The RURAL. NEW.YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
“Moving day” in New York was a ter¬ 
ror. There are not houses or apartments 
enough to house the millions of people 
who crowd upon Manhattan Island, and 
many of them are packed like sardines 
into a box. The cost of moving was 
higher than the cost of living. A “van” 
for carrying the goods cost $50 per day 
outside of the labor of the men who han¬ 
dled the furniture! Some families paid 
at least $150 for the job of carrying their 
furniture a few miles from one flat to 
another, and within half an hour’s trip 
as a flying machine travels, there were 
hundreds of abandoned farms and great, 
lonely houses, unoccupied save by the 
ghosts of happier days. 
* 
In the September magazine number we 
printed an extract from the Atlantic 
Monthly entitled “A Successful Farmer’s 
Wife.” If was written by a lonely and 
rather discouraged woman in the Far 
West, and gave a vivid picture of some 
of the troubles of pioneer life. This has 
called out many protests from farm 
women in the East and South. One of 
these protests is printed on page 1G15 
and there are many other farmers’ wives 
who look on the bright side, of life, and 
see hope and encouragement in the fu¬ 
ture. Many of them object to such dark 
pictures as were drawn by that Western 
woman, for they think such stories help 
to depress agriculture and give farmers a 
bad reputation. The final test of it all 
is truth. Is that hard picture of Western 
life a true one? We think it is, for that 
individual case at least. Is it a 
necessary condition? In answer to 
that you strike the heart of the subject, 
and a discussion of it by farm women 
would be one of the most useful things 
we could have. It ought to be an open 
and free discussion. Too many people 
attempt to argue with the idea that they 
must of necessity defend certain habits 
or traditions. Of course they never get 
below the surface. We would like to have 
bright and thoughtful farm women cut 
free and tell us just what honest reasons 
the women of their neighborhood have for 
complaint. We might in that way find 
less cause than we expected. 
* 
We have a number of questions about 
the rights of a guardian of minor chil¬ 
dren. Some of our people have been ap¬ 
pointed guardians, while others are inter¬ 
ested in children (or property) placed in 
charge of others. In general, the rights 
of a guardian are much the same as those 
of a parent. The guardian does not be¬ 
come responsible for the support of the 
child, nor can he lay claim to the child’s 
wages, as a parent has the right to do. 
As a rule, the life of a guardian who takes 
a lively child to bring up is no bed of 
roses. This is particularly true when 
relatives of the child undertake to find 
fault and question the. guardian’s motives. 
* 
Are the taxpayers of a rural school dis¬ 
trict in New York compelled to pay the 
tuition of a pupil of school age who takes 
an “academic” course in an outside 
school? The question has just been de¬ 
cided by the Commissioner of Education. 
A girl 13 years old had completed the ele¬ 
mentary subjects taught in the local 
school. She obtained a Regents’ certifi¬ 
cate and was ready to take up “academic” 
work. The local school did not give such 
instruction, and in order to obtain it this 
girl must go to a larger school, at some 
distance, where tuition is charged. The 
State pays part of this tuition, but the 
voters of the local district voted not to 
pay tuition for any “academic” pupil 
under contract in another district. At the 
same time they made no arrangements for 
such teaching in their own school. That 
produced the following situation. This 
girl was by law compelled to attend 
school for three years more. She had 
already learned all that the district school 
could teach her. If she continued going 
there*she could only sit and listen to what 
she had already gone through. Under the 
law it was the duty of the district to 
provide adequate instruction for the girl 
until she was 10. Since the district did 
not provide this in its own school it must 
provide for it under arrangements made 
with other districts where such schooling 
is given. To quote the Commissioner: 
A district does not perform its full 
duty toward the children residing within 
its boundai’ies unless It makes proper 
provision in some satisfactory way for the 
instruction of such of them as have com¬ 
pleted the work in the grades taught in 
the school of the district. It has ample 
power to make proper provision for the 
instruction of such children. 
That is the line of reasoning followed 
by the Commissioner in deciding this 
ease, and he therefore ordered the trustees 
of this district to raise by tax levy the 
sum required to meet the money allowed 
by the State and the charge made by the 
other district. 
* 
Several people write that they wish to 
find a boy 15 to 16 years old—orphan 
preferred. The inference is that these 
boys are wanted for farm work, and our 
people offer “a good home and care.” 
There are very few of such boys to be 
obtained. In spite of the labor laws, 
boys of good size can easily find work at 
good wages. .1 stout boy of 15 can now 
command as much as the average man 
was paid before the war. Little chi-dren 
may be obtained for farm homes. They 
will be a care rather than a help, but it 
is the finest sort of service to take them 
into the home and give them a chance. 
We cannot give much encouragement to 
those who are looking for good-sized boys 
or girls—offering “home and care.” Un¬ 
fortunately most of such children and 
their parents demand more than that. 
* 
The United States War Department at 
Washington desires to know the wishes of 
families regarding the permanent burial 
of men or women who died in Europe dur¬ 
ing the war. The Department will deliver 
the bodies of the dead here in this coun¬ 
try for burial when that is desired. Or, 
it will see that the remains are buried in 
some permanent cemetery in France. 
When the remains of a dead soldier are 
brought to this country the Government 
will pay all expenses, including the hire 
of a hearse. Many families, it appears, 
prefer that the remains of their soldiers 
should be buried in France near the bat¬ 
tlefields where they were killed. Others 
wish to have the remains brought here for 
burial in the home cemetery. The Gov¬ 
ernment offers them their choice, and a 
bill now before Congress will provide the 
needed money for carrying out the plan. 
* 
Tiie war has brought great changes 
into our lives. No man or woman can 
hope to live the old life again. Many of 
us seem to think we can, and thus we are 
annoyed and puzzled when life presents 
new problems which we did not realize 
before. What comes to us in this way is 
usually some indirect result of changed 
conditions due to the war. What makes 
us most thoughtful is the way these 
changed conditions are tempting people 
to repudiate moral obligations. As is well 
known, our people write us many of their 
private troubles. We are not always able 
to help, but it does them good to feel that 
someone is interested, and they know we 
will not betray their confidence. Two lit¬ 
tle incidents will illustrate what we mean. 
A man has contracted to care for elderly 
relatives while they live, and in return 
they agree to deed the farm to him. The 
inference is that they want to end their 
days in the old home. After securing the 
legal deed to the farm this man asks if he 
can sell the farm while these old folks 
live! In another case a man struggling 
hard to make a living on a farm is threat¬ 
ened by a sister with a legal suit to make 
him pay part of the expenses for provid¬ 
ing for their parent! The sister appar¬ 
ently is well able to provide for her moth¬ 
er! The chances are that the war, and 
the resulting high cost of maintaining life, 
has so changed conditions with these peo¬ 
ple that, without realizing it. they are 
easily tempted to repudiate moral obliga¬ 
tions which under easier conditions never 
would have been broken. We think that 
is the reason why we receive so many of 
these letters. Life has become harder, 
and in casting about for means of self- 
preservation these people are tempted in 
this way to dodge their duty. It is very 
hard to give advice about such things, for 
it is something that each one must settle 
for himself. We all have our troubles and 
afflictions, and all have their temptations. 
No one ever gained an honest dollar by 
going back on a moral obligation. No one 
ever found even a trace of happiness with 
a dishonest dollar. There is a famous old 
text which is appropriate here: 
“7 have been young and now am old; 
yet hare 7 not seen the righteous forsaken, 
nor his seed begging bread.” 
The Woman and the Agent 
It was while talking with the postoffice 
clerk that I though of you and instantly 
exclaimed: “I know where I can find out 
about it. I’ll write to Tiie R. N.-Y. I 
don’t know why I didn’t do it before. 
That is where one can get information.” 
-So I wrote at once. 
That is from a New York woman who 
was in doubt about the reliability of an 
agent who represented a well-known so¬ 
ciety. The postoffice clerk could not tell 
her. and so she came to us. As it hap¬ 
pened. we knew just where to go aud find 
the information. This agent no doubt 
1619 
meant well, but he went at his business 
wrong. As this woman says: 
The man did not create a favorable im¬ 
pression. He was a rapid talker, very 
frequently punctuating (so to speak) his 
phrases with “Now, sister, thus and so 
is thus and so, etc.” Possibly I am old- 
fashioned and too conservative, but, while 
I have no objections to earnestness in pre¬ 
senting a case, that style of address was 
about as attractive as when a much-pow¬ 
dered and made-up young woman store 
clerk persistently addressed me as “dear.” 
Some of these people who go out in 
the country expecting to find a lot of 
“hayseeds” ready to listen with open 
mouth to a lot of very cheap “guff” may 
well reverse their program. They will 
meet a good many women like this one, 
well trained in the art of sizing up human 
nature for just what it is. By the way, 
this is the same woman who a few years 
ago had a very emphatic round with Mr. 
Whiting, the champion tree agent. We 
think that Whiting will agree that he got 
out. of the ring on that occasion. 
The Problem of Paying Children 
The letter of W. J. S., page 1463, re¬ 
garding wages of children, touches a sub¬ 
ject that is nearly impossible of solution. 
I have tried to solve it, but have not made 
the success I would have liked. For 14 
years I have striven to establish a home 
in the country that would be all that 
parents and children could desire, and if 
children could he brought to see the re¬ 
sults as seen by W. W. Reynolds in his 
article on Lancaster Co., Pa., farms, on 
page 1450, less trouble for parents would 
result. I would like to relate an inci¬ 
dent some time back, when I made my 
first attempt to become a back-to-tbe- 
lander. A lecture was delivered at a 
meeting of farmers entitled, “The Best 
Crop on the Farm,” which of course re¬ 
lated to children, and the speaker related 
how his son asked him to allow him to 
raise some tomatoes for his own profit. 
The father allowed him space in the hot¬ 
house, charging a uominal sum for same. 
In due course of time the father trans¬ 
planted his own crop, the boy’s remaining 
in the hothouse. The father lost all his 
plants by frost, aud now for the point I 
want to bring out. The speaker said: 
“Many fathers under similar conditions 
would have takeu the boy’s plants, but 
did I? No; I put my hand into my 
pocket, took out $5 and gave it to the 
boy for his plants.” Now I was at that 
rime having my share of misfortune, and 
not. -wanting to spoil the good effect of the 
lecture, I wrote on a slip of paper an 
inquiry what the speaker would have done 
under similar circumstances, after invest¬ 
ing the savings of a lifetime in a home, 
if on putting his hand into his pocket it 
did not contain a cent, and the failure 
of the crop would have been financial 
ruin, showing that in some cases the 
child's end of the game must be a waiting 
one. The speaker agreed with me in 
private, stating my point was well taken. 
No right-minded father and mother de¬ 
sire their children to be abused or kept 
down, but in some cases co-operation of 
parent and children must exist, or success 
cannot be attained. If success comes the 
children get the reward of their own 
efforts plus the work of the parents. In 
my own case I have nine children living. 
Six are now married, and all but one has 
chosen city life, leaving three still at 
home, and if my plans do not miscarry 
I hope at the end of next season to be 
able to write a letter to The R. N.-Y. 
telling of the successful ending of a city 
worker’s 14-year struggle for a home in 
the country. My advice to Mrs. W. J. S. 
is to talk plainly aud kindly to her chil¬ 
dren, giving them all the encouragement 
and pleasure she can afford. This ought 
to meet with her children’s appreciation, 
and if by chance dissatisfaction exists, 
she will have the satisfaction at least of 
having done her full duty. 
ARTHUR W. SYKES. 
Catsup from Canned Tomatoes.—This 
recipe enables one to make up a small 
quantity of catsup at any time. Place in 
a granite saucepan one quart can of toma¬ 
toes and add three-quarters of a teaspoon¬ 
ful of salt, half au onion grated, two 
tablespoonsful of brown sugar, one-quar¬ 
ter of a teaspoonful of ground cloves, half 
a teaspoonful of paprika, half a teaspoon¬ 
ful of cinnamon, three sprigs of parsley, 
half a cupful of vinegar and two stalks of 
chopped celery. Let all simmer until 
quite thick, press through a coarse seive, 
reheat and seal as for ordinary catsup. 
A slice, from a clove or garlic may be 
added, if desired. 
.1 TFowmn’s Rights Meeting; the Boy Holds the Doll 
