THE R UKAL NEW-YORKER 
1305 
“Back to the City” 
Eloise Burnham had been the virtual 
head of her father’s farm ever since his 
stroke 12 years before. She had been his 
constant companion, after she lost her 
mother, at the age of five, and she was 
generally on her pony at his side, as he 
galloped his horse over the farm, direct¬ 
ing the men. After he was struck help¬ 
less she still rode over the farm, and, 
coming back, reported progress. But noue 
of the men employed knew that the girl 
racing about the farm on her pony was 
noting every detail of the work and faith¬ 
fully reporting'to her father. 
When the latter realized that his time 
was short he advised Eloise to hire a 
good manager. 
“Don't try to run it yourself,” he said. 
‘“Men don’t like being bossed by a 
woman.” 
Eloise made no promises. She was now 
no longer a girl, but a woman over thirty, 
not particularly attractive, and quite cer¬ 
tain in her own mind what she wanted ; 
not one to appeal to a man’s sentimental 
side. 
She called the men together, and had 
hot coffee and doughnuts for them in 
the Summer house. Then she took them 
into her confidence. 
“I told papa for years,” she said, “that 
he was not keeping up to the spirit of 
the times in his farming. He said he 
knew it, but it was too late for him to 
change. My twin brother in the West 
has offered to come and start this farm 
on the new basis of efficiency—scientific 
management, and all that. I have a pride 
in showing him that we can do it with¬ 
out help. I have studied the thing out, 
and it resolves itself in the last analysis, 
into making the best possible use of 
time. Wo will see what we can do. Pos¬ 
sibly we may succeed without his help. 
“We will begin to-morrow on the new 
plan. Here is a little timebook for each 
of you. There is a pencil attached. When 
you commence a job look at your watch 
and note the time in the little book. 
When it is done make a note of the time. 
Find out just how long each separate 
task takes—especially those which are to 
be repeated daily. You will be astonished 
to see how this alone will make you ‘speed 
up.’ 
“Hereafter, Nils is to fetch the cows 
from the pasture at half past four. In 
the meantime, the others may clean the 
stables, ar.d do the necessai./ morning 
chores. At five you all commence milic- 
ing and at six you are finished. Break¬ 
fast at six-fifteen, and out in the lot at 
seven.” 
“Somebody’s gotta draw th’ milk,” said 
John, with a look at the others. 
This was a cherished privilege. Draw¬ 
ing the milk meant a pleasant drive in 
the cool of the morning, with a sociable 
time with the men from the other farms, 
. on the same business, and another chat 
in the store, while waiting for the gro¬ 
ceries or the tobacco. Eloise had long 
chafed under this continual waste of the 
early morning hours. 
“I’ll draw the milk,” she said. 
Eloise was buoyed up by the thought 
of her new enterprise. She was not 
selfish, and it was genuine happiness she 
felt in planning out the benefits they 
would all derive from her new plan. 
“I haven’t explained it all to you yet!” 
she cried, as the men made as if to go. 
“You know farmers work longer hours 
than other workers do, and I want to pay 
you double wages for the time you work 
over 10 hours. The hour and a half, 
from half past four until six, you will 
get double pay for, if we put this plan 
into execution. And, if we carry the idea 
out conscientiously, we shall make much 
more money. This increase I propose to 
divide with you. We are now making 
about nine per cent net. Anything we 
make over that by your co-operation and 
extra effort we shall divide according to 
wages. As I draw no wages I will take 
as my share the average of the amount 
you get together. 
“There are four of us, so each would 
get approximately one-fourth of the in¬ 
crease. I am netting abcut four thous¬ 
and dollars a year now. I figure that 
we can increase that by nearly a thous¬ 
and—I’ll tell you what. If you do what 
you can to further the scheme I will take 
my fourth in the improvement of the 
plant, and you may divide the increase 
between the three of you. You are hiring 
a lot of day labor now. If you plan so 
as to do a great deal of that yourselves 
you should have the benefit of it. My 
books shall be open to your examination 
at all times.” 
Eloise was nothing if not dramatic. 
Her quick fancy beheld the scene as if 
upon the stage; the generous young bene¬ 
factress, the honest, hard-working yokels, 
momentarily elevated in spirit by the con¬ 
templation of her self-abnegation. She 
glowed all over as they started off down 
the gravel path. Then she bethought 
herself that none of them had taken the 
little books, each with a tiny pencil at¬ 
tached. 
“Here!” she cried after them, “are 
your timebooks. Don’t forget them!” 
“What are we going to do with them?” 
growled John, as Nils came back with 
the three—pink, blue and green. 
“Bub ’em in yer hair,” said Nils, 
who enjoyed the reputation of being the 
village wit. 
“You fellers e’n give me yourn,” said 
Peter. “You hain’t got no "kids. I have 
to git three of ; everything ’et there’s a' 
rough-house.” 
The next morning Eloise was on hand 
at six o’clock,, ready to draw the milk. 
Her heart sang within her. She could 
see the old farm spinning along 
to an unexampled prosperity, and setting 
an example to the world of the practica¬ 
bility of the golden rule in business. At 
the same time it would be an object les¬ 
son to the other farmers, who carried on 
their work in the same slipshod manner 
their ancestors had done before them. 
With a lilt in her heart and a song on 
her lips she went out to the barn. Not 
a cow was in sight. 
“What’s the matter?” she cried. 
“Nothing,” replied John. 
“Why aren’t the cows up? I came 
out to draw the milk!” 
“Nils went after ’em, but I guess some 
of ’em is bangin’ back, like they always 
do.” 
“How long has he been gone?” 
“ ’Bout a half an hour or so.” 
Eloise bit her lip and went back to 
the house. Half an hour, and her prac¬ 
ticed eye told her from the amount of 
work done in the barn that the others 
had been no earlier. 
At half past seven the men went to 
breakfast. At a quarter past eight Peter 
started with the milk. One hour was 
necessary to drive to the station, deliver 
the milk and drive back. But it always 
took two hours. This morning was no 
exception, although Eloise had telephoned 
her order to the grocery and had asked 
them to have it ready to hand out to the 
man, so that he would not have to wait. 
She tried to shame the men into prompt¬ 
ness by going after the cows on her 
pony at half past four. 
When she brought them to the barn 
there was no one to receive them. She 
could not get them in alone and she spent 
an hour heading them off from wander¬ 
ing into the corn. She tried appealing 
to the men’s thrift, through their wives 
whom she visited, and to whom she de¬ 
picted in glowing terms the advantages 
which Would accrue from following out 
her plan. But the men had their side in 
first, apparently, for there was no en¬ 
thusiasm, no response. 
Eloise realized that the only change 
she had succeeded in making was that, 
whereas before she paid regular wages, 
she would now be expected to pay double 
for any time over 10 hours, and to divide 
any dividend which might accrue. She 
called the men together after four months 
and said: “Boys, I see my plan won’t 
work. I am going to New York to sail 
for Europe to-morrow. My brother 
Nathan will arrive Friday to take 
charge of the farm while I am gone.” 
Eloise went to New York, and Friday 
Brother Nathan arrived, late in the even¬ 
ing. None of the men saw him until 
next morning, when they found him in 
the barn before them, although they got 
around unusually early. 
“Brother Nathan,” as the men called 
him between themselves, was a quiet little 
man in gray. Keen, cool eyes sparkled 
through a pair of eyeg'asses which were 
always shiningly, yes, even glitteringly 
transparent. The men came to wish, in 
time, that there might sometimes be a 
slight cloud on them! lie greeted the 
men in a kindly, if rather brusque, man¬ 
ner, and at once asked who had charge 
of the horses and harnesses. 
Finding that no one of them had the 
full responsibility, he detailed one man 
to see that the harnesses were kept oiled 
and in order, as well as the wagons and 
everything on wheels. 
“And,” he said, lifting up the hind 
leg of one of the horses, “you want to 
cure up these scratches and see that they 
don’t come back. No excuse for scratches 
on a horse-; neglect every time. John, I 
want you to take charge of the dairy. 
I want you to oversee the care, the milk¬ 
ing and the feeding of the cows. The 
milking should be just 12 hours apart. 
Don’t want anything doing on the place 
after six. Leave details to you. Fix 
it to suit yourself. But every man 
jack of you home at six.” 
Inside of a week everything on the 
farm had been systematized. Each man 
knew just what he had to do, and in 
some way was made to feel that the most 
salutary thing for him would be to ‘give 
satisfaction.’ 
“Wbpt’s this I hear?” he said one day, 
“about your getting 'double pay and divi- 
dends? Stuff and nonosense Y’ get paid 
same"as, all other hands do—going wages. 
Cash when yo'uij..montht is up. Leave any 
time you get ready—on two weeks’ notice. 
No notice, no. pay. Get two weeks’ wages 
if you are discharged without notice.” 
Things began to hum on the old Burn¬ 
ham place. A year from the day “Brother 
Nathan” took charge he called the men 
together. 
“Men,” he said, “I thank you. You’ve 
helped me first class with my experi¬ 
ment.” Here he slipped behind a screen 
for a moment, and directly there emerge 1 
a figure in a soft silk dress minus eye¬ 
glasses and sandy mustache. “As I sai l, 
boys, I thank you for helping me to prove 
that a man will obey a pair of trousers 
when he coolly ignores a petticoat. If 
you had co-operated with me you would 
now have had just nine hundred dollars 
to divide among you. I sold the farm 
yesterday. I thank you again for your 
cheerful help in proving what I have 
thought for years was the case—that men 
won’t work for women—not if they know 
it.” e. E. D. 
Dyeing a Skirt. 
I should like to' know how to dye a 
light colored woolen skirt black. IIow 
is it done? MRS. G. A. 
Massachusetts. 
Be sure that the skirt is clean and wet 
before you start coloring. Weigh the 
skirt when it is wet to know how much 
dye to allow. Dissolve the dye by stirring 
it in a little cold water in a small china 
or agate dish,' then add hot water in the 
proportion of one quart of water for each 
package of dye. Stir, bring to a boil and 
continue until the dye is dissolved. Place 
in the dye vessel tin; required amount 
of soft water, add to this any salt or 
vinegar called for on the dye envelope 
and strain the prepared dye into the dye 
vessel. Be sure to use enough water to 
cover the article. For a large article I 
use the wash boiler. 
I cannot give you any rule for the 
time it will take, dark colors take longer 
than light. Keep the article moving nil 
the time in the dye bath and keep it boil¬ 
ing hard. It may take an hour to get 
a good black, but probably 30 to 40 min¬ 
utes will be ample. My own rule is to 
watch the dye bath, and when that looks 
dull and lifeless, and as if all the color 
was out of it, the cloth is apt to be col¬ 
ored all right. Take your cloth out an 1 
hang it outdoors dripping, but put it in 
the shade, keep the dye bath until the 
cloth is dry and see if you have the color 
wanted. When the cloth is dry, rinse 
carefully in several waters until the water 
drips clear. Do not put in any more black 
dye than is called for, as it might give 
a rusty color. I have always had good 
luck in coloring things and think you 
will have no difficulty. It would be a lit¬ 
tle easier if the skirt were ripped apart. 
E. S. K. 
\\\u i 1 
A Few Hours Heal 
Pleasure in the 
Evening 
T he bright 
light of the 
Rayo Lamp 
makes reading and 
sewing real pleas¬ 
ures these evenings. 
Lamps 
The Rayo gives a steady 
light that can’t hurt 
the eyes. It requires 
almost no attention. Its 
simplicity of design 
makes it easy to keep 
clean. You don’t have 
to remove the shade to 
light it—just lift the 
gallery and touch a 
match. Most conve¬ 
nient—most efficient 
—most economical. 
The Rayo is one of the 
famous SOCONY pro¬ 
ducts that all house¬ 
wives know and use. 
These SOCONY pro¬ 
ducts assure you the 
highestqualityand satis¬ 
faction. Ask for them. 
Standard Household 
Lubricant 
Standard Hand Separator 
Oil 
Parowax 
Mica Axle Grease 
Eureka Harness Oil 
Matchless Liquid Gloss 
If your dealer does not 
carry them, write to our 
nearest station. 
Standard Oil Co. of New York 
(Principal Stations) 
NEW YORK ALBANY 
BUFFALO BOSTON 
.iUiM&Ml/ 
BOOKS WORTH READING 
Landscape Gardening, Parsons.2.00 
I.awn Making, Barron. 1.10 
Agriculture ami Chemistry. Storer. 5.00 
Fertilizers and Crops. Van Slyke.... 2.50 
Weeds of Farm and Garden, Pammel 1.50 
Book of Wheat. Dondllnger. 2.00 
Successful Fruit Culture. Maynard.. 1.00 
Irrigation and Drainage, King.... 1,50 
Study of Corn, Slioesmith.50 
The Soil, King. 1.50 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 W. 30th St., New York City 
