850 
KAI.SIN(i BY MAX POWER.—The carpentei'.<=! 
usually have the first floor timbers laid with some 
flooriiifr thereon and the barn-raisers begin by join¬ 
ing the lieavy cross sections. With ropes to pull 
and steady them, men to push by hand and with 
l»ikes on poles as they g®leyond reach, these heavy 
frames are laced upright, slipped into their sockets 
and secured by lieavy wooden pins. On two of these 
s<*(*tions an ovei’den is made with flooring, on which 
elevated platform most of the timbers are received 
for the work above the square. One of the most 
diflicult feats is the raising of the purlin, which is 
usually a joined piece of timber the entire length of 
file barn having attached to it diagonal braces for 
('ach cross section of heavy supporting timbers. This 
forms the midway rafter support, and there is one 
for the front and one for the rear side of the barn, 
Willi the rafters placed in position the barn raisers 
have about completed their ta.sk and the barn skele¬ 
ton is in shape for the carpenters to complete the 
slniclure. 
fl'IIE SOCIAL SIDE.—The farmer having a barn 
raising jirovides a .sumptuous dinnei*, which is pre¬ 
pared under the direction of his helpmate and the 
as.sistaiiee of a number of neighboring women, who 
enter into the spirit of the affair as much as the 
men. They do their part exceedingly well, as any 
< lie knows who has had the good fortune to dine at 
a Pennsylvania German farmer’s table. Y’our Wal- 
dorf-Astorias may have more and extra service, but 
I etter and more nourishing food from original 
i;ources, never. If the weather is favorable the 
P'bles may be set on a shady lawn, and “grace be¬ 
fore meat” is given by a minister, some of whom 
; re always among the gathering of neighborhood 
workers. AVhen the work is completed, dinner par¬ 
taken of, and the photographer gets after the people 
l)(‘fore they depart for their homes, the bunch will 
gather in some corner and pose to have their pic¬ 
tures taken. 
OLD-TIME CUSTOMS.—Tradition furnishes tales 
which place in striking contrast the barn raisings 
above referred to and those our fathers and grand¬ 
fathers attended when liquor was served to the 
laen as a universal custom. Drunkenness was com¬ 
mon, accidents often happened, difference of opinion 
were sometimes settled with an appeal to the fists, 
a.lid deaths sometimes were results. Liiiuor is strict¬ 
ly tabooed, and the whiskey bottle and beer keg rele¬ 
gated to oblivion. The excellent morality that pre¬ 
vails and to which reference was previously made, is 
due largely to the dominance of the Mennonite and 
('hurch of the Brethren denominations, who form a 
large proportion of our farming community, and 
('ven tvwn activities, and most of the persons at¬ 
tending these gatherings, belong to these sects or are 
members of other neighborhood churches. The 
barns now being erected take the place of those de¬ 
stroyed by fire, or replace old structures no longer 
adequate for pre-sent needs. john g. zook. 
Rights in Flowing Streams 
We have a creek running through our place and the 
lay of the land is very favorable for building a dam 
that will enable us to get a large quantity of ice, the 
ice to be sold to private houses, in this rapidly-grow¬ 
ing village, also to ice cars—125 cars of peaches were 
shipped from here this year. A neighbor down the 
creek from us now has a monopoly of the ice business. 
In October he starts to dam and collect the water that 
first comes through our farm, and by the middle of 
December or end of December his pond, is full and 
ready to make ice. Could our neighbor prevent us 
from first catching and damming the water between 
October and December, provided we did not shut off 
(he creek? It is quite possible there would not be 
(Miough water for both of us to collect during the 
above length of time—at least not some years. The 
neighbor has been catching the water as above ex¬ 
plained for perhaps 15 years, jiossibly 25. T. B. 
New York. 
EXERAL RULES.—The general rules governing 
the right of riparian owners as laid down by 
the courts in this State, are, in the absence of 
modification by grant or prescription as follows: 
'Phe owner of land along a stream is entitled to a 
reasonable use of the water flowing by his premises 
in a natural stream, as an incident to the ownership 
of the .soil, and to have it transmitted to him with¬ 
out sen.sible alteration in quality or unreasonable 
diminution in quantity. "VSTiile he does not own 
the running water, he has the right to a reasonable 
use of it as it passes by his land. As all other own¬ 
ers upon the same sti'eam have the same right, the 
right of no one is absolute but is qualified by the 
right of the others to have the stream substan¬ 
tially preserved in its natural size, flow and ])urity, 
and to protection against material diversion or 
pollution. 
COMMOX RIGHTS.—This is the common right 
of all which must not be interfered with by any. 
The use by each must, therefore, be consistent with 
the rights of the others. Consumption by watering 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
cattle, temporary detention by dams in order ?o 
run machinery, irrigation when not out of propor¬ 
tion to the size of the stream, and some other fam¬ 
iliar uses, although in fact a diversion of the water 
involving some loss, are not regarded as an unla\v- 
ful diversion, but are allowed as a necessary in¬ 
cident to the use in order to effect the highest av¬ 
erage to all the riparian owners. As the enjoy¬ 
ment of each must be according to his opportunity 
and the iqiiier owner has the first chance, the lower 
owners must submit to such lo.ss as is caused by 
reasonable use. Surrounding circumstances, such 
Raising a Cross Section. Fig. 347 
as the size and velocity of the stream, the usage 
of the country, the*extent of the injury, conven¬ 
ience in doing business and the indi.spensable pub¬ 
lic neces.sity of cities and villages for drainage, are 
also taken into consideration, so that a use which, 
under certain circumstances, is held reasonable, 
under different circumstances Avould be held un¬ 
reasonable. It is also material, sometimes, to as¬ 
certain which party first erected his works and 
began to appropi'iate the water. Where the nat¬ 
ural and nece.ssary result of the place selected, and 
the method adopted by an upper riparian owner in 
the conduct of his business is to cause material In- 
Putting Up the Purlin. Fig. 348 
jury to the property of an owner below, a court of 
e(]uity will exercise its power to restrain on account 
of the inadequacy of the remedy at law and in 
order to prevent a multiplicity of suits. The lower 
riparian owners are entitled to a fair participation 
in the u.se of the water and their rights cannot be 
cut down by the convenience or necessity of an¬ 
other’s business. “The necessities of one man’s 
business cannot be the standard of another’s rights 
in a thing which belongs to both.” 
REASOXABLE U.SE OF WATER.—The question 
of the riparian owner’s right then works down to 
a question of reasonableness. Ilis use of the water 
must be rea.sonable when considered with reference 
Rafters on and Raising Completed. Fig. 349 
to the needs or rights of other riparian proprietors 
on the stream, and any malicious or wanton use 
or abu.se of his water privileges is unreasonable 
and actionable. There is no fixed rule for determin¬ 
ing what will constitute a reasonable use, but each 
case depends upon its own particular facts and the 
reasonableness of a particular u.se is generally a 
<luestion of fact for the jury. In determining the 
reasonableness of a particular use it is proper to 
consider the character and size of the stream, the 
nature and conditions of the impi-ovements thereon, 
the uses to which it is put and the custom and usage 
of the people in the vicinity and elsewhere in regard 
to the management of business and the use of the 
•July 7, 1917. 
water of .such streams, the volume of water, its 
fall and velocity, the season of the year, its object 
and, extent, the necessity for it and the previous 
usage. Generally siieaking a u.se which is not in 
excess of the ordinary flow of the stream will not 
be held unrea.sonable, but the right of a riparian 
owner to shut off the entire flow of the stream un¬ 
til his pond or reservoir is filled or until he* has 
a sufficient head to run his machine at its full 
capacity, depends on the facts of the ca.se and 
such detention may or may not be reasonable ac¬ 
cording to the circumstance.s. 
RIGHT BY BRESCRIPTIOX.—One may acquire 
a right to maintain a dam the effect of which is 
injurious or burdensome to others by prescription 
extending over the necessary period of time, which 
is generally 20 years. This period begins only from 
the time of actual damage accruing to the person 
against whom the right is asserted and the posses¬ 
sion and maintenance of the dam during the whole 
period must have been under a claim of right or 
title hostile and adverse to the per.son injured there¬ 
by, with his knowledge and without his effectual in¬ 
terruption. Y’ou can judge from the above whether 
you have a right to build your dam and shut off 
the flow from the owner below. The question of lii.s 
obtaining a prescriptive right to his dam would not 
seem to affect you, as your holding is above his 
on the stream and his right is not adverse to .your 
reasonable use of the water before it gets to him. 
Under all the circumstances, it is questionable 
whether you will be able to erect your dam and 
shut the Avater off from him. It would .tieein almost 
to be an unreasonable use of the water. If you 
find that it would not, you may go ahead and take 
the consequences. Certainly you can use it Avhile 
there is a big flow of Avater. m. d. 
The Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol 
The R. X.-Y”. has readers in all Avalks of fife—many 
of them Avidely separated from actual farming. Among 
others there are a goodly number of men avIio mann- 
facture and sell liquor. Our AueAvs on that subject are 
Avell knoAvn, but as in every other line Ave desire to be 
entirely fair in presenting either the moral or the in¬ 
dustrial side. I.ast year Ave .stated that the brcAveries 
and distilleries could be u.sed for manufacturing indus¬ 
trial alcohol—thus preserving their business and at the 
same time avoiding Avhat Ave call an economic Avaste. A 
man prominent in the liquor trade disputed the state¬ 
ment and we noAv print a reply by a manufacturing 
chemist: 
I am one of your subscribers. I enjoy your paper and 
admire your AA'ork in protecting the honest farmer from 
the commission-house sharks. Y'ou have a good deal to 
say about prohibition, and, as I have, ahvays thought 
you fair, you should giA-e both sides of the question. I 
belieA’e you are mistaken in saying that distilleries and 
breAveries could make denatured alcohol. I think you 
are also a little inconsistent Avhen you give rations for 
dairy feed which contain distillers’ dried grains. Hoav 
can you have distillers’ grains if you confiscate distil¬ 
lery property? I notice that the British Government is 
considering the purchase of the liquor establishhmeuts 
ill England—they do things different over there. J. T. 
ES,— Ave Avant to be fair—let us see Avliat a 
breAvery or distillery consists of. There is first 
a malt house, Avliere a part of the grain is sprouted 
to develop the diastase Avliich acts on starch to 
change it to the sugars Avhich the yeast eats and ex¬ 
cretes as alcohol. Then there are cookers AAdiere 
the starch is changed, the hulls being “brevA'ers’ 
grains,” the soluble part, “Avort,” Avliiph then goes tp 
the fermenting vats Avhere the yeast is added and 
ferments, giving, after the yeast is filtered out, a 
liquid having about .3.5 per cent, to 5.5 per cent, 
alcohol in breAveries and 8 to 10 per cent, in distil¬ 
leries. In the breAA*ei*ie.s hojis or other things have 
been added to give characteristic flavors and the 
liquid is sold under the proper names. In the dis¬ 
tilleries the liquid is distilled to run about 50 jier 
cent, alcohol, and is stored in oak casks to develop 
the flavor. This is of necessity a A'ery short but, Ave 
believe, a fair and clear account. A breAvery would 
haA’e to junk its bottling plant, put in a good still, 
and run its fermenting vats to give a more alcoholic 
fermentation. A distillery Avould merely have to 
add another rectifying column to its still or buy a 
better still. It is admitted that several distillerie.s, 
attracted by the Avar jirices, are running on denat¬ 
ured alcohol, and Ave knoAV of others Avhich started 
up after several shut-dOAvn years, and are doing the 
same. So that, after all, it is a matter of price, 
isn’t it? 
And Avhat you are really Avorrying over is not that 
breAveries and distilleries cannot make denatured 
alcohol, but that they cannot compete Avith other dis¬ 
tilleries Avhich have a cheaper raAv material than 
grain. This may be so, only time can tell Avhat 
grain and alcohol prices Avill be after the Avar, and 
Avhether cheaper starches, as the “alcohol potato” 
(a giant sort, too coarse for human food), may not 
release all the grain for other uses. 
But we can assure you that an increasing num¬ 
ber, soon to be a majority, of plain, everyday voters 
