736 
JV RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Things to Think About 
War Risk Insurance 
WiH you print the “War Risk Insur¬ 
ance Act”? The insurance certificate 
reads “An act, amending an act entitled 
an act to authorize the establishment of 
Bureau of War Risk Insurance, approved 
October 6, 1917.” What is the act, and 
is there any time limit as to when Gov¬ 
ernment shall begin to pay installments? 
Michigan. w. B. 
We cannot print this entire act, since 
it would take up most of one issue of The 
R. N.-Y. Our representative at Wash¬ 
ington looked this case up and gives this 
report: 
1 have visited the War Risk Bureau 
and saw the record to date of the insur¬ 
ance policy of W. B.’s son. The policy is 
in full force at present. There is no no¬ 
tice of the sou’s death. It is not clear 
what information W. B. desires. If he 
will take up his case direct with the 
Treasury Department, Bureau of War 
Risk Insurance, and state fully the in¬ 
formation he- desires, they will gladly 
comply. The son may be alive, and he 
may wish to transfer part of the policy to 
his parents, or he may be dead and the 
father may want to know how to begin 
collection. of the installments, or some¬ 
thing else may be wanted. 
On the lower right hand corner of W. 
B.'s letter is the policy number of his 
son’s insurance. He should refer to that 
number when he takes up his questions 
with the bureau. The Government fur¬ 
nishes insurance at about half the old 
line insurance rates. This takes the place 
of a pension plan. f. x. c. 
Trouble Over Dog License 
Having paid my dog tax in March, I 
knew nothing about this “new law” until 
I saw in The R. N.-Y. that we were to 
pay $2.25 for a female dog that was 
spayed, instead of $3.25. Our town clerk 
did not say a word, but took the extra 
dollar. When I read about the new law 
I wrote him, asking for my dollar back. 
He wrote me he had sent money away and 
could do nothing about it, so I wrote to 
this other party and will send letter to 
you so you can read it. I don’t think 
they are doing what is right, as long as I 
knew nothing about this new law, and I 
think if these men were honest, as men in 
office should be, they would return my 
dollar. B. H. u. 
We have had several letters about this 
—all much the same. The following is a 
copy of the New York law: 
A person who owns, harbors or keeps a 
dog shall obtain a license therefor, as 
provided herein, and shall pay the follow¬ 
ing fees : < 1) $2 for each male dog and 
spayed female dog (2) $3 for each bitch. 
(3) $20 dollars for a kennel of purebred 
dogs, or such sum not in excess of such 
sum of $20 as will equal $2 for each dog 
over six months old harbored or kept in 
such kennel, for which a special kennel 
license shall be given, as hereinafter pro¬ 
vided. Before any person shall be en¬ 
titled to obtain a license for a spayed fe¬ 
male dog at the reduced fee herein pro¬ 
vided be shall produce and deliver to such 
town or city clerk a certificate in writing 
signed by a duly licensed veterinary sur¬ 
geon showing that such female dog has 
been spayed There shall be paid to the 
town or city clerk, tn addition to each 
license fee, the sum of 25 cents as a reg¬ 
istration fee, for the services of such 
clerk. 
A number of persons have had the same 
experience. As they did not show the vet¬ 
erinarian’s certificate they were charged 
the extra dollar, and it is not likely now 
that it will be returned to them. It is 
practically impossible ever to get a dollar 
out of the State Treasury after it has 
once been paid in. We have one case 
where a farmer claims to have shown the 
needed certificate and yet had to pay $3 25 
for the license. We have taken that case 
up with the Agricultural Department. 
Some Enforced Daylight-savers 
Your answer to .Tames A. Gardner is 
right to the point. I am a locomotive en¬ 
gineer, and we railroad men are with you 
on this question. It is a fact that the 
majority of the working people get to 
work at seven o’clock or earlier We 
have been getting up by lamplight for six- 
months, and just when our wives could 
get breakfast by daylight we have to light 
up again, all on account of this fool law. 
We stood this on account of the war, but 
now we are sick of it. The plea is that 
people will have more time to work in 
their gardens, and show their patriotism. 
Let them show it by getting up in the 
morning an hour earlier, not fool them¬ 
selves by changing the clock. Be patriots 
indeed : one can have a good garden with¬ 
out a law that makes trouble for the 
farmers. Take my case. You will prob¬ 
ably remember me as the man who won 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s 
silver medal in the contest for the best 
amateur garden in Massachusetts. I am 
working today just the same; at the en¬ 
gine house at 6.30 a. m., work until 5.30 
p. m.. or later. Some days it is 10.30 
li. m. before 1 get done, 11 to 16 hours a 
day. and 1 still have my garden (bought 
$S worth of seed this Spring). No land 
with the house I live in; have to walk a 
quarter of a mile to my garden. As I see 
it this law is mostly for those who play 
golf. F. P. BRIGGS. 
Massachusetts. 
The letter of James A. Gardner, page 
656, makes me mad. I am a storekeeper’s 
wife. Before the daylight saving law 
went into effect we got up by daylight 
(the last week or so) ; now we have three 
lamps, one in bathroom, one in kitchen 
and one in dining-room. We got up be¬ 
tween 5 and 5.30—now it is an hour 
earlier. The store has to open an hour 
earlier because the farmers all bring their 
milk an hour earlier. The railroad men 
all go to work an hour earlier. My daugh¬ 
ter, as well as a number of other girls, go 
on the train to school at 7.20. Some come 
on their father’s milk wagons to the sta¬ 
tion and get ready to go by lamplight, as 
the milk train goes at 6.50. One of the 
girls who comes to station on the milk 
wagon in the morning and walks home in 
the evening, told me this week she got up 
at 4 o’clock (present time) every morn¬ 
ing, and ns the train gets in at 4.20 she 
has a warm walk home in the afternoon. 
My husband has been able to get no help 
since his man enlisted a year ago, and 
does not get his supper till he closes his 
store, which he has been doing at 8 
o’clock, although as the days get longer 
he is kept later, so at least an hour is 
taken away from him, at both ends of the 
day. Ask mothers of little children how 
they like daylight saving. One of my 
neighbors who has a little baby says her 
baby is so restless the first part of the 
night, and how she does miss the hour 
she might have to catch up on her sleep. 
Her husband works on the railroad, how¬ 
ever, and she has no help. 
I was talking to a motorman on electric 
cars in Baltimore since lie has been rising 
an hour earlier. 4 o’clock; he says it saves 
no artificial light for poor working people; 
that they must get up early, and an hour 
earlier obliges them to have artificial 
light, and he says lie doesn’t go to bed 
any earlier to any great extent. As for 
the farmers, it actually seems as if city 
people haven’t any common sense at all. 
If farmers did not have to depend on 
trains or hired men, it would make a lot 
of difference. I know quite a bit about 
farming. I am a farmer’s daughter, and 
we have a farm of our own Suppose the 
hired men agree to a 10-hour day. where 
do you come' out in haying time? One 
of our friends told me their men quit the 
hayfield last Summer at three o’clock; 
only worked eight-hour days. 
Maryland, mrs. bertha c. stifft.er. 
Borrowing from Federal Land Banks 
We made an application to rhe Federal 
Land Bank at Springfield, Mass., through 
their local attorney here for a loan of 
$6,000. They sent an appraiser on here, 
who recommended a loan of $5,500. When 
we called for the money they made the 
following deductions: 
Deducted for— 
Shares purchased. $275.00 
Appraisal fee.... 8.75 
Determination of title fee. ... 6.50 
Total .'.. $289.25 
—leaving $5,210.75. 
i 
From this should be deducted $10 which 
we had previously paid to their attorney 
for what we supposed to be the total 
amount of expenses in connection with 
this loan. We knew nothing about the 
deduction for shares purchased, but sup¬ 
posed when the money was turned over 
to us that the shares were in the Spring- 
field bank, from which we could get a re¬ 
port of the condition of the bank and the 
value of the shares. We were also told 
before they made the loan that the rate of 
interest would be 5% per cent. We are 
now informed that, the interest will be 6% 
per cent and that the extra 1 per cent 
after 34 years will pay the mortgage. We 
have nothing whatever to show for the 
shares purchased, nor for the other de¬ 
ductions. They claim in their letter that 
the shares are shares of some local as¬ 
sociation, but that is something we know 
nothing about. Will you advise us wheth¬ 
er they have a right to take our money 
for shares in this way without giving us 
anything for value received? E. P. 
New York. 
The auditor of the Federal Bank makes 
the following explanation, which all 
would-be borrowers should understand: 
One of the requirements of the Federal 
Farm Loan Act is that a borrower shall 
subscribe to capital stock in his local Na¬ 
tional Farm Loan Association to the ex¬ 
tent of 5 per cent of his loan. The asso¬ 
ciation in turn subscribes for a like 
amount of stock in the Federal Land 
Bank of Springfield. This stock remains 
outstanding for the life of the loan. At 
maturity this stock will la* retired and the 
borrower will receive a check for the 
amount of his original stock, less any 
charges then standing against him. There 
are no shares issued for this stock, en¬ 
tries being made on the books at this bank 
to properly protect the interests of both 
the borrower and the association. As 
time goes on there will be dividends ac¬ 
cruing on this stock, which we believe 
will make it a very good investment for 
the borrower. 
Some of our readers seem to think that 
borrowing from the Federal Bank is mere¬ 
ly a matter of walking in to get the 
money. It is really more complicated than 
making a loan from any other bank or 
April 20, 1019 
money lender. The Government protects 
itself in every way. We have had a num¬ 
ber of complaints from people who could 
not obtain a loan from the Land Bank. 
In most cases the loan was refused be¬ 
cause the borrower would not agree to 
use the money in developing the farm. 
Under the theory of the Land Bank the 
loan must be used in working or develop¬ 
ing the farm. These shares in tin* local 
association will always be good at then- 
face value and will be paid back when 
the loan matures. Our readers must un¬ 
derstand that borrowing from this bank 
is a complicated proceeding. 
Hollow Tile for Dwelling 
On page 569 G. K. has certainly a good 
idea in mind when he asks about building 
hollow tile residence, but the matter of 
finding “headquarters” is another thing. 
Hollow tih* construction, if properly done, 
is not damp, and paper or anything else 
will not-coine off the inside walls of ceil¬ 
ings. and, again, if properly done, is the 
best kind of construction, in use today, 
First to be considered is the selection 
of a good hollow tile block, for as there 
are a number of blocks on the market 
only the best is worth while, for any build¬ 
ing of thisSdnd will last for ages. Sec¬ 
ondly, in laying blocks, care must be 
usel to have all joints broken, and money 
will be saved in move ways than one if 
the jamb blocks are used for window and 
door openings. Thirdly, but not third in 
importance, is the application of the ce¬ 
ment stucco itself that i« used on the* out¬ 
side. for if dampness can get through this 
it will follow through the joints and ruin 
everything inside. Lastly, and still not 
least, where frame and tile walls meet, 
have the joints lapped at least two feet 
with good metal lath, or walls will crack 
in the corners the longest day the house 
stands. 
In favor of hollow tile construction, let 
it be said that while it costs more to erect 
than frame, the cost of upkeep being less 
will in a very few years make up the dif¬ 
ference in cost, and after that there still 
stands a building that will defy the whole 
four seasons of the year for years and 
years to come. In conclusion, by no 
means try to save money by using any 
metal lath over frame construction for 
outside stucco, for the stucco with the 
wire or metal lath being inflexible and 
the wood twisting and turning with the 
different weather conditions, the stucco 
will crack, water and dampness will pass 
through the cracks, rust the metal, and in 
very few years stucco and lath will come 
down in sheets. Never use lime in ex¬ 
terior stucco, and this speaks for itself. 
New York. f. i„ r. 
In reply to G. K., Mahanoy City. Pa., 
page 569, would say that I have lived for 
the past two years in a stucco-finish, hol¬ 
low-tile house.. We find it warm m Win¬ 
ter and cool in Summer. I have never 
noticed any dampness upon the inside 
walls. F. E. G. 
New York. 
I had a fine house put up of hollow tile, 
stucco finish outside; had three coats of 
stucco put on, but it was not long before 
the dampness showed through on the 
north and east sides. I did not paper the 
walls, but painted them. Just the same, 
every time it rained very much the damp¬ 
ness would show and the plaster fall off 
in places. G. R. will lx* all right with 
hollow (ile if lie furs it off and laths it; 
that is what will have to be done with 
mine now, and that is the only way he 
can keep the dampness out. I bad my 
experience, and paid for it, too a. o n. 
New Jersey. 
On page 569 G. lx. inquires in regard 
to the merits of hollow tile as a building 
material. It appears that In* is somewhat 
impressed in favor of the tile, but hesi¬ 
tates to use it, fearing that it will make 
damp walls. 
Some years ago, when about to build 
my own house, I made a careful study of 
the hollow tile proposition and finally re¬ 
jected tile in favor of wood, and prin¬ 
cipally for this very same reason. Since 
then I have continued my investigations 
along this line, and am very sorry that I 
made the decision that I did. For I am 
fully convinced that hollow tile, if prop¬ 
erly laid, forms one of the very best of 
building materials for dwelling houses not 
exceeding two stories in height. For 
warehouses, the floors of which are de¬ 
signed to sustain excessively heavy 
weights. I should hesitate to use them un¬ 
less fully reinforced For cold storage 
houses there is nothing better. The one 
kink in using them, however, is to build a 
triple wall and to so break the joints that 
there is no direct line of material extend¬ 
ing through the walls. If such a line does 
reach through the walls, cold will follow 
that line, atmospheric moisture will con¬ 
dense along that line, and the result will 
be a discoloration or fading of the paper, 
and possibly a complete loosening of it. 
This is the practical explanation of the 
result. Break the joints when laying, and 
the hollow tile will give perfect satisfac¬ 
tion. C. 0. o. 
The Poet (long-haired variety): “I 
feel as if I ought to receive some sort of 
decoration for a war poem like that.” 
Magazine Editor (as lie finishes reading 
it) : “So do I. One black eye at least.” 
—Buffalo Express. 
On the Sunny Side of the Stack 
