RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
591 
WOMAN AND HOME 
Your First Sweetheart 
She seemed in your boyhood, as pure and 
fair 
As a snowflake floating adown the air, 
And every time you passed her 
You hung your head as you hurried by, 
It made you tremble to have her nigh 
In the tender gaze of her azure eye 
Your glad heart beat faster. 
Her voice Avas musical to your ear. 
Her joyous laughter you loved to hear, 
And while you looked and listened 
Y’ou saw her beautiful golden curls. 
The envy of all the other girls. 
Her cheeks Avere. red and the teeth like 
pearls. 
That in her sweet mouth glistened. 
In the district school-room you loved to 
look 
At her fair young face o’er your thumb- 
Avorn book; 
How sweet and good you thought her 
When the teacher turned his back aAvhile 
It made you happy to see her smile 
As you slyly passed across the aisle 
The apples you had brought her. 
She said she loved you, you proudly 
smiled 
And even fancied, though but a child. 
You could not live Avithout her. 
Timid and few Avere the Avords you said 
When you drew her home upon your sled. 
You ate your supper and went to bed. 
And dreamed all night about her. 
Y'ou grew to manhood and left the town. 
She married a farmer and settled down, 
Y’our lives Avere never blended. 
You toiled and struggled for Avealth and 
fame 
And both those Avorldly blessings came. 
And after many a fleeting flame, 
Y’our youthful dreams Avere ended. 
Y'ou married at last a Avorldly wife. 
Then changes came in your busy life 
That left their sober traces, 
Y'our children clambered about your chair 
And Averen’t you happy to have them 
there ? 
No other children seemed half so fair. 
You smiled at their glad faces. 
Y'our form is bent and your hair is gray, 
Your little SAveetheart is passed aAvay, 
’Tis years since you last parted. 
For time has* changed you. The years 
haA'e fled. 
The other day Avhen you .sloAvly read 
In the morning paper she Avas dead. 
With sad surprise you started. 
Y'ou dropped your paper upon the floor, 
Y'ou Avandered again by the river shore 
In the midst of memory’s Avikhvood. 
rioAV fcAV there are in this Avorld of ours 
Who marry the love of their childhood 
hour.s, 
Y'et Avhere in theii’ way bloom brighter 
flowers 
Than blossoms that bloomed in child-' 
hood ? 
Hc'gexk ,1. Hall. 
4> 
Do not acknowledge receipt of remit¬ 
tance, as wife does not Avant me to spend 
money; she does not need to knoAV of this. 
I Avill knoAV by the tag address Avhich you 
place on paper with date of expiration of 
subscription. j. s. 
We are forced to regard this man as a 
tried and tested friend. Perhaps Ave 
should not be Avilling to become a partner 
in any little secret betAveen man and Avife, 
but in this cpse Ave hope our readers Avill 
overlook the fault. I.et us hope this good 
lady Avill in time become so interested in 
the paper that she Avill be first to pav for 
it: 
•!< 
Here is a plan Avhich some backyard 
gardeners have in mind for helping out 
the poultry situation. Many people have 
a small yard or Iuaa ii Avhere they might 
keep a fcAV hens. ’I’lie scheme is to buy 
three or four setting hens of one of the 
American breeds. This ar such hens 
ought to be for sale cheap, and it Avill be 
po.ssible to get sittings of eggs of .some 
fair stock and hatch them under the hens. 
When the chicks are Aveaned the old hens 
can be killed and eaten, and the re.sult 
Avill be a fcAV good cockerels to be eaten 
during the Fall, and a few pullets for 
next Winter’s laying. In a family of 
good size, Avith the average amount of 
table scraps, the cost of keeping such an 
outfit Avill not be large, and this is prob¬ 
ably the cheapest Avay to get started. It 
looks like a small thing taken by itself, 
but it might Avell be taken up by loO.OOO 
families, and Avould in the aggregate prove 
a great help for the poultry business by 
making a market for unsalable hens. 
ff 
We find a great interest in mushrooms 
as food. They appear on the bill of fare 
at restaurants as never before, and many 
private families are using them. Peo¬ 
ple have an idea that the mushroom is a 
full substitute for meat. It is not. but it 
ranks high as a vegetable food, and ought 
to be more freely used. There are many 
wild mushrooms, and collecting them is 
like having a free ticket for supplies of 
beef steAV. It Avould be great Avork to 
encourage the study and collection of 
mushrooms in country schools. Not in¬ 
terested’/ You may have to be before 
this Avar is over. 
ing with equal faithfulness and equal de¬ 
votion, in some similar appropriate Avay. 
I knoAV of no other agency more suitable 
to suggest this idea to the proper author¬ 
ities than that staunch friend of the 
farmer and of our country. The R. N.-Y. 
JOHN E. DOAX. 
As this war goes on, history is repeat¬ 
ing itself, particularly in the part Avhich 
must be played by Avomen. During the 
Civil War many young Avives at the be¬ 
fresh night air is poisonous. People shut 
themselves in at night and awoke in 
the morning unrested, dull and ugly. 
The bad temper and “tired feeling’’ were 
attributed to everything except the right 
one, Avhich Avas a supply of oxygen from 
the outside air. Many a child is made 
cross and sickly by keeping it aAvay from 
fresh air at night. What nonsense to 
scold the little one or blame its irritation 
upon the “other side of the house.’’ To 
freshen up the heir freshen the air in 
his room I 
MassaciiusetTvS is the first of the 
Eastern States to ratify the national pro¬ 
hibition amendment. This Avas done on 
April 2. Eleven States haA^e uoav rati¬ 
fied, including Mississippi, Virginia, 
Kentucky, South Carolina, North Da¬ 
kota, Mar.vland, Montana, Texas, Dela¬ 
ware and South Dakota. No one doubts 
that the required 36 States Avill fall in 
line Avithin three years. We have thought 
that New York and New Jersey Avould be 
among the last to ratify, because of the 
immense liquor interests centered around 
the mouth of the Hudson River. NeAV 
Jersey has passed a strict local option 
laAV, and in a direct A-ote AA'ould, we 
think, support prohibition. Ncav York 
has been prevented from ratifying this 
ginning of the struggle could not bear to 
see their husbands go. That Avas a a’oI- 
unteer’s Avar, and many a young Avoman 
reasoned that her man should not enlist. 
As the war Avent on and the great issues 
became more clear, a change came over 
these AA'omen, and they ended by bravely 
urging their men to go. IMuch the same 
thing is AA’orking out in this Avar. The 
issues involved are becoming crystallized, 
and people of tlioughtful mind begin to 
realize the moral magnitude of it. As 
the real character of the German military 
rulers is more and more revealed men 
and AA'omen Avho have before this been 
indifferent come to see the aAvful sacrifice 
Avliich this nation must make if it avouUI 
retain freedom in the world and hold that 
freedom to American standards. AVe learn 
of one young Avoman Avith a baby son 
Avho told her husband, “What shall I say 
to this boy Avhen he groAvs tip if his 
“An Old Siceeiheart of Mine'' 
year almost entirely through the efforts 
of Senator Elon R. BroAvn. Nothing can 
now stop the final A'ictory of prohibition. 
The liquor men noAV realize that, and 
they are uoav merely fighting for delay. 
There have been many letters Avritten 
in appreciation of the little story entitled 
“The Service Flag,’’ on page 452. These 
flags are noAv appearing everywhere, and 
they should always be displayed in front 
of homes Avhich are represented at the 
front. In Lancaster. I’a.. recently. Ave 
noticed that the churches of all denomina¬ 
tions disjilayed large service flags Avith 
a star for every man connected Avith the 
church Avho had gone to the front. It 
surely made a beautiful and impressive 
display. Some of our readers say that 
many Avho remain at home should also be 
remembered. Here is a suggestion about 
that: 
At this trying time there is no one 
Avhose service is more A’it.al to our country 
than the tiller of the soil. Would it not 
be an encouragement to our farmers. Avho 
are Avorking so hard and so loyally under 
a great handicap, and Avould it not deepen 
the .appreciation of others for the part the 
farmers are doing, if from the porches or 
Avindows of the farm houses service flags 
might be displayed, Avith a ploAV instead 
of a star, for each one Avho is serving his 
country as a tiller of the soil? It would 
be but fair also to recognize the loyalty 
and sacrifice of the Avomen Avho are Avork- 
father_ does not take part in this AA'ar?’’ 
The time is surely coming in the future 
Avhen the man or Avoman Avho made no 
sacrifice to fight this Avar through Avill be 
ashamed of such a record! 
ri 
On page 402 you state, in “Hope Farm 
Notes,’’ that “no one likes the entire 
Avheat for a steady diet.’’ I shall have to 
challenge that .statement. There are 
those among your readers (and probably 
a good many of them) Avhose tastes are 
not at Avar Avith their convictions; they 
heVtcve Avhole Avheat is better than Avhit'e 
and they like it better. It Avon’t do to 
judge other people’s likes by our OAvn. 
My good Avife doesn’t like potatoes, and, 
cannot understand hoAV anyone else can,' 
but after seeing me eat them in every 
foi'in,except raAv—Avith gravy, butter or 
.salt, and Avithout—for 50 years, she has 
finally concluded that I do like potatoes, 
F. u. 
AA'e shall have to admit that the state¬ 
ment Avas not broad enough. We hear 
from several people Avho say they prefer 
the entire Avheat bread. We do not, and 
Ave think the great majority Avill take 
Avhite bread from choice. The entire 
Avheat gives a higher analysis, but Ave are 
not so sure that it is more digestible than 
Avhite bread. We .should all be Avilling 
to turn the staff of life into a club to 
knock the Kaiser. 
* 
That is a good idea in Mrs. Doren’s, 
notes on page 485 about fresh air. She 
is right. The old idea was that the 
The Fountain Pen Farmers 
The folloAving letter sent to the New 
1 ork Sun Avill be appreciated by many of 
our readers aa'Iio haA'e listened to advice 
from pencil farmers: 
^ I am a member of the pea.sant or AA’ork¬ 
ing class and Avish to express through 
your paper for my fellow farmers and 
myself the deep gratitude Avhich AA-e owe 
to the army of noble advisers Avho are so 
thoughtfully and earnestly telling us how 
to run our business. 
It is unfortunate that these soldiers of 
the pen are unorganized and so, in order 
that_ they may have the blessings of in¬ 
vestigations and regulation bv our author¬ 
ities, I suggest that they hold a conven¬ 
tion and get into the game with a proper 
institution, bylaws and officers galore. 
The cost of this may be assessed on the 
farmers Avho accept the advice of the or¬ 
ganization. ^o one should be a member 
Avho oAvns a f.arm and pays the bills con¬ 
noted therewith, nor should anA’one be 
alloAved therein Avho wears a hat'smaller 
than fifteen. 
Each member must agree to save food 
by killing off his canary bird and all pet 
bedbugs. Food Avill Avin the Avar: it is 
unpatriotic to keep bedbugs. 
No member shall save the country more 
than once a week. 
All members must cut the ancestral 
rubber plant into fireAA'ood for next Win¬ 
ter and so conserve our coal and relieve 
freight congestion. 
There is a shortage in lemons and each 
member should raise two lemon trees this 
.year so that the farmer accepting advice 
from the organization may be handed a 
lemon next Fall AA’hen he counts up his 
cash for his year’s Avork. 
AVILI.IAM H, AVOOPRUFF. 
Cigarettes for the Soldier Boys 
An Irishman Avas asked Avhy he smoked 
and replied, “To please meself,’’ and the 
Avriter has cheAved from boyhood for the 
same purpose. From this admission, 
readers Avill .see that the following is not 
a deliverance from a tobacco crank. 
Here is a letter from a nephew in France 
telling his mother she must positiA’ely 
send him a pound of candy every tAvo 
Aveeks, and a package of sweet cakes each 
month. The folks of another sent a lib¬ 
eral bunch of cookies Avith him, and now 
after two months he Avrites, “I have three 
left that I nibble at and do not know 
AAUiat I Avill do when they are gone.” 
Neither of these young men uses tobacco, 
but states that American tobacco and 
cigarettes are plentiful, on sale or as a 
gift. 
It .seems from repeated statements that 
all the soldier bo.A’s craA'e SAA’eets and can¬ 
not get them, but the government, or the 
tobacco trust, or some one, has secured a 
right of Avay for a suffieiency of “coffin 
nails.’ ^There AA'as a campaign OA’er the 
Avhole T nited States to raise money to 
buy tobacco for the soldier boys, and the 
newspapers promoted it, urging solace for 
them in their loneliness. The Red (^ross 
Avas fooled Avith it, and every “comfy 
kit” had cigarettes for .sihokers'and noii- 
.smokers. Many good people Avere duped, 
but if one saAv into the scheme and ex¬ 
posed it his patriotism Avas at Ioav ebb. 
At any rate the Avay is open uoav for 
all to get “smokes,” but all the boys 
want candy and cannot get it. The 
.scheme aatis infinitely Avorse than gra¬ 
tuitously distributing cigarettes all over 
China Avhen the laAV prohibited opium. 
I quote a resolution by an assembly of 
good people, “Resolved that mone.v be 
used to buy candy and sugar in other 
forms, Avhich science shows to be bene¬ 
ficial,” and all readers should take pity 
on the boys and see that they haA’e 
sweets in plenty, av. av. reyxolds. 
A Widow’s Warning 
The Avarning, on page 241, is good, but 
UOAV as to this case: Because payments 
have lapsed, it does not make all insur¬ 
ance policies valueless. 8he should have 
‘some good friend Avho Avoiild folloAv this 
up for her and possibl.v save a little. 
As regards her problem, the Avorst A’ice 
is advice. The Avriter is not a AvidoAV 
and never Avill be, and is ju.st nine short 
of the 10 children, and so unable to sym¬ 
pathize to the full. lIoAveA’er, I do kiioAv 
stony farms and big mortgages, and it is 
just possible there are hidden treasure 
among tho.se rocks. That little army of 
10, Avitli a good captain, might accom¬ 
plish a good deal, and hidden among those 
stones are enough strong characters to 
suiuily them all. 
Keep out of toAvn. Food is harder to 
get there than among those stones. “Trust 
God and keep your powder dry,” and if 
you have not any powder, never mind. 
And for a mother of 10, remember that 
“unless a grain of wheat fall into the 
ground and die, it abideth alone.” ii. 
NeAV Jersey. 
