644 
WOMAN AND HOME 
1 
Family have all gone tonight to a 
“community sing.” The community com¬ 
prises six school districts. Besides the 
singing, the children will recite and every¬ 
body will have all the popcorn they can 
eat. f. f. c. 
In many neighborhoods the old com¬ 
munity spirit is coming back. One of 
the best things the home economics schools 
are teaching is a revival of the old neigh¬ 
borhood gatherings. It may be said by 
some hardened old-timers that no farmer 
can raise corn with his voice or spray 
trees with a song. True enough, perhaps, 
but the community sing does far more 
than the hoe or sprayer to make the corn 
and the fruit worth while. The country 
has aped the city too long in its amuse¬ 
ments and social habits. Back to the old- 
lime customs! 
* 
It looks at this moment as if all 
American women will have the oppor¬ 
tunity of voting for President this year. 
After a most spectacular battle. West 
Virginia finally ratified the Federal 
Amendment, making the thirty-fourth 
State to do so. Two more are needed. 
Washington seems sure and Delaware is 
highly probable. With these two States 
in line the amendment will be ratified. 
Few things in our history have been more 
exciting than the West "\ irginia situa¬ 
tion. The Assembly voted in favor by a 
large majority, but the Senate was a tie, 
14—14. One Senator was visiting in 
California. He was called by telegraph 
to come and break the tie. He hurried 
back, and at Chicago he had his choice 
of a special train or a flying machine to 
reach Cincinnati. The Senator preferred 
the flying machine, but his wife vetoed 
that plan. He reached Cincinnati in 
time for a train to Charleston and arrived 
in time to vote—thus putting the suf- 
rage amendment over. Most women have 
now come to the point where they desire 
the ballot and will make good use of it, 
though it is not likely that the political 
result will be greatly changed by their 
entrance. 
* 
In the last magazine number Mrs. 
Willeox argued for spending the evening 
at home, where the family can supply its 
own entertainment. There are too many 
farm people who seem to have lost the 
ability to provide their own amusement. 
The car and the moving picture show 
have upset and ended much of the old- 
time family life, and evenings at. home 
are getting to be uncommon. Mrs. Will- 
cox’s article has stirred up much discus¬ 
sion. Most of our correspondents seem 
to agree with her, though there is some 
dissent. One Massachusetts woman puts 
her objection as follows: It is very evi¬ 
dent that we cannot all think alike, and 
we cannot all be contented with the same 
amusements. This Winter, however, has 
kept most of us at home, whether we 
cared to stay or not: 
I wholly disagree with “Thoughts of 
a Plain Farm Woman” in February 28 
issue. I do not think that is safe and 
sane at all for our young people of today. 
My husband and I use so much of our 
brain and muscle to make a success of our 
farm that we consider 75 cents an even¬ 
ing (occasionally) at the movies, where 
we are absolutely lost to ourselves and 
our cares, an excellent investment. I 
feel pretty sure the more we mingle with, 
know and love our fellow men, the better 
prepared we are to get the most out of 
living. 
* 
Some of us have read the story of the 
man who appeared at the Georgia picnic, 
enticed some of the men into the woods 
and produced bottles of a dark-colored 
liquid. He called it “cold tea” with a 
wink of his eye, and finally disposed of a 
dozen bottles at a big price. Then he 
rode off as fast as his horse could go to 
“escape the sheriff.” The men who bought 
the liquor proceeded to open the bottles 
and prepare for a celebration. They had 
one. It turned out that the stranger told 
the truth—it was cold tea—and nothing 
more! A modern case occurred in New 
York last week, when a saloonkeeper 
bought several barrels of “whisky” at $27 
per gallon ! Such things have to be done 
quietly now, and when the barrels were 
delivered the saloonkeeper paid $1,350 and 
hustled the barrels into a hiding place. 
Later, on sampling them, he found the 
barrels well filled with water—more 
the RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 27, 1920 
or less pure. That surely was a “water 
wagon.” 
A ci'Rious case was recently decided in 
New York. A woman wished to sue her 
husband for divorce, lie lived in New 
Jersey, and it was necessary to get him 
into New York State in order to serve 
the papers. So the wife phoned her hus¬ 
band and asked him to come to New York 
City to talk over important business. 
When he appeared she served the divorce 
papers, that being the only business she 
had to discuss. The court has now set 
this service aside on the theory that the 
man was “fraudulently enticed” or lured 
into the State. In this case the woman 
claims she has to “skimp and save* be¬ 
cause her husband refuses to buy auto¬ 
mobiles and luxuries. 
* 
We have a case where it is claimed a 
woman is a school trustee. W ithout con¬ 
sulting the district, it is said she ordered 
a sanitary toilet installed and then gave 
out the work to her husband and son, 
who charged a good price for the job. 
One of the citizens wants to know if this 
,4 Memory 
is not illegal or criminal. Why should 
it be? It may be that the husband and 
son were the only workmen this woman 
could commend for this unpopular job. 
She may have done her duty in the face 
of public opinion, or it may be a case of 
graft. We do not know about that; but 
it is evident that the “new woman” has 
new notions about doing things. 
A Roadside Tea Room 
I would like to ask some of The R. 
N.-Y. readers who have run roadside tea 
rooms if it is a paying proposition. We 
live on a Stale road ; hundreds of autos 
go by our door daily. This road con¬ 
nects Rochester and a Summer resort; 
50 miles between the two. We live half 
Way. We have a pleasant lawn, big or¬ 
chard back of the house, big porch on the 
house where we can serve meals on warm 
days; other days in our dining room. 
We have also quantities of berries of all 
kinds, our own milk, butter, cream, eggs, 
etc., and always have a splendid big gar¬ 
den. I also love to cook and feed people, 
and I can cook well, too. And with all 
of Easter 
from other Indians lost his wife. Winter 
was approaching; he found it necessary 
to move where he would be with other 
Indians, and where his family could be 
cared for He took his own children, but 
he left behind an orphan boy who had 
been living with him As was customary 
in such cases, he left a fire burning that 
the boy might remain comfortable some 
hours longer 
The next Spring he was passing near 
this place and went to his former camping 
ground to get some property he had 
cached there What was his surprise to 
see the foot prints of a boy. He looked 
about and found the child alive and well. 
When he inquired of the boy how he had 
survived, the boy said that same evening 
after he had been deserted a wolf dragged 
some more wood to the fire and then lay 
beside him to keep him warm. All Win¬ 
ter the wolf had brought him food and 
fuel. The Indian whr told me the story 
believed that it had really happened. As 
a matter of fact, my version is more be¬ 
lievable than is the account taken from 
the 8an Francisco Chronicle. No un¬ 
cared-for child of 10 years even could 
survive a Peace River Winter unaided. 
What Are Women Expected to Do? 
Nobody wonders that the farm woman 
often objects to the quantity of work ex¬ 
pected of “a successful farmer’s wife,” 
but why is it expected? Does any woman 
actually do all this? Does any reason¬ 
able man expect it of her? I never knew 
one, and why give any heed to the un¬ 
reasonable man? As a rule the woman 
who cares for much poultry, does very lit¬ 
tle sewing and vice versa. We hear much 
about the heavy work accomplished by 
Swede farmers’ wives, and they are strong 
and industrious, but my mother-in-law, 
though she is a hard-working woman who 
has raised a big family and helped father 
materially with his work, has never cared 
for poultry to my knowledge. Their 
poultry house was situated farther from 
the house than the other farm buildings, 
and I never knew mother to feed the hens 
—she may have done so, but I doubt if she 
ever raised chickens, though she milked 
and worked in the field at harvest time. 
My husband never would let me milk or 
do any other outdoor work; we always 
had hired men. and I was busy enough 
with my housework. I have always done 
my own sewing, in so far as it pays to do 
so. but lots of sewing is done that doesn’t 
pay. For instance, lots of people make 
coats, and I have sometimes done so for 
my daughter, but she is now six years old, 
and I bought her coat for last Win¬ 
ter. Baby coats are easily made and 
quite essential, since those on the market 
are usually so thin, but the work of mak¬ 
ing a coat for an older child is entirely 
out of proportion to the saving. If a 
“sagebrush farm” in Idaho is worse than 
a dairy farm in New York, surely the 
western woman is fully justified in her 
criticism, but I am not ready to admit 
that a woman who never reads and takes 
no interest in politics Is a more success¬ 
ful wife than one who does these things. 
► he may be a better servant, but if a man 
wants a servant he should hire one. It is 
precious little time I ever get for reading, 
but I gather every bit I can by listening 
to the men discuss theirs, and read aloud. 
Before we had woman suffrage here I 
really couldn’t see any use in being in¬ 
terested in politics, but now I think we 
should be; perhaps if we get interested 
enough we can turn enough of the con- 
sumer’s dollar back to the farm to enable 
us. at least, to afford time to comb our 
hair every day, though hardly dare aspire 
to manicured nails or cold cream. 5 es. 
right here in New York we patch as long 
as the cloth will hold a thread, and last 
Winter I cured meat till I played out 
completely, but it was foolish, and 1 
haven’t said one encouraging word about 
having any this year. As to economizing, 
T often recall having read that “Daniel 
Boone owned an ax and a gun. and what 
mere could one want?” But I’m not so 
easily pleased as Dan ; I want a lot of 
things I’ll never get, and several that 
I'm going to have some day. 
MRS. E. M. A. 
Oat Flake or Oatmeal Cookies.—One 
cup of shortening, one and one-half cups 
of sugar, two eggs, six tablespoons milk, 
one large teaspoon cinnamon, three-quart¬ 
ers cup rolled oats or oat flakes, two cups 
flour, one cup chopped raisins, two tea¬ 
spoons baking powder. It will be very 
stiff. Drop teaspoon of dough about two 
inches apart on a greased dripping pan. 
and hake in a slow oven. Nut meats 
chopped rather fine make a nice addition. 
Do not smooth the dough, as the heat will 
run it into round cakes. 
these things to help me I am wondering if 
the prospect is good. Of course 1 would 
have to depend upon the automobile trade. 
There is a village restaurant a mile from 
here; the next nearest is seven miles 
away, either direction ; but there are no 
tea rooms on this much traveled road. If 
anyone can advise me. please do so. Any 
advice will be gratefully received. 
MRS. FARMER. 
Many of us would like to know 
about this, and the only way to find out 
is for women who have tried the plan to 
tell us their experiences. We see many 
of these tea rooms as we go about the 
country, and some of them surely appear 
to be prosperous. There may be some 
that fail, and perhaps the reasons for 
both prosperity or failure can be analyzed 
and explained. Will some of our tea- 
roomers try it? 
Neither Indian stories nor newspaper 
stories are to be accepted as literally true. 
P. E. GODDARD. 
“Stranger Than Fiction” 
Will you permit me to retell the Peace 
River Indian boy story which you copied 
on page 1758 from the San Francisco 
Chronicle? The story was told me on 
lhe Peace River in 1913, and I have no 
doubt it is the same one. A man who 
with his family was living at a distance 
An Ohio Woman's Adopted Children 
I have been a subscriber to The 
R. N.-Y. for several years, and have en¬ 
joyed it very much. It seems to me as 
time goes by I get more satisfaction with 
every issue. I have been lately having a 
sort of review (looking over back num¬ 
bers), and reading so many interesting 
items. I was reading something about 
taking the poor little orphans into the 
homes as help in giving them a home, 
which isn’t to my way of thinking at. all. 
It hits me square in the heart. I am a 
woman past 50, on the downhill side of 
life, and, never having children of our 
own. I got. so child-thirsty I could hardly 
endure life without them. So my “gude 
mon” and I talked matters over and we 
concluded we would get a baby from some 
home. After hunting and then hunting, 
we finally got one. Then, after three 
years with one, we took another boy for 
company, so now we have two fine boys. 
One is eight years old on Christmas Day, 
and the other five years on December 2. 
We are not rich, but they fare with us, 
and they are such a comfort to ns. I 
don’t know but we are somewhat foolish 
over them in our old age, but to me they 
are a great comfort, and little by little 
they are learning things that later in life 
will be of benefit, to them. They have 
to be made to mind ; sometimes they get 
their contrary streaks, just as all children 
do. but they are usually very tractable. 
Taking everything into consideration, we 
couldn't have been any better pleased with 
them if they had been made of gold. 
This is the day after Thanksgiving, and 
we had a very pleasant one, as usual. 
We usually celebrate in a small way for 
ourselves and the children. 
ANOTHKR PI.AIN COUNTRY WOMAN. 
