1006 Jjhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pastoral Parson and His Country Folks 
By Rev. George B. Gilbert 
AVKr.coMK SouM)S.—The Parson begins 
tills midsummer letter to the sound of 
much music. First of all, there is “Sit” 
]>laying the graiihoiihonc to the little 
(Mmrlesie Boy. She has wheeled him up 
right in front of it and is giving him a 
tremendous dose of dance music, such as 
tlie Par.son puts on down in the .school- 
houses. It is all she can do to wind the 
thing up, but she manages to keep it go¬ 
ing after a fashion. The record generally 
clo.ses with a terrilile, dying gasp, but 
neitlier of them mind little things like 
that. Charlesie Boy has his Daddy’s watch 
<diain, which helps fuit wonderfully. And 
thus do these two little ones play together 
for hours. 
A I.iTTi.K ISIoTiiKK.—The Parson loves 
to watch this little girl of five acting as 
little mother to the baby. What schemes 
she will devise to amuse* him and how she 
will watch him and stick by him! What 
a thing it is for hei* to have him here in 
our family! Yes, and for all of them. 
• How often Moms .says, “Do you know all 
our children are just lovely with the 
baby?” And they are. How they do love 
him. And how mad this “broken no.se” 
talk makes us. As though anyone was to 
be shoved aside when a new* one comes. 
Fvk.v the Oldest. —Fven the oldest 
boy, ready for high .school, is lovely wdtli 
him. He is all taken up wdth him. His 
mother w'ould rather have him to take 
care of him w'hen she is busy than any of 
the others. He Ciui always niiike him 
laugh. We w'ent up today to h.ave the 
b.'iby's picture taken, and he was a regu¬ 
lar "old .sobersides. Didn’t want to smile 
(‘ven, ;uid w'e said all the time, “If only 
Shelley were here!” Fvery morning the 
children have to tile in as they are ready 
to come down, to see him. If it is not 
too late each one has to stop and play 
with him a w'hile. He looks for them and 
talks and coos to them. \Vhat a training 
this is for them in all th(*ir aft<‘r years! 
Boon llEi.r.—The boys have been such 
good boys to hel)) this Summer. The Par¬ 
son works with them wln-n he can and 
does not ask them to do things too hard 
or for too long a time. This is a great 
thing with boys, let them go from one 
work to another. '^I’hen there is the dam 
in the brook. The Par.son shows just as 
much interest in this ns the boys; he 
helps with is just as much as though it 
w:is the best crop on the farm—and per¬ 
haps it is. “Won’t you go wifii us?” is 
the question every day. iind the Parson 
is g<“tting more sw’imming than he has 
Imd for ye.-irs! How* proud the boys are 
of this pond when the city schoolmates 
come Avandering out. They always stoj) 
!uid go in for a w'hile w’ith their comi)any. 
’I'hey have fix<‘d up iin unused henhouse 
for a bathhouse and it makes a good one. 
Titat Bicycle. —It is amazing how a 
boy longs for a wheel when he gets about 
l.‘{dr 14. The oldest boy has wanted one 
so much. He .saved tip the money he gets 
for taking care of the cows and got one 
the other day. How' much it seems to 
mean to him ! His mind is on that wheel 
all the time .at his work. He feels him¬ 
self gliding along the road to .school. He 
sees the other boys looking at it and he 
does not mind his work. 
The Paumek’.s (^hanoe. —The great 
thing that puts farming Vay and above 
every ot.her occujiation has at last been 
settled in the mind of the Pastoral I’ar- 
son. If keeps the boy and his father to¬ 
gether. They can w'ork together, talk to- 
getlier, plan together, go fishing together, 
make dams and go swimming together. 
How' peojile go off so, leaving their child 
or children at home or at the neighbors, 
is a thing that l\Irs. Parson or the Parson 
<*nnnot understand. Here is a couple 
that goes off to the White Mountains on 
a long auto trip ,leaving their 12-year-old 
boy at a grandmother’s while gone! 
WuEUEAnoTiTS ITnknown. — All day 
long that is a term that w'ould apply to 
so many boys. They go off in the morn¬ 
ing and like as not do not even show up 
for dinner. Sw'imming, heaven know'.s 
where, and staying in the water as long 
as they like. Here comes a man out to 
go sw'imming in the big pond on the bill. 
His boy, 12, is off swimming with the 
gang down in the river. If the boy is 
home late, the Pai'.son can hear trouble 
afloat and perhaps a blow* or two. Thus 
tin* boy and his father begin to grow 
apart—^more likely the beginning was 
long ago. On the Vermont trip we had 
to leave Shelley behind to look after the 
farm, but how we missed him. At every 
lurn, there w'as something the Par.sjm 
wanted to say to him and to show him 
and to talk over w’ith him. It was the 
one drawback of the trip—that w’e could 
not have the whole five with ns all the 
t ime. 
Pauentr Oo Alone. —Aw’hlle ago, the 
Par.son found a city boy ’way down with 
bis graTidfolks on a farm. He tolls me 
his father and mother are guests of a rich 
man of the city in their big car for a 
mountain trij) of two weeks. Another 
t'lummer this same boy is camping with 
other boys, and no ohb'r jjerson with 
them, Avhile his father and mother are off 
by themselves. I'he (Jood Books si)ejiks 
about turning the hearts of the fathers to 
the children. To tluTik that such a thing 
should be needed, and yet wheu it was 
needed more! 
11 ELI* Him. —The Par.son once saw a 
woman in utter despair as she tried in 
vain to get a v<‘ry small boy to come into 
the hou.se from the street for his su|)per. 
She coaxed and jileaded and begged and 
bribed and made all manner of promises 
that she luul no id<*a of k<‘e])ing (ami the 
boy knew it). Still he would not budge. 
I suppose he got hungry at last and went 
in. Had she just taken the boy by the 
collar and helped him along in so (piick 
that it W'ould have b(*en far more comfort¬ 
able to have come of his own accord, .she 
W'ould have to speak but once the next 
time. 
Other Mt'Sio.—But the Parson siioke 
at the start about w'riting to the time of 
two kinds of music. The other kind is 
the most w'elcome patter of raindrops on 
the roof. Things were getting so dry 
here. Corn and jiotatoes were both feel¬ 
ing the w'ant of rain keenly. Pastures 
W'ere drying up and lawn turning brown. 
But on this, next the last day of .Tuly, a 
fine rain has come, and the ground is be¬ 
ing soaked w'ay dow'ii. We had our first 
sw(‘et corn yesterday and now* w'e will 
have it twice a day. How good it tasted. 
While there are beans large enough for 
succotash they ought to grow a little 
more, and the boys will have to w'ait. The 
potato croi) is jioor at best, and the lice 
and blight are both at w'ork. The Par¬ 
son’s seemed to have escai)ed better than 
most patches, and the boys will probably 
have plenty to eat if they do not rot. We 
are putting in Yellow' Blobe turnips 
everywhere w'C can, both for ourselves and 
late feed for the cow'S. 
The Oat.S.- —.\fter raising oats for five 
years and advising everybody else to 
raise oats, the Parson w'ill (piit them once 
and for all unless for green feed for the 
cows or for hay, cut in milk. Oats, like 
many things. esiK'cially small gi'ains. are 
Very w'ell for the farmer who has a 
thrasher and i>ower and help to run them. 
But it does not pay a small farmer to 
stock up with too much exix'iisive machin¬ 
ery that he will use but little and let rust 
out. It must be housed, too, all the time, 
often at the expense of the w'agon and 
hor.se rake. Hitherto W'e have been able 
to get hold of a lU'ighbor w'ho w'ould come 
and reap grain and help about thrashing, 
but this year all is dilTerent and helj) is 
likely to be this way for some time, ’rime 
can be better spent tban pounding out 
grain with a flail and winnow'ing by hand. 
Better raise good hay that the horse cau 
mow and rake and the boys help put in 
the barn. What seeding dow'ii in corn we 
have tried has w'orked out fully as well 
as seeding in the oats. 
Working Sundays. —’The Parson h.as 
just been reading an editorial in a farm 
paper greatly praising the action of some 
conference of minister.s out West because 
they approved of farmers working on Sun¬ 
day. No one could iios.sibly be more lib¬ 
eral in view of Sunday than the Par.son, 
and he has often found himself in hot 
water because of the things he does and 
allows, but he draws the line on Sunday 
work, even in w'ar time. Let the farmer 
jilay if he wants, let him go off in his car, 
jiitlier than w'ork. Can’t .stand it. In 
tin* first j)lace he cannot stand it without 
getting as cro.ss as a bear around the 
liouse and blue over everything. No one 
has ever yet stood w'orking all the time 
seven days a week Avith farmers’ hours at 
that. It is the families of these e\'er- 
lastiiT driA'crs that get it. If the man 
Avorks just the same Sundslys it mi'ans 
Iierpetual dig ami grind for the Avomen 
folks. 
’The Boy and (Jirl.—H ow this Avorking 
Sunday all day Avill helj) keep the boy and 
girl on the farm! Do the city folks Avork 
Sunday? Do the munitions factories Avork 
Sunday, or even Saturday afternoon? 
How many hours a day do tlu'.v w'ork 
compared Avith the farmer? How it w'ill 
make the boy as he sAvelters up under the 
roof mowing aAvay hay and the girl as .she 
rides the horse rake in the boiling sun to 
the music of a perfect stream of autos of 
city folks aAvay to the shore for the day, 
love the <dd farm ! 
Closing the Chihich.—’I’ lie country 
churches are not too crowded as it is. 
Admitting their many shortcomings, do 
the country people really Avant to nail up 
the Avindow's and doors? Ministers are 
getting scarcer an.vAvay, and those who 
Avill preach to empty pcAvs are scarcer 
still, and money or no money, they Avill 
not stick if the men folks don’t come. 
War or no Avar. Avhen once the churches 
are clo.sed and the minister gone and the 
ju'operty run doAvn. Avhen Avill they be 
likely to open again? 
Needed Noav.—W hen Avere the churches 
ever more needed than noAV? Who is do¬ 
ing more to keeii up the morale and cheer 
of the people Avith tlu'ir best over there 
than are the. ministers? And whatever 
lime has there been Avhen the peoi)le, 
rushed and Avorried all the Aveek, need 
more to sit for a little while in the espe¬ 
cial jiresence of (}<>d and hear the changes 
and chances of this mortal life given a 
Christian interpretation and a religious 
meaning? Yes. as a iiarson Avho <'an live 
Avithout i»reaching and a farmer Avho al- 
w'ays has undone jobs staring hiin in the 
face, the Parson advises his good friends to 
think tAvice befori* they hitch the old mare 
to tlie lumlx'r box AA'agon instead of tbe 
tAvo-s('ater and mother to her apron and 
the hired man’s dinner imsteud of her best 
dress and a hymn book. 
August 24, 1918 
A LaW'N Party.—T he Parson had a 
real laAvn party the other night. It Avas 
really the best one of the .season. We 
loaded in tAvo big freezers of ice cream 
and some graphophone records and headed 
for the County Home for Children. Such 
excitement as Avhen Ave drove into the 
yard! ’The (!5 children all sat round on 
the grass and had their big saucer of 
cream, then Ave had games. After the 
games the Parson told stories and then 
there w'ere tAvo more helps of ice cream 
all round. ’I'lien the children sang and 
spoke pieces Avith great credit. When Ave 
started home Avith the old car aa'C kncAV it 
Avas the best iiarty Ave had had .so far this 
Summer. 
'Fhe Bady Ag.ain. —We have never en¬ 
joyed any of the babies as much as this 
T/iC Parson^s Happy Baity 
one. One thing is that he is not brought 
uj) by these innumerable rules and regu¬ 
lations that nurses and doctors get up. 
especially those Avho never had a child of 
their oavii. Moms has been .so distres.sed 
lately about a baby that had to be kejit 
in a hosi)ital aAA'ay from its own mother 
becau.se they said its mother couldn’t put 
up its fo(xl. ’Fhe chief ingredient of this 
f<xxl Avas said to be Avhey ! ’Fhe baby got 
infected in tin* hospital and Avas carried 
off to the mountains, still by high-salarii'd 
nurs<*s. AA'here it never Avas rocked or 
never was loved or never Avas fed but 
once in tAvo hours and never liA'ed but a 
feAv Avei'ks! ’Fhey brought it back and 
gave it to its mother—dead. 
]\IusTN’'r ’Fouch ’Fhem.—A city daugh- 
ter-in-luAV has been A'isiting one of the 
I’ar.son’s parishioners. She has tAVO fine 
little children. ’Fhis good old-fashion(*d 
grandmother had counted the days and 
hours tilt these children came. Hoav she 
rushed out Avith op<‘u arms, to take the 
baby. Alack the day! Avhat a mistake! 
Six* Avas coolly informed that they did not 
hold babies any more noAV. It Avas not 
the Avay.^ ’Fhey must noA'cr be rocked 
either. No matter if they cry their heads 
off and get all Avrought up and nerved uj), 
they must not be fi'd except by a W.alt- 
ham. A i-lock knoAVS a great deal Ix'tter 
Avhen a bab.v is hungry than the baby 
does. If a nursing baliy like Bhailesie 
Boy drops off to sleep Avith only a drop 
or tAvo he must have no more for tw'o 
hours or Avhati'ver time some book says. 
’Fhe Parson has alw'ays marvi'lbd to si'o 
boAV much more schoolmarms knoAV about 
children than mothers Avho have brought 
up from five to a dozen. And noAV these 
blessed .sjunsters go to a university and 
sit doAvn in the forenoon and Avrite rules 
telling boAV to extract the cube root of .a 
improper fraction and in the afternoon 
they make uj) regulations shoAving hoAV to 
extract all the feeling and affection out 
of a baby. .lust think of letting a baby 
nurse along and coo along and doze along 
and look up and smile along an I the 
niother sing along and hug along and kiss 
bis chubby hands along and rock along 
through the short and bb'ssed nursing 
times of the long and busy day. Hoav 
much better to shake him and tease him 
and pinch him and yell at him and make 
Iiim get his fill as (|uick as he can and 
then luit him aAvay upstairs in a p'.tent 
crib to shed his last tear in his Aveeping 
and sob himself at last into a Aveary and 
fitful sleep. 
’The Bre.vt Thing.—E ven as the Par¬ 
son is Avriting. the children appear one by 
one at the top of the stairs. “Will you 
come up. Papa? Will you come up a lit¬ 
tle Avhile?” And .so the Parson leaA'es go 
the old typoAvriter and goes up for a Avhile 
and together Ave lie on the open baek 
porch and talk and muse and count the 
stars till the last is fa.st asleep and the 
Parson tli»toes doAvn again to punish the 
old machine some more. Ix'arning is 
great and beauty is great and money cau 
do great things, but infinitely greater it 
is to be Avith these little ones and to be 
of fhem and to feed and foster the Ioa'O 
and affection that is there more and more. 
Two Helpful Hints 
Some of The B. N.-Y. family might find 
the folloAving useful: 
1. Eight or ten grains of uncooked rice 
in the salt shaker AA’ill prevent clogging 
and alloAV salt to run frei'ly. It is ad¬ 
visable to change the rice each time you 
fill the shaker. 
2. To remove the Tioisonous green (ver¬ 
digris) from Avater faucets or other metal, 
use cloth Avet w'ith gasoline. ’Fliis acts 
instantly and recpiires no bard rubbing. 
Nei'dless to add— don’t use lighted match 
to inspect fhe job. r. d. 
The Parson at Work 
