83 
B>3g rural. Pf e W-TTO k k e k 
I WOMAN AND HOME 
WoMAX niJiii carriers and woman car 
conductors have appeared in New York 
and are doing their work properly. One 
woman conductor recently came into court 
to charge a passenger with ahusive lan¬ 
guage. He refused to pay his fare ami 
struck the conductor. The judge prompt¬ 
ly finer] him .$10 and the male i)assenger.s 
gave him the rest. 
t?; 
Ix all our experience of over .‘>0 years 
with The R. X.-Y. we never knew the 
time when so many women wei'e acting 
as j-esponsible managers or partners of a 
farm. We hear from hundreds of them 
at this season, and they aia* among the 
st.aunche.st and most faithful friends we 
have. Many of them are widows or 
women whose parents live with them on 
the old home place. In some cases the 
boys have been drafted and mother and 
sister are doing their bit (and a big one) 
on the land. If someone could write the 
history of this war and show clearly the 
part being played so well by Americ.an 
farm women, the, world would surely stop 
to listen. Their work is such that they 
receive little credit or recognition, but it 
is the kind of work that holds nations to¬ 
gether. 
The Country women of New York State 
are accepting the right to vote as a i>riv- 
ilege and duty. They take the situation 
seriously, and will make much out of it. 
This is made evident at every meeting 
where country peoi)le attend. The women 
ar(> more attfuitive than men. and are 
quick to take a hand in any discussion 
on a question which affects their home 
life or their children. We know, of 
course, that many .so-called wise men and 
wonum j)redict a failure for woman suf- 
fr.-ige. hut we can se(> no (>vidence <»f it 
thus far if serious interest in i)uhlic mat¬ 
ters is to he considered. We ladieve that 
country women will use the ballot more 
intelligently and with gi-eater courage 
than 7.0 per cent of the men. We think 
they will bring a new and better element 
into |»olitics. and that New York State 
will he a better i)lace to live in because 
of woman sufl'rage. What about the 
“antis"? Well, what in the world have 
they now to do excejit fall in and help— 
or play the part of perpetual grouch? 
The Hope F:iri;i man m.akes a i)oint this 
week which will inteia'.st you. Many of U9 
rightly say that men should gi\’T* up their 
tobacco in these war times and ofl’er the 
money to the Rtsl Ci'o.ss or some charity! 
Now we all know that it will laaiuire a 
trenumdous elfort of will power to stop 
the u.se of tobacco. Many of us never 
tried it. hut we r('jiliz<‘ it is so. Now, 
when you demand that any man sto|) the 
use of tobacco as a patriotic measure, are 
yo)i willing to do something which will 
re(piire an equally strong fight and self- 
denial? 
* 
This question of public entertainment 
.has many sides to it. Mr. Daniels, who 
wi-ites on page <S2. seems to think the.se 
“movies’’ .and similar show.s h.ave little if 
any practical value. He probably does 
not realize how few peoiih' there are 
among the millions grouped at the mouth 
of the Hudson who are cai)able of enter¬ 
taining themselves! IMany of them would 
be utterly lo.st if thrown upon them¬ 
selves or upon th(‘ spiritijal foiaa's within 
them, for entertainment in some lonely 
place. It is one of the most serious things 
about modern life that the old-time inde- 
p(‘ndence and self-reliance of the indi¬ 
vidual is being washed out of town and 
city people. The farmer may still be a 
unit in himself or in his family, but most 
cit.v men and women become cogs in a 
big machim*. One of the most important 
things to teach a child is the ability to 
amuse him.self with a book, a toy or a 
tool. 
IYe do not hear as much lately of the 
old “mother-in-law” joke. Here is a new 
view of it from a speech by Congressman 
l.ondon : 
A German writer who could afford to 
he unjust to his own people, Ludwig 
Berne, has said that every jieople loves 
liberty in its own way; that the English¬ 
man loves liberty as a respectable man 
loves his wife; he gives her all her rights, 
hut does not get excited about it; that the 
Frenchman loves liberty as a young fel¬ 
low loves for the first time, that he is 
<-raz.v about it: whih* the German love.s 
libert.v as one loves his mother-in-law. 
Now that mother-in-law is a voter in 
New \ork State she will ‘not be so much 
of a subject for j )kes. 
* 
“Room for Both” 
'PIk' little caidoiiii. "Room for Both.” is 
tiiken from "Tht' \Yoman Citizen." Evi¬ 
dently the eagle is giving the more com- 
Room for Both—Uncle Sam’s Nev/ Chick 
fortable plac(> to tlu' part.v under his right 
wing—as was to be i‘xp(‘ctcd. ’I'he older 
chick is not eiitirel.v satisfied, since he is 
deprived of vi monopoly, but he will get 
used to it. .and live to haarn that the new 
chick will lu'li) .and not hinder. 
Essex Cor.x'rv. N. Y.. is what you may 
call "up North.” hut^ the farmers know 
wh.at s!i{nv is- and are not afraid of it. 
The I’arm Bureau meeting w.as Indd in a 
sno-vvstorm. but as we see from the report 
printtal in the “News’’ that was a small 
matter. 
“APPLE PIE IX S.XOW IJAXK 
“I.adies of the M. E. church were to 
furnish the (aits. .lust as it began to look 
as though their general was hidiindhand 
his bodyguard. Mr. Robert Phillips, sent 
a mes.sage that the entire supply train, 
including one Ford car and sevimal first 
aids to the hungry, was stuck in a snow¬ 
bank. E. B. Barker, who with his team 
had met the trains and stood the brunt of 
the batth' all day, immediately went to the 
rescue. Our commissary department i-ov- 
ered themsidves with glory and our ribs 
with calories in double quick.” 
Mr. Barker surely deserved first cut of 
the apple pie—but then most men will 
trav'el far and hard for a good dinner! 
Help! Help! Help! 
That is th(' mi'ssagi' we get from ,T. A. 
Hepworth—though as a rule Mr. Hep- 
worth is well able to take care of himself. 
He is in trouble now because of what we 
printed recentl.v about tin' women and 
girls who picked fruit in the Hud.son Yal- 
h'y last year. Now Hepworth is being 
plastered with po.stage stamps. Pf'ople 
from all over are writing him for further 
information about women as jiicki'rs. 
Now Mr. Ilepwoi’th is a busy man. and 
cannot possibly take can' of all these let¬ 
ters. .so we print the following copy of 
what he wrote to one jiart.v. This will 
answer for all. Better let Brother Hep¬ 
worth alone—-Senator Brown is the gen¬ 
tleman who needs your stamps. Stamp 
him ! 
Dear iMadam — The ri'porters mis¬ 
quoted me when they said I had Itali.an 
girls this pa.st season. I had Italian girls 
wjio caiiH' with tlu'ir familii's. but not as 
a^ unit. The girls I had hast y('ar were 
high school girls, teachers, nurses and 
othi'rs out of work at that time of the 
year who wished to go out in the country, 
not for a good time. Imt to work and save 
some money and to “do their bit.” The 
last idea. I think, started some of them 
and not knowing what they were up 
against. I was very much ph'a.si'd with 
my experience, and out of about 2~> girls 
onl.v had two or three misfits, which is 
most remarkable. I believe a camp of 
Italian girls could be gotten together as 
well if not better than the class of girls 
I had. working girls whose business is 
slack at that time of the year. I received 
my girls through Mayor Mitchel’s com¬ 
mittee in charge of Dlrs. Forster. I under¬ 
stand that a committee is to be formed 
this M inter to carry on the work and to 
get tog('ther camps or units of girls to be 
read.v for ne.xt si'a.son’s work, by the same 
persons who \vere interested the past sea¬ 
son, l)ut of course it will be undi'r some 
otlmr name, as Mayor Mitclu'l’s term has 
expired. a. hei'woiith. 
* 
Women’s Boom in Politics 
Yes. wi' will certainly vote, and take an 
int('rest in all public! (luestions. and in 
some (;jises will vote as our mc'ii do. Why 
not. after spending years time and trouble 
to have our men vote the w-ay we thought 
rightPersonally, I never tliought much 
about the ballot. Women have enough to 
do in their own homes, without politics. 
But since this war I think we should 
have something to say in our country’s 
government, particularly the moral and 
social issues. I believe in preparedness. 
What woman who expected company 
would not prepare for them? Everyone 
knew what to expect when the Lusitania 
was sunk, without regard to American 
lives, yet two and a half years have 
pa.ssed and we are not prepared. If }j 
woman had been in the President’s chair, 
wouhl she have written a jinlite note? 
No. indeed I She would havi* grabbc'd 
her broom and gone for the Hun. 
MRS. F. (J. WHITE. 
The women in this neighborhood prob¬ 
ably do not dill’er grc'atly from hundrc'ds 
of others. W'e have the splendid women 
who have worked so faithfully to hring 
this opiiortunity to women ; ai.so a large' 
number-who have signed papers that they 
would vote if given the opportunity. 
There are a great many who are indiffer¬ 
ent or have given the matter little 
thought, saying they do not care to vote, 
but will mostly add, “I would like to vote 
once,‘and that on the liquor ciuestion.” 
We have also a few would-be society 
ladies who look with disfavor on women 
voting, but as soon as some prominent 
leader takes it iqi they will all rush in. 
No. I do not think women will vote a 
ticket just because their husbands do. but 
will give thought enough to the matter to 
dc'cide for themselves. I feel sure that 
the men will do more thinking, as all 
questions in which women ar(' especially 
interested will be discussc'd in the honn'. 
I think we can depend on a Large part of 
our new citizens to try eariu'stly to use 
the ballot wisely and will be wide-awake 
to their responsibilities, but should not be 
expected to reach their full political 
growth in a few short weeks or months. 
Livingston (’o., N. Y’. 
MRS. ISAAC C. ROUERS. 
* 
Practical Dishwashing 
I spent last Winter cooking for a 
boarding school. I had the dishes to wash 
for 25 or more jieople. I washed kettles 
and cooking dishes just as soon as they 
were empty ; if the food sticks to theni. 
put a little cold water and a teaspoon of 
washing powder in and place on .stove a 
few minutes, when it will easily wash off. 
As last as the dishes were brought from 
the dining-room I dropp('d forks. kniv('s 
and spoons into a pan of hot soaii.v water, 
scraped the food from iilates and put 
them all in piles at the left of the sink, 
while at my right I had a table with a 
large galvanized oblong tray which had 
dish di'aim'r made of heavy wire. I had 
two jians of hot w,ater, the first la'al 
soapy ; second, clear boiling water. The 
glasses I wash first and rinse and jiut to 
drain (they and the silver must be (Iried). 
then while drying them leave the iian full 
of other dishes. By having dishes all 
clean of .scraps and sorted it ,tbk('s little 
time to wash and rinsi', and by using tlu' 
dish drainei* with vei’y hot water tin' 
china requires no drying with towels. I 
had three wire drainers and if car(' is 
taken in placing the dishes they may be 
lifted out of the tray as fast as filled. 
Long I.sland. apa r. helm. 
Girls as Farm Laborers 
In a ri'cent issue of The R. N.-Y. I 
notice that women have been employi'd in 
New York jiicking cherries, pears and ap¬ 
ples. Here in this part of Yirginia girls 
Sind wonu'ii have' been picking cherries 
and ajiiih's for a numbi'r of .vears. Then' 
is .scarcely an orchard in this part of tin* 
State that does not employ female help to 
pick and jiack apples. Some of the girls 
are like sonu' of the nn'ii; llu'y arc* ])oor 
help, but others are as good h('l|) as the 
avi'rage man. In fact, the orchardists 
could not he vi'ry choice about lu'lp tlu' 
past s('ason. and tlu'y wen' glad to 
take almost an.v kind of help oht;iinable. 
Some of th(' women rf'ceived as much pa.v 
per day a.s tin' men, for tlu'.y did as mucli 
work, and, to be fair to tlu'm it was right 
to pay as much. Not only did the women 
pick and jiack a|)|)l('s, but they cut corn 
and husked it in the field. In one field 
on my own farm last year three women 
were husking corn and they n'C('ived 25 
cents per shock for 10x1(5 hill shocks. 
One woman with a suckling child cut 
about 12 acres of lu'avy corn. Slu' was 
paid 20 cents a shock for the work, and 
she did a better job than lots of men did 
in setting it up. oEOiMiE A. copi>. 
* 
A Dairyman’s Wife Tells It 
The dairy business at present is really 
in a chaos, which cannot be attributed to 
war conditions, but to the awakening of 
the farmers themselves. Befoi-e the ad¬ 
vent of a reasonable and quick method of 
getting about, the farmer and his family 
did the work, because there was nothing 
else to do, or a convenient way to the 
outside wilderness. The intelligent coun¬ 
ty agent taught them how to get the cost. 
'Then they did, and now Mr. Farmer will 
not be the good Samaritan any longer to 
the people, who howl for six-cent milk, 
and a bushel of potatoes for 50 cents, and 
to the dear, devoted broker to make lots 
of money on his wheat because he had to 
sell for what they chose to pay. Mr. 
Farmer’s sons and daughters just love to 
be “all dolled up” in the latest style, just 
as humanly as Miss and Mr. City. So 
there is the problem in a nutshell. Mr. 
Farmer cannot pay for the style and pay 
the feed bill, for his dairy amounts to 
$9.50 per month (like ours did) above the 
milk check for the same time, without 
counting his labor and his family’s or his 
roughage, that the cows must have, and 
the horses to be fed and kept to do-the 
work with, and his taxes, that he will be 
sold out if not paid, as promptly as death 
works. MRS. c. p.'diai.ey. 
