w. T. 
* 
Good Words. 
We are in love with The R. N.-Y. on 
account of its real worth as a farm pa¬ 
per, its clean-cut moral principles, and 
the absence of fake and liquor advertise¬ 
ments. E. c. G. 
Mt. Vernon, O. 
* 
Don’t want to miss the paper. “I con¬ 
sider it food that contains considerable 
protein (food for reflection) in it. 
Pennsylvania. h. w. s. 
