RURAL NEW-YORKER 
817 
Notes By A Farm Mother 
I>IUI) Xeigiihors.—E arly Simimf'r is 
hero again, glorious, in full leaf, and jew¬ 
eled with nuniheVle.s.s flowers. Our road¬ 
sides, swamp and i)astures are full of 
beauty in the form of ferns and blossoms. 
Our woods are alive with birds, and their 
songs “make music all the day." and far 
into the night. A couijle of years ago 
there was hardly a bird to be seen on the 
place or in the woods nearby, exceitting 
barn swallows, crows and h.awks. Last 
,vear a few robins and other songsters ap¬ 
peared, but this Si)ring we are blessed 
with a gene’rous share of the feathered 
choir. Coming, as we did. from a land so 
full of song birds. I can hardly e.\|)ress 
the loneliness we felt at having none here 
our first Summer in a str.-inge land. .\o 
doubt the cats were to bljiipe. as there 
we're several here ou the i»l:ice. They 
were sick when we came, and died sooii 
after. Later, the boys were* given a kit¬ 
ten, but I drew the line at one. Last 
Summer she caught a pair of robins thiit 
ne.sted too near the ground, but one of 
the bf)ys g.-ive her a whipping, as they 
caught her eating them, and she seems to 
remember it yet. for though the roI)ins 
have nests around the buildings, she never 
ofl’ers to touch them. We cannot do 
without the birds. Life in the country is 
high. But. even so, a sc\ere storm terri¬ 
fies me and leaves me with an uvcu-whelm- 
ing feeling of weakness. What a sense’ 
of security the lightning rods give! I 
know, for we had all our buildings rodded 
at our old home, and it did not cost a 
fortune, either. There the cable used is 
made of .soft wire', twisted and about half 
an inch thick. The charge is .'jin a point 
for the ui)rights upon which the glass 
globes are set; will rod a good-sized 
house and barn. The same buildings 
rodded here would cost about .$ir»0. as 
only copper wire is used and charged for 
by the foot, f never heard of a rodde<l 
building being fired b.v lightning in tluit 
counr.v. wheia' all !is<'d tin* common wii'e 
Ciible; but we were cautious to lamew 
th(‘ glass glob(‘s if they shoubl “turn 
black." showing tluw had been struck. 
As these were only 2." cents each, the 
e.xpense was nothing to worry over. I 
don t see wh.v we should go without light¬ 
ning lu'otection luMa* bec.ausi' we Ciinnot 
afford the expensive coppm- c.abb*. A 
great m.any buildings are struck in this 
cottnty every Summer. We have seen 
several fires so far after a stoian. .and 
the Summer has only begun. If only 
someone who umh'rstands the business 
would come through here with a che.aper 
lightning protection outfit. I am sure ho 
would hiive all he could do. as few build- 
The Canned Coaster 
too dreary witlnuit tlieii^, and man.v of 
us have no otlu'r music than that afl'onled 
by their free concerts. A friend was 
telling me yesterday that she had never 
seeTi as man.v moths as there are in our 
woods this year, but the birds will take 
care of most of them. 
A XT IxvASiox. — Now that warm 
weather is coming on. m.any countr.v 
housekeeitei's will be troubled with ant.s. 
I had an experience with the little reel 
ones .some years ago that m.ay heli) .some’ 
one. They kept coming up in one corner 
of the pantry to the .shelf where the 
sugar jar stood, and. needless to say. they 
were' a gretit annoyance, f tri('d <‘very- 
thing T heard of. but still they kei)t com¬ 
ing and going. I followed them one day 
across the lawn, over the ro.ad and down 
the side of a big ditrdi. where I found the 
.ant hill. Thei’c wcu-e two divisions of 
them, each marching like a bod.v of sol¬ 
diers. four or six abiaaist. after the grains 
of sugar which from time to lime mttst 
have .sifted down behind the shelf. T’n- 
der a loose weather-board I .saw wheia* 
they eJite'red. T then renu'iubei'ed hearing 
that an ant would not cross .a chalk 
mark, so I got a i)iece and drew a wide* 
mark all around th.at corner of the house. 
When the coming_ and going columns of 
ants came to that chalk mark tlu'.v .scat¬ 
tered in all directions trying to find a 
way to cross. Somehow those laden with 
up-.ar made their escape, but they Jiever 
came back. Someone told me to pour 
boiling water upon the anthill and de¬ 
stroy them, but I couldn’t do that. 
Morqt’ITO Bites. —Mosquitoes are one 
of the worst Summer pests, and where 
there is much shrubbery, or the tree’s 
overhang tin* house, tlu'.v are usuall.v ver.v 
numerous. T find that a paste made of 
saler.atus and very cold water gives in¬ 
stant r(di('f to mos<niito bite’s or bee 
stings. One would think evf'ryoiu' knew 
this simple renu'd.v. but it's a fact, some 
don’t. One .Suinmei- evening I saw :i 
mother rub liniment on the mostiuito- 
bitten arm of hei' baby gii'l. causing the 
little one to .scream with pain. After tell¬ 
ing her iibout tlu' soda paste, she tried it 
and the child became (piltd. For hive.s, 
soda iind vinegar give redie'f (luicker; but 
foi- prickl.v heat and oth(*r Summer rashes 
1 have found nothing better than bathing 
the skin with lukewaiTii wat('r in which a 
half teaspoon of saleratus has dissolved, 
then dust .rith talcum powder or corn¬ 
starch. 
Bkotkctiox i’ko.m I,ic,irTM.\ci.—Thun¬ 
derstorms are my dread through all our 
lovely Summer, thotigh T try to obsiu've 
the rules for safety, and think that all is 
well; that if death comes with the light¬ 
ning’s flash, it is a direct call from on 
Bceomes a Iteol War Winner 
ings here.-ihonts are rodded. If all coun¬ 
try people invested in this form of pro- 
toctioii thoi'o would ho fowor hro's, :iiul 
our insurance rates would he much lower, 
to sa.v nothing of the losse.s iirtwented ,and 
the expense, bother and work of rebuild¬ 
ing. I have often heard that one shocked 
by lightning never fully recovers. An 
old lady oiici* told me thiu'e was nothing 
lik(‘ the awfulne'ss of it. One evening 
she was iirep.-iring supiier. during a storm, 
niid h;id just stf^ppod to tlu* stovo whoii 
a bolt struck the chimney, knocking down 
the i)ij)(> iind sending the stove-lids, doors. 
t('a ki’ttle and fi’ving p.an in a.s nuiny di¬ 
rections. She declarc'd she thought the : 
world was at an end, and remcinben'd 
nothing more till she “came to" in an¬ 
other room, with her family bending over 
her. A brother-in-law of mine s.-it read¬ 
ing one day while a terrilic storm raged 
outside'. All at once he said a voice 
seemed to say to him. “Go in the other 
room. .\t first he jiaid no attention, till 
It caine like a command the second time; 
then he arose, and. going into his bed- 
room, ay down. Scarcidy had h.‘ touched 
the nillow when a blinding tl.-ish and roar 
filled the house, and he jiimiied uii to 
quiet his screaming children, fl’he stove¬ 
pipe and small heater bi'sidi* which he 
liad been sitting were' lying on the floor, 
and a jagged hole torn in the caiqiet and 
floor directly under where his clniir had 
been. The carpet was smoking, but, 
asid(‘ from the fright and disorderial room, 
no other damage was done'. Bi'fon' an¬ 
other storm came iij. he had his buildings 
rodded, and, though they have been struck 
many times since then, no harm was <lone 
except the burning out of the globes. 
The othe’r da.v one of the girls brought 
me the largest maple leaf I ever saw. ‘ It 
mi'asiire.s 11 inches from sidt* to side, 
and eight inches from tip of leaf to where 
stem joins. It would make three or- 
dinar.v leaves and grew on a small tree, 
the only leaf of extra size. 
Me.moui.VE I).\y dawned misty and cool, 
as if nature were in. symiiathy with the 
idiildren of men on the day set a.side for 
the remembrance of our'beloved dinid. 
IIow’ our hearts ache again as we linger 
above th(‘ sacred mounds and we Avoiild 
give—oh, what wouldn’t we give, to have 
our own again ! But beyond the reach 
of all worr.v and care, they rest undis¬ 
turbed ; neither heeding the' beautv of a 
perfect day or the terror of a midnight 
storm. And the least we can do to show 
that we ‘'remember’’ is to see that their 
graves are kept green, and 
“Cover them over with beautiful flowers. 
Deck them with garlands—these loved 
OIK'S of ours.” 
World-Famous Tenor 
and His Gulbransen 
(Mr. Murafore, himself a great artist, 
owns and enjoys a Gulbransen—a "White 
House” model in Satin Mahogany). 
Muratore — 
Easy to Play 
Nationally Priced 
Do you lon^ for music.? Here’s the Musi¬ 
cian! Do you sing? Here’s the Accompanist! 
Do you dance? Here’s the Orchestra! Is 
company coming? Here’s the Entertainer! Do 
you want something that will make life better 
worth living ? Here it is—the Gulbransen ! 
Let our nearest distributor show you what 
a wonderful instrument the Gulbransen Player 
Piano is. No obligation. We’ll send his 
address and our art Catalog on request. 
Looi for the Baby in 
Gulbransen Player Pianos are sold at 
the same prices throughout the United 
States. The price is marked inside each 
instrument— now as follows; 
“'White House” Model . $575 
“Country Seat” Model . 510 
“Town House” Model . 460 
“Suburban” Model . . 425 
Note how little grain, how little livestocic or other 
farm product it take# to pay for a Gulbransen now. 
Why not select your Gulbransen immediately, before 
the war forces prices higher r 
the ff-'indou) 
. (Pronounced Gul-BRAN-senJ 
nULBRANSEN 
GULBRANSEN-DICKINSON CO.. 815 N. Sawyer Ave.. CHICAGO 
'^rad$ Mark 
Delicious, Pure, Full Strength 
COFFEE 
Direct from Importer 
Saves you 10 to 15 cents per pound 
5 lbs. Genuine Maracaibo Coffee 
Bean or Ground for 
—- or - 
1 lb. Best Tea, 1 lb. Best Coffee. 
nnd 1 lb. Best Cocoa for 
Money bnek if you are not<Iell(-hted with the quality. 
Parcel I'ost free within 300 miles. Send for I’rieo List. 
WRITE NOW for one of the $1.00 OFFERS 
JAMES VAN DYK CO. 
51 Barclay St., 
New York, N. Y. 
431 Market St., 
Pittsburgh, Pa« 
For Your Empty Bags 
Don't throw away a single bag— 
they're worth money to you. rriceaaro 
'way up now. Caah in on nil you have. 
But bo sure you Kot our prices beforo 
you .sellasinfflo one. We {guarantee most 
liberal RradinR. Over 20 years in busi¬ 
ness ia your assuruncoof a square deal 
every ^ time. Wo buy any quantity. 
Freight paid on all ahipmunta to 
Werthan. Find out what real sutlsfac* 
tion is. Write quick, stating what you 
havo. Address 
WERTHAN BAG CO. 
66 Dock St. St. Louitg Mo« 
est prices 
fbryour old 
today for 
advanced 
We pay th( 
new^TI 
prices 
& frei^t 
lBAGS 
IROQUOIS BAG CO.. 395 Howard St,. Buffalo. N. Y. 
EVERYWOMAN’S 
CANNING BOOK 
The A B C of Safe Home Canning and Preserving 
MARY U. HUGHES 
This book hao been examined before ptiblieotion and ia 
found to conform to the principlee of the United States 
h ood Administration in regard to the conservation of foods. 
E VKKYhou.sekeeperis planning for renewed 
ciroi ts in canning this year, and there is a 
wider interest in modern practice tlian 
ever before. Methods havo changed greatly 
wiiliin a comparatively short period, and man'v 
women feel the need of up-to-date recipes, brongiri 
together in convenient form. "Everywoman's 
Canning Book” is calculated to meet this need ; 
it is practical, modern and complete. 
JIT I'’rnit.‘i, vegetables and meats'ai e discussed from 
^ the housekeeper's standpoint, and the condensed 
form and moderate price meet popular demands. 
The inexperienced canner will find it a safe guide, 
and the experienced worlter will find something 
new and lielpful between its covers. Bound 
attractively in cloth, 91 pages, five pages of index. 
firWill be sent postpaid for THREE YEARLY 
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